Things were getting worse.

There were rumors floating around that captured Enhanced that were deemed without use were being gunned down by the dozens in facilities and two more of the Elites plants had mysteriously vanished.

There was a station on the radio run by an Enhanced. He often spoke brightly, and tried to supplement some good news with the bad. Nobody knew who he was. This was his first broadcast in weeks and he sounded tired.

"It's not just rumors," he said. "I saw some of those bodies myself. They're burn-"

Eli reached over and switched off the radio, mouth set in a tight line.

Klaus tried turning it back on, but Eli slapped his hand away like a wronged cat. He scowled and turned to Aria, hoping she'd try. She just stared at the radio with troubled eyes.

"No," Alex said before Klaus could speak. "Don't even think about whatever the hell you're about to say."

Klaus deflated like a popped balloon. "I was just going to ask if the Elites have anything to corroborate that."

No answer. That was as good as confirmation and they all knew it.

Aria got up. "Klaus, let's spar."

He nodded.

Noticing Aria's restlessness a few days ago, Klaus offered to spar. He used to be in an after-school martial arts class, back when the world was a little kinder. He remembered she was enrolled for a few years before she was withdrawn by her parents with little warning, just a few months before she vanished entirely.

Although she was rusty, Aria took to it like a duck to water, most forms coming to her quickly and elegantly. When she made a mistake, she worked until it seemed as natural to her as breathing.

Once they were out at their usual spot, Klaus said, "You're thinking about it again, aren't you? Breaking in for proof?"

Aria's hands were clasped behind her back, polite smile unwavering. "And if I am?"

"I'll help."

There was little talking about it after. Probably a good thing since Eli came out to watch them after a while. Klaus knew they were hitting the thirty-minute mark when Aria began to lose patience with him. Her complaints always began around the same time.

"You're still holding back."

"I don't want to risk hurting you," he told her, like he did every day about this very same complaint.

As always, the excuse made her narrow her eyes. Eli stood up and pushed Klaus aside to take his place, motioning for Aria to begin.

Aria brightened immediately.

It wasn't a long fight by any means, but Aria lasted far longer than Klaus expected. She was quick and graceful where Eli was strong. Eli gave her what she wanted, fighting her without reservations. Aria dodged strikes like she was dancing and returned them with impressive speed, but Eli's experience won in the end.

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.

"Why did Aria just thank me for something I didn't do?"

Eli shrugged. "No idea."

"Should I ask her why?"

"I think you should start washing dishes after using them. This isn't even my week to do them."

"You're the worst."

That had been the end of that, but Aria was none the wiser about it so he shrugged.

✗

Sneaking into the facility wasn't as difficult as Klaus feared. Things were going according to plan. Klaus would have commented on it if he wasn't so afraid to jinx it.

Up in the air vents, they were privy to conversations that would have otherwise been unheard. Klaus froze at the mention of a particular name.

Aria tugged at his pant leg, as if to ask what was wrong. He tapped his ear and shook his head. She stayed put, straining her ears with him to listen.

"-rumors about Knox," a guard was saying. "Sounds like bullshit."

"If that pain in the ass is involved with Hunters, I'll eat my left boot."

"Sal said-"

"Sal's a dumbass. Why would you listen to Sal?"

"He says he saw it himself!"

"Yeah, yeah, and my mother's in the Elites."

Their voices got further and further away. Klaus held his breath until they were gone entirely.

"Knox?" Aria whispered.

"He's in charge of the Elites."

"That explains it then, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean if he's colluding with Hunters, who's to say he doesn't have anything to do with your moles getting caught whenever they tried exposing what was going on in the facilities?"

"But that's completely different."

"Is it? Wouldn't he lose income? How would all the Elites be funded if it gets harder for Hunters to do their job? Eli said sacrifices have to be made. What if this is another one?"

There wasn't any proof, but a stone settled in the pit of his stomach.

They moved on, recording as much as possible. The labs were the worst places. Organs were being harvested from corpses and those who were alive were experimented on. Some were drugged, others weren't.

Klaus wanted to be sick. It was never this bad where he was kept. He knew, he knew it was worse for those who were born Enhanced, but he'd never seen it. Part of him wished he'd never had.

Aria's knuckles were white, fingers clenched around her camera.

The cells on the bottom floor were all filled to capacity. The Enhanced lived in misery, beaten into submission and dressed in thin, dirty clothes. The air wasn't sterile like it was everywhere else. Instead, it reeked of death.

Two guards were dragging a woman up toward the labs. She shrieked and thrashed, while a young boy in a cell sobbed quietly at the sight.

Aria moved to to kick her way down.

Klaus hardly managed to stop her in time.

Aria glared something fierce, violence in her eyes. "We can break them out. I can get it to stop. I can make them."

"We wouldn't make it out without tons of them dying. You can't control every guard."

"But-"

"Aria," Klaus pleaded, "if we did somehow manage to get everyone out, we would have no way of hiding all of them. Plenty of them probably need medical treatment and we can't promise them that. And a breakout like this would scare the public."

"Not if they see what's happening!"

"We don't know that for sure. If we do this, it might just make things worse and undo any good the videos do."

Aria looked down through the vent with her brows drawn together. "They're hurting them."

"We need to get this out and then we can figure something out." Klaus gave her a little pull and she didn't fight this time. "We have enough. We need to go."

Aria didn't fight him, but she didn't speak the rest of the way.

✗

Klaus himself couldn't find it in him to say anything about it until they were back at the cabin a day later. "I didn't think they kept kids in there," he confessed.

"I've seen kids," Aria said, taking off her boots. There were bags under her eyes - she didn't sleep at all in the car or when they stopped for the night. "They're not always as harsh on them. Easier to brainwash, but too easy to kill by accident."

"Did they hurt them?"

"You should rest," Aria said tiredly.

Klaus agreed. He held off the urge to vomit until he was behind closed doors and in front of a toilet. Then he took a shower to wash off his guilt and didn't come out until Alex banged on the door because he needed to pee.

Klaus emerged in a daze and Alex frowned when his arm brushed against him. He grabbed his wrist.

"Are you okay?"

"Don't you have to piss?"

Alex let go with a shrug and shut the door behind him, but not before fixing Klaus with one of his concerned looks.

The cabin was otherwise empty and Klaus couldn't bear being alone with his thoughts, so he went out hoping to find Aria. She was humming, tending to her plants like nothing was wrong.

Eli sat on her usual spot on the porch with a glass of lemonade, watching Aria with parted lips and a strange look in her eye.

Klaus might've found it fun to tease her if he wasn't so worn down. He joined Eli, quiet, and stared at the woods like he might be able to become one with the trees if he tried hard enough. It must've been a peaceful existence.

Eli stood abruptly and moved closer to Aria.

Aria looked up, bemused.

Eli cleared her throat. "Why are you doing this?"

"They're useful," Aria said to her. "Not as good as actual medicine would be, but better than nothing in a bind." She gestured to one plant in particular. "Like that one. It's good for drawing out infection, but it's not as good as a real antibiotic."

Klaus frowned. Did Aria expect them to run out of medicine or lose access to it? He went over to hear better.

Eli listened attentively as Aria explained more about her herbs, going as far as to join her in the muck to help harvest them. She bore Aria's gentle teasing without giving her the evil eye or telling her to shut up. Instead, she basked in the attention like she was one of Aria's beloved plants taking in sunlight.

"Ew," Klaus muttered, when Eli blinked at Aria after being subjected to a sweet smile.

Eli elbowed him so hard that he fell into the mud. "You look tired," she told him loudly. "You should go inside and nap or something if you can't stay upright."

Aria peered around her to look at Klaus, worried even though she had to be as tired as he was. "She's right, you know. This isn't something I have to do. Two pairs of hands is more than enough. Or at least sit down properly."

Klaus shook his head. "There's something I have to do."

Understanding crossed Aria's face. "Now?"

"Now."

There was no way he'd be able to rest until that footage was out in the world, Klaus thought.

Turned out, Klaus wasn't able to rest after that either. Days later, it was like he was losing his mind. They were denying it. Calling the footage doctored propaganda. The government gave media outlets a tour of some facility that looked nothing like the hell he'd seen a week ago.

Aria laughed in a way that was bordering maniacal.

Eli turned it off the TV, glancing back at Aria who was in stitches with something like concern. She exchanged a meaningful look with Alex who was watching Klaus just as carefully.

"That's nothing like what those places are like," Klaus said, surprised to hear his own voice break. "Everyone knows the footage is real. They don't care."

Alex squeezed his shoulder.

Klaus lifted his head, eyes stinging. "Why don't they care?"

"I don't know."