Number Eight {The Umbrella Academy} -- [On Hold]

Six

"I mean, do you really think Mom would hurt Dad?"

"You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya. Maybe you don't know Grace anymore."

"You haven't either! You've been on the bloody moon for four years! I've been here since two days after I was born, only spent around a week's worth of nights outside of this place. I know Mom, and I know that she wouldn't do this," I glared at Luther, who turned back to the screen that was playing the tape on loop.

"She was acting strange even before I left, Viv. You can't tell me she hasn't been a little off for a while."

"Being 'a little off' doesn't mean she murdered our father," I retorted, snagging a handful of popcorn from Klaus' bag.

"Look, if he was poisoned, it would have shown in the coroner's report," Diego said in an amused tone.

"Well I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes." Luther was angry. Again.

"Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your vision." Diego walked up to the television. "Look closer. Dad has his monocle, Mom stands up, monocle's gone."

"Oh yeah!" Klaus chuckled, gesturing towards the screen with the popcorn bag.

"She wasn't poisoning him, she was taking it. To clean it." Diego came to stand by me, and I smiled.

"Then where is it?" Luther said, turning to face us. "No, I've searched the house, including all of her things-"

"Creepy," I whispered, getting a snort from Klaus.

"She doesn't have it."

There was a moment of silence, and I turned to Diego, hoping he had an answer.

"That's because I took it from her." Diego admitted. "After the funeral."

"You've had the monocle this entire time? What the hell, Diego!" Allison exclaimed, glancing to Luther in disbelief.

"Give it to me."

"I threw it away."

"You what?"

"Look, I knew if you found it on Mom, you'd lose your shit. Just like you'd doing right now." Diego pointed at Luther with his knife, infuriating the larger man.

"Diego, you son of a bitch," Luther said, moving forward as Diego went into a fighting stance.

"Hey, no. Calm down." For once, another of my siblings was dealing with the rivalry and stopping the fight. "I know Dad wasn't an open book, but I do remember one thing he told me. Mom was, well, designed to be a caretaker, but also a protector," Vanya awkwardly said, not used to being the center of our attention. As she did so, Klaus returned from a trip to the room's bar and leaned against a nearby pillar, taking a long drink from his glass.

"What does that mean?" Allison asked.

"She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy," Vanya explained.

"Well if her hardware is degrading then... we need to turn her off," Luther said. I stared at him with wide eyes as Diego argued with him.

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait, she's not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet! She feels things, I've seen it!"

"She just stood there, Diego, and watched our father die!"

"I'm with Luther," Allison said.

"Surprise, surprise."

"Shut up."

Luther and Diego spun to face Vanya, who glanced at both of them.

"I- I don't-"