Agent 57 (Book 2)

Chapter 3

Cody's POV

"If you would just-" Nicky starts again, only to be cut off once again by Thirteen.

"No."

"Will you let me fin-"

"I said no."

"But if we-"

"How many times do I have to say no?" Thirteen questions and Nicky huffs in the driver's seat.

"You need to get that wound checked out-"

"I repeat n-" This time, Thirteen's cut off as Nicky slaps her hand over her mouth and glares at her.

"I don't care what you have to say, I'm the one driving, therefore, we are going to the hospital." She gives Thirteen a stern look and removes her hand from covering Thirteen's mouth.

If I wasn't still pissed off at Thirteen, I would probably be enjoying the scene as much as Devin currently is. It is amusing to watch Thirteen get bossed around for once.

"What on earth, am I supposed to tell them when they asked what happened?" Thirteen finally asks after a long pause, giving into Nicky's request/demand.

"That you cut yourself while cooking?"

"I cut myself, in the shoulder, while cooking? Are you insane? Who in their right mind would believe that?"

"You could say you were having a knife fight with a friend," Devin suggests and Thirteen turns in her seat to giving him a look of disbelief, wincing as she does so.

"Are you suggesting this from personal experience?" She asks him sweetly and he scowls at her.

"Just make up something believable," Nicky grumbles.

***

"My psychotic mass murdering ex-boyfriend stabbed me with a dagger."

The nurse pales and stands there open-mouthed at Thirteen's explanation. Nicky faces palms, Jason throws his hands up in the air and exits the room, Chase just mutters something under his breath and shakes his head, Devin shoves his fist in his mouth to prevent himself from laughing, tears streaming down his face. I just smile slightly and roll my eyes.

"W-Wh-What?" The nurse stammers. Nicky elbows Thirteen who simply rolls her eyes.

"Sorry." She says taking a deep breath. "I cut myself while cooking." She offers and the nurse just stands there opening and closing her mouth in shock.

"You're unbelievable," Nicky mutters quietly. She grabs hold of both mine and Devin's wrists, pulling us out of the room and Chase follows. "We'll be waiting out here." She says to Thirteen. She releases our wrists to close the door.

"You're Cody, right?" She asks me, I just nod in response.

"Oh good," She says simply before sending her fist flying into the side of my face. I stumble back slightly in shock and rub my cheek. Damn that girl can punch.

"What the hell did I do?" I growl out at her, glaring.

She sends me a look that puts all of Thirteen's glares to shame, gently massaging her knuckles in her hand. "If you so much as look at her wrong, or if you actually have the audacity to insult her like that in front of me again, I will make your life a living hell."

My gaze darkens as I glare back at Nicky. "You're threatening an Agent, I'd watch your tongue if I were you."

"Why? You might be an Agent, but I've got nothing to lose. You've heard Forty-five's threats, you've seen what she can do, but believe me...I'm so much worse."

"Forgive me if I don't believe you considering I've never even heard of you. One good punch doesn't mean you're better than anyone."

She lets out a haunting and humorless laugh. "Oh I can't fight to save my life, that punch was a lucky hit." She crosses her hands over her chest and continues to glare, not backing down.

"Let's put this in terms you might understand..." She starts in a low and venomous tone, "Forty-five is the best Agent in the agency, a Good Guy, but me?...I'm no good guy, I've never played by the rules and I've never been caught. The law doesn't stop me. I'm a Bad Guy if I want something I get it." She takes a step closer to me. "So if I want to make your life hell...not even Forty-five can stop me."

She whirls away from me and takes a seat in one of the chairs, pulling out her phone and flipping through it. I stand there shocked for a moment until Devin speaks.

"Why do you keep calling her Forty-five?" He questions Nicky. She glances up from her phone at him.

"Because that's her number." She replies, giving him a look as if he's the stupidest person she's ever encountered before going back to looking at her phone.

He scowls at her. "No, her number is 13."

She looks up from her phone to him again shaking her head. "No, it's not..." She trails off a thoughtful look on her face. "How long has she gone by Thirteen?"

Devin shrugs. "It's the only number she gave us when we first met."

Nicky shakes her head again. "No, no, no, How long has the "myth" of Thirteen, been spread around your agency?" She uses her hands to make quotations as she talks.

"Like three or four years," Chase speaks up, answering for Devin.

She nods and a look of understanding shows on her face but she says nothing.

"Care to share?" I snap at her and she glares at me.

"Four years ago was when her team was killed."

"So?"

"So," She starts, throwing me an irritated look. "Her brother's number was 13." It's silent as realization washes over all of us. "Her original number was 45. She must have changed it after he died."

It's quiet for a moment before Devin asks her another question.

"What was that dagger she gave him?"

Nicky sighs. "It's an exact replica of hers except..." She trails off.

"Except what?"

She shifts in her seat uncomfortably. "It has, well...think of it as a built-in mini furnace inside the blade. When the button is pressed...the blade can heat up anywhere from 100 to 500 degrees."

All our eyes widen in shock.

"He stabbed her with that?!" I practically yell. Devin snickers and hold his hands up like a pair of scissors, mouthing, 's****l tension' to me. I glare at him.

"Where the hell would you even get something like that?" Jason asks. "Actually I take that back, who would even make something like that?"

Nicky looks even more uncomfortable than before, I narrow my eyes at her.

"I made it." She finally says.

"Why?!" We all chorus in unison.

She flinches slightly at our yelling. "It was a gift...not meant for Garrett."

"Then who was it meant for?" I press.

She looks like she's mentally debating something before finally speaking.

"Years ago she and her team helped me, I wasn't the best person in the world and they gave me a second chance." She says and stares down at her phone. "As a thank-you and a sort of promise that I wouldn't do what I use to do again...I made each member of the team a weapon. That dagger was..." She trails off as if trying to recall something. "Agent 83's...Brandon, I believe his name was but I can't remember for sure."

"So you made Thirteen's dagger as well." Chase speaks up. She shakes her head as a response.

"You just said you made each member of the team a weapon."

"Yes but that dagger wasn't hers," Nicky responds simply. "I made her a gun. The dagger was Adrianna's."

"Adrianna's?" Devin questions her before turning to all of us. "Isn't that the name she gave Zack when she first met him?"

"Doesn't surprise me," Nicky interjects with a shrug. "Forty-five may seem cruel at times, but that doesn't mean she lacks emotions. She cares about people, a lot more than she'd ever admit." She leans back in the chair and goes back to her phone. "Any more questions?"

"You knew her first team." Chase states and Nicky nods. "What where they like? Other than Garrett."

She silent for a moment as she thinks it over. "They were selfless, brave and loyal. I'd never a group of people as close to each other as they were." She smiles slightly. "There were seven on the team including Forty-five. Brandon, Adrianna, Moria, Garrett, Lily, and JD."

"Which one was her brother?" I question quietly.

"JD." She replies.

"And her best friend? Agent 57?"

"That was Lily," Nicky responds with a smile. "She was...different. I bonded with her more than I did anyone else on the team." She says thoughtfully. "Her and Forty-five were closer than sisters."

Devin opens his mouth, probably to ask another question, but suddenly there's loud scream followed closely by glass shattering. Nicky's up faster than any of us and runs to the door, throwing it open.

Thirteen stands at the base of the shattered window, looking down at the concrete sidewalk a few stories down. The nurse is nowhere to be seen. She turns towards us as she hears the door open and makes her way over to us grabbing Nicky's wrist as she passes her.

"Let's go to the hospital, Garrett will never think to look for us there," She mimics Nicky's voice except she's purposely a few octaves too high. "You're an idiot." She mutters and drags Nicky out of the room at a quick pace.

"Now hurry up we're all going to get shot at soon." She shouts over her shoulder to us as we stare at the window in shock. We quickly turn and follow after her.

"The nurse?" Nicky questions as Thirteen drags her through the hallways.

"Tried to inject me with something other than numbing medication...so I injected her with it and threw her out the window" Thirteen responds, letting go of Nicky's wrist. "See how she likes being the damn lab rat."

Thirteen pulls her phone out of her pocket as she jogs through the hallways, her bad arm tucked against her side. She types a quick text message and slides the phone back into her pocket.

"Who were you texting?" Nicky asks her.

"The mercenaries still waiting outside." Thirteen mutters as she shoves open the door to the staircase. "I'm not paying them for doing nothing. We'll be covered as soon as we get out of here."

"Mercenaries? That's who those people were?" Devin asks and Thirteen nods. "You're paying them? Why didn't you get Zero to send some extra agents?"

"Me and Zero are not exactly on speaking terms at the moment." She does her best to make her voice come out neutral, but I catch on to the pure anger hidden behind her words.

"Why?"

"Drop it Devin." She says simply.

"But why?"

"I said drop it. Look, he doesn't want to see me and I don't want to see him let's just leave it at that."

"But what did he do?" Devin presses. A look of realization crosses his face. "What did you do?"

"Nothing...but I'm not welcome in the agency for the next...month or so."

"Why?"

"No reason."

"Why?" Devin continues to press her. Nicky interrupts, putting his curiosity to rest.

"Because she stabbed him."