Chloe has just finished cooking herself dinner. She had tried a new recipe from one of her favourite websites and after several alterations and questions to search engines about what to do and how to make it she was just about to sit down to eat.

Her phone buzzed and she saw a message from the agency. They were still searching for Alex and Ethan, she wondered how they were doing and hoped they had found each other. A third message popped up and Chloe looked closer.

It was Sam. Ethan’s old friend now turned enemy. The two had their memories wiped before the first year at the academy and Chloe had so many burning questions she wanted to ask but knew would be so inappropriate.

This was the first time seeing Sam as a young adult. She still had the same ocean green eyes and dark brown wavy hair. She couldn’t stop imagining what the girl had gone through, from what Ethan had said she had some of her memories revealed but not all of them.

Which memories were shown? How did they convince her of everything without abandoning Ethan? Chloe realised she had been stood standing and shook her head.

It didn’t matter now. She needed to focus on helping Ethan and Alex however she could. Sam was the least of her worries.

*Knock knock knock*

That was weird. She wasn’t expecting anyone this evening.

Chloe got up and tip toed over to the pad on her wall. Tapping the screen, while still eyeing the door, the camera activated and stood outside her door was Sam.

Sam was staring straight ahead, a hood hung off the back of her head. It was pulled off enough to show her face but it would be easy to put on if someone came by. Chloe couldn’t help but recognise the similarities between Sam and Ethan already.

Their posture was identical, straight backs, shoulders straight, chins up. Chloe thought what she would look like on a camera like this before shaking herself back to the problem at hand.

Sam knocked again.

Chloe weighed up her options.

Sam had tried to kill the President of the agency and her friends a few years ago. However since then they had all worked together while in Portugal and Shay seemed to have taken a liking to her. Sam had also seemed to take a liking to Andrew which Chloe never saw coming.

Chloe walked to the door and opened it. Knowing that if Andrew trusted Sam then she could as well.

“You answered?” Sam asked, the surprise clear on her face.

“Of course.” Chloe replied. “People on my team trust you, that means I do too.”

“Right.” Sam nodded, “I get that. May I come in?”

“Yes?” Chloe said.

“Are you certain or are you asking?”

“I’m just battling a dozen questions I’m dying to ask.” Chloe said, stepping out the way of the door waving Sam in.

Chloe watched closely as Sam entered. She was looking all over the room checking for any traps or tricks. Chloe understood, Ethan had explained what she had been going through so it was understandable she was jumpy. Especially in someone’s flat that she only met in life or death circumstances.

“Do you…want a drink or I ummm. I just cooked some dinner?” Chloe offered shutting and locking the door. Hoping that Sam would take it as a sign of her keeping them safe and not locking them in together.

“Water please.” Sam smiled. Her smile made Chloe warm inside, it felt so genuine. Chloe nodded and heard a stomach rumble, placing a hand on hers she realised it wasn’t her.

“I’ll get another plate.” She said as Sam looked away, acting as if she didn’t hear anything.

With two freshly reheated plates of dinner and two glasses of water the women sat across from each other. Both eating in silence.

“Do you like music?” Chloe asked.

Sam nodded, shovelling food into her mouth as if Chloe had threatened to steal it.

Nodding Chloe went on her phone and turned on a jazz playlist that was from one of her favourite games. Hopefully it would calm her racing mind. She had some many questions for Sam, not only about the current situation but also about the tournament. The earth. What happened in Portugal.

“Probably wondering why I’m here. Well from what I’ve heard about you you’ve probably been listing question after question in that noggin haven’t you?” Sam smirked, taking a sip from her water. “I won’t go into detail but I am after Ethan. He is going down a path he doesn’t want to, he is going to find something that doesn’t want to be found.”

“Ominous.” Chloe smiled.

“Purposely. If those two find each other and try to complete the mission Alex is on. We might have a war on our hands. One very few of us are capeable of dealing with alone.” Sam explained.

“How do you know all of this?” Chloe asked.

“I am part of the Earth remember.” Sam laughed, stopping when she saw Chloe’s worried look. “Oh but I’m not a threat to any of Ethan’s friends. I would never hurt you guys. I can see that you understand me.”

“Well. Doing my best considering how vauge you’ve been.” Chloe nodded, thankful that Sam wasn’t looking to hurt any of their friends. She had watched a lot of footage of Sam fighting and she was a genuine force of nature.

“Back to what I need. I have to follow the path Alex and Ethan went on, I can’t get to those in the academy because obvious reasons. But you, for some reason, were allowed to come back to your flat.”

“At first I opposed Ethan chasing Alex.” Chloe said, shaking her head. She had let her logical side get the better of her. But not this time. “But now I’ve been given another chance to help. So let’s do it.”