[✓] 𝐼𝑁𝑇𝐸𝑅𝐿𝑈𝐷𝐸 | 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑦𝑐𝑎𝑡

Word count: 2597

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 out a red cloth from her pocket and raised it, the fabric blowing in the wind as her sinister smile grew. She dropped it, and immediately, the Commission workers let out battle cries as they ran forward and began to shoot at them.

Valerie grabbed onto the collars of Five and Diego, who had already broken out into a run, and sped them as far as she could until they reached a small tractor that was about twenty feet away from the house.

She let go of them, panting heavily as the three of them dropped to the ground, leaning back against the tractor as bullets flew past them.

"Sonic, I think I'm gonna puke," Diego groaned as he clutched onto his stomach, shaking his head.

"Can you run us to the house?" Five questioned, glancing under the tractor to see the rapidly approaching feet.

Valerie, who was holding a hand over her chest and breathing heavily, murmured, "Haven't . . . eaten . . ."

"Shit!" Five searched through the pockets of his blazer before digging deep into the pockets of his pants. His eyes widened as his hands came up with nothing, and he groaned. "The bars are gone—I didn't get to make any new ones, because Elliott . . ."

She sighed, shaking her head after taking a deep breath. "I still have a little energy left, I can run us there, just . . . give me a second."

"No, don't," Five immediately answered. "I don't want you to get hurt,"

"Can't you blink us there?" Diego asked hurriedly, glancing back behind the tractor before looking towards Five with urgency.

Five grabbed onto both of them, furrowing his eyebrows and scrunching his face in concentration but nothing happened. "Shit. I'm too tired."

"You guys go to the house," Diego ordered, getting to his feet but remaining slightly crouched. "I'll take care of them."

Valerie was immediately against the idea as she shook her head and exclaimed, "Diego, don't—"

"Go!"

Five grabbed onto Valerie's hand and brought her to her feet before pulling her in the direction of the house.

The two of them sprinted as fast as they could, Valerie tripping over her own feet a few times. She could feel her condition begin to worsen, and she let out a soft groan as they reached the porch, hearing the bullets hit everything but them, somehow.

Five glanced back at the attackers before opening the glass door and pulling Valerie through. He pushed her under the wooden table before going under himself, wrapping his arms around her as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Bullets burst through the window, glass shattering as light fixtures exploded and furniture became destroyed. The sound was deafening, and Valerie lifted her hands to her ears to try and muffle the sound.

Suddenly, the bullets stopped, and the sound of shooting halted. There was only silence, and with a bit of hope, the two of them crawled out from under the table, glancing at each other before getting to their feet.

"Are you okay?" Five asked softly, his eyes worriedly searching her face.

"I'm fine," she reassured him before swallowing. "I haven't run that much today, so it shouldn't be as bad as last time."

"Try not to run as much then," he murmured as they tentatively approached the window.

They peered out the glassless window to see that all of the Commission workers were all laying on the ground, motionless, because of Vanya, who looked as she did at the Icarus Theatre, and was now floating in the air.