Spy Between the Lines (formerly New World, Old Foe) [Gallagher Girls Fanfiction]

Chapter Four

I woke up to Zach gently shaking me. "Gallagher Girl, it's time to get up. We've landed."

I checked my watch (the one that Liz put a camera on during my sophomore year). "I've been asleep for fourteen and a half hours?! What'd you do, Zach? Sedate me or something?!" I started to gather my things.

Zach smirked. "Well, let's just say college makes you really tired, and..." He paused. "creepy dudes don't look at you the same when you drool in your sleep." Before I could tear the smirk off his face, he disappeared into the crowd that was moving out of the plane.

"That Zach..." I muttered, and waited for my turn to step out of the plane.

"Yes, Gallagher Girl? What about me? I'd really like to know," Zach said from behind me.

"How did you..." I spun around to face him. "Never mind. Let's just get off this thing. I'm getting a bit claustrophobic." Once we got through customs, we met the rest of our group, including Bex and Grant, who had flown in from a training camp in a county that shall remain unnamed.

"I can't believe you're here! I've missed you so much! How was college?" Bex didn't even wait for me to answer and enforced me, Macey, and Liz into a group hug.

The boys exchanged a "S'up" and gave each other manly pats on the back, even to Preston. They hailed a taxi and loaded our suitcases in the trunk.

‎Zach asked the driver to take us to a car rental using broken Arabic. The driver nodded, and we pulled away from the airport.

Since the driver was there, we coudn't talk about our lives as spies and the current mission. We were posing as tourists, so we started acting like tourists.

"I just can't wait to see the Abul Rahnan Mosque," Macey said, plastering a fake smile on her face. I could totally tell that she was lying, so I shot her a look that said to 'step it up.'

"I bet the Gardens of Babur are really pretty in the fall," Liz exclaimed. I couldn't tell if she was lying or not. "All the trees should be filled with color."

"Maybe we shouldn't go to the gardens," I interrupted. "Remember that one time in eighth grade when we in the gardens at the Academy? You bent down to sniff a flower and a bee stung you on the nose. You were so surprised you fell backwards into the lake."

Bex laughed. "Yeah. That was the last time I ever saw Liz in the gardens."

Liz blushed. "Well, remember that I'm the one who gets you on the inside, so I could make your mission go well, or I could make you fail. So I wouldn't laugh too hard." The last part she whispered in Bex's ear, but we could still faintly hear it.

"Hey, guys," Grant interrupted. "We're here."

Zach paid the driver and we stepped out of the taxi into the car rental's parking lot. I looked around and saw that the rental cars weren't much better than the beat-up taxi we had just rode in.

After Zach settled a bargain with a salesperson, I stepped inside an old can and sat on a torn up seat, trying to get comfy. The van smelled of cigarette smoke and the passenger's car door looked like it would fall off any second. "Seriously, Zach. Why didn't you chose a more decent looking car?"

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do," he said, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the engine. "Or should it be 'When in Afganistan, do as the Afganistans do'?"

Grant sat in the passenger seat and Preston and Jonas in the front row. Bex and I were in the second row with Macey and Liz sitting in the back. Our luggage surrounded our feet.

Liz let out a squeal. "I've missed y'all so much! I can't believe were finally together again! I can't wait to show you this new device that ca- Hey! That hurt!" She glared at Macey, who had slapped her hand over Liz's mouth. "What'd you do that for?!"

Macey whispered something so softly in Liz's ear that only spies could hear it. "Liz, we're still acting like tourists. Until we do a bug sweep in here, there is no talking about anything espionage related."

Bex pulled out a bug detecting device that looked like a pen and swept it across the van. "All clear. So what were about you saying, Lizzie? Something abou- Oof!" We swayed to the right, Bex hitting her head on the window. "Hey! I'm all for a little bloody thrill, but can you drive more carefully?"

"Sorry!" Zach yelled from the front, but something in his voice told me he wasn't.

I looked into the driver's mirror and pass a smirk to the boys. He and Grant high-fived.

"Oh, it's on," I muttered, an evil grin spreading across my face.

"What's on?" Bex wondered, still rubbing her head.

"A little prank war. Boys versus girls."

"I'll do it," she said, adopting my evil smile.

"I'm in," said Macey, who was applying lipstick (which seemed impossible at the rate at which Zach was driving).

"Um... Will it include scaling a fifty story hotel?" Liz asked.

"Maybe... but you don't have to," I answered smugly.

"I guess I'm in," she sighed.

"Hey, guys, we're here. Get out and bring your bags. We'll meet you in the hotel lobby," Jonas yelled, stepping out the door.

Vote and comment if you liked it!