Aries' POV

The next day back in the Main Room, Orion still hasn't returned home to us. Not that I cared. He's probably doing fine. Plus, having Aquarius as our leader wasn't all too bad. He was more of a relaxed version of Virgo and Capricorn. And he didn't get on our asses too much like Orion did.

I was sitting on the couch with Scorpio and Aquarius now. Scorpio was going on and on about all the insults Cancer threw at me the night before. It made me want to punch him in the face. One day, I just might.

"Okay, Scorpio, we get it. Aries has a small dick," Aquarius chuckles. Scorpio starts to howl in laughter.

"So now you're agreeing with him?" I ask, almost angry at the both of them.

"Well, it would make sense why Astrid never hit you up again," Aquarius shrugs. Scorpio laughs again and gives Aquarius a fist bump.

I might punch both of them in the face.

"Not true! I ghosted her! I don't want any female to get too attached!" I justify.

Aquarius slaps my back and chuckles again. "Okay, Aries. Hey, do me a favor and get everyone's attention. We need to talk about last night."

I roll my eyes and comply anyway. Aquarius stands up from the couch, looking ready to address the news to everybody. I stand on the couch and hold my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice.

"Yo, ladies and gents! Get your asses over here, Aquarius got something to say!" I shout.

With Virgo being near me, she dramatically cringes and pokes her ear. She gives me a mean glare for being too loud, but I didn't pay much mind to it.

Once everyone all gathered around, I take a seat back on the couch beside Libra and Scorpio. Everyone was now waiting for what Aquarius wanted to say.

"So, delinquents," he starts, "have any of you found anything that could help us from last night?"

No one said anything.

Aquarius nods his head. "Right, of course. Well, lucky you guys. I've found something that could potentially help us get rid of the Elites," he says with a smirk.

Nearly everyone's eyes lit up at the news. "Wait, really? How?" Gemini asks immediately.

"Well, I bumped into Lupus last night and..."

He didnt continue his sentence. We were all confused with what he was trying to say. Aquarius' face lit bright red.

"Nevermind, that's besides the point—"

"Oh, wow, you fucked her, didn't you?" Virgo bursts.

I burst out laughing. By seeing Aquarius' bright red face, it was obvious that what Virgo said was true. Many of us laughed and teased him while others such as Cancer and Capricorn cringed.

"Besides the point!" he shouts at Virgo who eventually laughed at herself. "Some woman named Air barged in and told her that we were here."

"Air?" Leo asks with large eyes.

Sagittarius jumps. "Ha! So I was right! That little sneaky bitch thought she was so clever! I told you!" she brags to Leo who only rolled her eyes at the raven haired woman.

"Yeah, but also because of you, Sagittarius, Air knew you guys were here. Next time, don't be too risky," Aquarius suggests.

Sagittarius shrugs her shoulders and sits back down. "I still was right, wasn't I?"

Aquarius ignored that. "Lupus thought I was an Elite, but even with me telling her that, she still didn't give me any information on Cetus.  But!"

He pauses, reaching into his hoodie pocket. He pulls out a small black flash drive and held it up in the air as if it were a trophy.

"You brought a flash drive?" Libra asks, unamused.

"It's Lupus' flash drive."

"So what the hell is in it?" Pisces asks, squinting her eyes to see the flash drive better.

"I don't know. I haven't uploaded any files yet," he states. "But it might be important! Lupus was looking for it when I was about to leave, meaning that it has to mean something."

"Great, so you got something that might help us. If it's not a definite help, why bother with any of this?" Virgo sighs.

"It's still better than nothing," Scorpio says. "We just need to see what's in there."

Before we could see what was in the flash drive, the door to the Main Room swings open like it was pushed by some very violent wind.

There behind it stood an old man with grey hair and glasses. He looked rugged and almost sleep deprived.

"Morning, Galactics," he says almost with a smile.

I see Pisces roll her eyes. "Orion? We thought you weren't coming back this soon."

"Yeah, Well, change of plans. I'm here today. I think that I got exactly what I needed in Times Square," he says, shutting the door and shooing Aquarius from his spot.

"You found a way to get rid of the Elites?" Capricorn asks with a hopeful tone.

Orion smirks and points a finger. "Unfortunately not," he teases.

This made Capricorn's face deadpan. Hell, I was pissed myself. We were teased and he's only been here for less than 60 seconds.

"So what the hell did you go to Times Square for?" Leo asks, using her annoyed voice.

"That's none of your concern right now, Leo. And before Aquarius asks if I got laid, no, but I have something very helpful we can use later," Orion states.

"Then what is it?" Virgo asks, not seeming amused or intrigued at all.

"Can't tell you guys yet. But it could help with the Elites," he says.

"If it has something to do with the Elites, then why can't we know now? Aren't we supposed to get rid of them as soon as possible?" Libra asks.

"Just trust me on this one, Libra. All of you. Just trust me," he tells us.

At this point, it was kind of hard to trust the man. We were impatient. All of us. We had three Elites living with us and I'm pretty sure he has no idea what to do at this point and doesn't want to tell us.

"So what did you guys do while I was gone?" Orion asks, taking his glasses off and cleaning them with his shirt.

Cancer started to speak. "Well, yesterday we went—"

That was when I covered her mouth. "We watched the Elites. What the hell else did we do?" I interrupt with a lie. I can see Cancer give me an annoyed side eye.

"Really? That was all?" Orion asks, putting his glasses back on his face.

"Yep," Aquarius agrees, catching on. "That was all."

Cancer bites my hand and I nearly let out a loud yelp. Instead, I jump and give her a mean stare that she returned. She was mean.

"Huh," Orion chuckles. "I'm surprised. I was expecting a party here or something, but the place still looks clean. Where are the Elites?"

"We locked them at the very top floor. There's no way they can escape from up there," Virgo answers.

"Ah, genius. Well, I'm about to go to my office. You twelve stay out of trouble. I'm actually nearly proud of you," he tells us while walking towards the door. "Nearly," he repeats then walks out of the room.

When the Main Room door shut closed, Cancer did not hesitate to say what she's been dying to say. "Why didn't we tell Orion we might have information on the Elites?" She questions.

"It just doesn't seem like a great idea right now," I shrug.

"How? He's our boss—"

"I have to agree with Aries on this one," Aquarius intervenes.

"Wait, so you don't want to tell Orion either? Why not? He could help us," Capricorn objects.

"Just think about it. We tell Orion we went to find Lupus and got her flash drive and then what?" he questions us.

"Then Orion can help," Taurus answers.

"I mean, will he?" Leo asks, looking down at her hands.

Taurus turns to her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Orion has been secretive with us. I don't even know if I can trust him anymore," she admits sadly.

"Leo—"

"She's right," Sagittarius shrugs. "Notice how it's always us who do all the dirty work for that old rat? I say we take matters into our own hands." She was cracking her knuckles at this point.

"He's still our boss, Sagittarius!" Cancer intervenes.

"So?"

"So that means we still should trust him. And not only that, but we should give it some time. Orion has a lot on his plate, but—"

"Orion has a lot on his plate? Ha! What about us?" Aquarius cuts Cancer off. Everyone looks at Aquarius now.

"Orion doesn't tell us everything. For all we know, we were the ones who actually took action to find out about Lupus. Or really, I was... all I'm saying is that maybe we should start taking matters into our own hands," he shrugs. He sounded so confident and certain of what he was saying.

"So a rebellion?" Sagittarius laughs. "Ha! I'm in!"

"Me too," I exclaim.

"We can't—"

"I swear, Virgo, if you complain about how we can't rebel, I'm going to throw you out the window," I tell her while rolling my eyes.

Virgo gives me the side eye and a mean look before looking back at Aquarius. "I was going to say that he's right. We can't really rely on Orion anymore."

"Are you kidding me, Virgo?" Capricorn exclaims.

"What? It's true. We're all responsible enough..." she looks around, instantly regretting what she just said. "Well, half of us are responsible enough. We've just been sitting ducks this whole time. It's about time we step up and actually do something without Orion's help." Finally. Something Virgo and I agree on.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Cancer says, crossing her arms.

"Fine, disease, let's put it to a vote," Sagittarius intervenes. Cancer gives Sagittarius a mean look, but let the comment slide. "All in favor of doing our own thing without Orion, raise your hands."

Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius, Pisces, and I all raise our hands.

I look at Scorpio who was one of the three to not raise their hands. "C'mon, Scorpio, you're against this too?"

Scorpio sighs. "Look, I'm all for doing our own thing, trust me, I am. But Orion will get us out of this."

"You think that makes him a savior? A hero? News flash, Scorpio, but Orion got us into this mess in the first place. Why are we the ones who's always responsible for it?" Pisces exclaims. And she made a really great point.

"That's true, but it doesn't mean we can't trust him," Capricorn states.

"You're right, Capricorn," Aquarius agrees. I had already sensed a 'but' before he continued. "But we're older now. And wiser. And stronger than we've ever been before. Maybe we can trust Orion. Just maybe. But we shouldn't rely on him to always fix the mess that he got us into. That's the whole point. We need to do what we need to do. Not wait for our boss to give us specific information."

"I guess I see your point," Cancer starts to give in. Scorpio nods his head in agreement.

"So are we all in or what?" I ask.

Cancer, Scorpio, and Capricorn all nod their heads. Finally, something we can all agree on.

●○●

Aquarius, Scorpio, and I were all on the couch, setting the laptop up on the table. Aquarius had already inserted the flash drive.

"So what is this thing supposed to do anyway?" I ask.

"Have you ever used a flash drive, idiot?" Scorpio glares.

"HaVe YoU eVeR uSeD a FlAsH dRiVe, IdIoT? Can you just tell me what the hell this thing is supposed to do?" I mock.

"Basically, all the information that Lupus kept is in this flash drive. If I can pull it up, I can see what about the Elites she knows about," Aquarius explains.

"Thanks, Aquarius, for the lack of attitude," I say gratefully, staring daggers at Scorpio. Scorpio just rolls his eyes at me.

"If we get all the information we need on the Elites, we have a closer way of eliminating them. It may be a stretch, but it's closer than what Orion has been doing," Aquarius continues, typing away on his laptop. He clicks one final key.

"There. Now we just wait," he says.

"Wait 'til what?" I ask.

"Til the flash drive downloads all the information. It's a process, Aries," he tells me.

"Yeah, I knew that," I say. I definitely did not know that.

Aquarius stands up. "Well, while we wait, you guys trynna smoke?"

I smirk. "Is that even a question?"

"You two meet me outside. I'll bring everything down there," Scorpio says. He leaves in a rush.

Aquarius and I go down the elevator and wait outside the penthouse for Scorpio. Aquarius leans on the side of the house, hiding his eyes from the sun.

"So did you sleep with Lupus to get the flash drive?" I impulsively ask. What? I just wanted to know.

Aquarius looks at me and breaks into a grin. He then chuckles before shaking his head.

"You did! Ha! And you thought Scorpio was the one to worry about!" I exclaim, pointing a finger at the curly brunette.

Aquarius chuckles and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, whatever, Aries. I did it for the mission."

"I would say the same thing if I were to sleep with someone," I tell him.

"You have, Aries. You've given that excuse so many times," he calls me out.

I shrug my shoulders. I guess I walked into that one.

"And it wasn't that easy. I mean, it would've been easier if Sagittarius hadn't attacked Air. I just hope all the information I need is in that flash drive," he says.

"And what if it isn't?" I ask.

"If it isn't then we failed this mission. It just means we don't get any closer to getting rid of the Elites," he states. He lets out an exhaled breath.

Before I could say anything to that, Scorpio comes through the door with a grinder, rolling papers, a lighter, and a bag of the bud.

"What are you fuckers standing here talking about?" Scorpio asks with a smirk on his face.

"Don't worry about it," I tell him as he tosses the bag to me. I open the bag and smell the grassy scent. "Damn, Scorp, did you get a new plug?"

"Nah, I stole it from the party last night. It's a shame some loser lost his weed. Shouldn't have left it alone in his car," Scorpio shrugs.

"Lemme roll up," Aquarius insists.

I toss him the bag and Scorpio hands him the rest of the equipment. Aquarius went straight to work on rolling the blunt.

"Did Orion notify you that he was coming back today?" Scorpio asks.

"Nope," I answer.

"Not you, Red," he tells me. I should've guessed. Orion wouldn't text me in the first place.

Aquarius shakes his head while licking the paper around the weed. "Nope. I thought he was going to be gone for a few more days."

"Huh," Scorpio nods. "Interesting."

"How is that interesting?" Aquarius asks, already having the blunt in between his lips, lighting it up with the lighter. He inhales the smoke and lets it out before putting it to his lips again.

"He told us he was leaving for a few days. And all of the sudden, he's back?" Scorpio says. The Dominican man was on to something.

"That's true. Maybe he wanted to see if we were going to take advantage of his days off. Maybe catch us in the act or something?" I guess.

"Or," Aquarius says before blowing smoke from his mouth again. He hands the blunt to Scorpio now. "Maybe he did get laid and scared the woman off so he had to come back home earlier."

Scorpio and I chuckle. "You asshole," Scorpio laughs, punching his arm.

"I mean, I could definitely see Orion as a sugar daddy. He's got the age, the look, the money," Aquarius shrugs, almost seriously. But that was just Aquarius. He joked around without saying he was just kidding. You just had to know his humor to understand him.

"Y'know, you're right," I tell him. "Maybe finessing 20 year old women is a side hustle for him."

"Yeah, no wonder he's been neglecting our situation with the Elites. He's too busy bribing women," Scorpio exhales the smoke from his lungs and pases the blunt to me.

I put the blunt to my lips and inhale the smoke before letting it out. My lungs were tolerant to the smoke to even cough or let them burn. I take another hit before passing it back to Aquarius as it gets passed to the circle.

Or triangle. Whatever shape we made.

Many hits were made by the three of us and I could feel my eyes getting heavy and low. The high was great. It was like I was one with nature. All sound became much clearer, and I swear I had opened my third eye.

"Okay, guys, we should get back inside," Aquarius suggests.

"I don't know. I like not being around the Galactics. They're as worse as the Elites," Scorpio chuckles. It's funny how he laughed. He was not joking.

"Nah, Scorp, I need to check if the flash drive uploaded everything," Aquarius says. His eyes were low and red. It was more like his everyday look to be honest.

"Fine," I give in. If anything, being inside the pent high is a better vibe anyway.

The three of us all walk inside the penthouse and walk into the Main Room. Aquarius walks straight to laptop on the table and sinks into the couch. Scorpio and I sit opposite sides of him, staring at the laptop. I didn't even understand what was going on next.

"So what?" I ask.

Aquarius sighs. "It's still loading."

"Just great," Scorpio sarcastically mumbles. "Great."

"Yeah, well, I'm about to get something to drink," I tell them, slowly standing up.

"Do not touch my champagne, Aries!" Aquarius orders.

"Do NoT tOuCh My ChAmPaGnE, aRiEs," I mock before walking away. I knew better than to touch his champagne in the first place. Aquarius wasn't much of an alcoholic, but champagne was the only thing he would drink on daily occasion.

So maybe he was a bit of an alcoholic.

In the kitchen were Cancer and Pisces chatting up a storm with each other. Me, being Aries, decides to bother them.

I walk up to them with a smirk on my face. "Hey, ladies," I say slowly and smoothly.

"Hey, Aries," Pisces greets back with a smirk. Cancer simply rolls her eyes at me.

"Would one of you make me a drink?" I ask politely.

Though being polite wasn't my forte, of course they thought I was up to something.

"No, just leave already," Cancer snaps.

"That's why Pisces has always been my favorite," I tell her. Pisces just rolls her eyes and chuckles.

"Oh please," the blue haired woman says.

"Pisces, will you make me a drink please," I ask again, trying to make puppy eyes.

"Aries, those red eyes aren't doing anything," Pisces smirks at me.

"Oh, really?" I ask her.

"Really," she says with crossed arms.

"Pisces, please," I ask again.

"No, Aries!" she says again, still with a smirk on her face.

That was when I grab her hands and pull her closer to me. I start tickling the short, blue haired woman and messing up her hair, begging her with "please". Pisces just keeps laughing while I tickle her, telling me to stop.

"Stop it!" Pisces laughs, trying to get away from me as I continue to tickle her.

"Please, please, please!" I childishly plead, continuing to tickle her.

"No!"

That was when I picked her up over my shoulder and spun her around. The woman just kept laughing until she gave in.

"Okay, okay, fine!" Pisces laughs. "Just put me down! Now!"

I stop spinning around and put Pisces back down to her feet. She still had a bright smile on her face from laughing and her blue hair was messy. "Thank you," she breathes, catching her breath from her laughter.

I can see Cancer behind her rolling her eyes.

Pisces goes into the cabinets to make me a drink. Pisces could be a bartender if she really wanted to. She was just that good.

Cancer walks up to me which almost turns my smile into a frown. Almost.

"What do you want, Aries?" she asks me with crossed arms.

"What do you mean? I just wanted Pisces to make me a drink," I shrug.

"Mhm," she hums. "Well don't take advantage of Pisces."

My eyebrow knit together in confusion. "What does that even mean? Take advantage of Pisces? I just asked for a drink."

"Right," was all she said.

I wanted to ask her what she even meant. Before I could, Pisces taps me on my side.

"Yo, here you go," she tells me, handing my drink over to me.

I grab it and smirk at her. "Thanks, fave," I say. Again, I could see Cancer rolls her eyes at me.

I'll never understand what her problem was.

●○●

Capricorn's POV

"V, I just don't think that it's a great idea," I tell my platinum blonde best friend.

Virgo and I were in the gym together, one floor above the Main Room. Virgo was lifting weights and I was spotting her.

Virgo didn't answer me. Instead, she just continued bench pressing. That was until I grabbed the bar and set it up on the rack.

I could tell this frustrated her. "What, Capricorn?"

"Are you even listening to a word that I'm saying?" I ask, getting just as frustrated.

"Yes, I hear you, okay!?"

"So what the fuck is your problem?" I ask her.

"Nothing!" she responds quickly, nearly cutting me off. I didn't say anything to that. We just looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Nothing's wrong, Cap," she says, her voice calming down. "I just think that Aquarius has a fair point."

"His point is to hide things from our boss. You think that's a fair point?"

"Yes, actually, I do. Orion has been hiding things from us, Cap. And the thing is, we don't know what. But it is fishy how we're stuck with the Elites, and he's taking his sweet, precious time to get rid of them," she tells me.

"Who knows? Maybe he has been working on it this entire time," I tell her. "You can't just jump to conclusions."

"That's exactly what we need to be doing, Capricorn. We need to jump to conclusions. There are so many outcomes of how this can end. For all we know, the other Elites want us dead regardless. You think that even if we don't kill those three means that this war is over? Because that's what this is, Capricorn. This is war. And the first legit battle started once we kidnapped their members," she tells me.

I didn't know what to say after that. She did have a fair point. And she was one hundred percent correct. Even if we release the Elites, they'll still come after us. And if we kill them, they'll come after us. There was no winning in this.

"So if we're too scared, why didn't we just kill them in the first place? I mean, they want to kill us either way," I tell her.

"If the Elites really wanted us dead, Capricorn, don't you think they would've done it already? In their eyes, it'll just make them see that we made the first move. And they're not wrong. Hell, for all I know, if they weren't to kill us already, they probably need us," she tells me.

"What do you mean need us?"

"I have no idea. They had three spies from their team to watch us. Why not kill us if they wanted us dead? They definitely need us for something. And I don't know what," she says.

Now I was seeing her point. She was right. Virgo was extremely smart too. If the Elites really wanted us dead, why watch us the entire time instead of actually killing us?

"Do you think Orion figured that out?" I ask her.

"Maybe," she says. "Orion is a genius. That's probably what he's hiding from us, I don't know. But he's still keeping secrets. He may know more, and he doesn't want us to know. Thats why we can't rely on him for information anymore. We might as well take action and figure it out ourselves."

Like I said, Virgo was smart. And she was right.

Virgo then looks at me with wide, bright eyes. "Unless..."

Oh no. This wasn't going to be good.

"Unless what?"

"Unless we go up there and talk to the Elites ourselves."

"C'mon, V, are you crazy? Like the Elites will tell us anything," I say to her. This didnt shake Virgo's mind off the plan.

"I mean, it's worth a shot, right? We go up there and try to get it out of them," she says.

"How? By torturing them?" I ask.

Virgo wasn't one to torture anybody. Though she didn't mind if others did it, she personally wasn't the type to do so. Something about she's too pretty to have blood on her.

"No. God, no. We don't have to torture them. At least not today," she says.

"Fine. I'm in," I give in.

"Yes!" Virgo cheers, pumping a fist. "C'mon, let's go before the others find out what we're up to."

Virgo runs straight towards the door. "I can't believe I'm doing this," I mumble under my breath as I walk with her.

V and I take the elevator and go straight up to the top floor. We've kept the Elites there for a while now. When the elevator doors open again, Virgo takes no hesitation to turn to the hall where the Elites were left.

When we reached to the door, Virgo was close to open it. That was until I grabbed her wrist.

Virgo looks at me in surprised. "Capric—"

I hush her by putting a finger to her lips. "V, look," I whisper, using my eyes to gesture to the door. When Virgo looked at it, she realized that the door was cracked. Slightly opened.

"Do you think they ran away without us knowing?" she also asks in a whisper.

Before I could answer that question, I heard a voice inside the room. A very familiar voice.

"Cetus, you've got to be out of your damn mind! Where the hell is it?" the loud voice shouts.

I could hear Cetus chuckling in the background.

"We're not telling you anything," Cassi laughs. "Might as well kill us. It's not like you'll hear a peep. Not a fucking peep."

I can hear some rumbling next. Then something shattered.

"Damn it!" the familiar voice shouts again.

"Virgo, is that—"

It wasn't until now that I see Virgo looking through the cracked door. She then looks at me. "Orion," she whispers.

I swallowed a large gulp down my throat. I knew it. I push Virgo so that I could watch for myself.

"I should kill you, y'know. All of you!" Orion yells at the three.

"Yeah, Well, too fucking bad for us: we're not dead yet!" Cetus yells back. "Fucking kill me already," he mumbles.

Orion did not hesitate to grab Cetus by his neck and lift him easily off the floor. I could hear Cetus choking on his own spit and all the bullshit he was talking about.

That was until Cassi kicks him in the shin. I could tell it hurt. Orion was tough, and I haven't seen him drop so fast in my life. Cetus was gasping for air now as his back slides down the wall and he sits on the floor.

"Stop it, Orion! We're not helping you. Hell, if you kill us, just know the Elites will get you back! Not just you. All of you!" Cassi threatens. She then crouches down to comfort Cetus who was just now catching all of his breath.

Orion was standing now with an angry look on his face. He then punches a wall and it instantly put a hole into it. A huge, cracked hole.

"When I get my hands on Ophiuchus, I swear I'll destroy him. And you three and his little minions? I will squash all of you like some pawns," he seethes. He then walks away, coming towards the door.

That was when my heart beats fast in panic. "Virgo, hide! He's coming!" I shout whisper.

Virgo hurriedly runs by the corner of the hallway. I follow her and wait for Orion's footsteps.

The door swings open. I can hear Orion lock the door so that nobody can enter inside and his heavy footsteps stomping away from the room. I hear the click of the elevator, and the doors open and close.

Once they closed, Virgo and I walk away from the corner. Only to find Orion standing there right in front of us with his arms crossed.

Well, shit.

●○●

"What the hell were you girls doing on the top floor?" Orion asks us. He opens the door to this office, and we all walk inside.

We were now in Orion's office, sitting on his sofas that sat in front of his desk. He, of course, was behind his desk. He looks pretty pissed. Either at us or the Elites. Possibly both.

"I plead the fifth," I say.

"Me too," Virgo says.

"Can you two just cut it out? This isn't some crime movie," he says, already growing annoyed.

"I won't talk unless I have a lawyer," I tell him.

"Yeah, what she said," Virgo repeats.

Orion sighs before taking his glasses off and holding the bridge of his nose. His eyes were closed. Squinted. He had to check his temper before he spoke again.

"How much of that did you hear?" he asks us, sounding genuinely curious.

"Just the last bit," Virgo says.

"Virgo!" I exclaim.

"What? He knew we were there!"

I just sigh. She got us into this, and I was trying to find a way out. I guess there was no way out.

"Look, Orion, we're worried. Concerned, even. You hide things from us. We just wanted to see for ourselves what it was all about," Virgo admits.

"What?" Orion exclaims.

"Why were you in Times Square? And why did you come back home earlier than expected? You didn't tell us anything about what happened," she goes on.

"Trust me. The least you know, the better."

"I highly doubt that," she scoffs.

"Yeah, it just doesn't make sense," I agree. Now Orion looks at me. "You want us to trust you, but you don't tell us anything! What is it that you wanted Cetus to tell you? Is something lost?"

"The least you know, the better," Orion repeats.

"Bullshit," Virgo rolls her eyes.

"Aren't we a team? Aren't we all supposed to help each other achieve? Why in the hell aren't you telling us that you needed from Cetus?" I push.

That was when Orion punches his desk. It nearly scared me and Virgo. Usually, Orion would get mad with Aries or Gemini. At us, it was something new. It was as if we were really pushing his buttons this time.

And not in a way where it brought amusement.

Orion quickly tries to find his peace again with giving us the fakest smile that I've ever been given. "Do you two trust me? Like really trust me?"

Virgo and I look at each other first before nodding our heads at him. Of course, we trust Orion. He was definitely the most trustworthy in the entire penthouse.

"Then trust me when I tell you somethings are better left unsaid. And not just as some old, wise quote. The least you all know, the better this can all be handled," he tells us. His voice was much calmer and controlled. It sounded as if he was rather desperate for our trust.

Neither of us said anything for a while. I break the silence first.

"Okay," I say. Virgo looks at me and I look at her. I nod my head now. "Okay, yeah." I then look at Orion again. "I trust you."

Virgo looks at her hands before looking at Orion again. "Fine. I trust you too." That was all she said. And she sounded like she meant it.

Orion had a weak smile now. "Thank you, girls. Now, let me do my job. And I trust you two will continue on with yours?"

Virgo nods her head. "Of course," she says. She then stands up and heads to the door. I walk out behind her.

When we left Orion alone in his office, I turn to Virgo. "So you guys were right," I tell her.

"About what?" she asks, confused.

"We can't rely on Orion."

●○●

Sagittarius' POV

I'm alone in my room now. I put the empty little bag on my table and crush the pills with the hardest item I could get. Now, looking at the powdery dust sitting on my table, I straighten the white powder in two skinny lines with a card.

I look at my door as I hear a voice shout from behind it.

"What the hell were you girls doing on the top floor?" I hear Orion shout. I then hear a door slam. Possibly to his office. I ignore that though.

I look back at the two lines now. I straighten the lines just a bit better. Then, I hold one nostril, put the other to the start of the line, and snort it all the way to the finish.

My nose was nearly burning. I kept having to sniff the drug that I had just inhaled. Now was the second line. I hold my nostril, and snort the drug again. This made my nose burn again. Twice as much.

"Fuck," I curse, squinting my eyes in agony. I keep sniffing to retrieve air now. After a while, I was fine.

My mind felt fast. It was as if I were thinking everything so fast. I felt like my eyes were going to explode open for keeping them too wide. I then close my eyes, trying to stay normal, and opened them back up staring at my table.

Just an empty bag. And a few little particles of powder still scattered. I stare at it for a little bit before brushing my table off and throwing the bag away.

I feel good.

And now I want to go to the Main Room.

I slowly stand up from where I was sitting, and stand there for a few second to regain conscious. The world was moving fast. I liked fast.

Before I exit my room, I look at myself in the mirror beside the door. Luckily, I had done that because I still had some white dust still on my nostril. I wipe it with the sleeve of my hoodie and sniff to make sure it was gone. Now I looked okay. Other than the dilated pupils, but that was a rather normal look for me to everyone else.

I then leave my room, but I could still hear shouting from Orion's office. The high made sound much more amplified. I tried to ignore that by walking inside the Main Room now.

When I walked in, Libra and Taurus were tossing a phone with a pink case back and forth while laughing. Leo was trying to reach to grab it, but she couldn't. Gemini just stood to the side, laughing at Leo struggle.

"Taurus, give it back!" Leo orders. She sounded mad.

"No way!" Taurus laughs, tossing the phone back to Libra.

"Libra, I'm serious!" Leo says, now rushing over and pleading Libra.

"Yo, Sagi, catch!" Libra shouts to me.

Next thing you know, a phone with a pink phone case is flying towards me. Out of reflex, I grab it.

"My turn! Toss it to me!" Gemini tells me. He already had his hands in the air, ready to grab it.

I just look at the three idiots before handing Leo her phone back.

"Thank you!" she says gratefully. Yeah, whatever.

"Lame!" Taurus yells.

"I know, isn't she?"

"Shut up, Airhead," I tell him.

"Taurus said it first! Tell him to shut up!" Gemini tells me. Taurus just chuckles and punches Gemini lightly.

"So why is Orion yelling?" I ask Leo, putting my hands in my hoodie pockt.

"What do you mean?" Libra asks me, walking over.

Leo was now putting her phone up after texting somebody. "Don't know. But what I do want to know is why Taurus texted Rigel that I had four abortions!" Leo stares daggers at the very tall brunette. She looked mad furious which wasn't like her.

Sure, Leo gets mad, but it was rare that she would get really mad.

"Hey, he says he wants to know more about you," Taurus shrugs with a smirk on his face.

"You're so annoying," Leo smacks the back of his head pretty hard. "And you guys too!" she points at Gemini and Libra.

"Yeah, so about Orion—"

I was cut off when Gemini responds to Leo's very true comment. "I'm not the one who texted Rigel that!"

"You were still a part of it!"

"No, I wasn't!"

"You were to!"

"Shut up, Gemini!" Libra tells him.

"You shut up!"

"I have a suggestion. Why don't you all shut up?" I ask politely with a fake smile on my face.

Taurus rolls his eyes now. "What do you want, Sagittarius?"

"Nevermind. 'Cause you guys are clearly useless right now," I grumble before walking away from them.

Those four were all like siblings. They fought like little kids all the time and teased each other as such. Though, I envied their friendship. At the end of the day, they all had each other's backs.

They were still annoying though. Especially that Airhead.

I see Aquarius sitting on the couch, knocked out in a daze. I decide to walk over to him to see the update on that flash drive.

I tap the sleepy brunette on his shoulder, but he didn't wake up.

"Yo, Rivera," I say.

He didn't budge. So I poked him. He still didn't move.

Now I was getting annoyed. "Rivera!" I shout louder, flicking him on his forehead.

That woke him right up. "Ow!" he wakes up immediately, looking directly at me. "Sagittarius. What the hell do you want?"

"Did that stupid flash drive upload everything yet?" I ask.

Aquarius looks at his laptop before clicking a few keys. "Oh, yeah. It is."

"Great," I say, taking a seat beside him and grabbing the laptop.

He snatches it from my hands before giving me a look. "Do you even know what to do next?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Of course not. Why don't the nerd do it himself?" I mock him.

Aquarius rolls his eyes at me. "Will you stop calling me that?"

"Only people who aren't nerds won't be called nerds. So unfortunately for you..." I tell him, trying to raise a brow.

He rolls his eyes at me again.

"Don't feel sad about it. At least you're one of those hot nerds. Y'know, like the ones that play the nerdy role for those porn videos," I impulsively say.

Aquarius slowly turns his head to me. "I don't know if I should stay away from you or be flattered," he tells me.

I shrug my shoulders. "I would suggest both." He chuckles a bit.

"So how does this work exactly?" I ask him.

Aquarius is still typing keys on his laptop. "So now that I have all the information from the flash drive uploaded, I need to set up a VPN. Just in case."

"Just in case of what?"

"Just in case any of the Elites have access to this. They won't see who or where they uploaded the information."

I nod my head. I'm definitely taking his word for it. He's the nerd.

"So now, I'm going to install some extra private things that Lupus saved on the flash drive—"

"Yeah, yeah, just do that and let me know when you get to the good stuff," I interrupt.

He rolls his eyes. "This is the good stuff. I just need a password. Fuck!"

"Try: Cetus," I suggest jokingly, picking at my fingernails.

Aquarius types it in and the private files install.

"Wow, I was right? I was just kidding," I say, getting closer to the screen.

"Yeah, well, Lupus and Cetus have a very strong connection, I'm guessing," he tells me.

"So strong that she sleeps with you? Also, how did that even happen?" I ask him, now looking at him.

"It just kind of happened. Improv. I got lucky, I guess," he says.

"With sleeping with her or getting the flash drive?" I ask with a smirk.

Aquarius chuckles a bit. "Both."

I chuckle also. "Wow. Well, I guess I got lucky too. Y'know, with the whole Air thing."

"Yes, but you can't be reckless like that, Sagittarius," he tells me.

Now I was rolling my eyes. "I was still right! You can't say you're not proud of me."

Aquarius nods his head before laughing. "Okay, you're right. That was actually impressive. How did you know?"

"Well, for one, she was allegedly deaf. And to be honest, I didn't know. It was just a lucky guess," I shrug.

"So if she really was deaf? Then what?"

"Then she would've gotten her throat sliced, and she would definitely be mute," I exclaim.

Aquarius shakes his head while chuckling. "Yeah, you're fucking dangerous."

I punch his shoulder. "I'm not that dangerous!"

"Now I see why Orion wanted you back. You could actually help out around here," he tells me.

I think that through before sinking back into the couch. "Yeah, well, just know I'm not here willingly. Once the Elites are done, for good, you and little blondie over there better get me enough for my trip to Bahamas," I remind him, using my head to gesture to the direction Libra was.

"And I still promise on that," he says.

I hope he's serious about that. Because I'm gonna remember that.

Aquarius looks back at his laptop. "Oh, look! The files are ready now."

I sit closer to look at the screen better. There were a lot of files. How could Lupus keep up with all of this?

"So do you think Lupus knows everything about the Elites?" I ask.

Aquarius shrugs while scrolling through files. "Not everything. But most of it, maybe. Maybe even a handful. I don't know."

"That doesn't sound very promising," I grumble, pulling the laptop closer to me. "So how are you gonna get that?"

Aquarius pulls the laptop back to him. "I don't know. I just got to try all the files."

"All of them?" I ask, my eyes widening.

"Yes, Sagittarius, all of them," he reassures.

"Ha! This better be worth it," I tell him, sinking back down to the couch again.

"It will be. The closer we get to getting rid of the Elites, the closer you get to Bahamas. And away from us, if that's what you really want," he says, scrolling through files on his laptop.

"More than anything," I agree with a bit of a snicker.

"Y'know we're not all that bad," he says, looking at me now.

I groan. "Ugh! Please don't give me some kind of team work pep talk!" I beg.

He chuckles. "No, actually, I'm not. I think it's fair, to be honest. I'm not going to force you to like or even bond with any of us, trust me. But work is work."

I nod my head in agreement. "Right."

"But you don't know how long we're going to be here for. It's been years, and we're still where we were. Y'know, in the beginning, Scorpio would rather be alone than to talk to me and Aries?" Aquarius says.

I chuckle. "Really? Aren't you two, like, best friends?"

"Exactly. I mean, Scorpio realized how long we're going to be here for. It's better to welcome yourself in the team rather than being someone who wants to be alone all the time," he tells me.

I roll my eyes now. I see what he was doing. I felt like he did trap me in some kind of pep talk.

It's not like I was alone all the time. I mean, Leo is cool. That's pretty much it.

"Yeah, well, unlike Scorpio, I'm not desperate to call someone a friend who hasn't thought about me until they needed me," I spit harshly.

Aquarius nods his head now. "That's fair, I guess."

"Yeah, so just know I'm here to take care of the Elites, and as soon as all of this is over, I'm gone. For good." I was deadly serious with what I was saying.

Aquarius didn't say anything.

So I continued.

"Hell, I don't even understand why Airhead and Capricorn welcomed themselves so easily to the team. You guys only needed us when it benefited you. It seems like I'm the only one here who gets that."

Aquarius shakes his head. "No, Sagittarius, it seems like you're the only one here who's hurt."

My eyes squint at his response. "What the hell does that mean? I'm not hurt!"

"I don't know, Sagittarius. I'm just saying—"

"I can cut your throat right now. Then you'll see who's hurt," I threaten.

Aquarius chuckles while shaking his head again. "Maybe one day, you'll get it."

"Get what?" I ask. He was confusing me. It was starting to make my blood boil.

"All I'm saying, Sagittarius, is, yeah, we needed you when it benefited us. I'll admit to that. But keep in mind, we're all here to benefit each other. Getting rid of the Elites is a one team thing," he was saying. "But instead of seeing it like that, just think of yourself as a secret weapon."

I chuckle at that. "I'm not a secret weapon."

"But you are though. You're the one who got Cetus to the van. You're the only one who knew Air wasn't really deaf—"

"Yeah, but that was a guess," I interrupt.

"A lucky guess. And as dangerous as you are, trust me, we need that. You're definitely a secret weapon. Why else did you think Orion wanted you back on the team? Hell, you could do all this yourself if you really wanted to," Aquarius continues.

I didn't say anything after that. There wasn't much to say to begin with. In a way, he was right. Aquarius usually was right. Maybe I am like a secret weapon.

Though, I let myself get a bit too comfortable just now. Maybe it was the cocaine. It was time to mock him again.

"So what file did you open up, nerd?" I ask, letting my eyes focus back on the laptop screen.

Aquarius didn't let the nickname phase him anymore. "Just some bullshit sketches."

On the laptop screen, there were sketches of crows and dragons. Lupus seems to be one of the dark, mysterious ones. By looking at her, I wouldn't have guessed.

"She had drawings of these in her notebook," Aquarius tells me, scrolling through more sketches of crows and dragons.

"You think it has something to do with the Elites?" I ask him.

"I don't know. How would that make sense?" he asks.

"I don't know. Just keep scrolling," I tell him.

And so he did.

"Do we have to look at all the files today?" I ask him. It seemed exhausting enough to look at 10. Lupus had about more than 200 files. What the hell does she save in one little flash drive?

"Not today. At least some of them. We'll definitely work our way to find more information. It's a process," he says.

"Interesting," I say as he was opening the second file. This file just had sketches of clothes.

"I'm sure these are unimportant. Lupus tends to draw a lot," Aquarius says, going to another file.

"Drawings of crows, dragons, and clothes? Because that's not random at all," I mumble sarcastically. I groan now. "Ugh! None of these are useful!"

"Just be patient. Maybe we'll find something," he assured. Third file. More drawings of dragons.

"Yeah, we're on the third file, and I'm pretty sure this flash drive doesn't mean anything. Maybe it's her flash drive for her sketches," I tell him.

"Impossible," Aquarius shakes his head, opening another file with more sketches. "She was looking for this flash drive for a reason! She was looking for it when Air told her the Galactics were here!"

"Yeah, well, maybe she had another flash drive," I tell him.

Aquarius looks disappointed now. Almost as if he had failed everyone and everything. Now he was being too hard on himself. I roll my eyes, incapable to stop myself from making him feel better.

"It's okay. We'll just keep checking. You should go take a break for now. It's been a long week for all of us," I assure him.

Aquarius nods his head while twirling his rings on his fingers. "You're right. Fuck, I need to smoke." Then he looks at me. "Do you want to smoke?"

I smirk. "Is that even a question?"

"Yeah, well, seeing that you got a little white dust on your nostril and the sleeve of your shirt, I wanted to make sure if that was enough," Aquarius smirks.

Instantly, I wipe my nose. I thought I had wiped it pretty well the first time.

I stand up now. "Yeah, sure, whatever. And bring two papers. I'm smoking my own blunt, nerd." Aquarius laughs at me.

Maybe this team isn't too bad.