"Come on, Sloane! Wake up!" Astrid continued to shake the Sparrow awake, hoping the yellow rays hadn't gotten to her too. She rested a hand against Sloane's left cheek, softly caressing it as her body filled with worry. For a moment, Astrid thought she was too late. But judging on what happened to Jayme and Alphonso after the blast, she realized whatever damage happened to them, couldn't have been so severe for Sloane, at least physically.
The Umbrellas looked at the dead bodies of the Sparrow siblings, slowly looking towards their saving grace, and only Viktor was quick to realize who the mysterious person was. "Heavens to Betsy, what did you do?! Did Viktor go full 'Carrie' again?" Klaus gasped the moment he stepped into the lobby. "We didn't do this!" Allison answered, gesturing towards the old man staring down at the corpses. "Harlan?" Viktor spoke softly, reaching towards him.
"Don't touch me!" Harlan flinched. "Don't come near me, please," his hands went to his head as ringing filled his ears. "I just want to make sure you're okay," Viktor assured. "You... you can talk now," Harlan slightly nodded, claiming that he could do a lot of things now. Astrid turned her focus back to Sloane, tucking pieces of her light brown hair behind her ears, still calling her name. "Sloane, are you alright? Please wake up..." She pleaded. A groan escaped Sloane's lips as she tried to sit up, feeling a burning pain in her side.
"It's okay, I've got you," Astrid whispered, wrapping an arm around her back. Sloane gripped at her right arm, briefly meeting Astrid's concerned but relieved eyes. "What happened?" She grimaced. "You were almost hit by rays, but I grabbed you just in time," the Shadow Girl explained, unaware her family was watching. Though they stayed silent and listened to what was being said, the wheels in their heads began turning with suspicion. How could she be acting all friendly towards one of our attackers?
As Sloane tried to stand up, she caught glimpse of a familiar mixture of burgundy and black. And as she looked over her shoulder, she was shocked to find the disfigured and cooked bodies of Jayme and Alphonso. Immediately, she started hyperventilating, hoping this was just a hallucination and that they were just unconscious. But the moment she saw their melted eye sockets, she realized the nightmare was a reality. Sloane's eyes bulged out of her head as she looked back to Astrid, and still a shaking and hyperventilating mess, she took off running up the stairs.
"You've got a live one, Trid!" Diego yelled, running behind as she took off after the gravity girl, Luther following close behind him. While Diego grabbed one of his blades, eager for revenge, the Ape-man wanted to stop him from killing Sloane and to help her as well. "Sloane, wait!" Astrid called out, following her as she ran towards the Oasis and Spa. But as soon as she stepped inside, it was almost as if Sloane had vanished into thin air.
"Sloane?" Astrid called out again. The only response she got was a shower curtain rustling, and an older gentleman stepped out, wrapped in a towel. "Oh geez, I'm sorry!" Astrid looked away embarrassed as the man shuffled his way out of the room. As she stepped further into the spa, she heard sniffling and turned around to find Sloane scowling at her with tears running down her face. Before Astrid could comfort her, Sloane lifted her high off the ground, now quivering with rage.
"Did you set me up?!" She growled. "No! I would never do that to you!" Astrid strained, trying to get her feet back on the ground. "Liar!" Sloane hissed, before feeling the edge of a blade pressed against her neck. "But I would. Let... her... go," Diego threatened. With either the choice of life or instant death laid before her, Sloane reluctantly freed Astrid from her grasp, making her land on the white-tiled floor, gasping for air. "You good?" Number Two questioned. "I'm fine," Astrid nodded.
With that confirmation, Diego started dragging Sloane back to the lobby, but before he stepped out of the door, he bumped into Luther, who wedged himself between the doorframe so he couldn't get past. "That's enough, Diego. Let her go," Luther instructed. "What? Are you kidding me?" The Kraken scoffed. "She's hurt! Just let her go!" Astrid slowly approached him. "Have you two gone mad or something? She is the enemy!"
Hearing Diego describe her lover in such a way awoke one of the darkest parts of Astrid. She may have been the conqueror of shadows, but if someone were to cross her the wrong way, let's just say they were guaranteed to have nightmares. "Drop the knife, Diego. Or I swear to god... I WILL BREAK YOU!" Astrid's usually soft voice lowered a few octaves, her growl sounding demonic, her eyes turning completely black.
"Are you going to break me too, Astrid?" A voice came from behind her. Astrid quickly snapped out of it, turning around to see Allison looking at her with concern and continued suspicion. There was no denying it now. It was clear to the Umbrellas that Astrid cared for Sloane. "Just let me talk to her," Astrid glanced at her three siblings. "Trust me, she's gonna talk," Allison squinted at the Sparrow. Sloane looked to Astrid, terrified by what her sister meant by that.
"It's going to be okay," Astrid assured, reaching out to her. She would deal with her siblings later, but at that moment, she would not rest until Sloane no longer had a knife to her neck. Diego let her go, but not before Sloane's hands were bound against one of the tiled pillars. "Not so tight," Astrid whispered to Luther as he tied the two ends of the white cloth together. "I'm on your side, Trid. We'll help her out after this," he whispered back.
The Shadow Girl nodded appreciatively, and as they stepped a few feet back, Diego and Allison sat on the edge of one of the tubs, looking at each other with twin glares. "I heard a rumor..." Allison began. "Allison, don't!" Luther spoke up but the rumoring continued. "You're gonna tell me the truth," Sloane's eyes rolled into the back of her head. Astrid and Luther watched with nervousness as she slightly jerked against her restraints, but her eyes went back to normal as the rumoring continued.
"Where is the briefcase?" Allison questioned. Sloane stayed silent, her head twitching as she glared at Allison, further stirring her anger. "Tell me, where is it?" Allison repeated. But once again, Sloane's lips remained tightly sealed. Allison walked closer to her, the repetitiveness of her words followed by clenched teeth and a low snarl. "I DON'T KNOW!" Sloane shouted. "Stop this!" Astrid tried wrapping her arms protectively around Sloane, but Allison whipped around, grabbed her wrists, and pushed her back in Luther's direction. "We left it in your house, and it is our only way out of this! WHERE IS IT?!" Allison shrieked, Sloane's body shaking even more violently than before.
It wasn't until Luther finally pulled her away that Sloane was free from the interrogation. Astrid quickly went to her side, making sure that she was okay. But Sloane didn't say a word to her, still believing that Astrid and her family set this up as an ambush. "You better ask yourself which side you're on, Ast," Diego tucked his blade into one of the holsters. "Get out of here, Diego! Nobody needs you here!" Astrid snapped. Diego charged towards her, but again, Luther stopped him from laying a hand on her.
"All of you, just get out!" Allison yelled, silencing everyone. "She doesn't leave your sight, Astrid. You got that?" The Shadow Girl nodded as she and Luther helped Sloane to her feet, taking her out of the spa to get her all cleaned up. "Here, I'll grab some ice. Why don't you take her to my room, and you two can sort this out?" Luther offered. "Okay. And hey, Luther?" The Ape-man stopped in his tracks. "Thank you," Astrid smiled.
Luther smiled back before continuing to grab the bag of ice. Inside the room, Sloane sat on the couch opposite Astrid, continuing to glare at her. Sure, she was upset when the Umbrellas initially broke into the Academy, but now that she was involved in a relationship with one of them, her walls of protection were up, and it would take a lot for her to trust Astrid again. When Luther returned with the bag, Sloane snatched it from him and placed it on her arm. " We'll be okay the two of us," Astrid nodded.
"Are you sure?" Luther questioned. Astrid nodded, telling him she'd call him back if she needed him. "I hate your family," Sloane muttered once the door closed. "That's fine. Honestly, I'm not thrilled with yours either," Astrid responded. "Were you a part of it? Ambushing us with Superman's grandpa?" Sloane repeated her previous question. "Come on, my family doesn't have the best track record when it comes to making decisions, like if pineapple is okay on pizza. We have no idea who that guy is," Astrid shook her head.
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Sloane asked, setting her bag of ice on the coffee table. "Hold on, you guys attacked us!" Astrid recalled. "I tried to warn you!" Sloane insisted. "Oh really? When did you do that? At the last second?" "No! I heard Ben and Fei talking last night. I was on my way to warn you before he rounded us up!" Sloane explained. Both sides were not trusting each other, all thanks to Ben and his taste for revenge. It was official, the Umbrella Ben was much better.
"Ben told you to take us out! Before the blast, you were just about to do that!" Astrid could still feel the throbbing in her head from Christopher's high-pitched shriek. "But we didn't! Now your stupid family is fine, and half of mine is dead!" Sloane choked up. The anger Astrid had inside her dissipated the moment she saw Sloane wipe her tears. "Were you just... using me? Getting close to gather information?" Astrid was stunned, she can't possibly believe that, right?
With everyone Astrid had been with, in one way or another, they all used her. Whether it be with finances or to toy with her emotions, Astrid hoped that one day when she found the perfect person, she wouldn't be accused of being the user in the relationship. She loved Sloane with every fiber of her being. And no matter what kind of asshole tried to get in the way of her affections, she refused to let them destroy what they created in the three days of knowing each other.
"Sloane, there's something you need to know about me. Ever since I was kicked out, I spent years hoping to find the one who would love me for who I am. But every time, someone always left me crumpled up on the floor. And even after so many heartbreaks, I made a vow to myself that I would never betray the one who I considered my true love. I love my family, I really love them. And I would do anything for them, except betray you because that's not who I am. And it may sound cliche, but there's only been one person outside my family who has shown me the light," Astrid confessed.
The Gravity Girl looked down at her lap before reconnecting her gaze. "Wh-Who?" She questioned. Astrid reached over and took her hand. "You, Slo. You taught me what love is, what it really is. If you're playing me right now, you win. But if this... if this relationship is real, then we have to trust each other. Because we are nothing like our families," Astrid watched as her girlfriend's look of hurt turned into one of trust. "Okay..." She smiled.
Just outside the room, Luther pressed an ear against the door, listening the whole time to the conversation. And as he slowly creaked open the door to get a better view of what was going on, he watched as Astrid wiped away Sloane's tears, leaning in close to kiss her. As the two women cherished the moment of reconciliation, all Luther could do was be happy for them. Astrid had found her missing piece. Although it would take a while for the rest of the Umbrellas to warm up to Sloane. He held hope everyone else could be on good terms with her as well.