Run For Your Life - The Beatles

We arrived at the farm about forty-five minutes later. I'm sure we could have made it there faster but the car was pretty weighed down. As we pulled into the driveway, I noticed the dark cloud above the barn and the surrounding area covered in snow. Whatever was happening was definitely not good. Was the boy, Harlan, really doing all this?

"So, you think whatever is happening inside is causing this cold front?" Diego asked as we all got out of the car.

"The correlation is high." Five said.

"More like definitive." I corrected.

A blonde woman – who I am assuming is Sissy – ran out of the barn with a shot gun and pointed it at Vanya. This was a seriously pissed off and scared lady.

"Sissy!" Vanya called, holding up her hands.

"You get the hell back!" Sissy screamed, not lowering her gun for a second.

I miss the days when I held a gun. It was so much more convenient than being weaponless. I mean, it was only just a few days ago but still. Vanya tried to talk Sissy down from shooting anyone and we all just stood back, just in case.

"What's wrong?" Vanya asked her.

"Karl." Sissy whispered.

"What did he do to you?" Vanya asked.

If I had to guess, Karl was the no-good two-bit husband. Men in this time period were such misogynistic assholes.

"He's... He's dead." Sissy forced out, "Harlan tossed him aside like a ragdoll. The same way you sent those policemen flying." Well, now we know the real reason Vanya was being held captive. "What did you do to him? Vanya, what the hell did you do to my son?!"

"We don't have time for this. We came here to help your son." Diego said, walking forward but paused when the gun was directed at him.

"Sissy, I found my family. These are my brothers and sisters." Vanya said, hoping that would get Sissy to lower the gun.

It worked, the gun was now pointing toward the ground, "Were you lying to me the whole time?"

"Of course not." Vanya said.

"If you're talking about her memory loss. It was real and probably the only reason the world is still left standing." I said from beside Allison.

"I know who I am now Sissy and we are not the monsters they say we are. We did not kill the president, we are not terrorists, we are not here to hurt anyone." Vanya said.

"Well... everyone except for Malia." Klaus clarified.

"Klaus! Really!" I snapped, sending a glare his way.

"What?... You WERE a kind of hitman." Klaus said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Who are you then?" Sissy asked.

"The only one who can help Harlan." Vanya explained.

Sissy stepped back and motioned for us to enter the barn. Vanya ran forward, the rest of us following her, and opened the barn door all the way. There, in the center of the barn was a ten-year-old boy floating midair with familiar energy whirling around him. He looked like he was possessed and I said as much.

"Believe me, that is not what it looks or feels like." Klaus said, coming up beside me.

"Harlan!" Vanya shouted, "I know you're scared but I can help you! I need you to listen okay? Can you do that?!"

Vanya entered the forcefield that was whipping around Harlan like a tornado and I watched and waited with baited breath. Vanya tried to calm the kid down the best she could with her words but it didn't seem to be doing much, he seemed too far gone. I wanted to help her, help the kid, but I was useless in this situation as were the rest of us.

Suddenly, that telltale anxious feeling began to fill my chest. It kept getting stronger and stronger until I had to put my hand on my chest in an attempt to calm it. My danger radar was spiking almost uncontrollably.

"Something bad is about to happen." I said loudly so everyone could hear me over the noise of Harlan's swirling power.

"I think I know what you're feeling!" Klaus called from the back entrance from the barn.

Everyone but Vanya and Sissy ran up behind him to look out the door. There across the field was The Handler and Lila, seemingly ready to fight. They looked like a two-man army but something was off. The feeling in my chest was too strong for just the two of them.

"Malia, we really need to work on that power of yours giving us more time to prepare." Five said.

"Who are they?" Klaus asked.

"One is The Handler and the other is Diego and Malia's new best friend." Five said.

"Uh... ex-best friend." Diego and I said at the same time.

"Doesn't matter. They both look angry." Luther said.

"Yeah, well our brother has that effect on people." Allison said.

"Alright. I'll go find out what they want. You guys stay here with Vanya and the kid." Five said.

"I'm coming with you too." Diego said, following him.

"Yeah, same!"

We left out the front of the barn to walk around the long way. We walked quickly across the field and I tried to ignore that over-powering feeling in my chest but I couldn't. Something wasn't right about this whole situation and I tried to tell Five and Diego that but Five was being his arrogant self.

"You're worrying too much Malia. There is nothing those two can do to us if we all stick together." Five said.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you Five. They have something up their sleeve, something big. This feeling I get may be delayed sometimes but it doesn't lie." I said.

"Alright, can it tell you what they are planning?"

"Well, no."

"Then I guess we're just going to have to wait and find out." Five said.

"I swear I'm going to strangle him one day." I muttered to Diego.

"Just calm down. We'll keep our guard up." Diego whispered.

The Handler and Lila stayed where they were, not even bothering to meet us halfway. That in itself was suspicious enough in my books but I said nothing. We stopped a couple meters away from them to keep a safe-ish distance and the three of us stood in a row to face them.

"What do you want?" Five asked.

"To watch you suffer." Lila said. Her face was like stone.

"What about us?" Diego asked.

"You two are not even worth my wrath." Lila sneered.

"Easy now Lila." The Handler said and then spoke to us directly, "We're here on official business."

"And what business is that?" Five asked.

"As the head of The Commission, I've decided to eliminate the criminals responsible for the assassination of the former Board of Directors." The Handler said.

Oh god, what did Five do now?

"Yeah, right. We didn't kill the Board." Diego laughed.

I put my head in my hands, "Oh Diego."

"Ah, I see you figured it out Miss. Hargreeves. It's a shame you didn't stick with us, your intelligence would have been quite useful."

"Figured what out?" Diego asked.

"What she means is that it WAS a Hargreeves that assassinated the Board." Five said almost sheepishly.

"Five, what the hell did you do?" Diego asked, not liking being left out of the loop.

"What I had to, to get my family home until somebody reneged on our deal." Five said, hands in pockets, glaring at The Handler.

"Somebody wouldn't have reneged on the deal if somebody could have kept a simple deadline." The Handler said.

"You set me up to fail."

"You set yourself up to fail friend. You and your brothers and sisters. Kind of the running theme of your little life, is it?"

"Dude, I can't believe you killed the Board of Directors. You have no idea how messed up The Commission is right now."

"Messed up? Who's saying that?"

"Does anyone really have too? Look who's running it." I snapped and tried to make eye contact with her. This woman was going to relive her worst nightmare as soon as she meets my eyes.

"Oh honey, you can try to do your little trick all you want. It's not going to work." The Handler said with a wink but still refused to meet my gaze. "The point is, you killed the Board and it's time to accept the consequences."

"That's not all he killed." Lila said.

"What are you talking about?" Five asked, clearly confused.

"Don't play dumb you prepubescent piece of shit." Her scowl become deeper if that was possible.

"Enough! The fact of the matter is that all of you are going to die today, okay?" The Handler said, putting the attention back on her.

"Oh, well I don't like your chances. Eight of us against the two of you." Diego said smugly.

"You know, you're right." The Handler said, "Let's change that."

And here it is, the reason why the feeling in my chest was so intense. The Handler snapped her fingers and hundreds of Commission employees popped in behind her. Some had masks and some didn't but most importantly, they ALL had guns. The three of us slowly backed away, knowing we could not handle all of them at once.

"Next time I tell you the danger is bigger than what we see..." I started.

"Yeah, I'll listen." Five said, eyes wide as he looked around.

"So what do we do now?" Diego asked.

"Well, we have two choices. Fight and die now or run and die later." Five answered, "Either way, we're food for worms."

"Preference?" Diego whispered.

"I vote run."

"Agreed. I wouldn't mind having a few more moments to breathe some nice clean air." Five agreed.

"Alright, let's get this over with." The Handler said after looking at her watch and taking out a red scarf.

"Let's not wait for her to finish that sentence. Run!"

We turned and bolted across the field toward the barn. I noticed Klaus, Allison, and Luther up ahead turn and run back to the barn as well. They may make it but we definitely won't. The Commission employees have already started running after us. The front line started shooting shortly after that.

"We're not going to make it!" Diego yelled as he grabbed my hand to help me keep up.

"It's a miracle we haven't been hit yet!" I yelled.

Five grabbed onto Diego and since I was still hold Diego's hand, Five was able to teleport us further up the field. It felt weird but I was thankful because it gave us the opportunity to dive behind a red tractor for cover. Luckily the wheel of the tractor was large enough to shield all three of us from the rapid-fire bullets.

"Get us to the house man!" Diego shouted.

Five put a hand on my arm and Diego's knee and tried but it didn't work, "Shit! I'm out of fuel!"

"Now you're out of fuel?" I complained.

"Well I'm too tired." Five sneered.

"You two go. I'll cover you." Diego said.

"What?"

"I can't let you do that!" I cried.

Diego kissed me hard on the lips, "GO!"

Five took the cue and ran for the house, using the opportunity Diego gave him to get away. I stayed exactly where I was though. Diego didn't look to see if both Five and I took off, I assume he thought we would. Instead, he turned from the tire and faced the bullets head on. I sat there, against the tire and watched him slow down almost every single bullet that was headed for him, Five, and everything else. He truly was amazing but if this was his moment to die, he will NOT be alone.

He threw his arms to the right and the bullets that were now under his control shot that way toward a silo, causing an explosion. Diego ducked back behind the tire and bumped into me. He turned, not expecting anyone to be there, I knew, but I didn't give him a chance to yell at me. It was my turn to kiss him. The bullets were still flying and it was only a matter of time before they reached us.

"Diego, I love you." I said after pulling away.

Diego pulled me into his chest and shielded me with his body, "Why didn't you run? Why didn't you take the chance?"

I hid my face in his chest, clutching to his back tightly, "If we die, we die together."

"Holy shit." Diego said, patting my side to get me to look.

I turned and saw Vanya floating in the sky, "What the fuck? She can FLY?"

We watched as Vanya started to glow brighter and we both knew what that meant. She was going to blow. Diego pushed me to the ground and threw himself on top of me to keep me as protected as possible. She let the energy burst from her body and flew across the field, taking out all the Commission employees in the process.

Once the energy was gone, the entire farm was silent. Diego pushed himself up with his arms but I stayed lying on my back looking up into the sky. We were both breathing heavily from the adrenalin that was coursing through our body's. We were alive and Vanya saved us.

"Are you okay?" Diego asked.

I nodded and let him pull me up, "I'm okay. Is it over?"

"I think so. The Commission is completely wiped." Diego said.

We got to our feet and left our cover to look at all the body's that were littering the ground. Who knew Vanya had it in her to stop the bad guys without blowing the world up in the process? Wait... how are The Handler and Lila still standing?

"Is that a forcefield?" I asked, not believing my own eyes.

"No... it can't be..." Clearly Diego was having a hard time believing as well.

The forcefield dropped from around them and Lila started floating in the sky just like Vanya. The more terrifying thing was that she started to do the same glowy energy thing that Vanya did. I grabbed onto Diego's arm in fear. This wasn't good... at all!

Lila released the energy blast from her chest and it spread across the entire field toward us. I was blasted away from Diego and tumbled across the field before slamming roughly into a haystack. The breath was knocked out of me at impact and I coughed to try and catch it.

I struggled to my feet and used the tall haystack to look around. Lila was gone from her spot beside The Handler, Diego was on the ground with a tractor stuck on his leg, the others were around here somewhere as well I was sure. I stepped in Diego's direction to help but heard a commotion from the house. Diego was safe for now, I had to help the others. Besides, it's not like I could lift a tractor up.

I ran around the haystack to see that there was a massive hole in the side of the house and Luther was on the ground. I ran toward him just as Allison did. She got to him first and Lila appeared in the hole in the wall, looking down at them and then me as I stopped beside them.

"Hey Malia! This is your sister, right?" Lila asked and then turned to Allison with a smile, "I'm Lila."

"It is so nice to meet you." Allison said sweetly and then punched her in the face.

"Thank you." Lila said and high-kicked Allison in the face.

"Is that the best you got?" Allison asked.

Then they began to fight. As they duked it out, I went over to Luther to make sure he was okay. He wasn't usually one I had to worry about because his body could take more trauma than most but it wasn't every day that he got tossed around like he weighed nothing. He was the heaviest guy I know.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"A little bruised but I think I'll live." Luther said with nodded.

"That's good." I said and turned back to the fight.

Allison had Lila in a choke hold but instead of snapping her neck, like I probably would have done, Allison attempted to rumour her. Only, it backfired and Lila rumoured Allison into not breathing. My eyes widened as Allison couldn't catch her breath and Luther and I ran to her. Luther caught her and told her to fight it. He kept trying to talk her through her breathing.

"Lila! I get you're pissed but that's my family." I said angrily and stood up.

"What are you going to do about it?" Lila asked and then ran away.

I ran after her and tackled her to the ground. We rolled around a few times before she managed to kick me away and get to her feet. I flipped to my feet too, at the same time kicking her in the chin with both feet before righting myself. I sent a few jabs her way too but she blocked them. I did a side kick to distract her and then swept her feet out from under her. Once she was on the ground, I straddled her waist and held her arms by her head.

"We were friends Lila. I thought we were good friends." I said sadly.

She bucked her hips to try to escape but hold was pretty solid, "I kind of doubt we can be friends once I kill your brother!"

"I didn't want to have to do this Lila but I have to keep you at bay somehow." I said in defeat. My hazel eyes connected with hers and flashed to their crystal blue, "Show-"

"-me your worst nightmare."

All of a sudden Lila was gone. In fact, everyone and everything was gone. I was trapped in this dark abyss and no matter how far I ran, there was nothing. I tried calling out for people but I received no answer. I was completely and utterly alone. Everyone has abandoned me and left me here alone. The panic that filled me at that thought had me shouting again.

"Five! Allison! Klaus! Luther! Vanya! Diego!" I shouted again, turning in another three-sixty but still finding nothing but this dark expansive void. "DIEGO!" I screamed and collapsed to the ground.

I curled in on myself and shut my eyes. He said he'd never leave me. He said he would be with me always. He lied because he's not here anymore. He left. They all left. I was totally alone and I would die this way. I hugged my knees to my body as the tears leaked from my eyes. I was alone.

I was alone.

I was alone.

Alone.

Alone.

Alone.

Alone.

"Malia." I heard distantly but it must be my mind playing tricks because I was alone.

I heard it again but closer. Then again. Someone was calling my name. I was still hugging my legs as I looked around but still saw nothing but darkness. If everyone left, who was calling my name?

"Malia!" There it was again!

"Malia! Answer me!"

"I'm alone." I croaked, not trusting the voice that was echoing in the dark, "All alone."

"Malia, you're not alone. Look at me." That voice, it was HIS voice, "Malia, baby. You're not alone. I'm here. We're all here. Please look at me."

I felt a pressure on my lips and closed my eyes. When the pressure lifted, I opened my eyes and I was no longer in the chasm of darkness but back on the farm. I was leaning against the far side of the barn while hugging my knees to my chest. Diego was kneeling down in front of me, a hand on my cheek. Luther, Allision, Vanya, and Klaus were crowded around behind him, looking on.

"I'm not alone?" I asked, wiping the wetness from my cheeks.

"Far from it." Diego said with a soft smile, helping me wipe away the rest of my tears.

"Yeah, I mean come on, it would take you going to another planet entirely to get rid of us." Klaus said.

Diego helped me to my feet and put an arm around me, "I think we can guess what happened to you."

"I tried to get Lila to live her worst nightmare but she beat me to it instead. How can she do that? She has our powers." I said.

"We think she was born like us. Dad just never found her like he found us." Allison explained.

"It's possible I guess... he didn't find me either until much later." I said.

My forehead was killing me and I pushed my bangs out of the way to feel it. The gauze was soaked with my blood. Lila must have hit it during our fight. There is nothing I can do about that right now though. We had to help Five. I dropped my bangs before anyone could notice and we walked around to enter the barn just as Five was explaining that The Handler was responsible for killing her parents.

"You're lying. Why would she do that?" Lila asked.

"It's because you're one of us." Diego said.

"I think deep down you know what he's saying makes sense." I added.

I stayed beside Diego but the others circled around her. She held up a knife in defense but I could see the fear, hesitation, and confusion in her eyes. She knew she couldn't take us all on at the same time but she also didn't know if she wanted too.

"The Handler stole you Lila." I said carefully.

"Just like our asshole father stole us." Diego said.

"No, it's not the same thing." Lila tried to defend.

"You're right because he didn't have our parents murdered." Diego was treading in shallow water.

"You were born on October 1st 1989. The same day as all of us." I said softly.

The others got a little too close as Diego and I tried to talk Lila down but she screamed at them, "STAY BACK!" She looked at all of us in heartbreak, "I trusted you two. I told you things I'd never told anyone. I gave you jobs and introduced you to my mother as my BEST friends. And then you guys took off on me!"

"Yeah! Because we needed to save the world!" Diego shouted.

"We loved you and accepted you Lila. That's something I certainly haven't been able to do so easily before. Now I understand why it was so easy." I said, "It's because you're more a part of this family than The Handlers family."

"She's using you Lila." Diego said.

"You're wrong. You're both wrong. She raised me. She loves me." Lila said, still trying to defend the evil woman but I get it.

"You know what? Love shouldn't have to hurt this much." Luther said. I think that's the most philosophical thing I've ever heard him say and it was one-hundred percent true. Lila pretended to gag. "Alright, I tried."

"He's right, we have to kill her." Five said.

"No! She's my friend!" I cried in protest.

"Five stop! Malia, calm down. I got it okay?" Diego said and turned to Lila, "Okay Lila, truth? She's dangerous and you're scared about what she'll do with all that new power. That's why you dragged me to The Commission. Why you wanted Malia there with you too. We know what it's like to love dangerous people. The difference is?" Diego said, looking around at all of us, "They love me back. The only thing The Handler loves, is power. Now, the minute she can't use you, she will turn on you. Deep down I know you know that."

"You don't know me Diego. Neither of you do." Lila said, still holding her knife up, ready to strike.

"Lila. We do know you and we know that you can be our sister too, if you just let yourself." Diego said.

"I'd love to have you as a sister Lila. Hell, I already love you." I said smiling.

My smile dropped as I looked around. My danger radar was spiking again and I closed my eyes to tune into the sounds beyond us. I heard quick, nearly silent footsteps heading toward the barn. One footstep was heavier than the other as if the person was carrying something with weight. I opened my eyes and turned toward the barn entrance as I saw The Handler enter.

"Duck!" I shouted and was about to follow my own lead but Five was suddenly there and took the gun from her. She dropped the briefcase and raised her hands in surrender. I dropped my arms from around my head, "Nice work Five. I think my danger radar was on point this time though, don't you?"

"No Malia. This is the second time this has happened. The first time you shit the bed, like usual and everyone died." Five deadpanned.

"Oh." I muttered, "Well you don't have to be so mean about it."

"It's true, is it? What Five said." Lila broke in, demanding answers from her mother, "Answer me! Is it true!"

"Well..." The Handler didn't get to finish because the last remaining Swede appeared and shot her in the chest and she dropped to the ground, dead, with blood pouring from her mouth.

The feeling in my chest I get for danger, came and went in an instant and I sighed. Honestly, what good is a power such as this if it only gives me a millisecond of notice? I've tried to develop it for years and have made no progress. Of course, the twelve-year gap of lack of danger probably didn't help. My fault, sort of, I guess.

Lila took advantage of the distraction and ran for the case. Luther tried to stop her but Diego jumped in the way, causing them both to hit the ground. Lila grabbed the suitcase and disappeared while Five pointed the rifle he took from The Handler and aimed it at the Swede. We all stood at the ready, prepared to fight if need be.

Five did the exact opposite of what I thought he would and dropped the rifle to floor saying, "Enough." I guess that was his version of a white flag.

The Swede looked around at all of us and at first, I didn't think he was going to accept Five's gesture. Then, to our utter relief, he dropped his own rifle. He repeated what Five said but in his own language before departing. I wanted to kill him at first because he nearly killed me but Five was right, enough is enough and I hoped I never saw the bastard again.

Luther pushed himself up off of Diego, "I almost had her. Why the hell did you stop me?"

"He did the right thing Luther. That was a lot for Lila to process." I said and helped Diego to his feet, "If we want her to be part of our family, we can't force it."

"Exactly." Diego said.

"Who the hell was that guy!" Klaus asked, completely thrown off by the Swede's appearance.

"Oh him? He's the one that nearly strangled me to death." I said, pointing to the ligature marks on my neck that were still pretty visible.

We heard Sissy shouting from the cellar and Vanya ran to her right away. The others followed closely but Diego and I dawdled a little due to his gimp foot. I put an arm around his waist and put one on my shoulder as we walked to the cellar door.

"Do you think Lila will come back?" I asked quietly.

Diego kissed my temple, "Yeah I do. When she's ready."

We made it down to the cellar and watched as Vanya told Harlan she was going to take back what she did. Vanya placed her hands on Harlan's and they started to glow blue and orange. The energy that was taken from him looked like it was passing through veins. As she did it, the forcefield calmed down a bit and then Vanya was tossed backward a few feet as the connection broke.

Vanya was breathing heavily and Harlan looked around as if he didn't know what happened. Sissy ran to him right away and hugged him tight and I smiled at the scene. I leaned my head on Diego's shoulder, happy that the boy and his mother were going to be okay. Vanya turned to look at all of us, clearly proud that she was able to do something good and I gave her thumbs up.

It was over now. There was no more Dooms Day and no more Apocalypse. We were all okay and we were all together. For the first time, in what felt like a long time – though not a lot of time passed at all – we didn't have to work towards something. We could just be and it was the greatest feeling of all.