If there was anything Hope Cahill hated more than Vespers, it was waiting. It was a complete waste of her time and energy, and nevermind the fact that waiting wasn't burning calories so it didn't really take up her energy and her previous statement made no sense, but that was okay because none of her thoughts made much sense these days, and wait, what did Grace want her to do again and oh, maybe Grace was right when she said she had been a scatterbrain lately but seriously, what right did she have to tell her-

She blinked.

Wait, what was she going on about again?

The sound of automatic sliding doors from behind her caused her to jump and turn around, adopting a somewhat defensive stance.

She breathed a sigh of a relief when a familiar chuckling voice filled the room.

"A little anxious, Hope?"

Hope grinned sheepishly and sat down on the couch at the center of the room. What was wrong with her these days? Why did she believe the young man who had just entered was a Vesper? Honestly. Did she really think Vespers were stupid enough to just skip right onto Cahill Island in broad daylight, where Madrigal agents still lurked?

Hope frowned. No, she wouldn't put it past them. They were pretty risky.

"A penny for your thoughts."

She looked up. "Only a penny, Scott? I feel loved."

He laughed lightly and sat down next to her, pulling out a thick file folder marked, 'HIGHLY DANGEROUS'. "You've seemed preoccupied lately," he said after a pause. "You haven't been over-thinking, have you? We can't have one of our top agent's brain combusting."

She snorted and lightly punched him. "Please."

He opened the folder and rifled through some papers. "Don't be like that. Tell me the truth. What's going on?"

Hope played with the hem of her skirt, chewing her lip. "I just... I don't know. Mom's been pretty tired lately, and I'm worried because it's not like her. I invited her to go laser tagging with a bunch of Cahills the other day -yeah, yeah, don't give me that look, I know they just wanted our clues but I thought it would be fun- and you know what she said?"

Scott pulled out a paper while raising an eyebrow and looking at her at the same time. "What did she say?"

"She said she didn't have the energy!" Hope exclaimed, her voice rising an octave. "Since when does Mom not have the energy? She never passes an opportunity to humiliate me, even by beating me in laser tag!"

Scott grimaced. "Hope, calm down. You're overreacting. I'm sure Grace is fine."

Her shoulders slumped in response. "I know. I probably am. She tells me not to worry-"

"Then don't," he interrupted. "You know Grace. She is perfectly capable of taking care of herself."

Hope sighed. "Yeah, you're right. She's Mom. She's pretty much indestructible."

He smiled loftily at her. "Of course. We've seen her get through everything. Remember that time in Polynesia?"

Hope nodded, cracking a small smile at the memory. "How could I forget?" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Right. The briefing. That's why you're here."

"Always to business, with you," he grinned and tweaked her nose before showing her a pile of stapled papers.

She felt a blush rise to her cheeks at the contact but pointedly ignored it, glaring down at the papers.

Scott flipped the page and a picture was revealed. "This is the young man that you must watch out for," he said, his voice taking on a darker tone. "He has been sent to spy and you, and now the Madrigals are sending you to do the same."

A/N: Finally got around to rewriting this. I wanted to give up the whole thing but then I'd feel like a failure. I'm really sorry about not updating this.

The earlier chapters are still going to be really short but I can't help that if I want to stick to my original plot line. They'll become longer as it progresses, I promise. Also, I recommend re-reading the whole thing because somethings have majorly changed.