I. Trustful Attachments

It had been six months since Ivory and Viper had been kidnapped and kept hostage by New York's most notorious gang. They had seen and heard the impossible; although they'd never stepped into any torture room— there were drug deals, drugs that they never knew existed, and many other things that shouldn't be shared.

Viper was disgusted and scared when they saw all that the Blue Dragons did, but Ivory wasn't that fazed because she stopped caring for most people long ago. Ivory never felt that she would find anyone similar to her; being treated differently taught her that caring for those who didn't give the same didn't deserve anything.

The two were maids, cleaning everything but the torture rooms. They cooked, and ran errands, but only if they were with the other maids or Hawks and Lucky.

Ivory and Viper were in the living room, sweeping and mopping when Blue, Red, Fox, and another man that Ivory had never seen before, entered the room. The man was roughly 5'10 to 5'11, likely early to mid-thirties. He had light brown hair and eyes. The man didn't have piercings or tattoos like everyone else, he looked as if he was trying to fit in with the general public.

Ivory noticed that he had a bad vibe.

He made his light brown eyes to Viper but rolled his eyes. Ivory narrowed her eyes as his eyes made his way to her gray ones; he stared in interest. The man looked seductive and manipulative, making most fall for his charm.

"Ivory, we have to get out of here," Viper whispered as the men talked amongst each other.

"Yeah, and start our own lives," Ivory stated, feeling her head begin to ache.

She glanced at the mysterious man again as he stared right at her, but looked away as Blue turned to look at the two girls. Blue crossed his arms, and the man glanced at them and nodded.

"Ivory—we need more flour. Hawks will go with you," he demanded.

"Yes, Sir," she said.

Ivory walked over to the coat closet and took out her black winter coat, as Hawks had a small backpack. The two left and walked down the sidewalk, seeing people coming and going. Hawks pulled her closer to him while a swarm of people ran past them.

"I forgot how busy Manhattan is," she observed.

Hawks smiled, looking down at her, but said nothing. They kept walking and passed a few homeless people, begging for money, entering a small convenience store. The two made their way to the back for a pound of flour. Ivory felt that Blue purposely sent her out for some reason, but she wasn't sure. Hawks looked around, jumpy about something, but Ivory ignored him and walked over to the cashier, setting the flour on the counter.

Ivory noticed that the cashier was an older woman.

The elderly woman observed the two and grinned, "Is he your boyfriend?" her grin widened.

Ivory felt her cheeks flush and glanced at Hawks, who looked down in embarrassment. "He's just a friend." she stalled, hiding her smitten feelings.

Ivory took out some money and went to pay for the flour, but the cashier frowned, "The flour is four dollars, dear."

"That's all I have," Ivory quietly said, while Hawks picked up the flour and told her that he'd put it back and to wait for him outside.

She thanked the cashier and did what Hawks told her too. When he came back outside a few moments later, they walked down the path that they came and slowly walked back to base.

"Blue's going to be mad at me," she commented.

Hawks raised an eyebrow at the shorter girl. "And why would he be mad at you?"

"Because I didn't have enough money for the sugar. Not to mention that there wasn't a price tag to verify the price."

He chuckled. "Ivory," then he leaned in, "have you forgotten that we're criminals?"

Ivory went red as he laughed out loud. "Right—I knew that."

That's why Hawks looked anxious; he was trying to steal the flour but played along.

He took her hand and led her to him but laughed all the way back to base, which irritated Ivory. She threatened to punch him if he didn't stop laughing at her.

It was a story that he'd make sure to tell Lucky later, Ivory knew that.

***

That night, Viper and Ivory resided in the living room, talking about their day and other random stuff. They never had time to sit down and relax because they only had free time when dinner was over.

"Ivory, are you all right?" Viper questioned her best friend.

"I have a headache, but it's probably because I didn't sleep well last night."

"Maybe. Sometimes I get headaches when I'm tired," Viper agreed. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Oh, sometimes I have a lot on my mind; nothing serious," Ivory said.

When Ivory awoke last night, she felt something would happen, she didn't know what. Ivory knew that Viper wouldn't understand because she was clueless.

Ivory then remembered what happened earlier that day, and told her best friend what the cashier asked her.

"What?"

"Yeah."

"That's crazy!" Viper exclaimed. "I mean, why you would like him is beyond me. Nothing about a criminal and a thief is remotely attractive; not to mention he's an asshole."

Ivory faked a laugh, "Yeah,"

Viper gasped, "Ivory, do you like him?"

"What? No way!" she said, knowing that Viper hated Hawks (don't get her started on Lucky). "Hey, Viper, did something happen when I left? I felt that Blue was separating us."

Viper rolled her eyes, "Yeah, something happened."

"What happened?"

"After you left, Blue dismissed me and told me that you and I were done for the day."

Ivory's heard pounded. "Why?"

"I have no idea. When I asked, Blue told me to stay in my room and to stop asking questions."

Ivory thought that was odd, but said nothing else.

As if on cue, Hawks and Lucky entered the living room, talking and laughing. The young men hadn't noticed the girls until Viper groaned. The two boys stopped and looked at the two; Viper glaring at them smugly while Ivory watched in boredom.

"What's with the look, Lehmann? Do you smell funny? Have you not showered since you've been here?" Lucky cracked, causing Hawks to laugh.

"No—" she gritted her teeth "—nothing like that. You just annoy me."

Lucky shrugged and made his attention over to Ivory. "And how was your day, Little Lady?"

"Good until you graced us with your presence."

Viper laughed as Hawks appeared to be amused.

"I don't like your attitude," Lucky sneered.

"Do you really think that hurts me?" Ivory crossed her arms.

Hawks snickered as Lucky took a step forward.

"Hey, McKay, just be lucky that the gang likes you. If we didn't, we'd have shut your mouth by now," he spoke with confidence.

"Then how come Viper still has an attitude?"

"Because we don't care enough for her." Viper snarled but said nothing as the older boy continued. "No one wants to deal with her," he smirked.

"Leave the girl alone, Lucky," Hawks chuckled and looked at Ivory, "she knows that she'll get in trouble with me if she does anything."

"Trouble? You're not my boss."

"Yes, I am. Blue instructed me to keep an eye on you," Hawks said.

Ivory sighed, no wonder why he accompanied her while she ran errands.

"Listen, you started all of this," Viper accused.

"No, you did. We walked in minding our own business, not even acknowledging your presence until you tried to get our attention, feeding your ego," Hawks glared.

"Excuse me?"

"Hawks, don't let Ivory's prettiness fool you," Lucky got back on topic, ignoring Viper. "She may be all nice looking on the outside, but deep inside of her, she's just like her friend."

Viper sneered but responded with a roll of her eyes while Hawks reacted by laughing. He turned and winked at Ivory, who turned away in embarrassment. Viper observed what happened and made a mental note.

Their disagreement was interrupted when Blue walked in with Ginger, a tall man with natural ginger hair, Fox, and the mysterious man. The men wore all black. Ivory and Viper were nervous as Hawks, and Lucky sent each other confused expressions.

Blue gazed at all of them but landed his eyes on Ivory. "Ivory, just the person I wanted to see. Come with me."

Ivory was confused but placed her feet on the floor. Ivory was ready to follow Blue until she heard footsteps.

"It's all right, boss," Red appeared out of nowhere, hand on the first in command's shoulder, "let the kitties know what's going on. They'll figure it out eventually. Besides—" he smirked, "they'll get to see Ivory's worth."

"Worth? What do you mean?" Hawks asked.

Blue spoke. "Ivory, I've decided that you're trustworthy enough to start doing different jobs around the base."