Our most wonderful beta, cartoonanimegirl, is taking a break from editing this fic to focus on schoolwork and so the next few chapters will not be checked for errors or the likes. Sorry if this causes any trouble! The beta shall return soon enough, no worries!

Now onto a chapter that includes some of my favourite character interactions of this whole story~

Anna loved her half-brother, she really did. Apart from Laura and (maybe) Tabitha, there was no one else in the world that understood her and worked around her better. Despite their differing views on their shared mother, and their rocky beginnings, the two of them had clicked perfectly together. They were as thick as thieves and that would never change.

But sometimes, Anna found, Kurt could be a really inconsiderable asshole.

Such as today, when he arrived at her apartment 10 hours early and told her that he had already been on the way to the train station before texting her the previous night. She forgave him when he presented her and an irate Kitty with a case full of quarters - enough to last them months of laundry.

Then Anna went back to being mad at him when he told them that he had already done his finals the week before. And that he had only done three exams.

Screw his German ass to Hades and back.

Still, he had agreed to keep out of their hair while they studied away and had even gone to keep Illyana company for today. He wasn't all bad.

In the middle of studying the wonders of 1700's feminist literature, Anna decided to take a short break to check on the resident feline, only to find Kurt and Illyana making the tomcat jump on Piotr's bedroom door with a laser pointer. Spending their time wisely, obviously.

"Mein lieber, jou look like a sausage." Kurt said as he swiveled around on the wooden floor to face his sister. Illyana laughed and did the same, picking up Lockheed like a furry baby.

"Excuse you, Ah'm a fabulous potato." Anna scoffed, rubbing at the dark circles forming under her make up-less eyes. She spared a glance to the familiar main room of her neighbours' home, feeling the space freed up with all the furniture pushed up against the crusty yellow walls. She was surprised Piotr hadn't come out to make a comment about it already.

"How's tha cat? Do ya have tea? Ah need tea or Ah'll murder a man."

"You und your tea." Kurt rolled his eyes, taking Lockheed from Illyana as she got up to march into the kitchen.

"Ve have berry tea." Illyana called out through the window gap in the wall separating the kitchen from the main room. Anna walked over and peered through, smiling at the faded scent of ginger that wafted from the stove top beneath her.

"Yeah, that'll do. Don' make it too hot." The blonde nodded and dumped a tea bag into a tall mug.

Anna muttered her thanks and plonked herself into an armchair squeezed between the couch and coffee table, sprawling all over it. Kurt loomed over her as best he could and dropped the cat onto her lap.

"Jou dead yet?"

"Yeah, sugah, Ah'm dead." Anna replied darkly, rubbing Lockheed's side.

"Vhat a shame." He tutted and shook his head, shadows of a smile teasing the age-old joke between them that they stole from an old Disney film. Lockheed curled up against Anna, purring loudly and rubbing his nose on her arm. She stroked his back, popping a few kinks in her neck as she did so. She would have to invest in one of those neck pillows soon; Kitty would waste no time quoting Leslie Knope to her once she had it on.

A quiet ding beeped from the kitchen and Illyana returned to the siblings with a steaming mug. Anna took it eagerly and drank. It was far too hot and watery for her liking, but it still hit just the right spot.

"Ohhh, this is good stuff." She moaned, to which Lockheed stared at her with wide amber eyes. Illyana chuckled and nestled herself against the back of the couch that was facing the TV wall.

"How study go?" She asked, crossing her legs.

"Judging by previous experience," Kurt started, leaning against Anna's seat and poking around her face. "No sleep, no food, un' vorst of all, no tea."

"And waaay too many books for mah likin'." Anna rubbed her sore eyes again. She had actually been getting a lot of sleep, but staring at a screen for hours on end didn't do her corneas any favours. She couldn't imagine what Kitty felt like, the young prodigy believed that all-nighters were the key to a good GPA. She had even caught her friend napping over her laptop the other morning. Piotr would have been horrified, but she doubted that he had even seen a hint of Kitty's erratic sleeping schedule since they hadn't heard much from the Russian giant in the last couple of days (not that it was intentional; sometimes they were too busy to even think).

"It be over soon." Illyana said, smiling softly. Not soon enough.

"Ain'tcha startin' ya course soon, Illyana?" Anna asked, veering far away from the brain-aching topic of finals. The younger woman perked up and nodded, fiddling with her fingers.

"Da, next month. I have to catch up on work, though."

"Maybe, maybe not." Anna shrugged. Late semester students sometimes got nice teachers who gave them a few projects to get them up to speed and earn course credits. Others… were not that lucky. "Ah'm sure Kitty will help ya either way."

Illyana brightened up at the mention of her best friend. "Da da, I know."

"You're starting in ze January semester?" Kurt blinked. "Jou have been living here for months."

"Lots of reasons." Illyana rolled her shoulders, not meeting his golden eyes. "Learning English, passing entrance exams, helping Piotr…"

Illyana gave Anna a pointed look at the mention of her brother, and Anna remembered what she had told them of Remy's hospital trip. Of course experiencing something like that would put anyone off going to college for a long while.

Kurt looked between the two women and their silent conversation. He was curious… but he knew that Anna would literally bite his head off if he dared ask about it.

"How have you 'n' Kurt been gettin' on?" Anna asked, glancing at her brother but keeping her shoulders squared and tight.

"It's been pretty good." Kurt answered, smirking. "I've been telling her about Chekov."

"Oh my God, you nerd." Anna mumbled, rolling her eyes hard enough to be heard across the sparse room.

"It is interesting," Illyana laughed. "I never watched those shows."

"Zen we moved onto Soviet Russia memes."

"How am I related t' ya?" Anna rubbed her eyes, suddenly too tired to complain anymore. A nap sounded really good right now, but she and everyone else knew that waking her up would be an absolute nightmare. She could last a couple more hours.

Kurt just laughed while Illyana smirked. Anna should have known that Kurt would corrupt the sweet Illyana with his internet memes and dank culture that had taken over his personal life. She had lost count of the times he had Rick Rolled her in the last year alone. No doubt Kitty helped him with the URL re-routing that had tricked her more often than not.

A loud Russian curse then echoed throughout the apartment, making Illyana jump up and Anna almost spill her tea on the cat.

"Piotr?" Illyana called out, heading to the closed door that hid her brother's bedroom-slash-studio. A muffled Russian reply filtered through, which sent Illyana running to the bathroom before either of the guests could register the panic.

Anna sat up and Kurt pulled himself up straight, watching Illyana - arms full of towels - run out of the bathroom and into Piotr's room. He turned to his sister, confusion plastered all over his face. He was met with a deep concern from her.

"That didn' sound good." Anna stood up, despite her protesting joints aching beyond her bones and a comfy Lockheed. Nothing short of a Remy situation called for a double Rasputin panic, and she knew that nothing he got into would need towels in Piotr's room.

Anna signaled for Kurt to stay back and she went straight in. A wave of oil and paints hit her nose almost instantly, blinding her to the scene until she was further in it. Illyana was on the wooden floor, spreading towels out and lifting cardboard boxes onto them; Piotr was sat on the edge of his large bed with his shoulders slumped and head in his hands.

She stepped forward. Water splashed against her bare feet and she jumped back to turn on the main lights. A huge puddle had formed under the easel leaning against the far wall and had spread to the rug and pile of boxes sat in the opposite corner of the room from where she was standing (was that the stuff Piotr was smuggling in for Remy? Yeesh).

"What happened?" Anna asked, edging around the water and pulling up a dry corner of the rug. Piotr mumbled a reply in Russian.

"He's exhausted." Illyana translated, throwing aside a soaked towel for a slightly less soaked one. "He knock over paint wash, all over boxes."

"That ain't like ya, Pete." Anna said, wishing for more windows on this side of the building. The tiny one near the ceiling letting in a flicker of sunlight wasn't enough for this rug. She rolled it up and hauled it onto her shoulder. "Save that floor first, or downstairs will complain to tha custodian."

"Da, da." Illyana nodded, only half listening. Anna walked out with the rug, trying to recall if the custodian would be around at this time. If they could explain to her what happened before anyone complained or even noticed, she would help keep the floorboards mould free without charge.

"Anna, vhat happened?" Kurt asked, idling by the couch. Oh good, he still listened to her.

"Kurt, go int' Illyana's room, get out on the fire escape 'n' hang this out." Anna said. "Don't take ya eye off it."

"Ooookay?" Kurt raised an eyebrow as he walked over, eyeing the dripping mess. "Are jou going to explain?"

"Soon," She answered. "Ah'll be right back."

Anna rolled the rug onto her brother's slim shoulder, cracking her back, and then left him on his own. Kurt blinked, balancing the wet rug and wondering just what on Earth he had gotten himself in to.

Nonetheless, he made quick work to slip into Illyana's room, open the window and throw the rug over the fire escape, all while hearing the Russian conversation in the next room. Illyana sounded worried, and he could barely hear Piotr. He mindlessly wondered what they were saying as he sat down in a beanbag and watched the rug hang.

It wasn't exactly… 'weird' of Anna to not tell him details of her private life, but in other instances that he could remember, he hadn't been as directly involved in whatever was going on as he was right now. He never liked feeling out of the loop, but right now he felt like he was a galaxy away from the loop.

Kurt pulled out his phone, checking his e-mails and messages, as well as keeping an ear out for his sister. Illyana and Piotr were still talking quietly, and Lockheed was mewing in the main room, probably just as confused as he was. Or maybe he was just hungry, he could never tell.

A door opened and Kurt sat up at the sound of Kitty's voice, standing up to open the door and poke his head out.

Kitty, clad in her pink pajamas, was cuddling Lockheed, staring at the misplaced furniture and muttering under her breath. She looked like death with her pale face, messy untied hair and dark eyes, all without her usual layers of make-up. Illyana stepped out of Piotr's room carrying a box and spotted her friend.

"Katya, you're here!" The blonde put the box down and went to hug Kitty tightly. She hugged back and yawned.

"Yeah, da… I heard a noise here." Kitty rubbed her eyes and cracked the kinks out of her back. Illyana shot her a sympathetic look.

"Piotr's like you. Not sleeping."

"Wait, he's what?" Kitty's voice raised, her eyes snapped open, and Kurt stepped back into the bedroom; he knew that look all too well to stay close when she wore it.

Illyana just nodded, putting the box on the couch and batting away Lockheed's curious paw. "He's been so worried about Remy, deadline, work. He be running himself thin."

"That man…" Kitty grumbled, putting Lockheed down before marching over to Piotr's door. She knocked once and let herself in, Illyana quickly stepping in after her. Kitty ignored the strong stagnant smell of paint oils and instead focused on the man slumped over on the edge of the bed. Piotr glanced up at her as she came closer.

"Katya."

"Hey, Pete," She greeted, voice firm. "What'cha been doing?"

"Vorking."

"I see." Kitty sat herself next to Piotr, resting her head on his bicep. "You're working yourself to death."

"Not." Illyana scoffed from her side of the room, making Piotr straighten up. "I am not."

"Pete." Kitty gave him a stern look, wrapping her arms around his forearm. "This isn't healthy. You need to rest."

"I try-"

"Try again." She leaned up, kissing his cheek. Piotr froze in place, cheeks flushing bright. "Your best friend is counting on you right now, and you can't help him if you're tripping over buckets here."

Piotr regained himself, hunching over and shaking his head. Kitty patted his hand, smiling softly as she sighed through her nose.

"I know, but you gotta do it for him. Painting can wait." She added quickly before standing up. Piotr looked up at her, all too sorry for himself. "You can't sleep in here, the fumes might kill you."

"You can sleep in my bed, Piotr." Illyana offered, clearing up the wet towels.

"Or on our sofa-bed. Anna won't mind." Kitty offered as well, running her hand through his short hair and smiling when he leaned into the touch.

"Da, that be good…"

"I'll let her know." Kitty said, nodding to Illyana. She then pulled Piotr to his feet, which was far easier than it should have been, and kept hold of his hand. "Illyana, will you be okay here with Kurt?"

"Da, no worry." Illyana smiled, following them out with her arms full of towels wet and dry. "Ve can start dinner."

"Sounds good, huh Pete?" Piotr nodded and Kitty giggled, leading him out of the apartment with Lockheed following. Illyana dumped her mess into the laundry basket, watching them from the doorframe.

"We make big feast for you."

"Can't wait!"

Kitty led Piotr into her apartment and sat him on the kitchen island before going to clear up the souch space to pull out the bed. Some minutes later, when she was straightening the blankets and pillows before Lockheed got onto them, Kitty heard voices in the corridor and peered over to the open door to see Anna with the custodian woman.

"Anna!"

The Southerner whirled around at her name, catching sight of Kitty and the sofa bed. She let the custodian into the other apartment before entering her own.

"Before ya ask, Pete's not in trouble." Anna said, leaning against the wall and brushing her hair back from her eyes. "Ah told 'er it was a big accident 'n' she's gonna fix it."

"Thank God." Kitty sighed in relief and ran a hand through her loosened hair. "That's one less thing to worry about, and Piotr is going to sleep here by the way."

"Prosti…"

Anna looked over to the island, seeing Piotr sat down and munching on one of her juicy Granny Smith apples. She bowed her head to him.

"Good, we'll keep a close eye on ya."

"Spasibo…"

"Time for rest, Piotr." Kitty jumped up, clapping her hands loudly, and moved away from the now-habitual sofa-bed. She maneuvered Piotr to the inviting blanket and pillow pile, which he promptly collapsed onto. She tucked him in, smiling when Lockheed curled up into his side. "We'll be in our rooms if you need anything."

Piotr's body softened in reply, relaxing into the thick pillow under his head and falling into a deep rest for the first time in days. Anna watched him for a few more moments before turning back to Kitty.

"You're sure this is okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Kitty answered, resting back against the couch and rubbing her eyes again. "It'll be quieter over here and we can keep an eye on him without worrying Illyana."

"She owes us big time."

"Let everything calm down first, then we'll worry about that." Anna nodded in agreement, throwing the apple remains into the waste bin. She thought back to the past few days again, trying to pin down moments she had caught snaps of Piotr. Not much came to mind, but even so, had Illyana not noticed anything?

Or had she, and had chosen to stay silent as to not deter her beloved brother from 'working'? She was a sweet girl, but she trusted his word far too much, rather than her own judgement. She could have seriously hurt him-

No, she couldn't blame Illyana for trying to help, if that was the case. Piotr could have easily hid everything and only slipped up now, trying to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders. A man of steel, he was not.

The Rasputins were going to be the end of her.

Not that she had too many regrets about it.

"We should probably tell Kurt." Kitty suggested out of the blue.

"Yeah, before he tweets 'bout it or somethin'." Anna agreed, fixing her own pajamas and wishing she still had her cup of tea. It was probably cold now, dammit. "How?"

"Your brother, your problem." Kitty shrugged, skittering away to the bedrooms before Anna could get a word in. She glared after her.

"Great."

0XX0

Kitty's first exam came the day after and she went off early in the morning with seven hours to sleep powering her, and she texted Anna to pick her up later in the afternoon. Returning to the apartment closer to the evening, they dumped paper bags of ice cream, peanut butter and Nutella onto the kitchen island, then rearranged the TV to face them before settling down and eating away to an episode of Parks And Recreation.

Kurt left the room in disgust; Illyana lay over a beanbag to watch the TV, and Piotr took over his assigned couch with a bowl of nachos stolen from Kurt.

"Katya, how did exam go?" The Russian giant asked, throwing a look over the couch to the women sitting away.

"Shhh,no Devil talkin'." Anna barked, waving her messy spoon at him. He raised an eyebrow.

"It helps to talk. I would know, I graduated college."

Kitty and Anna turned their heads to each other, conversing through eyebrows, shrugs and tilted chins, then went back to Piotr.

"No Devil talk."

Anna had two exams the next day, both concerning her Literature major, and no one heard a single thing from her until Kurt called her phone for dinner; she was on the roof.

He went up to the flat top of the building, wrapped up in several scarves, and walked out onto a scene he had only ever seen in history books (and wished he had never come up alone).

Anna was standing in front of a metal trash bin, clad only in pajamas, holding her hands over a tall fire roaring from the bin. She looked over to Kurt, bags heavy under her green eyes and lips twitching from the cold.

"Hey, bro'!" She called out, standing with her back to the flames and a lazy smile creeping Kurt the hell out.

"I...Is zat legal?" He asked. He scooted closer, trying to peer into the fire without losing his eyebrows.

"Probably not." Anna smiled more, shifting on her feet. "Ah call it 'Alexandria'."

"...You're burning books?!"

"Eyup."

Kurt opened his mouth to squeak a reply out, but no words came to him. He stood limp in front of the bin, spying a burning cover of Jane Austen's Classics & Influence. A very specific library edition. Anna was so dead.

"Why…"

"Don' worry, Ah'll pay for damages."

That wasn't all that he was worried about; he didn't remember acting like this when he did his finals! He was thankful that, after Kitty's next exam and a few hours before Anna's, he brought lunch to them in Anna's darkened bedroom and found them watching videos on a laptop. Far better than library book burning.

"...ask the bread loaf that's baking in my vagina?!"

Okay, now he was curious.

"Vhat are you watching?"

"Pooping Barbie's, shaddup." Anna barely lifted up her head from her pillow. Kitty grunted in agreement.

Kurt blinked, then put the bag of food next to the laptop. Kitty snapped up and grabbed it fast, peering into it and inhaling the cashew nuts that had been tucked under the past flask. Anna reached in, pulled out an orange and picked at it, never breaking eye contact with the screen.

"Do you need anything else…?"

"Red Bull, four cans of Monster, a big flask an' a shit load of sugar packets." Anna answered, flicking bits of orange peel away. One hit Kurt as he stared in horror. He had seen such madness in his first college roommate; he never saw him again after the second serving.

"Zat- That vill kill you!"

"Worth it."

Kurt prayed that she would never get off her bed to hunt down the murder caffeine, or at least regain her sanity before she regretted it forever. He found himself transferred from cat sitter to full time lifeguard. Quite literally too.

He was returning from the laundry room the day before Anna's last exam and the day she left for home, reaching the resident floor from the stairwell, when he stepped into a wet puddle and was greeted with a water balloon to the face.

"High score!" Illyana pumped her arms in the air and jumped out into the corridor with a big smile, dripping hair and clothes soaked to her back.

Anna stepped out of her apartment, laughing loud when she spotted her wet brother."Oh my God, Kurt! Ya look so ridiculous! "

"I feel it too…"

Piotr and Kitty poked their heads out of the opposite apartment, spotting Kurt as well (Kitty was bone dry and Piotr was twice as wet as anyone else).

"Hey, happy elf!" Kitty came out, trying not to giggle at Kurt's deep pout, and took the laundry bag off of his hands. "Thanks, we're gonna need this."

"I...They...a-are either of you packed yet?! You're supposed to be studying!"

"Took a break." Anna tossed the laundry from Kitty to their hopefully dry armchair, then stretched her arms out without a care.

"With water- Have you learnt nothing?!" Kurt seethed, glaring at his sister and friend as strongly as he could. They took no notice.

"Tossing balloons, not buckets." Piotr said, though he quickly regretted it when Kurt sent the piercing glare in his direction. So the anger came from that side of the family.

"Don' freak out about it. We clean up good; last tests ain't 'til tomorrow, an' it's a super easy one for us." Anna tugged Kurt through the sloppy carpet and into the dry safety of their home. He kept glaring.

"We packed everything last night too." Kitty patted his back as he passed her and Piotr. "No need to worry about anything else."

"Ah already paid for a taxi t' take meh to the airport tomorrow. Kit's got s bus route planned for tha day after, an' Pete's got a tank full, right?" Anna looked to Piotr, who just nodded.

"I am going to have a hernia before New Year…" Kurt grumbled. The last thing he wanted was to spend the holidays alone in hospital.

"You stress too much under pressure." Illyana stated, ringing her long blonde hair over the kitchen sink. Piotr gave her a sharp look and she just shrugged it off. She wasn't wrong.

"Everything's gonna be fine!" Anna pulled off her wet socks, flinging them dangerously close to a napping Lockheed. "We just need t' survive tomorrow."

"We'll make it to Cheer Nationals and beat Tanya's ass into the ground!"

As Kitty and Anna laughed and shoved him onto the couch, Kurt was sure that he felt his eye twitch and red creep into his vision. He was sure they were giving him some payback for the short notice he pulled on them to stay over for the week. Anna was conniving like that when she wanted to be, and she always made him regret every sin of his.

He was sure of it, since now he could feel the revenge tearing his sanity away.

0XX0

In the late hours of the night, under the cover of darkness in Piotr's drying room, his phone hid in the shadows of the bedposts and suitcases stuffed under the bed frame. The screen flashed dimly, vibrating slowly with an alert for a new message before the exhausted battery would finally give up and wait for a recharge.

Remy LeBeau to Piotr Rasputin,

Message received at 23:33, 18th December 2014:

[[HElP]]

I'm going to Special Hell™ and you're all coming down with me.