SEVENTEEN.    killer queen

      McKenna didn't have a mother. She'd never know motherly love or what it feels like to have somebody love you so much that they'd do anything for you. She didn't have a father. She'd never know that warm feeling a father's love is supposed to feel. She didn't have siblings. Family was unknown to her. McKenna didn't understand the dynamic of the Hargreeves family no matter how hard she tried.

But they knew love through their mother. Although Grace wasn't a human, she loved her children and they loved her. But nobody loved her more than Diego. Grace wasn't a robot to him. She wasn't a machine built by his father. She was his mom.

When McKenna arrived back at the academy, she found Diego in his room on his bed, staring into space. "Hey, are you okay?"

He snapped out of it. "Jesus, Mac, where have you been?" He immediately asked. She opened her mouth. "Lemme guess, Five?"

She paused. "Yeah."

He rolled his eyes and looked down at his shoes.

McKenna walked further into his room. "I asked if you were okay?" She repeated and sat with him. She tucked her legs underneath her.

Diego inhaled air through his nose. "Luther has this idea that mom—"

"Killed your dad?" She interrupted.

He narrowed his eyes. "How'd you know?"

She waved her hand. "It's been a long day." She replied, not looking into talking about it.

"Anyways, of course I got on his ass about it. I mean, it's mom. She wouldn't do something like that." Diego continued. "I told them specifically that she was taking dad's monocle and that I took it from her because I knew how Luther would get—"

"You have the monocle?" She interrupted again with wide eyes. He gave her a stern glare. "Sorry. Go on."

"—Now they think her hardware's degrading and they want to turn her off and I basically said fuck you." Diego went on and he got angrier as he continued. "I mean, she's our mother. How could they want to do that? She's not a—"

McKenna frowned when he stopped himself. She knew what he wanted to say. "I'm sorry, Diego. They're wrong to think like that. She's your mom."

"That's not even the worst part." He told her. "When I confronted her, she just kept defending dad. I mean, he was horrible to her. Treated her like shit. How could she defend someone like that?"

"Because he made her that way." She chose her words carefully. "But she loves you. All of you. I don't think she'd do anything to harm you guys."

"They don't get her like I do." Diego declared. He rested his elbows on his thighs. "They never have."

There wasn't really more she could speak on about the matter. McKenna didn't understand. She thought the Handler loved her like a daughter. She took care of her until she learned to take care of herself. But she was wrong. She couldn't speak on parental love when she never experienced it herself.

McKenna gingerly reached forward and put her hand on his back to comfort him. Diego looked at her again. "I told them you'd agree with me. Luther said you're not in the family. That you don't get a vote. I told him to fuck off again."

She laughed at that even if she was hurt that his siblings didn't accept her. She partially understood. She was just some girl that Diego found on the street, even if she did have powers like them. But she wasn't a Hargreeves. She didn't have a say in their decisions.

McKenna was in the kitchen when she heard gunfire. She dropped the glass cup in her hand and it shattered all over the floor. "What the hell?" She uttered and ran out of the room. The shots continued and when she got into the foyer, they went on, and she listened closely.

Suddenly, she saw a figure run through the living room and she realized it was Diego. She saw more bullets. "Diego, what's happening?" She shouted at him.

"McKenna, go!" He shouted back and quickly behind the table.

"What—" when she heard footsteps, McKenna blinked and hid behind one of the walls. The footsteps became more clear. She peaked her head out slowly and saw it was the masked people from the store. But she knew exactly who they were. Hazel and Cha-Cha. "Dammit." She cursed under her breath.

She teleported into the kitchen and scrambled for a knife. She held it tightly in her shaky hand. She heard more bullets fire. Preparing herself, McKenna blinked into the foyer to see Hazel and Cha-Cha shooting in the living room. "You two really don't know how to let things do, huh?" She voiced with a heavy breath.

They turned their masked faces to her. "Well, well, McKenna Barlowe in the flesh." Cha-Cha's voice muffled. "You look younger."

"Thanks." She responded sarcastically and raised her knife.

"Sorry for this, McKenna." Said Hazel and he raised his gun again.

Just as they fired the weapons, McKenna blinked and teleported behind them, missing the bullets, and she sliced the large knife through Cha-Cha's back, making her scream. Both her and Hazel turned around and she teleported again behind them. She went invisible and leaned down, slicing through Hazel's leg.

"C'mon, you little bitch." Cha-Cha shouted.

McKenna reappeared and held up the knife.

"We've been looking for you for a long time, Barlowe."

"Come and get me then." She sneered.

Suddenly, Luther grabbed Cha-Cha by the shoulders and threw her roughly to the ground. Before Hazel could shoot him, Allison appeared and kicked the gun out of his hands. She kicked him in the chest a couple times but Hazel grabbed her by the throat and picked her up, choking her.

"Allison!" McKenna yelled as Diego showed himself.

"Let her go!" He grunted and tried to pull him off of her.

Luther grabbed Hazel with ease and flung him out of the living room and into the foyer with Cha-Cha, messing the floor up in the process. "Who the hell are these guys?" Shouted Allison.

McKenna turned away from them and stood in the wall way of the living room. She gave the assassins a deadly glare. "You're losing your touch, guys." She taunted them, the bloody knife still clutched in her hand.

"Kenna, who the hell are they?" Diego asked.

"It's a long—" mid sentence, Hazel and Cha-Cha got up from the floor and started shouting at them again. She screamed on instinct and ducked.

"Get out of here now! Go!" Luther ordered and he and Allison sprinted out of the living room.

"McKenna, GO!" She heard Diego yell from the floor.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"HIDE!"

McKenna hid behind the piano. She peaked behind the legs and saw Hazel without his weapon. He walked over to one of the smashed cases and pulled out a Morningstar. Just as she was about to stand up, she heard Vanya's voice. "Shit." She cursed to herself.

"Hello?" Vanya's voice echoed in the foyer. "Guys?"

Hazel hid himself and McKenna's heart raised. She stood on her feet. "Vanya, run!" She yelled.

When she turned around, Hazel swung the Morningstar and she ducked, ultimately throwing her into the table.

McKenna appeared behind him and sliced his arm with the knife. Hazel swung his arm, yelling in pain, and she teleported to the other side of him. She cut his other arm with a loud grunt.

"Hey, asshole."

They both looked over and saw Luther standing in the foyer. "Luther, no!" She exclaimed.

Hazel marched out of the living room with the Morningstar. Luther being stronger, he grabbed the weapon and tossed it away.

While they fought, McKenna quickly ran to Vanya's side. "Vanya, are you okay?" She quickly asked.

"What the hell was that?" She asked while rubbing her head.

"Long story." McKenna simply answered. "I gotta take care of something. Get out of here while you can!"

She teleported away and appeared in the hall. She could hear gunfire echoing but she wasn't sure from where. McKenna kept her knife raised and looked all around her.

"Guys!" She shouted for one of the Hargreeve's siblings. Luther was still busy with Hazel. She looked for Allison and Diego. She stopped abruptly when Cha-Cha appeared at the other end of hallway. She was limping, a knife sticking out of her calf. Diego's knife. "What, she couldn't get off her ass to kill me herself so she sent you two?" She seethed.

"Oh, she got more than just the two of us." Cha-Cha told her through the mask.

"Yeah? Well Five and I killed them." McKenna replied with a dark gaze. "Just like I'm going to kill you."

She could practically see and feel her smug smile. "Come and try, little girl." She ripped the knife out of her leg.

With a battle cry, McKenna flung the kitchen knife and her. Cha-Cha ducked and it missed her. She teleported and appeared behind her. Staying invisible, she retrieved the knife and Cha-Cha looked all around for where she went. McKenna kicked her in the back and she went flying forward.

Making herself visible again, she kicked Cha-Cha in the back. "You were always jealous of me." She sneered.

The assassin stood and turned her way. "Jealous of you?"

McKenna raised the knife. "She always preferred me and you hated it."  When Cha-Cha swung at her, she ducked under her arm and cut through her side, ripping her shirt. "I got the better missions. The better treatment. And you got Hazel."

She could sense the anger coming from her. "And then you failed. Now your ass is on the line." Cha-Cha retaliated and kicked at her.

McKenna toppled over just in time for her to spin around and kick her across the face. One disadvantage of being fourteen years younger is how much power your body has. She was only 5'1.

"You and the boy. What, did you two break up? That why he not here to defend you?" Cha-Cha went on.

McKenna rose to her feet with the knife in her hand. She glared at her. "Unfortunate circumstances." She stated and threw the knife again.

Just as she did, it missed Cha-Cha and she threw her knife as well. As she teleported away, McKenna felt the knife slice into her side and she cried in pain. She landed in the foyer and fell the ground.

"McKenna!" Diego yelled her name and ran to her. He dropped to his knees by her. "What the hell happened?"

She couldn't talk. She held her side in pain and blood coated her hand. The only word she managed to utter was fuck.

They heard a crackling sound. "Get out of the way!" Yelled Luther and McKenna saw the chandelier shake. He pushed Allison out of the way.

Diego covered her. The chandelier came falling and Luther stood directly under it. They yelled his name and the large light fell on him, the bulbs shattering everywhere.

"Oh my god." McKenna managed to say and her eyes were as wide as a deer in headlights.

They listened to Luther gasp from under the chandelier. Grunting, his body transformed itself into the body of an ape and he grew larger in height and size. He threw the chandelier off of him.

McKenna almost forgot about her injury and she stared at him with a dropped jaw, as did his siblings. Embarrassed, he ran up the staircase, his foot steps heavy. The thudding of the floor caused a shooting pain to go through McKenna's body and she winced again.

Diego put his focus on her again. "Mac, are you okay?" He quickly asked and took her hand away from her side. He saw the gash. "Shit."

"I've had worse." She choked out with a painful laugh.

"We gotta get her help." He said to Allison and Vanya. At the same time, they heard Grace humming from upstairs, completely missing what just happened. "Shit, mom."

"I got her. I got her." Allison told him and crouched by McKenna. "Go take care of her."

Diego looked between her and her sister. McKenna nodded. "I'm fine. I'm a grown woman." She joked and winced again.

He went upstairs to where his mom was at. Allison helped McKenna off the ground. "You're light for a thirty year old." She said with a half grin.

She leaned on her while holding her side. "Oh, please don't make laugh. It hurts."