About a week or so had passed. Keira did her best to avoid the Underground hideout, even though she didn't really want to. She hated to admit it, but she missed everyone there- even Torn. Conversations between the two had been short and often angry. Her present state of mind was rubbing off on those around her; Bill kept asking what her problem was. Errol made his usual trips to the stadium, and once Torn figured this out, he bothered her to pump him for information. Keira didn't want to do this, seeing as how Errol was her friend; she would always report that she'd found nothing. Errol never spoke about anything secretive, at any rate. The only one Keira talked to extensively aside from Bill was the little boy. Torn was still not talking to her, but he was willing to her as a babysitter. To top it all off, the papers she'd taken from the hideout were yielding no new discoveries. The words all seemed oddly familiar to her, yet she couldn't figure them out; it seemed as if the letters all formed nonsense words…

Keira sat at her desk, frustrated once again. The little boy was behind her, gazing questioningly at the shelves of racing trophies. He loved seeing his distorted reflection in them. Keira sighed, her gaze drifting away from the computer to her drawings of the new racing vehicles. Errol had commented that they looked good; she had been trying to design new ones in effort to make them safer. The flowers Errol had given her sat in a small vase next to the computer, and they made her smile.

But the stupid papers were really making her mad. This was her chance to prove to Torn she was worth something to the Underground, and she couldn't crack the stupid code! Keira whined, lying her head on her arms. It was going to be a long day.

***************

Torn was back in the hideout, in his personal quarters. He needed to clean up the room because the kid had been in it a few times now, and was messing everything up. With a sigh, he stooped to pick up a mess of papers that had fallen to the floor- crayon doodles drawn by the boy. He studied them curiously, shaking his head at some of them. Several of the drawings had the crocadog in them, as well as Keira and Tess. He shifted the papers to another drawing, this time of a figure wearing red and black…

"That's supposed to be you," a sudden voice said.

Torn jumped. "Jeez, Tess! For the love of God, knock next time!"

Tess giggled as she stepped further into the room, saying,

"I'm the only one who ever scares you."

"Yeah," Torn sighed, "In more ways than one…"

Tess stuck her tongue out at him. She was blonde, with sky blue eyes and a small pointed nose. She was tall, though shorter than Torn, and she wore a green t-shirt, khaki slacks and dark blue boots. There was also a red headband in her hair, keeping most of it from falling into her eyes.

"I thought he did a good job drawing you," she said, looking at the picture approvingly, "It's always tough to get your nose just right…"

Torn rolled his eyes, piling the papers on a nearby table. Tess bounced around him excitedly.

"Any missions for me today?" she asked.

"Yeah- you and Libby need to head down to the Power Station and see if you can nab some batteries for the zoomers. Many an agent has been bugging me about them failing every now and then."

"But that's a boring job," Tess whined, "Give me a cool mission!"

"Tess, these missions aren't supposed to be cool- I don't feel right about sending you on dangerous ones," Torn said.

"You know I can handle myself. You've known that for a long time, now."

Torn looked over at her, remembering what Errol had said. She smiled at him, and he kept himself from wincing. It was killing him, being a spy.

"I'll put you out in the field as soon as I come up with a plan, alright?" he finally said, "But I'm not sending you anywhere near the Palace, not after the mess we got into a few months ago."

Tess didn't seem to hear him. She clapped happily, giving him a hug.

"Oh thank-you, Torn! I'm jut dying to get out there and kick some ass!!"

He couldn't help laughing after she pulled away from him. Tess was still smiling as she helped clean up the room, humming to herself. Torn noticed that she still wore that old bracelet around her left wrist. It was a circle of pink beads, with a small heart-shaped charm dangling off of it.

"I thought you got rid of that bracelet," Torn mumbled.

"Hm? No, of course not," Tess replied with a grin, "Why would I do that? Mik made it for me."

She admired it for a moment, then said,

"It never leaves my wrist."

Torn nodded gently, suddenly avoiding her gaze. He dropped the drawings on his bed, with a sigh. Tess watched him, an expression of concern crossing her face.

"I didn't mean to bring that up," she said, "I know how that makes you feel."

"I brought it up. It's not your fault," Torn replied, running a hand through his hair.

He blew out a breath, looking up at the ceiling. Tess was about to say something, but the sound of someone entering the hideout interrupted her.

"Torn, Tess? Anybody home?"

"That's Libby," said Torn, "You two better get going before the KG pulls a snap inspection on the Power Station."

Tess nodded. "Right."

Libby walked into view at that moment, leaning against the door frame. Her full name was Libertad, although she rarely went by this. She had short raven-dark hair and almond-shaped jade green eyes; the mandatory tattoos of the Krimzon Guard were only visible on her ears. Each soldier would receive tattoos according to their rank; she had only been a private for a few years before Torn had recruited her for the Underground. She nodded to them.

"Ready to go, then?" she asked Tess.

"Yeah, just give me one second."

Libby exited the room respectfully, leaving them in peace. Tess regarded Torn silently for a moment.

"Get going," he said, "I'm serious about the Guards going there. Plus-you know Vin…always so jumpy."

Tess nodded again, her arms crossed. Before she could leave, she said softly,

"It's alright to talk about your brother, Torn. I'm always up for it."

With that, she left him behind. Torn listened to her and Libby leave the hideout, chatting about girl things, and put a hand on his forehead. He prayed nothing bad would happen to them.