It took me a second to regain my breathing, and I coughed hard from choking on the lack of air. My chest had tightened from the hard impact and my limbs were shaking violently.

My immediate thought was that I was done for. That I'd run into an RFI agent who was going to take me back to their base camp and kill me.

I looked up in fear, my eyes clearing as I took in the blonde figure kneeling in front of me.

"Cassie?" I choked out in disbelief.

She looked at me in bewilderment, a sigh of relief escaping her. "Thank God."

I whimpered as I realized I was finally safe. I felt Cassie rest an arm on me and I quickly collapsed into her figure, crying.

I heard the clicking noise of her spy device and the sound of her voice speaking into it. "T, I found Becca."

Turner was here too. I was overwhelmed with a mixture of relief and sorrow as I continued to sob, Cassie trying to comfort me. I couldn't believe I was safe - and that I'd gotten away. There had been gunshots and yelling. The second I'd been spotted, I'd thought I was done for.

"Are you okay?" I heard her ask. "What the hell happened to you? Where's Eric?"

Taking a moment to try and regain myself, I leaned away from her, slowing down my rapid breathing.

"Th-they took Eric and M-Mackenzie." I blubbered out.

Cassie's eyes widened in shock, the news clearly a surprise to her. "The RFI are here?"

I could only nod in response as I continued to cry. I was a complete mess, but all I could think about was how I'd abandoned Eric and Mackenzie and left them with those monsters. They were still in danger.

Hot tears streamed down my face as I shook violently. I grabbed a hold of some dead leaves on the ground, balling them up tightly in my fists. I was trying to regain control of myself but was struggling.

Footsteps startled me but I looked up in relief at the sight of Turner. He glanced at me in shock, turning his head towards Cassie.

"Is she okay? What happened?" he asked urgently.

I knelt down beside me, concern plastered on his face. I felt his hand on my back and I leaned into his shoulder as I continued to cry.

"God, you look like a mess Becca," he muttered quietly as he tried to comfort me.

My shaking didn't stop as I continued to cry. "Thanks." I choked out emotionlessly.

I could feel his chest vibrate in a chuckle at the fact that I'd still been able to keep my dark humor, even in my anxious state. The feeling and sound instantly brought me warmth. I'd never been happier to see Cassie and Turner. I'd never felt safer.

I finally began to regain control of myself, the crying beginning to fade and my breathing becoming evener. Cassie was picking leaves out of my hair and letting me rest an arm on her in support.

I could hear her discussing something with Turner but was too distressed to even pay attention to their words. I stared at the same spot on the ground, barely blinking and completely stunned.

It took minutes later for me to snap out of it and try and get ahold of myself.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked the two of them.

"We've been looking for you," Cassie answered. "The moment Eric didn't report back to us when you guys should have arrived in Russia, we knew something was wrong."

"We're just sorry it took us so long to find you," Turner added.

I shook my head. "No," I breathed out. "I'm glad you're here now. We need to get Eric and Mackenzie."

Turner leaned into me with a serious expression. "Becca, where are they?"

I turned around to look in the direction from where I'd run. I wasn't sure exactly which way I'd come from or even how long I'd been running for until I'd bumped into Cassie. Everything had been such a blur.

"I-I don't know," I stuttered out as my head kept turning in different directions.

"Okay, okay," Cassie tried to calm me down, resting her hand on my shoulder. "We'll find out. But first, we need to take you back to our base."

"Is anyone else from the RUA here?" I asked hopefully.

She shook her head. "Not on this island. We have teams dispatched all over the place looking for you."

"I'll call off the searches," Turner said to her, standing up off the ground. "Maybe I can get a few more agents down here to help us."

"There's no time," Cassie argued. "They wouldn't be able to get here fast enough. Anything that we need to do needs to be done now."

"She's right," I agreed. "I don't know how much longer they're going to keep Eric and Mackenzie alive, but the longer we wait, the worse it will be."

Cassie hopped off the ground, her arm slung around me to help lift me up. "But right now, we need to get you back to our base."

I stumbled, my limbs were weak as I relied on her for all my support. "What? No, don't worry about me," I coughed out. "You need to get Eric and Mackenzie."

"Becca we're not just going to abandon you in the woods and go on some half-ass mission to retrieve them," Cassie sighed as she helped me step forward. "We're stationed not too far from here. You need to get some rest and we'll come up with a plan to get them back."

Reluctantly, I walked forward with Cassie. Not because I wanted to, but because she was literally moving me with her and I didn't have the strength to fight back. I didn't care about my health or my lack of sleep. The only thing that mattered was that I was still alive - but I didn't know if I could say the same for Eric and Mackenzie.

Mackenzie and I had practically hated each other from the first meeting, but I still would have never wanted anything this bad to happen to her. In fact, after she'd apologized to me inside the tent, I'd seen another side of her. The vulnerable side that put up a wall to stop others from hurting her again. The side that made me think one day, after all of this, we could actually be friends. I couldn't let her die.

And then there was Eric.

I felt tears continue to stream down my face as I walked on, and didn't bother to wipe them. I didn't need my vision to see as Cassie was guiding me with barely any effort on my part.

If anything happened to Eric, I didn't know what I would do. He'd been my rock throughout this entire mission. Throughout my Kennedy High case. He'd been the one thing I woke up every day and looked forward to seeing. The person who never failed to give me butterflies and make me feel better than anyone else ever had.

He was my everything.

I hadn't wanted to believe that during my time knowing him because I knew how wrong it was. He'd told me himself. But we both also knew how we felt about each other. And now I knew why that rule existed - the rule that prevented agents from dating.

Because there was no shittier feeling than not knowing whether the person you loved was alive or not.

And I loved him.

I loved that brave, strong, incredible, workaholic, mysterious son of a bitch. And there was no way I was going to let anyone hurt him.

When we arrived back at the RUA base, I barely even looked around. I could see that two tents had been pitched, hidden away by leaves and trees making them almost invisible. Cassie lead me inside one of them, muttering something to Turner who walked off in the opposite direction.

My back hit the ground gently as Cassie laid me down. I wanted to rest more than anything, but the part of me that was still worried didn't want to close their eyes for a second.

Cassie gave me water and I drank it while she dealt with any wounds I'd gotten from being cut by vines. The tent had insulated the heat, making it warm and making me feel more drowsy.

My head rested on a pillow as I stared up at the tent roof dully. My blinking got slower as the noises around me became more muffled.

Cassie sighed, sitting next to me as I simply laid there, barely moving. I knew she was probably looking at me with a worried expression, shocked about what had happened to us all.

"We'll get them back Becca, I swear by it."

With those words, my blinking finally halted as I drifted off into a long awaited sleep. 

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