Die With A Smile

1.7

After the pair were kicked out of the van, Klaus had them enter a mini-mart. Once inside they went in separate directions. Nico rolled his eyes as Klaus began to fill his hands with random items. He could feel the stare the store clerk and the security had on them. The boy just took his time and walked through the shelves, slowly filling a basket.

Suddenly, he heard the store alarm buzz and watched with a raised brow as Klaus ran out with the security guard chasing him. A sigh left the boy's lips and took his filled basket to the front, where the woman had a fearful look. Silence loomed over the two as the woman scanned the boy's items and placed them in a bag.

"$20.25." The woman meekly said, avoiding eye contact with the boy. Nico went inside his pocket to grab his leather wallet, grabbing a few bills.

"This should cover it. Sorry about him." Nico sighed, placing two hundred dollar bills in the woman's hand. The woman looked at her hand with wide eyes, slowly nodded, and went to grab the change.

"Please, keep the change." He waved off, taking the plastic bag, and began to walk out. His steps were slow and his heels clicked against the floor. He grumbled as he stepped around the scattered snacks. But he did pick a few that caught his interest.

When he arrived back at the van, he saw Luther exiting the van and heading to Klaus, who was hiding behind a bush. His eyes flickered to the police officer who was walking back to the mini-mart while talking on his walkie.

Nico then walked toward Five's side as he pulled out a few things. He could feel the Umbrella boy's stare on him as he handed him a few packaged sandwiches, water bottles, and coffee cans. When he was done, he saw that Five's olive-green eyes were staring down at him. Nico raised a brow at his off behavior.

"You should stay." Five mumbled, ripping open the plastic wrap around the sandwich. Nico let out a soft hum as he watched Luther walk further away with Klaus in tow.

"As much as I love to stay with you and Delores I have to go back to the Academy. We both know that Klaus is just gonna drag me back." Nico said, which the Umbrella boy immediately sighed about.

"Take care, Five. Don't miss me too much." He nodded to him before he began to walk towards the direction of the academy.

"Take care, Nico." Five mumbled to himself, taking a bite of his sandwich. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't good either, he definitely had worse.

"Shit."

—

The two brothers and Nico made it back to the academy, all piled in the room as a small TV played the recording. Nico was on a couch to the side, eating a bag of Skittles. He could care less about this murder mystery but sucked it up for Klaus and Vanya.

"I mean, do you really think Mom would hurt Dad?" Vanya asked, the video coming to a halt.

"You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya. Maybe you don't know Grace anymore." Luther pointed out, throwing shade to the woman. From his spot on the couch, Nico raised a brow at the man.

"If he was poisoned, it would have shown in the coroner's report." Diego mumbled, pointing at the obvious fact.

"Well, I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes." The large man scoffed.

"Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your vision." Diego added, inching closer to the TV, rewinding the video.

"Look closer. Dad has his monocle. Mom stands up. Monocle's gone. She wasn't poisoning him. She was...taking it. To clean it. "