Disclaimer: I don't own this series or its characters

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for not updating in a very long time. I had other stuff going on and I needed inspiration. Thank you to @MonkeyMaster77 for helping me come up with the idea for this chapter and to edit it.

3 hours later...

Ben's POV:

After my very unproductive talk with Murray, I went back to my room and thought about what he had said. He said that he'd cause worldwide destruction. Does that mean nuking someone again? I sighed and looked at the clock. It's 0700 now. I should probably go to breakfast. Maybe Erica thought of something. I walk into the mess hall, which is abuzz with the usual weird conversation topics, and slide into my seat next to Zoe, Mike, Chip, and Jawa. "Hey Ben!" Zoe said enthusiastically. "What's up?" I shrugged. "You know, typical spy school business." Throughout breakfast, Zoe told me about her and Mike's much more successful Valentine's Day date and asked how my date went with Erica. I smiled and managed to not sound suspicious when I said that it went pretty well. I mean, from a spy's perspective, it did. We managed to capture Murray and get intel. But datewise, we didn't have much of a date. Oh well. Hopefully, we'll get another chance sometime.

Zoe's POV (Later in the day)

I think now that Ben and Erica are together, we should get them to hang out more. It also would be fun to have a friend's night together with our spy friends. Mike, Chip, and Jawa already agreed. Now I just need to convince the Ice Queen and find Ben somewhere. I headed toward the shooting range because Erica is there a lot. I strolled into the range and found Erica teaching Ben how to shoot a gun. Both of them were intensely focused on their task and didn't register the fact that I walked in. Erica was talking as I walked closer. "You have to keep a firm grip on the gun and make sure that you don't move your hand when you pull the trigger. If you do, your aim will be off and you will miss your target." Ben nodded, his brow furrowed in concentration. Raising the gun and aiming at the target, he aimed, fired, and actually hit the target. Wow! I started clapping. Ben spun around, startled, and relaxed when he saw me. Erica simply turned around and looked at me. "Is there something you want Zoe? Or do you just plan on standing here for 5 more minutes and watch Ben shoot?" I smiled. "Oh, I was wondering if you and Ben wanted to join in on the spy friend night we're going to have tonight. We're just going to relax, play some games, maybe watch a movie." Erica frowned. "I don't know. I don't think that's very good for our spy education. Maybe we won't go." Ben looked at Erica. "C'mon Erica, you need to relax. Maybe this will be good for you. I mean they're all our friends. What could happen?" Erica sighed. "Alright Ben, I'll do it for you." I grinned at them both and chirped, "Great! I'll see you tonight."

Erica's POV (Later that night):

After dinner, Ben and I headed for Zoe's room. I have to admit, that was a fun night out. We played truth or dare and I ended up daring Ben to go to the principal's office and scream Despacito at the wrong pitch. He turned red but got up and dragged himself to the principal's office. Glumly, he said, "Please don't kill me for doing this. It was a dare! If I don't do it Erica will probably murder me." I snickered and said, "Just do it already Ben." "Fine!" He threw up his hands and started half-singing, half-wailing. "Despacito, Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito, Deja que te diga cosas al oído, Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo." Zoe, Mike, Chip, Jawa, and I all cracked up as Ben turned beet red. After he finished the song, he started backpedaling quickly. The principal's face slowly turned red as he drew in a breath to scream. "Ripley!" he roared. "Get out!" Ben, still beet red, sprinted out of the room and back to Zoe's room, where we teased him as he died of embarrassment. That was the highlight of the night. As we left to go to bed at a ridiculously late hour, I slipped a note into Ben's pocket. Hopefully, he'd be discreet about finding it and the mission Cyrus had assigned us.

Ben POV:

God, that was the most humiliating thing I have ever done. Back at my room, I buried my head in my hands. I literally just shrieked Despacito in front of the principal. I will actually be the laughingstock of the whole school now. I tossed off my jacket and prepared to go to bed. I hope I'll get a decent night's sleep today. Wait a second. Did I feel something in my pocket? I fished around and found a scrap of paper. My heartbeat escalated as a grin split my face. Written in Erica's familiar handwriting, it said: Tomorrow, 2100 on the dot. Make sure you're not late. Cyrus has a mission for us and us only. Do not tell anyone about this. Destroy this note after you've read it. - Erica. I pumped my fist, thrilled. After so much time in spy school, I was actually excited about a mission now.

Ben's POV (The Next Day):

The day passed like any normal day. I managed to get through all my classes without injuring myself or anyone else, which I considered an accomplishment. At around 8:30, I knocked on Erica's door. I knew that the Hales considered you late if you got there on time. I was dressed in the black stealth suit that Catherine had made for me when I was running from the government. Erica opened the door, saw me, and nodded. She made a follow-me motion with her hand and we crept out of the dorm. As we stealthily crept through the school, I noticed that we weren't going in the right direction. We were walking up the stairs.

"Erica where are we going," I asked, somewhat confused. "To my room." "Uh, why though?" "I need to show you something." When we reached Erica's room I was about to open the door when Erica suddenly slapped my hand. "What was that for!?" "My room is trapped, dummy." Oh. I suddenly felt really dumb. Erica pulled out a pair of small tweezers and a small portable X-Ray scanner. "What did you alarm your door with!?" Erica didn't even bother responding. Knowing her, if she didn't grip the doorknob right her room would explode. After Erica finally unlocked her door, she went inside and went to a small closet. I didn't even bother asking. She punched some numbers into a keypad which I swear wasn't there 5 seconds ago and closed up her closet door. Suddenly an entire wall of her room bust open. She has a freaking secret room there.

She gestured me to follow her and began running down the brightly lit hallway. After about twenty minutes she abruptly stopped, causing me to almost run into her, and punched some more numbers into another extremely well-camouflaged keypad. The wall opened up again and I found myself in some sort of control room. There were widescreen monitors and maps of the Middle East on the wall. "Where are we?" I asked. "Under the reflecting pool." She replied nonchalantly. Wait. What? "And why are you showing me this?" "C'mon use your brain. You might need a place to lay low for a while, get some communications. It's a mini situation room really."

After that interesting detour, we met with Cyrus at the edge of campus. He handed Erica her tool belt, which she happily strapped on, and a tracking device in case we were captured. He also handed me a tool belt with chloroform, cyanide pills, and chewing gum. Then he said, "Erica says your shooting has improved greatly but I still don't trust you with a gun. Just take this grappling hook and try not to shoot yourself with it." I nodded nervously. "Don't screw this up, kid."

A/N Do you like it? As usual, please vote and comment if you have suggestions. I really am sorry for not updating. The updates should be more regular now. Once again, thank you @MonkeyMaster77 for your help with this chapter.