Chapter Nine:

Lotus had apparently fallen asleep, as she woke up to a face peering in the passenger window. But that wasn't the most frightening thing, what really made her jump was Five as he leaned over her to stare out at the figure.

"No!" Five yelled, "Luther, get out of here."

Lotus shoved Five away and opened the door, Luther stuck his head in and glared at his brother. "Five, What are you doing?" Luther asked, "Hey, Lotus." He gave her a nod.

"Hi, Luther."

"You ok?" Luther asked his brother.

Five brushed him off, "How did you find me?"

There was movement in the back of the van, Lotus shifted so she could see the commotion. Klaus, sat on his knees dancing with Delores. "Hey, a little privacy guys? We're really hitting it off back here."

Anger flashed in Five's eyes as he stared at Klaus, "Get out!" He yelled, "You guys aren't supposed to be here! I'm in the middle of something."

Klaus dropped Delores, "What— so the girl can be here but I can't? What happened to brotherly love." He asked, "Any luck finding your one-eyed man?"

"What?" Luther questioned leaning against the van. Lotus moved so she was on her knees, her back facing the windshield. She shoved herself between the little space between the two front seats and squeezed next to Klaus in the back of the van. "You take the front seat, Luther."

"No." Five turned to her, "They're just leaving."

Luther only shook his head and forced himself into the car, it took all she had not to laugh at the man's struggles and the faces he made as he tried to get in. Eventually he did, and slammed the door shut.

"What's he talking out?" He asked.

"Does it matter? It's Klaus."

Lotus placed a hand Klaus' shoulder and they both exchanged sad expressions. "It's ok, buddy." She told him, "I haven't known you enough to label you as anything."

"I like you." He smiled at her, "I wish they were more like you."

Five sighed dramatically from the front seat, "What do you want Luther?"

"Um, so... we think Grace had something to do with dad's death."

"Who's Grace?" Lotus asked.

"Our mom." Klaus whispered, "I'm surprised you haven't run into her yet."

When Five didn't answer Luther grew antsy, "So I need you to come back to the academy, all right? It's important."

The boy glared up, "You have no concept of what's important."

"Hey!" Klaus called out, "Did I ever tell you about the time I waxed my ass with pudding?" He broke off laughing, "It was so painful."

"What are you still doing here?" Five asked.

"Hey—" Klaus began but Lotus had already opened the back van doors and was shoving him towards it. She didn't catch what he was saying but she somehow got him out with little protest.

"Lotus!" Five was peering over at her, "You need to stay."

She shook her head, "I'm not a damn dog, Five." And she slammed the doors.

Klaus laughed wrapping a hand around her shoulders as they walked off towards the curb. He lead her across the street and into a variety store, "I love places like these." He sighed touching everything in his path, he stopped and leaned over Lotus, a grin on his face. "It's always soooo easy to steal shit."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm aware."

His hands landed on his chest, and he gave a small gasp. "You, a teenage girl, have stolen before? What has this world come to?"

"I'm not a teenager." She brushed passed him, "And candy bars are the easiest to get away with. They're small and easy to carry... and hide."

Klaus skipped after her, his coat billowing behind him. He looked crazy, but maybe that was why Lotus was growing quite fond of him. She turned down her favourite section, the candy section.

"In fact, when I left you and Five the other day at that tech place, I went and grabbed a bunch of crap from a variety store." She flashed a smile at him, "The old guy didn't seem to care though, so it was less fun but whatever."

"It's better than being chased." He told her, "Sometimes I get cramps. Worse timing possible— oh! Crunch bars."

She laughed quickly, picking up a few kitkat bars and shoved them in her sweater pocket. Stealing little things like these from smaller places was easier for her, even if she was caught the consequences would never be bad because she looked like a kid and would just cry until they let her go.

Klaus was wandering around the store more, while she grabbed a few full sized packets of skittles for Five. She zipped up her coat, making sure the few times wouldn't fall out of her pocket. The man behind the counter was younger, and he seemed to be keeping a close eye on both her and Klaus. She slowly made her way towards the door when Klaus beat her to it, hands filled with goodies. The man behind the counter yelled, trying to get to him fast enough.

Klaus only winked at her as he disappeared out the door, leaving her wide eyed as the man went chasing after him. Quickly she regained her focus and rushed over to the wall of fridges and grabbed two root beers and a big bag of chips before running out the door and towards the van. A few items were scattered on the ground, no doubt from Klaus. She managed to pick up another bag of chips, this one smaller before making a break for the vehicle.

Luther was gone by the time she threw herself in the front seat, locking the doors as she leaned against the leather.

"Are you kidding me?"

She looked over to see Five giving her a disappointing look. "What?" She asked handing him a bottle of root beer and the big bag of chips. "I thought you'd be hungry."

"Well, I'm not."

Lotus rolled her eyes slipping two bags of skittles from her sweater pocket, she glared at him as she threw them at his face. They hit his cheek and fell into his lap, he huffed but picked up a package and ripped it open, shoving half of them in his mouth.

"I get that this is important to you, but you also need to relax a bit." Lotus told him as he chewed loudly at her, "Did you ever stop to think that maybe you aren't supposed to save the world?"

He frowned, swallowing what was in his mouth and watched her, "I'm not." He told her wiping his mouth, "Why do you think you were shot?"