"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Vanya swears as she was late to her practice.
"Shit," She says again, sitting in her chair as the violin case clattering causes everyone to stop playing and to look at her. "Um… I'm so sorry I'm late."
"I hadn't noticed," The teacher admits, clearing his throat.
He taps the baton lightly,
"From the top," He instructs before music starts again.
Timeskip
"Play it again," Luther sighs.
"We've watched it over and over, Luther," Allison says. "It's the same every time."
"Er… What is she doing?" Luther stammers. "The tea, did she poison him?"
On the screen was a recording of their mother giving their father a cup of tea before he convulses.
"Uh…" Allison sighs. "I don't know."
"Where did you find this?"
"I was looking at old footage of us as kids, and I saw the tape just sitting there."
"Yeah, Dad must have started using the security system again. He was getting more and more paranoid. He thought people were out to get him. Well… I guess maybe he was right."
"But Mom?" Allison questions. "I mean, she's not capable of… Is she?"
Timeskip
The two grown-ups sit at the table as they watched their mother cook breakfast for them. She hummed ever so softly as she cooked sunny-side up eggs. The pan sizzled as the two siblings looked at each other.
"Mom?" Luther asks. "We need to ask you some questions about the night Dad died. Do you remember anything?"
"Of course," Their mother says. "Sunset, 7:33 p. m. Moon was waxing crescent, dinner was Cornish hen, wild rice, and carrots."
"No. No, uh… later that night. In his bedroom. Did you go and see him?"
Their mother chuckles. "I don't recall," She answers before humming again.
"Were you ever… I don't know, angry with Dad?" Allison asks.
"Your father was a good man," She replies, spatula scrapping against the pan. "A kind man. He was very good to me."
"Yes, but after we all left, it must have been difficult."
"Oh, there were days," Their mother admits. "You kids kept me oh so busy, and then…" She says before cutting herself off.
"What?" Luther asks.
"What were you gonna say?" Allison asks.
"Eggs are ready!" She says. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," She says, placing the plates on the table. "Now, eat up. Both of you."
Timeskip
"Do you seriously still not understand the chain of custody?" Eudora asks, seeing Diego at another crime scene that Five and Y/n had left. "If you touch it, I can't use it."
"Let me save you some time running ballistics," Diego says. "These nine-millimeters haven't been manufactured since 19…"
"1963. Odd, I know," Eudora says. Matching cases were found at a murder scene last night. Ishmael's Towing."
"The driver?"
"Found him hanging from the ceiling. Looks like he must have known something after all."
"It's a shame nobody told you to go talk to him," Diego smirks.
"In a span of 24 hours, I've had attacks in three different places across town. Whatever this is, whoever this is, they're not slowing down. So, if you really give a shit, and you've got any fresh ideas, I'm all ears."
"The guy's kids, in the doughnut shop?"
"I've got units tracking the extended family in case anyone goes after them."
"Well, this place must have surveillance footage."
"No, it doesn't exist. The first unit on the scene clocked two shooters fleeing the premises, wearing, get this, creepy kids' masks."
"This city is really going to shit, huh?"
"Coming from the guy dressed in spandex?"
"It's not spandex, it's leather. And you used to like it. A lot, if I recall."
"God, please un-remember that."
"Etched into the data bank, Eudora."
"And we're done," Eudora says, walking away.
"Yeah, well, you go fill out your forms while I go hunt these animals down. And Detective," Diego says, causing the detective to turn her head. "I do give a shit."
She gives a sign of acknowledgement before walking away.
Beeman sighs. "I still can't get over the fact that you two used to..."
"Not another word, Beeman," Eudora says. "Not another damn word."
Timeskip
"Helen…" Vanya says to the first chair when she sees her in the bathroom. "You were great today. Really, really great."
"Thanks," The girl awkwardly replies.
"It's those runs in the Stravinsky. I've been hacking at them for weeks, and you just—"
"Make them look easy?" Helen asks. "What's your name again?"
"Vanya."
"Vanya," Helen repeats. "And how many years have you been stuck at third chair? At a certain point, it's not about practice. It's whether you've got something special. And maybe you just… don't. You can put in your 10,000 hours, or… you can go find something you're actually passionate about and stop slogging away at Stravinsky like a scared 13-year-old. Think it over," She says before leaving.
Timeskip
Cha-Cha held a hot hair curler over her wound, a sizzle sounding.
"…at an RV Park. But they can have generators on them, they can have their own tanks for waste, everything. All these materials, this is what I'd use on a normal house…" The man in the TV says.
"I don't understand how you can watch this crap," Cha-Cha tells Hazel.
"You don't find it interesting, how ordinary people live their lives?" Hazel asks. "They're agonizing over kitchen cabinets as if the entire fate of the universe rests on whether they choose azure blue or asparagus green."
"And your point is?"
"Sometimes there's beauty in the mundane, you know?"
"Well, then, this is the most beautiful room I've ever seen," Cha-Cha says before a whooshing sound interrupts their conversation.
They get up and retrieve the tube from the bathroom.
"Seven percent reduction in payment due to job delay. Furthur reduction every 24 hours until job completion. That is just…" Hazel says. "I mean… It's only been one lousy day. Let's see 'em get out from behind their desks, get their hands dirty for once. Damn lazy bastards."
"Are you done?" Cha-Cha asks.
"Yeah."
"Well, let's get back out there and kill this little shit."
Timeskip
"You need help?" Y/n asks as she gets the first-aid kit.
"Easier than doing it yourself," Five shrugged, moving aside as Y/n sits on the bed.
Y/n rummages through the kit before putting on latex gloves. She dips a cloth in water before gently cleaning the wound by gently dabbing the cloth on it, getting rid of the excess blood. She inserts the thread through the needle before carefully stitching the wound together, cutting the excess off before placing a plaster on it.
She looked up after nuzzling the plaster down onto his skin. Her eyes flashed a brilliant blue like his before they faded back to their natural green.
"Why were your eyes blue?" Five asks.
"They weren't blue, silly," Y/n says, thinking he was playing a game. "My eyes are green and always have been," She smiles.
"Okay, but the day at the mall…"
"The one where we almost died?" Y/n asks.
"Your hair turned brown," Five said as Y/n tilted your head.
"That's impossible…" Y/n says.
"Let's go," Five says, deciding not to bother with it as he headed out the window with his uniform on.
"Damn it, where's Dad's stuff?" Klaus asks, looking through the rubbish bin. "Shut up! I'm trying to find whatever priceless crap was in that priceless box so that Pogo will get off my ass!"
"We would ask what you're up to, Klaus, but then it occurred to me… I don't care," Five responds, catching Y/n who thought it would be a good idea to jump down from the ladder.
"Strong arms," Y/n comments.
"Hey!" Klaus laughs. "You know there are easier ways out of the house, buddy?"
"This one involved the least amount of talking. Or so I thought," Five says.
"Hey, hey, hey, so… You need any more company today?" Klaus asks. "I could, uh… clear my schedule."
"You seem pretty busy," Y/n comments.
"Oh, this? No, no. I can do this whenever. I'm just," He says, falling into the trash can. "I just misplaced something. That's all. Oh! Found it! Thank god!" He said as he held up a half-eaten glazed donut before taking a bite of it. "Delicious."
"We're done funding your drug habit," Five said, walking away.
"Come on! You don't… Maybe I just want to hang out with my siblings. Not you. ¡Mi hermano y hermana! I love you! Even if you can't love yourself!" Klaus yells before they drive off in a van. [My brother and sister!]
Timeskip
"Oh, shit!" Five says, opening the bag and taking out Delores. "Sorry you were in there for so long, Delores. No, I'm not drunk. I'm working. Yes, it's about the eye thing."
"Okay. Can we talk about this thing?" Y/n asks.
"What thing?"
"Me using your power and us somehow being able to communicate to each other telepathically."
"Right…" He said. "I don't know."
"Let me try something," Y/n said before spatial jumping to the back of the van. "This is amazing," She cheers before teleporting to the front again.
Five raises an eyebrow before holding his hand out, and a glass of spirit flew into his hand. "Holy shit! You know, I was going to wait till the doctor comes out but, at least we know how to entertain ourselves now," Five says.
Timeskip
"I don't like this anymore than you do, but she's hiding something," Luther tells Allison.
"Hiding?" Allison asks. "To me, she just sounded confused."
"Well, uh… you saw the tape. Grace knew what she was doing."
"'Grace?' This morning, she was Mom."
"She's a machine, Allison."
"Who read to us and cleaned up after us and put us to bed. And then we left her here, alone, in this house for 13 years," Allison scoffs. "I mean, no wonder she lost her mind. To be away from your kids?"
"Hey, what happened with.. Claire? With Patrick?" Luther asks. "You never told me."
"Yeah, I don't wanna talk about it."
"It's just… when we were kids, we used to sit in here and tell each other everything."
"Yeah, and then we grew up," She snapped, sighing before telling Luther the story. "Things got ugly between Patrick and me. Now the court says I have to do this mandatory therapy thing before I can have visitation."
"What for?" Luther asked as Allison looked at him. "You used your power on her."
"I mean, there were days where she's have these epic meltdowns. And no matter what I said, she wouldn't stop. She was three then, and I…" She says, sitting on the couch. "I know that's what three-year-olds are supposed to do. So I said I would do it that one time. Only it wasn't just that one time. I told myself any… parent with my power would do the same," She scoffs again. "That it wasn't wrong. I just had an advantage. I mean, from the time I was little, I used it to get everything I wanted. With Dad, with my career," She sighs. "But now, I know nothing in my life was real. So I'm starting over. I just didn't think it would be so hard."
"It'll get easier," Luther comforted the girl. "Some things just take time."
"Yeah," Allison replies. "And some things just stay broken."