A Teenage Spy Story

Chapter 13: Janey

Chapter 13: Janey

I was in Agent Winters' office, pacing back and forth as he was on his computer. April was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk. There wasn't any sound besides my footsteps.

"Janey, please stop," April said.

"I can't. You don't get it. I know it's bad for you guys, but it's so much worse for me right now. For you it's about solving the problem and trying to protect another agent. For me, it's trying to protect my little sister. What would you guys do if that guy tried to kidnap Autumn?"

"I would go down them and torture him until his guts spilled out his nose and he told me everything. Then I would kill him in the slowest, most painful way possible. Then, I would cut up and burn his-"

"April, that's enough."

"But I wasn't finished."

Agent Winters sighed. "I said enough. We have to solve this problem."

"Is Nattie being monitored?" I asked quietly.

"Zach's with her."

I relaxed a little. Just a little. I was still pretty tense.

"Janey, if you want you can go take a quick break."

"I don't want a break."

Agent Winters leaned back in his chair. "That's not what I meant. Go check on Control. See if any of them have anything."

I nodded and walked out. I knew he was just trying to get me moving and calm down a bit, but I still went along with it. I opened the door and walked into Control. I noticed May's red hair first, and then Liz next to her. I came next to May.

"Any leads?"

"Just the Squad working." She motioned to the interrogation taking place on the screen. "I'm recording it and backing it up as it's recording. Liz is writing it down manually and then she's going to type it up. This way we don't lose any of the information we collect."

I nodded. "Good. Are we prepared for a blackout?"

"All cyber-defenses are active and monitored. Michael's adding more as we speak. Just in case."

"Good."

She clicked a few buttons on her screen. "You ok?"

"It was Nattie and Zach who were attacked, not me."

May turned and faced me. "But are you ok?"

I hesitated for a split second, and before I could say I was fine, May gave me a hug.

"What?" I asked her.

"You don't have to be perfect all the time."

"I have to be. Otherwise people get hurt."

"You're allowed to be scared. Being scared or sad or shaken is ok."

"I have to be strong for everyone else, so they don't freak out." I shook my head. "You wouldn't get it."

"Then let me."

I looked up at her.

"Let me be strong for you, so you can freak out and be shaken for once. Let me understand. I can help you."

Now it was my turn to give her a hug. "Thanks, May. I really needed all this."

"No problem. Now take it easy. Remember, I'm worrying for you. I'm maxing out all the worrying for the two of us today."

I nodded. "Got it."

She went back to her computer and I walked over to Michael. "Hey," I whispered to him.

He smiled and kissed my nose. "Hey. I'm a little busy right now."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Ok."

He stopped. "Aren't you going to ask me?"

"No. I'm not supposed to worry right now."

He turned and faced me. "What? Are you doing some zen yoga or whatever? Because now really isn't the time."

"May said I was stressed and needed to calm down."

"And she told you not to worry about anything? Did she also tell you to go plant some tress and talk to them?"

"I was stressed. You have no idea how hard my job is. Stop joking about it."

"Janey, you work best when you're stressed."

"Not this time! This time I was freaking out! You seriously don't get it."

"What don't I get?! I have to fight for every chance I get because most of the adults are convinced I get everything because I date you and that I don't deserve any of it!"

I stared at him. "You know that's not true."

"But they don't! I have to work so hard to get their respect-"

"You're working for their respect?! I'm working to save everyone! If you mess up, they think you're unqualified. If I mess up, someone dies."

"If I mess up, then the field mission goes wrong and someone dies. Don't make it seem like your job is more important than mine."

"It kind of is! And a few seconds ago, you weren't saying anything about the job being hard, you were saying that people didn't respect you."

"Because I'm dating you!"

"Then maybe you should stop dating me, if you care so much about it."

He didn't respond. My jaw dropped. "Michael!"

"Can we not talk about this now? I have a job to do."

He turned back to his screen before I could respond. I walked out of Control.