"Ben?" Dahlia was surprised to discover that the man she swore to hate for eternity had saved her life. The longer she stared at him, the more she saw the mixed emotions imprinted on his face. His eyes widened with surprise and relief, his mouth slightly agape after breathing into her petite body. He appeared scared, thinking she was going to die and leave him, Fei, Christopher, and Sloane behind. 

"Don't make a big deal out of it," The Squid Boy sighed, his face turning back into one with no emotion. "It's just... I didn't expect you to f-find me. How d-did you even-" "I went to get something and heard your rather obnoxious gasps," He answered. Dahlia stayed silent as she brushed the dirt and dust from her clothing. "Well, never mind that. I suppose we better get ready for that meeting with the Umbrellas?" she eventually broke the silence. 

Ben's eyebrow quirked up in confusion, but he exhaled a breath and nodded. Dahlia turned on her heel and headed to the bathroom to gather her thoughts. The faucet handle turned about 10 degrees, expelling cool water into the basin, and the blonde washed her face with one of the towels. She slowly looked up at the mirror, tilting her head and noticing slight bruising. How in the... 

Her fingertips brushed against the side of her neck. The bruises were rather faint, but up close, you could almost immediately notice the purple. Her breathing became uneven as a chill ran through her body, awakening her icy rage. She wanted to fly down those steps, and grab Allison by the neck and squeeze her until she turned blue herself. But she couldn't jeopardize the truce or Sloane and Luther's relationship, so she swallowed it down.

After spending a few minutes, dabbing concealer over her bruises, she walked towards the living room, hearing the sounds of conversation. The Umbrellas had just arrived. They gathered on the chairs and couches, occasionally taking bites of the snacks that had been prepared. "Welcome, please make yourselves at home," Fei spoke to them as Dahlia followed behind Diego and Ben.

"Bitch, this is our home," Allison muttered, rolling her eyes. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Dahlia glared, her eyes turning icy blue. The Rumor glared back at her, daring her to let her guard down. Unlike last time, she fought back the temptation to penetrate her mind or end her right there. "Uh... does anybody want jellybeans?" Luther stepped in, sensing the tension, and he hoped to break it. 

Dahlia sat in a chair next to Fei, letting out a quiet sigh. "What's that on your neck?" Fei whispered. Dang it, I thought I covered it well! "Don't worry about it. Its nothing," the blonde's cold gaze sharply on the woman who nearly killed her. "Where the hell are Viktor and Klaus?" Diego questioned. "With our luck, probably kugelblitzed by now," Five responded, sitting to the left side of Dusk.

"So, this is kind of nice, right? All of us here, one big happy family," Luther tried to lighten up the mood, but it didn't seem to be working. He looked towards Sloane for reassurance, and she told him he was doing great. "Look, I know there's been bad blood between us. Whatever. Bygones, right?" Ben had never been one for long speeches. He just wanted to get to the plan to deal with the roaring monster downstairs.

Diego raised his hand, getting the Squid Boy's attention. "If I kill you, do we get our old Ben back?" The Kraken asked. Fei snickered as Umbrella Two made it clear his question was hypothetical. "Keep talking, and your hand won't be the only thing that's bleeding," Ben threatened. "Right, if you guys are done, I'd like to get back to a plan," Five intervened, turning the threatening conversation into a more civil one. The sounds of the front doors opening and rushed footsteps entered the room, it was Viktor, and he looked worried. 

"Where is he? What did you do to Harlan?" he asked, looking back and forth between Ben and Allison. "They didn't do anything to him... I did," Allison lurched forward in her seat. "I killed Harlan," Everyone in the room watched as Viktor stared at her in disbelief, hoping that he misunderstood. "I... I don't understand, why?" he stammered. "Because he didn't deserve to live," Umbrella Three replied lowly.

"What? Because they said so? You don't have to listen to them!" As the spat between the two continued, Dahlia saw Fei eating popcorn from one of the small bowls. "Pass me some, would you?" she whispered. The sun-glassed girl complied, and they quietly munched away, curious to see how far the argument would go. "Y-you could've talked to me. We could've figured out something else!" Viktor reasoned. But Allison was having none of it. "So, you could lie to us again and take his side? Because that's exactly what happened. I know Harlan killed all of our mothers,"

Ooo, this just got real! Dahlia gleefully grabbed another handful of popcorn. When it came to drama with her siblings, she hated being involved. But watching other people get into fights was like a sugar rush for her. "Who told you that?" Viktor inquired. "Harlan told me. After you lied about it to my face," Allison growled. One of the Umbrellas spoke up, asking if Allison was telling the truth about their dead mothers. Viktor stumbled over his words, claiming that Harlan was a good person who never meant to hurt anyone.

"I screwed him up and if you need someone to blame, I'm right-" "What makes you think I don't?" Allison interrupted, folding her arms across her chest. Viktor just shook his head the longer he stared at her. "This wasn't about saving the world. This was about hurting me... payback for-" Allison got up from her seat, and the closer she got to Viktor, the more tensions rose in the room. Who knew what she was going to do to him? Just by the evil look in Allison's eyes, Dahlia felt the young man would be put in the same predicament she was in only moments ago.

"Go on, say her name," The Rumor egged on. Luther attempted to regain control once again, but Allison put her hand up, telling him this was not his battle to be involved in. With reluctance, he sat back down next to his girlfriend. "Did killing Harlan bring Claire back?" Umbrella Seven gritted his teeth. "Did protecting him bring Sissy back? It was just as personal for you," Allison snarled. "BUT I DIDN'T KILL ANYONE!" "But you RISKED everyone! Do you know what that felt like? Watching you fight harder to protect the man who helped destroy my daughter than you ever did to bring her back?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Dahlia could see Dusk shaking on the couch across from her. Her hands clenched into fists, her head occasionally twitching with anger. She must have a close relationship with that guy to be THAT ticked off! Dahlia's inner thoughts spoke. "God, this whole family is so quick to tell me to suck up my pain and so worried about fixing yours! Somebody had to pay because you never seem to. Destroy the world, kill Pogo, almost kill me, and for what? So we can run around and clean up your mess? I'm sick of it..."

Viktor sucked in a breath and attempted to stand up for himself. But before he could even get a word in, Allison screamed. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Instantly, his mouth was sealed, and he began clasping at his throat, trying to breathe. Dahlia's mind went back into flashback mode as that same moment haunted her. "Every time I build a new life for myself, you end the world and TAKE IT FROM ME!" the anger in Allison's voice further hurt Viktor. "How are you doing this without saying I heard a rumor?" The time traveler questioned, furrowing his brow.

"Just a little residual gift from Harlan," the woman responded. "Alright, knock off the power shit, Allison! It's not okay!" Luther jumped in just as Viktor inhaled a breath, coughing his brains out as he took in every breath he could. "We should've left you in the basement..." Allison said as she leaned in close to his ear. "THAT'S IT!" Dusk shrieked, her voice sounding almost like an eagle's cry. She leapt from her spot on the couch and grabbed The Rumor, throwing them both towards the bar. 

"Holy shit! Girl fight!" Dahlia and Lila chuckled. "Girls, stop fighting! This is ridiculous!" Five and Luther shouted to the two, but they ignored them. Allison and Dusk wrestled around on the floor, clawing at each other, trying to push the other off. As Allison flipped the raven onto her back, she tucked in her legs, kicking her hard enough to make Allison fly towards the wall. "Just because you lost your daughter, doesn't give you the right to hurt people! Assaulting Luther and rumoring me to walk away from it and now, almost killing Viktor. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A CUNT?!"

What did she just say?! The room went dead silent as they all stared at Allison. "Woo! Those are fighting words right there!" Ben laughed, biting into a cheese ball. "Wait! You said she assaulted Luther?" Sloane asked. "Unfortunately, yes..." the raven nodded. Sloane just stared at Allison in disbelief before shifting her gaze to Luther, asking him if that was true. But Luther maintained his silence, staring at the ground with a look of hurt.

"Like you lost anybody, Dusk," Allison scoffed. Dusk explained that she lost a woman named Mary and two guys named James and Jack, who she claimed to be her only friends before her boyfriend came back into her life. "But they weren't your children... that's why you don't understand my grief," Allison growled. Wow, she's really the 'look at me look at me' woman, isn't she?  Dahlia wondered. "After the Kugelblitz mess is done, your dead to me, understand?" Dusk angrily vowed, flames coming from the corner of her eyes.

Allison muttered something under her breath, and Dusk quickly turned around, igniting a fireball in her hand, daring her to repeat herself. As they stepped towards each other, The Icy Sparrow couldn't help but wonder if this was gonna be round two of the girl fight. But that was until Umbrella Three said, "You said you blamed yourself for what happened to our Ben. Your right, it shouldn't have been him. You should've died that day,"

Having enough, Five tried to pull Dusk away by the arm, but the raven elbowed him straight in the nose, making him yowl at the impact. She turned around as her hands flew to her mouth, realizing what she had done. She stuttered an apology to him before grabbing a nearby decanter and threw it in Allison's direction. The heavy object narrowly missed her head, breaking into a million pieces against the wall.

"Fuck you, Allison!" Dusk quivered before storming out of the room, tears of frustration evident in her eyes. Dahlia looked around the room, everyone speechless by what they witnessed. "You okay, little dude?" Dahlia asked as Five grabbed a nearby tissue and wiped away the blood dripping from his nose. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's continue," He sighed.