TEN. feels like remembering

September, 2018

It was an unusually quiet night in New York, considering it was the city that never sleeps. It was pouring rain which kept most of the city goers off the streets. It was dark and cloudy,  the only source of light being from the shops and street lights. Nobody was around to see a cloud of blue suddenly appear in the sky in the back of an alley way.

There was a scream, it was young, and a girl fell from the cloud and landed on the concrete ground. She immediately became soaked from the rain. The cloud disappeared and somebody walking by the alley stopped when he saw the girl on the ground. "Hey, are you okay?" It was a man.

The girl only groaned in pain from landing on her arm.

"Little girl, are you okay?" The voice became clearer.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the man standing over her, dressed in all black, and he was looking at her in concern. Her dark colored hair was tangly from the rain and blood dripped from her forehead. "Were you in an accident?"

He watched her push her wet hair out her face and then she stared at her hand. Her eyes grew wide in horror. She then screamed. He jumped back. "Hey, hey, it's okay!"

She scrambled away from him. "Get away from me! Where am I?"

"You're in New York!" He said loudly over the rain. "Who are you?" He watched her look around the dark alley in fear. Her wide brown eyes were filled with terror. "Hey, it's okay. I won't hurt you. Where are your parents?"

"Dead."

He looked taken back. "Oh. . . Um, how old are you?"

"Uh. . . Thirty."

He looked at her weirdly. "Uhh. . ." He examined her baby face and wide brown eyes. "I'm not sure if this is weird or a compliment, but, you don't look a day over fourteen."

At his words, she touched her face and her eyes widened again. She saw a broken briefcase to her right and that's when she started crying. "Oh my god."

"Uhhh—" he started to say and looked around them. "O-Okay, how about you come home with me? I have an apartment." He offered.

"I don't even know you!"

"My name is Diego Hargreeves." He held his hand out.  "You've probably seen situations like this in movies and it's probably smart to run away but I promise, I won't hurt you. I-I know someone who can probably help."

His name struck something in her. "Hargreeves?" Her voice shook.

Diego nodded. "Yeah. What's your name?"

"McKenna. McKenna Barlowe."

McKenna almost forgot what she looked like as a teenager. Her skin was soft and freckle filled. Her eyebrows were thinner. Her lips were pinker. But her hair was still long and dark and her eyes remained the same, wide and brown, and her eyelashes were long. Everything came back to her in a blur. Walking up beside Five, sneaking out and stealing one of the time traveling briefcases from the Commission, and then she just left. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew was that she needed to get away where nobody could find her.

Now she was back in her sixteen year old body in the home of Five's brother. Diego walked down the hallway and saw her staring at herself in the mirror. "You good, kid?" He asked cautiously, still wary about the situation.

McKenna still observed herself. "Do you normally take in girls my age?" She asked, still uncomfortable in her young voice.

"Uh, no. Not really. Only the ones who look like they need help." He scratched behind his ear. "Fun fact,  you're the only one I've met." Diego watched her continue to touch her face. He cleared his throat. "So uh. . . you said your parents are dead.  You don't have any other family."

McKenna dropped her hands. "Now I'm not from here."

"Why did you think you were 30?"

"It's uh. . . it's a long story."

He briefly laughed. "Story of my life." He turned around and started walking back to the front room. "I'm still waiting."

McKenna watched him and then looked into the mirror again. She stared into the reflection of a girl she used to be. A girl who wasn't a killer. A girl whose girlhood was taken too fast.

March, 2019

Diego bursted into the broken in house and grabbed one of the robbers by the neck. He snapped the guy's neck and threw him to the ground. He looked around and saw the family tied up with duck tape around their mouths. One of the other robbers came for him but Diego was faster. He threw Tajik into a glass table and threw his knives at them.

There was a loud pop and McKenna appeared behind one of the robbers. She kicked him in the back and he fell on top of the broken glass all over the floor. Diego stabbed him in the throat.

When it was over, McKenna and Diego stood above the dead robbers. He patted her on the back. "Good work, kid."

She quickly went to untie the family.

"Your family is safe now." Diego told them and picked up his bloody knives from the ground.

The tv was on in the other room. McKenna continued to free the family while he walked away. She tore the duck tape off their mouths. "You're safe now. Don't worry." She spoke quietly.

They were still in shock. McKenna stood and let them have privacy. She walked into the other room where Diego stood watching the tv.

"Moments ago, police reported the death of the world's most eccentric and reclusive billionaire. Reginald Hargreeves. . ."

A picture of Diego's father appeared on the news channel. McKenna frowned and she looked up at him. "I'm so sorry, Diego."

He continued to stare at the tv. He hid his emotions from her. "Come on, let's get out of here." He uttered and put his hand on her shoulder.

Much like Five, Diego had a difficult time discussing his family. More times than any, he never talked about them. McKenna didn't ask questions. It was kind of their unspoken rule. She lived with him. He took care of her. She respected his boundaries.