ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ ɴɪɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴅɪᴠᴏʀᴄᴇ
'ꜰɪɴᴅ ᴀ ꜰᴏᴄᴜꜱ'

"Lovely to meet you" Lila spoke to Grace as she took three iced and decorated cookies from the white plate she held.

Diego pointed at his eye and then to Grace as she walked passed him to Five, asking Luther what had happened to Grace's other eye which was missing.

"Stabbed herself in the eye" Luther whispered, balling his hand up as if he was holding a knife.

Fei entered the room with a crow flying above her and Ben behind her. "Welcome. Please make yourselves at home" Fei gestured to the couches with her hand.

"Bitch, this is our home" Allison muttered.

"Excuse me?" Fei asked as she sat down on one of the couches opposite where Lila stood, awkwardly eating a cookie to distract herself from the tension in the room.

"Uh, jellybean?" Luther quickly picked up the bowl that Grace had set out and held it out to Fei.

"Where the hell is Viktor and Klaus?" Diego asked.

"With our luck, probably Kugelblitzed by now" Five answered, glancing around Ben to see if Inanna was coming into the room.

"She'll be here, don't you worry" Anna leaned back on the couch next to Fei, crossing her leg over the other as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Five untucked his hands from his pockets, glaring at Anna.

As if on cue, Inanna entered the room with Delaney, still wearing the same blood stained shirt which Delaney hadn't dared to ask her to change out of while Anna was gone.

Delaney sat next to Anna, sitting her hand on Anna's knee as Inanna stood awkwardly by the entrance, crossing her arms over her chest to stop herself from itching her skin, already feeling the other effects of Anna being in the same room as her.

"Inan-" Luther caught Five's arm, holding him in his place. Five looked from Luther's hand to Luther's face. "Please let go of me, dear brother".

"Not now" Luther looked from Five to Inanna. "Paradox psychosis" Luther muttered letting go of Five's arm.

Five looked from Inanna to Anna, noticing how both of them were desperately trying to hide how uncomfortable they felt being trapped in the academy together. Five stepped back, deciding that it was best if he waited for Inanna to come to him before he approached her first.

"Who's blood is that?" Diego asked, pointing at Five's shirt that Inanna wore.

A faint smirk appeared on Allison's lips. "Wouldn't you like to know" Allison said.

"That's why I asked..." Diego mumbled, confused by Allison's response as he turned to Lila who gestured for him to sit on the couch with her — he didn't.

"Ooh, what happened to your hand?" Fei asked pointing at Diego's hand which was missing two fingers and bandaged up.

Inanna glanced around the room, realising that they were missing Klaus and Stanley — and Viktor but she knew where he was.

"Where's Klaus and Stanley?" Inanna asked, her question directed at no one in particular.

Diego and Lila looked to Five, unsure if it was the right time to tell Inanna what had happened to Stanley. They didn't know where Klaus was but they knew that Stanley had been Kugelblitz.

"At the hotel" Lila said with a mouthful of cookie.

Five shook his head, averting his gaze from Inanna as the lie left Lila's mouth and Inanna believed it, only responding with a nod.

Ben clapped his hands together, irritated by the small talk that was passed around the room. "We don't have time for idle chitchat. Everyone, sit down" Ben said.

"'Please' would be nice" Diego said making Lila chuckle.

"No" Ben responded.

Five and Diego sat on the same couch as Lila and Delaney looked over at Inanna, gesturing for her to join her on the couch with Fei and Anna. Inanna raised her hand, turning down the invite.

Luther paced from left to right, thinking of a way to start the conversation before he stopped pacing and turned to look at Five and Diego. "So, uh.." Luther cleared his throat. "This is kinda nice, right? All of us here together. One big happy family" Luther chuckled. Luther crouched down to Sloane next to him "I feel like i'm sweaty. Am I sweating?" Luther asked.

"No, you're fine" Sloane rubbed the back of Luther's neck as Luther sat down in the chair next to her.

"Look, I know there's been bad blood between us. Whatever. Bygones, right?" Ben turned to Diego as he raised his hand to talk. "Question?".

"Yeah, if I kill you, do we get our Ben back?" Diego asked. Fei snickered quietly and Anna didn't even try to hide the amusement on her face. "Hypothetically" Diego said to Five who was wondering why they didn't leave Diego at the hotel.

"Keep talking and i'll have our Anna boil your Anna alive" Ben pressed his fingers together as he looked over his shoulder at Inanna.

"Okay" Five interrupted, before Anna could comment on how she liked Ben's plan to murder Inanna. "If the testosterone twins are done, i'd like to get back to a plan".

Viktor hurried into the room, holding Harlan's walkman set in his hand as he looked at Allison, not realising that Inanna was behind him.

"Viktor" Allison shook her head and Viktor turned to look at Ben.

"What did you do to Harlan?" Viktor asked Ben. Ben chuckled, crossing his hands in front of himself.

"They didn't do anything" Allison said, nodding her head towards Inanna. "Inanna did" Viktor looked passed Ben, noticing the blood on her white shirt which hadn't been there when she had last seen Inanna. "Inanna killed Harlan" Allison stated. "And I didn't stop her" Allison said.

Inanna's eyes found Five's as she looked up from the floor. Inanna didn't regret what she had done, not in the slightest, but she knew Five was judging her, wondering what Harlan could have possibly done to be murdered so horribly that his blood covered most of Inanna's shirt.

"Cold hearted killer" Anna raised her brows as she mouthed the words to Diego. Diego narrowed his eyes at her before turning his attention back to Inanna.

"I... I don't... I don't understand" Viktor looked between Inanna and Allison as he spoke. "Why?" Viktor's question was directed at both of them, wanting to know why Inanna had killed him and why Allison had stood by and watched.

"Because he didn't deserve to live" Allison responded.

Ben took a seat on the couch next to Five and Diego, grabbing the tub of cheese balls off the table.

"What? Because they said so?" Viktor asked pointing at Ben. "You don't have to listen to them. They don't get to tell us what to do. You could of talked to me. We could've figured out something else".

"So, what, you could lie to all of us again and take his side?" Allison asked.

"That's not what happened" Viktor argued.

"Oh, no" Allison shook her head. "That's exactly what happened" Allison leaned forwards on the chair. "I know Harlan killed all of our mothers" Allison didn't need to add that Harlan had killed Inanna's father, she knew the others would work that out.

"What?" Diego asked.

"Whoa" Luther mumbled. "Shit".

"What?" Five looked from Inanna to Viktor. He didn't blame Inanna, not anymore, believing that he would have killed Harlan himself if he had found out before her.

"Bloody plot twist" Lila muttered chewing on a stick of candy.

"Who told you that?" Viktor asked.

"Harlan" Allison muttered. "After you lied about it to my face" Allison spat.

"Is that true, Viktor? Harlan started all of this?" Diego asked.

"Yeah" Viktor nodded "But he didn't mean to hurt anyone. He-".

"Didn't mean to hurt anyone?" Inanna repeated uncrossing her arms as she took a step towards Viktor. Five shifted in his seat, his eyes flicking between his brother and his wife. "Didn't mean to?" Inanna shouted, dropping her arms to her sides. "He exploded my mothers brain while she was driving and my father died when the car crashed" Inanna's voice cracked as she mentioned her father, regretting how she had treated her father when she was a young teen.

"It was an accident, Inanna" Viktor shook his head.

"You don't accidentally murder someone like that" Inanna shook her head as she balled her hands up, pushing down the tears that dared to fall. "I was supposed to go home" Inanna's bottom lip trembled as she shouted at Viktor. "For the first time since I was sixteen, I was going to see my family again, and he took that from me" Inanna forcefully stabbed her thumb into her chest as she turned away from Viktor, knowing that if she continued she'd cry and that was the last thing she wanted.

"I'm sorry" Viktor hung his head. "But Harlan-".

"There's no 'but Harlan'" Inanna shouted, snapping her head back to Viktor as her eyes shone a vibrant orange.

Viktor staggered back from Inanna, noticing the change in her appearance instantly. The others hadn't seen the shift in her eye colour but they had noticed the orange flames that lit up her hands as her anger towards Viktor grew.

"Inan" Five stood up slowly, watching the flames run up Inanna's arms, leaving no burns behind as they disappeared underneath the shirt she wore.

Luther noticed almost at the same time as Inanna continued shouting at Viktor. "Keep defending him, Viktor, I don't care who you are or what you've done, I'll kill you" Inanna chest rose and fell while she stood unaware of the changes that were happening to her body.

"Inanna" Five shouted his wife's name, pulling her attention away from Viktor as Anna stood up just as slow as Five did, watching with uncertainty like the others.

Inanna furrowed her brows and Five shook his head, his eyes conveying the worry that he felt. "How are you doing that?" Five asked, his question confusing Inanna. "Your hands". Five nodded his head at Inanna's hands keeping his voice soft and calm so he didn't further upset her.

Inanna staggered backwards, trying to get away from her hands which were on fire, glowing a bright orange like Anna's hands had done at the hotel. Lila backed further into the couch, pulling her bare legs up onto the seat and away from Inanna.

"No, no" Inanna blinked her tears away as she shook her hands.

Five stepped passed Diego and Ben and hurried to Inanna, wanting to help her while the others watched in shock. Five placed his hand on Inanna's cheek and instantly pulled it away as her skin burned his at their touch.

Five shook his hand taking a step back from Inanna, without realising. "I didn't-" Inanna shook her head, the apology rolling around in the front of her mind. "I didn't mean to do that".

"It doesn't hurt" Five lied as he dropped his hand by his side, hiding the redness from Inanna's eyes. "We can-" Five shook his head, racking his brain for answers, but he found nothing, he had no idea how to help.

"You need to sit down" Anna pushed passed Viktor as she walked over to Inanna, her words directed at Five.

Anna took a hold of Inanna's shoulder, turning her towards her. "Give us a second" Anna spoke to Five, as she shoved his chest, pushing him towards the couch to give them the space they needed.

Anna's eyes glowed orange, matching Inanna's and she lifted her arms up at her sides, creating a wall of fire that circled around them, trapping Inanna in the circle with her to keep the others safe.

Five stumbled back from the wall of fire that had appeared in front of him, covering his eyes with his arm as it lit the room like an early morning sunrise.

"What the hell is happening to me?" Inanna asked, her breath shaky as she spoke.

"You're like me" Anna said as her eyes flicked across Inanna's body to further understand what she was working with. "Okay-" Anna took Inanna's hands in hers, untouched by the heat that had burned Five's hand. "Deep breathes. In and out" Anna felt a trickle of sweat run down her neck and underneath her shirt and her skin felt more uncomfortable now than it did moments before.

Inanna shook her head, unable to focus on what Anna was saying. "Listen to me, Inanna" Anna squeezed Inanna's hands. "You need to find something to focus on. A thing, a moment in time, a person, even a song will work, you just need to focus on something to stop the fire. You need to control it, don't let it control you".

Inanna's breathing grew faster as she closed her eyes. "Think of Five, okay? Think of your happiest moment with him" Anna tried to find an example but she couldn't think of anything.

Inanna squeezed Anna's hands, and Anna bit her lip from the pain that Inanna accidentally inflicted on her. Inanna thought back hard, thinking of every happy moment she had Five had shared together but each one was over shadowed by the lies he had kept from her.

However, buried years into her mind and untouched by the lies, Inanna replayed the moment Five had handed her his hand made ring and asked her to be his wife.

Inanna's grip on Anna loosen lightly and Anna released her bottom lip from her teeth, holding in the painful gasp that desperately wanted to leave her mouth.

Five's words floated around in Inanna's mind, the memory of his sweet declaration of love — which had made Inanna roll her eyes that night under the stars — calmed Inanna's breathing to the point that her chest rose and fell normally and the fire died down until it was a single flame dancing around her wrist.

Inanna opened her eyes as Anna let go of her hand. "Look" Anna smiled, pointing at the flame that slithered down to Inanna's fingers, like a snake. "It's beautiful, isn't it" Anna said and Inanna nodded. Anna sat her hand on Inanna's shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze, both surprised and relieved that Inanna had found something to focus on so quickly.

Inanna nodded, and without much thought, the flame died out, leaving no trace that it had once been there. "Thank you" Inanna looked up from her hands as she dropped them to her sides.

"Don't thank me" Anna shrugged. "I just didn't want my house to burn down" Anna chuckled as Inanna shook her head and the shield of fire that protected the others from Inanna turned into a thin grey smoke.

"Anna?" Delaney was stood up, anxiously waiting next to Sloane and Fei who were both just as anxious as she was.

"She's good" Anna patted Inanna's shoulder before joining Delaney again, who wrapped her arms around her and pressed a kiss against her cheek as she hugged her tightly.

Inanna turned to Five, noticing how his eyes were glossed over and teary — mirroring Inanna's — from the fear that he was going to loose Inanna again while he stood helplessly.

"Come here" Five whispered, he didn't know if Inanna's touch would burn him again, but it was the last thing he was worried about as he opened his arms to his wife.

Inanna was hesitant, but Anna was able to hug and kiss Delaney so Inanna hoped she could do the same without hurting the man she loved.

Inanna fell into Five's arms and Five leaned his head against hers as he threaded his fingers into her hair and pulled her impossibly closer by wrapping his arm tightly around her. Inanna wasn't over the argument that she had had with Five the day before, but in that moment as her breathing steadied, he was the only person she wanted and the only person she needed.

"I'm okay" Inanna's voice was a whisper as she mumbled her words quietly into Five's neck. "I'm okay" Inanna repeated, though she knew she wasn't being completely truthful.

Five turned his head, kissing the side of Inanna's face and Diego sat back down next to Lila, rubbing his knees with the palms of his hands as Lila sat her hand on his forearm to comfort him.

"We'll have to thank Harlan for that" Allison muttered, nodding her head to Inanna.

Five pulled away from Inanna and held her face in his hands, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks. Five noticed how her body didn't phase with her fast pulse but choose not to question it in that moment.

"No, no" Viktor shook his head. "Blame me. I screwed him up and if he did that to Inanna, that's my fault, not his. Okay, so if you need someone to blame, i'm right here" Viktor poked his thumb into his chest.

"What makes you think we don't? That I don't?" Allison asked, piercing Viktor's skin with a sharp glare.

"This wasn't about saving the world" Viktor stated. "This was about hurting me and you used Inanna's grief to avoid getting your hands dirty".

"Inanna just gave Harlan the long and painful death he deserved for killing her parents and orphaning Anna" Allison glanced to Inanna as she took Five's seat on the couch and Five stepped to the side of the couch, standing next to her.

"No" Viktor blinked as his eyes filled with tears. "This was payback for-" Viktor's words fell short as Allison stood up suddenly.

"Go on" Allison stepped towards Viktor. "Say her name".

"You know what?" Luther stood up "Maybe we should all just take a minute-" Allison extended her hand out to Luther, stopping him. "Okay" Luther muttered as he sat back down.

"Did killing Harlan bring Claire back?" Viktor asked.

"Did protecting him bring Sissy back? Because it was just as personal for you-".

"I didn't kill anyone!" Viktor shouted.

"But you risked everyone!" Allison shouted. "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?" Allison asked.

"I don't know how to bring Claire back" Viktor shook his head "Okay? No one does. But I was there for you. I tried. I was-".

"To what? Help me grieve?" Allison scoffed. "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" Allison muttered. "Destroy the world, kill Pogo, almost kill me, and for what? So we can all run around and clean up your mess? I'm sick of it".

"Take it easy, Allison" Five was shushed by Ben who was enjoying the show in front of him.

"Okay, I-".

"Shut your mouth!" Allison's eyes glowed the same shade of orange as Inanna's and Anna's and her voice echoed around the room, turning Viktor's eyes white as the rumour hit his ears.

Viktor held his throat choking on his words, unable to open his lips which had sealed shut at Allison's commanded.

"Every time I build a new life for myself, you end the world and take it from me!" Allison shouted, leaning closer to Viktor with each word.

"How are you doing this without saying, 'I heard a rumour?'" Five asked, placing his hand on Inanna's shoulder.

"Just a little residual gift from Harlan" Allison muttered, her eyes wide with anger as she watched Viktor struggle.

"All right, that's it" Luther stood up "Knock off the power shit, Allison" Luther shouted walking over to his sister. "It's not okay!".

Viktor choked and gasped for air as the rumour wore off. Viktor hunched over, coughing heavily and Allison crouched down to him, whispering "We should have left you in the basement".

"Whoa!" Diego shouted as he stood up. "Allison, all right!".

Viktor swung his arm, punching Allison in her face as he stood up. Luther gasped, covering his mouth with his hand and Allison staggered back from Viktor.

Viktor picked up Harlan's walk man, looking between Inanna and Allison as Allison turned to look at him. Viktor left the room without another word and Five took a step to Allison.

"You okay?" Five asked Allison.

"I'm fine" Allison licked the blood off her lips watching as Viktor hurried up the stairs. "Let's continue".

"Sweet" Ben smiled, holding a cheese ball between his fingers. "You guys fight just like us".

"Nah, man" Diego muttered. "We don't fight like this".

i've been really unsure
with this chapter just
because i don't know
how people will
respond to it. but i
couldn't have inan
getting powers and
her being like
"oh wow, look fire"
and then her being
all happy with it
because she just
wouldn't do that. her
natural response to
just about anything is
"what the fuck?"...

also a baby inan and five
graphic because i'm
obsessed: