“Stop,” Agatha said. “You should stop now.”

Albert obeyed, never taking his eyes off her face to read every twitch of the eye and furrowed brow. This was dangerous, but they had no choice. He, Billy, and Poe were in the bathroom of the metro, hoping they weren’t incriminating themselves by telling Agatha how horrible the government was.

“What are you thinking about right now, Agatha?” There was a slight tremor in Billy’s voice.

Agatha gave a smile while Albert tried to relax his nerves, but he didn’t know what to think. “I believe you, unfortunately. There’s a lot of things I haven’t been impressed with while doing this internship with the government. I’m just thinking about what I want to do, and I’m afraid if I learn too much, it’ll be dangerous.”

Albert swallowed the fear down. “So will you help us fight?”

Agatha folded her arms, using one hand to tap her chin. Albert held his breath.

“In a way, yes,” Agatha said. “I don’t know if I’d join the underground, in that I won’t go to your big meetings or anything. I think it’s far too dangerous for me right now. At this point, just know that I will work hard to keep suspicion away from you. The best thing I can do is listen to the rumors running around the S.E.A. and steer them away from you. My Junior Official, Mr. Bonaparte hears a lot of gossip, and he trusts me with it, so I can use that to our advantage. Summer is almost half way over. If we can make it past summer, I’ll join the underground. Until then, let me stay on the side and deflect the gossip.”

Albert nodded. He hadn’t thought of that, but that sounded like a good idea.

“And warn us if the S.E.A. is too close,” Billy said.

Agatha nodded as she rubbed the back of her neck. “They are. Very close. It might be smart for you three to not try and recruit anymore. Just be normal teenagers.”

“We need the numbers,” Billy said.

Agatha paused in thought. “Then let me try. I’ll feel out among the interns. See what they think.”

“Thanks, Agatha,” Billy said.

Agatha nodded. “How do we go forward? How do I get information to you?”

“No talking about this at the S.E.A. building. At all. Our best bet is talking about it here in the metro so our chips don’t go off,” Albert said.

“Meet in the metro if you have anything to report,” Billy said.

“Okay.” Agatha looked like she was still going over the information in her head, but seemed to come to the present. “Have a nice weekend.”

It felt so strange to hear. It seemed normal. Agatha gave a little smile then turned and left. Albert glanced at Billy and Poe, feeling unsettled. Sometimes Albert forgot how terrible a situation they were in until they got reminders like this. The S.E.A. were close, Agatha said. That meant they couldn’t make a single mistake for the rest of the summer.

They walked out to see most of the people waiting for the metro staring up at the TV. There was an important announcement being made, and everyone watched, curious. Albert winced when he saw Vlad, Tom, Marie, and Sophie’s faces on the screens. A jolt of panic rammed through Albert’s nerves, letting him feel the emotion while at the metro. He stepped closer to try and hear the news story with their faces. Panic continued to grow as he looked at his friends.

“...known members of the underground, threatening the peace President Arnold has tried so hard to maintain. If spotted, contact the authorities immediately,” the muffled voice of the TV announcer said.

Albert tried to let go of his panic. Something had happened. President Arnold had promised them another day at least. Agatha appeared next to them, staring at the TV then looked at the boys’ faces. She didn’t say a word, simply looked concerned before she disappeared into the crowd.

Albert was starting to feel like a cornered animal. How was he ever going to survive the rest of the internship?

***

He had never felt so hungry in his life. At least, he never remembered being so hungry. As he opened his eyes, he wracked his brain as to when, exactly, he had felt hungry before, but the truth of the matter was he couldn’t remember. Anything.

The door opened and a gentleman walked through.

“Good evening, Abe,” the man said.

“Abe?”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Okay, first test passed. You’ll have to excuse us. We don’t exactly trust you.”

“Is… Abe my name?”

“What do you remember?” There was less suspicion in the gentleman’s eyes.

“I…” Abe swallowed, looking around the room. “I don’t know. Where am I?” Abe tried to sit up, but there were straps around his wrists and ankles. “Why am I like this?”

The gentleman gave a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry we had to do that. Truly. See, you were fighting against us so hard, but we saved you.” The gentleman placed a hand on Abe’s shoulder. “You tried to stab us in the back, and what did we do in return? We saved you. You shouldn’t be fighting against us. We are the good guys.”

Abe stared at the man, confused. He didn’t remember any of this, and a panic started to seize his chest. “I don’t remember.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. See, you fell while you were running away, and hit your head. You’ve got amnesia now.”

Abe tried to understand this. He reached up and touched a bandage wrapped around his head. He remembered nothing. Who was he? A teen? Had he gone to school? How did he know what a school was and yet have no memory of who he was? Did he have parents? Were they worried about him? Siblings? Friends? He strained to remember, but nothing came.

“This might be a little overwhelming, but it’ll be okay. We’re here to help you. We want you to remember. Maybe this will jog your memory.” The gentleman took out some pictures from a file. Abe stared at them. He tried to will his brain to recognize them, but he didn’t. His breathing turned unsteady as he looked at the gentleman. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember.” Tears pricked his eyes. “Will I ever remember?”

The man seemed so genuine. “Of course, Abe. Of course. We want to help you. We will only give you the best to help you remember. What happened to you was a cruel twist of fate. I can’t even imagine having my memories wiped. I will personally make sure we get you the help you need to restore your memories.”

The tears fell and Abe instinctively tried to wipe them away, to hide them, but he was reminded of his wrists strapped to the hospital bed. “Can you…” Abe strained again against the straps. “Why did you do this?”

“Like I said, Abe. You’re a rebel. We needed to keep you contained. I’m sorry, but we have to be safe. We are willing to save your life and restore your memories, because we believe in doing good things like that.”

Heat rose to his cheeks. He felt embarrassed that he had ever done something so horrible to people who were so willing to be kind. “I’m sorry,” he found himself saying.

The gentleman smiled. “It’s alright Abe. Let me get someone to help you eat.”

“Thank you. What’s your name?” Abe asked.

“You can just call me Mr. Germain,” he said as a woman walked in with a tray of food. His stomach felt like it started eating itself with how ravenous it felt. Honestly, he would have done almost anything to eat. He’d even be willing to have this woman feed him while he was strapped to a hospital bed.

“Thank you, Mr. Germain,” Abe said as the woman opened a container of applesauce.

Mr. Germain smirked as he wrote something on his clipboard. “Oh, believe me, Abe. You’ve already helped us plenty.”

***

Albert, Billy, and Poe were quiet as they rode the metro to the S.E.A. Albert tried not to think about all the different ways things could go wrong today, and how it would all end in his certain death. Instead he remembered how healthy Marie looked. She was going to pull through. Their absolutely insane stunt worked, and Marie was going to live. His body relaxed just thinking about it. True, his life was still in serious danger, but the fact that he didn’t have to worry about Marie dying from omnitocsil was such a load off his shoulders.

They got off the metro, and he fell in line between Billy and Poe.

“Does anyone else feel like something is off?” Billy asked.

Poe nodded. “Yes.”

Albert gave a surprised look. “Wait, what?”

“I don’t know. I can’t shake the feeling something is really off. Keep your eyes and ears open. I think the S.E.A. is going to try something today,” Billy said.

The S.E.A. skyscraper came into view. Albert didn’t know if it was what Billy and Poe meant, but seeing a larger than usual group of agents right outside the doors made his stomach drop. Mr. McCarthy was there, looking at the crowd. Albert was certain he was looking for them.

“Is it too late to ask for sour cream on my baked potato?” Albert asked.

Billy and Poe slowed their step, but Albert kept going.

“Albert,” Billy hissed. “The code word was for everyone to tap out. They haven’t seen us yet.”

“They haven’t seen us yet. You two hide, I’ll lead them in a different direction so you can get back,” Albert said, keeping his gaze on Mr. McCarthy who was still scanning the crowd.

“This is suicide,” Billy said again.

“Macbeth, Billy. Clearly someone told these people about us, and they have solid proof against us now. I said the code word. No questions asked. Get out of here,” Albert said.

Again they hesitated before Albert grabbed Billy and Poe and pushed them in an alley. The movement caught Mr. McCarthy’s gaze. A smile stretched across his face.

Albert moved his hand, motioning them to run. Billy and Poe obeyed, running deeper into the alleyway. Albert continued walking toward Mr. McCarthy, doing his best to look innocent. As soon as the agents broke into a run, Albert did too, heading in a different direction than Billy and Poe.

Albert honestly didn’t know why he did it. Billy was right, he did feel like a protector. There were at least ten agents out there, and Albert knew he couldn’t take down all of them. But if he could distract them long enough, his friends might make it.

In the end it took four agents to pin him down and subdue him as the other five scouted around an area Albert had never been in before today. As his face was pinned against the concrete, he couldn’t help but be relieved that four less agents were tracking Billy and Poe.

***

Ron was typing out more agendas for the meetings in the coming weeks. Usually he just had to spell check Mr. McCarthy’s agendas, but now he had to write them up, too. He had just finished the document when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Ron said, feeling a slight tug at his heart. Albert was here. Their relationship had been strained lately, and he wasn’t quite sure how to fix it.

To his surprise, Mr. Germain walked in.

“Hello Mr. Germain. What can I help you with?” Ron asked.

Mr. Germain had an incredibly angry look on his face, and Ron was prepared for another song.

“I’m here to let you know we have the proof against Albert and his friends. They are indeed a part of the underground, and Albert has been arrested,” Mr. Germain said.

“Oh.” Ron wasn’t sure he could describe his knee jerk emotion. There were too many to sift through. Yes, there was some relief. Relief they were that much closer to finding and getting rid of the underground. Relief that it wasn’t him who had to turn Albert over. Relief he didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Sadness that it had to come to this. Sad he wouldn’t be able to patch his relationship with Albert. Was there some regret in there as well? And dread? “That’s some great news. Why are you so angry?”

“Because my incompetent partner tipped them off, so we only got Albert. Be aware that if Billy Shakespeare or Edgar Poe approach you, you are to detain them on the spot and alert one of us. Do not let them speak. They will say anything they can to get back to Albert. None of it is to be believed,” Mr. Germain said.

Ron nodded. “Understood.”

“I knew I could count on you,” Mr. Germain said before he left.

Ron glanced back at his computer. He re-read the sentence he was on.

“Is this supposed to be their or they’re,” he thought to himself as he read the sentence.

He proceeded to do nothing but stare at that word for the next ten minutes as his mind quietly shut down.