Vice

Nine

Ryder placed a set of papers onto the mahogany desk, "Here's the blueprints of the camp."

Thea looked up from the city map her eyes had been glued to for the last two hours.

"How did you get those? They're kept in a secured database, only the main tech guy has access to it. Not even I know the password."

Ryder chuckled, "We all have our talents."

Thea looked back to the papers in front of her, she pulled the blue prints close and spread them out. James stood to her right, hunched over studying the map with the same intensity.

"They unload the girls at the dock here," he placed a finger on the city map. "Then load them for shipping and drive them all the way," he trailed his finger along the map, "to the camp, which is on the southern side of the city."

"It's main office is located at the heart of the camp, it contains all their documents, that's the most important thing to take out. The place will be crawling with Black Knight members, so it would be better if we tried to go under the radar."

"Stealth. I like it." Trevor who was laying on the office floor tossing a ball in the air, paused momentarily to send them a mischievous smirk.

Thea ignored him, "All of them are lowly ranked members, so they won't know that I've left. We use that to get in the camp, I'll distract them while you guys get into the office."

James nodded looking up at the others, "We'll wait a few more days to gather supplies and hammer out the kinks."

They agreed and filed out of the office for a much needed break. While the others went to the kitchen, Thea went to her room. She had been sparring with James everyday for a week and her body had taken a beating. Bruises covered her body, a particularly nasty one blemished her right cheek. Every inch of her was sore, she couldn't remember what it felt like to move without wincing.

The fact that James wasn't in any better shape took a little of the pain away. Trevor was right when he said they were a match, each fight lasted longer than the last as they began to learn each other's habits. In the end both parties came out of it in equally bad shape.

It had become less about who could inflict the most damage and more about who could outlast the other. The only time one of them was able to come out on top, was when the other grew too tired and wound up slipping in their defense.

This did wonders for Thea's endurance, but took a heavy toll on her limbs.

She turned the shower to its hottest temperature and got in. The scalding water soaked her muscles and loosened her joints. She sighed gratefully allowing herself to relax under the steady stream of water.

She stood their for close to an hour with her eyes closed, breathing in the steam. She was forced to step out when the hot water ran out.

She dried off and slipped into a comfortable pair of sweats.

Sighing at the mess of clothes spread in front of her, she began tidying things up. She hadn't started unpacking and her bag had been left open on the floor, clothes spewing out in every direction.

Piece by piece she began to fill the drawers of her room, and the bathroom counter. Until only one item was left in the canvas bag.

She picked up the worn photograph and held it delicately in her finger tips.

Four smiling people stood in front of the New York skyline. The summer sun glinted off the skyscrapers in the back ground. Thea looked down at their faces.

She could no longer recognize the boy who had his arm looped over the younger girl's shoulder. Nor could she recognize the girl herself. Both were young and innocent, with genuine smiles brightening their features. They looked like strangers to her.

However, the pair of the adults standing behind them were seared into her memory. She could still see their faces, hear their voices. Her mother's blue eyes contrasted her fathers dark ones, the same way Thea's contrasted with Shane's. Thea was a reincarnation of her mother; high cheek bones, a straight nose, full rose colored lips. Her older brother took after their father; sharp chin, hollow cheeks, and deep set eyes.

Aside from their hair, the siblings looked very little like each other.

She remembered her parents well enough to know that those smiles were out of place on their faces, a false bravado put on show for them. She could remember almost everything about them, except their laughs.

She tore the picture in half, and tossed it into the wastebasket. Shane was right, she had been weak. She needed to leave the past where it belonged, forgotten.

Pushing the photograph from her mind she focused on devising ways to prepare for the upcoming raid on the camp.

It was going to be a difficult job, but she was determined. There were many aspects that could go wrong, inconsistencies that threatened to crumble their well thought out plan. Laying her head back against the headboard of her bed, she began listing off any possible outcomes they might have to deal with.