On the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible.

HE GOT EIGHT.

Katherine stood in front of the mirrored wall of her small studio room, fiddling with the old sound system. She had been doing so for nearly fifteen minutes and was ready to give up and just dance without the music. The music suddenly blasted through the speakers, startling her. She laughed quietly before starting the song over and standing in the center of the room. Her well-worn pointe shoes glided across the floor, and she fluidly performed as if she had been born to do so. She had never performed for a crowd, but she had the skill and talent to if she ever had the opportunity. As the song ended, she closed her eyes and stuck her final position, taking a moment to bask in the silence and calm of the moment. Living in a boxing gym meant that there weren't many opportunities like this one, so she savored them when they presented themselves.

The thing that broke her out of her peaceful state was someone placing a gentle hand on either of her hips. She opened her eyes and smiled at the man behind her through the mirror. Katherine turned slowly in his arms, placing one hand on his chest and the other gently on his cheek. "Hi." She said quietly.

He smiled back at her, thrilled just to have her back in his embrace. "Hey there, gorgeous. I came in and saw you weren't in the room. Figured I'd find you in here."

"You figured right. How was patrol tonight? Take down any bad guys?" She teased.

"As a matter of fact, I did. But there's, uh, there's some news. I didn't want you to find out from anyone else, so I c-came back as soon as I f-f-found out." He said, looking down and trying his hardest to avoid her eyes.

She scrunched her brows and gently pulled his face to look at her. "Hey, Diego. You can tell me. Just breathe. Focus, okay?" She reassured him.

Diego Hargreeves took a deep breath before finally getting enough surety to tell her without stuttering. "It's Dad, Kat. He's dead."

Kat took a shakey breath and nodded stiffly. Their father had been a monster, but he was still their father. She looked up at Diego with a small smile. "I guess it's time for a family reunion." She joked, halfheartedly.

His smile mirrored her own, and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, knowing that even if she hated the old man, she was still sentimental about family. "Come on, Kit-kat, let's get some rest. It's a little past two, and we need to get to bed. We're gonna need all the rest we can get before we go back home."

"Home. God, I don't think I'm ready. We haven't been there since we were eighteen. I don't know if I'm ready to face all the memories that place holds." She admitted.

"I mean, they aren't all bad. You've got memories with me. And Klaus." He reminded her. He pulled back just enough to kiss her nose, causing her to laugh quietly.

"You're right about that. If nothing else, that old bastard gave me my family. He gave me you. And that's worth more than anything else the man ever did." She said, her forehead pressed gently against his.

He swept her up and held her bridal style, easily holding her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he quickly went over to the stereo, stopping long enough for her to turn it off, then the lights, before he closed the door behind them and headed to their room. Once they made it in he placed her carefully on the bed and kneeled in front of her. His fingers worked quickly as he untied the ribbon on her shoes and unwrapped it from her legs, then removed them. He placed them on the dresser along with his knife harness, before stripping into his boxers and climbing into bed with Kat.

"Goodnight, beautiful."

"Goodnight, love."

Almost a week later, the pair lay in bed just trying to prepare themselves for the shitstorm that was sure to occur. Neither wanted to leave the warm embrace of the other, but they knew that they would have to get ready to go some time.

"I'll give you twenty bucks to stab me if it gives us an excuse not to have to go." Kat offered, breaking the silence of the room.

Diego laughed heartily at the woman's words, holding her even closer. "One, you know I could never hurt you. Two, you would just heal. So no dice."

"I could stab you instead." She mused.

"You know what? Go fuck yourself." He said, laughing.

"Fuck me yourself you damn coward." She said, a huge smile across her face as she laughed.

Their voices mingled together in the otherwise quiet morning air, both of them thankful for the moment of happiness. The moment of calm before the storm.

When they arrived at the Academy, Diego and Katherine were unsurprised to see that no one had come to greet them. Rather than try to find them, they decided to go talk to the person they missed most.

"Mom." Diego said with a smile as he approached her.

Kat followed closely behind, allowing him to take the lead and greet the woman first.

"Diego, Katherine, it's so lovely to see you both. And together. I'm so glad you stayed together after you left." Grace said with a pleasant but empty smile.

Something was off about the way she was acting, but Kat chalked it up to her needing to recharge. She took Diego's hand and pulled him to the kitchen, where she grabbed a glass and filled it with water. "Something is... wrong. Off. Not just with mom, but with the entire feel of the house. It's almost like a crushing weight like something bad is gonna happen. The energy is off."

Diego watched her carefully as she took a long drink of her water, her body obviously tense. Kat was always such a calm and sensible person, which made it strange to see her so on edge. He slowly approached her, taking the glass from her hands and placing it on the table. He gently grasped her biceps, looking her in the eyes.

"Hey, baby, calm down. It's your nerves. You know how your power makes everything seem heightened. The energy is just amped up right now because we know we're going to have to deal with everyone. Remember what we practiced. Focus on something that makes you happy and calm. Deep breaths."

Kat focused on him, taking deep breaths and looking deep into his eyes. She nodded, he was right. Her nerves had a tendency to amp up her powers, and throw the energy off.

When she calmed down enough, Diego took her hand. "Come on. Let's go see where everyone else is." He suggested.

She nodded, a small smile on her face. "Ok. Sounds like a good plan."

And it was, until she heard one particular voice. They entered the main foyer to see Allison hugging someone they were rather surprised to see.

"Vanya."