Kneeling at the edge of the gaping hole on the floor, I peeked​ inside to get a glimpse of the basement I never knew existed in my very house. "What the...?"

"Uh-uh," Neon tapped on my shoulder, "don't breathe the stale air. Termites, too much Naphthalene." His gloved finger pointed at the nibbled wooden flooring.

"Okay!" I suddenly pinched my nose, and stepped away. How did he know about such a trivial fact? Before I could fathom any more of it, he handed me a hand-kerchief to cover my face. "Thank you." My voice was animatedly nasal.

"No problem." Saying that he jumped into the basement, "c'mon pumpkin, you don't want to stay there alone."

"Don't you dare call me silly names again," I breathlessly warned him, figuring out a way to properly get down into the pit. Left leg first or the right? By that time he yanked my leg down and caught me by my waist.

"You need a lot of practice!"

"Yeah, I do." I don't know why did I even agree with him.

He turned around chuckling and grinning his teeth off, "at least you agree with one thing. Now, search. Keep your eyes open, it could be anything, it could be anywhere."

"Mm-hmm," I nodded and started going through stuffs. On a dusty table in the corner lay our family picture, I still remembered the way I goofily photo-bombed my parents' anniversary photoshoot. Mom's smile...I rubbed away the dust with my thumb, without my knowledge a solitary tear drop splattered on the glass case of the picture.

"You have her eyes," Neon glanced over his shoulder, "ugh! such a staring look."

"Staring?" I scoffed.

"I mean, your eyes always look this wide and scary, they almost appear as if they're​ about to pop out of your face." He looped his fingers around his eyes, bobbing his head goofily.

"Are you for real?"

"Alright, I'm sorry. Your face resembles your mom's. Is that okay?"

"Thank you." I put back the photo frame on the table angrily. Then I went over to the work desk and ran through all the files and journals, but none of them was what we were looking for. The same disappointment was with Neon. "Maybe​ we are searching the wrong way. How about the computer files?"

"Do you think your dad would leave something so precious openly accessible like that? Anybody could've hacked it by now." Neon pouted his lips and crossed his arms.

"At least we should try."

"Okay," he nodded and went over to our old computer system that my dad always said he donated it to the needy ones. "Password?"

"Let it start first," I leaned beside him tapping my foot impatiently.
An outdated windows-8™ mark slowly took shape on the screen and then the dreaded hourglass appeared, now we both knew it was going to take an eternity to start.

Well, it did take a good amount of time if not eternity. "Password?"

I was trying to remember the old password I had memorised when I was in fifth grade, but I couldn't remember it at that particular moment. "Gimme a sec. Try 'weheartlee." I wasn't​ being silly, it's how my parents always made sure I knew that they cared for me.

"Seriously?" He raised an eyebrow.

"C'mon try it. It's​ midnight, my aunt will kill me if she finds out I am roaming around with a guy in green spandex. Type H-e-a-r-t."

"Okay." He clicked some buttons on the keyboard and voila! The computer restarted.
"Lots of unnamed files," he scrolled the mouse and tens of yellow coloured files ran up in line.

"Yep. Thats typical of my dad. He was too disorganised according to my mom's standards."

"I see, that's why you're​ a control freak, like your mom?"

I blinked in shock. What was his problem? From the get go he had been an ass to me. I refused to have a retarded conversation with him and stayed quite.

"Give me another punchline or something. This is so unlike you, it makes me uncomfortable." His smile didn't go unnoticed from his reflection on the screen.

"I'll take that as a compliment. And about my mom, yeah she might have been a savage- emotionally challenged lawyer. But she was the best mom. You know, I never lived up to her expectations, but it is her voice in my head that keeps me pushing and be a better version of myself everyday."

"Hha! Got it." His abrupt cheer left me confused. Then I focused on the screen and realised he didn't even listen to what I spoke so far and that was such a relief.

Another hour-glass mark appeared on the screen, "c'mon c'mon." Neon grew more restless as it blinked.

There was a clunking sound, followed by foot-steps that caught our attention. "Did you hear that?"

"Wait here," he got up from the dilapidated chair, "when the file loads, transfer that into this drive." He pulled out the tiniest USB-drive I had ever seen from his pocket. I didn't even know his skin tight suit had a pocket as well, god knew what all bizarre stuffs were inside that suit, after all it was made by Nova-Gen.

"No matter what, do not come out." He whispered pressing the drive into my hand. "Do you understand me?"

"Yep." I nodded a little too briskly and swallowed.

He paused for a while staring at me. "Right." He said and looked up and took off slowly towards the gaping hole.

Right about the time the file opened. I scrolled down using the mouse, there were several named files inside the unnamed one. Names like - elasto-man, black-ninja, hell-fire, vape-god made me relax a bit.
Overrated supers! I thought. The last file named Nova-Gen left me subtly stunned. I inserted the drive into the port and waited for the transfer to get completed.

Meanwhile, I found myself irresistibly eavesdropping at the muffled conversation between Neon and I didn't know who. "We made a pact, Neon!" The other one said, "and you ruined it. You said you didn't know about the file, and now all of a sudden...all this for just a girl?"

All for just a girl? What did that mean? And who was that?

"No...listen Hawk, I was just about to bring that file to you. I've been trying to get to know her better just so that I can figure out where that file was."

So that was White-hawk, expectedly. But, what the eff was the other half? He used me...he used me! Yet again. Why did I trust him?

The change of color on the screen reminded me that the file transfer was complete. I retrieved it and came into the light, much against what that traitor had told me. I hated my naivete at that moment, I wanted to go slap his face and tell that I loathed him like always.

But something stopped me, I found my breathing disarrayed, tears blurring my eyes after hearing that.
"But I think it's more than that now." Neon's voice was barely more than audible. "You..." He abruptly stopped after double checking on me.
"I told you to stay inside!"

"I hope you are getting to know me better, Neon?" His eyes blinked as he caught my sarcasm. "Welcome to my home-sweet-home, White-hawk. And can I get an autograph please?"

Neon's eyes traced his very own handkerchief as I waved it towards Hawk. White-hawk hesitated a little, but then came over and did a huge favour by lifting me off the basement to the floor. Neon groaned, "dude, you're ruining it."

"Am I?" Hawk playfully mocked and signed his name on Neon's handkerchief with a huge heart above it. I could feel jealousy seething out of Neon's eyes.

"Let's call it even then," Neon stared at me while talking to Hawk and sighed. "She has the file and...my pen-drive."

"Lee," Hawk held his hand out, "give it to me. You can trust us, it's safe with us."

"No!" I grunted. "Not unless you tell me everything. What are you up to, Neon?"

Neon rolled his eyes in response, "are you dumb? Yeah, that you are. You heard him. Now, give me my damn drive back."

"Whiny little drama queens in crotch tight spandex suits." I teased and pouted my lips playing with his pen-drive.

You should've seen their reactions, an irresistible laughter made its way but I swallowed it immediately with an almost straight face when both their heads looked down simultaneously to check on their pants. Then they exchanged a look with each other. It was fun faux-protesting and crushing their self-esteem, it's not like I get to play a villainess everyday.

Hawk cleared his throat and walked up to me, "you see, my father's life depends on it. So please."

I peeked aside to check on Neon to see if he had anything else to say, but he hung his head low and leaned back to the wall like a tired kid in detention.

"Only on one condition," I replied, "you guys are going to tell me everything about this 'conspiracy'."