CARLA WAS SAT ON A SQUISHY ARMCHAIR, legs crossed, eating the pack of fizzy sweets she had taken from the store earlier. The screen in front played the security footage of Sir Reginald Hargreeves drinking from the mug Grace gave him, before lying back on the bed.

     She raised her eyebrows, chewing on a sweet, as Vanya spoke, "And you really think Mom would hurt Dad?"

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

     "If he was poisoned," Diego said stiffly, "It would have shown on the autopsy report."

     Luther turned to him, "Yeah, well, I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes."

     "Maybe all the low gravity in space messed with your vision," Diego snapped, and Carla exchanged a wary look with Klaus, "Look closer: Dad has his monocle, Grace stands up, monocle's gone."

     "Oh, yeah!" Klaus said, words garbled by the stolen chips he was eating.

     "She wasn't poisoning him," Diego continued, "She was taking it, to clean it."

     "Then where is it?" Luther snapped, "I've searched the house, including all her things, she doesn't have it."

     Diego sat on the edge of a table, lowering his head, "That's because I took it from her. After the funeral."

     Carla's eyebrows shot up, before her hand dipped into the bag again, drawing out a sweet and popping it in her mouth.

     "You've had the monocle this whole time?" Allison asked, disbelieving, "What the hell, Diego?"

     Again, Carla had no idea what she was doing there. It was a family issue, but once again, Klaus had dragged her along, saying she was just as involved in this family as he was.

     "Give it to me!" Luther demanded.

     Diego just looked him in the eye, "I threw it away."

     "You what ?" Number One snarled, as Allison let out a hollow chuckle.

     "Look, I knew that if you found it on Mom, you'd lose your shit," Diego pointed a knife at his brother, "Just like you're doing now!"

     "Diego..." Luther hissed, taking a step forward, and instantly Diego leapt to his feet, wielding his knife, ready for a fight.

     Carla couldn't help but roll her eyes at the testosterone levels in the room rising.

     Vanya got to her feet, stepping between the two, "Calm down. Look, I know Dad wasn't exactly an open book, but I do remember one thing he said: Mom was designed to be a caretaker, also a protector."

     "What does that mean?" Allison asked, as Klaus wandered to where Carla was sitting, offering her a crisp, which she took, offering him a sweet in return.

     "It means," Vanya said, "She was programmed to intervene is someone's life was in jeopardy."

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

     Instantly Diego became wary, "Woah, woah, woah, woah, wait! She is not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet! She feels things, I've seen it!"

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

     "I'm with Luther," Allison said, after a small pause.

     Diego turned to her, clearly betrayed, "Surprise, surprise."

     Allison shot him a withering look, "Shut up."

     The two brothers turned to Vanya, who hesitated, before letting out a barely audible sigh and speaking, "I- I don't-"

     Diego waved her off, "Yeah, she shouldn't get a vote."

     Vanya looked betrayed, "I was gonna say that I agree with you."

     "Okay! She should get a vote," Diego said, before turning and pointing at Klaus, "What about you, stoner boy? What do you think?"

     "Oh, so what? You need my help now?" Klaus asked, incredulous, "Get out of the van, Klaus, welcome back to the van, Klaus!"

     Allison frowned, "What van?"

     Luther opened his mouth, seemingly about to say something, before shaking his head and settling on, "What's it gonna be, Klaus?"

     Klaus looked at him in anger, "I'm with Diego, because screw you ! And if Ben were here, he'd agree with me."

     Carla wasn't entirely sure that was correct, and judging by the way Klaus hissed at a seemingly blank space, she figured she was right.

     "So that's three to two," Diego said smugly, turning to Luther.

     "Well, it's not final yet," Allison said simply.

     Diego frowned, "What?"

     "Five's not here," she explained, "The whole family has to vote, we owe each other that."

     Luther nodded, "Right."

     Vanya agreed, "We should wait."

     And just like that, it was settled, the siblings getting to their feet and walking out. Carla extended an arm, Klaus grabbing it and pulling her to her feet, the duo walking out.

     "Do you guys always have these family votes?" she asked, mildly bemused, before scrunching up her sweet packet and dropping it in the nearest bin.

     Klaus aimlessly swung around the banister before they began to ascend the stairs to his room, "Yeah. It's a matter of 'everyone getting a say' or some sort of bullshit."

     "It's called democracy, you dipshit," Carla laughed.

     Klaus playfully rolled his eyes, as they walked into his room, him flopping onto his bed, Carla sitting down on a chair. It was then Klaus lifted his arm, nudging his nose towards his armpit and sniffing tentatively, before recoiling, "Christ on a cracker, I need to wash!"

     "Yeah, no shit, I can smell you from here," she teased, wrinkling her nose.

     Klaus got to his feet, reaching towards a wardrobe and pulling out two towels, before turning to Carla, "Can I borrow your Walkman?"

     "If you drop it in the water, I swear to God I'll throw you down these overly fancy stairs," Carla threatened, narrowing her eyes.

     Klaus clasped his hands together in a pleading manner, "Oh, please do it."

     She rolled her eyes again, and gave him the Walkman, smiling as he took it with a large grin, before blowing her an exaggerated kiss and walking towards the bathroom.

     Carla just chuckled, shaking her head in mild amusement, before turning back to the desk and sliding open one of the drawers, spotting an 'X-Men' comic, undoubtedly old and worn around the edges. She picked it up, and moved to the bed, lying down and opening it, beginning to read.

     Carla had just gotten to a fight between Rogue and Scarlet Witch, when she heard the sound of voices, walking down the hall and into another room, where they seemed to stop.

     She listened, but to her alarm didn't recognise the two voices (one male, one female), and ever-so-slowly, she shut her comic, curiosity bubbling up inside of her.

     Maybe they were robbers? Or maybe she was just being paranoid and they were friends of the family?

     Debating whether or not to do something, Carla walked to the doorway, and lay her gloved hands on the doorframe, holding her breath as she peered out and down the hall. No-one. She slipped back inside Klaus's room, mild reeling as she tried to decide what her next move should be, before she heard another set of footsteps come up the stairs.

     Carla spotted Diego, before moving towards him, hissing a quiet, "Diego!"

     He looked at her in confusion, and Carla was about to mention the unfamiliar voices, before she heard the quiet but unmistakable sound of a gun cocking.

     In unison, both Carla and Diego turned to the end of the hall to see two figures dressed in similar navy suits, wearing large, cartoonish masks: one blue, the other pink, both holding rather intimidating guns.

     There was what seemed like an eternity of silence, before the figures opened fire, and Diego pushed Carla down the hall, throwing two knives at the attackers. He hauled her around a corner, stepping in front of her protectively, muttering a quiet, "Stay put."

     He then ran out, and Carla glanced around the corner to see him fighting the masked man, before sprinting down the hall, and leading the two away from where Carla was stood.

     Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, and she could feel her hands sweating under her rubber gloves.

     "Shit, shit, shit," she hissed, leaning against the wall, heart racing, "Shit!"

     She heard the noise now coming from the ground floor, and Carla tried to quickly assess her options. Then she heard gunfire, and assessing options went out the window.

     She raced down the hall, reaching the stairs and trying to run down them as quietly as possible, just in time to see Luther deck the woman and Allison kick the man's gun out of his hand.

     She ran and hid behind a cabinet, peeking out to see Luther and Diego stop the man from choking Allison. They threw him backwards, and Carla ran forwards to reach the other three.

     "Who the hell are those guys?" Allison yelled.

     Diego, however, looked at Carla, "I told you to stay put!"

     She gave him a look, "And I didn't listen!" 

     "You're welcome, by the way!" Luther yelled at Diego.

     "I was doing just fine!" he replied.

     "Oh, yeah, you really had it-"

     "Get down!" Carla yelled, throwing herself to the floor and behind a sofa as the woman fired at where they were standing moments ago.

     "Get out of here, go!" Luther yelled, ushering Allison out. Carla crawled on all fours towards the doorway, getting up and running after Allison towards the basement.

     Allison spotted the younger girl behind her and grabbed her gloved hand, both racing down the stairs, the masked woman hot on their heels, occasionally firing the gun.

     Allison dragged Carla down behind a pool table, and for a moment the girl shut her eyes, breathing unevenly.

     She didn't know who these masked people were, or why they were attacking those within the house.

     However, one thing Carla did know was that she was in deep shit.