11

Two and a half hours.

That's how long Carmen stayed in Clayton and Coltons hotel room helping Clayton plan for the mission.

It was torture for the both of them, Carmen felt uncomfortable with even breathing around Clayton and his negative energy. He could say the same about Carmen. Her knowledge about just how much he doesn't like her stuck in her head the whole time, and any time she put out a suggestion to what he was saying, she would hold her breath in case she had said the wrong thing that would cause him to snap at her. But much to her surprise, he kept his composure and didn't react angrily to anything she said. However, that doesn't mean that he bothered to maintain eye contact with her at any given point aside from a few glances. He kept his jaw tightened and eyes locked on the many papers in front of them. After some while, Colton strolled back into the room and blinked a few times at the both of them in surprise, as if he were shocked to see the two of them calmly sitting across from each other on opposite beds. He instantly walked over to Carmen and plopped down beside her to read over what they had planned.

Between the two of them, they'd memorized all entry points of the lowest floor of the building where the event would be taking place, including escape routes for Alexa, Luke and Ainsley if something were to go wrong. They'd also devised three different back up plans just in case. Colton was pleasantly surprised and laughed before asking whether or not they'd be mad if he decided to say that they seem to make a pretty good team. Clayton only rolled his eyes and got up to head for the bathroom. Once he shut the door behind him, Carmen took this as her cue to leave and decided to head back to her room.

Ainsley didn't return until several hours later, carrying a bag of take out food and still wearing her bathing suit. She set the bag of food on the dresser beneath the TV mounted on the wall and looked to Carmen.

"There's orange chicken in there if  you want it. I know you used to like it, so I made sure that they didn't cross-contaminate it with shrimp or crab," she said without looking at Carmen as she dug through her suitcase.

Ainsley went into the bathroom to change into her clothes for the night. In that moment, Carmen debated throwing the entire bag of food out the window just to piss Ainsley off, but as soon as she approached the plastic bag and the smell of the food stung her nose, her stomach grumbled at her. She sighed and grabbed the oyster pail full of orange chicken as well as a fortune cookie and a set of chopsticks. Carmen returned to the bed and sat down to begin eating. A few minutes passed and Ainsley eventually came out of the bathroom in a grey hoodie and sweatpants. She looked up to see Carmen silently eating the food and she wore a satisfied smile.

A smile that Carmen wanted to smack right off her face.

Ainsley grabbed her own food and sat down onto her bed, folding her legs beneath her.

"You're welcome," Ainsley murmured.

"Whatever," Carmen said.

Ainsley looked up to her in shock. "So, she speaks?"

Carmen gripped her chopsticks a bit tighter and didn't say another word.

Ainsley unwrapped the fortune cookie first and cracked it open to reveal the slip of paper inside. She took it out and read it outloud, "When one door closes, another opens."

She shrugged and shoved the cookie aside, and opened her own box to begin eating the fried rice inside.

Carmen looked to her own cookie and set aside her chicken to read the paper inside. Once she cracked open the cookie, she pulled out the paper and her eyes followed the words written across it: You will experience many changes in the near future.

She pressed her lips into a hard line and forced herself not to glance at Ainsley out of the corner of her eye. This was a bit of a late warning, she thought to herself.

**

"You're joking," Carmen's raspy voice groaned at Colton.

He had come pounding on their hotel room door at 6:45 in the morning, fully dressed in work out gear and telling Carmen to get dressed and ready to train.

"I'm one-hundred percent serious." He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms with a smile.

Carmen rubbed her eyes tiredly and squinted at him. "You're telling me they have a special room designed for CIA trainees in this hotel?"

Colton shook his head, "No. But, they do have a gym that's decked out with machines and weights. Your muscles don't get breaks, so neither do you."

An agitated groan came from Ainsley across the room, who was still curled up into her comforter and sheets. "I don't care whether or not you go training but just be quiet."

Carmen suddenly became reminded of how much Ainsley hated getting woken up early in the morning before 10 o'clock. She turned back to Colton. "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"Nope."

She sighed. "Fine. Let me get dressed."

Without another word, she shut the door and headed to the bathroom to change into a tank top and shorts before brushing her teeth.

Eventually, she met Colton in the hallway and he led her down to the main floor where he made her grab a banana and water bottle from the breakfast that the workers had set up for the guests. After she ate the banana, they went to the gym that was decently large. It was connected by a door to the indoor pool as well as a door that would lead to the outdoor pool. It had a wall lined with large mirrors and several stacks of dumbbells sitting in front of them, across the wall of mirrors, three treadmills lined the other wall as well as a chest press machine and a leg press machine beside them. Once they entered the room, Carmen noted how they had been the only ones in the room.

"Is no one else going to come work out with us?" she asked as Colton walked over to the dumbbells and began inspecting them.

"I convinced one of the workers up front to let us in early. She is letting us use it for an hour and then there will probably be more guests coming in later."

Carmen nodded in understanding and began doing the stretches that Colton had taught her over the past couple days. He messed with the different weights while she finished doing these and brought two of them over when she was done. He held them out and she took them, her arms dropping a bit at the heaviness of them.

"I tried going with a starting weight, so I did thirty each," Colton explained.

Carmen blew out a breath. "I'm out of shape."

"That's the point of us doing this, you need to be in shape at all times, you never know when you'll need the stamina. Eventually you won't have to do extensive conditioning every day but until then, this is what we'll do. At least until I feel like you're ready to start martial arts training."

"Your expertise," Carmen commented as she shifted the weights in her hands. She met his eyes and found a small smile on his face.

"You read the files?"

Carmen shook her head. "Not all of them. I only read the ones about the skills."

"You should read the rest when we get back, it'll help you learn more about everyone on the team. Anyway, you ready?"

She nodded and took a deep breath.

"Do three reps of fifteen bicep curls on each arm," he instructed.

Carmen lifted the dumbbell with her right arm and then slowly lowered it, she repeated this action on her left arm before Colton halted her. "Stop."

She looked at him in question.

"Turn to your side and look at how you do that in the mirror."

She obliged and turned to her side as she repeated this on her right arm. Carmen examined her form, her back was slightly arched and she could tell that she was putting most of the weight into her spine.

"See how you're arching your back? Your body is doing that because your arms aren't strong enough to lift them without looking for support. Not only are you straining your back muscles by doing that, but you're not doing anything for your biceps. Turn back," he said to her.

Carmen turned back to him and almost went completely still when she felt his hand fall onto her abdomen. Her head turned to meet Coltons eyes, only to find him standing less than 2 inches away from her. His right hand was placed firmly on her stomach and his left hand was resting on her upper back.

Her breath got caught in her throat at the sudden realization of how close they were.

"Engage your core, it'll help with the support your body is looking for, and it won't put any unnecessary stress on your body," his voice had softened and he stared back at Carmen.

She hesitated before nodding, and glanced down at his hand on her abdomen.

"Tighten your muscles, you do it every day without even realizing it. So, it should come easily."

Carmen swallowed hard before squeezing her abdomen muscles.

"Now lift," Coltons voice came out even softer than before and Carmens body wanted to shiver at the tone. But she kept her composure and lifted her left arm, feeling a major difference. Colton clearly also felt the change with his left hand on her upper back, because he smiled and nodded pleased. "Good. Just do it like that every time."

Colton allowed his hands to slip away and Carmen struggled to focus for the next few minutes, still feeling the ghost of his hands on her body.

**

Colton and Carmen had finished working out as soon as the gym opened to the other guests, as they exited the room he checked his phone and notified Carmen that the group had gotten up early to meet downstairs for breakfast. The two of them followed the hall leading to the lobby where the dining room was closely located. As soon as they walked in, they were greeted with the sight of several other guests either seated at the many tables or standing in line with plates in hand, waiting to get their food. Some were dressed in casual clothes while others stalked around in their pajamas.

It was easy to spot the other 6 members of their group as they had pushed three tables together that were now sitting at. They were all still wearing the clothes that they had slept in and looked exhausted except for Santana, Luke and Sophie. Ainsley was resting her head in her hands with her elbows propped up on the table and her eyes were closed. Alexa was yawning and leaning back in her seat as she tore apart her toast, leaving the crust on her plate in front of her. Clayton was shoving a forkful of eggs into his mouth when Carmen and Colton approached the tables on his side. He looked up at the both of them and nodded in greeting.

"I have no idea how you get up so early every single morning, Colton." Sophie shook her head at him upon seeing the two of them. Carmen was still struggling to find the differences between her and Santana, the glasses were helping her figure it out but if it weren't for the glasses, she wasn't sure that she'd be able to tell. Usually Santana also has her hair into a side braid, however her hair was now let down and her curly hair fell around her shoulders.

"If I don't wake up early to train at The Compound then you all disturb me and distract me. I'm used to it." Colton shoved his hands into his pockets.

Ainsleys eyes shot open. "Bullshit. I'm never awake before 11 and you're always in there at 7."

"With the exception of you, whatever." He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Ainsley yawned and sat up, stretching her arms above her head. "How much did you teach Carmen?"

Carmen tilted her head to the side and looked to Colton who twisted his mouth to the side. "We hadn't gotten that far yet."

"Colton," Clayton groaned in annoyance.

"I was going to teach her after breakfast." The defensive tone made Carmen raise her eyebrows in confusion.

"What do I need to learn?" she asked looking around at all of them.

It was Ainsley who held up her hand, her pinky and ring finger bent but her middle, pointer finger and thumb were sticking straight up. A gun.

Carmen nodded as it clicked in her mind that they were talking about her needed to learn to shoot. The silent hand motion that Ainsley made suddenly reminded Carmen that they were in a room of civilians and they needed to be careful about the things they say.

"How hard can it be?" Carmen shrugged.

Luke looked over his shoulder at her. "Not as easy as you may think. Have you ever held one?"

She shook her head and Luke smiled at Colton. "Good luck, dude."

Colton reached forward to smack Luke in the back of the head but he dodged it with a low laugh before turning back to his food.

"Well," Clayton drew their attention to him. "You'd better teach her soon and you need to teach her as much as you can. You're the one who told mom that you think she can pull this off. Don't let her fuck this up."

"Clayton," Sophies stern voice came from across the table and Carmen tensed in anger.

Claytons eyes shot to her and he lifted his shoulder in a shrug. "What?"

Carmen chewed on the inside of her cheek in agitation. At that moment, Colton nudged her arm. "C'mon Carmen. I think we've heard enough." Carmen turned to head for the elevators, she didn't miss the angry glare that Colton threw his brothers way.

As they headed for the elevators, Carmen sighed and looked at Colton. "I'm never going to win his approval am I?"

Colton pressed the button that would direct the elevator up and looked at her, "You don't need it. He'll come around eventually. He's just... cautious."

"It's hard being around everyone when I know that most of them don't trust me and your brother would rather kill me than deal with me."

"Hey," Coltons voice suddenly softened and she looked over at him. "It's a good thing that I'm your partner then, because I believe in you." He smiled and chuckled before speaking his next sentence, "We can be outsiders together."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You feel like an outsider?"

"Sometimes." He shrugged. "This is the Twin Operative, after all. I don't exactly have one."

A pang of pity struck her in the chest and Carmen began to understand why Colton had stepped up more than the others when it came to teaching her the ropes. She was just as much on the outside looking in as he was, but at least she wasn't on her own.

"Thank you." A genuine smile appeared on her face.

"For what?"

"For being the only one who actually wanted to help me, and for not judging me."

Coltons expression fell more serious. "Not a single one of them are in a position to judge you, we don't know your story just as much as you don't know ours. Being able to accept each other despite the things we've had to do in order to survive is what makes our team so strong. They're hypocrites if they can't do the same for you."

Before Carmen could even think of a reply to that, the elevator door opened and a family of 4 exited, Colton and Carmen waited until they were gone to enter the elevator and head back to their rooms.

**

7:45 PM, that's what the clock on Carmens bedside table said. Colton had spent several hours teaching her how to properly handle a gun, and even some easy self-defense moves in case she got stuck in a situation where she would need to know it. She didn't get a chance to actually practice shooting the gun given that they were in the hotel, but she knew how to hold it properly, how to reload, how to turn the safety on and off and how to remove it from her holster in case of an emergency. They'd finished around 6 and that was when Colton returned back to his room to get dressed and prepare for the mission.

Ainsley came in shortly after he left and was carrying the same silver case that Carmen remembered seeing at the air strip. Ainsleys sniper rifle. She watched as Ainsley removed every piece of the gun from the case before she began to put them together. While she did this, Carmen went to her suitcase and pulled out a knee-length black dress that Colton had helped her pick out for the event. It had a gold belt around the waist and a deep V line dip and sleeves. She grabbed a few gold bracelets that Colton had also packed for her along with the black ankle strap heels. Carmen went into the bathroom to change and took a look at herself in the mirror. The outfit itself was clearly more expensive than anything she'd worn before and she was surprised to find that she actually liked it. Carmen emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later and noticed Ainsley was sticking something into her ear. Ainsley caught her stare out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at her sister.

Ainsley held out her hand to reveal a nude colored small piece of plastic that seemed to be in an odd bean shape. "An earpiece. You'll need one."

Carmen took the ear piece and struggled to fit it snuggly into her ear canal. "How does it work?"

"There's a mute button on the bottom end, and the power button is on the top. Everyone will be able to hear you once it's on."

She nodded along to what her twin said and took in the outfit that Ainsley changed into. It was a short sleeved black crop top with high rise black tactical jeans. Her sniper rifle was lying on the bed and it was the first time that Carmen had seen one up close. She never realized quite how large it was and wondered how on earth it would fit Ainsleys body.

Ainsley tightened her pink ponytail and looked at the clock. "We need to be heading to Claytons room soon, we're all meeting there and getting one last briefing before we head to the charity event."

She then turned back to the bed and began disassembling her rifle once again and neatly placing the pieces back into the silver case. Carmen couldn't suppress her curiosity anymore, she fidgeted with the gold bracelet on her right wrist and finally asked what's been on her mind since the briefing at the compound, "Is this what you guys do all the time?"

Ainsley turned to her and she didn't fight the proud smile that appeared on her face as she lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. "Sometimes, it's not always as organized as this. Sometimes we get notified 3 hours ahead of time that we need to be on a plane heading halfway across the country to go arrest a group of terrorists, other times we might be planning something for weeks. It's different every now and then. But it's always fun, to me anyway."

Carmen blinked a couple times while staring at Ainsley. She processed the words Ainsley said and the expression on her face.

"I still don't think it's something that I'd leave my family for," Her tone of voice was soft, hurt.

Ainsleys smile faded instantly. A painful silence filled the room for a few moments and the two stood motionless, not knowing what to say or do. Carmen decided that the suffocating silence was too much and cleared her throat. "I'll be in Coltons room." She then left the room without another word.

Carmen knocked on the hotel room of Clayton and Colton. The door opened to reveal Luke dressed in all black, wearing a black t-shirt with a tactical vest draped over it and similar pants to the ones that Ainsley had been wearing along with combat boots. He greeted Carmen with a nod and stepped aside, allowing her to walk in. She spotted Santana and Sophie sitting on one of the beds, both wearing black silky dresses similar in length to Carmens. However, theirs were thin strapped with a lace layer going over the top of the silk. They also both wore a silver necklace and had their hair styled in the same curls. Colton explained to me that Kendra is the one who puts together their outfits whenever they do the switch-out task because they have to coordinate. She didn't want to mention it, but she couldn't tell either of them apart in this moment.

Clayton was standing in front of the opened closet, he wore black dress pants and a white button up shirt. He was adjusting the buttons on the cuffs of the shirt when he looked up to meet Carmens eyes. "Got your gun?"

She nodded and motioned to her outer thigh of her right leg. Colton had given her a holster to keep it in and luckily the dress was only tight on the top half of her body, below the gold belt it was loose enough that it was mostly easy to conceal the weapon by strapping it to her thigh.

The bathroom door opened and Colton stepped out, he was the only one dressed casually. He wore a grey hoodie, the sleeves were rolled up to reveal the tattoos on his arms, and dark blue jeans with matching combat boots to Luke. His eyes travelled around the room before landing on Carmen. He looked her up and down before smiling and holding up his hand to give her a thumbs up. She gave the same motion back.

"Who are we waiting on?" he asked.

"Ainsley and Alexa," Clayton said, walking over to his nightstand to grab his handgun and tuck it into the waistband of his pants.

At that same moment a knock came at the door once again and Luke opened it to reveal his sister and Ainsley standing in the doorway. The two had decided to wear matching outfits.

Adorable, Carmen thought to herself as she hid the sneer that threatened to show itself on her face.

Luke held the door open for them and they walked in, Alexa instantly stood by the window and Ainsley sat down on the available bed, completely avoiding Carmens eyes.

"Alright," Clayton started, drawing everyones attention to him. "Remember, we try to do this with the least amount of violence possible. If things take a turn, do what you have to do but try to keep in mind that this shouldn't have to go there. Sophie, I'll give you the signal when it's time to do the switch, if you think it's safe, and excuse yourself to the bathroom. Santana will be at the back door waiting. He is going to be expecting you at the bar at 8:30. Sophie, you're going to be taking one of the rental cars downstairs. You have to arrive alone in case he sees you, so Carmen and I will be taking a separate car. The rest of you need to take the exit in the back of the hotel because that's where the agent parked the surveillance van. Ear pieces go on as soon as we all get there. Everyone understand their part?"

Ainsley saluted him. "Yes, sir."

"Great. Let's go."

**

Silence. The entire car ride to the event was complete silence. Carmens skin felt like crawling at the tension, she could cut it with a knife. The surveillance van split off into a different direction a few blocks before they arrived and it wasn't until Sophies car reached the valet parking, that Clayton finally spoke. "Do you remember everything we planned yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Good. You know that you need to stay off to the side and seem as least suspecting as possible. This place is going to be crawling with his guards. If you have to stay by me all night just to seem ordinary, that's fine." Clayton pulled up to the valet parking and they watched as Sophie exited her vehicle, handed the keys off to the worker and went inside.

"I really don't want you to prove me right, okay?" Carmen looked over at him as he spoke. He met her eyes. "So do me a favor and don't fuck this up."

Carmen smirked. "Wow, Clay. You really know how to sweet talk a girl, don't you?"

He rolled his eyes as soon as she put emphasis on his nick name and reverted his eyes back to the road. He inched the car closer to the sidewalk and they both stepped out. She waited as he handed the keys to the worker and they fell into step beside each other as they followed the line into the building. Carmen noticed Clayton reach up and itch the side of his face, the movement was so casual that Carmen didn't even realize that he had actually turned on his ear piece until he nudged her and said in a low voice, "Turn it on."

She straightened and ran a hand through her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear and allowing her hand to linger for a moment longer while she felt the plastic piece for the button located on the top. The second it turned on there was a high pitched ringing that made Carmen wince.

"It's looking for a signal," Claytons voice came over the ear piece, even though it sounded like it was barely a whisper coming from beside her, it was amplified over the speaker in her ear canal.

The entry way was a long hallway that had walls decorated with white and gold wallpaper, and the line of people here for the charity benefit followed the hallway to a large archway that would lead to what reminded Carmen of a modern ballroom. As soon as they entered, she was overwhelmed at the sight of people dressed in suits and dresses, some sat at the many tables off to the left of the room, others slow-danced on the dance floor and some more sat at the bar. The room itself was as tall as a two story building and an elegant classical music flowed throughout the room, setting the mood.

"Everyone's ear pieces better be on," Claytons voice came over Carmens ear piece, grabbing her attention.

"We hear you loud and clear in the surveillance van," Coltons voice came next.

"Aye-aye Captain. Everyone on the roof has theirs." Carmen could recognize Ainsleys voice anywhere.

Clayton lead Carmen over to an empty table and the two of them sat down beside each other. "Colton, talk to me."

"You've got at least two of his guards in there already," Colton said. "One by the bar."

"I see the other on the dance floor," Sophie said. Carmen began scanning the room and found Sophie standing beside the dance floor, casually drinking from a glass of water. "There's no way these are the only ones he brought."

"I know." Clayton started looking around the room, careful to not look suspicious. "Something's up so keep your eyes peeled, Sophie."

"Copy that," She replied.

"Colton, let me know if you spot any of them on the other side of the building. They might be blocking the exits, if that's the case we won't be able to do the switch."

"I'll keep an eye on the security cameras," Colton responded.

Nobody else spoke over the ear pieces so Carmen began looking around the room, taking in the faces of everyone around her. She didn't spot Ryder anywhere. "What do we do now?" She looked over at Clayton.

"Act natural. Just pretend that you're here for the event and that's all."

She couldn't just sit here. She was too much of an anxious person, she would begin bouncing her leg or biting her nails or exhibiting any sort of body language that would scream anything but casual and relaxed.

"How are you holding up Carmen?" Coltons voice broke her from her thoughts.

"I'm okay," she responded.

"As long as she doesn't move or say anything, she should be fine," Clayton assured him.

Carmen folded her hands in her lap and looked around the room once more, she still didn't spot him. "You guys just sit here the whole time until something happens? How do you not get bored?"

Clayton shrugged. "Years and years of training and practice. The time flies by after a while."

"Not fast enough," she groaned in annoyance before rising from her seat.

"What are we doing? Didn't I just say you'll be fine if you don't move?" Clayton tried to hide the bite in his tone and she looked down to see his slightly widened green eyes.

"Relax, I'm just going to go get some water." She waved him off and began walking towards the bar.

"You'd better come right back, Carmen. I'm dead serious," Claytons agitated voice echoed in her ear.

"Whatever."

Carmen maneuvered her way through the large crowd of people surrounding the area between the bar and the tables. Once she finally broke through the group of people, she breathed a sigh of relief and approached the bar. There were a few open stools, but she didn't plan on staying anyway, Clayton would freak out. The first thing she noticed was a long mirror lining the back of the area where the alcohol was placed. It was on the opposite side of the bar but faced it. She then spotted the bar tender and noticed that she wore a button up shirt and khaki pants whose blonde hair was tied up into a bun. She made eye contact with Carmen and set down the glass she had been drying to approach Carmen.

"Hi, hun. What can I get for you?"

Carmen rested her arms on the bar. "Can I just have a glass of water, please?"

"Sure thing." The bar tender smiled before turning to go grab a glass.

That was when Carmen looked at the mirror and her entire body froze.

Standing directly behind her, staring right back at her in the mirror was the face of someone whose face she had seen in a file she read just yesterday. It was different to see in person rather than in the picture, but she recognized it.

Ryder Hanson.

Carmen slowly turned around and realized that they were only separated by a mere foot of space. Ryder smiled down at Carmen.

"Isabelle," he said, "It's good to finally see you in person."