IGNIS : the umbrella academy [COMPLETE]

V

     GRACE HAD SWEPT FIVE AWAY, leaving Carla unsure what to do. Diego and Allison had gone to talk in the kitchen, so Carla decided to follow them.

     She took out a mug from a cupboard, adding coffee granules and normal tap water. She was aware of the two Hargreeves watching her in confusion, but she took off one of her gloves, heating up her finger until it was glowing, and using it to stir in the granules until the liquid was piping hot and all the same colour.

     She then picked up five sugar cubes, dropping them into the coffee and using her heated finger to stir them too.

     Once satisfied everything was all mixed in, Carla took out her finger, shaking the excess drops off, and instead of putting her glove on again, she took the remaining one off, using both hands to cradle her mug of coffee.

     She sat down at the table, taking a sip, and was aware of Diego and Allison still watching her.

     "That's a lot of sugar," Diego noted, arms folded across his chest, one eyebrow raised.

     Carla managed to shoot him a withering stare despite her weariness, taking another sip of her drink.

     Allison stared at her, "It's weird to see your hands not heated. I kinda forget you have them."

     The only times Allison and Diego had seen her hands was when they were glowing orange and radiating deadly heat.

     The teen frowned, bemused, "What else would be under these gloves?"

     "I don't know," Allison shrugged, a twinkle in her eye, "Talons?"

     "Coal?" Diego suggested, smirking slightly, "That would make sense for someone like you."

     Carla couldn't stop the smile from tugging up at the corners of her lips, "Sorry to disappoint. Coal would have been a much more interesting hand reveal."

     Diego smirked, and Allison chuckled, saying teasingly, "Coal would have been great. Much more dramatic."

     "Almost inconsiderate that you have normal hands," Diego added.

     Carla laughed slightly, drinking her coffee.

     It was strange, really, that she was sitting with Diego and Allison in the kitchen, the apocalypse drawing closer, Five seriously injured, and yet the three of them were trying their best to joke around.

     It was either that or breaking down, she supposed.

     There was a silence, one that hung heavy and thick between them, and Diego was the one to break it, "Uh, Carla, can you tell us anything about your cousin? What he wants with us? That shrine wasn't exactly normal."

     He had slipped back into the role of 'leader' he had made himself, the slightly informal atmosphere gone and replaced with something tenser.

     Carla looked down at her coffee, pale fingers drumming out a slow and tentative rhythm on the side of the mug, "He always loved you guys, idolized you basically."

     "So what happened?" Allison asked.

     "I have no idea," Carla muttered, shaking her head, "It must have been something that happened between when I last saw him, and when he killed his dad."

     Allison sat down on a stool, "How many years are we looking at?"

     "Around three?" the teen said, clearly unsure, "Uh, 1999-2002. You don't remember him at all, do you?"

     Then, she remembered the picture she had taken from Harold's house, and she pulled it out of her pocket, unfolding it and showing the other two, "This was him when we were quite younger. Do you recognise him?"

     Allison frowned, sharing a look with Diego, who blankly shook his head, before asking, "Do you have any idea where he may have gone?"

     Carla paused, deep in thought, before an idea surfaced to the front of her mine, "Well, my grandma used to have a place... I don't know if it's been re-bought or not, but it's a small house near Jackpine Road.

     Diego nodded, "That's definitely a lead."

     "What's the place like?" Allison asked.

     "I can't really remember," Carla said sheepishly, "I just know there's a lot of woods, but other than that I can't help you. Sorry."

     The elder woman shook her head, smiling kindly, "Don't apologise. None of this is your fault."

     She reached for Carla's hand, but the younger girl jerked away, a drop of coffee sloshing out of the mug and landing on her hand.

     Allison looked at Carla almost apologetically, mouth open slightly, and Carla averted her gaze, swallowing thickly.

     The silence was choking her. "Uh, I'm sorry but I don't do... touching."

     Allison smiled again, retracting her hand, "Sorry, I should have remembered."

     Carla's lips tugged up in a small grin, "It's okay. I, uh, I think I'm going to go see how Five's doing."

     She placed her mug on the kitchen counter, grabbing her gloves and yanking them on, before heading upstairs to Five's room.

     Grace was sitting on the edge of his bed, finishing dressing a wound, and smiled warmly upon seeing the girl, "Why, hello, Carla."

     "Hi, Grace," she said, looking for a chair and noticing it was taken up by Dolores, "How is he?"

     "I believe he's going to be fine," Grace said, "It's a bit of a nasty wound, but after a good night's sleep, he'll be as right as rain."

     The robot got up, gracefully waltzing out of the room leaving Carla alone with Five.

     Leaving Dolores in the chair, Carla sat down on the floor, resting her arms on the small empty section of the bed next to Five's arm. She was beyond relieved that Five was going to be okay, and she lay her head on her folded arms, a wave of exhaustion hitting her.

     Everything that had happened had been a lot to take in, especially finding out about Harold. She briefly wondered where Klaus was, before her eyes fluttered shut.

---[]---

     Diego and Allison walked up to Five's room to check in on the two fifteen-year-olds. Carla was passed out on the floor, slouched on the edge of Five's bed, chest rising and falling slowly.

     Allison walked in, picking up a blanket and draping it carefully over the teen's shoulders, before turning back to Diego, who was quirking an eyebrow.

     "She looked cold," Allison said, "Poor thing, today must have been really hard on her."

     Diego couldn't help but agree.