I arrived at the Smithsonian a few minutes later, looking over the place for any sign of my teammates. They were nowhere in sight. I sighed and told myself to relax. 'They'll be here any minute,' I thought. But a few minutes passed without any sign from the others. Then half an hour. Then an hour. I scowled to myself, then calmly got out of the car and, holding my briefcase (spy kit) in my left hand, I went in. The security guard stopped me and was about to ask me to open my case for him to look. I narrowed my eyes. "No need for that," I said quietly, enjoying the look of suspicion on the man's face. "The sparrows are coming north again." At that the man stiffened, then, after regaining his composure, said, "It's little concern of mine, what birds do." I nodded as he backed away, letting me through the gate. Instinct told me to look around and see if anyone had overheard our brief exchange, but training - and some pretty high-tech gadgets - told me to act nonchalant. 'Nonchalant,' I thought, 'people always say that, but no one ever says "chalant". Weird.' I headed to the large staircase, one that had a rope across it saying, "Staff only! Keep out!" I unhooked the clasp on one end and slipped through. Okay, I wasn't exactly "staff", but I was an FBI agent. More importantly, a S.B. agent. I carefully switched on my communicator. Thank goodness, Jack's voice came on. "Agent Goldsun, where are you?" The blatant formality stung, but I answered,

"At the Natural History museum, where should I meet you?" He was silent for a moment then,

"Just stay there, I'll come over. Are the others with you?" I stopped breathing for a second at that.

"No, they're not," I replied uneasily. I waited for him to reply, but he didn't. Struggling to remain calm, I continued my ascent up the flight of stairs and when I got to the top, I entered a reserved room, using my agent ID to get in. Jack would meet me here, I was sure.

As I sat there alone, my thought drifted. I remembered when I had first joined the agency, receiving my first mission, and catching my first "bad guy".

And why I had been chosen for the S.B. At the time, I'd thought it was the most important thing in the world to keep my secret, that if they found out, they would do something terrible, kick me out, or worse, kill me. I chuckled at my past naivete. Most people didn't realize it, but people having powers wasn't actually that rare. It was people who could control their powers that were the rare ones.

I sighed deeply as I remembered those days, then chuckled to myself. "Those days" hadn't been too long ago.

I glanced around the room, a sudden urge coming over me. There were no windows, so I felt safer about this. I held up my hand in front of me and concentrated, and as I did, I felt a jolt of power running through me, making me feel ecstatic. I watched as it gathered around my fingertips, forming itself into a ball of pure energy. I gazed at it, half- wishing I could do this all the time. And why not? After all, what was the harm? It felt wonderful when I did this, because this was really who I was! It would be such a relief!

I drew in a deep breath. No. It was dangerous to do that. Dangerous to just let go. I knew all too well why I shouldn't do that.

A moment later, I was glad I stopped when I did, for into the room walked Jack, with Hiccup close behind.

I considered getting up, but decided against it. Instead I just said, "Hi."

Hiccup looked around the room, as if he was expecting to see another person. "Merida's not here," I said. I didn't like to see his downcast face, but I wouldn't lie.

"Come here," said Jack, "I have something to tell you both."

Although I still felt he was being overly superior, I reminded myself that, however much I might dislike it, he had been put in command, so I just had to deal with it.

"So?" asked Hiccup impatiently. Jack took a deep breath before answering.

"I just tried to contact Merida." He looked at us, and for the first time, I detected a hint of uncertainty, or perhaps anxiety, in his gaze.

"Where is she?" asked Hiccup, and I dreaded the answer.

"She's gone."