1:42pm, Monday August 29th, 2019
"No," says Luther, his voice firm. "Absolutely not. You're not 'taking' Five anywhere."
The Handler smiles, cigarette holder piercing the corner of her mouth and it reminds Vanya of a cartoon villain; Cruella DeVil come to sew herself a coat of puppy skins. It makes her own skin crawl, that smile. It wasn't exactly sinister but it was cold, painted on and vaguely inhuman. If these were the sort of people Five had met in the future then small wonder he'd come back so...her mind groped for a gentle word. Inaccessible. "Not even somewhere he can get help?" she asks sweetly.
Allison snorts derisively and shakes her head, looking down as Klaus leans forward on his elbows. "Well, you're from the Commission," he points out, "and you've been trying to kill all of us for awhile now so I'm kinda curious as to why you suddenly want to 'help' Five do anything."
She flashes him a predatory grin filled with teeth and Vanya wants to push her away, to scream at her to keep away from her brother and her family. There's too much Harold Jenkins in the Handler for her to react any differently. To much manipulation and cruelty and emptiness lurking in her eyes. (Except Harold Jenkins had been all too human. She's not sure what the Handler is.) "He has certain information in his possession that my superiors require."
"That never stopped you before," Klaus reminds her.
She sighs. "We never wanted to kill any of you; that was a secondary objective. We simply wanted to prevent you and your brother from interfering in the natural progression of events. The apocalypse was scheduled to happen in this timeline; it was our job to make certain it did. If things had happened as they were supposed to that information would not have been necessary. However thanks to your interference the timeline has become destabilized to the point any further attempts to reset it could cause the entire thing to collapse. Given those circumstances, I'm here on behalf of my employers to offer you a deal."
"What kind of deal?" Diego asks, skepticism dripping off him like water. He's standing like a sentinel with his back to the door, guarded and on point.
"We're prepared to reverse his mental degradation, repair the neural pathways and restore his memories. In return, he is to give us the information in his head, and you all stay out of Commission affairs in the future. And the past."
"What information?" Luther demands but the woman just smiles, secrets playing around the edges of her mouth and it's probably a good thing for all of them that Vanya's had so much training managing her power and emotions lately.
"Last time he made a deal with you guys he came home with shrapnel in his stomach," Allison says heatedly and Diego nods in agreement.
"Yeah, almost bled to death," he adds, "doesn't exactly inspire faith."
"That wasn't the fault of the Commission or it's employees; he double-crossed us, tried to blow up the headquarters and injured himself in the process."
"Yeah but...why should we trust you?" Klaus asks and she spreads her hands in a 'why not' sort of gesture, flashing blood red nails like talons.
"Do you have a choice?" That smile again. Playful, the way a cat played with a mouse before breaking it's neck and devouring the corpse.
"Yeah I got a choice," says Diego, spinning a knife in his hand. "I could choose to drive this knife into your eye socket. How's that for a choice?"
"You could," she admits, seeming amused by the threat. "But if you kill me I'll simply be replaced. Just ask Five, he can tell you- oh wait, no he can't." She gives a tittering little laugh and Luther has to physically restrain Diego from attacking her. Maybe Luther's a better person than she is, because Vanya doesn't know if she would have stopped him.
She's toying with them, finding some twisted amusement in their pain and Vanya feels tears of frustration prickle the back of her eyes. That twittering laugh sticks in the back of her head, mocking, growing louder and all Vanya can see is heartache red lipstick and white teeth like fangs, and this...this bitch who seems to be taking such delight in the whole affair, had she come here just to mock? To crow victory over them and Five and...
And Allison touches her arm while Klaus whispers "Whoa, easy V" and she realizes she's shaking, along with the rest of the room.
"Impressive," the Handler says admiringly.
"You should go," Luther tells her, casting a worried glance in her own direction.
"And my proposal?"
"Ben says you can take your proposal and shove it up your-"
"Klaus!" Luther warns, though Vanya thinks he's picked an odd time to start caring about Klaus' propriety (or lack thereof). He turns to the Handler again. "We have no reason to trust you."
She sighs, looking faintly perturbed but not a bit surprised. "I would have thought desperation would be a motivating factor. After all, your brother here is right," she gestures at Diego, "Five will live a very, very long time without his mind, until he wastes away into nothing in fact. Are you sure you want to turn down the only chance he has? Or have you all reconciled yourselves to spending your inheritance on adult diapers and baby food for the next thirty years or so?"
Luther stares at her in quiet fury, jaw clenching then turns to each of them, gathering them by the eye, thoughts traded in silent glances. Vanya doesn't bother to be subtle, giving a furious shake of her head. No good can come of this. A consensus is reached and he looks back at the Handler. "I think if there was really anything you could do for him Five would have contacted you himself a long time ago."
She looks around at them but finds no allies. If nothing else, they were united in this. She stands, straightening her skirt. "Well, I suppose that's that."
"What about the information you need?" Vanya asks, barely trusting her voice. She's been too busy controlling herself to speak.
"There are other ways of getting it, this was just the most convenient. And don't we all like convenient solutions to our problems? Well, all except your family I suppose."
"Get out," Diego says, stepping aside and very pointedly revealing the door. They stand as one, staring her down; a united front at last. (Too late, of course, and at too heavy a cost. But that had always been the way of their damaged little family.)
She smiles again, still, like she has been this whole time, like she has the upper hand; calm and cold and damnably unconcerned, that treacle-sick sweetness oozing from her pores like poison. "So this is goodbye then." She glances at her watch, grabs the suitcase and disappears a moment later in a flash that reminds Vanya painfully of Five in his better days.
They all exhale as the tension bleeds out of the room. "So what the hell was that about?" Allison asks, but no one has any answers.
"Guess she just wanted to fuck with us," Diego says, but there's doubt shading his voice.
"She was lying," Vanya says and no one refutes it.
"Yeah," Diego agrees, sounding puzzled. "But what's weird about it is she didn't seem to care that we knew it."
"And if she wanted our help why be such a bitch about it?" Luther asks under his breath.
"Um, guys..."Klaus says slowly as he rises from the chair, some dawning realization making his voice unsteady. "If we were all here downstairs with her...who's watching Five?"
They share one look that courses through them like a Tesla coil and the next instant they're running, feet thundering on the stairs. Up, up, to the attic and it's impossible to know which of them actually reaches Five's room first but what Vanya can tell is that the door is open.
They never left Five's door open anymore.
She keeps running and almost slams into the stone wall of Luther's back. He's standing just inside the doorway, frozen in shock, hand gripping the door frame hard enough to crack the molding. "Oh, God..." he breathes. To one side is Grace, her body slumped carelessly against the wall. She's been nearly decapitated, head hanging to one side as exposed wires and circuitry sparked from the twisted metal stump of her neck.
Five isn't there.
Of course the Handler hadn't cared about the truth. Her words had been nothing more than toxic smoke; a shiny distraction.
"He's gone..." Allison whispers, trembling hand over her mouth.
Vanya looks around the empty room, her face stricken. Outside, the thunder rolls in as the house starts to creak and shake in response to the hurricane building inside her. "They took him."
End part 1 of The Chronos Saga
Part 2, "Smoke and Ruin" is available and complete.