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Published:
2024-08-11
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2024-11-10
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This Unbearable Tragedy

Summary:

"By 'we' you mean the family? My siblings shattered the timeline?"

The other-Five laughed, "No, idiot. We. Us. You, Number Five, and every version of you. We cause the timelines to shatter. Us and our incessant need to save our family — the family which was never meant to be saved."

---

Six years and three timelines over from where they almost destroyed their universe, the Umbrella Academy have settled into normal lives, more or less. But the cracks in the timeline they've painted over still exist. And they're getting wider. Timelines are spilling into each other and for Ben, this brings into question of his life — and death.

The only man who has the answers, Reginald Hargreeves, cannot be found.

Luther tries to keep his family together. Diego and Lila can't hold a conversation without exploding. Allison deals with the consequences of her actions. Klaus reunites with the worst and best parts of him. And Viktor? He's just happy he's not the cause of the end of the world this time.

Or, everything comes back to Five and his apocalypse.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Chapter 1: Timeline 4.6

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Oct 14, 2006. Timeline 0.1

The alarm sounded over everything, piercing through the air and nearly startling Ben off the bed. He scowled, adjusting himself and burying his nose deeper into the book. He couldn’t even focus on the words anymore over the noise.

Outside, Luther straightened at the threshold of his room, already dressed in his suit. Dad eyed him critically before tilting his head into a faint nod. 

“Number One,” he instructed, “Gather the children.”

Diego, a room over, bristled as Dad passed him without so much as a look. He rolled his eyes when he noticed that Klaus’ door was still closed and barged in without knocking. Predictably, Klaus was in bed, high out of his mind.

“Come on,” Diego said loudly over the sound of the alarm, “We have to go. Dad said —”

“No, no, no,” Klaus sang, “I’m useless anyway.”

“Klaus —”

“I heard a rumour,” a snide voice said from behind Diego, “That you got up and got dressed.”

As Klaus’ eyes glossed over, Diego spun around angrily, “I had it.”

“Well done, Number Three,” Dad called out, “Good use of your powers.”

“Daddy’s girl,” Diego snarled before pushing past her.

The last of them left was Ben.

(That wasn’t true. The last of them left was little Number Seven, pressed against the wall and watching the proceedings quietly. But no one ever accounted for Number Seven, not when the alarms went off and sometimes, not even when the house was quiet.)

“Hey, Ben,” Luther said, arms crossed and leaning on Ben’s door frame, “Get you ass in gear.”

“No.”

Luther startled. He turned to Diego, who looked just as confused. Klaus was the one they had to drag out of the House, always reliably unreliable. Ben, for all he hated his powers, had always had their back.

“But,” Luther spluttered, “We’ll be one man down.”

“Other than me, I promise to be as useless as always!” Klaus said helpfully, practically draped over Diego’s back, “Has my rebelliousness finally rubbed off on you, the Horror. Weird they call you that when —”

Diego shoved Klaus off him and pointed a knife to Ben. “Get dressed.”

“You’re not in charge, Number Two,” Ben bit back.

Before they could start fighting, Luther turned and called out, “Dad!”

“Narc,” Ben spat, feeling his heart sink.

“Number Six,” Dad barked, “Why aren’t you dressed.”

Ben swallowed. You can do this, he told himself. He tilted his chin up and said, “I’m not going.”

Dad narrowed his eyes.

“Well then,” he said callously, “If you believe yourself not ready to undertake missions, you should have informed me, Number Six. Clearly your training is not sufficient — I shall see to it that we train you harder.”

Ben’s eyes widened, “What? No, that’s not what I said —”

“You don’t need to train more?”

“I don’t need more training,” Ben said, his throat dry with the very thought of it, “Please. I’ll — I’ll go.”

Dad hummed, “Do not dally, Number Six.”

Ben let out a shuddering breath as Dad left. His siblings looked at him with varying levels of sympathy. Klaus reached forward to pat him on the shoulder, misaimed, and almost tripped right into Ben.

“Whatever,” Ben said, “Get out will you?”

The door snapped shut behind them. Ben sat on the bed, stunned for a moment. But then again, was that a surprise? No one won against Reginald Hargreeves.

Ben hated missions.

He had gotten another growth spurt overnight and made a mental note to tell Mom about it. He looked ridiculous enough as it was, he thought, without it looking so stretched on his body. He pulled on his suit with practiced ease, sparing only a glance to the Umbrella Academy logo emboldened on it. 

It would be the last time he wore that logo.

 


 

Dec 16, 2025. Timeline 4.6

Viktor wasn’t hiding.

He had spent his whole childhood hiding, being small and pressing himself up against wallpapers. He wasn’t hiding anymore — he had never been louder and prouder of himself before.

He was simply … avoiding.

It made sense when he thought of it like that. He wasn’t hiding from his family, just avoiding the drama. Moving to Nova Scotia had simply been necessary, in that regard. And now, he was definitely not hiding from Amy.

He was avoiding her. There was a difference.

“I know he’s here,” Amy yelled, and Viktor attempted to sink further into his seat as if trying to get the newspaper he was reading to engulf him entirely.

This fooled absolutely no one. 

“Hey, Vik,” Jerry drawled out, that traitor, “Are you here or not?”

Vik scrambled out from his chair, acting casual. “Hey, Amy,” he said with a smile that was definitely not forced. Maybe he’d even misread the situation.

He had definitely not misread the situation.

As Amy stormed out and the men heckled him, Viktor could only shove his hand into his pockets. They were wrong of course — he’d definitely not blown through all the women in town.

Just half of them.

“Viktor, phone call!” 

“Oh thank god,” Viktor mumbled, taking the excuse to get away from the men’s good-natured ribbing.

He pressed the receiver into his ear. “Hello?”

“Hey. Long time.”

A lump formed in Viktor’s throat. “Luther?”

“HEY IS THAT VIKTOR?” a voice screamed on the other end, making Viktor’s lip twitch up.

“And hi, Klaus.”

Luther gave an exaggerated sigh and grumbled something inaudible. To Viktor, he said, “How’s it going?”

“Fine,” and then, with a sinking feeling, “Is something wrong?”

“Just calling to see if you were coming to Grace’s party,” Luther said tentatively, “It’s in two days.”

Viktor knew it was in two days. He kept track of birthdays and called. He just … avoided them, that’s all.

“I really want to,” he said, a practiced excuse, “but, you know, it’s our busy season and —”

The receiver crackled and Viktor cut himself off.

“Blah blah blah,” Klaus’ cheerful voice came on, “You used the same excuse for poor Claire-Bear already. C’mon Viktor, we miss you down here!”

Viktor’s heart twinged. “It’s my bar, I’ve got to be here to watch over things …”

“Excuses!” Klaus said, “And not very good ones either, Viktor. Someone needs to give you lying lessons. Luckily, you have moi as your brother —”

The receiver cackled again and there was a low grunt on the other side and something that was definitely an argument. This time Viktor really did smile as he waited patiently.

“Just come down,” Luther said gently, clearly having won the impromptu fight, “Just this once? Alright?”

“I’ll think about it,” Viktor said and hung up before the receiver could be passed around again.

Getting with the family was always the kind of disaster Viktor would rather avoid. But maybe it would be okay … just this once.

 


 

Luther beamed at Klaus. “That went well.”

Klaus flapped his hand and Luther, “Eh, depends on what you think is well.”

“He said he’d come.”

“He said he’d think about it,” Klaus pointed out, “Big difference. Now, are you dropping me off or not?”

“I still think you should come with me to pick Ben up,” Luther said, grabbing his car keys, “He needs all the support he can get.”

“Claire needs me to pick her up. And you can’t leave an eleven-year-old to cross dangerous streets alone and stay in a house full of —" Klaus waved his arms to indicate the multitude of dangers that can be found in a normal suburban home, “ — stuff!”

“Right,” Luther said, rolling his eyes. The elevator dinged and they got on.

“Anyway,” Klaus continued, “I think we should pick up Claire and then go pick up Ben.”

“I don’t think Allison wants her daughter near a prison.”

“And I don’t think you want to be anywhere near Allison.”

 Luther spluttered “It’s not like that.”

But the guilt that took over Luther's face proved that he was right. Klaus gave him an annoyingly smug look at that.

“Sure it isn’t,” Klaus said, “We’ll get along super chummy at Grace’s bday party then!”

“She's coming?” Luther asked, alarmed.

“I thought you didn’t mind?” Klaus smirked.

“I don't,” he said quickly, “Usually she’s just … busy.”

“Well if Viktor’s coming she should too!” Klaus clapped his hands, “A big semi-happy semi-sober family reunion! What could go wrong?”

Luther gave him a look.

“It’ll be fiiiine,” Klaus sang out, “Besides, it’s been so long since we were all together.”

Luther brightened, “That’s true.”

Klaus pulled open the door of the passenger seat, immediately putting his feet up on the dash. Luther rolled his eyes at the sight, having long-since given up on even trying to get Klaus to not do that.

It was strange to think that after everything, it was Klaus that stuck by Luther.

Maybe dying together counted for something.

Or maybe, for both of them, this was making up for years of silence between each other. Luther had been … naive, and callous in his naivete about Klaus’ addiction. But the Umbrella Academy was gone now, held together only by the memories of another timeline and Luther’s persistent calls. He wasn’t Number One trying to take care of unreliable Number Four anymore.

He was just Luther, barely scraping by, relying on Klaus who was in the same boat.

Luther shook his head, forcing his thought to somewhere brighter. Ben was getting out of his little stint in prison and it was Luther’s job to lend him his support! Keep the family together, because family was all they had left.

It wasn’t like he had Sloane anymore.

As it turned out, a week and the end of the world didn’t make a relationship. They had a good time, but Sloane wanted to see the world, to live her life outside of her team.

Luther wanted to stay with his family.

Did he make the right choice? He couldn’t tell, between the phone calls that felt increasingly one-sided and the parties that became ever-formal. Maybe he should’ve become an astronaut for real this time, but he’d promise to stop looking away from his family. Promised to stop feeling betrayed.

Klaus turned to him, annoyingly perceptive as always.

“By the way Claire's been asking about what you do for work. How do I explain stripping to a kid …”

“Professional dancer!” Luther snapped, but it got him out of his head instantly.

Klaus laughed and they devolved into easy bickering. Luther dropped him off at Claire’s school before heading towards the prison.

He forced himself to smile when Ben walked out.

 


 

Claire hopped over another icy puddle, misaimed, and got Klaus with the water. Klaud gave an exaggerated groan

“Excuse me, missy, do you know the cost of dry cleaning these days?”

“Let it air dry then, it's free,” Claire said cheekily.

“How was school?”

Claire filled the air with chatter. Ben would’ve loved Claire. His Ben, that was.

He tried, he really did, to get on with this Ben but …

It wasn’t the same. The stranger wearing Ben’s face was an asshole through and through, and any connection that Klaus seemed to draw fizzled out soon. After all, his Ben wouldn’t have gotten into Diego-esque vigilante escapades and gotten convicted of a B&E. His Ben would’ve egged Klaus on to do it instead, the asshole.

Well, whatever. His Ben was dead and gone. Klaus had been thriving even without him. Three years sober and living in an actual apartment, with even a bank account! It was weird to think he was roommates with Luther of all people, but life just worked out like that.

His Ben would’ve found the role-reversal ironic, how Klaus was going well while Ben was in prison.

Fuck. He needed to stop thinking about Ben.

Start thinking of his other siblings, maybe. He really was trying to make up for lost time now. Bond with Luther and Allison and Diego (and Lila) — Five and Viktor too, when they were around. He knew it couldn’t have been easy growing up with him as a brother.

(Well, he wasn’t easy to grow up as, but that's besides the point.)

Fortunately, Claire drew his attention before he went down that line of thought.

“And we’re having career day at school,” Claire finished off, “Hey, what do you do Uncle Klaus?”

“I’m er … in between jobs right now,” Klaus said.

As it turned out, spending your twenties high, and then two more years in this new timeline doing the same, left your resume a little lacking no matter how hard you lie on it. And Klaus was simply not to be pinned down — sue him.

Claire squinted at him. “Does that mean you’re unemployed?”

“Exactly that,” Klaus agreed, “When did you get so smart?”

Claire preened and slipped her hand into Klaus’ “And Mom’s an actor … What does Ray do?”

Oh little-girl-on-a-bicycle. What does Ray do? He hadn’t even though he was in Claire’s life anymore after he walked out on Allison.

“I’m not sure.”

“How come Ray doesn’t visit anymore?” Claire pressed on.

“Well … I’m not sure.”

Goddammit, Allison should be here for this. Oh!

“Why don’t you ask your mom about that?” Klaus suggested. And then, immediately, “Do you want hot cocoa?”

Claire lit up.

Crisis averted.

 


 

The flashing cameras reminded her of a time long-gone. In her attempts to get her daughter and husband back, she hadn’t really accounted for the fact that she needed to pay her bills. Between being a Hargreeves and having her rumours, that wasn’t something she’d ever had to worry about.

“CUT!”

Allison groaned as the lights came on and she was viscerally reminded of how fake this all was.

“What did I do wrong this time?”

“Nothing. The monitors are down — it’s going to take a while.”

“I have a hard out at twelve,” Allison reminded him.

“You’re shitting me.”

“Don’t put this on me, I told Jill I need to go home. I didn’t get a babysitter for my daughter.”

“Get one then,” the director said dismissively. 

Allison grit her teeth.

Five minutes later, Allison tapped her feet impatiently. Finally, there was a click.

“Klaus,” Allison said, relieved, “Look, I’m sorry about this but I need to stay longer at the studio today …”

To his credit, Klaus barely flinched, “Alrighty-o. I’ll take care of Claire.”

Allison let her shoulders drop, “Thanks, Klaus. When did you become the responsible one?”

“Hey now don’t go accusing me of such things!” Klaus protested.

“No, seriously Klaus. Thank you.”

Klaus’ voice softened, “Sure thing, Ally-cat. Buuut, I require uno favour.”

“Sure, how much?” Allison asked, then wanted to hit her head on the wall.

“I mean if you’re offering money I’ll take it,” Klaus said, his voice a little tense, “But that’s not it.”

“Right, sorry,” she said quickly.

“Anyway, Grace’s party is in two days.”

Allison straightened, “What about it? Claire is going.”

“I'm asking tou to come! That’s my favour.”

“I don’t think …”

“Come on! Viktor might even come!”

“Even more reason not to go —”

“And Ben’s out,” Klaus continued over her, “A happy family reunion. Luther’s thrilled.”

“They hate me,” Allison said, “It’s going to be awful and awkward and … “

“Oh yeah,” Klaus said, “Sucks for you not for me. You’re coming, then?”

Allison hesitated.

“I’ll … think about it.”

“That’s all I ask, mi hermana.

 


 

They sat in a somber circle, seats pressed far too close together for comfort. Sardonically, he thought they might just start holding hands and singing at this rate.

He resisted the urge to scratch his mustache.

“I’ve been searching for the truth my whole life,” Gus was saying, “Then I found this group … I thought there was something wrong with me, but then I realised — It’s the timeline man!”

Murmurs of agreement. Five swallowed, fascinated. When he’d first come into contact with the Keepers he’d thought they were just come cult. But this …

“Do you have anything to share?” the man beside him asked.

Five leaned forward, looking around at the faces of strangers at the end of their rope.

“My name is Jerome,” he began, ready to go on his pre-prepared spiel.

But …

“What you folks are talking about it real,” he said honestly, “And I know because I’ve been to other timelines.”

Five talked. About his timeline, his age, his story that should've sounded insane to any outsider. He didn't know why he was being honest, but perhaps it was because other than his family, these were the only people who’d believe him.

How the mighty have fallen.

He had been told time and again not to pursue the Keepers. He understood why — the Agency had no use for what they surely thought was the insane ramblings of desperate people. But Five couldn’t let this go:4 this hint that something was wrong. That, like every time he’d even thought to settle, something was coming.

He couldn’t let his obsessions go.

So … the Agency let him go instead.

He was a good enough agent that they were willing to simply suspend him, but things got a little out of hand — at it mote do, with Five’s temper.

He walked out first so really, it all ended on his terms, not theirs.

(There was something about how he’d been told to back off the Keepers so insistently that it rang bells in Five’s head. He didn’t know why, not yet, but he had lived a long life on survival instincts alone.)

After the meeting, there’s a gathering with free food that Five wasn’t passing up. He’d lived under worse conditions than unemployment, which was exactly why he made sure to eat now. It helped to listen in on the conversations, but no one had anything new.

The Cleanse, they talked about. Five had no idea what they were on about.

He had ideas, theories that he formulated and dismissed systematically. He had been on the Keepers for only a few weeks now, but it wasn’t a coincidence that these people were talking about alternate timelines.

Whatever Reginald and Allison had done was unraveling.

No. Might be unraveling. His siblings were out there, living their lives unbothered. He wouldn’t bring a maybe apocalypse to them until he was sure.

This could all just be nothing, in the end.

“Hello, Five.”

Five narrowed his eyes, making an aborted motion to where his gun was — technically he wasn’t supposed to have it still, but better safe than dead. He forced himself to relax.

“Name’s Jerome,” Five said, tapping his name tag. He picked up another donut.

The man smiled and raised his eyebrow, “Sure it is.”

Five squinted at him suspiciously. Once he was sure that his cover was not blown, he said, “Raymond.”

“You can call me Ray, you know,” Raymond Chestnut replied.

Allison’s husband from another time and timeline. How that had worked out, Five had no clue. But the truth was, Five was winging it most of the time — for all that he could narrow down his theories with math, in practice time was a fickle thing. Raymond existed without consequence. The Umbrella Academy nearly destroyed time itself by existing.

That’s just how it went.

“I’m surprised you’re here,” Raymond said mildly.

“What can I say?” Five replied, just as mildly, “Your call piqued my interest, and now I simply can’t resist.”

Raymond said, “These people just think they know something, but they’re harmless. They’re not what I’m worried about.”

“The Cleanse,” Five agreed, “What is it?”

“No idea,” Raymond said, “But I just don’t want to see these people get hurt. They’re just here for support.”

“Well, they’re not the ones calling the shots,” Five narrowed his eyes, “But you know who is.”

Ray worried his lower lip, hesitant.

Five pushed on, “Look, I need to see just how deep this runs. I want to protect the lives my siblings built in this timeline, nothing else. Help me out here, Ray. We’re family.”

“I’m not exactly with Allison anymore.”

“Bound by time then,” Five drawled, “Soulmates, even.”

“Are all you siblings like this?”

He was too polite to call them little shits.

“It runs in the family, yeah.”

Impossibly, Raymond smiled, “I can give you an address.”

Five wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Thanks, Ray. You’re a good person.”

Ray gave him a look that said he knew exactly how much he was bullshitting.

Afterwards, Five left the meeting with his stomach filled and his mind predictably working overtime. He walked out into the night, the cold biting against his skin. Mentally he grumbled about how much easier it would be to blink. It felt so pedestrian.

This city needed better parking.

Six years without his powers, and Five still missed them. Being adrift in time for so long had soured that relationship, but he had always relied on his being able to blink more than he realised. His powers had been a constant companion, through time and death. And he'd only just been coming into them.

(Seconds, not decades.)

He stopped at a crossing, hands stuffed into his pocket. The air came out as puffs. His eyes drifted from the red light to the billboard.

KING REG DOUBLE CHEESE BURGERS

The cartoonish face looked just as foreboding as it had in life, perhaps even more so with the goofy smile on his face. Five glared at it, hoping it would spontaneously combust on its own. When it didn’t, he figured that was just how it went with Reginald Hargreeves.

Like all things wrong in life, it was easiest to blame that old man.

He rolled his shoulders, wrenching his eyes away. Focus on the present, he told himself. He thought about the fact that he probably needed to find another job soon. Being fired from the CIA was as inevitable as leaving the time commission. He'd never cared to be tied down like that.

Besides, this Keepers thing was more important.

(You’re obsessed, Number Five, an all too familiar voice said in his head.

A nagging feeling reminded him of how much like Diego he'd become, problems with authority and daddy issues galore. He pushed the pathetic thought away.)

The Keepers. He needed to focus on the Keepers. If something really was coming …

Then Five would do what he has always done. Keep his family safe.

The light turned green and Five started walking again.

 


 

He didn’t think there was a single morning that was just quiet anymore. The alarm blared right into his ear and outside, the city was awake and angry about it. The noise seemed to rattle their two-bedroom apartment and all Diego wanted to do was sleep.

“Get up,” Lila said, slapping his arm as she dragged herself out of bed.

“I'm getting I'm getting,” Diego grumbled, burrowing further in his blankets.

“You're not, love,” Lila said, “It's Grace's birthday tomorrow and …”

Diego tuned her out.

It took another ten minutes to drag himself out of bed and put on a pot of coffee, while Lila got Grace ready for the day. He listened to the grind of the machine blankly. He’d given up on trying to get his mind to work without its morning coffee.

“Daddy!” Grace screeched far too loud for this time of day, “G'morning!”

“Morning kiddo,” Diego said, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“Are we getting a pinata for tomorrow?”

“What's tomorrow?” Diego asked, grinning widely.

“Daddy!” Grace scolded, “It’s my birthday and we’re having a huuuge party. Bigger than Steven’s.”

“Way bigger than Steven’s,” Lila agreed viciously: like mother, like daughter. “Of course you’re getting a pinata darling. Your dad’s picking it up —”

“What? No,” Diego said, frowning, “ You’re picking it up. I picked up another shift”

“No, you said you'd get the pinata, Diego. I have work too —”

“Your shift ends earlier than mine!”

“No pinata?” Grace asked, eyes welling up.

“Yes pinata,” Lila said quickly. “Just,” she threw her arms up, frustrated, “Whatever. Fine. I’ll pick it up. Diego, drop Grace to school at least.”

“What do you mean ‘at least’?” Diego snapped, “I always do. When have I not done it?”

“I'm not arguing with you,” Lila snapped back, “Have a good day at school, Gracie.”

Diego rolled his eyes and turned to Grace. “Hang on, let me finish my coffee and then —”

“You'll be late!” Lila yelled from the other room.

Shit. She was right.

What followed was the usual morning routine — rushing to get out the door, trying to get Grace’s shoes on while tying his own laces, almost forgetting Grace’s backpack and then his car keys, the usual. By the time they were stuck in traffick, Diego was certain they’d be late.

“You’re quiet, Gracie,” Diego realised, then felt guilty for not having realised sooner.

He glanced back at the booster seat where Grace was staring out the window.

“You okay?” Diego prompted.

“Dun like it when you argue,” she mumbled.

Diego bit down a grimace, “Sorry kiddo. We'll try not to, okay?”

Sometimes, Diego had no fucking idea what was happening. Not in the I-wasn’t-paying-attention kind of way, but more in the I-was-carefully-observing-something-inherently-unfathomable kind of way. That must be what parenting was, right? Confusing as hell.

Or maybe he just hasn’t had the right role models. Mom had been programmed to be perfect and Reginald had gone hard on the other end of the spectrum. Diego tried to be like Mom, but her endless patience and bottomless database on what to do when a child didn’t want to eat broccoli was impossible to model.

Point was, Diego had no idea how to make Grace feel better and that was making him feel miserable.

(Sometimes he thought about how lucky Grace was. Diego wasn’t Reginald and had so far done leaps and bounds better than that man. He knew that Lila thought the same about the Handler.

But that bar was practically in hell.)

“We’re here,” Diego said uselessly, “Have a good day at school, okay? I love you.”

“Love you too,” Grace said automatically.

She smiled then. Lila’s smile, but a little lopsided like Diego’s. It settled something in him.

 


 

The buildings were as old as the city, built back when they didn’t seem to have concept of alleys. They pressed against each other along the narrow road where, predictably, there was no parking space.

This city needed more parking space, Lila reckoned.

She felt good. Fresh. After spending the morning cursing Diego and screaming in the car where no one good here, she sat in a cafe looking for jobs.

She hadn’t told Diego she’d left her old one.

It wasn’t her fault, really. Lila just wasn’t cut out for stability and god forbid admin. You can’t just put her in an office and expect her to fucking … smile and comply. Being a wife and mother was hard enough.

She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes and resisted the urge to scream at the thought of it.

This wasn’t the life she imagined.

She had wanted a family. She loved Diego and Grace more than anything. God, nowadays she thought of what Allison did for her daughter and understood. She’d never loved and been so loved before. And yet —

Sometimes, she just wanted to drive and not look back.

Slowly, she breathed out as she finally found somewhere to park.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the Keepers were the only thing keeping Lila sane right now. It wasn’t even because she cared about what the poor sods had to say — sometimes it was fun to watch them fumble into what Lila already knew, hear them talk about timelines with awe when she’d become numb to the entire concept.

It was fun. Lila needed something fun to hold on to.

People were already mingling when she arrived. Lila was happy to put her nametag on for the newcomers and talk to old Drew, who was apparently from a timeline where people carried around computers in their pockets. Sometimes, Lila did wonder who was telling the truth and who was genuinely delusional. It didn’t matter in the slightest.

“That’s quite the story,” Lila chattered in her fake southern drawl — playing Nancy really wouldn’t get old.

She glanced at the door as it opened, curious to see newcomers, before turning back to her group. Drew was —

Wait. What the fuck.

She looked back at the people who’d come in. Ray she knew, though he’d never actually attended a meeting before. And that greek looking guy in the ridiculous mustache … no way.

She glided up to him gracefully and gripped his elbow, “Jerome.

Nancy,” Five mocked back in the same tone, “Look at this. An in-laws reunion for me.”

Ray gave her an awkward smile.

“You invited him?” Lila asked Ray, “He’s going to blow my cover and probably turn these people over to the feds.”

“He’s fine,” Ray said, “Besides … you can’t tell me that the Keepers went from being scarily accurate to just being scary since … you know.”

Lila did know.

“Am I supposed to know?” Five asked, annoyed.

“You’ll meet them today,” Ray promised.

“Listen, little shit,” Lila hissed, “Do not blow my cover.”

“As long as you don’t blow mine,” Five said, “What are you doing here?”

“Let’s just say that the transition from full-time assassin to admin worker slash mother was no picnic. Besides, this is cheaper than therapy.”

Ray snorted, “Amen to that.”

Five eyed him, “I thought you were doing fine with Allison.”

“Well,” Ray said, his voice clipped, “I suppose that being pulled out of my time and my timeline was a little difficult to adjust too, especially when I realise that my wife went against my specific wishes for me to remain in that time! I had a purpose once, something I fought for and —”

His voice had gone progressively louder. Around them, some had turned to listen.

Drew patted Ray’s arm. “Speak your truth, brother.”

Ray seemed to visibly deflate. He nodded to Drew awkwardly and waited until the man left.

“Gonna get some air,” Ray said, his voice lowered again, “I think they are arriving soon and I don’t fancy being around them. They give me the creeps.”

“Okay, seriously, are they the boogeyman or something?” Five asked as Ray walked off, “I still don’t know their names —”

As if on cue, a voice rang out: “If everyone could take their seats, the presentation is about to begin.”

Lila and Five shuffled into the back row. As if on habit, they were nearest to the exit, the escape route almost a natural observation in their minds. Lila wouldn’t admit it — because she hated Five’s guts, family or not — but she couldn’t help but feel that kinship.

Sometimes, family was two assassins fucked in the head by the Handler. And time junk, to a lesser extent.

She smiled, thinking about how funny Diego would find it, especially the ridiculous mustache part.

Her smile fell, realising there was no way he’d know.

Lila wasn’t telling him about the Keepers.

They share their lives. They have a joint bank account. They have the same family, the same friends, the same fucking doctor. It was so cute and couple-y and more than once someone had mentioned it. She just … she needed this for herself.

The lights dimmed.

Lila settled in for the show.

 


 

“Wow!”

Five startled, though he hid it well. It was simply not what he’d expected. Ray and Lila had tiptoed around them as though they were monsters. He hadn’t expected the two relatively normal couple that walked on stage. 

“Wowie,” the woman continued, “Look at all these faces! Thank you for being here tonight. Tonight is special because we will be discussing … the Umbrella Effect.”

Five’s breath hitched.

“And how I believe we can return to a restored and correct timeline.”

There was very little that could surprise Five anymore. But it wasn’t just the fact that these two people showed solid proof of what Five had already begun suspecting — that people from the other timeline had retained some of their memories, and anomalies were cropping up everywhere. That was why Five had been so interested in monitoring the Keepers in the first place.

No. What worried Five was them.

“Who are they?” Five hissed to Lila as soon as the presentation was over.

“Gene and Jene Thibedeau,” Lila said, her eyes alight with childish excitement, “They started the first chapter in New Mexico. The Keepers is basically their baby — they’ve studied every anomaly, gathered every piece of evidence, learned all they could about the timelines. But they won’t stop there.”

“The Cleanse,” Five guessed, “But what is it?”

“Dunno really,” Lila admitted, “It’s some cataclysmic event, apparently. No one knows what it looks like, but once it comes, everyone will know — you know, the typical cult bullshit.”

Five frowned, “This could be dangerous, Lila.”

“What, more dangerous than merging timelines against all the protocol that’s been drilled into us in the Commission?” Lila scoffed, “This timeline’s been held together by duct tape and tears for six years, but it’s held.”

Five wanted to point out that that was a weak argument, but there was truth in it. Nothing had happened yet. If Five were to believe the Thibedeaus, these anomalies have been happening since the conception of this timeline, but nothing had really given him a reason to believe it was a problem.

What made him worried was the Thibedeaus themselves. That feverish devotion, the hunger in them, hidden just behind their pleasant smile.

“Anyway,” Lila said, “Want a drink?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Let’s go find Ray,” Lila said, “I know what it’s like being married to a Hargreeves. Gotta give him a shoulder to lean on, you know?”

Five snorted, “I’m not sure I fit the theme of the evening.”

“You can give us advice, old man,” Lila pointed out, “Klaus told me about your long and very successful relationship with Dolores.”

The mention of Dolores made him soften long enough for Lila to drag him away.

 


 

The big lug was dragging him around department stores for the better part of the day. He had that stupid hopeful smile on his face, which had only fallen once when Klaus said that he wasn’t going to join the two of them. And thank god for that — Ben didn’t think he could handle Luther and Klaus in one go.

“Grace might like dolls, right?” Luther fussed, “But is that playing into gender norms?”

“Jesus fucking Christ, pick something,” Ben snapped.

A mother with a strolled gave him a scandelised look. Ben was only semi-apologetic — she’d start swearing too if she was stuck with Luther’s indecisiveness. Seriously, how hard was it to just pick a kid’s birthday gift? Slip them a gift card and be done with it.

“A book?” Luther wondered, “But what if …”

“Okay,” Ben said, finally giving up, “I’m done.”

He ignored Luther’s cry of, “This has to be from both of us!” and stormed out, jamming his earbuds on and flicking through the music on his walkman. Only a day out of prison and he almost wanted to go back. At least there he didn’t have to deal with Luther’s incessant hovering.

They were not family.

How hard was that for them to understand?

Ben’s never had a family. He's had a team for a long time, and with enough alcohol and the high of a good mission, they convinced themselves they could be family. But they were all dead now. Sloane and Ben had tried, this time, but it just didn’t work out. 

The Umbrella Academy, on the other hand, were definitely not family. They were just a dysfunction mess parading around with their stupid sympathy and —

Ben grit his teeth and turned up the music.

There’s this feeling he’s missing something, a hole in his chest someone curved out. Ben had never liked the Horror, the monster that lived within, but he had spent a lifetime learning to control it. He had survived where the other Ben hadn’t — that had to count for something.

If only he could get his powers back.

“HELP!” a voice shrieked.

Ben yanked his earphones off, already running. Finally, he thought, something to do. This was what Ben was made for — saving people.

He ran into the alleyway where the scream had come from. A woman, sobbing, looked up at him.

“What happened?” he demanded to know.

“The stole my purse —”

“Stay there!”

Ben was off towards where she pointed without even letting her finish. He saw his target immediately and pursued.

He was a superhero once. Someone important, someone people looked up to. Just because he didn't have a name — anything to his name — didn't stop him from being a hero.

It wasn’t his fault the police didn't understand that. He'd only broken into the house because he thought someone needed help! And they'd given him six months for it?

Idiots.

The man who’d stolen the woman's purse turned a corner. A childhood spent training had made Ben faster. Still, this would’ve been so much easier with his powers.

“Hey, asshole!” Ben yelled, catching the man's attention.

Two minutes later, Ben had punched the guys lights out, gotten the purse and was back in the alley the woman had been.

It was empty.

Ben frowned, having at least expected the woman to have called the police. But she was gone. It hadn't even been five minutes.

He looked down at the purse.

Was it … glowing?

Without much thought — as if compelled by something — Ben reached into the bag. His hand hit glass and impossibly, the glow got brighter.

“Holy shit.”

Ben pulled out a jar full of Marigold.

 


 

“Looks like he took bait.”

“Well, we were told he had a hero complex.”

Gene lowered his binoculars, turning to his wife, “Then this means …”

“Yes, Gene,” Jean smiled, “The Cleanse can begin.”

Gene Thibedeau was usually a mellow man, but the grin that stole his face was nothing short of manic. Three years spent hunting down the source of the Cleanse — longer for Jean — and here they were, the final stretch. They’d been laughed out of every elitist academic circle, their work called a joke, but soon they would be proven right.

There was much to do, and much time to do it. No need to rush. The Cleanse knew no deadline, existing only as an inevitability.

“A toast, then,” Gene said, raising his glass of pure white alpaca milk, “To the end of this timeline.”

Jean giggled, raising her own, “And to the restoration of another.”

Notes:

I've never outlined a fic as fast as I did this one, fueled by frustration alone. I used to be kind of a casual fan but I think the anger at the latest season made me understand the characters BETTER because I know what they're NOT supposed to be XD

Anyway, this first chapter is true to the season, but it will go off the rails pretty quick. Jennifer doesn't exist but Ben still causes the apocalypse. True to Umbrella Academy, Five carries the bulk of the plot, Klaus accidentally resolves half of the plot, and everyone has their dedicated side-plot, relationship and arguments. I'll do my best to include elements of the first seasons. Massive callbacks to s1 though, because all my favourite narratives come full circle like that. Also, timeline numbers matter thematically but not really practically. Most of this fic is focusing on themes, completing character arcs I assume they intended to complete since s1, etc. instead of focusing on trying to make theoretical sense of time travel. Time travel is just whatever Five says, lol.

I can't promise a perfect ending or even a happy one, but I can promise a happiER one than the show. (Also not claiming to be a better writer, this is entirely self-indulgent)

Chapter 2: We Only See Each Other At Parties and Griddy's

Summary:

Five blinked into the subway again.

He smirked. He was getting the hang of it exponentially faster than he’d gotten a hang of time-travel. His powers felt subtly different depending on where — or when — he wanted to go. He had spent his lifetime understanding his spatial and temporal jumps down to the most basic equation. But when he’d blinked into the subway that morning, he had felt a different pull entirely.

This place existed outside or any time or any space he knew.

---

Or, the siblings go to a party, get their powers back against their wills, and blow up spontaneously because of it.

Notes:

CW: canon-typical violence, child abuse, etc.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Dec 31, 1999. Timeline 0.1

It was Four’s idea to sneak out of the house. It was Five who organised it. It was Three who convinced them all to go. Reginald Hargreeves was away at a party for New-Years-Eve, and Pogo had to rush out to manage an emergency. They had been left alone.

“We’ll get in trouble,” One mumbled nervously. 

“D-d-don’t … don’t be a coward,” Two replied.

“We’ll be fine,” Three said.

“I know the city like the back of my hand,” Four offered, showing them the aforementioned hand. This did not instill faith in any of them.

“Hurry up and decide. We’re wasting time,” Five snapped.

“I’m in,” Six said immediately.

“Me too,” squeaked Seven. And then, that was that.

For all of them except Four (and Five, who blinked out sometimes), this was the first time in the city without supervision. They stuck together, all of seven of them, seeing the lights and trees that the city had put up. They were dazzled by the people most of all, the children and their parents holding hands, the couples kissing, and the singing, the dancing, the laughing.

That was the first time they’d ever eaten at Griddy’s. It was the only diner that seemed empty enough for them to risk. After all, the Umbrella Academy was famous and easily recognisable.

About Three, or perhaps seventeen years later, at the end of the world, Five would sit on the rubble of the store.

He would not cry. He was a practical boy, even at thirteen. He knew to preserve water.

 


 

Dec 18, 2025. Timeline 4.6

Luther was suspicious.

Now, he didn’t want to be. He wanted to believe the best of Ben, he really did. But yesterday he’d been complaining about this party non-stop — today, it seemed like he couldn’t wait to get there. Quite literally, in fact: his impatience showed as he bounced his leg.

“Are we there yet?” Ben asked.

Klaus, who’d been shoved out of the front seat by Ben and was lounging in the back, piped up, “My, aren’t you excited, Benji.”

“Been a while.”

Klaus squinted at him suspiciously, “That right? Yesterday morning you were swearing up and down that we weren’t family.”

Through gritted teeth, Ben said, “You’re not. I need to talk to you all about something and it’ll be easier if we’re all there.”

“What is it?” Klaus asked.

Klaus had been avoiding Ben like a plague, had taken to do so after some argument or the other four or so years ago. Luther wasn’t sure, but somewhere along the line Klaus went from being Ben’s staunchest supporter to the two acting like strangers. This might’ve been the closest they’d been in months.

“Well,” Ben said, with a snide lilt to his voice, “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Sometimes, this Ben reminded Luther so much of the old Ben that it ached.

It was impossible to convince Ben of that, just like it was impossible to separate Ben from that. They were stuck in limbo, the Umbrella’s sure that they knew Ben and Ben sure that no one knew him at all. Luther just wanted to help.

“We’re here,” he said as they pulled up to the venue, “Go on ahead, I need to find parking.”

 


 

The party was well underway by the time Five arrived.

“Well if it isn't mister bigshot!” Klaus crowed, “How come we never see you around, Five?”

“I’m busy,” he said curtly.

“Aren’t we all?” Klaus grinned, curling an arm around Five’s shoulder almost immediately. Five let him. “Gosh, I can’t remember the last time we just hung out, the two of us. Oh — there’s Lila! Lila, Five’s here!”

“Oh good,” Lila said, and then immediately handed Five a massive pinata, “Go tell Diego to put this up, will you? Klaus, did you see that clown-magician guy I booked?”

Nahim,” Klaus said, which Five assumed was Punjabi, “Sorry.”

“Ugh, this is a nightmare!” Lila said, stomping away.

Luther chose the moment to appear, with an annoyed looking Ben in tow. “Five!” Luther said with a big, dumb grin, “Long time. How’s work?”

“Can’t talk about it,” Five said — which wasn’t necessarily a lie, considering there wasn’t anything to talk about.

He could tell them he quit, which was the truth. But then they’d ask why and it would be a whole thing — Five loved his family, but they were so goddamn nosy.

“Well … it’s good to see you,” Luther offered.

Five could physically feel himself soften.

“Feeling is only barely mutual,” Five replied, because loving his family did not mean he had to be nice to them.

Luther just laughed.

“We better get this to Diego,” Five said, as the pinata almost slipped from his hands, “Why is it so shitting big?”

“Lots of candy in its belly,” Klaus said, patting the thing, “Don’t swear, there are kids around.”

“And they can learn,” Five said flippantly, “It’s one of life’s greatest lessons.”

“Five,” Luther said reproachfully.

“These guys are no fun,” Five told Ben, whose lips tilted up reluctantly.

 


 

The only person Ben seemed to semi-like was Five. Klaus was not jealous of that for the basic fact that assholes drew towards each other — birds of a feather, and all that. 

But really, Five was the only one of them that hadn’t known their Ben.

The only versions of the Umbrella Academy Five knew what their thirteen-year-old selves and now their thirty-something-year-old selves. Five didn’t know what Ben had been like as a sullen teenager or an incorporeal ghost.

Well. Klaus was the only one who had known Ben as a ghost. That’s what probably made this so hard.

They all found Diego, who lit up upon seeing Five — or rather, what he was holding.

“Oh good, I need to put that up,” Diego said, snatching up the pinata. He tested it, frowning, “I thought I told her to get it from the west side …”

“Hello, Diego,” Klaus said cheerfully.

Only then did Diego seem to notice them there, “Klaus! Five, did you give, you know, them, my resume.”

Five smiled, all sharp teeth, “And put in a good word too, for what it’s worth.”

Diego straightened up, “Good. Hey Luther … Ben? When did you get out of prison?”

“Couple days ago,” Ben drawled, “And I’m strongly considering robbing a bank to go back in. Listen, are Viktor and Allison here yet?”

“No,” Diego said distractedly, “I don’t even know if they’re coming.”

“They’re coming,” Luther and Klaus said at the same time.

“Why are you so eager to see them?” Five asked, classic Five paranoia in his voice. Though it was not unjustified. 

“Benji here has something to show us,” Klaus said, sliding up to said man and grabbing him into a hug, “ I think it’s a tramp stamp he got in prison.”

Ben shoved him off, “You’re unbelievable. I’m getting a drink.”

Klaus waved him off cheerfully. “You know, that macho vibe, that vigilante shtick — give him some knives and he’s really starting to remind me of someone.”

Five snorted. 

Diego scowled at him, “Shut up. Luther, help me with this will you …”

Klaus grabbed Five by the elbow, “Come on, let’s go say hi to Gracie.”

Five grimaced, “Jesus. Let me get a drink first at least.”

Klaus laughed, “Number Five, everyone — fearless time travelling assassin and child soldier extraordinaire, turned into a coward at the face of his tiny niece.”

“What can I say? Children are terrifying.”

 


 

The first person Allison saw was Luther, which was probably the second worst outcome — the first worst would be seeing Viktor. It wasn’t that Allison didn’t want to see them, because she loved them dearly, but she knew that they’d simply never talked about what had happened there at the end of the world. And now, after so much time had gone by, it felt like digging into a wound that had already scarred over.

But this new timeline has been good to everyone. Allison just needed to suck it up and pretend it had been good to her too.

After all, this was what she had wanted. This was the timeline she built.

How pathetic would it be if she weren’t completely happy?

“Hey,” Allison said.

Luther dropped the pinata, making Diego curse, “Dude, I was so close!”

“How many superheroes does it take to string up a pinata?” Allison grinned.

“Hey, Allison,” Diego grumbled, “Glad you could make it. Help us out, would you?”

Apparently it took three.

“How’s, uh, Claire?” Luther asked when they were done.

“Good,” Allison said, and then suddenly drew a blank on how to hold a conversation. 

“That’s good.” 

They lapsed into an awkward silence.

“Been a minute since we’ve … uh …” Luther said.

“Yeah,” Allison’s eyes trailed behind him, “Oh, is that Five?”

Luther turned around, “Oh yeah. He’s also here.”

“I’m gonna, uh —” Allison pointed.

“Okay, yeah, yeah,” Luther nodded, smiling just too wide to be sincere, “See you later.”

 


 

Viktor was the last to arrive. He hadn’t meant to time his arrival with the cutting of the cake, but that was just how it went. He couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t relieved by that. He put the gift into the pile and tried to stick to the shadows, before remembering himself. He'd promised to stop hiding.

“There you are!” Ben said.

Viktor startled, giving him a confused smile, “Oh, it’s nice to see you too?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ben said, “Come on, I need to talk to you all. Get Luther, he’s over there, then meet me behind the ball pit.”

He left before Viktor could get another word in. On autopilot, he did as he was instructed, seeking out Luther. It was easy to find him, given his height and general Lutherness.

“Viktor!” Luther said, grinning widely. 

Something warm settled in Viktor’s chest. Even now, being loved felt strange. He knew they loved him, and they had reassured him countless times of the fact, but he’d spent more of his life unsure of himself and unsure of love than otherwise.

“Hey, Luther,” Viktor said, “Ben’s being weird.”

“Well,” Luther rubbed the back of his head, “That’s Ben for you.”

“He told us to meet him behind the ball pit.”

Luther shrugged and went agreeably. Behind the ball pit was a somewhat secluded corner, unbothered by the many screaming children and their haggard parents. Though Viktor knew he was lucky — people were starting to clear out, now that cake had been served.

“Viktor!” Klaus’ voice came from within the ball pit. He came up for air, grinning, “My second favourite brother!”

“Second?” Viktor said, mock-offended.

"What about me?" Luther protested, grinning.

“Diego hath given me cake,” Klaus said somberly, “It was chocolate. There’s some leftover, if you want …”

“In a minute,” Viktor nodded.

“Five!” Klaus said, climbing out of the pit, “Ben got you too, huh?”

Five hummed in agreement. “Hey Viktor. How’re you?”

“I’m sorry,” Klaus interrupted before Viktor could reply, “He gets a ‘how are you?’ and I get  ‘I'm too busy for you’? What is this?”

“Viktor’s my favourite sibling. We all know this,” Five said. He gave Klaus his patented you’re not worth my time look, “You have gum in your hair.”

Viktor couldn’t help but feel a burst of warmth as Luther helped Klaus get the gum out. Klaus said, “Don’t lie old man. You love us all equally.”

“I definitely hate you all equally,” Five said.

“Those threats don’t work on us, Five,” Viktor pointed out.

“Like a crab. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside,” Luther agreed.

“I could kill you all within minutes,” Five snapped.

“He doesn’t do well with emotions,” Klaus stage-whispered.

Viktor found himself chocking back a laugh. He tried to remember why he’d been avoiding this for so long —

“Hey, guys.”

Ah. That’s why.

“Hi, Allison.”

Allison’s eyes widened briefly, before she smiled. It was a little too broad but nonetheless warm — yet Viktor only felt cold inside. “Viktor! It’s good to see you.”

Fortunately, Viktor was saved from making small talk when Diego and Lila arrived.

“Viktor,” Diego said grumpily, “Good of you to show up once the party is already over.”

Lila smacked his shoulder, “What he means is, thanks for coming.”

“Yeah,” Viktor said awkwardly, “No problem.”

“Enough chit-chat,” Ben said, closing the gap in the circle they’d naturally seemed to form, “Everyone here? Good.”

“Are you going to stop being cryptic, then?” Five asked.

“Shut up,” Ben said, reaching into his bag — Viktor did not miss the look of homicidal rage that crossed Five’s face — “Look what I found.”

“Holy shit,” Viktor heard himself say.

“Yeah,” Ben smirked, “Holy shit is right, bitches.”

“Is that —” Klaus hissed, before cutting himself off.

“Marigold,” Allison completed, “How on earth did you get that?”

“Found it,” Ben said smugly, “And now we can finally get our powers back.”

“Get them back?” Viktor repeated hysterically, “Are you kidding? I don’t want them back.”

“Ditto,” Klaus said, his voice breathy and horrified, “In fact, I think I’m going to pretend I didn’t even see it.”

“Seriously?” Ben asked, staring around at them in disbelief, “I’m giving you an out from your lameass middle-class lives and you say no .”

“Excuse me,” Klaus squeaked, “I qualify as working class .”

He was ignored. Diego inched closer, “This is the real deal?”

“I don’t think you can fake it,” Allison said, pulling away, “I can feel it. Can’t you?”

Viktor could. They all could — the siren call of power. He could almost imagine it again, the way it coursed through his blood, the way it could sing when called upon. He cut off that thought before it could even form. He had a life to get back to. A normal, boring life that he was happy with.

“How did you find it?” Five demanded.

“I told you, it doesn’t matter —”

“Are you stupid?” Five barked, “You think it's a coincidence you find a jar of Marigold out in the wild? Did you get it from Hargreeves?”

Ben snarled right back, “You think I’d ever accept anything from that guy?”

“Let’s vote on what to do, then,” Allison cut in, “I personally think we should throw it away.”

“I agree,” Klaus said.

“I’ll do whatever the family decides on,” Luther said.

“Throwing it away is a little extreme,” Viktor conceded, “But we shouldn’t take it. I don’t want my powers back, for one … and we don’t know what it’d do to us anyway. Remember Harlan?”

“Viktor’s got a point,” Five said, “It’s dangerous.”

“What’s life without danger?” Ben asked, “Diego’s on board, right?”

Diego opened his mouth but Lila beat him to it, “He is not . We don’t need our powers, and we’re definitely not risking it with something we know so little about.”

“Fine, I’ll take it myself —”

“Are you crazy?” Five snapped, “Get it through your pea-sized brain that this isn’t something to play around with —

“What did you just say —”

“Hey,” Viktor said before the two of them could start throwing punches, “It’s decided. We’re not taking it. Let’s just leave it alone, please?”

“No need to cause another end of the world, right?” Luther said helpfully, “Besides, life’s not so bad.”

“You,” Ben said, his eyes hazy with anger, “Are all fucking morons.”

He stormed away. 

This was why Viktor avoided family reunions. 

 


 

There’s something of an after-party with just the family at Lila and Diego’s apartment. Allison and Five stayed, if for nothing else than the fact that this really was the first time in a long time they’d been together. Grace and Claire were both already asleep so Ben had the brilliant idea to bust out the alcohol. Klaus felt his skin crawl but he could do this. He could do this .

“It’s just a lot, you know?” Lila was saying, “Six-year-olds are a lot.”

Klaus nodded sympathetically, “Well, I provide semi-free babysitting services. Usually for Allison, so I’ve got experience with the Hargreeves specialty. Hit me up anytime if you and Diego and you need some,” Klaus waggled his eyebrows, “Alone time.”

Lila snorted, looking over to where Diego was talking to Luther, “Maybe.”

Ben trilled over them, “Look at you, your pretty bastards!"

“No so loud, idiot!” Diego hissed, “The girls are sleeping.”

Lila snorted, “He’s so much more bearable drunk.”

“Much more,” Klaus nodded.

“Come on, come on,” Ben said, “I have a toast to make.”

Klaus hesitated as Ben began pouring out some cocktail into Lila and Diego’s shot glasses.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Allison said immediately.

“He doesn’t drink,” Lila said when Klaus went silent.

“Well … it’s just one shot …” Klaus mumbled.

“Hey!” Diego said, “You’re sober, Klaus.”

“Come on, Klaus,” Ben grinned, and fuck. 

Fuck, he looked so much like the old Ben in that moment, eyes bright. He looked like his brother again, with the mischief on his face. His lips were quirked up and turned into a grin when Klaus accepted the glass.

“Atta boy,” Ben said, clapping him on the back. “This might be the last time we’re all together anyway. We can’t stand each other.”

No one corrected him on that. Sometimes it was true.

“So let’s drink to that, huh?” Ben raised his glass, “To the non-existent Umbrella Academy!”

They raised their glasses.

 


 

In Ben’s defence, he was drunk and angry when he did it. He knew it was a piss-poor defence, but he was long past caring.

Also in his defence, he had no idea that Viktor was right — they didn’t know how the Marigold worked. It could be dangerous.

After all, how was he to know? No one really knew how the Marigold worked, not even Reginald Hargreeves. The only person who knew had no desire to answer questions about her life’s work, not when it had destroyed more than it had created.

Perhaps if this were another timeline, Ben would’ve been more cautious. In a timeline where he died and watched his brother try to kill himself for years and years with no one to rely on. In a timeline where he witnessed his siblings drift apart with no way of calling out to them.

Perhaps in another timeline, Ben would’ve cared about the moral ramifications of spiking someone’s drink without their consent.

But this was not that timeline.

 


 

When Viktor woke up, he felt strange. At first he thought he was just hungover, but there was no way that a bit of tequila could make him feel like this. He had a better tolerance than that. Was he sick?

“It was the cake,” Lila hissed.

“It wasn’t the cake,” Diego hissed back.

They stopped when Viktor entered, like kids caught arguing by a parent. They didn’t look so hot either.

Lila and Diego had been nice enough to offer Viktor their couch for the night before he drove back to Canada. Viktor had not realised how much noise a three-people household with a six year old could generate. By the time he’d dragged himself out of bed, his headache had only got worse.

“Coffee?” Diego grunted, “Guess we must’ve caught something.”

“Or got food poisoned,” Lila mumbled.

Grace looked around them all curiously, “I’m fine! Steven said my cake was wayyy better.”

Lila closed her eyes, agonised, “If the cake gave everyone food poisoning I will not hear the end of it.”

Diego chose that moment to put on the coffee maker. The grinding beans seemed to get increasingly loud, like a ringing in Viktor’s ear. Outside, the city was as alive and angry as it always was. Grace started to talk about school, which would’ve been fine, really, if it weren’t for the headache that had lodged itself behind Viktor’s eyes.

God, why was it that he could suddenly feel every little vibration?

“I’m not dropping Grace off today. She might catch this —” Diego said over the noise.

“Call someone’s mom then!”

“Why do I have to do it?"

"Just do it!. Grace, I told you not to leave your toys out!”

“Sorrrryy, Moooom. Can I have more syrup?”

Viktor gave Grave a strained smile and reached for the syrup in Lila’s stead. The noise seemed to crescendo in Viktor’s ears.

The syrup exploded.

Actually, the syrup only cracked, and then the plates cracked too, and then the window. 

“Holy shit,” Lila yelped, “Viktor … was that …?”

Diego’s eyes widened. He grabbed a fork and flung it towards the window. It swerved and landed in the sink with a clatter.

“Holy shit,” Diego muttered, he exchanged a look with Viktor and Lila in turn.

Grace looked between them curiously and then parroted happily what they were all thinking:

“Holy shit!”

 


 

Luther accidentally broke a pole. The women loved it though, so it’s a win — someone screamed, “Break me, Spaceboy~!” Luther flushed.

Ben took a bath that morning and flooded the bathroom when his tentacles spontaneously crept out of him, crowding the small space within the bathtub. He just grinned, despite how terrible he was feeling, and sunk further into the water.

Allison told Jill off for scheduling issues and told her to reschedule. She was tipped off when Jill’s eyes glazed over and she did so without complaint.

Klaus patted himself on the back for staying sober.

Five blinked.

And he stood at the entrance of what seemed to be an empty subway. There was a row of gates without any ticket machines, yellowing white tiles and listless walls. There were no signs except for a single arrow pointing downwards with an image of a train.

He blinked again, back to his cramped studio apartment.

“Shit.”

 


 

They gathered at Griddy’s Donuts. 

There were many constants throughout timelines, Five figured. Reginald was an asshole, his family could survive a record of twenty minutes in one room together before arguing, and Griddy’s served the best donuts. Or perhaps, that was just nostalgia.

Five remembered vividly the childhood spent sneaking here. 

Despite the fact that it had been longer for him than the others, Five thought that he held a fondness for childhood that they didn’t. After all, despite Reginald’s existence, his childhood had been rosy compared to the rest of his life. More than once, he’d wished to go back, before, during, and after the first apocalypse. 

He gave the old man too much credit, perhaps, but at least then he’d had a roof over his head and didn’t need to worry about his next meal.

They took the booth they once used to, one in the back corner and relatively secluded. In this timeline, Griddy’s was under the ownership of a woman and her father. As long as they maintained standards, Five didn’t care. 

“What can I get you all?”

“Coffee. Sugar, no cream,” Five snapped through his headache.

The others went around giving their orders. When it came to Viktor, the server’s smile seemed to get a little wider. “And for you?”

“Anything you recommend?”

“Well, we make a killer apple pie. You know, if you’re looking for something sweet .”

“I’ll take that, then,” Viktor said with a wide grin.

The server giggled loudly.

Klaus had the grace to wait until she was gone before hounding Viktor, “Oh my god, what was that?”

Viktor flushed, sliding down his seat a little. Allison, beside Five, was trying very hard to hide her snickers.

“I thought you had a girlfriend,” Lila said, her smile getting wider as Viktor slid down further.

“We broke up,” Viktor winced, “And Amy broke up with me the other day so …”

“Two in five months?” Klaus yelled, delighted, “Viktor, you naughty boy!”

“Anyway!” Viktor said loudly, tips of his ears still red, “Where’s Luther and Ben?”

“Benji had a little situation,” Klaus said, waving his fingers around. The tentacles, Five assumed.

“And how’re you doing, Klaus?” Diego asked, his voice gentle.

“Great, actually!” Klaus said, “I didn’t get my powers back.”

“Really?” Allison asked.

“Yep. I didn’t take the shot last night and I’m starting to think little Benny skipped the lesson on consent.”

“He spiked our drinks?” Viktor hissed. His eyes glowed for a moment and the lights flickered.

“Hey, I’m as pissed as you,” Allison said, “But we should probably try not to blow things up.”

They all clamped their mouth shut as they were served 

Five was starting to think that maybe they should’ve met somewhere more private, but being crammed into Diego and Lila’s living room had been way too much contact already last night. Then again, no one seemed to want to go over to each other’s houses anyway. Somehow it seemed too personal for what they’d become. 

This was the first time they’d willingly sat together without the threat of an obligation over them … though Five supposed the reappearance of their powers had something to do with it.

Five was halfway through his coffee when Luther and Ben arrived.

“Woah, buddy,” Diego said upon seeing Ben, “You good?”

“Never better,” he croaked in his bulky, massive coat and sunglasses.

“Good, then you can explain to us what the fuck you were thinking,” Viktor hissed.

“I was thinking,"” Ben began gratingly, “That you were all a bunch of pussies. I took matters into my own hands.”

“That was not your choice to make!” Allison said.

“Oh fuck off,” Ben replied, “You’ve lived with these powers for your whole lives. And six years without them you suddenly don’t want them back? You never felt like you were missing something?”

“That’s besides the point,” Viktor said, but he mellowed a little.

“Have there been any side effects?” Five asked, “Any anomalies? Anything different, this time around?”

The image of the subway flashed before Five’s eyes. But he had to be sure he wasn't the only one.

“My powers feel stronger,” Allison offered, “I don’t even need the code phrase anymore.”

“They were strong back … in 2019,” Viktor pointed out dubiously.

Allison settled back, unhappy, “I suppose so.”

“I feel great,” Diego offered.

“Yes, babe, we know, you’re so happy your powers are back,” Lila said under her breath, “Well, Ben’s kind of got a point, even though I hate to admit it. It’s annoying but not debilitating. We’ve done this before.”

Viktor sighed, “I don’t exactly fancy blowing up randomly, but I guess I did have better control of it near the end of … 2019.”

“I didn’t get my body back,” Luther said suddenly, “Is that weird?”

“It wasn’t a part of your powers,” Five pointed out, “Just dear old dad being an asshole.”

Luther sighed in relief, “So no worries about that, then.”

“So … what now?” Viktor asked, “We just go on as we were?”

“Had a six year break, but I guess they’re back,” Diego said, eyes glinting happily. Viktor didn’t seem nearly as pleased, but he wasn’t panicking either.

“Fuck me,” Allison said, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes.

“Well then, everyone,” Five said, gesturing to all of them with his cup, “Let's all try not to end the world this time, hmm?”

“Glad we had this discussion,” Ben said, “Can I leave now?”

“You’re a fucking asshole,” Allison told him. She slipped out of the booth and walked away.

 


 

She needed to breathe. She needed to remember how to breathe. She knew how to breathe didn't she? In and out. In and out.

(Ray would’ve held her through this. Would've rubbed her back and told her to follow my breathing, baby. )

There was a pop. Allison flinched.

“I forgot how annoying that was,” Allison murmured.

Five gave her his usual shit-eating grin, “Still got it.”

“Did you need something, Five?” Allison asked wearily, “Come to make sure I don’t blow up the world?”

Five looked at her piercingly, like he was trying to work out a puzzle. It reminded her sickeningly of how Dad used to peer at them through the monocle.

“Are you okay?” he asked carefully.

But it was just Five, him and his unique way of caring.

“Honestly? I’m not,” Allison swallowed, “Everything in my life I fucked up because of my powers. They’re … addicting. And I’m afraid I’m going to make another mistake.”

Five gave a pensive nod. “You probably will.”

Allison rolled her eyes, “Jeez, thanks Five.”

“So have I, remember — I got trapped in an apocalypse because of my powers. We’ve all made mistakes Allison. We’ll probably keep making them, and because of our powers, they just seem to be more disastrous than for other people.”

Allison nodded miserably.

“But your powers don’t control you, hate to be cliche here,” Five continued.

“What if I lose control? I’m more dangerous with my powers than without.”

“That’s true for all of us. But you know what’s true as well?” Five leaned forward, “We’re also the only ones who’re going to be able to stop you. So stop avoiding us. Stop walking away.”

“They hate me.”

Five snorted, “Like I said, we’ve all made mistakes. You’re not worse than us, Allison. Stop acting like it.”

Allison frowned, annoyed, “I’m not acting —”

“No? Then I must’ve imagined the pity parting you keep throwing yourself.”

“Wow,” Allison said in disbelief, “You’re an asshole.”

“And you’re an idiot as always,” Five rolled his eyes, “Well, I tried.”

He blinked away. Allison gaped at the spot he’d been only moments before, anger rising in her chest, replacing the panic she’d felt before.

Asshole.

 


 

Five popped next to Ben, nearly scaring him out of his skin. 

“Hey, what the fuck?”

“You,” Five growled, “With me.”

“I didn’t even get breakfast —”

“You’re telling me where you found the Marigold.”

“I’ll be your backup,” Diego said.

“You have work, Diego,” Lila protested.

“I’ll call in,” Diego flipped his knife — god, he had already put on his obnoxious knife-belt like discount Batman, “This is clearly more important.”

Ben hated them all. So much.

 


 

Diego looked around the alley as Five flipped out at Ben.

“You didn’t even see her face?”

“I was busy!”

Five had blinked them to where Ben said he’d found the Marigold. Even Diego didn’t need to know that it was a set-up — why else would a random lady have a purse full of … whatever the fuck Marigold even was.

Diego turned to ask Ben more questions. Paused.

“You okay there?”

Ben’s eyes trailed down to the tentacle that had fallen out of his coat and was now dragging through the gross alley floor.

“Fine,” he snapped and tucked the tentacle back into the coat.

“Well anyway,” Diego said, “I’ve got an idea.” He pointed at the department store, “They’ve got cameras on the parking lot. We can see who entered the alley that day.”

Five gave him an appraising look, “Good idea.”

“No need to sound so surprised,” he grumbled.

“The constant idiocy that surrounds me makes every good idea seem novel,” Five said plainly, “Let’s go then.”

He grabbed Diego’s wrist and Ben’s shoulder and blinked. Diego fucking hated it when he did that.

They popped into the security office. The man at the desk spun around in his chair, face slack with shock. Then, his eyes rolled back as Five jabbed him in the throat.

“Diego,” Five said, “Look through the cameras, will you? We’ll meet up later — there’s another lead I need to follow.”

And then he blinked out.

“Is he always like this?” Ben asked.

“Ever since we were in nappies,” Diego replied, “So, what time did you rescue the damsel from distress?”

They flipped through the cameras in silence for a moment. 

“You know,” Deigo said without looking at Ben, “I kind of get it.”

“Get what?”

“Not that it excuses you spiking our drinks,” Diego said quickly, “But … it’s good to have my powers back. Feel like a new me — or the old me, I guess.”

Ben grinned at him wryly, “Glad someone gets it.”

He looked sickly pale, dark circles under his eyes and a sheen of sweat on his face.

“You holding up okay, bro?” Diego asked.

“Better than ever,” Ben said, “Look at us. Number Twos against the world. We’re the only sane people here — the powers make us, you know? Now we can be proper heroes again.”

Diego’s lips twitched up, “No shit. I didn’t know what I was missing till I got it back.”

They lapsed into silence for a moment.

“You’re right about the other thing too,” Diego said hesitantly, “The others got good at pretending but there’s no way anyone is happy with their boring ass lives. Not that … I love Grace and Lila, obviously.”

He didn’t say what he wanted to. What he’d told Luther yesterday — what he’d found out about Lila. Ben didn’t need to know that.

“Obviously,” Ben said, clapping his shoulder, “But look man. We were meant for greater things. Klaus told me about you, you know. Not sure about all the leather, but you were onto something, quitting the Police and doing your own thing. Someone’s gotta be the hero here, and it’s going to be us.”

“Huh,” Diego said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m starting to like you Ben.”

“There!” Ben said, pointing, “That woman.”

Ben pointed at the lady, greying hair and braids. Her face was obscured, but perhaps they could enhance the image later.

“Maybe Five’ll pull some resources,” Diego said, pressing print.

“Is he a cop?” Ben asked.

“Worse,” Diego grinned, “CIA.”

“That little shit … yeah, I can see it,” Ben nodded, “Man, it’s good to finally work a mission.”

“Right?” Diego said, slipping the photo into his vest, “Wanna get something to eat?”

“... Sure.”

 


 

Five blinked into the subway again.

He smirked. He was getting the hang of it exponentially faster than he’d gotten a hang of time-travel. His powers felt subtly different depending on where — or when — he wanted to go. He had spent his lifetime understanding his spatial and temporal jumps down to the most basic equation. But when he’d blinked into the subway that morning, he had felt a different pull entirely.

This place existed outside or any time or any space he knew.

Cautiously, he went through the gates and down the stairs. He slowed down as he approached the platform.

It was reminiscent of the city’s own subway system, but it was eerily empty. There was no screen announcing when the next train would arrive — if it would even arrive, Five acknowledged. In the middle, there was a map.

It provided him with no answers. 

The winding paths seemed to fizzle out, stations overlapping with one another and paths intersecting at random. He pulled out his notebook, but paused, not knowing what to even write.

He glanced down at his watch on a whim and paused. The second hand had stopped moving — his instincts had been right. This place existed outside of time.

There was writing on the wall but not in a language Five recognised. That, at least, he could jot down.

He looked up when a voice played over the announcement system. It was gibberish, but he got the gist.

A train was arriving. Westbound.

The carriages were empty. There was no conductor. The doors slid open.

He took a deep breath and stepped in.

 


 

Things were going fine. Luther’s never had a problem with managing his power, knowing exactly when to pull his punches. He’s spent a whole lifetime training to do so. Out of all his siblings, he’d been the most disciplined. At least, that’s what he thought.

“HOW THE FUCK — !” His boss screamed.

Luther stared at the wall — or rather, where the wall had been — clenching and unclenching his fists. 

Something was wrong.

 


 

It never stopped getting frustrated, having so little control over her contracts. She supposed that’s what she gave up without her powers. 

No. She just needed to land the right gig. She was a good actor. She’s only ever used rumours … sometimes.

It had been a while since Allison had found a gig that she wanted and was actually in her current range.

The problem was —

“I just don’t think you’re the right … type of person for the cast,” the old white man said.

It was 20-fucking-25 and she still had to deal with this bullshit. 

“I’m sure I don’t know what I mean,” Allison said with a picture perfect smile.

“Well, you see …”

Her temper was rising. She clenched her jaw, biting her tongue before she could instinctively rumour him. This was the problem — Allison was addicted to her powers, and she’d just been given them back. 

She would not give in.

She was in control.

Just. She was perfect for this role. Why couldn’t this bastard give her the job?

“ … and so —” the man froze. 

Horrified, Allison watched his eyes glaze over. She hadn’t said anything. She hadn’t. She knew how to tug her power, how to maneuver it to get what she wanted, but she had been so careful . She wasn’t — she never wanted to use her powers ever again, to steal someone’s autonomy, to render them powerless.

She didn’t want to be that monster anymore.

But the man smiled anyway and said, “You’ve got the job.”

Allison choked back a horrified sob.

 


 

“Wow, I haven’t felt this good in a long time,” Lila said, adjusting her bags and pushing up her plastic star glasses, “I feel like I never get out of the house anymore, you know. Unless it’s for work … fuck.”

“What’s up?” Viktor asked.

“I still haven’t told Diego I quit.”

Viktor gave her an awkwardly sympathetic look, undercut by his own colourful star glasses.

The curtains pushed aside and Klaus strutted out. Viktor cheered while Lila laughed, “Darling, you look great.”

Klaus span, the dress fluttering around his knees, “Is it my colour though?”

“Hmm, try the purple one.”

Klaus went back behind the curtain. “So, why haven’t you told Diego?” Klaus asked.

“I don’t know …” Lila shrugged, “Why does anyone do anything? Perhaps it was all pre-ordained.”

“Or perhaps you’re avoiding the fallout,” Viktor said gently, “Trust me, I get that.”

“Is that why you never visit anymore?” Klaus asked from the other side, a pout in his voice.

Viktor shifted uncomfortable, “I guess so. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise,” Lila said, putting a hand on Viktor’s, “God, sometimes I feel like I want to drive and never look back, you know? I was an assassin one day and a wife and mother the next. This timeline is so … jarring. I guess I’m still working on the communication thing …”

Viktor tried to listen to Lila’s words, he really did, but the music in the store was so inordinately loud. He frowned, trying to focus.

“You alright? You look constipated,” Lila turned to the curtain, “Klaus! Viktor is constipated.”

“Is that a metaphor for the fact that he’s prone to bottling up emotions?” Klaus asked.

Viktor snickered. Lila and Klaus really played off each other well. Sometimes it felt strange that they weren’t siblings that grew up together.

“I’m fine,” Viktor said, “The music is loud.”

“Really?” Lila said dubiously, but her voice was drowning out, “I hadn’t noticed.”

Fuck, Viktor though, just a second too late, Something is wrong .

“Shit, Viktor, you’re glowing —”

Viktor looked at Lila, his eyes wide, “You’re glowing too.”

Lila looked down at her hands, “Oh fuck. I can’t stop it? Why can’t I stop it?”

Viktor couldn’t either. He couldn’t keep it at bay.

But it wasn’t the usual shockwave that came. It was a burst of concentrated power, rattling the walls. The one from Lila burned straight through the plaster.

“What the hell?” Klaus screeched, scrambling out of the changing cubicle half-naked, “What happened to not blowing up the world, people?”

Viktor took a gasping breath. “I think,” he said, still reeling from the loss of control, “our powers are malfunctioning.”

 


 

When Diego asked him to hang out, Ben surprisingly said yes.

He still felt like shit but he was convinced that he’d feel better soon. How could he not without his powers finally back? This was his whole life, his whole identity, finally returned to him. 

(There had once been a boy, covered in blood and terrified of the Horror inside him. Ben had felt that fear again, that morning, when he woke up to the squirming right under his skin. He pushed it aside.

This was what he wanted.)

“No fucking way,” Diego laughed, “He did that?”

Ben was surprised he got on so well with Diego. The last time they’d spoken, Ben had blown up at him. He’d blown up at everyone the last time he talked to them before the Party yesterday. 

Ben snorted, “We kept him on pills for a reason.”

“Your Reginald was way different from ours,” Diego said, “Still an asshole though.”

“Yeah, still an asshole,” Ben said quietly, “He was never meant to be a dad. He never raised us as family — guess he learned from you guys.”

“You and the Sparrows weren’t close?”

“Sometimes we were,” Ben muttered, “Sometimes we weren’t.”

Maybe it was Ben’s fault too. He had never let anyone close, remembering being a little jealous of the easy way Jamie and Alphonso got along. Sometimes, he grieved them as a concept, as what they could’ve been.

Mostly, he was just angry.

“You remind me of Lila sometimes,” Diego said in that stupid older-brother-voice of his, “I’ll tell you what I told her: we’re here for you, you know? We can be your family.”

Unwittingly, Ben thought of Klaus.

Ben scoffed, “I don’t need a family.”

“Anyway, I better get going. Got to get to my shift at work.”

“Oh come on man, what happened to what we were talking about? Being heroes.”

“Being heroes don’t pay my bills,” Diego said ruefully, “It was nice hanging out though. We should do it again sometime.”

Ben sneered pushing away from the table, “Whatever. At least I know I’m meant for more than some delivery job.”

“Hey —” Diego began, but Ben was already walking away. Let that asshole get the bill, since he had a job.

He jammed his earbuds in, put on some music and started walking. He had to be careful because his tentacles kept threatening to fall out. It was cold and he had a headache and he felt fucking awful .

Diego didn’t use to be mature. He used to be fun, once. When they were kids, he and Ben would pull the stupidest pranks on Five, just to —

Ben frowned. Why had he thought that? He’d never known Diego or Five as a kid. He must be mixing the memory up with the Sparrows … the idiots were starting to get to his head, worming into his mind. He knew there was a reason he hated them.

There were footsteps behind him. Ben slowly took off his earphones.

“Hey there, Benjamin.”

Ben froze, turning around. He rolled his eyes, “Seriously? Well, I’m happy to beat you all up.”

The two men gestured with their guns, “If you come quietly then —”

“No,” Ben snapped, feeling giddy, “I don’t think I will.”

Finally, some action.

He called on the Horror, a familiar feeling, like calling on a friend. They shuddered into action, twisting out of his body and —

Ben yelped as pain shot through him, like one of the tentacles was ripping out of his back. He kneeled over, clutching his stomach, and his hands drew away with blood. Pain shot through him again, white hot, and he groaned.

What the hell was happening?

“Tut, tut,” a woman’s voice said from behind him, “Don’t worry, dear. It’ll be okay.”

Something sharp jabbed him in the neck.

It was the last thing he remembered.

 


 

Five arrived at a nearly-identical platform.

The writing was different, he noticed immediately. He noted it down, then checked the map. Still indecipherable.

He took the stairs back up.

This time, there was an exit up the stairs. He frowned as his feet crunched on snow — he had expected to reemerge in the building he’d blinked from. 

Snow and …

No .

There was nothing around him but rubble: a world reduced to nothing. He tasted the ash on his tongue, felt it in his lungs, something so terribly familiar. The sky was hellish orange. He knew this place. It had become a part of him, the years spent here sunken into his bones. His blood turned cold in his veins. He felt the panic rise alongside bile. He couldn’t be back here — not again. He had sworn never again.

He knew this place like he knew himself, because this was the place that had made him.

This was his first apocalypse.

“Shit,” he said, scrambling backwards, “Shit, shit, shit .”

His feet caught on rubble. He tipped backwards. Through time and space, beyond that, he called upon the power that had brought him here and —

He blinked.

Back to the building that he’d blinked into the subway station from, where he’d left Diego and Ben.

He only spared a moment to gather himself before he blinked into his apartment.

Fuck. 

Fuck .

In the dark, he squinted down at his hands and realised that he was shaking.

He needed to think. He needed a drink.

Notes:

Trauma subway!!! If you noticed, the power works a little differently (blinking back returns him to his original timeline, so no way of getting tapped)

And nooo, poor Ben :( His powers chose the worst time to malfunction.

Callback to Griddy's, you'll always have a special place in my heart. Also the chapter title is ofc a reference to "we only see each other at weddings and funerals" Pretty must all the chapter titles in this fic is going to be a reference to an episode title because I love callbacks like that.

Also did not make sense to me that Five wouldn't immediately want to investigate his new powers on his own? He would love a good mystery. Also didn't make sense he couldn't teleport at all? And Allison got telekinesis? So I'll try to make things make a bit more sense. Everyone's getting power upgrades but in a way that makes sense. No laser eyes.

I thought I was being soooo funny to have Klaus be on the other side of the curtain while others have their powers malfunctioning. Btw, did you notice why Viktor's powers malfunctioned at that exact moment? Hmmmmm

Anyway, hope you guys like the slow build because I wanted to give them some time to interact before the plot got rolling. Would y'all be intersted in hearing more notes about this fic on my tumblr? My ask box is open if anyone's interested. Or leave a comment, they feed my soul <3

Chapter 3: The Apocalypses That Weren't

Summary:

The group splits up to follow different leads about where the Marigold came from. Ben is having a bad day.

Notes:

CW: canon-typical blood/violence

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Aug 9 2019 — Aug 12, 2023. Timeline 4.6

It wasn’t hard to fall in love with Allison Hargreeves. She was powerful, she was fierce, and she was kind. Her incredible mind was what drew Ray in, but it was her endless empathy that kept him snared. A woman like her was one in a million, and Ray counted his blessings.

It was harder to stay in love.

“I love you, I do,” he confessed again and again, “But I had a life Allison. I had a movement I fought for. I had friends and family and community. And I asked you to let me stay.”

“I know it was selfish,” she said again and again, “But you have me. Isn’t that enough?”

He tried to let it be enough.

The future was confusing. It was better, in some ways — he rode the bus without anyone glancing at him, he sat at cafes without glares. It was the same in others — the system hadn’t changed nearly as much as it should have. He got the hang of most things and Allison was patient with him. Claire was the daughter Ray always imagined having. Allison wasn’t close to her family anymore, but Raymond found that most of his in-laws were good company.

But …

He missed his family and his people. He missed having a purpose.

All that he’d fought for, all the people he had fought for were just … gone. Without him ever having gotten to stay goodbye.

“You said you’d take a year with me over a lifetime with anyone else,” Allison accused.

“Anyone else,” Ray spat back, “Not everyone else.”

For Allison, it was much the opposite. She had been burned before, countless times, and she was cautious. Her childhood had taught her to be. Falling in love was slow and beautiful, because Allison had known many people in her life — the powerful, the fierce, even the kind — but she had never known someone so fundamentally good.

She fell in love slowly, but it was easy to stay in love. She loved him so much she had been blinded by it.

“I asked you to leave me in my time,” he said, one last time that night, “That was my choice.”

When Ray walked out, it wasn’t because he stopped loving her — it was because he couldn’t stop loving the world she took from him.

 


 

Dec 19, 2025. Timeline 4.6

Ben woke up to a world that was strange and bright. He tried to move, but his body screamed in protest.

His hands were bound.

Immediately, his childhood training kicked in. He tested the bounds, the ones around his wrist first, then the ones around his ankles. He tried to call upon his Horror, but they seemed to be dormant.

He swallowed dryly, his throat like sandpaper.

“Wakey, wakey!” a woman’s voice said.

Ben groaned and looked up, squinting at the brightness. He could just about make out the woman with braids grinning widely at him. And looking close, he knew that this was the woman from the alley.

Fuck.

“We are terribly sorry about this,” the man said, “Here, let me …”

The light in the room dimmed. The man had pulled the curtains. The woman was carrying a glass of liquid, holding it close to his lips. Without thinking about it, Ben drank.

That had definitely not been water. Milk, maybe?

“I’m Dr. Jean with a J —”

“And I’m Dr. Gene with a G —”

“I don’t care,” Ben slurred, “Where the fuck am I?”

“Oh well those aren’t very nice manners,” the woman said, “But I suppose that’s what happens when you’re raised by that awful Reginald Hargreeves.”

Ben suddenly felt far more awake. “How do you know that?”

“Oh, we know all about you, Ben! You and your sibling, but mostly you. We know what a good boy you are,” the woman reached forward and put a hand on his cheek. Ben wrenched away.

“Well. What a good boy you were,” Jean laughed. The man let out his own chuckle, as if it were an inside joke.

“Anyway,” the woman continued, “We are so excited you’re here! I have so many questions about the Cleanse.”

Ben just stared.

“Oh, he wouldn’t know anything yet, Jean,” the man said, “But I’m sure he’ll be happy to help us anyway.”

“You two are fucking crazy.”

“DON’T YOU DARE!” Jean shrieked, making Ben flinch, “We know things you wouldn’t dream of, boy.”

Gene was by Jean’s side immediately, putting a single hand on her arm. She nodded to him, as if they were having a conversation in their minds alone.

“You must forgive my wife,” Gene said, “We’ve been called crazy too many times, see. Laughed at and ridiculed. But that doesn’t matter now, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Jean agreed. She plastered her smile back on. “Now, Ben, I do believe you’re having a bit of trouble with your powers.”

Ben’s eyes widened.

“We really didn’t want to do this,” Jean continued, “You were meant to take the whole thing, not share with your … family. It’s alright — nothing we can’t fix right up!”

Gene smiled at him, a manic glint in his eyes. He was holding a syringe full of Marigold.

“We’re going to make it all better, dear,” the woman said, smiling far too unnaturally, “You just let Jean and Gene take care of you.”

Gene pressed the needle into Ben’s wrist.

It was like fire burned through his veins. He ground his teeth together to stop himself from screaming, but he couldn’t stop himself thrashing against the ropes holding him down. He took a huge, gasping breath as the pain settled.

Gene tutted, “That wasn’t too much, was it?”

Ben could barely hear him. He could feel something stir inside him — the Horrors.

(He remembered being a child. Remembered being afraid that the Horrors would tear him inside out. That the monster inside him would consume him.)

“We should get out of here, hmm?” Jean said, “Such a shame. The people here were good people.”

Ben felt his head get heavy as he saw Gene take Jean’s hand. He could feel sleep overcoming him, his eyes slipping closed. Before the world faded, he just barely caught Gene’s answer.

“All necessary sacrifices.”

 


 

Predictably, it only took four minutes for them to devolve into arguing. They’d responded to Allison’s call in a fit of panic (Luther) and anger (Viktor). It would seem that almost everyone’s powers had more or less lashed out. Allison seemed to have given up speaking all together, sitting on her couch with her head in her hands as they gathered in her house.

“Everyone!” Klaus yelled over the overlapping voices, “Shut your yappers!”

They did.

“Wow, that worked,” Klaus muttered, “Okay, one at a time.”

“Our powers are malfunctioning!” Viktor began, “At least, mines and Lila’s did.”

“So did mine,” Allison said quietly.

“Same here.”

They looked at Diego. He shrugged, “Didn’t notice.”

“Where’s Ben and Five?” Viktor asked, “You were with them yesterday.”

“I’m not their keeper,” Diego snapped.

He was playing with a knife again, as if showing off. A knife holster going across his chest had joined the one around his hops. He was wearing all black too. As soon as he started wearing leather, Klaus decided they better hold an intervention for him before he really went off the deep end again.

“Ben never showed up at home yesterday,” Klaus told them. Klaus had stayed up late, not fretting but also not not fretting.

“Maybe he’s scared you’re all going to rip his head off again,” Diego defended.

“And we should!” Viktor yelled, and Klaus couldn’t help but flinch back when he glowed a little. Yikes. “I spent five years building a life for myself! A real life — away from all of,” he gestured weakly at the family, “ this.”

“Wow, thanks Viktor, good to know we were the problem” Diego said.

Viktor pinched the bridge of his nose, “That’s not what I meant.”

“Anyway,” Diego said, turning to the others, “My powers didn’t malfunction so maybe it's, like, psychological or some bullshit.”

“Psychological?” Lila asked incredulously, “Pray tell, darling.”

“You know,” Diego said, “Because none of you wanted your powers back, your bodies are rejecting them.”

They all looked at him. Slowly, Viktor said, “That kind of makes sense.”

“What about me, then?” Luther asked, “I’ve never had a problem before.”

“We can’t be sure this isn’t the Marigold acting up,” Lila agreed, “But that’s a good theory babe. Worth pursuing.”

Diego beamed so brightly Klaus was afraid his powers were malfunctioning and he had started glowing too. Lila gave Diego a tentative smile back, it was adorable.

There was a pop.

“Alright,” Five said, glaring at everyone, “What happened this time?”

Predictably, everyone started yelling again. It took about ten more minutes to catch Five up on what had happened and five more minutes in between of Five insulting them about it.

“We need to figure out more about the Marigold,” Five said, “Diego, did you find anything yesterday?”

“Oh yeah,” Diego said smugly, pulling out the photo from yesterday, “That was the woman who had Marigold in her purse.”

Five took the image. Let out a harsh sigh.

“Well. Fuck me.”

“You know something?”

Five looked up and caught Lila’s eyes. He flipped the image.

“Shit,” Lila said, “Is that Jean?”

“Jean?” Diego asked, looking between them suspiciously.

Lila slinked down in her seat guiltily.

“Jean Thibedeau. She and her husband, Gene with a G, founded the Keepers,” Five told them, “A cult that believes that there are … alternate timelines,” everyone seemed to freeze, “And this lady in particular wants to restore the correct timeline, whatever that even means.”

“Hang on, how long have you and Lila known about this?” Allison asked, her voice on the edge of anger.

“A few weeks,” Five said.

Diego looked at Lila, “You knew about this for weeks?”

“Well … Five knew about it for weeks,” Lila winced.

“How long have you been sneaking around behind my back with these — these people?”

“Hey!” Lila said defensively, “You make it sound like I was doing something wrong. It was just fun for a while, they were all just weirdos, okay. Harmless. At first, anyway.”

“Well looks like they’re out prime suspect for what the fuck is wrong with us!” Diego shouted, “And two you didn’t think to tell us about people knowing about timelines and shit? What does that mean for us?”

“Another apocalypse,” Viktor said quietly.

Maybe another apocalypse,” Five said quickly, “It could be nothing. We need to think about this carefully. Investigate first. They seemed to know about us … called the timeline anomalies part of the Umbrella Effect. But that doesn’t mean Jean and Gene got their hands on the Marigold without help.”

“You mean … he’s involved,” Luther asked nervously.

“Of course he’s involved,” Allison snapped, getting up, “I’m going to go talk to him.”

“Do you even know where he is?” Viktor asked.

Allison paused. “No, but I know where he’s supposed to be. I say we go find him.”

“I’m coming with you,” Viktor said, getting up as well, “I have questions for him.”

“Uh, I’ll go too,” Luther said, looking between the two and probably thinking what they all were thinking — Viktor and Allison’s unresolved problems could blow up the world.

Again.

“Lila and I will follow up on the Keepers,” Five said.

“I’m coming with you,” Diego said immediately.

“Someone has to look after Grace, it’s a weekend …” Lila began.

“Oh, I can do that,” Klaus said brightly, “Claire too. Since they’re already here.”

Lila gave Klaus a look that said she did not appreciate him stepping up. Too late now.

“You don’t want to come with us?” Viktor asked curiously.

“Nah. No powers, no problems, I say. You guys go have your adventures,” Klaus flapped his hands, “Claire, Gracie and I are going to watch Lilo and Stitch. And! I can work on my resume while I’m at it,” he put his hands on his (snatched) hips, looking around at the family proudly, “God, I’m really such an adult now, aren’t I?”

“That you are,” Diego said sincerely, patting his shoulder, “Thanks, buddy.”

“As they say,” Klaus grinned and avoided Lila's eyes, “Ohana means family.”

They stared at him blankly. His family was so uncultured sometimes. Diego patted his shoulder again, before they all scattered to do what they needed to do.

“Nice dress, by the way,” Five said as he passed.

Klaus beamed. Ben would be proud of how far he’d come.

 


 

Five used Allison's phone to call Ray as soon as the other group left. Lila and Diego found themselves alone in the kitchen, which was not where she wanted to find herself in.

“Are you mad?” she asked, “I didn't do anything, just go to meetings.”

“When?”

Lila winced, wringing her fingers together, “Oh, you know …”

Diego gave her a flat look. The gig was up. Lila blamed Five for this.

“Book club,” Lila blurted out.

“What?” Diego yelled.

“It's didn't matter!” Lila yelled back on instinct, “And it's not like you pay attention. The Keepers was just a bit of fun, okay? A way to relax.”

“Away from me, you mean,” Diego said venomously.

“See, this is why I didn't tell you! You make a big deal out of nothing!”

“What else aren't you telling me, huh?” Diego asked.

“Okay, love birds!” Five said, rescuing Lila from what would've been an endless argument, she's sure. “If you can't get along I'm putting you in timeout.”

“We're fine,” Diego said shortly.

“Good, meet me there.” And then Five blinked away.

“Holy fuck I did not remember hating that as much as I do right now,” Lila muttered.

She followed Diego into the car, feeling tense and hot. He didn't say much, always so good at telling her to communicate without actually doing it himself.

“Why did you call Allison's ex, again?” he said eventually

“He's been with the Keepers way longer than us,” Lila said, grateful for the change of subject, “He'll know more about Jean and Gene.”

“Who are those two anyway?”

Lila filled him in as they drove over to the Keeper's usual meeting place. Ray was outside with the keys, waving them over.

“Is something wrong?” Lila asked.

Ray nodded grimly, “Folks got spooked, it seems. The entire place is empty. All the files are gone.”

He was right.

Not a single file or paper trail had been left behind. Even the projector had been taken. Lila frowned around the room as Five sighed, sitting on the desk.

“While you two stand around twiddling your thumbs, I have some recon to do,” Diego said, adjusting his stupid knife-belt.

“There’s nothing here, Diego,” Lila pointed out.

Diego, the asshole, ignored her, “Our targets left in a hurry right?”

“Yes,” Ray said, “They’ve all gone underground. All my contacts have been shifty.”

“Haste makes waste,” Diego tapped his temple like he'd said something brilliant, “Hey, Ray, think you can identify their files if you saw them?”

“Probably.”

“Come on then.”

Lila allowed exactly seven seconds after Diego to leave to turn on Five. “So, no power malfunction?”

“Once in the beginning,” Five admitted, “But nothing like you and Viktor.”

“What’s the working theory? Does this have anything to do with the fact that the last timeline is literally spilling into this one?”

“Not sure,” Five said like a prickly prick. He was obviously hiding something.

When he didn’t even turn to look at her, Lila grabbed his elbow.

“Hey —”

They disappeared in a flash of purple.

 


 

“This is nice,” Luther said from the backseat.

Viktor turned to look out the window. Allison kept her eyes on the road.

“Where are we headed, anyway?” Viktor asked.

“I figured we’d go to his house.”

“And you know where that is because?”

“I talked to him, about two days after we reset the timeline. That was the last time I saw him.”

Viktor frowned, “I’ll be honest, I think that’s the last time anyone saw him.”

“How do you know?” Luther asked.

Viktor shrugged uncomfortably, “I kept up with the news. He’s become a hermit or something.”

“We’ll find something,” Allison said firmly.

“As long as it’s not another daddy-daughter ambush.”

Allison’s hands clenched around the steering wheel. “What about you, Viktor? Why are you so eager to see him when you barely can talk to us?”

Viktor went quiet for a moment. Then, he admitted, “I’ve been thinking about him. Like I said … keeping up with the news. Trying to summon the courage to talk to him — or yell at him. Win the arguments I keep having with him in my head on loop. This is as good a time as any.”

“I know you probably don’t want to hear it from me but I’m proud of you,” she said. “What about you Luther?”

“What about me?”

“He killed you last time you saw each other.”

Luther felt a stab of pain in his chest, but he knew there was no wound there. Not even a scar.

“Eh, I’m fine. Let’s just figure out this Marigold thing.”

Viktor caught his eyes in the rearview mirror. He knew Luther was lying.

“We’re here,” Allison announced.

Luther turned to look out the window. It was not what he had expected at all. The white mansion definitely screamed of the luxury that Reginald Hargreeves preferred, but the stone was chipped and faded. The lawn was overgrown. It looked empty.

“Are you sure he’s here?” Viktor asked.

“I … don’t know,” Allison replied.

 


 

When he came to, he was covered in blood.

(There had once been a boy, covered in blood and terrified of the monster inside him. But Dad told him coldly to learn control or to succumb, so Ben learned control in one timeline.

In another, he didn’t, not quite.)

He couldn’t remember where he was. Who he was. What was happening?

Why was there so much blood?

There was a series of booms somewhere. Close. Gunshots.

What’s happening?

“Get up,” a voice said. His voice. But not him.

“Get up,” it said again, “There’s more of them. They’re coming.”

Who’s coming?

What’s happening?

The voice didn’t answer. Ben felt himself slip again.

 


 

“Woah,” Lila said looking around, “What is this place? Why did you blink us here?”

She was already going through the gates.

“I didn’t mean to,” Five said, frowning, “I think you triggered it.”

Lila, who’d been going down the stairs, stopped to look back, “Ooh. You know, that might explain Viktor. You’ve noticed then, have you?”

“That everyone’s powers seemed to have gotten an upgrade? Yeah, I noticed,” Five gestured around, “I get to blink into a fucking subway and you get to trigger people’s powers.”

He’d noticed it when Viktor and Allison had talked about what had happened. He didn’t think their powers malfunctioned at all — they were simply adjusting. He kept it to himself though. No need for his siblings to get a bigger ego than they already did.

“So what is this place?”

“I don't know,” Five admitted. He tapped his watch, “Time doesn’t work here linearly.”

“Like the Commission?”

“No,” Five said slowly, “It's hard to explain.”

It was a feeling like no other. Even in the Commission buildings, his blinks were spatial or temporal. This wasn't like that.

Lila was squinting at the map when Five reached her. 

“So, is this like a sign from the universe to stop complaining about parking and use the public transit system?”

“We should go back,” Five said.

“Why? Give me a second to figure this out.”

“I've tried,” Five said.

“And what? Just cause my brain's not as big as yours I can't take a stab at it?” Lila asked, tracing a yellow line. “Why are you so afraid?”

Five stiffened. “I'm not.”

“Right, and I'm the Queen of England,” Lila paused thoughtfully, “Or King, I guess. Isn't it weird she died in this timeline?”

“Yeah, weird,” Five said impatiently, “Let's go, Lila. We don't know what this place is.”

“What did you see, Five?”

Lila looked at him right in the eyes when she asked, her gaze piercing and difficult to escape.

It wasn’t quite that Lila and Five were close. But when you kill someone's parents, try to kill each other, and work for the same madwoman, there was an inexplicable kindship there.

Five swallowed, “The apocalypse.”

“Like the future? Another apocalypse is coming?”

“No … the first apocalypse.”

“A different timeline?” Lila asked, “Five, we have to investigate! This might be why the timelines are spilling into each other. It —”

The PA system clicked on.

“What the hell?” Lila asked, stepping back from the map.

The train had arrived.

“It's Eastbound,” Five realised, “Last time it was Westbound.”

“It must lead somewhere different,” Lila said excitedly.

“Hey, wait, we don't know that —!” 

“What? Will we get trapped or something?”

Five sighed sharply, “No. If I blink I can get back to where we left in timeline …”

Like an anchor, Five realised. Something to think about.

“Perfect,” Lila said, her grin a tad too sharp, “Ready for an adventure, Agent 5?”

 


 

They arrived at an identical platform. Five noted down the station name: another series of indecipherable symbols.

“Did we loop back?” Lila asked, confused.

“No, all the stations are nearly identical,” Five replied, “Go up the stairs.”

Five himself was cautious in doing the same, but Lila bounded ahead like a child in a theme park. She looked brighter somehow.

“Huh, are we sure we didn’t loop back?” he heard her ask from the exit.

They were in the alley of the Keeper’s building. Five turned his wrist to read off his watch: same time, though the second hand had started ticking. Five frowned, glancing down at the crypt — it had been different for theirs, he was sure. And yet, no apocalypse.

“What the fuck.”

Five looked up to see an ape walk by. 

Not in an insulting way — like, a literal monkey. The entire street was full of them, wearing human clothes and driving cars. For one surreal moment Five thought he was just seeing a bunch of Pogo clones walking around. 

“Same time, same place,” Lila said grinning madly, “Wildly different timeline.”

“At least it’s not an apocalypse,” Five said numbly, “We can’t be sure that it’s the same time or day.”

“You know what we need to do?” Lila said, walking backward towards the station they’d existed from.

Five followed.

“I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

“Gather more data.”

 


 

They take the train ride to a timeline that looked nearly identical next. Lila looked disappointed.

“Is it the same?”

Five found a billboard and stopped. “That’s weird.”

Regina Hargreeves Enterprises.

Lila burst into laughter, “I’m calling this one the Genderbender.”

Five rolled his eyes.

 


 

There’s one timeline where they get shot at.

“Calling that one No-Thank-You.”

“You already said that about the timeline without hot chocolate,” Five pointed out.

“No Thank You, the sequel.”

 


 

Some timelines are reduced to rubble. Five assumes those were the timelines he failed.

Lila was quiet, for those ones.

In one of those timelines, the other-Five shot at them. It was incredibly nostalgic.

 


 

Most timelines, though, were very similar to their own. People looked the same and acted the same, with only a few differences. For those, Five checked his notes to make sure they weren’t back where they started.

“I think this one will be Drew’s Timeline,” Lila said on their twelfth timeline.

It was the one where everyone carried little rectangle screens in their pockets. Very strange.

 


 

Lila was laughing as they ate a Hydro-Shawrma from a timeline where water was scarce and had started WW3.

“This is amazing,” Lila said, “I haven’t felt this alive in ages! Not even with the Keepers.”

Five hummed noncommittally. 

“It feels like back in my time with the Commission, you know? Getting to travel and see things. I went from that to settling so fast — these six years were like … being trapped in a box, you know? It’s nice to get out.”

“I think most people mean going to like, Canada, when they say that.”

“We’re not most people, Five. Come on, you feel it too, don’t you?”

“I don’t miss the killing,” Five said.

“Not even a little? Not even when you were convinced it kept the entire timeline safe.”

“I never bought into that.”

“Huh,” Lila leaned back against the wall, “I guess I never thought too hard on it till … Diego.”

Five tilted his head to her. He may not have had many relationships over his sixty-three year old lifespan — actually, he’d only had one — but he could see the look in her eyes all too well.

Sure, Five and Dolores had been an unusual sort. Five had been uninterested in physical intimacies and so had she. Dolores had been so good, too good for him. Five had always known he’d eventually have to leave her behind. Dolores didn’t mind. The least of their problems, really, was that she was made of plastic.

It had been just as real to him, all of it. He had felt what Lila was feeling right now countless times.

Hadn’t he missed Dolores just as bad, whether it be five minutes or five years away from her? Even after disagreements and screaming matches and cold silences?

“We should head back to our timeline,” he said, just as the voice announced the arrival of another train.

Lila hummed. Grinned. “One more timeline?”

Five groaned, but he was duly ignored. Lila hopped up and made a mad dash for the train before he could grab her and drag her back to their timeline.

 


 

Ben peeled open his eyes, looking up at a canopy of leaves. It was cold and dark out, but winter days were short, so he couldn’t be sure what time it was. He shivered slightly, feeling like his skin was stretched too thin and strangely sticky. His insides squirmed painfully, like his guts were inside out.

Fuck, maybe they were. Were they?

He groaned and stumbled to his feet.

Nearly tripped over when he saw what surrounded him.

In front of him was the aftermath of a massacre. A farmhouse stood deceptively innocent in the midst of the carnage. Bodies scattered the lawn, not a single one of them could be recognised as human. They had been ripped to pieces, their blood painting the dirt.

Ben felt his heart in his throat.

It had been a long time he felt this afraid. Usually, he was angry.

He needed to — he needed help.

“You should get up.”

Ben whirled around and faced — 

“I’m going insane,” he whispered.

The other-Ben gave him a sardonic smirk, “Not there yet, but close.”

“Are you real?”

“As real as I need to be,” the other-Ben said.

He wore a leather jacket and on top of a black hoodie, leaning against a tree and watching Ben. As Ben tried to stand up properly, he felt his eyes swim. He groaned, clutching his head. Only then did he realise he was covered in blood.

“You need to get out of here,” other-Ben prodded, “Look around. There are cars.”

“Where would I even go,” Ben mumbled.

“Klaus.”

There was a surety in other-Ben’s voice. And Ben realised with a distant feeling that Ben himself had thought the same thing.

“Dunno where he is,” Ben said stubbornly, “Can — I can take care of myself —”

“You know where he is. He’s at Allison’s. He’s babysitting Claire today.”

“I didn’t remember that.”

“Yes you did. You remembered because you care.”

Ben stared at other-Ben blankly. Other-Ben gave him an even look, his expression unreadable.

“You should go,” other-Ben prompted.

“I should go.”

“You know the address but you never cared to remember the number You know this.”

“Yeah. I know this.”

“So find a car.”

Ben nodded slowly, stumbling forward. One foot in front of another. Keep walking. 

Don’t think of the pain, or the Horror under your skin, or the blood.

“Keep going,” said other-Ben.

“Keep going,” Ben agreed.

 


 

The house was empty.

Viktor walked over dirty floors, remembering a childhood spent with Pogo scolding them about bringing mud into the house from their one hour long playtime on Saturdays. Dad would never have allowed this to happen if he were here.

But he wasn’t here.

“This is pointless,” Viktor said, “We should regroup with the others and see if they’ve got anything.”

“We could keep searching,” Luther said.

“All the rooms are empty. Even the furniture is gone,” Allison pointed out.

“Do you know anywhere else we can go?” 

“I don't know … his office? I could rumour an employee and ask …”

Viktor whirled around to stare at her in disbelief. Luther had the same look.

Allison put up her hands in surrender, “Just thinking through suggestions.”

“I thought you hated your powers,” Luther said, slinking closer to Viktor.

“I do,” she said defensively.

For a moment it looked like Allison was going to walk away again, pretend they weren't having this conversation. Viktor avoided the family by moving as far as he could — Allison didn't even need to leave the city to become this distant stranger. 

But then, Allison seemed to deflate.

“I'm scared I'm going to fall back into my old habits.”

“Yeah,” Viktor said quietly, “We're scared of that too.”

She looked away from them, unable to meet their eyes. 

Viktor still remembered what it felt to be under her powers. Remembered that clamping his hands over his ears hadn't helped keep her voice out. We should've left you in the basement.

Luther had been compelled too, for something far, far worse.

“I'm not the bad guy here,” Allison said tersely.

“You're the only one who has ever called you the bad guy,” Viktor said quietly.

“When you look at me like that, what am I supposed to think?”

There was a silence. Viktor didn't know what to say.

“You blame it on your power a lot,” Luther said carefully, “That you're scared of your powers. But you were the one that used them on us, Allison, no one forced you to. And I know you were angry, and I forgave you a long time ago. But you've never actually apologised.”

Allison looked at them. Her eyes were wet.

“I just want to go back to the way things were,”

Viktor remembered saying that. Remembered Allison saying that they couldn't. But it had been six years now and they were all just tired adults with messed up lives trying to get by.

“Me too,” Viktor admitted.

“I'm sorry,” Allison said, wiping her eyes, “About Harlan. About what I said. And Luther … holy shit I can't even begin to apologise for what I did to you. I don’t know how I can fix this — ”

Viktor lurched forward and pulled Allison into a hug.

“I'm tired of us walking around each other and being stupidly passive aggressive,” Viktor whispered.

“I want to be able to talk to you guys without feeling guilty and awkward,” Allison admitted.

“Okay,” Viktor said, “Then let's do that then. We've saved the world a couple times. We can do this too.”

Allison laughed wetly into Viktor's shoulder, “Pretty sure we doomed the world a couple times too.”

“What about you, Luther?” Viktor asked, “Since we're confessing.”

Luther's large arms engulfed them both, pulling them even closer. “I just want us to be together. And for people to read the family newsletter.”

Viktor snorted, “Klaus puts wildly inappropriate stuff in there. And Diego just talks about knives.”

“So?” Luther asked, “Are you expecting a Hargreeves family newsletter to be normal?”

“Fair enough.” Viktor said quietly, still caught in the embrace.

“Thanks for trying to keep us together, Luther,” Allison murmured.

“Oh gosh,” Luther sounded on the verge of tears, “I love you guys.”

“Love you too,” they echoed, in tandem.

It really was as easy as that, sometimes.

Viktor buried his face deeper in Allison’s shoulder, listening for a moment to the world around him. He could feel their vibrations, the Marigold in them, their heartbeat, and underneath all that …

Phantom of the Opera?

Viktor pulled his head back, listening closer. The soft melody of the violin was unmistakable.

“Do you hear that?” Viktor said, his voice hushed.

Allison and Luther pulled away, listening. Viktor knew the piece by heart, one of the first he'd ever learned to play properly. It had been Dad’s favourite.

The violin got louder, accompanied by the notes of a piano. It was obvious now.

It was coming from inside the house.

 


 

Five wrote down the lettering of this newest timeline. Lila had been right about gathering data — he was starting to get a sense of a pattern. Even the PA system no longer sounded like gibberish but rather like a voice speaking backwards. Perhaps a few more trips and he’d even figure out the map.

Five glanced at the tangled web on the wall and figured that was aiming a little high.

“Come on,” Lila whined.

Five grumbled and followed her up the stairs.

“Ugh, another apocalypse?” Lila said, disappointed, “Well, let’s head home.”

“Hang on,” Five said.

Five knew his apocalypse — and every alternate version of it — like the back of his hands. There were some inherent characteristics to them: the ash, the rubble, the hellish skies. This was not his apocalypse.

Everything was leveled, but he did not taste the ash. The sky was coloured in gentle hues of sunset.

“Different apocalypse?” Lila asked.

“Looks like it. I don’t think we’ll find anything —”

There was a sound. Lila and Five turned towards the noise, far off in the distance where the sun was just about to set.

Something was silhouetted against the light. Something big. Something unfolding, like a flower opening up. Tendrils of solid, inky blackness creeped out of its body, and Five felt the ground start to shift.

They were standing on what looked like a massive appendage.

“Ugh, gross,” Lila murmured, pulling her feet up. Her shoes were caked in slimy blood. As if it had heard her, the creature turned to look at them.

It had no face, no eyes. But Five knew the exact moment it saw them.

It shrieked.

Five grabbed Lila and blinked. 

They dropped on the couch of Gene and Jean’s apartment. A belated scream seemed to be caught in Lila’s throat. Five’s eyes were wide, still processing what he had just seen.

“What was that ?” Lila asked, horrified.

“I … have no idea.”

 


 

“Hope this isn’t weird.”

“What? Digging through the trash with my ex-brother-in-law for information on a cult?” Ray asked dryly, “I’ve been having a weird life already. This isn’t that bad.”

Diego grinned. Of all the exes this family had, Ray was easily the best.

“So how’s a guy like you get involved with the Keepers anyway?” Diego asked, pulling out another trash back.

“A guy like me?”

“Yeah, you know,” Diego gestures at him, “You seem normal. They’re a cult.”

Ray shrugged uncomfortably, “After Allison and I broke up, I was searching … for something. I didn’t know what. Being out of time was so surreal, you know? The Keepers, most of them are like me. They are out of place in this timeline.”

“Lila said they were harmless,” Diego recalled.

“They were just a support group. Most of us were trying to get by, figure things out, help each other cope … but then there was the Thibedeus.”

Ray’s face darkened. Diego went back to digging through the bags, letting the other man gather his thoughts.

“I don’t know if Five and Lila told you about the Cleanse,” Ray said, “The Thibedeaus termed it. After they came along people started getting restless. We’d all lost hope that there was ever a way back to our own times. They told us that not only was there a way back, but it was inevitable.”

“But what is it exactly?”

“That’s the thing, no one seems to know except them. But the way they speak of it … it’s hard to not believe them.”

Diego squinted at him suspiciously, “I thought you’d be happy with going back to your time.”

“I would be,” Ray said immediately, “But I don’t trust them. I’ve seen people like that before — fanatics and their empty promises. That’s why I told Five instead. Figured he’s the expert on time travel.”

Diego tried not to bristle at that. He went back to digging through the trash more vigorously. Ray seemed reluctant to help.

“Hey, does it seem like the shoot is stuck,” Ray said suddenly, looking up.

Diego grinned, “Good catch, man.”

He grabbed a broom and jabbed the bags until they fell. He had a good feeling about this one.

And he was right.

“That’s Jean’s handwriting,” Ray breathed, reading over Diego’s shoulder, “Why’s so much of it blacked out?”

Diego flipped the page. He froze.

An incident report. Blocks of black text greeted him, but he read the words Jennifer and Oct 14, 2006

“Is it something?” Ray asked.

“My brother, Ben, died on this date. We called it the Jennifer Incident,” Diego explained.

“Isn’t Ben alive?”

“Another version of him.”

“Right,” to his credit, Ray didn’t sound too put off, “It would make sense for them to have this. Jean and Gene were all about the Umbrella Effect. They seemed to have a lot of artifacts on you.”

“Right,” Diego agreed, flipping the page over.

On the other side, more black text. At the bottom, penned in by Jean: the cleanse?

Ray’s breath hitched. Diego grinned.

“We better go tell the others.”

 


 

The music led them to the basement. 

They made their way carefully down, Viktor in front and Luther behind Allison. A new piece was playing now, a somber tune as they descended down the stairs. It was poorly lit down here, a series of naked bulbs lighting the hallways. There was only one door at the end of it.

“Am I the only one creeped out by this?” Viktor asked.

“You’re not,” Allison said.

They continued forward. Viktor put a hand on the door handle, charging up his powers. They pressed themselves against the wall, nodding to him. He nodded back, tense, and turned the handle.

The door swung open.

The room was empty of people. Luther and Allison went in, each taking a different side to check just in case. But no one was there.

TVs lined the walls, static playing. A lone table sat at the center, metal and bare. On top of it was a pile of files. Near a lone filing cabinet was a record player, playing the notes of the music. Viktor went over and turned it off, leaving them in eerie silence.

They exchanged glances. Luther went over to the files on the table. Viktor continued on to the cabinet, checking inside. Allison checked the TV controls. It was hooked up to cameras, but as she flicked through the feed the screens remained black or static.

It felt lighter somehow, working with them. The implicit trust in their silence. Allison would never admit it, but the thing that made her open up was Five's advice, even if it had been delivered in the worst possible way.

Allison got the cameras to work just as Viktor came over. The feed flickered on to show buildings awfully familiar to her.

“That’s my neighbourhood,” she said, incredulous.

“That’s because he was watching us,” Luther said, waving them over to the table. “Look at these files. This one’s on you, Viktor.”

Allison peered over Viktor’s shoulder.

U.7 “Viktor”

Class A Threat

The rest of it was a detailed telling of Viktor’s life, down to when he moved, when he bought the bar — everything. Allison felt dirty just reading it. It felt like being back in their childhood, when Dad had hooked them up to the monitors and watched them sleep through cameras. It felt violating.

God, their childhood really had been so fucked up.

“Glad to know he sees me as a threat,” Viktor said mirthlessly.

“There’s more,” Luther said, laying out the files.

U.1 “Luther”

Non-threat.

U.2 “Diego”

Non-Threat.

U.3 “Allison”

Monitoring Required.

U.4 “Klaus”

Class A Threat.

Allison blinked at that one for a moment, surprised. She supposed it was a good thing he didn’t want or have his powers back.

U.5 “Five”

Monitoring Required.

S.5 “Sloane”

Non-threat.

U.6; S.2 “Benjamin”

Class A Threat.

“Good to know he was watching all of us, then,” Luther said angrily, picking up his own file.

Allison did the same with hers. She felt something inside her tremble when she read Claire’s name.

“He was watching us,” she said quietly, “All this time. He never left us alone.”

Luther put down his file, face ashen. His hand hovered over Sloane's before he seemed to decide against it.

Viktor glanced through the other files. “But why would he have left these here? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Someone wanted us to find it,” Allison guessed.

“It’s a convoluted way to go about it,” Viktor murmured, looking at Klaus’ picture.

Allison picked up Ben’s file. Her eyes caught on the mention of his incarceration but she forced her eyes to skip over it. It wasn’t fair to violate their privacy like this. She skipped to the end.

“Shit,” Allison said, “Look at this.”

“A kill order?” Luther asked, “On Ben? Why? What did he do?”

“It's Dad, who knows what he's thinking.”

“What if Ben's in danger?” Luther said, eyes wide, “He wasn’t there this morning.”

“We better go tell the others,” Allison said.

“Uh, Allison,” Viktor called out, “Why are your neighbours acting weird?”

Allison turned to the cameras. The streets were slowly filling up, people spilling out of their houses. They were carrying guns. Allison felt her heart sink.

“Claire."

 


 

The neighbourhood was peacefully quiet. Klaus loved Allison’s rich-people suburb. Everyone seemed to be in bed by eight like old people.

“I want to watch Ariel!” Grace shrieked.

“We already watched that!” Claire yelled back, “Twice!”

“Kids, kids,” Klaus said, “Grace, it’s near your bedtime. Why don’t you get ready for bed?”

Grace grumbled and stomped off. Claire glared at him.

“Little siblings can be terribly annoying can’t they?” Klaus said sympathetically.

“Aren’t you the same age as your brothers and Mom?”

“And yet, I am so much more mature.”

Claire gave him a dubious look then turned back to the TV. No one could quite insult you with a single look like a pre-teen.

Klaus left her to it, heading towards where Grace’s room was. Despite Allison and Diego being estranged, Grace and Claire had practically grown up together — Grace even had clothes here for when she stayed over. He chalked it up to the fact that Lila and Allison definitely got stoned together a couple times.

There was a knock on the door. Klaus frowned.

But this neighbourhood was peaceful. It was quiet. There was no danger here.

He peered through the peephole anyway and froze. Immediately, he scrambled to open the door. 

“Ben?”

Ben looked at him with half-lidded eyes, as if not even comprehending he was there. Then, he tipped forward, right into Klaus. He had to shuffle to keep himself and Ben upright.

“What happened to you?” Klaus asked urgently, “Why — why are you covered in blood?”

Ben mumbled something incoherent.

“Uncle Klaus?” she heard Grace call, confused.

That was when the shooting began.

Notes:

Sorry it took me like, two months to get back on this. Life's been ... well. I'm trying to get back into writing tho so wish me luck. ALSO to the person who left me an ask on tumblr! I'm working on a reply, will post soon. And ask box is open for anyone else who wants to ask about the fic or anything!

Also, chapter title is from one of my favourite episodes, The Day That Wasn't. I think that was the episode where I was like oh yeah, this is going to be a cool show. And ofc, Five saying "Nice dress" to Klaus is a ref. to when he said that (SO SINCERELY MIGHT I ADD) to Klaus in s1ep1. I loved Five from literally that moment.

Anyways...

Trauma train trauma train trauma train! It's reminding me of infinity train lol.

The A in Class A stands for apocalypse :D Shout out to Klaus-causes-the-apocalypse AUs my beloved <3

I was going to drag Viktor, Allison and Luther's problems out for longer before I remembered that Allison is actually kind of good at communicating. That being said … I have no idea how she can even begin to apologise for what she did to Luther. This is meant to just be a beginning of them making up

Btw, I hope I made it clear that Five's powers are a little different here. For one, he can escape whenever he wants and for two, he's actively trying to work on it. Also I wonder what that strange eldritch horror apocalypse was hmmmmmmm.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4: Pocket Full of Marigold

Summary:

“Don’t shoot!” he said, hands raised high, “Hey, Maurice, is that you?”

Allison’s elderly next door neighbour, who had a very cute cat, did not smile back. He raised the microphone. “GIVE US BEN HARGREEVES.”

Klaus pressed his hands to his ears yelling, “I can hear you! Jesus.”

He looked around at the stone faced crowd.

“Er, well, what if I said he wasn’t here?” Klaus tried.

“WE SAW HIM WALK IN.”

Damn.

Notes:

CW: canon-typical violence

Recap of last chapter:

Lila and Five go stumbling through time, with some timelines being more apocalyptic than others. Ben gets kidnapped and unkidnapped and his other self is an asshole. Diego discovers that the Cleanse has something to do with Ben. Allison, Viktor and Luther realise that Reginald has been watching them and witnesses gunmen being sent to Allison's house, where Klaus is. Klaus, meanwhile, is having a great time with his nieces and without ghosties.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Mar 4, 2021. Timeline 4.6

“Did you tell them?”

Klaus waved his hand enthusiastically, “Benny boy! Come, come, let me do a tarot reading —”

“Did you tell our fucking siblings that I needed an intervention or something?” Ben snarled.

No . I told them we should be here to support you …”

“I don't need your goddamn meddling, Klaus! I am not your Ben!”

“I know that,” Klaus said defensively, “You don’t need to be! But we're still family.”

“No we're not,” Ben's lips twisted into a mean smile, “I'll have you know Allison told me she wanted nothing to do with me. Looks like I even pissed her off. But you'd know all about the way your family can abandon you, huh?”

Klaus frowned. But any anger he felt was faded now — dying changed people’s perspective, as it turned out. He was more confused than anything: how did Ben even know about that?

Klaus said, “Well, it was half my fault just like it's half your fault for being an asshole!”

“I'm not your Ben but you know what? I'm starting to think we have something in common.”

“Oh yeah? What's that, Benji?”

“I bet he couldn’t fucking stand you either!”

Well then. Klaus knew it wasn’t true but alas, his poor heart took the blow. He stared down uselessly at the tarot cards, hoping for some divine sign of how he could help this Ben out — his Ben would’ve had an answer. His Ben would’ve also found it morbidly funny, how the pack he’d thrifted was a Marigold pack, with its connection to life and death and gold.

Afterwards, he never talked to Ben about their argument. Their interactions were kept to a minimum.

That night, Klaus raised a bottle and said, “Fuck you for leaving me with a meaner version of you, Ben … but I guess I deserve it for what I put you through.”

He poured the whiskey down the sink.

(He relapsed more times than he would like. But he kept going. He kept trying. And Ben would be proud of him. Ben had always loved him.)

 


 

Dec 19, 2025. Timeline 4.6

The notes of the violin filled the house, but nothing about it was gentle. It was unyielding in its beauty. He followed the music into the parlor and watched from the threshold. Abigail had her back turned to him, her hair loose and swaying with her movements.

Reginald Hargreeves allowed himself this moment of peace.

When she finished, he said:

“Marvelous, my dear. Bruckner 8, yes?”

Abigail turned to him, smiling, “Quite right, darling. Humans are so different from what we once knew, but isn’t their music enchanting?”

“Not as enchanting as you.”

Abigail laughed, something beautiful and gentle, “How long have you been holding onto that one?”

Reginald chuckled, but the tension around her smile was not lost on him. You spend over a hundred years with someone, and it was simply second nature to see those tells.

“What’s wrong?” Reginald asked.

“Did you truly send people after that poor boy?”

“He is a threat to this world,” Reginald took her hand, “Our new world.”

“And yet, he is in some ways our child.”

“There are others.”

Abigail hummed, “I suppose there are. Such curious things, aren’t they?”

“Curious, yes. Though I do not know if I share of the fondness in your tone.”

“Oh, Reginald. You are always so harsh,” Abigail raised her violin and tucked it under her chin. “Any requests?”

Reginald took a seat, “I don’t mind, for as long as I may hear you play, I am happy.”

 


 

Common misconception: Vietnam traumatised Klaus more than anything else. Well, it was a semi-misconception, because Klaus was absolutely traumatised by being in a war zone for ten months.

But Vietnam had traumatised him just as much, but not more, than the shitshow that was Klaus’ life. It was no big deal, really.

That being said, it was no surprise that Vietnam was what Klaus thought about when the gunshots rang out. And with the thought of Vietnam always came the thought of Dave. A thought that was pushed aside brutally. Focus .

“Uncle Klaus!” Grace shrieked, running down the stairs and joining Claire next to him.

Klaus pushed them as far from the windows as he could, rolling a groaning Ben over and patting his cheek urgently.  “Come on, Benerino. Could really use your help, here.”

He groaned, unresponsive. Okay. Focus Klaus

The gunshots had stopped. The world was ominously silent.

Then: “GIVE US BEN HARGREEVES AND WE WILL LEAVE PEACEFULLY! YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES!”

Klaus balked at the noise of the announcement. And also their stupidity. Hell if he was giving up Ben. He just … needed to think .

“Stay here with you Uncle Ben, okay?” he told the girls quietly.

“What? No!” Claire said.

“Hey, hey, listen, Claire-Bear,” Klaus said softly, cradling her face, “I need you to be a big girl and take care of Gracie right now, okay? Let me handle this.”

Claire didn’t look reassured at all but she nodded.

Klaus crawled over to the windows on his belly and tried not to think of the mud that wasn’t there. He turned over a table to cover the window, just in case they tried to shoot. He craned his neck, peeking outside. It was dark, but he could just about make out … Allison’s neighbours?

It was a strange juxtaposition to see the nice couple next door in their casual clothes holding guns. There were more of them — the whole neighbourhood maybe. It made absolutely no sense.

He went to the back door. They were surrounded entirely, but far too many people. He tried the phone, but the line had been cut. He couldn’t call for help. 

They said they weren’t going to shoot, right?

Klaus took a deep breath, trying to give a terrified Grace and Claire a smile. 

He went over to the front door, his hands trembling on the handle. Behind him, Ben groaned something indecipherable.

He stepped outside.

“Don’t shoot!” he said, hands raised high, “Hey, Maurice, is that you?”

Allison’s elderly next door neighbour, who had a very cute cat, did not smile back. He raised the microphone. “GIVE US BEN HARGREEVES.”

Klaus pressed his hands to his ears yelling, “I can hear you! Jesus.”

He looked around at the stone faced crowd.

“Er, well, what if I said he wasn’t here?” Klaus tried.

“WE SAW HIM WALK IN.”

Damn. “Maybe we can renegotiate.”

“BEN HARGREEVES,” maybe-Maurice said, “WE HAVE ORDERS TO SPARE YOU AND THE GIRLS. BUT IF YOU DON'T GIVE US BEN, WE'RE COMING IN. YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.”

Klaus slammed the door shut.

“Uncle Klaus?” Grace whispered. Her face was wet with tears.

He felt a lump form in his throat. Before he could reassure her that everything would be alright somehow, Ben reached up. He tugged on Klaus’ collar urgently.

Klaus leaned forward, trying to hear him.

“Pocket,” he managed to utter. 

Klaus reached into Ben’s coat pocket. Dread had filled him well before he made contact with glass. He pulled it out with a trembling hand. 

“Pretty,” Grace said, peering at the jar of Marigold.

It was the furthest thing from pretty, Klaus thought. But holding it in his hands felt right, somehow. Inevitable. Like he knew exactly what he needed to do.

No, no, no, his mind screamed, Find another way out. There has to be another way out .

Two minutes. Claire was looking at him with so much trust.

You were doing so well. She’d never trust the old-Klaus .

Do you know what this would mean for you?

His hands trembled as they encircled the glass jar. The world was quiet. God, the world was finally quiet, for six years, and how could he give that up? How could he give up the life he had recovered, buried under the worst part of him? 

He looked at Claire. Grace. Ben .

How could he not give himself up, if it meant saving them?

Klaus unscrewed the jar and brought it to his lips. It tasted of nothing.

How could ruination taste like nothing? The same way it could glow so beautiful, he supposed.

He swallowed. And the world —

— was loud .

 


 

Of course being high was addicting. People wouldn’t get high if it wasn’t. But the first time Klaus had ever had a drink, he’d been addicted to the silence . Because, as it turns out, the dead love to let you know they’re dead. Very, very loudly.

In some places it was bearable. Allison’s house was rather quiet. But Klaus could hear them just outside, and he couldn’t

“Focus,” he told himself, slapping his face lightly.

He’d done it before. He screwed his eyes shut and prayed to whatever little-girl-on-the-bicycle was out there. He needed help. 

“Uncle Klaus?” Claire asked.

“It’s going to be okay, just,” Klaus hands lit up in blue, then sputtered out, “Give me a second.”

He was even fully sober this time. He just had to feel the other place reaching out to him and reach back to it. The veil between life and death, the line that he toed … he had done this before. Why couldn’t he do it now?

Diego’s voice answered him unbidding, maybe it’s psychological . God, where did Diego learn a word with so many syllables.

He needed to do this. It didn’t matter if he was scared.

They needed him to do this.

Klaus reached into the icy depths of his powers and pulled .

Something — someone shimmered into existence.

And oh . Klaus knew him.

How could he not know him? That curve of his jaw, and the bow on his lips and his adorable nose. How could Klaus ever forget?

“Sunshine?” the man asked, and his voice had always been so, so gentle.

Klaus was crying. He knew he was, when he managed to choke out:

“Dave.”

 


 

“Uncle Klaus?” Claire asked tentatively, “Who are you talking to?”

Klaus was sobbing too much to be talking to anyone. Dave was kneeling next to Klaus on the floor, studying Klaus like he couldn't quite believe it. He had a big, dopey smile on his face that made Klaus’ heart clench.

“How are you here?” Klaus managed to gasp out.

Dave looked down at his ethereal form. “You called me here. I think.”

“Right, okay,” Focus Klaus. He pressed his hands into a fist.

Maybe it was Dave. Maybe it was because he was sober. Whatever it was, this time his powers came easier.

Gracie gasped loudly, “Who's that?”

“This is my partner, Dave.”

“Your boyfriend?” Claire recalled, “I thought he …”

“Yes. Do you remember your Mom telling you that we were special?”

“You have superpowers.”

“You have superpowers?” Grace whispered in awe.

“Yeah, sure, that,” Klaus gave them a smile, “It's up to me to save you. No pressure.”

“Klaus,” Dave said, calling his attention. Klaus turned to him immediately. “Can you hear the ghosts outside?”

“Yeah. I can try to get rid of them …” 

Banishment was still new to him, harder than summoning. Most dead people didn't take too kindly to being pushed out of this plane. He’d done it a few times, near the end, but he was completely out of practice. Several years out of practice, in fact —

“Focus,” Dave said kindly, his eyes bright “And don’t banish them yet. I think they're angry at them . They're on your side. If you make them corporal …” 

Klaus began nodding along, the plan taking shape in his mind. 

“Dave, you are literally the smartest person ever and I love you.”

I love you.

Dave reached forward and kissed him. Klaus made a small noise of surprise, and he felt Dave smile.

“I love you too.”

Outside, the voice rang out: “YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS!”

“You can do it,” Dave told him.

Klaus screwed his eyes shut again, feeling inside himself. His entire body tensed, straining to dig into the power.

“TEN SECO – WHAT THE FUCK?”

“I think you did it,” Dave beamed.

Klaus gave him a strained smile and turned to the girls. “Okay, Claire-Bear, Gracie, we're going to take your Uncle Ben and go to the basement, okay?”

Dave said, “I’m going outside. I’ll let you know if any of them gets past us.”

He disappeared and Klaus tried not to feel his absence too hard. He was just outside. He was just outside . After years upon years of grief and mourning and moving on, he was just outside. Wow.

“Okay, Benji,” Klaus said, hauling his semi-conscious brother to his feet, “Have you put on weight or am I just out of shape?”

He put his free hand on Grace’s shoulders and steered them all to the basement, where there were no windows to shoot out.

 


 

Diego lay out the other files he found in the trash, hoping to string something together. Ray frowned.

“This one’s about Drew,” Ray said, tapping one of the papers, “He was being shifty but I think he’ll talk to me. Maybe he knows something about the Thibedeaus.”

“Follow up on that —”

There was a quiet pop. Five and Lila appeared on the couch, Five’s hand gripping Lila’s hand. 

“What was that …” Lila asked, looking horrified.

“I have no idea.”

Diego frowned at their far-off looks, clicking to get their attention. When he did, he asked, “What spooked you guys?”

“Long story, darling,” Lila replied, “Did you find anything?”

Diego straightened proudly, “We found out more about the Cleanse. It has something to do with Ben.”

“How do you know?” Five asked, coming around to stare at the papers. 

Diego tapped Ben’s file, “October 14. Jennifer Incident. That’s how Ben died.”

“Who’s Jennifer?” Five asked.

“She was some rich guy’s daughter we rescued. Ben had a crush on her or something, made him act out. We went on a mission and … and he …”

Diego’s throat closed up. It was difficult to put to words the horror of that day.

“How exactly did he die?” Five asked.

“It was a tragic accident,” Diego recalled, “Ben died because we failed as a team.”

Five’s said mildly. “I’m sure it’s hard to talk about, Diego, but how did Ben die? What was the mission about?”

“It was —” Diego struggled, frowning, “A tragic accident … Ben died because … we failed …”

“As a team, I know,” Five said, losing patience.

Diego closed his eyes. He tried to think, to remember that day. But everything was foggy. They went on a mission, didn’t they? Jennifer was there … wasn’t she? And Dad. And then the funeral — the funeral he remembered perfectly, yelling at Viktor and Klaus pretending to see Ben while high (or, he’d actually seen Ben, and they all assumed he was high). 

“Diego?” Five prodded.

“I don’t …”

Lila reached out and took his hand. Diego realised that his eyes were blurring. He blinked rapidly.

“You don’t remember,” Five realised.

“It must’ve been traumatic,” Ray offered sympathetically.

Diego shook his head, “I’ve seen some traumatic shit. I’d have remembered but … it’s like the memory isn’t even there anymore.

“And the mystery thickens,” Five said grimly, “Let’s get back to the others. Someone has to remember.”

 


 

Allison might’ve broken several road laws but it didn’t matter. She needed to get home. She needed to get to Claire.

She had every faith in Klaus — which was a surprise, but not really after the last three years — but if what she’d seen on the cameras was true, there was no way Klaus could even help them escape.

Her vision blurred. She pushed through it.

As they entered the neighbourhood, it was clear something was amiss. There were distant gunshots, but the houses were empty, the doors open.

“It’s like the whole neighbourhood was …” Viktor didn’t finish the horrifying thought.

“This land is owned by Hargreeves Enterprise,” Allison said coldly.

“But even he wouldn’t … would he?” Luther said.

“He was monitoring all of us,” Viktor replied, “Who knows what he’s done?”

This was where Allison had raised her daughter. Where she’d built her life. Where she’d argued with Ray. And it was all just some joke to Hargreeves. Some prop to his schemes. She jerked the steering wheel around the bend of the road, urging herself to go faster. Claire, Grace and Klaus first. Hargreeves later.

She skidded to a halt a little ways from where the crowd had gathered around her house.

“What now?” she asked.

“I can —” Viktor began, but Luther leaned forward between their seats and pointed, “What’s that?”

Allison turned to look.

What seemed like hundreds of people, armed with nothing but sticks and fists, charging at the gunners. Allison thought for one horrifying moment how they would all die.

Except they were already dead.

The bullets were flying straight through them. One of them mauled a man with a gun using nothing but her bare hands. Another flung someone right into Allison’s car. She noticed belatedly that the unarmed people were glowing faintly blue.

She leaned back, her lips twitching up into a small smile.

“Klaus,” she realised.

She pushed open the car door, stepping outside into the chaos. Distantly, she heard the other two follow. Someone saw her, turned the gun on her —

Shoot yourself , she thought viciously. They turned the gun on themselves and pulled the trigger.

She stepped over the body, uncaring. It didn’t matter — she needed to get inside. She needed to make sure they were safe. That her daughter was safe.

“Allison, look out!” 

Someone slammed into her as a bullet whizzed by, as if bent out of trajectory. Allison looked up to see Diego.

“Do you know what’s going on?” he asked, “We literally just got here.”

The earth shook — it seemed Viktor had charged up his powers. Allison told Diego, “I’ll explain later, but Grace and Claire are inside.”

Diego nodded, his face set in stone. “I can cover us. Can you clear the path?”

Allison turned and hissed, “Move aside.”

They did. Diego gave her a mildly impressed look before bending a sheet of bullets around them and sending them back towards the assailants. They pushed forward slowly, as the others seemed to take the cue to draw the fire away from the house. It helped that ghosts had created utter chaos and people weren’t even actively gunning for them anymore — they were shooting blindly.

When her front door was in sight, they ran for it.

“Claire?” she called out, just as Diego screamed, “Grace!”

“Down here,” came a muffled voice.

Allison felt her heart settle. She rushed downstairs, Diego in tow. Klaus was in the basement, one of Claire’s storybooks in his hands, which he must’ve been reading to them. Grace on his lap and Claire pressed against this side. Allison registered that Ben was there too, sleeping on the pullout couch and covered in what looked like dried blood.

“Mom!”

“Daddy!”

Allison pulled her daughter into a hug, letting out a shuddering breath. She heard Diego talk gently to Grace, calming down her hiccuping tears. They were safe. They were all safe.

Over Claire’s shoulder, she made eye contact with Klaus and mouthed, thank you.

Klaus gave her a smile that was more a grimace, shot her a thumbs up, then put his hands over his ears, pulled his knees to his chest and closed his eyes.

 


 

Lila's first thought was of Grace. Her second thought was to tell Diego to go get her while she helped fight.

“I can —” Diego began.

“We don't need you to be a hero, Diego,” Lila snapped, “You're a dad first!”

Diego went. Lila ducked under gunfire and a man glowing blue — a ghost? Its guts were hanging out — and stumbled right into Viktor.

“Shall we?” Lila asked, offering her hand.

Viktor grinned.

It didn't take long, after that. Between Viktor and Lila, the ghosts, Five’s terrifying efficiency and Luther's strength, they made quick work of their enemies. The ghosts seemed lost as to what to do, but they turned docile, meandering around the bodies instead of looking at them. They were unnecessarily loud, though. Lila cringed as one walked past her.

“Hargreeves Enterprises,” Five said, pulling aside one of the dead — not ghost dead, regular dead — man’s jacket. “Why am I not surprised?”

“He’s been watching us. All of us,” Luther said, “We found our files at his house. He wanted to kill Ben! We have to find him.”

“He’s downstairs,” Allison’s voice said, “I think that’s why they shot up the house.”

Lila moved past her. Inside, Diego was carrying Grace. Lila let out a sigh of relief, reaching over to kiss her forehead.

“Mommy!” she said happily. Her tears her dried. “Uncle Klaus is a superhero! An’ he read us three little pigs but he doesn’t do the voices as good as daddy.”

Lila hid a laugh in Grace’s hair, holding her close for a moment. Grace squirmed away a moment later, yawning.

“Bedtime,” Diego said numbly.

 


 

They put Grace and Claire to bed in a room with all the curtains pulled and bolted shut. If they did wake up, there was no way they would see the mess outside. Luther cleaned up Ben, who remained asleep, as much as he could and put him on an air mattress Allison pulled out.

“Will they wake up?” Luther asked.

“Children sleep like the dead when they’re tired,” Lila said softly, ”And they’re tired.”

“How’re you holding up?” Luther asked.

Lila shrugged, “Turns out we live in a Truman Show with your asshole dad as the grand puppeteer. He’s a lot more like my mum than one would think.”

Luther winced, “Sorry.”

“I’m just glad the kids are safe.”

“We’ll keep them safe,” Luther promised.

Lila patted his arm, “Thanks, big man. Let’s get downstairs, can’t let them have all the fun without us.”

“They’re definitely arguing by now,” Luther mumbled.

“Wouldn’t be them if they weren’t!” Lila said brightly.

They were indeed arguing.

“He came after my daughter,” Allison was yelling, “We have to find him!”

“I’m not saying we won’t,” Five snapped back, “But we need to think this through. The Keepers —”

“I don’t give a damn about that stupid cult.”

Viktor was watching them argue like watching a tennis match. Lila bounced over to sit next to him, looking mildly entertained. Luther looked around.

“Hey, where's Diego and Klaus?”

“Probably arguing,” Lila offered over the noise.

 


 

Dave didn’t come back. Dave didn’t come back . Klaus couldn’t do this if Dave didn’t come back, that bastard. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, trying to drown out the noise surrounding him. 

Fuck. He knew what would drown out the noise.

“Klaus?” 

Klaus looked up at Diego, trying to ignore the guy following him around like a ghost puppy. He should work on banishing ghosts now that he had more control. Or he could get high. He needed to stop thinking of getting high.

“Diego, my brother,” Klaus said, throwing his arms out in exaggerated happiness.

“Grace’s asleep,” he said, “You good?”

“Of course, of course,” Klaus said distractedly, “Now that it’s over, how about a little celebration, hm? I believe this calls for some alcohol!”

“You’re sober, Klaus,” Diego reminded him sharply, “Besides, the ghosts are gone, aren’t they?”

“Gone for you, dear brother,” Klaus’ eyes flickered briefly around him, to all the little ghosties, “Never for me, it would seem. So, if you’ll excuse me —”

“Wait, nope. No,” Diego reached out to grab Klaus’ hand. He danced out the way.

“Just a little,” Klaus said, “No harm! I deserve a reward, don’t I?”

It’s true! He did, he had been doing so well. Just a little buzz wouldn’t kill him. He climbed the stairs quickly, before Diego had the chance to get him again. But his brother was following behind, annoyingly enough.

“You know that’s a slippery slope,” Diego said.

A slippery slope? A slippery slope was fun compared to the sheer terror Klaus was feeling right now, and the depths to which it would lead him. He could feel his hand tremble and he clenched them into fists. 

(There was a child who’d been afraid of the dark and cold. And he’d been locked up in that dark and cold for so long that he’d died in there, over and over and over. And sometimes, Klaus felt like he’d simply never made it out alive, no matter what anyone said.)

“What’s going on?” Allison asked, cutting off her argument with Five.

“Klaus thinks he needs to get high to deal with his bullshit powers,” Diego said, like a narc. Once a cop and all that.

“Noooo,” Klaus said cheerfully, “I know I am going to relapse because let’s face it, that’s what I always do! So how about we all stop pretending, because the old Klaus is back baby, and he’s going.”

Klaus was almost at the door. Five blinked in front of him, eyes narrowed.

“You’re unbelievable, Klaus,” Diego said harshly, “After all the work you put in? We all put in?”

“Oh here we go,” Klaus said, “Big brother Diego to the rescue.”

“Woah, maybe take it down a notch —” Allison began.

“And what are you going to do? Offer me cash again, Allison? Look at me like you’ve already given up hope? Well, no worries now, because you were right! I cannot do this!”

“We’ll help you,” Luther tried.

“Really? You guys will?” Klaus pouted mockingly, “Look at how helpful you all are, standing around and arguing already! I mean, look at us — we thought we were doing oh so well when we couldn’t even get together outside of birthday parties without blowing up at each other! We are a family of dysfunctional idiots with daddy issues —” he pointed at Diego and Lila, “or mommy issues, or —” at Five, “just issues!”

The ghosts were gathering again, drawn in by the noise and the drama. Nosey dead bastards, trying to get Klaus’ attention. Always trying to get Klaus’ attention.

“How can you say I haven’t been helpful?” Diego said, “I spent the entirety of my twenties taking care of you! Who was there when you OD’d the first time? When you owed money to the wrong people? When you landed your ass in lock-up?”

Klaus laughed, “If I recall, you threw me out pretty soon.”

“Because you never changed! What was I supposed to do? I thought tough love could …”

“What?” Klaus sneered, “Fix me? I know what you’re thinking! Poor Diego, how hard it must’ve been to have a junkie brother like me? Did it hurt when I tried killing myself, over and over? Did it hurt when I did manage to kill myself, only to come back? Well guess what? Imagine BEING me!”

Klaus let out a harsh breath. His siblings were silent, but it was never silent for Klaus. There was always something calling out to him, digging its icy claws in, and it was never going to stop .

“I’ve done everything I could for six years to fix myself . You think I didn’t? But the God or the universe of the fucking Devil has spoken. These powers are never going to leave me. The dead are never going to leave me. You have no idea how loud it is for me.

“You think I do this for the fun of it? I do this because I don’t know what else to do . So you can either have a brother that is drugged or a brother that’s insane . Take your pick.”

When they had nothing to say, Klaus turned back to the door. He pushed past Five and he offered no resistance. Klaus almost felt disappointed.

“Wait.”

Klaus froze. Whirled around to face Luther and through gritted teeth asked, “What, dear brother ?”

“You’re right,” Luther said calmly, “We’ve failed you. Me most of all. I mean I wasn’t there when you needed me because I was so blinded by …” Luther shook his head, “I know you're scared to rely on us and that makes sense. We should’ve been there for you Klaus. We should’ve been there for each other. We … failed each other. And I can spend a whole lifetime apologising for how I let you down  — all of you — but we’re here now . And we want to help you, I swear.”

“You can’t.”

“Let us try,” Luther pleaded, “We’ve watched you climb out of the pit enough times. Let us help you out this time.”

“My powers …”

“Viktor can probably help with that,” Luther said immediately.

“Right,” Viktor said, nodding rapidly, “These guys are surprisingly helpful, even if they yell out bad advice.”

“And Five — Five’s way smarter than Da – Reginald ,” Luther continued.

“Finally, someone says it,” Five said with his patent shit-eating grin, but his eyes were gentle, “I’ll help, obviously. Put together with Lila’s powers …”

“We might just crack the code,” Lila agreed.

“Look, man,” Diego said, stepping forward, “If you want to get high or drunk or both, we can’t exactly stop you. But we’re here, and we’re going to stay here. No one’s abandoning anyone anymore.”

“We love you. And nothing will change that,” Allison said softly.

Klaus looked around at them. Dear little-girl-on-a-bicycle, he hated his stupid family. They were all such lovable idiots. He deflated, giving them a look between sour and soft.

“This is disgustingly sappy,” he walked back inside, patting Luther’s arm as he went, “Good job, Number One.”

“Hey,” Diego said, “No more numbers.”

Klaus rolled his eyes and he chose to stay.

 


 

They all decided to take a breather before reconvening. Klaus sat with Ben for a long time, simply watching him breathe. Allison sat next to Klaus, head tucked against his shoulder. Diego and Lila tried to have a conversation, which got derailed into a disagreement rather quickly. Luther went outside to see if he could find out anything more about the people who attacked them.

Viktor and Five went through their personal files.

“This reminds me of that stupid red book,” Viktor said.

“Careful now, don’t blow up the world reading it,” Five said wryly.

“Hey, that was only twice,” Viktor protested, “You guys never let me live that down.”

Five scoffed lightly. He scanned through his files, something distinctly uncomfortable settling into his stomach at them. But it was necessary to read, to know just how much Reginald had got on them.

Mar. 2023 — whereabouts unknown. Possible Undocumented Mission.

Well, at least they didn’t know everything. Five’s paranoia had paid off, time and again. His siblings might have teased him about it, but it would be what saved them in the end. Five had lived a life on survival instinct alone. The fact they hadn’t stopped screaming at him since they got to this timeline was telling.

(He’d thought it was paranoia too. Thought that maybe he was losing his mind. He felt a fraction of vindication to know he hadn’t been.)

“Oh my god,” Viktor said, voice high.

“What?”

“He knows how I broke up with Monica.”

Five gave him a curious look, “And?”

“Uh … never mind …”

“You can tell me or I can read it myself.”

“Hey!” Viktor said, snapping his file closed, “That’s private.”

“Yes, and?”

“Asshole,” Viktor mumbled, “Uh … Monica and I broke up rather publicly. Maybe even … national TV publicly?”

“Usually I wouldn’t be interested in your private lives,” Five admitted, “Since they’re so unfathomably boring. But I will hunt down the footage once this is over.”

“What, no —”

“Too late.”

Viktor shoved him lightly, but he was smiling.

“I can’t believe he had all of this on us,” Viktor said, “I thought he’d leave us alone, but he’s always going to haunt us.”

Five was quiet. He wasn’t necessarily wrong. No matter where they went — be it the 60s or another timeline — his shadow hung over them. In this time, it was perhaps more obvious than before, the Hargreeves Enterprise and ever-present entity.

“He casts a long shadow,” Five said eventually, “But not an inescapable one.”

Viktor nodded sharply, his eyes alight with anger. They settled back into silence, Viktor putting aside his file and lost in thought, Five flipping through his.

Limits of temporal powers unknown. Possibly volatile. Spatial power limited to a distance of around 1000 kilometers. Physical limitations seem to be the main factor in ‘jumps’ however psychological factors have shown themselves …

Five frowned. How could he have possibly known that? He only interacted with this version of Reginald a handful of times, and in those they had only talked about time-travel. Had Reginald gathered all of this through observation alone?

And suddenly, it all clicked together.

“Hey guys,” Allison’s voice said, “Ben just woke up.”

 


 

They gathered in the living room once more, this time with a haggard looking Ben in an armchair. Allison pulled up two chairs for herself and Luther. Diego, Lila and Viktor settled on the couch — Viktor looking uncomfortable to be in the middle of the palpable tension. Klaus took the last armchair.

“So, what happened to you?” Klaus asked Ben, “You showed up covered in blood.”

“These … freaks took me. Called themselves Jean and Gene Thibedeau. The woman was the one who gave me the Marigold.”

“We’re familiar,” Diego said darkly, “What did they do to you?”

“Weirdos just injected me with Marigold,” Ben said tightly.

“Any idea why they wanted you?” Allison asked, “I mean, it seems like Da – Reginald wanted you dead …”

Ben’s breath hitched, “Dad wants me dead? Why?”

“It might be related to how Umbrella Ben died,” Five said, nodding to Diego.

“We found this at the Keeper’s apartment,” Diego said, handing the file over to Allison, “It’s about the Jennifer Incident. All of it’s redacted, but look at the date.”

“The day Ben died,” Luther muttered, upset.

“Now, I’m going to ask you all a very important question,” Five said, “How exactly did Ben die?”

“We know how he died,” Luther said.

“Enlighten me, I wasn’t there.”

“Well. Ben died in a tragic accident. We failed as a team,” his face became more confused as he went on, the struggle obvious, “Nobody was responsible and …”

“Allison?” Five asked, “How did Ben die?”

“It was a tragic accident,” she said, like it was obvious, like it was practised , “Ben died because …”

“We failed as a team,” Diego said, matching Allison’s words. They said in unison, “Nobody was responsible, yet …”

“We all were responsible,” Luther joined in, looking horrified.

Klaus finished with them, four voices in perfect harmony, narrating a eulogy taught to them, “Ben Hargreeves represented the best of us. Ben was the Umbrella Academy.”

“What the fuck is happening,” Ben asked, suddenly looking far more awake than before, “Is this some sort of sick trick?”

Five said grimly, “They’ve been brainwashed, their memories wiped. No one remembers how Umbrella Ben died.”

Ben whirled around on Klaus, “Don’t you know? Didn’t he ever talk to you about his death?”

Klaus put his hands up in surrender, “Hey, dying is a traumatic thing. Most ghosts don’t know how they died. Look —”

His hands lit up blue. There was a groan right next to Allison’s ear and she screamed, reflexively punching out. Her fist made contact with nothing.

“Hey you, how did you die?” Klaus asked.

The ghost looked around them blankly, “I’m dead? Am I dead? Oh my god —”

The voice cut off. Klaus scrunched up his nose, “Oh great, now they’re panicking. Let me just …” he grunted in effort, hands lighting up in blue again. He sighed, “Nope. Okay, just speak over the panic, no biggie.”

“We can move to another room,” Diego said, “If it’s bothering you.”

“Seriously? Again?” Ben asked.

“Hey! We’re doing this properly. No bullshiting.”

“No it’s fine, they wandered off,” Klaus said. He made a circling gesture with his hands, “Continua, por favor.”

“So no one remembers?” Five clarified sharply.

“No,” Luther said, a little defensive.

Klaus bristled a little too, “It's not like Ben and I talked about his death, it wasn’t exactly pleasant chit-chat.”

“It’s fine, ” Five said very aggressively, “No one's blaming anyone. Reginald messed with your minds.”

“See,” Klaus said to Diego, “ That's how you do tough love.”

Diego threw a pillow at his face with perfect accuracy.

“Right, to recap,” Five said, getting them back on track, “The Keepers gave Ben the Marigold presumably to jumpstart the Cleanse. We don’t know what that is exactly, but it might be why Reginald thinks that Ben is a threat to be eliminated. It all somehow relates back to Ben’s death, except none of us know how he died. And the only person who does is missing.”

“Hang on, does he actually know how Ben died?” Allison asked, “I mean, he’s a different version of him. He never even knew Umbrella Ben existed.”

Five pointed to her, nodding, “Good point, Allison. Ben!” Ben glared at him, “I was wondering if perhaps you had been, say, remembering a different version of you. Getting memories from a childhood you didn’t live, or knowing things about us that you have no way of knowing to be true.”

Everyone turned to Ben, their eyes wide and hopeful. Ben froze, like a deer caught in headlights. Slowly, he admitted:

“Yeah.”

“What?” Klaus asked, getting up, “Since when?”

“Since we got to this timeline,” Ben replied through gritted teeth, “Small things. But ever since I got my powers back it’s been getting worse. I —”

He looked to the empty space beside Klaus, then wrenched his eyes away.

“I’m still not your Ben,” he said venomously.

“Your memories are merging together nonetheless,” Five continued, “And I have reason to believe that dear old Dad has regained memories of our timeline as well.”

“You mean to say … the Reginald in this world is actually Dad?” Luther asked, voice wavering a little.

“Worse. He’s two different versions of him.”

“How do you know?” Viktor asked.

“This,” Five said, holding up his file, “Somehow, Reginald knew things about me that I never told him and he couldn’t have just found out. Things our Reginald figured that out when I was a kid. This Reginald had no way of knowing. So either he got Umbrella Reginald’s notes — which is possible but unlikely — or he remembers. Either way, he will know how Ben died if he’s gunning for him now. If nothing else, he’ll know something about the Marigold.”

“So we find him,” Allison said.

“And kill him,” Diego pumped his fists.

They all looked at him flatly.

“What? I had to say it at least once,” Diego held his hands up in surrender, “Anyway, can’t you get some of your … colleagues to help you?”

Five cringed internally. “I’m not with the CIA anymore. I’d call in a favour but I didn’t exactly leave on good terms.”

“What? Since when?”

“Months.”

“Is anyone here still in their old job?” Diego asked, glaring between Lila and Five, “Any more secrets being kept?”

Five and Lila exchanged a look.

Allison cut in, “What about Claire and Grace? They can’t stay here.”

“I’ve got a safe house,” Five said, “Reginald won’t know about it — he lost track of me during the time I acquired it, according to the file.”

“Okay, and who’s going to watch them while we track down the next lead?”

Five looked at Diego. Diego grimaced.

“What?” Allison asked.

It was Lila that reached over and patted her hand. “So, remember your ex?”

 


 

He’s still there. Ben can see him out of the corner of his eyes, always in his periphery. He haunted him — they haunted each other. The other-Ben wasn’t a ghost because that idiot would’ve been able to see him then. Which meant other-Ben was just in his mind.

“Klaus is an idiot but that doesn’t mean you get to call him that,” other-Ben said.

Ben was waiting for other-Ben to speak, if only to start an argument. The others had been walking on eggshells around him, being gentle and nice and stupidly sappy. Get kidnapped and shot at once and it seemed everyone was ready to forget what a major asshole he was. 

“Not everyone is out to get us,” other-Ben said.

Ben growled under his breath and pretended he didn’t exist.

He had a lot of experience with other people pretending he didn’t exist, having hung around Klaus as a ghost for so long. Except that hadn’t been him, that had been another version of him. And yet … the memories of it …

Ben was getting a headache just thinking about it.

Before, it used to ebb and flow. A taste reminded him of a childhood he never had,  a sound brought him back to a memory not his own. He had barely noticed it, and when he did, it had felt normal. Annoying, but normal. But the Marigold had done something, fast tracked the recovery somehow …

And now other-Ben would not leave him alone .

“Actually,” other-Ben said, “It’s you not leaving me alone. We’re the same. The sooner you accept it, the better.”

Ben scoffed. “Back to the topic at hand — how did you die?”

“How did we die,” other-Ben corrected him like the pretentious asshole they – he – were – was , “I don’t know. I’m in your mind, Ben.”

“So you’re not real,” Ben said condescendingly.

“That’s not what I said,” other-Ben’s voice was just as condescending as his, “You know how to fix —” he gestured to himself, then to Ben, “ — this, don’t you?”

“How?”

You need to remember.”

“No thanks,” Ben said “I don’t really care.”

“Oh, but you do,” other-Ben taunted, “You can’t lie to me. I’m you, remember.”

Ben had nothing to say to that. He was losing his mind — or he’d lost it. After all, other-Ben wasn’t real, he was just some shattered part of his brain that decided to be an asshole. If he could just ignore him, it would be fine.

“Sure it will,” other-Ben said, “But don’t you want to know how you died?”

“You don’t remember,” Ben said.

We don’t remember,” other-Ben replied, stepping forward. 

Up close, it was obvious — they weren’t exactly the same. Other-Ben was younger, or held the illusion of being younger. He dressed different, smiled different, and in the light he looked different. And yet, it was undeniable that he was Ben too.

“But you know how you can find out,” other-Ben smirked, “If you stop pushing away other-Ben. If you remember him …”

“Fuck off,” Ben hissed, stepping back, “I’m not you . I’m — I’m me.”

Other-Ben gave him a pitying look, “You’re not me. But you’re not you, Benjamin. And the longer you try to avoid it, the worse it will get.”

 


 

When Klaus walked into the kitchen, it was empty save for a glass and a notebook. In the hours they waited for Ray to get there, they had all decided to sleep. Klaus would love to, except for the fact that it was getting louder and louder. He really couldn’t wait to get away from the massacre outside.

In a flash of light, Five popped into the kitchen, seated right across him. He’d already been there before Klaus.

“Hey,” Five said quietly. He had a glass of amber liquid in front of him.

“Hey,” Klaus replied, eyeing the glass, “Tough day, huh?”

Five squinted at him. Then, he took the glass and tilted his chair back to throw the liquid down the sink. Klaus groaned.

“You guys suck.”

“In this family that’s a compliment,” Five said.

Klaus groaned and leaned back on his chair, throwing an arm over his eyes. “Well, if you must know, there’s hard liquor at the back of that cabinet,” he pointed blindly, “Allison thinks I don’t know, but I know.”

He didn’t open his eyes as he heard the scrape of Five’s chair and the opening of the cabinet door. He had to squeeze his eyes shut as he heard the beautiful, liquid courage go down the drain. 

“Hey,” Five said, his voice painfully awkward and painfully sincere, “I’m proud of you. Really.”

Klaus’ lips quirked up, “That makes one of us.”

They lapsed into silence after that. Klaus kept his eyes closed, wondering if maybe he could get some sleep, and knowing that he wouldn’t. His mind was racing, and his ears were ringing. If he slept tonight, he knew none of his dreams would be good, if the. Big if, considering that there were ghosts starting to seep into the house, and they would notice him before long. I’ll sleep when I’m dead , he thought ironically. Then he thought maybe that would work, being dead for a few hours just to get some sleep.

“I can tell you’re thinking hard on somethin’ awful.”

Klaus’ heart flipped happily. He jerked up, his face splitting into a grin.

“Dave! Where did you go?”

“Klaus?”

“Oh sorry,” Klaus called on his powers, which was getting easier with practise, “Dave, this is my brother Five. Five, this is Dave, my dead boyfriend from Vietnam.”

Corporal now, Dave reached over and grasped Klaus’ hand. Klaus squeezed back, turning to look at his ghostly profile, all blue and deadly pale and still somehow beautiful.

“I remember,” Five said, narrowing his eyes at Dave suspiciously. He noticed their hands joined and he softened, “Nice to meet you, Dave.”

Klaus felt his heart do something funny. He’d always wanted to introduce Dave to the family, overprotective as they could be sometimes. He just couldn’t believe it was happening.

“Nice to meetcha too,” Dave said sweetly. Then, more urgently, “Listen, Klaus. I was heading back to you when I heard some of the dead talking about Hargreeves.”

“What did you hear?” Five asked, sitting straighter.

“Turns out your dad’s killed a lot of folks. And they know exactly where he is.”

Notes:

OMG DAVE???? Hahah, jk, he was always going to show up in ch4, which was always going to be a Klaus-centric chapter, and Klaus was always going to get his powers back. Sorry Klaus! But at least I gave you Dave?

I continue to be terrible at writing action and romance, so I hope his introduction and the action scenes weren’t too choppy.

Chapter title of course a homage to "Pocket Full of Lightening" episode, where we see someone return (Harlan). Figured Dave returning was a cool little parallel, and Ben having Marigold in his pocket (planted by Gene and Jean) made sense.

The piece Abigail plays in the beginning is Bruckner Symphony No. *. It was later titled Apocalyptic so I figured it was fitting. I have no idea about classical music but it’s a cool tidbit.

Also, I figured everyone is moving on from calling Reginald “dad” to calling him by name at their own pace. They’re all dealing with trauma and processing at their own pace and I think it was a cool way for me to show where they each are in their relationship with the man who raised them. Five and Diego moved on the fastest. S1 Klaus called Reginald “Reggie” so I think he also hasn’t called him Dad in a long time. Luther, Allison and Viktor are still figuring it out, so sometimes they still use Dad and other times you’ll see them correcting themselves. Ben calls him Dad because Sparrow!Reginald seemed to be milder in comparison, but he was also abused and will also come into terms with it in his own time.

Life's been real busy so I don't know when the next chapter is coming out, but it'll explore more about Five's time in this new timeline, checking in with Ben and wtf Reginald's up to.

Notes:

Thanks for checking out the fic! I have the entire thing outlined, it just needs to be written. Should be ~40-60k words. Next update possibly next week. I also have tumblr where I might post more notes about the fic.