The girl ran, as fast as she could, her well-worn Mary Janes softly clicking across the gravel. Her breathing was coming in short pants, the pain in her side only worsened, she was running completely on adrenaline and fear. She could hear the stampede, sneakers, slippers, and even heels, alike, running and shouting. They were close, just a few more minutes and they'd catch her. Using the small amount of adrenaline she had left, she burst forward and finding an open door, ran into it then closed it slowly. She leaned on the wall, trying to pant quietly. When her heart was calmer a breeze drifted by. Then, as if summoned by her exhaustion, a faint voice whispered, "Sleep," along with a lullaby she heard a long time ago, only the tune was modernized and elegant. Giving into the voice, her eyes closed, and she slipped to the cold garage floor then blacked out.
There wasn't much light, but when the girl woke up, she knew it was morning. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she doesn't realize her surroundings at first. When her mind cleared a little, she realized she was on a couch. Old, and used, but nevertheless comfortable. Then she made the mistake of looking up. Five faces looked back at her, all male, and with mixtures of concern and surprise. She jumped off the couch. Her first thought was, "They caught me," and she acted on it, not thinking very well early in the morning. She tried to back up in fear, and the advancing figures didn't help calm her down.
When she reached the wall, she closed her eyes. In a few seconds, cold air had gathered at her back and soldified into gold & silver dusted wings. Still walking backwards and keeping her eyes on the guys, she started to edge toward the door only to bump into a human body. Seeing that she had nowhere else to go, she covered herself with her wings as a split-second reaction in fright.
Then, she got the shock of her life. Someone had laid a hand on her wing where her shoulder was. Looking up, she saw a kid with only one eye smile at her. For some reason, his single eye didn't unnerve her. Taking the other hand he offered, she allowed him to pull her up. "I'm sorry we scared you. We saw you last night and thought you'd be more comfortable here." His voice was kind, lifting the girl's spirits a little higher.
She scanned his companions and it was obvious to her that kindness came easier to the strange one-eyed kid than to the other four. But she smiled anyway at their efforts. Habitually, she rolled up her long sleeves, no longer prim and proper, instead covered with dirt. Her hair was windblown and her skirt, embarrassingly, was higher than it was supposed to be. Tugging it down, she blushed, aware that the guys were staring. Then she realized they weren't staring at her skirt.
She looked down and realized the cause for their sudden silence. When she had rolled up her sleeves, she exposed the many bruises, cuts, and welts that adorned her arms and now that they paid more attention, even her legs and a few on her face. "Who did... that?" The one-eyed kid asked, in a whisper. In a stammer, the girl answered, "T-the kids a-and people at t-the orphanage."
Then an emotion passed over their faces that surprised the girl. Anger. Especially the lead kid. "Why would someone do that? Especially to someone as nice as you!" Blushing a little at the compliment, the girl said, "I-I've always been d-different. I'm used to it." However, her quivering lips and watering eyes proved she was anything but. "Well, here, why don't you sit down." The lead put his arm around the girl and led her to the couch.
Smiling her thanks, she seemed to brighten a little as she said, "I never got your n-names." The kid who first talked to her smiled and introduced himself as Seemore. He then pointed to his friends and rattled off their names. A tall guy with a red jumpsuit sort of thing and a division sign on the front was Billy Numerous. A really large (not fat) tall guy with long hair was Mammoth. A short kid, with a jetpack-looking thing on his back was Gizmo. Then last, was a pale kid with a cape and blood red eyes that they called Kyd Wykkyd. Smiling at her, the girl immediately knew he couldn't speak, and she smiled back.
"What's your name?" Seemore looked at her quizzically, as did the four others. "Amia Hope. I-I picked the last name for myself because I was left a-at the orphanage without one a-and I like hope." There was definitely less stammering in her voice, which made Amia happy. "So, tell me about yourself."
Amia's bold question startled the others for a bit. Then Seemore smiled. "We're the H.I.V.E. Five and we're um, villains." The guys looked away a little sheepishly. They didn't know how they knew, but she seemed like a good person whereas, they weren't. "You're wrong on that." Amia piped up, smiling. "Just because you're villains, d-doesn't mean that you're bad. You're just...confused. Like me. If you were bad, you never would've taken me in."
The reassurance and belief in her voice caused the five delinquents to look back at her, smiling, in different degrees, yes, but smiling still. "If you don't m-mind, I'd like to stay here. I can s-sleep on the couch and I haven't g-got much. You can still keep doing what you do, if you want. If y-you need h-help in a f-fight, just tell me."
The HIVE group agreed, and were relieved to know they could still steal. But though none of them said anything, the mysterious girl had changed a little something in their hearts.