Secrecy Unjustified

Disclaimer: POM belongs to its rightful owners. I only own OCs and maybe or not the plot line and histories of characters. ~ Layla, out (No more author notes unless necessary)

Prologue: Welcome To New York, The City of Secrets

"Do you have something to say, Mr. Jackford?" The man in question looked up from the dusty floor he was kneeling on.

"Please," the man's speech slurred from his loss of teeth and his eyes had a hard time concentrating on the evil glint of metal in front of him with his black eyes, "don't do it. Please." The light filtering from the window behind him didn't do him any good.

"We don't make the rules. We enforce them."

"It's not my fault. I had to do it for my family-" The boy behind the gun holder glared at the man.

"Liar! Your entire family's dead. You don't have kids or a wife. You're just trying to save your own butt."

"Calm down." The boy stepped back and the man turned back to Jackford. "Well, Jackford? Any last words?" The man just stared at the ground. "For the good of American soil-"

"The Underground."

"The what?"

"The Underground." Jackford repeated and looked up at the other man, who slowly lowered the gun. "It's what they call the system of criminals in this city."

"The Underground?" The boy repeated in confusion.

"Are you deaf?" Jackford snarled at him and he received a punch from another man.

"Watch it, bud. You're on a thin line here." The leader glared down at Jackford, who wiped the blood from his mouth and shook his head. "Now explain. Who's in the Underground and what are they doing?"

"That's for me to know, and for you idiots to find out." Another man placed a hand on the leader.

"I think the Underground's just a wild goose chase." The leader turned to him. "Maybe he's trying to lead us somewhere else."

"The Underground is run by New York's worst. And I'm sure you would know all of them. Most especially the Doc." The leader narrowed his eyes at Jackford.

"Are you telling me Dr. Blowhole's behind all this?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But I can tell you that he is the cause of this."

"Does he hate humanity this much?"

"Hate?" Jackford sneered in disgust and shook his head. "If he hates humans so much, why isn't he on a killing spree now? Don't you think he's acting a little too quiet? Like he's afraid?"

"Blowhole? Afraid?" The leader scoffed. "Don't play with us, Jackford. Don't blame it on somebody else."

"Can't you see the truth? I know I can."

"We're wasting our time here, boys. The man's not going to speak."

"You bet I won't. I'll never speak."

"So, I guess your 'family', wouldn't mind if you went away." The leader raised his gun again. "Forever."

"The others will find my body and they will kill you." The leader smirked at him.

"Ain't that sweet?" The gun went off silently and the body slumped to the ground. The leader tucked the gun under his clothes and walked out of the room, followed by the others. He was about to go downstairs when his eyes saw a foot appear from round the corner.

"…I'm telling you," the leader quickly ducked and hid in the shadows of some boxes, with the others doing the same, just as two men appeared at the top of the stairs and walked away, "those four are as slippery as a snake. We should double the defenses." The companion of the speaker just shook his head.

"I know, man. But you just have to trust the boss on this. He knows what he's doing."

"I swear, the boss can be so stupid sometimes." His companion shook his head and placed his rifle on his shoulder.

"Let's just go check on the prisoners." The voices and footsteps faded and the group of four hurried down the steps, avoided a few more guards and slipped out a back door. They settled into some bushes nearby just as a siren echoed inside.

"Looks like they found the empty cage." The leader turned to his companions. "All detonators in place?" One of the men nodded to him and pulled out a remote.

"Yup."

"In five. Four, three, two, one."

A day before…

"Gloria! Gloria!" The bubbly-looking African American lady dressed in a loose skirt, bangles, sneakers and a blouse with pure black eyes turned around to face the Asian lady running toward her.

She had reddish brown eyes and Asian features with curly copper-black hair that was tied up while part of it covered one of her eyes. She also had on a pair of ridiculously huge, thick framed black glasses that covered half of her face.

"Oh thank goodness you were just sitting 'round." The first lady got up and greeted the newcomer, who placed her helmet on the table.

"Yeah, girl. Got a prob?"

"Major." The lady licked her lips and grinned widely. "Like, how can I ever thank you?" Gloria raised a brow at her and returned her smile.

"What happened?"

"I got it!" The Asian bit her lower lip as her cheeks flushed from the excitement and exhaustion. "Well, actually, we got it."

"Got what exactly, Selena?"

"Oh don't tease, G."

"I'm curious, Sel. What exactly did you guys get?"

"We got-" Selena was interrupted as a Californian woman appeared from behind her in the same state as the Asian.

"The place! The one you were talking about? We got the permit and everything and we're moving in, guess when?" The Californian had chocolate brown skin, hazel green eyes, wavy brown hair with side swept bangs and would've been mistaken for a college student because of her height and innocent aura.

Gloria crossed her arms and looked at the two females. "When, Marlene?"

"Tomorrow! We're staying in New York! We're staying in New York!" The two ladies grabbed each other's arms and squealed in delight before hugging each other.

"Oh my gosh!" Selena patted her cheeks. "I can't wait to tell the other two." Marlene waved her phone in the air with a giddy smile.

"Already did!" The two looked at each other and squealed again. Gloria's eyes grew wide and she cupped her hands over their mouths.

"Girls." Marlene and Selena looked at Gloria who dropped her hands with a quick look around. "You're gonna wake up the whole neighborhood. It's still early."

Selena shook her head, the happiness still evident on her face. "Well, at least it'll save those crucial battery cells on their cell phones and alarm clocks." Gloria rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"So, when do you move in?"

The girls looked at each other with the same 'I knew it, she wasn't listening because of someone' looks.

Present time…

Marlene pushed open the door and twirled into the room with a huge grin. "Welcome to home, guys!"

"Whoa." The two females who followed her in with bags in hands looked about in awe. One of the females was a strawberry blond haired lady. If not for the belt with her nickname 'Barbie' on the rhinestone buckle, the woman would've been mistaken for a nicely tanned punk rock fashion model with straight cut bangs. Her companion, though, seemed a bit gentler with her cream skin, chestnut brown eyes, and her bubbly and bright attitude matched her self-designed clothes and young age. She usually wore a dress, skirt or skinny jeans, now a white dress with a green scarf and maroon flats, and her dark red hair in a neat ponytail with bunny clips and pieces of her hair framing her face.

The blonde placed the laptop bag she had in hand on the couch and continued looking around with a smile. "This is so cool."

The redhead beside her flopped onto the couch with a squeal. "This is awesome! It's the best place I have ever seen! Well," she sat up with a cushion on her lap and shrugged, "an actual house would be nice, but this is still pretty awesome."

Marlene placed her hands on her hips and heaved out a satisfied sigh. "Yeah. It'll have to do."

A couple thumps behind the brunette brought her to Selena, who was leaning on the doorway. "Thanks for the help, guys. I really appreciate it."

"You didn't really need to bring the bags."

Selena blinked at her before picking up the bags.

"In that case."

"Whoa there, girl," the Asian paused on her way out, "you also do not need to throw them out and make us go for it."

She turned to Marlene with a snarl. "Oh yeah?" Marlene shook her head with a smile and gestured inside.

"Come on. Why don't you just sit on the couch and check out for a while? I'm sure the three of us can handle the rest."

"I can do it." The slam of the door indicated that she was gone. Marlene sighed exasperatedly and turned to the other two.

"Can I get some help here? Kyle?"

"I believe I'm going to school tomorrow?" The redhead replied with a knowing grin and got up. "So, I'm just gonna crash in the room you two have labeled for me. Like now." She skipped to a room and closed the door quietly.

"Barbie?" Marlene turned to the blonde, who shook her head.

"Like she said, she can do it. Besides, I so know you've got this, Marls. And I really do need to find a job before we have to move again, due to lack of funds."

"Fine. I'll do it. Just make sure you're actually searching up jobs when I get back."

Barbie rolled her eyes and placed the laptop she took out on the coffee table. "Yes mom."

Marlene quickly jogged down the steps and spotted Selena dumping another set of bags into the lobby.

"Hey. Need some help?"

Selena barely gave her glance before walking out the front door with a grumpy look. "I'm getting the other bags." Marlene rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Hey!" Marlene called out to her, thinking about the conversation she had just hours before.

"By the way," Marlene looked behind at the three, "I got you two enrolled in school." The Californian was in the passenger's seat, with Barbie, Kyle and Selena in the back and in the driver's seat was Gloria, who later on gave Marlene the keys so that she could borrow the vehicle until had their own.

Kyle and Selena both had the same initial reaction to the news.

"What?! Marlene, that's wonderful/you've got to be kidding me!" Everyone looked at Selena's horrified expression. Even Gloria was staring in shock at the Asian while using the rear view mirror.

Marlene internally shook her head at the memory, still a little confused as to why the book-loving person who she came to know as a lover of learning was shocked that she was finally going back to school. "I'm really sorry about not telling you that I had you and Kyle checked into a school without your acknowledgement, but you know it had to be done!" The car door being shut furiously was her only answer. "Okay. We'll talk about it later." She turned to the bags and picked as much as she could carry before heading up the steps.

"Need help?" A deep, masculine voice called out to her from behind.