Spy School: Family Ties

Chapter 21

March 21, 2027
New York
0959 hours

Ben's POV

I raced through the alleys of New York. I almost hit a few people, but I ended up making it out to the intersection where me and Erica split. I raced down in her direction. I didn't know where to look.

I slowed down, knowing if I missed her it could mean the economic crash of the century. Then I saw it.

Up above me and a bit ahead, I saw people running. I headed towards there. They were running toward me.

I was still a ways off but I watched as one man got cornered. He backed up to the edge and tried to jump off, but someone held him back. I watched as Erica slid out of nowhere, and I sped up.

I made sure the way was clear, then looked back up. I saw Erica grasp at something, but it fell out of her hands.

I instinctively reacher out my hands and grabbed it. It threw me off the bike however, and I went tumbling to the ground, rolling over. I held onto the object firmly.

I looked at it on the ground. It had a timer counting down from 10. A red button, and a green button. I pressed the green button.

"Are you sure?" The screen typed out.

I pressed the green button again. The timer re appeared and stopped at 0:03.

"Ben?" Erica called down at me.

I watched as she shot a grapple gun down and attached a harness, then zipped down.

How does she even carry this stuff around?

Catherine managed to drag the agent down with her, who she had knocked out. Zoe came from behind me.

Erica came up to me.

"You're late," she said.

"I made it though," I said.

"Yea, yea," she said. She embraced me with a hug. "You did great," she whispered in my ear.

I just held her in my arms.

**timeskip**

I was watching as the CIA crews arrived to take care of the bomb. After digging up the snow, the bomb was a mile long, on both sides. How they even managed to get an explosive of that size was amazing.

Erica was running damage control on the mall, trying to see how much the damages cost would be. I was standing on Wall Street with Emma, who was looking around attentively.

"Looks like someone saved the day again," Zoe said, coming up behind me. She had her hands in her pockets.

"Don't read too much into it," I said, laughing.

"Why's that?"

"It was mostly this little one," I said, holding up Emma.

"She's going to be a spy on steroids when she's older," Zoe said. I laughed.

"She's already done enough spying for now, I think."

I watched as Zoe went off to talk with Jawa. He waved at me and I waved back.

"Agent Ripley," someone said behind me.

"It's agent Hale, actually," I said turning around.

Nora Taco stood in front of me.

"Good to know. Klondike wants your debriefing. Temporary camp, main tent."

"So you're not a bad guy?" I asked with a smirk.

"Not this again," she said, sighing. "You've already caused me enough problems with your last claim about the Croatoan."

I smiled and I headed off in direction of the camp.

I walked into the main tent (the guards knew me) and saw Cyrus at a table.

"Ripley," he said curtly.

"It's actually H"

"I don't care. Sit down."

I did as he said.

"I've already been debriefed on what happened."

"Then why do you want me here?"

"I need you to sign these forms."

He slid across a few papers. I read through them.

Temporary Retirement Form

I saw Erica's signature at the bottom of the last paper.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really."

"Did you find any moles?"

"Taco was cleared, and she did a spectacular job with the moles. CIA is clear now from any moles."

"Well that's great."

I signed the form.

"Thank you, Cyrus."

"Don't mention it," he said, standing up. "Oh, and take care of your little girl. I don't want you screwing up the next generation of spies."

"Yes sir."

Erica's POV

I had figured out the damages cost and brought the papers to the camp. Right as I was entering, I saw Ben leaving, so I quickly gave Cyrus the report and ran after him.

"Well if it isn't the hero of the day," I said, as I caught up to him.

"I'm sick of people calling me that," he said.

"I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about her." I took Emma from him and held onto her.

"She is the real hero," Ben said.

We walked for a bit, and found ourselves a cafe. We both ordered drinks and waited at a table.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked me.

"For what?"

"To become full time parents?"

"I missed spying at the start of this mission, but now I realize it isn't possible with Emma. Too much danger has befallen her. I can't risk it. No matter what."

"What about me?" He asked with a pouty face.

"Shut up."

The waiter promptly arrived and left quickly after seeing we were in an "argument". I sipped on my decaf tea as Ben drank his hot chocolate.

He reached over and grabbed the necklace I had on. His.

"Glad to see you have taken care of that," he said.

"Of course," I said, smiling. I broke up the apple slices we had been given and gave tiny bits to Emma, who seemed very hungry.

"She's adorable," Ben said.

"That's what happens when you mix a clumsy dork and an Ice Queen," I said laughing.

Ben laughed with me.

Once we were done, we caught a cab back to the hotel. Ben and I snuck onto the roof with Emma in tow.

We looked out off the edge at the fading horizon. It cast a magnificent orange glow on the sky, yet it was still dark enough that the lights of the city popped out.

"In New York," Ben whispered.

I looked up and kissed him.

I'm thinking of one more chapter then an epilogue, and then this book will be done. Thx for all the support on the way😄