"We have to get out of here fast," I said, watching the others pile into the center of the main room. "If one of the nurses comes in to check on me, and they don't see me, there's gonna be a problem. I piled some pillows in the bed and threw over the blanket, so let's just say pray they're not through."

The others nodded.

"That reminds me," Theo said, "since I figured something like this might happen, I kept something for you."

I looked over to see him prying something out of his back pocket. The glint of iron catches my eye as I see a dagger peeking out of his hand. The red and gold hilt gives me an eerie sense of deja vu.

"After I pulled it out of you, I figured it'd be best to keep it. You do tend to do stupid things on a daily basis."

"I do not!" I took the dagger out of his hand.

"I'm sorry, but we need to remind you who sent herself into a dangerous criminal's hideout twice and broke into one of the governments most confidential rooms, by herself."

"Okay, we're not having this conversation here."

Looking down at the dagger in my hands, I turned it over. The blade was still decently sharp.

"Three questions then," I continued. "Anyone got a tracker in them?" No one said anything. "Good. Second question. Anyone squeamish around blood?" No reply. "Final question. We got a first aid question around here?"

"I don't like where these questions are leading," Levi said, walking off. "Are we going to need to add another bullet to the 'stupid things Shadow does' list?"

"Only if we don't have a first aid kit."

Levi came back over, carrying a small white box with a red cross on it. I opened it, shifting through the medical stuff, pocketing a bottle of pain killers, and taking out a wrap of gauze. I tossed it to Theo, the only one of us with any medical experience, who eyed it suspiciously.

"You're gonna cut it out, aren't you." Mercy stated.

I nodded, pulling up my left sleeve. Examining my arm, I could see the small glowing device right below my elbow. I looked to Theo and he gave me the okay.

I quickly dragged the dagger across my skin. A thin path of blood followed. Working fast, I dropped the dagger and brought my right thumb up. I quickly pushed the device out, letting blood gush onto the ground from a trail on my arm. I watched the little device fall out of my skin and then listened to it clink on the ground.

I held my arm out and Theo got to work wrapping it.

"What now?" Bryce asked, looking at me seriously with crossed arms. "Should we crush it?"

"No," I answered quickly. "As far as we know crushing the thing could set off some alarm. Take it to my bed and leave it there.

Mila came over and gingerly picked it up between two fingers. She ran into the girls room and then rushed back. Theo tied the last not on my arm and gave me the okay to move. I picked up the bloody dagger, examining the blade once again.

Mila looked at me with big, worried eyes. "What now?"

"We run."

"Where?"

"You'll see."

---

The mud of Orchid slid beneath my feet. I brushed passed a family of crooks, the others following behind me. I, unlike them, had my hands in my pocket when we passed, so I wasn't pick pocketed. They better feel lucky there wasn't anything in there pocket.

"You lived in Orchid?" Bryce asked, sympathy in his voice.

"Stop that!" I yelled back, wincing at the pain attacking my stomach. The drugs had started to wear off about half an hour ago, at the border between Pacific Rose an Orchid. When we finally got the chance to stop, I planned on popping a few pain killers in my mouth.

"Where are we going?" Mercy asked from my left shoulder.

"Would you guys stop asking that," I half said, half laughed. "You're worse than kids. All you need to know is that we're going somewhere decently safe."

Another ten minutes of agonizing pain, and we were in front of a nameless building. I cracked the door open and was welcomed with the ding of a bell.

"I'll be with you in a minute," a familiar voice said, though in a lower tone then usual.

Smirking, I called back. "How's business been?"

There was a bit of crashing and a bit of shattering, making me cringe. Running footsteps came from the back of the building. From the door behind the wooden counter, peeked a man in his mid forties. He had a beard just coming in and long black hair, tied behind his head. His dark brown, nearly black, eyes were filled to the brim with tears of joy.

He jumped the counter in a matter of seconds, paying no mind to the door on the far side.

"Shadow!" He yelled.

His arms wrapped around me and I was taken to the ground in a pool of laughter, tears, and Ravi.

I let out a cry of pain as my back hit my ground. If it weren't for his hand on the back of my head, I don't know if I would've gotten back up. Ever.

"Good to see you too, old friend," I bit out, trying to contain the pain searing through my stomach. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a hole in my stomach, at the moment, and I'm out of drugs."

He crawled off me and grabbed onto my shoulders.

"Hole? Where? How? Who? Did you kill them already?"

"No, but they went to prison, and I doubt the government let them survive after all the thing he did."

Nodding, he let go of me and stood up, pulling me up with him. I stumbled, landing on his shoulders.

"If you can't stand it, it's gotta be pretty bad, right? Come on back and I'll get you treated." His eyes glanced over to the awestruck crowd behind us, then back to me.

"They're good," I replied, answering his silent question. "I'd probably be dead if it weren't for them."

A smile came onto his lips as he escorted me to the back, one arm under my own.

"I believe you owe me an explanation," Ravi said, a smile playing on his lips.

"I believe I do. Later, though. I have a lot of explaining to do, and not just to you. Speaking of, I believe I sent a package your way. Did it ever arrive?"

"Aye. It's an annoying thing you sent me. Never shuts up, hates doing nothing, goes through my food like a god damned pig. Not to mention this package could get me killed. Reminds me of you."

"Shut up."

We turned right, down a hall that I hadn't been through in a number of years. He opened a door and took me inside. On the far side of the room, sitting on a wooden crate, was Clover. She sat with her legs crossed as well as her arms. When she saw me, a smile lit up her features.

"Shadow!" She yelled, running over to me and wrapping her arms around my waist in a hug. "Good to see you're alive."

"I knew this had something to do with you," Bryce mumbled from behind me, though I'm not sure which one of us he was talking about.

I was taken over and sat down on another crate. The others made a type of half circle around me.

"I'll be right back," Ravi said. "Don't do any explaining without me."

"No need," I said, pulling the pills out of my pocket. "Don't waste your stock on me."

He ripped the small bottle out of my hand.

"When you say you have a whole in your stomach, I refuse to let you treat yourself with no good over the counter shit. I'll be back. Don't explain without me."

With that, he left, taking my little bottle of quick relief with him.

"So, those are the type of people you talked with back in your days of thievery?" Theo asked, because to him that seemed to be the most alarming thing here.

"Don't worry, Love, he's just a good friend. No need to get so jealous."

I was half expecting him to talk back to me, give me some excuse. Instead, he just looked away, a small blush spreading over his cheeks.

"He's an...interesting man." Clover interrupted. "He wouldn't tell me what he does for a living, but I have a pretty good idea. You say we can trust him, right?"

I nodded. "Ravi's saved my ass countless times. I've known him for ten years, and he's never done anything to make me loose trust in him. In fact, he's one of the few people I do trust."

She nodded.

The door swung open then, to reveal Ravi holding a shot filled with clear liquid.

Theo stepped protectively in front of me.

"As much as I appreciate the thought, I'm not afraid to kick your ass to get some of what's in that."

Theo gave me an uncertain look before stepping out of the way. Smiling, Ravi passed by him and rolled up my sleeve. The little needle pushed into my skin. The liquid gave my arm a warm feeling, and I couldn't wait for it to spread to the rest of my body.

"Alright then," Ravi said, "time to explain. Make it fast, cause that stuff's gonna kick in rather fast."

I nodded.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled the file out from where it was being heled. I handed it to Mercy who took it carefully. She carefully went over the heading, taking in every word. She glanced up at me before looking back at the paper.

"Murder of Koinzel family," Mercy read aloud. Her eyes shot up to me. I gave her a nod and she kept reading. "Credit given to underground organization known as Seventh Sword."

"Seventh Sword?" Bryce asked. "What kinda shit name is that?"

"On our first mission, wasn't that lady working with the Seventh Sword?" Mila asked.

I nodded.

"Seventh Sword," Theo muttered, playing with the words. "That sounds a little like..." His eyes widened. "There's no way, right?"

"That's what I thought, too," I said. "But only for about a second. That's when I remembered that they're no good lying murderous cheats."

"Mind filling us in?" Bryce asked.

"The Seventh Sword's a government organization," Clover finished. "Our friend here just called the government no good lying murderous cheats."

The others, the ones who didn't think quite as fast, looked at her like she just dropped a bomb on a city. I didn't blame them.

"Wait a second," Levi said, nervousness in his voice, "we shouldn't jump to conclusions. I mean, with a name like that, you'd think they would've been found out sooner."

"They were," I said, "plenty of times, too. Unfortunately, everyone who found out was killed."

Mercy spoke up now. "Wait a second. My parents were killed because they knew about this?"

"No. They were killed because they spoke out against the government. That's really it. When I was in the Archives, I did a little extra digging. People with high positions who spoke out, told the government they were wrong, all of them either shut up real fast or died real quick."

I could feel the drugs start to kick in. My eyes were getting droopy and my body felt like lead.

"Your turn Shadow," Clover said. "I want to know where you fit in with all this. There's no way someone like you is jus t a bystander in all this."

"Like I told Mercy. I was a close family friend, way back when."

"That's not the whole truth," Mercy said. "I know it. You have bullet wholes in your shoulder and stomach, and that's not jut something you get everyday."

"Well, that happens when you deal with dangerous stuff. I'm a criminal. True, the average person doesn't walk around carrying a gun, I'll give you that. I help Ravi out every once and a while. I'll act as a bodyguard or a messenger or a transporter. The black market's a dangerous place to work, you know."

"Shadow," Theo said, "please. We followed you all the way here without knowing anything. We trusted you enough to follow you into the center of Orchid and give up whatever future we might've had. We put that much faith in you. Can"t you do the same?"

"I don't know if it's those damn puppy dog eyes, this drug, or because I trust you all, but I guess I owe you that much." I let out a long sigh. "You're right. The night the Koinzel family was murdered, was there. They tried to kill me too. I don't really know how to add any suspense to this or make any jokes off it, so...I'll just say it outright. My full name is...Lena Koinzel."

I blanked out from the drugs.