HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Big news. This is the last chapter. I do plan to write my own GG6 but that probably won't be for a few months. Hope you enjoy this last chapter of Here Comes the Spy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Gallagher Girls. I just wish I were one.

Please excuse any errors on my part!

Chapter 26 Living on a Prayer - Bon Jovi

"Matilda was the epitome of what it means to be a Gallagher Girl. She knew her duty to her country and was willing to put all she had on the line for the people she loved. She may not be here anymore but she will never be forgotten. And as long as we remember who she was and what she did, she will never truly be gone."

For once, the Dining Hall was silent. No one stirred or had their minds on the quiz they had next hour. We all just sat, staring at my mother as she gave her commemorative speech to Tillie. As sunlight poured in from the bay windows all along the walls, there seemed to be a storm cloud looming over all of us.

The Circle base in South Dakota had been blown up, but how many others were there? When we'd returned back to Gallagher after escaping, there had been a squadron of CIA agents waiting for us. They had debriefed us all one by one, taking the most time with Zach. He insisted he had had no idea that we had walked into a trap and hotspot of Circle activity but they remained suspicious.

When we'd inquired about whether Jonah Peters had made it out, they hadn't replied and we assumed the worst.

But then, last night she came knocking at Gallagher's front doors. Her leg was broken and she still had bruises all over her body from the ordeal she had gone through, but she was alive. And she had come to pay her last respects to Tillie.

She wasn't the only one. Dozens of agents from all over the world had been arriving for the past fourteen days. I'd wondered aloud to Mom whether this might draw suspicion but she had waved it off, saying, "She deserved this. And with all these visiting trained operatives walking the halls, the Circle would be doltish."

And so it was that agents from the CIA, NSA, FBI, Interpol, and MI6 (who had the clearance) had taken up temporary residence at Gallagher. For two weeks we waited as teams dug through the wreckage of the Circle base until they found her while there had been no trace of Zach's mom.

Now, we were in the Dining Hall three days after Mom got the call confirming Tillie's KIA status. It was a sea of black, there wasn't a single Gallagher Academy uniform in site. The long tables that usually decorated the halls were gone and smooth black wood chairs were lined in rows facing the podium. Bex sat resolutely next to me, eyes fastened on my mother. Liz and Macey sat on her other side, respectively, the former's eyes glistening with unshed tears. Zach was on my other side, his hand resting gently in mine. Every once in a while he would squeeze my fingers, as if making sure I was still there.

Because nothing was definite anymore. One action could change our futures. A shift in the wind could end our lives.

My mom kept talking about all of Tillie's strengths but I couldn't keep my attention on her speech. It was only a string of words after all and words can't bring someone back from the dead.

That train of thought led me back to the fact that I had been avoiding since getting back from New Effington. The letter. It still sat, unopened, on my dresser where I had tossed it when I first entered my room after everything. I couldn't bring myself to open it and read what was inside because of the feeling that when I did, my life would be flipped upside down for the hundredth time this year. I think my friends understood that because they never mentioned the white envelope, the giant elephant in the room.

I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to open the letter. Tillie wanted me to and it would be wrong of me to ignore one of her last wishes.

My mom's voice stopped and I realized the memorial was done. Over. Everyone in the room was standing up, quietly beginning conversations with old friends they hadn't seen in several missions. They were all completely blasé about the fact that Matilda Henderson was dead; she had given herself up as the ultimate sacrifice to save their asses and they just moved on.

Anger swelled in my chest. None of this was right. Tillie shouldn't be gone. I shouldn't be a target of the Circle's. My friends should be safe. People should be more damn respectful.

Zach seemed to sense the change in my demeanor because his hand left mine and his arm came around my tensed shoulders. I relaxed against him and felt my anger dissipate as quickly as it had arisen. My emotions had been so touch-and-go lately; I just wanted to get back to me but I wasn't sure who that was anymore.

"You are who you've always been." Zach said, holding me tighter against him.

Oh shit, did I say that last part out loud?

I looked up at him, tilting my head at a slightly odd angle to take him in fully. He looked so much more mature than the boy I had met back in the spring of my sophomore year. I'm sure I looked different, too. I sure as hell felt different.

"Are we ever going to be able to be those kids from sophomore year again?" I asked softly.

Zach shook his head. "No, but I try to think of that as a good thing. Back then, we thought we knew everything but were really in the dark. Now at least, we understand reality and are more prepared to face it. No one can stay young forever and it just so happens that we're the lucky sons of a bitches that get to grow older faster."

I was quiet for a moment. Almost everyone had left the room by now, but my friends and I remained seated. "Do you ever think we made the wrong decision in choosing this life? I mean, you have to admit that we could have saved ourselves a lot of heartache."

"But then who would be there to save the world from heartache?"

And there it was. The kicker. The reason that I could never regret my decision to bear this life. As a Gallagher Girl, I could save the world. Literally.

I sighed and stood up. My friends looked at me, quizzically, wondering if I was going to get mad and go off on some tangent about the unfairness of all of this (because I will admit, I'd gone off on that tangent a couple times over the past couple of weeks). Instead, I grabbed Zach's hand and nodded at them all to follow me.

"Come on. We have a letter to read."

-.-.-.-

Dearest Cammie,

As cliché as it sounds, you reading this most likely means I'm gone. If I am gone just know that I love you and your mother very much and that I never wanted to hurt you or leave you. Sometimes, destiny has plans for us and try as we might, we can't fight fate. Which is what I want to talk to you about, Cam. You have a destiny, a purpose. I could tell from the first time I held you and the time when you were four and broke NSA code. You are so special and that is why I am entrusting this mission to you. Tillie and Joe are good spies and loyal but I can never have the same confidence in them as I have in you. You have it in you to take down the Circle once and for all. You just have to dig within yourself to find that fire. There's someone I want you to meet. A computer genius I met back in college. Devon Wilson. I have reason to believe that he's affiliated with the Circle. Whether by choice or force I'm not sure, but I want you to get close to him. Through him, you could find the Circle's weak spot. Every organization has one.

I'm sorry this is rushed. There's so much I want to say. But hopefully, you'll never have to read this letter and I'll be able to tell you all of it in person.

I love you until the world stops turning,

Dad

-.-.-.-

We read my dad's letter after Tillie's memorial service. None of us had ever heard of Devon Wilson so Liz got to work trying to find him. Meanwhile, the end of the semester was sneaking up on us, and it was only three weeks later that we found ourselves swamped with final assignments and exams. It was amidst this chaotic week that Liz found him.

Needless to say, he wasn't at all who I was expecting. He was an average height, average weight, middle aged man. And he lived in, of all places, Roseville.

"Why? Do you think it's because he knows about Gallagher?" Bex asked.

Liz shook her head rapidly. "No, no. I was confused at first, too. I mean, with his skills he should be in Langley or the CFO of some major conglomerate or something. Instead, he's a plumber in Roseville, Virginia? It didn't make sense. And then I looked through public records and I found this…"

She switched files on her computer to reveal a marriage license. "He got married to Lily Pierce from Roseville, Virginia. They actually lived in D.C. for a couple years after they got married but when Lily got pregnant I guess they decided to raise the baby in her hometown."

"So how old is the kid now?" Macey asked.

"She's our age." Liz mumbled and then she cast a nervous glance at us. "Actually…we know her."

"How would we know her?" Zach asked. "There aren't any Roseville kids attending Gallagher."

"No, but..."

"But, what?"

Macey grabbed Liz's computer and scrolled down. She gasped and looked up at Liz. "DeeDee? Devon Wilson's daughter is DeeDee?"

Will the surprises never stop coming?

Bex guffawed. "Are you freaking kidding me? There's no way."

"Why not?" Liz asked. "Her dad is good with computers; that doesn't necessarily make him spy material."

"Yeah but he is wrapped up in the Circle. Can you imagine DeeDee with a villainous daddy?"

I shrugged, the shock wearing off. "We don't know for sure that he is part of the Circle. That was just a hunch of my dad's. And even if he is, we shouldn't judge DeeDee due to her dad's affiliations." My eyes met with Zach's. "Our parents don't define us. Only we do."

Macey nodded. "And what does it matter if DeeDee's his daughter? That shouldn't affect our plans. The Circle is too dangerous to let her stand in our way."

Bex rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

"What are our plans exactly?" Liz asked, her eyes flitting from one of us to the other. "I mean, we say we're going to take down the Circle, but first we need a plan. What's the plan?"

"We need to find out everything thing we can about Devon Wilson by any means necessary." I said. "I'll talk to my mom, see if she'll be willing to help somehow. But that can wait. For now, let's get through finals and enjoy at least a little bit of Winter Break because once we get back, nothing we do will be for play anymore."

The expressions on my friends' faces were stoic. We all knew now what we were getting into. By taking on this mission we were letting go of the last traces of our childhood. It would be different from anything else we had ever done before. We weren't shooting for a good grade or extra credit. We weren't going to be mulling over the cryptic words of cute boys.

We were entering the big leagues. Yes, that scared the hell out of me—how could I not be scared after everything I'd seen over the past year—but I'd be lying if I said that a part of me wasn't excited. It also helped to know that I wouldn't be alone. I had my friends. I had Zach.

I was going to listen to Tillie and my dad's last hopes for me. I would take down the Circle for good. And I wouldn't be alone when I did it.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read my story! This is actually the longest story I've ever written believe it or not so it means a lot to me that so many people enjoyed it.

Thanks to GallagherGirlMacey, foreveryours66, pigckle8, myforeverisnow, Rosey3425, MiriCG, ,MeIsBee, kittykatkitkat, ilovemybestfriends, HannahBerry96, zachy K3, HellsOnEarth, Kelsey Goode, overobsesivebookfreak, goodeygirl23, edennn, Soleil Avant la Pluie, ..Blonde, Ashley, ivory, Bunniez, Sorrel14, Ugghhhh, anonymousspelling, GallagherGirl530, anonymous, ellenfp, HayleeGoode97, maysunrain, collectcall, MoreRandomThanYouWouldBelieve, Lmb111514, A person, R.I. plus M.P. love, Jazz-shoes, xosummerbabyox96, All That is Goode, IaMaMaZiNg XD, Faye Cullen-Fraser, Kayslee, invisible to u, 2goode4u, bordom911, una persona, Catie Carrington, baton914, isaidlalala, samcheese1, c a s e y c a m p l i n, eyes134, JesusFreak137, GaLlAgHeR-GiRl4EVER, Clarinetto14, Allie Goode, Lola, chellygoesrawr, HappyInsideGirl, maximumpotter101, ASDFGHJKL, Sammilovesbutterflies, TaylorAnne613, tally, Shannon, carly, the Chameleon, Patricia Alexis, Ashes2604, Tootsy rowl, pigeonfollower, awesomely goode 101, frizzy-wizzy-oringina, emmettluvrXD, and Aly Goode for all of your reviews!

My updates most likely would have been even more spread out with all of your loving pestering. :)

Also, thank you to everyone who favorited this story or alerted it. I would write all your names out...but that would take even longer than it did to write out everyone who reviewed and I want to get this out before heading to work.

You guys are awesome. See you when I post GG6 or the next chapter of Frog, Snails if you read that too.