Curiosity Can Kill

Chapter 33: Lies and Goodbyes

"Get up." I said as I approached him. He was facing away from me lying in bed so he didn't see how i was using the doorway to keep myself up. The room was dim and a little disheveled so I took my time getting around the room.

"What? How'd you find me?" He turned his body around so he was facing me.

"Let's not be dramatic Ace. People haven't seen you in class for a while and whenever we ask your roommate about you he gets all quiet. AOSS hasn't freaked out about you being M.I.A so obviously you were still on campus. Anyone could easily figure out you were hiding out in your room."

"I'm not hiding out in my room." He said it almost too as-a-matter-of-factly. Like he was going to prove me wrong? I put it aside for the time being.

"Then what are you doing?" I said emphasizing the "are."

"That's none of your business. What're you doing here?"

"You owe me a favor that I need to cash in on right about...now."

"Since when do I owe you a favor?" He sat himself up and raised his brow at me.

"You know how guilty you've been lately? All the 'I should've told you' crap. You never did tell me so ill help you feel better about yourself by asking you for a favor that you will do. So get up."

He slowly got up because he was still a little confused. He grabbed a shirt while he turned the lights on and fixed himself up a little bit. "So, are you going to tell me what this favor is?"

"You're going to teach me how to fight."

"Fight? Aren't you hurt or something. Did the giant monster take away your common sense too?"

"Of course I'm hurt. Thanks for showing up by the way." Sarcastic was basically my middle name.

"And you want to fight in this state why?"

"It's not want, its have to. I'm going to have to fight hurt and ignore the pain."

"When exactly are you fighting?" All of the sudden he got really suspicious and curious.

"Missions of course. Which is why you have to teach me everything now. You newer know when the next mission will be. You can train me until the next one." I mentally patted myself on the back. Not the best save but a save nonetheless.

"Why me?"

"You were ranked as the best fighter here. Trust me. I need the best."

"Fine. Lets go."

************

We went to an old recreation room by the edge of the campus. Just like I asked he taught me everything. "Only you know what your strongest move is so always use it. Don't be stupid about it though."

"What do you mean?" I said as we were sparring.

"Use what you think is your strongest move." He had me in a tight head lock so I thought at the moment my strongest move would be to jab my elbow into him. He obviously proved that to be weak when he caught my elbow and put both my arms behind me. "That's what I mean. Don't just think about what move you should make, think about what move you would make if you were the other person."

"Noted." So I did that. I thought quick. He was holding my arms with his hands so I used all the strength I had and jumped as I put both my feet against his stomach, kicking him back. It was hard. I almost fell on the landing but I caught myself.

He looked kind of taken a back. "Quick learner." And this was how it was the whole time we trained. He taught me moves, tricks, and how to react. We trained till midnight and then we noticed how late it was.

***********

In total I got a whole week to train with Ace. I got good fast. So good that me an Ace became pretty equal. He'd get me just as much as I would get him. When I wasn't training or back in class, Matt and I tried to figure out where to find T.W. He brought his laptop to my room and we were both trying to find someway I can hack into some database or email that would lead me to him. Being able to do pretty much everything was amazing, but useless if you had no starting point. I shut my laptop. Matt looked up and then shut his and gave a deep sigh. "This is impossible. We've looked everywhere we can. No one here is in contact with SAAs or Malums. And we can't think of any other way to get in."

Except I am. Or was. "Wait why didn't I think of this earlier." I hit myself on my forehead and opened up my laptop.

"Think of what?"

"Nat."

"The traitor?"

"The traitor. If she's as dumb as I think she is then her email has probably been opened up at Malum head quarters with no security. Probably still open there right now."

"So you think you can get in?"

"I just did." He came and sat next to me to watch the screen. Now I just need to track the I.P address and....got it!"

"Yes! What's it say?"

"It says that one of the Malum headquarters is in London."

"So you think that T.W will be in London?"

"No, but ill bet someone in London knows where he is. Ill need all the energy I can. Do you think you can pull some plane tickets?"

"I'm on it now, I've got some strings I can pull." He texted someone and got an instant reply. "What time is it now?"

"8pm."

"Flight is at 1am, we leave at 11. Get your stuff ready, I'll go get mine."

"Okay. Meet me back here at 10:30. I've got to make a couple stops before we leave." I hugged him before we split up. I went straight to Ace's dorm. I was planning on thanking him and ask him for a couple more pointers. I let myself in and was about to enter his room when I heard voice in his room.

"I can't believe you trained her! What were you thinking?!" The voice sounded familiar. It was Henderson's.

"She said she needed it for missions and it would've looked weird if I said no."

"The boss isn't going to be happy."

"He doesn't have to know. Anyways she has no idea what's going on." I stepped back. I was confused. Why was Henderson mad that Ace trained me? And why would the AOSS be mad. I didn't stick around though. I had things to get to. A plane to catch.

I went right back to my room and packed up clothes and other things we would need. While I was packing Dotty walked into the room. "What? Where are you going?"

"Look, I'm going away for a while. I don't know exactly how long it'll be. It could be a day or weeks." I didn't stop packing as I talked to her.

"Why? What's going on?"

"I can't tell you. But don't think it's because I don't trust you, because you are like one of the only people I trust. It's for your safety, I don't want you getting in trouble for my mess. When people notice Matt and I are missing, act like you don't know a thing. You didn't see me packing. I wasn't behaving weirdly. We didn't even talk the night I left. Got it?"

"Reagan-" she began but I cut her off.

"Dot do you trust me?"

"More than anyone."

"So trust me. Do this for me. I don't need you to get in trouble with this. If I get back, I'll tell you everything."

"Okay." She pulled me into a hug. "Promise me you'll stay safe?"

"I'll try." We were still hugging when I heard Matt knock on the door. "I gotta go. Remember what I said. Bye."

I started walking towards the door when she said, "Reagan?"

"Yeah?"

"It's when you get back, not if."

"What?"

"You said 'if I get back.' When. When you get back. I know you will."