She woke up to the sound of a crash. Thea rubbed her eyes and looked around for Five. She'd fallen asleep in his room after last night's emotional talk. The room was empty of both her brother and Delores. She frowned in concern but shrugged, assuming he must have had something urgent to do. She could hear shouting outside.
"I love you! Even if you can't love yourself!"
Klaus? Thea was confused, what was her brother doing outside? She decided to take a look, ignoring that she wasn't yet dressed. She climbed out of Five's window and onto the fire escape. Looking down she could see her brother inside a dumpster holding a half-eaten bagel.
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked trying not to laugh.
Klaus jumped in surprise and looked up at where Thea stood slightly above them both. She had an eyebrow raised in amusement. Klaus discreetly glanced to his left at Ben, who sat on the side of the dumpster looking up. Klaus grinned at Thea. "Hey sis! What's up?"
Thea laughed, "What are you doing in the rubbish?"
Klaus scratched his head, "Uh, dumpster diving?"
"And why exactly would you need to dumpster dive for? As I've said, for what must be the millionth time, I buy you everything already!" she exclaimed, exasperated.
Klaus looked away and pouted, "Fine. I'm trying to find whatever priceless crap was in that box I took."
"Maybe it's already been taken away with the rest of the trash?" she asked.
Klaus groaned dramatically. Thea laughed and jumped down from the fire escape, landing on the side of the bin. She sat beside Ben - something Klaus wanted to laugh at - without realising.
Klaus looked at Thea to see she was still in her pyjamas. He gave her an odd look. Thea frowned, "What?"
"Why are you still in pyjamas?" he looked up at where she came from, remembering Five jumping down there only minutes before. "And were you in Five's room?"
Thea was confused, "Yeah? Why what's wrong with that?" she looked down at her attire and turned slightly pink. "Oh. I guess I forgot. I should have probably put on a jacket..." Klaus thought so too. She was only wearing silk pyjama shorts and an oversized shirt that Klaus was sure used to belong to Ben. It was clearly too big for her petite frame and was slipping off her shoulders.
Ben looked at her like Christmas had come early. Klaus rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Why were you in Five's room?" he asked impatiently.
"Why, you jealous?" Thea snarked back. Klaus huffed. Thea shook her head, "I wanted to talk to him about some stuff, you know, with how we left things before he disappeared..." she looked down, "I just didn't want him to hate me. I missed him so much." She teared up.
Klaus' expression softened. When they were younger, he often couldn't help but be jealous of her and Five's relationship. Thea and Ben were close, sure, but their relationship was different, Klaus knew were he stood with them. Ben couldn't replace him because their bond was romantic. Her relationship with Luther and Diego was never as close as with him, and with Allison and Vanya, it was different. They were her sisters. But with Five...
Thea and Five had a close brother/sister relationship, and unlike with Ben, there were no romantic feelings to separate their bond from his own with Thea. Klaus could admit to himself - deep, deep down - that he was often annoyed at their closeness. Ben always reassured him that Thea was his twin, nobody else's and that that kind of bond couldn't be beaten by anyone. Not even Ben's own with Thea.
Klaus couldn't help all these emotions, but he still felt guilty seeing Thea's face now upset at the memory of her and Five. Ben nodded his head sharply at Thea, demanding Klaus do something as he couldn't comfort her himself.
Klaus made his way, rather awkwardly, towards his sister and held her hand. "I'm sure he doesn't hate you."
Thea sniffed before giving him a smile, "I know. I'm just so happy he's back. It's like we're a family again. If only Ben-" she choked up again before she could finish her sentence. Ben smiled sadly at her. Klaus felt the need to help. "I-I'm sure if he were...ever to appear, he'd um, he'd want you to be happy." He felt awkward talking about Ben like he wasn't there, but for now, he needed to pretend for the sake of his sister.
Thea smiled at Klaus' efforts to make her feel better. "Oh, I know he would, the big softie." She grinned lovingly at the thought of Ben. Ben let out an affronted sound at the 'big softie' comment but he still had an adoring look on his face.
Klaus just laughed at them both.
Thea had spent most of her day reading some of Ben's books. After talking to Klaus in the morning, he'd mentioned something about meeting Five with Diego and Luther and a van, but Thea had just nodded and left him to it. She didn't want to impose and just hoped Five would ask for help when he really needed it.
He's not a kid anymore. No matter how much he looks like one. I have to trust that he knows what he's doing and will come for help if it's needed.
She liked spending time in Ben's room, no matter the ache that came with spending time surrounded by memories of him. Hargreeves hadn't moved anything from his room - whether he couldn't be bothered or just didn't feel the need - Thea was grateful none the less. His far wall was covered in books and Thea liked to read them to feel closer to him. She was reading Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls when Klaus peered his head around the door.
"Here you are, I was looking everywhere for you. Should've known you'd be in here." He muttered the last part.
Thea bookmarked her place in the book and stood up. "Is everything okay?" she asked.
Klaus shrugged and continued eating his snack. "Something about a family meeting. Everyone's downstairs, they said to come and get you."
Thea raised her eyebrows but nodded. She followed him out the room and down the stairs, the book still clenched in her hand.
In the living room, all her siblings stood surrounding a TV monitor. "What's going on?" she asked.
Diego didn't waste any time making his displeasure known. "Luther's given up on his suspicions of us and now thinks Mom killed Dad." Thea was shocked, she looked to Luther, "Really?"
Luther pointed towards the screen and replayed the clip. Thea watched on in disbelief. Grace was stood watching as Hargreeves died on his bed. What the hell is going on...
Vanya's voice spoke out from the shocked silence. "Do you really think Mom would hurt Dad?"
Luther shot her down, "You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya. Maybe you don't know Grace anymore." Thea glared at his remark.
"That was unnecessary, Luther. We've all been gone for a long time, and I'm pretty sure we're all wondering the same thing she is." Vanya gave Thea a grateful smile for defending her. Thea walked over and squeezed her shoulder in support. Vanya was as much a member of this family as the rest of them, Thea believed she had the right to say what she felt.
"If he was poisoned, it would have shown in the coroner's report." Diego pointed out. Thea nodded.
"Well, I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes," Luther replied defensively.
"Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your vision," Diego took a step closer and pointed at the screen, "Look closer. Dad has his monocle. Mom stands up. Monocles gone."
"Oh, yeah!" Klaus laughs out, mouth stuffed with crisps.
Diego continued, "She wasn't poisoning him. She was...taking it. To clean it." Thea raised a brow at that. Cleaning his monocle as he lay there, dying?
"Then where is it?" Luther asked. "I've searched the house, including her things. She doesn't have it."
"Invasion of privacy or what," Thea muttered under her breath. Klaus snorted at her comment.
Diego looked down before admitting, "That's because I took it from her. After the funeral."
Allison turned to him, incredulously. "You've had the monocle this whole time? What the hell, Diego?"
"Give it to me," Luther demanded.
"I threw it away."
"You what?"
Diego took a step closer, pointing his knife "Look, I knew that if you found it on Mom, you'd lose your shit, just like you're doing now."
"He's got a point." Thea chimed in. Vanya nodded.
Luther took a threatening step forward and Diego raised his fists, but Vanya got in between them. "Look, I know Dad wasn't exactly an open book. But I do remember one thing he said. Mom was, well, designed to be a caretaker, but...also a protector"
Allison shook her head. "What does that mean?"
"She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy."
Klaus came to stand closer to where Thea now sat on the sofa, Ben sat on the armrest next to her. She had a frown on her face as she watched her siblings argue.
"Well, if her hardware is degrading then...we need to turn her off," Luther said. Thea winced at his tone.
Diego jumped up in anger, "Woah, woah, woah, wait. She's not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet." He shouted. "She feels things, I've seen it!"
"She just stood there, Diego, and watched our Father die." Luther pointed out.
"I'm with Luther." Allison declared.
"Surprise, surprise." Diego mocked. "Shut up." She sneered.
Diego, Luther and Allison turned to Vanya. She was flustered and stammered out a response.
"Yeah, she shouldn't get a vote." Diego dismissed.
"Hey!" Thea shouted at him and glared. "Not cool."
Vanya glared at him too, "I was going to say I agree with you."
"Okay, she should get a vote." Diego turned to Klaus and Thea. "What about you stoner boy? Know-it-all?" Thea glared at his nickname for her and Klaus.
Just because I can read minds doesn't make me a know-it-all. Not that there's anything worth learning from your brain, dickhead.
Klaus huffed incredulously, "Oh, so, what? You need my help now?" he mocked. "'Get out of the van, Klaus!' Well, welcome back to the van."
"Van? What van?" Thea asked. She turned to Diego and Luther, "Were you leaving him out of things again?" she glared at them both. Klaus put an arm around her shoulders, "Don't worry sis, they're all bores anyway."
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." He finished dramatically. 'No, I don't.' Klaus heard Ben say from where he sat beside Thea. Said girl sighed sadly before mumbling, "No, he wouldn't, Klaus."
Diego rolled his eyes and pointed at Thea, "Well?"
Thea rubbed her forehead, feeling a migraine coming along. "Look, I get where you two are coming from," she looked at Allison and Luther, "but I can't condone you treating Grace like she's not a person, after all she's done for us." She sighed, "Can't we just like, I don't know, see if anything is wrong with her wiring before assuming the worst?"
Luther shook his head determinedly. Diego cut in, "Doesn't matter, it's four against two."
"Vote's not final yet. Five's not here. The family has to vote. We owe each other that." Allison said.
"I mean, it wouldn't make much difference..." Thea mumbled.
Everyone agreed on waiting. Luther and Allison walked out whilst Klaus started heading upstairs. Thea watched him go and saw Grace stood in the entryway. Thea's heart dropped. Diego noticed her stare and followed it, seeing Grace too.
"Hey. How long you been here?" he asked quietly.
Grace had a faraway look on her face. She seemed to finally notice Diego, Thea and Vanya and smiled. "You all seem upset. I'll bake cookies." Thea sighed before following after her. "Hey, Mom? Can I help?" Grace turned to Thea with a loving smile on her face. "Of course, dear."
Thea turned and gave Diego a look. I'll take care of her. He nodded once, thank you.
Thea was in her and Klaus' room, finishing Ben's book from earlier on. Klaus had gone in the bath and she was waiting for him to come back.
She shot up when she heard what she thought was gunshots. Her first thoughts were that someone had gotten in the house somehow, but who? And how? Her second thought was of Klaus and how she could get to him in time. He had arguably the least combat-helpful power out of the six and if someone really was in the house, then she needed to get him safe. Quickly.
Thea jumped off the bed and rushed to the door. Peeking out she saw it was clear and hurried down the hallway as quietly as she could. Gunshots could still be heard from downstairs and Thea just prayed that the others were okay and that Vanya had gone home like she'd said she would.
When she made it to the bathroom, Thea looked inside and wanted to cry. Empty bath. This meant he'd gotten out and somehow hadn't heard all the noise, otherwise, he would've come straight to their room.
Thea heard footsteps coming up the stairs and quickly hid behind the door. From the glass of the door, she saw a figure wearing what looked like a pink dog's head walk past. The gunfire had stopped, but Thea was unsure where anyone else was and didn't want to leave Klaus defenceless. She felt guilty not helping the others as she knew her power would be useful, but Klaus needed her more.
Besides, she trusted her siblings to be able to defend themselves. I have to trust them.
Taking a steadying breath, Thea crept out of her hiding place and followed the direction of the masked intruder.
After a couple of minutes, the figure stopped, and Thea almost screamed as she saw Klaus stood there in a towel and headphones in, completely unaware of the danger he was in. Thea was frozen in fear and couldn't even think of trying to control masked figure's mind in her blind panic for her brother. Her throat was tight, and she only managed to croak out a shaky "K-klaus!"
Klaus seemed to hear her as he turned and noticed her, completely missing the masked figure that crept up closer from behind. Thea's eyes widened in horror and she shouted at him, "Run! Klaus run!"
Klaus' own eyes widened, and Thea hoped he'd finally gotten her message, but his gaze was focused on the second masked figure that now stood behind her, his arm raised.
Thea met her brother's frightened gaze before she felt something blunt hit her against the head. She heard her brother shouting her name as she fell to the floor.
Then all she knew was black.