Sinnerman - Nina Simone

The next day I woke up around ten-o-clock. I felt well rested even though I slept in my own, decidedly uncomfortable, bed. As I lay there, I tried to listen to all the sounds in the house and from what I could tell, I was the only one home. Aside from Grace and Pogo that is. It wasn't often that there was no one in this huge house so I hopped out of bed and turned my radio on loud.

I started dancing around my room in my blue plaid pajamas and black tank. It wasn't long before I danced my way out of my room and down the hall. I was in my bare feet but I didn't care. I was taking advantage of the moment. I sat on the railing and slid to the bottom of the grand staircase and nearly fell when I reached the bottom but managed to catch myself.

I picked up an ornamental goats' skull that was on the sideboard and danced with it into the dining room. I set it down on the table and spun my way back into the foyer to go across to the living room but stopped abruptly when I saw Luther, Allision, Diego, Klaus, and Vanya all looking at me from the front door.

"Oh, uh, hey guys."

"Did you sleep here?" Allison asked, eyeing my attire before walking into the living room.

I looked down and crossed my arms, "Of course I did. I have a room here too you know." I said as I followed her and everyone else into the living room, "I got in late, you wouldn't have known."

"Don't you have your own home?" Luther asked.

"Yes, but it's not exactly... fit for living right now." I explained.

"Why not?" Vanya asked.

They all turned to me and I scowled as I pointed at Klaus, "Ask him."

Klaus looked shocked as he pointed to himself, "Me? What? What did I do?" He was playing stupid but he knows what he did.

"The other night when you were over! You trashed my place!"

He held up his pointer finger, "If I remember correctly, we both trashed your place."

"You're the one that gave me the drugs to make me lose my mind!" I exclaimed.

"You gave her drugs?" Allision turned an accusatory eye toward Klaus along with everyone else.

He held up his hands in surrender, "In my defense, I didn't force her. I offered and she didn't say no." He shrugged and then leaned on the back of the sofa facing the bar.

"I was drunk! It's not like I knew what I was doing!"

"I'm just hearing a whole lot of excuses." He turned to the empty space beside him and giggled before turning back to the rest of us.

"Klaus! There is a knife lodged in my TV!"

Klaus put his finger on his chin and looked toward the ceiling, "Oh that... you were trying to imitate Diego and it went horribly wrong."

"No shit!"

"You tried to imitate me?" Diego asked smugly.

I shot him a glare, "Probably imitating how much of an idiot you are."

"Well actually..." Klaus started but Luther cut in.

"We can deal with that later. Right now, there is something more important we have to discuss." He said and pointed to the small old school tube television that he placed on the bar.

"Was that always there?" Klaus asked.

Allison and I rolled our eyes and I turned to Luther, "What is it this time?"

"New evidence that dad was murdered."

"This again?" I sighed and slumped down next to Klaus on the back of the sofa, "When are you going to give this up?"

"It wasn't Luther who found it. It was me. Play it." She gestured to him.

Luther pressed play and we all watched with interest as Grace brought tea into Mr. Hargreeves room. Mr. Hargreeves started to drink his tea before seeming to have some sort of seizure. What was weird was Grace didn't do anything. She just took his monocle and left the room. I stood up and took a step closer as Diego replayed the scene again.

"Do you really think mom would hurt dad?" Vanya asked as it was played again.

"You haven't been home in a long time Vanya. Maybe we don't know Grace anymore." Luther said. Grace, not mom.

The whole time Diego was silent as he kept rewatching the security footage, until Luther said that, "If he was poisoned, it would have shown up in the coroner's report." He said to Luther as if he was stupid.

Luther pointed to the screen, "I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes."

"We don't even know what we're seeing Luther." I said, defending Grace.

"Maybe all that low gravity in space, messed with your vision." Diego stepped forward and rewound the tape again, "Look closer. Dad has his monocle, mom stands up, monocle gone." He turned his back to the TV and walked toward the tall table next to me, "She wasn't poisoning him. She was just taking it... to clean it." He leaned back against the table, fiddling with one of his knives.

"Where is it then? I searched the whole house, including all of her things. She doesn't have it." Luther explained.

Diego opened his mouth to speak but closed it before opening it again with a small shrug, "That's because I took it from her. After the funeral."

"You've had the monocle this whole time?" Allision accused.

I snapped my fingers, "That's what you were holding by the lake!"

"What the hell Diego!"

"Give it to me." Luther demanded.

"I threw it away."

"It's at the bottom of the lake now, isn't it?" I said more than asked. Diego tilted his head to the left to look at me before nodding.

"What?" Luther was angry but that seemed to amp Diego up too.

Diego pointed his knife at Luther, "I knew that if you found it on mom, you'd lose your shit. Just like you're doing right now."

"Diego." Luther stepped forward and Diego got into a fighting stance.

I grabbed onto Diego's bicep as Vanya said, "Calm down. I know dad wasn't exactly an open book." We all looked to her, "I know one thing though. He's dead. Mom was designed to be a care taker but also a protector."

"What does that mean?" Allision asked, confused.

I knew what it meant, it's why this whole situation was weird to me, "She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy."

"Exactly." Vanya said.

"Well, if her hardware is degrading then we need to turn her off."

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa wait." Diego said, pointing his knife again, "She's not just a vacuum cleaner you can just throw in a closet! She feels things! I've seen it!"

"She just stood there Diego, and watched our father die!"

"That doesn't mean we just turn her off!" I snapped, stepping up beside Diego, "If her hardware needs an upgrade, we give it to her! She's not scrap metal!"

"Since when do you two agree on anything?" Luther snapped back and then shook his head, "It doesn't matter. You're barely a part of this family."

I stepped back as if I was slapped. I've never been disregarded so forcefully by him, or by anyone before. Not even Diego.

"Watch what you say! She's family too!" Diego said angrily, "Her vote counts."

"I'm with Luther." Allison said before another fight could break out, "She needs to be turned off."

"Surprise, surprise." Diego taunted, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Shut up."

We all looked at Vanya but before she could speak, Diego waved his hand dismissively, "Yeah, she shouldn't get a vote."

I hit him in the arm, hard enough for him to glare at me as he rubbed it to sooth the pain.

"I was going to say I agree with you." Vanya said.

Diego nodded, "Okay, she should get a vote then." He then turned to Klaus, "What about you stoner boy? What do you think?"

Klaus was leaning up against one of the white support pillars that connected to the second floor, "Oh so you need my help now? 'Get out of the van Klaus', well, welcome back to the van."

"What van?" Allison asked, not knowing what he was talking about. That makes two of us.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'm with Diego because screw you! And if Ben were here, he'd agree with me." Klaus said and then hissed to someone invisible beside him. That's interesting.

Diego held up his fingers, "So that's four to two."

"Votes not final yet. Five isn't here. The whole family has to vote, we owe each other that." Allison explained.

"Right." Luther agreed.

"That doesn't even make sense. Even if Five sides with you, we still win the vote." I said.

"We should still wait so he at least knows what's going on." Vanya said.

"Nothing is going on!" I called out as everyone but Diego, Vanya and I left the room, "We have the majority! Nothing changes!" They all ignored me.

Diego looked over my shoulder and I followed his line of sight to see Grace standing in the entrance of the living room. He walked over to her right away and Vanya followed but I stayed put, just watching them. They were talking quietly and I couldn't hear but Grace left and Vanya started speaking. Her and Diego had a short conversation before he walked away.

I watched as Vanya took her medication before looking back at me. We made brief eye contact before she walked out of the room as well. I ran my finger along the back of the sofa with a sigh before exiting and making my way to my room. I needed to lie down.

I lay back on my bed and stared up at the cream coloured ceiling in thought. Grace must have turned my music off shortly after the others arrived because it stopped playing before the surveillance footage started. She was always doing little things like that. Grace seemed to live in the shadows, coming out when we needed her most.

I remember a time when I was fourteen, how much she was there for me. The day started out like normal but ended in complete heartbreak.

Every once in a while, I would go to the park my parents left me at and just sit on the swings. Nothing ever came of it but today was different. As I was sitting there, rocking back and forth on the swing, I heard a vaguely familiar voice across the playground.

When I looked up, I saw her. Features similar to my own but slightly different. She looked older now but still beautiful. I always thought she was beautiful growing up and hoped that when I was her age, I would be just as beautiful. Her wavy brown hair was pinned back in a half-do and she was wearing faded jeans and a V-neck shirt.

My mother. Only, she wasn't alone. She was playing with a four-year-old girl that had brown hair just like hers. They were laughing and smiling at each other as they played catch. Memories I have of something similar were fuzzy and far away, almost as if they never happened. I continued to watch them and stopped swinging when the ball got away and rolled to a stop at my feet.

I looked down at it before slowly getting off the swing and picking it up. I walked over to them and when I looked at my mother, I knew she knew who I was. She knew because there was no other reason for her to pull the little girl closer to her in fear. I looked down at the girl with a smile that completely fell from my lips when I saw that my mother had covered her eyes with her hand.

"I just wanted to give your ball back." I said quietly, holding it out to my mother.

She hesitated at first but let go of the girl to take the ball from my hands, "Thank you." I nodded and turned to walk away but stopped when she spoke again, "Are you well?"

I turned back to her and saw her looking at my uniform. I wondered if she knew what the Umbrella Academy was yet, "Y-yes. I have a home and a... family." I bit my lip as I looked back at the little girl who was staring at me curiously, "Is she..."

I saw my mother shake her head, "Not yet. But soon we hope. Just a few more papers to sign." My parents were adopting her then. They completely abandoned me but want to adopt and love this little girl. It hurt to know that. It hurt a lot.

I nodded and looked back up at her, "I'm sorry." I said quietly and then turned and ran.

I ran all the way home. The tears kept coming and they wouldn't stop. I slammed the door closed behind me and ignored Mr. Hargreeves as he started to yell at me for the racket. I ran up the stairs and down the hall to my room, hiding my face from the others as I went. I collapsed on my bed and just sobbed.

I wasn't on my own for very long when Grace came in and pulled me into a loving embrace, asking me what was the matter. I didn't speak, I couldn't. I cried for an entire week and she came and sat with me each night. She only ever asked once per night but never pressed. Five days later, I finally told her.

"I saw my mother." I spit out quietly, "She's adopting a, a little girl. She didn't want me but she wants her. No one wants me and it hurts so much!"

"Oh sweetheart, of course you're wanted. I want you." She said as she rocked me, just like she did every other night.

I sniffled and looked up at her, "Y-you do?"

She wiped my tears with her thumb and smiled softly at me, "Of course I do. You're smart, you're beautiful, and you're kind. The other kids also adore you."

"You think so?"

"I know so. Now how about I make you some chocolate chip cookies. They're your favourite." I gave her a small smile and followed her to the kitchen.

She sat with me every morning, for a couple hours every afternoon, and every night as I fell asleep for that whole week. She didn't have too; I knew she had other duties but I appreciated every moment she was there because it proved that her words were true, she did want me. She may be a robot but she has feelings, I know she does.

I looked up when my door creaked open and Diego snuck in and closed the door behind him softly, "Hey, what are you doing?"

I looked back up at the ceiling, "Thinking about Grace and all the things she's done for me."

"Yeah, me too." He said quietly, coming over to my bed.

"You know, this time yesterday, I would have told you to get out." I said.

Diego bent and leaned over me, a hand on either side of my head and knee on the bed beside me to keep him steady, "And now?"

I brought my fingers up to fiddle with the holster across his chest, "I should tell you to get out. We're not the only ones here." I said quietly.

"But..."

I ran one of my fingers up along his holster, then up his neck and the side of his face. I used my whole hand to run my fingers through the back of his hair, resting it on the back of his neck, then pulled him into a kiss. It was odd how fast the dynamic between us changed but I suppose all it takes is a moment. We didn't go much further than making out. He touched the skin of my waist, stomach, and back and I teased the skin around his waistband and lightly scratched up and down his abs. His lips scorched my neck, collarbone, and chest too but nothing more than that. This feeling was new and this was not the place to fully explore it.

When we were done making out, Diego fell to the bed and turned me to face him. We talked for a while too, stealing kisses here and there. We spoke about our favourite memories with Grace and how we felt growing up here. I found out some information that I didn't realize was true until I looked back on our time together.

"After Grace helped me with my stutter, you are the only one besides dad that can bring it out of me." He divulged.

"Really?" I asked and he nodded, "Well I feel flattered."

"Don't. It's annoying as fuck. Especially since you make fun of me for it every chance you get." I always thought it was in good fun but clearly it bothers him more than he lets on.

During our talk, we also filled each other in on our thirteen years away from the Academy. I told him about school and the little bit of travelling I did during summer vacations. I learned a little more about why it didn't work for him as a cop and how he got into boxing and mopping floors.

"Wait, so you actually live at the gym?" I asked, kicking myself for not realizing this sooner, "Why do you live there?"

"I like it. It's kind of like lair."

We got to know each other in a way that we never allowed ourselves to before. We spoke for hours. We spoke until the sun went down.

"You know, I think I know why we never connected as siblings like I did with the others." I said as I played with his fingers.

"Why is that?" Diego asked.

"I think it's because we were meant to know each other in a different way. This way."

He brought his hand to my chin and tilted it up so my eyes met his, "Then why did it take us so long to do it?"

I shrugged, "Because we were fighting it? We were fighting it so hard that we were fighting each other too. It's hard to look passed something like that."

"Are you psycho-analyzing us?" Diego smirked, "Not everything has to make sense you know."

I sighed, "I forgot that you were still an idiot."

"Just because I don't have a fancy PhD, doesn't mean I'm stupid." He pushed me with enough force to turn me onto my back.

I giggled, "I said you were an idiot, not that you were stupid. I never thought that you were stupid." My stomach growled then, interrupting what he was going to bite back with.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"See? Not stupid." I said and giggled when he rolled his eyes, "I think Grace had some cookies baking in the oven earlier."

"Let's go get some then." He said and hopped up off the bed.

I sat up with what I thought was a brilliant suggestion, "How about you go bring some here and we'll talk some more as we eat."

"You're just lazy." He scoffed, seeing right through me.

"So... you're not going to bring me cookies?" He opened the door and left, closing it behind him again as way of answer, "Bring some milk too!"

I laid back down with a smile and waited for Diego to come back. Never in a million years did I think I would feel this way about Diego but I did and it felt right. It felt like it was supposed to happen this way. I sighed in contentment and closed my eyes.

I don't know how long I waited for but the silence was getting eerie and certain feeling started building in my chest. I concentrated on the noise around me and I thought I heard footsteps coming down the hall but they were barely there, as if someone was trying to be silent. No one who lives here would try that hard to not be heard which means someone was in the house that wasn't supposed to be.

I got up from the bed as silently as I could and slipped into the small closet at the end up my bed. Just as I slid the door shut, my bedroom door opened. I felt a presence linger at the door before moving on. Thank god for Mr. Hargreeves rigorous training.

I tried to think about my next move. If there was only one person, I could definitely take them down but if there was more than one, I could be walking into a death trap. I was wondering if I should take the chance or not when I heard guns start blazing and the telltale sound of Diego's knives whistling through the air sharply.

When it sounded like the shooting was getting farther away, I stepped out of my closet and crept out of my room that they left open. I peeked around the wall and down the hall and saw a tall man and a short man with ridiculous kids' masks on, with their backs to me and assault rifles poised. They walked down the hallway and Diego jumped from around the corner, attacking the tall one. He managed to get the gun away from him swiftly but when Diego tried to headbutt the guy, he backed away in pain. The masks were apparently metal.

"Cha-cha! Shoot him!" The man shouted.

"Get out of the way dumbass!" As she propped up her rifle. Apparently the shorter one was a woman.

"I don't think so." I muttered and ran at her.

Cha-cha just started shooting but stopped abruptly when I kicked her in the back, then I slid forward on my knees until I was in front of her and elbowed her in the gut. I heard the whoosh of air leave her and turned around to face her to try and get the gun. I reached up and grabbed the magazine release and pulled, catching the magazine in my other hand as it dropped from the well.

I had to get out of there fast because it's likely she had more on her person. I pivoted on my left knee and used the momentum to catch myself with my right foot and begin running. As I ran, I pushed the tall guy into the wall he was just kicked into by Diego, and booked it down the hall. I took a sharp right when I saw Diego running down the left side and flipped myself over the railing, holding onto the bottom of the bars tightly just as bullets flew over my head.

I had no doubt that one of them was also shooting towards Diego and I hoped he got away from them in time. I had to worry about me though, since I was suspended in the air still hanging onto the bottom bar of the railing. I heard them running towards the grand staircase and then down them, so I pulled myself up and back onto the second floor. When I landed, I was panting heavily. Clearly, I have to start working out again.

I crouched behind the railing and looked down, seeing the short one look around before joining her partner in the other room, no doubt where Diego was. I turned to run and paused briefly when I saw Grace sitting there cross-stitching as if nothing was happening. There was definitely something wrong with her.

I shook my head and ran silently down the hall to the railing that overlooked the living room and saw Diego crouched behind the sofa. He glanced up and waved his arm in a gesture to run away and I rolled my eyes. Why was he such a moron? Obviously, I wasn't going to run away from this.

He glanced back over the sofa before booking to the side under the table as the shooting started again. I didn't know what to do and I looked around. I saw vase on a side table in the hall and shrugged. I picked it up and looked down at the idiots who thought it was a good idea to break into this house.

"HEY!" I shouted.

They stopped shooting and looked up, I threw the vase at the tall one, hitting him in the head. The vase shattered on his metal mask, having no effect but at least they weren't' shooting at Diego anymore. But they were now aiming their guns at me. I backed up as they started shooting but it stopped abruptly as a scuffle started up.

I looked down and saw that Luther and Allison had entered the scene and started fighting Cha-Cha and her partner. It was about time they joined in. The assailants both got tossed into the foyer, luckily without their guns. I jumped over the railing and landed nimbly on my feet in the living room.

"Who the hell are these guys?!" Allison asked.

"Assassins most likely." I said, "But why are they here?"

"You're welcome by the way." Luther said to Diego who was leaning on a support pillar.

"I was doing fine."

"Oh yeah, you really had them." Luther said sarcastically.

"Is this really the time?" I said with a sigh before I saw Cha-cha re-enter the room with her rifle, "OH SHIT!" I shouted, lifting my arms to cover my head as I ducked behind one of the thicker support beams.

Apparently, their guns weren't taken away like I first thought. Allison and Luther went to retreat down the hallway toward one of the inner stairwells. Luther stopped for a moment to turn back but Diego yelled at him to go. I hissed as I crouched down low and looked at my forearm. One of the bullets caught the top. That was fucking fantastic.

The shooting stopped soon after it began and I cursed myself for not being lucky for just a few more seconds.

"I lost my gun." The man said.

"I'm going after those other two." Cha-cha said and left to follow Allison and Luther.

I looked around the beam and saw the man walk into the room Diego and I were in and look around before eyeing something in the glass cabinet. I groaned quietly when I realized he was getting the medieval mace. That was short lived as I nearly screamed when a hand went over my mouth from behind. I was then turned around forcefully and sighed in relief when I saw Diego holding a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet.

He let go of my mouth, took my hand and we left room. When we were a safe distance away, I turned to him and slapped him a few times in the arm with my right hand.

"Hey, hey! What was that for?" He asked, holding up his hands.

"For nearly giving me a heart attack back there." I snapped and slapped him with both hands this time before hissing in pain and clutching left forearm.

Diego noticed and grabbed my arm, now noticing the blood seeping steadily from the wound, "You've been shot."

"No shit." I hissed again as he pressed on it. I snatched my arm from him, "Prick."

"The bullet is still in there. It needs to be treated."

I glared at him before pulling the ribbon from the waistband of my pajama pants and tying it tightly around my forearm above the wound to slow blood flow. I used my teeth to help me tie the knot and then held up my arm for Diego to see.

"Good to go, see? Now can we go get these sons of bitches?" I was beyond angry right now.

Diego looked flabbergasted as he looked from the wound to me, "Is it weird that I'm totally turned on right now?"

"Just a bit." I said but kissed him hard and quick, "Now, you take downstairs, I take up?" I suggested and began to run.

"But upstairs has the bigger guy!" I heard Diego call out.

I ignored him and continued to run. I ran right into the foyer where Luther was just picked up by the waist by the guy. He was just about to get pushed into the wall, so without slowing down I did a hand-spring and launched my entire weight, feet first, into the guys side. He let go of Luther and flew into the staircase, landing on his knees. He got up holding his side and I smirked as I got into my fighting stance. There is no way I didn't break a few ribs.

Luther and I went back and forth beating on this guy, using him as our monkey in the middle. At least we were until he got a hold of my injured arm, making me cry out as he tossed me into the far wall. I crumpled to the floor and painfully moved myself to leaned against it as I watched Luther pound the guy into the floor. Luther walked over him as if he was nothing and spoke to Vanya.

Wait, Vanya. I didn't know she was still here. I looked at her but switched my gaze back to the assassin when I saw he was getting up.

"Luther! Watch out!" I called but was too late. He was picked up and tossed over the man's shoulder and went head first into the ground, "Hide Vanya!" I said as I struggled to my feet. I think I sprained my ankle when I landed on the floor.

I limped over to Luther and kneeled down to shake him back into full consciousness. I knew that wouldn't knock him out but that doesn't mean it didn't wind him or hurt him. When he groaned, I patted his shoulder in reassurance as Allison and Diego came back into the room.

"Help me help him up." I said to them.

Diego and Allison went on either side of Luther to help him to his feet and I got up to step away in order to give them space. I stood there, babying my right foot as they finally pulled him up. I saw Luther look to the second floor and followed his gaze. I saw Cha-cha cut the cord holding the chandelier in place.

"Watch out!" He shouted and tossed Diego and Allison to the side.

I tried to step back as much as possible but it was hard with a gimpy foot. I only managed two small steps and blocked my head with my arms as the chandelier landed on Luther, pinning him to the floor. The blow also knocked me off kilter and I landed on my ass. I looked up and Cha-cha was gone. I looked back at Luther, propping myself up with my uninjured arm.

Despite the heavy chandelier on top of him, he slowly got to his feet and my mouth opened in shock as his jacket got torn away, revealing his body. His body had a blueish hue and was full of hair. His body wasn't that of a man at all but that of an ape. I understood why he always wore such thick clothing now, it's because he was hiding. That wasn't the most pressing matter though. I got to my feet along with Allison and Diego.

"Luther, you're hurt." I said softly but my words fell on deaf ears.

Luther looked at me, then Diego, then Allison. The shock on Allison's face turned Luther's expression into one of shame. Out of everyone, I knew her opinion has always mattered most. Her shock was understandable but I hardly think she cares or is disgusted by his actual appearance. I don't think he sees it like that though because he turned, pushed past Diego and ran upstairs.

Allison noticed Vanya and went over to her and I turned to Diego. After taking a good look at me holding my arm and babying my foot, he rushed over. He put his hand on my cheek and turned my head to the side to examine it and that's when I felt the wetness on my temple. I must have split my head open when I crashed into the wall.

"Are you okay?" He asked, turning my head back to look me in the eyes.

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm good." I cracked a smile, "It's just like the good old days yeah?"

He smiled softly in return before turning to look upstairs as he heard humming, "Shit. Mom."

"Diego." I said quietly and continued when I had his full attention, "There's something wrong with her."

He nodded and looked back up in the direction of her humming. He wanted to go to her, I know he did but his worry for me was keeping him here, "Go to her. I'll be okay." I pushed him towards the stairs and he took two at a time.

I turned toward Allison and Vanya who were looking at me as if I had three heads. I knew why they were looking at me that way but I refused to draw attention to it. Instead, I limped toward them and when they saw I was having trouble, came to help. They helped me into the living room and sat me on the sofa facing the bar. Vanya sat on the one across from me.

"Can you bring that chair over please?" I asked Allison.

She brought over the chair and I put a throw pillow on it before elevating my sprained ankle. It was so swollen that it didn't even look like I had an ankle anymore. I asked for ice and Allison brought a small bag over from the bar, as well as a cold wet cloth for Vanya. How did Allison only end up with a split lip and I look like I was hit by a train?

"Who were those people?" Vanya asked.

"I don't know, but we are lucky to be alive." Allison said, sitting on a chair so she could see both of us.

Vanya was cleaning up her head and she looked to be in a lot of pain and I grimaced at the thought. I wish I only had a cut on the head but nooooooooo, I got that and then some. Allison asked her if she was okay and I suppose that was a fair question despite my snide inner commentary. Vanya didn't grow up like we did. She wasn't used to being tossed around, shot at, hurt.

"I'm fine. Malia has it worse than me." Vanya assured and they both looked over to me.

"Who me? I'm in tip top shape." I said as Diego came in and started to pace.

I snatched a knife as he came near me and he glanced at me before continuing his pacing. Vanya called his name, drawing his attention next and he looked at her, completely unimpressed.

"What are you still doing here?" He asked.

"I'm just trying to help."

Diego pointed at her, "No, you could have been killed! Or gotten any of us killed. You are a liability."

"Diego that's enough." I said firmly.

He back away from her, paced a bit more before sitting down beside me. Vanya turned to look at Allison to get her opinion and Allison told her it was dangerous for someone like her to be around this. Vanya was upset and left and when Allison went after her, Diego told her to let Vanya go. Allison turned to look at us before leaving us alone.

"You didn't have to be so hard on her. It's not like she knew what was going to happen tonight. None of us did." I told him as I turned his blade over in my hand. I was mentally preparing myself for what I was about to do next.

"She should have hightailed it out of here at the first sign of danger."

"She tried. There was no opening so I told her to hide." When he still refused to see reason or even look at me, I frowned, "Why do you have to be such a dick all the time. Powers or no, she's still your sister."

Without waiting for any further response, I looked at the wound on my arm and began. I cried out as I dug the knife into it, startling Diego enough to whip around and look at me. I finally gained his attention and he lifted his hands to help but just left them hovering in the air, not sure how he could. This probably would have been better if I had just let him or anyone else do it but I was too stubborn for that. I just about passed out as I finally fished the bullet from my forearm.

I panted as I leaned my head back on the sofa, staring up to the second floor, "Think you can bandage it up for me?"

"Yeah, sit tight. I'll get the first aid kit. It's going to need a good cleaning too."

He left and I stared up at the stars that peeked through the window on the second floor. Tonight reminded me of one of the reasons why I left in the first place. I wanted more out of life and I wouldn't get it if I was dead. Tonight also reminded me of who I am as a person. I am a fighter through and through, even without using my powers. There was a certain thrill I got from tonight that I haven't felt since I was seventeen. I didn't even know I missed it until now and I kind of don't want it to go away.

I followed Diego with my eyes as he came back into the room with the first aid kit in hand. I watched as he deftly and expertly cleaned and bandaged my wound. When he was done, he took the ribbon off my arm and the feeling slowly started coming back. The tingling sensation was from more than lack of blood flow. Diego looked into my eyes after he packed up the first aid kit. I definitely don't want it to go away.