Mercy Me

Hopefully

The moment Diego burst through the door to his little back room with Kat in his arms, he looked over to his siblings. "Hey! Somebody come help!" He said, his voice still raw from screaming and crying.

Five looked up and froze when he saw the bloody scene before him. "No..." he whispered, bolting over. His eyes scanned over his sister to see a nasty gash on her temple still steadily streaming blood. "What the hell happened, why isn't she healing?"

"I don't know. I...F-five." Diego whispered, fresh tears streaming down his face.

"Come on. Get her to the table." Five said, then ran and swiped everything off the table haphazardly. "Luther, get over here!!!" Five yelled as Diego ran over with Katherine, placing her gently on the table.

Luther's footsteps thundered through as he ran over. "What do I need to do, Five?" he asked, his face pale as he looked at his siblings, two of them covered in blood, and the third spacial jumping around, frantically gathering anything that could help stop the bleeding. "Holy shit." he muttered, looking aat his sister. The girl who always bounced back and healed. The girl who kept them together and did her best to remind them all what it meant to be a family, even when they didn't act like one.

"Don't just stand there, get some wet cloths and start wiping her down." Five snapped at Number One.

Luther scrambled to the small shelf across the room, grabbed all of the washcloths, and ran them back to the table area. Luckily the sink was empty, so he threw all of the cloths in and filled it with warm water. As soon as it was full, he turned it off, wringing one cloth out for both himself and Diego, who was sitting practically catatonic beside Kat's body.

"Diego. Listen I know this is hard right now, but Kat needs you. We have to stop the bleeding and clean her up. Help us out." Luther said calmly.

Diego looked up at him, seeming to snap out of his daze. He took the cloth and quickly began wiping her face, being extremely careful around her open wound. "Sh-she's healing."

"That could be a bad thing or a good thing." Five reasoned. "She could be healing, but that doesn't mean she'll wake up."

"Don't say that. Kat is gonna pull through, alright? She's gonna be just fine and tomorrow, we'll all be talking about this like it's nothing." Luther said, his voice quiet and unsure. There was a lot of blood, and she looked so very pale. Almost like she was already dead and they were just preparing her body for a funeral.

Diego checked her pulse and let out a small sob. Five's eyes snapped up as he waited for an explanation.

"Her pulse is s-stronger than before." Diego said through his tears. "She's gonna be o-okay. I know it."

His brothers continued their work, cleaning off everywhere they could see. Her shirt was practically shredded, and her pants didn't fare much better. "What happened? How did she get like this?" Luther asked, wiping down one of her arms.

"Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back. He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's, and then at Gimble Brothers, after the guys in masks attacked the Academy, looking for him." Diego said, walking over to their dresser and grabbing a fresh set of clothes for himself and Kat.

"None of which is any of your concern." Five countered.

"It is now. They just killed my friend. And almost killed Katherine."

"Who are they, Five?" Luther asked.

Five sighed. "They work for my former employer. A woman called The Handler. She sent them to stop me. Kat was likely tortured for information. When she wakes up, if she wakes up, she won't be the same. We've all been trained to extract information in the most painful and traumatic ways possible. Someone with Kat's abilities? They absolutely took advantage of that. They would have tried their damn hardest to kill her, and when they couldn't- they most likely tortured her just for the hell of it. Then, soon as Diego's friend got in their way, well, fair game."

"And now they're my fair game. And I'm gonna see to it they pay." Diego snarled.

"That would be a mistake, Diego. They've killed people far more dangerous than you."

"Yeah, we'll see about that. I'm taking her to the private shower and cleaning her up. You two clean this up." Diego said, keeping a firm grip on the clothes as he scooped Kat up.

He made it to the privat bathroom and tossed the clothes onto the sink. He gently placed her in the floor of the shower and stripped her stiff, bloody clothed off. He took his own off and turned the shower on, allowing the water to cascade over them. the blood slowly ran down the drain as it was cleansed from their skin. Her hair slowly softened as the thick layer of dried blood rinsed away. He washed her body off, then his own. Her head wound was now a very angry red mark, but she was void of any other marks or injuries. Once he was sure they were both clean, he turned off the shower, dried them both off, and got them both dressed. He carried her back to the room where Luther and Five sat waiting. "Take care of her. I'm going out. The second she wakes up, you let her know I'm safe and I'll be back as soon as possible."

"We're gonna go back to the house. We'll be there when you finish being a reckless idiot." Five said, watching as Luther took Kat from Diego.

"Diego." Luther said as his brother was heading out the door.

Diego turned to look at him, obviously impatient.

"You be careful and come back safe. For her. You hear?"

Diego gave a brief nod before heading out.

Luther looked down at Five and sighed. "Ready to walk?"

"Let's go. Hopefully she wakes up when we get home." Five said,brushing a piece of hair out of his beloved sister's face.

"Yeah, hopefully."