I'm going to focus more on the makeover part- Mostly 'cause my inner fashionista is coming out writing this, I don't want to get anything for fighting wrong, and I really want some fluff.
I told Erica to meet me in the gym at the school. It was a large, padded room with dummies in one corner, punching pads in the other, and various weapons stored in a closet next to it. I arrived about 10 minutes before Erica. It was the day after the whole mess had started, a Sunday, so I didn't have any classes to teach.
I decided to warm up before Erica arrived and break a sweat, so I started doing a series of hits against the closest dummy. I had taken off my jacket and was just in my shirt. After that, I grabbed some knives and began throwing them at the target. They all hit the bullseyes and I grinned. 6 years ago I couldn't do that.
"Uh, Ben?" Erica's voice echoed quietly through the room. I turned around and threw my knife. She flinched. The knife stayed, vibrating in the padded door behind her, about an inch from her head. A streak of blood dripped down from her ear, and she put her hand up to greet it.
"Let's begin."
I taught her the basic strikes that had been taught to me by dream Erica. She looked bored but complied. We moved onto guns, and we reviewed how to quickly disarm someone.
"You think my first instinct is to protect you because you're a girl and a spy. But you're wrong," I fixed her grip on the handgun.
"My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I can press. But I resist it because fear doesn't shut you down. It wakes you up. I've seen it... It's fascinating." I quickly disarmed her. Our breaths mingled, and I found sweat dripping down my face.
"Now, you fight and disarm me."
Erica looked afraid. She pushed her hair out of her face and panted.
"Okay," She replied finally. "I'll try."
"Do or do not. There is no try." I mimicked Yoda, even adding a little giggle to the end. Erica gave me a weird look. I grinned at her, and she flushed even more red.
"C'mon. Once we finish this, I can give you your makeover," I put my hand on my hip and imitated a hairdresser.
"Because, sweetheart, that," I gestured at her. "Needs help." She giggled again and shooed me out the door. I entered, and Erica was waiting for me just like I had taught her. I fought her off, but she kicked my legs. I fell down on my back with an "oof!", and she took my gun.
"Great job!" I grunted, standing up.
"Onto the makeover part?" I had noticed that Erica had become more comfortable with me once we had started training. Before she had just stuttered and blushed all the time. I had thought over how to make her more comfortable with me. I grinned at her and we sat down.
"The problem I find is that you show emotion."
"What?"
"Be more like an Ice Queen. Talk less, frown more. Don't let them know what you're against or what you're for." She gave me an incredulous look.
"You can't be serious."
"You want to get ahead?"
"Fools who run their mouths off wind up dead. I speak from personal experience. C'mon."
We moved on to talking about her new persona and what she was doing wrong beforehand.
"You wore really bright colours and that made you stand out. You want to blend in."
"You don't blend in," I cocked an eyebrow at her statement. It was true, I guess. I really didn't blend in.
"Not on purpose. It's part of a thing I'm part of." I couldn't tell her about the super spy thing, and I flinched while thinking that if she was the Erica I knew, she would already know about Experiment Aucipis. Erica narrowed her eyes on me.
"You don't trust me."
"I can't tell you. It's classified for now. If people found out, I'd be in danger." And we would possibly be killed by the CIA or the crime group. It was best that I didn't tell her, no matter how much I wanted to. She didn't look as bored as I thought she would be, and she narrowed her eyes.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Wear more plain clothes with a spy suit underneath. Y'know, like a superhero." We walked back to my apartment.
"Don't talk to anyone you don't need to." At that moment in my counselling, I found Chloe outside of my door.
"Oh, hey Ben! And Erica." It was obvious that she hadn't heard what had happened.
"Hey, Chloe. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I, um, thought I left my watch here after truth or dare. Have you seen it?"
I gave her a confused look.
"No, I don't think so."
She peered into the apartment behind me.
"Can I look for it? It's really important to me. My mom gave it to me for my 16th birthday."
I weighed my options. If I let her in, she could figure out what we were doing. But it was Chloe. I had trusted her with my life before. I let her in. She shuffled around my room for a bit, and I walked back to Erica.
"You good?"
"Yeah," I answered, trying not to meet her eyes. I realised that by 'helping' her do this, I was basically trying to turn her into my Erica. That was impossible. My Erica didn't exist, and doing this would only bring me pain, especially if she found out that I was trying to mould her into something familiar to me. I needed to come clean now.
"What's wrong?"
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 up and my parents not knowing what I was talking about. I entailed my terror of seeing people who had died in the dream. I told her about my shock of seeing her in my classroom, and her not knowing me. The heartbreak of seeing her with Joshua because I knew it wouldn't end well and I was still in love with her. The feeling of foreboding. The moles. The sacrifices. Death. Everything I thought I had experienced. I continued up until this point. I told her about Experiment Aucipis. I told her that I was in danger of the syndicate finding out and coming to kill me. I couldn't let anyone get near me unless they could protect themselves. I described my anger at Joshua and myself for not seeing it earlier and letting her be hurt. I heard the door slam shut after a shout of Thanks from Chloe.
"And now I'm stuck here in an unfamiliar world, no chance at a normal life and no idea who the mole is." I finished unloading on her.
"You're not joking." It started out as a question but she finished it as a statement. I gave Erica a miserable shake of my head. I raised my head and stared at the wall in front of me with wide eyes.
"Murray," I said.
"What?" Erica looked confused.
"Murray Hill. He was the mole in my first year. He has to exist in real life, right? He's not in this grade, so he must have graduated and been working a desk job since. If I can find him, maybe I can get a lead!" I stood up.
"Thanks, Erica." I opened the door and in fell an eavesdropper. I growled. How much had he heard? Did he know about me? I picked him up by the collar.
"Talk," I snarled into the face of Warren Reeves.
YOU ARE READING
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...
