#thank you for this glowbug this was so fun to answer

[k1rameki]

hey, as another agoti fan, do you have any ideas of what he might possibly be like as a Dungeons and Dragons player? i’m trying to think of some ideas, and i figured you’d be a good person to ask’

HELLO GLOWBUG :3 i would be more than happy to help you out here bc boy do i love the idea of agoti being into incredibly nerdy things

and it also reminds me of this fanart i remember seeing of him, tabi and ayana as different dnd roles (agoti was a rogue and i highkey agree with that, tabi and aya were barbarian and cleric respectively)

ANYWHO. agoti would be a very avid dungeons and dragons player who takes campaigns VERY seriously, im talking whenever he gathers people to play he sets up ambient lighting, arranges snacks, all of that but he loves making all the usually tragic stuff (aka someone dying) completely unserious

like there could be a long ass moment of silence to grieve whoever dies and agoti would just say smth dumb and everyone would start laughing TEEHEE

[oddeyevibes]

Chapter 2 - Epiphany

Summary

Just as you were figuring out your real issue with this trip, the academy gets two unexpected—and violent—visitors.

Warnings? Click here

Then

Number 8’s abilities have hinted at the capacity for improvement. Making her a more valuable asset to the team outside of her healing capabilities. However, the chance at evolving is hindered by her delicate sensibilities.

Stern rearing has proved ineffective to change this at this point but Number 8 has achieved a new level of controlling her gifts. Number 8 now has the ability to create barriers for protection, seemingly more useful against that of projectiles.

Number 8’s lacking reaction time proves to be the biggest obstacle in using this ability to protect herself from physical harm. Subject is currently in recovery after sustaining an injury from her training session with Number 2. It would also appear that summoning the shield burns Number 8 slightly, the sensation growing stronger with each frequent use.

When I questioned Number 8, she said it was akin to touching an activated light bulb.

——✨——

Now

You came downstairs to the lobby looking to answer Pogo’s earlier inquiry. There you are forced to bear witness to a usual sight of Klaus sprawled out on the couch in some tighty…blueys. Your brother mumbling and fidgeting in his sleep, causing you to grow concerned.

��Klaus.” You called out to him.

There was no reply as he fidgeted more.

“Klaus!”

His eyes opened wide and he shot up from the couch, only calming down his breathing when he saw it was you standing over him.

“Oh…Glowbug…”

“You know you talk in your sleep?”

“Klaus, you ok?” He moved over as you sat next to him, raising the back of your hand to feel for his temperature. You let out a disappointed sigh. “Klaus, what did you take before you went to sleep?”

“Uhhhh…nice little uppers to get me through the day.” He faced you with a puppy dog look. “Grief can be a hard thing to get through sober.”

“Oh, you’re grieving? I thought you’d be celebrating.”

“I’m doing both.”

He crawled down to the floor, peeking underneath the coffee table.

“What are you looking for?”

“He’s looking for drugs.”

“Shut your piehole, Ben.” He leaned up, blowing a kiss his way. “Said with love.”

You glanced in the direction he was looking at in confusion. Klaus always talked about how he still saw Ben but with the ability to be able to see spirits being connected to his sobriety, you mostly chalked it up as him “talking to Ben” as a sort of coping mechanism for himself but also to make you feel better, considering it started after he passed and Klaus knew you were broken up about it the most.

You had no problem indulging him so long as he didn’t go overboard with his addiction. Though Mother Hera would always say that you were too soft on Klaus.

You knelt down beside Klaus. “How about we get you something to eat before you drown your sorrows in drugs?” You suggested.

Ben nodded. “Like some eggs or orange juice?”

“You can’t smoke eggs.”

“No but you can eat them and you should.”

Klaus groaned. “Why do you two insist on ganging up on me?”

“Because Herr Klaus, we care about your well-being and know you can do better.”

“But why deal with life sober when I can turn to my friends Molly and Candy?”

“Because Molly and Candy are gonna kill you one day.”

“Thank you”

“You’re more fun when you’re high.”

You playfully swatted at him. “Don’t compare my high to yours, the only girl I need is Mary J.”

Klaus let out a groggy chuckle before standing up and walking over to a nearby cabinet, searching for valuables no doubt.

“One of these has gotta be gold-plated, right?”

You looked back at your brother and sighed. Ben watched you. It was hard for him watching you desperately try to save Klaus from addiction. You started off so energetic, letting him stay at your place often and even getting him into rehab but Ben saw it all how Klaus blew it off every time. He really wished he could talk to you, tell you to stop putting in so much effort but then he’d feel like a hypocrite considering helping Klaus was one of the main lifelines to staying around some semblance of his family.

“By the way, Pogo said some box went missing from Dad’s office. Something very priceless and important.”

Ben looked back at Klaus in annoyance. “Really?”

“Really?”

“The thief wouldn’t happen to you, would it?”

Klaus feigned offense. “Glowbug…would I steal from-”

“You 100% would.”

“I have no clue where it could be.”

“Liar”

“Drop dead.”

“Low blow.”

“Would you shut up?”

“Excuse me?”

“Not you, sis. I’ve just been dealing with a lot of stuff lately. Y’know, a lot of memories coming up. All those good times…well, not so much good times as really awful, terrible, depressing times.”

You gave your brother a deadpanned stare. “Well...Pogo said that you won’t get in trouble if you bring it back.” You stuttered a bit. “Well, he didn’t actually say that but he definitely knows you did it.”

“Well, whenever I see the…scoundrel that took it, I’ll be sure to let them know.”

——✨——

Klaus had eventually left the room to get dressed, allowing you to have the lobby to yourself. You picked up the landline to dial Mother.

“Club Galerie, Sister Minerva speaking.”

“Hey Beth.”

Club Galerie had a theme with a lot of performers who worked there. Most of the work names were deity-inspired. Mother never felt comfortable with anyone using their real names. You didn’t mind it at all. Of course, people soon realized who you were after some time but even then you were no longer The Light as your father dubbed you but Sister Iris.

“Y/N? We were waiting for you to call.”

“Aww, did you miss me?”

“No, when someone returns to the home they ran away from as a child, it tends to spark some anxiety for people.”

“Yeah…”

“So, how is everything going so far?”

“It’s been pretty…meh.”

“What? Upset you didn’t get into more family arguments?”

“Oh there’ve been arguments, I just wasn’t at the center of them. My brother’s being a little pissant like usual.”

“The one that also hates your dad? Why?”

“Who knows? Knowing Diego, it’s probably because he didn’t get to leave first. Be the one to set an example next to Luther. He’s got a complex.”

“Hmm…are you coming back today?”

“Well…I don’t know yet. Might stay one more day to make sure there’s nothing else happens. Oh yeah! My brother came back yesterday too.”

“Which one?”

“The teleporting smartass.”

“Holy shit! SERIOUSLY!?”

“Not even kidding.”

“So what? You’re gonna make up for lost time?”

“Maybe. If I can find the little shit.”

“How is that even possible?”

“It’s a whole thing that I will explain when I get back cause I cannot possibly explain it right over the phone.”

Beth laugh. “Oh, I gotta go. Talk to you later, ok?”

“Bye.”

You hung up, your eyes lingering down to the floor before Allison spoke from the doorway.

“So who was that?” She tried to come off as sweet and non-threatening as possible.

“Full-time coworker, part-time paramour.”

“Oh, so you’re…”

You leaned back against the sofa. “I don’t really put a label on it.”

The silence was heavy over the both of you as Allison shifted uncomfortably, lost on how to bring up the sensitive topic.

“We didn’t really get a chance to talk. You know, alone.”

“I wonder why.” Your tone was cold.

“Look, Y/N, I’ve been wanting to talk to you since that night.”

“Did Luther put you up to this?”

“What? No.” Allison approached the couch but didn’t sit down. “When I saw you leaving that night. I was…not in the right state of mind. Ben’s funeral, dad…”

“Blaming it on us?”

“Yes. I didn’t know how to handle what I saw.”

“You know, I never blamed any of you for the shit I went through because of dad. I never blamed Diego for that time he almost cut off my finger when dad wanted me to improve my forcefields. I never blamed Vanya whenever dad finally noticed her just to shit on me. Even so young, I always recognized that everything we went through was his fault. That’s why…I was so confused about why you tried to do that to me…because I thought we were close.”

“We were.”

“Yeah, emphasis on were. I watched you use that power on so many people outside of this family…and I said nothing about it. I thought it was wrong how you abused it…and I didn’t say anything. You know why?”

Allison looked down, fiddling with her hands.

“Because I was scared of you, Allison.”

She looked at you with a mixture of shock and hurt in her eyes. “Y/N…”

“I was scared that if I stood up to you, you’d do the same to me. And that night, you proved it.”

“We were only seventeen. I was worried about what would happen to you.”

“I would’ve believed you if you had even bothered to check on me ONCE after Ben died.”

“I was grieving!”

“So was I! But the way you, Luther, and Diego looked at me…like it was all my fault. Diego blamed me and you never defended me because you felt the same way.”

Allison didn’t respond.

“But I guess it was easy.” You stood up, ready to end the conversation. “I was clearly supposed to be your safety net. Don’t matter how reckless you guys got during missions so long as I was on standby ready to heal you up…and I didn’t do that in time for Ben, I guess. Never mind the fact that Ben always hated this life that dad forced on us.”

Once again, you brushed past her but stopped when you reached the doorway.

“But thanks for realizing that rumoring people to sedate your ego is a bad thing years later.” You mockingly clap in her direction before leaving, heading back upstairs.

Allison stood there. Her apology was as heartfelt and sincere as she could have managed. She was really sorry but she didn’t know just how to make it up to you…or if it was even possible. She thought about how even after that night, she didn’t stop.

She thinks about how if she never had Claire, would there even be guilt. After all, it was losing her chance to see her face every day that brought this on. Her losing custody left her with nothing, coming back after her dad’s death seemed like the most logical thing to do. Even if the Hargreeves were as dysfunctional as they come, they were still the closest thing she had to family.

Allison took deep breaths, keeping herself from crying out of sheer melancholy, as she made her way downstairs to try and talk to Claire away from prying eyes.

——✨——

13 years ago

In reality, none of the Hargreeves children should’ve been shocked about the “eulogy” their father gave when it came to Ben’s death. Why send him off properly when you can twist the knife already in the hearts of your precious lab rats? Surely, that’ll motivate them.

Your siblings only listened in a mix of anger and sadness as they heard you kicking your dresser but none of them had the heart to tell you to stop. You were expressing the very thing they were crying to sleep to. Even though everyone eventually fell asleep, Allison became suspicious when the noise from your room grew quiet and your bedroom door opened.

However, at first, she chalked it up to you simply going to the bathroom but you didn’t return for a while. Then she remembered that room you and Ben always hid out in. So she went to find you, give you some company. That’s when she found you sitting on the window seal, your legs dangling on the outside with the strap of a black gym bag secured around your shoulders.

“Y/N?”

Your shoulders jumped as you quickly turned back to face Allison’s worried expression.

“What are you doing?’

It didn’t take Five to figure it out but the scene was still shocking for your sister. She looked at your face in its current state, your eyes were red from crying and the tears showed no signs of slowing down any time soon. Not to mention, you were breaths were frequent and heavy like you were still in the middle of some sort of panic attack.

“I can’t stay here, Allison.” Your voice was shaking.

“You’re leaving?” She rushed towards you. “You can’t leave!”

“Dad proved it today! He doesn’t care about whether any of us live or die.”

“Y/N, I know you’re upset but we have to stick together.”

“Until what? What if the next mission I die? What if Klaus dies? What if Luther dies? Are we just gonna be stuck being blamed until Vanya’s the only one left? Then what happens to Vanya?”

“Y/N, we’ll make sure-”

“You can’t! We don’t mean…” You fumbled your words. “SHIT TO HIM! We are lambs to his slaughter.”

“But you can’t run off alone.”

You didn’t respond until you gave her a hopeful look. “We could all run.”

Your sister stammered. “I don’t know…”

“We could, we could just take care of each other. We could…use our powers to help us survive. We don’t need to rely on him.”

“Where would we go? Where were you even gonna go?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. Somewhere. Anywhere is better than here.”

Allison just gave you a sad look before inching closer. “Would Ben want you to leave?”

You shook your head. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Don’t try to use Ben against me. If I knew he was gonna die soon, I would’ve convinced him to run away sooner.”

“He’d be worried sick knowing your out there all alone.”

“I think he'd be worried sick that we were all still here after today. He hated this, Allison. We all knew that.”

You turned away from Allison, fully ready to climb through the window until she grabbed onto your arm.

“I can’t let you leave!”

The look on your face portrayed your confusion and offense. “You can’t let me leave…or you won’t let me leave? There’s a big difference Allison.”

A stare-off started between the two of you as you anticipated just what Allison was implying. Sure enough, when you showed you weren’t backing down from your decision, she said.

“I--”

“Allison don’t.” You warned.

She stared at you with determination etched in your expression. “I heard--”

“Allison, I am not in the mood for this.”

“And I don’t wanna see you leave.”

“Allison…please…”

“I heard a rumor--”

In that quick second, your eyes shined a bright as a white aura manifested from your body. “STOP!” You screamed, sending a forcefield of light in Allison’s direction, launching her backward to the floor, her back hitting against the carpeted wood with a heavy thud as the lights throughout the estate flickered.

Your eyes went wide as your breathing got quicker but you calmed a bit when you saw Allison pick herself up, resting on her elbows as she looked at you in fear.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered before climbing through the window in order to prevent the others from finding and trying to stop you.

Allison had sat up, backing away towards the wall to cradle herself and cry into her knees. Not too long after the incident, your dad and the others finally found her and questioned her about what happened. Of course, Reginald didn’t say anything that made the others feel better.

He merely looked at the window in disappointment. “If only she had shown this type of grit, maybe Number 6 would still be alive.”

Allison looked up at her father in disgust as Luther held her and Vanya caressed her head. Even if they held out hope much like with Five, they never did see you again after that.

——✨——

You had all gathered in the lobby per Luther’s request and watched the surveillance footage of mom standing over Reginald as he slowly succumbed to his death before walking out of the room. You popped a grape into your mouth as you leaned against the bar.

Vanya was the first to jump Grace’s defense. “I mean, do you really think Mom would hurt Dad?”

“You haven’t been home in a long time, Vanya.” Luther replied. “Maybe you don’t know Grace anymore.”

Then Diego chimed in. “If he was poisoned, it would have shown in the coroner’s report.”

“Well, I don’t need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes.”

“Maybe she didn’t mean it?” You spoke up.

Everyone looked back at you as you shrugged. “I mean, you’ve all noticed how…weird she’s being right? Maybe she…poisoned him by accident.”

“Dad programmed her to be state of the art, her programming wouldn’t just…deteriorate like that.”

“Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your head.” Diego fidgeted with the television, zooming in the camera. “Look closer.”

Everyone’s attention focused on what Grace was doing as Diego explained further.

“Dad has his monocle. Mom stands up. Monocle’s gone.”

Klaus began chuckling. “Oh, yeah!”

“She wasn’t poisoning him. She was…taking it. To clean it.” Diego suggested.

“Then where is it?” Luther asked. “No, I’ve searched the house, including all her things. She doesn’t have it.”

Diego sat silent for a moment before answering him. “That’s because I took it from her. After the funeral.”

Allison looked upset. “You’ve had the monocle this whole time? What the hell, Diego?”

“Give it to me,” Luther ordered.

“I threw it away.”

Allison scoffed as Luther approached closer. “You what?”

“Look, I knew that if you found it on Mom, you’d lose your shit, just like you’re doing right now.”

“Diego, you son of a bitch.” Luther inched closer causing Diego to ready himself with his knife as Vanya approached the both of them.

Klaus strolled past them, using a nearby column to lean against.

“Hey. No. Calm down. Look, I know Dad wasn’t exactly an open book. But I do remember one thing he said. Mom was, well, designed to be a caretaker, but…also as a protector.”

You pointed in Vanya’s direction, agreeing with her. “That’s a good point. Like I said, maybe Mom deteriorated a little. She was designed to be the perfect mother. All moms deal with empty nest syndrome and maybe…” You waved your hand around. “Maybe she snapped and took it out on Dad?”

Luther was astonished by this suggestion. Diego stood there in thought before nodding. “Y/N, what are you talking about?”

“Mom watched the way he treated us and she knew how to always make us feel better. What if, at some point, she decided that Dad is the reason that the nest was empty too soon? Maybe she…was just angry at him?”

Allison shook her head. “Y/N, that’s ridiculous. You heard Vanya, she was a protector.”

“Yeah, a protector of us and the academy…not him. Maybe she bottled it up.”

“She’s a robot, Y/N.”

“A robot that fed and nurtured us when our dad didn’t.”

“Now is not the time to let your hatred of dad get in the way of us solving his murder.”

Just as you were about to snap back, Vanya cut in once again. “What I meant is that she was programmed to intervene if someone’s life was in jeopardy.”

Luther thought about it. “Well, if Y/N is right about her degrading then we need to turn her off.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait.” Diego was at more attention than before, pointing the tip of one of his knives toward Luther. “She’s not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet. She feels things, I’ve seen it!”

Luther tried to reason with Diego. “She just stood there, Diego, and watched our father die.”

“I’m with Luther.”

Diego glanced back at Allison in annoyance. “Surprise, surprise.”

“Shut up.”

Diego looked to you for your vote. “I don’t think we should.” He felt relief and turned to Vanya.

With everyone’s eyes on her, she stumbled on her words. “I-- I don’t--”

“Yeah, she shouldn’t get a vote.”

“Diego…”

“Wh--” You and Luther tried to defend her choice to answer until she fully answered.

“I was gonna say that I agree with you.”

“Okay. She should get a vote.” Your brother turned his attention to Klaus. “What about you, stoner boy? What do you got?”

“Oh, so, what? You need my help now? Oh, get out of the van, Klaus! Well, welcome back to the van.”

“What van?”

“Who kicked you out of a van?”

“What’s it gonna be, Klaus?”

“I’m with Diego, because screw you! And if Ben were here, he’d agree with me.”

“I dunno bout that.” You mumbled awkwardly.

Sure Ben was considered the sweetest of y’all but one very thing about it that was hard to ignore was his pragmatism. If he were here, he would’ve thought Grace should be shut down.

“Three to two, no one touches Grace.”

“Vote’s not final yet.”

Diego turned back to Allison. “What?”

“Five’s not here. The whole family has to vote. We owe each other that.”

“Right.”

“No, we should wait.”

Much to Diego’s dismay, everyone started filing out of the room including you. Your eyes locked on your mother’s blank stare before moving past her and leaving.

——✨——

Then

Alarms blared throughout the halls as everyone scrambled to get ready. Ben sprinted through the house with half of his uniform on as he charged toward the bathroom. Meanwhile, Allison quickly downstairs, shouting for Luther to hurry up before heading to her room to find her mask.

“How will the Umbrella Academy ever become an effective crime deterrent if we can’t even leave the house on time for missions?” Your father’s voice boomed throughout the halls, only leaving you to further inch back under your hiding spot.

“Behind you!” Luther quickly slipped past Reginald and he kept rushing everyone.

Panic took hold of Allison as she frantically tossed out articles of clothing from her drawer. When she turned and saw Grace, there was some slight relief in seeing reliable help.

“I can’t find my Domino mask.”

With a bright smile, Grace pulled out the mask in mint condition. “It needed a little bit of TLC after the last mission.”

Allison let out a breath of relief. “Thanks, mom!”

With a prideful stride, she approached Luther’s room, the Spaceboy getting a few reps in as she leaned against the door frame. “Ready to go?”

Luther looked up at her with a smile, throwing up a thumbs up. “Yeah.”

Diego ran through the halls yelling for his knives as Grace came upon Vanya’s room. Number 7 trying to focus on the sound of her violin and drown out the noise of the alarm.

“Sounds beautiful, Vanya.”

Vanya smiled. “Thanks, mom.”

“Where is Number 8?!” Reginald’s voice echoed from a distance.

Grace continued her stroll, stopping in front of Klaus’ room when he heard his bed squeaking and the Seance giggling like a mad man. The blonde turned to see Klaus had started a fire in his desk and was enjoying the flames.

“Oh! Klaus!”

Grace marched into the room, grabbing a piece of fabric and tossing it over the fire, putting it out without issue.

“Thank you, Mother.”

She shook her head as she left the room. “Boys will be boys.”

Then she came across your room but you weren’t anywhere in sight. She was about to move on until she noticed movement from underneath your bed. With a sweet smile, she entered your room and bent down to call for you.

“Y/N, sweetie, are you ready?”

You let out a defeated sigh as you crawled out from under the bed clutching the bowl of ice cream in your hand. Your mother flashed you a shocked expression.

“Y/N! You know sweets are for after missions.” She scolded as she gently took the bowl from your hand.”

“Can I just have a little more?” You whined.

Grace relented, taking a small scoop and popping it into your mouth.

“Thanks, Mommy.”

“Now go finish getting ready and use the bathroom before you leave.”

She sent you off, following your trail out of the room and running into a distressed Ben with an unzipped suit.

“Oh, Ben.”

“It--it’s stuck.”

She quickly zipped it up for him, allowing him to run off down the hall as he shouted for the others. Finally, she came upon Diego’s room, hearing him trying to overcome his stutter. Something that Reginald constantly poked at him for while telling him he’d be a burden if he didn’t fix it but Grace knew how to handle it.

“D--Don’t mmm. Don’t mm… mm.. mm…”

She entered the room, gently rubbing his back. “Remember, Diego, just picture the word in your mind.”

Diego calmed his nerves as he focused on his reflection in the mirror. “D-Don’t mm… muh… D-Don’t mmm… Don’t mo-move.”

Grace perked up. “You did it! I’m so proud of you!”

Reginald cleared his throat, catching the attention of the two, as he stood in front of the doorway. He said nothing before walking off.

——✨——

Now

You were lounging in dad’s office, feet propped up on the desk as you indulged in the cold creamy pleasure of ice cream in one of dad’s wide chalices. He’d flip if he saw you doing this, which was the joy of it regardless of how childish and bratty it probably came off. Fuck it, right? It counts as pissing on his grave and legacy.

“What am I still doing here?” You muttered.

This trip was meant to be some magnum opus in finally healing all of the trauma that accompanied you for years. However, nothing really changed. You were really naive (or dumb) enough to believe that your neglectful and borderline abusive father dying was going to fix everything?

You thought about your issues with your siblings. How the hell could you possibly approach repairing bridges? There was one half of you that wanted to understand and be a family with them again but the other half needed to release…something. Were you even mad at anyone other than dad?

You never really hated Luther, you just hated his loyalty to your dad. Even now, he can’t just leave things be and feels it’s his duty to avenge Reggie. The man didn’t earn the privilege of being avenged. That was for people who knew how to love and appreciate others.

Diego was mad at you for leaving and blamed you for letting Ben die but you both agreed that even if Grace murdered Reginald, she probably was justified. Beyond that? What was there after that? Nothing. Once all is said and done, he’d still hate you.

You had your beef with Allison but as you matured through the years, you understood the situation. You were scared, angry, and just needed to get away and she was just as scared. She didn’t know what else to do when faced with the scene of you leaving. She repented and apologized, you weren’t sure you were still mad at her as much as you wanted to seem.

Klaus was…Klaus. You try to be the shoulder he can lean on with his addiction but some days…you just don’t know what to do to help him. Even getting professionals to help didn’t work out, Klaus telling you that they just didn’t understand his issues. You never wanna force anything on him but it was getting exhausting. What kind of sister would you be though if you just let him suffer alone, though?

Then there was Five…you had no issues with Five. Sure, Five vanished after being hardheaded but he was back now and that’s all that mattered.

Next was Ben, an old love you could never fully commit to. Sure, you weren’t biological siblings but you grew up together. Maybe it helped that you didn’t look like each other but seeing Allison and Luther getting teased by the others certainly didn’t help. Ben was the one to have it simmer down. He was always the more realistic one but it didn’t stop you from wanting to be close to him…make him feel better…and think about him. You figured you were naive to think that maybe when you got older he would’ve felt differently but that time never came. He died and you’ve felt like shit ever since. There was not a day that went by where you didn’t tell yourself that it should’ve been you.

Lastly, there was Vanya. Vanya often played the role of the peacekeeper in the family yet it didn’t stop her from being excluded and now you’re an adult feeling pissed off at younger you for following along any time the others didn’t want to include her. You’d make up for it now and then but you knew it wouldn’t have been enough. Even now, you kept in touch with Vanya out of spite of yourself from years ago and your siblings, who didn’t really seem to care as far as you knew…not that it made you any better. You were using your sister as a gotcha to prove a point.

Maybe that was it. Maybe you were just trying to be angry and spiteful because it feels like you should. Maybe you carried this hurt to cover up something. What it was? You didn’t know. Maybe fear? Loneliness? Something that kept you…stagnated? That’s when you had a thought…

“Oh my god…what the hell do I want to do with my life?” You whispered in a shaky voice. You placed the chalice down on the desk as you got up and started pacing the room. “Oh my god! Am I a diva?!”

If anyone else heard you speak those words, they’d be confused as hell but to you, it made perfect sense. You came back home to finally face your family expecting this grandiose series of clap backs but…it was all…bleh.

The moment you stepped back into the house, none of those feelings that you SWORE you felt for all of these years were there. You expected an explosion and only got a spark. The equivalent of rubbing two stones together after hours only for them to light up once against the cold air surrounding you.

“This is the epiphany of a lifetime! And I didn’t even need Beth for it, oh my god!” You gasped. “I gotta call Beth.”

Just as you were about to leave the room. The sound of rapid gunfire caught your attention, freezing you on the spot. You left the room and came over, only to run directly into a fleeing Diego.

“Diego? What’s happening?”

“Run!” He grabbed onto your arm, pulling you in the direction of the railing. He wanted you both to jump.

Just as two gunmen wearing creepy cartoon masks turned the corner and aimed at the both of you. Wasting no more time, you and Diego hopped over the rail, landing right in the lobby before the both of you split up behind different points of cover.

“Diego, who the fuck is that?” You aggressively whispered in his direction.

“Does it look like I have a clue?”

“You’re the one dressed like a bargain bin Batman, I assumed they were here for you.”

“Well, you know what they say about assuming.”

Your chatter stopped when you heard footsteps quickly approaching. Diego began moving, alerting the gunmen of his location and they began firing, pinning him to the spot. Thinking on your feet, you stood from your hiding place.

“Hey! Try that on me, creeps!” You shouted, earning their attention.

They immediately began firing in your direction only for the bullets to be stopped by the white barrier you conjured in front of you. The bullets hit against the shield and fell to the floor however, it didn’t deter the two.

Distracted, they failed to notice Luther approaching behind them, grabbing the one in the pink mask and launching them into the foyer with ease. The rain of bullets against you stopped as you dropped your hands in exhaustion as Allison charged in.

Just as the assailant in the blue mask turned and aimed their shotgun at Luther, Allison delivered a swift kick, knocking the shotgun out of their hand before delivering a series of kicks that had the gunman stumbling but didn’t take him down. A fact only made more evident when they grabbed onto Allison’s neck and began choking her.

Her strained gasps for air filling the room. Diego ran up behind them and began striking them in the back as he demanded for them to let go of Allison. Much like Allison, Diego’s strikes had little to no effect on the bigger of the two gunmen. He wasted no time in jumping on their back as Luther approached them, delivering a heavy punch to the gunman’s gut causing them to topple over and allowing Allison to break free from their grip as Diego fell to the ground with them.

Much like the first one, Luther launched the blue masked one into the foyer, leaving him crashing into the table that sat underneath the dangling chandelier. Allison glanced around between you and Diego.

“Who the hell are these guys?”

“You’re welcome.” Luther looked in Diego’s direction.

With his unwavering pride, Diego waved him off. “I was doing fine.”

Thus the two began arguing. “Oh yeah, you really had them--”

“Ever hear of a rope-a-dope?”

Still tired from using your shield after what seemed like years, you spoke up with an exasperated breath. “Is this really the time for this?”

Allison was about to come over and check on you until bullets went flying into the room yet again, scattering all of you once more.

Luther rushed you and Allison out of the room. “We gotta get out of here now! Go!”

“But Diego--”

“He’ll be fine, Y/N, come on!”

“Luther go!” Diego’s voice was heard among the gunshots as the three of you continued running.

Once he was sure the both of you were safe, Luther circled back to try and get to Diego who was left with one of the gunners. Meanwhile, you and Allison were high tailing it away from the one with the pink mask. Both of you heading downstairs towards the bedrooms with her hot on your trail.

Once you were off the staircase, she began firing more bullets which you had quickly blocked off as Allison ducked into the stairwell that lead even further downstairs to the kitchen. Once Pinky had stopped shooting, you ran off to follow your sister.

Pinky wasted no time in firing again once she reached the bottom of the stairs, lighting up the walls as you ran behind Allison, ducking into cover. Allison looked up at you and watched you take deep breaths and you shook the heat off your hands.

“Been a while, huh?” She whispered in your direction.

“Yeah, tend to not get shot in everyday life.”

She nodded. “That part.”

You both listened to Pinky’s footsteps as she unknowingly walked past the both of you hiding behind the pool table.

“I’m sick of running from this asshole.” Allison said before reaching for the pool cue sat on the table. She waited for her moment to strike and swiped the stick, tripping Pinky to the floor. Pinky stood up, taking hold of a broken pool cue snapped in half.

The both of you closed in on her from both sides. She swung one half towards you which you jumped back to dodge. She then turned her attention to Allison, swinging and advancing forward before smacking her in the face with the force sending her against the lesser dining table.

With her distracted, you ran towards Pinky, wrapping an arm around her throat and yanking her back before she could attempt to stab Allison. Diego then casually walked into the kitchen, nodding toward Allison as Pinky struggled to get you off of her.

“You wanna rumor this psycho?”

Allison wiped the small smidge of blood from her bottom lip. “I don’t need to, because this bitch just pissed me off.”

“Where’s Luther?”

“Handling the big one.” Diego answered.

With your focus taken, Pinky used the opportunity to finally free themselves from your grip, falling to their knees with enough force to knock you to the ground with a *jawbreaker. The impact from slamming into the floor knocks the wind out of you a little.

Pinky straightened out their suit. “We just want the boy.”

“Oh, well, in that case…” Allison charged forward, ducking underneath Pinky’s swing before delivering several kicks to the torso as you scrambled to stand up, rubbing your chin.

Allison and the gunner exchanged throws and kicks before your sister was sent flying back towards the coffee table with a roundhouse kick. The intruder’s attention finally turned to Diego as he strode forward.

“Y/N, go check on Luther, alright?”

You nodded. “Yeah, yeah, sure.” As you got to leave and find Luther, Diego began trading blows with Pinky.

When you finally made it back to where you assumed Luther was, you found him still fighting with the bigger intruder. You hopped in place a bit to amp yourself up to help.

“This is a dumb idea.” You muttered, charging forward and delivering a flying kick to the Blueman’s back, causing him to stumble and allowing Luther to get the upper hand on his assault until the Blueman grabbed Luther in an attempt to ram him into the wall but Luther stood his ground.

“Get Vanya out of here!” Luther yelled.

You were surprised to see Vanya on the ground in the lobby. Wasting no time, you rushed towards her. “Vanya, are you alright?”

She nodded, clearly shaken by being attacked judging by her disheveled appearance. You wrapped her arm around your shoulder and led her to the corner of the room, the both of you pressing your backs against the wall to be blocked off from view with a part of the wall as you both heard an audible tear and a heavy slam, though there was no confirmation on who was the temporary victor of the battle other than an indeterminate groan.

You heard heavy footsteps re-entering the room and panicked when you saw the Blueman scope around the room before leaving again. As much as you wanted to attack, risking being knocked out and Vanya being left defenseless was not in any way a good plan.

Vanya looked at you with a worried expression, allowing you to catch a glimpse of the blood on her face.

“You ok?” You whispered.

She responded with a dazed nod.

“Luther!” You heard Allison shout, giving you the signal that it was safe to move.

Luther was laid out on the floor on his stomach as Allison and Diego came into the entrance hall. Allison reached out in an attempt to pick Luther up.

“Come on, Luther, get up.”

Diego came along to aid her. “Ah, you gotta cut down on that fast food, soldier.”

A figure came into view, Pinky, staring down at all of you before breaking the mechanism that kept the chandelier in place. Sending it plunging down below. Luther pushed both Allison and Diego out of the way. On instinct, you ran over and attempted conjuring a shield over Luther however, the burning sensation grew too much and you lost control of the shield. It quickly dissolved, allowing for the lights to continue crashing.

“Shit, Luther!” You shouted.

When you saw movement, you let out a breath of relief. Luther slowly stood up, letting the chandelier slide off his back and hit the floor. You were about to inch closer until you saw his jacket fall off along with his shirt revealing a shocking sight to you, Allison, Vanya, and Diego.

You thought back to your conversation with Luther before. The small patch of hair you saw on his arm. You had simply assumed he was just self-conscious about his body…but it was clearly more to it. When he realized you were all staring at him, there was a look of hurt and shame in his eyes.

“Holy shit.” Diego let out.

Luther said nothing and simply ran off upstairs to hide from the rest of you. When he was gone, Allison noticed Vanya standing there and approached her.

“Did you know?” Vanya quietly asked her.

Allison glanced towards the stairs before looking back at Vanya. “No.”

Diego said something about mom and headed upstairs. You moved towards your sisters and led them into the living room to heal their injuries. You started with Vanya first, the light hovering over her forehead as Allison sat across from y’all.

“Who were those people?” Vanya asked.

“No clue.” You answered. “But they mentioned just wanting the boy, so I’m gonna assume they’re after Five.”

Despite being healed, it didn’t get rid of the headache she had from being hit. Allison eyed Vanya.

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

Vanya only nodded as she leaned forward. Diego entered the room and started pacing through the room, causing a concerned look from all of you.

“Diego, you alright?”

He looked at Vanya and stopped pacing, throwing a disapproving look her way. “What are you still doing here?”

“I’m just trying to help.”

“No, you could’ve been killed. Or gotten any of us killed”

You cut in to defend Vanya. “But she didn’t! So maybe chill out on throwing your rage around?”

Diego rolled his eyes at your defense.

“It’s not a crime for her to be here!”

“Of course, you would defend her.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“You find any excuse to have issues with me or dad!”

“You’re upset that we were attacked but don’t take it out on Vanya! How was she--or any of us for that matter--supposed to plan for two gun-toting psychos to bust into the house?! Would it kill you to not blame everything on everyone else for a second?”

Diego didn’t respond to you, instead, he looked to Allison. “She’s a liability.” He stated in a low tone.

You and Vanya looked at Allison hoping for her to be on y’all of the discussion. “Allison?” Vanya called out softly.

Allison merely looked down like she was trying to find the right words. “I think what he’s trying to say is that this kind of stuff is dangerous.”

You rolled your eyes, Allison was basically agreeing but in that way where she tries to fill Vanya’s role as the peacekeeper…just horribly.

“You’re just…”

“Not like you.” Vanya cut her off.

When Allison didn’t respond, Vanya stood up to walk off and Allison attempted to chase after her.

“No, that’s not what I--. Vanya, wait.”

“Let her go.” Diego was seated as he offered ill advice to Allison. “It’s for the best.”

You scoffed. Just when you were having your epiphany, reality slapped you back in the face. This is exactly what you didn’t miss. When Vanya left the house, you spoke up once again.

“You know, for people that’s so damaged by the way our father treated us, you waste no time in treating Vanya the same way.”

Allison sighed. “Y/N it’s not like that.”

“Yes. It is exactly like that. Even at your big ass ages, y’all seem to still cling onto this desire to exclude her whenever you get the chance. It’s even more annoying when you do it, Allison.”

“What are you--”

“You try to play this perfect peacemaker of the family and you fail at it every time. You wanna know why? Because you actually don’t care about everyone getting a fair share. You don’t have a backbone when it comes to standing up to Luther or Diego. You really take your Number 3 status seriously and it shows.”

Allison was insulted. “It’s funny how you talk about standing up to anybody because I never saw you take a stand to anyone…ever. You had to hide behind Ben and when he was gone, you ran off like a scared child.”

“Scared or not, I still left at the right time. Who knows? I might’ve ended up like Dollar Tree John Wick over there or maybe you, who can’t handle life without rumoring someone to enjoy being around you.” You scoffed. “Makes me wonder how Patrick even fell in love with you.”

The last sentence really stung Allison, which is what you intended. As much of a bitch you knew it made you, you didn’t care as you headed towards the bedrooms. It was about time you left.

“Fuck this place.” You muttered.