

# Freedom Fighters:

# Twilight City

RB

Rossendale Books

Published by Rossendale Books

Category: Teenage, Fiction

Published in e-book 2013

Copyright Michelle Leyland © 2013

Cover design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc

www.gobookcoverdesign.com

Starlet photography © Maksim Toome (Dreamstime.com)

Rickie photography © Alexey Poprugin (Dreamstime.com)

Carl photography © Verkoka (Dreamstime.com)

Sarah photography © MegWallacePhotography (Dreamstime.com)

Bryan photography © Tracy Whiteside (Dreamstime.com)

Kat photography © Sheftsoff (Dreamstime.com)

Josh photography © Kadettmann (Dreamstime.com)

Mick photography © Jose Manuel Gelpi Diaz (Dreamstime.com)

ISBN : 9781291289602

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

# Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

# Prologue

Ebony held her baby close as the shouts and thundering at the door became louder.

"You need to get her away from here," her husband Ray said desperately. "You know what will happen if they catch us and we need to keep Starlet safe."

"But I can't leave you," said Ebony, with tears in her eyes at the thought of the danger her husband would be in.

"Do this for our baby," Ray pleaded. "We can't let them kill her."

They both heard the crash of the front door being broken into and Ebony's eyes widened with fear.

"Go now!" Ray shouted. "I'll keep them distracted."

Knowing she had no other choice, Ebony ran out of the back door holding Starlet close to her. Tears fell down her cheeks as she ran but she didn't stop until she was far away from the house.

She entered a dark alleyway, breathing hard and feeling terrified of being caught. She found a secret doorway hidden in the shadows and knocked urgently.

A woman answered almost immediately and smiled, looking relieved, "Ebony, I was expecting you..."

"You need to take Starlet," Ebony told her desperately. "We've been found out; they're after us..." she looked around in fear of being seen. "Please take Starlet to the sanctuary. Her life will be in danger if she stays and I can't bear for anything to happen to her. She'll be safe there."

"I will take her," the woman agreed, "but what about you and Ray?"

"They might be following me, I can't risk it. Just make sure Starlet is protected, we will take care of ourselves."

Ebony started to cry even more as she gave her baby one last hug, "I love you Starlet. You'll be safe, do not worry." She kissed Starlet's forehead and the baby smiled up at her. "Maybe one day we can be together again. I'll come and find you if..." she stopped, knowing that she might not survive to see her again.

She quickly handed the baby over, her heart aching. "You promise you'll protect her and get her there safely?"

"I give you my word," the woman promised.

Ebony smiled and stroked her baby's hair, "goodbye Starlet, I will miss you..."

She jumped with fright as she heard voices nearby and knew they were coming. The woman quickly shut and bolted the door, hiding the baby inside.

Without hesitation Ebony quickly ran away into the darkness, leading them away from her baby and leaving her behind forever.

#  Chapter 1

I walk along the dark streets, feeling excited but anxious. Today's the big day; I've finally left the sanctuary to return to Twilight City, the place where my life first began. I've been at the sanctuary since I was a baby, but now I'm sixteen years old and I want to return to the city and start my life.

When I was little I had dreamed of one day returning home, even though we had been told awful stories of an evil dictator called Lord Snider who had taken over Twilight City and forced the citizens to work for him. He had taken over before I was born which meant I had to be sent away to live at the sanctuary where I would be safe. I knew a lot of bad things were still happening at home but it never stopped me from wanting to return.

Ever since I was little I'd dream of being a freedom fighter just like my parents. They had fought against Lord Snider and I thought of them as my heroes and wanted to be just like them when I was older. I wanted so much to be with them again. Growing up not being able to see your parents really sucked; but those dreams were shattered when I found out the truth.

When I was thirteen I was finally told that my parents had both been murdered after I'd been sent to the sanctuary, and they didn't want to tell me this before I was old enough to handle it. I'd been devastated, knowing there was no way I could ever see them again and missing them even more.

I still feel the sadness and emptiness inside me as I think of them. They mean so much to me even though I barely remember them and only spent a year with them before we were separated. I still have hazy memories of being held close and a sweet voice singing to me, and I'm sure it's flashbacks of when I was a baby. I still miss them so much and feel my eyes prick with tears.

_I'll make them proud,_ I think to myself, _and once I'm a freedom fighter like them I'll make Lord Snider pay for what he did to them._

I concentrate on the map I was given, trying to stop my eyes from watering. I make sure I'm not seen, since I know I'm in dangerous territory now, and eventually find the place I'm looking for.

In the middle of nowhere there is a tall building block. It looks rundown and deserted, but I don't hesitate and walk over to it.

I knock loudly on the closed entrance. I wait a few moments until the door opens slightly and someone looks out at me.

"What's the password?" he asks me from behind the door.

"Wanted," I say, remembering the word I was meant to say.

The man opens the door wider, "come in."

I follow him inside and he bolts the door behind us. A teenage girl approaches and studies me, "hello," she looks a little suspicious. "Who are you?"

"I'm Starlet," I answer. "The workers at the sanctuary sent me here."

She smiles, finally trusting me now she knows who I am, "take a seat, I'll bring Carl to see you."

She walks away and I sink into a white leather sofa and look around. The place looks completely different from the inside. The walls are brightly painted, the wooden floors are polished and the room is filled with trendy furniture and tall spider plants.

I see the girl from earlier leave a posh looking office up ahead, and then a tall guy walks out and approaches me.

I look up at him, feeling nervous. He's nineteen years old with short, black, spiked hair. He's wearing a dark blue t-shirt with long sleeves, which have been rolled up to his elbows to look trendy; along with jeans and trainers.

"Hello Starlet, it's nice to meet you," he shakes my hand and indicates for me to follow him back to the office.

#  Chapter 2

I follow him into his private office space where he sits behind a desk and starts looking at the computer. I sit down on the chair opposite his desk and wait.

"So you're here to become a freedom fighter?" he asks me.

"Yeah," I answer, feeling a little nervous.

"I'm Carl, the leader of the freedom fighters," he introduces himself and goes back to studying the computer screen. "I'll need to do a background check on you before we get started."

I see him type my name into the keyboard and read the information that appears on the computer screen.

"So you've lived at the sanctuary since you were a baby?" he asks, obviously getting the information from the computer.

I nod in answer.

"And your parents..." he stops to read whatever is on the screen and then looks at me. "Your parents were Ray and Ebony Summers?"

I nod again, trying hard not to embarrass myself by crying.

He smiles sympathetically, "I'm sorry for your loss, I heard they were great freedom fighters."

I smile, feeling proud.

Carl goes back to his screen, "Everything's fine so I guess you're in." He fills out the forms and hands over a printed membership ID card with my name, photo and a long digit number.

"You'll need to have training before you begin any work," he explains. "You'll be staying here as this is our secret freedom fighter base."

He gives me a sheet detailing all my future training and I quickly look at the course summary and smile.
Freedom Fighter training:

6 week course

Freedom Fighter history and information

First aid and medical training

Weapon, item and gadget usage

Circuit and fitness training

Self defense

Bomb deactivation

Basic Navigation

Basic alarm technology, CCTV and lock picking

Basic computer hacking
"I'll show you where you'll be staying," he says, and I quickly look away from the course sheet and follow him.

We go up a flight of stairs and along a corridor until we reach room number 26. I look inside and see what looks like a hotel room. There's a small lounge with a kitchen and a doorway leading to a bedroom and small bathroom.

"We have a large dining room and cafeteria downstairs on the ground floor; there are also a few lounge rooms, a conference room and an entertainment hall. Feel free to use them any time you like."

He hands over the keys to my room and I smile at him, "thanks."

"Your training starts in the hall tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. Don't be late," he reminds me and leaves the room.

I look around my new flat a second time, feeling excited. I start to unpack which doesn't take long. The belongings I've brought with me are all stuffed into my rucksack. I don't have much, just clothes and essentials, my mobile and iPod already loaded with my favourite songs.

I decide to go and explore around the building. As I look around, a few people notice me and say hi. I smile back at them, thinking how great it is to finally be one of them.

I have dinner at the cafeteria, and on my way back I hear loud music drifting from the entertainment hall and curiously go inside. There's a party and everyone is dancing to the music, talking and laughing and drinking. I walk around looking to see if there's anyone I recognise, and that's when Carl reappears beside me.

"Hi Starlet, welcome to the party," he says with a friendly smile. "Can I get you a drink?"

"No, I'm fine thanks," I answer politely, looking over at the bar and feeling self-conscious at not having any money.

"The drinks are free," he says as if he's just read my mind. "Everything here is free as long as you work for us."

I smile and feel a little better, "okay, maybe I'll take that drink."

Carl goes over to the bar, and as I wait I feel someone looking at me. I turn and see a guy gazing at me from the other side of the room. He's very good looking, with brown eyes and long, spiky black hair. He's slim and wearing black jeans and a dark green vest top which shows off his toned arms. He smiles at me flirtatiously and I can't keep my eyes off him.

He walks over and I suddenly feel breathless.

"Hey," he says, admiring me. I see him taking in my long blonde hair and blue highlights, my slim figure and green eyes.

I smile at him.

"I haven't seen you 'round here before, are y' new?" he asks.

"Yeah, I joined today," I answer, feeling myself blush.

"Cool. I'm Rickie by the way."

"I'm Starlet," I say. "Most people just call me Star."

"Starlet's a beautiful name," he says, holding my gaze. "Does it have a meaning or something?"

"It means _the making of a star_ ," I explain, remembering the fairy tale story of how my mum had chosen my name. The workers used to tell it to me, along with other cute stories of how I became a little dancer once I could walk.

He smiles at me and I feel myself falling for him already.

"I see you've met my bro," I hear Carl say as he returns.

I nearly jump with fright and suddenly the magic spell between me and Rickie is broken.

"I didn't know you had a brother," I say, still feeling stunned as I accept the small, glass bottle of Pepsi.

I study them both and suddenly realise they have some resemblance, similar eyes and same black hair.

"I was going to introduce him to you eventually but I guess he beat me to it," Carl looks at Rickie who grins back at him.

"I was just makin' her feel welcome, that's all," he says. "Wasn't I, Star?" he winks at me and I blush even more.

Carl rolls his eyes, "trust you to hit on the new girl," he says, "Starlet needs to concentrate, she starts training in the morning so the least thing she needs is you bugging her."

I look up at Rickie shyly and see him smile at me, like he's reading my mind. We both know I don't mind having him around.

"If he annoys you again just tell him to back off," Carl jokes to me and gives Rickie a playful shove. "I'll leave you two love birds alone."

When he's gone Rickie smiles at me again, "don't listen to him, he always gets annoyed if I flirt with girls. So, wanna dance?"

"Yeah, okay," I agree and quickly take a sip of my drink before setting it down on a nearby table.

He takes my hand and pulls me over to the dance floor. Soon we're dancing along to the music, his arms around my waist, and I'm lost in the song, dancing and moving my hips to the music.

Rickie looks down at me amazed, "you're really good at dancing."

"Thanks," I smile, feeling happy because I love to dance.

"You're so wasted on being a freedom fighter. You should so be a professional dancer instead."

"Maybe," I reply, knowing that if I couldn't be a freedom fighter I'd definitely go for a dance career.

We dance together for the next few songs and I feel happy being in his arms. Electricity runs through me whenever I feel his touch. He stares into my eyes again and my heart beats fast.

"Hey Bro," we hear Carl call over. "There's an emergency, we gotta go."

Rickie looks a little annoyed at being interrupted, "I'll be right out."

He looks down at me again. "I'm sorry Star, I really need to go," he looks sad at leaving and I feel my heart sink too.

"It's okay," I reply and feel disappointed.

"Maybe we can meet up sometime?" he suggests.

"Sure," I agree and smile happily.

He smiles back, "later, Star."

I watch him walk away and follow Carl out of the hall, but even though he has left I can still feel my heart racing. The last thing I expected was to fall in love with someone on my first day, but now there's nothing I can do to stop it even if I wanted to.

#  Chapter 3

The next morning I wake up wondering where I am. I stare around at the unfamiliar flat and suddenly remember that I'm no longer at the sanctuary; I'm in Twilight City and finally becoming a freedom fighter.

I quickly get washed and dressed, make myself some toast in the kitchen and then head downstairs. It's 8:00am and Freedom Fighter training only starts at 9:00am, but I really need to see Carl because last night, after endless thoughts about Rickie, I came up with a great idea.

Carl is leaving his office when I arrive downstairs and he looks surprised to see me, "you're up early," he says. "Eager to start training?"

"Yeah," I answer, "but I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Well, I was talking to Rickie last night..." I begin and see Carl smile like I'm crazy. He obviously thinks I want to talk to him about his brother, so I blush and feel embarrassed.

"He gave me a great idea," I explain quickly. "I really love to dance so I thought maybe if I could set up some shows I could raise money for the sanctuary?"

Carl looks surprised, "yeah, I guess that could work. Good idea. I thought at first you wanted to talk about Rickie."

"No, of course not," I say, trying not to blush. I may be secretly in love with his brother but there's no way I'm going to embarrass myself by talking to Carl about it.

"I could set something like that up," he says, thinking over my idea. "Meet me here tomorrow morning and we'll discuss it, okay?"

"Okay," I agree, feeling excited.

At 9:00am I start freedom fighter training in the hall with a tutor called Bryan Harper. He's twenty two years old and is tall and skinny. He has floppy blond hair and glasses, and looks serious but friendly.

There are three other students in the room. One is called Sarah; she has blue eyes and chin length, short hair which is dyed purple. She's very pretty, wearing fashionable clothes and make-up. She seems pretty friendly so I sit next to her.

Bryan starts to tell us about freedom fighter history which is very interesting. He tells us the tales of when Lord Snider first took over the city and dominated the people. At first most people feared him and became his workers, but there were a few people who refused to be ordered around by him and together they created a small group in secret to fight back against him, and that's how the freedom fighters began.

I daydream about it all as he tells us. He explains that the first freedom fighters later created the sanctuary sixteen years ago and that, near the time I was born, babies and children were evacuated there to safety. I begin to think about my own life and how I must have felt all those years ago, scared and anxious and wondering where I was being taken to.

After the information on freedom fighters he moves on to tell us all about the people against us. Apparently we're not to trust anyone but registered freedom fighters, even the city police are on Lord Snider's side. This seems weird since they are supposed to be preventing bad things from happening, but I suppose they care more about the bribe money and who's in charge of the city rather than people's safety.

"There are also spies employed by Lord Snider to try and find information about the freedom fighters," Bryan warns us. "These people will look ordinary and less suspicious so we have to be careful who we trust. That is why we do background checks on every freedom fighter to make sure they are genuine. And lastly you should be warned about the risks," he says and we all start to listen intently. "Being a freedom fighter is against Lord Snider's laws and is strictly illegal, even though we are planning on protecting the citizens rather than commit any crimes. If a freedom fighter is arrested by a police officer they will face serious consequences. Most are jailed, but if Lord Snider has his way they are executed for breaking his laws." I feel a pain inside my heart as I think of my parents.

"Any questions?" Bryan asks.

Sarah puts up her hand, "How can you tell which people we are supposed to be helping? If most people work for Lord Snider they won't want our help."

"There are families out there who will obey orders given by Lord Snider but they live more in fear of him rather than work for him. Those are the people we will help, especially if they're in danger."

"How do you know they aren't spies?" one of the guys asks.

"It's always hard to tell so you must always tread carefully with anyone who isn't a registered freedom fighter. If in doubt ask one of us. We know most people around the city and whether they are on our side or not."

Bryan looks at the clock, "you can go for lunch now. You have one hour, be sure to be back for one o'clock."

Me and Sarah go over to the cafeteria and grab a burger before selecting an empty table.

"It's really interesting learning all about freedom fighters, isn't it?" she asks. "I still can't believe I'm here."

"Yeah, me too," I agree, feeling a buzz of excitement at thinking one day soon I would finally be a fully trained freedom fighter.

"What made you want to be a freedom fighter?"

"My parents were freedom fighters, I guess I wanted to be like them," I answer. "What about you?"

"I wanted to make a change," she says. "I hate him controlling the city so I really wanted to help somehow."

"Have you lived here all your life?"

"Yeah, it's been really hard. Police are always checking up on families, just in case they're planning to go against his rules, but I guess you know that."

"Not really," I admit. "I only arrived here yesterday. I had to be sent to the sanctuary when I was a baby so I've been living there."

"Wow. Really?" she asks, looking interested. "What's it like there?"

I remember the herds of children all ages and kind volunteers who always cared for us. It was a nice place and almost felt like home, but I always remember feeling emptiness inside my heart because I no longer had my parents.

"It was okay," I answer. "It's like living in a big playground." I suddenly realise a part of me misses being there, but I promised to visit so I wouldn't be away forever.

Sarah suddenly nudges me, "look who's coming over!"

I look up to see Rickie walking nearby and my heart races. He looks just as amazing as he did the night we met and I can't help staring at him, feeling in love all over again.

He's talking intently with another guy, obviously about something important.

I'm not sure what to do. Should I go over and say hi? He looks kind of busy so maybe it's not a good idea to interrupt him. What if he doesn't even remember me? We only just met yesterday, and even though he already means the world to me, what if I'm just another random girl he flirted with? My heart aches at the thought and I look away.

I try to eat some of my lunch, but suddenly he looks directly over at me as if he's somehow sensed I'm there, and I almost stop breathing at feeling his eyes on me.

I look up and blush, meeting his gaze. He smiles at me and I feel my heart melt.

"Hey Star."

"Hi," I reply, feeling a little shy. He remembers me! I'm so happy I feel like I'm flying.

"So I guess y' took my advice?" he says. "My bro says you're setting up a dance show. I think it's awesome you're raising money for the kids at the sanctuary."

"Yeah," I answer, feeling pleased. "I just thought it would be pretty cool to help out somehow."

"Well I'll definitely come and see you perform. I bet you'll be amazing."

"Thanks," I smile, feeling blissful, and he gives me a quick smile back before returning to his conversation.

When he leaves, Sarah stares at me, "you know Rickie?"

"Yeah, we met last night," I answer, trying to hide how much my heart is beating. "Why?"

"Do you know who he is?"

"Carl's brother?" I reply.

"Well yes, he is; but he's like a legend around here," she tells me excitedly. "He's an amazing freedom fighter and the police are after him big time. Last week he freed ten innocent people from Lord Snider's base. Everyone looks up to him and Carl."

"Yeah, he is pretty cool," I say.

"You seem to get on pretty well," she says suspiciously. "Are you two an item?"

I almost choke on my burger, "no, we're not together..." I say and try not to blush. I've done nothing but daydream about being his girlfriend since we met, but I don't want to reveal anything.

She doesn't look like she believes me, but that's the truth right now no matter how much I want to be with him.

#  Chapter 4

The afternoon goes by pretty quickly. We start to learn about different weapons and items used on missions, which is very interested. Bryan demonstrates how to use sleeping darts on enemies and smoke bombs to use as distractions and smokescreens to escape.

Next we start to learn the basics of first aid and go onto self-defence, which is so fun.

After the days training I go up to my flat, feeling excited for tomorrow's lessons. I stop at the door in surprise as I see a bunch of pink roses waiting outside. I smile and pick them up, looking at the tag even though I've already guessed who they're from:

To Star

Hope you like the flowers. Do you still wanna meet up sometime? I didn't get a chance to get your number so I've left mine at the back of the card.

From Rickie xxx

I excitedly type the number listed on the back of the tag into my mobile and send him a quick text:

Hi Rickie, its Star. Thanx for the flowers I luv them and yeah I still want to meet up xxx

I admire the flowers again, smile blissfully and feel my heart fill with love. I can't believe a guy like Rickie would be so interested in me; but Sarah was right, there was definitely some chemistry going on between me and him. Maybe one day we would be in a relationship? I really hope so because I'd never felt this strongly about a guy before, he was obviously something special.

That night I even dream about him and I feel so excited to wake up and see the roses he got for me. I check my mobile but there's still no reply from him. My heart aches and I try not to feel disappointed.

When I go downstairs, I see Carl on my way to class.

"I've got good news Star, I managed to get you a show," he says, smiling.

"You did?" I ask surprised and excited.

"I have a friend who works in the entertainment business, she was pretty keen to have you perform at her place," he explains. "How does Saturday night sound? Will you be able to think of a routine by then?"

"Sure," I say, although I'm starting to worry. I'll need to work really hard for the rest of the week to get something set up by then.

"Great, I'll let her know. Maybe you could go and meet her tomorrow night to arrange things."

"Okay," I agree and he gives me the name and the address of a bar in the city.

"Good luck on Saturday," he says. "Maybe you should advertise it around here, I'm sure everyone would love to see you perform."

I head off to the hall for training, daydreaming about my new dance career. I just hope they think I'm good enough and my performance doesn't suck.

"Hi, what's the matter?" I see Sarah waiting outside the classroom for me and smile.

"Just thinking, that's all," I answer. "Carl's helped me to get the dance performance set up. I can hopefully do a show on Saturday night."

"Cool," she smiles, looking pleased for me. "Have you got something worked out?"

"Not yet," I say nervously, "but I've made up a few dances already so I don't think it'll be that hard making something up."

"Maybe I can help? I could come over tonight and work on some?" she looks excited. "I know I'm not as good at dancing as you but I could help with music?"

"Okay," I say, feeling happy.

We go into the hall and sit at our normal places and Bryan starts the lesson off with physical exercise. Apparently we need to be fit if we want to work as freedom fighters, so he makes us go outside and run tracks, and then we try some army style circuits which are pretty tiring. Afterwards we get to try out the sleeping dart guns on stunt dolls and learn target practice.

At lunch, Sarah and I go to get something to eat and I quickly check my mobile again. My heart skips a beat when I see that Rickie has sent me a message. It says I received it this morning at 9:30am but I was obviously too busy running around outside at the time to notice.

I try to read it without Sarah noticing but she sees me blush, "who's the text from?"

"Rickie," I answer with a smile.

"I knew there was something going on between you and him," she accuses playfully.

"We are just friends. Well okay, I do have feelings for him...." I admit, although I hold back on mentioning how I'm secretly in love with him, "and he seems to like me too."

"What about the flowers?"

I look up at her, "how did you know about that?"

She giggles, "He asked me yesterday which flat you lived in so I guess the roses were for you."

I blush even more, "It was really sweet of him."

"Yeah, you're so lucky. I wish I had an admirer to buy me flowers," she says, looking wistful. "Aren't you going to read the text he sent?" she teases.

I shyly look down at my mobile and read the message:

Hey Star soz 4 the late reply was on a mission last nite. Wanna meet up 2nite if ur free? We cud go watch a movie? xxx

"He wants to meet up tonight," I tell her and smile excitedly.

"That's great," she says. "So I suppose you'll be too busy to hang out?"

"Oh no, I totally forgot about working on the dance routine," I say, remembering our plans of working on it together tonight. "Carl said I need to see her tomorrow night so I really need to have something before then."

"No worries, we'll work on it as soon as training finishes," she says, "then you'll have to get ready really quick to go out with him."

I send a reply back to Rickie:

Yeah Im free and movie sounds great. What time? xxx

He sends back a reply instantly: _I wil pick u up at 8. C u later xxx_

After lunch we do more medical training, which is fun because I wrap Sarah up in bandages until she looks like a mummy. Luckily Bryan just rolls his eyes and doesn't tell us off for messing around.

Afterwards we learn about gadgets. Bryan lets us practice outside with tracking devices and navigation systems, which turns out to be a cooler version of hide and seek. Even though it's fun I can't concentrate much, all I can think about is seeing Rickie tonight.

#  Chapter 5

After training ends, Sarah and I go over to my flat and start work on the dance routines. Sarah suggests some cool music and I pick up on a few of my previous dances and make them into new improved ones which go with the music.

Once we've got five dance routines and music sorted we celebrate by ordering takeaway pizza.

"So what are you wearing tonight?" Sarah asks once we're eating the pizza.

"I dunno," I reply. "Jeans and a cool top maybe?"

Sarah rolls her eyes, "you're not really into clothes and make-up are you?"

I laugh, "No."

"I'll help you out," she promises and goes to look through my wardrobe. "Once I've sorted an outfit you'll look amazing."

Half an hour later I'm wearing skinny jeans and an off-shoulder, light blue top that Sarah has chosen. She straightens my hair really professionally, but once she tries make-up I refuse.

"Sorry but I'm not exactly a girly-girl," I say. "I'm really not into make-up."

"Fine, just some lip gloss and mascara, okay?"

I give in and let her do it, and then she moves on to accessories. I insist on wearing my crystal star necklace and a silver waist belt, with silver bangles and hooped ear rings. Sarah approves and tells me I have to wear silver strappy sandals to match, even though I think she's crazy as its cold outside.

An hour later I'm looking in the mirror feeling like a model.

"Thanks Sarah, I look really great," I say, wondering if Rickie will think I look nice too.

"Trust me, he's gonna love it," Sarah reassures me, as if she's just read my mind. "The top really goes with your blue highlights."

"I guess so," I agree, but I'm too busy feeling nervous about my date to think about colour co-ordination or anything clothes related.

Sarah leaves wishing me luck, and there's a knock at the door at exactly eight o'clock. My heart starts to beat wildly inside my chest but I take a deep breath and answer the door.

"Hey," Rickie smiles at me and I feel myself melt inside at seeing him again.

He looks stunning. He's wearing a black, rock-band t-shirt with a leather jacket over the top, dark jeans and trainers. His hair is spiked up as usual and looks really cool.

I still can't believe I'm going on a date with him.

"You look amazing," he says admiring me, and I feel myself blush.

"Thanks," I reply.

"Do you wanna go on my motor bike?" he asks, "or we could take a taxi there?"

"The bike sounds fine," I reply.

I can't help daydreaming about how cool it would feel riding a motorbike with him.

We walk into the parking area and he gives me a helmet to wear. Luckily I'm not the type of girl to worry about my hair, so I put it on.

I get on the back of the motorbike with him, feeling a little shy as I hold onto his waist for safety, but Rickie doesn't seem to mind and revs up the engine.

It feels exciting racing around the city on a motorbike, holding onto a hot guy with the wind blowing back my hair. I've never had a ride on one before but I love it.

I feel disappointed when we arrive at the cinema and my fun ride is over. He parks outside and jumps off the motorbike. He takes my hand and helps me climb off.

I take off the helmet and immediately feel my hair is messy and wind swept from the ride. I quickly try to tidy it while he slips off his own helmet, but he catches me doing it and smiles, "you look fine, Star, really," he reassures me.

I smile, giving him back the helmet and forget all about my hair.

We choose a comedy film and he buys the tickets for us, along with a bucket of popcorn to share. We enter the darkness of the screening room and he takes my hand and leads me up the stairs and to the back row of seats. My skin tingles at wondering if he chose the back row for a reason.

The movie soon starts and we watch it, laughing and sharing popcorn. Unfortunately, we're too busy enjoying the film to do any kissing at the back row, so after the movie ends we head up to the bar upstairs.

He orders us both some Pepsi and chooses a private table in the corner.

"So how's training goin'?" he asks.

I sit next to him on the leather sofa. "It's great. I still can't believe I'm here. I've always dreamt of becoming a freedom fighter one day so it's amazing to finally be living it."

He grins, "I guess it is a cool job, but not as awesome as being a dancer."

I blush, feeling shy. "I've got an interview at a bar tomorrow so I've been practicing a few routines."

"You'll totally impress them, you're an amazing dancer," he winks at me.

"Thanks, I just really hope I do get to do some shows. The sanctuary really needs the money."

"Well, if y' do need any help raising money then I'm up for it, but there's no way I could do dance shows."

I giggle at his joke, "So is it hard, working as a freedom fighter?" I ask intrigued.

"I guess so, it's pretty busy and there are a lot of risks, but I love it."

"I can't wait to finish training and finally start. What kind of stuff do we have to do?"

"Different things, mostly protecting people and fighting against the bad guys," he answers. "If you want to get in on all the action I guess you could help out with some of the missions."

"What sort of missions?"

"It depends, last week Mick and I did a raid on one of Snider's buildings and helped all his prisoners escape," he replies.

"That sounds so cool," I say in awe. "I've heard everyone talking about it."

"Yeah it was good, apart from getting shot at by his troops," he shrugs. "At least all the people are free now."

"Do you ever get hurt?" I ask concerned.

"Not really, we all have to be careful and wear bullet proof gear to keep us safe, but sometimes I've got into fights or injured myself somehow, but it's worth the risk."

When it gets late, we leave the bar and Rickie drives us back to the base on his motorbike. The security guard lets us through the entrance and the rest of the building is dark. As we walk inside all the lights are out, so Rickie flicks a switch to turn the stairway lights on and walks with me up to my flat.

I feel sad when we arrive at my door and our date is over.

"Thanks for taking me out," I say, feeling really lucky. "It's been fun tonight."

"It's no probs. It's been great seeing you, Star," he strokes my hair affectionately and looks down at me.

He puts his arm around me and my heart beats faster. He gives me a hug, holding me close, and I feel all warm inside and want to stay in his arms forever.

We finally part and he stares into my eyes. I hold my breath, wondering if he's going to kiss me, but then he looks away, like he's holding back for some reason, and looks a little sad.

"Star, I've gotta go away tomorrow for a mission," he tells me. "I'll be staying somewhere else for a few days so I won't be around for a while."

My heart sinks. I know it's only for a few days but I feel so sad at thinking of not being able to see him.

"I'll text you while I'm away," he promises, "but it might take a few hours for me to reply to any messages; being a freedom fighter is pretty demanding at times."

"It's okay, I understand," I smile, feeling excited that at least we'll still get to talk somehow.

"And I'd really like to take you out again, so if you're free maybe we can meet up when I'm back?"

"Yeah, that would be great," I agree, feeling excited at the thought of a second date.

"I guess you'll be busy training tomorrow morning, so I'll see you when I get back."

"Okay," I feel upset, hating to say goodbye and wanting to stay with him.

"Later, Star," he says and gives me a wink before leaving.

"See ya, Rickie," I reply and watch him walk back along the corridor.

I go inside the flat, close the door and finally let myself breathe. Tonight has been magical, and now I know him a lot more personality wise, my feelings are getting even stronger. I just can't wait to see him again and I know I'll be daydreaming about him every second that he's away.

#  Chapter 6

Sarah pounces on me the next morning, eager to find out all the details about my first date with Rickie.

"So how did it go?"

"Great," I answer and smile. I've hardly stopped smiling all morning. I feel extremely happy as I tell her all about last night.

"So, did you kiss?" she asks, grinning.

"No, we just hugged," I say, although I'm a little disappointed. Even though it was our first date I really wanted to kiss him and it seemed as if he really wanted to kiss too for a second, before he had to tell me the bad news about having to go away for a few days.

Sarah looks disappointed as well. Obviously hugging isn't the biggest gossip ever, "so you think the date went well?" she asks uncertainly.

"Yeah, I think so," I say. "He's said he's leaving today for a mission and he'll be away for a few days, but he asked me out on another date."

"That's good. Maybe you'll finally get that kiss on the second date."

I blush and hope she's right.

Today's training is ever more interesting. Bryan tells us we're going to learn all about bombs, how to safety deactivate and defuse them. We're all wondering if he's actually going to trust us with a real bomb, but luckily he brings in an empty one and fills it with baking flour.

It all seems complicated at first and we have to memorize a lot before he finally lets us have a practice on the pretend bomb.

I manage to pass the defusing, but when I try to deactivate it I accidently set it off. I jump with fright as it explodes and covers me with flour. Sarah can't stop laughing.

"Nice try, Star," Bryan says, smiling a little. "Maybe you need a little more practice at the end part."

Next lesson is self-defense which is a relief; at least I can do that right. I get my revenge as I successfully perform a self-defense flip on Sarah, and it's my turn to laugh when she's thrown onto the safety mat looking stunned.

"Very funny, Star," but she smiles up at me and says I'm perfect at that move.

After lunch we spend the whole afternoon studying computer hacking, which is even more complicated than the bomb deactivating.

"Isn't this illegal?" I ask unsurely.

"I suppose it is, but not if it's used for the right reasons," says Bryan wisely. "The police use it to solve crimes and now we use it for similar purposes."

My head hurts by the time training ends and when I look at my mobile I see a text from Rickie:

Hey Star, how's trainin going? xxx

I quickly type back a reply:

Ok I guess. I gt covered in flour wen I didnt get the bomb deactivation rite and I really cant do computer hacking yt. Hows the mission going? xxx

I get a reply ten minutes later:

LOL u wil get there wiv practice and I guess I cud help u out wiv the computer hackin Im pretty gud at that. Its goin ok thanx. Cant wait 2 get bak xxx

I quickly rush up to my flat to have a shower and wash my hair, thanks to the exploding baking flour incident earlier; and then I head off to the bar that Carl's friend works for.

I'm feeling pretty nervous. I've never danced somewhere professionally before and tonight I will be sort of interviewed for a performing job there.

There's a girl aged twenty two waiting outside for me when I arrive. She's wearing a sparkly dress with high-heals and has long red, wavy hair and green eyes.

"You must be Starlet," she says and shakes my hand, "I'm Phoebe, the manager of _Indigo Bar_. Carl has told me all about you."

I follow her inside and look around. The club is really modern with swish lighting, colourful walls and a bar along the side of the room. A stage stretches out along one end of the room, with coloured lights above it, and I can't help but feel excited.

"I hear you're a dancer. What type of dancing do you do?"

"Modern dance," I answer. "I've made some routines for a few songs."

"Excellent," she says smiling. "I'd love to see them, if you don't mind?"

I feel even more nervous now but I take my iPod and speaker out of my bag, start to play the first song and get up onto the stage.

I begin the dance, my heart beating with nerves and I feel her watching my every move closely. I try not to let it put me off and get lost in the music, getting the dance perfect.

Once I've finished two songs I look up to see Phoebe staring at me.

"I think that should be enough," she says and I quickly turn off the iPod.

"I like it," she says smiling. "You've got talent and you definitely have a slot for Saturday night."

"Really?" I'm surprised despite Sarah telling me I'd do great. "Thanks."

"Be sure to be here for seven pm. We'll have to get a costume sorted and the lighting right, plus I'll need a copy of the songs," she tells me. "Your slot will be at eight o'clock."

"Okay," I agree, still feeling stunned.

On my way back to the base I quickly send a text to Rickie and Sarah to tell them the good news.

#  Chapter 7

The rest of the week seems to fly by. I'm so busy practicing my dance routines for Saturday night and working on freedom fighter training through the day.

Even though the week has been fun, I can't stop thinking of Rickie. I miss him, even though we haven't known each other long and he's not even my boyfriend yet; but we text each other a lot and I'm looking forward to see him again. I hope he'll be back in time to see my performance, but if not I still have our second date to look forward to.

When Saturday morning finally arrives I wake up and feel really nervous. Tonight I'll have to dance on stage in front of all the people at _Indigo Bar_ and it will be so scary doing it for the first time.

I spend nearly all day going over my five dances for the show, making sure I know them perfect. Sarah arrives later on and helps me select clothes and does my hair and make-up.

Half an hour later we're stood outside the bar. I'm wearing denim shorts and a sexy purple top, with trainers as suitable dance footwear. Sarah has made me wear mascara, which makes my eye lashes look really long, and purple eye shadow with glittery blusher and sparkling lip gloss. My hair is straightened again and my blue highlights have been re-dyed.

Sarah is all dressed up and has lots of make-up on as usual, wearing a pink vest top, a short skirt and high heels.

"Good luck," she says and gives me a hug before I go backstage. "You'll be amazing, I know it."

"Thanks," I say and feel anxious as I find Phoebe waiting for me.

"Starlet, you made it," she almost looks relieved. "Did you bring the music?"

"Yeah," I answer and hand over my iPod, containing the 5 songs I want to use.

"Excellent," she smiles. "You look great by the way; I suppose there's no need to change."

"Thanks, my friend helped me with the look," I smile, knowing I'll have to pass on the compliment to Sarah.

When it reaches eight o'clock, I stand near the stage with Phoebe, feeling even more anxious.

"Are you ready?" she asks me.

"I think so," I answer nervously.

Everyone else is too busy drinking or talking to notice me yet, but Sarah smiles over at me from the front of the stage, waiting for my performance.

"Everyone gets stage fright at first," Phoebe reassures me. "Once you get up there you'll be fine."

I don't believe her until I'm finally up on stage. The stage lights shine on me, the music starts and suddenly everyone's eyes are on me.

I still feel nervous as I begin to dance, but soon I'm so lost in the music that I don't feel anyone watching me anymore and I just want to dance all night long.

All five dances go well and I don't make a single mistake. Everyone else must think I'm good too because there's a lot of cheering for me at the end.

I smile excitedly and thank them, then make my way off stage where Sarah is waiting for me, ready with a bottle of water.

"Told you you'd be great," she says as I accept the bottle and quickly drink it.

We come out of backstage and walk towards the bar.

"It was so amazing being up there," I tell her, still buzzing from excitement. "I can't wait to do it all again next weekend."

"Hey Star, really cool dancing," I hear.

I turn and smile when I see Rickie, "You made it!"

"Sure I did," he grins at me. "There's no way I was missin' your performance."

Sarah realizes that Rickie probably wants to be alone with me, so she quickly leaves. She signals to say she's off to the bar and heads towards a good looking guy.

"I'm really glad you came," I say to Rickie, feeling myself blush.

"So how about we go for that second date I promised you?" he asks and looks at me flirtatiously.

I smile and melt inside, "Okay, where are we..."

I'm suddenly interrupted by a loud crash nearby and look to see what's happening, breaking our gaze. I see everyone begin to rush around, trying to get out for some reason, and I feel panic rise inside me wondering what's going on.

One of the bar's windows has been smashed and the door gets broken through as four police officers enter the club and look around.

"Run," Rickie tells me and grabs my hand.

He pulls me to the back of the bar, where we go through backstage and race towards a fire exit at the end of the corridor. He opens it and we run outside onto a private car park.

His motorbike is waiting nearby and he quickly puts on his helmet.

"Why are we running? What's happening?" I ask as I quickly put on the spare helmet.

"Those police officers are employed by Lord Snider," he tells me quickly. "They're hunting for freedom fighters."

My heart beats faster with fear and I feel tingles of anxiety at knowing that we're probably being chased.

"Here, put this on," he says and takes off his bullet proof jacket and hands it to me.

I quickly put it on, feeling touched that he's keeping me safe and giving up his protection to help me.

He gets on the motorbike and revs the engine, so I zip up the jacket and climb onto the back of his motorbike.

I hear shouts behind us and look back to see two police officers burst through the fire exit and run in our direction.

"Looks like they've found us," he says. "Hold on tight."

I put my arms around his waist and he drives off at full speed, leaving the police officers behind.

I hold onto Rickie tightly, scared of falling off when we're going so fast. We race through the dark streets, the motor engine roaring as we go.

My heart stops as I hear police sirens and look behind to see a police car following behind us in pursuit.

"Rickie, they're following us," I shout to him over the noise of the engine.

I hear gun shots from behind and cling to him even tighter, feeling scared even though I know I'm safe and wearing a bullet proof jacket to protect me.

Rickie tries to go even faster and manages to dodge the shots.

"Don't worry, we'll lose 'em," he shouts back to me and suddenly turns into a side street.

I hear the police car brake suddenly and start to turn; obviously they didn't expect this maneuver.

Rickie races on ahead through more side streets, and soon there's only the faint sound of a siren and no police car in sight, and we're safely hidden in a dark alleyway.

"I think we're safe now," he says as he stops the motorbike. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I answer, although I'm still holding him tight and my heart is beating so fast I can hardly breathe.

"Why were they after you?" I ask. "I thought all freedom fighters had to keep their identities a secret?"

"Most of us do but unfortunately they know about me," he indicates over to a poster which is pasted onto a nearby wall. It's a wanted poster with Rickie's name and picture, offering a £10,000 reward to catch him dead or alive.

"If you're ever found out for being a freedom fighter you become a wanted criminal in this city," he tells me. "That's why you need to be careful, Star. I don't want you to end up like me, always on the run."

"I'll try to keep out of trouble," I promise him.

He sighs, "I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have been anywhere near you in front of the cops. I had no idea they'd followed me to the bar."

"It's okay," I reassure him. "I was wearing a helmet for most of the time so they won't know who I am."

"Still, I should have known it would be too dangerous. I'm sorry Star, I didn't mean to drag you into that; I just wanted to get you away from them. I don't want you to get arrested."

"It's okay, thanks for helping me."

He smiles at me, "Come on, let's get outta here before they do track us down. There's no way I'm letting 'em spoil our date."

He starts up the motorbike again and we drive off into the night together.

#  Chapter 8

We stop at a club further out into the city fifteen minutes later.

"It'll be a lot less chaotic here," he promises me. "This is a secret freedom fighter club, they'll only let in people who have ID. You have yours, right?"

"Yeah," I answer, feeling lucky that I had brought it along.

The security guards outside check our identification cards and let us enter. The club is quiet; there are only a few freedom fighters here and they're either sat drinking at the bar or on the dance floor.

Rickie buys us both a drink and takes my hand and leads me outside into a garden area.

"It looks so beautiful out here," I say, looking around at the palm trees, plants and water features.

"Yeah I guess it is," he answers.

We walk over a small, wooden bridge with a small garden pond below, and I look down and watch the goldfish swimming around it.

I look up at the stars shining high in the dark night sky above me and feel as if I'm floating. Even though I've been shot at by police this is still one of the best nights of my life.

"I always love looking up at the stars," I tell Rickie as I feel him close to me. "They're so beautiful."

"Yeah, but not as amazin' as you," I hear him say in my ear.

I look up at him and blush at the compliment.

"I've had an awesome night. I can forget all about the trouble in Twilight City when I'm with you and just be happy."

"Yeah, me too," he stares into my eyes. "Y'know, now I've met you things doesn't feel so bad."

"I know, if only things could stay as good as this," I agree.

I stare back into his eyes and he leans closer and kisses me. I feel fireworks go off in my head as our lips touch. We share a long kiss before we finally part and I begin to feel breathless all over again.

"So does this mean I'm lucky enough to be your boyfriend?" he asks grinning at me.

I smile up at him, "Yeah, it does," I cuddle up to him, feeling extremely happy that I'm officially his girlfriend. He holds me close and we stay in each other's arms for a while.

"I'm so happy I met you, Star," he tells me. "It's hard having relationships with all the freedom fighter stuff goin' on, but I really think it'll be different with me and you 'cause we're both freedom fighters."

"Yeah, it's going to be fun when I'm fully trained and we can work together."

"My bro doesn't think so," he admits. "He wasn't really happy about it when we started going on dates..."

"Doesn't he like me?" I ask, feeling hurt because I thought of him as one of my friends, even though he will one day be my sort of boss.

"'Course he likes you, who wouldn't? He was just annoyed with me, thinkin' I'd distract you while you were trainin'. He just wants you to do well so I guess he wanted me to stay out of the picture."

"But that doesn't mean I won't work hard," I say. "Being a freedom fighter is really important to me."

"I know, but he just thinks if we start workin' together things might get awkward and we really need to concentrate if we're on a mission. I don't think it'll affect you, I think you'll be a great freedom fighter when you've finished trainin'."

"I hope so. Maybe we can go on some of your missions together soon?"

Rickie grins, "Definitely, it'll make it way more fun," and then he starts kissing me again.

"I really hope things work out for us, Star," he says a while later. "I really like you and I can't let anythin' stop us from being together."

"Me neither," I agree.

"I've never seen you around before we met at the base. Did y' live somewhere in the city?" he asks.

"I lived at the sanctuary, I was taken there when I was a baby," I answer, feeling myself missing it again as I remember the past.

"So are you trying to track down your parents now you're back?"

"I wanted to for years, but I can't. They were caught and executed the day I went to the sanctuary," my eyes start to water and all I want to do is cry instead of being so strong. Being around a place where we had once lived together only seems to make it hurt more.

"I'm really sorry," he sounds sympathetic and hugs me.

I rest my head on his chest and cry for a while, feeling the tears escape and sadness wash over me, "I miss them so much."

Rickie holds me close while I cry, "I know it must be hard loosin' both your parents, especially knowin' what happened; but you can get through it, I know you can."

I wipe my eyes, "thanks."

"When did you find out?"

"They told me when I was thirteen, I'd been dreaming of meeting them again one day until then," I admit, feeling like I could tell him everything that I'd kept bottled up for years. "I just feel so alone Rickie, its hard growing up without a family."

"It's okay," he reassures me. "I know you might not have your parents, but all the other freedom fighters are a sort of family to you now; and I'll always be here to look after you."

I snuggle into his chest, feeling happy, safe and loved. "Thanks Rickie, that means a lot to me."

"It's no probs," he strokes my hair affectionately and I feel more relaxed.

"What about you?" I ask, feeling curious. "Did you grow up as a freedom fighter?"

Rickie laughs a little, "I wish. Me and my bro ran away from home when I was fourteen to become freedom fighters."

I look up at him in surprise, feeling sad, "Won't your parents miss you?"

He shrugs, "my stepdad won't, he used to hate me and Carl and we hated him 'cause he worked for Snider......maybe my Mum missed us but like that matters."

"But it does, she'd be worried," I insist. "Couldn't you at least tell her where you are so she knows you're okay?"

He sighs, "I can't Star; if our stepdad finds out where we are he'll tell the location to Snider."

"Maybe your mother won't, she wouldn't want to get you and Carl arrested."

"Trust me, there's no way she'd stand up to my stepdad," he answers, sounding annoyed. "That's the reason we ran away. He was trying to get us to work for Snider like him; we obviously didn't want to and we tried to tell our Mum that, but she didn't dare stop my stepdad and would have let him force us to, so we had to run away."

"That's awful," I say, feeling sorry for him. It must have been horrible having to choose between his family and being a freedom fighter. "I bet you miss her though."

"Not really, if she won't stand up for her own kids then what's the point missing her," he says, but I can see in his eyes he does miss her deep down, even though he refuses to feel or believe it.

I start to feel kind of sorry for Rickie's Mum. It must be harsh knowing her children chose to run away and never see her again, and from the sounds of things it seemed as if she was being bullied into the choices that were made.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," I apologise, starting to feel guilty for feeling sympathetic for someone who had obviously hurt Rickie and Carl in the past.

"It's 'kay, I don't mind."

"So you and Carl have been freedom fighters ever since?"

"Yeah, it's been so cool finally being able to have our own opinions and doing what we really wanna do."

"When did Carl become leader?"

"Last year, I know he's pretty young for it but our previous leader was executed and we needed a new one. Everyone voted for Carl to take over that role and he chose me to help him out."

"I bet it's hard having so much responsibility," I say, thinking about it.

"Yeah it is for Carl I guess, but it's kinda borin' for me. I like bein' out where all the action is, making a real difference; not telling everyone what to do and going to heaps of boring meetings. At least I only have to help him out, I'd hate doing it all the time, but my bro likes it."

After spending a few hours at the club, Rickie takes us back home.

I'm walking on air as Rickie walks me back to my flat and we share a goodnight kiss outside my doorway. I feel sad and lost as I watch him walk away to his own flat, but my heart is still filled with love at thinking that we're finally in a relationship.

I start to daydream about him until I see Sarah coming over to my flat and crash back to reality.

"Where were you?" she asks. "I was so worried when I couldn't find you; I thought you'd been arrested by the police who raided the bar."

"I'm sorry," I apologise. "I was with Rickie...I know I should have phoned you." I feel ashamed; obviously my mind had been so busy thinking of Rickie that I had completely forgotten to check whether my best friend was safe.

"Well at least you're okay."

"Where did you go after the club was raided?"

"I did a runner back to here," she answers. "Wasn't it scary? I'm so glad the police didn't chase after me."

"Lucky for you they were too busy following me and Rickie," I say and I can't help but smile.

"They really chased you?" Sarah's eyes are wide with shock. "Star, you could have been arrested!"

"I know, but we didn't. Rickie managed to lose them and we got away." I tell her everything about tonight and she looks impressed, despite being worried about how dangerous it had been.

"So where did you and Rickie go later?" she asks grinning. "You were away ages."

I blush, "we decided to go on our second date." I tell her about the rest of the night, feeling really excited all over again, and she grins and gives me a hug.

"I'm so happy you two are together now," she says. "I knew you would be one day."

"Let's just hope Carl doesn't mind too much," I say, feeling a little nervous. I don't want us to fall out and I hope he will eventually accept that his brother and I are together and that we can make this work.

"Why would he mind?" Sarah asks.

I sigh, "Rickie said Carl wasn't exactly happy about it when we were going on dates. He thinks I should concentrate on training rather than other things."

"Well it's too late for that," she jokes. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine about it, just give him time."

#  Chapter 9

The last few weeks of freedom fighter training pass so quickly it's hard to believe that I arrived here one and half months ago. It's been a hard week of practicing and Rickie even helped me out with computer hacking for a few nights and finally I managed to do it right.

Today we finish our final lesson, so from tomorrow we can finally start working as freedom fighters.

"Now that you've all been trained you can have freedom fighter equipment," Bryan announces and gives us each a black rucksack, containing a bullet proof jacket, a sleeping dart gun and a small navigation system.

"You'll also need this," I look at the small device he has given to me.

"What does it do?" asks Sarah, examining hers.

"It's an emergency tracker," he explains. "If you're in danger or caught you press the red button on the device. It will immediately send a signal here and we'll be able to track your location and come and help you. It also records your movement so we know where you are at all times during a mission."

"Cool," I say and put it in my bag. I can't wait to try them all out.

We all leave the hall, feeling excited to start some real work tomorrow.

"Bryan's offered to give me lessons on flying a helicopter so I can become a pilot," Sarah tells me. "I've always wanted to learn that."

"That's great," I say, feeling happy for her. "I'm going to carry on doing self-defence classes."

Bryan has signed me up with a martial arts instructor and freedom fighter called Mick, who will be able to teach me some advanced stuff.

Rickie is waiting for me outside and grins when I appear.

"Hey, how was your last day of training?" he asks.

I smile, "It was good, I can't wait to start tomorrow."

He pulls me close and gives me a kiss. "Maybe we can celebrate? How about a pizza and movie at my place?"

"Okay," I reply.

"My bro is out so we'll have the place to ourselves."

I hear Sarah giggle at this and I blush. Rickie grins, not looking embarrassed at all.

"Come on, let's go," he takes my hand and leads me away.

"I'll see you later, Sarah," I say, remembering we have agreed to go out later tonight to celebrate.

"Okay, have fun Star," she calls after me.

We reach Rickie's and Carl's flat and after he's unlocked the door, I follow him and look around, since it's the first time I've been inside.

"Your flat looks really cool," I comment.

"Yeah, it is I guess," he falls back onto the sofa, takes my hand and pulls me down next to him.

I fall onto the sofa and giggle, snuggling up to him. He puts his arms around me and looks into my eyes. Suddenly I've forgot all about ordering a pizza or watching a movie and I think Rickie has too.

He runs his fingers through my hair and kisses my lips. I kiss him back and put my arms around his neck.

We lay on the sofa kissing and cuddling for a long time until we hear the door unlock and open. Rickie jumps away from me startled and looks over to see Carl standing at the doorway, looking over at us.

"Hey bro," Rickie greets him and smiles.

"Hey," Carl says and looks over at me. "Hi Star."

I smile at him and feel myself blush with embarrassment. The last thing I wanted was for my new leader to arrive home and find me kissing his brother on the sofa.

Carl walks by and goes into his bedroom without saying anything else to us; I'm not sure whether he's annoyed or just embarrassed.

Rickie grins at me, "busted," he says quietly.

"It's not funny," I say, although seeing Rickie's grin makes me smile too.

"Don't worry, he won't mind. He knows me and you are together."

I lay in Rickie's arms, feeling happy and warm as we snuggle up again. Rickie holds me close and strokes my hair again, but we don't try and kiss just in case Carl walks in on us again.

"I'll phone and order the pizza and you can pick the movie," he says.

"Deal," I grin and start to flick through the movie channel, trying to find a good action film for us to watch.

#  Chapter 10

The next day I decide to go and talk to Carl. Although he knows about me and his brother being in a relationship, especially after he caught me and Rickie kissing on their sofa yesterday, I still think we should clear the air about it.

I still feel troubled by what Rickie had said about Carl not being happy about us being together. I don't want things to get awkward between us so I think it would be better to talk it through and make him see that I could concentrate and work well as a freedom fighter, whether Rickie was my boyfriend or not.

I approach his office, feeling more nervous now I'm here.

"Hi Carl," I say as I see him working at his desk.

He looks up at me, "hi Star, what's up?"

I suddenly feel shy, not knowing what to say, "Carl, you don't mind about me and Rickie being together, do you?"

He looks a little embarrassed, "I suppose not, if you're both happy then there's no problem."

"Okay," I say and feel better now that I know he doesn't disapprove as much. "I promise not to let it get in the way of work, being a freedom fighter means a lot to me and I'll work really hard at it."

"That's good," he replies and looks relieved at my reassurance. "There's a meeting at ten, make sure you're there, okay?"

I nod in answer.

"And Star, I'm happy you got through training, Bryan says you did really well. I would have congratulated you yesterday but you were pretty busy," he grins and I can tell he's teasing me about the kissing session.

I smile back, "thanks."

At ten o'clock I attend my first freedom fighter meeting. Everyone gathers in the conference room and I sit in the chair beside Rickie. Bryan is stood at the front facing us all, and once everyone has arrived he begins, "I've got bad news guys. Our spies tell us that Lord Snider is creating some microchips that will be used as tracking devices. He's planning to attach them to children so that if they are taken to the sanctuary he will be able to know its location."

"That's horrible," says Sarah beside me. I nod in agreement. Having innocent children captured by Lord Snider would be a disaster.

"So we're not allowed to take any kids there?" asks Rickie. He looks pretty sad and I start to feel it too. Children would be in danger if they had to stay in Twilight City with no safe place to hide.

"I'm afraid we do have to put a hold on delivering children there," Bryan tells us sadly. "We can't risk the other children's safety, but what we can do is try to prevent the microchips being planted so we can eventually take children there again."

"But we've got to act fast," Carl tells us seriously. "These microchips could also be used to track freedom fighters, so all of us could be in danger. Our best shot is to destroy the factory that makes them."

Bryan shows us a map on the projector board of each factory located.

"We still have to make sure no one has been micro chipped so far just in case any of our locations have been discovered," Bryan tells us, looking worried.

Sarah looks really anxious, "Do you think the children who were taken to the sanctuary yesterday might be micro chipped?"

"There's a chance," answers Bryan. "I've already designed this," he holds up a small device. "It's a microchip scanner, if anyone has a microchip attached to them, this will detect it. You can use it to check the children at the sanctuary."

"Okay, we need volunteers for people who are going to the sanctuary," Carl says, getting us all organized for the plan. "The rest of us will have to check around the city for anyone who could be micro chipped and warn people on what's happening."

"Come on Star, let's go to the sanctuary," Sarah begs me. "I'd love to see what it's like."

"Okay," I agree, because I would love to be there again, it was a place I still remember as home after all.

"Put your hands up if you fancy a trip to the sanctuary," Carl instructs us.

Rickie, Sarah and I raise our hands, along with five other freedom fighters.

Carl quickly jots down our names, "Sorry Rickie, you need to come with me. We have other business to attend to."

Rickie looks disappointed.

"I'll get some transport as soon as I can and let you know," Carl tells us. "The rest of you need to go with Bryan, we'll each cover an area of the city."

Everyone quickly goes into action and I give Rickie a hug, "I'm sorry you can't come with us."

"S'ok," he shrugs. "I guess I'll see ya later."

#  Chapter 11

We drive to the sanctuary in a minibus and an hour later we arrive and I get that warm feeling of returning home as soon as I see the gates.

The volunteers let us inside and I smile as I look around at all the familiar sights. All the kids are outside in the sunshine, having fun on the playground or running around in the woods playing hide and seek.

It feels weird being here again, thinking of the past and feeling sad that it's no longer my home.

There are a few volunteers outside supervising and they all look happy to see me, giving me hugs and asking how I am. I feel tears in my eyes and wonder why I ever felt so alone inside in the past if I had such kind people taking care of me.

One of the volunteers rings the lunch bell and all the kids run over to the picnic area to eat sandwiches and crisps.

"It must have been so cool living here," sighs Sarah, gazing at all the cute little children eating together. "Aren't they all so sweet?"

"Yeah, they are," I smile, recognizing half of them already.

Luckily they haven't forgotten me just yet because a few of them run over to me excitedly and I'm soon hugging several children at once.

A little girl called Jessie, who I used to look after, holds onto me tightly. "Star! I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Jessie," I say.

"Are you coming back to live with us?" Trudy asks me excitedly.

"No, I'm only visiting," I answer which makes them all look sad, "but I promise to visit heaps more times so we can still play."

"Will you play hide and seek with us after lunch?" Jessie begs me.

"No, I want to play hairdressers, Star always made my hair look nice," Trudy insists.

"She wants to play superheroes with me and Ted," Gary insists, "don't you, Star?"

"We'll all play a game together," I suggest, knowing I won't have time to play with them all individually, "but first we have a mission."

"Oh good, are we being freedom fighters?" Jessie asks, hopping with excitement.

It was one of my favourite imaginary games when I was younger and the kids used to love it too. It's so weird thinking I'll be doing all that stuff for real now.

"Yeah, sort of," I say, trying to keep it like a game. "We've brought a special device and we need to get every single person scanned to make sure they're safe."

All the kids excitedly join in and we don't have much trouble rounding them up to scan them. They all think it's fun and giggle as they're being scanned.

Every time I scan I hold my breath and dread to hear a beeping sound from the device, but luckily we get through every single one without anything being detected and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Sarah and I have a quick game of tag with all the children and they're all sad when I say I have to leave.

"Please stay Star," Jessie begs me starting to cry. "It's more fun when you're here."

"I'll visit again like I promised," I say and give her a big hug.

I get hugs from all the children and a few cling to Sarah too. We say goodbye one last time and then finally leave while the volunteers try to distract them with a game and cakes.

I feel so mean to leave them so upset and there's a part of me that really does want to stay and look after them; but I'm a freedom fighter now and I have a new life to live.

"We'll visit soon," Sarah reassures me when we're back in the minivan.

I gaze out of the window until it disappears from view. "Yeah, I just miss it there," I say and suddenly feel like crying.

I quickly distract myself by phoning Rickie. It rings a few times before he finally answers and I feel happy and warm hearing his voice again, "Hey Star, how's it goin'?"

"It's good news," I tell him. "We didn't detect any microchips so it looks like the sanctuary's location is safe."

"Cool," he sounds pleased. "I'll let Carl know."

"What are you up to?"

"Just goin' to a meeting with another freedom fighter leader," he tells me, sounding bored. "I'm in Dragon City right now so it'll be late when I get back, but we can still hang out later if y' want to?"

"Okay," I agree, feeling better. I feel less upset about leaving now that I know I have someone special to go back to.

We quickly say goodbye and when I hang up I notice that Sarah's feeling upset too.

"I wish we could have stayed there all day," sighs Sarah. "It looks so great there and the kids are so sweet. It was heart breaking having to leave them, I guess it's worse for you."

"Yeah but we'll be back," I say, not wanting to miss them too much. "Maybe you should stay there as a volunteer? Then you could look after them all the time."

"I don't know," she says unsurely. "I guess I'm having too much fun right now being a freedom fighter."

"Same here," I smile, remembering that after years of longing to be a freedom fighter my dream has finally come true.

That night I feel really excited when I see Rickie arrive back to the base on his motorbike. I go outside to greet him and he smiles over at me looking tired. He gives me a hug and I snuggle up in his arms feeling happy to be back.

"How was the meeting?" I ask him.

"Okay I guess," he answers. "The main thing is everyone will know about the microchips now the word is spreading."

"How was it at the sanctuary?" he asks me gently. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, it was really good," I say feeling happy and sad at the same time. "It's weird going back, I really miss everyone there," I admit. "All the kids were gutted when I left." I feel my heart pang with guilt missing all of them all over again, especially Jessie who was like a little sister to me.

"I'll take you back there one day so we can go together," he says and I smile up at him, feeling touched. "I guess it would be cool to see where you grew up. I've never been there yet."

"You'll love it," I tell him, imagining how amazing it would be having him there with me. I'm sure all the children would love him. "So what's happening now?" I ask, trying to focus more on our job of stopping Snider and his microchips.

"Tomorrow's gonna be another busy day, we've got more stuff planned," he says

"More meetings?" I tease him. I know he hates doing all the boring stuff like that; he enjoys the action part more.

"No way, I've had enough of boring meetings. Carl's given me a mission for tomorrow night. I need to raid Snider's place and destroy all the new batch of microchips before they get out. A few other freedom fighters are working on trashing the machines that are making more at his factory."

"Do you need any help?" I ask.

"Maybe," he grins. "You could help me out. It'll be good for you to get some experience now you're trained."

"That'll be cool," I say, feeling excited.

"You'll need to wear all black, it helps to camouflage when you're hiding in the shadows and it makes you harder to spot in the dark," he advises me, "and remember your gear, you're gonna need it."

#  Chapter 12

Late at night the next day, Rickie and I set off on our mission. I'm wearing black trainers, jeans and a hoodie, plus the bullet proof jacket underneath just in case. I've brought along my mobile, sleeping dart gun and emergency tracker. I didn't need to bring my navigation system since Rickie has brought his.

Rickie drives us over to Lord Snider's headquarters, which is in the middle of the city. He stops the motorbike a distance away, so we're not spotted by troops or CCTV cameras, and we walk the rest of the way being careful not to be seen.

There are armed security guards at the front gates, so we avoid them and stay to the right side of the building. We climb over the tall wall surrounding the building and carefully land at the other side.

There are more security guards on look out around the grounds, so we stay in the shadows out of sight and press ourselves against the side of the building.

My heart beats fast in case we're spotted, but luckily none of the security guards notice us as we make our way across.

Rickie manages to get inside one of the entrances using a security card. We peer in to check it's safe and then enter, having our sleeping dart guns ready and filled in case we get attacked.

"Where do you think Snider keeps the microchips?" I ask him quietly as we make our way along the dark corridor.

"Not sure, but there's gotta be a storage room 'round here somewhere."

We search the corridor and stop at a padlocked, iron door. Rickie picks the lock and manages to open it.

When we enter we see boxes of microchips stored on the shelves and Rickie quickly gets out his mobile and reports to Bryan that we've found them.

An hour later, we've emptied all the boxes and all that's left are destroyed microchips on the floor.

"Think we've trashed them enough?" he asks grinning.

I grin back at him and then suddenly we hear alarms sound and my heart begins to race.

"Some of the others must have set the alarm off. Quick, let's scram," he grabs hold of my hand and pulls me out of the room.

We hear shouts and running footsteps in the corridor behind us and run fast towards the door.

Gun shots sound behind us as we run and I feel lucky to be wearing a bullet proof jacket to protect myself. The alarms are still ringing loudly in the building and the sound is almost deafening.

I hear a few of the security guards start to chase after us, but we quickly climb up the wall and jump over the other side, safely out of their reach. We soon reach his motorbike, which is still hidden from view, and drive safety back to the base before they can catch us.

#  Chapter 13

On Saturday night I make my way over to Indigo Bar to do another dance performance. Phoebe has agreed to let me have dance shows there for the rest of the year and from what she's told me a lot of people enjoy them and my shows are quickly becoming well known.

Sarah helped me make posters to advertise them, and after sticking them up around the city, we've had even more interest. I'm so used to doing the shows now that I don't even get nervous anymore.

As I take the stage that night everything is going well, but then there's a sudden interruption as I see police officers burst in through the doorway.

I sigh, feeling annoyed. I can't believe they've done yet another raid on the night of my performance, but they at least let me finish my dance show last time. This time I don't get to finish because there's a huge panic and people start to leave. I'm left standing on stage not knowing what to do.

I look around for Rickie, feeling worried that he might be here and they've followed him inside trying to arrest him, but I can't see him and I remember he's out on a mission. So if they're not after Rickie, why are they here?

One stern looking police officer, who seems to be the leader of the rest, strides towards the stage and I start to feel anxious.

"Star Summers, you're under arrest for illegally working as a freedom fighter," he tells me.

My heart beats faster. How do they know who I am? And how do they know I'm a freedom fighter?

Before they can get up on the stage and arrest me, I turn and run as fast as I can. I escape out of the fire exit, that I remember using on the night they chased after me and Rickie. Unfortunately I don't have Rickie here or his motorbike, so I carry on running and race through the back alleyways out of sight.

I try to think of the best way to get to the freedom fighter base and how to stay unseen; but then I feel someone jump out at me from behind and fall to the floor.

The guy who jumped me has arrested and hand-cuffed me before I can try any self-defence moves and I still feel stunned from the attack.

"You're under arrest for crimes against the government," he says and hauls me to my feet.

I struggle to get away, but he's tall with huge muscles and holds on to me tight, so I don't stand a chance.

"Well done, Officer Dobson," I look up and see the police officer who tried to arrest me at the bar. He gives me an evil grin, "You thought you would get away, didn't you? Well you thought wrong."

"So you can do your job then?" I ask feeling annoyed.

He growls angrily at my sarcastic comment, "Dobson, get her in the car."

Officer Dobson still has hold of me and they take me to their police car which is parked up outside the bar. I'm forced into the back and they start to drive to the nearest police station.

That's when I start to panic. There's no way I can escape from them. The doors have security locks and I'm outnumbered, plus they have guns loaded with bullets and I know they're evil enough not to hesitate about using them.

I feel for my emergency tracker and press the red button, which flashes for a few seconds to say that the message has been sent.

I wait, hoping somehow I'll be rescued, but the police car soon stops. They escort me into the police station and I can't help but feel anxious now. I'm taken into an interview room and Officer Dobson and the other guy sit opposite me at the table.

"I'm Officer Vincent. We'd like to ask you a few questions," he says seriously. I cross my arms and try to make out I'm not scared.

"Why were you at Lord Snider's building on the night of the sixth of September?"

I'm surprised they know but I give nothing away, "I wasn't there."

He smirks, "oh really? Then how do you explain this?" He shows me a CCTV snap shot of me and Rickie. My hood is pulled over my head, but you can still see my eyes and most of my face. Some of my blonde and blue highlighted hair hangs out loosely in view.

"I'll repeat the question...why were you there?"

"It's none of your business," I reply.

"Did it have anything to do with Lord Snider's equipment? We had a report from him that night."

I don't answer and he gets pretty annoyed with me, "Do you know how serious it is, committing crimes against the government and working as an illegal freedom fighter? You'll also need to be charged for incidents that night, breaking and entering a property and criminal damage. The least you'll get off with is spending the rest of your life in prison."

I try not to laugh. How can the police here be so stupid? You'd think I'd committed murder or something really serious the way they were acting, not try and fight against an evil dictator.

He sees my smile which I'm trying my best to hide.

"You think that's funny, do you? Well, you won't be laughing once you see Lord Snider. He's the person who'll have you executed."

At least that stops me from laughing. The last thing I want to do is be executed, especially by the person who already murdered my parents.

"However, if you agree to give us some information about your _friends_ ," he continues, trying to keep his temper, "then we can forget all about your sentence."

I frown.

"If you give us some useful information we'll let you go free," he says. "So, do you have any locations that we might be interested in?"

I shake my head.

"What about him, Rickie Granger?" he points to him on the photograph and my heart stops. "We've been after him for years and you obviously know him. So where is he?"

"I'm not telling you anything," I say angrily. I'd rather die than get Rickie arrested.

"Fine, we'll just ask Lord Snider and see what he thinks about it," he smirks because it's obvious that making me see him will give me a one way ticket to an execution.

# Chapter 14

I'm still sat in the interview room twenty minutes later, wondering where my emergency back-up is and when they're going to help.

The door bursts open and Officer Vincent returns, only this time there's someone with him and I feel my heart sink.

A tall man, over six feet in height, walks into the room. His face is hardened and stern; his eyes have an evil glint. His thin, dark hair hangs around his face like spider's legs.

I suddenly feel sick. I can't believe the person I hate so much for taking my parents away is standing in front of me, and now he is about to try and murder me too.

"This better be important," I hear him growl angrily.

"It's about the break-in," Officer Vincent informs him nervously.

Lord Snider grins evilly, "Have you caught Rickie Granger? I can't wait to get my hands on that annoying brat!"

"Unfortunately not yet, my Lord," answered Officer Vincent quickly, "but we did catch this girl," he points over to me. "She was involved in the crime that night of the break-in."

Lord Snider looks over coldly and studies me.

"She was caught on your CCTV footage breaking into your building and helping Rickie Granger with criminal damage," Officer Vincent shows him the CCTV shot. "She must be another freedom fighter."

"You shouldn't have messed with me little girl," he growls angrily. "Anyone who crosses me is executed."

He turns to Officer Vincent, "any information?"

"She won't tell us anything."

He walks over to me and I can't tell whether my heart is beating so fast because of fear or fury for what he's done.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll tell us what we need to know," he says threateningly.

I look back at him angrily, "I won't ever betray the freedom fighters to you."

He looks furious and strides away angrily.

"Should we take her away to be executed?" Officer Vincent asks him.

He thinks for a while, "no, lock her away in a prison cell; we'll deal with her later."

"If we keep her in any longer those freedom fighters will try and help her..."

"That's what I'm counting on," Lord Snider grins evilly. "If we keep her here we can use her as bait. Pretty soon her friends will try to save her and we'll be ready for them; and once they're caught we'll be able to execute them all."

My heart skips a beat and I feel more anxious than ever, especially at knowing that thanks to me my friends would be in danger.

"Excellent plan, my Lord. I'll order extra police officers to come over and guard the area."

"If either Carl or Rickie Granger comes anywhere near here I want them captured dead or alive and brought to me," Lord Snider reminds him angrily. "Any other freedom fighters can be imprisoned and executed later."

"Yes, my Lord."

"And remember, I want to be informed of everything," says Lord Snider and then strides out of the room.

Officer Dobson grabs hold of me and pulls me out of my chair. He takes me along the corridor, opens one of the prison cells and throws me inside. I hear him slam the door behind me and listen to the click of the door being locked.

I get up from the floor and look around at the small, dark prison cell. There's nothing inside the room except a bucket in the corner. Light shines through the barred, prison window and I grab the rails and look out, longing to be free again.

Tears prick in my eyes as I think of Rickie. If he knows I'm captured he'll be worried, and if he tries to help me he'll be caught too. I can't bear the thought that it will be my fault if anything bad happens to him. Just thinking that he'll probably be executed makes a sharp pain pierce my heart.

I feel hopeless, wishing I could warn Rickie and the others to stay away and then at least there will only be me sent to execution.

I sit with my back against the cold wall, wiping tears from my eyes. I look up as I hear something and listen carefully to the quiet clicking of the prison door. I hear a louder click as the door is unlocked and it swings open.

I almost stop breathing as I see Rickie waiting outside.

"Rickie!" I jump up and run over to him. He puts his arms around me and holds me close.

"You shouldn't be here," I warn him, burying my head into his chest. "Snider wanted to keep me here so he'd hopefully catch you and the others."

"I know, but there's no way I could let them kill you Star, I had to come and rescue you," he says.

"But he's ordered more police officers to come over, how did you get in?"

Rickie grins, "The extra police haven't arrived yet and I always have ways of getting in."

We run along the corridor together and I soon see how Rickie got here. The window at the far end has been smashed through and a few police officers lay asleep on the floor, pierced with sleeping darts.

"Looks like the re-enforcements have arrived," says Rickie as we see five police cars pull up outside.

He leads me along the corridor and we climb out of the smashed window and onto the fire escape. We climb down until we reach the bottom, where a car is waiting nearby. We jump down and Rickie runs towards it and gets in, so I follow.

"Hi Star, glad you're okay."

I look up to see Mick, my new self-defense instructor, sitting at the driver's seat and smile at seeing me. "Good work Rickie, let's get out of here before we're spotted."

Mick starts the engine and we speed off, leaving the police behind us.

#  Chapter 15

When we arrive back at the freedom fighter base, Sarah runs out of the front entrance towards us and hugs me tight, "Star, I've been so worried. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answer, feeling so happy to be back.

"What happened? Why did they arrest you?" she starts to question, but Carl arrives and interrupts her.

"Starlet, can you see me in my office?"

I start to feel nervous, wondering if I'm in trouble and knowing it must be serious for him to use my full name.

"Don't worry, everything's fine," Rickie reassures me. "I'll come in with you."

We follow Carl inside the building and to his office and I nervously take a seat in front of his desk.

"You didn't need to come in, Rickie," Carl says as he shuts the door behind us.

"I do bro, there's something you need to know before you talk to Star," he sighs and sits down in the chair beside me. Carl sits down at his desk and looks at him expectantly.

"It's my fault they know Star's identity as a freedom fighter," he tells him.

Carl and I both look at him surprised.

"I let her come on a mission. They must have seen her with me and somehow found out who she was."

"When was this mission?" Carl looks annoyed.

"She helped me break into Snider's building to destroy the microchips," Rickie answers sadly. "I know I shouldn't have taken her with me but I thought it would be cool for her to get some experience."

"She could have been caught."

"I was looking after her; I wouldn't have let them arrest her. I'm sorry bro, I didn't think this would happen," he says apologetically. I feel sorry for him and reach out to squeeze his hand reassuringly.

"Well it has happened," says Carl and then he looks back at me. "Did they tell you anything about what they know about us?"

"They know that Rickie and I broke into Snider's building and that we destroyed the microchips. They had a CCTV image of us both."

Rickie looks down guiltily, realizing he was right.

"Do you know how they managed to track you down?" Carl asks me and I shake my head in answer.

"It would be pretty easy if they'd got her photograph," says Rickie. "They might have seen one of her dance posters and recognized her from that."

My heart sinks, "that would explain why they raided the club that night and knew I would be there."

"What else did they say?" Carl questions me.

"They wanted to know where Rickie was and tried to get me to tell them locations and information about freedom fighters."

"Did you tell them anything?"

"Bro! 'Course she didn't," protests Rickie. "Star wouldn't grass on us."

Carl ignores him and keeps his eyes on me.

"I didn't tell them anything," I answer. "I'd never do that."

"Good, just checking" Carl smiles a little, looking relieved. "Unfortunately now your freedom fighter identity is known the police will be on lookout for you. You'll probably be registered as a criminal to the government in their records. You'll need to remain unseen once you're outside this building, if you're spotted you'll have police trying to arrest you. It's a dangerous matter being a wanted criminal in this city."

"I know, Rickie warned me," I say, remembering the night of our second date and the words he said after we had been chased.

I must look worried because Rickie puts his arm around me, "it'll be okay Star, I promise. You'll just have to be on the run like us. Maybe you'll even get your own wanted poster." I smile at his joke, but I can't help feeling sad and defeated.

"What about the dance shows?" I ask, although I know it'll be bad news.

"I'm sorry Star but you can no longer do any public dance shows, it's too risky," answers Carl.

I look down sadly. I love doing dance shows and now it's all over. Rickie squeezes my hand and I know he's feeling sad about it too.

"However, maybe we can work something out," says Carl. "I heard from Phoebe that your dance shows were going well, so if we arrange for them to be held only at secret freedom fighter bases and clubs, then I guess you could still carry them on."

I smile up at him happily, "thanks Carl."

"Just don't advertise it anywhere other than inside," he reminds me. "I'll find a few locations for you and ask around."

When we leave the office, Rickie turns to me, looking sad and guilty. "Star, I'm really sorry. If I'd known this would happen I would have never let you go on the mission with me."

"It's okay," I say. "I'm always at risk of getting found out anyway, it could have happened on any of my future missions."

"I know, but I really care about you. When I found out you were in trouble, I nearly went crazy with being so worried. I would have gone to be executed myself rather than let them kill you."

I stare into his eyes, feeling touched, and he stares deep into mine.

"You're not just another girlfriend to me, you're really special and our relationship really means something. I think it can last and maybe go onto something more..." I feel like I'm floating with love hearing how much I mean to him. He stares lost in my eyes, taking my breath away.

"I love you, Star."

I feel faint and I've never felt as happy as this. My heart sores, I feel so excited that he feels so strongly about me too.

"I love you too, Rickie," I reply shyly, feeling relieved to finally say those words to him after feeling it for so long, "and I feel the same. When I was in that prison cell I was more worried about you getting caught than being taken off to be executed."

He smiles, "thanks. That shows how much we mean to each other."

We share a long romantic kiss. When we finally part I feel dizzy with how much feelings are rushing through my body. He smiles down at me and we're lost in the moment together, in a world of our own.

"I hate to interrupt but you two are blocking my office doorway."

I look over at Carl, startled by him interrupting us, and see him grinning at his joke but still pretending to be annoyed at us. Rickie grins at me, takes my hand and we walk away.

#  Chapter 16

The next day, Sarah and I are put on emergency call. This is a really important freedom fighter job as we have to go out on urgent missions and rescues for any emergencies. I'm pretty nervous and excited, but I'm so relieved that Sarah will be my partner. It's easier to work with someone you're close to rather than someone you hardly know yet, and Sarah and I work well as a team so we're pretty determined to do well.

We sit in the on call room that morning, feeling bored. So far there have been no phone calls, so to pass the time we catch up on gossip of what happened yesterday. I tell Sarah all about my arrest and rescue yesterday while we both drink hot chocolate together.

"It must have been scary," she says. "I'd hate it if I got arrested. It must have been horrible meeting Lord Snider and having him threatened to execute you, especially when he's murdered so many people already."

She shivers just thinking about it and I feel sick again. "It did feel weird finally seeing him," I say uneasily. "He killed both my parents, I hated him so much right then that I guess I forgot to be scared."

She looks stunned, "wow, that must have been hard," she pats my shoulder sympathetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay," I say and brush the thoughts away before they can fill me with sadness.

"Still, at least Rickie came to your rescue and everything was okay," she says. "It's so romantic, he was desperate to come and save his damsel in distress."

I giggle, feeling myself blush, "it was pretty sweet.

"Star, he was so worried about you when we heard. He obviously cares a lot about you to rush out there risking his own life. Snider's desperate to catch him and Carl, so he would have been in a lot of danger if it hadn't worked out."

"I know," I sigh. "When I was there I was so terrified that he would come and help me and get caught. I would have rather died than Snider executing him."

"He really means a lot to you, doesn't he?" she asks me seriously.

My heart fills with love, "yes, he does."

"Do you love him?" she asks quietly. "I mean, I know you're together and you obviously care for each other; but do you think it is true love?"

I feel shy but I know I can trust her with anything.

"I've been madly in love with him since we met," I admit. "I know it's stupid, falling for someone I hardly knew back then, but it just happened."

"What does it feel like?" she asks. "I've had boyfriends before and I fancied them, but I've always fantasied about meeting the one and how amazing it would feel."

"It feels weird," I say, trying to put it into words. "It's different from anything else."

"Like you're heart beating like crazy and not being able to breath?" she asks.

"No, it's way more than that," I say. "Whenever I see him my heart just fills with love. I can't stop thinking of him and I feel so high all the time, floating and walking on air."

She looks all dreamy, thinking of it, "and what about the kissing?"

I grin, "it's magic, like fireworks in my head," I daydream, lost in it all, "and when he holds me close it just feels so right and perfect. I feel all warm inside and I can stare into his eyes forever."

"Wow, you're so lucky," she sighs.

"Yeah, mega lucky," I agree. "I still can't believe he's my boyfriend."

"Do you think he's fallen in love with you too?" she asks.

I smile, "well, he said so last night..."

"Really? Why didn't you tell me! If it had been the other way around I would have phoned you immediately."

I giggle, "I couldn't, I was with Rickie all night and we've only got a chance to talk properly now."

Sarah's eyes are still wide with excitement, "that's amazing. I'm so excited for you," she gives me a tight hug. "I knew you two were the perfect couple."

"At least now I don't have to worry about telling him how I feel. I said I love him too and he was so happy," I say, smiling. "I was terrified of saying it or him finding out before now in case it scared him off, but at least now he knows and everything's okay."

"You've still only been together a few weeks," she reminds me. "Things really are getting serious between you two."

"He even said something yesterday about our relationships maybe going onto something more," I remember. "What do you think that means?" I know what I think it means, but it feels too good to be true.

"It's pretty obvious," she grins. "Do you think he'll really ask you to marry him?"

"I don't think so, not yet," I say unsurely. "I do secretly want to marry him one day, but it's way too soon for that yet. Maybe it could happen one day," I say, daydreaming about how amazing our wedding would be. "I really do want to spend the rest of my life with him, Sarah."

"I hope it does work out for you two," she says. "Who knows? Maybe you'll stay together for years and when you're ready to get married he'll buy you an engagement ring," she says excitedly. "Looks like I'll have to start shopping for a bridesmaid dress."

I smile at her joke, "I don't want to freak him out. Don't say anything about this to anyone, okay?" I ask nervously.

"Of course not," she says solemnly. "It's a secret."

# Chapter 17

The phone finally rings in the afternoon and Sarah almost spills her drink in a panic to answer it.

"Hello, Sarah speaking. How can I help you?" she asks in a polite, telephone voice.

I watch feeling anxious as she listens to whatever they are saying.

"Don't worry, we'll be right there," she says and hangs up.

"What's up?" I ask.

"The police are breaking into a house on Rose Avenue. The family really needs help."

"Okay, let's go," I say, quickly grabbing our bags and equipment.

We rush outside and get into the emergency vehicle, a silver car with a yellow siren on the top. Luckily Sarah has a driving license so she takes the wheel while I work the navigation system.

"Did you bring the mobile?" she asks, panicking a little in case we brought ours but left the emergency contact one behind.

"Yeah, it's here," I say, keeping it close in case another phone call comes through.

"Good," she breathes a sigh of relief and we speed towards the city, with our yellow siren flashing.

As soon as we get on the street it's obvious which house we need to go to without looking for the number. A police car is parked outside and the house is a mess. The police have already smashed through the doors and windows and we hearing screaming from inside.

Sarah and I quickly get out of our car and rush into the house, armed with sleeping dart guns and wearing bullet proof jackets.

I scan the room and see four police officers are inside. One is arresting a woman who's crying and trying to get away from them; another is threatening to shoot a man who seems to be her husband. In the corner I see a young girl curled up in fear crying and a sixteen year old who is trying to beat off the two remaining police officers that are trying to capture him and the little girl.

Sarah aims and shoots a sleeping dart at the police officer holding the woman. His grip loosens and he falls to the floor unconscious. Sarah rushes forward to help her while I run over to the police officer with the gun.

I rugby tackle him to the ground and manage to slip the gun from his fingers. He's annoyed at being interrupted and tries to hit me off, so I shield myself with my right arm like I learned in self-defense class. I quickly throw the gun across the room, out of his reach so he can't get it, and punch him hard in the face. He yells in pain and falls flat on the floor, his nose starting to bleed.

I quickly get out my dart gun and shoot one of the nearby police officers who are trying to make a grab for the teenage boy. He falls weakly to the floor, unconscious within seconds, and soon the other one follows as Sarah manages to shoot a dart into his neck.

I hear someone advancing on me and turn. The police officer who I got the gun off tries to attack me, so I grab his arm and use a self-defense flip. He ends up on the floor again winded and I quickly go to help Sarah.

"Are you okay?" she asks the teenage boy, who looks stunned and nods in answer.

The little girl is still crying in the corner, so I walk over and gently lift her up in my arms.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," I tell her softly, and she buries her face into my shoulder, still sobbing and scared.

The mother runs over and takes her from my arms. She cradles her close, looking relieved that she's safe, "thank you," she says to me.

"Follow us," Sarah commands and the four of them run after her outside.

Sarah jumps back into the driver's seat and I make sure everyone is safely in the car before getting into the front passenger seat.

"Is everyone okay?" I ask as Sarah starts the engine.

"Yes, we're fine," answers the father.

The little girl is sat on her mother's knee and the teenage boy is sat in the middle, his father has his arm around him.

I feel a sting in my heart as I wish I still had my mum and dad here to look after and protect me, the way these parents were, but I don't have time to feel sad.

"Look out!" Sarah shouts as she starts to drive.

I look out of the window and see the police officer chase after us. He's found his gun and starts shooting at the car. I duck and put my hands over my head as I hear the shatter of glass as the car window smashes beside me. I hear our passengers scream in fear, but when I check they are all unharmed.

Sarah speeds up and we race along the street. Luckily the police officer isn't fast enough to catch us up and we're soon through the city and heading towards our secret base.

Sarah and I feel relieved to arrive back when we park up the car, and the family we rescued look relieved too but still stunned by what has happened. We take them inside and another freedom fighter called Kat, who works as a nurse, quickly checks them over for injuries. She's sweet and kind and gives the family blankets and warm drinks, "it's best to keep warm after a shock like that," she advises them.

The mother wraps the little girl in a blanket and the girl looks up at me and smiles, her face still stained with tears. I smile back at her and feel happy to know she's safe.

"Thanks for helping us," the sixteen year old boy says to me and Sarah.

"It's no problem," says Sarah with a smile.

He smiles back at us, "are you really freedom fighters?" he asks in awe.

"Yeah, we've just finished training," I answer.

"Cool, I want to be one too," he says. "My name's Josh."

"I'm Sarah," she says and shakes his hand, "and this is Star."

"I think it was so cool how you fought that police officer," he says to me and I can't help grinning.

"Star's good at fighting and self-defense," says Sarah. "I'm training to fly a helicopter so I can be a pilot one day."

"Cool," mutters Josh. "I've always wanted to be a secret spy. Can a freedom fighter be one of them?"

"I suppose so," I answer, considering it, "if you don't mind spying on Lord Snider."

"I hate him," he says, his eyes darkening. "He threatened my family because my father refused to work for him and then he sent those police officers to come and arrest us."

"That's awful," says Sarah sympathetically.

"Don't worry, he won't be able to harm you or your family now you're with us," I reassure him.

He smiles and all his fear and anger seem to wash away.

Carl soon arrives and he talks to the family, arranging shelter accommodation and provides them with emergency rations and essentials.

"You'll need to stay hidden away from Lord Snider and the police," he advises them. "The best thing is to stay in your new placement, don't go near the city or anywhere public. We might even have to arrange moving you to another safe location away from here, that way no one will be able to find you."

The family looks upset but grateful and Sarah takes them in the car to where Carl has arranged for them to stay.

"Good job Star," Carl tells me, looking pleased. "You and Sarah did well for your first mission alone."

"Thanks," I smile, feeling proud.

Rescuing people really did make me feel happy, especially at knowing we had prevented an innocent family from being imprisoned or executed, and now they were safely away from Lord Snider's reach.

The next day I'm about to meet Mick for a self-defense lesson when I see the teenage boy from yesterday.

"Hi Josh," I smile at him. "What are you doing back here?"

"I really want to be a freedom fighter so I'm coming to join."

"Cool, well I guess you'll be seeing Carl?"

He nods.

"Good luck, I hope you get in."

"You have to be accepted?" he looks a little shocked and disappointed.

"Yeah, but don't worry, they just do a background check," I explain. "It's just so people who are working for Snider can't join and then report information to him."

"Oh, okay."

Carl walks over to us and smiles at Josh, "Good to see you back. Come through to my office."

Josh follows Carl, but looks around at me and waves, "bye Star."

When I get out of self-defense class, I go to the cafeteria for lunch and see Sarah sat eating at a table. I go over to join her and slip into the seat opposite.

"Hey, you'll never guess what. You know that boy Josh we rescued yesterday? He came to join as a freedom fighter this morning."

"Really? That's sweet," Sarah smiles. "We must have made a big impression on him."

"I suppose it would if we saved him and his family," I say, thinking about it.

"Oh look! Here he comes," says Sarah, spotting him as Carl is showing him around. Josh grins when he sees us and comes to join us at the table.

"I guess you got accepted?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I did," he smiles happily. "Carl says I'm starting training next week and once I'm done I can work as a spy. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah it is," Sarah smiles. "How's your family getting on?"

"They're fine," he answers and looks a little sad. "It just sucks having to move to a new place, I liked living in the city in our own home."

"I'm really sorry," says Sarah. "At least you're safe. It's better to stay hidden right now."

"Do you think the police are still out there looking for us?" he seems anxious.

"Probably, but they'll forget all about it in a few days or so," I answer. "They'll have other families they want to threaten and arrest."

"So you think we can return home eventually?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," says Sarah uncertainly. "You don't want to risk nearly getting arrested again."

"Okay," he looks upset. "I'd better go back to my family anyway."

Me and Sarah say goodbye and watch him leave.

"Poor Josh," she says sympathetically. "It must be hard for him."

I nod in agreement and feel horrible knowing that there are so many families out there going through the same thing, but unfortunately some aren't lucky enough to have our help the way Josh and his family had.
Chapter 18

The next few weeks fly by. Sarah and I are really busy with freedom fighter work and Josh starts training and soon fits in as our new friend. When he eventually finishes the training we're really happy for him and he's eager to get started on real freedom fighter work.

The day after he's finished, Carl sends him out on a mission in the city to spy on a few of Lord Snider's workers and Josh is really excited.

"Good luck," I tell him before he leaves.

"Be careful, okay?" says Sarah and looks worried.

Josh blushes and looks shy, "I will, Sarah."

I look at Sarah. I'm sure something's going on between those two but she just avoids my eye contact.

When he's gone I grin at her, "looks like Josh has a crush on you."

Sarah brushes a little too and smiles, "do you think so?"

"It's obvious," I say, which makes her look happy and excited.

"He finally asked me out for a date tonight," she tells me. "I thought he wasn't interested at first."

I giggle, "I think he's just shy around you."

"Hopefully things will work out," she looks blissful.

"Are we going over to the rescue centre? Carl said we need to be there soon, remember?"

She stops daydreaming, "oh yes, I forgot. Let's go."

The rescue centre is a secret location in the city used for people who need help or to bring in children and babies that need safety and protection.

Sarah and I make sure we haven't been spotted by any police officers before entering, and once we're inside we see that five children have already arrived and Kat is looking after them.

"I suppose you'll be taking them over to the sanctuary later this afternoon?" she asks us.

"Yes, they'll be expecting us," answers Sarah.

I look around at all the children playing together and smile. At least they'll be safe once we get them out of the city.

"This is my little sister Lulu," Kat tells us and points over to a seven year old girl. "I always bring her here with me because she loves playing with all the other children."

"Why isn't she at the sanctuary with the others?" asks Sarah.

"I can't bear to leave her," says Kat and sighs. "I'd rather have her here with me so I can look after her myself."

I start packing bags of supplies and food that we're going to take over to the sanctuary, but I stop as I see Rickie run inside.

"Hi..." I start, but then the words seem to evaporate as I notice that something is wrong.

"Star, get everyone out of here!" he calls to me urgently.

Me and Sarah exchange glances, wondering what's going on, and quickly help the children outside. Luckily it doesn't take long to round them up and get them outside.

"What's up?" I ask Rickie. "Is there going to be a raid?"

"It's worse than that," he tells me, looking anxious. "Snider has somehow found out the location of some of the rescue centres and planted a bomb inside them. He was obviously hoping to kill anyone inside."

My eyes go wide with shock. I can't believe anyone could be so evil that they would plant a bomb at a place where young children were staying.

"How do you know?" asks Sarah.

"Josh found out this morning, he did an urgent call to Bryan who told us to get everyone to safety. There are five other centres at risk."

"That's awful," I say, feeling worried.

"We'd better get all these kids over to the base, they'll be safe there," says Rickie.

Kat appears beside us looking anxious, "Has anyone seen Lulu? She was right beside me a second ago."

Sarah looks around, "No," she answers and looks puzzled. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know, she must have gone back inside the building for some reason," she tries to run back inside but Rickie stops her.

"It's too dangerous to go back," he insists and then seems to weaken. "Don't worry, I'll find her for you," he runs back towards the building.

Anxiety runs through me as I watch him disappear inside. What happens if there is a bomb planted here? And if there is, what if they both don't make it out in time?

"They'll be fine," Sarah reassures us both. "Lulu will be coming back here anyway and Rickie will easily find her. They'll both be out in no time."

"You'll have to take the children to the base," I tell her, feeling nervous. "If there is a bomb here we really need to get them far away."

"Okay, are you two staying?"

Kat and I both nod in answer. Sarah rounds up the restless children and gets them all into the car. We hear her drive away, but I'm too busy looking out for Rickie and Lulu.

Kat and I both wait anxiously, keeping our eyes on the entrance and willing them to come out. The seconds drag by like hours and we wait and wait.

Suddenly there's a deafening bang and the blast knocks us both to the ground. I cough as the smoke showers over our heads, and look up and see the building come crashing down as the explosion rips through it. My heart stops with fear as I see it and I feel my eyes sting with tears thinking of Rickie and Lulu.

"Lulu!" Kat screams and starts to cry.

I feel like someone's stabbed a knife right through my heart as I think of Rickie and how much I love him. He can't be gone, I need him and I can't live without him. I start to cry too, feeling stunned and devastated.

I see something ahead behind the rubble of the fallen building and hold my breath.

"Kat, they're over there!" I say as I realise I'm right.

Relief rushes through me as I see Rickie getting up from the ground, his body shielding Lulu who's looking scared.

"Lulu!" Kat runs towards them, lifts Lulu in her arms and cries tears of happiness and relief as she hugs her tight. Lulu smiles and hugs her back, happy to be safe.

"Rickie, we thought you were still inside," I run into his arms and hug him tight, still feeling tears in my eyes.

He smiles at me in relief and holds me close. "We had to get out the back way, I didn't want to risk wasting time going to the front. Luckily we managed to get a safe distance away before it exploded," he explains, but he rubs his back looking in pain.

"Are you hurt?" I ask concerned.

"I'll be fine," he reassures me, "I guess some of the rubble hit me, but at least Lulu's fine."

Lulu comes over and gives Rickie a hug, smiling up at him, "Thank you."

He smiles and ruffles her hair.

"Why did you go back, Lulu?" Kat asks her. "You should have known it wasn't safe."

"I left my special dolly, the one our grandma made us when I was little," Lulu answers and hugs it proudly. "I didn't want it to get ruined."

Kat smiles a little, "let's go back to the base, there might be other people injured who need my help."

Lulu holds her hand and walks away with her excitedly, "can I help play nurse?"

Rickie puts his arm around me and we follow them.

"I'm sorry I worried you."

"It's okay," I reply. "All that matters is you're safe," I give him a kiss because I'm so relieved.

When we get back to the base Carl looks relieved to see us.

"Is everyone okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, we managed to get everyone out in time," Rickie tells him. "What about the rest?"

"We managed to evacuate the other centres too so luckily everyone's safe. We got lucky though, if it wasn't for Josh it would have turned out very badly."

Rickie nods, "Snider's really low for doing this. How did he find out where they were?"

"His spies have been monitoring the area and managed to work out what was going on," Carl answers. "We'll have to be very careful in future."

"Now we'll need to find a new place for the rescue centres that were destroyed," says Kat sadly, "and it's hard to find new bases, especially with Snider having so much control over the city."

"We'll find somewhere," says Carl, "but for now we'll have to re-locate the rescue centres to our base, it's the only way we can keep everyone safe."

"What about the children? Should we still take them to the sanctuary as planned?" I ask.

"Yes, we'll take them right away," answers Carl. "Just make sure you're not followed. Snider's workers might be trying to track down where we are taking them and we can't risk that location getting out too."

#  Chapter 19

The next evening, Rickie and I go out alone together for a meal. Luckily we managed to get all the children from the rescue centres safely to the sanctuary yesterday without being followed by any of Snider's employees, so everything turned out okay and the children are now happy and settled in their new home.

It feels good to chill out and relax for a few hours and not have to worry about Snider blowing up our buildings and trying to kill us. Being with Rickie seems to erase all the bad things from my memory and we have a good time together.

When it gets late we drive back on his motorbike, but when we arrive at the base we get such a shock we can't believe our eyes.

Police cars are parked all around the building and it's obvious they have already raided it from the look of the broken entrance.

"We'd better stay out of sight," says Rickie and we quickly hide from the police officers' view. "I'll phone Carl and find out what happened."

He quickly rings Carl's number and he answers right away.

"Rickie, I've been trying to phone you. Where are you?" I hear from the mobile.

"I'm at the base, bro. The police have raided it and they're still here."

"I know, I've been trying to warn you," says Carl. "Haven't you and Star checked your mobiles?"

"Sorry, we've been kinda busy."

"Anyway, get away from there and come over to the Gemini building. I'll explain everything once you're here."

Rickie and I get back on his motorbike and he drives us to the other side of the city until we arrive at the Gemini building.

When we get inside we see all the freedom fighters are here and I follow Rickie as he rushes off to find Carl.

"Bro, what happened? How did they manage to raid the base?"

Carl sighs, looking annoyed, " _Someone_ decided to tell Snider our secret location so we all had to evacuate when they arrived. That person is also responsible for Snider knowing the rescue centre locations too."

"But who would know about them? Only freedom fighters know where our secret base is," I say, feeling confused.

"This snitch was a freedom fighter," answers Carl, looking angry. "He's gone and betrayed us to Snider."

"But who would do that?" Rickie asks in disgust.

Carl sighs, "It was Josh." I feel like I've been punched in the stomach.

"Josh?" I ask in disbelief, "but it can't be him..."

"I'm sorry, Star, I know you were friends, but it was him. He was spotted with Snider before the raid. It's obvious he's the one who told him."

I'm so shocked I don't know what else to say. Rickie puts his arm around me, but I can't help feeling hurt and betrayed. Josh was one of my friends. Sarah and I had risked our lives to save him and his family, Carl had found them a new home, Bryan had put effort into training him; and this was how he repaid us

"I know it sucks but it happens sometimes," Rickie says to me. "When you're a freedom fighter it's hard to trust anyone."

"But he was one of us. We should have been able to trust him."

"I know," Rickie looks sad too.

"So he's been working for Snider all this time?" I ask feeling puzzled.

Carl shakes his head, "I doubt it. If he did he wouldn't have got through our background check. We think after he qualified training he must have got involved with Snider somehow."

I feel so upset, and when I find Sarah I see that she is feeling the same.

"Did you hear what happened?" she asks and her eyes water.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it," I say and give her a hug.

She cries on my shoulder, "I thought he was nice and genuine. I was so happy when we decided to start a relationship after our date, but now it's over between me and him after what he did."

#  Chapter 20

It feels weird to wake up the next morning in a sleeping bag on the floor in an unfamiliar building. Once I begin to come around I remember what happened yesterday and I feel sadness dampen my spirit.

I lost the place I started to think as home, I lost my possessions that we're still left at my flat and I lost a friend and work colleague I thought I could trust.

I hear sobbing coming from Sarah's sleeping bag, so I wriggle out and crawl over to her, careful not to wake anyone else.

I see her crying into her pillow and give her a hug, "everything's going to be okay," I reassure her.

She snuffles into a tissue and curls up in her sleeping bag miserably.

"What are we going to do, Star?"

"I don't know," I answer and try not to worry. "Carl will think of something."

"I still feel so upset about Josh," she says, her eyes red with crying so much. "I miss him."

"He's not worth it," I remind her.

"I know, I never want to see him again," she says, looking angry.

"Just try and rest, it's still early," I say, feeling tired.

"Okay," she snuggles up into her sleeping bag and soon she's asleep.

I smile and go back into my own sleeping bag to warm up. Rickie's still sleeping in his sleeping bag beside me, so I snuggle up to him, feeling safe to feel him close.

He eventually wakes up and smiles and cuddles me close.

"Morning babe," he says and kisses my hair.

"Morning Rickie," I watch him run his fingers through his hair and giggle. It's no longer gelled up into its spiky style, but it's sticking up in all directions as if he's had a rough night.

He grins too, "bad hair day I guess?" he says, trying to tidy it.

"It still looks cool," I say, snuggling into him, feeling cosy. At least through all the bad stuff that's happened we still have each other.

Everyone else soon wakes up and they're feeling pretty down and miserable too, but Carl looks strong and determined when we all meet up downstairs.

"I know we received a bad attack from Snider yesterday and that sucks," he says. "He may have destroyed our base but that doesn't mean he's stopping us. We're all still here and we can still fight him, if we give up now it only lets him win."

I start to feel better, no wonder Carl was made leader when he could motivate us all so well.

"We have another large building which can be used as our new secret base to live in. We'll drive over there today so we can start settling in," Carl informs us. "As for our possessions and equipment left at our last base, we'll have to replace them. If we try to go back to the base we'll be at risk of getting arrested or killed, so it's better to stay away."

"We have some extra freedom fighter equipment stored in our other buildings," Rickie reminds us all, "so if anyone needs them during a mission just let me or Carl know and we'll get them for you, but I guess we'll have to share them until we get our own replaced."

"I can't believe all my make-up and clothes are still there," Sarah sighs miserably.

"Don't worry, we can always buy more," I say, trying to stay positive. "It's a good excuse to go on a shopping spree." I know this suggestion will cheer her up because she loves shopping. I see her smile for the first time that morning.

"You didn't leave anything important behind did you?" she asks me.

"No, I already had my jewellery on and mobile with me. I'm sure the iPod, clothes and stuff can be replaced."

After sharing a breakfast of toast and orange juice, we all head over to our new secret base, which is at the South side of the city. It's not as big as our last base and it needs re-decorating, but we all claim our new rooms and settle in.

Even though I still miss our old place, it does feel a little exciting being somewhere new and it feels good to be moving on from something bad.

Once we've put what little stuff we have into our new rooms, Sarah and I go into the city to do some shopping, although I have to hide inside a hoodie and wear sunglasses in case I'm spotted and recognised by any police officers.

Luckily we both have money saved up in our bank accounts, so we dive into it to buy new clothing and essentials, which need to be replaced. I buy a new iPod for my dance shows and decide on asking Carl if I can use a computer and internet when I get back to download all my playlist onto it again.

We go for lunch and finally we're starting to feel better and happier.

"Let's go into Boots, I need more make-up," she says.

"I think I'll stay outside, make-up isn't really my thing, remember?"

"Okay, I won't be long, promise."

I smile and roll my eyes as she goes. Obviously she'll be in there for at least an hour.

I stand outside the shop next door and look at all the video games for something to do while I'm waiting. I can feel someone close to me and look up at them.

"Hi Star."

I feel anger rush through me as I see it's Josh.

"What do you want? Coming to arrest me?" I ask angrily.

"No, of course I'm not."

"Isn't it obvious I don't want to be anywhere near you after what you did; none of us do, especially Sarah."

Hurt flickers across his eyes, "why not? What did I do?"

"Don't act dumb with me!" I say furiously. "We know you told Snider everything, the rescue centre locations and where our secret base was."

He looks surprised that I know but at least he looks guilty about it, "I didn't want to tell him. I'm really sorry."

"I bet you are," I say sarcastically.

"I really am, you have to believe me," he pleads. "The truth is Snider threatened me. He found out where my family and I were staying and he said if I didn't give him information he'd take us all to be executed."

"You didn't have to tell him. You could have told us what happened, we would have helped you and kept your family safe," I say, not forgiving him at all.

"I wish I had but I was so scared, I didn't know what to do," he says sadly. "Surely you would do that if your family were in danger?"

"My parents are dead," I tell him angrily. "They were loyal freedom fighters who went to execution to protect me and the other people they knew, so don't you dare think you can use them as an example because of how much a coward you are."

He looks as if I've just punched him hard in the face.

"Like I said, I'm really sorry," he says sounding hurt and looks down at the floor sadly.

I notice Sarah has just come of the shop, "told you I wouldn't be long," she jokes to me, but then she stops and stares at Josh in shock. She looks over at me again, wondering why I'm with Josh, and I can feel my cheeks are still hot with anger. She seems to suss that I'm as unhappy to see him as he is.

"Sarah..." Josh begins and she quickly looks back at him again.

"I don't want to talk to you, Josh," she says, her eyes start to water. "It's over between us and I don't want anything more to do with you."

"Just listen to me, let me explain," he tries, but Sarah walks past and ignores him.

I follow her because I'm not ready to forgive him either, despite knowing the reason why he did it.

#  Chapter 21

Slowly things start to get back to normal. We decorate our new flats and all help out to decorate the rest of the building. After a week the new base looks great.

Carl tells us the bad news that Snider's troops burnt down and destroyed our old base in the end, but we all don't care anymore because Carl was right; no matter how devastated we once were to lose it, Snider hasn't defeated us and now we have a brand new base and were still fighting against him no matter what.

Bryan sets up our new emergency phone line and calls from the public are finally coming through again.

On Friday, Sarah and Rickie are put on emergency call. I have no work to do so I practise some dance routines in my room.

I've nearly finished a song when someone knocks on the door, and when I answer I see it's Rickie.

"Star, can you help us out?" he asks. "This phone call sounds like a pretty big mission, so we'll need at least four people on it."

"Okay, I'll do it," I answer. "But who else can we ask? Most people are either out or busy with something else."

We head downstairs to see if anyone has come back, but it's still empty apart from me, Rickie, Sarah and Bryan.

"I would help but someone really needs to stay here for the phones and any emergencies," says Bryan apologetically.

"What about Carl? Can't he help out?" Sarah asks. "I think I saw him before working upstairs in the office."

"He does missions if he's not mega busy with anything else," answers Rickie. "I'll go and ask him."

Luckily Carl agrees to come with us, so we all set off to the car park to get two vans.

"So what is the emergency?" Carl asks us.

"Someone knows about a group of families who were caught and imprisoned at a local police station," Sarah tells him. "If we don't rescue them soon they'll be sent to execution in a few hours' time."

Carl gets into a transport van with Rickie, so I take the other one with Sarah.

Ten minutes later we arrive at a large police station where the families are locked away.

"Get your sleeping dart guns ready, we'll have to get past a few police officers before we get to the prison cells," Rickie reminds us and we go into the building armed with our weapons.

Once all the police officers are unconscious, we make our way over to the prison cells to free the people who are arrested. However, we get a big surprise when we see all the prison doors are left open and the cells are empty.

"What's going on?" Sarah asks in confusion. "Where are they all?"

"Maybe they already escaped," jokes Rickie.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Carl warns us, but before we can run back out a group of troops arrive.

"It's a trap," I say, finally realising what's happening.

They charge in and surround us, pointing loaded guns in our direction.

"Don't try to fight back, it's not worth it," Carl warns us. I see him press his emergency tracker and then hide it in the back pocket of his jeans, so Bryan will be able to track us and know where we are.

I know he's right and that there's no point getting shot at when we're outnumbered by them, especially when our sleeping dart guns and fighting skills are no match against their guns and bullets.

Officer Vincent, the man who tried to get me executed before, arrives and I see him grin evilly as he sees us all captured.

"Finally, we've managed to catch the legendary Granger brothers," he looks from Carl to Rickie, looking incredibly pleased with himself. "I'm sure Lord Snider is dying to meet you two."

Carl and Rickie look at him angrily.

"And we've got two other freedom fighters to take to execution as well," his eyes scan over Sarah and they stop at me. "I know you! We caught you last month and somehow you managed to escape our prison cells," he looks annoyed with me, "well looks like you're going to be executed this time, Twinkle."

"My name is Star," I tell him, pointing out the mistake.

Rickie smirks amused that I'm giving the police officer attitude.

"Whatever," Officer Vincent says, dismissing it as if he doesn't care what my name is, but it's obvious the mistake embarrassed him.

He turns to Rickie and sees him smirking, "and you won't be laughing once Snider gets here. Being one of the most wanted criminals means you are sent to execution, and knowing Lord Snider he'll send you two there straight away."

"Not unless we escape first," Carl says casually.

Rickie and I have to try hard not to laugh, because we've already annoyed the police officer enough.

Officer Vincent looks so angry I'm surprised he doesn't erupt.

"Trust me, there's no chance you four are slipping away and avoiding execution," he tells us furiously. "We'll have every single police officer in this city over here to make sure of that."

Rickie glances over at me and grins. "Cool. We must be really popular."

We all struggle not to laugh, especially at the huge extent of so many police officers coming over.

Officer Vincent pretends he didn't hear, "Officers, get them handcuffed and thrown into a police cell. I'll contact Lord Snider immediately."

# Chapter 22

After the police officers have taken all our freedom fighter equipment and mobiles, we're hand cuffed and put into a prison cell together.

"Let's just hope some help gets here in time," says Carl. "I pressed the emergency tracker so Bryan will send some freedom fighters over soon."

"But what if it's too late by then?" asks Sarah, looking worried. "You heard what he said, Lord Snider could be over here any minute and he's sure to kill us all."

"Don't worry, help usually comes fast, especially when there's more than one person at risk," says Rickie.

I feel sick and anxious. Rickie puts his arms around me and I snuggle up to him, "it'll be okay Star, I promise," he whispers to me softly.

Even though I feel safe in his arms, I still can't stop feeling nervous. Last time it was just me who was going to be sent to execution, this time it's also my boyfriend and two best friends and I don't have Rickie outside to rescue me this time.

"What if we don't make it?" I ask him quietly.

"The worst that can happen is we get taken to execution and even then there's always a chance we can still escape," he tells me. "You'll have more time to get away, Snider will be more determined to get rid of me and Carl."

"That's the worst part," I feel tears in my eyes. "I don't want him to kill you Rickie."

"I know," he replies sadly, "I feel the same about you." He plants a kiss on my forehead and holds me closer.

"At least we'll die doing what's right," I say, knowing that at least my life would end just like my parents had.

"I feel so guilty," Sarah says to Carl miserably. "If we hadn't asked you and Star to help us out you both wouldn't be here."

"It's fine, Sarah," says Carl. "You didn't know it was a fake call and the mission needed more people so it wasn't your fault."

"It's so low that they'd do something like this," I say, feeling angry.

"That's what Snider's like," says Rickie. "How did they get our new number?"

"Who knows? His spies or workers probably found it," answers Carl.

"But if he has our phone number," says Rickie looking worried, "then that means he can track our new base."

As this bad news hits us, we hear the prison door being unlocked. A few police officers enter and force us outside. I feel my heart race fast with nerves as two police officers hold onto me and we're escorted down the corridor.

We are taken into a nearby room where I see Lord Snider waiting inside. His evil grin widens as he sees Carl and Rickie, but I don't think he even registers me and Sarah.

"So, we finally meet," he says to Carl and Rickie as he walks towards them. "I knew we'd catch both of you one day."

"You just got lucky, Snider," Carl replies through gritted teeth. "If you didn't play any games like this you'd never have caught us fairly."

Lord Snider laughs, "I never act fairly, surely you should know that; and now I have captured the two most wanted criminals in Twilight City," he grins, looking at them both.

"Sorry but we won't be stayin' long," says Rickie. "Like you know already, we always escape."

"I would love to see you try," he sneers. "You two are going straight to execution, so there's no chance your pathetic freedom fighters can help you."

"We'll see about that," says Carl.

"We also caught two other freedom fighters with them," Officer Vincent reminds him. "Should we send them to execution as well?"

Lord Snider glances at me and Sarah for a second, but he doesn't seem to remember me. "Yes, I want all of them killed."

"Shouldn't we question them first?" asks Officer Vincent, but he sounds anxious as if he's scared of interrupting him.

"Fine," answers Lord Snider impatiently but his eyes have an evil glint as he looks back at Carl and Rickie. "We've managed to find your rescue centres, even your old _and new_ secret base." I feel like I've been punched hard. That means the base must have been raided and soon that will be destroyed too.

"But there is one more location we would like to have," he continues. "We want to know where your precious sanctuary is."

I almost stop breathing; there's no way we can risk him finding the sanctuary and killing all those innocent children.

"We'd never tell you where it is," answers Carl.

"And you'll never find it," says Rickie.

"I'm sure we will. If we've cracked down on your other locations it will only be a matter of time," Lord Snider replies.

"What if we offer you something in return for that information?" asks Officer Vincent.

"We won't be interested," Carl tells him, annoyed.

"What about your two friends?" Officer Vincent asks them eagerly, and I can tell he's up to something. "Would you like them and all your other freedom fighters not to be taken to execution?"

"Of course we would, but we still can't tell you anything," answers Carl.

"Pity," says Lord Snider. "Are these two your girlfriends?" Him and Officer Vincent snigger like it's a really funny joke and I see Rickie blush a little.

Carl looks annoyed, "it's none of your business who they are."

Rickie quickly glances over at me worriedly for a second and then looks away, but Lord Snider manages to see this and I can tell he's found out the truth.

"How would you like to see your little girlfriend be executed, Rickie?" he asks him, looking over at me and grinning.

#  Chapter 23

I feel terrified and I hear Sarah gasp beside me.

"Leave her out of this," Rickie threatens him angrily. "It's us you want, not her."

"My offer stands," Lord Snider tells him sternly. "If you tell me the location I want, your girlfriend's life will be spared and she can go free."

My heart is still beating fast and I look at Rickie, wondering what he's going to do.

"No way I'd trust you to keep that promise," he says.

"Unfortunately it's the only way out of it. So are you going to tell me or let her die?"

Rickie looks over at me again and I can tell he'd do anything to protect me; but surely he wouldn't put all those children's lives' at risk just for me?

Carl looks at him too and I can tell he's starting to feel worried. Rickie stays silent and Lord Snider waits like a shark ready to attack its prey.

"Don't tell them," I beg him quietly, hoping he would get the strength to do it. I know it must be one of the hardest decisions he could ever make, but he had to do what was right.

Rickie looks away from me and back at Snider, "I can't tell you."

Lord Snider looks surprised by his choice. I can't help feeling a little happy that at least we had won and protected the children, even if the price was our lives.

Lord Snider looks furious that he hasn't got what he wanted, "you'll regret this," he warns Rickie. "Enjoy the execution."

He turns away angrily, "Bring them outside," he orders the police officers. "We'll put an end to the freedom fighters once and for all."

We are escorted outside into the city square and my blood runs cold as I see Snider's executioner holding an axe. My skin prickles with fear at knowing what is about to happen and I feel panic rise inside me.

"I'm sorry," I hear Rickie whisper to me. "I wish I could have done more..."

"It's fine, you made the right choice," I whisper back.

A crowd of people gather around the wooden platform, coming to see what is happening and to watch the executions.

Lord Snider strides onto the platform, looking very pleased with himself and speaks out to them proudly, "we have managed to capture two of the cities most wanted criminals, Carl and Rickie Granger."

The audience gasp at hearing this and look over at them both.

Lord Snider smiles even more, "as you know illegal fights towards the government are against the law and, as a consequence, these criminals will be executed."

The police officers force Carl forward towards the executioner and I begin to feel ill with anxiety. I can't bear to see him killed and I already feel sick and scared.

Once Carl is in place, the executioner raises his axe above his head and gets ready to bring it down. I shut my eyes tight and try to somehow block out the awful sound which will come next; but the next thing I hear is screams of surprise from the audience.

I open my eyes to see what's happening. The executioner has been shot with a sleeping dart and has fallen unconscious to the floor. His axe has fallen out of his grip and Carl remains unharmed.

He wastes no time in getting away. He leaps back up and hits the two police officers that are holding him. They're so stunned by what has happened that they aren't ready for an attack and both fall back.

Small explosions erupt around the square and the citizens scream in fear before clouds of smoke fill the air and block our sight.

I smile to myself in relief. The other freedom fighters must have come to help us and now they are setting off smoke bombs so we can easily escape without being seen.

I hear the two police officers holding me fall to the floor and someone grabs my hand and pulls me through the dark smoke. I follow them quickly as they guide me, coughing a little and still unable to see ahead.

We soon leave the city square and the smoke begins to thin until I can finally start to see again. I look up to see who my rescuer is and feel stunned.

"Josh? What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he smiles at me. "I meant what I said Star, I really didn't want to give Snider information. I let him bully me into it and I regretted it ever since. I just hope now I've tried to make amends you'll finally forgive me."

I smile back, "I guess I can, if you're still a freedom fighter?"

"Of course I am, I never stopped being one," we both hug and he smiles, looking relieved.

"Where are the others?" I ask.

"Bryan and the rest are taking them back to one of our buildings," he tells me. "Come on, let's go."

We both run away from the smoke and safely away from Snider and his police officers.

#  Chapter 24

Josh and I arrive at the small building ten minutes later and I run inside. Rickie is already there so I run straight into his arms and hug him tight. He smiles and holds me close, "I was gettin' worried, I'm glad you're safe."

"I'm so happy you are too," I say and look up into his eyes. "I love you Rickie and I couldn't bear it if you had been killed."

"I know, I'd hate to lose you too," he says, staring back into my eyes. "I love you too Star, you mean everythin' to me."

We share a long kiss and finally the realisation hits me that we have escaped and I feel tingles of happiness and relief.

"Where's Sarah?" Josh asks me, looking around. For a moment he looks worried, but then he catches sight of her and rushes over to her side.

I cuddle up to Rickie and watch, hoping that Sarah will be able to forgive him too.

Sarah looks shocked to see him, "Josh, did you help save us?"

He nods looking shy and Sarah throws her arms around him and gives him a big hug smiling.

"So you forgive me for the mistakes I made?"

"Yes, I do," she answers and they too share a kiss.

Carl looks over to us and rolls his eyes, obviously teasing about the fact that there is so much romance around. Rickie and I laugh and go over to him.

"I'm glad you're okay, bro," says Rickie and gives him a bear hug. "I thought you were done for when that guy was about to chop your head off."

Carl laughs, "yeah, me too."

Bryan comes over and gives me a hug, looking relieved. I hug him back happily. "Are you all okay? We've been so worried," he says.

"Yeah, we're cool now Bry," answers Rickie.

"Snider's really crossed the line this time," says Carl and I can tell he's annoyed. "The whole thing was a trap and he managed to track down our new base through the fake telephone call."

"So what's happened to our base?" I ask, although it's obviously not good news.

"They raided it minutes after you left," answers Bryan. "I managed to get away and warn the other freedom fighters not to return there, but I suppose they'll destroy that building soon. We'll have to find another base."

"We need more than that," says Carl. "Snider's winning and if we don't do something soon he'll destroy every single building we own."

"And we gotta stop him tracking down the sanctuary," says Rickie, looking worried. "I know it's hidden but there's always a chance..."

"He will never find the sanctuary," says Carl determinedly. "Even if we all have to die protecting it then we will."

"We need a plan," says Bryan thoughtfully.

The next day we have an emergency meeting in the Gemini building where we had to sleep. So far I've not had time to feel the loss of our new base, which we had all worked so hard to make after Snider destroyed our last one. I was so tired I didn't have a second to feel miserable.

Soon after arriving to the building late last night, I was so exhausted I went straight to sleep and it only seemed like half an hour later when Carl woke us all up the next morning.

"Sorry to wake you all so early, but as you already know we need an emergency meeting," Carl tells us. "Last night I had a meeting with Bryan and Rickie to discuss what we should do next and we have come to a solution."

I suddenly feel wide awake, knowing that whatever is about to be said will be very important.

"Snider has started a war against us, he's destroyed our buildings and he's always arresting and trying to kill our people," says Carl. "It's about time we said that enough is enough. We're sick of his attacks and we can't have events like yesterday happening. Therefore we need to have a war against Snider and begin to fight back."

Everyone seems shocked by this.

"But what does this mean?" asks Sarah, looking anxious. "Is Twilight City going to turn into a battlefield or something?"

I feel just as anxious. The last thing we all want is to end up fighting a war.

"It will if Snider has his way," answers Carl, "but I didn't employ you as soldiers trained to kill, we're freedom fighters and we work to protect innocent people, not to fight a war."

"Then what will we do?" I ask.

"We're discussing the idea of destroying his buildings," he tells us. "It will be pay back for what he did to us and if he loses resources and bases it will obviously have a negative effect on his dominating."

"You want us to drop to his level?" Sarah looks shocked.

"No, we're doing it to try and stop him," answers Carl. "Obviously before recent events we would not have been provoked to do anything like this, but we have no choice. We can't stand by and let him attack us continuously without fighting back somehow."

"But it's not right," I say, having a bad feeling about the whole thing. "People will get hurt or worse if we start destroying buildings."

"Star, it's not as bad as it sounds," Rickie reassures me. "We're not going to become terrorists or anything like that. We're going to make sure the buildings are empty, we don't want to kill or injure anyone the way Snider does."

"That's right," says Carl. "We are only destroying bases and resources. I know its criminal damage but if it stops him then it's worth it. We need to do everything we can to stop him winning this fight or there won't be anyone here to protect the people of Twilight City."

"Does everyone agree with our proposal?" asks Bryan. "We're open to other suggestions, but we need to agree on a plan before the end of today."

No one else seems to have any other ideas so we all agree to it. After all, we need to stop him before he makes things even worse and we need to do whatever it takes.

#  Chapter 25

The next day we attend another meeting to discuss our new plan. Rickie looks really tired because he agreed to go out on a mission last night and only arrived back four hours ago.

I stroke his hair affectionately and smile. He looks so cute when he's sleepy.

"How did it go?" I ask him.

"Really well," he smiles at me and lies back in his chair and closes him eyes, nearly dozing off.

"Don't worry, you can sleep once we're out of this meeting," I tell him softly and he nods in answer, half asleep already.

Bryan soon starts the meeting and I give Rickie a quick nudge to wake him up.

"As you all know Rickie went on a mission at Snider's base last night and hacked into Snider's computer systems, so we now have access to all his data and information."

Everyone starts talking excitedly and a few people congratulate Rickie for getting the information we needed. I grin at him, feeling really impressed too.

"I've looked through the records and found the data with all his locations," Bryan continues and shows a projected picture of a map with all the locations highlighted.

"Cool," says Carl. "I bet Snider's going to get a big surprise when he realises that all his buildings are destroyed tomorrow."

"We definitely need to start our plan soon," says Josh. "I heard that Snider is planning an attack on Twilight City tomorrow."

"That means if we don't do something he's going to try and capture everyone who isn't already on his side," says Mick worriedly.

"Don't worry, we'll be ready for tomorrow," says Carl.

The next day everything is planned and ready. We wait until the evening and then everyone leaves to start our plan. Soon there is only me, Carl, Rickie, Bryan and Sarah left in the building and by now the sky is darkening.

"Okay, all the freedom fighters are now in position," Carl tells us as he ends the last phone call. "The locations have been found and are going to be destroyed. We have sent out a warning to all the citizens about Snider's attack. So, are you all ready?"

"We were born ready, bro," Rickie grins.

"Okay, we'll head over to Snider's headquarters," says Carl. "Rickie and Star, you need to cut off the power supply and help free the prisoners. Sarah and I will plant the time bombs and get the prisoners to safety."

When we get to Snider's building the sky is dark and the stars are beginning to appear.

Rickie and I manage to sneak past the guards without being spotted and walk around the side of the building. Rickie presses himself against the side of the building and carefully looks around the corner towards a security door guarded by two armed troops.

I hold my breath as he aims his sleeping dart gun and shoots both of them. The darts pierce into their necks and they fall unconscious to the floor.

We quickly run over to the security door and Rickie quickly takes one of the officer's security card. He swipes it through the scanner and the door unlocks.

We quietly make our way inside and go along the corridor to the power supply room. We see that two of Snider's employees are inside the room, working on a desk with their backs to us.

We get down and crawl low to the floor, so that if they look around we won't be seen. We reach the huge power generator box at the left side of the room and Rickie uses his tools to open it.

I stay on look out and watch the two men at the desk, so I can warn Rickie if they show any movement or if they spot us.

Rickie studies the cables inside. He manages to find the right wires and cuts through them with some pliers.

Suddenly the room falls into darkness as the power and electricity goes off throughout the building. We hear gasps of surprise from the two men in the room with us and quickly run out of the room before they can realise we've been there.

We dash out into the corridor, the darkness hiding us from their view. We walk quietly along the corridor, trying to stay out of the way from any troops who might be patrolling the area.

I hear voices nearby and we press ourselves against the wall and listen. Lord Snider's voice drifts from a room a few metres away from us.

"What has happened to the power?" we hear him ask someone furiously.

"I don't know, I'll go check it out," we hear someone reply. I recognise the voice and realise that it's Officer Vincent, the police officer who had previously arrested us.

Rickie grabs hold of my hand and pulls me back along the corridor. We hide behind a big potted plant in the corner and soon we see Officer Vincent walking along the corridor carrying a torch.

I hold my breath as I see the light getting closer and snuggle up close to Rickie, trying to hide my body out of sight. My heart is pounding hard in fear and it makes me anxious knowing that there is only a plant separating us from him.

He comes closer and the torch light drifts past us. We watch him walk past us along the corridor and into the darkness.

Once he's gone we quickly carry on through the corridor, feeling relieved at not being caught.

It seems to take a long time to find our way through the building in the darkness without a light or torch, but finally we arrive in the basement where Snider has kept a few families imprisoned ready to be executed later on today.

Sarah is already there waiting at the open fire exit near the prison cells. Rickie quickly starts to pick the locks on the prison cell doors and we begin to set the prisoners free.

I quickly lead them all to the fire exit through the darkness and they run outside to freedom with Sarah directing them to safety.

Once everyone is free, Rickie and I run through the fire exit and away from the building. The whole area is still in darkness which means we can easily get away without being spotted.

A few troops are nearby trying to secure the area and look out for intruders, but without light their job is almost impossible and we easily slip past them without any trouble.

We quickly hide behind the wall surrounding the building and Rickie gets out his mobile and phones Carl's number.

"Hey bro, are you finished?"

"Yeah, we've planted all the time bombs around the building," I hear Carl answer. "Are you all out?"

"Yeah, the prisoners are with Sarah," answers Rickie. "Me and Star are outside."

"Good, I'll see you back at the base soon," he answers and hangs up.

"Wanna stay here and watch the show?" Rickie asks me and grins.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Sure, those time bombs are only strong enough to destroy the building, so we'll be fine here."

"Okay," I agree.

We only have to wait another minute or two before we hear Carl's voice as he speaks through a megaphone to warn everyone in the building.

"Lord Snider, we're destroying your building in five minute's time," he calls. "You and your employees should evacuate right now."

For a second the troops stop and look around, trying to search for Carl, but they're unable to see him because he's hidden somewhere.

We see a huge panic start as Snider's employees race out of the building, all fighting to get out and away before the time bombs explode. Rickie and I giggle as we watch them push, shove and fall over each other, until they eventually run away from the building.

We see Lord Snider get out of the building, looking furious as ever. "If you dare touch my building, Granger, I'll make you pay!" he yells to Carl, looking around for him.

Carl doesn't answer, so Lord Snider looks nervous and quickly decides to make a run for it just in case.

Seconds later the building explodes and Lord Snider looks back wide eyed with shock, until he finally comes to his senses and carries on running.

We watch as the building crumbles and falls to rubble and then Rickie high fives me.

I see Lord Snider run towards us and we both hide in the shadows behind the wall. Lord Snider stops at the other side of the wall to catch his breath and Rickie and I both exchange glances, not knowing whether to be worried about being seen or to laugh at the ironic situation of him being so close to us and not knowing.

We hear him start to talk on his mobile and listen carefully.

"Officer Dobson, I want you to send police officers around to my headquarters this instant!" he commands angrily.

He suddenly goes quiet as he listens to whatever's being said on the other side of the phone line.

"What?!" we hear him yell furiously. "What do you mean? How can the city police stations be destroyed?"

Officer Dobson must be telling him what else we've been up to so far and I feel happy that the others managed to pull off their part of the plan.

"All the police stations and all my buildings as well?" We hear him rant angrily.

We try really hard not to laugh and give ourselves away, but we risk a quick peek over the wall and see him throw a tantrum and start to cry. We duck back down and cover our mouths, trying hard not to have hysterics.

"Those freedom fighters will pay for this!" he rages furiously and then continues his conversation on the mobile. "Gather all my employees; we need to leave the city immediately."

He hangs up the call and then leans against the wall defeated. "All my plans, all my dreams ruined," we hear him yelling to himself. "Those stupid brats may have won this battle, but they'll never stop me dominating elsewhere."

We hear him laugh evilly as he runs away towards his helicopter which is parked further down the grounds.

"Oh no, he's getting away," I say, wondering what we are going to do.

"Don't worry, he can do a runner if he wants to," Rickie says. "As long as he's not dominating the city then it's cool."

We watch him get inside the helicopter and take off into the sky, flying out of sight.

"At least we did it," I say and feel excited. "We got rid of Snider."

"Yeah we did," he grins and hugs me back, "and now maybe the city will be safe."

#  Chapter 26

Once we arrive back at our temporary base, a celebration has already begun as news of Lord Snider's departure has spread. Sarah runs towards me and gives me a hug.

"Did you hear about Snider?"

"Yeah, we just watched him leave," I giggle. "He was even throwing a tantrum."

Carl laughs too. "Looks like he's left for good and he's taken some of his evil workers with him."

"But what do we do now?" asks Sarah. "We've got rid of Snider so I suppose we don't have a job as a freedom fighter anymore."

"We need to reclaim Twilight City," answers Carl. "Now that Snider is no longer dominating we can return to the way things were all those years ago."

"I bet your parents are gonna be so proud," Rickie says to me. "Imagine us being the ones who got rid of Snider."

"I know, I still can't believe it," I say happily, "and I really hope they are proud, if they really are watching over me."

Rickie smiles and pulls me close for a long kiss. We finally part from each other moments later and I gaze into his eyes, feeling so in love with him.

Rickie is about to lean forward for another kiss when Kat appears beside us.

"Carl! Rickie!" she says urgently. "There's someone here to see you."

Carl and Rickie exchange glances. "Who is it?" Carl asks her.

"Her name is Marlene, she says you both know her pretty well," Kat explains and lets the woman come forward to speak to Carl and Rickie.

The woman is tall and thin, her long black hair cascades along her back and her brown eyes sparkle as she looks at them. I see that both Rickie and Carl are shocked to see her and I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing.

Marlene's eyes suddenly fill with tears as she smiles. "Carl, Rickie, I've missed you both so much," she puts an arm around each of them and hugs them close, tears of happiness roll down her cheeks.

I smile, feeling tears in my own eyes as I realise who she is.

"Mum, what are you doing here?" Carl asks her looking stunned.

"I needed to see you both," she says wiping her eyes. "I've been looking for you both for years and I've missed you every second you've been gone."

"We've missed you too, Mum," says Rickie, smiling up at her. "It's awesome to see you."

"Why did you run away all those years ago?" she asks them, looking upset and hurt.

Don't you know?" Carl asks her. "We didn't want you and that idiot making us work for Snider when we knew it was wrong."

"You were so unhappy about it you really wanted to leave me?" she asks, starting to cry.

"Sorry Mum, but we needed to be freedom fighters," Rickie explains. "We never really wanted to leave you."

"We had no choice, your husband made sure of that," Carl answers sounding annoyed.

"I'm so sorry I let you down. I was very upset when you both ran away and I was so worried. I searched for years, hoping that one day I would find you..." She continues to cry and Rickie puts his arm around her.

"Don't cry, Mum," says Carl, looking worried. "We know it wasn't really your fault."

"Yeah, we're together now, right?" says Rickie.

Marlene smiles, "Yes, we are and I'm so relieved that I have found you, I was almost giving up hope. I was so proud of you working as freedom fighters; you must have worked so hard."

"But why couldn't you have become a freedom fighter with us?" Carl asks. "We really needed you."

"I wish I could have, but it was not the right time," answers Marlene. "I still let myself be bullied and ordered around by your stepfather and I couldn't get away; but no matter what he said or how much he tried to make me forget, I still loved you both and thought about you."

"So where he is now?" Rickie asks. "I thought he wouldn't have let you see us."

"Don't worry, I left him shortly after you both ran away," she tells them. "At least having something so awful happen made me see sense about him."

"Cool," says Carl and looks happy. "So we can live together again, at home?"

"Of course we can," she answers.

"Mum, since you're here now, there's someone I really want y' to meet," Rickie grabs hold of my hand and leads me over to meet her. "Mum, this is my girlfriend, Star."

"Hi," I say and smile shyly at her. "It's nice to meet you."

Marlene smiles back at me, "Hello Star, I'm pleased to meet you too," she looks at Rickie. "I suppose it's serious between the two of you?" she guesses.

"Yeah, they'll probably get married one day," Carl tells her and grins at us. Rickie and I blush.

"In that case, I can't wait to meet your parents," she says.

I look away sadly and Rickie squeezes my hand for support.

"Star's parents died when she was a baby," he tells her.

"Oh, I'm very sorry," she says apologetically. "Well you're very welcome to be part of our family, Star."

She gives me a hug and I feel tears of happiness in my eyes. For the first time ever I finally feel as if I'm part of a family.

"So she can really stay with us?" Rickie asks her. "Please, she hasn't got anywhere other than here to stay."

"I would be happy for you to stay at our house," she tells me and I have to try really hard not to cry.

"Thanks," I say and Rickie hugs me excitedly.

"How about we go back home tonight?" she asks us excitedly. "I can easily make up the beds and you can get your things and move in properly tomorrow."

"Okay," Carl agrees, "but first we've got a party to attend."

After all the excitement of Carl and Rickie being reunited with their Mum I almost forgot about the party happening around us.

"Guys, check this out!" Bryan calls to us and we all rush to the window to look. Outside the people of Twilight City are having their own celebrations now that they're free from Lord Snider.

"Looks like they're happy," jokes Rickie.

"Let's just hope Snider stays away," says Carl.

"He will, bro," says Rickie. "Star and I heard he was moving to try and dominate somewhere else."

"Once he does try, we'll be ready," Carl smiles. "If he thinks we're going to let him do the same somewhere else he's wrong."

"We'll hear from the other freedom fighters if he does," says Bryan. "I'll send them all a warning email and they can contact us if he tries to take over their cities."

"Come on, let's go join the party outside," suggests Rickie and takes my hand as we run outside to join everyone.

Carl, Marlene, Bryan and the rest of the freedom fighters are soon all outside in the streets as we join the public celebrations. Everyone is congratulating us and look really happy, some are even crying because they're so pleased.

Rickie dances around with me happily and I snuggle into his arms, "this is the best day ever," I tell him. "We've got rid of Snider and you've found your Mum, plus I get to be part of your family and stay with you."

"Yeah, I can't wait," he replies. "It's gonna be awesome, me and bro being back with our Mum and you being there with me too. It's a new beginning..."

We stare into each other's eyes for a few seconds and then share a long kiss while fireworks light up the sky above us.

When Rickie finally gets the call to say that the evil dictator Lord Snider has now been found, he and Starlet go straight to Dragon City to find out what he's up to; but they soon discover that he's not after revenge or to reclaim Twilight City.

Lord Snider is now planning to take over Dragon City instead and wants to kill the Mayor in order to dominate. Rickie, Carl, Starlet and the others must return to their roles as freedom fighters and begin a new fight to protect another city from evil.

### Turn the page to read sample chapters.

### This story is told by Rickie.

# Chapter 1

There's a delicious smell of bacon wafting from the kitchen and I smile as I walk in and see Starlet making breakfast.

Starlet has been my girlfriend for a year and a half now and we met when we were both working as freedom fighters. I'll always remember the day she strolled into our secret base looking as gorgeous as ever. Once I'd caught sight of her I knew instantly she was the girl for me.

After a night of flirting and dancing at the party, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I sent her pink roses with a message and mobile number on the tag, hoping for a date. Luckily she accepted.

After our second date, when we nearly got arrested and shot at by corrupted police officers, I told her how I felt and she became my girlfriend. That was one of the best nights of my life.

Starlet is still working as a dancer, doing it full time now instead of part time, so she'll be at rehearsals later on. I've been working as a trainee mechanic for the last few months, so I need to leave in an hour to start my shift at the garage.

A lot has changed for all of us since we took back Twilight City over a year ago. Back then my older brother Carl and I had been working as freedom fighters, trying to defeat an evil dictator named Lord Snider. Luckily we forced him to leave the city thirteen months ago but he's still out there, most likely trying to plan another attack and wanting revenge. The rest of the freedom fighters have been working hard trying to track him down, but so far we haven't been able to find him.

Carl and I managed to find our mum, who we hadn't seen since we ran away from home a few years ago to become freedom fighters. It was a pretty hard decision to leave her, but we didn't have a choice back then. We were being pushed out by our stepdad, who was trying to force us to work for Lord Snider like him. My mum never did anything bad, but we still hated how she'd always take our stepdad's side and never dare stand up to him.

After we ran away from home, I was pretty angry with her because it felt as if she had chosen our stepdad over her own kids and didn't really care about us. Luckily our mum eventually tracked us down and we found out we were wrong. Instead of my mum and stepdad living happily without us, she ended it with him and spent years searching for us. I'm really glad she found us in the end and we became a family again, with Starlet as a new member.

Things were kind of weird at first because we hadn't seen her for years and so much had changed with our lives. Our house still looked the same and mum had left our bedrooms exactly how we left them. We had a lot of catching up to do with mum and now things are cool with her. With our stepdad still off the scene, we've put all that bad stuff behind us, and being away from her has become a distant memory.

It's amazing having Starlet here living with us too. Starlet is an orphan and didn't have any family to stay with, but obviously things are pretty serious between us, so I was happy when she moved into our house and became part of the family.

Everyone else in our team seemed to move on with other stuff as well now that we're not really needed as freedom fighters. Carl was elected as the new city Mayor to take over from Lord Snider, so he's always mega busy.

As for the rest of our friends, Bryan now works as Carl's assistant instead of training freedom fighters. Starlet's best friend, Sarah, has been working as a make-up sales assistant in one of the department stores. Josh still works as a spy, but for the police now instead of us.

My best friend, Mick, is still teaching self-defence, karate and other martial arts at his new studio. Kat still works as a trainee nurse practitioner for the local hospital and is now onto her second year of medical training at college.

Like I said, a lot has changed since we were freedom fighters.

I feel hungry and walk over to Starlet to see if breakfast is nearly ready.

"Hey babe," I say and grin at her.

"Morning Rickie," she smiles and her eyes sparkle with happiness.

She looks as hot as ever, even though her long blonde hair is messy from sleeping and her green eyes still look tired. She's really pretty, five foot five in height, and has a slim but curvy figure. She's still wearing her summer PJs and looks so sexy.

My appearance is pretty different to hers. My hair is black, always spiked up with gel, and my eyes are brown. I'm taller than her, just under six foot, and I'm slim with toned arms. Starlet says I'm handsome, but I'm definitely _not_ one of those cocky, big-headed guys who fancy themselves. I'm more of a funny and flirty sort of guy.

"You made me breakfast?" I ask hopefully, my stomach begging for some crispy bacon.

"Yeah, I thought I'd surprise you."

I feel touched and give her a hug, holding her close, "you're the best girlfriend ever."

I'm planning to take her somewhere later on today and she's gonna be so surprised and happy when she finds out. It's been hard work but it's definitely worth it.

I smile and pull her closer, giving her a long kiss.

My mobile starts to ring and buzz in my pocket, so I reluctantly stop kissing her, "sorry, I better get this."

I pull the mobile out of my jeans pocket and check the screen. I'm expecting it to be someone from the garage, phoning about some emergency job, but the caller ID says it's from my best friend Mick.

"Hey," I answer.

"Hi Rickie," I hear him reply. "Are you okay to talk?"

I'm surprised to hear from him so early in the morning so I know it must be important, "Yeah sure, what's up?"

"It's about Lord Snider. We've found him."

# Chapter 2

I almost drop my mobile in shock. I see Starlet look over at me, wondering what the phone call is about.

"So you've found him? Where is he?" I ask, starting to feel anxious in case there's something bad going on.

"We're not sure of his exact location but he was spotted here in Dragon City an hour ago. I think there's something going on, Rickie; he seems to be working on something."

"I'll let Carl know and get back to you," I reply. "Laters." I quickly hang up.

"Do you know if Carl's up yet?" I ask Starlet.

"I haven't seen him, so I guess he's still in bed," she answers. "His sports car is in the driveway so he hasn't gone to work."

Carl is pretty lazy in the mornings so it isn't a surprise that he's still buried under his duvet.

"Why? What's the matter?" she asks, looking concerned.

"That was Mick, he said Lord Snider has been spotted in another city and we think he's up to something."

Starlet's eyes go wide with shock, "That's awful. Do you think he's going to try and attack Twilight City again?" she looks nervous and I don't blame her.

Lord Snider caused heaps of trouble the last time he took over our city. He stayed in power for nearly seventeen years before we managed to defeat him. He had murdered a lot of people, including Starlet's parents, so I know we have to stop him.

"He's not sure yet," I answer her question, "but we'd better find out. I'll go and wake Carl."

I manage to drag my older brother out of bed, although he groans lazily and is pretty annoyed with me for waking him up earlier.

"Sorry bro, it's an emergency," I explain. "Mick has found where Snider is."

He soon becomes wide awake after hearing that, "I'll be down in ten seconds," he promises and I leave him to get changed.

Soon we're all sitting in the kitchen, talking it over and eating the toasted bacon sandwiches that Starlet has made. I don't feel so hungry now, after the shocking news, but I try to eat them. It tastes so delicious that after a few bites my appetite magically comes back. Starlet nibbles on her breakfast, looking anxious too. Carl is still tired and half asleep, but he's already wolfing down his share and reaches for extras.

"Thanks, Star. These bacon sandwiches are so good," he says, gobbling down the last one.

"So what do you think?" I ask him, waiting for him to tell us what to do.

He used to be our team leader, so I'm hoping he'll just go back to that, since we need someone in charge.

"We'll have to go to Dragon City and find out more," Carl answers me, looking serious. "I'll contact the rest of the freedom fighters so we can get on the case."

"What about work, bro?" I ask him. "I know I'll be able to get time off if I ask, but there's no way you will."

"Yeah, I guess I can't drop everything for a freedom fighter mission now I'm the city Mayor," he thinks about it. "I'll try and get someone to cover for me. You'll have to go over there and get more information."

"Someone should stay here anyway just in case he tries to attack Twilight City again," Starlet reminds us.

"Yeah, you're right," Carl considers it. "I'll stay here for now with Bryan, but you two need to go as soon as you can. Are you okay with that, Star?"

"I think so," she answers, looking a little unsure. "I'll phone Phoebe and tell her I'll have to cancel the shows this week."

I feel bad hearing this. Starlet loves her dance shows and I feel guilty that she's dropping it all just to help me out, even though I really want her to come.

"Are you sure?" I ask. "You can stay here with Carl until next week? That way you'll still be able to perform."

"No, it's fine," she smiles at me. "I don't want to be away from you for a whole week."

I smile, "thanks, Star."

She goes off to make her phone call and I turn back to Carl.

"I'll ring the garage to tell 'em I can't work this week and then I'll drive over and meet Mick this afternoon."

"Okay. I'll call an emergency meeting with the other freedom fighters tonight and let them know. If there's any trouble we'll need all the help we can get."

"Yeah," I agree. "I'll call you later on and give you an update."

I go up to my bedroom to start packing for our week away and see Starlet sat on our bed looking a little sad.

"Was Phoebe okay with it?" I ask her.

"She seemed pretty annoyed at having to cancel so late in advance, but I told her it was an emergency," she answers. "I'll start packing now."
Book 2 is available to download now!

England: £1.99

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Canada: $3.36

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Book 3 is available to download now!

England: £1.99

America: $2.99

Canada: $3.36

Australia: $3.99

### Freedom Fighter Records:

Full Name: Starlet 'Star' Summers

Age: 16 years

Occupation: Freedom Fighter, Dancer.

Specialties: Self-defence, fighting.

### Freedom Fighter Records

Full Name: Richard 'Rickie' Granger

Age: 17 years

Occupation: Freedom Fighter, IT engineer.

Specialties: Hacking computers and

### systems, picking locks.

### Freedom Fighter Records

Full Name: Carl Granger

Age: 19 years

Occupation: Team Leader, Freedom Fighter.

Specialties: Giving orders, looking after the team.

### Freedom Fighter Records

Full Name: Sarah Appleton

Age: 19 years

Occupation: Freedom Fighter, Hair and Make-up stylist.

Specialties: Flying aircrafts, Knowledge of History

### Freedom Fighter Records

Full Name: Bryan Harper

Age: 22 years

Occupation: Trainer, Freedom Fighter.

Specialties: Teaching, Freedom Fighter knowledge.

### Freedom Fighter Records

Full Name: Kaitlyn 'Kat' Thompson

Age: 16 years

Occupation: Freedom Fighter, Nurse.

Specialties: First aid, Medical Knowledge.

### Freedom Fighter Records

Full Name: Joshua 'Josh' Davison

Age: 16 years

Occupation: Freedom Fighter, Spy.

Specialties: Computers, Being undercover.

### Freedom Fighter Records

Full Name: Michael 'Mike' Charlton

Age: 22 years

Occupation: Freedom Fighter, Martial Art Instructor.

Specialties: Fighting, Self defence

### About the Author and Illustrator

Michelle Leyland was born in 1990 and spent all of her life living in Lancashire, England. She has always loved writing and drawing and since the age of 13 has dreamed of becoming a published author and illustrator one day. She has written several fiction stories for children, teenagers and adults, and has illustrated all her children's books.

Michelle also loves to play drums, dance, sing, go to concerts, daydream and read.

Follow her on Twitter: **@MLeylandAuthor**

Like her Facebook page:

Michelle Leyland (Author and Illustrator)

Visit her website:

www.michelleleyland.com

### Books by Michelle Leyland:

Farm Frenzy ( _children's_ )

Lunar Eclipse _(children's)_

Freedom Fighters: Twilight City \- Book 1

Freedom Fighters: Dragon City - Book 2

Freedom Fighters: Lost City - Book 3

Bounty Hunter _(Teen's)_

Dating Dilemma - Book 1 ( _Teen's)_

Sexy Love - Book 1 ( _Teen's)_

Secret Love ( _adult's_ )

Coming soon:

Freedom Fighters - Book 4

