enemies | rc

quarante-six

charlotte's point of view

i woke up the next morning in an empty bed. i grabbed my phone to look at the time, it was almost 10am. i laid back down and closed my eyes for a second, letting the tiredness leave my body.

the door suddenly opened. "rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" christopher waltzed into my room with liz behind him.

"shut up, chris. we're in a hospital." she huffed before dropping on the chair beside my bed. "slept well? got eight hours of sleep?"

i nodded. "if richard hadn't stayed i wouldn't have."

"let's hope your parents don't find out christopher wasn't the one that stayed here." she winked. "speaking about them, i heard a rumour that your mom is going on a mission alone tonight, nothing big just protection, but apparently the client is a big deal. she doesn't even want one of us guiding her through it. i get that she's like the best– hell she married into the family of spies, but that's just suicide."

"well, if it's just protection maybe she thought it was best if she was alone? then again, it's her first mission in years..." i trailed off.

"actually," christopher interrupted. "i heard something too, and this one's not a rumour." he stuck his tongue out at liz. "your parents have been on countless missions during their time 'hiding'." he used air quotations. "they weren't hiding so much if they kept going on missions, were they?"

i furrowed my eyebrows. "are you sure?"

christopher scoffed. "of course i am. also, i have the slight suspicion that they were here for a long time before appearing at headquarters."

"ooh, conspiracy theory." liz laughed.

"i'm serious! think about it, they arrive exactly two months after you were shot, one month of which you were unconscious and fighting for your life. if that happened to a daughter of mine, i would run to her side instantly."

"my mom doesn't exactly want to run to my side, given the fact that i remind her of..." i looked down. "my biological father."

"char, that's no fucking excuse. you're a muñoz, you're my cousin. i don't care if we don't share the same blood, or whatever."

"he's right." liz held onto my hand. "family isn't necessarily blood related."

"my point was," christopher clapped his hands together. "they arrived at a suspicious time. and why would they be waiting for you in your room? they wanted to ambush you."

"let me add something," liz interjected. "why would they leave in the first place? make people think they were dead? they could've stayed in headquarters. you needed them, you were only sixteen. you weren't supposed to be an adult yet."

"they had to know richard's dad was their assassin, right?" christopher raised his eyebrows. "they told you they were going into hiding until they found who tried to kill them."

holy shit, he's right. 

"don't worry baby girl, we'll be back as soon as your uncle finds the man that tried to kill us." my mother assured me.

"how do you know it's a man?" i raised an eyebrow. "it could be a woman."

she pressed her lips together. "i love you, lottie."

"i love you, too." i smiled as she hugged me. 

they knew all along. they came back because my uncle did find him. i have to tell richard his dad is in danger.

"where's my phone? i need to call-"

my phone started vibrating on the bedside table. christopher handed it to me and i quickly picked it up, not bothering to check the contact id.

"hello?"

"please tell me your mom isn't going on a mission tonight."

my eyes widened. i held the phone a couple of inches away to look who was i talking to. it was richard. "how did you know?"

he groaned. "my father's planning something. it's got to do with you because he's not telling me anything. not even zabdiel, since he knows he's my best friend."

my eyes teared up. "no..." i whispered loud enough for him to listen to me, then i looked at christopher and liz. "he's going to kill her. get me out of this fucking hospital now."

"i'm on my way. don't move." richard said before hanging up. i dropped my phone on the bed. 

"chris, help me up. i need to go to headquarters now."

"char, the doctor-"

"fuck the doctor! i'm fine, get me out of here." 

i reached for christopher and he held my hands after glancing at liz. she began to gather my things and handed me an outfit so i wouldn't have to walk out in my pjs. christopher picked me up bridal style and took me to the bathroom. i giggled and tried to get him to put me down, but he insisted on helping me. i held onto the bars on the walls, even though i thought i could at least stand on my own it was better to be careful.

liz closed the door after she walked in and helped me change quickly. she made me sit down on the closed toilet top so she could brush my hair and braid it into two dutch braids.

"i feel like a little girl again." i laughed.

"well, you do have one inside you." 

i pressed my lips together. it was still surprising to me that there was a little human inside me.

"why is everyone insisting that it's a girl?" i rolled my eyes. 

"because if it's a girl we'll definitely spoil her rotten. especially her daddy." she laughed as she finished the first braid and moved onto the second one. "hey, i hadn't been able to ask you how you've been doing in therapy."

i sighed. "pretty well, actually. doctor says if i keep it up, i'll be walking again in no time."

she smiled and held her hands out for me to grab after she finished the second braid. i grabbed one of her hands, leaving one free so she could open the door and still help me. when we walked out richard was already waiting for us by the bed. 

"good news is that the doctor discharged you and we didn't even had to threaten him." christopher began.

"bad news, we only have a couple of hours to prevent whatever is going down tonight." richard finished.

i bit my lip. "let's get going, then. where's my wheelchair?"