For better visualization, here's an idea of what I think my OC's look like based on actors/actresses!

Valerie Trichet - Joséphine Jobert

Libitina Hargreeves - Florence Pugh

Hana Funai - Minami Hamabe

Hiro Funai - Hiro Mizushima

Felix Wells - Andrew Lincoln

"The Executive" - Julian Morris

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Chapter 5

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A well-dressed young man stared across his desk with a deep frown, "You understand why you're here, correct?"

"Professional backstabbing as always," snickered a tired-eyed fellow sitting in front of him as he flicked open a lighter and lit his cigarette.

"Take this seriously, Mister Wells. Your freedom hangs on the balance," snapped the younger man. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Mister Wells was my father. Call me Felix," his confidant chuckled, revealing smoke-stained teeth behind cracked lips. "Now, who am I royally fucking over this fine evening?"

"Actually, I think you already know her," the executive smiled when Felix's grin fell. "The moon looks especially beautiful on such grim nights, does it not?"

Felix tensed up immediately. He swallowed hard at the implications of his employer's words and put his cigarette out somberly.

"The Hargreeves kid. She's wanted for something?" he asked, having to clear the shock from his voice.

"Actually, no. She took some family leave and promised to bring back riches. I think she's taking this opportunity to escape," the suited man folded his hands on the shiny wood of his desk and closed his eyes.

"She must be eliminated."

"On pure speculation? That's low, even for you, Boss," Felix scoffed, slumping back into his chair.

"I've seen it before. She'll rebel and come after her ex-contractors. Nobody wants that much blood on their hands," The Executive slowly opened his eyes, brown irises replaced with hypnotic swirls.

Felix's hand gripped the edge of his seat tightly as figures of old friends and bosses popped up around him. They sunk into the floorboards like they were quicksand, screaming for help all the while. Felix simply shut his eyes and turned away.

"Lib wouldn't do that. She never liked killing in the first place," he growled in a low voice, getting dangerously close to yelling at his boss.

"Even more reasons for her to turn. The Agency works hard to keep our…employees…in line and one wrong move could bring a whole union down on us. Best to extinguish the fires while small," The Executive rubbed his index and thumb together as if he were squishing a bug. There was a moment of tense silence, where Felix felt his stomach churn with worry and guilt.

"What if I were to defect?" he spoke slowly. The Executive leaned back in his swivel chair, elbows on the armrests and a smile spread across his freshly shaved face. Felix knew he was somewhere in his thirties, but he looked no older than twenty-four. Maybe that was another illusion of his.

"I know you won't. You care too much about getting out of prison to see that little girl of yours," he raised a blonde eyebrow smugly.

"If you hurt a hair on Karina's head, God as my witness I'll — "

"Oh, calm down, Felix. Your daughter is well taken care of. She's staying with her mother in North Country, but I would hate to see her face when she learns her daddy won't be coming home."

Felix held his breath and gnawed on his lip, his confliction eating him up from the inside out. He wanted so badly to just hug his little girl. She had been through so much since the divorce and this wasn't helping.

"Fine," he spat through a clenched jaw, "I'll do it."

"Wonderful!" The Executive laughed while clapping, "You'll meet with your partner tomorrow. As for now, enjoy a complimentary night in The Mark's Penthouse Suite. Dinner will be provided."

Felix got up from his chair to leave, still mulling over the eventual murder of one of his best friends. He made sure to slam the door on his way out.

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Libby wasn't sure what she was getting herself into when she walked into the Argyle Public Library. The Funai twins were always masters in communication and secrecy, so it wasn't surprising that neither she nor Valerie knew much about the strange duo's movements after skipping town. She did expect them to move farther, though…

"Are you sure they work here? Seems a bit dull for them," she frowned as they passed by a stack of Vanya's books put on display. When Valerie picked one up and began to flip through the pages, the noirette snatched it out of her hands. "Don't read that."

The French woman pouted, "Yeah, I'm sure." Libby sighed then turned down the science fiction aisle. Her eyes scanned the spines of the books until they landed on a specific one. She pulled it from the shelf and then returned to where she left Valerie.

"I thought I told you not to read that?" Her snappy comment earned her an indifferent stare.

"In all my years of watching quietly from the sidelines, never had I felt more typical than when I laid eyes upon my sister Libitina. Number Eight could feel a myriad of emotions in under thirty seconds. Tantrums, panic attacks, hyperactive bursts, you name it. She'd burnt out more bulbs with her light abilities than our father cared for, yet the shadows seemed to stay in her own head," Valerie read a passage from Extra Ordinary, Vanya's one-hit-wonder. Libby fought the urge to smack it right out of her friend's hands.

"I get it, I was an emotional mess. Can we go now?" she raised a brow expectantly. Valerie seemed to scan through the page for another second or two before closing it and nodding.

The ladies made their way to the elevator so they could check out downstairs, but stopped when they noticed the small crowd around it. Libby's annoyed sigh was cut short when her eyes caught sight of a familiar, tall blonde.

"Luther?" her forehead scrunched up in confusion. Her brother turned towards her with furrowed brows, also shocked by her presence.

"Libby?" his eyes scanned her as if looking for proof that he wasn't imagining things.

"Diego," she frowned when she noticed that the wannabe batman she was unfortunately related to was also here.

"A teenage boozer."

"What?" she glared in Valerie's direction, caught off guard by her strange exclamation. When the noirette pointed to something behind her, her jaw nearly fell to the floor.

"What the hell is Five doing passed out drunk in the library?" Libby hissed at her two least favourite siblings, "And why is there half a mannequin?!"

"We just found him like this," Diego shrugged, an amused smirk on his bruised face.

"He looks kinda cute like that," Valerie hummed while tilting her head to look from a different angle. Libby would have made a witty comment if it weren't for the mathematics scribbled on the wall catching attention.

"The time travel equation," she mumbled to herself. How she momentarily forgot about the end of days coming within the week was beyond her but seeing Five's math made her heart sink.

"I'm…gonna go find the twins and explain things. I'll see you later," Valerie planted a quick peck on her cheek, drawing her out of her funk and back down to Earth. Libby nodded in understanding then turned back to Five with a hefty sigh.

"So, what do we do about him?" Diego asked, still enjoying the view.

"We take him somewhere. The house isn't safe anymore and we can't leave him," answered Luther, stating the obvious. Libby gingerly took the bottle from Five's sleeping grip and let it slip into her shadow. She crouched down in front of him and took a second to think about how weird these past few days have been.

And why a mannequin?

"We can take him to my place. It's closer and no one will look for him there," Diego suggested as they watched Luther scoop up their brother. Libby sent a quick text to Valerie, saying she'd be gone for a bit and they'd meet somewhere later. No immediate answer.

By the time Five woke up, it was dark out and the four of them were walking through an alley near Diego's place. Libby couldn't help but laugh as Luther snapped at the drunk kid, who only smiled at him.

"I drank that whole bottle, didn't I?" he slurred while rubbing the back of the mannequin he wouldn't let go of.

"Yes and I don't blame you," Libby snorted, earning a glare from Diego and Luther but a chuckle from Five.

"That's what you do when the world you love goes bye-bye," the youngest (but also oldest?) sibling rolled his eyes and limply fell back, locking eyes with Libby. She bit her lip, trying not to laugh. She covered it with an awkward cough. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Two masked intruders attacked the Academy last night. They came looking for you, so I need you to focus. What do they want?" Diego asked, getting straight to the point.

"Hazel and Cha-Cha," sighed Five. Libby threw him a wary look and silently wondered if his brain cells were rotting from alcohol consumption.

"You know, I hate code names," Luther grumbled and frowned down at the boy lying limp in his arms.

"I never minded them. Kept my reputation safe until that book," Libby hummed in agreement. Luther stared at her, seemingly asking what was wrong with her.

"The best of the best. Except for me, of course," Five smiled with a charming wave of his hand.

"Best at what?" Luther scrunched up his face in confusion.

"You know…Delores always did hate it when I drank. She said it made me surly — "

"Hey!" Diego turned around to snap at his inebriated brother, "I need you to focus. What do this Hazel and Cha-Cha want?" When all he was given was silence, Libby took a step closer to him and spoke quietly.

"We just want to help you. Protect you. It's what family does," she didn't bother trying to sweeten her words with a smile, but the genuine worry was clear in her eyes.

"I don't need your protection, Libby. Do you have any idea how many people I've killed — "

"You and I both know damn well that's no excuse!" She shouted, mannerism switching on a whim, "Those assholes after you nearly lit up my best friend and dropped a goddamn chandelier on Luther! How he survived that, I don't know, but not all of us think we're invincible okay?! You sure as hell as aren't and I will not lose you again!"

Other than a hiccup from Five, everyone was silent. Libby's emotional outbursts weren't new, but they knew she was right.

"And I suppose I need some merc with a mouth to get me out of trouble? The apocalypse is coming whether you like it or not," Five grinned challengingly. A heated staring contest ensued between him and his sister, which ended with him doubling over and throwing up.

"He's a charmer, alright," Luther scoffed and continued to walk.

The boxing gym basement that Diego slept in was exactly what Libby expected; a punching bag, a mattress stuffed into the corner, a whiteboard with upcoming fights, and some other gym stuff. She understood living humbly because of "work", but even her apartment was better than this.

With a hot French woman waiting for her, she had no time to complain. Then again, if those masked freaks were tracking her family down, who says they couldn't track down her old team? It was only when Diego's boss came in that she stopped to listen in on their conversation.

"What do you want, Al?" Diego huffed.

"I ain't your secretary. Some lady called for you, said she needs your help," the older man explained. Libby raised a brow at that, leaning against a support pillar in the centre of the room.

"What lady?" her brother pocketed the knife he almost threw at poor ol' Al.

"I dunno. Some, uh, detective. I think she said her name was Blotch or somethin'."

"Patch?"

"Who's Patch?"

"FBI agent ex-girlfriend. He's been shut down by her and the police academy more times than I can count," Luther clarified with a somewhat worried look.

"Must be serious if she's calling him for help, then," Libby pushed off the pillar with her foot.

"Needs you to meet her at a motel. That dump on Calhoun. Said she found your brother," Al passed on the message and then shuffled out the door. The currently awake Hargreeve siblings all looked at each other, then to Five, then back to one another.

"Well, that didn't make sense," Diego frowned. Libby was the first to realise, but the boys weren't far behind.

"Klaus!"

Her eyes became glass, hiding the millions of thoughts behind them about Klaus's safety. Who knew if he was hurt or curled up behind a garbage bin bleeding out or — she had to take a breather before she'd worry herself into a panic attack. Why couldn't it have been Diego or Allison? This was turning into one hell of a day.

"Libby? Hey, sis, you're gonna scratch your arm off. Stop it," Luther tore her hand away from her arm and led her to a chair. Once seated, Libby stared at the skin she had just treated like a scratching post while gnawing on her lip.

"He's gonna be okay, right? I mean, I know how bad withdrawal gets, and he's got to be struggling," her eyebrows knit together in thought.

"There's nothing you can do right now, Lib." Luther knew better than to lie to her, lest he fuels her emotional fire. She hummed in understanding and dropped her head onto the small coffee table with a hard thunk. Unbeknownst to her, her mercenary brand had been revealed and didn't go unnoticed.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That mark on your neck," Luther moved her hair off her neck to fully examine the moon brand. Libby opened her eyes halfway, grimly staring at her brother.

"It's my curse. My chain and ball, if you will," she sighed as the lateness of the night began to weigh down on her body.

"What?" Luther didn't seem to understand her vague analogy. Libby inhaled sharply before standing up and looking him directly in the eyes.

"I'm a mercenary, Luther. I've killed people. Men, women, children, all kinds of ethnicities, social standings, and sexualities; everyone's gotten the boot. I make a living by making sure other people don't," she clarified with a straight face. Luther's wide-set eyes stared at her for a long minute, waiting for her to burst into a laughing fit saying she was just joking. A bad joke, mind you, but a joke nonetheless.

"Seriously? But you're…you're sweet little Libitina," he spoke in a quiet mumble, as if the words were only meant for himself.

"No," Libby hissed, "Sweet Little Libitina cried when thunderstorms rolled through. Sweet Little Libitina would get laughed at because she made a lightbulb explode when she got scared. Sweet Little Libitina would cry and scream and pull her fingernails off because no one would help her get out of that goddamn box!"

"I know what you went through, he hurt all of us," Luther placed a hand on her shoulder carefully, only to have it grabbed and held with surprising grip strength. He winced as her nails dug into his wrist.

"You don't know! How could you? You were the fucking golden child, Number One! I was Number Eight because I refused to accept that his methods of raising child weapons actually worked," she paused for a second, eyes dropping and forehead wrinkling in thought. She failed to notice the only lightbulb in the room growing dangerously bright while she mentally sorted through an entire childhood's worth of trauma. "If anything…I got locked in a coffin because I wasn't as perfect as you."

"Because of me? Really? Grow up, Libby. You can't blame me and Dad for all of your problems," Luther snapped, releasing himself from her grip.

"Because of how he raised us, I knew nothing about the outside world. I couldn't get a decent fucking job because I didn't understand how to live outside of that hellhole. The only thing I did know was beating up bad guys," her gaze fell to the floor as the lightbulb returned to its normal, dim state.

"Why didn't you ask us for help?" Luther frowned worryingly. A pathetic whimper came out when Libby first tried to speak.

"Would you have helped me? Would you have given a second chance to the emotional crybaby that ran away before anyone else could die?" her voice failed her as she looked up again, a stream of tears running down her cheeks.

"We're family, Libby, and I'm sorry we were such assholes as kids," Luther put his arms around her and pulled her into a bear hug, extra careful not to crush her.

"To be honest, you still are," she chuckled while whipping her face dry on his shirt.

"Yeah, I know," Luther smiled softly when she finally returned the hug. She still hated him, just a little less. It wasn't until her phone buzzed that she pulled away from the first embrace she had ever shared with her second least favourite brother. She was somewhat surprised to see Valerie's name pop up on the screen.

"False tracks. Couldn't find the twins."

Damn it.

"Can I ask a question?" Luther spoke up, drawing her mind back to the present.

"Sure," she hummed as they settled down across from one another at the table.

"Why didn't you try to leave?" Luther asked while motioning to her neck branding. There was a brief pause where Libby used her powers to turn the lights off.

Before Luther could speak, she pulled up the black and white striped sweater she was wearing and willed her body to glow lightly. Her marred skin glowed dimmer than the rest, drawing attention to the scars that ran up and across her back. She was like a human night-light.

"About a year in, I told my boss I was quitting. He let me get two feet out of his office," she explained while Luther stared for a long while.

"What did he do?" the blonde scowled as she dropped her sweater back down.

"He's one of us," she admitted with downcast eyes, "A master at manipulation and illusions. He convinced me not to leave, so I stood and took it with a smile while he quite literally stabbed me in the back."

"He stabbed you?!" Luther shot to his feet, knocking over his chair in the process. Libby waved her hand flippantly and shrugged off his worry.

"I healed," she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Libitina, that's not the point," Luther snapped. He had never been her favourite sibling and the same could be said vice-versa, but he still wanted to keep her safe.

"I know. I haven't told anyone because we have enough on our plate, but I'm scared," she shivered at the thought, "if I don't come back with something valuable this time, I won't be allowed to walk away."

"We can protect you!" Luther gestured to himself and a still sleeping Five.

Libby laughed and shook her head in amusement, "We've got enough problems as is: everyone hates each other for one reason or another, Klaus has been kidnapped, and Five still hasn't figured out what causes the end of the world."

"The what now?"

"I'll let him explain." She nodded in the direction of a stirring Five. "For now, I've got another family to un-fuck up." Luther watched her walk out the door, jaw about to hit the floor and eyes as big as saucers.

"LIBITINA?!"

"Ask Five!"

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Valerie tapped her fingers on the desk of her hotel room impatiently, eyes scanning the scene in front of her. She doubted housekeeping would take care of this. Stepping around the cold body on the floor, her gloved hand picked up a half-empty bottle of wine and frowned at the young woman tied to her chair.

"I've got to give it to you, Hana. You made it damn near impossible to find you," she booped her nose with a very out-of-place but sweet smile. The restrained brunette tried to plead, but her voice was muffled by the towel which had been used as a gag. When tears spilt from the corner of her eyes, Valerie turned to follow her line of sight.

"Aw, yeah, I'm sorry about Hiro," she pouted, "I really did like you enfants. Always goofing around and getting into trouble, no one but us aware of how smart you really are. A bit of a waste I guess."

Funai Hana cried out desperately for help, but to no avail. She had been high as a kite an hour ago, but witnessing a murder sober's one up fast. Valerie's face fell into an uninterested scowl as she downed another swig of wine straight from the bottle.

"Cheap crap," she scoffed while grabbing the knife that protruded from Hiro's back. It slipped out of his torso with ease, a sickening squelch making the deceased boy's sister let out a violent sob. Valerie gently ran the knife up and down her arm. "It's nothing personal, Cherié. Boss's orders."

Once the blade tip reached her neck, Valerie swung it down to her leg and stabbed her in her left thigh. Hana's eyes shot open and her body lurched forward, stuck in a silent scream as hot tears mixed with sweat rolled down her face.

"Now, since I like you, I went and called the police before I got here. They should be here any minute, so let's hope you don't bleed out before then, yes?" Valerie's words were barely audible to her as she twisted and wiggled the blade.

The second her old friend passed out from the pain, she took one last look at her carnage then shot a text to Libitina. Hands coated in crimson, she casually walked out of the motel room.

"False tracks. Couldn't find the twins."