Spy School King's Cage (Completed)

Preparation

My suitcase sat on top of my desk, half-open. My jeans, sweatshirts and t-shirts sat in it with a couple of weapons I had to keep upon Erica's advice.

All I did was throw a couple of shorts in there, and I zipped it up. I changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

There was a soft knock on my door. Before I could open it, though, whoever was outside opened it themselves.

"All done?" Erica asked, walking into my room. She was wearing her standard black unitard, and her utility belt hung around her waist. She scanned my clothes and shook her head disapprovingly. "Seriously?"

"What?" I countered.

"Get into your unitard," she said. "It will suit you better."

"We're going to Alaska to live with the royal family for a while," I protested. "I can't wear that. It's the rainiest time of the year."

Erica rolled her eyes and grabbed my suitcase, opened it up and scanned over the contents. She smiled with satisfaction when she noticed how I didn't take out the weapons. "Looks good."

"Let's go," I said, and she walked out of my room. We walked to hers and she let me in. I sat on one of her chairs and watched as she poured tea into two cups.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

Erica shrugged. "We kill time."

"Kill time?" I repeated.
She nodded. "We have nothing to do."

"You're not the one to kill time."

Erica sighed. "I always kill time. You just...never notice."

"I don't notice a lot of things," I began, "but I do notice some things, like how you passed me a note."

She smiled. "I didn't think you'd find it."

"Hey!" I protested. "I'm not that dumb!"

She burst out laughing. I couldn't help but join in. This was one of the moments where Erica or I would crack a dumb joke, and we would burst out laughing. Erica told me it made her feel happier, and it gave her a break from iciness. We continued talking about weird things, not having anything else to do.

Erica's phone buzzed in her pocket. She whipped it out, read the text, and frowned.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"We have three minutes to report to Granddad," she replied. "Guess we killed too much time."

I got to my feet and grabbed my suitcase. Erica grabbed a suitcase not much bigger than mine, surprisingly. Erica was never one to pack so much.

She caught me eyeing her luggage. "What? We're on vacation, Ben," she remarked, using my line.

I could only smile as she walked out of the room. I trailed her as we inconspicuously wandered down the hallways until we finally reached the outside of the building.

Cyrus Hale was waiting for us, and the look on his face made it clear that he was not happy with us.

"Erica and Benjamin. What was so important that took you so long that made you six minutes late?" he thundered.

I shrank under his gaze. Erica looked at him dead in the eye, but she seemed at a loss for words as well. She obviously couldn't tell anyone that we were having fun.

"Leave it alone, Cyrus," Catherine spoke calmly. Then she turned to us. "Are you ready?"

We both nodded. "Where's everyone else?" I asked.