AN: I've finished the story. There's one chapter after this left, and that'll wrap up the series, but part of me wants to add one more, a random throw-away chapter, but I don't know. Let me know what you think, and enjoy!

PS: Symeria, you're awesome!

Chapter 10

Episode 10

The building began to tremble. It shocked Andy out of her shallow sleep. After she talked with Klaus for a while, she went back to her tank to get her energy up even more, like a boost, but the way the world shook around her terrified her. Andy shot out of the tank, not bothering with the stairs and instead riding a wave of water up and over the edge. Earthquakes weren't entirely unheard of, but they were generally fairly small, tremors really. This wasn't that, and Andy sure as hell wasn't going to stay three stories below ground.

Her heart raced the longer she was forced to stand within the small cubicle of the elevator. She was terrified that it would snap loose and plummet to untold depths beneath the manor. The two-minute ride felt so goddamn long.

The shaking got worse by the time the elevator came to a halt. She didn't hesitate to throw the grate open and race out. Her pants thwacked against the hardwood and tile, her bare feet clapped, and more than once she thought she would fall on her face, but she did her best.

Andy rounded the corner that led to the foyer and almost ran face-first into Allison and Luther.

"What the hell is happening?" She yelled as the building continued to shake and pieces of it broke away and fell to the floor around them.

"Vanya," Luther said. "Run!"

He held Allison's hand and ran with her through the front door. Andy followed. They barely made it out and across the street before the building crumbled completely. The three of them hid behind a car as dust and debris filled the air.

A minute later, maybe two, when they were sure that everything had settled, they slowly began to stand. Andy stared at the rubble that had once been her childhood home. The entire estate hadn't been taken to the ground, but the heart of it, the main center of it, was now nothing.

As the shock of the moment began to waver just enough her mind could clear, Andy realized that Klaus was nowhere to be seen. A quick burst of panic filled her.

"Klaus?" She called out. When she was greeted by silence, Andy didn't hesitate to race towards the smoking debris. "Klaus?!"

She didn't care how many rocks dug into her feet, or how badly they were scraped as she clamored over the rubble, she only wanted to find Klaus. The more she called out, the less she heard in response. Panic began to grip her chest. She was terrified that she would see him buried beneath something heavy.

"Kla-" Her words were cut short when she spotted the thin young man in the leather pants. "Oh, thank God."

She ran for him as best she could through the blocks and he did the same. The moment he was near enough, Andy threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight. He hugged her in return, his fingers biting into her back while she fisted his vest. Tears threatened to emerge. He was the only other person she had left in the world. With Ben and Cleo gone and Vanya apparently nuts, she couldn't lose Klaus. She wouldn't lose Klaus.

"You got out." He said on a breath. Andy held him tighter. "Thank God. I thought you were still in the basement."

She shook her head as best she could. "I got out as soon as I felt the house shaking."

They eventually drew back and Andy couldn't fight the smile. She was just so happy that he was okay. Whether it had been appropriate or a good idea or not, Andy held his face and kissed him. It held no romance or passion, just unbridled relief. He reciprocated and when they parted, he took her hand. Andy held it for dear life.

It wasn't until Five joined them that the reality of the situation became even clearer than before. Vanya would destroy the world, Grace and Pogo were dead, and they had no idea how to stop it.

Without warning, a helicopter appeared overhead. The area was immediately flooded with light. In the distance, they could hear sirens closing in.

"Regroup at the Superstar!" Luther called out as they scattered.

They had been at the bowling alley for twenty minutes, and that seemed to be as long as Andy could stand listening to Luther talk. Every time someone else tried, he shot them down. Every time someone suggested anything, he acted like it was the dumbest plan he'd ever heard. Given he wasn't really known for his brains, it drew on Andy's nerves until, finally, she lost patience with him. They weren't kids anymore. He wasn't the boss.

"Since when do you get to call the shots?" Andy snapped.

Luther turned his angry eye to her. "I'm the leader." He scoffed as his eyes danced over her and he made a face, a face of disgust and disinterest –a face she'd seen from him a dozen times growing up. "Y'know what, I still don't even know why you're here. I mean, do you really expect any of us to listen to someone who's obviously mentally unstable."

He motioned at her arm which was on display because she'd never had time to grab a coat as the Academy came down.

Luther stood high on his pedestal, lording himself over everyone else as he spoke like he had since they were kids. He was surrounded in that air of superiority. It made Andy's blood boil. He wasn't better than them. He wasn't anything but a guy who could lift up heavy stuff. He wasn't smarter.

And finally, probably because she was emotionally stretched so thin after Grace and Pogo died, Andy snapped.

"You're not a leader!" She practically yelled. "Don't you remember what it was like when we were kids? Every mission you ended up being in control of, every mission, resulted in someone being shot, stabbed, broken bones, burns –a thousand problems. You're not a leader! You're a giant moron!"

"Hey!" He shoved himself out of his seat and closed the distance between them with one wide step. He glared down at her hatefully. "Dad made me Number One, one." Luther held up his index finger. "Because he knew I was the best choice, but you wouldn't know anything about that, Twist."

That was it. Andy lost herself in the rage he brought out. When they were kids, when she first came to the house, the others came up with a nickname for her. Being British and clearly from the streets, Luther and Allison thought they were oh-so-clever with it. They called her Twist, as in Oliver Twist.

Apparently, they didn't realize that Oliver Twist was the good guy, the always-kind-and-well-loved character. They just used it for the obvious comparison.

The memories of their taunts, their jeers, their overall "superior attitude" and the way they looked down their noses at her came back with a surprising intensity. While she tended to be ignored by them, whenever they "lowered themselves to speak to her", they were assholes. She couldn't keep it in.

"He made you Number One because you're the weakest!" She yelled. The air vibrated and a bevy of sodas and other drinks suddenly exploded within their cups all around them. "He made you Number One because the only thing you can do is lift up a boulder. What good are you, huh?" Then her voice dropped and took on a deep, hateful tone. "You've spent decades standing over everyone like you're the king or something, but everyone here is stronger than you and the Old Man knew it."

His bravado had wavered, but she could tell he refused to let it take hold. Luther, with his eyes still locked to hers, tightened his jaw.

"You don't know what you're talking about." He growled through his teeth.

"I saw it in his ledger." She shot back with the same intensity. Luther flinched.

Andy backed off. She took a step away, but kept her gaze on him. The guilt was immediate. She hadn't meant to say it, not really, she'd just lost control of herself and the words came spilling out. It was the hurt on his face that did it, the hurt that made her realize how terrible she'd been.

The air was tense, filled with the unease her declaration had caused. Andy finally tore her gaze away from Luther's and chose to look at anything else. As she ran her fingers through her hair, Five spoke.

"And?"

Andy shifted and noticed that literally everyone was staring at her expectantly. She chewed on the inside of her cheek briefly. The urge to deny it all, to wipe away her statements was there, but how the hell could she do it? Her power was water, not time travel or anything mental. Whether she wanted to or not, Andy explained.

"I went through the stuff in his office when I first moved in." She admitted.

"Why?" Diego asked with a strange sort of judging confusion.

"Because I planned to run away." She answered as though it was obvious. "I was going to take whatever I could and sell it."

Klaus grinned, Five didn't seem to care, but everyone else rolled their eyes as though saying, of course you were. Screw them. They didn't know. At that time, she would have done almost anything to get out of that house because only freaks made kids practice on cadavers.

"Anyway," Five said sternly.

"I found his ledger." Andy continued. "I didn't get the chance to read much, but it said that he named everyone based on their powers –the higher the number, the stronger the kid." They all glanced around. Andy knew they were taking their numbers into account and looking at their siblings to see if they agreed with Old Man's assessment. "I didn't believe it, though. I thought it was bullshit."

"Why?" Klaus asked curiously.

"Vanya's Number Seven." She replied. "Until a couple of hours ago, I thought she had no powers, so his rank didn't make sense."

There were a few nods of agreement amongst the others, but Andy knew they were still trying to figure out their place in their father's system. For the most part, Andy was surprised she agreed with Reginald on anything. If looked at from the outside, that list made complete sense.

"Yeah, well," Luther cleared his throat and seemed willing to move past what she said. "We still need to look objectively at this."

"No, that's bullshit." Diego snapped. "Vanya's still our sister."

"She's dangerous." He shot back. "She killed Pogo and Mom."

"I'm with Luther on this." Five said. "We're way past trying to save just one person. We have billions to worry about now."

"Hey, y'know guys, maybe I could help?" Klaus chimed in.

"Not now." Luther grumbled.

"Hey!" Diego said sharply. "Let him talk." The shock was instant, and Andy wasn't the only one to show it. Diego never catered to Klaus. "He saved my life today."

What happened next was perhaps one of the strangest things Andy had seen in a while (that didn't involve bloodshed). Klaus threw a bowling ball at nothing and while part of her wanted it to magically start floating because Ben caught it, she wasn't surprised when it didn't. Unlike the others, she believed Klaus when he said that Ben had punched him earlier that day. There was too much sincerity in his eyes for her to think anything else, so it broke her heart just a little that no one else seemed to care.

"For just once," Luther said angrily. "Do you think you could silence that voice in your head that just screams for attention?"

"Ya know what? I liked you a lot better before you got laid."

Everything went silent. The others were clearly shocked, but Andy couldn't help but smile wide in disbelief.

Klaus immediately tried to backpedal, but only made it worse. Andy loved it. She happily laughed at the entire situation until Allison stormed off angrily, and Luther followed after. When he did, Andy watched them disappear. Her confusion returned. Was Allison angry that Luther had sex with someone else, that he finally lost his virginity? Seriously? Didn't she get married and have a kid? So, did she expect him to wait around for her and never have any fun of his own?

Bitch, Andy thought to herself.

She took a seat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs and was prepared to go back into her own head when a plump woman with bright red hair and glasses suddenly appeared right beside them. A skinny boy was clutched firmly to her side.

"Excuse me!" She said in a chipper tone. "Uh, it's my son Kenny's birthday today and wouldn't you like to play with kids your own age? Assuming it's okay with your two dads."

Klaus and Diego looked at her with wide eyes. Andy fought the snicker, but didn't fight too hard.

Five, the angry little old man, leaned forward and said, "I would rather chew off my own foot."

The redhead flinched and looked utterly mortified by his cold tone.

"What a rude little boy." She said under her breath as she grabbed Kenny and shoved him back to their party.

Five, still upset for God-knows-what reason this time, shoved himself to his feet and stormed off. Andy couldn't help but grin. So much weirdness came spilling out just seconds after such a tense argument. She was relieved, honestly.

Everything had been so calm. Everything had been so nice.

Until they showed up.

Men dressed all in black wearing gas masks and carrying automatic weapons opened fire on the Hargreeves family. Luther and Diego ducked behind one tower of bowling balls, while Allison, Klaus and Andy hid behind the other. Luther and Diego did their best to keep them back, but there were so damn many of them, and they didn't have much to fight with. Klaus had even used Kenny's birthday cake.

"They're blocking the exit!" Klaus yelled over the music.

"What's the plan, Luther?!" Diego shouted angrily.

He didn't speak, but Allison had an idea. She slapped at Andy repeatedly and pointed sternly down the lanes. Everyone else slowly began to realize what she meant.

"Okay," Luther called out. "On the count of three. One,"

"Wait!" Andy yelled.

Luther scowled at her. "We can't wait!"

She glared back. "Just wait!"

For seconds, nothing seemed to happen, until, finally, a dense fog began to roll across the floor. It moved as though it had a mind of its own, but it didn't. It was being guided by Andy.

A few of the family tentatively peeked out from their hiding place and saw that a wall of fog so thick they couldn't see through it, had formed around the shooters. While the soldiers still did their best to fire, they couldn't actually aim at anything.

"Go, go, go!" Diego shouted.

Now shielded as best they could be, the Hargreeves children and Andy launched to their feet, and raced down the bowling lanes. The sound of blind gunfire followed them, but they were so close. They only needed to run a little faster, to make it through the hole that led to the back room, and they would be safe.

He dove, ready to slide along the bowling lane like they did in the movies when he heard Andy cry out. Klaus spun in time to see Andy drop to the lane, clutching her bleeding arm.

"Andy!" He shouted. The outburst drew the attention of his siblings, but being the closest, Klaus was the one to clamor toward her. On his stomach, half-slithering and half-crawling, he reached her. "How bad is it?"

Blood seeped through her fingers, but when he peeled them back, he was encouraged to see that it was nothing more than a graze. He sighed and his head dipped. She'd survived worse.

With a heavy smile of relief, he looked up at her. The smile instantly faded. Andy's eyes, already brilliant blue in color, glowed. Her lips were set in a tight line and he could feel the rage emanating from her. It was a little frightening.

Andy slowly rose to her feet, no longer bothered by the gunfire. In the background, Klaus heard Luther and Diego screaming at them to hurry up, but Andy didn't seem capable of hearing anything, not even when Klaus tried to get her attention. Her focus was solely on the shooters in the distance.

What followed was both horrifying and incredible.

The wall of fog disappeared in an instant, revealing the half-dozen men. They were slightly confused for only a moment before they noticed the clear line of sight. They took aim, and that was when she reacted.

Two shooters suddenly went completely still. Their backs arched, forcing their chests toward the ceiling. They shook and trembled like they were being electrocuted, but the truth was more horrible. Blood soon poured out from beneath their masks, gallons and gallons of it, and rose into the air like living tendrils of crimson. Andy swept her hands to the side and the blood, suddenly a dangerous projectile, sliced into and through two of the other shooters. It skewered them before it fell to the carpeted floor with a sickening thwack.

Another shooter took aim at Andy again. She clenched her fists and jerked her hands down. The shooter screamed in pain as his body contorted. He was pulled viciously to the floor in such an unnatural way that –from what Klaus could hear- every bone in his body had broken, as though someone had dropped a giant weight on him, maybe even a car, but there was nothing except Andy's will.

But there was still one left. With a ferocious roar, Andy spread her arms wide and brought her hands together with an intense clap. The last of the shooters vanished in a puff of torn black fabric and red. He'd exploded, his body vaporizing in an instant. Klaus had seen her do something similar to dry herself off, some little maneuver that pulled the water off her skin, but this was so disturbingly different. She had made a man explode from the inside out.

The entire space went eerily still. Music still played and disco lights still fluttered across the walls and floor, but nothing moved. There was no more shooting.

Klaus slowly rose to his feet and out of the corner of his eye he could see his siblings emerging through the maintenance door that led to the back where they'd been hiding.

"Holy shit," Klaus heard Diego mutter.

Eyes gradually shifted to Andy, mouths hanging slack in shock. She swayed on her feet as she turned around. Before she could even manage the simple task, Klaus saw her eyes (back to normal blue) roll into her head.

She collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.