Valentina sat on a plush, circular couch, the one where Mom went to charge. The wall of paintings in front of her captured her attention, the peaceful scenes calming her. She could see why Mom liked this space.

She could hear Diego moving around in the main room below her. Luther and Allison were nowhere to be found after the disaster that was Luther's "family meeting". Katya had gone down to the kitchen for a glass of water, after several long minutes spent helping Valentina calm down. Valentina breathed deeply, closing her eyes.

Every few minutes, the thought of leaving popped back into her mind. She hated this house, she hated the shadow of her father hanging over it, and she hated the memories attached to this place. Everything inside her screamed that she needed to get out as soon as possible. Before something terrible happened. She didn't know what could happen, but she was sure something would. Nothing involving her father was ever good.

Footsteps caught her attention, and Valentina opened her eyes to see Katya approaching with a couple water bottles. She smiled when she saw Valentina looking at her. "Klaus is weird," she said, passing Valentina one of the water bottles.

Valentina smiled. "Yeah, he is," she said. She was kind of glad Katya didn't ask any questions - mostly because Katya had met Klaus before. He'd stayed with them for a couple of weeks a few years back, after their wedding. There was a lot of talking at the time. At least Valentina knew Klaus thought her wife was cool.

Katya sat down next to her. "What are all these paintings for?" she asked, looking around at the walls. There were dozens of paintings framed on the wall, from top to bottom, all of them beautiful, all of them pristine. Katya looked startled by it all.

"It's Mom's space," Valentina said. "You haven't met her, but remember what I told you? About her being an android? Dad made this alcove for her to charge." She shrugged, "Mom likes the pictures. They make her feel less alone."

Katya sighed, putting an arm around Valentina's shoulders. "Sucks that she can't leave."

"Yeah well, that's Dad for you," Valentina said. "He liked to have control over everything. Mom, Pogo, us... Everything." She took a deep breath. "I don't wanna talk about him."

Katya pulled her closer. "Of course," she said, "Of course you don't. Everything you've told me about him sounds terrible." She shifted a little. "Did seeing these paintings a lot growing up make you want to be an artist?"

Valentina hummed a little in agreement, leaning her head on Katya's shoulder. "They're beautiful," she said, "I spent lots of time sitting here with Mom, talking and looking at them. I learned about them, and then I learned how to paint like them." She sighed. "I wanted to paint something that could go on this wall for Mom to look at." As she looked around, though, none of the paintings were hers. Not even one of those she left in her room had made its way onto Mom's wall.

"That's great, babe," Katya said. As she did, Valentina's ears caught another sound: music.

She lifted her head, frowning a little bit. "You hear that?"

Katya nodded. "Yeah... What is it?"

"Luther must've found his old record player," Valentina said. As she did, she began to recognize the song. She smiled, and started to bob her head around a little bit.

Katya laughed. "What are you doing?"

"Dancing," Valentina said. She got up, extending a hand to Katya with a smile on her face. Katya laughed and shook her head, but reached out to grab Valentina's hand. Valentina pulled her up, laughing too, and twirled her around. She loved dancing with Katya, it was one of the best things in the world. Like the whole world melted away and it was just the two of them, in each others' arms, laughing and moving and feeling the music together.

Until there was a loud rumblebang from outside. It sounded like thunder, and it interrupted the music.

The pair spun around, their eyes drawn to the windows across the room that looked into the courtyard. Though it was only mid-afternoon, the sky was dark. There was a flash from the courtyard, and several loud thuds echoed from a lower floor. Valentina and Katya glanced at each other, and ran for the stairs.

They burst out into the courtyard right behind Vanya. A weird bluish...hole seemed to have opened in the sky, and the air around them swirled with enough force for a small tornado. Valentina's hair smacked her in the face and she tugged it out of her mouth as she yelled, "What the hell is this?"

"Don't get too close," Allison said, reaching out - Valentina didn't know who for.

"Yeah, wasn't going to," Katya muttered. She grabbed Valentina's arm, her eyes wide.

Luther squinted up at the hole in the sky. "Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly," he said.

Diego snorted. "Either that or a miniature black hole," he retorted, "One of the two."

"Those are nothing alike!" Valentina said, rolling her eyes. "Why is it here?"

"Out of the way!" Klaus shouted, pushing past Allison. He held a fire extinguisher - the one from the kitchen, Valentina thought - which he promptly flung at the swirling hole in the sky.

"What is that gonna do?" Allison shouted at him, causing Katya to lean away from her.

Klaus shrugged. "I don't know!" he said, "Do you have a better idea?"

"Woah, woah," Luther said, as the portal crackled, sending out flashes of lightning. "Everybody get behind me."

Valentina pulled Katya's hand off her arm and pulled her back. She didn't protest, her brown eyes wide and her grip on Valentina's hand almost painful. "I really hope nothing comes out of that to kill us," she muttered. Valentina nodded.

"I vote for running," Klaus said, "c'mon!" He turned to run, but electricity crackled in the air again. In the middle of the hole in the sky, a figure appeared. It looked like an old man, dressed in the weirdest suit Valentina had ever seen. Then, he seemed to shift, his appearance changing to a younger person - one that looked familiar. The figure fell out of the sky, dropping to the ground in a heap of clothes and bones. The thud sounded painful.

The thunder faded, the bluish light leaving the sky. For a moment, the siblings stood in silence, staring forward. The shape on the ground shifted, groaning, and Klaus took a tentative step forward. "Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is it just me?"

Valentina's eyes widened. "Klaus, I think you're right," she muttered.

The figure stood up, shaking his hair out of his eyes. He glanced down at himself, rolling his eyes. "Shit."

—

1146 words.
I'm back! Sorry it took me so long, this summer's been a bit odd for me. Hopefully I'll be writing more again, though!
This chapter is a little rough, especially the last half, but Five's here now so things can finally get moving, yay! Let me know what you think!
💛Ema