Erica's POV
The morning after I embarrassed myself in front of Ben, I snuck into my dad's office. What was that experiment they had been talking about? Was I unknowingly involved in it? The desk was a mess, covered in papers. I snorted, likening it to my life. I walked around the lectern, shuffling papers. One specific manila folder caught my eye.
"Experiment Aucipis..." I read out loud, picking it up. My eyes darted around the office, and I dashed back to my apartment, the case tucked in my jacket. When I arrived back, I kissed Josh on the cheek and headed back to our room.
"Oh, hey, Erica? Can we go to dinner tonight? There's something I want to talk about." My heart swelled when I looked back at him. Was he going to propose? I nodded, smiled and sat down on my bed. Josh was safe. I had known him for almost 10 years. He was plain, and I could picture my future with him. We could get married and work with the CIA, maybe have kids. He would probably rise in the ranks of the agency early, and I would always be stuck in his shadow. Bitterness surfaced in my heart. If I married Josh, I would forever be known as "Mrs. Joshua Hallal" or "Joshua's wife". I didn't know how I felt about that. There were worse things to be known for, but I wanted to make a name for myself. I then contemplated Ben. He was new, and exciting. There was something different about him, and I never knew what to expect. He seemed to know everything before it happened. He made me stutter, and the butterflies arise that hadn't appeared for the past 8 years. I shifted and the folder crinkled. I drew a sharp breath, and brought the case out.
If I remembered correctly, 'aucipis' is one of the latin words for spy. I opened it, and rifled through the papers. There were photos of Ben, and pages upon pages of notes in my mother's handwriting. I found one from 5 years ago along with a photo of a tiny boy in a hospital bed with head bandages.
"Aucipis was in a car wreck. The subject is in a coma. I have injected him with the serum." I read out loud. Hang on, didn't Ben say that he was in a coma for 5 years after a car wreck? Things weren't adding up. This boy somehow had amazing espionage knowledge despite never being at the academy. He had been in a coma for 5 years and was somehow perfectly in shape with perfect reflexes. He had an... allure around him. What did the notes mean by serum? This was my mom's handwriting. Maybe she could clear this up for me, or maybe Josh could help me.
"No. I need to solve this on my own." I pursed my lips, and snapped pics of the file with my phone. I shoved the folder into one of my drawers. I'd return it later. I needed to go investigate. I grabbed my laptop and logged into my government I.D. I then looked Ben up in the government files. He was 17 years old, turning 18 on June 16. I found a photo of him before the accident, and my curiosity peaked. He was a short, scrawny, nerdy looking kid, with shaggy brown hair, and rectangular glasses. (I have no idea if he had glasses before, but stick with me on this) How was it possible that the kid in the photo turned into the man I knew now? He couldn't have possible gotten contacts so quickly, and even if he had them now, he wouldn't have had them at the beginning of school. He was logged into the bureau as 5'2" (about 1.5 meters for my readers outside of the USA), but he looked to be about 6'3"! Teenage boys usually stopped growing at around age 16, and his muscle mass was way to built up for that. They weren't bulky, but they were undeniably there. There were photos each year. One at age 13, where he looked slightly bigger, okay. As the pictures progressed, he was nearly unrecognizable. I blushed at the last one. It was irrefutably Ben, and he had an I.V. in his chest, which was in full display. I was so distracted, I didn't hear Josh kiss my on the head and leave.
The doorbell rang, and I slowly closed the laptop. I straightened my blue tank-top and cautiously brushed my hair back before opening the door slightly.
"Yes!" I hissed victoriously to myself. Ben was leaning up against the doorway. He looked comfortably casual in jeans and a white t-shirt. The blood rushed to my face when I flashed back to the photo I found in the archives.
"H-h-h-hi, B-b-b-ben." I said, opening the door. He seemed to smirk and cocked an eyebrow at how flustered I was.
"Can I come in?"
"Uh, y-y-yeah, sure." He mocked gasped and clutched his chest in surprise.
"Is the great Erica Hale blushing because of me?" He dramatically swooned with his hand on his forehead. The rest of the blood in my body went to my face when I caught the intoxicating smell of gunpowder coming off of him. (ringing any bells?)
"N-n-n-n-no." I stuttered while blushing. "Oh, what do you want?" I sighed, rubbing my temples. Why did he have such an effect over me.
"What, I can't ask the beautiful and great Erica Hale for advice?"
"Why are you mocking me?" I asked quietly. I wasn't beautiful or great. I was a disgrace to my family name, and I was honestly lucky to have someone like Joshua.
"What?"
"I asked why you were mocking me." I got a little bolder.
"I'm not mocking you... What do you mean?"
I sighed and proceeded to explain how I was a disgrace to the Hale name. I had been frequently bullied in my time at the academy, and no one besides Josh had ever called me beautiful, not even my parents. He massaged his temples and muttered something to himself. It sounded like: "Then why..."
"Then why what?"
"Hm?
"You said 'then why.' when I told you my story?"
"Oh. Y'know how I told you about my dream?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, um... That dream was about this place. In my dream, you were actually there."
"What? So I was the girl of your literal dreams?" I blushed when he chuckled at my bad attempt at a joke.
"Yeah, I guess so," He ran his hand through his hair, and the butterflies appeared. "In my dream, you were sort of the super spy, and I... I was the failure. I have no idea why." I was flabbergasted. Me? Competent? Those two words didn't usually go together.
"I have a question."
"Yeah?"
"How do you know so much? Why did you have that dream? Why are you so fit and have amazing reflexes after 5 years in a coma?"
He chuckled again, but then looked thoughtful.
"I don't know, but I intend to find out."
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Spy School: Was It All A Dream?
Fanfiction"I sighed and put my head in my hands. I told her everything. I told her everything about my dream. I told her about how we had kissed there. I told her about how we had defeated SPYDER. I told her how I woke up. I told her about my fear of waking u...
