CHAPTER TWELVE
the butterfly effect

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THE UNIVERSE WORKS in an intricately complicated way that perhaps only the goons at the Commission understand. Each decision one person makes leads to a chain reaction that ripples out throughout the world, like stones skipping across a lake. For example, if Nadine hadn't been in her hotel room three days ago when Henri came calling, she wouldn't have been told about the passing of Reginald Hargreeves, and might not have come up with the spur-of-the-moment decision to fly to America. If she hadn't flown to America, she wouldn't have met the Umbrella Academy, and inserted herself into their lives. If she hadn't inserted herself in their lives, she wouldn't have seen Five's return, and if she hadn't spoken to Klaus, she wouldn't know about the apocalypse or the eye. And if she hadn't run into Five last night and inquired after the apocalypse, he wouldn't have told her about Hazel and Cha-Cha and ordered her to stay in the Hargreeves mansion. And if he hadn't ordered her to stay there, perhaps she would've actually been safe from the events that would soon come to pass, a whole fleet of stones bounding over water.

She found herself perched on the top of one of the many staircases, chewing on a frozen waffle she'd dug out of the Hargreeves' freezer. She was getting a little sick of all of this American food, and found herself craving her favourite delicacies back in France—Soupe à l'oignon (her father made it best), Cassoulet, Flamiche... or maybe she was just missing home. That could also be it. As soon as she'd reached America, she'd been launched into conspiracies and apocalypse scenarios, family feuds and wormhole appearances. She missed the dull comfort of the hotel, a monotony only broken by the occasional nightmare. She had routine there, whereas here, she was just doing whatever she wanted.

She was licking syrup off of her fingers (she'd taken her bandage off this morning—her hand had finally healed) when she heard the footsteps clomping downstairs. Assuming it was just one of the siblings, she ignored the sound, but that was when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight, and a deep, cold dread wormed its way into her belly. Her breathing shortened, and panic lanced through her as if cut by a whip, and, impossibly, before she knew what was happening, she was preparing to fight or run.

This wasn't any magic. Perhaps it was because somewhere inside of Nadine Vidal's brain, she recognized the footsteps stepping their way down the hall. And she knew they didn't belong to any of the Hargreeves.

As if on cue, that was when the gunshots rattled through the house.

Immediately, Nadine leaped up, her heart jackrabbiting in her chest, and turned her head, trying to locate the source of the sound. After only a moment she deduced it was happening downstairs, and was just beginning to back away when Diego plowed right into her.

The two of them went flying, slamming onto the ground, but Diego was on his feet immediately, his forehead shining with sweat. Nadine was just opening her mouth to ask what the hell was happening when he was grabbing her wrist and pulling her to her feet. He was breathing hard, but he managed to choke out, "Masks—guns—intruders in the house—" and, keeping his grip tight, jerked her into a run, hand still clenched over her wrist.

That was when the gunshots started firing right at them. Nadine didn't yell, didn't look back, didn't freeze up, but her upper body did go rigid as a bullet whizzed right past her ear, flew under her foot. For just a moment, a terrifying moment, she was eighteen again, and a bullet had cut through her shoulder, sending her sprawling to the ground. As her attackers began to step towards her, she frantically splayed out her hands, forming an illusion of darkness that enveloped them all before frantically crawling backwards, pain ripping through her.

Nadine shot back into her own—and equally horrible—reality just as she and Diego leaped over the railing, landing safely on the couch below and bouncing slightly. She hadn't seen her attackers, just heard their gunshots and footsteps, but unease was filtering through her. Didn't Five say that Hazel and Cha-Cha were looking for him? Wouldn't they have come here as a lead? Suddenly she couldn't breathe, and not just because she was facing the threat of death.

Stay in the house my ass. If she died now, Five would have a very annoying ghost following him around.

Nadine and Diego scrambled off the couch and slid behind a table, their breaths heavy. They looked up, staring at the portrait of Reginald Hargreeves, which was now pockmarked with still-smoking bullet holes. Nadine briefly found herself flashing back to eighteen yet again, hearing her attackers' footsteps cornering her in that alleyway, and her chest, if possible, got even tighter.

Then, approaching footsteps in real life made Nadine's heart lurch. She bent her head slightly, peeking under the table, sweat pricking at her brow.

Her nightmares stared back at her.

Pink dog, blue bear. It was them. Hazel and Cha-Cha, their cartoon heads grinning at Nadine with reverence. And then Nadine really was frozen, stuck behind this table, because, somehow, after twelve years, they'd managed to find her. Her hand found the bullet scar. Now they'd finish the job.

"Nadine!" Diego hissed. But Nadine might as well have been a statue. She was stone, but instead of being transformed this way from Medusa's stare, it was the big, exaggerated cartoon eyes of a pink dog and a blue bear that had rendered her immobile. All she could do was stare into her tormentor's eyes. They hadn't seen her yet, but they would. They hadn't recognized her, but it was inevitable. Today was the day it would all end.

"Nadine!" Diego hissed again, and then his hands were on her shoulders, shaking her. The jolt sent Nadine crashing back into reality, and she blinked, the stone she'd been encased in crumbling away. She managed to draw her eyes away from Hazel and Cha-Cha and up to Diego, who jerked his head at the couch in front of them. Move, he mouthed, and Nadine managed to oblige, willing her puppet limbs to obey. As soon as she moved, however, gunshots began to rattle, bursting stuffing out from cushions. She sat there behind the couch, hands over her ears, utterly convinced that this was it, this was the end for her.

Enter Luther. Nadine heard his grunts and some of the gunfire ceased, and she risked peeking out from behind the couch to find the pink dog—was it Hazel or Cha-Cha? She didn't know which was which—on the ground, evidently taken down by a swoop of one of Luther's flailing fists. The blue bear was still standing however, and he levelled the gun at the gargantuan man, but Allison was there, kicking away his gun and slamming an agile foot into the blue bear's gut.

Nadine managed to get to her feet just as the blue bear seized Allison by the throat, meaty hands constricting her airway. Allison's choked gasps were enough to snap Nadine out of her reverie, and she started forward at the same time as Diego, who yelled, "Let her go!" as he slammed deft kicks into the blue bear's back. Nadine, remembering her years of self-defense classes she'd taken for this very purpose, took a running start, launched herself up, and kicked the soft spot on the back of his knee.

The blue bear let out a yelp, but it was overshadowed by Luther's cry as he swung, causing the blue bear to drop Allison, who immediately began to wheeze for breath. Then, utilizing his superhuman strength, Luther seized the blue bear and threw him out of the room like a sack of potatoes. The man let out a yelp as he went sailing out of the room before slamming into the ground beside his partner.

Allison, finally regaining her voice, got to her feet. "Who the hell are these guys?"

Nadine, panting, replied with, "Assassins. They're—they're here for Five."

Luther shot Diego and Nadine both a glare. "You're welcome."

"We were doing fine," Diego snapped, and then looked to Nadine. "Well, mostly fine."

"Oh, yeah, you really had them—"

"Ever hear of a rope-a-dope?" Diego started, but his words were cut off by the sudden gunfire that began to assault them again. Nadine dropped into a crouch, still in shock. She couldn't believe they were here. She couldn't believe she'd seen them again and frozen. There was a reason she'd spent so much time training after this incident. It was so, if they found her again, she'd be ready to face them.

And yet, she'd froze.

"Get out of here, now!" Luther ordered to Diego and Nadine, who were army-crawling on the floor. "Go!"

Nadine nodded feebly and followed the others out of the room, crawling out as gunshots continued to besiege her. "Luther, go!" Diego shouted, once she'd made it out behind Allison, and Luther nodded, helping Nadine to her feet as he did so. It seemed a near-death-experience was all Nadine needed to make the Hargreeves be nicer to her.

That was when she remembered, and her entire body froze up once again. "Vanya."

Luther exchanged a panicked look with her. Vanya had never gotten the training the other Hargreeves (or Nadine) had, and she was defenseless against Hazel and Cha-Cha. If either of them got their hands on her, she'd be dead in an instant.

"Come on," he hissed, and then the two of them were heading downstairs, searching for the woman. Nadine kept her hands curled into fists, but they were ready to form a particularly nasty illusion if the situation called for it (which would pretty much be the worst-case scenario—she was pretty sure Hazel and Cha-Cha were aware of her power). She and Luther had just slunk their way downstairs when they spotted Vanya in the living room, the attacker in the blue bear mask behind her. The two of them immediately began to run towards her, her name forming on their lips, but the blue bear had already struck her with his newfound weapon—a flail he must've gotten from Reginald Hargreeves' weapons cabinet.

She collapsed, and Nadine and Luther surged forward, panic shooting through them.

"Hey, asshole," Luther called, and, just as the blue dog man was about to strike Vanya again, he turned, facing his opponents. One was infinitely more formidable looking than the other, but Nadine had some tricks up her sleeve. She figured that the pros of forming an illusion outweighed the cons. Saving Vanya was all that mattered at this point.

And that was it. As soon as she thought about helpless Vanya, all of her fear faded away. In its place rested anger, a humming, residual fury from the first time she'd been shot and nearly died there in that alleyway. It had only been luck and illusion that she'd gotten away, and even more luck that her attackers had assumed she'd died. Now she was full to the brim with acrimony for the pain and fear Hazel and Cha-Cha had caused her, and she was ready to confront them.

The blue bear surged forward, swinging his flail once again, but before he could do any damage, Nadine was there, splaying out her fingers. Concentrating hard on the blue dog, she formed an illusion in front of her, stripping away the floor the blue bear had nearly reached and adding blackness in its place, a gaping hole of no end. To the blue bear, it appeared as if the floor had crumbled in front of his feet, and he ground to a stop, teetering at the edge of a hole that didn't exist.

"What the—" he murmured, but Nadine was already there, bounding across where the hole appeared to be and slamming her foot into his knee. The blue bear let out a yelp, stumbling backwards, and then Nadine's elbow was slamming into his chest. The bear teetered, before falling forward, letting out a muted shriek as he appeared to fall right into the hole. But, of course, nothing happened, and he seemed to hang suspended in mid-air for a moment before regaining his bearings. Which wasn't good for Nadine, who tried to dissolve the illusion as fast as possible, a headache rattling at her skull.

She attempted to kick him in the stomach, but before her foot could collide with his flesh, he seized her by the leg, jerking her off-balance. He reeled her in closer, and seemed to be examining her, but before Nadine could deduce if he'd recognized her or not, she was hurtling through the air, having been let go by the blue bear. She skidded on the ground and the blue bear swung his flail at Luther, but the burly man merely caught it in one hand and jerked it out of his grasp. Nadine staggered to her feet, murderous. She tasted blood, and sweat was soaking through her shirt. She was seeing red.

Hazel (Or Cha-Cha—she still didn't know which was which, something she definitely should've asked Five) had hurt Vanya. And Nadine hadn't known the woman for long, but she already considered her a friend. And she wouldn't let this fucking assassin try any more shit.

The blue bear lunged forward, seizing Luther and lifting him off his feet. Nadine had just amount of time to inhale a startled breath before Number One was being thrown to the ground, where he rolled slightly, evidently in pain. Nadine ran forward, breathing hard, and formed another illusion, though she wasn't sure what good it would do. With a sharp inhale, nostrils flared, Nadine dissolved Luther, warping an image around him to make it look like he wasn't there. The blue bear staggered back, convinced he'd just witnessed the man disappear, and Nadine took advantage of his momentary confusion to a) scan him, searching for potential weaknesses and b) immediately attacked him in said weak areas, jamming a knee into his groin. The blue bear let out a scream like a wounded animal, jumping back at the assault to his manhood, and seized Nadine by the collar, lifting her into the air.

As her legs dangled off the ground, and the blue bear gasped in obvious, intense pain, Nadine realized she'd only have one option that she knew for sure would get her out of this. Unfortunately, this option was a card she'd played before.

Breathing in a sharp breath, her head buzzing, Nadine cloaked him in darkness so thick it was like a blindfold had been wrapped around the blue bear's face. The masked assassin let out a startled yelp, and Nadine took this opportunity to jam her elbow into his arm. He let go of her, and she fell to the ground, rolling back into the light but doubling the darkness around her attacker.

"Nadine!" she heard Vanya shout, and whirled around, searching for her friend just as Luther slammed a kick into the assassin's stomach. The two bulky men tumbled over each other, exchanging blows much like Luther and Diego had during the funeral of Reginald Hargreeves. It seemed that Luther had met his match, both size and talent-wise.

"Get Vanya," Luther choked in a wheeze, preoccupied with his attempts to pound his fist into the masked assassin's face. Nadine looked to Vanya, who was still on the ground, her hair plastered to her face, her skin pale as she watched the battle, then looked back to Luther, who looked like he was having difficulty, and decided to help the man out. Yet again, she cloaked the blue bear with darkness, spreading it around him, and she'd thought she done okay before she realized she'd overdone it and enveloped Luther, too, who was blinking frantically and swinging blindly. Frantic, she tried to undo her mistake, and when that failed, she settled for bounding forward and stomping on the blue bear's foot. The man let out a pained gasp, and Nadine did it to his other foot before dissolving the illusion entirely, panting hard. The blue bear winced, but hardly seemed fazed by her blows, as he immediately began attacking Luther again, who he seemed to know was the most formidable foe here.

"Vanya, get out of here!" Luther ordered, and Nadine looked back to the woman, who was still there, paralyzed, on the floor. As Luther and the blue bear traded blows once more, Nadine sprinted towards Vanya, who was finally moving.

"Come on!" Nadine screamed, grabbing Vanya's hand and jerking her away, much like Diego had done to her. "Go! Go hide!"

Vanya looked at her, her eyes ablaze with fear, and nodded. Nadine let go of her hand and watched as the woman ran, tearing through the hallway away from the fight. Nadine, with ears that felt like beehives, let out a deep breath and ran back towards the battle, where Luther had managed to get the masked assassin onto the ground. He rained heavy blows onto the man's back, again and again, until the blue bear lay unmoving on the floor. Nadine figured he'd been knocked out cold.

Luther stepped on the man's back and over to Nadine. "Vanya?" he called out, wanting to make sure his sister was okay.

"I told her to hide," Nadine wheezed, her breath still heavy.

And that was when the masked assassin, who Nadine hadn't realized had gotten up, slammed his fist into the side of her head. Stars burst in her vision and agony swept through her head, and she reeled back, arms pinwheeling. Her ears were ringing, and she swore she could feel blood beginning to slip down into her hair. But before she could properly assess her injury, and the intense pain that accompanied it, the masked assassin was seizing her by her hair, tugging at her scalp, and dragging her backwards. Nadine let out a frustrated and pained scream as he yanked her away, and that was when another powerful blow found its way to her face.

She fell backwards, blood spilling out of her split lip, and then all she could see was the ceiling spinning like a merry-go-round.

This was the butterfly effect. Every set of decisions Nadine had made had led her right here. And, with bile boiling in her throat and a frantic dizziness overtaking her, she knew she'd made the wrong ones.

⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:

HAVEN: listening to sinnerman and i was made for lovin' you while writing this chapter >>>

okay, seriously, i don't know how good i am at fight scenes, but this chapter was a BLAST to write. maybe that's a mean thing to say, because nadine literally got the shit beaten out of her, but whewww was it fun to write!! 

anyway, nadine, unfortunately, found herself having an unexpected reunion :( i mean, we knew this was coming, but still. also, i know diego was kind of an asshole to nadine about her freezing up (and he's even more of an asshole about it next chapter), but i promise, it's only because he doesn't know about what happened. he's not the sort of type to undermine her real and valid trauma lmao. i just wanted to put a sort of disclaimer about that here.

thanks for reading :)