Word count: 3736

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘, they were in music class, studying theory for the upcoming test that was creating anxiety in the students' minds. 

It was only twenty minutes past four, and they had been given the rest of the class to partner up and study together.

Although both Five and Diego had bugged Elizabeth to partner with her, she refused. She loved them both—truly, she did—but goddamn, they could be so annoying. Instead, she decided to partner up with Ben (which Klaus wasn't too happy about).

"All right, Ben," Elizabeth murmured as she shuffled through her notes, finding the definitions that they had copied a few days before. "What is . . . a compound meter?"

Ben tilted his head, closing his eyes tight. "A . . . compound . . . meter . . . is . . . Oh! A meter with a top number of six, nine, or twelve. The beat can be divided into three parts or subdivided into six parts."

"Perfect!" Elizabeth grinned. "Tritone?"

He scrunched his face up. "A diminished fifth or augmented fourth; it divides the octave in half."

"Harmonic minor scale?"

"A minor scale that raises scale degree seven ascending and descending, creating an augmented second between scale degrees six and seven."

"Damn, Ben." She looked up from her notes with raised eyebrows. "Since when have you become a master at music theory? You barely knew what a half-note was last time!"

"I forced Klaus out of my room last night." Ben shrugged. "Did a bunch of studying, forced Klaus out again when he got Diego to pick the lock, and then did a lot more studying."

"Wow." She wiped a fake tear from her eye as she grinned. "I'm so proud of you, Ben."

The blare of the alarm caused her to turn her head to the flashing lights, and she frowned. 

"Go along, children!" Grace hurried them with a smile, gesturing for them to leave with her hands. "Be safe!"

"Good luck!" Vanya, who was a couple of seats beside Elizabeth, whispered to her.

"See you after!" Elizabeth winked before rushing back to her room.

After changing into her suit, she rushed down to meet the others in the main foyer. 

Reginald informed her of the department store that was in the process of being robbed, and she quickly created a portal, which the seven of them then jumped through.

They landed in a department store, one that seemed to be targeted toward young adults. The lights were turned off, assumably by the criminals, and it seemed as though the floor was deserted of any customers.

"Okay," Luther whispered to the group, his eyes attentively watching the space around them for any robbers, "partners: Klaus and Allison, I'll go alone, Five and Eliza—"

"No, I'll go with Elizabeth," Diego interrupted, quickly waving his hand. "Five, you go with Ben."

"What? No!" Five argued quietly, shaking his head profusely. "She's with me! Luther said so!"

"No, I'm going with her," Diego said determinedly, his eyebrows knit close together.

"No, you're not, I'm—"

"Shut up, you two!" Luther whispered, seeming slightly disgruntled at the fact that Diego wasn't following his commands. Nonetheless, he accepted it. "Fine. Elizabeth with Diego. Five with Ben. Go."

Diego grabbed her arm as Five muttered curses. He guided the two of them through the metal racks of clothes, the two of them keeping their heads ducked down to avoid being seen.

"What was that?" Elizabeth whispered to him.

"What was what?" he whispered back.

"Why did you change the partners?" she questioned quietly, her eyes narrowed as she stopped and peered over the metal rack. There were no cash registers in sight, nor any sign of life, causing her to let out a small sigh.

"Because I need to be with you," he answered as he beckoned for her to follow him.

"But why—oh, there!" 

Her eyes widened as she nodded towards their left, where a circular desk sat. There were two cashiers—young women—who stood on either side on the inside, their hands raised in defence as three robbers pointed their guns at them.

"Three . . . ," Diego mouthed to her, counting down with his fingers as well, "two . . . one . . . go!"

The two of them jumped up as Diego shouted at them to put their hands up. 

The three robbers immediately turned to them, although they didn't seem too frightened to see two seventeen-year-olds threatening them.

That lack of fear soon vanished as Diego pulled out a throwing star from his pocket and threw it towards the nearest man, it stabbing him in the thigh. He let out a cry of agony, grabbing his leg in pain before falling to his butt.

Elizabeth's eyes glowed gold as she soon sent a blast to the man who stood on the left of the counter, instantly throwing him back into a metal rack, where he hit his head with a loud thud.

The third one nervously readjusted his grip on his gun and opened fire in Elizabeth's direction. The bullets raced towards her as she attempted to move her hands quick enough to make a shield when she felt a body throw itself at her and force her onto the ground.

It took her a second to realize that Diego had pushed her out of the way, and he was now laying on top of her. His eyes quickly searched her face in the dark lighting as he breathed out, "You good?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him with a smile as he swiftly got up and lent her a hand. "Thank you."

"No problem." He grinned before throwing another throwing star into the foot of the last man, who had been trying to sneak away.

The man screamed in pain, grabbing at the throwing star and pulling it out, only causing him to scream further and for more blood to gush out.

"Where are the others?" Elizabeth questioned, peering over the metal racks and through the gaps between the mannequins in search of the rest of her five siblings.

"I don't—"

Diego was cut off by a "Take that, you ugly bitch!"

"That was Klaus," Diego murmured before looking at her and shrugging. "Okay. I guess there were more robbers?"

"Unless he's trying to murder Luther," she giggled, "I'd say so."

As she walked over to the three men, she outstretched her arms and shaped her golden energy into a rope. She looped it around the men a couple of times, and she tried to hide her grin as they suddenly gasped when she yanked it. Once it was tight enough and tied, she walked back over to Diego, who had busied himself by picking up his fallen weapons. 

"Again," she said as she leaned up and kissed his cheek, "thanks for saving me, Eggo."

"I'm a man of my word." Diego's chest puffed up slightly, his eyes endearing as they latched onto hers. "I promised to protect you, and I will always keep that promise."

—☾—

"Hey, Benerino." Klaus entered Ben's room, closing the door behind him before noticing that Elizabeth was also there. "Oh, hey, Queen Elizabeth."

Elizabeth, who was laying on his bed, gave a small wave before returning her attention to the history textbook that she had rested in front of her.

Ben, who was sitting at his desk, closed his textbook and swung his chair around to face Klaus with a grin. "What's up?"

Klaus shrugged, climbing onto the bed and sitting next to Elizabeth. "Just wanted to hang." 

"Okay." Ben raised his eyebrows. "What do you wanna do?"

Klaus squinted up at the ceiling as he thought, and a devious grin slowly spread onto his face. He nodded to himself and told them, "Let's light something on fire again."

"Yeah, that's the definition of fun," Elizabeth scoffed, shutting her textbook and pushing it towards the side. 

"You're so smart, it is the definition of fun!" Klaus exclaimed, nudging Elizabeth as she rolled her eyes. "Here, hand me your lighter."

Ben nodded, a grin on his face as he pulled his desk drawer open. He rummaged through the clutter for a moment before pulling out a lighter and handing it to Klaus. "Here."

"Thank you very much." Klaus examined the room, searching for something to light on fire. His eyes lit up as they found something, and he grabbed a paper plate and a blank piece of paper.

He crumpled the paper and placed it on top of the plate before putting the tip of the lighter on the paper and setting it on fire. He leaned back and placed the plate on the desk, a proud look coming over his face.

"You know," Klaus sighed happily as he gazed into the burning fire, "people say that I have a special way of, ah . . . lighting up a room."

"I think you mean committing arson," Elizabeth commented, but she was ignored.

Klaus inched closer to the desk, practically off of the bed at that point, his eyes narrowed. "Do you think it'd hurt if I put my hand in it?"

"Obviously," she sighed.

"Yeah." Ben nodded, glancing at the fire before opening his textbook once more and examining the questions. "You'd probably burn yourself. Really badly. And then Pogo would give you a lecture and Dad would say that you're stupid and Mom would give you that disappointed look that makes you feel really sad."

"Damn." Klaus frowned, giving a small nod of defeat as he backed up on the bed. "How many temperatures do you think it is?"

"Hot," Ben replied as he began to write in his notebook once more, his eyes darting between the textbook and his answer.

"What?" Elizabeth crinkled her nose as she stared at them. "How are you both so dumb?"

Suddenly, the door opened, and Grace appeared. The endearing smile that had been on her face disappeared as the light of the fire was cast upon her face, and a look of horror developed. "Children! What do you two think you're doing?"

"Oh, thank God," Elizabeth smiled in relief as Grace stepped towards them with a disappointed frown. "Someone sane."

"Oh, hey, Mom!" A phoney smile came onto Klaus' face as he looked up at her. "Just, uh . . . warming up the room, it was a little too cold."

"Then you should wear a jacket, Klaus," Grace said sternly as she grabbed a cleaning rag from her apron and draped it over the blackened paper. "Not cause a potential way to set the house on fire."

"I'll remember that for next time." Klaus gave her a thumbs-up, his phoney smile only growing larger.

Grace patted the rag, making sure that the flames were completely extinguished before picking the rag back up and tucking it into the pocket of her apron. 

She then looked towards the boys and put her hands on her hips as she chided, "And shouldn't you two be studying? It's after eight!"

"Mhm," Elizabeth hummed.

"We were!" Klaus nodded as he pointed to Ben's open textbook. "This is science!"

"That's interesting, Klaus, because we're currently learning about the respiratory system in science," Grace pointed out as she brushed her fingers through Ben's messy hair in an attempt to groom it. "Perhaps, could one of you enlighten me on how the two correlate?"

"Because . . . ," Ben thought for a moment before deciding his answer, "of the smoke?"

"Exactly!" Klaus nodded eagerly, and continued off of that, "Smoke, you inhale through your lungs. Then you get lung cancer and die. Respiratory system."

Elizabeth squinted her eyes, though she bit her tongue and decided not to lecture Klaus on smoke. 

"All right." Grace nodded with a small chuckle before placing a kiss on top of both boys' heads. "No more dillydallying, boys. Do your homework!"

Klaus nodded meekly. "Got it, Mutter."

Ben gave her a bright smile. "Okay, Mom!"

—☾—

It was half-past midnight when Elizabeth slipped out of her bed and quietly put her shoes on. She and the rest of the kids had planned on sneaking out to Griddy's Doughnuts that night, an adventure they went on at least once a week. It was nerve-wracking, sure, but so much fun.

Just as she finished tying the laces to her right shoe, Five appeared in her room. He immediately stepped towards her and slapped his hand over her mouth, muffling the small squeal that she let out of surprise. 

Five smirked as he took his hand off of her mouth. "Scaredy-cat."

"Shut up," she scoffed as she rolled her eyes, shoving him lightly.

The rest of the kids slowly tiptoed into her room, all of them having grins on their faces. Elizabeth locked the door after the last ones, Klaus and Ben, entered, making sure that none of their parental figures could come in.

She looked around. One, two, three, four, five, six . . . Someone was missing.

"Did no one tell Vanya we were going today?" Elizabeth questioned incredulously, keeping her voice quiet as she looked around at the family.

Silence.

"Ridiculous," she muttered to herself. Quickly, she pushed her hands out and made a portal, jumping through it to arrive in Vanya's room.

Startled from the light and sudden noise, Vanya woke up, her eyes wide as she looked around the room.

"Ellie?" she whispered once her gaze landed upon the approaching girl.

"We're going to Griddy's, c'mon." Elizabeth grinned, holding out a hand towards her.

With a small smile, Vanya brushed back her hair and took Elizabeth's hand.

The two of them jumped through another portal and arrived back in Elizabeth's room.

"Everyone ready?" Elizabeth whispered, stretching her fingers as she prepared to make another portal.

Diego put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn to him. His eyebrows were furrowed and his voice quivered slightly as he asked, "Are you sure?"

Her eyebrows knit together tightly in confusion. "About what?"

"You're not tired or anything?" he questioned nervously, glancing down to her hands which were cloaked in a light shimmer. "Portals take a lot of your energy right? Are you sure you have enough energy? You just made two portals. Or will—"

"Diego, I'll be fine," she interrupted him, giving him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry."

He gave a reluctant nod, and with that, she pushed her hands out and created a portal. 

With one last glance towards the door, the group stepped through and arrived in the empty parking lot.

It was quite dark out, but the neon yellow sign attached to the front of the diner was enough to light the way. The familiar cartoon doughnut between the 'Griddy's' and 'Doughnuts' grew larger and larger as they approached the diner.

Snow rested on top of the sign, and littered the otherwise damp parking lot, not helping the chill in the air in the slightest. A cold wind blew hard against them, whipping the girls' hair to the side, and making them all shiver in their pyjamas. 

Elizabeth shifted closer to Five as they walked towards the diner, her arms folded in an attempt to warm herself, and he aided by wrapping an arm around her.

They entered the brightly lit diner, where the working waitress didn't seem surprised in the least to see them. Dear old Trinity loved them, and always managed to give them a discount whenever they ordered (and sometimes even refused to let them pay). She never questioned why eight teenagers came into the diner past midnight once or twice a week, nor why they were all always wearing the same matching pyjamas.

Elizabeth sat down between Five and Vanya, leaning forward on the countertop as Trinity got them their usual order: a whole bunch of doughnuts.

They all ate and chatted happily about the mission from a few hours previous, their stomachs quickly filling with the sugary treats. 

Elizabeth glanced over to the right, where Vanya was quietly chewing on a chocolate doughnut, staring at the napkin in front of her.

"Something on your mind, Vanny?" Elizabeth asked, her eyebrows raising as she examined the other girl's expression.

"Hm?" Vanya snapped out of her thoughts and her eyes quickly darted up towards Elizabeth before she quickly shook her head. "Oh, uh, no."

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked, tilting her head slightly. "You don't seem very happy."

"I'm fine," Vanya reassured her as she put her doughnut down onto the napkin. "Just tired."

"Well . . ." Elizabeth leaned forward towards her, a grin spreading on her face. "You know something that'll give you a lot of energy?"

"What?" 

"Dancing!" Elizabeth giggled, sliding off her chair and grabbing Vanya's hand to invite her to do the same. "Come on!" 

Elizabeth twirled Vanya around to the light jazz music that was playing in the background, causing her to giggle. Allison and Klaus soon joined, but the other boys seemed to value their dignity over fun. 

Elizabeth grabbed Vanya's other hand and led her in some strange form of ballroom dancing. Vanya laughed before spinning Elizabeth around, and the two quickly joined hands with the other two, forming a bigger circle in which they twisted their feet and bopped their heads to the beat of the music.

The four of them danced for the next ten minutes while the others watched in amusement. Finally, tired out, they plopped back into their seats and continued eating doughnuts to gain more energy.

"Feeling more energetic now?" Elizabeth asked as she grinned at Vanya.

"Much more," Vanya giggled as she picked up her half-eaten chocolate doughnut.

Five nudged Elizabeth, drawing her attention to him as he quipped, "Didn't know you were such a good dancer."

"Yeah, I'm fabulous." Elizabeth flipped her hair behind her shoulder dramatically as she giggled. "You wish you could be me."

"I definitely don't," Five laughed before taking another bite of his jelly doughnut. "I watched you almost trip over your own feet four times."

"But you couldn't take your eyes off of me," she countered with a wink that caused his cheeks to redden. She looked past Five and towards the rest of the boys who hadn't joined in as she told them, "Next time, I'm forcing all of you to dance."

Luther's eyes widened as he quickly shook his head at the sudden idea. "Oh, God, please don't."

The promise seemed so much more tempting as she watched the three boys start to panic, and she grinned. "Oh, I will."

"We are not dancers," Diego insisted, his words slightly muffled from the glazed doughnut that was in his mouth.

"Neither are we," Allison pointed out with raised eyebrows.

"What if we had dance classes?" Elizabeth's smile twisted into a much more sinister one as she began to rub her hands, ignoring the boys' shakes of their heads. "I could totally ask Mom . . ."

She didn't think it was possible for Luther's eyes to grow any wider, but she was soon proven wrong. "No, do not do that."

Diego swallowed his last bite before exclaiming, "I would fail that class, for sure." 

Ben scrunched his face. "How could you even study for that?"

"I mean, you wouldn't," Elizabeth answered with a shrug, and she raised her eyebrows at Diego. "It'd just be for fun."

Diego now seemed interested as he shifted forward on his stool and nodded. "You know what, I've changed my mind. You should ask. Hell, let's just replace math with dance."

"It's still a no from me." Luther wrinkled his nose.

"Aw, come on, Luther." Five grinned. "No studying!"

"Oh, yeah, I'm definitely going to ask Mom and Dad." Elizabeth nodded quickly, exchanging a look of excitement with Allison.

Vanya smiled and nodded. "It'd be fun!"

"Not as fun as the missions that we—oh, right" —a smirk grew onto Diego's face— "you wouldn't know."

Vanya's smile vanished.

"Diego." Elizabeth gave him a dirty look that caused his shoulders to slump slightly.

"There are so many dances we could learn." Allison ignored everything that happened as she began to muse, looking up as she thought of the possibilities, "Tap, ballet, jazz, ballroom . . ."

"Ballroom?" Ben repeated, his eyebrows high. "But there are five guys and three girls."

"So?" Klaus questioned as he turned to him, shrugging.

"So that means two guys will have to dance with each other," Diego continued for Ben, crinkling his nose at the thought of it.

"I say Diego and Luther dance together," Elizabeth immediately suggested, raising a hand.

"No!" Diego and Luther exclaimed simultaneously.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Allison grinned before high-fiving Elizabeth, and the two boys sent them glares. 

"Wha—Alli!" Luther protested, folding his arms.

"No, no, just kidding, of course," Elizabeth reassured him as she waved a dismissive hand through the air. "Luther must dance with the ever so beautiful Allison."

The two immediately blushed, Luther's much more prominent on his pale skin.

"Okay, sure, that's fine," Klaus said dismissively before resting a hand over his chest, "but more importantly, who shall I dance with?" 

Five scoffed. "The air."

Klaus wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, that's no fun."

"You could dance with Five," Elizabeth offered, instantly receiving a light slap on the arm from Five, who obviously disapproved of the option.

"And then who would you dance with?" Allison teased, her eyebrows high.

"Easy-peasy. Vanya. I already know she's a great dance partner." Elizabeth winked towards Vanya, who gave a small giggle in response. "But anyway, that's only if Dad says yes. And also if we're allowed to choose our own partners."

"Trust me, I would not choose to dance with Klaus," Five immediately said as he shook his head, his face scrunched up in disgust.

Klaus patted him on the back. "Love you too, bro."

Around half-past one, the teens bid goodnight to Trinity, with the promise to see her next week, and headed out of the diner. Elizabeth made another portal once they were deep into the parking lot, and the eight of them arrived back in her room.

They all whispered wishes of goodnight to each other before they all crept out of the room, making sure no one saw them.

Elizabeth slipped into bed and almost fell asleep before she heard Five knocking.

Knock, pause, knock, pause, knock, long pause, knock, pause, knock.

That was the way they said goodnight, simply abbreviating it to a short 'gn.'

With a tired smile on her face, Elizabeth raised her knuckles to the wall.

Knock, pause, knock, pause, knock, long pause, knock, pause, knock.