[✓] 𝑃𝑅𝐸𝐿𝑈𝐷𝐸 | 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟

Word count: 1714

"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓?" 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 as she stared at Pogo with shock.

"So did Grace. It was a difficult choice for both of us," Pogo sighed once more as he walked closer to them. "More difficult than you could ever know. Prior to your father's death, Grace's programming was adjusted so that she was incapable of administering first aid on that fateful night."

Five turned to Valerie, shaking his head slightly as he muttered, "Sick bastard."

"So the security tape we saw?" Luther questioned with a low voice as he took a step forward.

"It was meant to further the murder mystery," Pogo explained gently as everyone groaned, and he gave them a pitying look. "Your father hoped that being back here, solving it together . . . would reignite your desire to be a team again."

"And to what end?" Five asked as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"To save the world, of course," answered Pogo, his half-moon spectacles glinting off the dim light.

"All right." Klaus gave a maniacal chuckle, an incredulous expression on his face as he leaned one hand on the table.

"First the Moon mission and now this," Luther scoffed as he shook his head, his expression and voice quickly becoming bitter. "You watched me search for answers and said nothing. Anything else you want to share, Pogo? Any other damn secrets?"

"Hey, calm down, Luther," Klaus raised a hand towards him, but Luther pushed it away before looking back at Pogo with a rage-filled expression.

"No, I won't calm down. We've been lied to by the one person in this family we all trusted."

"It was your father's dying wish, Master Luther. I . . ." Pogo swallowed, and then he let out a deep sigh. "I had no choice."

Luther slowly walked up to Pogo, his gaze hardening. "There's always choice."

He walked out, and Pogo, with a sigh, soon followed, leaving the three of them in sombre silence.

Valerie was in complete and utter shock, and she was sure that the others were feeling exactly the same.  Unlike usual, this information was taking a long time to process in her brain. She didn't like it. 

Five ran his hand through his hair, obviously as distressed as Valerie was as she got up. He glanced up at her, his eyes questioning as she brushed off her skirt.

"I'm going to go for a run," she told him quietly, receiving a nod before she sped out the Academy.

Valerie sprinted across the streets of the city, too quick for anyone to see her as she passed blurred faces and buildings. She closed her eyes, feeling the wind blow past her face as she thought about what had just happened.

She had believed that Reginald's death wasn't due to natural causes, but not even once had it crossed her mind that he had orchestrated the whole thing. 

Sure, it was for good reasons but weren't there other ways to bring the family together? A phone call? An email? At the very least, he could've just faked his death!

And to find out that Pogo and Grace, their other parental figures—if anything, more of parental figures—had lied to them and helped their dad in the scheme? Although they had their reasons, it was heartbreaking to hear. 

Everything was beginning to make sense at that point; why Grace didn't do anything while Reginald had his heart attack, and how she didn't even remember anything about that night . . . .