[✔️] 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑁𝐾 𝑂𝐹 𝑀𝐸 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

Vanya was the first to make it there, and she slid the door open and ran inside, the others hot on her trail.

Diego's eyes widened as he reached the middle of the room, his gaze glued to the sight in front of him.

A young boy—Harlan—was floating mid-air, and his head was nodded back as gasped and groaned. A forcefield of energy was swirling strongly around him, causing their hair to blow back a little, and Diego was not keen on trying to enter it.

"Harlan? Harlan, it's Vanya!" Vanya yelled as she took a step forward, her eyes panicked. "Look, Harlan, I know you're really scared, but I can help you. I need you to listen to me, okay? Can you do that?"

Vanya inhaled as she looked down at the ground, and released that breath as she looked back up, her eyes now glowing white just as they had back at the Icarus Theatre.

Diego felt Mara grab his hand as Vanya took a step inside the forcefield, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze, though he kept his eyes on Vanya's back.

"Careful," Five called.

"Harlan? I don't know if you can hear me . . ." Vanya began.

"Uh . . . guys?" Klaus shouted, causing them to turn and see that he was peering out of the side of the farm.

"What?" Diego questioned as the five of them headed over to where he was.

Diego then groaned as he saw who it was: the Handler and Lila.

They were standing about a hundred feet away, and the Handler was clutching a thick briefcase in her hand.

"Ah, shit," Diego sighed.

Klaus glanced at him before asking, "What, who are they?"

"One's the Handler," Mara replied as she folded her arms, "the other's Diego's girlfriend."

"Friend," Diego corrected, throwing her a glare, "That's my friend. Lila."

"What? You know what? Doesn't matter," Luther interjected, his eyes fixated on the two that seemed to be waiting. "They both look angry."

"Our brother has that effect on people," Allison remarked, causing Diego to roll his eyes.

"I'm gonna go find out what they want," Five sighed. "You guys stay with Vanya and the kid."

"I'm coming with you, too," Diego instantly said, and he grabbed Mara's hand. "Come on."

Though Mara grumbled under her breath that she didn't want to talk to Lila, Diego pulled her out of the farm, and the three of them headed down to meet the other two.

"Hm, I love the scent of that fresh country air," the Handler chuckled as they approached, "don't you, darling?"

"Makes me want to vomit," Lila responded, her eyes on Five.

Five stared at her for a split second before asking, "What do you want?"

"To watch you suffer," Lila spat.

"Easy," the Handler coaxed before she turned to them and raised her eyebrows. "We're here on official business."

Five shifted in his spot to turn towards the woman, and he questioned, "And what business is that?"

The Handler gave him a small smile. "As the head of the Commission, I've decided to eliminate the criminals responsible for the assassination of the former board of directors."

"Yeah, right," Diego scoffed, a grin growing on his face as he shook his head. "We didn't kill the board."

"Uh, actually, Diego," Five murmured as he leaned towards him, "that's not entirely accurate."