-- Computer Friends 7 -- By: Branch -- Chapter 1-7 UP! -- REWRITTEN --

-- Chapter 1

Rebecca, Jacob, Lauren, Danny and I all stood in front of our neatly assembled friends, our fellow agents. Standing before them, I proceeded to doubt whether this was going to work, but hey, it was worth the shot, wasn’t it? I sighed, trying to shake off all the jitters that were displayed on every single one of my friend’s faces.
“As you all know, the Director was helping a fellow enemy of ours, and is not fit to be a Director any longer,” Lauren spoke loud and clear into the microphone, and the crowd hushed almost at once.
“It’s an important decision,” Rebecca added, “And probably a very hard one, too, deciding who to lead us all,”
“We have an idea to pitch,” Jacob said, smiling in spite of himself as he spoke.
“We’ve talked it over, and we all agree that all of us should run the place,” Danny grinned his familiar grin, gesturing the five up on stage.
I breathed in deeply before stepping up to speak, “We feel that we’d run the place better with all of us being able to make decisions, we just aren’t us without each other. We’re kind of a package deal,” I explained, blushing slightly as I realized just how many people were staring at me, listening, or so I hoped. “We’re not going to just make that choice, though, we’re going to let you all vote,”
Danny was the very first to start, “If you think that I should be the new Director, please stand,” Nobody moved an inch.
“If you think that I should be the new Director, please stand,” Rebecca came forward, scanning the crowd, but again, nobody moved a muscle.
“If you think that I should lead the HQ, becoming the new Director, please stand,” Jacob said, watching as yet again, nobody stood, moved, or breathed.
“If you think that I should lead the agency, please stand now,” Lauren said, smiling as nobody stood.
It was yet again, my turn. I really disliked speaking in public, “If you think that I, Annabelle Marie Jones, should be the new Director, stand now,” Nobody stood, and I wondered if they were still in shock, or if this was actually going to work.
“If you think that all of us,” We all said in unison, pausing on cue,
“Danny,”
“Jacob,”
“Rebecca,”
“Lauren,”
“And,” I paused, “Annabelle Marie,”
We all picked up again, speaking in perfect harmony, “Should be the new Directors of the agency, please stand.. Now!”
Everyone in the crowd stood, voting “yes”, they seemed to rise like a wave.
It had worked.

-- Chapter 2

We all were sitting in the, well, our, office, very serious, now that the easy part was done with.
“We need to figure out a way to lure the Director back,” Lauren said, as we all nodded in agreement.
“I was thinking, he was working with Jay, correct?” Rebecca asked, looking up at us all. We all nodded in agreement again, same as we had done with Lauren. “Well, I bet that Jay could get him here, if he asked,” Rebecca mused, hoping somebody caught onto her idea.
“Oh! I get it!” Jacob said suddenly, “We’d pretend to write some kind of letter, a note, to the Director, but as Jay! We’d get the Director into the very heart of the agency, and we’d nab him!” Jacob looked excited.
“Brilliant!” Danny exclaimed, grinning in his usual way, “That’s bloody brilliant, Becca!” He said, sporting a very terrible British accent.
“That could work,” I said, nodding. “Jay’s handwriting is very individual, though, nobody could copy it correctly, the Director would be able to tell right away,” I sighed, frowning.
Lauren smiled brightly, “Then let’s go have a chat with the criminal,”

-- Chapter 3

It was damp, musty smelling down where the prisoner’s were kept. I almost felt bad for them, but then again, they had committed crimes, crimes that I, and my fellow agents had to trouble ourselves with. I paused in front of cell number 166, and smiled as I remembered why I had put Jay in this particular cell; he absolutely hated the number 166. I didn’t know why, nor care, all I knew was that it had gotten on his nerves when he had seen that the number was painted in a stencil-like manner in white, permanent paint on the wall’s of his cell.
I composed myself to appear calm, cool, and collected as he turned around. His jet black hair was untidy, his face covered with smudges of dirt. He glared at me, frowning with obvious distaste as my friends glared at him from behind me.
“What do you want?” He asked, his voice full of venom, as he stood up and stared at us with pale blue eyes.
It was silent for a long moment, they all seemed to be waiting for me to talk. They didn’t know him, it was only I that knew how to get in his head and drive him insane.
“We have a job for you,” I explained coolly, pushing a strand of tangled, dark brown hair behind my ear as I spoke. “If you cooperate, we might be able to get you on parole early,” I offered. It was a generous offering, he had been wanted for a while now, and was finally caught on such a high crime that it would be years before he was out, and when he was, we’d all practically be adults.
Jay stared me down, trying to intimidate me as he thought it over. “It depends on what the job is,” He responded warily after a few long moments.
“We need you to write a letter,” Rebecca piped up, stepping to the side of me, “For the-”
“CREEPY GUY,” Danny interjected, grinning broadly.
“Director,” Rebecca continued, not before giving Danny a sharp glare. “We’re going to lure him here, and hopefully lock ‘im up for good,”
Lauren, Jacob and I all nodded in agreement. “That’s the plan,” Lauren smiled slightly.
Jay thoughtfully watched me, “I’m in,” He finally agreed, “If I’m going down, he’s going down with me.”

-- Chapter 4

I didn’t like him in the office, but Jay had refused to write the letter unless in proper accommodations. I think that sometimes he doesn’t realize he’s the villain.
“Don’t touch anything!” I exclaimed, jerking him away from the computer. He snickered, surveying the equipment before sitting down next to the keyboard, which had extra buttons for everything we could possibly need.
I started to read over Jay’s shoulder as he began to scrawl in his messy, yet formal and legible handwriting. Rebecca and Lauren were frowning the most, watching Jay carefully. It was evident that he was dangerous, not physically but with technology, especially computers.
Suddenly, there was a small beeping noise, and a voice spoke over the intercom. “Agent’s Rebecca, Lauren, Danny, Jacob and.. Just those agents, please report to Agent Faith’s office, we have an issue to discuss,” There were intercom’s hooked up to every office, that way we could all contact each other easily.
They all turned to look at me, apparently my crestfallen feelings were apparent on my face, “It’s better that I stay anyways, to watch Jay, go on, you guys, it sounds important,” I said, half-heartedly.
“If you’re sure..” Lauren sighed, pouting slightly as she, along with Rebecca, Danny, and Jacob left the office, closing the door softly behind them.
I leaned against the door, closing my eyes as I listened to the sound of Jay’s pen scratching the paper. I almost didn’t notice when it stopped, almost, but opened my eyes when it did.
“Are you done?” I asked, noticing that my voice sounded flat, even to my own ears.
“Aw, is little Annabelle jealous of her friends, that are obviously more important than her?” Jay asked tauntingly, a note of seriousness to his tone.
“Jay, please, do shut up and give me the paper!” I snapped, glaring at him. He held his hands up in surrender, a mock surrender. He then grabbed the paper, handing it to me. “Thank you,” I said curtly.
“I know what it feels like, to not be important you know,” Jay commented quietly, “It’s a terrible feeling, but I’m sure you know that already, am I right?”
“We’re all equally important,” I replied, frowning. I knew what he was doing, he was playing mind games, messing with my emotions for his own personal gain. Sadly, I think it was working.
“Right, and because you’re all so equal, all the Director’s get called..” Jay trailed off. “But you? That doesn’t seem very fair,” He added.
“What’s the catch?” I asked, shaking my head as he looked bewildered. “You’re pretending to care, what do you want?”
“I want you to help the Director and I,” Jay said, smiling and showing off his brilliantly white teeth, “We’d help you be important, if you helped us, they’d all see that you’re important, Anna, I promise that they would,” He said, smiling convincingly.
“Shut up. I’m not going to help you, not if it depended on my life-” I was cut off as I was slammed into the wall. I looked up, glaring at Jay, who was now pinning be against the wall.
“Help me, or you can fall, like the rest of your agency,” Jay growled, smiling in the most vile way.
“Never!” I hissed, kicking his leg out from under him. He went flying backwards, but I can crashing after him. I fell, landing next to him. I wondered then, why nobody had heard us, and cursed in my head when I realized that this room had been soundproofed so that nobody could hear what was going inside.
Jay had already gotten over the shock, and was standing up. I launched myself into his leg, sending him to the floor again. He snarled, his fingernails scraping down the side of my face and leaving it with a stinging sensation. I grabbed a handful of his hair, flipping him over me and onto his back, there I pinned him to the ground.
“Hah. I win,” I said triumphantly, glaring at him with complete hatred. “You stupid little rat, you really thought you’d win-” I was cut off again as he slammed his fist into the side of my face. He shoved me off of him, and I landed awkwardly on my arm. I groaned in pain, and he smirked, standing up and pushing me off to the side with his foot.
Jay smiled ruefully, “See, now you’re injured, and you have to come with me, to witness your whole entire world crumble before your very eyes, and I can't bare to miss that,”

-- Chapter 5

I felt like my arm was on fire, it was a tingling, burning sensation that spread up and down my arm. I wanted to scream, but instead I would bite my lip, I would not give him the satisfaction that he was winning. I struggled to get up and onto my feet, until he pulled me by my good arm up and onto my unsteady, wobbly feet.
“Let’s go, Annabelle, we’re late, for a very important date,” He smiled again, and led me through the door. “Being the Director has it’s perks, like nobody asking questions, because you can do practically anything you want,” Jay whispered in my ear, “And if they do ask questions, you’re going to lie, aren’t you?”
I swallowed, and nodded. “’Course, you crazy little maniac-” He squeezed my most likely broken arm, and I through some of my lip to keep from yelping. I tasted the blood in my mouth, and felt like the world itself was ending. It practically was, once the agency fell apart.. I nodded, deciding that cooperating was the best and safest opinion for the moment.
We reached the end of a very quiet hallway, and I realized quickly that this was the hallway where we kept all of the surplus equipment. Jay leaned me up against the wall, making sure I was steady, and then walked casually over to a small vent in the ground, and stepped on it three times, rhythmically. Suddenly, the vent was removed, and the opening was widened until it was at least six feet across, and I didn’t even want to know how deep.
Jay grabbed me, and walked me to the edge of the hole. I was about to ask a question, but before I knew it, I was flying down through the tunnel in the hole. It went by the fast to manage a scream, and before I knew it, I had landed on a used-up old mattress. It served it’s purpose, catching the fall, as Jay landed next to me.
I pressed my arm against my side, as the burning sensation flared. I gritted my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut, and Jay picked me up again, setting me down gently in a chair.
I swiveled the chair around, until I was able to press my arm against the cool of the wall. I kept my eyes closed, leaning my head against the wall as well. I had a dull headache coming on now, as the horror of my situation set in.
I ignored the Director and Jay, who were both sitting in front of a computer that was huge, bigger than one in a movie theater, and showed practically every room in the agency. I turned around, when I heard a small rumbling noise. Suddenly, four other figures had landed on the beat-up mattress.
“Ow!” Rebecca snapped, scrambling to get up.
“Really? Was that really necessary?” Lauren was grumbling, sounding angry.
Danny peeked his head up, eyes wide, “This is seriously trippy,” He muttered loudly.
Jacob nodded in agreement, shaking his head to clear it.
“Oh holy heck, Anna- You little freaks!” Lauren snapped, getting up and putting her hands on her hips, “What did you do to my best friend? I’m going to break your faces.” Lauren threatened.
I tried to get up out of my chair, but Jay came over gracefully and pushed me back down.
“Stay,” He commanded, I shrank back slightly, but only because my arm was stinging. He stalked over to my friends, and smiled as metal clasps wound around their ankles, holding them in place.
“I’m going to murder you, very slowly, and very painfully you little-” Lauren struggled to free herself, but it was no use.
“I can’t believe they’ve been underground this whole time, they must’ve been watching us the whole entire time..” Jacob trailed off.
“You catch on rather fast,” Jay snapped sarcastically. “You guys have already lost, don’t bother struggling, you’re little agency is going to be powerless to us.. Oh, and you aren’t getting Anna back.” He added as an after-thought.
“And why not?” Rebecca’s voice was shrill, “Look, you’re small and weak, and I’m REBECCA. Obviously, the other villains are in to much pain, they haven’t had the time to tell you about me,”
Jay scoffed, “She’s on our side now, kiddies,”

-- Chapter 6

“What?” Lauren demanded, staring past Jay at me. “You’re lying! She’s not.. She’s not..”
“Evil?” Danny suggested dryly, shaking his head. “She’s not evil, Anna’s not-”
“He’s telling the truth,” I interjected, standing up, I glared at them all. “I’m on his side, now,”
“You are?” Jay asked aloud, surprised. “Er.. See! I told you so,” He said matter-of-factly, glaring at my friends in the same way that I was.
“But.. But.. Anna! You’re not, you can’t..” Lauren sputtered, eyes popping open wide.
I ignored her, and felt a sweat break out on my forehead. “What do I have to do, Jay?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at the screen.
“All you have to do is- Wait. How do I know you aren’t lying?” He suddenly realized, and I frowned deeply at him.
“I hate them, all of them,” I spat in distaste, “I feel so unimportant, you said that if I joined you I’d be important, so tell me, what do I have to do?”
“The Director and I are going to have a little chat with the other agents, you stay here and moniter the computers, and make sure they,” He paused, glaring at Lauren, Rebecca, Jacob and Danny, “Don’t try anything funny while we’re gone. Got it?”
I nodded, watching as they stalked away triumphantly. I had turned to look at the screen as they left, watching intently as the screen displayed them showing up in the hallway, and locking everything down before going to try and control the other’s.
“You can’t be serious!” Lauren growled, “Anna, I don’t want to hurt you-” I interrupted her with laughter, pressing my arm to my side as I doubled over.
“Did they like, give her medication, er..” Danny asked, frowning at me.
I frowned, “Of course not, I’m just surprised you all fell for it,” I answered lightly, leaning against the counter casually and hitting the button that unlocked the clasps that held them in place.
“Wha..?” Danny mumbled, confused.
“SHE FAKED IT. SHE WAS LYING.” Lauren fumed, looking ready to kill me.
“Ever do anything like that ever again, and I will personally break every other limb in your body!” Rebecca snapped shrilly, cuffing me over the head lightly.
Danny nodded, catching on, “Clever, Anna,” He grinned broadly, “NOW, I’m pretty sure we’re all having fun here, but how ‘bout we go save the agency first?”

-- Chapter 7

Rebecca smiled cheerfully as she karate kicked the computer, breaking the screen and shutting it and everything that it was connected to to shut down. Rebecca stepped back, admiring her work, you might’ve thought it was Christmas Day by the look of pure joy on her face.
We exited the same way that Jay and the Director had, by going up the small tunnel, and appearing on the surface of the agency. We all walked in unison now, our steps completely synchronized as we headed down the hallway, to where Jay and the Director had the whole agency gathered.
“They’ve handed the agency over to us, so from now on-” Jay was saying, grinning delightfully.
“Hello, boys,” Lauren smiled, stepping out from the hallway to stand directly in front of where they were. “See, I don’t like people who hurt my best friend, because you know, then I have to go through all the trouble of hurting them back and..” Lauren trailed off, shaking her head ruefully, “It’s very messy business, so I’m going to give you to the count of five to surrender before we all kick your butts,” Her voice was cheerful, but her glare was deadly serious. “1.. 2.. 3.. 4 …”
“Anna! I told you to watch them!” Jay snarled, sounding genuinely betrayed. I was very close to feeling bad, but, but.. “You shouldn’t make threats you can’t follow through on, by the way,” He added, turning to Lauren.
“I gave you a chance..” Lauren warned before shouting, “FIVE.”
Lauren and Rebecca attacked Jay, tackling him to the ground easily and pinning him flat.
“If you really want to be maimed, you can fight back?” Rebecca suggested.
“I mean, either way, we’re going to break one of your bones,” Lauren continued, sighing.
Jay struggled, trying to get a good kick at Rebecca’s stomach. Rebecca let her guard down, and he had her pinned within seconds. Lauren didn’t do anything to help, but watched, trying not to laugh as Rebecca kicked him into the opposite wall.
“If you’d like to do the honors, Lauren?” Rebecca asked, getting up and dusting herself off briefly.
“Oh, of course!” Lauren agreed, walking over to Jay, smiling, and grabbing his arm roughly. She twisted it until he yelped, and there was a faint crack. Dropping his arm, she glared, “Don’t mess with my best friend, punk.”
Meanwhile, Danny and Jacob had gone after the Director. Danny launched himself at the Director, his face deadly serious, like Lauren’s. He managed to tackle the Director to the ground, but the bigger, and stronger man shoved Danny off of him, throwing him into Jacob, who both landed in a heap.
“HEY!” I waved my arms wildly to get the Director’s attention. He turned to me, a look of passionate dislike obvious on his face, and went for me.
I dodged easily, tripping him with my foot, and watching as he went crashing to the ground. Rebecca, Lauren, Danny, Jacob and I all put out feet on his back, pinning him to the ground and keeping him there.
“Don’t mess with our agency, punk,” I snarled, grinning wildly.
Jay sighed, in total defeat, “Go on then, drag us off to imprisonment again,"

-- Chapter 8

I turned the key until I heard it lock completely. I stared at Jay from between the cell bars, holding my cased arm against my side as I watched him stare blankly back at me.
The Director had been transported to a stronger prison, we knew we couldn’t keep him contained in here for long, but we knew we’d never let Jay out ever again. That was like playing with fire, dangerous.
“I didn’t expect you to be a traitor,” Jay said quietly, close to mumbling, “I didn’t expect you to be a liar, either.”
“I didn’t..” I trailed off, as he looked up and met my eyes, “Stop that.” I frowned.
“What?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That thing, with your eyes. It.. Blah,” I muttered, continuing, “Anyways. I didn’t lie, and I didn’t betray you in any way, shape, or form. It’s all part of the job,”
“Yeah..” Jay trailed off, “I hate how I feel stupid for trusting you, for treating you like a friend, which I guess is what I get,”
“Yes, yes it is- Wait.. Did you say friend?” I started, stopping in mid-sentence, my eyes widening slightly.
“Yes, I did. Bother you?” Jay snapped, “Good.”
I frowned at him, unlocking the cell again and stepping inside, closing the door and sticking the key in my pocket. I was due to meet my friends in about an hour, I had time.
I walked over, sitting next to Jay.
“Friend, eh?”