We could tell which one was the main computer right off the bat, mainly because it was the biggest computer in the room. But also because it had a plaque on it that read main computer files system.

"You got the codes?" Skye asked as we walked over to it.

I pulled out a flash drive and showed it to her confidently "Yes, I do."

I plugged it into the computer and typed in a few cryptograms when needed. The Techikenetics had whipped up this major virus months ago for our first operation and it hadn't failed us yet.

Finally the words 'Virus initializing' slid across the screen. I smirked, sliding the flash drive back into my pocket. "Let's go guys."

As we walked to the door, I stopped in my tracks suddenly. The sound of shoes on the tile floor floated into my ear.

Someone was coming.

I motioned toward the closet door behind us and Sky dashed over to it. She jiggled the door knob a bit only to find that it was locked.

And whoever was coming was getting closer.

I frantically looked around, desperately searching for a place to hide. But there was nothing.

The door knob started turning and with a burst of adrenalin, I leapt towards the group and turned us invisible. As the door opened, my heart began to pound in my chest.

Suddenly, a familiar petite form rushed into the room. Their long brown braid swished behind them as they walked and their upturned amber eyes shone bright with worry.

My mother.

She began to feverishly type away at the main computer, silently cursing whenever it would buzz, not allowing her to get inside as it continued to delete some no doubt vital files.

She was so close. She was so very close. All I had to do was reach out to her, brush her hand, and hold her close like we used to do when I was younger. She would run her fingers through my hair and gently kiss the top of my head and everything would be fine. It would all be okay.

My face must've shown what I was thinking, because Evanora grabbed my hand in her own and shot me a comforting smile. A smile that woke me up.

I couldn't touch her. All those thoughts that had just raced through my head, they were all some fantasy. This was a mission. A mission that I had to complete.

No matter what.

Suddenly, another doctor rushed into the room. "Mira? What the hell are you doing up here?! We have to leave!"

My mother looked up at the woman. "But...but the files-"

"Forget them! The second floor is on fire! If we don't leave now, we'll be trapped!"

Mom looked between the doctor and the computer before sighing and following the doctor out of the door, the sound of their steps fading down the halls.

I felt a sharp pain in my head as I allowed us to become visible again. I was over exerting my powers. And I had to be careful.

"We can't climb down the building if the second floor is on fire. We'll have to take the stairs." I said, already on my way out of the door.

The halls were barren as we ran towards the emergency stairway. Hopefully, everyone had already made it out by now. I took up the front as we clomped down the stairs loudly, not even bothering to be quiet anymore.

"Was that you're mother?" Evanora asked me quietly as she caught up. I stiffened a bit before I nodded slowly.

"That was her." I muttered. Evanora pressed her lips in a thin line, fiddling with her star necklace as she let it all sink in.

"Please, Tamila, wake up!" An anguished voice cried out. We froze for a moment before we rushed down the stairs and stopped in our tracks.

There on the stair level of the second floor, buried beneath fallen parts of the ceiling, lay my mother and the woman from before, but by the looks of it, only one of them was alive.

My mom coughed and tried to shove off the debris, but cried out in pain. She was stuck.

Skye summoned a cloud of smoke to mask us and we backed up.

"Holy shit, what do we do?" Victor whisper-yelled. "They're literally blocking the path!

"Circe, can't you turn us invisible again? Then we can creep around them like that."

I shook my head at Alex's suggestion. "I only have a bit of power left. I can feel it. I need to ration it."

"Damn. We're really going to die in here, huh?" Skye asked, shaking her head.

"We are NOT going to die in here. We just have to think." Victor replied.

Evanora made her way beside me. "Circe. That's your mother right there." She whispered. "You can't just leave her to die."

She was right. Bad guy or no bad guy, this woman took me in and gave me a home when my birth mother had given me up. She'd fed me and clothed me, and had made me smile when no one else could. Despite the bad choices she'd made that led her to this moment, I couldn't stand around and let her die like this.

"We have to save her." I said suddenly.

All eyes turned to me. "I'm sorry, we have to what?" Alex asked.

"We have to get her out of here. It's the only way we're going to get past." I repeated.

"Circe," Skye began, "Are you out of your-"

"We're helping this woman." Evanora said forcefully. "Or else we're all dying."

Skye seemed to understand this, then and quickly got quiet.

"No more complaints." Evanora's eyes narrowed at the boys, challenging them to say something before she turned to me. "Lead the way."

I nodded at Skye and she called back the cloud of smoke. "Evie," I began. "Get that wreckage off of her."

Evanora extended her hand out and instantly the rubble that my mother was buried beneath lifted into the air, long enough for Alex and I to pull her to her feet and help her stand.

"Can you walk?" I asked.

She turned to me and her eyes widened. I saw something flash within them. Some sort of clouded feeling. "C-Circe?" She gasped.

"Can you walk?!" I repeated, ignoring her previous comment.

She violently shook her head. "I um...I think it's just sprained, though."

I nodded. "Vic!" I called behind me."Come help her. I have to go up ahead and make sure everything is clear." Victor instantly took my place under my mother's arm. I motioned for both Evanora and Skye to follow me and I ran down the stairs, my finger twitching every few seconds.

There was nothing.

"Let's go." I yelled up towards the boys. Finally, we were in the lobby. Through the glass double doors up that lead outside, I could see fire trucks, policeman, and worried citizens alike beginning to crowd around.

I turned to my mother. "Listen to me," I began, making sure that I sounded serious, "You can't tell anyone we were here. If you do, we're going to get killed. If anyone asks how you got out, say that your friend, the one who died, gave her life to save yours. Understand?"

My mother nodded, her eyes wide in both fear and shock.

I motioned for everyone to head out and was about to follow behind them when I felt a hand grab my wrist.

I turned around and saw tears welling up in my mother's eyes. Without warning, she pulled me close, standing up on her tiptoes, to envelop me fully. "I'm so sorry." She said softly. "Circe, I'm so so sorry."

I felt her tears wet my shoulder and I suddenly relaxed. This was still my mother. This was still MY mother.

I hugged her back, closing my eyes so that the wetness that welled up within them wouldn't spill out.

"I have to go." I said, letting go suddenly.

My mother nodded, rubbing her arms up and down.

I took a deep breath. Three words were on the tip of my tongue. Three dangerous words that I didn't dare say.

So I just remained silentand ran off to go towards the back employee entrance.