"What took you so long?" Helga asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently as Theodore hurried to meet her at the bus station. "We nearly missed our bus!"

"Sorry, my uncle wanted to have 'family breakfast time!' " Theodore lied, "Wouldn't stop going on about the moon"

"Should we have wiped him too?" She shifted nervously as the Greyhound bus to Dallas finally unloaded its previous passengers.

"No, no" Theodore shook his head, "He barely knows me—he'll forget about the whole thing soon enough"

"If you're sure" She narrowed her eyes at him, before climbing the steps and handing both bus tickets to the driver.

"I am" He reassured her, climbing the narrow steps and up onto the bus after her. The two flopped into a pair of seats at the back of the bus and waited for their escape to begin.

About an hour into the bus ride, Helga was pulled from her mindless musings of the blurring scenery when a weight fell against her shoulder. Sparing a glance to the left, she found Theodore passed out, fast asleep with his eyelashes fluttering gently against freckled cheeks. Soft snores fell from his lips as he hugged her left arm like a teddy bear; all of the stress and tension gone from his expression.

While Theodore slept, Helga found her thoughts turning towards their first meeting back at the beginning of the week; back when he had been nothing but a stuttering pile of blushing teen and shy glances. Her lips quirked as she remembered how he had acted during their first lunch date—oh he had been so sweet, but he was so shy that Helga often wondered if he'd ever said 'boo' to a goose.

Of course, then Milton had gone and stupidly broken his hand, leading to the two Garde members walking alone along the train tracks and eventually learning that the other possessed abilities far beyond the norm. She had been quite surprised to say the least, especially when he insisted that he was human and not Loric. Of course, she had known about the facade the Mogadorian centres put on for the world, but she hadn't really known to what extent.

Hearing Theodore's tale—however brief—had pulled at her heartstrings and she had silently vowed to protect him, that day in the scrapyard. Of course, then he had to go and play chivalrous knight and scare away the chimaera hunting them, and once again turning her impression of him on his head. He was like a wolf in sheep's clothing, and it was something she secretly took great pride and comfort in, knowing this.

Then recently, when the Mogs had boldly shown up at the party and chased them all the way to school, Theodore had come and protected her again. It's not that she couldn't protect herself and it wasn't that he didn't think she couldn't, but Helga suspected—having seen his Legacy in action & the reputations of the Frija House—that it was likely something more instinctual that told him to do so. It wasn't that he thought she was weak, it was the beast inside telling him to protect and guard his precious things. It was why it had been so heartbreaking to watch him inform both his mother & Milton that they were dead.

Logically she knew the outcome for both parties would be devastating, they always were when a child died. But at least with a real death there was a body for the family to bury or burn; something they couldn't do in this case. But…She heaved a sigh, watching a tear roll down his cheek. It's for the best. The Mogs would've torn them apart if we hadn't.

Moving her attention away from the teary brunette sleeping on her shoulder, cast her gaze across the other passengers of the bus. Unsurprisingly, the bus was rather empty owing to the school year (both primary, secondary & tertiary) still in full swing; which allowed the few occupants to spread out some. Up the front sat a pair of rather chatty women who's Southern accent twanged in her ear, even this far back. Next there was the shabbily-dressed alcoholic who lay curled around his pitifully-concealed bottle with a pink crazy straw stuck firmly between his teeth as he slurped up the hidden contents.

A few university graduates—sporting brightly-coloured alumni hoodies and t-shirts—were clustered together playing several rounds of Presidents and Assholes, Poker & Black Jack as they used jelly beans to bet with. And finally, the driver at the front of the bus had appeared dog-gone tired when the two had bordered—it was highly likely that the middle-aged man was sick to death of his dead-end job and all that it entailed.

All-in-all Helga had little to despair about—the seats were cushioned (probably not clean, but she wasn't thinking about that) & the air conditioning above their heads run at full blast, blowing cold air down on them. Although the odd musty smell enveloping the interior clouded just above their heads in a thick fog and Helga found herself burying her nose in the woollen scarf she wore to hide from it. Turning back to the scenery blurring by her window, she let her mind wander to less important things.

Having slept through the first rest stop, Theodore and Helga disembarked on the second to stretch, go to the toilet and find some food while the bus driver refuelled. While Helga pursued the small corner store in the back-of-nowhere town, Theodore sat himself on a free picnic table and let his mind wander.

So much had happened over the last couple of days; his grandfather had died, he had met his extended family for the first time, he'd gone on a date with a pretty girl for the first time, he'd started his work studies under a very pretentious man. His mother had started dating again, he'd escaped from a fiery building & had a nightmare that sent his uncles skyward, he'd encountered the Mogadorians hunting them for a second time, inevitably blowing up the local high school and learnt that Doomsday would incur on his seventeenth birthday. "It's like a bad soap opera" Loren laughed at him.

"Oh yeah, I love finding out that my birthday equals doomsday and three days before the world ends I have to erase myself from my mother's memories and escape cross-country to outrun alien bounty hunters" Theodore replied. "…Y'know when it's said like that, it really does sound like a bad soap opera"

"Will they or won't they make it? Tune in next time!" Loren mimicked a perky TV presenter.

"Oh haha!" Theodore deadpanned, his eyes tracking the pudgy grad student under the tree across from him as he engulfed the entire foot-long sandwich in one go.

"Oh lighten up, monkey! You knew this was going to happen eventually!"

"Yeah, but if the world's gonna end anyway, why bother? Y'know?"

"You miss 'em?"

"Of course I do, I dunno, I just wish we'd left on better terms"

"Well…blondie's gonna be a lil' while if that line is anything to go by…"

"What are you suggesting, Loren?"

"Do I have to spell everything out for you?" Theodore could practically see the blue rock roll his eyes, "Call them, leave a message, something or your moping's gonna drive me insane!"

"I'm not moping!"

"Uh huh"

"You've reached the Umbrella Academy. To request a mission please press 1, to request an interview please press 2, to leave a personal message please press 3 and we'll can back to you as soon as possible. Thank You!"

BEEP

"Uh, hey everyone! It's—It's Theo, just thought I'd call. I'm okay. I uh, I've gone on a spontaneous road trip with some mates for my birthday—I dunno when we'll be back. Er, don't worry about me, we're all good. We'll be outta range for a bit, so you won't be able to reach me…Uh, I guess this is the bit where I say goodbye?…Jesus! Loren! What do I say? How do I say goodbye? I don't want to. God! I hate that word! It's so final, y'know? It's like saying 'Fuck off, you little fucker! Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!' I'd much rather say see ya later—it's so much gentler, y'know? Like 'yeah, I've gotta go now, but we're still gonna be tight when this shit blows over', but who knows if that'll actually happen…Right, right, back on track! Anyway, I gotta go. I love you all so much, it was great meeting you! See you in the next life, I s'pose! Oh! And if Mama asks, can you tell her I'm sor—WHAT THE HELL?!"

ROOOOOAAAAARRR!

"Yes, I know it's a chimaera, I can see that! Thank you very much!"

CRASH!

"Oh c'me on! We're not even to Dallas yet! Oh—! Oh shit! Oh shit! Shit! Shit! SHI—!"

SQULECH!

"HELGA—! RUN—!"

BEEP

BZZZT!

You're trying to use data and you're either out or you don't have any credit. To keep things moving, either top-up or grab a pack. Reply Y for a $20 1GB DataPk (Valid 1month, renews monthly on bill date unless stopped).

And then the clock rewound.