*Louis’s POV*

To finally be able to know, I was happy, and slightly nervous. We were sitting on a bench outside, away from the view of the tour bus, but in a place where we could hear if they were to ever call me out. I stared down at Cat. She was relaxed against the bench, though tense enough to jump up if she had to. My side was resting against the back, my leg pulled up to rest on the bench as I faced her. My lazily hung on the back of the bench, keeping myself relaxed.

“I’ve been a part of the CIA ever since I can remember.” Cat started. “From the moment I was introduced to the agency, I never realized it then, but I knew I was being tested. It was pretty simple how they started me out. They would ask me questions and look to see what my answers would be. They would give me hypothetical situations and see how I would react to it. It was a never ending trivia quiz for me. It lasted for a few years.

“I won’t go into detail, but they put me through certain tasks that I soon learned was nothing more than training. I knew was I being raised as a secret agent for the CIA. It made sense. I was never accompanied through the outside world. The only other peer I knew was my sister.” She paused for a second, as if she was going to add something, but decided against it. “Other than her and the officials in HQ, you’re the only other person I’ve personally made contact with.”

Her head turned as she looked up at me. “I was really scared to even want to get you involved. I couldn’t bring myself to trust anyone, not with what I thought was my family to come out and kill me. Either way, ever since I made that phone call just now, so much has started to make sense to me.”

“Like what?” I brought myself to ask.

She let out a breath that could be passed as a laugh. “I’m not even related to my family. All these years I grew up thinking we were blood. Now I know all of that was a lie. Agent Lee never mentioned anything about an adoption either…” She rubbed her forehead, taking a deep breath. “There’s just so much I don’t even know yet. To think the CIA would want to raise me under their eye and next thing I know they want me dead…”

I couldn’t help but give her a look of sympathy. She has lost everything and had nothing to look back on. She was now running away from what she used to think as her family. I felt really sorry for her. And scared. That was a feeling I couldn’t shake.

“So you never had access to the world outside your home?” I asked, bringing my hand down and turning to sit properly on the bench.

She nodded. That was so a different story for me. I got to travel the world with my best mates and this girl was always locked inside her home. I stood up from the bench, her eyes on me as I went to walk about ten feet from the bench and turn around. “Hey, you said you grew up with the CIA, so are you some kind of fighting ninja or something?”

I jumped to spread my feet apart, throwing out some random karate chop moves. “Are you asking if I can fight?”

I grinned. “Yeah. Can you?”

She stood up from the bench, taking a few steps to where she was about five feet from me. A grin came onto her face as she put each hands on her hips. “Well, why don’t you come after me and find out?”

I gaped some. Was she really suggesting I come over and hit her? “No way.” I said, holding up my hands.

“What? You scared to hit a girl? Or are you too afraid you’ll get your ass kicked?”

Okay, she was really good about pushing my buttons. I huffed, walking over toward her. I stopped in front of her and she just stood, waiting on my move. God, forgive me for this. I reached back, getting ready to punch her. I didn’t put all my might into it, but Cat didn’t hold back. She easily pushed my arm to the side, followed by throwing me over her shoulder and throwing me on the asphalt on my back.

She was on top of me, elbow down to keep my arm from moving and hand on my other arm. I coughed some. “Okay.” I gasped. “That hurt. Remind me to never piss you off.”

Her green eyes seem to be lit up with life. Her smile was broad and bigger than I’ve ever seen it before. She has smiled before, but I’ve never seen her smile out of mere happiness or entertainment. She was shaking with small laughter. It was a moment to be free. The worries and troubles she held in her mind were gone. She leaned back away from me, still laughing as she looked up at the sky. I grunted as I rose up to a sitting position.

“Thank you, Louis.” I heard. I looked over, seeing her. She was still looking up at the sky.

She wasn’t laughing anymore. She brought her eyes from the sky to me. I could see a tear starting to fall. I brought my hand up, my thumb wiping it away. “Stay strong.” I said, a small smile on my face. “But if you want, you can cry. You have every right to.”

She let the tears fall right then. I reached back, pulling her head into my shoulder, letting her cry. I could feel her clutch onto my shirt. “You’re not alone.” I added. “No matter how hopeless it all seems. I’m here for you, okay?”

She nodded into my shoulder. No person deserved what she was going through, Cat least of all. To find out her life was nothing but a lie, it was overwhelming. But I wanted her to know, not all of it was for the worse. We got to meet, and to be honest, I was happy to know her. Now that I know some of her story, or at least enough now that I can understand her troubles and where they lie within. Thoughts of her early warnings came to mind. The CIA could very well kill me along with her. I didn’t want to die, but was I prepared for it when the time came, that is if it ever did?

I wasn’t sure if I made up my mind then, but my attention was toward the girl crying on my shoulder. I guess I would know when the time came.

Notes

My gosh, thank you guys for all of the comments and votes :) I'm glad all of you are enjoying this story as much as I am writing it! Thank you so much! I'm doing the best I can in writing as fast as I can, but it's hard when you're trying to write three different stories! Thank you all for being so patient! <3 :)