"I know you want to fit in sweetie but you have to be careful, you aren't like those other girls," Mrs. Hughes told her 9-year-old daughter

"But why mommy?" young Victoria questioned

"Because..." she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She wishes she didn't have to have these types of conversations with her 9-year-old daughter.

"Because sweetie you are black. And because you are black people are going to treat you differently. But just because they do that doesn't make it right. So, I just want you to be extra careful, okay?" she pleaded

"Okay mommy," Victoria replied giving her mom a big hug

"Mom! It not fair all my other friends get to go out and have fun on a Friday night but I have to stay home, or you have to take me places. When can I get some freedom!" Victoria yelled slamming her bedroom door.

Her mother looked at her father. "Do you want to take this or do I do it?" he asked

"I got it," she replied walking down the hall to her teenage daughter's bedroom knocking lightly on the door. "Can I come in please Victoria?" she asked softly. Normally she would be upset with her daughter for having an outburst like that, but she understood the frustration all too well.

"Yeah" Victoria called out from in her room. Her mother entered seeing her sitting on the edge of her bed taking off the clothes she had put on to go out with her friends and changing into her regular clothes.

"Listen Vic, I know you are frustrated and I know you are angry and I am too, but you need to understand where I am coming from. I'm not trying to stop you from having fun with your friends, I am looking out for your safety. You are an intelligent black young lady, and I know you are well aware of what is going on in the world, and how the world views people of color. If you go to this concert tonight and Samantha, or Emily gets kidnapped they will have every police officer in the city on this case, they might even bring in the FBI. But if you get kidnapped, the police wont waste a tank of gas to come down to this house to ask us where you went. They won't even waste the time to look up at your father and I when we go and report you missing. So, when I tell you that you can't go to these late-night concerts with your friends it's because I know they won't go looking for you. I am doing this out of love, okay Vic. Your father and I love you and we want you here with us for a long long time," her mother said. Vic looked up and wiped the tear that had fallen from her mother's eye.

"I understand Mom. I am sorry for the outburst it won't happen again," and she extended her arm engulfing her mother in a hug.

That's all she thought about as she tried with the help of her teammates to get those girls back, and as she watched helpless as her teammates were arrested. She envied Maya, Jack, and Travis who were able to yell and scream at the officers while she had to stay there silent. She had to choose silence even when all she wanted to do was scream and shout.

It was hard growing up as a black girl in Seattle. You would think since it is such a large city that they would be more modern and understand where the country was going diversity wise. Nope, not one bit. Every day Vic had to choose to stay silent when racial slurs were thrown her way growing up. She had to stay silent because if she spoke her mind, it would be verbal assault or she was the angry black girl that was depicted in every movie at the time. So, she went back to that little girl and chose silence as she stood there watching the police cars drive off. She chose silence when she heard Andy yell out. And she chose silence as Travis drove them to Andy's apartment.

She couldn't eat, she couldn't drink, she couldn't even move after Travis put her to sit on the couch. She couldn't speak because if she did all she would do is yell. She just wanted to yell. So, she sat there, not acknowledging a soul. It didn't even register that she was in her former Battalion Chiefs home. Usually, her and Travis would've been joking around about that, but she didn't even have to energy to rest her back against the back of the sofa.

She felt the couch sink in she didn't have to turn her head to know it was Jack. "Hey, Vic. It's okay to cry if you need to. I can be a shoulder for you, I don't mind." He said to her hesitantly placing his hand on her. She flinched. She didn't want to be touched. But she remembered he was her friend. She remembered a conversation they had about being willing to give each other a kidney. Jack loved her and she loved him. She slowly turned her head; the tears began to well in her eyes threatening to spill over. She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. She took in a shaky breath. "I love him," she mumbled. She didn't know if Jack heard because his facial expression didn't change. But she said it. She loved him and watching what happened to him today made her realize how much she loved him, and how much she was hurting knowing that he was sitting in a dingey cell at the precinct. They needed to get them back. And by the sound of Andy's footsteps stomping down the stairs and the yelling that accompanied it, she knew she wasn't alone in that fight.