EIGHTEEN.   guaranteed to blow your mind

      Allison put the last stitch in her side. McKenna laid across the touch with her blue sweater raised. Vanya sat at the edge of her feet. She wiped the blood away. "Alright, you're done." Said Allison and she got up from the floor.

McKenna huffed. "Damn, I forgot how much that hurts." She winced and pulled her shirt down. She pulled herself up and groaned again.

"How do you know them?" Vanya asked her, pulling the cloth from her bleeding forehead.

"Long—"

"Story." The sisters said at the same time. "You keep saying that. Why won't you tell us?" Asked Allison.

"Am I that predictable already?" She joked. When neither of them laughed, her grin fell. "They're bad people. People we shouldn't get involved with."

Diego came into the living room, very quiet. His hands were balled into fist and he was pacing around, his breathing shaky. "Diego?" Said Vanya.

He looked at her and stopped walking. "What are you still doing here?" He inquired.

"I'm just trying to be help—"

"No, you could've been killed!" He yelled at her. "Or gotten any of us killed."

"Diego!" McKenna belted.

Vanya's face subtly dropped.

He looked at Allison and jammed his finger at her. "She is a liability." He went and sat on the other couch.

"Allison?" Said Vanya to her sister, hoping for her to back her up.

Allison looked down at her lap, feeling defeated. "I think what he's trying to say is that this kind of stuff is dangerous." She hesitated. "You're just—"

"Not like you." When she didn't answer, Vanya hummed a breath and stood up to leave.

"No, that's not what I—" Allison quickly said and tried following her.

"Let her go. It's for the best." Diego said with no emotion. He looked across the table at McKenna. "How's your side?"

"Why are you acting like this?" She asked him, ignoring the question.

Diego shook his head. "It's nothing." He dismissed and got up from the couch.

McKenna watched him storm out of the living room. Knowing where he was going, she teleported out of the living room and landed in his room, on his bed.

After a minute, Diego walked into the room and jumped. "I hate that you can do that." He grumbled and shut the door.

"What happened?" McKenna inquired.

"Stop, Ken." He dismissed again.

"Diego, you can talk to me!" She raised her voice. "Is it your mom? Is she okay—"

"You wouldn't understand, okay? You don't have a mom!" Diego yelled at her with a red face.

McKenna closed her mouth. His words struck her painfully. Immediately, he backed down. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

Suddenly, a wave of anger went through her. It was built up anger that she'd been holding inside towards the Commission, towards Five for how he was treating her, and now this was the straw that broke the camel's back. "Screw you, Diego!" She yelled at him.

Diego blinked.

"Y'know, I get it. I'm not a Hargreeves. I don't have a family. I'm just a girl you found in an alley that would've most likely died if you hadn't showed up. But I'm still a person, Diego. You don't know the shit I've done or been through." Spit flew out of her mouth. Her face was bright red with anger. He'd never seen her so angry. "Screw you and Five for treating me like shit!"

Diego half expected her to leave at that point. But instead, she stood there glaring at him with glossed over eyes. His shoulders visibly slumped. With shaky legs, he walked over to his bed and slowly sat down, his own eyes glazing.

McKenna watched him carefully.

"I t-t-tur—" he started to stutter. "I t-turned h-h-h—"

Her eyes softened and she quickly sat by him. "It's okay. It's okay. Just think about it." She encouraged him. She sat her hand on his back.

McKenna first found out about Diego's stutter months into living with him. She heard him screaming in his room. When she got there, she saw that he was having a nightmare. It was about his father. She shook him awake over and over again until he finally woke up, and he stuttered so bad that he couldn't form a sentence.

He told her about his stutter the next morning and how Grace used to help him through it. He only ever stuttered when he was upset about something. It was his most vulnerable moment.

"I-I t-t-turned her off." Diego managed to say with tears in his eyes. "Mom. I t-t-turned her o-f-f."

McKenna's anger slowly faded away. She put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him close. She laid her head on his forehead. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She whispered.

Diego never cried. At least not that she saw. He was rough as nails. Rough around the edges. His father sucked the life out of him, which meant he mostly felt anger. But even the strongest of people can break. She didn't say anything else. She just let him cry where nobody else could see.

"Please don't say anything." He shuddered.

"I won't. I promise."

McKenna looked for Klaus all morning but she couldn't find him anywhere. It was abnormally quiet in the academy and one thing about Klaus was that he was never quiet. Her side was in throbbing pain but she ignored it. She found Allison and Luther in the living room. "Hey, have you guys seen Klaus?" She asked.

"I haven't seen him since the other day." Allison answered her.

"McKenna, we need to talk." Luther said sternly. He stood in front of her which slightly terrified her. "Those people last night, who were they?"

She sighed. "People I knew from the past. They want something so they came here." She told him the simple answer.

"They're after Five. Are they after you too?" Allison asked her, more concerned than Luther.

"I—"

"You do realize how badly last night could've ended, right?" Luther asked her like she was a child.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I do, Luther. That's why I almost got killed."

"You need to tell us what you know, McKenna."

"I don't have to tell you shit, monkey man."

"Okay, guys—"

"I may look like a little girl but I promise you, I can tear you apart like a woman. So stop treating me like shit." McKenna sneered. "You're not the leader here, Luther. Your family has a say in things, too. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look for Klaus."

She blinked out of the living room, leaving the two of them in shock. "I don't trust her." Spoke Luther.

Allison gave him a look. "Luther—"

"No, she knows something and she won't talk. These people are after Five. She's putting us in danger."

"Diego trusts her. Klaus trusts her—" she didn't pay attention to the look she gave him. "—She helped us last night. Maybe she's in trouble, too." She picked her bag up from the table. "I'm going to try and talk to Vanya."

Luther still wasn't convinced.

McKenna went to all the places Klaus was usually at. He wasn't anywhere to be found. She'd been walking the streets for what felt like ever. "Klaus!" She called his name.

Klaus Hargreeves never treated her badly. He was kind and hilarious. He saw her as a friend. Took her in the first day they met without question. He was messed up and out of his mind but McKenna loved him. At the moment he was the only person she wanted to see.

"KLAUS!" She continued to shout his name. She shouted it over and over and over again but there was sight of him anywhere.

"McKenna?" She turned around and saw Eudora.

"Patch? What are you doing out?"

"Seemingly doing the same as you." Eudora answered. She had her badge wrapped around her neck. "You're looking for Diego's brother?"

"Yeah, I can't find him anywhere. None of the others have seen him. I'm really worried." McKenna answered and put her hands on her hips.

Patch stared at her for a minute. "How about you look and I look and we'll regroup later, see if we found him?" She suggested.

She half smiled. "I guess that could work."

Eudora smiled. As she started to leave, she turned back around. "Hey, Ken?" She received a hum. "Did Diego tell you about his mom?"

Her shoulders dropped. "Yeah, yeah, he did. She died last night."

"I can't believe it. I—" she shook her head. "Feels like we can't talk about the stuff anymore, y'know? He always twists it into something else."

McKenna nodded slightly. "He's just really upset right now. But believe me, above all people, you're the person he wants to talk to the most."

She saw the detective smile ever so slightly. "Really?"

"Oh, I can't go a day without hearing your name. It's kind of annoying sometimes." They laughed. "I don't think I'm the person that can convince you to give him another chance, am I?"

"Not a chance, kid." Eudora smiled. "But I admire your will."

McKenna smiled at her. "Just glad we're friends though. You're really the only friend I have."

"Oh, that's not true."

"No, it is. I'm not really a social person. I just feel like I can talk to you, y'know? It doesn't even have to do with Diego."

Again, Patch smiled. "Whatever you need, Ken. I'm a phone call away." She put her hand on her shoulder. "I'm gonna kept looking, okay?"

McKenna nodded. The pair went their separate ways and she continued to yell Klaus' name.

Suddenly, a car pulled up beside her. "McKenna!"

She turned her head and jerked her head back. "Five?" She said and looked inside the car. The man driving was the guy from Meritech. She also saw him holding a knife to his neck. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'll explain on the way. Get in." Five ordered.

"No."

He blinked. "What do you mean no? What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for Klaus." She answered and continued walking the street.

Five watched her and quickly looked at the driver. "Follow her." He ordered and pressed the knife to his neck again.

Scared, he drove the car slowly. "McKenna, come on. Get in the car!" Five commander again.

"I thought you didn't want be to intervene with your problems." She threw at him.

He rolled his eyes. "I was mad, okay? I didn't mean it."

"You lied to me. You keep things from me. Hell, you can barely look or even have a conversation with me. Why would I go anywhere with you?" Her anger levels rose.

Five was shocked. To see go from being sad to angry so quickly was a surprise. Had be pushed her too far? Again, he looked at the driver. "Stop." He demanded. The tires squealed on the pavement. He looked out the window. "I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear?"

McKenna stopped walking and walked to the window. She bend down and rested her arms on the windshield, close to his face. "I've been an assassin since I was eighteen years old. I'm one of the most powerful people to come out of the Commission and for you to treat me like I don't matter when I can help you is bullshit. So if you want my help, stop being an asshole and suck up your pride." She spat.

The driver awkwardly listened with a knife still held to his neck.

Slowly, Five grew a smirk. "Okay."

She raised her eyebrows. "Okay?"

He motioned his head to the backseat. Eyeing him, McKenna slowly opened the back door and got in. She slid to the middle seat.

"He has a list of all the people on the waitlist for prosthetic eyes. He's taking us to the lab." Five explained to her.

She looked at the driver who didn't dare take his eyes off the road, for he was too scared to. "This is why you disappear?" She asked him.

"I need to find out who the eye belongs to, Ken." He told her and looked over his shoulder. "We have to save the world."

She didn't question that. She pushed her anger towards him aside. If she had the ability to save the world from an apocalypse, she'd sure as hell do everything to try and do it.

McKenna didn't know what she was expecting but seeing the Meritech building wiped in flames was at the bottom of the list. She and Five dragged the man down the street when they saw the fire and smoke. Her jaw dropped. "Oh, shit."

Five took off running.

"Five, wait!" She shouted and quickly followed him. The glass windows exploded and the building bursted into flames. Five went flying backwards. McKenna screamed. "NO!" She sprinted through the large cloud of smoke and dropped to her knees, the rubble stabbing her skin through her jeans. "Five! Five!" She cried out and shook him.

He opened his eyes and she nearly fainted. Five groaned and she helped him sit up. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

He eyed the exploded building and couldn't seem to speak. She heard police sirens. Five's face dropped drastically. His whole plan went up in flames, literally. McKenna breathed deeply, her shoulders slumping over. "What are we going to do now?" She uttered.

Five still couldn't give her an answer.

She grabbed his face. "Hey." She spoke and turned him so that he was looking at her. "Talk to me."

"I. . ." He tried to form words. "I. . . Really need a drink."

McKenna stared him blankly. "A drink?" He nodded as an answer. She opened her to speak but then she paused. She looked at the burning building in front of her and listened to the sirens.

The word was coming to an end. She had people trying to kill her. Death was inevitable at this point. McKenna began to ponder why she was trying so hard to stay alive. "Sure. Let's get a drink."