Jake's P.O.V.

I stared at Ava, not understanding. She's the fifth agent? What does that mean? Something clawed it's way up from the back of my mind, but before it could reach it's destination, Tom spoke. 

"Okay? I mean, she calls herself Agent 5, but I don't see how you would know about that." Tom narrowed his eyes at them accusingly. 

Michael shifted on his boot clad feet. For the first time, I realized that they were wearing suits that were similar to our own, with the black, leather-like material with pockets on the thighs and chest. "Well... it's because we are like her."

My eyebrows inched towards each other, and I looked at Max. "We figured that out, but I don't understand how you tie in with her." 

Ava sighed, and reached into a pocket. I immediately tensed up, and pointed my gun at her chest. She froze, and Michael lunged in front of her, directing the aim of his gun at my own chest. Everything slowed down to a stop as we stared at each other, daring one another to make the first move. 

Ava slowly put her hands out in front of herself. "Whoa, guys, I was just getting a piece of paper from my pocket, I swear." 

I narrowed my eyes at her, then gestured at Tom with my head. He stood there, staring blankly at me. I rolled my eyes. "You're currently the only one who doesn't have a gun out. Go get the letter from her pocket."

His tan face blanched, and I swear his golden-brown wavy hair became limp. "You-I-...what?"

I glared at him. "You heard me, askhole." I switched my gaze to Michael's, who was, it seemed, looking intensely at me, but gaze me a slight nod of approval. 

Tom's face quickly became the color of a ripe tomato and scoffed, grumbling under his breath, but he stepped forward nevertheless, giving Ava an apologetic glance. 

Kara's indignant voice was heard. "Excuse me? Aren't you going to ask Ava if it's okay? What the hell guys, she's the one who has the pocket you're going to be putting your hand in, Tom." She glared disapprovingly at him, as if greatly annoyed by his inconsideration. "People these days, jeez."

My own cheeks reddened at her reproach. But I could see her point. Clearing my throat, I spoke softly. "Sorry. Ava, may he...?"

Ava just raised an eyebrow at me, as if greatly amused by my reaction. She gave a quick nod, before mouthing a 'thank you' to Kara. Kara, in return, dipped her head stiffly. They might stand together as females, but coming from two different agencies, they were enemies. 

By now Tom had reached Ava, and was blushing so furiously it looked as if a tomato had replaced his head. 

Hesitatingly placing his hand into Ava's pocket, his face scrunched up until his fingers grasped something, and he retrieved a piece of paper. The faint smell of lavender reached my nose, and a cold sweat broke out on my back. 

Max smelled it too, as he looked warily at the paper, tightening his grip on his gun. "What is that?" 

 Ava nodded at Tom, who ripped open what was now apparent to be a letter. Meeting my eyes, he began to read. "Invisibles," he spoke, then cleared his throat and continued. "We see that the four of you have found each other. Very well, then it is time for us to put our final player on the table. We hope that you know what you are doing, for as they say, 'if at first you don't succeed... try, try again.'" Tom looked up letting the hand that held the letter fall back to his side. "Love, your family."

I tensed, feeling my heart beat faster. "That's the same thing that Bentley's letter said. 'Love, your family.'" I looked, really looked, at Michael and Ava. "The scientists got to you both as well then, I guess."

An old fear entered Ava's eyes as Michael nodded his head. "We got together about a year ago, after Director Hunlee contacted us all and we learned that we weren't alone. We received this letter about three weeks ago, and ever since then we have been searching for the fifth person that the scientists had experimented on."

Ava took over. "Last week we figured out that Bentley Waters was the person that we were looking for."

"How?" Lydia frowned, and I noticed that she had put her gun back in her holster as well. After following suit, I listened as she explained herself. "That information on her was supposed to be top secret."

Ava raised an eyebrow. "A girl flying through the air with gigantic metal wings isn't really top secret, is it?" When Lydia looked at her skeptically, she shrugged. "And we had a tip from an anonymous person," she admitted. 

I narrowed my eyes. I didn't like the sound of that. Neither did Max, from the look of it. But as there was nothing that we could do about it, he continued on with the questions. 

"What were you going to do once you found her? They brainwashed her," he spat. "She doesn't even know who we, her old team, are."

Michael frowned, his eyes swirling. "Well, that's is something that we are prepared for, though you might be able to help with her memory. As for what we were going to do, well, we hoped to bring her into The Invisibles." 

My eyes widened in anger. "Excuse me? She's already in a team. You can't just take her away."

Ava met my eyes, raising her brows. "Apparently not, as your friend over their said that you all are her old team. And we've done research. We know that she's a solo agent."

I sputtered. "Still, you can't just-"

Max put a hand on my shoulder. "Jake. She's right. And as I told you before," his voice lowered to the point where only I could hear his next words. "Leave my sister alone."  

I could feel my blood humming in my veins, but left the matter alone. For now, at least.

"What do we think that her next move is going to be? She killed Hunlee, like the note said she would, but it didn't say anything about after that." I turned to look at Tom as he spoke.

"Why would the scientists have her target Hunlee in the first place? Even if she was discussing things that involved Ben, well, we talk about her too, and they don't necessarily go out of their way to kill us," Lydia questioned, crossing her arms.

"About that..." Michael shifted on his feet, his red orbs glaring into my own eyes. "The scientists were in Director Hunlee's agency, they worked under her. And when the incident happened, I guess they blamed everything on her."

"Bloody hell." Tom's words spoke for all of us. He let out a long breath. "So... that happened."

Lydia's curious emerald eyes sparkled. "What's 'the incident'?"

Michael's orbs darkened for a second, if that was even possible. "It's a long story."

I crossed my arms over my chest, clenching my jaw. "Good thing we have time."

---

I sat back in the chair that I was sitting in, releasing a breath. We had re-located to the conference room that held the tables... and Hunlee's body.

The scientists story was insane. I could never have imagined that they used to be like us. Agents. I just thought that they were... bad. I didn't really care about their backstory. Only that they had hurt my family and that I should repay them.

Honestly, that was still on the agenda.

"I have a question," Kara spoke, leaning forward in her chair. "How does this 'brainwashing' thing Work, exactly? Does it have to do with Ben controlling her wings through her mind?"

Ava nodded her head. "Yeah, sort of. Since the scientists 'programmed' Bentley to use her wings through her mind, they gave complete access to her mind, at any given time. So to brainwash her, they just had to 're-program' her mind."

Tom raised his eyebrows. "And they can access her mind whenever?"

Ava nodded again. "Yes."

Tom and Kara exchanged a glance. "That makes complete sense."

I frowned, resting my head in my hands. "What does?"

"Well," Kara started nervously, entwining her finger, "when we were at Agent Lydia's house, using it for a safe house, there were pictures your old team everywhere. At first Agent 5 looked confused. She didn't even recognize herself. But after her dad," she nodded at Ryan, who flinched when he saw my glare, "kidnapped Jeremy and everything, I saw her take a photo and put it in her pocket. I guess it was then she remembered."

Max narrowed his eyes. "So what you're telling my is that the scientists brainwashed my sister for only a short period of time, then... removed... themselves from her head?" He rubbed a fist into his eye at Kara's hesitating nod. "I don't think that I can take much more," he mumbled. Lydia laid her hand on his arm, resting her head against his shoulder.

"We need to cut off the brains, the head," Tom uttered, tapping his fingers on the table.

I shot up from my position, glaring at him. "What?!" What the hell was he talking about?

Tom met my wide eyes, and looked around to the others, who were looking at him with similar expressions. "What? No! No! Really, guys? I'm talking about killing the scientists, not Bentley. Oh my word," he groaned. "Why I ever came into the agency, I don't know, what was thinking..."

I settled back into my seat, watching Tom suspiciously. "Okay, then." I met Michael's amused gaze, irritated that he found this amusing. "He's right. We need to go after the scientists. We should go for the weak link, who after your story, seems to be Insanity-"

Michael abruptly stood up, cutting me off. I frowned at him. Now what? He was really starting to annoy me. I opened my mouth to voice my complaints, but he raised a finger to his mouth for silence. His gaze was cutting to the edge of the ceiling, near the window. 

I, along with the other agents, slowly drew my gun, readying it. A creak on the roof grabbed my attention. The window curtains swelled with life.

Michael breathed out a second before. "She's here." 

One second before it happened. 

Like, really, more warning would've been nice.

Ben lurched back into the room, blue eyes blazing through her new mask. Ava and Michael's gasps were cut short as she spoke, her words clipped.

"I will kill you," she hissed, switching her gaze to stare directly into mine. "All of you. If you touch one hair on their heads. I will come for you."

I flinched away from her burning gaze, to see Max staring at her with a look of despair in his eyes.

Her wings flared, and I watched as Ava and Michael stared on in awe. To them, she was a story come to life. To us, she was a reality that had turned into a nightmare.

Bentley snapped her gaze to them. "Don't think you won't get what you deserve." She spat out the words. 

Her wings twitched. Once. Twice. I raised my gun at the movement. She noticed, then flung herself away, out from her perch on the window sill. 

"Wait!" Ava sprang forward, grasping at the billowing curtains. I shut my eyes in defeat. She was gone. Again. I snapped my eyes open at the sound of a gunshot. 

One of the agents that Ava and Michael had brought in had fired, shooting blindly into the open window. Michael turned around, glaring at the man. "Idiot! I said no fire on her! We need her? What about that do you not get?" 

A second later, a shriek resounded into the humid May night. I swiveled my gaze to see Bentley, wings beating furiously in the air, holding a hand to her side.

Drawing her gun, she pointed it with shaky fingers.

Time froze.

I dove out of the way, crashing into a chair, and tumbled to the floor, grunting as I landed on my side.

Another shot rang out. I looked up to see the agent who shot Bentley flinch backward as the bullet hit home. I turned again to the window in time to see a glint of metal in the moonlight.

Then nothing.

I pushed myself off of the ground, wincing as I touched the arm that hit the chair. There was going to be a bruise, I was sure of it. Ava and Michael were trying to do whatever they could for the unlucky agent, but it was too late. He let out one last painful breath into the air, then... he was gone. 

I met Max's gaze. His hair was ruffled, and his blue eyes looked lost. I felt a pang of empathy for my old friend. Seeing her like that... it wasn't easy.

Michael was the first one to break the silence, meeting my gaze. "What do you think she meant, 'Don't think you won't get what you deserve'. This is the first time we've come face-to-face. She wouldn't know anything about us."

"Then it has to be because of the scientists. Their plan." Ava stood up, tapping her fingers against her thigh. "Director Hunlee was only the first part of the plan. They have something else coming for us."

Michael looked out the window, his gaze lingering on the spot where Bentley had been perched. "Then we just have to get to her before they can complete it."

Lydia scoffed. "How? We don't even know where they're hiding out! It's not like we can just set a trap and get Bentley to tell us herself!"

The room was silent as Max slowly turned his head to look at Lydia, his eyes brightening. "Why can't we?" 

Lydia's mouth opened and closed, as a slow smile crept along on her face. "You know what we need to do."

Michael frowned. "What? What do we need to do?" 

Lydia turned to him, and innocent smile on her face. "Hey, Michael, where's your agency?" 

It finally dawned on me, and I slowly shook my head, letting out an unbelieving laugh. Oh, crap.