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𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐒 are as intimidating as his shadow as he lumbers down the old hallway to his bedroom. Everything looked just as it had the day he left it four years ago, the long line of offensive and defensive attacks displayed along the wall where Reginald had hung them as children. Just another tactic of his. Most children's homes were decorated with pictures and artwork, their walls were filled with fighting techniques. A constant reminder they were never children, but soldiers.

Luther's eyes trail along the wall until he reaches the two doors at the end of the hall. He casts a quick glance at Allison's closed door and his words-and the look of betrayal on her face-from earlier sting his heart. He heads for his adjoining door that stood ajar and pushed it open to be greeted with a familiar creak.

Like the hallway, his bedroom remained untouched apart from the upkeep from his mother and Pogo. The model wooden airplanes dangled prom his ceiling, all the trinkets he had left behind waited for him on his shelves. All of it brought back a powerful surge of emotions, yet none of them were particularly good or bad.

Next door, Allison was experiencing the very same feelings. Though Luther's were not quite as raw as hers, her departure from the academy had been far earlier than his like the rest of their siblings. She finds herself sat before her vanity, all her old jewelry, nail polish, and various beloved novelties scattered on the surface. Her eyes fall on her old diary, more specifically what lies below.

She pulls the hidden magazine out from underneath her journals to see her younger self smiling back at her. A thought struck her, the same thought she always had when she saw photos like this; how much Claire looked like herself. Just the thought of her daughter made her heart heavy. It was a sadness that far outweighed the traumas of childhood that had assailed her ever since her return. Allison never thought such an intense love could be possible, but everything changed when she became a mother and since that day it felt as if her heart was no longer hers; it lived outside herself now and it always would.

Claire was her everything-is her everything and more than anything she wished she could hold her daughter in her arms. To take back what she did... But that didn't seem possible now.

It's not like she could turn back time.

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The pads of Klaus's feet pitter against the tile of the mansion's kitchen as he strolls to the dining table that sat in the center of the room. He places the now-half empty urn he had been carrying clutched to his chest on the table, the sound muffled by one of many placemats. Klaus straightens, pulling a small baggie from one of many pockets, and shakes it about before opening. Several unidentifiable pills fall into his waiting palm, and he puts on another look of feigned surprise to mask his sadness.

"Oh, three?" He chimes. "Okay!"

He throws back the tablets, a sharp and sour taste already zapping his tongue forcing a cringe. Nevertheless, he draws in a sharp breath, desperate to feel nothing again.

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Diego returns to the living room when he's sure it's empty. He trudges over to the nearest couch, letting his tense frame collapse into the cushions. And only when he feels himself sink into the upholstered cushions do his muscles begin to relax. His eyes flutter closed as he allows a sigh to escape. So rarely does Diego Hargreeves let his guard down, this moment being one of the very few times he allows himself the pleasure.

As dark a thought as it might sound to some, it was all too true for Diego who lived his whole life in the shadow of his brother and sister; life was easier with his father dead.

He cracks his joints, his knuckles shifting as he stretches his fingers, and his mind races. What would life look like from now on? Sure, Reginald was finally gone but the mental - and physical - scars left on Diego from Reginald's "parenting" weren't going anywhere, that he knew. They all had their own baggage, their own shit they'd be carrying around for the rest of their lives because of that vile man. If it wasn't for Mom...

Well, Diego shutters to think what would have become of them had she never been built.

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Vanya sits with her palms tucked behind her ears, fingers buried in her hair as she sits atop the first flight of stairs. Her eyes were trained on the tile, and like her siblings, millions of thoughts were bouncing around her skull all at once; her fight with Luther was something she would have preferred to stop thinking about but it was easier said than done. At least Diego had said something to him when she left; she had at least caught that. But Vanya had a hard time believing Diego had done so to defend her and not out of his own aggressions with Luther.

There had always been friction between herself and Diego, given their clashing personalities and the pressures their father had put on them all. There was always a layer of hostility buried somewhere, though weirdly it sometimes brought her comfort. Sometimes it felt like what she imagined having an older brother was like, it was a brief glimpse of something normal in its own twisted and confusing way.

Though that didn't mean it didn't hurt when he hurled cruel comments in her direction or would go out of his way to make her feel bad. It wasn't much of a leap to assume it was an unhealthy outlet for his insecurities. Especially given the fact that besides Luther, Vanya had always been held in the highest regard. Maybe even more than. Their father was certainly not the kind of man to hide who he favored, quite the opposite, and even though she knew logically this was not her fault, Vanya couldn't help but feel guilty for her brother.

Maybe with their father gone, their bonds could finally begin to mend.

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Luther crouches to the ground, eyes searching his shelf of records. Another batch of memories immerses him as his gaze glides along the line of old records, each label bringing with it something special. His finger eventually lands on one in particular, the artist Tiffany catching his eye and immediately he knows the perfect song to play.

He does not know exactly why he chooses this single, perhaps it's a coincidence but it doesn't quite feel like it. It felt more like an apology he knew his siblings would hear after years of scolding when his music would reach every corner of the house. The venom in Vanya's words rang in his mind, as did the look in her eyes. Perhaps this was also a nonverbal acknowledgment his father had done horrible things, that it was a small act of defiance against the mentality hardwired into his brain that always made him defend Reginald. Either way, he slipped the vinyl from its sleeve, and delicately placed it onto the record player.

The rhythmic tick tick tick of the volume dial breaks through the deafening silence, punctuated by a flicker of static as the needle meets the record. The familiar sound of symbols takes over the entire mansion, stealing away the attention of all who resided.

His gloved hands start to bounce with the new beat of drums that shake the walls and floors. Throughout the mansion, the music carries in demanding waves as powerful as Vanya's blasts, each of the Hargreeves siblings drawing a curious eye.

Allison of course hears the beat the loudest, the small bottles of perfume that sit on her dresser vibrate with the soundwaves moving the house. And the moment she realizes what her brother is doing, she shakes her head bitterly.

And then she realizes what her brother is playing, and a dry and defeated chuckle leaves her lips without her permission.

Klaus rolls over onto his back curiously when the music reaches his ears, his spine digging into the kitchen table he lounges on.

"'Children behave,'"

He pulls himself into a sitting position, his lanky arms propping his body up as he stares up at the ceiling carrying Luther's apology.

"That's what they When we're together,"

Vanya picks her head up out of her hands, her swollen and sullen eyes lumber up to the second floor in disbelief.

"And watch how you play,"

Diego gives the blade in his fingers another careful twirl as his mind lingers to the lyrics blasting throughout the mansion. His eyes fall on the mounted Wildebeest head on his father's wall, once again reminding himself of just what kind of person his father was. They were always forbidden as kids, hell even as full-grown adults not to touch his things. Or his trophies. And he thought of all the times he wanted to knock those scary-looking things off the wall, and the words of the music seemed to egg him on.

"They don't understand And so we're,"

Allison sways slightly in cushioned vanity chair, a soft smile playing her lips as she gives in to the beat blasting through her walls.

"Running just as fast as we can,"

The beat has already reached Luther, who bobs up and down on his legs as he lazily swings his arms.

"Holdin' on to one another's hand"

The first of her siblings, Allison is the first to rise from her seat as she finally succumbs to the temptations of freedom under this very roof.

Clamoring off the table with a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips, Klaus scoops up his glass of whiskey and his father's urn as he begins to sway.

"Tryin' to get away into the night,'"

Vanya sighs, and pulls herself up onto her feet before descending the stairs. While she can't quite let go of the pain recently and not so recently inflicted on her by her siblings, she can't seem to bring herself to deny the opportunity that lies before her.

With a smug grin and barely noticeable flick of the wrist, Diego sends the blade directly between the eyes of the Wildebeest; a very symbol of his father and his tyranny.

"And then you put your arms around me,"

Klaus places his now half-empty glass of whiskey on the table to dance with the half-empty urn wrapped up in both his arms.

"And we tumble to ground And then you say,"

Luther's bouncing grows more confident as the melody swells, and his arms punch through the air in tune with every other beat.

"I think we're alone now,"

A defeated smirk rests on Allison's face as she rips the feather boa from her childhood off its stand and slips it through her fingers.
"There doesn't seem to be anyone around,"
Her shoulders swing gracefully in tune with the melody, as does the boa as she twirls it through the air. The song fully encapsulates her and she throws her arms into the air as she twirls, for the first time in a very long time, feeling an intoxicating sort of relief as do all her siblings.
"I think we're alone now,"
Luther spins around and around, with much less grace than his sister but his jubilance all the same much to his surprise.
"The beating of our hearts Is the only sound,"

Fighting every instinct instilled in him from a very young age, Diego stalks over to the living room entrance. He lurks just out of view of his sister and slowly but surely closes the living room doors.

The drums lead Vanya's movements as she allows herself to lose herself in the music with the rest of the house. Her eyes flutter closed and her arms and legs bounce and twist along with the rhythm.

As for Diego, the usually guarded man finds himself letting the rhythm move through him allowing himself to free up his body in a way he hadn't in a very long time. He danced as he had as a very young kid, in the extremely rare moments he and his siblings managed to find themselves the time.

"Look at the way,"

Klaus held his fathers remains tight to his body as he gently waltzed them around the kitchen, steadily picking up speed as he tries to picture what their father would actually say had this been any other day in their childhood. It wasn't hard either. There was a reason they had only done this on the not so rare occasions their father wasn't around.

"We gotta hide what we're doing,"

Allison and Luther share the same thoughts; Luther no longer attempts to hide his stomping as he jumps around his room as he dances, completely carefree, and Allison next-door struts confidently and perfectly in tune with the music across her bedroom.

"'Cause what would they say?"

Diego now fully embraces his childhood antics and any other urge like it that comes upon him. Including the act of casting an invisible line out to sea and fights to reel it in.

"If they ever knew And so we're Running just as fast as we can,"

Nearly all of her hostile feelings had evaporated into the air as Vanya danced in the stairwell. And while she was alone in that moment, she knew in her core that her siblings were feeling something similar. The very air around them was different, and it hadn't changed because someone played a song; she knew everything had changed when she walked through the front door.

"I think we're alone now,"

But as she twisted along to the lyrics of the song blasting throughout the mansion she could feel the conflicted emotions she had felt for her father's passing steadily evaporate off of her in waves that wove throughout the entire house. The waves washing off of her were not violent, nor were they soothing but a steady force that reached all other eight beings in the house;

Diego, and his still-faced exuberance as he hopped around the living room in step.

"Holdin' on to one another's hand,"

Klaus, who had abandoned the urn on the table to twist and move in style of a more interpretative looking dance, twisted suddenly out of the way of an unseen figure and a smile appeared on his face.

Even Pogo felt contaminated by the infectious beat and the force of Vanya's powers in his private quarters next door; he sat tucked into his chair reading his favorite book as he began to tap his foot and nod his head.

Allison, who had hopped onto her bed where she normally would have been heavily scolded, but all she could think about was how much fun it was to jump on the mattress.

Luther felt it too, and he had been so swept up in his movements he wasn't quite expecting to receive a reaction from his sister but relieved nonetheless. Unintentionally, his large fists collide with the toy play hanging from the ceiling and it breaks apart, crumbling to the ground.

"Tryin to get away into the night,"

Their mother Grace smiles to herself when her sensors register Vanya's waves as she nods along while doing the dishes. Something deep inside her - something she suspects was never intended to exist - is put at ease when she realizes that the children are finally happy for the first time in her entire existence.

"And then you put your arms around me And we tumble to the ground,"

Her smile falls. No, something else inside of her tells her, this was for the greater good.

"And then you say,"

Grace knew it belonged to her programming, but she also knew it was wrong. And yet no matter how many times she tried to fight it, to do the right thing-

"I think we're alone now,"

The pain in her head returned and Grace flinched, dropping the plate into the water where it sank to the bottom of the sudsy kitchen sink. She stood there reeling at the sudden shock in her memory bank when she realized what was blasting throughout the mansion and registers the waves of Vanya's powers. She smiled to herself as she returned to the dishes.

"Alone now,"

All her children were finally happy.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone around,"

A sound like thunder shook the house, pulling everyone from their spell. Immediately their minds went to the mysterious force that had plagued their home for as long as they could remember, but it was dismissed just as soon. This was different; there was no earthquake, the lights had cut out, yes, but sudden bursts of violent white light battled the shadows swallowing the mansion and all inside.

Instantly, everyone felt as if they were plunged into freezing waters. The world was bathed in frigid cold and the fear gripping their chest didn't help any. And that was when the tremors came back. But again, this was different but nobody could quite place it. And none of them certainly had any time to think on any of it, not when the shaking grew worse and several objects suddenly took flight across the room where they stuck to walls.

Klaus has been lucky enough to dodge several knives that had gone airborne from the knife block. His timing wasn't at all bad either, for he had managed to catch the urn that had slid to the end of the table and into his arms.

The man staggered as he balanced the catch in his arms and turned to the sky, bewildered. "Daddy?!"

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"Oh," Diego winced against the harsh cold winds whipping against his skin as he burst into the courtyard. Most of his siblings were close behind him, mirroring his reaction just moments delayed.

The sight before them ever more baffling than the effects it had on the house which was an impressive feat; hanging in the air just above the old gazebo was something none of them had ever seen, and yet... It felt as of they were dreaming an old dream. It was an enormous ball of energy waves so blue and bright it almost seemed white. It crackled and popped and each wave of energy stretched every which way. And yet, none of this was the biggest eye raiser of it all, not quite.

At the center of it all where the energy was the strongest was a completely different picture. It looked as if it was a window right into another reality, but it was only just a simple picture. A fragment. Just a fence and some trees.

"What is it?" Vanya cried, voice bellowing to be heard over all the noise. Subconsciously, she crept forward to stand in front of all he siblings, allowing her body to absorb the thunderous noise bombarding them all.

Allison was all too aware of her sister's capabilities, and yet. "Don't get too close!" She said, doing what she could to pull Luther and Vanya back.

Diego hadn't gotten the memo and felt his sister yank him a single step back in one pull. He huffed, never taking his guarded eye off the newest threat. "Thanks, mom."

"Diego," Luther said shortly, his eyes still glued to the ball of energy twisting and glowing above them all, and returns his attention there. "Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly. Either that or a miniature black hole. One of the two."

"It's a pretty big difference there, Paul Bunyan."

Vanya fought the sigh wanting to leave her lungs and took a step forward regaining the advantage she had lost. Her eyes glowed a bright white, as did her skin as she prepared for any harm that might befall them. The signature high-pitched ring of her honing her powers was nearing loud enough to combat the thunder when it all fell short, as did her defenses when she watched baffled who came running in.

Fire extinguisher in hand, shoving her and their wall of siblings aside, came Klaus, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Out of the way!"

"What are you-?" Luther was cut off by the muffled sound of the fire extinguisher releasing several pathetic bursts of white foam that fell to the ground.

"Klaus," Vanya warned, her widened eyes darting fearfully between him and the cloud of energy that seemed to be growing more furious.

He gave up on trying to use it, but apparently be had no intention of having it go unused. They watched flummoxed as he wound the fire extinguisher back in both arms before chucking into the anomaly with a small but noticeable "Ack!" It was swallowed instantly, none of them hearing it crash onto the pavement across the courtyard but they did see a flash of red and movement in the vision by the fence. At least they thought they had but the moment had passed.

"What is that gonna do?" Allison cried, bewildered.

Klaus yanked his shoulder up in a shrug. "I don't know!" He whined. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Woah! Woah! Woah!"

The ball of energy crackled, several sparks of light nearly sucking Klaus in and he stumbled back into the herd. Vanya swept him in with Luther and Diego as the light returned to her skin in a threatening stance at what appeared in the ball of blow light above them.

"Everyone get behind me," Luther said, following Vanya's lead and pulling Klaus's tiny body behind his gargantuan figure.

"Yeah, get behind us," Diego says, taking guard of Allison and Klaus.

The figure of a man now took center stage in the vision, and it looked as if he was clawing his way through the wall of light with great effort. The sight was disturbing and didn't at all put them at ease, and yet they remained in formation. The only change came from Vanya whose feet slowly left the ground by only inches as her abilities took over her. Her glow was bright enough to match that of the mysterious threat, only her abilities were harnessed into a force field covering herself and her huddle of siblings.

They watched with great curiosity as the figure continued to claw his way through the energy field, his wrinkled eyes screwed shut in agony as he pulled himself through. And when he did, everything changed. Vanya nearly lost concentration at what she thought she saw but she remained trained on protecting what sibling she had left. As for the others, all they could do was choke on the gasps overtaking their bodies at the sight of their long-lost brother tumbling to the concrete as the anomaly evaporated over them.

An agitated grunt left his small body from where he landed on his stomach, and time seemed to slow and speed up all at once. Vanya's jaw went slack to match her brothers and sister, and she finally snapped out of her daze and returned to he feet. The shield was lifted, the light leaving her skin leaving it its usual flushed pinkish hue, her billowing hair falling back over her face as she panted; she could not tell if it was from exhaustion or her trying not to hyperventilate, but she couldn't seem to shake the feeling from her lungs.

She remained at the head of the herd as they crept forward, eyes all trained on the small figure who stumbled to his feet with a groan. His usual scowl was screwed onto his face and bits of dead leaves stuck to his hair from the fall. And besides the oversized suit he seemed to be swimming in, he looked exactly as he had the day he disappeared all of seventeen years ago.

"Does anyone else see," Klaus mumbled, breaking the tense silence. "little Number Five, or is that just me?"

The boy before them seems confused at his words until he finally glances down at his body where the ends of his pants pool at his ankles and his hands, he realizes, are nearly buried beneath his sleeves.

𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟓
"𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄"

He looks up at his siblings, an overwhelming sense of dread hitting him harder than the fall and for the first time since his departure nearly two decades ago, he breaks his silence.

"Shit."

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