Jaden

Coach proudly informed us that our team was ahead of schedule with nothing much to do now except research and check cameras, constantly. Tyler and I decided to hang out on the balcony with the calming, fresh air surrounding us and the balmy sun brightly shining from above. It felt nice, relaxing actually, but it was also pretty hot out here so I wore some shorts, a tank top, and an NYC hat I bought at the gift shop earlier to keep the sun from scorching my face to a crisp.

"But Freeman is shit compared to McTower. How are we even friends?" Tyler said as I rocked back and forth in my chair with my foot on the balcony table.

I smiled, swiping through the article I was reading on the tablet, "You'll regret saying that..."

He clearly doesn't know football as well as I do.

"Oh yeah?" He tested.

"Mhm. Owls play Hounds next week. I bet you 40 bucks we win."

He eyed me for a moment before shrugging arrogantly, "Alright, bet..." he confirmed before taking a few gulps out of his water bottle then asked, "Find anything yet?"

I glanced up at him then handed him the tablet, "I think so... I keep finding these weird theories on the suspects but it's not clear if they're true."

He skimmed through it then shook his head. "I'm pretty sure Fire Catcher is not transgender and... Wait... I've heard of this one before..." he placed the tablet in the middle of the table for both of us to view, "Fire Catcher and Freak Show's hunt for their daughter."

I pulled the tablet closer to me, listening as he continued, "There are tons of different stories on just this one conspiracy. There was this one interesting story that I think is the most accurate..."

I looked up at him, wanting to hear it.

"They take little kids and kill the ones that don't match their DNA. It's weird though, they've been doing this show for decades. I would think the girl is all grown up by now but they keep targeting young children."

"And you think that is the most accurate?"

He nodded, "Compared to the other ones, yeah."

"Something isn't adding up..." I sighed and rocked back in my chair, "What if the girl doesn't exist? These people could be on some serious drugs or something."

He shrugged, "What if they aren't criminals? We could be misled by this whole thing. It could be someone else backstage and Fire Catcher and her husband is taking the blame to cover it all up."

He had a point but there's no proof of that. Criminals or not, they're still the suspects. It's their show, they should know what's going on behind the scenes which is why we need them for questioning, which is exactly what I told Tyler.

"Hope you two bums are getting some work done."

I winced then we both looked up to the balcony above, where the voice came from.

"Is that Nicole?" Tyler squinted through the sun. My heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name.

"Hell yeah..." I smiled. "Be right back."

I jumped out of my seat and stuck the handle of the tablet's case in my mouth as I made my way to the railing, hopping from it, to the brick pole, then jumped onto Nicole's balcony, grabbing the railing and holding myself up all in one quick movement.

She laughed, grabbing the tablet out of my mouth, "I'm impressed... Your upper body strength has really improved."

"Mhm, gimme a kiss." I bit my lip playfully.

She shook her head, "No. You've already stolen my first one from me."

The thought made me smile, "Your first? Then let me take your second one. And the third and the fourth and the fifth." I wiggled my tongue like a lizard at her.

She smirked and cupped both of her hands on my face, "How about you shut your mouth before your tongue ends up in your ass?" she wiggled her tongue back at me, mocking me.

Her lizard impression was sexier though. She moved it slower than I did and it turned me on quick so I attempted to bite it but she quickly moved her face back, laughing as she walked over to one of the seats.

"You're such a tease..." I chuckled as I swung my legs over the railing and followed her, taking a seat next to her. I smiled, thinking about what she said earlier, "Did you say something about me stealing your first kiss earlier? 'Cause if you did, I don't believe you."

She opened the tablet, glancing up at me, "How is that hard to believe? I told you I don't date people."

"Yeah, but you could've at least done it just for fun before. Those count too."

She shook her head, "Jaden... You were first. Congrats." she sounded slightly disappointed. As convincing as she sounds, I still couldn't believe her.

She has to be lying... A girl wouldn't kiss like that unless she's experienced or she's a...

I raised my fist to my lips and admired her with my eyes, "Ooooh! My baby's a freak?"

She looked up from the tablet, giving me a slight sneer for a moment then snickered, "You don't stop, do you?"

"Nah..." I scooted closer to her and grabbed the tablet, showing her the article I found. "Have you seen this?"

"What is it?"

"It's an article I found with a few conspiracies and theories on the Twisted Reality. I wanted you to look at them and see if they could be helpful." I slid the tablet in front of her.

She pursed her lips and picked it up, skimming and briefly swiping through it. "Um... The font is really small on here."

"Just zoom in." I did that for her.

She rolled her eyes, "I don't want to read it. Why don't you read it?"

I chuckled, "You don't have to read all of it. Just, like, these two paragraphs."

She sighed and looked at the screen with her hand on her forehead. After a long moment of her not moving the screen and I guess, stopped reading altogether, I raised an eyebrow.

Is she even trying? She looks lost as shit.

My mind veered back to that time we were at the drive-thru of Krispy Kows. The time she thought "cows" was spelled c-o-u-s...

She can't read...? She can't read!

That explains why the majority of her notes are made up of visuals like maps, graphs, and only a few words or simple sentences used to label or describe things.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Nicole..." I cautiously said. "D- do you understand it?"

She pushed the tablet back to me and crossed her arms, "Yes. I do."

I smiled unsurely, "What did it say?"

Her cheeks turned red as she looked at her hands and played with her nails. She then clasped her hands together, annoyance clear in her tone and expression, "It says that if you keep asking me questions, I'll have a drill up your nose."

My mouth gaped open in shock, "You can't read, can you?"

She quickly looked up at me, opening her mouth to say something but then stopped herself.

"Nicki... Why didn't you just tell me?"

She tucked her tongue under her cheek, avoiding eye contact with me. Embarrassed, ashamed. Thing is, she didn't need to be. Not when she has me around.

"You can trust me. I can help you."

"I don't want help!" she gritted her teeth.

"Okay, shh..." I rubbed her shoulder to keep her from yelling before saying, "But I still want you to tell me what's going on."

She took a deep breath, "Alright, fine. I'm an illiterate piece of shit. Happy?"

I bit my lip feeling a bit worried, "No... I'm not, actually... Look, I know you feel that people shouldn't be involved in and nosey about your personal life but I don't give a damn about that, I'm going to help you. After the mission, I'm making you priority number one."

She rolled her eyes, "It's not that serious. I've been perfectly fine without the skill, you don't need to waste time with it when you could be doing something much more important."

"Like I said, I don't give a damn. You are important."

She stared at me for a moment, a look of slight disbelief in my words. When a smirk grew on her face she looked away from me, making me smile.

She might just let me do this for her.

"Alright... Get back before Coach starts looking for you," she said, standing to leave.

Hold on there...

I stood up also and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to me, "Give me a kiss first."

She only shoved my face back with a laugh, "I said leave!"

I laughed as well, "Alright, alright, I'll see ya later, babe." I grabbed the tablet and headed back to the railing.

"Wait! Jaden..."

I stopped and smiled at her, assuming that she was about to change her mind and let me kiss her this time, "Yeah?" I responded.

"I almost forgot to give you this since you were being so annoying." I watched as she headed into the condo and came out a short moment later with one of her MK-18s she got delivered to her back at the headquarters.

"You're letting me have it?" I asked as she placed it in my hands.

She shrugged humbly, "I told Simon I only needed one. It'll be useful for the mission, but only if we absolutely have to use it."

I admired its fresh look and spotless finish. I was almost at a loss for words, "Thanks..." was all I could say, knowing that she isn't the giving type. I felt really special that she chose to give it to me like that.

"No problem. Just try to keep it all in one piece. It's still my baby."

"So, I'm the dad now and it's our child? I like the sound of that." I winked.

She closed her eyes, trying not to get aggravated, "Sure, why not. Now, get out of my face, I'll see you in what? 10 minutes?"

"Yes, ma'am! Thanks again, Nicki. I seriously appreciate it." After she nodded I headed back to where I entered through and swung my legs back over the railing, catching her smile before I climbed down to my balcony.

See ya later, Nicki.

Just as I was heading back indoors, Dylan opened the door before I could reach it, "There you are. It's just about time to leave. Coach Jackson said that it's time to get your gear ready."

"No problem, lil bro. I'm actually doing that right now."

Nicole

I headed inside of the condo, trying to stop my smile but that idiot always found a way to keep it on my face.

He did until I heard bickering coming from the living room.

"Can you just give it back? That ring is irreplaceable." the quiet girl, who's name I still didn't know, said. I remember someone telling me that she's one of our spies.

Tabitha rolled her eyes as she moved her attention from the computer to the girl that spoke to her, "For the last time, honey, I don't have any of your private items on me." she said passive-aggressively. "I don't have the time to go grabbing things that won't benefit this mission."

Rebecca rubbed her temples and calmly said, "If Tabi says she didn't take it, she didn't take it. We'll look for it after we complete our assignment."

The girl's face looked as if she was going to cry over it, "You and Rebecca are the only people I share a room with. And I saw you touching my case!"

I spotted Dani on the couch, watching them. I made my way to the couch and sat next to her to lean in and ask in a whisper, "Uh... What are they fighting about?"

She smiled, "Apparently, blondie stole Scarla's diamond ring."

I let out a small chuckle, "Rose gold?"

She nodded with suspicion, "You've seen it?"

"I have it."

We both laughed silently and Dani said, "You better give it back. She'd turn you in if she finds out you stole it from her."

"What are you two laughing at over there?" Tabitha asked with a small sneer.

I chuckled, "Both of you." I then turned to Scarla, "Tabitha doesn't have your precious ring, she isn't into that kind of thing."

Her eyes widened, "Where is it?"

I shrugged, pretending to be clueless, "I don't know. It was just laying around on the floor but I didn't care to pick it up. I'll help you look."

She nodded hopefully and began searching the floors.

I headed to my room to get the stupid ring while she did a desperate search for it. I didn't have a problem with handing it back over to her. After pocketing the watch from the mall, I found her little ring to be rather dull compared to it.

"You played that off nicely..." Dani said, watching me from the doorway.

I took the ring out of my drawer and put it in my pocket, "Yeah, well, I don't need to get another report filed under my name."

She chuckled and walked in, taking a seat on the bed, "I like you... You remind me a lot like myself."

"Do I?"

She nodded slowly, "You're smart and act with dominance as well as confidence without losing your better judgment. Of all of the agents here, I find myself bonding well with you, don't you think?"

I looked at her, pleased by those complimenting words but have to disagree with that last portion. I then shook my head, "Not at all... I don't form alliances here. I only show up to get work done."

She nodded with a satisfied smirk as I headed out to hand the ring, that supposedly belongs to her beloved grandmother, back to Scarla, pretending that I found it under the dining table.

That girl Dani is quite mysterious. It interested me a bit but I'm not going to bother trying to get to know her. If anything, she should stay away from me.