𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃𝐘━︎━︎ J. Proudstar

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

"I'm sorry about your aunt." Lauren whispered.

Artemis shook her head. "It's not your fault."

"But it is." They pulled back, just as a tear escape Lauren's eye. "If only we had done what they asked they wouldn't have―︎they wouldn't have―︎"

"Hey, hey, Lauren, look at me." Artemis placed her hands on either side of Lauren's face, trying so hard to swallow her tears. "Sonya would've kept fighting for you through and through. She died because of that, and that is not your fault. Alright?" She wiped a tear from Lauren's face, offering her a small smile before hugging her once again.

They broke apart when they heard Shatter's voice. "Everybody! Everybody, listen up! We got incoming." The two exchanged looks before quickly making their way down to the bottom floor. Shatter made his way to Marcos. "Marcos, they're coming. They got past the perimeter guards."

"Who did?"

And then the sound of footsteps made everyone look up towards the door. Esme―︎and her two twin sisters―︎made their way into the building, coming to a stop at the top of the stairs.

"What are they doing here?" Caitlin asked.

"What the hell do you want?" Marcos asked, his voice filled with anger.

"Calm down. There's no need to get excited." Two of the sisters said, exchanging sentences. And then Esme, the one they had known, said, "We're just here to talk."

"Talk about what?" John asked.

"We need your help."

Artemis scrunched up her nose. "Okay, the whole synchronizing bullshit is unnecessary. One of you be the spokesperson, the other two shut the hell up."

They made their way down the steps, stopping at the balcony. "We'll get right to the point," Esme said. "We're here about the hound program. It's still going on. It's looking to expand, in fact. We want your help to stop it."

Marcos raised his eyebrows in disbelief, "What? No, you came in here and lied to us. What, now you want our help?"

"You used us so you could slaughter those agents at the lab." Reed snapped.

Esme sighed before making her way down the last set of steps, leaving her two siblings on the balcony. "We did what we had to do. Did I mislead you? Yes, so you would do what had to be done. And as for your plan to ask Sentinel Services to give up nicely, that would have ended with as many corpses. But they would've been yours."

"Why do you need us?" Lorna sighed.

"Yeah, I saw you three controlling people's minds." Clarice spoke up. "You can handle this on your own."

"They know what we look like." Esme told her. "And we can't take on Sentinel Services by ourselves. But we have to act now. Make no mistake, the humans will come for us all. We have information about Campbell's plans, resources to share."

"Meanwhile, you have. . ." Another sister spoke.

"Muscle." The third sister finished.

"Hang on." Caitlin quickly said. "Are we seriously considering this?"

"No, we're not." Marcos denied. "We're not gonna listen to this anymore."

"Enough." John silenced them. "We're not debating this, not here, not now. We heard what you had to say. Now you need to leave."

"Think it over."

"Don't take too long. We'll be back." Then, they left.

"Well, aren't they delightful?" Artemis sighed.