Spy School: A New Beginning

Infiltration

Ben's POV

Cyrus, Trixie, Erica, and I began to prepare our gear. Our other team members were not with us, as they had a different point of entry into the building. We planned to fire a wire onto the roof of the building and use it as a zipline to cross over to MUFG Bank, which was two stories lower than our current location. It wasn't going to be easy since we didn't have harnesses, a pulley, or a trolley to help us across. But we agreed to deal with any challenges as they arose. So, we got ready with our gear.

My utility belt was relatively well stocked. A small can of bear spray, duct tape, a portable charger, a flashlight, and a few other items like breath mints were in my utility belt. I had memorized their locations on my body, so I knew which pocket had which item, but only because Erica had forced me to a couple of weeks earlier, saying "It doesn't help if you have the materials necessary, but can't find them."

Unfortunately, to my dismay, Cyrus believed that what I had in my utility belt wasn't adequate. Erica and Cyrus opened a small bag they had retrieved from their car a few moments earlier. Cyrus handed me a handgun, glaring at me. "Don't shoot me by mistake." "Grandpa," Erica interjected. "You know Ben isn't the best with firearms, it's not fair for you to put that pressure on him. He's doing his best, you know." I felt a surge of pride, as Erica defended me from Cyrus. 

I noticed Trixie's eyes go wide. I assumed that Trixie had never seen Erica defend before. Cyrus stopped talking for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to know that he was surprised as well. "Um... regardless, we are entering in ten minutes, so be prepared."

I noticed Erica grab another handgun and put it in her shoe. Was that her third handgun? I ignored it and walked up to Erica, pretending that I was oblivious to the fact that she was heavily armed. Erica looked at me and said, "I know you are nervous, so I have a surprise for you." My eyes widened as Erica handed me a Taser. "You know how to use these, and it's important you can defend yourself if I'm not there to help you." I tensed up. "Does that mean you won't be with me during the infiltration to help me," I asked, starting to get nervous again. "Of course, I'll be with you," she replied cooly, "But just in case, it makes sense that you have your means of self-defense too."

A quiet vibration suddenly rang through my phone. The alarm. It was time. Erica and I walked over to Cyrus. He had already taken care of rigging the cable to the building. Now it was time to hear what Cyrus had come up with for how we were going to zipline across a several hundred feet gap, without the proper safety equipment.

With his voice hushed Cyrus started speaking. "We will be using a carabiner to get across. Understand that there is no mechanism to slow you down, so that is up to you. I have managed to procure zipline gloves, which should aid you in slowing down. I'll go first."

Cyrus walked over to the edge of the building. We followed him, and he tossed us each a carabiner. I was surprised at how nonchalant he was about going down a zipline with no way to stop himself, but I shouldn't have expected less from a Hale. Surprisingly, Trixie was acting the same way, like it was no big deal. I smirked, thinking to myself, "Of course, she isn't scared, she's just like her sister."  Giving a quick nod, Cyrus maneuvered himself to the edge of the building. I watched as the wire bent tightly, then pulled taut. Cyrus, now hanging off of the building by his fingertips, let go, and curled into a ball as he started gaining speed. With every second, he became harder to see, as the darkness of the night consumed him. We waited. One second, then two. Exactly 11 seconds later something happened.

After what seemed like an eternity, the rope whipped backwards. That either meant that Cyrus had got off the zipline, or something bad happened. Trixie was next. She showed the same lack of emotion as Cyrus, not giving into the fear that a normal human would have. However, knowing Trixie, she couldn't leave without a comment. "Hey Erica," Trixie remarked. "Try to pay attention to the mission ahead. Don't start making out with your boyfriend." Both Erica and I flushed red. I scowled, Trixie had gotten the reaction she wanted all along. With a sly smile on her face, Trixie let go of the ledge.

Erica and I looked at each other as soon as Trixie had disappeared into the night. "You go first," Erica said. I nodded, before hugging Erica. She hugged me back. "You'll do great tonight." Erica stated it more like it was a fact than a reassurance. While I was climbing down to get into my position, my hand brushed across her stomach. I heard Erica's breath catch. With that, Erica helped me attach my carabiner to the wire.  I let myself hang on the wire as Erica attached my carabenier, using my hands to keep me in place, as I dangled over 200 feet above the ground.

I let go, and sure enough, I was whizzing down the wire. Looking back towards Erica as she rapidly disappeared out of sight, I though I saw the faintist bit of blush on her cheeks. I felt my heart beat a little faster, but quickly stifled it. "I have a mission to do, I can't let myself get distracted," I thought. Turning my attention to the rapidly approaching building, I used my gloves that Cyrus had given me to start slowing down. As I noticed Cyrus and Trixie looking up at me, I felt a surge of relief. They were safe.

The impact of the roof was still a lot, even though I had slowed myself down. The impact vibrated through me, rattling my bones. Cyrus unclipped my carabiner. "Good job," he whispered. I was taken aback. Cyrus was not one to give praise easily. Pretending like I didn't care about his praise, I replied, "Now all we have to do is wait for Erica."

Erica's POV

As soon as Ben started gliding down towards MUFG bank, my mind thought of how he had just touched me. It was surprising, I never thought about emotions, and my nickname, Ice Queen proved that. Was I warming up to Ben? I shook my head no. It was impossible. I needed to clear my head, there is no room for error in this business. I can't be thinking about Ben in a time like this.

Without hesitating, I started rigging the carabiner to the line. However, just as I was about to hop onto the line, I heard the telltale noise of footsteps. Footsteps like someone was trying  to sneak up on me. I whirled around to find the man Ben had pointed out during our reconnaissance.  However, now instead of a newspaper, he held a gun.

I dropped to the ground as he fired his weapon at me. The shot went wide, whizzing a few feet over me head. Hopefully, Grandpa heard the gunshot so he would inflitrate the building without me. I sprung up, before racing towards him and grabbing the barrel of the handgun before he could pull off another shot. He snarled, and tried to kick me like I was a rabid dog. I rolled aside, using the momentum of my roll to judo flip him onto the ground. The gun clattered to the floor and I kicked it off the building.

Adrenaline surging through my veins, I continued the fight. He got up, his eyes locking with mine for a second. I could see determination, but also something surprising. Fear. This henchman was scared of me. I smirked, before readying myself once more. This was going to beeasier than I thought.

He lunged at me tackling me to the ground. This was expected though. As we grappled on the floor for the upper hand, I noticed a fatal mistake. Trying to pin my arms down, he brought up his left knee, leaving the rest of his left side defenseless. I drove my knee into his ribs. he let go of me, clutching his chest. I spun, kicking him in the face, knocking him unconscious.

Without wasting another breath, I grabbed zipties from my utility belt and zip-tied his hands behind his back. "I'll deal with him later," I thought to myself. Not bothering to be stealthy since our cover was already blown, I grabbed the carabiner and without hooking myself onto it, raced down the wire. I spotted my mom and her team running towards the entrance of the bank. I also noticed a few guards running towards them. Reaching for the gun in my hip pocket, while still holding onto the carabiner with one hand, I took a few potshots at them, alerting the other team of the enemy's position.

I put my gun back in its pocked, and used my glove to start slowing myself down. Looking at the roof, I noticed that Cyrus, Ben and Trixie were already inside the building. An emergency exit door lay open. Without hesitating, I used it, dashing through the door. Sirens were blaring. Ben! Where was Ben! I didn't detect any movement. The only signs of where they had went were the zip-tied henchmen, laying on the ground.

I broke out into a run, anxious to find the rest of the team. The second floor. The second floor was our rendevous point. My eyes scanned the empty room, until I found a set of stairs. I raced down the stairs, running to the room where I found the whole team, standing there. They towered over probably 20 henchmen, who sat zip-tied and gagged.

I sagged in disappointment. They had cleared the building before I had even got to fight.