𝖑𝖊𝖌𝖆𝖈𝖎𝖊𝖘||𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖔𝖘

0.5

june 6 2002

Nakia had cut her hair the night before. The brown curls that had been long down her back now frizzed and stopped at her shoulders. The hair had grown quite uncomfortable and tangled every chance it got. It also upset Reginald who told her she looked like she had no home.

Vanya and Ben had been the first to notice.

"You changed your hair," Vanya noted glumly, as they walked to the table. "The long hair suited you."

"Yeah,"

"It stills looks pretty," Ben added quickly.

"Thank you,"

Nakia had been quiet for months now. All of her siblings had taken notice. The once optimistic and cheerful girl had become silent and conserved. Conversations with her would last for hours. Now her brothers and sisters had to force her to talk, which usually resulted in one-word responses.

Pogo had taken notice as well. The almost 5'6 twelve year old who he practiced composure with, the little girl who hated sitting still, she barely spoke out of turn or complained about anything. When he brought his concerns up to Reginald, he simply replied.

"She's brooding. She'll be alright."

But everyone else had noticed something different about her. Nakia wasn't fine. She had dark circles growing under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days, and while sneaking out Five could swear he heard her mumbling in her sleep.

They stood by their chairs waiting for their father to stroll in and turn the radio on. Nakia kept her head down the entire time. Diego stared at her curiously. There was no twitching in her fingers, no tapping her foot impatiently or rolling eyes waiting for Reginald to show up.

Of course, it had been like that for months, and while no one seemed to mind it anymore, it felt extremely odd to the boy.

When finally Reginald walked in he was shocked. Pure utter silence. That had never happened for long periods of time. He looked slightly impressed.

"Sit,"

The children sat doing their normal routines. Luther and Allison with their gooey eyes.

Klaus rolling a joint.

Diego playing with his knife.

Five writing in his journal.

Ben and Vanya reading.

But Nakia sat there playing with her food. She wasn't hungry. Ben looked up from his book to stare at Nakia. She had no emotion on her face.

That was new. He was about to tap her shoulder when he stopped himself.

He knew what was wrong. Nakia hated it here. She was bored. Nakia had always expressed her love for learning and her curiosity about going to a school with other children their age.

But with training and Reginald's harsh rules especially for her, Nakia had been subjected to a strict schedule with her father and Pogo about a year ago. She barely talked to her siblings anymore out of pure exhaustion.

She was tired.

Ben suddenly focused back on his meal when tears formed in her gray eyes.

Suddenly a blaring red siren went off above them.

Reginald promptly stood up.

"Children," he said slowly. "I think you're ready."

Vanya lowered her head.

✁- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They were on the roof of a bank. It was a hostage situation. Her masked face turned to Luther who was planning out their process.