Hargreeves‌ ‌Mansion‌ ‌|‌ ‌Unnamed‌ ‌City‌ ‌|‌ ‌Morning‌ ‌

[knife_bender]

The city was wet and rainy, which was appropriate for both a funeral and for the very special occasion of all the (living and non-time traveling) Hargreeves being under the same roof for the first time in over a decade. The place was pretty much exactly the same as Diego had left it, and even though his dad was dead he still felt like he was intruding on his territory somehow. He felt better about Annie being with him; if anyone could handle the collective Hargreeves charm it would be her.

He also had to do some investigating and hoped that "look, here's Diego's cute girlfriend" would help distract his siblings while he was rifling through Reginald's room.

Diego	Diego was already in a mood just from the whole prospect of a funeral, and seeing people like Luther again. It somehow got even worse when he opened the door to the mansion and saw Allison and Vanya talking and smiling. "What's she doing here?" Diego asked, not bothering to lower his voice.
Annie	Annie peered around at the surroundings, staying quiet for the moment since it wasn't like she knew the answer to his question. She was, obviously, pretty nervous about all of this for about a dozen distinct reasons -- not the least of which being that she was worried as hell about Diego already, and that question hadn't exactly assured her he was doing well. But the mansion, at least, was thus far pretty much exactly what she'd expected, even if she was still taken a little aback by how, like...cavernous it was? Even here in the entryway, this place seemed both huge and kind of...you know. Spooky. And look, right there, were two representatives of the main reason for her nerves, and while Annie totally recognized both of Diego's sisters from their respective film and authorial contributions, she was just going to offer a hesitant little wave for the moment. She could introduce herself in a minute, after, like, family stuff was taken care of and demanding questions were answered.
Allison	She's our sister, Diego," Allison said, turning an annoyed look at him and a slightly confused little wrinkle of her eyebrows at Annie's presence there.
Vanya	Vanya sort of shrunk into herself, being called out like that. "He's right. Maybe I shouldn't be here."
Diego	"You shouldn't," Diego said. But since Allison obviously looked like she was going to fight to keep Vanya around, he figured he might as well introduce Annie to the both of them. "This is my girlfriend, Annie. She knows about...all of it." So, you know, don't have to pretend to be normal here.
Annie	It was so much easier to take Diego's side on the whole Vanya thing when you weren't looking at her, Annie realized pretty quickly. She shot him a little look, frowning slightly, but quickly pulled it together into a smile. "It's so nice to meet you both," Annie offered warmly, stepping forward to stick her hand out. She was going to add that she'd heard a lot about them, but in light of how Diego was acting, that seemed like it could be sort of -- pointed. "Even if I wish it was under different circumstances."
Allison	Allison gave her a slightly strained smile, taking her hand to shake. "Of course," she said. "Very nice to meet you."
Vanya	"I'm Vanya, she's Allison," she said, feeling a little bit awkward about that since anybody who had seen a movie in the last decade knew who Allison Hargreeves was. "Nice to meet you." Vanya was fairly certain this was the first significant other any of them have ever brought home.
Diego	Diego glanced towards the stairs, itching to get up to Dad's room and look around. "Is everyone else here?"
Allison	"They are now," Allison said with a nod toward him, half following his gaze. "Diego, be civil." Because it wouldn't be the Hargreeves family if she didn't interpret that as him itching for another fight with Luther and not whatever he was actually up to.
Annie	Annie reached a hand out to lightly touch Diego's arm, since -- well, in absence of the actual explanation, she was kind of leaning towards Allison's thinking. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she offered, looking at the two women. She would have offered under any circumstances, of course, but if it had the added bonus of keeping things nice and defused, well. "Like with the...funeral, or anything, I mean?"
Diego	Diego was of the opinion they should just stick the old man in the dumpster and call it a day, but he guessed that wouldn't fly. "I have to go check on Mom." Which wasn't entirely a lie, he would check on her if he ran into her. "Annie, these are probably the least offensive people I can leave you alone with in this house."
Allison	Allison gave him an unimpressed look for that 'compliment' and crossed her arms over her chest. "So nice to see you again, Diego."
Annie	Annie was also giving him a little bit of a puzzled look, and she wasn't hiding it as well this time. "Okay," she said slowly. Fine, Diego clearly needed to go have a private talk with his mom or something -- Annie could respect that -- but, like, way to abandon her right away. She slanted a look towards Allison, apologetic. "I'm so sorry -- I've been looking forward to meeting all of you for ages. Even the offensive ones," she added, trying for some levity.
Vanya	"We're used to it." At least Vanya was used to it. "And obviously Diego couldn't have said anything too horrible since you're here."
Annie	Seriously, while Annie absolutely still understood what a betrayal that book had been, she also couldn't resist the immediate urge to find Vanya very sympathetic. And like...it wasn't like she didn't understand Diego's anger, but his attitude was -- something, here. "I'm sorry you have to be used to it," she said with a small, sympathetic smile. "But hey, if me being here helps, then I'm really glad I came."

---

Diego	Diego quickly went up to Dad's room--hoping nobody had gotten to it before him. He had done his own research on his father's death, but he wanted to view the scene for himself. Luckily the room was empty, except for--"Mom."
Grace	Grace greeted Diego with a big smile, heels clicking against the floor as she approached him, arms already out for a hug. "Diego, sweetheart, it's so nice to see you again."
Diego	"It's good to see you too," he said, hugging his mother. "What are you doing here?"
Grace	"Oh, just cleaning up a little. You know how your father hated a messy room," Grace said, reaching out to straighten Diego's jacket. "Such a sad occasion, but I'm happy to have all of my children under the same roof again."
Diego	"Yeah," Diego said with a nod. "It must have been rough with just Dad and Pogo keeping you company." He did a quick scan of the room, noticing that all of the windows were closed. There didn't seem to be any signs of struggle. Honestly, the room looked like it always did. "Hey, Mom, did you--" Diego started, cutting himself off abruptly when he saw a glint of silver sticking out of the corner of Grace's apron. "What's in your pocket?" Grace was all crisp dresses and smooth lines, she rarely kept anything superfluous on her. It wasn't logical. When his mother didn't answer immediately, Diego reached out and pulled on the silver chain sticking out of her pocket and out popped a monocle. Dad's monocle. "Mom, where did you get this?"
Grace	Grace stared at Diego for a moment, looking like she either wouldn't or couldn't answer the question. Then she reverted back to her usual smile. "I should get lunch ready for everyone."
Diego	Diego nodded, taking the monocle and sticking it in one of his (many) pockets. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's just...let's keep this between ourselves, okay?"
Grace	"Okay, sweetheart," Grace said with another smile. "Don't stay up here alone too long."
Diego	Diego let go out a breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding. So what if Grace had the monocle, it didn't mean anything. Sure, Diego hadn't seen his father with it off ever but it's not like he slept in the thing, right? She might have picked it up off the floor or something. And if there had been something nefarious behind her having it, well, Diego really couldn't blame her.
Luther	The creaking of floorboards that were in no way built to take Luther's weight announced his presence a few minutes later. "What the hell are you doing here, Diego?"
Diego	"Same thing as you," Diego said, turning to look at his brother. He couldn't hide the surprise on his face--Luther was huge--but quickly settled it into one of amusement. "Whoa, you got big," Diego said. "What's the secret, huh? Protein shakes? Low carbs?"
Luther	"Shut up," Luther said. "I'm asking again--what are you doing in here?"
Diego	"Saving you some time," Diego said, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Dad's autopsy report."
Luther	"I don't even want to know how you got this." No, it did not occur to Luther that Diego was an actual cop now.
Diego	"It doesn't matter. Important thing is Dad died from boring, normal, heart failure," Diego said. "Room is clear. Windows and doors were locked, no sign of struggle."
Luther	"I know that," Luther replied, hating the fact that he had been called out. Because, yes, that was exactly what he came up here to check on. "Were you the first one at the scene?"
Diego	"I guess all those letters I sent didn't make it to the moon," Diego joked. "I haven't lived in the city for months. Pogo found him."
Luther	"Yeah, I talked to Pogo. He said he couldn't find Dad's monocle," Luther said.
Diego	For the first time Diego was struck with some nerves being around his brother. Of course Luther would notice the monocle was missing. He had been up Dad's ass his whole life. He shrugged a shoulder. "And your point being?"
Luther	"Can you think of a single time you saw Dad and he wasn't wearing that monocle? No," Luther said. "Which means someone took it. Which means there's a chance he wasn't alone when he died."
Diego	"There is no mystery here. Nothing to avenge. Nothing to solve, nothing like that," Diego insisted. "It's just a sad old man who kicked it in a big, empty house. Just like he deserved."
Luther	Luther's (gloved) hands curled into fists at his sides. "You should leave."
Diego	Diego gave Luther a forced smile. "Whatever you say, brother."

---

Diego	Of course they couldn't even get through a funeral without Luther calling a family meeting. "Can we hurry this along?"
Luther	Luther gave Diego a look, but didn't take the bait. "I thought we could have a memorial service in the courtyard at sundown. Say a few words, just at Dad's favorite spot." Yep. Dad had one. Or at least Luther thought he did.
Allison	"Dad had a favorite spot?" Yeah, she loved you and all, Luther, but that sounded pretty fake.
Luther	"You know, under the oak tree? We used to sit out there all the time." He seemed to be surprised to be met with blank stares. "None of you ever did that?"
Klaus	Because Luther was Luther. "Will there be food?" Klaus asked, scooting around his assembled siblings to take a seat on the couch before lighting up what could be charitably considered just a normal cigarette. If you didn't look too closely at it. Or smell it. "Tea? Scones?"
Luther	"No. And stop that," Luther snapped. "Dad didn't allow smoking in here." Once a suck up always a suck up.
Allison	"Is that my skirt?"
Klaus	Klaus stopped pouting over his inability to get high for this in order to pose a little in the skirt. "Oh yeah, I found it in your room," he said, doing a little side to side twirl to show it off. "It's a little dated but it's very breathy on the bits."
Luther	Luther sighed. Why did he think this was going to go smoothly? "Listen up," he said, using his stern Number One voice. "Still some important things to discuss." So if you assholes could keep it together for, like, five minutes...
Allison	Did he completely forget how this family functioned? Or, well, didn't function. "Like what?"
Luther	"Like Dad," he said. "The way he died."
Diego	"And here we go," Diego said, rolling his eyes.
Vanya	"Sorry, I thought he died of a heart attack?" Vanya asked. Was she missing something here?
Luther	"According to the coroner." Since when did they know anything, pfft.
Allison	"Yeah, well, I think he'd know." What with having an actual degree and practice at these things. Luther.
Luther	"I'm just saying, at the very least something happened," Luther said. "The last time I talked to Dad, he sounded strange." Stranger, anyway.
Klaus	"Quelle surprise!" Klaus chimed in. Because if you were looking for constructive stuff, you came to the wrong Hargreeves.
Allison	Yeah, that was for Allison here. "Strange how?"
Luther	"He sounded on edge. Told me to be careful of who I trust." And everybody knew Sir Reginald was never paranoid. No, sir.
Klaus	Klaus sighed and gave Luther a look like he pitied him. Which was pretty bad. "Luther, he was a paranoid, bitter old man who was starting to lose what was left of his marbles."
Luther	"No, he must have known something was going to happen," Luther said, looking over at Klaus. "Look, I know you don't like to do it, but I need you to talk to Dad."
Klaus	"I can't just call Dad in the afterlife and be like, 'Dad, could you just...stop playing tennis with Hitler for a moment and take a quick call?'" Klaus sputtered.
Luther	"Since when?" Luther asked. "That's your thing." Come on, it's like you learned nothing while forced into that mausoleum alone!
Klaus	One, he didn't want to. And two... "I'm not in the right... frame of mind."
Klaus	"You're high." It was an educated guess.
Klaus	"Yeah!" Thank god for Diego.
Luther	"Well get it together and sober up." Of course Luther thought it would be that easy. Guy had never had a drink in his life, much less any drugs. "There's also the issue of the missing monocle."
Diego	"Who gives a shit about a stupid monocle?" Diego asked, probably overcompensating just a little with his irritation. It didn't help that the monocle was currently in his pocket.
Luther	"Exactly, it's worthless," Luther said. "So whoever took it, I think it was personal. Someone close to him. Someone with a grudge." So, you know. Form an orderly line so he could interrogate all of you.
Klaus	Wait, wait, wait. Klaus was getting some weird vibes here and was in no way sober enough to interpret them. "Where are you going with this?"
Diego	"Isn't it obvious?" Diego rethought that statement when he realized how high Klaus probably was. "He thinks one of us killed Dad."
Allison	"You do?" Allison asked, giving Luther a hurt look. "How could you even think that?"
Luther	"That's not what I'm saying." To her specifically. He didn't think Allison would kill anybody, much less her own father. Now the other ones in the room...
Diego	"You're crazy," Diego said, getting up off the couch. "Fucking crazy." Nope he still wasn't overcompensating, what were you talking about?
Luther	"I'm not finished, Diego."
Diego	"Sorry, just going to murder Mom," Diego said, waving a hand as he made his way out of the room. "Be right back." This was actually one of their better family meetings?

---

Annie	Annie had not been allowed to sit in on the family meeting, no, which was fine with her. She was here to support Diego, not to, like, intrude upon the already tenuous relationships between these siblings. But it meant she was left to her own devices a little, and while she wasn't exactly going to explore the whole house on her own, she was taking a quiet little hands-behind-her-back-because-this-place-was-like-a-museum tour. A huge museum. Diego really hadn't been kidding about this place spanning a city block. She was reluctant to go upstairs, where private rooms might be, but there seemed to be sort of a flow to the house that indicated common spaces might be downstairs. So Annie found herself wandering down to the basement, where she poked her head into an enormous room with a sloped ceiling, realizing pretty quick that this was the kitchen. The biggest kitchen she had ever personally been in, yes. "Oh, wow."
Grace	Grace, dressed like she had stepped straight out of the 1950's, was busy making cookies. She was so excited that she finally had children to bake for again. She turned towards Annie when she heard her speak, greeting her with a big smile. "Oh, hi there!"
Annie	So, of course Annie knew who this was. The list of people in this house was pretty short as it was, but Diego had also told her enough about his mom that Annie was struck with an immediate bolt of nervousness. Because meeting the parents -- even if said parent was an android who looked like Donna Reed had helped her pick out her clothes -- was kind of a big deal. "Hi," she said, a touch shy as she walked a little more into the kitchen, towards Grace. "Are you Grace? It's so nice to finally meet you. I'm -- um, I'm Annie. Diego's girlfriend?"
Grace	"Yes, of course! Diego has told me so much about you," Grace said cheerfully. "I'm just making some cookies for everybody. I hope it cheers everyone up." Because if there was one thing that made a funeral better, it was chocolate chip cookies.
Annie	And this all tracked with what she'd gleaned from Diego about how Grace was...um, programmed. So, while this felt a little at odds with the funeral and what she had to assume was probably a group argument disguised as a 'family meeting,' Annie immediately returned her smile, losing a little of her shyness. "Can I help?"
Grace	"Of course you can," Grace said. She reached over for a bowl full of cookie dough and handed it over to Annie. "This first batch is ready to go onto the baking sheet and into the oven. And you can lick the bowl after if you want!" Was it unnerving she talked to grown adults like they were children still?
Annie	Oh, yeah, it was a bit weird. But at least Annie had been kind of prepared for it. She had not really been prepared for the fact that Grace looked about the same age as the Hargreeves siblings themselves, but she was kind of rolling with it. (Why would she be an old lady robot? It's not like that would have made it make more sense.) "I might," Annie said lightly, smiling as she took the bowl and went to wash her hands. (She'd cooked enough with Danny to have some idea of the order of things.) "They're going to need something sweet after that family meeting, I think." Call it a hunch.
Pogo	"That would be an understatement, Miss Annie," Pogo said from the doorway. He entered the kitchen, leaning on his cane for support and dressed to the nines in a tweed suit despite being in his own home.
Annie	"Oh my gosh, Pogo." Annie would have been thrilled to meet him in any case, because he'd helped raise Diego, but there was also a certain novelty to -- like, yeah, that was a chimpanzee in a suit with a cane. "I'm so glad to finally meet you!" She wasn't surprised he knew her already. He'd made the most accurate-looking Starlight action figure to date, after all.
Pogo	"Likewise, Miss Annie," he said, giving her a soft smile. "Grace and I have heard a lot about you. Master Diego doesn't allow just anybody to have one of his action figures."
Annie	"That's the impression I've been given, yeah," Annie said, her own smile softening a bit. "I heard there might be a little more of that kind of stuff in the attic?" She raised her brows at Pogo hopefully. "I'm kind of a big fan." Of Diego specifically. Not really of the Umbrella Academy as a whole.
Pogo	"It just so happens Grace and I did locate some more Kraken merchandise in the attic," Pogo said with a knowing smile. "I believe it was a poster you wanted in particular?"
Annie	"Oh my God, yes, you got the Teen Beat poster for me!" Okay, Annie actually wasn't able to hide her glee at that, though she did try to play it a little cool after she had actually clapped. "I'm sorry, it's just, like, so cute." Especially given how, you know, Diego was now. Like. It was entertaining to imagine most of the Hargreeves as little teen sensations, but especially Diego.
Grace	"Diego was such an adorable child." Spoiler alert: Grace would say that about all of her kids. "I'm so glad someone wants to take some of that home instead of it collecting dust in the attic. I have no idea why the kids didn't want it!" Absolutely no idea.
Annie	"Modesty?" Annie suggested, even if she knew perfectly well it was not modesty at all. "I would love to see any baby pictures you have, too." Like, superhero memorabilia was great and she would take all of that, please, but...teeny little Number Two was also very much something she'd like to see, too.
Pogo	"We don't have too many of those, I'm afraid." Sir Reginald was not the picture taking type. But there might have been security video of them asleep as babies? With wires attached to their heads? "I am very sorry we had to meet under such circumstances, but I am very happy to meet you," Pogo said. "We don't get many visitors." And they weren't really allowed to leave the house, so. Human contact was lacking.
Annie	Well, that sure would be creepy. Cute, potentially, but also super creepy. "I've heard that. And that you guys...don't get out much," Annie admitted, stealing a quick glance at Grace before looking back to Pogo. "So I'm really glad we finally came to visit, even if it took -- you know, this." Not that Annie was sorry to see the guy go, but maybe Pogo was, so she wasn't going to be disrespectful.
Grace	"It is so nice to have all the children home again," Grace said happily. "It's been so long." "Thirteen years," Pogo added. Fourteen, if you counted Ben. Sixteen if you were including Five.
Annie	Annie's smile was a little sad. "Hopefully it won't take another thirteen before the next reunion?" she offered, shrugging one shoulder. "I think it might be...easier to get everyone together, going forward." Because she couldn't speak to the others, but Reginald's presence had been a major factor why she and Diego hadn't been by to visit before now.
Pogo	"I hope you are correct, dear girl," Pogo said with another smile. He tilted his head slightly as he caught on to raised voices upstairs. "That's not going well."
Annie	"Not shocked. I...am going to go run interference," she decided, glancing up at the ceiling. "I mean, as best I can." Because let's be real: Annie was a hundred percent sure that Diego would be right in the middle of any arguing happening. It certainly wasn't, like, Vanya up there starting fights.

[NFI, NFB, OOC is appreciated! Preplayed with defenderofdesmoines and apocalypsehow playing a good chunk of the Hargreeves. Taken from 1x01 "We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals". Today's gonna be the biggest abuse to your flist sorry in advance!]