☂ 𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝑩𝑲. 𝟐 ☂

25. THE STORM

"How's my favorite girl? Well..." Tony looked over to the sides of him at Lila and The Handler. "Third favorite girl," he corrected.

"What the hell is going on?" was all Elaina could muster to ask, as she looked between the three, her anger boiling as she saw the self-satisfied looks on Lila and The Handler's faces.

"Come on, Els, you're smarter than that," stated Tony as he strolled towards her. "You can put it together," he said, stopping in front of her, reaching his hand out towards her.

Five pulled the girl back and stood in front of her, an unforgiving scowl plastered on Five's face. "Don't you even think about laying a finger on her," the boy practically growled.

Tony's smirk grew as he crossed his arms as he looked down to Five. "Or what, pipsqueak?"

Five's eyes darkened. "I'll kill you,"

"I'd like to see you try," egged on the teen, a crazed gleam reflected in his eyes.

"Easy now, Antonio," cut in The Handler as she put hand on the boy's shoulder, though by the look on her face, she was thoroughly enjoying the scene playing out in front of her.

Elaina placed a hand on Five chest as she gently pushed him back, her now being the one in front as she faced up to Tony. "This whole time, and you were a part of the Commission?" she asked with a repulsed look on her face. "And, what, she's your boss?"

"More like mother," responded The Handler in Tony's place, basking in the perplexed look on Elaina's face. "Shocking?"

Five looked between them before walking up to The Handler. "You said she was your only one," he accused, pointing a finger to Lila.

"I said she was my only daughter. I never said anything about a son," shrugged the platinum-haired woman.

"Wait a minute," said Elaina as she looked at Tony with widened eyes. "What about Birdie? What role does she play in all of this?"

"You don't have to worry about her," responded the teen with an unreadable expression. "She played her role and has been dealt with accordingly."

Elaina could feel her heart drop to her stomach as she began to shake her head. "You don't mean..." she questioned, but got her answer as Tony's expression remained the same. "You teenaged piece of shit! How could you!" she shouted, her eyes watering as Diego wrapped his arms around her, seeing that Five had no intention of stopping her as she attempted to charge at the teenager. "Let go of me!" she cried as she flailed her legs, kicking them as hard as she could.

Diego brought his mouth close to her ear. "Shh... Elaina. Don't let them win like this," he whispered, glaring up to the trio in front of him and his siblings.

"Let go of me..." she muttered in defeat as she stopped resisting.

Diego gently let go of her.

"Actually, believe it or not, he's actually closer to your age than you think," motioned the The Handler to Elaina. "The boys back at the lab cooked up a younger body for Tony so he would be more... appealing to you,"

"Appealing," she scoffed as she looked at the teen.

"Don't be like that, Els," said Tony, feigning hurt. "We had some pretty great times before he showed up," he jabbed at Five with a smirk. "Hell, we had a great time even when he was here," he said, bringing his tone down. "Remember?" he said, his pupil briefly enlarging.

Elaina brows narrowed harshly in disdain. "There's nothing to remem--" suddenly a memory that was removed from her mind returned, as she replayed the kiss Tony gave her back at Birdie's. The memory made Elaina gasp and throw her hand over her lips. The girl began shaking her head as she looked over at Five with a guilty expression, making his brows furrow deeply.