Word count: 2314

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐑 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄 to a screeching halt as Luther pulled up in front of the iron gates of the Academy. 

As soon as the car had stopped, everyone immediately rushed out of the car, Luther picking up Allison and running towards the house.

"I don't think she's breathing," Luther muttered, his eyes frantically watching Allison's chest, which wasn't rising nor falling, as they rushed up the stairs to the entrance of their home.

"If we don't get her upstairs, she's gonna die," Klaus said in a panicked tone, using his hands to gesture for them to go faster.

"Val, you go eat something, come up after," Diego ordered as he pushed her in the direction of the kitchen rather than the infirmary that everyone else was sprinting towards.

Valerie's eyebrows furrowed as she began to protest, "But—"

"You can't do anything about Allison, just go!" Diego demanded before following the others up the stairs.

Reluctantly, but also with a small sense of relief that made her feel a little guilty, Valerie headed towards the kitchen, feeling herself grow more and more exhausted as she did so. 

Her stomach growled as she grabbed containers filled with leftovers from the previous dinner and also some of the takeout that Klaus seemed to be saving for later (sorry, Klaus).

Although it was slightly counterproductive to do so, she sped-ate, wanting to finish as fast as possible so she could see Allison. Valerie could feel her strength and speed return to her with every container she finished, the headache fading away more and more by the second.

Finally feeling full and healthy after a good few minutes of eating, Valerie sped up the stairs and to the infirmary, silently promising to clean the dishes later.

She made it there just as Grace began to analyze Allison's unconscious body with her hands slipped into white latex gloves.

The other boys and Pogo surrounded the bed that Allison was laying on, and Valerie stopped next to Five, who was standing next to Allison with his hands clutching a bloodied cloth that he was pressing against her neck.

Diego looked up at Valerie as soon as she arrived, anger flashing in his eyes as he sharply said, "Valerie, I told you to—"

"I ate!" Valerie exclaimed as she raised her hands in protest and nodded profusely. "A lot! I just shoved it all down so I could be here." She gave one more nod to Diego before turning to Grace and worriedly asking, "Mom, how is she?"

"She's suffered a severe laceration to her larynx," Grace answered as she shifted her gaze to the group. She sighed as she told them, "One of you will need to give blood."

"I will," all of the siblings immediately said simultaneously.

"I will," Luther spoke firmly a moment after, to which no one complained. "I'm doing it."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, dear boy," Pogo said as he shook his head, his expression pitying as he gazed upon the tall man. "Your blood is more compatible with mine."

"I'll do it, it's my fault she got hurt," Valerie volunteered with a raised hand before anyone else could speak up.

Five furrowed his eyebrows as he looked towards her, his hand travelling to her shoulder and gripping it tightly as he protested, "It's not your—"

"I was irresponsible, and because of that, I wasn't able to get her before this happened." Valerie shook her head and swallowed. "Use my blood."

Pogo sighed, "While using your blood would be most ideal, Miss Valerie, with its accelerated healing factors and all . . . Your blood type does not match the one of Miss Allison's, so it's simply not possible."

"Fuck," Valerie groaned, resting her forehead on Five's shoulder as she shut her eyes in annoyance. Stupid blood types.

"Hey, don't sweat it. I . . . I got this, guys." Klaus dashed over to Grace as she took out her surgical tools, slapping on his forearm as he shoved it in front of her. His expression clearly displayed his nervousness, but he continued confidently, "I . . . I love needles."

"Master Klaus. Your blood is . . ." Pogo squinted his eyes as he searched for the proper term, tilting his head slightly. "How shall I say this? Too polluted."

"Move," Diego instructed Luther, who heeded instantly. Diego walked over to Grace, a tough expression on his face as he rolled up his sleeve and offered, "I'll do it."

Grace's bloody hands picked up the syringe, the needle being about as long as her pinky.

Upon seeing the sharp needle glinting in the light, Diego immediately whimpered, and then passed out onto the floor with a loud thud.

Pogo nodded with a sigh before looking to Grace. "Stick him."

—♫—

The next day, Valerie, Five, Diego, and Klaus entered the living room, needing desperately to come up with a plan. 

They still had no clue where Vanya was, nor Harold, and both of their whereabouts was crucial. As far as they knew, Vanya was stuck with a madman, and, seeing what he had done to Allison, whether Vanya was even alive or not was debatable. 

Klaus plopped down onto one of the couches, his knees pulled close to his chest as he frowned. The other three remained standing, with all of them fidgeting anxiously in their own way.

"The bastard that nearly killed our sister's still out there, with Vanya," Diego pointed out, drawing out his knife and beginning to play with it. "We need to go after her."

"Vanya is not important," Five said firmly as he hobbled over towards the coffee table.

"A little heartless even for you, Five," Valerie commented, shaking her head as she took a bite of the chocolate bar she had stolen from Luther's room.

"I'm not saying I don't care about her," Five clarified as he looked over at her with raised eyebrows, "but if the apocalypse happens today, she dies along with the other seven billion of us. Harold Jenkins is our first priority."

"I agree." Diego nodded. "Let's go."

The three of them began to walk towards the exit when Klaus raised his hand, forcing them to come to a stop. "You guys, count me out. I mean, you know, no offence or whatever. It's just . . . I kind of feel like this is a whole lot of pressure for newly-sober me, so . . ."

"You're coming," Diego said stiffly, his eyebrows furrowed.

"No, no, no. I mean, I think we can all agree that my powers . . ." Klaus waved a hand in the air, scrunching his face as he let out a nervous chuckle. "I mean, it's pretty much useless. I'd just be holding you guys back."

"Klaus," Five warned, "get up."

"You can't make me," Klaus refused as he folded his arms.

Valerie sped over to him and grabbed his arms, pulling him up to his feet. She resumed in normal time next to Five as Klaus stumbled forward, his arms splayed out in front of him to attempt to balance himself.

"Next time you say no, I'm leaving you in Alabama or something," Valerie threatened.

Klaus, who had managed to not fall over, straightened up and dramatically stretched his arms out. "Oh, on second thought, a little exercise couldn't hurt."

And with that, the group headed out of the Academy and piled into Diego's car, with Diego and Klaus in the front while the other two sat in the back. 

Diego began to drive to the house that they had visited a couple of days before as Valerie sighed and rested her head on Five's shoulder.

"Do you think Alli is going to be okay?" Valerie murmured to him as she intertwined her fingers with his, feeling all the more comforted as he tightened his grip.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Five reassured her, giving her a light kiss on the top of her head.

Diego parked in front of the house after a few minutes of driving, and the four of them instantly got out of the car and headed towards the house.

Diego was about to kick his way through the door when Valerie pulled his arm. He turned to her with a look of exasperation, his eyebrows furrowed. "What? You don't want us to go in, Quicksilver?"

"No, I just don't want you to be stupid," she answered with a roll of the eyes.

Valerie stepped in front of him, causing him to give a small grunt and step back, and she grabbed the handle. Doing the same as she had done to Vanya's doorknob, she vibrated it fast enough until it broke off, and a triumphant smile came onto her face. 

She threw the doorknob away with one hand as she pushed the door open with the other and turned to Diego, placing her hands on her hips. 

"See?" she pointed out as she gestured to the open door. "You don't always have to kick things."

"Yeah, but it makes me feel better," Diego muttered as he folded his arms.

Valerie only shook her head before speeding in towards the living room, not wanting to take any chances just in case Harold Jenkins was there. 

When she stopped, however, a horrifying sight lay in front of her, causing her to let out a shriek of fright and stumble back.

"Valerie!"

A flash of white light and a worried Five was next to her, his eyes widened as he frantically looked around. 

She grabbed onto his arm and spun him towards what she had seen, keeping her clutch on him tight as she leaned her body closer to his. 

His eyebrows furrowed. "What's—holy shit."

"What's wrong?!" 

Valerie heard the racing footsteps of Diego and Klaus, who seemed to have also been spooked by her scream, though she didn't turn to them as they stopped in their tracks and groaned at what they saw.

The body of Harold Jenkins lay on top of a mess of books, curtains, and various objects, his complete upper body impaled by about twenty different sharp objects, ranging from knives to screwdrivers. 

Streams of blood came from his forehead and lined his face, and his shirt was covered in dried blood around the spots he had been stabbed. His left eye was wide open, the right one being covered by a white patch of gauze.

Klaus's eyes widened as he walked up to the body, resting his hands on his knees as he bent over and stared at it. "It's not exactly what I was expecting."

"The understatement of the year," Five quipped as he reassuringly patted Valerie on the shoulder, though she wasn't all too reassured as she stared at the body with a mixture of disgust and horror.

"No sign of Vanya," Klaus pointed out as he stood up straight, peering around the room before shrugging.

"Let's get out of here before the cops come," Diego warned as he turned around, beginning to walk out of the room with Klaus following.

Valerie swiftly got over her shock as she realized something. She raised a hand, her eyes still fixated on Harold's corpse as she murmured, "Wait a minute."

Diego and Klaus stopped and turned to her, Diego sighing, "Come on, Val, what are you . . . "

"Five, check out his eye," she quickly said as she gestured towards Harold's right eye, which was covered by the gauze.

Five stared at it for a moment before realizing what she meant. His eyes shifted to her, widening as he quietly questioned, "You don't think . . . ?"

"I do think," she replied with a nod before motioning towards it. "Try."

"What are you guys talking about?" Klaus furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as everyone watched Five walked over next to Harold and kneel next to him. "Try what?"

Ignoring him, Five took out the glass eye from his pocket and used his other hand to peel off the gauze, revealing an empty eye socket. He shoved the eye into the socket, and it fit inside perfectly.

"Same eye colour, same pupil size. Guys, this is it," Five said as he looked towards the others, his eyes widened in a mixture of shock and excitement. "The eye I've been carrying around for decades, it . . . It's found its rightful home." He took the slightly bloody eyeball out of the eye socket, carefully slipping it back into his pocket.

"We got the guy we needed to kill to stop the apocalypse," Diego murmured while he crouched down, his eyes staring at the body as a small smirk appeared on his face.

"Yay! Let's go." Klaus gave a fake cheer and began to walk towards the exit before Valerie grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back.

"No, no. Wait, wait. It can't be this easy." Five quickly got up, limping his way towards the other three as he pulled out a crumpled paper and unfolded it for them to look at once again. "Look, this is the note that I got from the Commission. The one that says, 'Protect Harold Jenkins,' AKA Leonard Peabody."

"Yeah?" Diego raised his eyebrows as he looked towards Five, not seeing what he was meant to take away from this.

"But who killed him?" Five insisted as he gestured towards the corpse with one hand, the other still clutching the paper tightly. "Who did this?"

"I have a crazy idea," Valerie gave a dramatic gasp, putting her hands on her hips. "Crazy, but why don't we find Vanya" —she paused for dramatic effect— "and ask her what happened?"

Five rolled his eyes as Diego nodded in agreement, continuing, "If Vanya got away from this asshole, she might be headed back to the Academy."

Valerie sighed, "Let's find out."