Scarlett parked her car in front of the Academy, making everyone sprint towards the entrance.

"I don't think she's breathing," Luther exclaimed. "If we don't get her upstairs right now, she's going to die," Klaus added, his tone edged with desperation.

"Just stop talking and get her to Mom and Pogo," Scarlett interjected firmly.

As their mother and Pogo took charge of Allison, quickly laying her on the operating table, the seriousness of her condition became evident.

"She's suffered a severe laceration to her larynx. One of you will need to donate blood," Grace explained calmly. "I'll do it," came the unanimous response from everyone present.

"I'll do it," Luther offered sternly. "I'm afraid that's not possible, dear boy. Your blood is more compatible with mine." Pogo replied.

Confusion rippled within the group. "What's he talking about?" Valerie asked, her brow furrowing. "You don't want to know." Scarlett responded.

"Hey, don't sweat it. I've got this," Klaus reassured Luther, but his confidence was quickly challenged by Pogo's next revelation. "Master Klaus, your blood is...shall we say, too polluted."

Diego stepped forward confidently, but his confidence faltered when Grace approached with the needle, causing him to faint instantly.

"I'll do it," Five offered calmly. Yet, Pogo had another suggestion. "Actually, Miss Scarlett is perfect." Scarlett turned to him, confused. "Why me?"

"Because you have phoenix blood inside you. It's very powerful," Pogo explained. Scarlett's disbelief was evident. "Phoenix blood?" she asked, confused.

Pogo nodded. "Uh, okay. Stick me," Scarlett declared, holding out her arm with determination.

__

The family sat in the living room, anxiously waiting for Allison's recovery. Thanks to Scarlett's blood donation, she was now in stable condition.

Diego, with urgency in his voice, broke the tension. "The bastard who nearly killed our sister is still out there, with Vanya. We need to go after him."

"Vanya's not our priority," Five replied.

"Hey, that's our sister. A little heartless, even for you, Five." Scarlett interjected.

"I'm not saying I don't care about her, but if the apocalypse happens today, she dies along with the other seven billion of us. Harold Jenkins is our first priority," Five countered.

Diego, ever impulsive, nodded in agreement. "I agree. Let's go."

But Klaus, hesitant and self-aware, voiced his worry's. "You guys, count me out." They all paused and turned to him with confused expressions.

"I mean, no offense or anything, but...I kinda feel like this is a whole lot of pressure for newly-sober me," Klaus confessed. "You're coming," Diego insisted, determination lacing his tone.

Klaus persisted, citing his perceived uselessness. "I think we can all agree that my powers...they're pretty much useless. I'd just be holding you guys back."

"Klaus, get up." Scarlett crossed her arms, demanding his presence.

"You can't make me," Klaus challenged. But Scarlett's response was swift and impressive - she conjured fire with her hands, a playful smile tugging at her lips.

"Can't I?" she said with a smirk, her power asserting her authority.

Klaus relented, chuckling softly. "Oh, then again, a little exercise couldn't hurt."

___

"It's not exactly what I was expecting." Diego's voice cut through the tension.

"The understatement of the year." Scarlett's response dripped with sarcasm.

The siblings and Valerie had driven to Harold Jenkins's house in search of him and Vanya, only to discover his lifeless body on the dining room floor, a display of at least 20 knives embedded in his flesh.

Scarlett's mind raced with questions. Who could have committed such a violent act, and why?

"Wait, this is the guy who was going to end the world?" Valerie said, voicing her disbelief.

"Was supposed to," Five clarified dryly.

"No sign of her." Klaus noted the absence of their sister. "Let's get out of here before the police show up." Diego urged.

"Bitch, I am the police," Valerie retorted, her tone laced with annoyance. "Before the important ones show up," Diego added. Valerie rolled her eyes. "Same old Diego."

But Five paused, kneeling beside the lifeless body. With determination, he removed Harold's eye patch and retrieved an eyeball from his pocket.

"Oh, Five, what are you doing?" Scarlett said, disgusted.

Five quickly placed the glass eye into Harold's empty socket. "Same eye color, same pupil size. Guys, this is it. The eye i've been carrying around for decades, it's found its rightful home." he declared.

"We got the guy we needed to kill to stop the apocalypse." Diego said, with a tone of relief.

"Yay! Let's go." Klaus said, eager to leave.

Yet Scarlett's intuition nagged at her. It couldn't be that simple. Finding the person that supposedly paused the apocalypse dead on his own floor with 20 knives plunged into him didn't make sense.

She seized Klaus's shirt, pulling him back toward the group. "It can't be this easy."

Five stood, a note in hand. "This is the note I got from the Commission," he showed the group.

"Yeah, I heard people talking about someone named Harold Jenkins and how he must be protected at all costs." Valerie explained.

Five continued. "Yeah, the note says 'Protect Harold Jenkins,' aka Leonard Peabody. But who killed him? Who did this?"

"I have a crazy idea-" Klaus interjected with an idea but before he could finish, Five vanished from the room.

"-Crazy, but why don't we find Vanya," Klaus resumed, "and ask her what happened? If Vanya got away from this asshole, she might be headed back to the Academy," Scarlett suggested, her voice tinged with urgency.

The group returned to the Academy in search of Vanya, but she remained nowhere to be found.

"She's not up here," Five reported. "Or downstairs," Valerie added.

"Well, I'm out," Diego declared, ready to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?" Scarlett asked, confused by his sudden urge to leave.

"Yeah, Vanya's still out there, and so are Hazel and Cha-Cha," Five reminded him.

"I know. I'm gonna grab my things and then I'm outta here. I've got some unfinished business with those fools." Diego stated.

Scarlett sighed, contemplating their next move. "What now?" she asked the group.

Valerie offered a simple solution. "Well, the apocalypse isn't happening, so...I guess we just go back to our lives?"

A smile graced Scarlett's lips. "I like the sound of that."

Finally free from the apocalypse, Scarlett relished in the newfound sense of normalcy. Reunited with Valerie, reconciled with her family, and reassured by Allison's stable condition, Scarlett embraced the peace that she hadn't felt them for so long. In that moment, everything felt right.

__

"Wait, you locked up our sister because you think she has powers?" Scarlett's disbelief echoed through the room.

"No, I know she does. Pogo told me. He's always known, and so did Dad." Luther replied.

Descending into the basement, Luther revealed Vanya locked in a soundproof room, her screams for help reverberating off the walls.

"Why would they hide this from us? I mean, am I the only one who didn't know this place existed?" Diego asked, confused.

"He hid so much from us," Klaus remarked bitterly. "He hid it because he was afraid...of her," Luther explained.

Scarlett dismissed the idea. "Oh, that's ridiculous."

"Is it? Dad lied about everything else, why is this so far-fetched?" Luther countered.

"If you're right, then maybe she's the one who killed Peabody." Diego speculated. "And cut Allison's throat," Luther added grimly.

"Whoa, no, sorry, let's just...go back, all right? This is Vanya we're talking about. Our sister. The one who always cried when we stepped on ants as kids," Klaus intervened, trying to maintain a sense of humanity.

"Yeah, I know. It's difficult to accept-" Luther began, but Klaus cut him off sharply. "It's not difficult to accept, it's impossible to accept."

"Look, we can't keep her locked up without proof." Scarlett urged. "What more proof do you need?" Luther demanded.

"Working in the judicial system, I've learned one thing: ask both sides of the story." Scarlett reasoned.

"Oh, yeah? Did that work for you?" Luther's accusation hung heavily in the air.

Scarlett's confusion was evident as she met his gaze. "What?" she asked.

"Did that work when you shot that kid?" Luther's words were like a slap in the face, triggering a flood of emotions and guilt.

A stunned silence followed. Scarlett's eyes widened in disbelief. "Excuse you?" Her glare bore into him, a mix of shock and anger.

"Who's to say we don't lock you up in there as well?" His words were like a knife, cutting deep into Scarlett's sense of familial trust.

Scarlett struggled to comprehend what her brother was saying. He was implying she was a monster without saying it outright. Memories of past mistakes and guilt resurfaced, weighing heavily on her conscience.

Diego and Klaus intervened, trying to defuse the tension. "Woah, woah, hey, you're getting out of hand here, Luther. Scarlett didn't do anything," Diego interjected.

"Exactly, why don't we just open the door and ask Vanya what happened?" Klaus suggested, moving to reach for the door.

But Luther held him back. "No, she's not going anywhere," he asserted firmly.

Scarlett's anger simmered. "Yeah, and for all we know, she might be struggling with this new power. I mean, it must be scary, terrifying, really, to discover that you can do something that you never thought you could do," Klaus reasoned.

Luther remained resolute. "Look, if what Pogo told me is even half true, then she is not just a danger to us, but to everyone."

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed behind them, making the siblings turn around to find Allison standing there.

"Allison, what are you doing down here? You should be in bed," Luther asked with concern etched across his face.

Unable to speak due to the injury inflicted by Vanya, Allison resorted to writing on a notepad to communicate her thoughts. She wrote her message, her expression grave with determination.

She turned the notepad around to reveal her words to her siblings. "Let her go," Allison implored in her silent plea.

Luther sighed. "I can't do that. She hurt you," he reasoned.

But Allison was determined. With a frustrated shake of her head, she wrote once more on the notepad, bearing the weight of responsibility. "My fault," the words spelled out plainly.

"I'm sorry, but she's staying put," Luther insisted firmly, blocking Allison's path as she attempted to move towards the door.

Scarlett's gaze flickered between her siblings and Vanya, her mind whirring with conflicting emotions. Why was Luther so determined about keeping Vanya locked up? She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the situation than met the eye.

In frustration and disbelief, Scarlett realized that Luther's stubbornness was clouding his judgment. Vanya wasn't a monster; she was simply lost and frightened. Scarlett's frustration simmered, her patience wearing thin.

Scarlett knew that if she heard one more authoritarian order from Luther's lips, she would take matters into her own hands. With a heavy heart, she left her siblings in the basement and retreated to her room, wrestling with the weight of their fractured family dynamic.

Valerie was looking through Scarlett's belongings when Scarlett leaned against the doorframe, observing her with amusement.

"If you're going to steal something, just tell me," Scarlett chuckled.

Valerie smiled and sighed simultaneously as she continued her search. "I'm looking for..." Her words trailed off as she rifled through Scarlett's dresser drawer.

"Ah! Here it is," Valerie exclaimed, grabbing an old photograph of the two of them. Scarlett approached, curious. "What's this?" she asked, taking the photo from Valerie's grasp.

"Our first date," Valerie reminisced with a chuckle. "We look about seven." Scarlett observed.

Valerie shrugged, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes. "I was still in love with you then."

Scarlett's smile widened at the memory. "Why were you looking for this?" she asked.

"Because I was bored while you had your sibling intervention, and then I remembered this," Valerie explained.

"It was the day of your father's huge party, where all those business people were there. We got bored, so we snuck off into the attic and found an old camera," Valerie recounted. Scarlett nodded in agreement. "Right, and then we took the picture."

"God, we were so young. We didn't have a care in the world," Scarlett smiled, her tone tinged with nostalgia. Valerie chuckled in agreement.

Suddenly, a loud explosion shook through the house, causing Valerie to trip. Scarlett quickly caught her, their hearts racing in unison.

"What the fuck was that?" Scarlett exclaimed, her concern evident.

END OF CHAPTER