Lena's nerves prickled, her muscles tense like springs. She needed to stay calm. Be a smooth operator. This would work, it had to. They could not afford to fail again. Fingers tightened on the steering wheel as she steadied her breathing, narrowing her attention on the task at hand.

The operation was simple enough, she just needed to play her part. Their driver had fallen through at the last minute, leaving her with the precarious task of replacing them. She knew her brothers were using the opportunity to get her into the field, but it didn't change the fact that she wasn't cut out for this. As usual, they had played to her better nature and now here she sat, parked at the abandoned city car park waiting for her call to action.

She swore as her phone brightened on the dash with the offering of the expected ride-share. The double chevroned logo spinning as the face of the adult female target popped up on the screen. Insides twisted with anxious anticipation as she reached out and tapped 'Accept'. This was it. The hack worked. Their tech contract doing something right for a change. Their competence astounded her at times.

Lena adjusted her outfit, getting comfortable in her seat and adjusting the mirrors as she braced herself.

"It's just an old woman and a little girl. They will suspect nothing."

To the undiscerning eye, this would be a routine trip to the airport. All walks of life worked jobs like this. Lena would be no different from the millions of other citizens in Orcrest, trying to make a living. She had to believe that, because she certainly didn't feel it.

Pushing start, the diesel engine roared to life, breaking the stillness of the morning as hot exhaust sent billows of steam into the sky. She hated how noisy the old models were. How her predecessors dealt with entire populations of the wretched things was beyond her? No one drove them anymore with the rise of umbral tech and autonomous vehicles, but when plans fell through, they had been forced to make do with the only vehicle available. None of them were registered sensitives in the country. They would flag in the government systems if they even attempted to use any Trinity tech, it was too risky.

Awkwardly grinding gears, Lena shifted the worn beast into gear as the GPS plotted out the short route to her target's location. Her role was simple, pick up the targets at Point A. Make sure the child gets into the back seat and woman in the front passenger, insist if possible. Drive the three blocks to the intersection of West Harrison and Morgan where her sister, Octavia, would wait for pickup at point B. Once on board, it would be up to Lena to take out the woman and check for location tracking wearables while her sister restrained the child. Once that was complete, it was a direct route out of the city to point C, home.

Lena was dreading her role at Point B in particular. It didn't matter how much she knew it was a necessary, she never thought the day would come where she would take a life. She patted her jacket pocket, assuring herself the weapon was still there. She was unsure she could even fire it at another human being, considering she spent most of her day in front of a computer.

Lena knew how to shoot though. She was one of many siblings in a legacy of powerful sensitives but, unlike her sister, who could command anyone with a single word or her brother's immense strength, she was quite passive, more suited to a supportive role.

With tense anticipation she drove through the city streets, careful on the corners as the vehicle turned wider than she was used to. She could not remember the last time she'd driven one manually, it was oddly fun considering the circumstances.

And then, she spotted them, her anxiety bubbling up as she approached the final intersection, the dense traffic delaying her arrival. But she could see them, live and in Technicolour, it was about to get serious.

The woman was in her mid-fifties, her salt and ginger hair cropped into a short bob. It looked strange atop her rotund body, like an unbalanced orange. Beside her the little girl sat quietly swinging her legs back and forth atop a rainbow suitcase in a soft pink coat and turquoise scarf. They were the spitting image of the photos from surveillance. Reality was sinking in.

Long before she was ready to commit, the light turned green, and Lena pushed down on the accelerator, pulling into the apartment taxi rank.

A strange calm washed over as she stretched her lips into a wide smile and rolled down the tinted passenger window, pushing her sunglasses down her nose and peering at them across the seats.

"Airport, yes?" Lena asked them in her best and clearest English. The practice with her sister had been paying off as the words flowed without a hint of her usual accent. She didn't need to say much, just a few simple lines to make it seem workable that she was a local, or at the very least a seasoned immigrant.

The woman moved around the front of the car to read the number plate, cross-checking it with her phone. Lena tensed, if this woman was smart she would know ride-shares hadn't accepted fossil fuel cars in their fleet in over five years, but no one read the fine print quite like Lena did.

She subtly lowered her hand to her pocket, hovering it over the grip of her weapon, ready to react should things go south and the woman show doubt.

Please, just get in!, Lena silently begged as the woman seemed to think for a moment before looking up to Lena once again.

"Are you..." she squinted as she read "L. Molokov?"

Lena nodded, both relieved the woman was just confirming it was the right vehicle and frustrated that her brothers used her real name in the app. She would make them pay for that later, using their aliases was imperative. This was probably their idea of a harmless prank, the idiots. It was a huge risk. It wasn't funny and could compromise everything.

"Climb aboard" she beamed at them, releasing the latch on the trunk and unlocking the doors, waiting for them to get inside. It was not until she glanced over and saw them still standing there a few moments later that she realised. It was the customary for the driver to assist in this country.

"Oh, Apologies!" she cried, her accent breaking through. Shit. Don't give yourself away!

Lena fumbled with her seatbelt and shifted the vehicle into park, causing it to lurch a little as she took her foot off the clutch a little too quickly.

"Oh, for god's sake!" she muttered to herself as she stepped down from the huge SUV, shaking out her hands as she rounded the vehicle to the curb. This was fine. This could work. She could control where they sat in the vehicle this way.

Lena hastily opened the passenger door, offering to lift the child off her bag but she responded by crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"I can do it all myself," she announced.

The grandmother chuckled, giving Lena an apologetic look.

Lena smiled at the child, "Show me."

"Hurry sweetie or we will be late for check-in and ice cream" the woman urged the child as she scooted her off the top of her suitcase and rolled their luggage around the back and began loading it in.

Lena watched with amusement as the girl reached into the car and climbed inside awkwardly, the vehicle dwarfing her tiny frame as she slid into the seat and put her seatbelt on all by herself, face brightening as the buckle clicked into place.

"Good job." Lena beamed, making sure all fingers and toes were secure before closing the door. The precious cargo was on board. Lena didn't bother helping with the luggage. The woman's importance was minor, and she resisted the urge to get in the car and drive away without her.

The woman's life would be saved that way, but it was stupid to even consider it, the authorities announcing an amber alert would be catastrophic to their cause. So instead she walked right by her as she struggled to get the last and heaviest suitcase in the trunk, before hopping back driver's seat and turning to see the girl.

She was so much tinier in person and nostalgia of her own childhood bubbled up. The sweet little dove reminded her so much of her Rosie when they were little. Lena held no joy in what was about to happen but it was imperative they get the poor lamb out of there as soon as possible. This was their last chance before she disappeared outside of their reach.

Car doors slammed and finally the woman joined them in the front passenger. Lena turned her head, feigning an expectant expression as the woman fussed, struggling to get her very large handbag into the wheel well as the layers of her coat and her girth complicated the space available.

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"Direct route on Huntington to the tunnel please," the woman panted when she was settled.

Lena nodded, bristling with nervous anticipation as she entered the route requested and confirmed she had picked up her ride.

That was Octavia's signal to be ready.

"Yes, Ma'am."

The phone let off a soft chime before displaying the GPS coordinates to the airport and she pulled out into the morning traffic, ignoring the protesting horn as she cut off a luxury autonomous car.

"Sorry!"

Lena kept the old woman in her periphery, watching as she turned to speak to the child, clearly uninterested in speaking with her, it was something she was grateful for. If their intelligence was correct, then this woman was a Trinity operative and she would be skilled and most likely sensitive. She knew better than anyone that looks could deceive but as long as the woman did not suspect something was wrong, Lena could take her out without too much trouble. She just hoped she was fast enough to pull that trigger before the woman could retaliate. Statistically Lena knew the odds were in her favour as she'd completed the same combat training as her siblings but it did not make her resolve to commit the act any easier.

Lena directed her focus to the road and the slow moving traffic. West Harrison and Morgan. Just three blocks. Three tiny blocks, one shot, and her part would be over.

Lena spotted Octavia easily once they were finally close. As always she stood tall, graceful and stunning and everything Lena wasn't, and yet somehow they were the closest out of all six siblings. She admired her sister more than she cared to admit.

Octavia waited at the lights, lifting her head and locking onto the vehicle instantly, hearing it before she saw it, the engine drowning out all other noise in the echo-chamber of skyscrapers. Lena's fingers twisted tightly against the steering wheel, anticipation growing in her gut at Octavia took a phone in hand and tapped the screen, the light shifting from amber to red in an instant.

Lena rolled to a halt at the intersection, the dense mass of commuters stepping onto the road, pushing past Octavia as she waited until the last second to step onto the crossing. She walked then split away from the flow, sashaying to the driver's side of the vehicle, quickly jerking open the back drivers side door and getting inside.

Lena panicked as she tried to pull the gun from her pocket, caught in the tangle of fabric as the woman spun, her eyes igniting in fury as Octavia's hand snapped outward, long delicate fingers pressing to the woman's forehead.

"Sit down and suffocate." she commanded.

The woman's expression slackened, every muscle unravelling in an instant as her fists lowered and she slumped back into the seat, gazing blankly ahead. Lena turned away, knowing what was coming, Octavia saving her the trouble of eliminating her target. Eye's wide she glanced up in the rear view to her sister who simply nodded in acknowledgement.

Lena chanced a look at the woman as she unravelled the tartan scarf from around her neck and began to stuff it deep into her throat, gagging and choking as it went further and further down, her eyes wide with tears as her face went a deep shade of crimson. Didn't look again, shaking as the little girl let out a frightened cry.

"Drive!" her sister barked, snapping Lena out of her horror and causing her to stall the vehicle. She swore as she desperately tried to ignore what was happening beside her, fumbling to start the car again. Then with a deep controlled breath, she eased the car forward. One gear, then another, the disgruntled honks of horns behind dissipating as they began moving once more.

They had done it. Messily, and not quite to plan but they had done it. Lena glanced into the rear-view mirror to see Octavia had pulled in close to the child and was holding her under her arm with her hand clamped over her mouth. She would not user her sensitivity on her. It was Octavia's one explicit rule.

"Thank you." Lena said, ignoring the distress building up in her throat.

"You did well Lena." Octavia replied.

'Well' was not the word Lena would use.

A long silence fell as she rounded the corner, movement ceasing in the passenger seat as she made the first lap of the city block. They could not leave just yet.

"Pass me the handbag at the next light." Octavia ordered and Lena nodded. Once idle at the next intersection, she reached down and grabbed the heavy thing, trying not to touch the dead woman as she heaved it over centre console to the back.

"You have the passports, yes?" Octavia asked.

Lena nodded again. "Yes. Are they ready?"

"They always are." she replied curtly.

Lena kept her eyes on the road as she heard Octavia rummage through the bag, releasing the little girl who sobbed softly, shrinking away from her.

After a few moments Lena glanced back and saw her sister had procured two phones which she swiftly tossed out the open window into the gutter, rummaging further until she was certain there were no more devices.

"Ok, good to leave now." Octavia announced.

Lena nodded and altered their route to the freeway, they were in the home stretch now. She just prayed there would be no random drug and alcohol checkpoints on the way out of the city.

Despite her fears, travel was seamless and as tall buildings shrank into suburbia and then to dense forest and lakes, she chanced a glance at her passenger and immediately regretted it as blank eyes and purple cheeks gazed back at her. But soon the four thick posts that signified the driveway to the homestead appeared. She pulled in, carefully making her way down the driveway between long rows of tall swaying pines, the double storied cottage she had called home for the last year rising into view. It had been peaceful right up until her siblings had arrived the month before. This would be her last time driving this old road. It was regretful to leave such clean air behind. It had done wonders for her asthma.

Lena could not help but smile in relief when her brothers Alex and Alec emerged from the house, their tall and broad silhouettes filling the wide double doors. They'd heard the rumble of the engine long before they had seen her.

The moment she pulled up under the rickety and worn carport, they descended swiftly upon the car, Lena leaving it running as all three girls exited quickly, Octavia gripping the child's hand tightly.

Alex rounded the SUV taking the corpse from the front seat and heaving its hefty bulk effortlessly onto his shoulder, taking it to the back of the car and discarding the luggage into a pile on the dusty concrete before dropping the body inside. Meanwhile Alec slid into the driver's seat, revving the engine and giving Lena a knowing wink, which she returned with a worried grimace, knowing they had their job to do before they could exchange pleasantries. The boys needed to dispose of the evidence. So far, so good.

"Ah, fuck!" Alex swore, both sisters turning to him as he held up a watch in his hands. "Plan B. Now!" Alex roared.

Lena's stomach dropped, she had forgotten to check! She spun to Octavia, searching for instruction, she had not been briefed on Plan B, her involvement last minute.

"Basement." Octavia barked as she charged into the house, the child whimpering and stumbling in tow as Lena took one last glance back at her brothers as doors slammed and they piled into the car, wrenching it into reverse and tearing up the driveway at high speed as a line of black van's could be seen speeding along the highway in the distance. They were coming. Shit. Shit. Shit. She should have checked. Why didn't she check? She was supposed to check. Trinity were coming, alerted the moment they deviated from their operatives assigned route.

"Lena. Now!"

She spun to see Octavia had pulled her weapon, motioning for her to follow. Lena knew better than to argue, her sister was still her superior in the field. They dashed inside, making their way for the basement, Lena's panic rising, her training screaming for her to head for open space. What was going on, why were they trapping themselves in this damn house?

The little girl locked her bright blue eyes on Lena, tears streaming down her stricken cheeks as Octavia lifted the child and pushed her into Lena's arms as they reached the bottom of the rotten timber stairs. She swore as she fumbled around for the light switch, finally finding it as bright light flooded the damp underground space to reveal long shelves of dusty rusted tools and old plastic water sports equipment, faded and brittle from disuse.

She watched as Octavia took out her phone, shaking fingers fumbling as gunfire began to break through from outside, muffled and distant, but sisters knowing their brothers had been intercepted.

"Octavia." Lena cried urgently, "What are we doing?"

"One minute." She replied hurriedly as she lifted the phone to her ear.

"Now. Yes. The fee is already paid."

Confused, Lena held the child tightly as her little arms gripped to her jacket like vices, her little body shaking as Octavia hung up and turned, looking expectantly to the centre of the room as the atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

She barely had time to realise what was happening before a dark form cracked into existence before her, the room crackling with static as Lena staggered back in shock, a scream escaping her lips as the smell of burnt metal permeated the air. The woman was tall and lean, skin dark as ebony, her long manicured dreadlocks swaying as she smiled at the sisters.

"It's been a long time ladies." She smiled, her French accent heavy.

"You cannot be serious Octavia" Lena cried, now understanding Plan B. A very dangerous one. Zola Abara had proven more than once that she was not reliable or trustworthy. Was the need really so desperate that they would risk everything to this woman?

Octavia gave Lena a hard look, one Lena immediately understood. She would do as she was told.

"Get them out of here." Octavia commanded pointing at Lena as they began to hear shouts above. Trinity had arrived. They were running out of time. They could not afford the child to get into their hands. "Now." She added urgently.

Zola nodded, "As you wish."

Lena backed away as Zola stepped forward, "What about you?" She demanded of her sister.

"There is not enough time to take us all. I will hold them off."

Lena did not like this at all but there would be no changing her sisters mind once she had made up her mind. It was what made her such a strong leader.

"Its up to you now. Keep her safe. I will see you soon." Octavia said, forcing a smile as she kissed Lena's cheek and the head of the child before dashing back towards the stairs as a loud bang above indicated they had entered the property.

"Time to go!" Zola announced, her cool hand touching Lena's shoulder.

Lena cried out, eyes wide as she watched her sister raise her weapon and charge up the stairs, gunshots flashing as heavily armed men in black tactical gear charged towards her. She dropped the first two in seconds, swiftly commanding one to shoot the other while she took care of three more. She didn't want to leave her but what choice did she have? The child's safety was paramount.

"Hold your breath and close your eyes." Lena whispered hurriedly to the child, shielding her ears as best she could, feeling her little rib cage expand as she did the same as the familiar deep pull of an incoming shift began to take hold, unable to warn as she watched a grenade roll unpinned at their feet. There was not time to scream or stop it as it exploded and they were ripped through the fabric of reality.