Akio played the recording, again, and again and again.  This wasn't the Bolivar she knew. Stabbing her in the back and setting the entire vigilante group up for failure . . . He simply wouldn't. Bolivar was quieter than most, sure, but nothing he'd done had brought Akio to question his loyalty. It was as if they were pieces on a melva board, being arranged repeatedly by the enemy team every time their backs were turned. Was this her fault? Akio watched it play again. If she wasn't the leader, she doubted Bolivar would consider betraying them, unless this had been his intent the entire time. Reaching for her holopad to make notes and strategize, Akio hit nothing but air. That was right. She dropped it, again. 

There was a small chance that Bolivar was putting on a facade, to win the trust of the enemy's side for further information. Akio played it again. If that was the case, starshit he was good at infiltration. But, wouldn't Hawke have known? They were cousins, after all.

Her secretary, Lemi came in, placing another holopad on her desk and sweeping up the broken one. Akio turned off the recording device. It wasn't public knowledge yet, and it wouldn't be until her, Indra, and Hawke planned their next move. It was unnerving that someone so close could have been endangering them with shared information. Was it possible that others in the group were moles? It was bad enough that the vigilantes did not have a bountiful number of members, lacking the ability to surprise the Lizz was a death sentence.

The newer vigilante eyed the device with curiosity but the Lizz knew better than to question. "Call me if you need anything, Leader."

"Thank you, Lemi," Akio said with a smile. At least someone wasn't avoiding and hating her today. That was nice.

Absently, Akio found herself reaching for the small box in her pocket again. Saso. Why did she need to remember Saso? Something was off with Indra. In all the time she'd been with her girlfriend, Akio had never seen her this bad. Sure, there were times when she slept on the floor to avoid the sensation of the sheets, or even left the room because Akio's breathing aggravated her. Maybe it was wrong to never ask why. Akio simply didn't want to pry into her girlfriend's life when she wasn't ready to share. She'd open up when she was ready, or maybe she never would. It was Indra's business how that worked out.

But why? Why won't she just talk to me? We used to talk about everything and now, all we do is argue.

"Akio." Hawke's voice vaguely reached through her thoughts.

A sharp sensation tapped her arm. Akio reacted by instinct, grabbing the object and slamming the assailant to the ground, flicking a knife out of her arm and putting it to their throat. Golden-brown eyes stared up at her, playful and equally unamused.

Akio coughed, unpinning Hawke and putting the knife back in her arm. "Don't poke me with—" She looked at the cane in his hand. Why was that in here? Indra needed her cane. "That."

Hawke got back to his feet, brushing himself off. "Note to self, don't throw any surprise parties for Akio, might result in everyone getting killed."

Rolling her eyes, Akio scoffed, stung slightly by the remark even though she knew it was meant as a jest. "Not funny."

"I don't think you're going to gain any new information from the recording," Hawke said, taking the recording device and placing it in his pocket. "What now?"

The holopad glared up at Akio. She sat down at the desk, taking it in her hands and typing in a new password. "We need to find out what he's planning next. If you come to the conclusion that he is a danger, or truly a traitor then—" Akio paused. She didn't want to say it, but it was her job to make the hard calls. It was her job to do what was best for the majority. "Having someone with this amount of information betray us is a risk."

Hawke swallowed, anger and hurt flashing over his face as he averted his eyes. "I can't be the one to do it. He's—he's my family."

Reaching across the desk, Akio placed her hand on his. "I know. I'm sorry this is happening. But there's a small chance he's doing this for us, if you need to cling to that idea until proven otherwise, do it. Me and Indra will make the call, I would never place that on your shoulders, okay?"

Silence greeted her in response.

She scrubbed a hand over her face. "I just don't understand. Why? He didn't make a move when I was weak and barely alive, not when he could have turned everyone against me–I want to believe that we're missing pieces. We need to investigate this the furthest we can." Flicking her finger across the screen of her device, Akio inspected Bolivar's profile.

Indra and Eris had saved him from certain death. He owed them. There was no way he would betray his savior nor his girlfriend.

Akio clenched her jaw. That wasn't true. Family hurt family all the time. She had killed multiple loved ones upon request from a parent, sibling, grandparent. The world was a cruel place. How naive she had been to believe that this cruelty wouldn't extend beyond the Commander's and their associates.

Nobody's innocent. Not me, not Indra, not Hawke, not Bolivar. The only question is what side those they have chosen to wrong are on.'

"What about Eris?" Akio asked, scrolling through her friend's profile. "We haven't heard from her in a long time. What if something happened to her?"

"Don't forget she is still a Lizz royal. As much as I love Eris, her loyalties have always come into question." Hawke frowned, placing his hands folded on the desk. "You almost died. Bolivar is my cousin, sure, but even I admit this isn't unbelievable. By having a weapon take charge, even if he wasn't vocal, I knew he felt betrayed by–" He swallowed, clearing his throat. "Haim. A lot of the vigilantes did. It hurts to be thrust into the hands of a stranger, a weapon, by the Gebul who was like a father to us."

Akio's oi'ek drooped, pulsing a deep blue. "Do they still feel that way? I didn't ask for this."

If I resign and give this position to someone else, would that end the betrayal? In Indra's hands we would be at war, in Hawke's, if they found out the truth about him, they'd kill him.

Massaging her temples, Akio stared blankly across the room. Every choice came with objective consequences. The question was, which consequence caused the least damage? How much was she willing to lose to attain peace?

"Do you condemn these people to death without allowing them a chance to fight?"

Indra's words taunted her, swirling in her thoughts like a parasite slowly taking over. Each night Akio sat down trying to come up with a peaceful solution. There'd be rescue missions, peace offerings, and attacks on only those in the wrong. Rolling out the top desk drawer, she crossed out two names. Twenty - five, now twenty - seven. Twenty - seven had died since she took over as leader.

Hawke's golden - brown eyes flicked between the drawer to Akio's face, he knew what it contained. "There's always going to be losses. Especially if we aren't allowed to kill those opposing us." His face darkened, as if a shadow had fallen across the room. "I've always stood by you in your decisions, but I'm with Indra on this one. It's impossible to fight against unbeatable odds if we can't spill blood."

Squaring her shoulders, Akio let out a long breath. "You'd have the children of those guards orphaned? What about the families they have to support? They'd all be homeless and–"

"They'd be supported!" Hawke cried, slamming his hands on the desk and standing up. "No one abandons a starshitted Lizz. They are privileged here. They are placed above everyone. The Gebul's, humans, Harken's, Se'li, everyone."

Akio pulled her lips into a thin line. This was the first time she'd seen Hawke react so passionately in opposition. "I don't want them all to die. No one deserves to be murdered."

Except Jacque and the Commander.

Blinking, Hawke looked between his hands and Akio. Confusion wafted from his gaze. "S-sorry." He sat back down in the chair. "Some of the vigilantes don't like you, though not as many as before, especially after the last mission." Hawke smiled wryly. "It was a stupid stunt to go back for the missing members, but it was a heroic one, even without success. The more you piss off Indra the more they will admire you."

What the starshit? Why was he acting as if the conversation they just had never happened? Akio closed the drawer slowly. That was weird as fuck, but she'd play along, for now. She snorted. "So you're saying it's my dating life or my followers?"

It was as if for a moment, Hawke was someone else. Akio made a note in her holopad about the behavior. This wasn't the first time she noticed it, simply the most extreme. There were ten other instances in the last year, spaced out at first, and the last five within the last few weeks. Whatever was going on with Hawke, it wasn't improving. However, now wasn't the time to bother him about it. His cousin was a traitor, vigilantes just died and well—everything was going to starshit. Maybe that's why he was on edge.

"Who says you can't have both?" Hawke asked, laying back in the chair and staring at the ceiling. "But, we all die eventually. Don't waste your time focusing on pleasing everyone who wants to gut you in your sleep." He closed his eyes, displaying a deep set weariness accentuated by the dark bags. "Despite her outbursts, Indra cares about you, a lot. You're all she ever rants about at lunch."

Akio raised a brow. "Rants?"

Hawke sunk further into the chair. "I meant what I said. Please be nicer to your girlfriend so she stops complaining to me."

Akio shifted in her seat, attempting to hide the golden unease swirling in her oi'ek. The complete shift around in his behavior was unsettling. She needed to talk to Indra, she knew more about Hawke, they were like siblings.

"I'll try, gotta make up to her for some things. Especially today's disaster," Akio stated, fiddling with the small box Indra had given her. She had no idea what was inside, in fact she feared discovering it with Indra's parting words.

Remember Saso.

That place–What happened belonged in a locked chest, bound in chains, buried at the bottom of a never ending pit. Akio didn't want to remember. She wished she could forget all of it. Jacque's laughter started to echo in the corners of the room. Burning agony ripping through her flesh in remembrance. Her entrails were strung around her neck– Something tapped her arm. She threw a hard punch, connecting with nothing but air.

"Did you hear anything I said?" Hawke asked.

Akio coughed, composing herself. "No, sorry. Could you repeat it?"

"Indra likes flowers and tea. Go get some very strong scented ones and she might forgive you within the next turn. Make it weekly gift and your chances increase by fifty percent," Hawke said with a bright smile.

It was nice having him appear more as himself, but it didn't erase the darkness that lurked in the depths of his pupils. Something was changing deep inside her friend. Something sinister. It was the same darkness that wafted from the Commander. Akio turned away, breaking the connection. Whatever this was, she couldn't handle it right now. She'd question Hawke tomorrow morning.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you, Hawke. Now as for the mole–"

A loud, screeching noise rung in Akio's ear. She cried out trying to remove the ear piece, unable to grip it properly with the loss of focus. Static took place of the screeching.

"We know that Six is being harbored somewhere on your planet."

It couldn't be.

"You've been given over a turn to locate and eliminate the weapon."

It was.

"Your time is up."

The transmission cut out.

Akio and Hawke stared at each other. It didn't take a Se'li to feel the unintelligible fear taking root. "That was–"

Hawke swallowed, sweat visually gathering on his brow. "The Commander."