The Agency: ICE (Book 1)

Chapter 9: Test of Abilities

"Why did you spend so much time with him if he wasn't your biological brother?"

"A lot of reasons. The main one was that he was the only boy who didn't treat me differently just because I was a girl. Plus, he was cute."

"But why treat him like family instead of a friend?"

"Well, I never had a baby brother growing up. Besides, even if he is a friend, he felt like more, but not in a romantic way. He just emits this friendly and loving flavor. It made me realize you can find family in some really, really amazing friends."

"But your true family seems really nice."

"That doesn't mean I can't add more people to my family. Besides, my mom basically adopted him when she first saw him."

"Can I see a photo of him?"

"Yeah... here!"

"Dios mío, his smile is contagious. And his eyes!"

"I told you they looked like the ring. Here... this is another one from when he was in University."

"...I feel like I've seen him from somewhere though."

"What do you mean?"

"The slight pain in his eyes is familiar..."

"Hmmm... sadly, he's gone through a lot of pain for his age. It's surprising how he managers to stay sane."

"Is he still in pain?"

"...he tries to hide it all the time and say he's fine, but the minute you actually look into his eyes, you know he's lying..."

"Aye... ¿por qué llores?"

"B-because he's really good at lying..."

**********

"LIAAAAAAAAAMM!!!"

Even though it's been a few hours, the sound of his hoarse cries still echoed in my head. I knew he had PTSD, but his condition was worse than I thought. How is he working for a military organization if his mental health was that terrible? It could be an aftereffect from the crimes he's committed in the past, but staying in the Agency seemed like a stupid move.

But here's the weird part: even though I had clearly heard Agent Bella scream out that name, no one else did. I don't have auditory hallucinations. I know I heard his scream clearly from where we encountered each other last. And yet no one heard the screams. Not even Crystal.

Maybe stress is getting to me. Maybe I just need to get a full eight hours of sleep instead of four. Maybe I need to vanish and pretend I didn't exist for a second.

"Stop zoning out, Nikolaev," Crystal said in Turkish. "We're going to visit these Agents before they head out to the Scout Scurry in a little bit."

I shook my head. "S-sorry. I just have a lot on my mind."

Crystal was leading me and some other Nurses to the Scouting Grounds by Speedway to check the physical conditions of all the Scouts competing in the Scout Scurry. Apparently they gave this job to the new Nurses with the help of the Trauma Unit. I guess it wasn't as necessary as helping Agents with severe issues like PTSD.

Crystal suddenly sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I guess I can't blame ya," she said in her accented English. "You are a single daddy. Not to mention a busy doctor. Must be exhaustin' to be ya."