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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘ. ᴘᴀʀᴋᴇʀ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚  ▎❛ 𝐓𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴇᴍᴇʀɢᴇɴᴄʏ,
ᴇᴍᴇʀɢᴇɴᴄʏ, ᴘᴀɢɪɴɢ ᴅʀ. ʙᴇᴀᴛ ꒱


❝ [ OUR POWERS ] ARE A PART
OF US, NOT SOMETHING THAT
NEEDS TO BE TAKEN AWAY ❞

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"Why do you have a box of shit?" was the first question out of Diego's mouth as he, Lila and Luther arrived at the emergency meeting the quartet had called.

"Diego," Lila scolded him reproachfully, "maybe the old man's fallen into the hoarder stereotype that goes with people of his aging years; we shouldn't encourage this behavior."

Five gave them a baleful look. "It's not mine. We're waiting for the others to get here before we explain."

His brother rolled his eyes and took a seat at the hibachi table that they'd gotten in a quiet corner of the restaurant. They knew their siblings well enough that getting them all together would be like pulling teeth unless there was free food involved, so they'd decided on a nearby Japanese restaurant as their meetup place. So far, they'd been waiting for thirty minutes before anyone had showed, the first being Diego and Lila; they'd dropped the kids off with Sarah before taking Luther along.

The blond glanced towards the door apprehensively. ". . . Everyone?"

Alexa gave him an apologetic smile. "Yes. As much as I would've preferred to not invite her, this is kind of a decision that impacts. . . everyone. Literally."

Diego groaned. "Don't tell me we're looking at another apocalypse situation!"

She grimaced in response. Lila joined her husband and dragged one of the appetizers towards herself. "Well, if that's the case, we're gonna need our strength. I'm going to start eating while there's still time left to enjoy food."

Eventually, Allison and Klaus did show up, about an hour after their initial start time. Things got immediately tense as soon as she stepped in the room, but she showed how obviously unaffected by it she was by sweeping gracefully over to an empty chair and sitting down. She waved a server over and ordered an alcoholic beverage. Meanwhile, Klaus eyed the hibachi table warily as he wondered if cooking all the food on the same surface was sanitary. Deciding that he was hungry enough to not care too much, he sat next to his sister.

"Well?" Allison prompted them once everyone had settled in. "What is it?"

Alexa took a deep breath, steadying herself to ignore the other woman's hostile tone. She responded as evenly as she could, filling the others in on Viktor's kidnapping. Predictably, she could barely get through the first part of the story without being interrupted. Her siblings talked over her with increasingly chaotic loudness:

"You left the house without telling us?" Luther asked, scandalized. "That goes against the parameters set by your parole officer!"

"Like I give a shit, Major Buzzkill," Ben retorted, slurping on a piece of shrimp.

"Guys—" the blonde tried, her voice drowned out.

"A woman?" Diego inquired, leaning forward with interest. "What did she look like? Did you get a name?"

Klaus looked nervous. "If this turns into another 'everyone dies' thing, I'm getting out of dodge this time."

"You'd better not," Luther warned him.

Five slammed his hand down on the table. The sharp clap echoed through the room, making everyone jump. "Would you all just shut up?" he snapped, his voice cutting through the noise like a knife. Everyone froze, turning their attention to him, startled by the outburst. "Let her finish."

"Thank you," she said gratefully, her expression softening as she glanced over at him. Shaking herself from the fond thoughts of her boyfriend, she cleared her throat and picked up where she'd left off. "I suppose we should have tried asking for her name, but I doubt she would've given it to us. She was pretty cryptic—"

"Look, none of this is important," Ben cut across her loudly. He threw the empty shell of his shrimp down on his plate. "Viktor's fine, rainbows and sprinkles for everyone. The real reason why called you all here— which really shouldn't have needed a debate," he added, glaring at the blonde, "is what's in 'the box of shit.' Show 'em, Blondie."

Alexa huffed. "Well, I was gonna give them a bit more context first, like how apparently we're at the epicenter of what's gonna happen."

"Wait, isn't that usually Viktor's job?" Klaus wondered, glancing at his brother.

"Klaus," Allison reprimanded him.

Viktor waved them off. "He's not wrong, but I don't have my powers and I don't intend to get them back anytime soon."

"Whoo, character development!" the fourth Hargreeves cheered, raising his glass of water to the other man in a mock toast. "Guess that means you're done with your villain arc, then?"

"I hope so," he agreed.

"Can it really be called a 'villain arc' when it was done unintentionally?" Alexa pointed out, defending her brother.

Before they could get into a discourse on defining Viktor's apocalyptic tendencies, there was a loud clink that caused everyone to look in Ben's direction. Lila's eyes widened. "Is. . . that what I think it is or is it just a jar of glowstick juice?"

He smirked at her. "It's exactly what you think it is."

"How did you get that?" Diego demanded.

"Well, if someone had let me get the full story out, I would've told you it was from the same woman who kidnapped Viktor," the blonde replied. "She's the one who gave us this box and the jar was inside. She specifically wanted me and Ben to have our powers back; apparently it will help us return the timeline to what it was meant to be."

"Return the timeline?" Luther echoed, his voice laced with skepticism. "And she just. . . gave you this? How do we know if it's legit?"

"Yeah, sounds like a trap to me," Diego added, crossing his arms. "Why would she want you two specifically to get your powers back?"

"I don't know," Alexa admitted, her expression tense. "She didn't exactly give us a lot of answers, just obscure warnings about the future. She was pretty adamant that we were the only ones who could fix what's coming. But I didn't want the decision to be made by just us; I wanted to give everyone a fair chance to get their powers back."

Ben was much less magnanimous. "Probably because we're the only ones who haven't completely screwed up reality yet."

"Hey!" Luther snapped, looking offended.

"I'm just saying," Ben countered, "we're the only ones who didn't cause a doomsday scenario or blow up the moon. Maybe that gives us a leg up.

"Wait a second," Allison interjected, eyes narrowing. "You're really going to just. . . trust her? After everything we've been through? We don't even know who this woman is or what she wants."

Alexa sighed. "I don't trust her, but right now we don't have a lot of options. If she's to be believed, we're looking at another apocalypse and I think we can all agree we've had enough of those."

"Okay," Five spoke up, "for the sake of discussion, let's say everything is true. If we take this, we'll get our powers back. Does anyone really want that?"

Klaus immediately waved his hand in denial, talking over Ben's assertion that yes, he did want his powers back. "No siree bob. For the first time in my life, I'm sober. And. . . happy. But most importantly, free."

Allison gave him a look of disbelief. "Free? You rarely leave the house and when you do, you're wearing surgical gloves in public."

"Yeah, well, at least I'm in control."

The chef entered the room and Alexa tucked the marigold back into the box that sat under the table. Diego watched the chef critically as he began to toss his knives in the air. "Look at this chump. Angle's wrong. Sloppy form."

Just to get under their brother's skin, the siblings cheered at the performance, showering him with compliments. Once they'd settled down, Viktor restated his opinion: "look, guys, it's a hard no for me too. I've got a bar to run, friends. Like, a real life."

"You're all nuts, all right?" Ben stated. "We should be mainlining this shit right now." He glanced at Alexa. "Come on, Blondie. You heard the lady; if we don't do anything, the world's gonna go to shit anyway. You can't sit by and do nothing. Trust me, you're not the type."

She picked up on the hostility in his tone but disregarded it, glancing at the jar in question. Five reached over and placed a hand on top of hers, under the table where their siblings couldn't see (and make fun of them for it.) "You don't need powers, Lexa."

Alexa squeezed his hand, grateful for his steadying presence, though her expression remained conflicted. "I know," she murmured. "But if it could stop what's coming. . ."

Her entire life, she had been taught to protect her siblings at all costs. She knew she had fallen short of the mark more times than she cared to count. (Ben— their Ben— came to mind here. Even now, so many years later, the mantra followed at the thought of her brother: I'm sorry. It's my fault. All mine. The sting of his death, the guilt, had never gone away, nor had it lessened.) If only there could be one time where she lived up to her role and be the eighth Hargreeves— the protector— that her siblings had always needed.

"You don't need that, Lexi," Klaus encouraged her, his voice muffled by the string of floss he was using to get shrimp out of his teeth. "Your life's fantastic!"

She sighed in acquiesce, the worry on her face giving way to the affectionate smile she sent to her boyfriend. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Ben glared at her. He leaned forward, his face tightening with impatience. "Fantastic? You're seriously gonna use that word? Look around, Blondie. The world's always on the edge of falling apart and you're pretending like you're better off without your powers? Come on."

"Better off without being a weapon," Alexa countered softly.

Luther nodded, thinking of his own life with his wife and son. "We're more than just the things we can do. And we've tried this before, relying on our powers to save everything." He gestured vaguely to the group. "It barely works out in the best cases."

"I don't usually say this, but I'm with Luther," Diego agreed. "Majority rules."

Klaus turned to Allison, who hadn't spoken up yet. "You're not actually considering this, are you?"

Alexa's attention became captured by the onion volcano that the chef was creating, only vaguely hearing her sister's halfhearted denial. Using her distraction to his advantage, Ben leaned down and scooped up the jar, hiding it in his hoodie pocket. Lila agreed with the others, putting in the final vote.

Five nodded in acceptance. "Alright, then. Motion fails. We don't drink the mystery juice, so we don't get our powers back." He glanced at the blonde next to him, knowing that she wouldn't let Viktor's kidnapping go, even without powers. "We can work on finding out more about the mystery woman and reevaluate the situation once we're presented with more information."

"I tried. You're all morons," Ben declared as he stood.

Luther looked up sharply. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"To take a piss! Is that okay, Luther? Or do you need to run that by my parole officer too?"

The blond's eyes widened in alarm. "Oh shit! I was supposed to call him at six!"

Ben's momentary departure seemed to signal the official end of the evening as the other siblings began to say their goodbyes. When he returned, the Asian man seemed to be in a much better mood as he held his arms out in protest. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey! Where's everyone going? We haven't even gotten to the steak yet!"

"Party's over."

"No! No!" he insisted as a waiter followed him in, bearing a tray of Sake. "Okay. One last shot, on me. For old time's sake. Please! Klaus?"

"Come on. He doesn't drink," Luther defended him.

Klaus gave the beverages an uncertain look. "Sake doesn't count."

He shrugged off Allison's 'are you really doing this' look and accepted the cup Ben handed him. The brunet handed the rest out to the other siblings. Alexa took hers with some suspicion, glancing at the cup but not seeing anything amiss.

"Here's to sitting back and doing nothing," Ben announced with false enthusiasm. "Kanpai!"

They echoed his toast and all but one of them downed their shots. 

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

"Ben. . ."

The Asian man scrunched his eyes more tightly shut against the echo of the woman's voice that spoke in his head.

"Ben, please. . ."

His dreams came in flashes.

A small town.

A diner.

The feeling of being trapped. Not somewhere, just with the knowledge of being unable to leave.

"I'm waiting for you. For all of you. . ."

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Luther woke to the sound of his alarm blaring, alerting him that it was time to get ready for school. He groaned; he was free of that waking-up-early life, yet it had been his choice to fall right back into it. He reached out a hand to press snooze, turn it off, something. For the moment, he was too exhausted to notice that the force of his hit had broken the machine entirely rather than simply silence it.

Now that it was quiet, the blond rolled over and pulled his wife back into his arms, deciding to sleep a little longer. But the alarm had woken Sarah up as well and she shifted next to him. Her voice was groggy as she mumbled: "don't you have to go to school?" He grunted in response. "Luther."

"I feel like shit," he managed to get out, his mouth feeling as dry as sandpaper. If he tried to do anything besides lie completely still, his stomach rolled dangerously.

"I told you to go light on the drinking on a school night," she chided him.

"I did. It must be food poisoning from that restaurant. You feel fine?"

She nodded and reached over to press her hand to his forehead. "You are burning up," she noted with concern. "I'll take Brad to school today and call in sick for you; you just rest, okay?"

He gave her a grateful smile before he pulled her pillow towards him to press it against his face to block out the light.

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

"Hey, mister!"

Diego glanced with vague interest towards the boy who had called over to him. He'd been taking another 'unofficial' break during his patrol shift. Too lazy to make a stop to go to the bathroom, he'd pulled over at the park and gone to the surrounding woods to relieve himself. He was taking his time to get back to his car and was paying for it by having a shouting exchange with a random kid. "What?"

"Can you throw us the ball back?"

He'd been so zoned out (his mind preoccupied with what had happened last night) that he hadn't noticed the basketball that had rolled into his path. He sighed, preparing himself for being made fun of for missing the court completely. He scooped the basketball up and lobbed it carelessly with one arm. Ready to make a beeline out of there to keep the kids from mocking him, he didn't even pay attention to where the ball went.

It made a sharp left hook that went against all laws of physics known to man and landed in the basket with a swish.

He jumped at the sound of the kids. . . cheering? The brunet turned in confusion to take in the scene. One of the kids ran up to him, a middle school-aged boy, his eyes bright with excitement. "Can you play with us, mister? We need you on our team!"

"Wait, what?"

"I can't believe you made it! That was even better than a three-pointer!"

Diego stared at the boy. "I. . . made it?"

"Nothin' but net!"

Excitement filled him then and vigor filled him in a burst that he'd been missing these six long years. "Hell yeah, baby! I'm back!"

He'd been feeling a bit off all morning, his skin clammy with sweat and a slight case of nausea— and now he knew why. The other players came over to them, protesting that him siding with a team wouldn't be fair. He cut them off loudly, beaming at the unexpected turn of events: "hey! How about all of you against me?"

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Alexa woke up that morning feeling surprisingly energized. When she looked towards the window, she was a bit shocked to find that it was early morning, soft light seeping through the curtains and Five was still asleep next to her. That was two days in a row now— unprecedented for her. She didn't even feel tired. She felt like she could leap out of bed and run a marathon (or at the very least around the block.) She didn't need caffeine, coffee, tea or any sort of boost.

Deciding to not look a gift horse in the mouth, she got out of bed and commenced her usual routine of starting coffee for her boyfriend. Not wanting a repeat of yesterday, she checked the door for any more strange envelopes but it thankfully remained empty. Unlike the day before, Five did not get up and join her in front of the coffee; she heard him groan from the bed but he stayed there. Concerned, she went over to see what was wrong.

"Fi? Are you feeling okay?"

"Never better," he answered weakly. He struggled to push himself into a sitting position, which didn't last long.

Alexa pushed him back down gently. "Don't strain yourself; you're retired, remember? You can take a day to rest. I've got coffee going—"

He patted a hand in the direction of her face, his fingers eventually landing on her mouth in a shushing gesture. "Don't talk about food," he pleaded, "I think I'm gonna hurl."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, jerking away from him in instinctive disgust. "Hold on, let me get you a pot." She returned to his side a few seconds later with said container. "I also brought water and painkillers. . . I didn't think you drank a lot last night, though."

Five shook his head and accepted the pot, clutching it tightly to him. "Not a hangover."

She frowned; in all the time she'd known him, Five had never gotten sick. Their father had made sure that they did yearly shots (of which she'd been exempt from, seeing as how needles couldn't pierce her skin.) He'd probably gotten sick in the apocalypse but she hadn't been with him then. Alexa did feel a little guilty about being happy that he was sick now— he'd finally let her take care of him! (Though that was just a small part of her— she was mostly saddened by the discomfort he was feeling.) Wanting to make sure he didn't have a fever, the blonde reached forward and placed her hand on the brunet's head. He was burning up, his face pale and sweaty in a way that made his bangs stick to his skin. She felt a tug of sympathy within her.

In the same instant, her palm flashed. . . gold?

She yanked her hand away from her boyfriend in shock, clutching the offending fingers to her chest. She stumbled away from him, her face going slack in horror. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god—"

She had hurt him. That had to have been what happened. She didn't know how or why, but she knew what glowing light meant: powers. Alexa stumbled back, her breath coming in short gasps. The panic rose in her chest, twisting her insides as she tried to comprehend what she had just done. Powers. She hadn't had them in so long, and now— now— they were back. Not just back— different.

"Five. . . I-I didn't mean—" she stammered, tears welling up in her eyes.

It took him a moment to reorient himself. Once he had, his first priority was calming his girlfriend down. He threw the covers off himself and scrambled out of bed. He approached her carefully, holding his hands out so he could grasp both of hers once he was close enough. "Lexa," his voice cut through her panic, sounding surprisingly stronger than before. "Love, calm down."

As he made to pull her into a hug, she backed away again, stumbling over her feet in her haste to put distance between them. "No— no, don't come near me," she pleaded, the tears starting to slide down her cheeks. "I-if I hurt you—"

His expression softened and he took another cautious step toward her, his hands still outstretched and his tone gentle. "Lexa, you didn't hurt me," he said. "Look at me. I'm fine."

She shook her head, still trembling. "No, you were burning up— I saw the light. I don't know what that was! What if I made things worse?"

Five slowly reached out and took her hands in his once more. He began to realize that, as he stood there, he felt. . . stronger. "Lexa, listen to me. You didn't hurt me. Whatever you did, I feel better now. I'm not sick anymore."

Her wide eyes darted to his face, confusion and fear clouding her expression. "W-what?"

He smiled, stepping closer until they were just inches apart. "You healed me," he told her quietly. "That glow— it wasn't you hurting me. You helped me."

Alexa blinked rapidly, trying to process his words. "But I-I don't have healing powers. I never have."

Five placed a hand gently on her cheek, wiping away her tears with his thumb. "We'll figure it out together. You have control. You're not a danger, Lexa."

The blonde finally managed to take a deep breath. If Five was saying that she wasn't a threat— someone who knew more about dangerous people than any of them— then he really must be okay. She forced herself to take in his appearance, just to be sure she really hadn't hurt him. She saw what he said was true: the pallor of his skin was returning to normal, his eyes were brighter and he moved around easily, no longer groaning in pain. She looked down at her hands, one of which was clasped in his.

"I. . . I don't believe it. Even if I do have my powers back, why are they different? How do I have them back? I. . ." Alexa looked at her boyfriend helplessly.

His eyes were narrowed in thought as he recalled the previous night. He seemed to come to some sort of conclusion as his attention flicked back to her. "Are you okay? Do. . . do you need anything from me?"

A bit confused but touched by his questions, she shook her head. "No, I think I'll be fine. I just. . . if I ever did hurt you, I'd never forgive myself."

He gently cupped her face with both of his hands and pressed a fond kiss to her forehead. "You could never hurt me, Lexa."

The brunet went over to the closet and grabbed his suit jacket, bringing it over to the blonde to wrap it around her shoulders. She took it gratefully, crossing her arms against her chest to pull it close to her. Reassured that she was feeling better, Five turned his gaze to the 'box of shit' that the mysterious woman had given them. Maybe it was because he was thinking about the jar of Marigold, or that Ben had probably stolen it to force their powers back, but he never quite reached the box.

Instead, purple light surrounded him and he was thrust through a familiar-yet-different portal of time and space. A white-tiled subway greeted him, though it was unlike any underground transport system he'd ever seen. For one, the text on the walls was in a foreign language— even to the seven that he knew— though its familiarity tickled in the back of his mind. For another, there was no one else in the hub except for him.

"What the hell?"

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

After Alexa called off 'sick' to work (Derek assured her that he would take care of it), she and Five took the infamous 'box of shit' to Luther's. There, Lila and Diego were already arguing with increasingly loud voices. Allison sat slumped on the couch, feeling as poorly as her other siblings. Luther (who had not returned to his apelike body, but had thankfully kept his normal, human one) was lifting up all the heavy things he had just to prove he could, much to Sarah's appreciation.

"Can someone explain what the hell is going on here real quick?" Viktor demanded as he stalked inside, the door to Luther's home having been left unlocked in the anticipated arrival of his siblings.

"Well, Viktor, that's what we're all trying to figure out," Five replied, still clutching the box to his chest.

"Hey, while you guys are complaining, I feel amazing," Luther boasted, beaming as he lifted the dining room table up with one hand as his wife sat cross-legged on top.

Diego glared at him. "That's great for you. The rest of us feel like someone injected motor oil in our veins."

"It's so strange," Klaus commented as he returned to the living room with a glass of water in hand. "Because I, for once, agree with the big guy over here. I feel fantastic."

"Yeah? Well, you think you got problems?" Lila challenged them. "Look at this."

Her husband put out a hand in protest. "Oh wait. No!"

She didn't listen, her eyes lighting up with green lasers. She couldn't direct them very well and they bounced off the TV. Sparks flew into the air and Sarah yelped, jumping down from the table and covering her head. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Not inside! What the hell?"

"I'm sorry," Lila apologized, panting slightly from the exertion. The green light returned as she turned her head back the other way, this time catching the windows.

"Whoa!" Luther protested as everyone ducked. "Whoa! Turn it off!"

"I don't know how!" Finally, they blipped out. Dust fell in the ensuing silence. "There." The brunette winced at the damage. "Oh, sorry about that."

"How do you do that?" Diego wondered in awe.

"A gun to my head, I couldn't tell you."

Lila squinted a few times as her eyes readjusted. Luther stared at his house in alarm. "Oh, come on! You better be prepared for your contribution of the hazard pay."

"I don't give a shit about your TV or your windows. I want answers now," Viktor snarled. And, with his burst of emotion, waves of power emanated from him. Orange energy flickered to life around his body to punctuate his words.

Alexa hurried over to her brother, unafraid of his reaction. Her fingers tingled as they entered his energy sphere so she could place them on his arm. "Hey, Vik, easy. We're gonna get answers, but not if you blow the place up first."

His eyes burned with fury and pain, already assuming the worst. The blonde felt the same tug of sympathy she had before with Five, but at least she knew what to expect this time. The flash of gold that emanated from her palm was lost amongst her brother's orange light. He took a deep breath and controlled his power, sucking it back into himself. Ben's voice behind them distracted the seventh Hargreeves from the fact that he no longer felt quite so ill.

"Relax, Kodiak Jack," the Asian man announced as he emerged from the bathroom, the jar of Marigold in his hand. They saw that his tentacles— which now protruded from his back— dragged on the floor behind him. "It was me. I know you're all too terminally emo to do what had to be done so I made an executive decision and spiked your Sake with the Marigold. Luckily it was colorless and odorless once it was mixed in with the drink or you idiots might have picked up on it."

Luther gasped while Five merely sighed. "I feared as much."

Viktor pulled away from his sister's reassuring touch, his anger taking hold of him once more. "You had no right to do that, asshole!"

Ben pulled a face at the brunet. "Oh, trust me, you'll thank me later."

"Yeah, or I'll kick your ass right now," he threatened.

The Asian man scoffed. "Oh yeah. Now, that I would love to see."

He took a seat on the couch next to Allison and lifted his limp tentacles onto the cushions, forcing her to move away in disgust. Sarah grimaced at the slime trail he left on her hardwood floors. Diego gave the tentacles a confused look. "What's with the tails?"

"I don't know. They won't go back in!"

Luther leaned over and poked one curiously. "Oh! God. Why is it cold?"

"The real question is, why would you touch it?" Lila wondered, repulsed.

"Forget about my tails, all right?" He dipped his finger into the remnants of the glowing liquid before he put it in his mouth, mumbling around it: "I haven't felt this good in years. Maybe you guys need to take some more."

"Okay," Five said, putting the box on the ground as he moved closer to Ben, "you know what? Give me that."

Diego licked his own finger to copy their sort-of brother, but Five knocked his hand out of the way and took the jar back. Now that Allison was closer to Klaus, she noticed that he wasn't reacting as poorly as the rest of them. "Wait a minute. Hold on. Klaus, why aren't you sick?"

"Well, because one sake bomb is too many and a thousand is just never enough. But I am not the only one who should be in the hot seat, missy." He pointed to Alexa and Five. "You wanna ask them why they're feelin' fine and peachy?"

All eyes turned to the aforementioned pair. Alexa smiled sheepishly and raised her hand. "Um. . . it was me. Y'know how Lila's powers are different now? Well, mine are, too, and they're uh, healing powers. I can make myself feel better and I healed Five."

"Healed?" Viktor repeated, zeroing in on the single word. His expression filled with hope. "Can you heal us of our powers?"

The blonde shook her head. "I. . . I don't think it works like that. For the record, I already tried, when I touched your arm a few seconds ago. It might not have worked because I can't fully control them yet, but I don't think so. Our powers aren't— they're not a blight or an injury; they're a part of us, not something that needs to be taken away. I can only help everyone not feel so sick."

Her brother's face fell. It had been a far-fetched idea but the only one he'd had. Now, he whirled on Ben once more. "Do you realize what you've done?"

He launched himself at the Asian man and began to punch him in the stomach. Diego and Luther moved forward, protesting, as they pulled the pair apart. He struggled to his feet. "The fact is you're all too busy living in loser mindset to realize we're much better off this way."

"That wasn't your decision to make!"

"Give me one good reason why we shouldn't have our powers back," Ben retorted.

"I don't know. Maybe because we ended the world three times," Allison pointed out.

"We also saved it three times," Diego countered.

Five frowned at that. "Well, that part's highly debatable, Diego."

"Forget about saving the world," Viktor snapped. "I just spent five years building a life for myself. A real life, away from all this, away from dad, away from our past. And you had to go and fuck it all up with one Sake bomb!"

Alexa gave her brother a sympathetic look, hating how raw he sounded. She knew— they all did— how much he despised hurting people with his powers. He was the last person to want them back, and now she could do nothing to help him.

Ben did not have such regrets. "Look. I was trying to help."

"No, no, no. Viktor's right," Luther defended the brunet. "None of us asked for this. I could've-I could've hurt someone, not knowing how much strength I had again."

"Did you?" Five asked, glancing at Sarah. She looked very much out of place, hovering uncertainly on the outskirts of the group of superpowered people.

The blond shook his head. "No, thankfully. Just my alarm clock." He turned his stern gaze on the Asian man. "But still."

"Come on, Blondie," Ben appealed to Alexa. "You can't tell me you're not at least a little glad to have your powers back. I saw the way you looked at the Marigold. You know your purpose is to protect. I gave that back to you."

Alexa started to tug on her hair as apprehension gnawed at her. "I. . . I can't say I'm mad about it," she admitted, "but that didn't give you the right to sentence everyone to the same fate. You don't know what it's been like for us. We should've been able to make and keep our own decision."

He rolled his eyes at her diplomatic answer. "Wow. Alright, alright." He directed his attention to his next most likely candidate. "Klaus. Come on, Klaus. My brother, it's not too late for you to get in on this action."

Klaus shifted away as Ben attempted to invade his personal space. "I told you. It's not gonna happen."

Five toyed with the jar in his hand thoughtfully. "Maybe with your powers back you won't have to keep living life like a human sippy cup."

"Five," the blonde said reprovingly. "There are other ways for Klaus to do that— if he wants to— without powers."

"Thank you, sister," the fourth Hargreeves agreed gratefully, holding up his hand for an air high-five, which Alexa returned. He replied to their comments with, "it's a slippery slope. Alright?"

"Into what?"

"Powers, ghosts, drugs, sex, oblivion. It's one big spicy gumbo of bad and I'm not going back to that old Klaus. I like this Klaus. 'Hey, he collects coupons. He's frugal, respectable, reliable.' And most importantly, he's a Klaus that Claire likes and trusts and looks up to," the brunet explained.

As he finished speaking, Ben's stomach gave a loud, rebellious grumble. Sarah— being the mom she was— gave the man a concerned once-over. "Guys, Ben doesn't look good. And, well, really none of you do. I think we should take your cases to the nearest hospital."

"What? No—" Ben started to protest, but then bent double and emptied his stomach on the floor in front of him.

Luther groaned in disgust and disappointment. "I paid a lot of money for that rug!"

"Forget about the rug, honey," Sarah consoled her husband, hurrying over to the brunet. She placed a guiding hand on his back and lead him over to the couch. "He needs to lie down."

Lila turned to her sister-in-law. "Hey, I know we're new to these powers and everything, but do you think you could heal us? It would make whatever we're about to do feel a lot less like putting our hands in a waffle maker and closing the lid."

"I can try," Alexa offered. Since Ben looked the worst, she went over to him first. He lay, groaning, on the couch, his face just as sweaty as Five's had been earlier that morning. His eyes were closed and he was breathing through his mouth to stave off the vomiting. Despite his less-than-pleasant-attitude, she did still feel bad for him.

Placing her hand on his forehead, she searched for that same tug of empathy. It felt warm— warmer than what the usual emotion inspired. Her palm glowed a bright gold before the light faded into the man's skin. His sounds of discomfort lessened almost immediately and he shifted on the couch into a more comfortable position.

"Amazing!" Luther exclaimed. He patted himself on the chest, his eyes lit up with genuine excitement as if his sister's power were a new toy. "Do me next!"

She smiled in amusement but that didn't stop her from pinning him with a stern look. "I thought you felt fine."

He looked a little sheepish and took a step back. "Yeah, yeah I do. You're right, do the others first."

"How about I do you last?" she offered as a compromise, to which he nodded.

Five gave her a worried look. "Don't strain yourself, Lexa. If the big moron doesn't need healing, you don't have to do anything."

"I know," she reassured him. "But really, I feel great."

So, that's what she did. She went to Lila first, then Diego and lastly hesitantly approached Allison. She met her sister's gaze nervously. Their harsh words to each other were still fresh in their minds, making the rift between them even greater than it usually was. Allison sighed and bent slightly so the blonde could reach her forehead. "Go ahead. I'm not so proud that I can't accept your help when I know it will make this experience marginally more pleasant."

Relief washed over her— because it was her duty to protect her siblings, no matter if they were at odds with each other, and it wouldn't feel right to leave one of them sick— and she let her hands glow gold once more. Luther happily took his turn, watching the gold light with fascination.

"I'm so used to seeing blue," he remarked, in reference to her old powers.

"Me too. I'm still getting used to the color change. But guess what? I'm not the only one who's no longer blue!"

The blond glanced in Five's direction. "No way."

"Way. Wanna know what color he is?" At her brother's nod, she told him with a grin: "purple." Then, she shot her grin in her boyfriend's direction. "Didn't I tell you that you'd look good in purple?"

Five rolled his eyes and stood, setting the Marigold container on the coffee table before him. "If you two are finished discussing color theory, I think we need to figure out what our next step is, and how this woman came into the possession of Marigold."