Chapter Text
“So what, we have to stop the Apocalypse again? We just got here!”
Diego breaks the silence. They’d just arrived in this timeline, or rather returned, and now Five was saying they had to stop the Apocalypse again.
“ Technically ,” Five says, before they can all break out into yelling. “This is a week before the Apocalypse is supposed to happen in this timeline. But, unlike last time, we know what causes it.”
All heads turn to Viktor, who flushes bright red.
“So, to stop the Apocalypse, all we need to do is avoid making the same mistakes as before. Should be pretty simple.”
“Yeah, I, uh, won’t blow up the moon. Sorry about that,” Viktor mumbles.
“That’s the main concern, yes. We should go inside and talk through what to do,” Five says. They all follow him in through the doors.
Once they enter the main foyer, though, they’re interrupted.
“Children, did you hear— oh!” A familiar British accent greets them. Viktor spins around to locate the source, finding—
Pogo. Pogo, standing on the mezzanine. Because this is their original timeline, before Viktor killed him. Pogo is alive. And here. And clearly very confused.
“What’s going on? Master Five? Is that you? You’ve all—”
“Pogo, can you get Mom? We have some things to explain to you guys,” Five interrupts him. Pogo stares at him for a moment, clearly trying to figure out what exactly is going on, before nodding and slowly walking away.
“Shit, I forgot about Pogo,” Klaus says, clutching his chest. “How the fuck did I forget we had a talking chimp in our house?”
“A lot was going on,” Luther offers weakly.
Soon enough, Pogo returns, followed by Mom.
“Mom!” Diego chokes out, running towards her. She catches him easily, wrapping him in a hug. Viktor runs forward too, and soon everyone but Five is hugging Mom.
“My dear children! I’m so glad to see you!” She says brightly, happiness glowing in her eyes. It’s so genuine that it’s easy to forget she’s a robot. Perhaps Diego was right, when he said she was more than that. She looks so happy, holding them all gently and gazing at them with so much love Viktor has to look away. It’s like looking at the sun, the way she smiles at them with unfathomable happiness.
“Mom, it-it-it’s,” Diego stutters, tears shining in his eyes and threatening to spill over. Mom cups his face with a hand.
“Picture the word in your mind, dear,” She instructs, and that’s all it takes for Diego to break. He falls into her arms, clinging to her tightly and sobbing. The rest of them pull away, letting Diego have his moment. He’s lost so much recently. Mom rubs his back, comforting him the same way she did when they were young children. She’d pull them onto her lap and gently rub their back, murmuring assurances until Reginald would inevitably appear and demand they stop. But Dad isn't here anymore, and so Mom holds Diego until he pulls away.
“We need to talk,” Five says, ending the moment. “Shall we move to the sitting room?”
The family traipses into the living room, collapsing onto sofas and chairs. They’re all exhausted, and Viktor has to shake himself to prevent falling asleep on the couch. Mom sits on a chair with a smile, and Pogo stands next to a sofa.
“What’s going on?” Pogo asks.
“Five, can you just explain? I’m way too tired for this shit,” Diego says, slumping over.
“You think I’m not tired too, dipshit? I just traveled through time with all of you!”
“What?” Pogo asks, eyes widening.
“Right, you guys don’t know about that,” Klaus says, as if this is a perfectly normal occurrence. Which, at this point, it is, but not for Mom or Pogo.
“Okay, let’s start from the beginning.”
And then Five explains everything . He tells them that he spent 45 years in the Apocalypse and then the Commission. He tells them what the Commission is. He tells them about the first Apocalypse, about how they failed to stop it. How they know what Dad did to Viktor. That prompts Luther, of all people, to yell at Pogo alongside Diego for drugging Viktor and gaslighting him. Pogo apologizes, and Viktor waves him off. He doesn’t feel as hurt by it as he once did, having had five years to process it. Now it just feels like an old aching scar.
This also leads to Viktor coming out to them, since Five started off by using his current name which left Mom and Pogo confused as to who the hell he was talking about.
“Viktor causes the Apocalypse? Then we must stop this Viktor fellow!” Pogo had said. Klaus had started cackling, and Five had muttered ‘tried that’ under his breath.
“No, I’m Viktor,” He’d said. “I changed my name. I’m a man. I use he/him pronouns.”
“Oh Viktor, that is lovely news!” Mom had said, looking very pleased. He’d flushed. It always gave him a sense of gender euphoria to be validated like that, and Mom was so important to him. This was the first time an actual parental figure had accepted him.
“Thanks Mom.”
“What a wonderful name,” She’d murmured to herself. That made Viktor’s chest grow warm. Mom had been the one to pick out their names, and he’d worried a bit that changing it would be disrespecting her. Throwing away a gift she’d given him. But now he knew she approved, not just of his identity but his name, and that helped assuage his worries.
“Master Viktor, thank you for telling us,” Pogo had said, bowing his head. “But I must ask, when did this occur? You’ve changed so much since I last saw you. And what does this mean, you cause the Apocalypse?”
That was a delicate way of saying ‘you’ve literally gone through five years of transition in the past hour’.
Five then explained their adventure in the sixties, with the siblings randomly chipping in when he forgot to mention whatever they’d been doing. Pogo seemed to be slowly losing his mind when they mentioned meeting him as a baby, but just politely nodded for Five to continue. Klaus cut in to explain their meeting with the FBI, and Viktor broke the news that Ben had died. Again. Sort of. That news hit Mom and Pogo hard, with Mom’s smile fading as she learned yet again of the loss of her son. They brushed over it quickly, since mourning would only lengthen this discussion and should probably be done once the siblings weren’t in varying states of consciousness.
The story of Hotel Oblivion also came with the realization that it still existed in this timeline. Pogo said he’d help them deal with it, though Viktor didn’t know how one was supposed to deal with a rift in spacetime housed in an old hotel. At this point it was becoming clear that Five was exhausted, only hitting the major details instead of telling them all the events that had happened. Luther had also somehow managed to forget that he’d died. When Five mentioned that Reginald had killed him, he’d launched up from where he was slowly falling asleep in confusion.
Then, their final timeline. Five simply said that they’d been apart for five years, before delving into what had transpired that week. As he explained, Viktor found it odd how long ago it all seemed. Getting briefly kidnapped felt like it had happened ages ago, not just last week.
Once he got to explaining the defeat of the Cleanse, Viktor shook himself awake to help explain. Five had been describing what he could see, but it was clear that his vision had been masked by Viktor’s powers.
“I, uh, let my powers take over,” He says. Pogo looks unnerved by that, so he elaborates. “When I use my powers like that, it’s like they take over. It’s what caused the Apocalypse that first time. But this time, I guess they wanted to help? I don’t know, they just kinda feed off my emotions but take them to the extreme.”
“Wait, your powers took over? I couldn’t see what the hell was going on,” Klaus asks, eyes half closed.
“Yeah, they did. It was like back in the sixties, when I was in my head, only this time I was aware of what was going on.”
“You can just let your powers take over? ” Diego gawks, nearly falling off the chair he’s splayed over.
“I guess? They just kept playing the violin. They must have known what to do, because I had no clue what was going on, when they started sucking the durango particles towards us. I thought I was for sure gonna get infected. But then the durango just sort of… turned into marigold? Or just got destroyed, I don’t know,” His siblings nod for him to continue, all of them focusing on his explanation as much as they’re capable of.
“My power turned my clothes white,” He continues, gesturing at his bleached clothes, “Just like before. Same with my violin. I just kept taking in the durango, until Ben— the Cleanse was gone.”
Everyone goes silent. It dawns on Viktor that none of them could really see what was happening, not after the White Violin surrounded them with that glowing barrier. He should really explain the White Violin to them, but he’s tired. There’s also the matter of not knowing how they’ll react. It’s a part of him he’s kept hidden all his life, even without knowing, and he doesn’t feel comfortable telling them about it right now.
“Look, I’m tired. Can we unpack this later?” He says, before anyone can start asking questions. His siblings all reluctantly agree.
And with that, it’s back to Five with the timeline report!
He explains the events of the last few hours for them. It’s weird, trying to reconcile sitting in the living room of the Academy when just an hour ago he was in the same room, just a few timelines apart. Five explains the subways between timelines, how he navigated them back to this timeline and jumped them back. He looks at Pogo like he’s daring him to ask a question, and when he doesn’t, he plops down on the couch next to Viktor.
“Well, Master Five, thank you for… explaining that to us. We’re so glad you’re all back, safe and sound,” Pogo says, looking a bit lost.
“You children must be exhausted after all that!” Mom remarks, which is very accurate. Viktor feels like he could sleep for a week. Unfortunately, this is the week of the Apocalypse, so he’ll have to push that back. “All of you, up to bed! Make sure you’re down in time for breakfast!”
They all push themselves up, groaning and complaining about having to move. Diego has to shake Klaus awake, and then stop him from rolling onto the floor when he starts kicking his feet dramatically. Viktor stands up, and immediately gets spots in his eyes. He throws a hand out to steady himself. Before he loses his balance, however, two arms quickly slip under his knees and shoulders.
Luther picks him up in a bridal carry, and when Viktor opens his mouth to protest Luther just raises an eyebrow. Fair, considering he’d collapsed earlier. He rolls his eyes, but still lets Luther carry him up the stairs. He catches a glimpse of Pogo looking at the two inquisitively.
The biggest adjustment Pogo will have to make is the siblings having a better relationship, he realizes. It’s been so gradual for him, he didn’t even think not to let Luther carry him. He wouldn't have years ago, especially not after the basement. But Luther’s proven himself, and now Viktor trusts him completely.
“Oh shit, I forgot, your room…” Luther exclaims. Viktor has to take a moment to process. Of course. His room is long gone in this timeline, after Klaus tore down his wall once he moved out.
“Luther, why don’t you take Viktor to the guest room I set up?” Mom calls from down the hall. Thank god for her. Luther obeys, changing course to carry Viktor over to the guest room on the same floor.
He deposits him in the room, which is dark and dreary and hasn’t been occupied for years, if ever. Viktor’s not about to complain, though, so he climbs into the bed fully clothed. He bids Luther a quick goodnight, and is just about to conk out when—
“Viktor?” Five appears in the room. He’s already in his Umbrella Academy pajamas. “Are you okay?” Viktor raises his eyebrows, confused.
“Yeah? Why?”
“Just… just checking. After the whole thing, I didn’t have time to check on you.”
Ah. He’s worried. Five always worries, and though he hides it well, Viktor’s always been able to see right through him. Something like taking down the Cleanse alone? No wonder Five’s worried about him.
“I’m okay. Or at least, I will be after I sleep.”
Five nods, but lingers at the door like he’s trying to figure out what to say next. Viktor’s exhausted mind takes a moment to put things together, but he finally realizes that Five doesn’t want to go yet. As kids, he would blip to the infirmary whenever he could when someone was hurt. He needed visual affirmation that they were okay. The Apocalypse could have only worsened that, knowing they weren’t okay and being completely alone to deal with it.
“Wanna have a sleepover?” Viktor blurts out. Five looks startled, before rocking back and forth on his toes anxiously. “This room is too big for one person,” He adds, hoping that Five might be more inclined to agree if he thinks it’s Viktor he’s helping and not the other way around.
“Okay,” He says after a pause. He hesitantly walks over to the bed, then gingerly takes the empty right side. Viktor rolls over to give him more room. It’s a king size bed, anyway, so it’s not like either of them will be pressed for space. Not that Viktor cares, since the two used to have sleepovers on their single beds even once they were too big to reasonably fit on the bed together.
Five stops shuffling around, laying on his back like the old man he is. Viktor smiles, then gets himself comfortable.
With the mix of comfort and bone-deep exhaustion, he’s out like a light in seconds.