Shadows & Mirrors // f.hargreeves fanfic

:::: Forty-Three ::::

"Oh dear God," Nova muttered to herself when she arrived in the hotel lobby.

Things were worse than she had realized. Luther was sitting at the bar with a pile of cassette tapes singing along to cheesy 80s love songs with his headphones on. The girl couldn't help but cringe at his squeaky pitch and loud voice. But that wasn't the worst part. Her eyes drifted to the other side of the bar where it looked like Diego was assembling multiple Molotov cocktails.

"Sup, Nova," Diego nodded to her when he saw Nova standing a few feet away with her arms crossed and a judgemental look on her face.

"Sup, boys. What's going on here?" Nova asked uneasily as she took a few steps closer. Luther seemed to notice her presence now and removed his headphones before waving to the girl.

"Molotov cocktails," Diego shrugged.

"None of your business," Luther said at the same time in a defensive tone. Now curious Diego and Nova rushed to the bar in order to examine the tapes laid out on the counter.

"Phil Collins..." Nova read.

"Neil Diamond..." Diego read off of another tape. "Jesus Luther, are you making a mixtape?"

"Shouldn't you be watching your kid?" Luther asked his brother before turning to Nova, "Shouldn't you be off with Five somewhere?"

"Dude, I got that parenting thing down," Diego responded.

"And Five's gone off to the Commission looking for help," Nova added.

"Now, I've been working on our defense," Diego changed the subject while gesturing to his collection of Molotov cocktails. "Now, let's talk offense, all right? What's our Sparrow plan of attack? I got the rest of the afternoon."

"Relax. Vanya and Allison handled it. Wait, Nova didn't you go with them?" Luther asked.

"It's Viktor," Diego corrected before Nova could say anything.

"What?" Luther asked in confusion.

"Vanya's Viktor now," Diego explained carefully not wanting to say anything that might upset Viktor.

"What else did I miss when I was kidnapped?" Luther asked and Nova rolled her eyes.

"Jesus, Luther. Seriously not everything is about you, all right? First, it was the moon now it's the kidnapping. Bitch, you were barely kidnapped. Relax, actual kidnapping normally involves a lot more torture," Nova interjected. "Look the Sparrows are coming here."

"For what? Tea?" Diego scoffed in disbelief. "No. No, no, no, no, no. No! No! It's time for the three of us to show 'em who's boss. Like the old days, huh? You know, bustin' heads?"

"Oh my god, Luther, is this Lionel Richie?" Nova interrupted as she picked up a different tape. "Seriously, dude?"

"What? Lionel Richie's still cool," Luther asked defensively as he snatched the tape from Nova who was laughing at him. When the two didn't say anything else he continued, "Look, I met someone, ok? And I thought, you know, maybe she'd like some curated songs that just so happen to express what's in my heart."

"When did you have time to meet someone?" Diego asked taking off Luther's headphones once again continuing the conversation. "I mean, we've been here for two days, and the only time you..."

"Oh dear god, please tell me it's not my doppelganger," Nova groaned uncomfortably disgust filling her whole body.

"What? No! No!" Luther defended himself.

"Is this a mixtape for the enemy?" Diego suddenly screeched.

"Sloane is not the enemy!" Luther exclaimed before continuing, "They are not the enemy. This is all one big misunderstanding. And if our family could just behave ourselves for once then we could all work together. And then Sloane and I can fall in love, get married, buy a dog, grow old on a porch."