CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
day of vengeance

warning: this chapter contains reference to (canonical) sexual assault.

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WHEN GRACE ENTERED the basement, brandishing a blowtorch and wearing a nun outfit, alarm bells immediately went off in Kadence's head. Grace had been worshipping the kugelblitz like a cult member for the past few days. Her behaviour had been alarmingly erratic; Kadence had wondered multiple times if her hardware had been degrading. Before, she might have believed it was harmless, but after Grace had nearly broken her wrist in the infirmary, she started having second thoughts. Even so, they had been ignored in favour of dealing with the larger problem at hand. Which, of course, immediately came back to bite her in the ass.

Fortunately, Kadence's gut feeling was so profound that she managed to be out of the way when the first blast of fire tore through the room. Diego and Luther, on the other hand, had to leap out of the way, and only narrowly missed being set ablaze.

"Shit!" Diego yelled, landing flat on his stomach beside Kadence. Suppressing a whimper—the kugelblitz paused for no one, and was still throbbing like an open wound—she bent down beside him, checking him for injury. There were none. She wasn't sure if she should be relieved about that or not.

"The day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption hath come," Grace said again. Her voice was distorted; as robotic as the rest of her. Another plume of fire nearly took Fei and Allison out.

"What the fuck!" Kadence yelled, gasping. Perspiration trickled down her face, which was as baked as a hot potato. A few strands of her hair that had gotten too close to the blaze were burnt and crispy.

Sloane, Lila, Viktor and Nadine were still trying to keep the kugelblitz contained, but with the continued bursts of flame, one of them was sure to crack. Kadence glanced over the shelf she'd wedged herself behind, her chest heaving. Should she go out there? Perhaps if she tried to deal with Grace's molecules again...

"Hey, Mom, Mom, Mom!" Diego yelled, holding out an arm. "It's Diego. Don't make us hurt you."

"She doesn't know who you are, idiot!" Kadence screamed. Great fucking job, Diego.

Indeed, when Grace stared back at him, there was no recognition on her face. "The day of vengeance was in my heart..." Fire billowed toward them. Kadence cried out and pulled herself behind a wall. Diego followed her, but he was a second too late. His sleeve had caught fire. "...and my year of redemption hath come!"

Diego managed to put out the flames, though Kadence assumed there'd be a nasty burn there later. Grace let loose another attack, this time directed toward Luther. Again, he barely managed to dodge.

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Kadence closed her eyes, trying to reach out for Grace in the same way she had in the infirmary. But she'd only just managed to grapple onto her essence before she lost it. It was almost... slippery, a bar of soap in the shower.

"Lila, I need you," Sloane heaved. "Nadine, stay—no!"

The next blast went straight for Nadine, who was bleached white in her attempts to keep the illusion maintained during the chaos. It hit her straight on, sending her flying back—with half of her clothing on fire. She hit the wall hard, then fell forward, screaming.

"Nadine!" Viktor shouted. The barrier around the kugelblitz—the one Nadine had brought to life—sputtered, then disappeared entirely.

"Stay bloody focused!" Lila yelled, though judging by the look on her face, she was worried, too.

Kadence didn't know why she did what she did next. Before her mind had a chance to catch up to her body, she was running toward Nadine, her hands splayed out. The fire that coated her warped, then turned into water. It splashed down on Nadine's front harmlessly.

Nadine looked up, red-faced, her entire body taut with pain. When she saw it was Kadence who had saved her, her mouth opened. Before she had the chance to say anything, though, her eyes rolled back in her head.

"The day of vengeance was in my heart—" Grace said again. Five teleported in front of her before she could finish, putting a hand on the flat of her back. With a whoosh of air, both he and Grace disappeared.

Well, that took care of that. Except that Nadine was slumped on the ground, her clothes blackened, and the kugelblitz was bursting at the seams of the bubble Viktor and Lila had created. Without Nadine's illusion to keep it contained, it might just come free.

Sloane redoubled her efforts, and the kugelblitz condescended a little bit more. It was obvious that she was straining, though. Her entire body was shaking.

"I don't think we can hold it for much longer!" Lila cried.

Sloane screamed. The kugelblitz shrank again. Then, she shouted, "Christopher, now!"

Christopher voiced his assent. Breaking apart into several pieces—which Kadence had only seen him do once before, when they were children—he circled the kugelblitz, readying himself to close in on it. Sloane, Viktor, and Lila kept up their act, even though tears were streaming down Viktor's face and Lila seemed about three seconds away from passing out.

Kadence reached for the kugelblitz's essence. It was just as dense as it had been before—the only difference was that it was smaller. Even so, it protested, and Kadence nearly screamed as a bolt of white-hot agony pulsed through her. She didn't even realize she'd fallen to her knees until she blinked the red spots out of her eyes.

The kugelblitz grew as small as a marble. Kadence could've clenched it in her fist.

She didn't, though. Christopher did.

He formed himself around the devourer, then built himself up until he was back into his regular form. Even so, light shone through his crevices, and his body trembled with the pressure.

Lila, Viktor, and Sloane all dropped their efforts, doubling over to catch their breath. Everyone else kept their eye on Christopher. There was no chance they could look away, now.

Five materialized behind Sloane. "Did it work?" he asked.

"Next kugelwave in three..." Sloane counted. Kadence was glad she did. She didn't even have the voice to speak. "Two..." Sloane grabbed Luther's hand. Viktor glanced at Nadine. "One."

The kugelblitz thrashed inside of Christopher—Kadence could still feel it. It was a tiger scratching at the walls of its container. But when the kugelwave hit, it didn't do so as painfully as it had before. It started, then stopped, unable to permeate Christopher's body. All that came out to signify its efforts was a burst of air.

Christopher spoke, then turned to Kadence to confirm. Soon, everyone was looking at her.

Around five seconds from passing out, Kadence nodded.

They'd done it. They'd actually done it.

They'd kept the kugelblitz contained. They'd saved the universe.

Holy fucking shit. Kadence needed a nap.

And probably medical attention again. Fuck.

WITH GRACE DEAD—a fact that was confirmed both by Five and the sight of the robotic corpse lying at the bottom of the stairs—there was no longer anyone to patch up Kadence's wounds for her. She was therefore left to her own devices, choosing a bed at random to rest up in. Climbing under the covers—which, despite being in an infirmary, were as soft as her own; old Reggie really did the most—Kadence properly exhaled for perhaps the first time in days. Her head was still aching, but it was no longer pounding like it had before. Perhaps, if she could sleep for a little bit, she'd wake up feeling good as new.

On the other side of the room was Nadine, who was in a bed of her own. Luther had carried her here, helping a hysterical Viktor peel away her clothes and take a look at the burns that had accumulated on her torso. Veering to the left side of her body, they began just under her breast and dipped down all the way to her hip bone. The skin was an angry, inflamed red, punctuated with several blisters. Second-degree, as Sloane had assessed. At least Grace hadn't burned her down to the bone.

Even so, they were horrible to look at. Kadence had only gotten a glimpse as Nadine had been maneuvered past her, and she'd thought she was going to be sick. Which was ridiculous, given what she'd done to criminals in the past, but her line of work rarely involved setting people ablaze. It was an injury she found she wasn't exactly a fan of.

Fortunately, even without Grace, there were enough medical supplies in here to take care of Nadine. While Kadence had to take care of herself, Nadine, half-conscious, got to enjoy Viktor's efforts as he cleaned, disinfected, and slathered cream all over her burns. Then it was a thick coating of bandages over the wounds and a mouthful of painkillers.

"You're gonna be okay," Viktor kept saying, stroking her hand. The tender yet desperate way he looked at her solidified Kadence's earlier suspicions, but she didn't say anything. Even she knew when a moment absolutely shouldn't be ruined.

All of this—plus a hasty patch-up of Diego's arm, too—happened in the first half-hour after Christopher contained the kugelblitz. It had been so frantic that none of them even got an opportunity to fully realize what they'd just done. But when they were finished and Nadine fell into a doze, it slowly started to sink in. They'd actually managed it. They'd saved the fucking universe. The kugelblitz had officially been conquered.

What the hell were they supposed to do now?

The answer, of course, was obvious. They were going to throw the biggest party of their lifetimes.

Well, they would, as soon as they knew Nadine was all right. But she might be on her feet sooner than one would think—their father had a whole arsenal of nearly priceless concoctions made to put his children back into commission as soon as possible. You could break both of your legs and be running marathons a week later with the kind of potions he possessed. Kadence would know.

And anyway, an injury wasn't an excuse not to celebrate. They'd just achieved the impossible. They'd stopped the unstoppable. As soon as Kadence woke up again, she was totally going to join everyone downstairs.

"You might as well just get it set up," she said, waving Sloane's concerns off. "I'll probably be up and about again in an hour. Nadine might take a little longer, but that's not an excuse to hold off, is it?"

Sloane gave her a look that said that was exactly the reason that they should. Kadence ignored it. She may have saved Nadine's life, but that didn't mean she had to huddle over her sickbed like Viktor was currently doing.

"Can I choose the playlist?" Lila asked.

"As long as Fei's not in charge of the music, I'm good with anyone," Ben replied. Kadence choked on a laugh. Fei was notorious for listening to screeching, ear-piercing songs that barely even sounded like music at all.

Fei scoffed, but said nothing. Allison, hovering near the back of the infirmary, crossed her arms. Even so, there was a tightness to her face. Despite everything that had gone down with herself and Nadine, she obviously still hated seeing her hurt.

"I'm staying here until Nadine wakes up," Viktor said.

"We expected nothing else," said Five. His eyes lingered on Nadine for a moment, though. "If she's not up in three hours, though, I'm gonna come back up here and force her sorry ass out of bed."

Everyone turned to Five. Diego's eyebrows nearly rose to his hairline. "Was that just your version of worry? Are you worried about her?"

"No. Of course not. She's gonna be fine. She always seems to be getting the shit kicked out of her. I just want to ensure that this won't permanently take her out of commission, or anything."

"Holy shit. You are worried. I never thought I'd see the day. You were supposed to be sworn enemies forever."

Five rolled his eyes. Diego grinned, and suddenly, the tense mood in the room dissolved into some version of calm. Besides Nadine, no one had gotten seriously injured, and even then, she'd hopefully be up soon. Kadence was already starting to feel better. The universe was saved.

Why shouldn't they have a little fun?

A minute later, everyone but Viktor and Sloane was headed downstairs. And Sloane was only stopping to turn to Kadence. "Can I get you anything?" she asked. "A glass of water? Some more meds?"

"Sloane, I could turn my sheets into water if I was that thirsty," Kadence said. But the joke fell flat, and her sister just stared. Fine. "Yes," she relented. "Water would be great."

"Okay. Be back in a sec."

Sloane ducked out of the infirmary, leaving Kadence, Nadine, and Viktor behind. Viktor was still at Nadine's side, now stroking her matted hair out of her eyes. For a moment, the room was silent but for the sounds of everyone's breathing. Then, Viktor turned to her.

"You saved her," he said.

"Oh," said Kadence. "Yeah. I guess I did."

He tilted his head. "Why?"

Kadence's face grew hot. "Huh?"

"Nadine told me you hurt her," he said. "She told me you pinned her to the ground and cut her face open. You obviously don't seem to be a big fan of her—of any of us, really. You've been trying to kill us since you've arrived. I can tell by the look on your face that you're still considering it."

"If I was at the top of my game, I would," Kadence muttered, looking down at her nails. One of them was cracked. Disliking the irregularity of it, she began to pick at it. Then she noticed Viktor was staring at her. "Um... just kidding?"

"I'm not going to let you touch her again," Viktor said. His voice was low to the point of deadly. Fierce. "We're allied for now, but I'm just as willing to break that alliance if you even think about hurting her again."

"Jesus. You save someone's life, and this is the thanks you get?"

"Thank you," Viktor said quickly. "But you know I'm not messing around, Kadence."

"I know." Kadence swallowed heavily. "I don't get her."

"Who? Nadine?"

"Yeah. She always seems, like, one minute away from punching someone in the face. Kind of like me, but with less restraint. And fewer fans. And less wealth..."

"Kadence."

"Right. Yeah. I fucking hated her when we first met. I mean, she decided that I somehow replaced her, and she packed a wicked punch. But then, back at the hotel..."

"When you attacked her?" Viktor asked accusingly. Kadence nodded.

"Yeah. Suddenly, she doesn't want to fight me. She's all, 'peace on Earth', or whatever the fuck. And then she told me Sloane was alive."

"Nadine's like that," said Viktor. "Well, she's trying to be. She's always had faith in me. Even when my powers got out of control and everyone else turned against me, she was all for helping me, instead. And after Lila kicked her ass in 1963, all she wanted to do was let her know she wasn't alone. She's a good person, even if she hides it. Probably better than I'll ever be."

"Is that why you love her?" Kadence asked. She didn't even mean to. The words just slipped out.

Viktor's entire body jolted. "What?"

Kadence blinked. "You can't seriously tell me that the two of you are just friends."

"No, I—"

To his obvious relief, he was spared having to say anything more by Sloane's entrance. In both hands, she held glasses of water, and a banana and a granola bar floated in front of her.

She set a glass and the banana in front of Kadence. "Here," she said. "You should eat, too."

She gave the granola bar and the second glass to Viktor.

"Thanks," Kadence said.

Sloane nodded. "I'm going to go join the others now, but call me if you need anything, okay? I can skip the stairs."

"Yeah. Got it. Thank you."

Sloane glanced at Nadine, then nodded to herself. She headed back out of the infirmary, presumably to join the others. As soon as Kadence could hear her footsteps on the stairs, she looked back at Viktor.

"I'm gonna take a nap," she said, deciding not to push the whole 'Nadine and Viktor' thing. "I'm tired as shit. Wake me up if anything happens."

"Okay," Viktor said. He'd already bent over Nadine again.

Kadence took in a deep breath, pulling the covers over her weary shoulders. When she closed her eyes, her entire body seemed to deflate in relief. It only took a few minutes before she was drifting off entirely.

IN THE LIVING ROOM of the Sparrow Academy mansion—a place Luther had once considered his own home—a party was in full swing. Champagne bottles were opened with a pop and a rainfall of liquid, music piped through the speakers Sloane had set up—Killer Queen by Queen was currently playing—and everyone in the room, Umbrella or Sparrow, had begun to dance. It was all erratic, frenzied, yet ecstatic. After days of being on edge, waiting for the moment they disappeared, it was about time to let loose. And when they did, they would do so with a bang.

Luther squeezed Sloane's hands and pulled her this way and that, relishing the open-mouthed joy on her face, her tinkling laughs whenever he accidentally trod on one of her feet. If he really leaned into it, he could pretend that this was all there was—himself, a beautiful woman that had somehow begun to love him, and a party. There didn't have to be any underlying tension, nothing worming its way into his ears and nesting into his mind, whispering that this wasn't over. He could just... be, for once in his life.

Of course, ignoring everything was pretty hard to do when Allison was present.

She hovered at the back of the room, refusing to mingle with the rest of them. She was a phantom, a dark shadow, the one black slash into the watercolour painting that was everything else. Every time Luther looked at her, his breath caught. Then, like a tidal wave, everything he'd been trying to shove away came flooding back in.

The night Viktor let Harlan go, something had happened between Luther and Allison. He didn't like to think about it—whenever he did, his stomach lurched with nausea. It was hazy, as if he was watching it from behind stained glass, but the flashes of clarity he did get made his entire body rigid. Feelings that weren't his seeping into his bones. Pinning his own sister down on the pool table. Blinking out of it with saliva clinging to his lips.

He hadn't told anyone. How could he? This wasn't something... this wasn't something he could just bring up in casual conversation. Hey, my sister, my best friend since I was a kid, made me kiss her. Made me... want her. Anyway, what's for breakfast?

No way. No goddamn way.

When Viktor and Nadine had fought with Allison, Luther had been tempted to jump in. To take their side. Not because he believed in what they were saying—Viktor had been wrong to lie about Harlan, even if Allison shouldn't have killed him—but because he didn't exactly have the greatest opinion of Allison right now. Then Nadine had brought up the fact that she'd been Rumoured, too, and Luther...

He'd been so tempted. But in the end, all he could do was watch. At least, until Allison used her powers again.

Keeping quiet was probably the right move, though. That way he didn't have to feel the weight of Allison's dark eyes on his again. That way, he wouldn't feel that sick repulsion in his gut.

Unfortunately, not telling anyone meant that Allison remained around him. Ever watching. Turning what should be a good time—even with Nadine injured. Being the one who'd carried her to the infirmary, Luther hadn't liked the way her head had lolled in his arms. And the sight of the actual burns on her side had made his eyes prick with frantic tears. He and Nadine were just starting to reconnect, but even if they hadn't been, he wouldn't want to see her hurt—into an unwanted trip down memory lane.

Luther faltered, and Sloane stopped in her tracks. "Hey," she breathed, reaching out a hand to cup his cheek. "You okay?"

Luther nodded and took another sip of champagne. It fizzed as it went down his throat. "Never better," he said. Which should've been the truth.

I cheated on you, he thought, looking down at the woman that had so quickly made a place in his life. I cheated on you, and I didn't even want to.

In a way, the end of the world had distracted him from this. But now that it was saved, there was nothing to stop his brain from being a traitorous bastard. Which was ridiculous, since he was supposed to have control of it, not the other way around!

Sloane blinked at him. "I can tell you're thinking about something," she said. "Your brow gets all furrowed when something's on your mind."

Luther immediately un-furrowed his brow. Sloane was not amused.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "I'm... I'm happy. We've finally done it, Sloane. Which means we can finally be together. In peace."

"Yeah." When Sloane smiled, Luther's heart sped up. It was still a relatively new feeling for him—he'd never been in love before, after all—but it warmed him from the inside out. So this was what had Nadine so addicted to Molly and Viktor falling at Sissy's feet. No wonder. If he could, he'd choose to feel like this forever.

Sloane leaned in, brushing her lips against his. Luther kissed her back, delicately, a contrast to his brawny, often overpowering, frame. Sloane tasted like champagne and strawberries, and her skin was warm vanilla. So unlike Allison, whose breath had been tinged with vodka when Luther had pinned her down...

Abruptly, Luther broke off the kiss. Sloane stepped back, her face crinkling in confusion. "Luther?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Luther was trembling from head to toe. Allison was still here, lurking at the bar. Every so often, she'd look at him. He could feel the weight of it.

"I'm fine," he said, anyway. "Yeah, I'm fine. You've done nothing wrong, Sloane."

This, at least, he wanted to make clear.

Sloane smiled. "It's a lot, isn't it. That's all right, Luther. We can take things slow."

"No, that's not—" God, Luther needed to pull himself together. He'd had sex with Sloane a few days prior—gravity sex, no less—and now he couldn't manage a single kiss? "I was just thinking about Nadine."

"Oh." Sloane's eyes softened. "Of course. You know, I kind of feel bad celebrating, even though I know she's going to be fine. But I didn't even know her as well as you do. She's your friend."

"Only recently," Luther said. "Nadine and I... we didn't get off to a very good start. Then we had this really bad fight, and... well, we're only just now speaking to each other again. But, you're right. I hate seeing her hurt. I hate seeing anyone hurt. When Ben—"

He cut himself off. No. It was best not to open that can of worms.

"How about you go check on her?" Sloane asked. "I don't mind."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. I think I might." His eyes began to burn again. Sloane really was the best. And she'd provided him with the perfect excuse to leave the party—and Allison—behind.

Not that it was fully an excuse, of course. He was worried about Nadine. But he just... he just needed some time away from her, too.

"Five minutes," Luther said, holding up all the fingers on one hand. "Then I'll teach you my favourite dance move. I call it the crab."

When Sloane looked at him, stars glimmering in her eyes, Luther almost felt like the luckiest man in the world. If only the memory of his lips on Allison's wasn't ruining it.

"I can hardly wait," Sloane said.

Neither could Luther.

For now, though, he pushed his way past Christopher, who was spinning in erratic circles, and made his way out of the living room. Immediately, he exhaled. It was as if the entire time he'd been in there, he'd been holding his breath.

Then he turned and made his way to the infirmary.

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HAVEN: yeahhh remember when i said there was gonna be a luther pov??? and maybe you guys got excited because you didn't know it would be sad?? well, unfortunately, it is :(( poor luther, honestly. i really wanted to, you know, actually discuss his feelings about what happened with allison, because i feel like the show really brushed past it and it deserved to be talked about. also i wanted to explore his new friendship with nadine, because he really does care about her now, but that's not as important.

sorry, this chapter was kind of a downer haha. and the next one reallyyy isn't gonna be much better. because you all know what is coming :///

thanks for reading <33