Chapter Text
"Look at the mess you've made."
"Ah, fuck." Diego cursed once they all realize who it was. "Fuck." And another for good measure.
"He just has an affinity for worst timing ever, huh?" Klaus mused as he glared up at the man. "Maybe he's trying to win that after he just won the title for worst dad ever."
"Not the time," Five muttered in a frustrated tone. He clenched his fists, almost drawing blood from his nails, but his powers were out of reach. One glance at Rita and the machine in Pogo's hands confirmed that this time, it wasn't her doing.
Vanya inched towards Rita. "We have to help her." She whispered.
"How?" Allison replied quickly, scanning her surroundings for an idea. "We need to get that stupid machine out of Pogo's hands. It's obviously the cause. And we also don't have our powers, so Five can't just jump there."
Luther narrowed his eyes. "They're not affected." He subtly nodded to the Sparrow Academy members who stood behind Reginald Hargreeves, scanning the entire place like it's their first time there. Which, if Rita was to be believed, is actually accurate.
"Yeah, because why would Reginald bring them here if he can't order them around." Diego responded.
Klaus tilted his head. "Didn't Rita say something about loyalty to each other over Reggie?" At his words, they all looked to Rita who was obviously most affected by the machine-made lockdown. While everyone else was just blocked from using their powers, Rita was still struggling to even stay still on the ground. But it didn't stop her from trying to glare up at the man who watched her with a disapproving stare.
"I didn't realize you could be so disappointing, Number Zero." He looked down at her with an expression that Klaus recognized the most. He was, after all, the Umbrella Academy member that failed the most.
Rita didn't seem entirely affected by his words. She rolled her eyes and slightly moved away from Echo and Alex who were trying to help her stay sitting upright, despite how hard it is. "Knowing what you've done, I'd actually take that as a compliment."
"Your father would have been disappointed."
"My father would have been proud, you sick son of a bitch." She snarled in reply. "Locking up kids here for their entire life, how dare you? You didn't even give them a chance!"
"I gave them the chance to live." He shook his head and seemed to sigh deeply before waving his hand to the Sparrow Academy members behind him. "I've had enough of this nonsense." He said, before Rita could even protest again. "Number One, arrange a clean up. Gather them all."
At his words, Pogo kept the machine aimed on everyone else with one hand, and took out something from his pockets. "Use these to tie them up. It should keep them down." And he passed that something to other-Ben, Sparrow Academy's Number One. Other-Ben only accepted it without a word and looked to his team before motioning them onwards.
Luther's shoulders tensed, preparing for a fight. He saw his siblings and the other residents do the same. "So much for loyalty." He muttered, heard only by those close to him.
"No, wait." Vanya placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. They watched the Sparrow Academy members move in an organized formation at their leader's words. Other-Ben had walked forward and stopped a few steps in front of Reginald and Pogo, looking at everyone else with narrowed eyes. Other-Vanya waited a few steps behind him, as if they were both surveying the situation, while the rest kept walking forward.
Five tried subtly gathering his siblings together. "Wait for what exactly?" He hissed back at Vanya. "Just get Klaus to move closer and maybe I can bring us to where the stupid elevator thing was."
"We don't have our powers, remember?" Allison whispered back. "That includes you." That didn't seem to affect Five's plan as he internally kept attempting to reach his powers.
"Just wait." Vanya insisted, somehow being the only optimist in this situation. "Everything's gonna be fine."
Diego tilted his head, holding tightly onto the stupid letter opener. "Alright. Sure. We're going for denial, huh?"
Before Vanya could snap back, other-Ben had suddenly released the monsters within and tentacles were menacingly floating over them. It's a flashback they didn't expect. It's been so long since they've seen Ben's powers, not counting the time Klaus helped him, and seeing it in person now that he's an adult looks much more terrifying.
"Oh god," Klaus took a step back in shock, noting the size of other-Ben's powers. "They grew up with him."
With everyone's attention on other-Ben and the rest of Sparrow Academy walking forward, no one noticed other-Vanya's eyes glowing until it was too late. Too late even for Reginald Hargreeves to do anything about it.
The only reason anyone noticed other-Vanya's actions was because there was a loud crash coming from where she was, and the hot waterfall feeling washed over them again so heavily. Familiar with what it means, Five looked to this world's version of Pogo and saw the machine broken to pieces on the ground, thanks to their Number Two, and some pieces of it seemed to have pierced his skin. He watched as other-Pogo automatically tried to attack other-Vanya, only to fail because she was prepared for it.
The situation switched all too suddenly, and they saw Reginald also attempt to stop other-Vanya, only to be wrapped tightly by dark colored tentacles until he could barely move. The Sparrow Academy members heading towards the hotel residents (see: prisoners) suddenly disappeared from where they were then showed up again behind Reginald to help their siblings, thanks to other-Five's power.
(Five noted his counterpart didn't need to be in contact with his siblings to bring them with him. Something to be asked in another time, seeing as they really do seem to be on the same side after all.)
Four Sparrow Academy members handled Pogo together and, with other-Allison's targeted words, were able to successfully knock him out. As soon as Pogo dropped to the ground, it was evident that Reginald realized he wasn't going to get anywhere while still trapped in the tight grip other-Ben had on him while other-Lila stood close by, making sure there aren't any surprises.
But he still had some cards up his sleeves apparently.
He had been violently moving around trying to get out of the hold other-Ben had on him, but then he suddenly froze, loosened up, and practically melted. He looked like he was deflating and everyone watching pretty much just froze in shock and confusion. Other-Ben shouted in pain and let go of the body as if he was burned, but Reginald had only dropped to his knees, unresponsive. Then, there was a bit of movement, but it still didn't process because the movement looked like his face was just slowly loosening.
And then it fell off. The face fell off the head like a mask people wear as a costume and everyone stepped back at the unexpected turn of events.
"Holy shit." Diego stared with wide eyes. "Holy shit, Reginald Hargreeves is an alien."
It looked horrible, with skin colored a mix of dark pink and green and a head that looked like the bottom half was human but the top half was like a crab. He had completely black, round eyes that were narrowed when he opened them, glaring at the people around him as he revealed his true identity. His lips were thin, and curled into a snarl, revealing sharp teeth and a dark blue tongue.
"Disappointment." He growled, somehow still sounding the same, which makes it all the more terrifying. "The lot of you. You could have all been something great, and yet—" His voice had only begin to rise as he preached to everyone's frozen state, but failed to finish when an already bloody knife had impaled itself in his forehead, causing him to drop down to the ground, lifeless.
Because while it was an unexpected event, there was someone who had somehow predicted the way things turned out.
Klaus breathed out a laugh. "She was right." And they turned to see the source of the knife.
Rita still struggled to stay upright, but she was kneeling and her hand was covered in her own blood after taking the knife that had been used to stab her earlier and throwing it with all the strength she could muster up. She breathed heavily, the adrenaline of all the events had run out and the exhaustion from being stabbed and putting the place on 'lockdown' was taking a toll on her, adding to the aftereffects of what the machine had done.
Luther could see that she was slowly slipping again, and starting to lean more on Echo, who had never once left her side. Before he could step forward to help, Rita weakly turned her head to Abhijat and spoke loudly enough so they could all hear.
"Can you handle this for me, Abby? I think I'm gonna go take a nap right here."
And then Rita's eyes closed as she slumped like dead weight, unresponsive to the sound of voices calling out her name.
It's been three days and they still haven't left, much to Five's dismay. But he did understand, and it wasn't proving to be a particularly bad decision.
After the incident, Vanya had vehemently declared that she wouldn't be leaving until Rita has at least woken up. By the way he kept looking over with worried glances, it was clear Klaus was going to argue for the same point as well. Surprisingly, Diego also sided with them to stay first and see exactly how things are going to go for this other alternate universe they've landed in. (Maybe it's because Lila Pitts Hargreeves is here, or maybe it's because he couldn't solve the whole JFK assassination back then and this is some closure. Who knows? Certainly not Diego.) Allison was easily convinced to stay when Vanya started making her argument for it. After that, Luther pretty much just agreed and helped out someone who got injured from the explosion.
Five grumbled against it, but it was him versus everyone else. He isn't leaving without them now. And this is turning out to be quite an educational trip anyway.
"You're not gonna think that your finger is being sliced." Other-Five clarified with a raised eyebrow. "That's gonna hurt like a bitch. Just picture your fingertip appearing a few inches away. No pain needed."
Five huffed as his counterpart motioned for him to try it. They were standing out in the garden area with a few other people scattered about, minding their own business. It might have been better to practice new skills alone in a quiet place, but everywhere in the stupid mansion is pretty open for sudden interruptions.
When they brought everyone down from the moon, the place has been the most crowded Five has ever seen it.
"No, see, don't picture it attached to you." Other-Five, or Daniel as Five has taken to calling him just to annoy him. "Just the fingertip."
"So the bone inside… We'll be able to see it?" Luther had been standing by the side, watching over Five learning this new skill. He had a concerned look on his face that looked like he was close to just dragging Five to take a short break for his sake.
"Yeah, pretty much. That reminds me!" Daniel split his hand from his arm, letting it appear a few inches away from him with the bones and blood showing to his audience (Luther turned away to compose himself for a second). "You also have to make sure you don't bleed out doing it. Imagine putting a stopper to block the blood from coming out."
"Five! Do you have a first aid kit?" Other-Allison shouted from one of the windows. "If you let Young Little You bleed to death after all the shit she went through making sure they stay alive, Rita's gonna murder you when she wakes up!"
"We're good, shut up!" He replied. At the same time Five yelled back, "I'm technically older than all of you!"
Luther stepped forward. "Are you sure this is safe?"
Other-Five shrugged. "It's how Zero and I did it. We were testing out possible ways to use my powers and she suggested this when she read about splinching in Harry Potter."
"Why don't I just teach you time travelling?" Five huffed and placed his hands in his pockets, seeming to be done for the day. "I'm not exactly sure if I even what to learn how to do this."
"I don't believe in nor particularly care for time travelling, and I personally think it's a stupid, high-risk decision to even learn how to do it." Other-Five tilted his head to the academy, motioning for him and Luther to follow. "Partial jumping is a useful skill. Recon is easy and much more subtle when you can separate your eyes from your entire body."
"Oh no." Luther shook his head with a grimace. "No, don't do that. We'd see your empty eye sockets."
"Ah." Five grinned in response. "Just for that, I'm more motivated to learn it."
The sound of knocking on wood brought their attention to the second floor where Alex was. Alex stayed in the form of an 8-year old child with long blonde curls, and wore a bright blue shirt that brought out the color of their eyes.
"Hey," they smiled when they caught their attention. "She's awake."
It's not really surprising that there was a line at the door by the time Vanya heard of the news. It's not surprising, but it was really heartwarming. Still, the line wasn't exactly as long as it should have been. There's a reason that a whole bunch of people couldn't go despite really wanting to.
It took several trips to bring everyone down from the moon through the Televator, but they did it. Or rather, they were somehow involved in it. Vanya's pretty sure the Umbrella Academy were barely any help, with the Sparrow Academy and Abhijat leading the process, except for aiding those injured from the sudden explosion.
(She also thought that they were just being a bother and was preparing to tell her siblings she'd changed her mind and that they should just go, but other-Klaus had pulled her aside for a second and told her that it would be better to stay. No further explanation. A trait seemingly existent in all Klauses she'd met so far.
Maybe she should have told her siblings about that short one minute, one-sided conversation because what if they were planning on locking them up again? (Sure, it hasn't happened… Yet.) But it doesn't seem like there's any bad intentions behind it. So, no. She didn't tell them.)
Unexpectedly, with the sudden change in atmosphere for the people trapped in the hotel, a lot of them had gotten sick within a few hours.
There was a bit of a fight at first when people started coughing. Hera, the lovely and terrifying woman who had stabbed Rita, suddenly brought up this theory that they were being poisoned by the Sparrows since they got out. Her crew (Madeline, Baz, and Cody) were quick to support her, and started convincing others to side with them. Luckily, Abhijat was a trusted person on their side and provided them with the analysis he came up with, which Al (also, apparently, a trusted genius in the hotel prison) backed up. Yes, in the moon, they were breathing in oxygen that Reginald (by the way, what the fuck: Reginald Hargreeves is an alien — another thing she hadn't exactly wrapped her head around yet) had supplied for them, but Abhijat clarified that that oxygen was clean and filtered. Almost everyone getting sick from the polluted air that actually exists on Earth was an unfortunate situation that no one had expected due to the blinding excitement of just getting everyone out.
Some bounced back easily enough after receiving some shots that Lila quickly came up with. They learned that she was their second legit doctor in the family who tends to be the one helping Rita and Pogo patch the Sparrows up post-missions.
One of the few that got back on their feet easy enough was the man who caused the explosion (Cody) and the woman who tried to harm Echo by draining her life by touching her skin, which she could apparently do (Madeline). The other two in their little clique (as Klaus would call them) were still in one of the many rooms the Academy has, waiting for the vaccine to kick in.
Cody and Madeline exited out of the room Rita had been in for the past few days. From their spot outside the door, Vanya and her siblings slightly heard their voices apologizing to Rita and Rita's own voice replying in a soft tone a few minutes ago. Cody left the room sniffling and rubbing his eyes while Madeline pulled him close to her side to comfort him as they walked away.
A knock on the door called their attention, and they saw Echo leaning on the door and inviting them in with a motion of her hand. "Ready to see them." She greeted with a smile, echoing what Rita must have said.
Echo had fought against anyone who tried convincing her to rest in one of the many bedrooms, and planted herself firmly at Rita's side while she recovered. She had a slight fever on the first day, but after Lila's vaccine had been administered, Echo quickly got better within a few hours. Cured by medicine, sheer will, and stubbornness.
As soon as they entered, Echo led them to Rita's bedside where she automatically sat herself on the armchair that was evidently dragged closer to the bed. Apart from them, other-Ben and other-Vanya were on the side of the room, resting on the small couch there and very obviously keeping an eye on Rita and all the visitors she might have, including the Umbrella Academy members as they shuffled in.
"Sorry to say this because I know you want to go home, but I'm glad you all haven't left yet." Rita smiled weakly at them, her voice also betraying how tired she feels. Echo rolled her eyes and shook her head fondly at the exhausted tone, but only brought a glass of water closer for Rita to take a small sip from.
Allison frowned. "If you're feeling a bit tired, we could talk another time. We saw that a bunch of other people already visited you before us. It could be a bit draining since you're still recovering to talk with that many people."
"Please," other-Ben muttered from the back of the room, "I beg you to convince her."
"Oh, shush." Rita waved off their concerns, albeit quite unsuccessfully because she looked like she was struggling to even stay awake. "This is important. I need to talk to you all, especially since it seems like you postponed your return just to wait for me to wake up."
Klaus shrugged. "The Albert Einstein fanatic said the calculations would just be slightly adjusted anyway, so this seems like the least we can do. You did a lot for us."
She breathed out a laugh. "I was your prison guard."
"A prison guard who helped us escape."
"You're going through a terrible case of Stockholm syndrome, I think."
"Ehh, maybe I am. You're the psychologist between the two of us." Klaus winked at her and smiled at the smooth-flowing conversation that had become familiar in the past few months.
"Are you feeling better?" Vanya asked, eyebrows furrowed. "I mean, obviously you're still on bed rest, but you're going to get better, right?"
Rita smiled at her tone of concern. "Yes. Just the whole machine thing was unexpected. Didn't even know he had that."
"What was it?" Luther recalled the huge megaphone-like machine that other-Pogo held and other-Vanya destroyed. "It was like your powers."
"That bastard was keeping record of my powers then duplicating them in a separate lab and I didn't even realize." She groaned, pressing the palm of her hands to her eyes. "I can't believe I didn't even realize."
"None of us did." Other-Vanya interrupted before shooting a glare to the woman lying on the bed. "Though maybe we could have worked this all out if you'd been more honest with us."
"Vanya..." Rita whined, dragging out the last syllable. "I told you, he was monitoring you. What if he found out about everything and I lose all my progress? We talked about this already."
"We talked about this already." Echo repeated in a firm tone, meeting other-Vanya's gaze with no fear, and signaling for them to let Rita continue with the conversation she wants to have. Other-Vanya raised her arms in surrender and Rita sent Echo a grateful look.
"Anyway, the thing I wanted to ask." Rita met each of their eyes before stopping at Five. "Would you all mind so terribly if you waited until I was better before leaving?"
"Why?" Five sighed, already knowing what they're decision would be but asking anyway. "Why do we need to stay?"
Rita shrugged. "Because."
"I get it." Klaus declared with no hesitation. "Let's stay here longer."
"I'd like to get back, though." Allison interrupted with a sad smile. "I... I haven't seen Claire in years."
"Oh shit, forgot about that." Rita winced. "But I promise it's not going to take long. At least two days, at most a week? I honestly feel better already."
"If you get out of that bed, I'm fucking knocking you out." Other-Ben warned when Rita tried to stand up to prove her point. "Test me, Rita. You haven't made it back into my good books yet, with the whole stunt you pulled."
She rolled her eyes in response. "Benny, I'm a permanent character in your good books. Can't get rid of me there." She turned back to Allison. "You remember Mariella? And Peter? They might need your help in the parental department."
"Is she pregnant?"
"No, she already gave birth. Two years ago, almost three."
Other-Vanya stood up, looking concerned. "We didn't recover any children from the moon. Alex in their child form doesn't count."
"Yeah, of course not." Rita shot them all a look. "You think I'd leave an infant there? Where Reggie could have gotten his stupid alien hands on her?"
"Too soon." Other-Ben shook his head at the mention of 'alien'.
"No, it's not! I've been telling you all that I thought he's an alien for years." Rita weakly gestured at the Umbrella Academy members. The constant talking was proving to really take a toll on her, but she pointed a finger at Diego surely. "I even told them about it before we used the Televator. Isn't that right, Diego? Tell him."
"She's right." Diego nodded. "Just to add, I think he might have also killed JFK." He might have said a bit more but Five roughly nudged at him to shut up about the conspiracy theory they have heard for hundreds of times.
Before Rita could respond to Diego's theory, other-Vanya waved her hand. "Wait, no, stop. Out of topic. Where's the kid?"
"She's on her way here with the caregiver I hired." Rita closed her eyes and smiled. "Jean's really adorable. Everyone here is going to love her."
"Have you been raising a child alone?" Other-Vanya's voice raised slightly.
Rita opened her eyes and looked confused. "I just told you I hired a caregiver. And I try my best to make sure she know her parents. I've taken her to visit Mariella and Peter a bunch of times when you all have international cases to handle with Reggie. They'd really appreciate a bit of Allison's help about parenting and everything since they barely got the chance to." She said as her eyes trailed to Allison, pleading.
"The secrets you keep." Other-Ben shook his head.
"The secrets I've kept." Rita emphasized on the last word with a smile. "They're all out in the open now. But, back to the point I was trying to make, cause I feel the energy draining out of me the more I talk. Stay, learn more about your powers from these idiots," Rita nodded her head to the direction of the Sparrows, "get to know people, help out with the others who apparently got sick, explore the city, play spot the difference, take a break. Do whatever honestly, just give me a few days."
They watched silently as her words trailed off to be barely heard and her eyes slowly shut close before they could even answer. Five sighed and looked away, waiting for one of his siblings to make the final decision that he knew was already made since earlier despite slight hesitation. After all, he's not exactly opposed to learning more about his powers in a different point of view, and he's sure his sibling would benefit from it too.
Vanya broke the silence. "We're staying, right?"
"It's just a few more days." Luther shrugged. He's been enjoying walking around the mansion, a mirror of the only place he's ever called home, and seeing it full of people, albeit some were sick in bed. It just feels weird and sad, but somehow warming that the place looks lively in a way that he's never seen it.
"And how could you say no to someone who pretty much passed out trying so hard to convince us." Klaus chuckled as he approached Rita's bedside and patted her hand twice before placing his hands back in his pocket. The ghost of some old man that Klaus had been trying to ignore finally disappeared. "Okay, red hair. We'll stay."
"Are you kidding me?" Diego deadpanned as they stood at the green grass of the garden. "We stay for three extra days and she isn't even here to say goodbye?"
"It's not like we're lacking people." Five grumbled, kicking a pebble away as they waited. "If anything, there's too many."
"This?" Klaus snorted. "This isn't enough." He grinned and waved at the people watching them from the windows, laughing as they excitedly waved back. They probably would have chosen to surround them in the garden, but Al had said that the teleporting they were going to do would need a lot of space and it's better to keep everyone out of the way. They've already said goodbye to the few they've gotten close to in the past days anyway. "Oh, I remember Destiny's Children. The good old days."
"Terrible name, by the way." Allison shook her head fondly. She waved one last time to Peter and Mariella who held their little girl in her arms. Her short time with them made her look forward to seeing Claire again and maybe getting the chance to be able to be a good mother.
"Eh," Luther shrugged. "I thought it was funny."
"She's here." Vanya stopped the conversation and nodded to the direction of the mansion. Walking towards them was the Sparrow Academy members.
Other Number Six, other-Klaus, trailed at the back of the group with other/older-Five, also known as Daniel. Other-Klaus seemed to be much more at ease this time, maybe with the lack of ghost-seeing and any secret undercover alien in their house. He waved at Klaus coolly, a sign of how close they've become over the past few days. Not that they were really close now, but there was an unplanned open session, alternate universal Hargreeves Children Support Group meeting the other night when everyone went out to gather at the garden and rant about things as drinks and food were passed around, to the delight of other-Mom. Everyone got a bit closer to their dopplegangers that night.
Daniel (other-Five) rolled his eyes as he watched other-Klaus moved to play some tricks on other-Lila, who was just confidently striding across the garden. When other-Lila turned and tried to hit Klaus as he laughed, Daniel tugged at both of their hairs with his disconnected hands. The entire fiasco turned to them trying to get a hit on each other, all powers allowed, until other-Allison stood back with a disapproving glare and sent some choice words. Allison herself can't hear what it was, but she's sure her counterpart didn't need to rumor them to listen.
"That's right, Allison." Other-Vanya agreed as she turned and glared at the other three. "You don't behave yourselves, I'll make you."
"You're not the boss of us!" Other-Klaus shouted and stuck out his tongue. Much like a child.
"Shut up." Other-Ben drawled from Rita's side, not even bothering to look back at them.
"Yessir!" Lila exclaimed, saluting with two fingers and laughing when other-Klaus did it with her.
Rita shook her head when she reached the Umbrella Academy members with Echo holding her hand beside her and shot them a look. "The chaos of these children, honestly. It's like running a daycare or something." She glanced at them behind her and exchanged knowing smiles with other-Vanya. "What would you lot do without me?"
"We'd survive just fine." Other-Ben replied instead, looking at the others watching through the windows. "I'll look after them."
Rita smiled softly at his words, her eyes squinted at him but he refused to meet her eye. "You know what? That does make me feel better."
"Where are you planning to go?" Luther interrupted, hearing the implications of their conversation. "Doesn't everyone here need you now more than ever?"
She shrugged. "They've had me since I was ten," she gestured to the Sparrows, "I've been with the rest a year after that." Her eyes scanned the windows. "I guess it's time to see if they could all learn to live without me for a while. Or, a much more interesting take, if I could live without them for a while."
"Why don't you go with us?" Klaus gasped at his thought. "Ooh, that would be so much fun!"
"That's incredible." Rita laughed in surprise. "What a great idea! Let's do it."
Klaus paused and blinked. "Wait, seriously?" And he grinned again when Rita just nodded enthusiastically. "Fuck yeah!"
"You're really going with us?" Vanya asked incredulously. "Just because Klaus asked?"
"Oh, no. It was my original plan after we all survived from the moon prison situation." Rita looped her arm around Echo's. "I decided to go with you to your world, Echo said I can't leave without her, and Albert's going with us as our ride!" She grinned once more. "Al said he's good to plan some trips back here we can spend every other month or something at each universe for fun."
"But why?" Five asked, unable to accept that there's not agenda behind it.
"For starters, to prevent the apocalypse." Rita caught Vanya's eye. "There's probably no one better than me to help you train."
"Yes." Vanya nodded immediately, not even realizing she had already agreed. "Absolutely. We need to stop this thing from happening again. Forever."
"Training's open to the rest of you." She narrowed her eyes at each of them. "You can't afford me, honestly, but I'll do it for free if you let us live in the academy." Her voice took on a teasing tone.
"Done deal." Klaus replied.
Luther furrowed his eyebrows at the quick response. "You don't even live there anymore, why do you get a say?"
"What makes you think I don't live there?" Klaus shook his head. "Where are you gonna make me sleep, Luther?"
"I'm also planning to go check on your side of the moon. Help you figure out the spot the difference answers." Rita breathed in deeply. "It's best to check it out instead of having everything blow up in your faces at another day, apocalypse-style, then where would you be?"
"Are we leaving or what?" Five asked the group, not really bothering to argue anymore. "We've been here too long already."
"Ah, hello, yes." Al interrupted, practically buzzing with excitement. "We can leave as soon as you are all ready. Imagine a whole new world of science right at my fingertips. Of course, some would probably remain the same, but what if there's advancements in yours that hasn't been explored here?"
"Don't get your hopes up." Diego shrugged as he moved to follow the circle they were forming upon Al's instructions.
Five and Luther both tuned out Al's rants about the endless possibilities when other-Ben had sneaked up behind them. Rita was busy saying her final goodbyes to the rest of the Sparrows. Everything was honestly moving so quickly after the announcement that she was going with them, but the lack of surprise from the others showed that this was a discussion they've had at their own time.
"She's gonna take care of you." He muttered to them as they watched Rita moving to hug each one of the Sparrow Academy members. "It's probably going to feel weird but she just has that instinct to take care of people. Don't worry, she knows not to overstep any boundaries. I just need you to make sure she's fine as well."
Five's gaze moved to someone else. "I think Echo's got that covered."
Other-Ben tilted his head in acknowledgment. "Yes, but Echo relies on her a lot too. Plus it's your world she's entering."
"We'll keep her safe." Luther nodded.
Other-Number One paused at his counterpart's words. "Thanks. But also, don't block her from doing things. She knows how to handle herself. If she finds out you're overprotecting her on my word, she's going to murder all of us."
Luther snorted at the slight panic in his voice. "Right. Got it."
"Ready?" Rita's voice asked when she and Echo took their place between Klaus and Allison. "Bye, everyone! Don't get into any trouble and listen to Alex!" She waved to the others in the windows. The rest of the Sparrows had moved back to the building and watched them from the door.
"That's fucking right! Tell them, Rita!" Alex, who now took on the form of a tall, lanky teenager, had half of their body out the window as they shook their hands to emphasize their point. "You all better listen to me!"
"Hold hands please." Al nearly squealed as he got everyone in a circle. On Al's right side was Diego, then Five, then Luther, then Allison, then Echo and Rita, followed by Klaus and Vanya who stood on Al's left. Nine of them were ready to leave. "Upon calculations, which has been quadruple checked, we should find ourselves at the point you've all agreed to be the best to return to. Do not let go - I don't know what terrible thing would happen if you did, just don't." He breathed out deeply to calm himself down.
"Three."
This is it. They're going back.
"Two."
No matter how terrible it's been locked up for a while, they've had conversations and revelations, apologies and explanations. The Hargreeves Children Support Group was really effective. They felt more like a family than they've ever felt throughout their entire life.
"One."
They're all still together and everything was going to be fine now. It's been quadruple checked.
"Zero."
And that's really all they wanted, isn't it?