Thriving

Bring Your Niece to Work Day

It had been barely forty-eight hours since Amber got the grounding of a lifetime and she was utterly and absolutely bored.

"What happened to good tv?" Amber wondered aloud, flipping through channels on the parlor tv like it was her job.

"There's plenty of good shows, Amber. You're just bored." Oliver said.

"Cause you're grounded." Thea teased.

"I was trying to help you."

"I can be grateful and still make fun of you," Thea said. 

Amber rolled her eyes. "Don't you have court-ordered community service?"

"You would too if you were caught by literally any cop other than Jess."

"Maybe she should go with you," Oliver suggested to his sister.

"What?" Amber questioned.

Oliver shrugged. "I have some things to deal with at the club and you need to be supervised."

"Ha!" Thea laughed at Amber.

"I don't even have my laptop back yet." Amber ignored her aunt's teasing. "What could I possibly do?"

"I'd rather not find out," Oliver said. "C'mon, Thea can't be late."

"Don't remind me." Thea groaned.

* * *

It took a few minutes of convincing, but Laurel ultimately caved to Oliver's request to take on Amber in addition to Thea for the day. After all, it was technically Thea's job to watch the youngest Queen. Laurel just needed to be an extra set of eyes.

"So this is really happening." Thea sighed as she, Amber, and Laurel walked into the bullpen of CNRI. "498 hours of community service to go."

"499." Laurel corrected. "This orientation doesn't count."

"Ha." Amber mocked her aunt.

Thea glared down at Amber. "Tell me how this is not cruel and unusual punishment." She looked back up at Laurel.

"You're not on a full lockdown from everything fun," Amber said.

Laurel didn't respond to either of the Queens' comments. Instead, she stopped at a file cart where another lawyer was standing. "Anastasia, I'd like you to meet our new intern, Thea Queen, and her niece Amber."

"Interns get school credit. I'm more like a court-ordered slave." Thea sassed.

"Oh, I can relate," Anastasia said.

"Anastasia is on a one-year pro-bono sabbatical from her law firm," Laurel informed.

"And apparently from my six-figure salary," Anastasia added.

"The experience of helping others is its own reward." Laurel reminded her friend.

"You should tell my parents that." Amber looked up at Laurel.

"It's only a reward when done within the confines of the law." Laurel amended her statement.

"I have yet to see any evidence of that." Anastasia joked. "And speaking of lack of evidence, Cyrus Vanch was released from Iron Heights. We represent a victim's advocacy group who's trying to keep Vanch locked up." She briefly explained to Amber and Thea.

Amber gave a sarcastic thumbs-up. "Great job."

Laurel marched over to her desk and grabbed her phone. "I'm calling Kate Spencer." She announced.

"I already did," Anastasia told her. "She said there's nothing the DA's office can do without further evidence."

Laurel angrily dropped the phone back in its cradle. "Well, then I'm going to her office."

"And she also said not to show up at her office."

"Vanch is connected to human trafficking, drug running, racketeering, and at least fifty-two different homicides." 

"Okay, so what's the play?" Anastasia questioned. "Because unless you have access to some private police force Vanch will stay free to roam the streets."

"This is why I hacked the police." Amber thought aloud.

"Hey, you might not have a private police force but I got a pretty smart hacker." Thea joked, ruffling up Amber's hair.

Laurel's head whipped toward Thea. "Absolutely not!"

Thea raised her hands in surrender. "I was kidding."

"I'm not stupid enough to get grounded again," Amber promised when Laurel's eyes fell on her.

"Good," Laurel said just as her phone started to ring. She looked at the caller ID. "I got to take this. No computers." She gave Thea and Amber both a stern look before stepping away.

Anastasia crossed her arms. "You hacked the police?"

Amber shrugged. "Just a little."

"She's being modest. Amber here is the criminal mastermind of the family." Thea grinned playfully.

"Aren't you, like, eleven?" Anastasia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I'm ten."

Anastasia's eyes widened. "Okay, then." She said before walking off without another word.

With that conversation over, Amber looked up at Thea wanting to address something she said earlier. "I'm not a criminal mastermind." 

"Oh, I know." Thea nodded in agreement. "You're way too sweet to be a criminal anything."

"Was that a compliment?" Amber cocked her head at Thea. "Are you dying?"

Thea laughed. "No, teasing you just gets old really fast."

"Thanks?" Amber asked more than stated.

"You can thank me by helping me with Laurel's files."

Amber groaned. "Why is it always files?"

A/N: Sorry for the late and short chapter. I had a horrible migraine and then the chapter got deleted somehow so I had to start from scratch. I didn't want to make y'all wait too long so I give you Amber and Thea at one of their lower chaotic levels.