Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Columbia Pictures and to the writers and producers and whoever else I may have forgotten to mention. The only things I claim to own are my own characters and the plot of this story.


When Connor reopened his eyes, he wasn't staring at a photo of Allie. Instead, it was someone who shared only a few similarities appearance-wise. This girl had curly blonde hair that framed her heart shaped face and smirking green eyes. Connor felt as though he'd been hit in the chest with a ton of bricks. It was Dahlia.

Dahlia was Charm.

She'd been lying to him for months, feeding him information to make him believe Allie was the thief instead. And she hadn't even had to touch him to make him believe it either. He'd been so sure that his former friend was the villain that he'd taken Dahlia at her word. It still didn't explain why he'd seen Allie at a few of the break ins. But it did explain a few of the things she had told him earlier at the barn. She had realized he was being used by her cousin and tried to tell him. And in return, he'd nearly killed her.

Connor was horrified at himself and what he'd done. A single tear slipped down his cheek. He had to find Allie and make things right. And then he had to stop Dahlia.

Without another word, Connor turned and ran out of the lab. He knew that Jack hadn't gone with the rest of the team on their mission and since it didn't seem like they had returned yet, his older brother was probably monitoring the situation in the conference room. That would mean the keys to his car would still be inside his desk.

A minute later, Connor flew through the doorway of Jack's tiny office. One by one, he pulled the desk drawers out, frantically searching for the black Chevrolet emblem key chain. Suddenly he heard the keys clank together, threw aside a stack of papers to see them lying beside Jack's computer. He scooped them up and headed for the garage.

As he stepped over the threshold, he saw Jack coming down the hallway talking to a lab assistant. The two brothers locked eyes for a moment, but Connor knew he couldn't stop to explain what was going on. He turned the opposite direction, hoping his brother wouldn't follow. Someone shouted from behind him, but he knew that by the time Jack realized his keys were missing, Connor would be long gone.

The rest of the way to the garage, he didn't encounter anyone else in the facility. He figured they were all paying attention to the rest of the Zenith Team's mission. Jack had thankfully parked close to the main door, so Connor didn't have any trouble finding the old Chevrolet Chevelle his brother had recently begun daily driving. Jack never bothered to lock the door when they were there, because he didn't figure anyone would steal it from a secure government site.

Within a few seconds of the engine roaring to life, the old muscle car was screaming out of the garage bay and down the dust road to the highway. Connor felt a bit guilty about taking his brother's prized possession. Especially after all that he'd put his brother through lately. But this was an emergency. And besides, Jack could run fast and run far, so it wasn't like he wouldn't be able to make it home.

Lightning flickered on the distant horizon. Spring storms were beginning to pop up as the day began to die across the lonely desert. While he drove, Connor couldn't help but think back to every horrible thing he'd said to Allie earlier in the day. He only hoped she'd made it out of the barn okay. And that she could forgive him.

It was a nearly thirty-minute drive back to town. By the time the Chevelle roared onto the street where Allie and Dahlia's house was, Connor was pushing 60 miles an hour. The nearly new brakes squealed as he slammed the brake pedal. The moment the car stopped rolling he threw the transmission into neutral and pulled on the parking brake. He didn't even close the door before running up the front walkway. There was one light on in the living room at the front of the house. Connor banged on the front door hard, then stood waiting anxiously on the front porch.

A moment later, the curtain over the window of the front door moved aside briefly, then the door opened a crack. "Can I help you?" It was Allie's Aunt Meg.

"It's Connor," he replied quickly. "I really need to talk to Allie please. I know I really messed up royally earlier, but I really need to talk to her."

The door opened the rest of the way. The woman glanced him over skeptically. "I heard it was you who caused the barn to collapse at the school today," she said firmly. "I should run you off my porch. But since Allie is okay and Aaron isn't here to shoot first and ask questions later, I'll give you a chance to explain yourself."

Connor didn't want to explain too much to her yet. "I'll explain, but first, is Allie here? She needs to hear this too. I swear, I'm here to apologize."

Meg's gaze softened slightly. "No, she's not. She and Dahlia were invited to a sleepover at their friend Summer's house, so they won't be home until tomorrow. Which, if I'm being honest is a bit unusual. Especially since they got into it earlier this afternoon. So, what is going on with my niece and daughter?"

And before Connor could stop himself, he was blurting the entire story to her. The words tumbled out of his mouth like water over floodgates. He told her about the thieves, how he suspected Allie was one of them at first, how Dahlia was spying on her for him and the computer she showed him. He told her about his confrontation with Allie, how she tried to stop him and tell him it wasn't her, and finally that Dahlia was the villain he had been trying to find.

The entire time, Meg simply listened and nodded. When he was finished, she sighed and motioned him inside. "Aaron and I always worried about Dahlia," she said as she guided him down the hallway past Allie's room and to the room at the far end of the house. "She was hard to handle as a child, and once she realized she had the power to make people believe anything, she just became even worse. I always prayed she would do the right thing, but it honestly doesn't surprise me that she didn't. Her laptop is in there, so maybe it will give you a clue as to where they've gone. The administrative password is 'railroad.' I just hope she hasn't dragged her cousin into something they can't get out of."

Her honestly surprised Connor. Her tone was resigned, as though she'd known all along this was the conclusion to her daughter's story. He stepped past her and saw the Macbook he'd last seen in Allie's room sitting on a neat white desk. He beelined for it and started it up. When it asked for the password, he entered the one he'd been given. Incredibly, Dahlia had left her chat messenger open when she'd left. He quickly scanned through the messages she'd sent to her team. They detailed the heists they'd pulled off previously, including ones where Dahlia herself hadn't been able to attend to throw suspicion on her cousin. In one set of messages to someone called Spectre, he learned how the thief had used his power of illusions to make it appear as though Allie had been with them. He even saw where the thieves were currently on a mission to retrieve a prototype miniature particle accelerator and its updates. But through all the texts he read, he never once saw anything about where Dahlia and Allie had gone.

Finally, he slammed the laptop closed. There was nothing there to give him a clue. When he stepped back out into the hallway, he heard Meg's soft voice ask, "Did you find where they went?"

He shook his head. "No. I'll have to find them on my own. Know any places they might have gone?"

Meg thought for a moment before shaking her head. "There's several I can think of. The school for one. Maybe the old mine to the west of the city? Possibly even to my brother in law's farm an hour away. But other than that, your guess is as good as mine."

Connor made his way back to the front door. As he passed by the older woman, he paused. "I'll find them," he said, casting her a sidelong glance. "I promise."

She nodded and he opened the door to leave. The moment he heard the door lock behind him, his phone dinged in his pocket. It was probably Jack asking where he'd gone. But he still pulled his phone out and glanced at the notification anyway. As he read it, he froze.

LOCATION UPDATE FROM ALLIE

He swiped up on the screen and opened an app he'd never realized was installed, something the manufacturer had included. At the top of the screen was his contact photo, along with a list of connected friends. There was only one on the list with location currently enabled. He tapped on Allie's name and it pulled up a map with a pin on her location. It showed her being near the old county prison on the other side of town.

Connor didn't even take the stairs when he started moving. In a leap that could match an Olympian, he flew off the porch. He'd left the Chevelle running with the door open, so it was no time at all before he was roaring toward the prison. He knew it was long abandoned and a favorite hangout spot for rebel teens because of its easy access. It would also be a perfect spot to meet up for a team of thieves, as it wasn't patrolled by any security. And if Dahlia wanted to start something big without anyone noticing, it would be a perfect spot to hide until the time was right.

A few minutes later, the Chevelle squealed around a corner and suddenly the old prison rose out of the dark desert lit by the headlights and the occasional lightning. The outer walls had begun to crumble and most of the doors had rusted out of their frames or swelled from moisture. Connor had been there a few times before when Dylan and Summer had gone to a few summertime parties. But now with no one else around, the place looked downright creepy. He half expected a ghostly figure to greet him as he stepped out of the Chevelle. He checked the communicator he hadn't bothered to take off from training and turned the brightness as far up as it could go. It wouldn't provide much light, but it was something.

Cautiously, he made a quick search of the perimeter and found the door he'd been through before. The inside of the prison was far darker than the outside. The light from the communicator turned the molding walls a dim white. He could hear water dripping through the collapsing roof somewhere nearby. As he wondered through the building searching for any sign of Allie or Dahlia, fallen plaster crunched under his feet, the sound echoing eerily back to him in the long hallway.

It wasn't too long before he noticed a thick metal door set into the wall ahead of him. Where all the other ones he'd passed were rusted away, this one door looked almost brand new. As he approached, Connor turned his communicator to the wall to hide the light. Peeking through the glass at the top of the door, he noticed the area inside looked like it may have at one time been a recreation area or cafeteria. The ceiling had partially collapsed and in the flashes of lightning from the approaching storm, he could make out rusty metal tables and chairs and a row of cells lining the side of the room. He couldn't tell how large to room was, only that it extended back into the darkness where the light couldn't reach. Figuring the new door was just a safety precaution the owners had installed to keep vandals out, Connor began to continue on his way down the hallway.

"Look, Byte," came a sudden voice from the other side of the door. "I don't care if the Zenith Team showed up. Get that prototype or I will rip out your motherboard! Got it?"

Connor froze. Now that he knew who Charm was, he could hear Dahlia in the voice. She sounded different though, like she was deliberately using a different voice. He wanted to smack his forehead. The voice Dahlia used as Charm was the same one that she'd used as Portia when they were practicing for their project. Her parting words at Jaskier had been a reference to original play and was a line they had rewritten. How could he have been so stupid?

Creeping back to the door as quietly as he could, Connor heard something on the other side click before footsteps faded away. "Still fighting that? You're a bit stronger than I anticipated."

"Don't underestimate me, cuz," he heard a second voice slur. It was Allie.

"Oh, there's no fear of that," Dahlia laughed. "I'll just give it a bit more time to work its way through your system. It'll get there eventually."

She laughed again, but the sound faded. Connor returned to the door and peered inside. He could see a faint light glowing in the distance, getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared. Carefully, he tried the handle on the door. It turned, but the door didn't open. Connor cursed under his breath. Without knowing where Dahlia had gone, it would be a huge risk to open the door with his power. But he had to make sure Allie was okay.

Connor took a deep breath and slammed his hands into the door as hard as he could. The sudden vibrations broke the door off its hinges and the force behind the blast sent it flying far into the shadows. He heard it land with a hollow thud as he ran into to room. He realized the glass on the door must have been tinted, because now he could see a faint glow of light from one of the cells to his right. He approached cautiously, keeping an eye to the back of the dark room. There was no way Dahlia could have missed the sound of the door breaking, and he had no way to tell if she was watching him from the shadows.

As he neared the cell, he saw Allie sitting with her back against the far wall. She was breathing heavily, and for a second, Connor thought she was unconscious. But when his hand brushed against the bars of the cell, her head jerked up. Her mouth dropped open in surprise as she recognized him. "Connor? What are you doing here?" she asked slowly, voice still slurred.

"I'm here to get you out," he said quickly as he sent a small vibration into the lock of the cell. It immediately clicked open, the rusted lock disintegrating under his power.

"No, you have to get- get out-" she started to say before her voice trailed off.

Connor rushed inside and fell to his knees beside his friend as she slumped farther down the wall. He put two fingers to the underside of her jawline. Her pulse was there, weak but still beating. He let out the breath he'd been holding since she'd passed out, but his own heart still pounded in fear. Allie wasn't moving and her breaths were growing more and more shallow with each passing moment. He had to get her out of there. He tried to pick her up, but as he held her in his arms, he knew there was no way they would make it out of the prison unnoticed. Carefully, he set her back down against the wall and knelt beside her, brushing a strand of her brown hair out of her face.

Suddenly Connor was momentarily blinded as the lights flicked on. Something slammed behind him- another door to the cell. He heard the hum of fluorescent lights and the steady thump of approaching footsteps. He put himself between them and Allie, but there was only one person it could be.

"Ah, Concussion. I wondered if you would ever show up," Dahlia laughed as she stepped into view. "Although, I'm afraid it appears as though you're a little too late to save your girlfriend."

"What did you do to her?" Connor growled, jumping up to wrap his hand around the new metal bars.

Dahlia smirked before holding up an object. It was a syringe. "She was getting a little too close my secret, so I had to make sure she wouldn't tattle. Nobody likes snitches. It's just a little bit of stuff to make her go to sleep for a long time."

He glanced back at Allie, who was still slumped against the wall. She still seemed to be breathing, but there was no telling what Dahlia had given her. Even if he managed to get out of the cell and escape with her, doctors wouldn't be able to do much without knowing an antidote. "What do you want?" he asked.

"A bit of cooperation. And information," Dahlia replied, turning away from him.

For the first time, Connor got a good look at the room before him. The roof had only partially caved in at the very center, now held up by massive white metal columns. There were the tables he'd made out earlier and a few broken buffet tables on the opposite side from the cells. But at the back of the room, far away from the hole in the roof, the wall was lined with machines. Tables there were filled with parts and tools and computer screens flickered in several places. This was the thieves' lair.

"The first time I saw your powers, I was unsure you would be a good addition to our team. That's why we continued going after the server farms. But once I saw your history, what you've been through, I knew you would become an asset to our cause," Dahlia said as she paced in front of the cell. She slipped the syringe into a pouch on her belt.

"And what exactly is your cause?" Connor asked. He was getting tired of her little games.

"Ah, ah," Dahlia said, turning back to face him. "That's for you to find out only after you agree to join us. And I'll give you that antidote as well. As a sign of good faith, I'll let you out."

She moved away from the cell and a moment later the new door slowly opened. Connor stepped out as Dahlia returned. "See, that wasn't so hard. Now, will you join us? Or will you let her die?"

He paused, weighing his options. On one hand, he could join Charm, save Allie, and potentially stop their plans if he went deep enough. On the other, he could fight his way out, find the antidote, and still find out what the thieves were up to.

But he didn't get to make his own choice. Suddenly four figures jumped down through the hole in the ceiling above, landing on a bed of shadows. The rest of Dahlia's team had arrived.

"Charm, we've got it!" the thief called Byte stepped toward his leader before stopping. In his hands, he held an object, but Connor had no idea what it was.

"Thank you," Dahlia said as she moved over to where the thief stood. "I'll take that for now. Our guest here is just trying to decide if he turns on his own team."

She took the object from the thief and glanced it over. Once she was satisfied with whatever it was, she turned back to Connor. "So, have you made your choice?"

Before he could answer, he heard something above him. A rusted metal table came flying through one of the high windows in the room. It crashed down a few feet away from where the group was standing in a shower of broken glass and wood. In the hole it had created stood four new figures. Connor immediately recognized them even before the lightning flashed to reveal the Zenith Team.


Author's Note: Wow, that was a whirlwind chapter! Know we know who the real villain is. Charm is Dahlia! I tried to keep it as much of a surprise as I could, but I'm sure y'all had it figured out way before this chapter! I had originally planned for this and Chapter 14 to be one slightly larger chapter, but it took a mind of its own and ended up being nearly 6k words long. So today we'll end on this cliffhanger to prepare for Chapter 14!

I do want to apologize for not posting this chapter as originally planned. I had a small tragedy happen on the 6th of this month and the chapter wasn't quite finished yet. Then Life got in the way as it usually does and pushed back finishing and publishing until today. I do thank you all for sticking with me as we finally near the final chapters in this story! Also, Chapter 14 will be posted on June 6th to keep with the schedule.

And as always, if you like this story, even just a little bit, would you mind leaving a review? And as always, feel free to message me if you have any thoughts/ideas/concerns/etc. Thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed and followed and favorited! Every email that I get saying the story has a new follower or review or favorite motivates me to finish another chapter! Stay safe and healthy out there! ~NightRider