The sticky, warm liquid seeped through Sasha's fingers as she pressed her hands against the bullet wound in Isadora's side. Fear squeezed at her heart inside her chest. 

"Selva? Ellie? Please, someone answer me." Isadora started groaning, strange bubbling sounds coming from her throat. Tears threatened Sasha's eyes as she spoke to her dying friend. "Dora, you're okay. You're going to be okay. Someone please help me!" 

30 Minutes Prior...

They sat, perched on a rooftop in the dead of night. The darkness of the world around them hid the two girls from sight. They watched the alley below. 

"Sel, where is she? I don't see anyone," Isadora Vesti whispered quietly into her earpiece. Selva Starling, their computer genius, sighed loudly, causing feedback in both of the girls' ears.  They groaned. Sasha shook her head to stop the ringing as Isadora apologized. 

"Be patient, girls," Eleanor told them. "She'll be there." 

Eleanor was the leader of this small group of bandits. She was the mastermind behind the every operation. Sasha was in the middle of a date when she got Eleanor's call, saying that she had a lead on their missing persons case. Sasha was happy to leave that date. Isadora was pouring over the old police files of her sister's death, like she usually did when she was supposed to be in class. They both rushed to this meeting place right away, dressed in all black. 

"So what does Annabelle Levett have to do with our missing kid?" Sasha asked, scanning the streets. 

"She works with the adoption agencies. She was supposed to take James to his foster family, but they said she never showed. She left the agency at 11:54 am, and was supposed to arrive at the foster family around 12:20. She didn't report James missing until 3 hours later. She hasn't shown up to work since then. I hacked into her computer, which I shouldn't be able to do if she was in the least bit smart, and I found a bunch of emails between her and some unknown email address about meeting in this alley so she could get pick up the money for, and I quote, 'dropping off the cargo and not speaking a word about it to anyone'," Selva explained to the girls, speaking rather quickly. 

"You'll want to talk to her before you take her out. We need her confession, but we also need to know everything she remembers about the drop off; where it was, when it was, who it was she gave James to, what car this person was driving- anything you can get out of her," Eleanor told them, her voice calming and smooth. 

"Yes, Ma'am," the girls said together. Isadora and Sasha waited only a few minutes more before they saw Annabelle turn into the alley. 

"We've got her, " Isadora whispered into her earpiece. 

"Okay. Sasha, you know what to do?" 

"Yes, Ma'am." Sasha pulled her black mask over her mouth and nose. 

"Isadora?" 

Isadora looked up from her arsenal of weapons. 

"Yes." 

"Okay. Go, go, go." 

The duo made their way soundlessly down the side of the building. Isadora dropped to the ground behind Annabelle and walked backwards behind a dumpster, so, when she turned around, their prey saw nothing. While she was turned around, looking for whatever made the sound behind her, Sasha jumped from her place on the building, landing in a puddle in front of Annabelle. The woman gasped and turned back around to face Sasha, who tilted her head to the side. 

"Who...who are you? Are you here to give me my money?" Annabelle asked, her voice shaking, shivering in the cold. Isadora stepped out from her hiding place, turning on the recorder. 

"Why would you give us money?" Sasha asked. Her voice modulator made speaking in her own voice sound unfamiliar and strange. She hated it. 

"I delivered the boy to you," Annabelle told them. "And the girl."

Sasha did her best not to react to the second sentence. 

"Wait, does that mean...?" Selva asked. Isadora and Sasha could hear Eleanor's sigh. 

"Yes, Selva. She also gave them a girl." 

"So this isn't a one time thing?" 

"No, not for Annabelle." 

"Remind me," Isadora asked, wearing the same voice modulator as Sasha. "How many children have you given us?" 

"Four," Annabelle said, turning to Isadora, her face riddled with fear. "I want my money." 

"Ask her who it was she delivered to," Eleanor instructed. Sasha took control. 

"Who was it you delivered these children to?" 

"I...I don't know. Why are you asking all these questions?"

"What did they look like? What car did they drive? We run a very precise business, Ms Levett. We need to know you can take in your surroundings and analyze your situation." Sasha took a few steps forward. Annabelle stuttered. 

"It was a woman. She was tall, dark skin. She had dark eyes and hair, too. Very thin."

"What was she wearing?"

"I...I don't remember. She drove a small grey car, though. I remember that," Annabelle told them, looking back and forth between the two women. 

"That's like half of the population of Seattle," Selva grumbled. Sasha could hear Selva feriously typing away at her computer. She sighed. "There's nothing specific here. It could be anybody."

"Okay girls, time to wrap this up." Eleanor sounded disappointed. 

"Did I do okay?" Annabelle asked. She wrung her hands and shifted on her feet. 

"Yes, you did fine," Sasha said. Annabelle needed to calm down, otherwise they wouldn't get anything out of her. "But we have one last question. Why do you think we needed to children?"

There was silence. Annabelle's eyes were wide with terror. She was completely frozen. The only thing that moved was her mouth, her jaw moving up and down as if she was going to speak the decided against it. 

"Will...will you kill me if I say what I'm thinking?" Her voice was quiet, and both of the girls could hardly hear her. Sasha smiled, even if it was hidden behind the mask. 

"No, we will not kill you. We want to know how our clients view us. We want to make sure you aren't...misinformed."

Annabelle visibly swallowed. She lowered her head and fidgeted with her hands some more. She was trying to figure out what to say. 

"Umm, guys. you might want to do this quickly. We've got a car on it's way and I think it might be who Annabelle was actually supposed to meet. You'll want to be gone by the time that car gets there," Selva told them. 

"We will not kill you just tell us what you think," Sasha said, her voice calm. She walked towards Annebelle, trying to show her that she was not going to hurt her. "I am unarmed and could not kill you if I wanted to." Sasha usually tried not to lie, but she needed this information so she and Isadora could leave. 

"You traffic children," was all Annabelle could manage. Sasha stepped backwards, away from the terrified woman 

"Thank you."

Isadora walked silently up behind Annabelle. She pressed a cloth against the woman's mouth. Annabelle struggled against Isadora's grip, but Isadora was strong, stronger than Annabelle. The chloroform would take a few minutes to knock Annabelle out, so Sasha helped Isadora carry Annabelle behind a dumpster so that they couldn't be seen. 

"Get out of there, now, girls!" Eleanor yelled through the ear pieces. The two girls could hear the car nearing. Annabelle slowly stopped struggling and was soon unconscious. 

"Take Annabelle to the car. I'll be there in a second," Isadora said. 

"Wait, Dora, where are you going?"

"We need a new lead, right? So I'm going to wait here and see who-"

"No, Isadora, you will not," Eleanor said. "We can't risk that."

Isadora dug the ear piece from her ear. 

"Dora!" Sasha exclaimed. Isadora looked at her, her dark grey eyes narrowed into slits, warning Sasha to tell her to do anything else. Sasha breathed sharply through her mouth. She lifted Annabelle onto her shoulders. 

"Be careful, Dora. If you're not at the car in three minutes, I'm coming back," Sasha said. Isadora stayed behind the dumpster as Sasha started walking towards the opposite end of the alley. Isadora checked the magazine and pushed it back into the gun as Sasha carried Annabelle through a very narrow side alley towards her car. Isadora looked over at Sasha, just as the headlights of a car lit up the alley. 

When Sasha had exited the side alley, she carried Annabelle to her car. A woman walked past them, eyebrows raised. Sasha laughed lightly. 

"She drank too much," she told the woman, who laughed uneasily along with her. "She'll be fine." 

The woman carried on the other way. Once the woman was out of sight, Sasha dropped Annabelle on the floor and opened the back door of her car. She put their box of evidence on the floor and pushed, pulled, and shoved Annabelle into the back of the car. 

"Sleep tight," Sasha said, patting Annabelle on the forehead. She shut the door and was just about to get into the front of the car when the sound of a gunshot echoed through the sleeping city. Sasha felt her heart drop. 

"Dora," she breathed. She left the car and sprinted back through the side alley. As she ran through it, she heard the squealing of tires and the car speeding away from the alley. Adrenaline coursed through her. Her skin itched as it usually did when she was angry or upset. 

She needed to calm down. She needed to calm down. She needed to calm down. She needed...

Isadora. She lay on the ground in the middle of the alley, illuminated by the moonlight. 

"Dora!" Sasha ran to her best friend's side, pulling down her mask. She slid to her knees looking at Isadora, who had her hand pressed against her side. She made gagging sounds and her body jerked with every breath. 

"You'll be okay, you will. You'll be okay." Sasha pressed her hands against the wound, trying to keep as much blood as possible in Isadora's body. 

"Ellie, we've got a problem," Sasha said, her voice trembling. "Dora, stay with me!" 

The sticky, warm liquid seeped through Sasha's fingers as she pressed her hands against the bullet wound in Isadora's side. Fear squeezed at her heart inside her chest.

"Selva? Ellie? Please, someone answer me." Isadora started groaning, strange bubbling sounds coming from her throat. Tears threatened Sasha's eyes as she spoke to her dying friend. "Dora, you're okay. You're going to be okay. Someone please help me!"

The screeching of tires filled her ears, but she couldn't look away from Isadora. A tear fell from her eye as she blinked, shifting her position to press harder against Isadora's side. Isadora groaned in pain, rolling her head from side to side. 

Sasha felt her skin start to spark, her uncontrollable power leaking out of her body. 

"Stop, stop, stop," she mumbled, trying to keep her hands on the wound. Agony filled her heart and burned her skin. She held back her explosive power as much as she possible could, but Isadora was started to groan even more. Sasha's powers were hurting Isadora even more than she already was. 

"Sasha!" 

Sasha looked up from Isadora's body to see, through her tears, that Eleanor and Selva were running around the corner into the alley. 

"Selva, take Sasha's car to the police station. You know the drill," Eleanor demanded. Selva stood there, shell shocked, staring at Isadora's body in horror. "Selva!" 

Selva shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She nodded to Eleanor and started off down the alley to where Sasha's car was parked. 

"Sasha." Eleanor's voice was soft, calming. "I need you to back away from Isadora." 

She shook her head, eyes focused on Isadora's face. 

"I...I can't-"

"You're out of control, Sasha. You must back away. You're only hurting her more. I can take her to the hospital. She'll be okay, but you need to calm down," Eleanor whispered to her. Sasha's throat tightened and she tried to will away the tears that filled her eyes. 

"Sasha, listen to me. You can't do any good here. Please, let me save her." Sasha just barely heard Eleanor's voice, but when the words finally seeped into her brain and she understood what she had said, Sasha lifted her hands from Isadora's side, blood staining her hands. Eleanor started pulling all of Isadora's weapons from her hiding places and tossing them to the floor. Sasha slid away from Isadora until her back hit the wall of one of the buildings. 

The pain in her body blinded her. She could no longer see what Eleanor was doing, and she didn't hear her leaving with Isadora's body either. All she could do was feel the excruciating pain that coursed through her body. Every vein inside of her burst with an explosion, fire and sparks leaking out through her skin. 

"Stop, please," she whispered to her own body.

"Sasha," Eleanor's voice filled Sasha's head. "Let go, Sasha. It's okay now, you won't hurt anyone." 

Sasha took Eleanor's word as permission. She stopped holding on to her power. She let go of all her anger and fear and she exploded. 

A ball of fire and sparks consumed her. She screamed as it raged around her, obliterating all of the trash within the alley and putting serious damage on the dumpsters. Tears rolled down Sasha's cheeks as her untameable power was unleashed. It took a few minutes for it to burn out and once all the flames and all the sparks faded, Sasha was beyond exhausted. She was no longer in pain and her fear was just hollow feelings. 

She lay on the ground, surrounded by ash, tears still silently rolling down her cheeks, and she fell asleep, unable to keep her eyes open for any longer. She barely heard the police sirens off in the distance or Eleanor whispering her name in her ear piece.