The Enhanced

Chapter 15

Aria tumbled back against a tree after an unbalanced parry, an arm pressed to her throat. "You won," Aria said, like she was delighted to lose.

Amusement flickered across Eli's face. "I noticed."

"I want to try again."

Klaus cleared his throat, strangely uncomfortable, like he had witnessed something he shouldn't have instead of a sparring match.

"Later," Eli promised. "I need to head out."

Eli turned to Kluas before she went to clean herself up, wiping the sweat off her brow. "She's good. Stop holding back with her. You're wasting her time."

"I don't want to hurt her."

Eli answered with a withering look. "You should be more concerned about her hurting you."

Turned out, Eli wasn't wrong.

God, Klaus had been arrogant. He didn't realize it until he was flat on his back in record time and drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.

Aria peered at him in concern. It wasn't the first time she won, but it was the first spar he hadn't held back. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"I think you killed me."

"I'm too tired to bury you."

"I see. Are you also too tired to plan our break-in with me?"

✗

It took Klaus a few days to find out the location of a few facilities. The information wasn't easy to get. He didn't have the same sort of access as Eli or Alex, and it wasn't like either of them would be willing to help with the endeavor.

Aria stiffened at the mention of one of the places.

"That's where you were, wasn't it?"

"If they never figured out how I got out, it's possible we can get in the same way," she said.

"We won't go to that one. I've heard they have the most security." Klaus pointed to the facility that was more up north. "This one should be easier. It has fewer guards and there's too much ground for them to cover."

"What else do you know about security?"

Klaus pulled out photos he'd snuck from headquarters and told her everything the Elites knew from their moles and Aria began to sketch out what looked like the beginnings of a blueprint based on that. She asked precise questions he didn't always have answers to and a determined look by the time he was done.

"Doable?"

"It's risky," she admitted, but there was a determined look in her eye. "But it's not impossible. Or even difficult, really. I'm surprised nobody's done this already."

They came up with a plan and emergency contingencies, but they decided to do it in a few days when Eli would be out of town and Alex was otherwise occupied. Klaus never explicitly mentioned why he wanted to wait until then, but Aria didn't ask, so it seemed like she already knew.

"They're going to kill us after," Klaus said one evening.

Aria grinned. "Just you! They don't care enough about me for that."

Klaus wasn't too sure about that. Alex doted on her like a little sister. Eli was harder to read, but she didn't seem to actively dislike her. Although Eli denied it, Eli quietly indulged Aria's whims. One day, mere hours after Aria told him wistfully about her family's old garden, Klaus noticed the appearance of several new plants. Aria thanked Klaus for the plants and he accepted, but raised a brow at Eli who was suddenly terribly busy with the dishes.