Alma Hargreeves heaved a heavy sigh as she followed her family outside into the courtyard. Despite how much their father didn't deserve any tears or remorse, the weather continued to reflect grief. He was a dementated and heartless man who deserved to die. Even with this thought, the sky continued to pour. Maybe Luther and Pogo weren't alone in their grief, Mother Nature seemed to share the same sentiment.

Alma pulled her coat closer to her body, although the umbrella she shared with Vanya kept her dry, it didn't stop the wind from freezing her.

"Did something happen?" their mother asked, looking at the children before her, all dressed in black. "Alma, where's Delilah? You're always together."

Alma tensed at this, feeling her siblings' eyes piercing her. Alma clenched her teeth and took a deep breath, feeling Vanya's hand grasp her free one. She appreciated her attempt at helping. "Dad died, Mom," Alma finally responded. "Delilah can't be here right now. Don't you remember?" Alma made sure to not look at her siblings, not wanting them to see the pain in her eyes.

"Oh. Yes, of course," Mom replied solemnly.

Allision looked between their mother and everyone else, "Is Mom okay?"

Diego nodded his head, "Yeah, yeah, she's fine. She just needs to rest. You know, recharge."

Pogo then arrived without delay and reassured Luther to pour their father's ashes. They all watched in agonizing silence, the only sounding being the rain around them as it hit their umbrellas and the ground. The ashes fell in heap upon the ground, only emphasizing the tension around them. Alma felt uncomfortable, but what did she expect? A happy family reunion with her terrific siblings? A tearful get-together to remember their once living father? No. Their father was a sick bastard who never gave a damn about them, and her siblings were just as messy and unreliable.

"Probably would have been better with some wind," Luther mumbled, trying to lighten the mood.

Pogo cleared his throat, moving the attention away from their awkward brother, "Does anyone wish to speak?" When no one said a word, he continued. He spoke truthfully as he told the group of the debt he owed to the once living billionaire and his "positive" attributes. Before he could continue, Diego cut in.

"He was a monster," he spoke. "He was a bad person and a worse father. The world's better of without him."

"Diego," Allison snapped.

The man in question continued on with ease, "My name is Number Two. You know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mom do it." No amount of pleads or side-comments could stop the long await fight between Number One and Number Two.

"Guys, come on," Alma said lazily alongside her fellow siblings and Pogo. They watched as the two males continued to throw punches and taunting words. As always, no words could get through to them as they proceeded to hit each other and their surroundings.

Alma stared in exasperation, watching them move closer and closer to Ben's statue. Without even blinking, Luther accidentally punches it, leading it to fall off its hinges and onto the ground. The head flew off of the statue as it settled on the ground. The bystanders cringed at the scene.

Alma felt her heart fall into her stomach at the sight. She shook her head in disappointment before stepping out into the rain and leaving her siblings behind. "Somethings really do never change."

»

Blood was everywhere. It smeared across her clothes and skin, staining her like a tattoo. Short, fast breaths came from her as she kept pressing her hands on Ben. Mumbled pleads fell from her lips on repeat as she pushed down harder.

She could feel the eyes of her siblings on them, which only put more stress and pressure on her. She couldn't let him die. With the powers she had, it was impossible for her to even be unable to save him (or at least that's what she thought).

Tears streamed down her faces as she continued to press down on his body. "Come on," she begged the longer nothing happened. "Come on!"

She could feel his heartbeat slowing down, the blood still pooling profusely. Sobs fell from her mouth, her body shaking with a restless energy that wouldn't release down into his. This hadn't happened before. Yes, the situation was a bit worse compared to previous wounds, but nonetheless, it always worked.

Luther and her other siblings began to berate her with questions and orders. "We have to go!" "Hurry up!" "Is he okay?!" But all their words fell to deaf ears. The only thing Alma could hear was her own heartbeat drumming in her chest. Her vision was blurring with more tears, but they remained focused on Ben's dying form.

"Come on!" she squeaked, sending a final push down on his body and pushing herself to the limit. She waited, waited to feel the energy of life leave her body and shift into his — to see his lungs breath in deep, to see him wake up.

She stayed like this for what felt like forever, but nothing happened. Eventually, the blood stopped pooling and his heart stopped beating and she was left cradling his body.

She didn't save him. Her powers didn't work. Ben was dead.

»

Alma watched her sister make the call for a taxi, her back pressed against a wall. Ever since she had gotten here, everything had gone to hell. Her remaining siblings didn't seem to give a damn about anyone but themselves.

"Is it possible if I could come with you?" Alma voiced after Vanya hung up the phone.

Vanya chuckled, moving to look at her sister, "If you want to. They don't hate you. Don't feel pressured to leave just because I am."

Alma rolled her eyes at this, "Who cares what they think. They've had a suitable amount of time to get over it, plus you're a part of this family too. You shouldn't be penalized for Dad's terrible parenting. Plus, I'd much rather be with you than those dimwits."

Vanya smiled softly at her sister and hugged her. She mumbled a "thank you" in her ear before separating. She was glad that the two had grown close and cared for each other. After publishing her book to the public, Vanya felt even more alone than she had before. But it wasn't until Alma and a young woman rang her doorbell and a made a move to close the distance between them that had been made during their childhood.

Alma was grateful for that day. With the reassurance of Delilah, she was able to have the beautiful friendship she now had with Vanya. It meant the world to her to know that there was at least someone who cared. If she had never fixed her relationship with Vanya, Alma assumed that she would be in a ditch somewhere. She owed a lot to the young woman.

The two turned at the sound of footsteps approached them. Pogo made his way slowly towards the two, hoping to keep Vanya from leaving so soon.

"Don't waste your time," Vanya proclaimed. "Diego's right, I shouldn't have come."

Alma bit her lip, fighting back the urge to go and slap her brother. She could understand his anger towards Vanya, she had felt it too at one point. But after she had read the book, had time to comprehend why Vanya had done it, and had gotten to talk to Vanya about it, Alma ultimately forgave her. During her many years away from the academy, one of the biggest things she had learned was to apologize. Life wasn't worth being filled with grudges and hatred.

A car horn beeped loudly, indicating the arrival of Vanya's taxi. She smiled sadly, "That's for us."

"I hope you know," Pogo began to say, "your father loved you very much, both of you. In his own way."

"Yeah, well, that's kind of the problem, isn't it?" Vanya spoke after a long pause. "Take care of yourself." Alma frowned, pushing herself towards Vanya.

She smiled at Pogo, the two nodding farewell. Out of anyone Alma had seen again, it was Pogo who was the kindest, besides Mom. She was glad they could see each other again. After a beat, the two women turned and walked out of the mansion side by side, Pogo being the only one to watch them leave.

»

"What if we had a sleepover?" Alma asked giddily. The two sisters now sat in their taxi, making their way to Vanya's apartment. "We could get take out and watch movies or something! I have work off, so I don't have to get up early tomorrow."

Vanya looked over at her sister, a lopsided grin forming on her face, "I don't know. Today's been pretty overwhelming..."

Alma huffed, moving in her seat to look Vanya straight in the eyes, "Because of the terrible events that have happened to us, we need quality sister time to help us grieve over this terrible ordeal!"

Vanya resisted the urge to laugh. If there was anything about Alma that was remotely similar to Klaus it was her humor and sarcasm. Their voices always had this particular uptick in their voices and their eyes would grow to the size of saucers when they wanted something badly enough. Because of this, when they were younger, if they both wanted something they would always speak at the same time and plead for hours.

"Please?!"

A beat passed between the two, Alma giving the exact look Vanya could remember from their childhood. "Fine," Vanya conceded, her smile still spread across her face.

Alma danced around in her seat, giggling with joy. "Sir, is it possible if you could drop us off somewhere else?"

»

The two sisters laughed as they made their way towards Vanya's apartment. They had just finished buying their food from their favorite Chinese restaurant and renting a large selection of movies to watch throughout the night, varying from the Titanic to Harry Potter.

Vanya quickly opened the door to her apartment building, the night wind beginning to nip at their faces. Alma sighed in content at the warm air that hit her once she entered. It was already late, the two had spent a larger amount of time than expected at the movie rental store and even longer waiting for their Chinese food to be done.

Alma watched as Vanya balanced the movies in her arms while searching of her apartment key. "Okay, I say we start with setting up blankets and pillows before actually choosing what to watch," Alma explained, obliviously following Vanya into her apartment. Before Vanya could reply with her input, a screech filled the air, causing Alma to nearly drop their Chinese food.

"Jesus!" Vanya cried, surprised to see Five sitting in her living room.

Alma gasped, looking over Vanya's shoulder at their little brother, "Five? What are you doing here?"

"You should have locks on your windows," Five spoke, his tone flat.

Vanya huffed, putting her keys on top of a pile of mail before walking further into her apartment, "I live on the second floor." The two women then moved to put down their sleepover supplies before directing their attention back on Five.

"Rapists can climb."

Alma scrunched her nose, her body cringing at the thought, "It's been seventeen years and you're still weird."

Vanya moved to sit on her couch, scanning over Five and spotting blood on his collar, "Is that blood?" At that, Alma turned, her eyes landing on his stained collar. Her body tensed at the sight. After what had happened all those years ago, Alma couldn't look at blood the same way she had before.

She used to be indifferent to it. Blood used to only be a product of fighting bad guys and earning scraps on her hands and knees. After that day she became hyper-aware. Blood then meant death and pain.

Five quickly dismissed the thought, being as passive as usual. "Why are you here?" Vanya asked. Alma crossed her arms over her chest, standing adjacent to the two before her.

"I've decided you're the only one I can trust," Five admitted. "And I guess that also includes Alma..."

"Hey!" Alma squeaked. "I'm good at keeping secrets!"

Both Vanya and Five rolled their eyes at that and moved on. "Why me? Why us?"

"Because you're ordinary," Five stated, staring at Vanya directly. After a moment of awkward silence, he then added with a softer tone: "Because you'll listen. Both of you."

Vanya nodded at that. She quickly stood from her seat on the couch and moved into her bathroom to collect a first aid kit. Alma's eyes diverted from Vanya as she began to clean Five's wounds. Even after years of processing and making an effort to forgive herself, the sight of blood always brought back the memories. She rubbed her hands together roughly as though she was trying to rub off blood from her hands.

Five looked between both of his sisters, his face remaining neutral despite the curiosity that was boiling in his mind. The last time he had seen Vanya and Alma living and breathing, they were completely different. Vanya was still quiet, but at least she looked somewhat happier and wore a smile around him. Alma still had her usual sarcasm, but she didn't seem to smile as much now. He could tell terrible things had happened to the two while he was gone.

He wouldn't admit it out loud, but these two were probably his favorite. He and Vanya were somewhat close when they were younger, out of any of his siblings she was the best listener and understood most of the things he would discuss with her about. Alma was good at make him smile and getting him out of his comfort zone. At the same time, she was just an overall good person. She was truly a sister to him when they were younger, unlike his other siblings.

Seeing them now, they seemed so much smaller, weaker. He had never seen Alma uncomfortable from the sight of blood. He could remember the many times they'd watch her cuts heal or the many wounds she'd have to fix for the others during missions. Blood was a normal thing for her then.

He sighed heavily, finally speaking after a long moment of silence, "When I jumped forward and got stuck in the future, do you know what I found?"

Alma looked at Five, making a point of keeping eye contact with his face in order to not see his bloody arm. "No," Vanya spoke for the two.

"Nothing," Five answered. "Absolutely nothing."

Alma moved over to the couch and collapsed into it, her heart dropping as Five continued to inform them of the future he had seen. "As far as I could tell, I was the last person left alive. I never figured out what killed the human race, but I did find something else... The date it happens."

At this point, Vanya had finished cleaning Five's wound and had placed a bandage on it for good measure. Alma bit her lip, waiting for Five to finish his story. She felt as if she was on the edge of her seat. Even though a part of her knew that what Five was saying was true and that the world was going to end, she felt like she was a little kid being told an extravagant tale.

"The world ends in eight days, and I have no idea how to stop it."

The two women remained speechless, their mouths agape. "I guess we're going to have to put our sleepover on hold."