"𝐼𝑓 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘, 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘, 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 '𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ.'"
—𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝑇𝑧𝑢

𝒟.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 of coffee and the sound of sizzling bacon were the first two things Diego noticed as his eyes fluttered open and his mind cleared.

His sleepy eyes turned to the left to only see wrinkled sheets, though he had figured as much. His eyes drifted toward the alarm clock, which told him that it was a little past seven.

He used a hand to rub his eyes as he sat himself up. He sat for a moment as he fully came to consciousness before pulling the blanket off his lap and getting to his feet.

He quickly dressed into his usual jeans and sweater, brushed his teeth, and swept a hand through his hair before heading into the kitchen.

A small grin appeared on his face as walked up to Natalia, who was only wearing one of his shirts—Metallica—and was flipping the bacon. He took a moment to savour her figure—though all he could really see were her bare legs—before coming up behind her.

"Mornin', gorgeous," he greeted as he slipped his hands under her shirt and wrapped his arms around her stomach, chuckling as she flinched in surprise. "Couldn't wait for me to wake up?"

"Sorry, honey, I woke up a little early," she sighed, giving him a small smile as he pressed a kiss to her neck. "I didn't want to wake you, you don't usually get too much sleep."

His eyebrows furrowed. "How early we talkin'?"

She gave a small shrug. "Like . . . four o'clock."

"Four?" he repeated in surprise, now concerned. "Why?"

"I don't know. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep," she mumbled as she turned back to the bacon. "I just have a really weird feeling."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know," she repeated. "Don't you ever get one of those feelings that something's gonna happen?"

"Good or bad?"

"Well, with how things are going lately," she sighed, "I can't imagine good."

"You've just been too stressed out lately, princess," Diego murmured as she began to transfer the bacon onto a plate. He kissed her jaw before playfully chiding, "You need to relax."

"Believe me," she scoffed, "I'm trying."

His hands began to inch towards the top of her underwear, a smirk growing on his face. "I know a good way for you to relax."

She rolled her eyes in amusement as she smacked his hands away with her free hand. "It's barely even nine in the morning."

"And?" He raised his hands in defence as she threw him a playful glare. "So what's your idea of relaxing?"

She nodded her head to a pile of papers that sat on the kitchen island. "Grading."

Diego's eyebrows raised as he looked back at her. "I can't imagine that helped your stress."

"It's kind of relaxing in a way," she told him with a slight shrug as she turned the gas off. "Takes my mind off the craziness."

He chuckled. "You do you, I guess."

She picked up the plate and offered it to him as she picked up her own piece of bacon from it. "Hungry?"

"Not right now." He shook her head, and she shrugged before sitting on one of the stools at the island. "What do you wanna do today?"

She placed the plate in the middle of the island and leaned forward, swallowing her bite. "Don't you have to go to the gym?"

"I'll skip for you."

"Well, then, maybe we could—"

Both of their attention drew to the duffle bag that sat in the corner of the room, where police chatter was coming out, though a bit muffled by the bag. From what Diego could make out, there had been a shooting at Gimbel Brothers Department Store.

His eyebrows furrowed. Was this connected to the shooting at Griddy's? Though, this was New York. But, still, he felt as though the chances were pretty high.

He looked to Natalia as he headed towards his duffle bag, and gave her an apologetic smile. "We can do something as soon as I come back, angel, I promise."

"I don't know how happy Detective Patch will be if you show up, sweetheart," she called as she took another bite of her bacon. "Didn't you promise to stop going into his crime scenes?"

"Eh," he said dismissively as he grabbed his gear and began to latch it on, "Eugene will be happy to see me."

She gave an amused scoff. "I don't know about that."

He grabbed the police scanner and shoved it into his pocket before rushing up to Natalia and kissing her cheek. "Be back soon, beautiful. Love you."

Diego was about to leave the apartment when she suddenly called:

"Wait!"

"What?" he questioned as he turned to her with furrowed eyebrows.

Natalia got off the stool and grabbed the plate, holding it out to him as she chided, "You need energy. Eat at least one."

"For you, gorgeous, I'll take two," he reassured her with a slight grin, taking one of his gloves off and grabbing two strips.

"Be careful!"

Quickly chewing the bacon, Diego headed down to the parking lot. He kept his ears aware of the chatter that was coming from the scanner, though it was all mostly about unrelated things he had no care for.

He had finished the food by the time he reached his car, and he slipped his gloves on before igniting the engine.

Gimbel Brothers was a little less than a half-hour drive, and it was already swarmed with officers and police cars when he arrived.

He managed to get inside without question, and he looked around to see the damage that had been done.

There were several mannequins that had been blown into pieces and clothing racks that had clearly been disturbed. Evidence markers had been placed all around, all of which Diego carefully stepped around.

He headed towards the spot where it looked as though most of the action had happened, and he peered around to see that there was hardly any blood staining the floor, much less a dead body.

He crouched down as he noticed something glinting—a bullet, he quickly realized—and his eyebrows furrowed as he picked it up. He examined it, and his eyebrows only furrowed further as he realized that this bullet hadn't been produced any time close to now.

"Do you seriously not understand the chain of custody?" came Detective Patch's irritated voice from behind. "If you touch it, I can't use it."

Diego raised a hand before standing up. "Let me save you some time running ballistics. These nine-millimetres haven't been manufactured since 19—"

"1963," Detective Patch finished with a nod. "Odd, I know." He grabbed the bullet from him. "Matching casings were found at a murder scene last night. Ishmael's Towing."

"The driver?" Diego recalled their previous conversation as they began to walk down the aisle. There had been a driver and his son at Griddy's before the shooting, though, luckily, they had left before the armed men had come.

Diego had warned the detective to look more into the driver, though the proud man refused. And, as it usually turned out, Diego had been right.

"Found him hanging from the ceiling." Detective Patch paused before grudgingly admitting, "Looks like he must have known something after all."

"It's a shame nobody told you to go talk to him," Diego deadpanned.

As they reached another mannequin stand that had been destroyed, an officer handed Detective Patch a bag with evidence inside.

"In the span of twenty-four hours, I've had attacks in three different places across town," he sighed as he came back to Diego's side. "Whatever this is, whoever this is, they're not slowing down. So, if you really give a shit and you've got any fresh ideas, I'm all ears."

Diego didn't let the surprise overwhelm him too much as he raised his eyebrows. "The guy's kid, in the doughnut shop?"

"I've got units tracking the extended family, in case anyone goes after him."

"Well, this place must have surveillance footage."

"No, it doesn't exist. The first unit on the scene clocked two shooters fleeing the premises, wearing—get this—creepy kids' masks."

Diego gave a slow nod as he let his gaze drift around. "The city is really going to shit, huh?"

"Coming from the guy dressed in spandex?"

"It's not spandex, it's leather," Diego corrected with a scoff.

"Yeah, whatever." Detective Patch rolled his eyes before walking around Diego and heading towards a group of officers.

"Well, you go fill out your forms while I go hunt these animals down," Diego called. "And, detective" —he raised his eyebrows as the detective turned back towards him— "I do give a shit."

A smile that Diego wasn't used to seeing on him appeared, and Detective Patch gave a curt nod before turning and continuing down his path.

"Yeah, I'll get them," Diego muttered to himself as he looked down at the fallen mannequin. "Later."

He gave one last look around the place before exiting, giving a muttered goodbye to some passing officers, who all raised a hand in farewell.

He got back into his car and quickly ignited the engine before commencing his drive home.

When Diego opened the front door, his eyes quickly caught sight of Natalia, who was now grading papers at the dining table while sipping coffee.

Her head immediately snapped up towards him as he shut the door behind him. "What happened?"

He sighed as he tossed his car keys onto the counter and walked over to her. "Same shooters from Griddy's."

"Is anyone—"

"No," he reassured her as he kissed the top of her head, "no one died, as far as I know."

Not at Gimbel Brothers, at least. But he wasn't going to tell her about the father from the previous crime scene.

"That's good," she sighed, leaning back and folding her arms. "And how did Patch take your being there?"

"He actually asked for my help," Diego answered as he sat on the edge of the dining table and pulled his gloves off.

Her eyebrows raised in disbelief. "You sure he wasn't just saying 'Lord, help me' or something?"

"No," he insisted, "he said 'Diego, you're a great and sexy man—"

She scoffed. "He called you sexy?"

"Damn right, he did." Diego grinned. He gently took the pen out of her hand and dropped it onto the table before interlacing his fingers with hers. He squeezed her hand. "Anyway, baby, what do you want to do today?"

"Actually . . ."

It barely took him a second to recognize the face he had been seeing so often lately, and he groaned. "Tell me the bad news."

"Alli called," she sighed. "We're having another emergency family meeting at the Academy."

"When?"

"Now."

Diego groaned again. What could've possibly happened in the past hour to earn an emergency meeting? In the morning, at that! "For what?"

"I don't know," Natalia answered as she stood up and brushed off her jeans. "All she said was that it was urgent."

"Do we have to go?" he whined as he grabbed his gloves and slid them on.

"Yes. Come on."

Though it was rather reluctantly, Diego followed her to the front door and grabbed his car keys while she slipped on a light jacket over top of her blouse.

Once she had zipped her coat up and swung her purse over her shoulder, she gave Diego a quick kiss. "I'm sure it won't take too long. We can do something after."

Diego gave a small hum in reply, though he had a feeling that whatever this meeting was about, it would dampen the mood for the rest of the afternoon.

He sat back in the driver's seat, which was still slightly warm. When the engine had been ignited and Natalia had buckled her seatbelt, he, once again, started to drive.

"Allison didn't mention anything else?" he questioned.

"No, she was in a hurry," Natalia answered with a small shrug. "She had to find Vanya."

"What about Luther?"

"He was getting Five."

"Must be important," Diego muttered, now a little apprehensive as he tapped his thumb against the steering wheel.

Could Luther have figured out that Grace had had the monocle? Or, even, figured out that Diego had something to do with its disappearance?

It seemed as though Natalia was thinking along the same lines as she sighed. "Do you think Luther knew Grace had the monocle? That's what the meeting's for?"

"I doubt it," Diego reassured her, though his usual air of confidence was lacking. "I mean, there's no way in hell he's smart enough to figure that out."

"You don't give him enough credit."

He gave a small scoff as he glanced at her. "I've known him longer than you have, Nat."

She sighed. "All I'm saying is that you shouldn't underestimate him."

Diego raised his eyebrows, looking at her once more as he accused, "You on his side now?"

"That's not what I mean, honey," she said gently, though Diego scoffed once more in return.

"Yeah, why don't you go and marry him then?"

"Diego, enough," she chided sharply, causing him to sigh. "All I mean, is that you should be more careful. We both know how reckless and violent you two get when you're angry."

Diego couldn't help but agree, though he decided against giving her a verbal confirmation. "You don't need to worry about me, baby."

She let out a humourless chuckle. "It's my job to worry about you."

It wasn't too long until they reached the Academy once again, the sight of the building somehow making the blue sky seem greyer and the vivid flowers wilt.

Though his spirits weren't too lifted as Natalia kissed his cheek when they got out, he still gave her a half-hearted smile and followed her inside.

Klaus, Allison, Luther, and Vanya were already inside the living room when they came in. Klaus was munching on a bag of plantain chips (rather loudly), while Allison had a glass of whiskey that was already half-empty.

"Hey, guys," Luther greeted with a curt nod. "We can, uh, get started, then, I guess."

"Where's Five?" questioned Natalia as she peered around the room.

"Didn't want to come," Luther answered, rolling his eyes. "Decided that whatever he was doing was more important."

"Anyway," Allison cut in, her arms folded. "Last night, I found something that . . ."

Luther sighed. "Now we know what really happened the night Dad died."

"What do you mean?" asked Vanya with furrowed eyebrows.

Luther's face was grim. "Mom poisoned him."

A sudden surge of anger shot through Diego as he took a step forward and scoffed, "What are you talking about, Luther?"

Luther sighed and looked to Allison before nodding.

It was then Diego realized that a small TV had been placed on the bar counter, and Allison turned it on.

A tape was already inside of it, and the frozen picture showed Grace bent over Reginald's figure as he laid in bed.

It glitched to life as Allison pressed play.

Grace was bent over for a moment before straightening up. Reginald soon began to flail as his heart attack commenced, and, rather than rush to help or even have a look of panic set on her face, Grace simply smiled and turned towards the door.

"I mean, do you really think Mom would hurt Dad?" Vanya questioned.

"You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya," Luther pointed out. "Maybe you don't know Grace anymore."

"If he was poisoned," Diego said lightly, "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," Luther scoffed.

Diego nodded slightly, an amused smile coming onto his face. "Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your vision," he quipped before stepping towards the television and replaying the tape. "Look closer. Dad has his monocle. Mom stands up. Monocle's gone."

"Oh, yeah!" Klaus giggled in agreement as he pulled out a plantain chip and popped it into his mouth.

"She wasn't poisoning him," Diego elaborated as he unsheathed one of his knives and walked back towards the couch. "She was . . . taking it. To clean it," he added as he turned to face them once again, leaning back against the thin table.

Everyone turned in his direction as Luther rebutted, "Then where is it? No, I've searched the house, including her things. She doesn't have it."

Diego's eyes lowered to the ground, his mouth opening and closing for a few seconds before he admitted, "That's because I took it from her. After the funeral."

"You've had the monocle this whole time?" Allison questioned in disbelief, her eyebrows scrunching together. "What the hell, Diego?"

With a look of fury prominent on his face, Luther extended a hand towards him and ordered, "Give it to me."

Diego's gaze flickered up to meet Luther's as he told him, "I threw it away."

"You what?" Luther questioned incredulously.

"Look" —Diego straightened up as he jabbed the knife in Luther's direction—"I knew that if you found it on Mom, you'd lose your shit, just like you're doing right now."

"Diego," Luther growled, "you son of a bitch."

Diego immediately braced himself for a fight while Luther stepped toward him, their eyes glued to each other's every movement.

"Hey. No. Calm down," Natalia pleaded as she placed a hand on Diego's arm, causing him to glance over towards her and relax his stance with a sigh. "Look, I know Reginald wasn't exactly an open book, but I do remember one thing he said to me when I first came here. Grace was, well, designed to be a caretaker, but . . . also as a protector."

Allison's eyebrows furrowed. "What does that mean?"

"She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy," Natalia clarified.

"Well, if her hardware is degrading, then . . ." Luther licked his lips as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other before firmly stating, "We need to turn her off."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait," Diego instantly interjected as he raised his knife in Luther's direction once more. "She's not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet. She feels things, I've seen it!"

"She just stood there, Diego, and watched our father die," Luther pointed out angrily as he motioned back at the television.

Allison glanced down at the whiskey-filled glass in her hand for a moment before quietly declaring, "I'm with Luther."

"Surprise, surprise," Diego jeered as he turned towards her.

"Oh, shut up," Allison scoffed as she shook her head.

Diego and Luther then turned their heads to Vanya and raised their eyebrows, causing her to nervously look between them as she stammered, "I . . . I agree with Luther."

Diego let out a small scoff before he turned to Klaus, who was happily spectating as he munched on his chips and leaned against one of the columns.

"What about you, stoner boy?" Diego questioned, praying harder than ever at this point. "What do you got?"

"Oh, so, what? You need my help now?" Klaus asked in disbelief. "Oh, 'Get out of the van, Klaus!' 'Well, welcome back to the van!'"

Allison's eyebrows knit together tightly as she questioned, "What van?"

Luther glanced over at her for a moment before sighing and turning back to Klaus. "What's it gonna be, Klaus?"

"I'm with Diego, because screw you!" Klaus decided, causing Diego to point towards him victoriously. "And if Ben were here, he'd agree with me."

"Nat?" Diego raised his eyebrows as he turned to her.

She sighed, pressing her lips together for a moment before deciding, "I'm with you."

The corners of Diego's lips twisted upwards, and, lifting three fingers on one hand and three on another, he turned Luther and pointed out, "So that's three to three."

"Wait," Allison interrupted, drawing everyone's eyes towards her in confusion. "Vote's not final yet."

"What?" Diego scoffed.

"Five's not here," she pointed out with a shrug. "The whole family has to vote, we owe each other that."

"Right." Luther nodded, his eyebrows furrowed.

"No, we should wait," Vanya agreed.

Diego swallowed thickly as most of the others filed out of the room. He could feel his face heating up slightly as his eyes moistened, and he bit his lip. How could half of them want to turn Grace off? Their own mother? Who was more of a parent than Reginald ever was?

But that wouldn't happen, right? With a little influence, Five would vote for their side.

He suddenly felt a gentle hand on his arm, and he picked his chin up to see Natalia, who had a frown on her face.

Before either of them could say anything, however, Diego caught sight of Grace, who was hidden between one of the archways in the back of the room. Her hands were folded over her black-dotted pink skirt, and her eyebrows were furrowed as she gazed in their direction.

Realization dawning over him, Diego then nudged Natalia and nodded at Vanya, who had also remained, before motioning towards the lingering woman.

"Hey," he quietly greeted his mother. He placed a hand on her arm as he slightly tilted his head and worriedly asked, "How long you been here?"

Grace, who hadn't acknowledged their presence up until now, gradually drifted her gaze up to meet Diego's. Her frown quickly morphed into a gentle smile as she remarked, "You all seem upset. I'll make cookies."

"Do you ever wonder . . ." Vanya began as Grace turned to head towards her kitchen, catching the other two's attention. "All those moments with Mom, the things she said. Like, was it her, or was it really Dad?"

Natalia tilted her head as she turned towards the woman and inquired, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, he built her," Vanya pointed out with a slight lift of the shoulders. "And he programmed her to be a mom, to be our mom. Sometimes when I look at her, I just see him."

"Maybe that was true at first," Diego agreed as he turned back to watch Grace's figure disappear around the corner before looking back towards Vanya. "But she evolved."

"How do you know?" Vanya questioned with furrowed eyebrows.

A bitter smile twisted his lips as he leaned towards her and answered, "Because Dad only loved himself."

𝒩.

Natalia sighed as she sat next to Diego on his bed, a frown on her face as she watched him shove his face into his hands.

"Diego, honey," she murmured as she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, massaging it in hopes to ease his tense shoulders a little. "Everything'll be fine."

"Will it?" he questioned dubiously as he looked up at her. "Half the family wants to kill Mom."

She let out a slight scoff. "They don't want to."

"Took them about half a second to decide to, though."

"It's a hard decision for everyone," she sighed. "They're just doing what they think is right."

"They're wrong."

"Well, they don't know that."

"They should."

Natalia only sighed in response before laying her head on his shoulder. She gently tugged his glove off and placed it on the bed next to her before interlacing her fingers with his and squeezing his hand.

Suddenly, Diego spoke, his voice now much more tentative, "Do . . . do you think Vanya was right?"

"Reginald did program her. I mean," she added hastily as Diego turned to her and raised his eyebrows, "I don't think he controls her every move like Vanya said. But still, she doesn't have total free will."

He rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "I guess."

"Do you want to talk to her?" she asked softly. "See what she says?"

Diego swallowed before nodding, and he braved a smile when she kissed his cheek.

The two of them got up from the bed and swiftly left the room, and they headed over to the other side of the floor towards Grace's charging station.

Natalia's eyes gazed over the many portraits that were framed in gold—of people, of early mornings by the sea, of random trails that were filled with trees and soaring birds that you could practically hear twittering—which were all hung along the blue wall, with lights clarifying each stroke of a paintbrush.

Grace was sitting at her usual chair in front of the paintings, her attention solely focused on the cross-stitch in her hands as she hummed a light melody that Natalia's ears could faintly recognize.

Diego's eyes wandered over the paintings as they approached, though he soon lowered his gaze to the ground as he spoke, "Mom, we need to talk."

Grace continued stitching, not lifting her eyes as she murmured, "Okay, but only for a minute. I need to finish this cross-stitch."

Diego looked towards a particularly large painting in front of him, which showed a castle from a far view. "Everything you did for us when we were kids . . . for me . . . why'd you do it?"

Grace paused her craft, turning to them as an endearing smile grew onto her face. "Because being your mother is the greatest gift of my life."

Diego stared at her for a moment before stepping forward and crouching slightly, peering so intently into her face that it seemed that he was trying to see what lay underneath. "Is that you saying that?"

Grace's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not sure what you mean, Diego."

"My father, he . . . made you." Diego slightly shook his head as he asked, "When you think something, is it like he's telling you what to say?"

"Your father isn't here, silly," she replied with a small grin.

Natalia and Diego only stared at her in response, immediately causing her expression to grow troubled.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Natalia quickly reassured her with a small shake of the head. "It's not . . ."

"Look . . ." Diego licked his lips as he walked up to her, placing a hand on the arm of her chair as he crouched. "It's okay if . . . if you hated him. He was terrible to you—to all of us."

"Don't say that," Grace chided.

"Why not?" he rebutted. "We were just tools in an experiment to him. Nothing more. So I'm saying," he said slowly, placing his other hand on top of hers, "I would understand if . . . you know, if" —he glanced over his shoulder— "if you wanted to hurt him."

"Now, now," Grace said gently, her smile returning, "Mr. Hargreeves was a great man. Industrialist, inventor, Olympic gold medalist." She grabbed her cross-stitch and stood up, her eyes bright. "He made the world a better place."

"Stop it!" Diego whispered angrily as he grabbed onto her shoulders with such force that she shook and her smile instantly faded. "Do you hear me? Stop trying to defend him!"

"Diego," Natalia whispered urgently, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one had heard his loudened voice.

He lowered his voice as he eased his grip on her, "Mom, you gotta feel something. Look, he treated you worse than anyone. You worked for him for thirty years. He didn't even give you a room to sleep in."

Grace's frown quickly contorted into a smile as she looked over her paintings. "But I've got such beautiful views here."

"Those are just paintings," Natalia said quietly, the corners of her lips turning downwards as she folded her arms.

"Of course they are," Grace sighed contentedly. Her eyes stuck onto the portrait of a woman, who had one arm leaning back on her chair. "What a wonderful world she lives in. Sometimes, I wonder if she's lonely."

Diego sighed before turning her, nodding his head to tell Natalia that they were leaving.

Glancing over to Grace, who was still gazing at the painting, Natalia followed Diego back to the other side of the floor.

She opened her mouth to say something as they reached the hallway of their bedrooms, but soon shut it as they were immediately greeted by the sound of metal clicking and the cocks of guns.

They turned their heads to see two people—the shorter woman wearing a pink, bunny-like helmet, and the taller man wearing a blue, bear-like helmet—just in front of Luther's room, guns clutched in their hands.

Whoever they were, they most definitely weren't friendly.

As soon as they raised their guns, Natalia lifted her hands and shot two blasts, one at each one.

She didn't have time to see the effect as Diego grabbed her arm and pulled her down the opposite end of the hallway, though she had a feeling that it wasn't all too effective based on the hail of bullets that followed them a moment later.

After reaching the end of the hall, Natalia followed Diego to the left, and he quickly pulled her to another hall. They pressed their backs against the wall, panting heavily and peeking out the side of the wall every now and then.

"Who the hell are they?" Natalia whispered.

"The same people that shot up Gimbel Brothers," Diego whispered back. He peered over the wall again before muttering, "Stay here. Don't you dare move."

She scoffed. "Diego, I can—"

"Don't move!"

As soon as one of the attackers—the bear-headed one—came up, Diego lunged out at him with a yell, grabbing his wrist and twisting it, forcing him to let go of the gun.

As Diego punched and kicked at the man, Natalia peered over the corner to see the woman a few feet away, trying to aim her gun as she crouched down.

Natalia immediately reached a hand out and shot a blast of energy towards the woman, who grunted and stumbled back.

Natalia's attention whipped back to the brawl as she heard the clang of metal, and she rolled her eyes when she saw Diego rubbing his forehead; he had tried to headbutt the man's helmet, which was made of metal.

"Shoot him, Cha-Cha!" the bear-headed one shouted.

Cha-Cha got up, responding, "Get out of the way, dumbass!"

Diego kicked the man in the stomach, causing him to fly back and hit the wall, and as gunfire resumed, Diego grabbed Natalia's hand and pulled her down the hallway she had been hiding in.

Hearing the heavy thud of footsteps and the harsh firing of bullets behind them, they turned the corner to reach the hallway just above the living room.

Without warning, Diego immediately wrapped his arms around Natalia's waist before jumping over the railing, every flying bullet missing them.

The two landed on one of the couches but had no time to relax as they climbed over the back and crawled over to the back of the couch in front of them, which had a thin table standing.

She then noticed Diego's expression, which seemed to be one of satisfaction, and followed his gaze to see that the portrait of Reginald that sat on the far end of the wall was now filled with bullet holes.

Their attention was quickly taken away from that as the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs appeared, both of them slowed their breathing.

As soon as bullets began firing, Diego wrapped his arms around Natalia and pulled her in, keeping his arms tight around her as she shut her eyes and covered her ears. She could hear each bullet as it whizzed by them and hit the couch, the fireplace, the wall, the table, everything but them.

Suddenly, the firing came to a stop as they heard Luther grunting, and Natalia breathed a sigh of relief; Luther (and maybe Allison) had come to save them.

Allison's grunts were heard only a second later as she kicked the man's gun away and began to fight him while Luther took care of Cha-Cha in the main foyer.

Natalia and Diego peered over the couch to watch as the man grabbed Allison's neck and lifted her in the air, causing her to grab at his hand and gasp for air.

"You stay here," Diego whispered, to which Natalia scoffed.

"In your dreams."

With a reluctant sigh, Diego got up and ran towards them, followed by Natalia, and he ineffectively pummeled the man as he grunted, "Let her go!"

Diego jumped onto the man's back and punched his shoulders, but the bear-headed man was truly defeated when Luther rammed into him, causing Diego to fall back, and he threw him into the main foyer to join Cha-Cha on the floor.

"Who the hell are these guys?" questioned Allison frantically as she turned to the others.

"You're welcome," Luther told Diego, who was getting up with a scowl.

"I was doing fine," replied Diego angrily.

Luther scoffed. "Oh, yeah, you really had them—"

"Oh, you ever heard of a rope-a-dope?"

Interrupting their meaningless banter, Cha-Cha began to fire at them, immediately causing all of them to jump in different directions.

Natalia felt pain pierce her lower stomach, but ignored it as she crawled her way behind the bar counter and pressed up against it, breathing heavily.

She heard the shooting stop and breathed a sigh of relief. That relief, however, was short-lived as she heard heavy footsteps come into the living room.

Swallowing hard, she clutched the part of her stomach that had been shot, where the pain was increasing. Her hands quickly grew warm with blood, but she ignored that as she prayed that whichever attacker it was didn't come near.

Natalia held her breath as she watched the bear-headed man open the hutch cabinet that was only a foot away from her, hoping that he would notice her as he grabbed a spiked flail from its stand.

Luckily for her, both of their attentions were drawn to the main foyer as they heard a voice.

"Hello?"

Natalia's eyes widened.

Vanya.

"Guys? Is everyone okay?"

Natalia fought hard against the dizziness that was beginning to overtake her and the ringing in her ears as she attempted to crawl towards the door, but she found herself barely able to make it past the bar before her body gave up on her.

Her breathing slowed and her body feeling as though it was submerged in fire, Natalia could only think about Vanya's safety as her eyes drifted close.

𝒟.

Panting, Diego kept his steps quiet as he looked down the hall. Seeing it was empty, he headed down it and pressed his back against the wall for a few moments as he tried to collect himself.

He had no clue where Natalia had gone, nor did he know where the others were, though he couldn't focus on that. Right now, he had to focus on getting out of this alive.

His eyebrows furrowed as he heard faint thuds and grunts, and he quickly realized that they were coming from the basement.

Hurriedly, he headed down the stairs and into the basement. He entered the kitchen to see that Allison had fallen over the dining table, her lip bleeding, with Cha-Cha standing behind her.

"You wanna rumour this psycho?" questioned Diego.

"I don't need to," Allison answered spitefully as she pushed herself up, "because this bitch just pissed me off!"

As Allison turned to face the woman, she sighed, "We just want the boy."

"Oh! Well, in that case . . ."

Allison ducked as Cha-Cha swung two cue sticks at her, though she managed to hit Allison's back. With a grunt, Allison kicked her back before doing a turning roundhouse kick. She blocked a few more attacks by the cue sticks before Cha-Cha managed to kick Allison onto the coffee table behind her.

Diego whistled to draw Cha-Cha's attention, and he soon succeeded. He cracked his neck before raising his fists, and he used his forearms to block the hits Cha-Cha sent his way. He ignored the burning that came from the stick against skin, and he attempted to do a back-kick, though that was swiftly blocked.

He threw a couple of punches, both of which were ducked, before getting smacked in the stomach, causing him to double over and grab onto the edge of the dining table.

Cha-Cha took advantage of his vulnerable moment as she hit the back of his head and his lower back, causing pain to shoot all through his body, before kicking him. He stumbled forward, though, really, it was a blessing in disguise, as he tottered towards the foosball table.

He managed to yank that rod out of the table, and he spun it a few times as he faced Cha-Cha, who spun her own sticks.

She charged at him, and he quickly raised his rod to block all the attacks she was sending his way. Seeing a perfect opportunity as he used the rod to smack her arms upward, he kicked her straight in the stomach, sending her stumbling back.

As Diego lunged toward her, she raised her sticks to defend herself, though Diego quickly whacked them away. As the clatter of her cue sticks sounded, Diego hit her sides with his rod before Allison, who had gotten up, kicked her back.

As Cha-Cha hobbled her way to the exit, Allison held out a small knife. "Get her."

A smirk on his face, Diego took the knife from her, gripping the handle tightly, before taking aim and throwing it.

Though they couldn't see her, they could tell that the target had been hit as she let out a grunt of pain.

"Come on," Diego muttered before heading towards the staircase, hearing Allison's steps behind him.

They swiftly headed up the steps, though they didn't see Cha-Cha on their way up.

As soon as they reached the foyer, Diego narrowed his eyes to see that Luther was laying stomach-down on the ground, groaning.

"Luther!" Allison shouted as she rushed over to him. "Come on, Luther, get up."

Checking the second floor around them, Diego quickly grabbed a hold of Luther's left arm while Allison took the other.

It took all of Diego's strength to even move Luther an inch, and he expressed his frustration as he groaned, "Ah, you gotta cut down on that fast food, soldier."

The two of them finally managed to haul Luther to his feet, and they kept their grip tight so he could steady himself.

Suddenly, Diego felt himself being pushed to the side while Luther yelled, "Get out of the way!"

Diego looked up, only to see that the chandelier was dropping. A second later, it crashed onto him while Allison yelled his name. Luther fell to the ground, a few of the lights of the chandelier shattering and the glass falling to the ground.

The two of them, along with Vanya, who was at the living room entrance, watched with widened eyes as Luther groaned and began to get up.

His usual coat was stuck on the sharp parts of the chandelier, and so it tore off as Luther tugged his arms out and stood.

Diego's eyes widened at something he had never, never seen before.

"Holy shit," he whispered.

In front of him, stood a man with an ape's body.

His skin was grey and leathery and entirely covered with long, thick hairs that resembled none other than a gorilla's. Diego knew something had happened to make him grow so big, but he didn't think it was this.

Luther pulled the last of his coat off and took a heavy step away, causing the chandelier to tilt before falling onto the ground with another crash.

It seemed as though Luther had no concern for the other two as he stared at Allison with wide eyes. Her expression reciprocated the shock and horror the other two's faces wore.

A few moments of silence passed before Luther turned and barrelled in Diego's direction. He pushed past the smaller man before sprinting up the steps, one heavy step after the other.

Allison stared at the staircase for a moment before seeming to realize that Vanya was at the living room entrance, and she walked over to her.

Diego's attention, however, turned to the second floor as he heard light humming, and he felt a shot of panic go through him.

"Shit," he breathed out. "Mom."

Immediately, he turned and went up the stairs, though his pace slowed down at the second set as he saw the familiar locks of golden hair at the spot he left her.

He peered over as he walked closer to see that she was still working on her cross-stitch, though her mind seemed to be elsewhere as her eyes drifted towards the ground.

"Mom," Diego called gently as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Her lips drew into a smile. "Of course I am."

"You didn't hear the noises?" His eyebrows furrowed as he glanced over his shoulder. "The guys in the masks that just shot up the house?"

She chuckled softly. "What are you talking about, silly?"

Diego's forehead creased as Grace returned to her craft. How hadn't she heard anything? He had been just across the hall at some point. . . .

Slowly, he sat down in the chair next to hers, his mind racing and his heart somehow going a little faster. He watched as she pulled the needle through the side of her palm, feeling an overwhelming sense of grief already begin to wash upon him.

If the others were right . . . If she really was beginning to malfunction . . .

His eyes shifted up to her face for a moment, observing as she softly hummed, with the little smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. Though, with her glassy eyes and mindless stare, it seemed as though that smile had no meaning behind it.

He knew what had to be done. What was best for her.

His bottom lip already starting to quiver, Diego knelt in front of her. He watched as her gaze steadily drew to him.

Diego, his breathing now uneven, gently clutched her left arm with one hand and trailed two of his trembling fingers down her forearm. A spread of black followed, and the sight of it only made his eyes moisten and his entire body shake.

"Diego? What are you doing?"

Carefully, he opened the skin flap that he had created. Wires and small blue lights travelled along the inside of her arm, and a soft whirring sounded, though it seemed that Grace herself took no notice as she watched his face.

Diego unsheathed one of his smaller knives and brought it to the wires. Fighting back tears, he cut through some of the protective casing before putting it back.

He brought his teary eyes to meet her kind ones, and he tried his best to give her a smile. "It's gonna be o . . ."

"Remember what we worked on," she coaxed with a small nod and gentle smile. "Just picture the word in your mind."

"It's gonna be okay, M. . .M. . .Mom."

He pressed his lips together before gently pulling the wires, and both the whirring and the lights died down.

Instantly, the hand carrying the cross-stitch slackened, and the craft rested on her lap.

His face rather hot and his throat building up with tears, Diego managed to lift his eyes to her face.

Her eyes were beginning to flutter while her head nodded slightly.

"Di. . .e. . .go. . . ," she slurred as blue began to flash from under her skin and in the irises of her eyes. "Re. . .mem. . .ber. . . ."

Her head then tilted downwards as the blue faded and her eyes closed.

Diego gazed at her face for a moment, sniffling as he clenched his jaw. If anything, he was glad that it was him who had done it. Not those bastards who had shot the place up. Not Luther. Him.

Swallowing thickly, he stood up. Last thing he needed was for someone to find him here.

He pressed a kiss to his mother's head before heading down the stairs.

If there was anyone he needed now, it was Natalia. But where was she?

He heard voices coming from the living room. He only heard Allison's voice, but perhaps she was with her?

He entered the living room to see Allison sitting on the edge of the coffee table, talking to Vanya, who was pressing a small towel to a cut on her forehead. But no Natalia.

He tried to calm himself as he began to pace in front of the empty couch, and it seemed that Allison took notice of his weird behaviour.

"Diego?"

His upper lip curled as he stopped and turned to the two women. He gestured to Vanya as he questioned, "What are you still doing here?"

"I'm just trying to help."

"No, you could've been killed!" Diego exclaimed angrily as he pointed toward her. "Or gotten any of us killed." He turned to Allison as he pointed at Vanya. "She is a liability."

Diego turned towards the couch and sat on it, sighing as he heard Vanya quietly say, "Allison?"

Allison looked down at her lap before hesitantly answering, "I think what he's trying to say is that this kind of stuff is dangerous. . . . You're just—"

"—not like you," Vanya finished glumly.

When no one responded, Vanya nodded and stood up.

As she headed towards the entrance, Allison got up, calling, "No, that's not what I—Vanya, wait."

"Let her go," Diego interjected, which Allison grimly heeded as she stopped at the entrance. "It's for the best."

Allison sighed before walking back and sitting back down on the couch.

Diego bit his lip before looking around. "Have you seen Nat?"

"Natalia?" Allison furrowed her eyebrows. "I haven't seen her since those two attacked us in here."

"What?"

Diego immediately got to his feet, feeling his panic grow once again.

"You don't think she got hurt, do you?" Allison asked quickly as she got to her feet as well, her eyebrows still furrowed.

Diego didn't even want to chance that thought. "Help me find her."

The two began to call her name, and as each minute passed, Diego found himself growing more and more worried. He checked behind the couches, looked up to check what he could see of the second floor around him, and gave a shout of her name every minute.

He was about to head towards the staircase when he heard:

"Oh my God!"

"What?" Diego asked frantically as he sprinted back into the living room. "Wh-what is it?"

Allison was standing next to the bar counter, and she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"No," Diego muttered as he rushed over. "No, please, not her, too."

He came to a sudden halt just behind the bar counter, and he felt himself become overwhelmed with tears.

Natalia was laying on her side, her skin ghostly pale and a small pool of blood coming from underneath her. Her eyes were shut, and Diego couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

"N-no, Nat," Diego cried softly as he came to her side, kneeling. He gently moved her so that she was laying on her stomach, only feeling another wave of emotion when his eyes caught sight of her blood-soaked shirt. "No . . ."

He pulled his gloves off and tossed them before bringing his fingers to the top of her neck, hoping, praying, to feel a pulse. He held his breath for a moment before breathing out a sigh of relief; it was weak, but it was there.

Not caring about the blood that was getting all over his hands and clothes, Diego immediately scooped her up.

"I can get Mom," Allison said hurriedly, though she was quickly cut off as Diego muttered:

"No, I—I got this."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Diego brought Natalia up to the infirmary as fast as he could, Allison only steps behind him.

He quickly placed her on the bed, knowing that there wasn't much time left, and immediately slid a pair of latex gloves on.

Swallowing thickly, he stepped back over to her so that he could assess the wound. He unbuttoned enough of her blood-stained blouse to reveal her stomach, though her skin was also painted red. He quickly located the wound: the lower right of her stomach.

Luckily, further examination showed that she hadn't been hit in any major arteries or organs (though he could already tell by the fact that she was still alive and hadn't bled out).

Feeling Allison's eyes on him, he began to clean the wound and flushed it with water. He muttered for her to get an antibiotic cream, and he heard her rifling through the cabinets behind him while he threw away the cleaning supplies.

Allison handed him the cream when she found it, and he quickly applied it to the area to avoid infection, as gently as possible.

His fingers were trembling, though he tried to stay calm as he began to suture the wound. She would be okay. Right?

She had to be. He wasn't about to lose the only two people he truly loved in one night.

Once the wound had been fully sutured, he grabbed a bandage and managed to wrap it around her stomach, with Alli's help.

He took the gloves off and glanced at Allison, who was watching Natalia with a frown. "Do you—" He cleared his throat, not liking how much it quivered. "Do you think you have a—a shirt you can lend her?"

Allison nodded. "She's a little smaller than me, but I'm sure it'll be fine."

While she left to go get it, Diego went to the sink. He stared at the blood that had dried onto his hands—her blood—for a few moments before sighing and washing them, the clear water soon changing to red as it went down the drain.

As soon as he had dried his hands, Allison returned with a blue, loose-fitted t-shirt, which she handed to him.

"Thanks. You mind . . . ?" he mumbled, nodding his head towards the door.

She quickly nodded. "Just call me when you're done."

As soon as she had left again, Diego walked back to Natalia, biting his lip. He placed the shirt on the counter beside the bed before unbuttoning the rest of her blouse and carefully slid each arm out of it.

He grabbed a towel and wettened it before gently rubbing off the rest of the blood from her skin, leaving it a little red from the pressure but clean of blood. He then moved on to cleaning her hands, which had blood caked all over them, and he swallowed thickly as he wiped the blood off the diamond of her ring.

He threw the towel into the sink before grabbing the shirt, and he gingerly lifted her head to put the shirt through before pulling the shirt on.

"A-Allison," he croaked out, and she immediately reentered the room.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" she murmured as she came to Natalia's side.

"She should be." He cupped her cheek, a little unsettled by how cold it was. "She–she lost some blood, but no-not too much. And I've stopped the bleeding, too."

"And you left the bullet in?"

"Better to, since it didn't hit anything but flesh," he muttered, feeling his racing heart slowly adjusting back to its usual pace. "Removing it would be more dangerous. What" —he turned to her with raised eyebrows— "you don't remember our first-aid classes?"

Her face flushed. "That was a long time ago, Diego."

"Whatever." Diego returned his gaze to Natalia, whose skin, thankfully, was slowly recovering to its normal colour. He kept his thumb grazing Natalia's cheek, attempting to give it some warmth as he turned back to Allison. "Hey. Did . . . Did you know about . . . Luther?"

Allison folded her arms, her lips turned into a frown. "I had no idea. I don't even know . . . why he looks like that."

"I think Natalia knows," he muttered as he looked back to her, moving his hand to her own and interlacing their fingers. "She said something weird to me before, but it makes a little more sense now, seeing . . . that."

"What did she say?"

"I was talkin' about this date I had, where the girl wanted me to hook her up with Luther" —he ignored the narrowed eyes Allison gave— "and Nat said that she would never want to date him, even before . . ."

"Before what?"

"That's what I asked." He sighed. "She said to forget it. And back on the day of Dad's funeral, she was talking to him."

"About?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

She let out a small scoff. "I'm surprised you weren't eavesdropping."

"What can I say? I'm a good fiancé." He gave a half-smile as he looked back down at Natalia and squeezed her hand. "Anyway, when I asked her about it, she said not to worry."

"So she knew about this the whole time?" Allison sighed. "And didn't tell me?"

"She didn't tell me either." He shrugged. "And I doubt she told Klaus or Vanya."

"Something must've happened after we had left."

"No shit, Sherlock."

Allison ignored the comment as she continued, "What do you think it was?"

"I don't know," he muttered. "I'm just glad it didn't happen to me."

"Diego."

He gave another shrug. "Just the truth."

She sighed before shaking her head. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long day. Call me if something happens, okay?"

Diego nodded, and, for once, she gave him a small smile. She shuffled over to press a kiss onto Natalia's cheek before muttering a goodnight and leaving the infirmary.

Diego dragged a chair to Natalia's side and cupped her cheek once more. He had a strong feeling he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight—not until she woke up, anyway.

He lifted up her shirt to see that a bit of blood was already beginning to peek through the bandage, but not enough to worry him.

He sighed before he shifted up and gently kissed her lips.

"Come on, princess," he whispered, his eyes fixating on her shut ones, "wake up."