──-ˋˏ☂︎ˎˊ-──

"NO, YOU can't wash your hair with maple syrup!" Freya called after one of the twins, but she was ignored, and she watched as he darted up the stairs. She threw her head back with a groan, one of her hands running up her face as she started after him. "Lucas, get your—"

The rest of her sentence was cut off short by the sound of the doorbell ringing. She pursed her lips and glanced between the door and the stairway, before sighing and walking to open it.

Her eyebrows raised once she saw Allison standing on the porch. "Hey," she greeted, confused. "What're you doing here?"

"Nice house," was her response. "Can I come in?"

Curiously, Freya stepped aside so Allison could enter. The door shut behind her.

"Something happened," she said after a moment of silence. "And I just need someone to talk to because this is absolutely insane, and I'm pretty sure you are the only person I know with actual brain cells."

That was probably true, Diego and Klaus used to compete over the length of their toe-nails. Freya refrained from shuttering at the thought. They brought rulers out and everything.

"Luther and I found some old tapes...long story short, he thinks Grace killed our Dad."

"Holy shit," Freya knew her brows were sky high. "But, you don't think..?"

"I'm not sure," Allison confessed with the shake of her head. "You think you can manage to slip away? We're trying to have a family meeting so we can discuss it."

"You're sure the others are okay with that?"

Allison blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not a Hargreeves. I'm just some girl who used to come over all the time. This isn't my place."

She watched as Allison bit her bottom lip. "Fine. I'll tell you the truth." Freya's stomach clenched. "We need Klaus to sober up in order for him to use his powers. And I doubt he'll even show if you aren't there. Luther asked me to come and get you."

At Freya's expression, Allison hurried on. "Look, it's really not that big of a deal. You can't get mad at me, or Luther. It's a known fact that Klaus listens to you. You're the only person he respects."

"Allison, you can't just come in here and tell me how I'm supposed to feel. Well, actually, technically I guess you could. What, are you gonna rumor me to not have some weariness when it comes to the Hargreeves family?"

Allison looked like she'd been slapped. Freya felt like a complete asshole, but didn't apologize.

"I won't force you to come," Allison said. "I know you have a pretty simple life here, so I totally get it if you want to stay away from our chaotic mess of a family. But I also know that no matter how much you try to deny it, you're curious about what happened to Reginald, too. So don't feel like you can't come back to the house, okay?"

"Sure," Freya replied shortly, and at the same time, a loud crash came from upstairs. She glanced towards the stairs, followed by the sound of yelling. "I'll think about it, alright? But I'm not gonna make any promises. These rugrats are hard to control."

Allison paused at the doorway, and turned to face her again with a small smile played on her lips. "Trust me, I know." She cleared her throat. "I hope I'll see you there."

──-ˋˏ☂︎ˎˊ-──

Somehow, luck seemed to be on Freya's side, because the Jenkin's came home for the night, and she was off the hook for nannying. Although, she didn't know if she would consider that luck. She'd much rather be in her own bed watching television instead of the replaying tape in front of her that showed the exact same thing every time. Grace gives Reginald something to drink, he passes out, and she leaves.

"I mean, do you really think Mom would hurt Dad?" Vanya asked from the couch, and Freya squinted her eyes as the clip started over again. "It's not like her."

"You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya," Luther said sharply.

"Huh," Freya mused. "Says the guy who's been on the moon."

"If he was poisoned, it would've shown up on the coroner's report," Diego pointed out, coming to stand next to Freya with his arms crossed. She shifted on her feet and briefly glanced at him, but his gaze was solely trained ahead.

"I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes," Luther replied.

"Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your vision," Diego shot back.

Freya smirked. "Nice one, Leatherface."

Diego didn't miss a beat. "Shut up, peabrain."

"I was being serious, genius."

"Look closer," Diego said, brushing past her towards the TV. Her arm felt like it had been lit on fire, and for a second she thought Diego managed to piss her off that she started a flame. Fortunately, that was not the case. "Dad has his monocle, Mom stands up, monocle's gone."

"Oh, yeah!" Klaus mused, swirling the liquid in his cup around. Freya eyed him. The whole point of her being there was to get him sober. Silently, she stepped over to him, and took the item. Klaus opened his mouth in protest, only for his jaw to fall on the floor when she melted the plastic in her hand. "Freya, what the fuc—"

"She wasn't poisoning him," Diego continued, interrupting Klaus as he went to lean against one of the side tables, "she was taking it. To clean it."

"Then where is it?" Luther wondered, and Freya fell onto the couch next to Vanya. She kicked her legs onto the coffee table, crossing them as her eyes scanned the room. "I've searched the house. Including all of her things. She doesn't have it."

"You're a nosy little shit," Freya commented.

"I took it from her," Diego said, holding up one of his knives, and the group turned to look at him in shock. "After the funeral."

"You had the monocle the whole time?" Allison demanded. "What the hell, Diego?"

"Give it to me," Luther ordered.

"I threw it away."

"You what?"

"Look, I knew that if you found it on Mom, you'd lose your shit, just like you are now."

"Moon-Man is angry, better watch out before he goes all Hulk smash on you."

"Diego, you son of a bitch," Luther sneered. The boys went into fighting positions, and Vanya rolled her eyes.

"Calm down," Vanya said, but they ignored her, continuing to take threatening steps towards one another. With the wave of her hand, Freya sent a spiky ice shard flying between the pair, and they both leaped back in fear. The icicle crashed into a far wall in the other room, hitting the ground before it shattered into a million pieces.

"Vanya's right. Enough," Freya stated. "You guys are worse than the two toddlers I nanny."

Vanya pushed herself off the couch with a sigh. "Look, I know dad wasn't exactly an open book. But I do remember one thing that he said. Mom was, well, designed to be a caretaker, but also as a protecter."

"What does that mean?" Allison wondered.

"She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy," Vanya explained.

"Well, if her hardware is degrading then...we need to turn her off."

"Woah, woah, woah, wait," Diego protested. "She's not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet! She can feel things, I've seen it."

"She just stood there, Diego, and watched our father die!" Luther yelled.

"He treated us like shit but he treated her like a slave," Diego snapped.

"You can't be serious about this," Freya argued, heart sinking. She remembered all the times she'd fallen and bruised her knee. Grace had been the one to patch her up and make her feel better. Grace had been the one to comfort her when she came out of Klaus' room crying because of what her uncle said to her hours beforehand. Grace was the one who baked her a cake for her sixteenth birthday. Maybe she was a robot, but there was a kind of love there that only a mother could have. "She literally raised you!"

"I'm with Luther," Allison declared before anyone else could say anything.

"Surprise, surprise," Diego muttered sarcastically.

"Shut up."

Diego and Luther both turned to face Vanya, who glanced uncertainly between the two. "I-I don't—"

"Yeah," Diego cut her off. "She shouldn't get a vote."

"I was gonna say that I agree with you."

"Okay! She gets a vote. Freya's pretty much made her point on this as well, so we're looking to you, stoner boy."

They glanced toward Klaus, who was leaning against one of the columns, looking a mix between amused and surprised that they had included him. His head lifted off the column, and his eyes darted between the group.

"Oh, so what, you need my help now? From 'get out of the van, Klaus' to 'welcome back to the van, Klaus!'"

"What van?"

Luther scoffed. "What's it gonna be, Klaus?"

"I'm with Diego because screw you! And if Ben were here, he'd agree with me," Klaus said, before he turned his head and suddenly hissed at the air. Freya shared a brief look with Vanya.

"So that's four to two," Diego concluded. "We win."

With a scoff, Luther briskly walked out of the room, and soon, Allison trailed after him, leaving the remaining members of the group to stand there in silence. Movement from across the room caught Freya's eye, and she spun to see Grace standing at the doorway.

Diego followed her gaze, his dark eyes landing on his mother, before he slowly made his way over to her. Freya and Vanya walked behind him as he gently placed his hand on Grace's arm. "Hey," Diego greeted softly. "How long you been here?"

She didn't answer immediately, her eyes glossed over as she stared at the ground. Finally, after about thirty seconds, she glanced back up. "You all seem upset. I'll make cookies."

They watched as Grace strutted her way to the kitchen, her heels echoing throughout the quiet house. All Freya could do was frown.

"Well, that wasn't weird at all," Freya said after a beat of silence. "But I'm not gonna turn down some cookies."

──-ˋˏ☂︎ˎˊ-──

Sleeping in Klaus's room was nothing foreign to her. When they were younger, Allison used to tease them about it. Everyone seemed to think there was something going on. But Freya would rather eat a cactus, and she was positive Klaus felt the same way. They were just two people who needed a sense of stability in the world—and for Freya, Klaus had been the one person who kept her afloat as a teenager.

What was strange to her, however, was the firing of gunshots that had her jolting upwards in the bed. She was convinced she was hearing things, but when the sound continued, she quickly pushed herself up, and slowly pulled open the door, glancing out both ways before she exited.

Freya hurriedly made her way down the hallway, and went to turn a corner before she crashed into something hard. She was immediately shoved against the wall, a clammy hand placed over her face. Freya stared at Diego through wide confused eyes, but he put his finger up to his lips, a signal for her to stay quiet. Her heart thundered in her chest, the last time they'd ever been this close was—

"Come on," he whispered.

It was when she nodded that he removed his hand from her mouth, and the two of them jogged down another hallway. More gunshots rang out behind them, and Freya shrieked once one flew by her leg. Diego grabbed her hand, and before she could even register what he was doing, the two of them were already flying over the railing.

Diego landed on the floor smoothly, but Freya fell awkwardly to the ground, groaning as pain flared up her side. Like she was the lightest thing on the earth, Diego lifted her up, and pulled her behind one of the couches, breathing heavily, but silent regardless.

Footsteps approached, and the two of them ducked farther below the couch, sharing terrified looks. Diego shifted on the floor, his elbow smacked against one of the side tables, and the room immediately erupted with gunshots. Bullets flew from every angle, they bounced off the walls, repelling onto the floor and rolling by their feet.

Freya lifted one of her hands into the air, surging a wind gust as an attempt to redirect some of the bullets. But before she could figure out if her plan had worked or not, one of the burglars grunted, and the gunfire stopped.

Allison's strained voice called out for help, and it was then that Freya realized she was being choked. Diego leaped into action, jumping onto the man's back as he repeatedly punched him, but to no use. Freya quickly pulled Diego's arm off of the man, before a flame emitted from her palm, and she aimed it at his pants.

The burgler screamed, instantly dropping Allison, and she fell weakly onto the floor just as Luther came charging in. He threw the man back into the parlor, before he turned back to the three of them.

"Who the hell are these guys?!" Allison asked, breathing heavily.

"You're welcome," Luther said dryly, his gaze darting between Freya and Diego.

"I was doing just fine!" He protested. "Freya's the one who almost set the house on fire."

"News flash, idiot, my fire is the one thing that saved Allison's airwaves. So shut up."

"Yeah, you really had them," Luther commented.

"Ever heard of a rope-and-dope?"

Gunshots fired again, and they all ducked. Freya's instincts kicked in, and her arm came up, she felt the air in the room change drastically as the ice wall in front of them grew taller, trapping the bullets inside it. "Holy shit," she managed through her surprise. "Forgot I could do that."

They quickly ran out of the room, splitting up as Luther lunged at the man, while Allison and Freya hid in the basement. Ducking under the pool table, she watched as a pair of shoes slowly made their way around them. Allison reached up to grab one of the cue sticks, and pushed herself up to wack the burglar over the head.

The two fought it out, but eventually, Allison was hit in the face, and she fell against the table.

"Wanna rumor this punk or what?" Diego's voice asked from the archway.

"No. This bitch just pissed me off," Allison informed, before she spun around, her fist swinging into the burglar's face. Diego grabbed a knife from off the bar, throwing it at her just as Allison fell to the ground.

"What?" Diego asked as Freya crawled out from under the table. "You chicken out?"

"You had it covered," Freya answered, raising. brow. "Unless you're admitting you needed my help?"

Allison scoffed. "Let's go. Luther's in danger." The three of quickly ran back up the stairs, only to find Luther standing above the other nameless man.

"Oh, yeah. In so much danger," she murmured.

They regrouped, the four of them coming to stand in the middle of the room, catching their breaths. A sound suddenly rang from overhead, making them look up. "Get out of the way!" Luther yelled, shoving Allison towards the floor, as Diego roughly pulled Freya back. She landed on the hard tile with a groan, just as the chandelier fell onto the blonde.

"Luther!" Allison screamed, sharing a panicked look with the others.

The only sound that emitted from him was grunt as he slowly lifted himself up from the ground. Freya gawked at him. His shirt had been torn off, revealing his chest—that looked far from human at all. His arms were completely covered in hair. She didn't know how to describe it.

"Holy shit," Diego muttered, mirroring her thoughts.

Freya continued to stare at him in complete and utter shock. She didn't even realize that her mouth had been hanging open until Diego nudged her in the stomach.

Luther was a werewolf?

──-ˋˏ☂︎ˎˊ-──

author's note:

rewritten as of 2/5/22