Word count: 1804

𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 was nothing they could do but try, the group headed towards the barn, where they could tell action was being played out.

They arrived at the entrance, and Valerie gave a small sigh of relief when she could see that Five was in there, standing and no longer covered in bricks.

His face was ridden with dirt, sweat, and dried blood, and he spoke gruffly as he panted, "She never cared about your parents. She was looking for you."

Lila, whose back was to the group, whispered, "Why?"

"'Cause you're one of us," Diego answered as they walked in, causing Lila to whip around and weakly point her knife at them. "The Handler stole you, Lila. Just like our asshole father took all of us."

"No." She quickly shook her head, her voice panicked as she looked around at all of them. "It's not the same thing."

"You're right. Because he didn't have our parents murdered. Listen to me, Lila." Diego began to slowly step towards the girl, his hand outstretched to show her he meant no harm. "You were born October 1st, 1989, the same day as all of us."

"Stay back!" she yelled, causing everyone to move towards her in alarm.

"Hey! Hey, stop!" Diego shouted, causing their steps to die down as they surrounded her. "Wait. Wait. Hey! Lila? Lila, stop."

Valerie rushed up next to Five, who turned to her, his eyes flickering over her to make sure that she was okay before turning his attention back to Lila.

"I trusted you," her voice broke as she spoke. "I got you a job, I even introduced you to my mother, and then you took off on me!"

"Because I needed to save the world!" Diego exclaimed, now only a few feet away from her. "She's using you, Lila. The Handler."

Lila shook her head in disbelief as she scoffed, "You're wrong. She raised me. She loves me."

"Yeah, you know what?" Luther spoke up, gaining her attention. "Love shouldn't have to hurt this much."

Lila stared at him for a moment before making a gagging motion, receiving a shrug from the large man.

"All right," Luther sighed, "I tried."

"He's right," Five breathed out, glancing at Luther before nodding. "We have to kill her."

"Hey!" Diego exclaimed as he held out a hand as Five edged towards her. "Five! Five, stop."

Valerie grabbed his arm and pulled him back, keeping her grip on him tight as Diego continued.

"Hey, Lila," he spoke softly as he looked back at her. "Truth? She's dangerous. And you're scared of what she'll do with all that new power. That's why you dragged me to the Commission. Because I know what it's like to love dangerous people. Difference is . . ." He looked around at each of his siblings, silent for a moment before he looked back at Lila. "They love me back."

Lila raised the knife towards him, her voice merely a whisper, "Shut up."

"The only thing she loves is power," Diego proceeded, slowly stepping closer to her. "Now, the minute she can't use you, she will turn on you, and deep down, I know you know that."

Lila continued to refuse, "You don't know me, Diego."

Diego took a few more steps forward, challenging the tip of the knife to stab him as it lightly pressed against his chest. He ignored it, keeping his moistened eyes fixated on Lila's. "Don't I? I know that we can be your family . . . if you just let us."

Slowly, Lila's gaze shifted from sibling to sibling, all of whom gave small, warm smiles in response. She sniffled, and Valerie's hopes lifted; it seemed as though Diego had convinced her to join their side.

Suddenly, the sound of gunshots filled the air, and only a second later did Valerie feel a piercing pain in her stomach. She fell to the ground along with everyone else, blood immediately gushing out of the wound as her eyes caught sight of the Handler, who was standing at the entrance with a gun clutched in her hand and a wicked smile upon her red lips.

Valerie slowed her breathing and closed her eyes, knowing that unless she pretended to be dead, she'd be shot until her speed healing couldn't handle it. She only felt one gunshot wound, so she knew she'd be fine.

She heard Lila let out a small sob, and the rustle of hay as she crawled over to Diego's limp body. "Diego, no . . ."

"Aww," the Handler cooed softly.

Lila sniffled, "It's true, what Five said, isn't it?"

"Darling, I need to know that we can get past this, be a happy family again! Hmm?"

Valerie heard the rustle of hay as Lila stood up, which was followed by a brief moment of silence before she softly spoke, "They're my real family." She paused before asking, "Do you even love me?"

There was a moment of silence, which Valerie took as meaning no.

Suddenly, a gunshot sounded, and a loud thump meant that a body hit the floor.

Lila was dead.

"Que será, será," the Handler said lightly.

Then, a small gasp sounded next to Valerie, and her eyes slightly opened and flicked over to see that Five's eyes were open. His eyes were on the Handler as he panted lightly, watching as she walked over.

"Oh, good!" she exclaimed. "You're still alive. Lucky you. You got to see how this all played out."

Valerie held her breath as she watched the Handler raise her gun at him, fear sparking through her chest.

Before she could shoot, however, the Handler gave a small gasp and spurts of blood burst from her stomach as she was shot from behind. She turned around, and Valerie moved her eyes to see that one of the Swedes was standing at the entrance, gun in hand.

He shot her twice more, and she fell to the ground, her eyes wide open and blood leaking out from the side of her mouth.

Her heart rate picked up as she heard a shuffle of footsteps come towards them, and the Swede raised his gun towards Five, his eyes peering into the boy's.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang through Valerie's head, reminding her.

'Maybe your appetite is disproportionate to the size of your abilities. Start small. Seconds, not decades.'

Seconds, not decades.

Seconds.

Now, more determined to save her family than ever, Valerie dismissed the burning pain in her stomach and jumped to her feet, ignoring the additional gunshots that hit her shoulder and the left of her chest as the Swede turned his attention to her and fired.

"Valerie!" Five breathed out, his eyes wide as he watched her.

She kicked the gun out of the Swede's hand before kicking him in the head and knocking him to the ground. For good measure, she kicked his head once more, making sure that he was knocked out.

The adrenaline now gone, Valerie dropped to the ground, feeling the rush of pain from the extra gunshots that she had gained.

"Val," Five groaned as he got to his knees, shuffling over to her as her breathing shallowed.

"Five," she murmured as Five grasped her hands. "What Dad said before—seconds. Go back in seconds."

"What?" His eyebrows furrowed before realization came over his face. He slowly nodded, his grip tightening on her hands as he kissed her forehead, and Valerie could only hope that he would succeed before her world faded to black.

—♫—

A few minutes ago . . . again.

Diego stared intently into Lila's eyes as he murmured, "I know that we can be your family . . . if you just let us."

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows as she noticed the missing presence next to her. Five had been there a moment before, where was he now?

Her question was soon answered as they heard movement at the entrance, and they all looked to see Five twist a gun out of the Handler's hands.

Valerie's eyes widened. How the fuck had he known what was going to happen?

Five pointed the gun towards the Handler as she raised her hands in defence, shifting the weapon in his hands as he stared at her.

"It's true, isn't it?" Lila spoke up. "What Five said."

The Handler didn't respond, instead just glancing over at the boy.

"Answer me!" Lila shouted, her eyes glimmering with tears. "Is it true?"

She raised her eyebrows and began, "Well—"

Before she could finish answering, a multitude of bullets shot into her stomach, causing her to gasp and drop to the ground, blood spilling out the side of her mouth.

Valerie looked towards the entrance to see one of the Swedes, a gun in his hands.

"The case!" Luther shouted as Lila picked up the briefcase that her mother had ended up dropping.

"No!" Diego blocked Luther as he barrelled towards the woman, and the two of them fell to the ground, Diego letting out a wheeze as the heavy man landed on top of him.

There was a zapping noise and bright light as Lila and the briefcase disappeared, and then the sound of a gun cocking followed.

Five walked over to face the Swede, his gun pointed towards him.

The Swede returned just as much, and their eyes fixated on each other as one waited for the other to strike up a fight.

Finally, after a few moments, Five dropped the gun to the ground and told him, "Enough."

The Swede looked around at them, watching as they all nervously shifted their weight from one side to the other as they waited for his verdict.

He gave a slow nod, murmuring something in Swedish before dropping his gun to the ground. With one last look at them, he turned around and left.

Valerie immediately rushed over towards Five, engulfing him in a tight hug as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. She felt a sense of relief flood her as his arms embraced her, and he kissed the top of her head.

They broke apart and turned their attention to Klaus, who exclaimed, "Who the hell was that guy?"

Suddenly, the muffled voice of Sissy cried out, "Vanya! Help!"

"Harlan," Vanya realized with wide eyes.

The group followed as Vanya headed downstairs, and their eyes widened as they saw Harlan, who was in a corner with his arms wrapped around his knees. He was surrounded in the same sort of force field as he had been before, and he was rocking back and forth.

Vanya immediately dropped to her knees, quickly crawling inside the force field and grabbing onto the boy's hands.

They watched with anxiety as orange and blue lights began to flow through Harlan's skin and into Vanya's hands, with a high-pitched ringing filling the room that only grew louder with each passing second.

After a few moments, the force field gave out, and Vanya was knocked backwards. She recovered quickly, her worried eyes on Harlan as he looked around in confusion.

Sissy flew over towards him, immediately hugging him as she murmured soft words to him.

Vanya looked over to her family, exchanging a smile with them as she gave a small sigh.