Spies, Volume 1: Hurricane [COMPLETED]

Chapter 8 - Delta Squad

"His vitals look good, Commander. He lost a minor amount of blood, but we were able to clean it up and graft an artificial skin patch over the wound."
"Good work. Agent Gonzales, see if you can find any other information about the Phoenix microchip."
"Yes, sir."
"Doctor, you can head back to your station. I'll stay here alongside agent Andrews and wait until Nick wakes up."

Nick didn't know how long he had been out. He felt like it had been hours. He knew that he had to open his eyes at some point. Come on, Santiago. Open your eyes, he thought as he gave himself a couple more minutes to rest.

"Sir, If we're gonna stop the enemy, we have to gain more insight on the facility. The hidden hallways, the hidden rooms, everything," Melissa said.

"We've dealt with this enemy before, Andrews," Miguel replied. "And I'm pretty sure now that Phoenix is gone, we'll beat them for sure."

"How do you-"

"He's waking up!"

Nick slowly opened his eyes and glanced around the room as blurred silhouettes entered his line of sight. "Who are you guys?" he asked. The faint but steady beeping of medical equipment stirred him awake.

"'Nick, just relax. It's only me and Melissa," Miguel replied. He got up and walked to the bed. "The anesthetic that the medical team used to numb you made your vision blurry for a while. It'll clear up in a moment."

Nick nodded and blinked his eyes as his vision started to cleared up a bit. "Uncle– er, Commander. Where's Raven? I thought I heard her voice a moment ago." He looked around the room then looked down at his arm. It was blurry and had been bandaged from the wrist up with white medical tape, stopping at his forearm.

"I sent Raven to find more information on the microchip that you were forced to comply with." Miguel noticed Nick was looking at the bandage that had been wrapped around his arm. "Speaking of which... the operation was a success. The microchip was extracted from your arm. Your nerves were reconnected together, so you'll have full control of your body once again."

Nick looked up at the ceiling, tiles of lights shining above his head. "Shoot. I'll need a new outfit though. The ASO still has possession of my Agent-"

"Your outfit," Miguel said as he interrupted Nick's train of thought. "Of course. Your new outfit will be ready for you once you leave the recovery room and are able to train up to your full potential again." He left Nick's room and immediately saw Raven walking down the hallway.

"Commander Santiago, bad news. The mole we sent to ASO... they found out that the ASO's created a fully cyborg version of Agent Phoenix, and a stronger microchip this time. Agent Phoenix is back. And he's stronger than ever," Raven said. A worried look appeared on her face as she looked at Nick through the window sills. "I'm worried for Nick. What if he can't survive this battle? He's gonna need all the help he can-"

"I realize that Nick's gonna need help. Which is why I'm assigning him to join Delta Squad," Miguel replied, looking back at Raven. "But for now, we should let him rest. It's been 5 hours since the surgery. And I suggest that you head home and get some rest too. Your aunt must be worried sick about you." He walked down the hallway, back towards the his office.

Raven walked up to the open door and knocked thrice, smiling at Nick. "Well, look who's finally awake." She made her way towards the recovery room bed and sat at his bedside, holding onto his hand.

"Raven, I thought you were supposed to head home. Your aunt's gonna wonder where you've been throughout the whole day," Nick replied, looking down at their hands. "I um... Thanks for saving me earlier." He slowly interlocked his fingers in between Raven's and watched as she covered him up with the blanket so he wouldn't get cold.

"You're welcome," Raven replied while running her thumb over the back of Nick's hand. "So, Nick... You and I have known each other apparently for over a year now." She slowly let go of his hand and smiled at him.

Melissa smiled and excused herself from the room.

Nick blushed slightly while smiling back at her. "Raven... I like you too," he admitted. "I've been meaning to ask you something." Nick took Raven's hand again and held it as he interlocked their fingers once more. He gazed into Raven's brown eyes and took a deep breath. "Raven Louise Gonzales, will you be my girlfriend?"

Raven turned a deep red and nodded. "I'd love to be your girlfriend," she said before leaning down to plant a soft kiss on Nick's lips. "Oh, before I forget. Miguel assigned you to be a part of Delta Squad." She turned towards the clock. 7:30 pm. "I should probably go," Raven said before looking back at Nick as she smiled at him. She leaned down and planted one last kiss on his lips before leaving the room.

Nick watched as his new girlfriend left the room before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

An hour later, Raven sat in the car with Melissa, who had offered to drive her home.

"Thanks again, Mel," Raven smiled.

"No worries, Rae. Have a goodnight," she replied.

Raven stepped out the car and waved as her best friend drove off. She then headed up to the front door, using the spare house key underneath the "Welcome" to get inside as she ran up to her room and changed into something more comfortable before climbing into bed, smiling at the fact that she had a new boyfriend.

However, it didn't take long until the same nightmare ran across both of their minds:

Nick was walking down a dimly lit hallway towards a pair of silhouetted figures. He could hear one of them crying for help and immediately recognized the voice. Raven.

Nick sprinted towards the end of the hallway as the lights started coming on until he suddenly stopped, seeing his new girlfriend walking towards him with a torn up uniform, similar to the one from his first nightmare about her. White and red smoke began covering the floor, followed by the sounds of ricocheting bullets coming from down the hallway behind them.

"Nick... I'm sorry. I tried to stop him, but I-" Raven stumbled forward as she slipped through his open arms like a ghost before disappearing within the smoke.

Nick stood there with his jawed dropped as he looked ahead at the figure in front of him. "I'm through playing games, Agent Phoenix. It's time to end this," he said before brandishing his new black and silver staff.

The agent simply gave a chuckle, showcasing his own staff. "The staff looks better on me," he said as he ran towards his opponent.

Nick looked back, forgetting that Raven wasn't there. He took a deep breath and ran towards Phoenix as he raised up his staff. Their weapons were about to collide.

Nick suddenly woke up from the dream and glanced around the room, seeing a glowing red eye in the left corner of the room. He quickly blinked and the eye vanished. "It's just a dream, Santiago. It's not real. You and Raven are gonna beat the gasoline out of Agent Phoenix... Hopefully with your new weapon," he told himself before going back to sleep.

Raven stirred up in her own bed and glanced around her room before looking down at her clothes to see if it really was a dream. "Okay... you're fine. I-it's all gonna be fine in the end," she told herself as she looked at the clock. She then slowly drifted off to sleep, knowing that tomorrow would just be another regular Saturday at the office.