Bloodguilty // FIVE HARGREEVES

5. I'm Proud of You, little One

"You've been defeated?" Klaus presses his hand to his mouth, trying to hide the fact he's doing everything not to laugh. It doesn't work. Elisa knows he's finding this whole situation most amusing, and it's sure to be something he'll bring up at any time ever.

"Even the best lose sometimes." Elisa shrugs, smirking. Next to her is Five standing, staying quiet as he listens to the two snicker.

"They'll get what's coming for them," Vanya says just as Herb finally looks up from the papers in his hands. The whole time, no one even tried to start a conversation with him. He wouldn't have answered. Those papers have taken all his attention—until now.

"This isn't something to joke with." The tiny man shakes his head, standing up. Elisa watches him out of her seat as he strolls to the other side of the office, to the corner where Five is leaning against the wall. Both their faces are serious, Elisa notices.

"He's right," Five speaks up for the first time. He clenches his jaw, looking Elisa right in the eye. There's a dangerous, determined twinkle in his eyes. One that troubles Elisa. "The hooded person knew the exact time we'd be there. They'll be back."

"Back?" Vanya frowns at her brother. "I thought this was a one-time thing? Surely they're from that time."

"That's a possibility," Five admits, tilting his head a little forward. Still, his eyes remain on Elisa, not wandering at all. "But I'm convinced this'll happen again. This person fought with incredible strength and . . . the commission's tactics."

"You're not saying. . ." Elisa trails off with her mouth wide open.

When Five remains silent, she gets her answer.

"This is someone from the Commission," Herb says, saying what everyone is thinking. "We can't just leave this. We mustn't ignore it like it's nothing at all. They're testing you, Elisa. They're curious what your next step will be. Still, we can't do anything huge since we've got no idea who it is. Yet."

"I thought my speech did it," Elisa whispers quietly. No one but Vanya hears her words, and the woman lays her hand on Elisa her shoulder, squeezing it gently. Slowly, Elisa turns her head to Vanya, who's now standing next to her. A faint smile tugs at her lips, but the anxiety that's piling up doesn't disappear. "Apparently it did not," she says in a stern voice. "I won't let them play me. That's my job." Suddenly, Elisa stands up, causing Vanya her hand to fall off. She places her hands on the table in front of her—only to clench them into fists afterwards. "I shot them in the leg. Do you think we can find them, knowing they're wounded?"

With a sigh, Herb shakes his head. "It's too easily hidden. We'd make everyone suspicious if we send every single assassin to the hospital wing to check them. Plus, they can simply wait and heal in any time to then return in complete health."

"So there's no way of finding them?" Klaus asks, letting his body sink deeper into the newly placed couch. "Amazing."

Everyone stays silent, thinking.

"Wait." It is Klaus who's talking again. "Can't you just do another speech? I know, I wasn't a fan last time, but we could check who reacts the most to your words?"

"These assassins have been trained to put on masks," Five tells him. His eyes flicker to his brother, and they don't fall on Elisa again. "We'd be looking for the impossible. We'd probably see a few snickering, but that's it."

"We've got to wait for the hooded person to appear again," Herb says in a quiet voice.

"That's nonsense," Elisa growls. "We can't just wait."

"This way you've got time enough to think about a proper punishment," Herb tells Elisa.

"A punishment?" Vanya asks, her eyes widening a little. "Of what kind?"

Then the silence comes again. All the eyes are on Elisa—all but Five's. He is watching his shoes without looking anywhere else. Well, it looks as if he's doing so, but actually, he's only waiting for Elisa to answer his sister's question. What will she answer? What punishment will Elisa give the person?

"Isn't there a list of punishments? Surely the handler had a punishment for treason?" Elisa turns to Herb again.

"She didn't." Herb glances Five's way. "She liked to give everyone a different punishment. One got torture; the other got worse." Worse. That short word makes everyone's stomachs turn. Vanya her posture shrinks a little, and she forces her eyes off the people inside the room. Instead, she peeps outside the window, not wanting to think of the horrible ways people have died inside these walls. Because that is what Herb meant. Worse means death.

Klaus, too, isn't fond of the idea. But he doesn't copy his sister her actions. Instead, he does look at Elisa, hoping to see her shaking her head. Or at least give him a reaction that tells him she won't do anything of the sort.

But Elisa doesn't shake her head. She only stares in front of her, at the door. At nothing, really.

Five notices this, too. "You can't be serious, Elisa," he growls quietly. He's hiding his true anger and surprise. But was he really surprised? He feared this, yes, but that isn't the same. "You're actually thinking of it, aren't you?"

"There will be a punishment," Elisa says, shrugging. "I can't let them do as they wish. They're wounding agents. They're ruining missions. I won't accept it, so yes. There will be a punishment."

"But death?" Five scrunches up his nose in disgust.

Elisa raises her voice slightly as she says, "I never said anything about killing them."

"You thought about it."

"Of course I did." Elisa throws her arms in the air. Once her arms have fallen in her lap, Elisa stares at absolutely nothing again. "Of course I did," she repeats herself in a whisper.

"That's something the handler would've done," Five mumbles under his breath, but because of the anger rising inside of him together with the adrenaline rushing through his veins, his words are spoken louder than he intended.

Immediately, Elisa narrows her eyes at him. All this time, that woman haunted her at night. And yes, Elisa has taken some decisions that the handler would've taken, too, but that doesn't mean she does everything like the woman who raised her. That doesn't mean . . .

"What are you saying, Five?"

"Nothing." He shakes his head, but the anger is clear on his face; his brows are furrowed, and he's intensely staring at his feet again. "Absolutely nothing."

But the words are there, still unspoken, but in the air, waiting for someone to dare to say them out loud. Waiting until the time comes. You're acting just like the handler would.

And for the first time, Elisa allows herself to actually face the fact that she might be changing already—even if it's a little. Coming back here has most certainly changed her already, looking at the decisions she has made, and it's only been a short time. What's more to come and how will Elisa act in the upcoming days?

Elisa is sure about one thing: if she was alive, the handler would laugh in her face. I'm proud of you, little one, she'd say while beaming. Yes, that's exactly how she'd react.

As if Elisa has heard the handler's voice, she shakes her head in disgust.