II. Opposing Paths

The Blue Dragons leader was rummaging through his paperwork the next day. When Blue found specific papers and a black file, he gently put them in a small, wooden crate. Blue's attention was now on two masked men, who quietly stood near the door.

"You two know where to lock this crate up, correct?" Blue asked pointedly.The two masked men nodded, picked up the crate, and quickly exited Blue's office.

Blue sat quietly at his desk and waited until he heard nothing in the hallway; he took out two khaki colored folders and opened them. Blue's eyes bore into Ivory's and Viper's files and photos. Blue held Ivory's for a few moments, daydreaming about something before picking up Viper's. Blue took his scissors and cut Viper's photograph in half; he put Ivory's paperwork back and placed the rest of Viper's information through a shredder.

When Viper's file was no longer trackable, he smirked. Blue was happy that Viper was out of the picture, but he knew that remaining in Staten Island wouldn't be any better; he had his eyes on a few people. Blue's computer made a noise, and he began reading a crucial email. Blue thought momentarily before typing an answer, ignoring the almost silent moan from the office's vent.

***

Ivory resided in her room, relaxing before her quick shift. Ivory thought that it was excellent working again. The young woman opened her laptop, seeing that she had a few unread emails. Ivory clicked on an email that she had been waiting to receive; her nerves zapped her hands. Suddenly, Ivory squealed in happiness; she had continued her high school education with everything that had taken place and had completed her requirements. The email said she was qualified for her GED; Ivory was more than thrilled to obtain her high school diploma.

Ivory decided that her certificate should be sent to Swindle H, answered the email back, and then messaged Swindle H, who congratulated her and assured her that she had no problem delivering the diploma to Ivory. Ivory jumped off her bed and changed into her work uniform, reciting the email's content; her diploma would arrive in two weeks. Ivory couldn't wait. She wondered if her certificate would give her any advantages toward her new job.

A knock was at Ivory's door, and she was confused as to why Harley was standing on the other side.

"Hi, Harley, do you need me to clean something?" Ivory asked.

Harley shook her head. "Blue requests to see you in his office."

"Oh, did I do something wrong?"

"No, he told me that he needs you to do something."

Ivory shrugged and followed Harley to Blue's office.

Ivory made eye contact with the familiar gang leader. "You wanted to see me, Boss?"

Blue smirked as Harley disappeared. The door's click made Ivory nervous, but she had no idea why.

"What does your schedule say?"

"It says that I'm cleaning an unspecified area."

"There are some rooms that don't need weekly cleaning, like my office. Every Tuesday, you'll come here so that I can assign you a space to clean."

"Yes, Sir," Ivory said.

"I may even need you to run special errands, but you shouldn't worry about those errands," Blue said, eyeing Ivory. "Today, you'll clean my office."

Ivory's eyes widened; she couldn't find the right words.

"What's wrong?"

"I was told that no one cleans your stuff."

"Well, some things have changed," Blue said, standing from his seat. Ivory noticed all of the boxes. "I'm too busy to unpack my things, so you'll be doing it. If you finish, you'll wipe the floors and furniture; if not, you can squeeze it in next week."

"Yes, Boss," Ivory said, setting her stuff down, peering at the bookcases.

"And Ivory," Ivory turned to face the gang leader, "I don't care where things go, as long as I can find them, and no sneaking around."

She nodded, and the leader left, taking a call and leaving the base.

Ivory decided to wipe down the bookshelves, and when she finished, placed Blue's books and files on the shelves.

When the shelves were clean, Ivory read the boxes and saw the ones titled "Bookshelves" and rummaged around. Ivory held familiar books in her hands, realizing that the library in the original base had these books. Blue wanted the books in his new office; Ivory sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing that Blue was relocating the books on purpose. Ivory knew that the books were important, but she didn't care to understand why.

When Ivory was half-way done with the books, she noticed that there was a black door near the back. Ivory shrugged and organized the books but kept staring at the door, feeling gravitated to it. Ivory thought that the door was trying to tell her something, but she didn't know what. Ivory ignored her curiosity and opened two more boxes, placing the familiar blueprints into a file cabinet. Ivory organized the files in alphabetical order, closed the file cabinet, and then wiped them down. After Ivory's small break and some more organizing, she moved the boxes outside Blue's office and cleaned the floors.

Blue was impressed that Ivory had finished everything and told her that she was done for the day. Ivory was exhausted and sweaty, but she was ecstatic to have finished everything. When Ivory started to collect her supplies, she discreetly glanced near the black door but looked away and quickly left, trying to rub off the odd feeling.

Blue watched Ivory disappear and sat down at his desk, liking what Ivory did to his office. He stopped and turned to the black door, laughing as he exited his office. When Blue entered his bedroom, he spent time on his laptop, ignoring his bedroom's vents desire for help.

***

Birdie was sitting at her desk, answering an important email. Birdie had written about bringing two trusted workers and meeting the people at Penn Station. Birdie ended the email by typing that she'd see the person in two weeks. Birdie heard Swindle H yelling for her to hurry up in her room because they ran late meeting Leech.

"Hold on!" Birdie hollered as she quickly reread her email and sent it. She closed her laptop, shoved her feet into her shoes, grabbed her coat, and ran into the main room, hearing Swindle H yelling for her again.

"I'm here!" Birdie said frantically, buttoning up her coat.

"Finally," Swindle H said, "Let's go!"

The two met Fox outside, and they quickly left to meet Leech. As Swindle H and Fox were chatting, Birdie stayed behind, smiling to herself. Birdie scanned her surroundings and took a deep breath, knowing that she was doing the right thing and that revenge was always bloody.