CARLA LOOKED AT THE BOY IN FRONT OF HER. His eyes were flickering over every inch of her face, as though trying to burn it into his memory, and his features seemed a blend of wistful and disbelieving, as though he wasn't even sure she was really there.

     She was aware of all eyes on her, and anxiously Carla swallowed, taking a wary step back, "I'm sorry... Do I know you?"

     Five's face fell, eyebrows cinching as hurt flashed within his eyes, before he regained his composure, straightening, and Carla began to doubt if she ever saw that vulnerability to begin with.

     He shoved his hands into his pockets, "No, you wouldn't," and with that he stalked past them into the house, leaving six very confused individuals in his wake.

     It didn't take long for Diego, Luther, Allison, and Vanya to follow Five through the door, leaving Carla and Klaus outside.

     The girl looked at the man next to her, "What the flying fuck was that all about?"

     "Do you know him?" Klaus took out a cigarette, lighting it and taking a drag.

     Carla frowned deeply, shaking her head, "I've never met him before in my life."

     And with that, they both walked inside, to the pantry, where the others had gathered, all sat around a table.
Naturally, Klaus crawled onto the table, sitting in the middle, and Carla decided to pull up a stool and sit next to Klaus, behind Vanya.

     Five set down a wooden chopping board and knife, before walked over to a cabinet and pulling out a loaf of bread, "What is the date? I mean the exact date."

     "The 24th," Vanya said gently.

     He glanced at her briefly, "Of what?"

     "March."

     "Good," he said, taking out two slices and laying them on the chopping board.

     "So?" Luther said after a silence Five seemed to have no intention of filling, "Are we going to talk about what just happened?"

     Five made no attempt to reply, and Klaus exchanged a look with Carla; a quirk of the eyebrow, slight tilt of the head, Carla briefly grimacing in reply.

     Luther stood up, "It's been fifteen years!"

     The boy scoffed, and despite the almost comical height difference, he stared Luther down, "It's been a lot longer than that."

     He took a step forward, before teleporting to a cabinet a few meters behind, and Carla's eyes went wide, clearly awe struck. She had heard of Five's powers, but it was still incredibly impressive to see in person.

     "I haven't missed that," Luther muttered, as Five picked up a bag of marshmallows.

     "Where'd you go?" Diego asked wearily, not even looking at the boy.

     "The future," Five said simply, before teleporting back to the table, "It's shit, by the way."

     Klaus stuck up his hand, pointing at Carla triumphantly, "Called it!"

     Five sighed, walking to a fridge and taking out a jar of peanut butter, "I should have listened to the old man. You know, jumping through space is one thing, but jumping through time is a toss of the dice," he looked up at Klaus, "Nice dress."

     "Oh," Klaus made a show of twirling the belt, "Danke."

     Vanya held up a hand, "Wait, how did you get back?"

     "In the end I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time," Five said in a single breath, spreading peanut butter over the bread.

     Diego shook his head, pressing two fingers to his temple, "That makes no sense."

     "Well, it would if you were smarter," he stated, and Diego leaped to his feet, about to lunge for Five, but Luther held him back.

     Carla raised her eyebrows at Klaus, who rolled his eyes, and she understood that Diego being ready to throw fists must be a regular occurrence.

     "How long were you there?" Luther asked.

     "Forty-three years," Five reached for the marshmallows, "Give or take."

     Both Luther and Diego sat down, Carla frowning slightly. 

     "So what are you saying?" Luther asked in disbelief, "You're fifty-eight ?"

      "No. My consciousness is fifty-eight. Apparently, my body is now fifteen again," he took a bite of his marshmallow and peanut-butter sandwich, scowling.

     "Oh, God forbid he's been fifteen for a few minutes," Carla leaned towards Klaus, muttering, "I've been fifteen for the past fifteen fucking years!"

     Klaus snorted, before trying to hide it with a series of violent coughs, as Vanya spoke, "How does that even work?"

     "Dolores kept saying the equations were off. I bet she's laughing now," the boy shook his head, a bitter smile on his face.

     "Dolores?" Vanya weakly asked.

     Instead of replying, Five took another bite of his sandwich, picking up the paper, "Huh, guess I missed the funeral."

     "How did you know about that?" Luther asked accusingly.

     Five gave him a deadpan glare, "What part of the future do you not understand?"

     At that, Carla had to bite back a smile.

     The boy continued, "Heart failure, huh?"

     "Yeah," Diego said, just as Luther stated confidently, "No."

     There were a few seconds of silence, in which Carla looked at Klaus with pursed lips, and he exaggeratedly rolled his eyes yet again, an action he seemed to do often when it came to his siblings.

     The pair snickered quietly, and Five's eyes snapped towards her, before he said, voice considerably softer, "Nice to see some things haven't changed."

     "That's it?" Allison called out as he walked towards the doorway, "That's all you have to say?"

     "What else is there to say?" his retreating figure called, "The circle of life."

     "Wow," Luther muttered, once Five was out of sight, "That was interesting."

     Vanya turned to Carla, "Do you know him?"

     Instead of verbally replying, Carla shook her head. She had never met Number Five before, and yet he seemed to recognise her, a thought that unsettled Carla more than she liked to admit.

     "Maybe you both know each other from the future? You two could be destined to become besties!" Klaus suggested, "That would be cool."

     "Yeah," Carla said quietly, with pursed lips, "Yeah, I guess."

     It was sundown when they arranged to hold the service for Sir Reginald Hargreeves, and everyone set outside with their umbrellas. The sky was dull and dreary, rain pouring down onto the ground below.

     Carla hated the rain. She even hated it more than tinned peaches and the texture of velvet, which was saying something.

     The umbrella she held was black, and it managed to shield most of her body, however, the cold made her miserable, and she sidled up next to Klaus, sniffling slightly. Then, Five strolled up, standing on the other side of Carla.

     "Did something happen?" Grace, or 'Mom' to the Hargreeves children, asked cluelessly.

     Everyone shared concerned looks, before Allison spoke up, "Dad died. Remember?"

     "Oh," Grace suddenly looked crestfallen, "Yes, of course."

     "Is Mom okay?" Allison asked quietly.

     "Yeah," Diego spoke, "Yeah, she's fine. She just needs to rest. You know, recharge."

     Pogo, the chimpanzee, walked up to Luther, who was holding the urn, "Whenever you're ready, dear boy."

     Luther then paused, before taking the lid off the urn and unceremoniously dumping its contents into a pile on the floor.

     Carla quirked an eyebrow, trying to bite back her laughter, and next to her, Klaus winced, holding his cigarette close to his mouth.

     "Probably could have been better with some wind," Luther admitted, looking at the disappointed faces.

     "Does anyone wish to speak?" Pogo asked, trying to salvage the serenity of the event. There was a long silence, in which everyone avoided everyone else's gaze.

     Once again, Pogo spoke up, "Very well. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt. He was my master, and my friend. And I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy-"

     "He was a monster," Diego said simply, and next to Carla, Klaus let out a long laugh, as Number Two continued, "He was a bad person and an even worse father. The world's better off without him."

     "Diego-" Allison tried.

     "My name is Number Two," Diego spat, "You know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. We had Mom do it."

     Suddenly, Carla felt incredibly out-of-place, and she considered leaving. This wasn't her place. She didn't belong here.

     Taking a step back, she was about to leave, but instead, Klaus gripped her elbow, keeping her in place, and muttered a quiet, "I don't think so. If I need to suffer through this, so do you."

     "Would any of you like something to eat?" Grace asked absently.

     Vanya smiled softly, "No, it's okay, Mom."

     "Oh," the robot looked put-out for a moment, before smiling widely, "Okay."

     "If you want to pay your respects, then go on, but at least be honest about the kind of man he was," Diego turned to face the others.

     Luther stared at him, "You should stop talking now."

     "You know, you of all people should be on my side here... Number One," Diego said, voice laced with venom.

     "I am warning you-"

     "After everything he did to you," Diego continued. Klaus exchanged a glance with Five and Carla, mouth pulled back into a grimace. "He had to ship you a million miles away-"

     "Diego stop-"

     "-That's how much he hated the sight of you!" Diego spat, and that was the moment Luther snapped, swinging his fist at Diego's face.

     The duo began to fight, and Five took a protective step in front of Carla, while Klaus threw an arm out to shelter the two fifteen-year-olds. Five swatted the man's arm away, and Carla stared at Five strangely, who averted his gaze and took a step away.

     "Stop it!" Vanya yelled, but it didn't work, neither man appeared to have heard.

     "Do you want me to..." Carla looked at the fighting pair in mild interest, "Try and break it up?"

     "Nah," Klaus shook his head, "This is much more fun. Hit him!"

     Pogo angrily shook his head, limping away, as Five sighed, beginning to walk away too, "I don't have time for this."

     It was then Carla watched at Luther charged at Diego, who ducked out of the way just in time so that Luther instead punched the statue of Ben, sending it crashing to the ground.

     "Aww," Klaus winced, as Allison said, "And there goes Ben's statue."

     "Diego, no!" Vanya yelled, and Carla turned just in time to see the man throw a knife at Luther, slicing through his coat and no doubt a centimeter of skin.

     Clutching his bleeding arm, Luther staggered inside, followed by Vanya, who hissed a few words at Diego before she left, and finally Diego and Grace walked inside too.

     Carla stood next to Klaus as he walked over to the underwhelming pile of ash, crouching down and taking a drag of his cigarette, "I bet you're loving this," he spoke, "A team at its best. It's just like old times."

      He took a long drag again, before snuffing out the butt of his cigarette in the ash, and standing up, turning to Carla, "Sorry you had to see all that. I had no idea this funeral was going to be so wild."

     "Is your family always like this?" she mused.

     Klaus sighed, "Yeah, pretty much." He began to walk away, before turning to Carla, "You coming?"

     "Give me a second," she offered him a small smile, gaze drifting to the broken statue of Ben, "I'll be right there."