Makeda was usually more conspicuous. But with the situation she was currently skirting around,the mission should be easier now. That is,if the other two team members pull their weight.

            Casually walking down the busy street away from the crowd surrounding a popular store,she tilted her head up to fit in with the rest of high-brow business figures strutting the cobblestone path like it was the red carpet. Peacocks. They were the reason she planned this whole heist-their corrupt,smug,spoiled little selves were causing the rest of the people problems. If they weren’t put in their place soon,the common people would have no escape from the threat of poverty.

Her bottle green eyes,hidden by the large,gaudy sunglasses perched on her nose,darted through the mass of moving people. She raised her hand to the earpiece in her ear,making it appear as if she was simply pushing hair behind her ear. “Milo. Arther. Status.”

Static buzzed for a split second,making her slightly wince and walk slightly faster. Milo’s brisk,fast-paced voice cut through the static.

“All clear here boss,” He reported. Makeda casually glanced at the building he was in,watching their target. 

“Understood. Arthur,status.” Silence. She instantly felt the pin prick of panic-the last,annoying thing tying her to the old her-before she was forced into the life of a vigilante leader. 

“Arther. Status,now.” Still,silence. And then-

“I want to talk to your leader.” 

The voice didn’t belong to the more nervous Arther-it was low,rough,and much older.

As quickly as she could without looking out of place,Makeda pulled her phone out,pressing a button to warn Milo of the danger and abort the mission. “You are talking to her. What do you want?”

“Straight to the point-just like your mother,” The voice chuckled,before Makeda heard a slight tap noise. “You're now connected to my phone’s speaker.”

“Answer my question.” Makeda leaned up against a wall,watching the building where,by now,she would’ve snuck into and stolen from. Hopefully nothing else went wrong and Milo walks out that door.

Arther’s voice stammered into her comm. “Boss,the target is a fake-these guys already have it.” 

Makeda wrinkled her nose slightly. Smart-the rival was clearly well off enough to manage to make a fake version of the Emeraoh Diamond. When could they have done it though? She and her gang had been watching it 24/7 leading up to this point. There was no way they could’ve snuck it past.

The mystery person spoke again. “Meet us at the shipping docks at 1-we have a lot to talk about. We’ll send your friend out.” The line went dead with a short click. 

She looked down as Milo came out of the building,confusion just barely masking his face as she nodded her head,beginning to lead him to the rendezvous point. The rival wasn’t wrong-she had alot to talk about.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------

12:55. Makeda huffed,rubbing her arms for warmth as she traversed the shipyard. Her winter coat had served her for 4 winters,and now it was giving out,in the cold of the spring night.

Arther had met them at the rendezvous point,slightly shaken,but unharmed. He claimed that two men-both clad in dark clothes that would only barely fit in  the business area they were in-were waiting for him on his rooftop surveillance point. They fought a little bit,but after a while they insisted they meant no harm and only wanted to speak to Makeda.

She sighed-she could only imagine who they were working for. Detective Serdaiv,Maige Ogkaf…either of them would probably want to have her work for them. She rolled her eyes as she entered the maze of shipping containers. 

Arther informed her that they wanted to meet her by a container numbered 516,before shrinking into himself and asking if he was off the team. Poor Arther…even before the rich populus took everything from him,he was a nervous wreck. He was getting better,but she knew it would be a long time before he got much confidence.

Makeda glanced up at the containers she was passing. 512,513,514,515,516. This was it.

She looked around,staring into the shadows for this person. No one. It probably was just a trick-maybe to postpone anymore attacks on the companies. But the man had mentioned her mother-maybe it was someone she couldn’t remember? Her amnesia did make that a likely answer. If he didn’t prove he was useful,she could question him on that.

A shiver ran down her back as she darted behind a corner. Footsteps. Very heavy…definitely male…probably wearing boots of some kind. THere was another pair-slightly lighter,and quieter,probably wearing normal shoes,but also male. She waited until they stopped,right where she was before.

“Are you sure that she’ll even come? You saw how she acted,maybe she doesn’t even want to remember.” One of the men said-not the one that she spoke to before,but he still had a rumbly voice,slightly higher and southern sounding. He sounded skeptical,like he didn’t think his friend’s plan would work,and that she’d pull a wardog move and ignore their call.

“Hey,she’s been gone for 8 months,okay?! We thought we lost her,again! We’ve only had her two years before that mission,don’t you remember that? Two years for her to recover and live with her family,before W.E.N.D.I.G.O had to come up and ruin things again.” The man was pacing,the small gap between the containers forcing him to take only 10 steps in either direction. “It hurt her parents to lose her the first time,and the second time nearly broke us-them! She was our kid,Sam. And now…” The man sighed heavily,forcing Makeda’s heart to twinge in sympathy and something else she couldn’t really identify yet. He sounded so…tired. Like he was so close and so far from something he really wanted to find.

Well,obviously,her mind snarked. He literally just said he wanted to find the kid again! W.E.N.D.I.G.O,though…she ticked through her mental library of what they could be referring to. 

The wendigo was an old mythological version of a cannibal,who came out usually in the winter and acted like a normal human,but really ate people. She gagged slightly as the image of the wendigo came into her mind-eugh,she hated that one.

“Hey,” Sam replied. “She’s my niece too,I want to find her as much as you do. But you know as well as I do that,as far along as she looked like she remembers-attacking the W.E.N.D.I.G.O headquarters with her own little mini team,leading them…she may not think it’s smart that she should take orders from people that she doesn't know.”

The memories hit her almost like a book falling on top of her head-she knew these people. She was so stupid,it was her they were talking about the whole time! She could remember hearing their voices before,teasing and taunting each other…

Makeda sat on the couch,huddled into the armrest as her eyes darted along the text. Outside,the sun was just beginning to set,lighting the sky on fire with blazes of orange and red color.

Slowly,she could hear men’s voices coming closer. She mentally rolled her eyes as it became more and more apparent who it was.

“I’m just saying,Diego,Star Wars is the better fandom than your dorky Harry Potter.” Uncle Sam’s joking voice rang out into the living room as he vaulted himself over the back of the couch,landing on the cushions and accidently whacking Makeda. “Oh! Sorry kid,didn’t see you there.” 

Makeda sighed,smirking. “It’s fine-just don’t impersonate a human pool noodle next to me,please.” Her smirk grew amongst the mock-aghast face of her uncle beside her,and Uncle Diego’s barks of laughter behind her.

“Oh,that’s how you wanna go,huh?” He huffed,tugging her over to him,before tickling her slightly. 

Makeda giggled,anticipation making her scrunch up herself. “Dohohon’t you dahare!”

“Hmmm,you suuuure?” Sam grinned as he squirmed his fingers in her armpits,making her laugh louder and begin squirming herself.

“Yehehehehhes!!” Makeda squealed,relaxing as her uncle let her go,chuckling himself as she struggled to catch her breath. 

“Aww,I wanted to see her get tickled!” Diego teased,walking around the side of the couch to steal Makeda’s old spot. Makeda glared playfully at him as she heaved herself up. Diego slung an arm around her,grinning as she huddled as far as she could from Sam.

Mockingly pouting,she stuck her tongue out. “No.”

Shrugging,Sam poked her side as he reached for the tv remote. She jumped with a yelp,eyes widening as her uncles laughed. Soon,she was laughing along,relaxing once again to watch the movie.

These men-they were looking for her! She still DID have family! Makeda let her excitement grow for a split second,before composing herself. She should wait-get to know them for a few days before informing them that she was beginning to remember them.

Who knows? Maybe they could team up against the supposed W.E.N.D.I.G.O that she had been fighting this whole time.

She took a deep breath,straightening herself up,and stepped around the corner to face the men.