𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 ~ 𝗞𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀

~ Chapter Seventy Five ~

"Five, how in the world do you know Victoria?" Dusk slowly shifted her gaze to him as the elevator doors closed. "I could ask you the same question!" Five replied a hint of snarkiness in his voice. The raven's mind kept looping around in circles as she wondered how and when her best friend and brother met. She wanted to know. No, she needed to know. A staring contest between the time traveler and phoenix commenced, and as Dusk kept a focused gaze, she noticed Five seemed to be caving in, though it was unlike him to ever do that.

"We can handle the redhead problem later. Right now, we've got bigger issues to deal with... stopping the kugelblitz!" Luther called out, forcing the two to break the stare. Dusk sucked in a disappointing breath, folding her arms across her chest. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Viktor walking away from the family meeting. She knew this was about surrendering Harlan, and she instantly followed, calling out his name.

"Hey, I can see you have a heart for this kid, but I haven't seen you this protective over somebody since Leonard. I can't help but feel concerned," Dusk noted. "Harlan is nothing like Leonard. He wouldn't hurt me," Viktor assured. That doesn't give me much confidence. When someone says something like that, they end up getting hurt! Luther overheard the conversation between the two, immediately assuming Harlan had a hold over him. "Stop covering for him!" he demanded.

"Covering what?" Five inquired, seemingly regaining his calm demeanor. The Umbrellas walked over, their curiosity also getting the better of them. "Harlan didn't mean to hurt anyone," Viktor insisted, a hint of pleading in his eyes. "Really? You mean when he did this?" Luther scoffed, pointing to a cut on Viktor's right cheek, making Dusk and the rest of her sibling's eyes widen. "Wait, he did that to you?" Five asked, his eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"That's it. I'm gonna end him!" Diego growled, his pointer and middle finger caressing the tip of one of his blades. "Stop. I know how this looks, but Harlan didn't ask for this. If we hadn't gone back to 1963, if I hadn't saved him--" Luther cut off Number Seven, reminding him that Harlan was the one who killed Jayme and Alphonso, not him.  "He's right. If there's even a slight chance of getting out of this alive, we need access to the kugelblitz," Dusk sighed as she folded her arms over her chest.

Viktor tried explaining that there were only five Sparrows left and that they could overpower them. This thought made all the Umbrellas shake their heads as they could not risk losing family in the process. "Harlan is insignificant," Five spoke up. "You once told me that no one is insignificant," Viktor pointed out. "They're going to kill him if we give him up," The Umbrellas looked amongst themselves, some immediately shifting their gaze to the ground. They knew given the Sparrows' rage, they would go through with it.

"So? We're talking about one person versus saving billions of lives here. Is this really a debate for you people?" Lila commented. "Hey, Little Britain? You don't get a vote!" Viktor snapped. "Lila lives in this universe too. Besides, she's family now. Along with the redhead, sorta," Klaus came to her defense. Lila gave the junkie a slight side smile before Diego stepped in, claiming he wasn't going to let Harlan finish Viktor off. "Five days ago, he was just a little kid. And am I supposed to decide if he lives or dies?" Number Seven did his best to keep his composure, though tears of frustration were welling in his eyes.

Dusk slowly walked towards him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We're down to ethical triage here, all right? We can't save everyone no matter how much we want to," she spoke in a firm but soft tone, almost like a mother disciplining her child. "You're on our team now, and unfortunately, there are times when we have to make the hard calls,"