Josie and I arrive at the tattoo shop just as the sky turns dark. Josie opens the door without hesitation and walks straight past the diligent tattoo artists. They glance up for a moment but return to their work once they see who has entered.

"Don't piss her off today." One guy says as Josie approaches the back.

"When do I piss her off?" Josie snarls at the man who has leaned back in his chair.

"Every time you come here. She's in a mood. Tia…nah, nevermind. You'll find out." The man turns back to his client, subtly smirking.

Josie glares at him but ignores his blatant smile.

We open the door to the back office and see Celena sitting in a computer chair, staring at her phone. 

The moment I see her face, I know exactly what kind of mood she is in. She's…sad. I've regrettably seen that face too many times not to be able to recognize it by now.

I slowly approach her as I try not to startle her.

"What's wrong?" I ask gently.

She turns around and stares at me. 

"Tia. That idiot…she wanted to help us. Austin is willing to help, but Tia said it wasn't enough." Celena's gaze turns back to her phone as she trails off.

"Tia went to see her father, didn't see?" I ask cautiously.

It only makes sense that Celena would be worried for her, considering Tia's past with her parents. I'm sure they had a fight about it, but Tia is exceptionally strong-willed. I mean, she would have to be if she was able to keep up with Celena. 

"Yea, haaaaaaa. I don't know what to do. I understand she wants to help, but it's useless. How many times does she have to try before she gives up?" Celena grumbles.

Celena's eyes won't leave her phone. I can only assume she is waiting to get a call or text from Tia.

"Why do you think that she only wants to help? What if there is another reason that she isn't telling you?" I ask without thought.

"What other reason could there be? It's not like Tia wants revenge. She's not that kind of person. She doesn't hold any kind of attachment to anyone since they all treated her like shit. She is only doing this because of an off-hand comment I made." Celena rambles on.

"What comment?" Josie finally joins the conversation.

"I… I simply implied that things would be easier if I could just talk to her dad myself. That's all. I never intended for her to take things into her own hands and beg for him to meet with me." Celena scratches her neck in frustration.

Geez, I get why she is so upset now. Tia didn't just decide to do this on her own. Of course, she would blame herself. However…

"Hmm, I thought you said she was strong-willed," I mutter to myself, loud enough for her to hear me.

"What?" Celena glares at me.

"What? I wouldn't say strong-willed. How can an offhand comment sway someone who is strong-willed? That doesn't add up. Usually, strong-willed people are headstrong and have a clear set of values by which they live. It takes a lot to sway them." I comment as I lead her to the point.

Celena continues to glare at me until, finally, she understands what I'm trying to say.

"So, you think what I said wasn't the only reason she went?" Celena asks as the muscles in her face relax.

"Yeah, that's what I said, didn't I? Look, I can't pretend to know Tia like you do, but sometimes an outsider can look at things more objectively. Tia might not want revenge, but…she could feel responsible for the actions of her family. I know I did when it came to my father. I never once agreed with how he did things. Yet, I was helpless. Until…I met Misha. Misha stood up to him once, and that was enough for me to realize that I could do the same. Though…I realized that too late. Either way, your comment wasn't something that made Tia randomly decide to help…it was the final push she needed to do what she has been wanting to do. Or at least that' Or at least that's my thought." I smile at Celena as I try to convince her.

"He's right." A voice agrees from behind us.

Tia stands in the doorway with an apologetic smile.

"You're back! What happened? Is everything ok?" Celena rapidly fires questions at Tia anxiously.

"Haha, baby, I'm fine. I promise. But I don't think we should talk about this here. I'm going to head back to the club and meet you there. We need the private room for this." Tia says with a stern look on her face.

Celena blinks a few times before she comprehends what Tia is implying.

"Alright, let me deal with these two first, and I'll be right there." Celena kisses Tia on the forehead before turning away.

However, Tia wasn't done with her yet. She reached out her hand and grabbed Celena's arm before she could move any further.

"No! They need to be here, too. Actually, it would be great if Anon and Rin were here too, but this is fine." Tia says anxiously as she grips her girlfriend's arm.

Celena notices Tia's shift in attitude and decides not to question her further.

"Alright. We will meet there." Celena smiles before placing another kiss on Tia's forehead.

Tia nods and quickly leaves without even looking back.

"What was that all about? She looked…scared." Josie bluntly states.

"Come on. Let's not keep her waiting." Celena says as she punches in the code to her secret panel.

A door opens up from behind a book shelve. It leads to a short hallway with three doors. All of the doors are the same and have the same security code lock. However, Celena ignores all of them, walks down to the end of the hallway, and places her hand on a blank section of the concrete wall. A rhythmic beeping starts, and after about 30 seconds, the wall opens up and slides in on itself.

"Who are you?" I snarkily ask.

Celena turns around and smirks a very cunning and quite intimidating smile.

"No one. Everyone. Just me. You can decide." She taunts as she steps through the hidden door.

To think that Celena would be some grand all-knowing powerhouse in a foreign country. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see for myself. I mean, who the hell has something like this? Actually, you know what? I think she suggested this for my room in the palace before. Hmm, maybe I should have her work with Misha to remodel the castle. Increased security isn't a bad idea.

After walking down a long hallway, we finally made it to the private room that Tia was talking about. However, Tia wasn't there yet.

"Tia won't be here for another ten minutes or so. Her end of the tunnel is longer." Celena states once she notices me looking around the room.

"Oh, ok," I say with a sigh of relief.

I was worried something might have happened to her.

"So, while we wait, what was the task you had for me?" I ask as I sit down on the couch.

"Right, I think we should wait for Tia. Now that she has something new to say after meeting with her father, I feel like I might need to change that task." Celena explains as she opens up the security camera feed.

Celena flips through the cameras and finds Tia walking down the long tunnel. Once she got eyes on her, she visibly relaxed.

"So, does that mean you wanted to do something with the Azure faction?" I speculate as I pick up a random file on the coffee table.

 Celena notices quickly get up and snatches the file out of my hand.

"Yeah, something like that." Celena puts the file back in the filing cabinet next to her desk.

"Why not just tell me?" I ask as my curiosity gets the better of me.

"Because you don't need to know, and I don't want to waste my breath." Celena's glare returns as she sits back down at her desk.

"Geez, I don't get you sometimes," I state as I fold my arms and pout.

"You don't get me most of the time. Why do you think we broke up?" Celena asks rhetorically

However, her words hit a nerve, and her rhetorical question felt real to me.

"Because I refused to see you for who you were. I'm sorry." I slump in my seat as I bow my head in shame. 

Celena wasn't impressed and clicked her tongue in disgust.

"Shut up. You know that's not what I meant." Celena scolded me.

The door to the office swung open, and Tia came in quickly, distracting us from the awkward situation we created.

"Alright. So, now, where do I start? Ah ha, let's start with this." Tia smiles as she places a USB drive on Celena's desk.

The three of us stare at the small USB drive for a moment before we turn our gaze back to Tia. Tia's smile only grows as she lets out a tiny giggle. 

Whatever is on that USB drive must be something…big. Really big.