The sun was barely up, yet Elliot, Rachel, and Five were ready for the day. Rachel sipped some coffee from a mug in one hand and ate a banana from the other, all while leaning against the kitchen table. Five drank his own coffee, which was already almost gone.
"Anyone hear us last night?" he asked, quietly.
Rachel nodded her head toward Elliot's bedroom where Lila and Diego were sleeping.
"Lila. Not that I could focus on anything besides you, but she was lingering in the kitchen for a time."
Five smirked, acknowledging her words. She rolled her eyes as his ego inflated. He drained the last of his coffee and set it down in the sink.
"Hmm, well, I'm surprised you didn't wake up the neighborhood."
Rachel, who had just finished the last of her banana, threw the peel at Five. He chuckled and caught it, throwing it away for her.
"Oh, please! I just hope Lila doesn't approach me later about hiding the bishop…"
Five looked confused.
"Is that some sort of chess term?"
"Don't worry about it…really…"
An odd buzzing sounded from the living room where Elliot was eating his breakfast cereal.
"Hey, we got one!" he called out.
Rachel raised an eyebrow at Five who just turned into the living room. Placing the dregs of her coffee on the kitchen table, she followed her partner.
"Hey, one of those machines you asked for is going crazy."
"Which one?"
"It's the, uh, atmospheric radar."
"You asked for something like that?"
"I asked for a lot of things before you got here."
Elliot was seated in front of the table at the left side of the room from the kitchen. It was covered in all kinds of equipment and screens. As Five and Rachel leaned on either side of Elliot, there was a green screen that pinpointed an area that looked like a swirling storm.
"Good," Five noted.
"I don't get it. What are you tracking?" Elliot asked, "A hurricane? A storm front?"
"Sound waves," Five announced in triumph.
"Sound waves," Elliot repeated.
Rachel was just connecting the dots when Five grabbed her wrist and they appeared in a cornfield. The girl whistled as she looked around.
"Damn, Vanya…" she whispered.
They were standing in a circle of flattened cornstalks. In the very center was a small crater. Rachel spun around to look at Vanya's handiwork.
"Does this mean she created the first crop circle?" she asked Five.
"It's possible. Do you sense her?"
Rachel seemed to remember they had a matter at hand to deal with.
"Right, this way," she noted, moving off through a still standing portion of the cornfield.
The female treaded through the cornstalks gracefully while Five cursed and smacked his way after her. She couldn't help but smirk.
"If she runs off, its because you sound like an elephant," she told him quietly.
"This is just obnoxious. How the hell would I find her without you?"
"Count your lucky stars you don't have to know. Now, hush."
Rachel stepped out into an area of space among the cornstalks. Five stumbled out behind her with a scoff, fixing his blazer. He looked to his partner who grinned and tilted her head toward a portion of the plants around them. As he took the lead, Rachel followed after him. Vanya's huddled form could be seen just past the stalks. Five smiled as he parted the greenery to reveal her.
"Hi, Vanya."
The girl looked just as they remembered, only she was currently wearing a blue jacket, a blue plaid button down, and jeans. Confusion and fear swirled around her.
"Who are you?"
"I'm your brother," Five told her, as if he were speaking to a toddler being introduced to their sibling, "This is your best friend."
"I have a brother?" she asked, standing up, "And a best friend?"
Vanya was quite astonished. Five and Rachel exchanged glances. She clearly had amnesia if she didn't know them.
"Multiple brothers, in fact. Also, I'm older than I look," Rachel told her.
Five grew impatient.
"Look, you can either stay here and wait for the IKEA mafia to come back to kill you, or you can come with us."
He quickly began walking back the way they came. Rachel put a hand on her hip, feeling that Five could use a little more graciousness, but she just motioned for Vanya to go ahead of her so she could keep her in sight.
"Wh…Why are they trying to kill me?" Vanya asked, stumbling and stuttering after her sibling.
"'Cause you're not supposed to be here, Vanya."
The boy at least did a better job of sliding through the cornstalks, allowing Vanya to keep pace with him.
"In Dallas?"
"No. Here, in 1963."
As they stepped out into the clearing, Vanya's emotions shifted to that of awe.
"H-Holy sh-shit."
"Yeah, pretty wild, right? It's good to see your powers are still intact. Let's go."
The three walked back to the end of the field. Vanya noted that she had a car with her, so they were able to drive into town. On the way, Five refused to entertain any conversation that answered Vanya's questions, saying he needed more coffee before saying anything. Rachel instead took the time to talk about their friendship at least. It seemed to comfort Vanya to be told something about her past.
They found a diner between the cornfield and Morty's and stopped inside to talk. It was a narrow diner with quite the crowd. Luckily for them, the counter was empty of people. The three sat there, with Vanya between them. After Five ordered coffee for them all, Vanya looked at him.
"You gonna tell me what the hell's going on?"
Five turned toward his female companions.
"When you were a baby, you were bought by an eccentric billionaire."
Rachel stared into her coffee cup, shaking her head. He could never pull punches, not even for an amnesiac.
"He raised you in an elite academy with six other siblings with extraordinary powers, but in the year 2019, in order to avoid the apocalypse, we jumped into a vortex and ended up being scattered throughout the timeline in Dallas, Texas."
Vanya, mouth open in shock, checked Rachel's face. She gave her grimace that was an attempt at a smile. Vanya then looked at the coffee in her hands.
"Any questions?"
"What do you mean, 'the apocalypse'?" she asked, her eyes meeting Five's.
"I mean the end of the world as we know it," he breathed.
"Yeah, but how?"
Five's eyes searched her face.
"You really don't remember anything?"
"No, nothing more than a month ago."
"Then what do you remember?"
"I landed in, like, a…back alley. Got hit by a car. My head was ringing like crazy. I had no idea how I got there, where I came from."
Rachel put a hand on Vanya's arm, causing her to smile at the gesture. It was really tearing Vanya up that she could not remember her life before.
"What causes the apocalypse?" Vanya asked.
Five looked away, hesitating. Rachel knew he didn't want to hurt her. Having amnesia was hard enough but telling her she caused the apocalypse could be disastrous.
"Asteroid impact. The big kaboom ends everything. Just like the one that got the dinosaurs, except way worse. Bad news is it followed us here."
Vanya was not wholly convinced by this explanation; Rachel could sense it. She kept quiet, letting it play out.
"What do you mean, 'followed us'?"
"Eight days from now, the world ends in a nuclear doomsday. It's a different disease, but…same result."
Rachel's hand on Vanya tightened as the girl began to panic.
"That can't be right."
"I saw it. With my own eyes."
Five sighed.
"You were there. We all were."
Five met Rachel's gaze as he said that. She bit her lip and turned away. Vanya didn't need to know a small detail like Rachel being dead if Five hadn't shown up when he did.
"Shit. I need to make a phone call," Vanya said, freeing herself of Rachel and getting up.
Five called after her, but Rachel leaned over and shook her head at him.
"Let her process."
"We don't have time for her to process, Rachel."
He moved to get up, but Rachel hopped into Vanya's vacated seat and yanked him down to sit. Her partner glared, but she just returned the favor.
"Give her a minute. She clearly has people here who took care of her and you just dropped so much information on her. Sure, you could have said worse, but it is still a lot to take in."
Five groaned at her before tapping a finger on the counter.
"She gets two minutes. Then we're out of here."
Yanking himself free from Rachel's grasp, the girl just put her hands up.
"Two minutes," she repeated.
The male was true to his word. He downed his coffee and, after two minutes, put down money for their coffees, and went over to Vanya. Rachel turned in time to see him hang up the payphone his sister was using. He just couldn't help being himself.
"What the hell?" Vanya demanded.
"We don't have time for this."
"That's my friend you just hung up on."
Rachel got up as she felt Vanya's anxiety rising. Five gripped his sibling's upper arms. Rachel reached them as he lowered his voice.
"Listen to me. Those people from the field are coming after us. They are never going to stop. Do you understand me? We need to stick together, find the others, figure out how to stop doomsday. Whoever this person is, they can't be more important than the end of the world. We need to go."
He released her. After a moment she hung up the phone, seemingly accepting some of his words. As they headed out, Rachel whispered to Vanya.
"Look, I get that Five is a lot to deal with right now. Very intense and not great with emotions. What he should have said is that…it isn't that this person can't be more important. It's just…if they are important to you, the best thing you can do is stay with us. Those people who are after you will kill your friend if they get in the way. I hope you understand that."
The smile that came to Vanya's face relieved her a bit. Rachel knew her words made her friend feel better.
"Thank you," she told her, sincerely.
As they reached the car, Five stopped Rachel from getting into the car.
"I need you to go back and check on things at Elliot's."
Rachel pouted at him.
"Babysitting, again?"
Five gave her a quick kiss on the lips before opening the car door.
"We're just checking in on Luther. You won't miss much."
"I didn't agree!"
Five closed the door and wave at her.
"I love you!"
"I love you, too, asshole."
Five had to take a second to explain to Vanya that it was okay to leave Rachel to walk back as where they were staying wasn't far. He was right, it was just a street over. The girl waved at Vanya and gave her feelings of assurance to get her to drive off. As Vanya started the car, Five mouth "Thank you" to Rachel. She began walking as the car moved off.
It took her about five minutes to get back up to the living area. She found Elliot with a disgusting looking jelly mold. It was lime green with mysterious chunks in it. He had decorated the top with mint leaves. He smiled when he noticed her.
"Would you like some?"
Rachel gave him a strained smile.
"You know, I'd rather wait until Five gets back so…maybe put that in the fridge. Where are Diego and Lila?"
Elliot flooded with discomfort. Rachel's jaw dropped slightly.
"They didn't…With a stab wound in his stomach?" she questioned.
The man shrugged at her.
"They're now sleeping after the…workout."
As Elliot shuffled into the kitchen, Rachel paced back toward the railing that looked over the shop. She let out a soft laugh.
"Well, must be something about Hargreeves men and injuries that result in…workouts. Ha ha! Oh, Diego…"
The girl ended up sleeping during the day, taking Lila's lack of consciousness as a chance to rest herself.
When she got up, it was dark outside. Checking the clock, she could see it was around five in the morning. Five wasn't back yet. Rachel pushed herself up and went out to the kitchen. Elliot was just stirring from sleeping on the couch. As she stepped into the room, Elliot almost fell off the couch.
"Five called. Here. He wanted you to have this address."
Rachel took the slip of paper he handed her.
"He say anything else?"
"No, he just said that is where he would be for a while."
Shrugging, the girl grabbed the keys to Diego and Lila's stolen car.
"I'll be back," she told Elliot.
Rachel checked the map she now kept in her pocket, easily memorized the route, and headed off. She ended up outside an apartment building made mostly of red brick on the corner of Harwood and Plano. She knew she was in the right place when she parked the car. She could see that, just over on Harwood, Five was leaning against the beige station wagon Vanya drove. Luther must live there as the building was called The Plano Street Rooming House for Solitary Men. She could also feel his depressed and sorry feeling self in a room on the second floor.
The sun had only just risen, so there were not many cars out on the street. Rachel made her way across the street to her partner.
"Now what am I supposed to think when you don't come home at night?" she teased, kissing him.
"I called. And you clearly got the message since you're here. Vanya's upstairs with Luther who got his ass handed to him in a match last night. He just let himself get pummeled."
"Hmm, I wonder what happened…"
Rachel jumped as bricks were suddenly smashed from the building and fell onto the street below. Five and Rachel peered up to see Luther's face peeking through the hole in the building. Five let out a laugh while Rachel just stared up in surprise.
"Maybe we should check on Vanya," Rachel suggested.
They started making their way across the street when to woman they were looking for came out of the building. She was aggravated, worried, and determined.
"Well, that clearly went well," Five said to her," You ready to go?"
"I'm going back to the farm," she told them, charging past to get to the station wagon.
Five raced to catch up while Rachel meandered behind them, knowing Five was about to fight a losing battle. Vanya's conviction was strong. With the added bonus of anger.
"Hey. Unacceptable, Vanya. Remember, we need to stick together."
"Oh, why, so I don't end the world again?"
Five scoffed and looked back up at Luther who was still looking out of the hole.
"Stupid…" he muttered more curses that neither girl could hear.
"Were you even gonna tell me?" Vanya demanded.
Five hesitated before revving up to his usual antagonism. Rachel crossed her arms as she stood in the middle of the street.
"You know what? In my defense, no. All right? And can you blame me? When you…you get angry, shit blows up."
Rachel picked the asphalt where she stood.
"To be fair, I would have told you…eventually…"
"Great," Vanya told them," Are there any other family secrets you failed to mention?"
"A boatload, Vanya, which I don't have the luxury of sharing them with the-"
Vanya got into the driver's seat, shutting him out. Five inhaled, trying to rally his patience and knocked on the window. Vanya kindly rolled it down after a moment.
"The clock is ticking on doomsday. Just tell me that when I need you, you'll be ready."
"I can't help you, Five. I'm sorry, Rachel. You seem really nice, but I don't even know who I am."
She started up the car, making Five lean farther into the car window.
"You're our sister. And a member of the Umbrella Academy. Like it or not, that's who you are."
"Look, that's who I was, okay? New timeline, new me."
"No, that's not how it work-"
Vanya drove off, leaving them in the street. Five sighed and looked back up at Luther. Rachel's gaze followed his as Luther threw up the middle finger at them with a bandaged hand.
"After seeing you all back together, I'm really glad I was an only child," the female noted, waving up at Luther.
"Wonder if it's too late to be un-adopted," Five muttered, putting his hands in his pockets.
The two headed back to the car, realizing their last twenty-four hours had been highly unproductive toward stopping the apocalypse.