Five had sat in this tin can of a van the whole day, only leaving to use the bathroom and grab some snacks from the variety store across the road. Most of the afternoon had been spent listening to Delores' chattering and fiddling with the mysterious glass eye.

Five watched as a group of kids passed by the van, kicking a soccer ball back and forth between the three of them. His thoughts began to drift back to when he had first arrived in the apocalyptic world.

Jumping from the van he had hot-wired, he stepped out into the desolate remains of the world. All around him he saw the world had been decorated in broken buildings, dusty rubble and fire. "No!" he cried as he spun in circles, trying to find a trace of life anywhere. Someone. Anyone. Anything.

"...ive! Five!" Luthor's voice cut through the memory, jerking Five upright where he had been leaning against the driver's window and towards the voice where Luthor was trying in vain to climb in the passenger's side of the van.

"What are you...oh my God" grunted Luthor as he finally heaved his huge frame in the van and closed the door, "You okay?"

"You shouldn't be...how' d you find me?" retorted Five

"Um..." muttered Luthor as both he and Five turned to look at Klaus who had Delores wrapped in his arms, huddled in the back of the van amongst the hardware.

"Hey, a little privacy, guys. We're really hitting it off back here" teased Klaus, holding Delores close to his chest.

"Get out!" demanded Five as he threw rubbish at Klaus who ducked and used Delores as a shield from the objectiles, "You can't be here! I'm in the middle of something!"

"Any luck finding your one-eyed man?" asked Klaus as he leant forward in between Five & Luthor.

"No" muttered Five angrily.

"What's he talking about?" asked Luthor

"Does it matter? It's Klaus" excused Five, "What do you want Luthor?"

"Um, so Grace may have had something to do with Dad's death and Thea may have known something about it. So I need you to come back to the academy, all right? It's important"

"It's important' You have no concept of what's important"

"Hey!" interjected Klaus, not liking the sudden turn the conversation had taken, "Did I ever tell you guys about the time I waxed my ass with chocolate pudding?...It was so painful" he laughed, happy that he got at least a grin out of Five before he turned away. Luthor was a harder nut to crack.

"What are you still doing here?" demanded Luthor, no longer in need of his services.

"Aye, aye, aye..." protested Klaus trying to come up with an excuse.

"What?"

"I-What? I need an excuse to hang out with my family?" he asked, hand over his heart.

"We're trying to have a serious conversation here"

What? I'm incapable of being serious? Is that what you're saying?"

"Luthor's got a point, you should get out" added Five, tired of the conversation already.

"What?" gasped Klaus, before hopping out of the van and making his way towards the variety store on the corner, "Fine!"

"What the hell are you up to?" asked Luthor, trying to get to the bottom of all of this.

"You wouldn't understand" replied Five dismissively.

"Try me. Last I checked, I was still the leader of this family"

"Well, last I checked, I'm 28 years older than you"

"You know what your problem is?"

"Really hoping you'll tell me"

"You think you're better than us. You always have. Even when we were kids" sighed Luthor finally spitting it out, "But the truth is, you're just as messed up as the rest of us. We're all you have...and you know it"

"...I don't think that I'm better than you, Number One" retorted Five, grin falling from his face as Luthor continued to talk, "I know I am...I've done unimaginable things, things you couldn't even comprehend" he chucked darkly.

"Right"

"Just to get back here and save you all"

At that moment, Klaus burst from the corner store, arms and coat laden with products and an security man chasing after him, blowing his whistle and shouting for him to stop. "Hey bitches!" called Klaus as he ran across the road, dropping a few things here and there.

"You get back here!" demanded the security man still running after him as Klaus jumped into the taxi that had pulled to a screeching stop to avoid hitting the two.

"Now I'm starting to wonder if that was the wisest decision"

Later that night back at the academy, Thea stood in the shower, the hot water raining down on her as her thoughts drifted lazily. It had been an odd day. She had refused to leave the house, too scared that another Mog might find her. Where there was one, there was always more. They were like cockroaches that way; just a little harder to kill.

Then there had been Luthor and Alison's interrogation in the courtyard. They hadn't said in so many words, but she gathered that they thought she may have been involved in their father's death. Or at least known about it. But really? Why would she want to kill her employer? She'd have no where else to go if she had...except may prison.

Another twinge of pain pinged in her back, making her shift again. It had been doing that a lot today, it really worried her. The last time she had felt like this Three had died. Sighing, she ran her hands through her hair, washing the suds out as her thoughts moved to the past once more.

"Come on, Four!" called One as she ran down the stairs, garbed in festival clothes.

"How will the Garde ever become a solid council, if they can't even leave the house for festivals on time?" called Elder Pittacus as he walked down the hallway, hurrying the children along with his patience waning thin.

"Behind you!" called Four as he slid passed his grandfather and down the hall.

"I can't find my hair pin!" cried Seven, hurriedly shifting through her drawers, throwing things to the floor as she did so.

"It needed a little bit of polishing after the last ceremony" comforted Elder Solon, placing said hair pin Seven's hair.

"Thanks, Solon" whispered Eight before rushing out of the room, correcting her garment as she went.

Solon walked down the hallway, passing Elder Thales and Bias as they herded more of the children garbed in their festival clothes towards the door. "Ready to go?" she asked the pair, earning a smile and nod in return.

"Where are my shoes?" called Five as he ran across the hallway, into another room.

"Oh! Nine! Get down from there!" called Solon as she reached upwards and pulled the laughing Nine down from where he hang from the ceiling, catching him and shooing him out the door once he was upright.

"Oh Six!" called Solon as she stopped the girl who was trying and failing to tie the Samghâti of her robes.

"It keeps falling down!" complained Six as she let go of the fabric to let Solon to it up right.

"There we go" said Solon as she finished tying off the knot, before sending Six on her way.

"...Thank you for this honour..." came a quiet voice that trailed off as Solon appeared in the doorway.

"Remember Ten, just focus on a spot away from everyone else and you'll do fine" said Solon quietly as she came to stand in front of Ten, hands on her shoulders.

"...You think so?" asked Ten , looking up at Solon.

"I know so"

The ever familiar sound of gunfire rang throughout the small bathroom, pulling Thea from her musings, now dressed in her pajamas (an oversized graphic t-shirt with an cartoon alien on the front with the caption 'She's beauty, she's grace, she came from outer space' and cat print boxer shorts), she made her way into the hallway, tying her hair into Dutch braids as she did so.

Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary. Who would be shooting in the house? Pausing to listen, she heard the faint sounds of fighting coming from the living room. Grabbing the decorative Viking axe off the wall, Thea cautiously followed the sounds towards the living room.

The scene she came across was not what she was expecting. Luthor, Alison and Diego were all fighting two masked intruders armed with rifles. The same two mask gunman who had been after Five at the thrift store. Shit.

Ducking behind a pillar to avoid the bullets that the gunmen had fired off into the room as a distraction. Thea peeked around the corner to see that the two had split up. The feminine voiced puppy mask heading one way, the masculine voiced bear mask heading the other.

Gripping tight to the axe, Thea followed the Puppy quietly as she could, loralite covering her skin once more. The thin layer, a comfort against the unknown person in front of her. She waited until the Puppy had her back to her, before she attacked.

Swinging the axe down as hard as she could; she fell to the floor as the axe lodged itself in the woman's arm. Unfortunately, the axe didn't do much damage, it was only decorative after all and Thea quickly dropped it in favour of hand to hand.

The masked woman quickly pulled the axe from her arm and flung it to the side, where it clattered to a stop. "You little shit!" cursed Puppy as she pointed the gun at Thea and began firing at will.

Bullets ricocheted off of the loralite, chipping away chunks and leaving cracks as they did so, with teeth bared Thea launched herself forward again. A quick glance over the gunman's shoulder revealed Klaus in nothing but two towels and a pair of headphones.

A punch to the head with the butt of the gun knocked her to the floor and left her feeling dizzy. It also brought her attention back to the fight at hand. Rocking back onto her heels Thea went to attack again when she felt something heavy hit her in the back of her head. Darkness fell quickly, a loud thump fell next to her as she heard a voice say "Got 'em"