Chapter 1
"When all of this is over, I need my sanity back.”
Did I just say that out loud?
"You and me both," Aurelia muttered, brushing dirt off her knees.
A few days ago, I’d have been surprised she agreed with me. Now, after what we’ve been through, it’s just Tuesday.
We were perched on a jagged ridge overlooking a valley that stretched for miles — green melting into gold, the morning sun cutting through leftover mist. From up here, you could see everything: the rusted scaffolding of the old training compound below, the cracked roads, the river that ran like a silver thread through the forest. It would’ve been beautiful if it wasn’t crawling with people who wanted us dead.
Balancing school, social life, tutoring, and work tends to drive you insane. Especially when yourworkinvolves breaking into restricted government facilities and yourtutoringis four hours of hand-to-hand combat. But we make it work. We have to.
Mostly because our families think we’re just on another “study program.” You know — the usual“field trip across the globe”lie. And weirdly enough, it still works.
I glance at her. Aurelia — Lils, when we’re not trying to sound professional. She’s sitting on the edge of the cliff, boots swinging over the drop, eyes locked on the compound below. The early light catches her hair — a long black braid streaked with brown highlights, the kind of mission-approved hairstyle that keeps it out of her face but still manages to look unfairly perfect. Her warm tan skin, smooth under the faint blush scattered across her nose. Brown eyes that look like they’ve seen too much but still manage to hold that spark that makes me forget every rule I’m supposed to follow. A small diamond at the bottom of her left ear glints when she turns her head, a simple gold ring higher up.
Yeah. I’m done for.Right?
"But right now,”she says, voice crisp, “let’s focus on the case. Or else you’re writing my assignment.”
That’s the thing about her — she could be at gunpoint andstillbe worried about grades.
“There’s no way I’m doing yours,” I whisper, pulling up the scanner on my wrist. “I haven’t even started mine. Besides, she can’t put both of us in detention.”
“You’re right,” she says. “It’s a group project. So all four of us would be in detention. So you better finish yours.”
I frown. “You’re insufferable.”
“And yet you still hang around me.”
Before I can respond, our comms crackle.“Alright, kiddos,”Raven’s voice comes through, smooth and steady. “Enough chitchat. I’m in position.”
Lils smirks."Told you she was listening.”
“Raven, do you ever, I don’t know, take a vacation?” I ask.
“My vacation is when you two manage to complete a mission without getting caught,” she replies. “Still waiting on that.”
“Harsh,” I mutter.
“Accurate,” she says. “Now, listen. Two guards patrolling north entrance. Cameras down for ninety seconds. You’re clear to move. Don’t make me regret this.”
“You say that like it’s ever up to us,” Lils whispers.
“Move, agents.”
We start down the ridge. The rocks are slick, the air thick with the smell of rain and mud. Birds scatter overhead. Every crunch of gravel underfoot sounds louder than it should.
“Remind me again why we’re the ones doing this?” Lils whispers.
“Because we’re the only ones dumb enough to say yes.”
“Fair.”
We reach the bottom — an expanse of cracked concrete littered with rusted barrels and broken fencing. The compound looms ahead, all steel walls and shadows. It looks abandoned. It’s not.
“North entrance, two guards,” Raven says in our ears. “You take left, he takes right. Quietly.”
“Quietly’s my middle name,” I whisper.
“Your middle name is Chaos,” Lils shoots back.
"Okay. Maybe it is.”
She slips into the shadows first, crouched low, moving with that fluid precision that makes her impossible to track. I wait for her signal — a flick of her hand — before moving in. One guard goes down with a swift jab from her. The second doesn’t even have time to shout before I hit him with a stun dart.
“Clear,” she whispers.
“You’re welcome,” I whisper back.
“You almost missed.”
"Almost doesn’t count.”
“It does when we’re dead, genius.”
We slip through the side door, into darkness. The hallway smells like dust and burnt wiring. Old lights flicker overhead. Somewhere deep inside, servers hum — the sound we’ve been tracking all week.
“Raven, we’re in,” Lils murmurs.
“Good. Straight ahead, second door on your left. The drive should be in the main terminal. And Nick—”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t touch anything that looks like it might explode.”
“You take the fun out of everything.”
The control room’s smaller than I expected — rows of dead monitors, cables coiled across the floor like snakes. The terminal sits in the center, humming faintly, a single light blinking red.
Lils plugs in the decryptor, typing fast. Her brow furrows, a crease forming between her eyes.
"Problem?” I ask.
“Firewall’s thicker than expected. Give me thirty seconds.”
“You have fifteen.”
“You wanna come do it, genius?”
“Nope. Watching you work is half the fun.”
She rolls her eyes but doesn’t look up. “Remind me again why you’re my partner?”
"Because I’m charming, funny, and occasionally useful.”
"Two lies and a maybe.”
The screen flashes green. The drive ejects with a soft click. She grabs it, slipping it into her vest pocket.
“Got it.”
"Finally,” I say. “Now can we leave before this place decides to explode—”
The alarms blare.
Of course they do.
“Raven?” Lils hisses.
“You’ve got company. Extraction point south side, now!”
We bolt. Boots pounding against concrete, breath ragged, red lights strobing down the corridor. Voices echo behind us — shouts, heavy footsteps, gunmetal clattering.
We burst through a service exit, sunlight hitting our faces like a slap. I grab her hand without thinking, and we run. Trees whip past, the compound shrinking behind us.
“You always have to make an entrance,” she gasps.
“You started it!”
“You triggered the alarm!”
“No I didn’t.”
By the time we reach the extraction ridge, my lungs are on fire. The helicopter’s waiting — blades slicing the air, kicking up dust. Raven’s silhouette stands at the open hatch, motioning us forward.
“Nice of you to show up,” she says dryly as we climb aboard.
“We try,” I manage between breaths.
Lils slumps into the seat beside me, hair sticking to her temple, eyes still bright. Raven gives us both a long look.
“You two cause more chaos than a storm,” she says, shaking her head.
“That’s because we’re efficient,” I grin.
“That’s not the word I’d use.”
The chopper lifts, tilting toward the horizon. The compound disappears beneath the clouds.
Lils exhales, shoulders sinking. “We actually pulled it off before 7.”
“Told you we would,” I say.
“You also told me we wouldn’t get caught last time.” She added shooting me a glare that would probably kill me if she meant to.
“And we didn’t!”
“We ended up in a sewer.”
“Semantics.”
She laughs — soft and breathless, but real.
I look at her — hair a little messy, cheeks flushed from the run, eyes still sharp even after everything. The wind’s whipping through the cabin, tugging at her braid, catching in the sunlight that spills through the open hatch. She’s talking to Raven about the next step, but her voice drifts in and out — and I’m not even listening anymore.
Because somewhere between the chaos and the quiet, I fell for her. Hard. No hesitation, no warning — just straight into freefall.
She’s everything I shouldn’t want on a mission — unpredictable, impossible, infuriating — and somehow, everything I can’t walk away from. She drives me insane and saves my life in the same breath. She argues like it’s her love language, smiles like she’s already figured out the next five steps, and looks at me like maybe —maybe— I’m not completely hopeless.
Yeah, I’m head over heels for the girl who treats danger like breakfast and calls explosions “a spicy curry”.
And if anyone asks, I’ll tell them the truth —it’s not strategy. It’s not smart.It’s a tactical disaster.
But it’s the only mission I’ve ever been sure of.
Because if falling for her is my biggest mistake,then it’s one I’ll keep making —over and over again.
After all, even agents have blind spots —and mine just happens to have a braid, a death wish,and the most dangerous smile I’ve ever seen.
Author’s Note:Mission Report: Chapter 1—Successfully survived. Barely.
If you’ve reached this point, congratulations — you’re now officially part of the chaos squad. 🎖️Your next assignment: vote, comment, and drop your wild theories below. (Trust me, Raven’s probably reading them.)
Remember: feedback fuels the mission, waffles fuel the agents, and sarcasm is our only coping mechanism.
Stay tuned for Chapter 2 — where things getmessier, louder,and possibly more illegal.Until then, stay undercover, stay dramatic, and don’t let anyone catch you scrolling Wattpad at 3 a.m. 😎
— AUTHOR, signing off 🕶️
