Notes: Gosh, I can't believe how close we are getting to the end! If I'm honest, as I'm writing the last bits, I'm getting quite melancholic T-T

You're Safe Now

Dot, Diego and Lila appeared a few meters away from the headquarters with Dot's briefcase, the building looking rather underwhelming if Diego was honest.

"The Handler dispatched most of the agents when one of the brothers pressed the emergency signal on his watch, so I thought if there was a chance to save Five, this would be it. She's not alone in there, though, so be careful and don't make me regret this."

Lila cursed inwardly, I knew it, we should've made sure they were all knocked out. "Thanks for the help, Dot. I was convinced there was no way to save Five when I left, but something changed my mind," she stole a glance at Diego, "we'll get him out of here."

"Please do, he deserves so much better than this."

Diego smiled in surprise, it was somehow relieving to see Five had some friends, at least he hadn't been entirely alone until he had returned to them, but it was still very weird to think he had been connected to Lila through the Commission all along; he couldn't help to wonder about their relationship, the things they would have talked about for Lila to explode like she had back in the refuge.

Lila sighed, "He does, poor bastard has suffered enough for a lifetime."

Dot gestured in agreement, "anyway, the Handler must be in the Infinite Switchboard room with most of the personal right now, you two should hurry."

"Great, now please go hide somewhere safe," scoffed Lila, she couldn't believe the bravery of this woman, she was one of the best at her desk job, but she didn't even know how to hold a gun properly, much less shoot or fight.

They said their goodbyes and Diego followed Lila, "okay, so what's the plan? We raid the place and—?"

"No, we need to be stealthy, your brother's not going to be in any condition to run, let alone take part in a raid."

"Is he really that bad?" Asked Diego still uncapable of picturing Five on the losing end of anything. Yes, he had fainted that one time with the shrapnel wound, but that had been after apparently raiding the Commission and walking all day like that.

Lila sighed, "do you think he would have asked me to leave him to his faith if he wasn't?"

"Okay, that's a fair point."

"Listen... it's only been a few days since you started seeing Five, but he's been imprisoned in the Commission for more than a month, time runs differently here."

"Damn... what has your mother been doing to him apart from sending him to do her dirty work all this time?" Diego grimaced.

"You can ask him later, but you won't be able to if we don't hurry. She's planning to lobotomize him."

"Jeez, why didn't you start with that!" Whispered Diego motioning to her to press her steps.

After passing through several passages avoiding cameras thanks to Lila's keen memory, they arrived to the last section.

"Okay, we need to slow the pace here, there'll definitely be some people patrolling around here," Lila explained crouching near a corner.

Diego nodded, and getting closer, he took a small rounded mirror from one of his pockets to look around the corner.

Lila snorted, "Aren't you cute? Do you think you're some kind of spy or something?" she smirked with a slightly mocking tone.

"Couldn't you say clever or resourceful?" whispered Diego focusing on the mirror.

"Mmm, that's a little too ambitious, but I'll—"

"Shh, I see two men approaching!" Diego interrupted hissing.

"Crap… okay, stay here, I'll distract them, nobody knows I left the Commission yet."

Diego wasn't happy with the plan, but they couldn't afford themselves the risk of making too much noise or they'd alert the entire Commission of their presence.

Lila stood up and walked around the corner as casually as she could hiding the beanie and the neckerchief in her pockets.

"Oh, there you are, I was looking for you guys," exclaimed Lila speeding up to pass the men so they'd turn the other way.

"Miss Lila, is something the matter?" Asked one of them.

"No, mother just asked me to give you a hand since most of the Commission is busy right now," she finally passed them forcing them to turn their backs on Diego.

"Is that so?" The other man frowned, but before he could say something else, two knives landed directly on each of the men's hearts, both dropping at the same time.

"Good aim," she smiled retrieving the knives from the men's backs and handing them to Diego.

They kept pulling forward until they heard a pair of footsteps approaching around another corner, they'd have no time to hide, so Lila hurried to the corner and waited. As soon as the man turned, she threw a knee at his crotch and as he fell on his knees, she smashed behind his ear with her wrist bones knocking him out.

"That should be the last one," she assured before they resumed their way.

Diego got closer and said softly, "have I mentioned how glad I am that you're in our side?"

Lila chuckled shaking her head, she wasn't ready to admit it aloud yet, but despite the precarious situation they were in, she wouldn't want to be in any other side. Diego had won her heart and Five had managed to earn her absolute loyalty with his insufferable self-sacrifice.

At last they arrived to the torture room, Lila opened the door carefully and spotted the doctor occupied taking notes. Five had been moved to a surgical table, oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth.

"What do you see?" whispered Diego behind her.

"It looks like we arrived in time, there's only one doctor inside."

"Leave that to me," Lila moved so Diego could get a clear view of the man. He took one of his blades with his left hand and pointing at him, he threw it making it land on his temporal lobe, the man's head falling over his notebook.

"Perfect, come on!" Lila breathed opening the door and running to the Boy searching around for used instruments. "He hadn't started yet!" She exclaimed relieved.

Diego looked behind him, and closing the door, he went down the stairs two by two to get to his brother, freezing in place as soon as he arrived. Five looked awfully still, unnaturally quiet with that oxygen mask that seemed too big for his ashen face.

"Sh-Sh-Shit... Five," he muttered feeling a lump on his throat that only increased when he noticed how ragged his brother's breathing sounded.

Lila removed the I.V. after checking the machine, the electrodes, and then taking off the mask, she took a quick whiff inside it.

"We're lucky, seems like the doctor took him off the depressants and was only using nitrous oxide."

"What, the funny gas?"

Lila rolled her eyes, "yes, the funny gas."

Diego removed the thin blanket covering Five and almost fainted before Lila could catch him.

"You all right, big boy?"

"Oh God, it's dried blood…" he breathed taking in Five's appearance once more, his shirt still stained with the blood from the shot he had received and his arms looking like nothing but skin and bones, trembling weakly with the hope of producing some warmth. "Shit..., what did she do to you, man?"

"Told you it was bad."

"It's bad alright… what's the thing on his neck and what was that you mentioned about depressants?" Diego gently put one arm under Five's head and the other one under his knees, lifting him up as if he was made of glass. He had carried Five during the shrapnel incident and, sure, he had been light, but this was ridiculous, he had easily lost 20 pounds.

"Well… when it comes to torture, mother dear doesn't take it lightly, that's her favorite toy, an electroshock collar, and... she doesn't only break people physically," hinted Lila hesitantly, "so you might want to take it easy on him for a while."

Torturing him with electroshocks and messing with his mind, shit, Diego felt a shiver run down his spine vividly remembering when toddler Five had almost killed himself with the electrical outlet, "Damn, that woman's insane," he said softly as Five's head lulled to the crook of his neck. More than ever, he felt the fiercest need to protect that fragile life in his arms with everything he had, as weird as it sounded considering that life belonged to no one but his 58-year-old assassin brother.

"Aww, isn't that sweet?" mocked Lila hiding her own emotion at finally seeing her friend in safe hands.

"Yeah, he's a little angel, let's go," Diego scoffed pointing at the door with his head.

"He should wake up in a couple of minutes if you want to wait," Lila noted looking for something.

"No, let's just get him out of this hellhole as fast as we can," Diego shook his head looking at the medical and torture instruments surrounding them.

"Ah, here it is," Lila took the control of the collar, put it on the floor and covering it with the blanket to make less noise, she grabbed the same bat she had threatened Five with a few days ago and hit the control with all her might a couple of times, "that should do it," then she removed Diego's knife from the dead man and tucked it in her belt, "okay, let's go," she nodded and hurried upstairs to check if nobody was outside.

At that moment Five stirred in Diego's arms, opening his eyes groggily looking around until he realized he was being carried.

"Wha- no, NO! Leave my brain alone!" he tried to shout blearily flailing his arms.

Lila jumped and closed the door with her heart hammering in her chest.

"Five! Calm down, you're safe now, it's me, Diego," Diego tried to calm him while pressing him closer to his chest to keep him from falling down.

The Boy wheezed, "Diego? C-Can't be, I broke his fingers… he must hate me now, why would he come?" Mumbled a still drugged Five making Diego feel immensely guilty for the things he had said to him.

The man stared at Lila helplessly, he wasn't used to talking feelings with Five, sometimes he thought he didn't even have them, at least not this kind of feelings; this had to be the drugs messing with his mind… or maybe all the years he spent alone in the apocalypse, provided a voice in is mind.

Lila just gestured at him to say something.

"Hey, hate is a pretty strong word buddy, sometimes you make me angry, but you're still my brother, okay?"

"No, you don't get it I...," Five trailed off furrowing his brow, awareness slowly crawling to his eyes, "Wait, Diego, w-what are you doing here!? Where's Vanya? You were supposed to rescue Vanya!" he urged getting more anxious by the minute.

"Five, it's okay, the others are working on that as we speak," assured Lila going back to them.

"Oh, that's a relief then," Five hissed sarcastically before sighing tiredly, "…you shouldn't have come, should have stayed with the others to help Vanya."

"And what, abandon you here?" Diego huffed.

"Yes! If things go wrong with Vanya, it means the end of the world and all of you," Five scoffed, "She takes precedence. Besides I'm too—"

"Just shut up, Five," interrupted Diego astonished by his brother's disregard for his own life, "Can you walk?"

Five took a moment to glare at his brother before sighing, "yeah, I think so," he frowned noticing he was actually feeling more awake than he had felt in a long time.

"We're in luck, doctor put you off the meds, so that should help," explained Lila as if she had read his mind.

"Good, one less thing to worry about," Five motioned for Diego to put him down.

"Okay, good," complied Diego frowning at how much they seemed to be on the same wavelength. Then he carefully put his brother down, but as he let go, Five stumbled to the surgical table. He hurried to help, but Five stopped him extending a palm.

"I'm okay, I'm just a little shaky, that's all... just hand me my jacket," mumbled Five holding to the table. Between the weakness, the pneumonia and the withdrawal of the drugs kicking in, he wasn't sure he'd be able to make it up to the stairs, but he didn't want to be a nuisance, they had already been crazy coming back for him, now they needed to somehow make it out alive.

Diego took the jacket from a chair and threw it to his brother with a deep frown, Five looked unnaturally restless and brittle, he had always been edgy and they had gotten used to his jumpiness after he had reappeared in their lives, but there was something different to him now, his eyes seemed dull and somehow clouded with a heavier burden. How deep had the Handler damaged him?

Lila rolled her eyes, "Come on, we'll move faster if I help you walk."

"Okay, but," Five side-eyed Diego anxiously as he put on his jacket, "take some epi shots before we leave and… something stronger just in case," he whispered the last part.

"What, are you crazy!?" Lila laughed mirthlessly, you're in no condition for that.

"For what?" Asked Diego looking from one to the other.

"You and I know you are both crazy for coming here. I'm just planning ahead in case things go south. We need the best odds we can get."

Lila groaned, "fine, just in case."

The last thing Five wanted was for his brother to see him unhinged, but if it came to that and that was the only way to get them out of this hellhole alive, so be it.

Lila hurried to gather things as Diego helped Five up the stairs, hunching awkwardly so Five could put his arm around his shoulders and holding his wrist with his injured hand.

"…how's your hand?" Five looked away self-consciously.

"Still useless," Diego retorted with an edge, but quickly added, "but I can still throw blades and directed them, so it's fine, okay?" Funny gas or not, he had a feeling Five was in no mental state to be guilt-tripped.

Lila caught up to them, "all set, let's get out of here," she patted a pocket in her jacket.

Diego let Lila take his place supporting Five and lead the way following Lila's instructions.

Although every few minutes they had to stop to give Five a break since he ended gasping for air with each dash, they managed to scamper more than half their way through the Commission's passages avoiding the security cameras. Things were actually looking much better than they had anticipated until they turned to the next corner and met with a barrier of Commission agents waiting for them with guns ready.

"Shit, this is bad," Five breathed, barely able to stay on his feet.

Diego stepped in front of them protectively as Lila covertly took the syringes from her pocket and handed them to Five, who rapidly hid them in his own pocket.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting this at all. So this is what you've been doing, darling," the Handler appeared behind the line of agents, "I must say, I'm disappointed, Lila, I never expected Five would trick you twice."

As they tried to turn and run back, the Handler signaled to a security camera and a reinforced door blocked their way back.

"How did you know?" Asked Lila.

"What, did you forget the torture room sets a silent alarm if it gets empty without notice from an executive?"

Lila looked confused.

"Oh right, you didn't know, did you?" The Handler chuckled.

Lila looked nervously at Five and Diego, the Handler was going to kill them if she didn't do something fast, "Haven't you had enough, mom? Just let them go, I promise I'll stay here with you."

"No, Lila!" exclaimed Diego.

"I'm sorry, but it's time to say goodbye to your little friends, darling," The Handler smirked, "shoot them, make sure you don't hurt Lila," she ordered.

Diego stepped up front and lifted his hands stopping all the bullets midair, "Shit, how are they supposed to avoid hurting you like this!?" He yelled watching the bullets rapidly accumulating.

After a few minutes of nonstop shooting, the Handler rolled her eyes and confidently walked past the Commission and Diego, "Okay darling, you better leave Five there and come with me before your boyfriend gets tired and these idiots kill you along with them."

Lila scoffed, they were past negotiations; the Handler had left that clear, "I know the truth; I know you sent the order to kill my birthparents."

The Handler took a moment, and eerily calm as ever, replied, "Darling… I need to know that we can get past this, be a happy family again, hm?" she put on one of her most pleasant smiles.

Lila looked at Diego, who was nervously trying to see out of the corner of his eye what was going on while he held on the bullets that kept coming his way, and then at Five, who was glaring at the Handler powerlessly.

"They are my real family." Then she removed Five's arm off her shoulders and walked a few steps to meet her mother in the middle, "Do you even love me?"

Five watched the scene anxiously and only looking away from the Handler's hands to search his pocket, he took the epinephrine syringe and uncovering it with the same hand, he injected its contents into his outer thigh, slowly approaching.

The Handler's silence spoke volumes, Lila felt tears come to her eyes and, shaking her head, she pulled Diego's blade from her belt and launched an attack.

"Lila, watch out!" Five warned leaping towards Lila as the Handler reached for the right pocket of her coat.

The Handler pulled out a gun and shoot just as Five grasped Lila's free wrist with eyes tightly closed hoping for the best.

Diego could only hear what was happening, so when he heard Five's scream and immediately a gunshot, a ragged scream from his own throat echoed as he imagined Lila gone from his life "NO!"

For a few seconds after the shot, all the Commission agents froze in place, guns unmoving, mouths ajar.

"Wh-what, what happened? Is Lila—!?" growled Diego still holding all the floating bullets and trying to twist his neck as far as he could.

"I-I'm fine, ...Five saved me," stuttered Lila still in shock, watching her mother slowly fall, Diego's blade stuck into her chest. Five had managed to create a time-freezing orb just in time for the bullet to stop a few centimeters away from Lila's own chest, giving her time to dodge and stab the Handler.

"You're welcome," rasped Five releasing his power with blood coming down his nose, the Handler falling to the floor with a thud, eyes still open. "Now blink us out of here, we're close enough to the exit!" He urged stumbling.

"Right," Lila mumbled after a second. As Five let go of her wrist, she held his hand and ran to Diego; the three of them vanishing in a blur of blue as soon as she touched his shoulder, bullets falling to the floor released from Diego's hold.

They appeared outside the Commission a few meters away from where they had hidden the briefcase.

"Shit, I think I'm gonna be sick!" Griped Diego stumbling. "…What just happened?" He asked in a relieved but very confused tone.

"Turns out I can create time-freezing fields, now keep running!" urged Five not wanting to find out if the Commission would follow them even with the Handler down.

"How does that even work?"

"Yeah, how did you know that was going to work?" Asked Lila looking back at him, still holding his hand tightly.

"I didn't," confessed Five feeling like his heart and lungs were going to explode at any minute.

"Well shit, I'm glad it did." muttered Lila.

Diego stopped to grab Five's arm, and passing it around his shoulders, he hastened towards his brother's freedom.

Notes: Compared to other anesthetic agents, nitrous oxide causes minimal effects on respiration and hemodynamics, so that's why the doctor decide to use this on Five. In real life it cannot be a sole anesthetic agent and is often combined with a more potent anesthetic, but considering how weak and oxygen-compromised Five already is, he simply decided to risk using only that instead of augmenting the risk of killing him with the anesthetics.

Next - Chapter 21 - Sorry - Who's saying sorry to whom? Why sorry? ...Well... you'll find out next Saturday! *evil grin*