Quote~ There are many ways of breaking a heart, stories are full of hearts being broken by love, but what really breaks a heart, is taking away its dream.

Author unknown.

CH 18

Gia smiled softly down at the precious cargo she was holing in her arms. Abby had been asleep for several minutes. This was one of the only joys she had left in her life. Working with the kids. Gia dreaded sleep. Since she stopped dreaming of Nikolas, her dreams had turned dark and weird. She tried to stay up as long as she could. So her days were a haze. She would walk around like a zombie most of the time. She rarely ate or slept. She focused on her studies and work, but as for the rest of her life, she was distant to say the least. She barely talked to Rory any more, and she wouldn’t even talk to Caleb when he came to help her with the kids. Gia looked down at Abby again. She was such a beautiful baby. She began to think about her future. She had always wanted to get married and have kids after she finished school. But she wondered if that would ever really happen. She couldn’t even keep a man in her dreams.  She wondered if she would ever find love like she thought she had with Nikolas.

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she gazed out the window of the kids’ room. It was quiet time, the kids were all taking their naps and Gia was left to tend to the baby. She rocked her in the rocking chair and her mind was a million miles away. She was thinking of the beach, and of romantic galas where she danced until she was dizzy. And she thought of waterfalls and strong arms wrapped around her. She thought of Nikolas. She remembered the chant that he kept saying in the last dream that she had, that with each time he uttered them she felt a sharp stab of pain to her heart. “You’re not real.” It made her feel hopeless, like he didn’t believe in their dreams, or her and their love. Love, he said that he was in love, but not with her. It killed her. When she woke up she was sobbing. Her heart felt like it was about to rip in two. She cried for hours, and when she went to work and saw Caleb, he said that he had news for her about her mystery man. But she didn’t want to hear it. She decided that it was better that way. If she didn’t know, she could just move on and give up on her dreams of meeting him. If he didn’t exist, he couldn’t break her heart again. “Gia.” She heard a soft voice say, pulling her away from her thoughts. She looked over and saw Jordyn walking up to her. At once she got up, put a sleeping Abby in her crib and got on her knees to talk to the little girl. “What’s wrong Jory?” Gia asked with concern. Jordyn couldn’t speak, she was sobbing, desperately trying to wipe her face as her chest heaved frantically. “Shh.” Gia whispered. Gia picked the little girl up and comforted her, holding her and walking around while she cried. Gia slowly sat down with her and placed her on her lap. “What’s wrong Jordyn? Please talk to me.” Gia said in her ear as she held her. “I-had-a-bad-dream!” Jory said through sobs. “Shh.” Gia said and she held her tighter. “I’m here it’s OK. You’re safe here.” Gia said softly. Jory shook her head. “No, you’re going to leave me. Please don’t leave me!” Jory cried. Gia looked around and made a quick decision to step out of the room for a minute. She didn’t want to wake the other kids up. So she carried Jory out and went and got someone to take over for her to watch the kids. Gia then brought Jordyn outside and sat down by a tree with her. “Jory please stop crying. It was just a dream. I’m here now.” Gia said as she held her. Jory lifted her head up from Gia’s chest and looked up at her as she sniffled. She reached up and touched Gia’s face. “I love you Gia. I don’t want you to leave me.” She whispered. Tears rolled down Gia’s face. She had never felt such love for a child. “I love you too Jory. I won’t leave you baby. It was just a dream.” She whispered. Jory shook her head no in persistence but she said nothing as she hugged Gia tighter. Gia rocked her to sleep.

Gia sighed deeply as she walked into she and Rory’s dorm room. Rory was gone, she noticed. There was a note on the table next to the door. Now that Rory was done with her project, she was back to her party girl self. Even though Gia had been distant from her lately, she liked having her friend around. It was just a comfort that when she would be up late at night, studying or watching TV because she couldn’t sleep, that her friend was there with her. Gia pulled out her textbook and began to study. She just had to polish up her paper on why she thought a child should have rights in a custody case. It was something that she had a passion for so the words easily had come to her. She changed a few mistakes and put the paper down. She sighed. Now what? She thought. She was so tired. But she didn’t want to sleep. Her lids became heavy and she laid her head back on her bed. The dreams she had been having were strange. Always different but always strange and she always remembered them quite vividly when she woke up. Much like her dreams with Nikolas. But the difference with these was that they were always dark and chilling. She had no idea what to expect when she slipped into dreamland, but she prepared herself for the worst.

Gia dropped from the small, dark space; she was in a crawl space of a building. She moved with a mission. She needed to stop him. He was trying to bomb Homes Of Hope. She couldn’t let him. Gia was graced with ability’s that even the greatest of spies were not equipped with. Gia ran with a sleek, fluent movement through the hallway. From the outside, the building looked like your average office building, but inside was a different case. It was a labyrinth of hallways and doors. Gia’s thin black clothing allowed her to move with even more speed as she made her way down the hall.

She's lost in coma where it's beautiful.
Intoxicated from the deep sleep, deep sleep.
Do you wonder what it's like living in a permanent imagination.
Sleeping to escape reality, but you like it like that.

This job should be easy, she thought as she moved. She had been faced with far more difficult missions. But the difference this time was that this job was personal. No one messed with what or who Gia loved. Her mission was simple. Find out where he was keeping the weapon, and disable it. Disabling the bomb was something that Gia had done several times as a spy. The only tough part about it was not getting caught in the process. Gia’s hand lightly grazed the gun that was tucked away at her side. The gun was a last resort. Fighting was her first choice of defense.

Guilty by design, she's nothing more than fiction.
She dreams in digital, cause it's better than nothing.
Now that control is gone. It seems unreal.
She's dreaming in digital, cause it's better than nothing
Now that control is gone. It seems unreal.
She's dreaming in digital. She dreams in digital.

“Gia you’re almost there.” Caleb said in her ear. As her handler, Caleb was the one who was going to get her through this mission. Their relationship was not typical. It was rare for a handler to be the one guiding her through a mission. But this was personal for both agents and there was no way that Caleb would let her do this without him. Gia turned to the right, and scanned the hall in front of her. “It looks clear.” She said to Caleb. “OK Gia, it’s the third door on your left, go to it.” Caleb instructed. Gia swiftly moved to the door. “I’m here.” She said. “Well you know what to do from here. Let me know if you have any problems.” Caleb said. Gia said nothing; she went right to work getting through the intricate process of getting through the security system. Gia walked up to the retina eye scan and looked into it. The contact lens she had on her eye would allow her entry. The scan was complete and after putting in a memorized code, she opened the door. This was another one of Gia’s many talents, memorizing codes.

And your pixel army can't save you now.
My finger is on the kill switch.
I remember I used to compose your dreams, control your dreams.
And don't be afraid to expose yourself before I shut you down.
You made some changes since the virus caught you sleeping.

Gia entered the room, and rapidly scanned over its contents. She spotted the bomb on an assembly table. After five years of training as a recruit, Gia’s first instinct was still to run to her destination. But she needed to stop herself. She was sure that there would be some other form of security in the room. Her eyes caught on the lazers on the ground that was intricately woven in a pattern. “I don’t have time to try and shut off the lazers manually, I’m going to go there directly.” Gia said. She could practically feel Caleb’s smile. “Well I can’t say I’m surprised. I know that’s your favorite thing to do.” He answered. Gia smiled briefly before she moved forward. Gia looked down at the lines intently as she moved. She easily stepped over the laser lines and within minutes she was at her destination. She got her hands on the bomb and looked it over. A small smile curled at her lips and she saw that it would be simple to destroy. Gia pulled the appropriate wire out and took out the heart of the bomb.  She turned and made her way out of the room. Just as swiftly as she moved to get in, she dodged every beam of the lazer and got out. “Alright Cay, I’m heading out. I’ll see you back at HQ.” Gia said, in the back of her mind thinking that this was all too easy. “See you soon Gia.” Caleb said in her ear.

Guilty by design, she's nothing more than fiction.
She dreams in digital, cause it's better than nothing.
Now that control is gone. It seems unreal.
She's dreaming in digital, cause it's better than nothing
Now that control is gone. It seems unreal.
She's dreaming in digital. She dreams in digital.

Gia ran back the way she came from, but stopped dead in her spot. There were men coming her way. She knew that they spotted her. She took off running in the opposite direction. With the heart of the bomb tucked snugly in one arm, she ran down the hall. “Cay are you there? We have a problem.” Gia said. “Gia I’m here. Did they spot you?” He asked. “Yeah I don’t know where I am. It looks like a dead end. Oh wait there’s a door.” Gia said. Before Caleb could object to her opening it, she had turned the knob and opened the door. Her eyes immediately landed on him and she knew it was him. The man who wanted to bomb the place that she loved so much. Caleb had said his name a thousand times in their briefing. “Stefan.” Gia whispered. He stood up and walked around the desk that he was sitting behind, he smirked at her. “Aw you’ve finally come Gia. I’ve heard of your talents as a spy for years and I’ve wanted to meet you for quiet some time now. It’s just a shame it has to be under such unique circumstances.” Stefan said. His blue eyes were glued to her beautiful face as he spoke. Gia felt caught, not only did this man know that she was a spy, but he already know who she was. It made her uneasy and she felt trapped in his office. She started to leave but practically ran into a blond guy who was walking up to her. Gia swung at him, and then quickly kicked him to the ground. She took off running. “Go after her Lucky! Don’t let her leave alive!” Stefan ordered.

She's guilty by design. (Cause it's better than nothing.)
Now that control is gone. It seems unreal.
She's dreaming in digital. (She's nothing more than fiction.)
Cause it's better than nothing. Now that control is gone.
It seems unreal.
She's dreaming in digital.

Gia ran as fast as she could down the hall, she didn’t know where to go but she ran. “Caleb how do I get out?” Gia panted. “Gia, I you’re going to have to either get back to the crawl space where you came in, or there’s always the window.” Caleb said. “The window.” Gia breathed as she stopped running. Gia was at the top floor of the building. But she had her gear with her. She went to work on breaking the window, using a technique she had learned in her training. After breaking the window, she placed a round black suction device on the window below it. She attached a cable to it, and then herself. Gia glanced behind her for a second. Her heart pounded at her eyes landed on him. It was Kyle. She quickly ducked out of the window and turned herself around. She began to propel down the building. She looked up to see Kyle and the blond guy peak their heads out the window. “Gia what’s going on?” Caleb asked in her ear. Gia couldn’t say anything, she pulled out her gun but her hands were shaking so badly that she dropped it. Horror filled her and her eyes grew wide as Kyle brought out a pair of cable cutters. “Gia? Come on talk to me.” Caleb began to panic. Gia was frozen; she shook her head in fear as he put the tool to the cable. He cut it and the wire snapped. Gia immediately began to fall backwards, plummeting towards the ground.

“No!” Gia screamed. She sat up in bed with her heart pounding; the sensation of falling seemed to take over her entire body. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as the fear she felt in her dream lingered on. She hated these dreams. She rolled over on her side and hugged her pillow as she continued to cry. “I miss you Nikolas.” She said softly before closing her eyes and slowly letting herself fall back to sleep.

Song Credits~ Orgy: Dreams In Digital.