"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑒 . . . : 𝐼 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑏𝑦𝑒."
—𝐽𝑜𝑑𝑖 𝑃𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑡, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑤𝑜 𝑊𝑎𝑦𝑠

𝒟.

𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎'𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐉𝐄𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐃 upwards, suddenly waking himself up and causing the metal bed that Natalia was on to rattle.

He used his free hand (the other one was holding Natalia's) to rub his eyes as he let out a sigh. He glanced over at the clock to see it was a little past seven—he had fallen asleep at three, so at least he had had a few hours of sleep.

He looked back to Natalia, who still hadn't woken up. The only thing that reassured him that she was okay was the fact that her skin was no longer sheet-white and her hands had grown warm again.

He let go of her hand as he stood up, wiping all the sweat that had accumulated onto his jeans. He stretched for a few moments as he fully woke up.

He cupped Natalia's cheek, a small smile on his face as he watched her chest rise and fall at a steady pace. He then checked under the bottom of her shirt and gave a soft groan when he saw that it was redder than it was white. He took the bandage off and threw it out before quickly grabbing another one and wrapping it, a little tighter than the first time.

He washed the little amount of blood that had then stained his hands before taking his seat next to her once more.

He enveloped her hand with both of his before pressing it to his forehead. So much had happened last night.

Though he had been desperately trying to avoid thinking about it, his mother came back into his mind.

He had killed her.

Despite the fact that only hours before, he had been advocating for her life, he was the one who pulled the wires. Yes, it was for her own good. Yes, he had no choice. But it was still his mother . . . One of the few people who had truly cared about him and loved him growing up.

How was he supposed to move past this?

He so desperately needed to talk to someone. And, obviously, that someone was usually Natalia, but that wasn't really possible at the moment.

He kissed her knuckles before gently resting her hand at her side.

He got up from his chair and kissed her forehead before murmuring, "I'll be right back, princess."

There was really only one other person he'd want to talk to about something like this. And, sure, that person most definitely wouldn't want to talk to him, but whatever.

He quickly left the Academy and got into his car, and headed over to a house that he hadn't visited in a long, long time.

The car was still parked in the driveway, reassuring Diego that Eugene was still home, and so Diego parked his car on the side of the street before getting out.

Figuring he'd just wait for him to come out, Diego sat on the porch, closing his eyes as he felt a fresh breeze wash over him.

He laid back on the wood, moving his gaze up to the nearly cloudless sky. He let the sun bathe his body for a few moments, keeping his focus on nothing before the sound of the door opening from behind hit his ears.

"What the hell? Who'd you piss off this time?"

"I gave it as good as I got," Diego drawled as Eugene came up next to him, though he didn't bother to look his way.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Oh, yes." Diego sat up with a small sigh, gratefully taking the warm thermos of coffee that Eugene held out to him. "How's all that paperwork coming along?"

"It's a real page-turner," Eugene humoured while Diego took a sip of the coffee and let it wake him up. "I've got two guys in children's masks, rare bullet casings, a random fingerprint from a 1930s cold case, and . . . I just learned that the tow truck driver from the doughnut shop didn't have any family."

Diego nodded slowly. "The boy."

"Not his, apparently. Kid's our only possible witness and he's a complete mystery." Eugene paused for a moment, and it seemed as though he noticed the fact that Diego's mind was far from that as he questioned, "Okay, what's going on?"

Diego's eyebrows furrowed as he turned to look at him. "What?"

"You could have called me for an update. So, why are you really here?"

"Nothin', I just, uh . . ." Diego lowered the mug with a sigh, turning his gaze to his lap. "My mom." He paused for a moment, pressing his lips together before admitting, "She died last night."

"Shit." Eugene's expression immediately turned into one of pity as he fixed the leather bag he wore and sat down at Diego's side. "Diego, I'm so sorry. I remember how close you were. Is there anything I can—"

"I just . . . I don't . . ." A tear trailed down his cheek as he shook his head and stammered, "I don't know how to . . ."

"Is that what this is about?" Eugene said softly, leaning forward and placing a gentle hand on Diego's arm. "Hey. Hey. Tell me what's going on. Who did this?"

Diego wiped his cheek with the back of his hand as he glanced at him. "Let's just say I didn't get a good look at their faces."

Eugene's thick eyebrows furrowed before a look of realization dawned on his face. He let out a long sigh as he leaned back and accused, "You went after the guys in the masks, didn't you?"

"I didn't go after them," Diego corrected. "And one's a woman, by the way, so stop being so sexist."

"I specifically told you not to follow them."

"No, they came to my house, looking for my brother," Diego glowered, pointing a finger in the man's direction. "They tried to kill my family. They shot my fiancée."

Eugene's expression contorted back into one of concern as he hushedly asked, "Is she okay?"

"She hasn't woken up yet," Diego muttered, feeling his grip grow tighter on the mug.

Eugene sighed. "Why'd they come to you?"

"I don't know," Diego confessed. "He's been missing since yesterday. I need to find him."

"Diego, you need to let me handle this," Eugene instructed firmly. "You're not equipped—"

"Oh, you always loved tellin' me what I can and can't do," Diego scoffed. "You know, maybe, for once, just try things my way."

"I can't."

Eugene got to his feet, slightly shaking his head as he took the mug that was in Diego's hands. He went down the few steps and headed forward towards his driveway before suddenly pausing.

He turned to Diego, his lips turned into a frown. "I'm sorry about your mom, Diego. Really, I am."

𝒩.

Natalia groaned as she rifled through the cabinets in the infirmary, using her other hand to clutch at her stomach.

She had woken up only five minutes before, though the pain she was in made it feel as though it had been hours.

No one had been in the room when she woke up, though she reassured herself that, at least, Allison and Luther were just a shout away. Assuming that they were okay after the night previous . . .

Last night was a little foggy. All she could really remember was running from two masked attackers and then getting shot.

She also worried for Vanya. If something had happened to her, it would be Natalia's fault. They were in the same room, and Natalia failed to protect her. . .

She had a million questions running through her mind as she picked through all the pill bottles. Where was Diego? Was he okay? Who were those attackers? Whose shirt was she wearing?

She gave a small sigh of happiness as she found a bottle of painkillers, (though it was nearly empty—Klaus was the best suspect), and lifted her other hand from her stomach to twist the cap open.

She shook two of the pills out onto her palm before popping them into her mouth, and she grabbed a paper cup. She filled it with water from the sink before downing it, letting both that and the pill wash down her throat.

She sighed as she hobbled back over to the hospital bed and sat down on it. She gently wrapped her arms around her stomach, hoping that the painkillers would soon get rid of the burning in her stomach, and looked over to the clock to see that it was a little past eight o'clock in the morning.

"Natalia?"

Natalia gave a weak smile as Diego rushed in, his smile relieved and his posture relaxing.

"God, I was so worried," he murmured as he cupped her cheeks. He kissed her gently, and she tasted the bitterness of coffee before he pulled away. "How you feelin', princess?"

"Like shit," she muttered, leaning her head onto his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "I took painkillers though, so I hope that'll help."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up," he sighed, gently rubbing her back as he kissed the top of her head. "I was talking to Patch."

"It's fine, I woke up five minutes ago," she reassured him. She frowned as she shifted her gaze up to him. "Is everyone okay? Is Vanya—"

"Everyone else is fine," he cut in, causing her to give a sigh of relief. Though that relief was soon paused as his eyebrows furrowed and he bit his lip. "But . . ."

"But what?"

"I had to . . ."

Natalia's eyebrows knit together tightly as his bottom lip began to quiver, and she straightened up, wincing at the sharp movement. She cupped his cheek, guiding it closer to her as she murmured, "What's wrong, honey?"

"Mom," he whispered, his eyes becoming moist. "She's . . ."

Diego didn't have to finish the rest of his sentence for Natalia to realize what he was telling her. Her own eyes became wet with tears, and she let out a soft gasp as she got to her feet.

"Diego, don't tell me . . . Was it them? The attackers?"

Diego shook his head, pressing his lips together as his grip on her shoulders tightened. "I-It was—it was me."

"What?"

Natalia stared at him for a moment, bewildered. Wasn't he the one who was the most against shutting her down?

"It's not because I—I wanted to," he said softly, his cheeks flushing a deep red. "I went to her, a-after they had left, and—and" —he licked his lips— "Nat, she didn't even know the Academy was attacked."

Natalia pressed her lips together for a moment as she took the information in. Grace had been a little off lately . . . Natalia had thought that, maybe, Reginald's death was affecting her; he was her creator, after all. The distance she had been making, the forgetfulness, the sudden changes in attitude, sure, that could be passed off as grief. But not noticing when a place—your home is being shot up? The shouts and the firing bullets?

And Diego. Boy, did she know that this was going to hit him hard. No matter how good of a reason he had, Natalia knew that he was going to feel nothing but guilt and regret. Grace was really the only person that Diego loved in that family, and the fact that he was the one to have turned her off was going to weigh down on him for the next who-knows-how-long.

"It's okay, Diego," she whispered, lifting a hand to gently cup his cheek. "It's not your fault."

"I killed her," he muttered. "Whose fault would it be if it wasn't mine?"

"You did it because you love her. It was for the best."

Diego didn't respond, but rather let his head fall to her chest. Natalia wrapped her arms around him, wincing slightly at the sharp pain in her stomach, though she didn't voice any complaints as she gently rubbed his back.

Hoping to take his mind off the topic for a little while, she softly asked, "Why'd you go to Patch?"

"I needed someone to talk to, and I wasn't sure when you'd wake up." He sighed, though he continued to keep his head rested against her chest. "But those attackers . . . They're after Five."

Her hand suddenly paused on his back, and her eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"Last night, when I was fighting the woman—Cha-Cha, I think her name is," he began, lifting his head and meeting her eyes. "She said that they just wanted 'the boy.' And back at Griddy's, there were two people before the shooting: an older guy and a boy. We thought they were family, but we found out there was no relation."

"Five was there?"

"And, now, I don't doubt that he was there during the shooting. Probably killed all those guys—or got them killed, at least."

Natalia sighed. She had had absolutely no clue that so much had happened for Five in the last couple of days—especially not stuff this horrible. "Oh my God."

"I need to find him," Diego muttered.

Her eyebrows furrowed at his words. "You mean 'we,' right?"

"No, Natalia, I mean 'I,'" he corrected with raised eyebrows. "You, on the other hand, need to rest."

"I've been resting for so long," she pointed out. "I'm fine!"

Diego straightened up, his eyebrows still raised as he scoffed. "You're crazy if you think I'll let you leave this room."

"Oh, come on," she sighed. "I'm okay."

"No."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Well, I'm not listening to you," Natalia muttered before brushing past him and heading towards the door, a slight limp in her walk to help the pain that accompanied each step.

"Hey!" Diego grabbed her arm and pulled her back, causing another explosion of pain and for her face to screw up. His expression softened as she let out a soft groan, and he sighed. "Nat, I'm only saying this because I love you."

"I know you do."

"Then listen. I want what's best for you," he said gently, his grip becoming weaker. "And what's best is for you to lay down and take some rest."

"Knowing that Five is in danger?" she scoffed. "There's no way I can rest."

"Just know that I'm going to protect him."

"I'd be more reassured if I was with you."

Diego shook his head, keeping his voice firm as he pointed toward the hospital bed. "You're staying here."

"If I stay here . . . and you go to Five . . . who's going to protect me?" she whined softly, giving him her best puppy dog eyes as she trailed a finger down his chest. "I mean, I'm in so much pain, and if they come back . . ."

He pressed his lips together, and she could tell that he was giving in as he began to shake his head. "Dammit," he muttered, letting go of her arm and sighing. "You're good."

She chuckled before planting a kiss on his cheek. "Let's find Five. Maybe we can even ask Luther if he's seen him."

"Again with Luther?" he scoffed, though she only rolled her eyes and turned back to the door. Suddenly, she paused as he called, "Hey, Nat?"

She turned back to him, her eyebrows furrowing. "Mhm?"

His eyes shifted to the side before looking back at her. "Did you always know?"

"Know what?"

"Right, you weren't there when . . ." Diego licked his lips before taking a step forward. He gestured towards his body as he mumbled, "You know, Luther's whole . . ."

Natalia suddenly grew nervous, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I'm not sure what you mean, my love."

He shook his head. "You don't have to hide it anymore; we all know."

She tried her best to remain inconspicuous. "Know . . . what?"

"Luther's weird-ass . . . gorilla body."

Natalia stared at him for a moment, her lips slightly parted as she let her expression fall into one of shock. "How did you find out?"

"The chandelier fell on him—he's okay," Diego hastily added as her eyes widened, "and his coat ripped off, so we saw . . . that." He scrunched his face before earnestly asking, "Why didn't you tell me?"

She pressed her lips into a tight smile as she took his hand and began to play with his fingers. "Because I promised I wouldn't tell anyone."

"I'm not anyone. I'm your fiancé," he insisted. "We're supposed to tell each other everything."

She shook her head. "This isn't my business to tell."

"How long have you known?"

"Since he got it. It was a mission that went badly, just before I left. Getting that . . . body saved his life." Natalia sighed before tightening her grip on his hand. She tugged it as she turned around. "Let's go. We shouldn't waste any more time."

Though he didn't give a verbal agreement, Natalia took his reluctant sigh as confirmation and hobbled her way toward the door.

"We should check Five's room first," she mumbled as she let go of his hand and headed towards the stairs.

As soon as they reached the staircase, she gripped the railing tightly and began to take slow steps up, doing her best to ignore the intensifying pain in her stomach. Maybe she should've taken a few more pills.

"You okay?" Diego questioned, quickly catching up to her step when she gave a soft groan. "Need me to carry you?"

She rolled her eyes in amusement, this time resisting another groan that came up her throat. "I'm not a baby."

"Not saying you are." He shrugged. He frowned when she paused to collect her strength. "But I don't like seeing you in pain."

"Hey," she chided playfully, trying to distract both him and herself while she tilted her head up and squeezed her eyes shut, "this isn't half as bad as some of your injuries."

They resumed their pace back up the stairs, though it was rather slow, with Diego now wrapping an arm around her waist to help her balance as she shifted her weight to her right foot.

Natalia's eyebrows furrowed as they reached the landing of the third floor. She could hear voices—Luther and Pogo's, by the sound of it—along with some shuffling and rummaging coming from Five's room. Perhaps they, too, were in search of the boy?

Diego seemed to be possessed by a new sort of confidence as he walked past her towards the door, though his speed slowed as she gripped the back of his sweater. He glanced back at her with softened eyes, and he waited for her to catch up before wrapping his arm around her waist once more as she staggered towards the room.

Natalia's voice identification had been correct: Luther was ruffling through the drawers in Five's room while Pogo watched from beside the bed, his walking cane clutched in his hands.

Diego peered at him as the pair stopped at the entrance. "What are you doing here?"

Luther stopped and turned to face them, his eyes slightly widening. "Uh . . ." He swallowed as he stood up, his demeanour now nervous as he tentatively asked, "Do you guys know about Mom?"

Diego glanced at Natalia, who pressed her lips together, and his voice wasn't as confident as before. "Well, it looks like you got what you wanted, one way or another, right?"

Luther didn't address his response, and instead asked, "Wanna tell me what you're doing here?"

"We're looking for Five," Diego answered.

"Let me guess," Luther scoffed, rolling his eyes, "you're gonna save the day."

"It's what I do."

Natalia shuffled to the side as he turned and grabbed her hand, muttering "Asshole" as he began to pull her into the hallway.

"Really? Last I checked, you mopped floors."

This caused Diego to turn back around, and Natalia let out a small sigh. As offended as she was that Luther had the audacity to say that, after all these years of being his father's little bitch boy, she was not in the mood to witness another brawl that would probably knock Pogo out of the fire escape.

She whispered for Diego to just let it go, but it seemed as though he had become oblivious to her murmurs.

"And what do you do?" he taunted as he stepped towards Luther, letting go of her hand. "Sit on the Moon for four years, waiting for orders?"

"Guys," Natalia interjected, folding her arms and leaning against the doorframe. "This won't help us find Five."

Perhaps everyone had suddenly become deaf to her, since Diego continued, "Keep on being a loyal soldier after everything our father did to you?"

"What?" Luther scoffed, taking a few steps closer. "You mean save my life?"

"No." Diego leaned against the dresser that was pushed against the wall, his upper lip slightly curled. "I mean, turn you into a monster."

Nervously, Natalia's eyes flitted between the two men.

Luther took a large step towards Diego and raised a fist, and Natalia was worried that he'd use Diego as a punching bag before the sound of splintering wood reassured her.

Diego's satisfaction was easily shown through his smirk. "Can't hide it anymore, champ."

Luther's hand, having created a gaping hole in the dresser door, was accompanied by dust and small splinters of wood as he pulled it out.

His voice was calm as he replied, "He had a difficult decision to make, and he made it."

"Grow up, Luther," Diego drawled. "We're not kids anymore."

"That's what leaders do, by the way."

"He sent you on that mission all alone," Diego pointed out with raised eyebrows. "Almost got you killed."

Natalia sighed, now regretting telling him the details of what had happened. How had she not anticipated that he'd use it against his brother?

"Yeah, well at least he was there. Where were you?" Luther scoffed. "You and everyone else in this family? You walked out."

"And thank Christ that I did, or I would have ended up just . . . like . . . you," Diego seethed, jabbing a finger in Luther's direction. "Let me ask you a question. When you watch one of these nature shows—"

"Diego," Natalia whispered. "Let's go."

"—does it turn you on?"

Anger flashed across Luther's face. "So what? Is Pogo just an animal to you, too, now, Diego, huh?"

Diego shook his head. "Don't."

"Enough!"

The three of them instantly turned their heads to Pogo, whose stern expression and tight grip on his cane were enough to cause the men to shrink in their spots and press their lips together.

"This house was attacked. We barely got out with our lives. And Grace . . ." he sighed and shook his head, "she wasn't so lucky. Your brother is missing, and this is how you rise to the occasion? Take your nonsense elsewhere. Now."

"Sorry, Pogo," Diego muttered, his head lowered in shame.

"Yeah," Luther murmured, "sorry, Pogo."

Natalia sighed as the two men passed her and headed into the hallway. She turned her head to face Pogo once again, and she offered a small smile before following the other two to the staircase.

"Diego?" Natalia called, causing him to stop while Luther headed down the staircase. "What's the plan?"

"The plan?" Diego scoffed as he turned toward her. "The plan is that you stay here, and I find Five."

"What?" Her step faltered as she reached the two, and she bit her lower lip for a moment to block her groan. "You said—"

"Forget what I said," he interrupted, shaking his head. "You can barely walk up the stairs by yourself. I'm not risking anything."

She could tell by his set jaw and slight glare that being coy wouldn't win him over this time. "Diego, I can—"

"I just lost Mom, and I'm not losing you, too!"

Her expression softened, and a sigh escaped her lips. She placed a gentle hand on his rather stiff shoulder as she murmured, "You won't."

Diego's eyes were a little glassy, and his lower lip quivered, but his voice remained steady as relaxed his shoulders and whispered, "You don't know that."

"If something happens to Five—if those two . . . people find him, Diego, I don't know what I'd do with myself," she said earnestly, her eyebrows knitting together tightly. "We just got him back."

"Don't you trust me?" he questioned quietly, his expression slowly becoming pleading. "I'll find him."

"It's not that I don't trust you," she chided softly. She sighed, pressing her lips together for a moment before muttering, "It's that I don't want another one of you dying because I couldn't help."

"What are you—Nat." Diego shut his eyes, and he gently caressed her arm as he shook his head. "Ben's death wasn't your fault."

"It was, and I won't let Five's be the same."

She felt a sense of determination suddenly overwhelm her as she tilted her chin upwards and gave him the same firm look he was giving her moments before. Not giving him a chance to rebut—and she knew he was going to by his tightening grip and parting lips—she shook his hand off her arm and made her way down the stairs, with an increased speed that caused her to wince and groan at the growing pain in her stomach.

Doing her best to ignore the fact that it felt like she was being shot over and over again, she called, "Luther!"

Luther, who had made it to the landing of the first floor, glanced back at her. "Yeah?"

She huffed as she finally reached his side, clutching at her stomach, but keeping her pace matched with his. "You still going to look for Five?"

"Of course."

"Great, we're teaming up." She nodded. Her head picked up, and she used this lightbulb moment to distract her, recalling something he had told her the day before. "Hey, you talked to him yesterday, didn't you?"

"Yeah, Klaus brought me to where he was hiding," Luther confirmed as they headed towards the front door, Diego only a few steps behind. "He was in some van, in front of a building . . . Um . . . Meritech?"

"Do you know where that is?"

He nodded. "I can lead us there."

"Great. Diego's driving."

Luther wrinkled his nose as he looked down at himself. "I'm . . . not gonna fit."

Natalia pressed her lips together as she glanced behind at Diego, who was giving her a stern look that she then ignored.

"Then we'll walk."

𝒩.

Natalia's breath was a little staggered as she, Diego, and Luther walked down the sidewalk, and she found her hand continuously moving to clutch at her stomach wound every other minute.

She was completely aware of the fact that Diego, who was a step behind her and Luther, was watching her every single move, prepared to catch her if she suddenly passed out from the pain.

She was grateful, of course, for someone being so attentive to her, because, at the moment, she was feeling like passing out. They had been walking for a little more than half an hour at this point, and the pain in her stomach was only adding to the lightheadedness and exhaustion.

She tried her best, however, to keep her focus on the conversation between her and Luther that she had just started.

"So . . ." she began, huffing a little as she tried to keep up with Luther's rather quick pace, "you were on the Moon."

Luther nodded slowly. "I was."

"How was it?"

"Dark." He shrugged. "Cold. Lonely."

"Hm." She gently rubbed her wound, wincing, though she kept her voice light. "Must've had some nice moments, though. It's the Moon, after all."

He shrugged once more. "I guess."

"Wow, the chemistry between you two is unreal," Diego remarked as he caught up to them, though he walked on the grass. "I bet those days in the Academy without us must've been fun, huh?"

Natalia only rolled her eyes, though she sent Diego a small smile as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him so he could act as a crutch.

"I'm okay," she muttered to him as his grip tightened, though she knew he knew she was very much not.

"Yeah," he scoffed, "right."

Another stab of pain hit her stomach a moment later, causing her to stumble and let out a short gasp, causing Diego to immediately stop in place.

"Nat," he chided as he steadied her, peering into her pained expression, "this was a bad—"

"Let's keep going."

A few minutes later, Luther's pace began to hurry, and, despite Diego's chiding, Natalia hastened her step, ignoring the burning pain. Her worry for Five overshadowed her pain greatly; the two attackers from the night before were now hunting him, and she feared that they had already gotten a hold of him.

"This is it," Luther suddenly said excitedly, pointing towards a deep green van that was parked at the side of the road. "He's still here. This is Five's van."

As they rounded the corner, Diego's grip tightening with every wince she gave, she peered over to the side to see that the van belonged to a plumbing company. At this point, she wasn't all too surprised that he had stolen a van.

Luther grabbed onto the handle of the passenger door and tried to pull it open, but all they heard was the sound of rattling; the door was locked.

"Shit," Luther breathed out as he released the handle, taking a step back.

Diego sighed before reluctantly loosening his grip on Natalia's waist. He unclipped a knife from his gear and jammed the tip into the lock before jimmying it and opening the door.

Natalia rolled her eyes as she watched both Diego and Luther try to go in and instead bump into each other. They stared at each other for a moment before doing the exact same thing, causing the van to bounce a little from the impact.

"I'm One," Luther said firmly, receiving rolled eyes from Diego.

Diego used his knife to unlock the back passenger seat and slid the door open. He crawled inside, though he turned to Natalia as she stepped towards the opening.

"No," he told her, holding a hand out. "You stay there."

"What?" She frowned. "Why?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just stay there, Nat."

Natalia sighed, though she heeded, then instead just watching as Diego turned to the pile of junk that was in the large space. There were a few plastic bins, cables, and a metal rack that he began to dig through while Luther rifled through the belongings in the front.

"Diego," she called, spotting an army-green duffel bag near the side, "check the bag."

Diego glanced back at her before pulling the bag towards him, and he unzipped it with furrowed eyebrows. There wasn't much inside, though he then picked up a copy of Vanya's autobiography and flipped through the pages.

Natalia watched with tightly knit eyebrows as he arrived at the front page, which was filled with blue scribbles. She squinted her eyes and quickly realized that they were all equations, which she recognized—though had no idea why they were used in this case. On the right-hand side, however, was a stamp from the Argyle Street Branch Library.

Diego whistled, gaining Luther's attention, and he showed the book to him. "I know where to find Five."

Natalia shuffled out of the way as Diego climbed out of the side, hearing the heavy thud of Luther getting out of the van and slamming the door.

She sighed as Diego wrapped an arm around her waist. "I can walk by myself, you know."

"Yeah, but can you really?"

She rolled her eyes, though made no more complaint as they began to head towards the library—it was only a twenty-minute walk, anyway.

The walk was a little painful, though she made sure to keep her groaning and grimacing to a minimum.

This library was one she had never visited—there was a different branch that was closer to her apartment—and it was one with a likeness she had never before seen; the entire building was circular, and the main foyer, to complement the round edges, had semi-circle shaped front desks.

As they walked in, Natalia looked up to see that there were quite a few floors, all with the same shape.

"Let's split up," Luther instructed.

"Wow," Diego scoffed. "Good thinking."

As Luther headed toward the right, Natalia and Diego went toward the left.

"Nat," Diego began as they reached the bottom step, "what you said back at the Academy—"

"I don't want to talk about it," Natalia interrupted, gritting her teeth as she grabbed onto the railing and slowly took steps up, using her free hand to clutch at her wound. "Let's just focus on this first."

"No," he insisted, catching up to her and wrapping an arm around her to support her as they slowly climbed the stairs. "I want to—"

"Later, Diego."

Diego fell silent.

They reached the landing of the second floor a couple of minutes later, and she gently removed his grip from her waist, ignoring the exasperated look he was giving her, and began the search.

Her eyes flitted between bookshelves and over chairs, though she was unable to spot the groomed black hair nor the navy uniform.

Diego remained a step behind her as she peered between aisles, and though she knew he was looking for him, too, she could tell most of his attention was on her. She decided to give him nothing to worry about, however, as she bit back every groan and resisted wincing for every sharp pain.

"He's not here," she muttered as they reached the staircase.

"He could be on the next floor," Diego reassured her, glancing upwards. "You stay here, and I'll—"

"In your dreams."

"I wanna know," he called as she began her slow ascent once again, "if I went missing, would you look as hard as you are now?"

"Don't be ridiculous," she chided, her hand gripping the wooden staircase rather tightly. "Of course I would."

When they reached the landing of the third floor, Natalia paused for a moment, her hand on the top of the railing, as she caught her breath. She swallowed hard, doing her best to keep a straight expression as Diego peered at her face, and she braved a smile.

"I'm fine, sweetheart," she reassured him, leaning forward to peck his lips. Though she saw his expression showed nothing but disbelief, with his clenched jaw and raised eyebrows, she turned and headed towards the bookshelves.

As she did on the floor below, she checked between shelves and every desk, peering behind computer monitors and even giving a couple of lingering people a description of the boy, though, to her disappointment, they replied with was that they hadn't seen him.

Again, they came to the end of the floor, no boy found.

Natalia groaned in frustration and sat down on the edge of the nearest table. She shut her eyes, rubbing her forehead with one hand while she heard the steps of Diego approach.

She kept her eyes shut. Where could Five be, if not there? She barely knew him anymore, never mind the places he'd like to visit nor what business was so important that he missed an emergency meeting.

"You all right there, angel?"

"No," she muttered, opening her eyes and grabbing Diego's hand to pull him closer to her. Once he was only a foot away, she rested her forehead on his chest and felt a little more comforted when he began to gently rub her back. "That shithead is missing."

Diego shrugged. "He's a grown man. He's, what, double our age?"

"He has two crazy people after him," she pointed out, shutting her eyes once more and deciding to focus on the touch of Diego's hand on her back. "He could be dead by now, for all we know."

"Don't say that," Diego chided. "He's probably fine."

"Probably?"

"I meant he is for sure okay."

Natalia rolled her eyes and straightened up, her gaze now meeting Diego's straight-on. "Diego, if we don't find him before they do, they—"

"Don't think about that, okay?" he murmured, leaning forward and planting a kiss on her forehead. "C'mon, baby, let's keep lookin'. I'm sure he's around here, somewhere."

"There's one floor left," she mumbled, wincing as she slowly slipped off the table. "I don't have that much hope."

"But you still have some."

She sighed, interlacing her fingers with his and giving him a half-hearted smile when he squeezed her hand.

She was leading by a step as they headed towards the staircase, and the pain from her stomach wound completely slipped her mind as she hurried up the stairs.

They didn't get to search, however, as they spotted Luther, and, judging by his sombre expression, he hadn't found much, either.

"Anything?" Luther questioned as they met in the middle.

Diego sighed, glancing at Natalia as he rested his hands on the railing. "No."

Luther groaned, shifting his weight onto his other foot before turning and peering into the room next to him through the glass wall.

Natalia began to look into the room behind her as well, though her attention quickly turned back to Diego as he called out, "You wanna know why I left?"

Luther slowly strode back over to the pair, his eyebrows furrowed. "What? What are you talking about?"

Diego turned to face the larger man. "Why I left the Academy."

Luther gave a slight shrug. "Yeah, 'cause you couldn't handle me being Number One."

Natalia let out a small snort, though she quickly disguised it with a cough.

Diego gave her an amused look as he leaned back against the railing. His stare moved to the bookshelf just beyond the glass wall in front of them as he continued, "No. Because that's what you do when you're seventeen. You move out, become your own person, grow up."

"Oh, yeah," Luther said mockingly, the corners of his lips tugging upwards. "You're a real grown-up."

Natalia sighed, rubbing her stomach as she leaned back against the railing. She could tell that this conversation was going to go south, and soon.

"At least I make my own decisions," Diego pointed out, an eyebrow quirked. "You've never had to hold down a job. Pay bills." His face suddenly scrunched up, and a playful glint appeared in his eyes. "You ever even been with a girl?"

Luther's eyebrows were furrowed as he stared at Diego, and his uneasy shift was enough to tell them, though he still stammered, "I . . . um" —he cleared his throat— "I don't know what you're talking about—"

Diego laughed, shaking his head, though his expression soon became serious once more. "Look, you wanna blame me, blame us for leaving, that's okay. But maybe you're asking yourself the wrong question. Maybe it's not about why we left—maybe it's about why you stayed."

Luther's jaw clenched, and he marched forward. "I stayed because the world needed me."

Diego sighed, tilting his head as his amused smile returned. "You stayed because you couldn't let go of the way things used to be—the Academy. Dad. With Allison."

Luther's tight expression relaxed, and he swallowed as he leaned back against the railing.

"Dad's dead," Diego said softly. "Mom too, now. We're orphans again, dude." He took a step forward and turned to face Luther. "And things are never gonna go back to the way they used . . . to . . . be."

Natalia's eyebrows furrowed as she watched Diego's do the same. His eyes drifted past them, though he made no comment as to what he had seen.

Luther, however, took no notice as he sighed. "Do you ever stop talking?"

Diego didn't respond, instead just starting to walk to the hall, his pace rather hurried.

Luther's eyebrows raised. "Wow. That was easy."

"Oh, trust me, it's not that easy," Natalia sighed, beckoning for the tall man to follow her as she began to follow Diego.

Once they reached the other side of the room, she saw what Diego had spotted, and she sighed.

Five was passed out against the stone columns, which were covered in equations similar to the ones they had found in Vanya's autobiography. He had an arm around a broken female mannequin, whose only remains consisted of a left arm, torso, and head, and in Five's hand was an empty liquor bottle. Another empty bottle was laid on the ground, among the scattered notebooks and pens.

"Is he, um . . . ?" Luther muttered to the other two.

Diego's lips turned into a grin as he nodded. "Drunk as a skunk."

It was dark outside by the time they left the library, and though she was wondering why Five had decided to visit the library whilst drunk, she was happy that he was safe and sound.

As they turned down into an alleyway, building lights guiding them, Natalia stepped around a puddle and glanced over to Luther, who was carrying Five, as he spoke:

"Well, we can't go back to the house; it's not secure. Those psychopaths could come back at any moment."

"Our place is closer," Diego sighed, looking towards Natalia as she stumbled. He wrapped an arm around her hips, his worried expression not leaving as he continued, "No one will look for him there."

Their attention soon snapped to the boy in Luther's arms as he burped and blinked his eyes open.

Luther slowed down, and he glared at Five. "If you vomit on me . . ."

Five ignored this as he caressed his mannequin's back and tilted his head back, a smile spreading onto his face. "You know what's funny? Aah! I'm going through puberty." He scoffed, "Twice. And I . . ." he chuckled, "I drank that whole bottle, didn't I? That's what you do when the world you love goes bye-bye. Poof, it's gone. What are you guys talking about?"

Luther sighed. "Two masked intruders attacked the Academy last night."

"They came looking for you!" Diego continued irritatedly. "So I need you to focus. What do they want?"

"Hazel and Cha-Cha," Five groaned, causing Natalia to scrunch up her face.

"Who?"

"You know," Luther grumbled with another glare at the boy, "I hate code names."

"Ah, the best of the best," Five clarified. "Except for me, of course."

Natalia's eyebrows furrowed. "The best of what?"

Five ignored her. "You know, Delores always said she hated when I drink. She said it made me surly—"

"Hey!" Diego suddenly shouted, turning around to face the chuckling boy.

"Hm? Yeah?"

"I need you to focus," chided Diego as he stepped towards him, jabbing a finger in his direction. "What do this Hazel and Cha-Cha want?"

Five's lips spread into an amused grin.

Diego sighed. "We just wanna protect you."

"Protect me," Five repeated with a small scoff. "I don't need your protection, Diego. Do you have any idea how many people I've killed? No. I'm the Four frickin' Horsemen. The apocalypse is coming."

And then, he turned his head and vomited on the wet pavement.

"What is he talking about?" Natalia murmured to Diego as they turned and began to head towards the gym again. "The apocalypse?"

"He's drunk," Diego muttered back, his arm snaking around her waist again to support her. "Ignore whatever he says."

Once they had reached the boiler room inside the gym, Natalia followed the other two in.

Diego took the mannequin from Luther, and the taller man placed a now-asleep Five onto the made bed.

Natalia, who was still standing on the steps of the stairs, watched as Diego placed the mannequin's upper half on a chair. She rested her hand on the railing, the other moving to clutch at her wound; all the walking had taken a toll on the wound, and now that they had found Five, the adrenaline and worry that had been numbing the pain were now gone.

Diego's gaze moved up to her, and she saw worry immediately express itself upon his face as he hurried around to the staircase. He extended a hand, which she took with a small smile, and placed his other hand on her hip as she slowly climbed down.

"You okay?" he asked softly once she had reached the landing.

"I'm fine," she murmured, though it was obvious that Diego didn't believe her.

She gave him another smile that seemed a little wobbly before heading over to the bed. Her smile broadened as she watched Five snore softly.

"Funny," Diego remarked as he came to her side. "If I didn't know he was such a prick, I'd say he looks almost adorable in his sleep."

"Well, don't worry," Luther muttered. "He'll sober up eventually; be back to his normal, unpleasant self."

"Yeah, I can't wait that long," Diego scoffed, turning around and taking a few steps forward. "I need to find out what his connection is with these lunatics before someone else dies."

Luther frowned as he turned towards him. "All that stuff he was saying before . . . What do you think he meant by that?"

Diego suddenly whipped his head towards the door as footsteps approached, his eyebrows furrowed. He raised a finger, clearly telling the other two to stay quiet, and unsheathed a knife.

They watched with tightly knit eyebrows as Diego hastened up the steps and towards the door. His steps became quieter and slower as he approached the door, and he kept his eyes locked with Natalia's as he used his free hand to wrap around the door handle. As soon as he opened the door and positioned himself to attack, Al's voice rang out:

"You throw another one of those goddamn knives at me, I'm pressin' charges!"

Diego rolled his eyes as his posture relaxed, and he opened the door further. "What do you want, Al?"

Al hobbled in. "I ain't your secretary."

"Yeah."

"Some man called for you, said he needs your help."

Diego sighed as he went down the stairs. "What man?"

"I dunno," Al mumbled, gripping the railing. "Some, uh, detective. I think he said his name was, uh, Blotch or somethin'."

Diego's eyebrows furrowed. "Patch?"

Al shrugged.

"He needs my help," Diego muttered to himself, and Natalia rolled her eyes in amusement as she watched his upper lip curl.

"He needs you to meet him at that motel—a dump on Calhoun," Al said as Diego rushed back up to the stairs, handing him a small piece of paper.

"When?"

"About half an hour ago." Al turned around, and as he left, he continued, "Uh, said he found your brother."

Immediately, they turned towards Five, who was very much not found by Patch, and Natalia murmured, "Well, that didn't make sense."

But only a moment later did the three, in unison, breathe out:

"Klaus."