I wasn't sure what was going to happen that night. All I knew was that I had to destroy Mr. King like he destroyed me. He needed to pay, and I was going to make sure that he did. He killed my sister and my brother and didn't even care. He said it was "collateral damage", but I knew better. He was a sick monster who didn't care about anyone.

I was in one of the hallways of King Industries, about to steal his data. I was going to prove to the world that Mr. King was a crook and that his new energy bars were killing people. My sister, Josephine, had eaten one the day she died. At least in the test, they had said she was old enough. My brother didn't even meet the age limit. He had snuck a bar from Josephine's lunchbox and died the next night. Howard didn't deserve to die, and neither did Josephine. King was going to pay…maybe even with his life.

I snuck into his office and filed through his drawers, looking for anything I could use against him.

"There has to be something here," I muttered, growing more frustrated by the second.

After a few minutes of searching, I finally found what I was looking for: a list of names of people that had died because of him. I looked down the list, and there they were. Josephine and Howard Nichols. I took the list, folded it, and hid it in my bag. I closed all the drawers and hurried out of the room and into the hallway. And that's when everything happened.

I saw a security guard staring at me. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he shouted, and advanced towards me.

I started to run down the hallway, looking for any way out. Then I heard a thump and stopped. I turned around slowly and saw a man standing over the guard. He had shoulder length, wavy, brown hair and broad shoulders. When he looked up at me, I grew scared and backed away from him. He simply stepped over the guard and started walking towards me.

"Who are you?" he asked.

I stared him down. "Who wants to know?"

He kept walking towards me and eventually I hit the wall behind me. He stood a few feet in front of me, and I noticed how his eyes were a pale blue. He crossed his arms and I could see the muscles and scars. He's going to kill me, I thought.

He cracked his neck before saying, "Eliot Spencer. You?"

I swallowed and held my bag close to my chest. "Aridena Nichols."

A small smirk appeared on his face. "I can tell you're not a true thief. So, what are you doing stealing those files?" He stepped a little closer. "I kind of need those."

I pressed against the wall and cleared my throat. "I need these to put King in cuffs. He deserves worse than jail for what he did!"

Eliot's brows furrowed. "What did he do to you?"

I jutted my chin out. "I'm not telling you, Spencer." I looked for an exit behind him, but I knew I couldn't escape. "I think I need these more than you."

Eliot held out his hand and glanced down at the bag. I shook my head. "Get away."

He sighed and slowly took the bag from me, and something broke inside me. I let him take it and slid down the wall, falling to the floor. Eliot kneeled down beside me.

"I'm going to ask again. What did he do to you?"

I sighed and looked into his eyes. "It's not what he did to me, it's what he did to my family." I swallowed back the tears. "My sister and my brother ate some of his energy bars and died a day later." I took a deep breath. "King called it, 'collateral damage.' I'll show him collateral damage!" I glanced at the bag. "With those files, he will be ruined."

Eliot sighed and held out his hand to me. I took it and he helped me up. "Look, Aridena, my team is doing the same thing you are. We're going to take him down."

I noticed that he didn't let go of my hand and I gave a small smile. "I want to help, Eliot. Please."

He chuckled softly and nodded. "Let me introduce you to the team. Then we can help you."

Eliot led me down the hallway to an elevator, where the doors opened to reveal a shaft. My eyes opened as I stared into the darkness.

"Um…how are we getting down?" I asked nervously.

I heard a sound like a zip line getting closer and closer and I backed up behind Eliot. I watched as a girl stopped right in front of us, her eyes staring straight at us.

"Well? Get on."

Eliot groaned. "I don't do this, Parker. You know that!"

The girl I assumed was named Parker raised an eyebrow. "Fine." Her dark eyes turned to me. "Who's she?"

Eliot glanced at me and his gaze softened. "Did you hear the comms? This is Aridena."

Parker pursed her lips and nodded. "The girl King screwed over. Climb on."

Eliot pushed me forward and motioned me onto the cable. "You'll be fine. She won't let you get hurt."

Parker tilted her head slightly upward as to consider that option. "I probably won't."

I took one last glance at Eliot before jumping onto the cable and we slid down to the bottom. I kept my eyes upward and Eliot stayed there, watching me, until we were out of sight. When we landed on the roof of the elevator, Parker opened the hatch on the top and jumped in. I followed her example and landed in the elevator. The doors opened and three people were staring at us. I felt my breath get caught in my throat as I backed up to the wall of the elevator.

There were two guys and one girl looking at me. One guy looked me up and down and turned to the girl in the middle.

"We might be able to help her, Soph. She may need us," the guy said.

The girl, Soph, sighed in return. "Nate, I don't know. Eliot found her snooping in King's office," said with a British accent.

The other man beside her, a black man, turned to Soph. "Hey, Sophie, I agree with Nate."

Sophie was about to respond when a familiar voice said, "For once, Hardison is right. And so is Nate. We can help her."

Eliot came running up behind the three people. Eliot smiled at me and held his hand out, helping me out of the elevator.

"This is my team. You've already met Parker."

The blonde girl beside me with the cable smiled widely and waved. Eliot turned to the three others.

"This is Nate Ford, Sophie Devereaux, and Hardison."

Hardison put his finger up. "My name is Alec. Alec Hardison."

I smiled weakly. "Uh…hi. I'm Aridena. Aridena Nichols."

I turned to Eliot. "He said you do what I was trying to do. I want to ruin King for killing my family."

Nate stepped forward. "We can help you, Aridena. It's what we do."

I laughed with relief. "Thank you!"

Eliot smiled at me and put his arm around my shoulders. "Do you have a place to stay?"

I nodded. "Yes. I've been staying in a hotel a couple streets down. Of course, I'm almost out of money, so I won't be there long."

Eliot turned to Nate. "Let's bring her in, Nate. She could help."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "I really don't think we should do this."

I looked at Sophie and sighed. "I understand that you don't trust me. I get it. I don't trust you either. The only one I trust is Eliot. But, please listen to me." I stepped forward. "He killed my family. They were the only ones I had left. My parents died when I was fifteen, leaving me to take care of my ten year old sister, and my three year old brother. Sophie, my brother was eighteen when he died. Do you think that was right?"

Sophie's jaw tightened but then relaxed. "Fine."

I sighed in relief. Nate tilted his head at me. "Eliot is the only one you trust?"

Hardison laughed. "Eliot? Really?"

Eliot glared at him. "Shut up, Hardison!"

I chuckled. "He found me. He helped me." I turned to Parker. "I trust her as well."

Hardison turned around while muttering, "Trusting Eliot and Parker, what am I…?"

Eliot rolled his eyes. "Get over your ego."

Nate nodded his head in the direction behind him. "Aridena, come with us to our office. We'll explain everything to you."

I nodded and felt Eliot nudge me forward, and I turned to look at him. He smiled at me, one side of his mouth coming up. I smiled back and let a group of criminals lead me into their lives.