—𝘼 𝘿𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙎!

❛❛ 𝙄 𝙈𝙄𝙎𝙎 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙇𝙄𝙆𝙀, 𝘼 𝙎𝙄𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙍,

𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙆𝙉𝙊𝙒? ❜❜

~ ☂︎︎ ~

𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆 𝘼𝙏 Elliot's, we were retelling today's events to Diego while Lila nursed his wound.

"So, what, you just let her go?" Diego asked, appalled we let Vanya leave. "Well, Vanya had a lot to process," Five replied. "Yeah, she lost her memory and has been living here for a month. It's not exactly the nicest thing to find out you're from the future and you cause the apocalypse. And that there's another one coming," I sighed. "She'll come around, I know she will."

"What about the guys that went after her?" Diego question. "The Swedes?" Five asked. "Yeah, I mean, how do you know they won't go after her again?"

"We don't," I replied. "Mm, any idea who sent them?" Lila asked. "Oh, I have my suspicions," Five said, "But right now, our priority is finding Dad and getting answers, 'cause everything else depends on it."

"Which for the record, I found him already," Diego interjected. "Hmm, did you really?" Diego stared at me. "Uh, yeah. I did. You watched me fight him."

"And then let him go before we could have a meaningful conversation," Five pointed out. "What do you mean? She's the one who let him go. She had him pinned," Diego said, looking at me. "Which is more than I can say for you. If you don't remember, we," I paused to acknowledge Lila, "saved your ass. I seem to recall you bleeding out on the floor."

"He stabbed me," Diego protested. "I'm surprised he waited this long, Diego. We've all had the urge," Five smirked. The rest of us chucked silently. "Good one," Lila said, holding up her hand for a high five. Five stared at her, but I slapped it and she smiled.

"Good thing we know where Dad's gonna be tonight." Five handed Diego the invite we found in Reggie's desk earlier.

"Where'd you get this?" Diego asked, taking it from Five. "Found it at his office while he was busy stabbing you." Diego chuckled sarcastically. "Hm," Lila said, peering over Diego's shoulder to read it.

"Hoyt Hillenkoetter and the Consulate General of Mexico in Dallas cordially invite you to a gala-"

"Woah, wait," Elliot said, interrupting Diego's reading. "Hoyt Hillenkoetter? Are you serious?" He walked over from whatever he was doing. "Do you know the guy?" I asked. Lila gasped reading further down the letter. "We should go. Says there's gonna be a seafood tower," Lila pointed to some words. "Ooh, definitely," I smiled at her.

Apart from this interaction, Elliot was explaining his information. "No, Hillenkoetter is...is one of the Majestic Twelve," he stated. "The hell is the Majestic Twelve?" Diego asked. "What?" Elliot said, shocked he didn't know. Well, it's not like I knew either. "It's a...a secret committee. Uh, scientists, military, uh, deep state. No one knows what they really do," Elliot completed.

"Wait, so they're government?" Diego grunted as he attempted to sit up. "Shadow government. Yeah, Kennedy was the first president to try to push 'em into the light, but these guys are not to be trifled with. Oh..."

Elliot moved to grab a picture. "Oh, here we go. Ah, right here. This, uh...Oh, right here." Elliot showed us the photo, pointing to a man. "That's Hoyt right there," he said. "Huh."

Diego sighed, still groaning from his injury. Lila looked over and gasped softly. "I only count eleven."

"Well, that's because they've only identified eleven so far," Elliot replied. "Who's the twelfth?" Diego asked. We pondered on it and all came to the same realization. We gave each other the same look. Dad.

~ ☂︎︎ ~

𝘼 𝘿𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙎. Why did it have to be a dress. Not that I have anything against them, but uncomfortable fit & flare dresses from the 60s were not my style. It was squeezing the life out of me with its too warm material. And the heels. God, why the heels? I cannot fight like this.

It took Lila and I a quick trip to the nearest clothing store (and a little bit of thievery) for us to be properly dressed. While we were there, Lila also picked a suit for Diego. I finished smoothing out the dress and looked at myself in the mirror. Woah. It had been awhile since I'd worn anything like this, but it actually didn't look half bad. The color suited me well and the shape complimented my features.

I took a few steps to test the heels, making sure I wouldn't tumble over as soon as I walked out. There was a knock at the door. "Ready?" I heard Lila ask. "Yeah!" I shouted back. She slowly opened the door and came inside. She wore a nice turquoise dress, similar to my own.

"You clean up nice," she said, surveying my appearance. I smoothed out my skirt. "I'm sure you're thinking the same thing about Diego." She scoffed. "What does that mean?" I turned towards her. "You think I can't tell something between you and Diego happened? To quote you, there's some tension between you two, I can feel it." Lila laughed. "Okay, you know what, maybe something did happen. But that is none of your business right now," she said, coming up behind me. "Here," she pulled out a pearl necklace. I scooted closer so she could put it on me.

"Where did you get this?" I asked. She shrugged it off. "I might've also stolen it along with these clothes, but whatever." I laughed. "This is nice," I said, turning around to face her after she had finished with the necklace. "Yeah?" I nodded. "I miss having like, a sister, you know?" She smiled softly. "I understand what you mean. I didn't have any siblings, or even a father growing up. I was kinda isolated," she said, twiddling her thumbs.

"Oh, that must've been difficult," I replied. "Well, my mother was good, so it wasn't too bad," she said. We exchanged grins.

"We should get going now," I said, making my way towards the door. Five and Diego we're waiting on the couch. Their conversation stopped once they saw us. "Well?" I asked. "Are we fancy enough for this gala or whatever?" Five stood and cleared his throat. "W-wow. You look, um, nice," Five stuttered. Diego snorted. I whacked him with my powers. "Thank you. It's quite beautiful, but it's gonna be difficult if I need to fight. Come on, let's get going."

~ ☂︎︎ ~

𝙒𝙀 𝙃𝙄𝘿 𝘽𝙀𝙃𝙄𝙉𝘿 a car just outside the front door of the event. "So, what's the plan?" Lila asked. "We infiltrate, we identify, we extract. Double time," Diego said softly, making weird and unnecessary motions with his hands. "What the hell's he talking about?" Lila asked. "Find the old man and get out fast," Five explained. "That's what I said," Diego insisted. "Sure, that's exactly what came across." Diego sighed. "On me," he said, and moved into the embassy.

I stood up after him, a little more gracefully. "After you," I heard Lila say to Five. I stayed back a little bit to listen in on their conversation. "What, I can't be polite?" I heard her ask. "Cut the crap," Five started, "All right? My dimwitted brother might buy your bullshit, but I don't trust you for a second."

"O ye of little faith," she responded. "Stick it up your ass," Five replied. I heard them get up, so I continued to the event.

We walked in and attempted to weave our way through the crowd.

"I don't see Dad anywhere," Diego said. "Just keep an eye out for the Majestic Twelve," Five responded. He surveyed the room. "I got the upstairs. Diego, try not to do anything stupid." He moved towards the steps but I pulled him back. "Yeah?" He asked, turning to face me. "I know you're not all, dressed up," I said, gesturing to Diego's suit, "But, do you wanna dance? Maybe?"

He seemed hesitant to respond. "At least one song, come on." I grabbed his hand and dragged him out onto the floor.

Five stood there awkwardly. I sighed, grabbing his hand and placing it on my waist. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. We swayed gently to the music. "I guess you weren't there for dancing lessons from Dad," I said softly. He chuckled. "No, I was not, but I bet they were entertaining," he said. "One never knows when the paso doble will be the difference between life and death, children," I quoted. We laughed quietly.

I grabbed his hand and twirled him around before pulling back in. "Aren't I supposed to be leading this?" He asked. "Yeah, but you never learned," I replied, looking him in the eye. Before I could say anything, he pressed his lips to mine. I moved my hands from his shoulders to his face and leaned in closer. My heart felt like it was flying and the world seemed to stop. Soon it became harder to kiss, because he was smiling and so was I.

Eventually, we pulled away, but not completely. Our foreheads still rested against each other, our noses barely touching. We stayed in that position a moment longer, still swaying to the music. Slowly, we moved away and back into our original position.

The song changed to a more melodic mariachi song. I cleared my throat. "We should um, get going now," I said, grabbing his hand. He nodded, with a slight blush on his cheeks, and we made our way up the stairs.

—𝘼𝙐𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙍'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙀!

Whaaaaat, I'm

not on the .

Nope, totally . Ok, you've

me, I am

on the toilet. And

on a weekend.