Three figures could be seen. A teenager with hair as gray as a storm cloud, a young woman with a skin the tint of chocolate, and a not-as-young man with pain spread across his face.

The gunshot to his leg was still fresh but thanks to some quick thinking, he ripped his shirt off to use it as a bandage, it now stained red. His vest served as his new undershirt.

They had time to think of that once they were all locked up in the same room they found the teenager in.

The girl in question as well as Samuel were both sitting down. Jane’s frantic nature and rage filled heart couldn’t let her not move back and forth while cursing that old man with every name in every language she knew.

“I’m gonna murder him.”

“Sure you will.” Samuel mocks her.

“Do you think this is funny?” She looks at him with teary eyes. “What if he aimed at your head? No bulletproof vest for that, huh?”

He shuffles his sitting position while chuckling. “Should have taken the helmets too.”

She actually kneels down close to him, placing a hand over his shoulder. “You got shot again because of me.”

“Bogus. We both knew this was a possibility.” He sighs while placing a hand of his own over her shoulder. “And I’d rather have it be me than you.”

“No, shut up.” She swats his hand away. “Do you think I like seeing you in pain?”

“Do you think I do?” He counter asks her. She sighs defeatedly.

“What do we do now?” She asks while standing up again. “That man took our card.”

“We-” The teenager tries to speak up. This time though, she forces herself to continue, despite her uneasiness. “We can’t open it from inside. Y-You two talked about other people. Could they come and save us?”

“If they even think of searching for us.” Samuel comments somewhat depressingly.

The news make the girl sigh.

Jane then decides to continue her attempts at approaching her by sitting to her side. Avoiding direct eye contact, she asks. “I didn’t get your name earlier.”

“Cloud.”

Samuel snickers. “Sorry! Sorry, I’m not laughing at your name. I wasn’t expecting something like that, that’s all.”

She plays with her own hair. “My dad told me I was born with gray hair so he said it was fitting.”

“Do you like it though?”

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“Hm…” She continues playing with her hair. “Not really. I was always made fun of for it. Everyone told me it was a boy’s name.”

“Everyone’s an idiot then.” Jane smiles. “That’s a perfect girl’s name.”

“Could work either way, to be honest.” At the sight of Jane glaring him daggers, Samuel shrugs with an awkward smile. “But it suits you.”

Hearing them cheer her, even if they’re strangers, puts a smile on her face. She stops playing with her hair a little.

“Where do you think those two are?” Jane asks her companion.

As if waiting for the cue, an alarm rings across the entire facility. Along with it, several footsteps coming from outside.

Both partners in crime look at each other. “I think I have an idea of where they are.”

Speaking of them, the duo was long gone from the complex.

Not quite at the hideout yet but they were making a run for it.

Inside the backpack, the collected goodies.

“You think those two are out yet?” Hawk asks. The freckled woman ponders.

“We should focus on hiding first. If anyone sees us, we’re dead.”

The night sky did a good job at hiding them, along with the fact the streets were deserted and they were avoiding camera-filled corners. Their masks would do a good job hiding their identities but if any trails were left behind, they’d be toast.

After a few more minutes of this, they finally reach the apartment. Inside, an anxious Deck was waiting. “So?”

“We didn’t have time to radio you before,” Crimson unpacks her backpack. “But it’s here.”

“Finally-” For the first time, Deck shows an emotion that wasn’t mild disinterest combined with a smug smirk. He almost loses his footing before composing himself. “Where are the other two?”

The successful thieves look at each other with confusion. “Aren’t they here? Didn’t they contact you?”

“What? No.”

They all look at each other with even more confusion. Deck then tries to communicate with the duo. “Deck to Syndrome. Deck to J. Over.”

Silence.

“Deck to Syndrome! Deck to J! Over!”

More silence.

This worries the trio. “Did they get caught?”

“Might as well count them as dead then.” Deck says. “At least we have what you all went for.”

As he was reaching for the backpack Crimson was holding, she pulls it back to herself. “What?”

“What?” Deck shrugs. “I don’t think they’re dead dead but nothing we can do about it now. Now, give me that.”

She steps back.

“Crimson, what the hell are you doing?” For the first time, Deck loses his cool and alters his tone. “Give me that backpack.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “All you did was boss us around and ‘contact’ people but we’re the ones that had to do the hard work. And now, you just want to abandon them as if they were tools?”

“Yes!” He shouts, almost jumping her. He is then promptly stopped by the hulking behemoth right to Crimson’s left.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Hawk asks.

“Getting what I paid you lot for.”

“We didn’t get paid yet.”

“Something I’m going to change once you two give me that.” Now stepping back, he tries to compose himself.

Rather than continuing the talk, the redhead runs away, Hawk seeing no reason to not follow her.

Deck pulls his hair, almost ripping it off. “You can’t be serious!”

He then whips his phone and calls a number on it. About a minute later, someone picks up on the other side. “I want you here and I want you here now! Sending you the location, you have an hour to get here!” He then texts the number his coordinates.

Before he hangs up though, he adds one comment. “Be here and I’ll pay you double of what I promised.”