Saving Grace

Family Unrest

She had changed so much, I barely even recognized my last living relative. Her dark brown hair was curled away from her face, her chocolate eyes darker than I'd remembered. She had gotten dad's marron hair and eyes, and I had inherited my mother's lighter features. She scowled at me form her position on the floor, a hand on her neck. Of course she didn't recognize me. She couldn't. She was so young when they took her- just twelve and so, so innocent. 

"Skylar?" I hadn't even thought of her, much less spoken her name in so long, it caused horrible pain to recall my little sister being ripped away from me by the German soldiers, my parents dead on the other side of the house. We were all each other had left, and they'd gone and stolen her from me.

She alerted at the sound of her name. 

"You don't remember me, don't you?" I asked, blowing a strand of bloodied black hair out of my eyes. She stood up, wiping at the corner of her mouth. 

"Trying to distract me, right?" She retorted, straightening her spine. I took a defensive position- I had been in the business long enough to know when my opponent was readying themselves to fight. She was my little sister, how could I hurt her?

 "Skylar, it's Grace. Your big sister" I spoke slowly, gouging her reaction. Her eyes burned into me. 

"Sure you are, just like the last five others who said the same damn thing. Grace is dead, she was killed, and they took me in" she said harshly. She said 'they' with such respect, they couldn't just be her familiars. They way she tilted her head when she said it gave it away, they were her commanding officers.

"My name is Grace Allinova Romanov, born on the 9th of February, 1916. I wasn't killed, but our parents were, by the same people that command you now. Four days after your twelfth birthday six German soldiers stormed into our house and shot our mother and father in the head, and grabbed you. I tried to stop them, Sky, I did, but I wasn't strong enough to" I reached for the stars in my leg compartment. 

She narrowed her eyes. "Okay, so your story adds up, but the others' did, too. Grace knew my deepest, darkest secrets-" 

"Yeah, yeah. I know, every thought you ever had, all your hopes, all your dreams, how you had a crush on that one guy that would go to the boot camp for training on Tuesdays- I forget his name. Mats, was it?" I was rambling, too caught up in trying to remember the young male's name, to realize that Skylar's eyes widened, and her breathing stopped. 

"They said you were the enemy, if you were alive, you had to be killed" she murmured, and flung herself at me. 

I automatically reached out to hug her, forgetting the throwing stars in my hand, and accidentally stabbing one into her. She growled, but stayed there, hugging me. "Hey, little sister" grinned, but this felt wrong. I felt venerable.

Both of us heard the sound of boots stepping on concrete, and I opened my eyes. A tall honey blond in black approached.

 "Skylar, what the hell are you doing with the hostage?" His British accent was almost as gorgeous as he was, but I composed myself. 

"Klaus, please, help me. This is Grace" she introduced us. Klaus' eyes sparkled. 

"Ah, the long lost sister" he smiled, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips. I blushed, and mentally kicked myself. Assassins don't blush pink, they bleed scarlet. 

"I presume you require my help to get this beauty back home, right, love?" He was speaking to Sky, but his eyes never left me. German name, British accent... My mind was wandering, or maybe it was the blood loss and the fact that I'd just been rescued and I haven't gotten a chance to rest yet. 

"Let me go get some supplies. Klaus, tend to her wounds. I'm guessing she's just been taken out of being captured" Skylar dashed out of the building before I had a chance to utter another word. 

"Tired, love?' He asked, and I nodded tiredly in response. As easily as of I weighed no more than a small child, he lifted me into his arms and carried me over to a table, where he set me down and produced a small first aid kit. He brushed the hair out of my face, and wiped an alcohol drenched cloth over the gash on my forehead.

"You have beautiful eyes" he complimented, proceeding to tear my sleeve off with his bare hands, to properly examine my wound. 

"As do you" I winced, as the alcohol stung.

 "Thank you" he tore the packaging off a bandage with his teeth and wrapped it around my arm. 

"So, is this a common thing?" I tried to ignore the burning pain in my arm. 

"What's that, love?" "You tending to every assassin than winds up here?" I specified, and he laughed, a light, musical sound. 

"Only the pretty ones, darling" he murmured, taping the bandage in place. 

"Grace!" Skylar shouted, coming back in. 

"Sky?" I sat up. 

"Your mission- the reason you're here- did you finish it?" She asked, handing Klaus a duffel. 

"I didn't actually" I sighed, and she nodded, handing me a black cloth. 

"Here. Traditional Middle-Eastern womens' wear. To blend in" she said. 

"Okay, lovelies, let's go" Klaus threw one of my arms around his shoulder, and snaked an arm around my waist. "Yes, we've got a president to get rid of"