a/n: why hello there :) since i completed " Pull On Your Heart Strings " this will be my new story. it's very AU, with only Zach being the spy and Cammie not. The characters... are in a sense of OoC, but not really. I hope you enjoy this story and review it if you'd like to.

RATING: semi-strong T, but nothing too serious :)

oh, and here's a side not of the AU-ness to this story: Zach's parent's names are: (father) Richard Goode and (mother) Melissa Goode. Cammie's: (father) James Morgan and (mother) Rachel Morgan. Cammie's grandparents: (grandfather) Charles Morgan and (grandmother) Elizabeth Morgan. OH! and Mr. Solomon is Cammie's uncle in this and Zach's mom's not an evil pyscho killer trying to kill Cammie :D okay?

disclaimer: i do not own the Gallagher Series, it's all Ally Carter's :D

so, here we go:

My Escape

- ; -

"I'm sorry Mrs. Goode, but your husband... is dead." Mr. Joe Solomon, the teacher at Blackthorne Academy and one of the CIA's agents, said sadly. His eyes were sad and full of regret that he had to bring the sad news to Melissa Goode and sixteen-year-old Zachary Goode.

Melissa's eyes were filled with fat crystal tears, her vision suddenly becoming unclear. Zach reached out for her slender wrist, as they both sat in Mr. Solomon's office. Melissa let the tears fall, something she didn't do often as Zach tried to reassure his mother. But how could he? His dad, his idol, his best friend... was gone. And not just on some spy mission that lasted a few months, he was gone forever.

"What... what happened?" Zach brought himself to ask.

Mr. Solomon looked up from his folded hands on his wooden desk and said, "It's confidential, Zach. I'm sorry." He looked at the teenage boy with regret.

Zach's inside suddenly came to life, no longer feeling hollow, but feeling angry. "What?" He asked, through clenched teeth, "You're not going to tell me how one of the best spies, -my father- died?"

"Zach, we can't, I wish we could, but we can't." Mr. Solomon apologized.

"Bull shit!" Zach stood up, kicking his chair onto the ground. At the sound of the loud thump, his mother cried even harder, shaking her head.

Zach's dad, Richard Goode, was a top spy at the CIA. Zach idolized him, from his amazing spy skills, to all the fancy missions he went on, and to the praise the CIA gave him. Zach wanted to grow up to be just like him.

But three months ago, Zach's dad went on a mission and for some reason, he couldn't reveal where he was going, what he was going to do, and even who he was going with. It was too secretive. Normally, he would fill Zach and his mother on some stuff, like when he'd be back or even where he was going. But that time, he didn't. All he did was hug Zach and Melissa goodbye and promise he was going to come back.

Zach assumed, he broke his promise.

"I'm really sorry," Mr. Solomon said again, "All I can tell you is that he wasn't alone, he went with a partner on that mission."

"Is his partner dead too?" Melissa asked, wiping at her tears with her fingertips.

Mr. Solomon cleared his throat, "I'm sorry Mel, that's confidential."

It suddenly came rushing in, the feeling of hurt mixed with fear. It all came rushing in on Zach, filling up every space in his body. He dropped his heads into his hands, feeling the burning sting of tears wanting to fall from his eyes. But he didn't want to cry, he didn't want to hurt or show any pain. Just like his parents, Zach was also a spy, in training. And rule number one was to never, ever get too emotional.

Zach turned away from his mom and Mr. Solomon, suddenly feeling angry that his dad died. How could the man he looked up to the most, just let him down?

He clenched his strong hands into balls of fists, feeling like dying. His breathing became irregular as he stormed out of Mr. Solomon's office, kicking the doors open and running to the empty parking lot of the Blackthorne Institute. He screamed in aggravation, the loud roar of his voice, echoing throughout the emptiness of the night. He turned fiercely, punching his fist into the brick wall. He screamed again, grunting in aggravation, countinuing to beat at the concrete wall. His fists were hurting and turning red, but he refused to give up and feel the pain.

He just continued punching, suddenly feeling a tear roll down his face.

His dad was gone, no longer one of the best. He was just gone, all his hard work and dedication into ten years of being a CIA agent, wasted. Zach leaned against the wall, his fists turning red and bleeding slightly out of the small cuts of open skin.

On that day, he vowed to work hard, to train hard, to be the best. Just like his father, the famous Richard Goode. He had to do something to make his dad proud.

- XxX -

"Where is he? Why isn't he home?" Elizabeth Morgan asked panicked, while holding a cup of steaming green tea in a vintage glass cup. Her eyes were wide with worry, as she took a nervous sip.

It was almost midnight by the time Peter Moore, a CIA worker, came to visit the Morgan Mansion in Roseville, Virginia and deliver the bad news. He was seated across Elizabeth Morgan and her husband, Charles Morgan, both former CIA agents and spies. They sat there, on the expensive furniture with their daughter, Rachel Morgan, who wasn't a stranger to the spy word and even did paper work for the CIA.

Peter took a sip of his steaming hot tea, then placed the cup on the wooden coffee table, "I'm sorry, Elizabeth, Charles, and Rachel... James... was found to be dead last night." He didn't meet any of their eyes.

Elizabeth automatically broke into sobs, her husband holding her tightly.

"D-dead?" Rachel asked, her eyes wide as she wrapped her silk robe around her body tighter. "James is dead?" She asked, tears flowing into her beautiful eyes.

Peter just nodded, sadly.

"He can't be dead!" Rachel said, running a hand furiously through her hair, tears falling and staining her cheeks. "He-he can't be! This must be a mistake! My husband is not dead!"

Peter gulped, knowing this was the reaction he'd get from the Morgan family. "I-I'm sorry, Rachel, James was found dead exactly twenty-one hours ago. I'm sorry."

Rachel sobbed, hugging her stomach and just crying.

"Thank you Peter," Charles said, stroking Elizabeth gently on her back, not knowing what else to say. His only son was dead.

Peter nodded slowly, "I'm sorry, James was one of the best spies we had on the agency, he'll be missed."

Rachel continued letting out sobs, feeling her insides break and her heart physically hurt.

"I'll be going now," Peter stood up, "Please, if there is anything you may need, don't hesitate to contact us."

"Us" meaning the CIA, who treated everyone like family and friends. Peter extended out his hand and only Charles shook it, looking like he got shot in the heart. "We'll let you know." Charles said, shaking his hand.

Peter nodded, giving Rachel and Elizabeth sympathetic looks and seeing himself out of the mansion.

"Who'll tell Cameron?" Elizabeth asked, her voice scratchy and her eyes puffy and red-rimmed. She looked at her husband and daughter, wondering who was going to break their fifteen-year-old granddaughter's heart.

Charles sighed, putting a hand over his creasing forehead. It happened because they were spies, because being a spy was the most dangerous thing in the world. And as a veteran spy, Charles knew it best. He spent almost thirty-five years in the agency, defending and saving people. It was a tradition in the Morgan family, which was one of the reasons why the name Morgan was so well-known. His son, James, was no exception. Once James graduated the Blackthorne Institue for Boys, he automatically joined the CIA. They both knew of the consequences that would happen, but they decided to risk it anyway, because being a spy was just the Morgan thing to do.

However, the tradition stopped, at James' daughter, Cameron. James thought the spy world was too dangerous, too drastic, so he never introduced it to her. When she was four and asked what her daddy did for a living, he said he was a traveling business man. And up until she then, she still believed it.

But now Cameron's father, Charles and Elizabeth's son, and Rachel's husband was dead. A man not only loved fully by his parents and wife, but admired greatly by a young child was dead and they couldn't even tell Cameron why he really died. Not because he was a business man, but because he was a spy.

Rachel continued to sob, her tears just running down faster, Richard extended his hand out and patted her back gently, "Don't cry Rachel." He said, feeling sorry for his daughter-in-law.

She just shook his head, Charles knowing that she loved James with all she had to offer.

"I'll tell Cameron." Elizabeth said, standing up and wiping her tears with a handkerchief. Charles nodded as he watched his wife walk up the grand stair case and into their granddaughter's room not ready to bestow the child with the heartbreaking news.

a/n: short chapter, but that was just the intro :) it's in italics because it's all but a flashback. let me know what you think and review? I hope it was okay :D

note: chapters will get longer, but updates may take a while (two days or so maximum, k?) and s m i l e, it freaks people out(;