Chapter Text
When Allison got off the plane she saw that she had three missed calls from Diego. With a sigh, she called him back.
“Did you find him?” Diego demanded.
“I just got off the plane.”
“Then why did you call me?!”
“You called me.”
“I knew I should have gone with you,” Diego said. “Look, I can still book a flight-”
“Don’t you dare,” Allison said. “Listen, I know what these people are like. They judge parents on outward appearances-”
“He’s our brother,” Diego said. “He belongs with us-”
“Diego, we’re not blood related,” Allison said. “And we’ll have a hard enough time confirming his identity because of the whole… you know.”
“He’ll just escape anyway,” Diego said. “You just need to find him and he’ll teleport you both outta there.”
Allison had a feeling it wouldn’t be that simple.
“I’m hanging up,” she said. “I’ll let you know when I’ve got him.”
It wasn’t quite an orphanage. They were calling it a “Shelter for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth.”
“It’s just a temporary accommodation.” A middle aged latino woman was guiding Allison through the building. “A pit stop where the kids who are transitioning through the system can wait for potential relatives to claim them. Or where they wait to be put into the foster system.”
The walls were painted in cheerful yellows and light greens, like one of those dentist offices that tried to distract from the discomfort that was inevitably ahead. Each door had a large window installed and Allison peeked through each one they walked past, eager to spot Five.
“I’m really glad you give relatives a chance to be reunited with their kids,” Allison said. “I’m sure it means a lot to them.”
The woman led Allison out of the hallway of doors and into a more open lobby. This one was filled with cubicles, each manned by harried looking men and women.
“Oh yes,” the woman said. “Though we have to be careful. Sometimes these relatives are the very same abusers that kicked their kid out onto the streets in the first place. It becomes this whole cycle of… well, you know.”
Allison didn’t know, but she nodded sympathetically. The woman finally sat down at a little desk and gestured to the chair on the other side. Allison sat across from her.
“Or sometimes their child ran away from home for a very good reason,” the woman continued. “So, normally, we have a careful vetting process before we release any of these kids into someone’s custody.”
The woman regarded her sternly, hands clasped together on top of her desk.
“Of course!” Allison said. “The safety of the child should come first.”
“Of course,” the woman agreed. “But I hope you'll understand that we were a bit baffled by this particular case. We won't be able to help you.”
The woman produced a folder from her desk and opened it to reveal a mugshot of a disgruntled looking Five. Allison breathed a little easier, seeing that photo.
“I know we don't look related," Allison said. "But we were adopted by Reginald Hargreeves. I don't know if you've heard of us-"
“The Umbrella Academy, yes,” the woman said. “But that was in the 90s. Did Mr. Hargreeves continue collecting children after that initial… inaugural class?”
“It’s complicated,” Allison said. “But I have a birth certificate for Five that I was hoping we could get verified. You see, miss… what did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t.”
Allison maintained her smile, holding careful eye contact.
The woman sighed. “I’m Mrs. Ordonez.”
Allison rewarded the info with what she hoped was a softer, but bittersweet, smile.
“Mrs. Ordonez,” Allison said. “My brother has a unique ability.”
She dug in her purse for the folder of documents that she and Luther had been able to scrounge up from Dad’s study. It held Five’s birth certificate, photos of the Academy, newspaper documentation of Five’s disappearance in 2002, and photocopies of key pages in one of Dad’s journals. The ones that went into his theories about Five’s time traveling potential.
Allison placed everything on the desk, but the woman made no move to look at any of it.
“We’re very aware of the boy’s abilities,” Mrs. Ordonez said. “In fact, it’s because of those abilities that he is no longer here.”
Allison swallowed. “He ran away?”
“Yes, several times.”
Allison nodded tersely. “I see.”
Mrs. Ordonez leaned forward. “The boy was determined to find you. He claimed you were his sister.”
“I am his sister.”
“Perhaps that’s true,” Mrs. Ordonez said. “But we have a system in place for a reason. Three times, that boy vanished from our facility. And three times he was inevitably brought in by a concerned police officer. Well, that third time was the last straw.”
Allison stared at the woman. “What are you saying?”
“There’s a different organization for kids like him. They took him.”
Allison gritted her teeth. “Kids like him?”
“Children with powers, Miss Hargreeves.”
The implication was clear, but Allison could only sit there with her mouth hanging open. Children with powers? What children?
After they had discovered Lila, Allison had beat herself up for being so surprised. Of course there were other people like them. There were forty three women who had given birth on October 1, 1989. An extraordinary- and noticeably immaculate - conception.
Why did she keep forgetting that?
“Miss Hargreeves.” The woman’s gaze had softened. “I’m afraid you’ll have to get in contact with the Institute for Exceptional Youth. The boy is no longer in our custody.”
“The Institute for Exceptional Youth?”
Mrs. Ordonez gave her a business card where the name was emblazoned in electric blue, the letters bold and stylized.
The back of the card had a list of phone numbers packed in tightly on top of each other. The font for each number was so small Allison had to squint to make it out.
“I wish you had gotten here sooner,” Mrs. Ordonez said. “The Institute has a bit of a reputation, you see.”
“What kind of reputation?”
“Perhaps they take inspiration from the Umbrella Academy,” Mrs. Ordonez said. “They like to think of themselves as a training facility. Molding the youth into heroes, or what have you.”
Allison stared at the woman with wide eyes as the implication sank in.
“So they prefer to hold onto their charges,” Mrs. Ordonez continued. “Even when a relative gains custody, they’ll insist the child remain enrolled in the program. For the safety of the public, they claim.”
“That can’t be legal,” Allison said.
“It’s an ongoing battle,” Mrs. Ordonez said. “They’re taken to court constantly, accused of being inhumane. Child labor laws get invoked, etcetera, etcetera. It was only recently that they lost a lawsuit against one of the parents. That’s where it was worked out that some of these children could live with their families, but only on the condition of continued participation in the program.”
“But they can’t force something like that!”
Mrs. Ordonez shrugged. “Like I said, it’s an ongoing battle.”
Allison nodded to herself. “Alright then.”
She gathered all the documents back into her purse and stood.
“Thank you for your time, Mrs. Ordonez.”
“Good luck, Miss. Hargreeves.”
It had been a long time since she had used so many Rumors in a row, but Allison consoled herself with the knowledge that this was for a good cause. She couldn’t let these predatory bureaucrats bury her under red tape.
“Took you long enough,” Five snapped, when he spotted her. “Do you have any idea what this place is like ?!”
He pointedly shook his wrists at her, displaying a pair of silver and blue cuffs.
“Do those do what I think they do?” Allison said.
“Cancel out my spatial jumps?” Five huffed. “ Yes .”
“I’m so sorry, Five.”
“Whatever. You’re here now, so let’s go.”
She nodded. “The man who led me in thinks I work for the Institute,” Allison said. “I told him I’m escorting you to their sister organization in New York.”
Five scowled. “I can’t go back to New York.”
“But-”
“I cannot go back to New York,” Five repeated. “My doppelgänger is there.”
“Then where do you want to go?” Allison said. “Because you can’t stay in L.A. They’ve got your mugshot.”
“I’ll think of something,” Five said. “Just get me out of these damn cuffs.”
“We need to be strategic about this,” Allison said. “My Rumors have limits.”
“Get me out of these cuffs right now,” Five growled. “Or so help me-”
“Everything alright in here?” The man she had rumored, a Mr. Ascot, poked his head into the room to frown sternly at Five. “This boy giving you any trouble, ma’am?”
Allison sighed. “He’s no trouble at all, Mr. Ascot. In fact, I heard a rumor he was so well behaved that we could trust him without restraints.”
Mr. Ascot nodded and produced a slick looking device from his uniform pocket. “Of course ma’am,” he said. “We reward good behavior around here.”
The device looked more like a USB than a key, but it fit perfectly into the little slots on Five’s cuffs. They popped open.
“And I heard a rumor you had more patience,” Allison said to Five. “I need you to cooperate with me, alright?”
She felt a pang of guilt as she watched Five’s eyes cloud over, but she shook it off. She’d worded the Rumor ambiguously, at least. That would leave him with some freedom.
“Alright,” Five said. “What’s your plan?”
“We’re going to walk out of here,” Allison said. “Calmly, with Mr. Ascot.”
Five nodded.
“He really is well behaved,” Mr. Ascot said.
“Do you have money?” Five said. “I’m going to need some money. And a phone. Where’s your phone? I need to call Luther.”
Allison was driving them toward her apartment. She knew Five wouldn’t be able to stay there for long, but she didn’t like how skinny he was looking. There were bags under his eyes and red welts on his wrists. She wanted to get a decent meal in him, maybe some sleeping pills, and let him rest before he went… wherever he was going.
“What happened to your half of the inheritance?” Allison said.
“I left my wallet at home,” Five said. “I left in a bit of a hurry alright? When I saw that doppelganger-”
“Would you stop calling him that?” Allison said. “He’s you. He’s a part of you.”
“He was wandering around like a fool,” Five said. “I drove right past him. He was on the sidewalk walking in the wrong fucking direction, as lost and confused as a-”
“Five,” Allison said. “What does this all mean for you? We were worried that…”
That you no longer existed. She decided those words were better left unsaid.
“I don’t know,” Five said. “My past is incompatible with his future.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know, I said!”
“So, what, you’re never going back to New York?” Allison said. “You’re just going to wander around on your own?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
Allison adjusted her grip on the steering wheel, glad that she didn’t have to look at him. She could feel her throat tightening, tears threatening to break through her composure. Five was in such a vulnerable position, looking the way he did. Why hadn’t she noticed that before?
“I’m going with you,” Allison said. “We’ll leave together. Maybe we could settle somewhere in Arizona?”
“No.”
“Why not?!”
“You have Claire to worry about,” Five said. “You can’t just-”
“Shut up, Five!” Just like that, the damn was broken. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but Allison was determined to handle it with her usual grace. She took a deep breath and glared through the blur in her vision.
“Pull over,” Five said.
“I can still drive.”
She sighed, but did as he asked. He allowed them to sit in silence and she stared out her window and tried to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do with this mess.
When she’d gotten herself back under control, Allison wiped her eyes and turned to Five.
“Sorry.”
“I’ve always admired the way you handle it,” Five said.
“Handle what?”
He waved a hand at her face. “Your emotions. You maintain your dignity.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’m serious,” Five said. “Allison, you’ve never been a hysterical woman. I don’t know where you got that.”
She winced. He was referring to their last conversation.
“It drove me crazy,” Allison said. “When I thought that was the last time I would have seen you. The last thing I got to say to you!”
“Why would you think that?”
“Five, we thought you were dead.”
Five frowned thoughtfully.
“You disappeared!” Allison said. “The whole time travel thing, we weren’t sure if… well, if the younger Five was your replacement or something. Because we stopped the Apocalypse.”
“Ah,” Five nodded. “That would make sense.”
“Why didn’t you call us?” Allison said. “Why didn’t you tell us where you had gone?”
“I don’t have a cell phone.”
“I know,” Allison said. “But you could have borrowed a phone.”
“I don’t know the numbers,” Five said. “A gross oversight, on my part. I got complacent.”
She groaned.
“I’m sorry, alright?” Five said. “I’ll get a phone.”
She dug her own phone out of her pocket and handed it to him. “You need to call Diego.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I was going to start with Luther. I need him to-”
“Start with Diego,” she insisted.
“Alright.”
She couldn’t make out what Diego was saying, but she could hear his angry voice.
“I said I agree with you!” Five snapped into the phone. “Do you want me to scrawl ‘stupid’ on my forehead with a sharpie? Would that appease you?”
Allison laughed and Five scowled at her.
“Fine, you can buy me a phone,” Five said. “But it would be easier to just let me buy one myself. What, are you going to mail it to me?”
Five had tried to end the conversation several times, telling Diego that he needed to call the others, but Diego wouldn’t let him go until he’d gotten all the anger out of his system.
“Just stay in New York,” Five said. “I’m leaving soon anyway.”
The oven beeped and Allison eagerly donned oven mitts to retrieve their frozen pizza, practically salivating. She hadn’t realized how hungry she had gotten until she was unwrapping it from the plastic.
“No, I’m not going back,” Five said. “I can’t go back. Didn’t Luther explain the problem? Paradox Psychosis is a serious impairment.”
She cut the pizza into four large slices, dividing the pieces between two plates.
Five held the phone away from his ear, wincing. Allison chuckled as she made out the words “asshole” and “heart attack.”
They both looked at the phone, waiting for Diego to quiet. Then Five put it back to his ear. “Are you done?”
“Tell him you’ll call him back,” Allison said. “You need to eat something.”
Five nodded and rolled his eyes. Diego was still talking.
Then Five took a good look at the plate she'd put down in front of him. He raised his eyebrows.
She shrugged. “Claire likes pizza.”
“Listen, we can have a family meeting or something,” Five said, to Diego. “I’ll get on that computer thing with Allison. Explain the situation.”
Losing patience, Allison held a hand out for her phone. Five gave it to her.
“He’ll call you back,” Allison said. “We’re going to eat.”
“If he’s not coming back, why is he leaving?” Diego said. “Where the hell is he going?!”
“He’s not leaving yet, okay?” Allison said. “Like he said, we’ll have a family meeting and work something out.”
“Be ready on Zoom in one hour,” Diego said. “I’ll get everyone.”
“Okay,” she said. “Bye.”
“Wait!” Diego said. “Give the phone back to Five real quick.”
“Diego-”
“Just for a second!” Diego said. “I have to tell him something.”
Five had already taken a big bite out of his pizza slice. He tilted his head at her when she held the phone back out to him.
“He wants to say goodbye,” Allison said.
Five accepted the phone and listened. He swallowed his food and said, “Yeah, I love you too.”
Then he laughed. “You don’t have to sound so surprised.”
Allison smiled. Everything will be fine, she told herself. I’ll make sure of it.
“I knew there were more of us,” Luther said. “But I thought the others were all born at the same time. That it had started and ended with those forty three women.”
She and Five were settled in together on her couch, craning together towards her laptop. It was a tight squeeze, but they made it work.
“Evidently not,” Five said. “In any case, it has nothing to do with us.”
“Nothing to do with us?!” Diego said. “Those kids are being held prisoner!”
“Maybe it’s a good thing,” Klaus said. “Remember that wacko with the fire and ice powers?”
“I’m sorry, what?” Allison turned the laptop so she could get a better view. “I’ve been gone for all of two days!”
“That was a while ago,” Diego said. “And we handled it, Klaus.”
“There was this criminal with powers,” Klaus said. “Our age, probably. Or we assumed he was our age. Thought he was like Lila.”
“Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?” Five said.
“Because we handled it,” Diego growled. “Me and Luther. Since we’re the only ones in this family who still care about the general public!”
“I still think we should have brought it to the team,” Luther said. “I mean, the family.”
“Yes, you should have,” Allison said. “You told Klaus, but not me?”
“No point dwelling on a decision that's already been made,” Five said. “But tell me this: you said he had fire and ice powers? How did they work?”
“Um.” Vanya spoke up for the first time and Allison and Five both leaned toward the laptop’s speaker to hear her better. “Speaking of decisions that have already been made… are we going to talk about Detective Patch?”
“That’s right!” Diego said. “You went on a mission without us too, you little bastard!”
“You said we shouldn’t time travel, Five,” Luther said. “You said it was too dangerous. That the Apocalypse would always come back if we interfered with the past.”
Allison glanced at Five. He was frowning at the screen. “Speaking of time travel,” Five said. “Where’s my doppelganger?”
Allison winced. She hadn’t gotten around to explaining the younger Five’s temporary disappearance. They knew he’d be back. Or Ben insisted he would. And she’d thought things might get sticky if the older Five went back to the Academy only for his younger counterpart to reappear as soon as he got there.
“Don’t change the subject!” Klaus said.
On the screen Luther maintained a poker face. “Before we get into that, I just want to know why you lied about time travel.”
“I meant time travel was too dangerous for you, morons,” Five said. “It’s a delicate operation. When I worked for the Commission-”
“Here we go again,” Diego said. “Just cause you were this cutthroat assassin for a few years, you think you’re the only one who can play in the big leagues?”
“You don’t need to take everything so personally,” Allison said. “Besides, with the way we bumbled around in the sixties we’re lucky we dodged world war three.”
“Thanks to me undoing your mess for you, I might add,” Five said.
“Five,” Vanya said. “I’m only bringing it up because Ben was concerned.”
Allison held her breath, wondering how Five would respond. He tended to be more accommodating when it came to Ben.
Well, they all did.
“What was his concern?” Five finally said.
On the screen she watched everyone turn to Klaus. “Uh, Ben’s not here right now,” Klaus said.
“What?” Five said. “Where is he?”
“In the living room,” Klaus said. “Like, normally we’d have these little meetings in there, but he didn’t want us to be in the way for… uh.”
“Are we seriously doing this again?!” Vanya said. “We need to be honest with each other, you guys!”
Five nodded slowly. “That’s alright, Vanya. I think I can put together what must have happened.”
“We did it for Ben,” Luther said, sadly. “He didn’t want us to tell the other Five about… you know.”
“But he found out anyway,” Five said. “He’s gone?”
“It’s been nine days,” Luther said. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Five said. “It’s not your fault.”
“So Ben is camped out in the living room,” Klaus said. “Because he thinks Baby Five will show up in the same spot when he comes back.”
“Ben is right,” Five said. “But there’s no predicting when he’ll come back. Hmm."
"Does that mean you'll come home?" Diego said. "The younger you could be gone for years, right?"
"I suppose," Five said. "But I'd want to wait at least six months or so before I chance it."
"If that's the case, maybe you can stay here," Allison said. "As long as you stay out of trouble in the meantime…"
Five shrugged. "The Institute is a relatively young organization. Their infrastructure is sloppy."
"They sound scary though," Vanya said. "Especially with those handcuffs. What if they figure out how to nullify Allison's Rumors?"
"Then you'll rescue us both, Vanya." Five smirked. "They'd have a helluva time stopping you."
"You're our fucking tank, baby!" Klaus whooped. "The nukes to Allison's peace talks."
Vanya laughed, grinning sheepishly. "I guess I am, huh?"
"Regardless of all that, there's something more important at stake here," Five said. "I suppose it's high time I said this."
"You're killing me, Five," Klaus said. "Just spit it out!"
"Alright, I'll be blunt," Five said. "I'm going to save Ben."
Allison nodded. She knew he would as soon as she'd found out about Detective Patch.
"Before I go on," Five said. "Does anyone have a problem with that?"
Diego got so close to the camera Allison could see up his nose. "What's the plan?"
"Back up, Diego," Allison groaned. "That angle is not flattering."
He did so, glaring at her, then stoically repeated, "What's the plan?"
"I need the briefcases," Five said. "Both of them, preferably. I hate to think what my doppelganger would do if he got his hands on one."
"There were two of them?" Luther said. "I thought-"
"I got an extra one while I was saving the detective," Five said. "The one Klaus originally used to go gallivanting into the Vietnam War."
"Right, uh, so they're both in the wall?" Luther said. "Did you want me to break them out?"
Allison laughed. "You put them in a wall?"
"It's a secure location," Five grumbled. "And yes Luther, just tear the wall down. Or rather, the ceiling."
"The ceiling?" Luther said. "Which part of the ceiling?"
"The lowest section," Five said, he angled his arm at a slant demonstratively. "The slanting part of the ceiling."
"What, in your room?" Klaus said. "I thought you were gonna lock it up in Dad's safe or something."
Five ignored him. "Bring the briefcases here as soon as possible, alright Luther?"
Luther nodded. "I'll book a flight."
"I'm going too," Diego said.
"Fine, but I'm going to 2006 on my own," Five said.
"The hell you are!" Diego jabbed his finger at the laptop and accidentally set the camera back so that she and Five were staring at the ceiling.
"For the love of god," Allison said. "Someone get Diego away from the laptop!"
Klaus adjusted the angle, his lazy smirk coming into focus. "So I'll man the fort then?"
In the background Luther was holding up a struggling Diego, who kicked his legs in the air and shouted, "I'm going too dammit!"
"Listen to me, you meat headed sorry excuse for a knock off Batman," Five yelled. "I have been planning this rescue for six months and I am not about to let you charge in like a blind bull in heat-"
"Fuck you!" Diego said. "He's my brother too!"
"Calm down," Luther said.
"You calm down," Diego said. "I just… I just want to help!"
"A good officer knows when to stand down," Five said. "And a good hero would prioritize the wellbeing of those around him over his own wounded pride."
Wow, Allison thought. That speech was half decent, for something Five definitely just pulled out of his ass.
Diego stopped struggling and Luther tentatively set him on his feet.
"Fine!" Diego spat. He stomped out of their line of sight.
Allison let out a deep breath.
"I'm going after him," Luther said. "Sorry, just… yeah."
He made eye contact with her and Allison nodded. He nodded back and walked off screen.
Vanya and Klaus shared a look.
"So then I guess I'll just… I'll be on standby," Vanya said. "And if any of you guys mysteriously disappear, I'll ask after you with that institute place?"
Klaus laughed. "Wow, like you'll just politely ring their doorbell and ask if they've seen your missing siblings?"
Vanya chuckled. "Right, hmm. But I wouldn't want to start breaking stuff right away because what if they didn't kidnap my family?"
Allison grinned. "Maybe do some reconnaissance first."
"I'd send Ben in ahead of us," Klaus said. "If he finds you guys in handcuffs we know Vanya is free to explode on their asses."
"Or send in some other ghost," Five said. "Because if all goes well, Ben won't be able to walk through walls anymore."
"Right," Klaus said. "Darn, I'm gonna need a new right hand man."
"I'm sorry guys, but it's getting kind of late," Vanya said. "I have an early lesson scheduled tomorrow morning. Could we wrap the meeting up?"
"That's fine," Five said. "We've covered the important things."
"I just want to say, before we hang up," Allison said. "Can we agree not to keep anymore secrets? Please?"
"I didn't know about the fire and ice guy either," Vanya said, frowning at Klaus.
Klaus threw up his hands. "I only found out about it because Ben loves to gossip!"
Allison glared at him, "You could have passed it on to the rest of us!"
"But Diego said-"
"And you!" Allison waggled a finger at Five. "Why didn't you tell us about your plans for Ben to start with? This whole time I thought it was one of those things we'd just have to live with. You made it seem like-"
"You saw for yourself the way Diego reacted," Five said. "If I'd told any of you it would have created a whole other obstacle."
"Ouch," Klaus said.
"Whether you intended to or not," Five continued. "The fact of the matter is you've already proven yourselves ill equipped for the delicate work of corrections."
"Corrections?"
"That's what we called it at the Commission."
"Wasn't that the term for the assassinations?" Vanya said.
"Technically, yes," Five said. "But I'd always thought there could have been a better way to go about it. For instance, what if, instead of killing key figures we instead saved individuals who had died from unnatural causes? The effect would be similar."
"I'm waiting for the 'but' to come in," Klaus said. "There's always a but."
"But," Five said. "Human beings are too unpredictable. It's harder to quantify how the new person would change things. Easier and safer just to kill people."
"Anyway, you should have told us," Allison said. "That's all."
"Noted."
With that out of the way they said their goodbyes and ended the Zoom call.
Allison cleared her throat. "So I've got a room for Claire," she said. "She visits on the weekends now."
"She won't mind me borrowing her accommodations?"
"Of course not. Well, as long as you don't disturb Splash Unicorn Mountain." Allison chuckled at the inside joke.
Five tilted his head at her. "Right…"
God, she'd forgotten how awkward it was to be alone with Five. Allison leapt up and made a show of stretching. "We should get some sleep."
"Agreed."
"You need pajamas right?" Allison said. "I can lend you something."
"Yeah."
She led the way to Claire's bedroom and Five followed her with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
Then she opened the door with a sing songy little tada! and gestured at the unicorns stacked into a little pyramid in the corner.
"Like the Disney store," Claire had said. "But unicorns!"
Five glanced over the plushies and the room in general, taking in the Power Puff Girls wallpaper and galaxy bedspread.
"Thanks," he said. "For everything."
"What are sisters for?" Allison tapped her chin. "We should tell Luther to bring some clothes for you, shouldn't we? I'll text him."
"Good idea," Five said. "Listen, about Claire-"
"When this is all over, I want you to meet her," Allison said. "Before you go anywhere else. New York or Arizona or anywhere."
"Of course," Five said. "But-"
"Get some sleep, Five. You look exhausted."
Five sighed. "Alright."
She gave him an old T-shirt and some plaid pajama pants and wondered if he'd care that they were for women. They were the most gender neutral thing Allison owned, but she knew they were nothing like Vanya's clothes.
Vanya shopped in the men's section, didn't she?
Whatever he thought about it, Five accepted the clothes without another word and they went their separate ways for the night.
Alone in bed, Allison stared at the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling. Initially, she'd bought them for Claire's room, but there had been a bunch of extra stickers in the package. Rather than let them go to waste, Allison had decorated her own ceiling, too.
Claire had been pleased by the end result. "We're sleeping under the same sky, Mommy."
Then Claire had insisted Patrick buy the same package of glow in the dark stars to put in her bedroom at their house.
It was all very cute and Allison wished she could peacefully look at the stars and just think of her daughter. Be happy that they were back in each other's lives again.
But she couldn't stop thinking about that old fight with Five. Ever since Five had gone missing, she'd dwelled on it. And even though he was back now, it still nagged at her.
"Your family is my family," Five had said. "As much as you might prefer to keep both sides separated-"
At the time she had cut him off. Felt insulted, even.
But the more she'd thought about it, the more she had to admit that Five was right.
Allison had always liked the distance she'd put between herself and New York. And up until her marriage fell apart, she'd loved the life she had crafted for herself. She'd wanted to keep it safe. Untainted by the Umbrella Academy.
When they got back from the sixties Allison made a promise to herself. Family first.
Both families, but obviously she had to prioritize Claire.
Claire had already talked with Luther and Vanya over video chat numerous times, but Allison had hesitated to introduce her to anyone else. The rest of the family was full of belligerent men, she'd reasoned.
Well, and Klaus. But she didn't trust him to keep his language PG.
"You met her too, Five," Allison whispered into the dark. "You should have seen your face."
The thirteen year old Five had been adorably awkward when faced with a hyperactive eight year old. Claire had been more than impressed by his powers and wanted him to tell her about his favorite missions with the Academy.
But not long after that introductory conversation, little Five had disappeared. When Claire called back and asked to speak to him, Allison had lied to her daughter's face about how and why.
You're a hypocrite, Allison thought. No more secrets? Get real.
It wasn't too late to change things. But secrets were easier. Avoiding hard conversations was easier too.
So Allison tossed and turned in bed for hours, that night, and wished she was a better person.
"Five is back," Allison said. "The younger one, I mean. I just got off the phone with Klaus. He got back last night."
"Good to know." Five didn't even look up from his notebook. "And Luther?"
Five had been obsessively scribbling incomprehensible equations for days now. Allison knew it had something to do with Ben's rescue mission, but Five hadn't bothered to explain further than that.
"His flight leaves in two days," Allison said. "I already told you that."
"You said four days," Five said.
"Yeah," she said. "Two days ago."
"Mhm," Five said. "Good to know."
"Okay, stop," Allison said. "Put the pencil down. You need to eat something."
"In a minute."
"Now, Five."
He glared at her. "I don't think you understand how delicate the timeline is. If I don't do this right the world as we know it could collapse."
Allison put her hands on her hips. "You're a time traveler," she said. "It's not like you have a limited amount of time to get this done."
"Yes I do have a limited amount of time!" Five said. "My doppelganger complicates things. I need to act sooner than I had initially planned."
"How does he complicate things?"
"The anomaly will paint a target on my back," Five said. "A big old bulls eye, bleeding red!"
"And resurrecting people from the dead doesn't already do that?"
"Not as much, no." Five gripped his hair, glaring at the equations. "I knew it was possible, but so much time had passed that I thought the timeline had corrected for his existence. Or, per multiverse theory, I thought maybe the original post- apocalyptic 2019 still existed in a parallel universe. And he'd turn up there and leave us alone."
She'd never seen Five this stressed before. The bags under his eyes were getting worse and as he continued to scribble in his notebook she noticed his hand was shaking.
Allison gently plucked the pencil from his grip and he gasped, looking up at her as if she'd just murdered someone.
"I heard a rumor…"
It was sort of anti-climactic. Once Five got a hold of the briefcase he just adjusted the dials and took a few steps back from them. They watched him open the briefcase and disappear.
She made eye contact with Luther and thought he looked like he wanted to say something, but then Five reappeared.
"Wow!" Allison said. "You're back!"
Five smirked. "It's time travel. I wasn't going to make you wait."
"But where's Ben?" Luther said.
"He's at the Academy," Five said.
"Oh," Allison said. "Because he never died in the first place, right? So he was actually there this whole time, but alive?"
"No," Five said. "The briefcase can be as selective about location as it is about time. I just dropped him off at the Academy before coming back here."
"Oh…"
Luther looked as uncertain as she felt, at least. "So if I call Klaus right now he could give the phone to Ben? But like, a solid Ben?"
"Yes," Five said. "What are you two finding so hard to understand here?"
"It just feels so… unreal," Allison said.
"Well, get over it," Five said. "And get back to New York, both of you."
"But what about you?" Luther said.
"I'll stay here," Five said. "I can't get near my doppelganger, remember?"
"But don't you want to see Ben too?"
"I just saw him."
"I think what Luther means," Allison said. "Is that it would be a little sad to leave you out of the family reunion."
"Tough."
With that said, Five disappeared with a spatial jump. The only difference between it and the jumps he'd made with the briefcase was, well, he hadn't opened the briefcase.
"I really don't feel right about leaving Five alone here," Luther said. "Maybe I should stay to keep him company?"
"That would just pissed him off."
"I know, but-"
"Luther. Ben is alive."
He smiled at her. "I still don't believe it."
"Me neither!" She said. "We have to see it for ourselves."
"Okay, but what about the Institute?" Luther said. "They could capture Five again. They could hurt him."
"They're not some evil villains," Allison said. "I think they're more of an inconvenience than anything. Granted, I didn't exactly get a good look at their little boot camp. But I noticed they didn't bother to issue an Amber Alert when I busted Five out."
"Still," Luther said.
Allison leaned up on her tippy toes and grabbed Luther by the chin. "Ben is alive, Luther! Can we just be happy about that for a little while? And save all the other problems for later?"
Luther buckled under her persistence, like he always did. "We can head back to New York for a bit," he said. "But then we have to figure out what to do about this whole situation."
"Agreed," Allison said. "I'll buy the plane tickets."
And stock up the fridge with some pre-made meals, she thought. She didn't think Five knew how to cook.