A/N: KNOCK KNOCK.

I wrote this thing a while ago, but totally forgot it was ready to be posted. It's not my best work, but it's decent enough in my opinion (Drama, yay!) and it's an update. This is the third week in a row that I'm posting something here. Can you imagine how proud I am? Because I'm really, ridiculously proud.

KTF CLM

Friday, the 27th of September 2030

It was the week after Claudia's third birthday, and Joshua was on his way home from school. His gaze was locked to the screen of his notepad, or maybe rather the numbers, words and shapes drawn on it. To most people, they looked like pure chaos. It was confusing, but the boy knew exactly what he was looking at.

What he didn't know, was how he was supposed to get out of the mental dead end he found himself trapped in. He somehow managed to figure out most of the theory, but it was like there was something missing. Something the experiment stubbornly refused to work without.

The thirteen year old bit his tongue, visibly frustrated. If he wouldn't have known every inch of the way from Tesla High to his family's house, he would've probably tripped or walked into a tree, and broken his nose.

Eventually he approached the building, the one Jo finally managed to get done with her self-designed shooting range and Zane's home laboratory. Looking up from the screen for the first time in minutes, Joshua hesitated. The sheriff's Jeep was parked in the driveway. That couldn't be good. Of course, sometimes their 'Uncle Jack' would simply visit, sometimes with Allison and the kids. But somehow, the boy doubted that this was a meeting over coffee and cake.

He took a deep breath in, more or less forcing himself to move his feet forward and walk inside. Once he was in the hall, his steps automatically slowed down. Joshua listened closely, and heard voices coming from the living room area. First Carter's, then his mother's. It seemed like they were still waiting for him before the serious part would begin, because he could also hear Claire throwing in random questions.

Joshua cautiously stepped into the doorway, hesitantly clearing his throat. He just wanted to get this done, so he could go back to work. Even though that was also a worry of his. What if the sheriff was here because of his favorite project? But how should he know? By then, Joshua trusted Claire blindly. They still weren't best friends, but they got along and had each other's backs. And she was the only one he talked to about this.

All three of them turned their heads to look at him, but for a few seconds nobody said anything. Taking a closer look, Joshua noticed just how tense they were. Claire seemed to try to hold her breath, Jo seemed downright nervous and Jack was sending him an apologetic smile.

"Josh, hey. Damn, you remind me more of Zane every day. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing."

The sheriff raised from his seat on the sofa to offer a hand to the boy, still with that obviously forced grin glued to his face. The kids all liked him, but in that moment Joshua felt like he was going to be sick.

He politely accepted the greeting, showing off a tightlipped smile of his own.

"Well, considering you're here in full business attire, I guess it's not so good today."

Josh rolled his lips in, stepping back again. His sister moved closer to their mother, effectively making space for him to sit down. As far away from the sheriff's seat as possible. The boy sent Claire a grateful smile, taking his place beside her. When he talked to her, he kept his voice at a low whisper that was barely loud enough for her to understand.

"Speaking of the devil, where's dad?"

The girl replied just as quietly, pulling her feet onto the seat.

"Upstairs, with Dia."

She didn't have to say anything else, he got the message. The grownups didn't want the three year old to be in the room for this conversation. Which only confirmed what Joshua had been afraid of. This was serious.

On one hand, he really wanted to ask what the frak was going on. But on the other hand, he was pretty sure that he didn't even want to hear it.

But of course, Jack had to take that decision away from him.

"Josh…" He paused, his gaze drifting towards the boy's younger sister. "Claire, would you mind…"

"I'm staying."

"Claire…" Jo started her sentence, but never got to finish it.

"No." The girl gritted her teeth, trying to stay calm. "Mom, please. I want to stay."

Her brother nervously cleared his throat, shrugging to seem nonchalant. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind it if she stayed."

Jo could easily take a look between the lines. She knew that Jack wouldn't like it, but her children wouldn't leave each other's sides any time soon. And if someone asked her, the woman would admit without hesitation that she was proud of them.

The sheriff turned to look at his former deputy, a questioning expression on his face. He was silently asking her if she thought there was any sense in trying to ask the girl to leave, but Jo merely shrugged.

"You heard her. She's staying."

The man sighed, raising his hands to clarify that he surrendered. After all, he had known from the very beginning that Donovan and Lupo genes would be a dangerous combination. He already couldn't keep either of their parents in check, and he knew nobody who could, so he most likely wouldn't be surprised if their offspring took over the world.

"Okay. So, you probably all guessed by now that I'm not bringing good news."

"Yeah, well I don't know about you guys. But I've never opened the door for a cop who just wanted to hand over a basket full of puppies."

Claire's interruption earned her two glares and a slight smile from beside her.

"You know, dad told you a thousand times what he thinks about pets."

"And I told him a million times that I want a real dog, not a robot."

"There's a huge difference between robotic and bionic, Clary."

"They're still not real!"

Jo's eyes jumped in between her kids. She knew this discussion all too well already. One time, they somehow managed to come up with more and more reasons why they were right and the other was wrong for over an hour.

"Hey! Focus ahead."

They both turned to look at their mother again, swallowing silently. While they sunk back into their seats, Jack decided to finally get this over with before they came up with something else to discuss. After all, none of them wanted to see Jo exploding.

"Guys, I'm here as part of an investigation. We're looking for a thief."

Before Joshua could even begin to defend himself, his sister spoke up again. She sat crisscross, leaning her head onto her fists.

"So? What did they steal? And what does this have to do with us?"

"That sort of ends up in the same sea." The sheriff earned a group of questioning glances. He hesitated for a moment, looking straight at Joshua. "Someone took some… end of the world thingy, from a laboratory in Section 5."

Jo shifted in her seat. She didn't believe that Joshua was guilty, but that was exactly why she felt so uncomfortable letting Carter ask in first place.

Meanwhile, the gears in her son's head were turning. Despite sitting at the very end of the sofa, he was starting to feel trapped.

"And you're here because I was there to help our father out a few days ago."

It was a statement, not a question, but Carter nodded anyways.

"Yeah. Around the time it happened only one of those… electronic key cards logged into that lab. And that was Zane's. But he has an alibi."

The whole room seemed to tense. They could all hear the question in between the lines, long before the sheriff dared to say it aloud.

"Josh, did you have anything to do with this?"

Nobody said anything at first. They all dealt with a thousand thoughts each second, running rounds and rounds in their minds. Jo had convinced herself of her son's innocence. The crime wasn't even all that severe, since it didn't hurt anyone (yet). It only pissed off some already mad scientists. But it just didn't sound like Joshua. Claire, on the other hand, wasn't so sure anymore. If he really stole something, she knew for what. It was that damn project of his. His obsession. She kept telling him to take a break, but he just wouldn't listen.

That was when Jo broke out. She jumped onto her feet, sending her former boss a dark glare.

"This is absolutely ridiculous, Carter!"

"Jo, I'm merely following the proto-"

"I don't care about your goddamn protocol! It's my son you're talking about. I told you he's innocent."

Jack seemed to be out of words. In the end, it was Joshua who tried to interrupt his mother's rant somehow.

"Mom, I'm-"

"I can't believe you're even here!"

"Could you please just-"

"I thought you trusted my judgement!"

When Jo just kept on yelling at the sheriff, Joshua took a deep breath in. He raised his voice to the highest volume he could reach, jumping off the couch.

"He's right, okay?"

While Jo and Jack seemed to freeze, Claire winced quietly. They hadn't seen this coming, but she had been afraid he would say something like that.

Carter stayed silent. He felt like this should firstly be cleared within the rows of the family.

Claire was mentally weighing her options.

Jo just didn't know how to react.

Nobody said anything, and that drove Joshua crazy.

"Mom, I… I just reached a dead end with one of my projects. I heard about another project, and I thought it might help me. I needed those parts, okay. I just… Please say something."

She swallowed silently, barely returning from her shell shock state of mind.

"What is it? What are you working on, that could possibly justify stealing something that might kill you, or others?"

"I…" Joshua hesitated, studying the floor. After a few seconds, he just shook his head. "I can't tell you."

"Joshua…"

Before Jo could even just choose another word to say, her son stormed out of the room and up the stairs. They could hear how he threw the door shut behind him, and that was the second Claire's choice fell.

She saw her mother stepping forward and towards the stairs out of her eye's corner, and quickly reached out to catch her arm.

"Mom… wait." The girl turner her head to face the sheriff, sending him an almost begging look. "Uncle Jack, could you… maybe talk to Aunt Ally and Uncle Henry? Set damage control into motion? Please."

He would be lying if he said that her sincere request didn't surprise him. She was so quiet, so doubtful. So unlike herself. After a few seconds, he made up his mind. He nodded slowly, and got up to leave.

That was when Zane came down the stairs. He looked at their faces, and he could read them like a book. He drove his hand through his hair, slowly approaching them.

"So he…"

Jo nodded. She had switched into automatic mode again the second her son left the room.

"Claudia?"

"In her room."

That was the moment Claire forced herself to stand up and face the situation. She took a deep breath in, switching between looking at her mother and father. Neither of them quite met her gaze though. Not until Zane noticed how she stood there. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest. One of her hands was drawing small circles on her other arm, while the other kept reaching for her hair. She was constantly shifting on her feet, and she was chewing on her lower lip. He knew that image inside out.

His last doubts were washed away when he tried to look into her eyes. She had been trying to get him to do just that before, and now she suddenly seemed to have trouble deciding what was more interesting: the floor or the ceiling.

"Claire? What's going on?"

The girl swallowed. Now she had her parents' attention. It was time to talk, before things could get any worse than they already were.

"Actually, I'm glad you're both here."

Claire tried to force a smile, but she had never been a friend of pretenders. She uncrossed her arms, folding her fingers instead. It was yet another automatic habit of hers, when she couldn't find the words she desperately needed in a situation like this.

"Mom, dad. There's something I need to tell you."