He thought it was one of those dreams, at first. The sound of Five's spatial jump, the blue light, and there Five was standing over his bed.

Just like old times and looking exactly the same as the day he'd left.

Ben smiled up at Five and made space in the bed, opening his arms for a hug. Instead of lying down, Five pulled on his hand and insistently tugged him out of bed whispering, "Wake up, Ben, you have to wake up now."

"Five?" Ben mumbled. "Is that really you?"

"Yes," Five whispered. "Keep your voice down, alright? I don't want to wake anyone else."

Fully awake now, Ben hugged him. "Five! Where have you-"

"Shhh!" Five looked scared. "Please, Ben, you have to whisper."

Ben pulled back to get a better look at him. Five was so short, now. He still looked thirteen.

"You really did it," Ben whispered. "You time traveled."

"Yes," Five said. "I'm sorry."

The poor kid looked so nervous. Did he think Dad would punish him or something?

"It's okay, Five." Ben kept his voice low for Five's peace of mind. "Dad will forgive you. I bet he'll even be impressed."

"I'm not worried about Dad," Five said. "I'm worried about you. Well, and the timeline."

"The timeline?"

Five sighed. "The future was a mess, Ben. You have no idea. And I tried to fix it, but I made things worse and then I had to fix that and... but we don't have time right now."

"What do you mean, Five?"

"I hate to do this to you." Five ran a hand through his hair and Ben realized his brother's hand was trembling. "I tried to find a better way, I really did, but there were too many factors, too much chaos, and… and we don't have time."

Ben sat back down on the bed and patted the spot beside him. "There's some time, isn't there? Take a little breather."

With obvious reluctance, Five sat down. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Ben put an arm around Five's shoulder. It was something Five had done for him so many times when they were younger. "You don't have to be sorry, Five."

"I do," Five said. "I do."

"No-"

"Ben, you died." Five sprang up out of Ben's hold like a live wire and started pacing around the room. "Shit," he whispered fiercely, rubbing at his eyes. "I've never had any goddamned tact."

Ben gulped. "It's… it's okay."

Five pressed his hands against his eyeballs as if he could physically stop his own tears. It was one of those habits Ben had always found endearing, but right now it was just heartbreaking.

Ben felt like he should be crying too, but the tears just weren't coming. Was he in shock?

He watched Five wrestle with his emotions in silence for a minute and was startled when Five glared at him and said, at a normal volume, "So I'm here to save you."

Ben blinked.

Five winced and glanced at the door, as if saying the words so loudly would bring calamity bearing down on them.

But nothing like that happened and Five relaxed.

"I'm going to save you," Five whispered. "But there's a price."

"What kind of price?"

"You have to come with me to the future," Five said. "Almost fourteen years forward."

That was hard to wrap his head around. It was weird enough talking to a brother from four years in the past, but fourteen years? The future?

"Why fourteen?"

"I wish I could explain it to you," Five said. "You deserve a full explanation and time to think it through. Ben, you deserve a choice. I know you do, but…"

"But there isn't time?" Ben said.

Five nodded. "There isn't time."

Ben took a deep breath. "Alright."

"Alright?"

"I trust you."

Five hugged him. "Thank you."

Once again Ben marveled at how small Five was. It made him feel protective.

I'm never letting him out of my sight again, Ben thought.

"There's just one thing," Ben said. "What am I going to tell everyone? We have to come up with some excuse, don't we?"

Five shook his head. "We're not telling them anything."

"But I can't just disappear," Ben said. "I know what that's like. It'll drive them crazy with worry and-"

"They won't remember," Five said. "It won't be like that."

"Why wouldn't they remember?" Ben said.

Five pulled away from the hug and looked at his watch, clearly stressed, but he took the time to answer. "Have you heard of the Mandella effect?"

"Um, no."

"Well, it's sort of like… to a time traveler- well." Five's nose crinkled as he thought. "Put simply, they'll only remember their native timeline. They'll remember your death, instead of your disappearance."

Ben winced. "Oh…"

"I wish they'd remember the new version of events," Five said. "But since they won't, we don't have to worry about explaining anything to them. And it's better if we don't because we're trying to minimize the damage."

"The damage?"

"Of changing the timeline."

"Right, right." Ben chuckled. "That's hard to wrap my head around."

"You'll have to wrap your head around it later," Five said. "We're out of time."

"Okay," Ben said. "Let's go."

Five turned away from him and fumbled in the dim lighting. "Where did I put it?"

"Put what?"

"Nevermind, I found it." Five lifted a business briefcase onto the bed and messed with what looked like one of those password locks. "Come closer, Ben. Wait! Put your shoes on."

Ben rushed to get his shoes on, pulse racing. "Why the briefcase?"

"It makes it easier," Five said. "In a pinch I can jump through time without it, but I can't easily control when I'll turn up. Anyway, are you ready?"

"I'm ready."

Five opened the briefcase. There was a flash of blue light and then harsh sunlight directly overhead. Ben squinted around him. "Whoa."

"Now we have plenty of time." Five laughed. "Well, relatively."

Blinking the white spots away from his vision, Ben realized they were standing outside the gate to the Umbrella Academy. The building looked basically the same. If it weren't for the sunlight Ben would have thought Five had just warped them outside.

"Let's go for a walk, shall we?" Five said. "Before you meet the others I'd like to explain some things."

"Okay," Ben said. "That… yeah. Sounds good."

"But you look thirteen."

"I know."

"You're exactly the same."

"I know it seems that way."

They were walking around the perimeter of a nearby park. In the sunlight Ben could see that Five was wearing black dress shoes, dress pants, and a green button up shirt. The shirt was short sleeved and kind of pulled in at the waist and the overall effect was half slick businessman and half Christian Youth of America.

Ben himself was still wearing the Umbrella Academy issued pajamas and he felt self conscious as they walked, but didn't want to go home yet.

He hadn't seen Five in four years. And for Five it had apparently been a lot longer than that.

"There's another hiccup," Five said. "There are two of me."

"What? Like you got cloned?"

"No," Five said. "He's the actual thirteen year old. The one who ran away in 2002."

"What does that mean for you?"

Five shrugged. "It means I can't live in New York anymore."

"What? Why not?"

"It's called Paradox Psychosis." Five held his hands up against each other. "When two copies of the same person exist in the same year they repel each other. I think it's Time's way of trying to fix itself."

He entwined his fingers together. "If the doppelgangers insist on interacting despite the symptoms, well…" Five mimed an explosion. "They'll self-destruct."

"Literally self destruct?!"

"No, they'll kill each other," Five said. "Homicidal rage is the last stage of Paradox Psychosis. At least one of the doppelgangers must die for the other to exist without disturbing Time. It's instinct."

"But if you can't stay in New York where will you go?"

"Allison lives in California now," Five said. "I'll stay with her for the time being."

"Can I go with you?"

Five shook his head. "Everyone has missed you. And Allison will visit whenever she can-"

"But I just got you back."

"You'll still have me, technically." Five gave him a wry smile. "He'll be the Five you missed. In a lot of ways, the real one."

Ben stopped walking and Five paused, considering him. "What is it?" Five said.

"I kind of don't believe you," Ben said. "You can't be fifty eight."

"But I am."

Ben put a hand on Five's head. "But you're exactly the same as I remember you." He sounded desperate to his own ears, but Ben didn't care. "Please, you can't just… you can't just leave."

Five took Ben's hand in his own. "You can visit me in California as often as Allison visits you here. Does that sound alright?"

"I guess so," Ben mumbled. "But-"

"No buts," Five said. "I think it's time for you to go home now."

Watching Five disappear again was like watching a dog get run over. Ben had to stop himself from running forward to stop him.

Five casually waved goodbye before opening the briefcase. Acting as if he was just walking off to the store instead of teleporting halfway across the country.

He'd said there was a second Five in the house with a thirty year old Klaus, but as soon as Five was gone Ben started to panic. What if Five was lying? What if he'd only said that so he could leave again without Ben putting a stop to it?

Ben stormed through the gates of the Umbrella Academy and tried to pry the door open, but it was locked. He banged on it. "Hey! Let me in!"

When nothing happened, Ben kicked it. "HEY!"

Finally, the door opened.

"Sweetie," Mom said. "It's so good to see you."

She looked exactly the same and again Ben doubted he was really in the future. But of course she looked the same. Mom didn't age.

"Uh, hey, Mom. Sorry about the..." Ben gestured at the door.

"That's quite alright," Mom said. "You're in a hurry to see your brothers, aren't you?"

She led him into the house. "I think Klaus is still asleep," Mom said. "But Five is up. You'll find him in his room."

"Klaus is asleep? What time is it?"

"It's just past four o'clock," Mom said. "That boy keeps odd hours, I know."

"Boy?" Ben said. "Five said he was thirty now."

"Closer to thirty three, I think." Mom laughed lightly. "But all of my children will always be children to me."

She cupped Ben's cheeks, smiling brightly. "And you're seventeen, is that right?"

"Yeah." Ben fidgeted in her grasp. "Is it weird?"

"Not at all," Mom said. "We've all missed you."

She let go of his cheeks, but put her hands on his shoulders, rubbing her thumb against him in a familiar soothing gesture.

"This must seem so confusing," Mom said. "Do you have any questions?"

"I think Five answered most of them," Ben said. "Like, he said Luther and Klaus are the only ones living at the Academy right now. Besides the, uh, younger Five."

Ben paused, half expecting Mom to deny young Five's existence. But she'd said Five was in his room, hadn't she?

"That's right," Mom said. "But Luther is in California right now."

"Right, with Allison," Ben said. "And they're both coming back later?"

"Yes," Mom said. "Diego was also staying here for a few days. He's not here right now, but he'll be back soon. And Vanya will visit too, of course."

"And Pogo and Dad are dead," Ben finished. "Five said he couldn't save them the way he saved me."

"I'm afraid not, dear."

Ben nodded to himself, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to go see Five."

"Alright," Mom said. "And you'll let me know if you need anything?"

"Yeah," Ben said. "Um, I'm a little hungry actually."

Mom grinned. "I'll get started on lunch."

"Thanks Mom," Ben said.

"I love you, dear," Mom said. "I think you already know that, but we've been making a habit of saying so more often around here."

"Oh," Ben said. "Thanks. I mean, I love you too."

Mom smiled. "Go on now. I'm sure Five is just as eager to see you."

Ben stood outside Five's old bedroom door and hesitated. This whole thing was so weird. Two versions of Five?! And one of them was an old man in a child's body? It was like the time he'd tried mushrooms with Klaus and thought he could visualize his body in ten different places at once.

It had felt real, but it was just a weird trip.

Maybe I'm still dreaming, Ben thought. I'll wake up soon and laugh at myself. Five will still be gone…

Ben shook his head. There was no point thinking like that.

He knocked.

"Go away!" Five shouted. "Leave me alone!"

Ben blinked. That was not the reaction he'd been expecting.

"Um, I'm sorry," Ben said. "I just wanted to say hi?"

A flash of blue light and Five was in front of him. "Ben?!"

"Hi," Ben said. "Do you still want me to go away?"

Five gaped at him. "I thought you were Klaus. Usually, as soon as he wakes up… but how are you here?"

"The other Five brought me here from 2006," Ben said. "This is 2019 right?"

Five threw his hands up. "No one told me he was going to do that today!"

Ben laughed. "I'm sorry?"

Five stared at him. He looked oddly frustrated. "Did you… are you… you're here to stay?"

"I thought so," Ben said. "What about you?"

Five blinked. "What about me?"

"Are you here to stay?" Ben said. "I cause I really, really missed you."

The other Five had wasted no time reaching out for a hug, but this version stood stiffly, eying Ben as if he half expected The Horror to jump out and bite him. Ben wondered if he'd done something wrong.

Wait, or did Ben hug the other Five first? Did Five need him to make the first move?

"I missed you too," Five said. "When I found out you were dead…"

Five huffed and covered his eyes with his hands. He wasn't crying, but it seemed like he was worried that maybe he was about to.

"I'm sorry I scared you," Ben said. "I'm sorry that happened."

Five had always been reserved about affection, Ben realized. And afraid to show his emotions. Though that applied to the whole family, didn't it? Because Dad discouraged "emotional displays."

So Five stood there with his hands over his eyes and tried to compose himself.

"Emotion begets weakness!" Dad would say.

Fuck that, Ben thought.

He pulled Five into a hug. "I love you," Ben said.

"I love you too," Five mumbled.

"I'm glad we're together again," Ben said.

"I'm glad you're alive."

Ben laughed. "I'm glad I'm alive too." Then, "Dammit! I forgot to tell the other Five I loved him!"

Five snorted. "He knows that."

"But I should've said so," Ben said. "Mom says everyone is trying to say it more often."

"Words don't matter," Five said. "Actions matter."

Ben ruffled his hair. "I think both matter, dude."

Five harrumphed. "Whatever."

That was such a pre-teen response! Ben grinned. "I can't believe I'm a big brother now."

"Shut up," Five said. "Just wait until Klaus wakes up. You're also a little brother."

"Oh my gosh," Ben said. "I'm the middle child? Is that it?"

"Yup," Five said. "But we've still got a group birthday. It's next week."

"Wow," Ben said. "That's going to be quite a party. Dad's not around to yell at us about propriety anymore, so I can just imagine how wild the guys are gonna get."

"Vanya is wild too, these days. Did you hear she's got powers?"

"I did hear about that," Ben said. "Something about sound waves?"

"There's more to it than that. From what I've seen…"

In typical Five fashion, his brother launched into a lecture. Ben tried to open the door to his bedroom so they could sit down while he talked, but the door was locked. So Five paused, warped to the other side of the door, and opened it. Then he continued talking as if nothing had happened.

"She also said she accidentally gave someone her powers once," Five said. "And I tried to talk her into giving them to me, but she refused!"

"The nerve," Ben teased.

"I'll wear her down," Five said. "Just watch, and then I'll…"

Ben had trouble staying focused on Five's ranting. His bedroom walls were covered in equations from floor to ceiling and the whole thing took Ben's breath away. It looked like years of work.

But he sat down and waited for Five to pause for breath before he asked, "What's all this for?"

"It was for you," Five said. "Not my work though. The other Five's."

"For me?"

"Yeah," Five said. "You know. The timeline is really delicate, apparently."

The other Five had said as much and he'd described the moon exploding, the world ending, and everyone dying a tragic death. Ben shivered.

"You did a good job," Ben said.

Five huffed. "It wasn't me. The other Five beat me to it!"

"But you're going to grow up to become him, right? So in a way, it was you."

Five rolled his eyes. "It still wasn't me."

Ben held his hands out. "Well, I didn't contribute anything either."

"So?"

"So I feel bad," Ben said. "That he had to go through all that alone and I couldn't help him."

"That's stupid," Five said. "The whole mess was out of your hands."

"I guess so," Ben agreed. "I still feel bad though."

"Do you… do you think you'll have nightmares?"

Ben frowned. It seemed like such a random question. But then he remembered: after their first mission Ben had confessed to Five that he was having nightmares.

"No choice, then," Five had said. "I'll have to fight them off."

"You can't fight dreams," Ben had said.

"Can too," Five said. "Just watch me."

And Five had teleported into his room that night. Without a word, he'd crawled into Ben's bed and put an arm protectively around him. As if to say, they'll have to get through me first.

Ben smiled at the memory.

"I'm definitely going to have nightmares," Ben said. "Lots of nightmares."

Five nodded tersly. "Understood."

It was such a simple word, but it warmed Ben's heart. To think he could have this back so easily. It didn't feel real.

"Thanks," Ben said. "Five, I really love you."

Five rolled his eyes. "You already said that."

"I'll say it as many times as I want," Ben teased.

"Well, I guess I can't stop you," Five said. "So whatever. I love you too."

Ben couldn't leave Five alone with Klaus for even a second.

"Admit it!" Five had Klaus pinned to the table, both arms twisted behind his back. "You're lying!"

Klaus was red in the face. From laughter or the pain. Or both. "You'll be… you'll be… exactly the same!" Klaus was giggling so much he could barely get the words out. "You won't last... even for a minute!"

Ben sighed. They were making a mess. A cup of orange juice had been spilled and ignored, and Five had viciously shoved Klaus's face against his own pancakes.

"You're just trying to trick me," Five growled. "I won't fall for it!"

"Guys. You're ruining lunch." Ben wished Luther and Allison's plane would fly faster, or something. Luther was good at breaking up fights.

Unless the fight was between him and Diego, but still.

"You hear that?" Five loosened his hold, his anger fading. "You ruined lunch."

Klaus scoffed. "Lunch smunch."

"You're the one that wanted pancakes for lunch," Ben said. "You made such a big deal about it and now you don't even care?"

"All things in life are transitory," Klaus said. "Even pancakes."

Five leaned hard against Klaus's twisted arms and Klaus howled, "Uncle! Uncle, uncle!"

"Guys…"

Five glanced at him. "He deserves it, Ben."

But Five let go and stepped back.

"Positive punishment," Klaus wheezed.

Five frowned. "Why do you keep saying that?"

"Cause I'm a bad dog."

"Dude." Ben had to physically grab Five to prevent him from kicking Klaus. "You're not helping yourself."

"Stop being creepy!" Five shouted. "You're so gross!"

Klaus just laughed.

Being the "dead" brother got old real quick. Ben did his best to smile for his siblings, to hug and reassure them, but after a while the series of emotional reunions started to wear him down. He was relieved when all the introductions had been dealt with, but even then Ben could feel the weight of eyes on him. The second glances he would attract. The extra hugs and head pats.

"You know what makes it harder?" Ben whispered.

Five leaned in to hear him.

"They look like strangers," Ben confessed. "I can see some similarities, but…"

Five nodded. "That'll wear off."

"It will?"

"The more you talk to them the more obvious it'll be," Five said. "They haven't changed at all."

Ben laughed. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Isn't it?" Five smirked. "These morons like to think they're all grown up, but they aren't. They're as stupid as they've always been and as they'll always be."

Ben stifled another laugh, covering his grin with his hands.

Vanya approached them with a smile. "Hey, I heard that."

"I meant everyone but you of course," Five said. "You're the exception."

"Suuure," Vanya said, hands on her hips. "Well, you know what this grown up loves to do?"

"File your taxes?" Ben said.

"Harass your local congressman?" Five said.

"Nope and nope," Vanya said. "I'd rather harass some cats."

Ben looked at Five for an explanation, but he seemed just as confused.

"What, like, stray cats?" Ben said.

Vanya shook her head, smile widening. "The cats at Cat Castle."

"Are you messing with us?" Five said. "Is that what this is?"

"No!" Vanya said, chuckling. "I'm talking about the local animal shelter."

Ben gasped. "You're adopting a cat?!"

"Um, well no," Vanya said. "But you don't have to adopt one to… to visit."

Oh, Ben thought, guess I got too excited. He'd always wanted a pet, but even getting to touch an animal would be a thrill.

"I would love to visit some cats," Ben said. "Let's go! Where's the shelter? Will we need a car?"

Five rolled his eyes and reached up to pat Ben on the head. "Down boy. I don't think she meant right now."

"Sorry Ben," Vanya said. "I've got students scheduled for lessons today, I was just stopping by."

"Right," Ben said. "Grown ups have jobs, I forget."

"Because she's the only one that has one," Five said.

"But I was thinking we could go this weekend," Vanya said. "Maybe on… on Sunday? Will you guys be free?"

"Yes, we'll be free," Ben said.

"I don't know," Five said. "I might not be free."

"I'll be free," Ben said.

Phones were weird. They were like little computers, but full of twenty different ways to do the same thing.

"And you can ignore that app too," Diego said to Five. "Actually, I'll just delete it for you. You won't like that one."

Diego had gotten phones for both of them and he insisted they "carry them at all times!"

Ben had already dropped his and the screen had cracked, but he didn't have the heart to tell Diego.

"What are you trying to hide?" Five said. "Don't delete things, it's suspicious."

"It's just a photo thing," Diego said. "People post pictures of food and other boring shit. Stuff you won't care about."

"I'll decide that for myself," Five said. "Just leave it alone."

Diego rolled his eyes. "Fine, but look at it later. I want you to make an account on Messenger first."

Diego pointed at a blue speech bubble looking thing. It had a white zig zag on it.

"We've got a group chat on there," Diego said. "I want to invite you guys."

They both watched Five click on the app and scrutinize the login screen.

With painstaking slowness, Five started typing his phone number in.

"Wait a minute," Diego said. "Don't do that."

"It's asking for the phone number," Five snapped.

"Because it thinks you already have a Facebook account," Diego said. "But you're going to type the whole thing out and nothing will happen cause you haven't created one yet."

"Facebook?" Ben said. "I thought you said this thing was called Messenger?"

"Yeah but it's connected to Facebook," Diego said. "Just- fuuu- would you just let me do it for you?"

"No," Five said. "If you do it for me I won't learn how to use this thing."

"He's got a point," Ben said.

Diego frowned at him. "And where's your phone?"

Ben winced. He shouldn't have drawn attention to himself.

"You need to keep it with you, Ben," Diego said. "You can ignore all the apps if you want. The important thing is that you know how to call me in an emergency."

"I know," Ben said. "Don't worry."

"Go get your phone," Diego said. "Did you leave it in your room?"

It was in his pocket, but Ben didn't want him to see the cracked screen.

"Uh," Ben said.

With his eyes still on his own phone, Five smirked and said, "Just tell him."

Diego straightened. "Tell me what?"

Goddammit, Five.

Diego glared at them both. "Tell me what?"

"It was an accident," Ben said. "I didn't mean to."

Diego blinked. "Hey, I won't get mad. Did you lose it? I can just call you up and we'll listen for-"

"He didn't lose it," Five said.

Reluctantly, Ben pulled his phone out and showed it to Diego.

"Oh," Diego chuckled. "I should have gotten you a phone case."

Ben stared at him.

Five also lost interest in what he was doing and raised his eyebrows at Diego.

"What?" Diego said.

"That's it?" Five said. "That's… out of character."

"He said he wouldn't get mad," Ben said. "So… so he didn't get mad."

It was a relief, but also a little unsettling.

Maybe Diego could see it on their faces. He shifted uncomfortably. "These stupid phones are fragile. Everyone knows that. It was my fault for not getting phone cases."

"I'm really sorry though," Ben said. "I should have been more careful."

Diego shrugged. "It's no big deal. We'll get it fixed."

Ben smiled at him and Diego beamed, reaching over to ruffle his hair.

"You'd think they'd design these things with more structural integrity," Five said. "It's kind of pathetic. This is the height of the future?"

"They do it on purpose," Diego said. "Allison was telling me about it. It's called planned… uh, planned obsolete-ness, or something."

"What?"

"I dunno man," Diego said. "It's capitalism."

Five looked disturbed. "I'm going to have to look into that." He turned back to his phone. "You said there was a Google app?"

Diego pointed Five towards the app and Five was off in his own world, reading articles with the intensity of a boy who'd just learned children were starving and animals were being murdered by pharmaceutical companies.

"He needs to look into everything." Ben scooted closer to Diego and whispered, "Like a time detective, he imagines all these scenarios for fixing society with time travel."

"That's kind of adorable," Diego said. "Like, really egotistical, but also wholesome."

"He says he needs to start planning now," Ben continued, still in a low voice. "So that he can save the world 'as efficiently as possible' when he's a grown up."

Diego laughed. "He already saved the world."

"That. Wasn't. Me," Five growled. "And he just saved the world from non-existence. I can do better than that."

"So wholesome," Ben cooed.

"Shut up."

Diego popped his knuckles. "While he's busy with that, you want to go out for a jog with me? You're still in pretty good shape."

Ben tilted his head. "Thanks?"

"Not that there's anything wrong with, uh." Diego scratched his cheek. "With not, you know, keeping up. But me and Luther, we like to stay in shape. I dunno, thought I'd ask."

Diego had always been the most socially awkward in the family, but it was funny to see how that had translated into his adulthood.

"Do you go jogging with Luther too?"

Diego leaned back and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Sometimes…"

Ben grinned. "You're getting along with him a lot better these days, huh?"

It was one of the first things he'd noticed.

Diego shrugged. "We don't need to compete with each other anymore. Now we try to work together."

"That's so wholesome," Ben teased.

Five snickered.

Diego scowled. "We still disagree on a lot of things."

"I'm sure you do."

Diego huffed. "So do you want to jog with me or not?"

"Sure," Ben said. "Sounds like fun."

It was strange, living without a strict schedule. Two days ago Ben was waking up at six am every single morning. His day was planned to the minute with training sessions and lessons. Foriegn languages, mathematics, astronomy, ballroom dancing, experiments with the Horror and one on one sparring sessions with each of his siblings; every hour had been taken up by something. Even free time was carefully slotted into place, or hard won in exchange for sleep deprivation.

Now all that stuff was gone, but it would be weird to complain. It's not like Ben had liked the schedule.

"We kind of unofficially graduated when we turned eighteen," Klaus said. "It was a few months after you kicked the bucket and Allison was like, 'Dad will lose custody now! We can just leave. It's allowed.' So as soon as we hit October 1st we cleared the fuck outta here. Everyone but Luther."

"But where did you go?" Ben said.

Klaus blew a raspberry and shrugged.

Whenever Ben had a hard time getting answers from someone, he would call the older Five. The elder knew a lot about their siblings, despite his own years of absence.

"They each pursued their own interests," Five said. "Allison went straight to California and Rumored her way into small bit parts; background characters and commercials. Vanya got a scholarship with the Manhattan School of Music, Diego enrolled in the Police Academy, and Klaus… I think he just couch surfed with his... friends."

Five said friends in a way that verbally voiced his disdain. Ben could picture exactly what kind of friends Klaus would have had at that point. It was just last week, for Ben, that Klaus had described being invited to a house party where he was offered cocaine for the first time.

"That makes sense," Ben said. "But then how did Diego end up at Al's Gym?"

"He got kicked out of the Police Academy," Five said. "I'm not clear on the details in between."

"Aw, that must have crushed him," Ben said.

"I suppose," Five said.

There was an awkward pause. Ben realized Five wasn't going to say anything else, so he scrambled for a way to keep the conversation going.

"Uh, well, it's nice to have free time now," Ben said. "I had a bunch of books I've been meaning to read. And they're still here! They got moved to the library, but Mom helped me find everything I wanted."

"That's good," Five said. "What did you start with?"

"Well, I kind of fell down a black hole with Joyce Carol Oates," Ben said. "You know she's published thirteen novels in thirteen years?! And that's not counting all her short stories and essays! That woman is a maniac."

"She's very impressive," Five said.

"As soon as I found out I kind of ignored my To Read pile," Ben said. "Because I had to know what the heck was going on with Oates."

"But she's always had a large output," Five said. "Hasn't she published a novel per year since her debut?"

"Not every year," Ben said. "Wasn't it more like… like every other year?"

"You would know better than I do," Five said.

"I'll Google it," Ben said. "I've been Googling like crazy. I already looked at her bibliography, but there's so much information I can't keep it straight in my head. So I'll Google it again."

"Alright," Five said. "Listen, I'm getting another call."

"Oh," Ben said. "Okay, you should probably answer that."

"Goodbye," Five said.

Ben hated the way phone calls just ended in silence. These smart phones needed to bring back the dial tone sound effect.

"I said goodbye," Five said.

"Oh!" Ben said. "I thought you had already left."

"I was waiting for you to say goodbye," Five said. "Hmm, I think I missed that other call."

"Sorry," Ben said. "You can hang up and call them back?"

"I'll do that," Five said.

"Okay," Ben said. "Um, bye."

"Goodbye," Five repeated.

This time Ben made sure to check the screen to see if Five had really hung up.

He had.

It was weird, actually sitting in Dad's office. Ben had only ever peeked inside before.

It was weirder seeing Luther sitting behind Dad's desk, but Ben supposed it made sense for Number One to inherit the right.

There was a pile of Manila folders on the desk between them. Luther tapped his fingers on them.

"So," Luther said. "As you know, we are rich."

"Uh huh," Ben said. "I did notice that, yeah."

"I know you're seventeen," Luther said. "But legally, you were never reported dead or missing. I checked."

Ben tilted his head. "And that's… good?"

"It means you're about to be thirty," Luther said. "Legally, I mean."

"Oh," Ben said. "That's… cool?"

"I was thinking we could consider you eighteen though," Luther said. "Like, for the birthday party? Unless you want to wait until next year to call yourself eighteen."

Ben considered it. "Nah, that would feel like skipping. We can wait until next year."

Luther nodded. "Okay, but legally you'll be thirty. Except you don't have a bank account or anything."

"I also don't have a job or anything," Ben pointed out.

"I know," Luther said. "But you're entitled to a portion of the inheritance. I want to set you up with an account… it's kind of like a kid's account? Because it'll be connected to mine. I'll have access and I'll be depositing money every month. Like an allowance."

"Wow, okay, cool."

"I know that might seem a little unfair," Luther said.

"Nah, seems totally fair," Ben said.

Luther blinked. "Right. Uh, well, I did the same thing for Klaus."

"You give him money every month?"

"Yeah, instead of giving him access to the full amount," Luther said. "Because he's not very… responsible."

Ben snorted.

"I'm not saying you're not responsible," Luther quickly added. "But since you've never had money before, I just thought this would be the smart play for now."

Ben shrugged. "Okay."

Luther grinned, nodding to himself. "We'll need to get you a driver's license first though. Banks kind of require it."

"I don't know how to drive, dude."

"I know," Luther said. "I'll teach you, don't worry."

Ben didn't know how to feel about that. Should he be excited? It was one of those things he'd never thought about before.

"You still with me?" Luther said.

"Uh, yeah," Ben said.

"Listen." Luther put on his Serious Number One face. "I don't want to overwhelm you."

"I'm not overwhelmed."

"Okay," Luther said. "But I just want you to know, you have more options now. I don't want you to feel tied down by the Academy."

"Tied down?" Ben said. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone moved out as soon as they turned eighteen," Luther said. "They just… they went out and did things. Started careers, even. Like Allison with her movies and Vanya with the orchestra."

"Vanya joined an orchestra?"

"She did," Luther said. "She's doing solo acts now, but she spent years with the orchestra first."

"She's doing solo acts?" Ben made a mental note to interrogate Vanya about this later. He'd already seen several of Allison's movies, but Vanya had been quiet about her own success.

"My point," Luther said. "is that I want you to have the freedom to pursue whatever you want to pursue."

"Sure," Ben said.

"Have you thought about college?" Luther said. "You're really smart. I bet you could get in anywhere you want. You could take your pick."

Ben frowned. "I can't leave for college."

"Why not?"

"Why would I want to leave?" Ben said. "I just got here. And, and everyone missed me! Right?"

Luther nodded quickly. "There are colleges in New York too."

Ben deflated, chuckling to himself. "Oh."

Luther looked so earnest when he said, "Ben, we all love you. And we want what's best for you."

Ben swallowed. "Thanks."

"I want you to know that I'm here for you," Luther said. "I'll help you with this stuff. And there's no pressure. You don't have to go to college or anything like that. If you want to just stay home and read all day that's fine too."

"Wow," Ben said. "I think that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Luther rubbed at the back of his neck. "Oh? That's, uh, that's good."

"I love you too," Ben said. "Sorry, I forgot to say it back."

Luther chuckled. "I'm still getting used to it myself. Saying it feels awkward, but it's true. So we should say it."

"Yeah," Ben said. "It's really nice."

Luther smiled and he opened one of the folders. "So anyway, I wanted to familiarize you with our finances a bit. It's a little confusing, but we have a bit of passive income."

"Passive income?"

"Like royaltees," Luther said. "From the toys and stuff that Dad made for the Umbrella Academy."

"Ah."

"Technically speaking, no one has to work," Luther said. "Right now we're spending money at a faster rate than we're making money, but we're also sitting on a lot of money, so…"

Ben did his best to pay attention while Luther explained, but most of it went over his head.

But he let Luther talk for a while, before finally cutting in. "Hey, Luther?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to watch a movie?"

Luther blinked. "Oh. Yeah, sure."

Luther carefully gathered up his documents, neatly arranging things back into their manila folders.

"Did you go to college?" Ben said. "Like, business school or something?"

Luther shook his head. "No, I learned this stuff from Mr. Claremont."

"Am I supposed to know who that is?"

"Sorry, he's a broker," Luther said. "I hired him to help me sell Dad's properties."

Automatically, Ben was tempted to ask: What properties?

But he had a feeling that line of questioning would prompt another boring explanation, so instead Ben nodded and said, "Oh okay."

"I never thought about college for myself," Luther added. "I had different priorities."

"Never too late," Ben said.

Luther gave him a look. "Uh huh."

"I'm serious!" Ben said. "You're not that old. And it's not like college has an age limit?"

Luther frowned.

Ben copied one of Vanya's new favorite phrases: "It's just something to think about."

Luther laughed. "I've heard that one before!"

Guess it's only new to me, Ben thought.

Changing tacts, Ben said, "I won't go to college unless you do it too."

"Hey now," Luther said. "That's not fair."

"Them's the rules," Ben said. "Take it or leave it."

Instead of taking it as a joke, Luther seemed to give the idea serious thought. "But what would I study?"

"Whatever you like, dude." Ben eyed the folders. "Business?"

"I don't particularly like business," Luther said. "In fact, there's a lot that I don't like about it."

Ben shrugged. "Okay, so what do you like?"

Luther shrugged back.

"I like books," Ben said. "So I would probably study literature or something like that."

"I like building things," Luther said. "I don't think colleges do that?"

"Sure they do!" Ben said. "Um, isn't engineering kind of like building? I saw an article online about, like, how schools are putting a lot of money into engineering and sciency stuff."

Luther grinned. "So you have thought about college."

"Nah, I just like surfing the web and all that."

The internet browser was the coolest thing about his new phone.

"Hmm," Luther said. "Engineering. I guess I can look into it."

"You should!" Ben said. "Live your best life, man."

Luther ruffled his hair. "Good advice."

One of the first things Ben realized was that he had no clothes. Technically there were still uniforms available in his closet; preserved, like the room itself, as if he'd just stepped out for lunch instead of a fourteen year leap in time.

But he didn't want to wear those anymore.

Instead he borrowed t-shirts and jeans from Diego or Klaus, oversized sweatshirts from Luther and comfy hand knitted sweaters that Mom had made as if she knew exactly when he would be back and what he would want.

Ben was satisfied with this hodgepodge of borrowed clothes, but Allison insisted they go shopping.

Five didn't want to go with them.

"I already have clothes," he said. "I'll just wear that stuff."

The 'stuff' in Five's closet was a very particular collection of starched button ups and dress pants. He treated them with the same contradictory mix of apathy and pride that he'd always directed at the Umbrella Academy uniform.

His one complaint was that he couldn't find a tie.

"Oh, Five doesn't wear ties that often anymore," Allison said. "I mean, the other-"

"I know who you meant," Five said. "But this shirt looks silly without one."

"But you have a tie," Ben said. "The one you were wearing with the Academy uniform."

"That tie won't work," Five said.

Ben looked at the shirt Five was holding. It was pale blue with pinstripes. Why wouldn't the black tie work for it?

"I think Luther packed all of the ties," Allison said. "When he took luggage for Five, for Old Five."

"Great," Five muttered. "I can't wear this shirt, then."

He hung it back in his closet.

"I'll buy you a whole collection of ties," Allison said. "In every color, hmm? Come shopping with us."

Five pursed his lips.

"Please?" Allison nudged Ben with her elbow.

"Oh, uh… and I could use your help," Ben said. "I have no idea how to pick clothes."

Five fiddled with the cuffs on his shirt sleeves. "Is Klaus going?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Nope!" Allison cut in. "Klaus is officially uninvited."

Ben frowned. "But he said-"

"I know what he said," Allison said. "But Klaus can go shopping with you whenever he wants. He lives here."

Five smirked. "She makes a fair point, Ben."

There was nothing Klaus hated more than being left out, especially where Allison was concerned. This was the kind of thing he'd sulk about for days.

But that was teenage Klaus. Maybe the thirty year old version of him would handle it with more maturity?

Ben found that hard to believe, but it was also true that adult Klaus had been bullying Five every chance he got. Ben couldn't blame Five for wanting a break.

"We'll uninvite Klaus if you agree to come with us," Ben finally said.

"Deal."

There were so many different kinds of shorts. And they were surprisingly colorful. Ben had always thought the Men's Section would be full of dull grays and blacks and he'd assumed half of Klaus's wardrobe was from the Women's Section.

"Klaus does shop from the Women's Section," Allison said. "But there's also a lot of overlap between styles now. Because gender nonconformity is more widely accepted than it used to be. Oh and probably because of the metrosexuals, too."

"The what?" Five said.

Ben examined a pair of shorts that were decorated with little whales while Allison explained, "Basically straight guys who are sort of effeminate."

Ben showed her the shorts. "Are these effeminate?"

She grinned. "Maroon isn't effeminate." Allison took the shorts from him and held them out against him. "And the whales are subtle. I think they're actually… I mean, they're really cute but you could pull it off with the right shirt. I'd recommend something solid, though. You know, without any patterns."

"I like these ones." Five pointed at a pair of khaki shorts that were basically the same, but boring. There were no little whales.

Allison sighed. "Of course you do."

Allison tried really hard to get Five to wear something age appropriate, nudging him towards hoodies and v-necks, jeans and casual long sleeve cotton shirts. The harder she tried, though, the more Five seemed to delight in completely shattering her expectations.

"I like this." Five proudly presented her with a pair of suspenders. Ben had no idea where he'd found them.

"Oh my god," Allison said. "Even old man Five wouldn't wear something like that."

"Well I'm young man Five," Five said. "And I want them."

"That would look great with a bow tie," Ben said.

Five wrinkled his nose.

"Don't give him ideas!" Allison groaned.

"Bow ties are stupid," Five said.

"So are suspenders," Allison said.

Five flipped her off, then warped away. He'd been doing that all day, teleporting all over whatever store they were in and returning at random moments with his findings.

Allison reached out, as if to grab him, but she could only grasp at thin air. "Argh! That boy needs to be put on a leash!"

"You're the one that wanted him to come shopping with us," Ben said.

She pouted. "I thought you would help me persuade him into wearing something good."

He laughed. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you love me?" Allison batted her eyes at him, her smile imploring, and Ben was hit with a nostalgic sense of déjà vu.

He melted with it. "I mean… Five doesn't really listen to me."

"He does!" Allison said. "He listens to you more than anyone."

"I don't know…"

"Please?"

"Well… I can try."

Allison rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek. "You're the best!"

"Five, check out this sweater."

The sweater in question was pretty adult-ish. Allison thought it might appeal to Five. It was kind of purple- plum Allison had said- with a diamond pattern, almost like the Academy sweater vest.

Five nodded at the sweater. "It'll look good on you."

"No, uh." Ben glanced at Allison and she frantically mimed keep going! "I thought it would look good on you."

Five considered this. "Oh, I guess it's too small for you."

"Yeah! Yeah, it's too small for me. But it's really nice, right?"

Five shrugged.

"You could wear a dress shirt underneath," Ben said. "Like you've been doing with your sweater vest."

Five had been pairing the Academy sweater vest with a lot of the shirts the Old Five had collected. It was the only part of the uniform that he'd kept wearing.

"I can try it on, I suppose," Five said.

He took the sweater into the changing room and Allison beamed. "Good job!"

They high fived.

"Now we just need to get him into some casual pants," she added.

"Aren't the khaki shorts casual?" Ben said.

She wrinkled her nose. "Well, yeah but… something better than that."

"I can hear you scheming over there," Five called from the changing room.

Ben winced.

"I scheme cause I love you!" Allison called back.

"Yeah yeah." Five stepped out of the changing room. He'd combined the sweater with a white button up and the khaki shorts.

"Oh." Allison gaped at him. "That's actually a really good outfit."

Five smirked. "I know."

Ben put a hand on Five's shoulder, leaning down so he could say, with as much gravity as he could muster, "You're the most fashionable guy in this family. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Five rolled his eyes. "I can try on the jeans too."

Allison gasped. "Ben, you are a godsend."

Five waggled a finger at her. "But I'm keeping the suspenders."

"Deal!"

Diego was moving back home.

"Think of it this way," Luther said. "Now you'll have more time for the vigilante stuff."

Ben was helping them move Diego's stuff out of the gym he'd been living at. It had baffled him when Diego first explained that he was living at a boxing gym, but seeing the basement room for himself was a different story. There was a bed, a little kitchenette, and normal furniture. Like a regular studio apartment, just under a gym.

"Save the pep talk," Diego said. "We're rich. I get it."

Diego had also said something about working at the gym, which was how he'd gotten the deal on the basement room. But he'd gotten fired, so now he had to leave.

"Did he say why?" Ben said. "Or was it random? Was it, like, budget cuts?"

It was always budget cuts or robots, in the books Ben had read. And the protagonist who'd spent his whole life with a company was left out on the streets with no prospects.

"It was my own damn fault," Diego said. "I was neglecting my duties."

"There was a lot going on," Luther said. "You know, with… with the Fives."

"Oh," Ben said. "Right."

Ben re-focused on the shirts he was folding and the box he was trying to stuff them all into.

"If you roll them tightly you'll save space," Diego said. "Don't worry about wrinkles."

Ben nodded, refolding a t-shirt the way Diego was doing.

"Mom is happy about it," Luther said. "She said she's going to make a new painting just for your room. A really big one."

"I know," Diego said. "I know that. I was thinking about moving back anyway."

A lot of Diego's stuff was already at the Academy. While they'd been looking for the older Five, Diego had started sleeping there.

"You don't need to be disappointed in yourself," Luther said. "You were a good employee. It was a family emergency, that's all."

"I know that,"Diego mumbled. "Shut up."

This is the strangest interaction I have ever witnessed, Ben thought.

When Ben knew him, Diego had always reacted to every little failure with explosive anger. He'd throw himself into aggressive combat training, snap at everyone, and generally be an asshole until he'd redeemed himself.

This Diego wasn't doing any of that. He was just… just calmly packing.

But Luther was trying so hard to cheer him up it made Ben want to study Diego more closely. What was Luther seeing that Ben was missing?

"Were you a good boxer?" Ben said.

Diego frowned.

"He was a great boxer," Luther said. "I only caught the one match, but he was good."

Diego rolled his eyes. "I was a janitor. And I lost that match."

"Oh," Ben said. "Uh."

"You gave as good as you got," Luther said. "That guy was a professional and he barely managed to beat you."

Diego smiled and it was the kind of smile Ben had never seen from him before. Sort of bittersweet, but also proud.

"I was too stubborn to stay down," Diego said. "I made him destroy me."

"It was amazing," Luther said. "You should have seen it, Ben."

"I'm sorry I missed it," Ben said.

While they packed Luther continued his steady stream of compliments and reassurances and Diego kept telling him to shut up, but it was always a half hearted rebuttal.

Ben wondered if he should try complimenting Diego himself, but then he thought it might sound disingenuous. He hadn't been around for any of the things they were talking about.

"Listen," Diego finally said. "I'm sorry I was such an ass about the whole thing. When Five went missing. And when… and when the younger Five jumped through time again."

How often does Five go missing?! Ben thought. And how many more times would something like that happen?

"You don't need to be sorry," Luther said. "You were just worried."

"I took it out on you," Diego said. "And that's not cool. So I do need to be sorry."

Five is fine, Ben reminded himself. Everything is fine now.

"Aw," Ben said. "You guys should hug it out."

Diego sputtered. "N-no, that's-"

Luther hugged him and Diego squirmed in the hold, scowling, but he patted Luther on the back with a gruffness that made Ben laugh.

Luther grinned and pulled Ben into the hug, lifting them both clean off the ground.

"Whoa!" Ben said.

"Fuck- hey!" Diego said.

Luther put them back down, chuckling, and then cleared his throat. "So. Packing."

Diego nodded sternly. "Packing."

"I noticed your collection of, uh, of bottles," Luther said. "They from the Academy?"

Diego paled. "I didn't drink anything!"

"Huh?" Ben said. "What bottles?"

"Five brought them here," Diego said. "He dumped them on me because of Klaus."

"I understand," Luther said, gravely. "But what do we do with them now?"

"Which Five?" Ben said. "What about Klaus?"

"Old Five," Diego said. "He didn't want to let Klaus get shit faced all the time. The little hypocrite."

"You really think Five has a drinking problem?" Luther said. "I never saw him drunk. Well, except for that one time, but I think that was because he was stressed out about the apocalypse."

Ben was struggling to keep up with the conversation, but this had become the norm. It felt like everyone was constantly speaking in clues and references and he had to match it to what he'd already been told. Ben had to put it all together in his own head.

Diego sighed. "I don't know, he says he doesn't."

"I'll tell Allison to keep an eye on him when she goes back," Luther said. "In the meantime, the bottles?"

"I guess we can leave them here?" Diego said. "I'll give them to Al."

Ben remembered that name, it was the gym owner!

"That's a really generous gift," Ben said. "Considering he just fired you."

Diego smirked. "Yeah, well, I'm not a sore loser."

Not anymore, Ben thought.

It was the most obvious change he'd spotted so far, but Ben knew there would be more. Five had been wrong in the end. Their siblings had changed and they'd changed a lot.

But it looked like they'd changed for the better.

Klaus and Five had some kind of bet going and Five was pissed about it, but Ben didn't care.

He'd always wanted to ride on a roller coaster!

"If I win you have to come to my performance," Klaus said. "And you have to stay quiet no matter what I say about you on stage."

The performance in question was some sort of comedy routine. Klaus was a comedian now, apparently, and Ben thought this was fitting.

"And if I win you have to stick your head in a toilet bowl," Five said. "Like the dog you are!"

Klaus beamed at him. "There ya go! That threat was almost creative."

"You're so weird," Ben said. "Like, you've always been weird, Klaus. But now you're weirder."

Klaus winked. "It's a talent."

Five scowled. "Why can't I just jump us to the front? This line is taking too long."

"Patience, my child," Klaus said. "You know, the old Five is wise enough to appreciate the little things in life. He'd say that just standing together in line for two hours is a beautiful way to bond with your brothers."

Ben chuckled. "That's such bullshit."

"Stop calling me your child," Five muttered. "Or I'll… I'll…"

"You can do it," Klaus cooed. "Find your inner homicidal maniac. Channel him."

Five glared at him. "I'll cut your head off and flush it down the toilet."

Ben winced. "Five..."

"That's great!" Klaus cackled. "But my head won't fit down the toilet, try again buddy."

"Fuck off," Five snapped.

"We'll workshop it," Klaus said. "Don't you worry."

"Fuck. Off."

The Thunderbolt was kind of intimidating. It looked a lot taller up close.

"Maybe we should have started a bit smaller," Ben said.

Klaus put an arm around his shoulders. "Are ya scared Ben? You don't have to get on."

Five glowered at them. "I'm not getting on without him."

"Hey now," Klaus said. "That wasn't part of the bet."

"What is the bet about, exactly?" Ben said. "How are you deciding the winner?"

The guy in charge of the roller coaster eyed them. "Are you lot getting on, or what?"

"Sorry," Ben said. "We are."

Five grabbed Ben's arm. "I'm sitting next to Ben," he informed the employee. "And you have to put that lunatic in front of us."

By 'that lunatic' he meant Klaus.

"Whatever," the guy said. "Just sit down."

They took their seats and the employee lowered a sort of seat belt down in front of them. Well, it was more like a bar.

Klaus twisted around to grin at them. "All you have to do is stay put! Stay put and you win!"

Five rolled his eyes. "Easy."

"That's all you have to do?" Ben said. "Why wouldn't you stay put?"

"OG Five is terrified of roller coasters," Klaus explained. "He teleports straight to the ground as soon as it plummets."

"You said it happened once," Five said.

"And it's about to happen again!" Klaus said.

"You wish."

Ben studied Five carefully. He didn't seem scared or nervous. Just angry.

And Klaus was basking in that anger like a lizard in the sun.

"You should turn around," Ben told Klaus. "Facing backwards has to be, like, a safety hazard."

Klaus did so reluctantly and as soon as his back was turned Five sighed in relief. He didn't relax, exactly, but his scowl- which had been near constant since they'd left the house- finally slipped away.

Klaus is practically tormenting him, Ben thought.

"You can hold my hand if you want," Five whispered. "I won't tell Klaus."

Ben had to physically resist cooing a long and drawn out 'aaaaaw' because he knew Five would rescind the offer if he did.

"Thanks," Ben whispered. "I'm really nervous."

So Five held onto Ben's hand, squeezing it reassuringly as the coaster slowly rose to the top of its first peak.

The rush to the ground was intense, but it didn't feel like falling. It felt like being crushed, like being pulled apart, and Ben wished he could look at his own face to make sure his skin was still where it was supposed to be. He also wished he'd held his breath before they fell because he was having a hard time breathing through the pressure of it all.

But Five was still holding his hand. That actually helped.

Then they were rising again, but it wasn't slow like before. They were speeding towards the sky and Ben realized people were screaming. They'd been screaming the whole time.

Should I scream too? Ben wondered. But he didn't like the idea of opening his mouth. What if a bug flew in or something?

In front of them Klaus waved both his arms in the air, he was shouting at the top of his lungs, but Ben couldn't make out what he was saying.

He turned to look at Five and saw that his brother's eyes were closed, his jaw clenched. Ben tried to scoot closer to him, to reassure him maybe, but it wasn't really possible to move.

All they could do was hold on.

"So are we doing the swirly with a public toilet or one at home?" Klaus said.

They were waiting for Diego to pick them up from the amusement park.

"Forget it," Five muttered.

"But you won the bet," Klaus said. "I have to honor my loss!"

They were sitting on a bench near the parking lot. Ben had made it a point to sit in between them, hoping to field potential bouts of violence. But Five was subdued, staring at his knees.

Ben wondered if he was feeling queasy.

"It's gonna take Diego at least twenty minutes to get through traffic," Klaus continued. "Plenty of time to try and flush my head down the toilet."

"Dude," Ben said. "Just drop it."

Five pursed his lips, swallowing thickly.

"Five?" Ben said. "Do you think you're going to throw up?"

Five shook his head.

"Aaaw," Klaus said. "Was it too much for your little stomach?"

Five huffed, but he didn't say anything.

That was not like him.

"Lay off," Ben said. "He's sick."

"I was just asking-"

"Seriously," Ben said. "Just shut up."

"I'm not sick," Five mumbled.

But then Five gagged.

"Whoa!" Klaus said. "Clear the decks!"

Five shoved his hands over his mouth and closed his eyes.

"You don't have to hold it in," Ben said. "Just, maybe aim for the grass?"

Five took a deep breath through his nose, hands still firmly over his mouth.

"It's okay," Klaus said. "You can aim for our shoes. That's the funny thing to do."

"Klaus, shut up," Ben hissed.

"I'm fine." Five's voice was muffled by his hands.

"You don't have to be fine," Ben said. "It's okay to just-"

"I'm fine," Five repeated.

Firmly, he put his hands on his lap and opened his eyes. Five took a pointed deep breath through his mouth.

"Always been a trooper," Klaus said.

"You're such an asshole," Ben said.

"What?! That was a compliment!"

"Shut up," Five said. "Both of you."

Mom was showing him how to make mashed potatoes. First they took a huge pile of potatoes and individually peeled them, then they took this thingy that kind of looked like a spaghetti strainer, but flat and with a handle, and they crushed each potato into pulpy goodness.

"This next part is harder," Mom said. "We need to achieve the perfect balance of salt and butter and carefully mix it in."

Ben was already salivating, but he did his best to patiently follow her instructions. "They look. So. Good!"

"I bought extra potatoes just for you," Mom said. "I know they're your favorite."

"You're the best," Ben said. "Maaaan, you have been spoiling me like crazy."

"Because I love you," Mom said.

"I love you too."

She wasn't the only one who had been spoiling him, but Ben had noticed everyone else sort of scrambling to come up with things. They would take him on outings, invite him to help them on errands, and generally stare at him as if he had just come back from the dead. They seemed as baffled by his presence as he was by their age.

"Hey Mom?"

"What is it, dear?"

"How come you weren't surprised to see me? When I first got here."

"I knew you would come back," Mom said.

"But you were ready to answer the door for me as if you knew when I would come back."

"Because I did know." Mom said. "The night you disappeared Five appeared to me and gave me the exact date of your return."

"Oh," Ben said. "I thought… I didn't know he would tell you. He said we shouldn't tell anyone. That you guys wouldn't remember."

"Yes, he explained how things would look different to your siblings come 2019. That they would be changed by their travels."

"Changed? What do you mean?"

"It was a very small change," Mom said. "Just that one little thing. They grieved you, sweetie, but they also had hope. Hope that you had left on purpose, perhaps to find Five, and hope that they would see you again some day. But then that was replaced by knowledge of your death."

Ben frowned. That's not the way Five had explained it.

"Do you mind finishing without me?" Ben said. "I need to… make a phone call."

"I don't mind at all," Mom said. "Go on."

"You said they wouldn't remember my disappearance," Ben said. "But they did. Mom remembers them remembering."

"You've got it backwards," Five said. "Mom thinks their memories changed, but it was her memories that changed. Hers and everyone else's. Everyone but them."

"But she says they thought-"

"That's just her distorted memory," Five said. "When you time travel you change the reality of everyone in Time. She's the only one of us that remained anchored to Time, so she witnessed a plausible version of the family in her head, a version that reacted to your disappearance, because the real version would contradict her new reality."

"But isn't her version the real version?" Ben said. "Since I didn't die?"

Ben wished he could see this older Five. Just hearing his voice over the phone, Ben couldn't see what he might be emoting.

And when silence stretched between them, he couldn't be sure Five was even there.

"Hello?" Ben said.

"You're not… wrong," Five finally said. "But-"

"And I just left them like that?!" Ben hated the idea of it. "Wondering what had happened to me with no explanation for years?"

"If you would just look at it logically-"

"I am being logical!" Ben snapped. "It happened. They experienced it. You can't say they didn't."

"But it was overwritten," Five insisted. "And the new memory is the worse one anyway."

"But dying is something you can't control," Ben said. "Leaving is worse than dying. Leaving is a choice and they would have resented me for it."

"Leaving is not worse than dying," Five growled. "Nothing is worse than death."

Ben swallowed. This version of Five had lost everyone. He'd been the last man alive for longer than Ben had been alive. It was something he had almost forgotten.

"I'm hanging up," Five said.

"Wait! I'm sorry. You're right… Five?"

Five had already hung up.

"I'm sorry," Ben repeated, uselessly.

It was hard to catch Klaus alone these days. For one thing, he slept through most of the day. But even when he was awake, there was always somebody around.

And it felt like everyone was constantly vying for Ben's attention.

Finally, though, Ben caught a moment to himself and found Klaus in his room: awake.

"We need to talk about Five," Ben said.

Klaus was painting his toenails black and he didn't even look up. "That so?"

"Why are you always so mean to him?" Ben said. "You weren't like that with him before."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Which 'before' are we talking about, buddy?"

"I mean… I guess when we were younger," Ben said. "Before Five disappeared."

"Aaah yes." Klaus had this theatrically wistful voice, which he always used when Ben brought up, well, anything. Because all their shared memories felt so far in the past to Klaus. "In the olden days Diego was my favorite target, wasn't he? So much angst. All that rage."

Ben sighed, remembering all the times Luther had to pick Diego up to stop him from clawing Klaus's face off.

"I don't understand why you like making people angry," Ben said.

"It's for their own good," Klaus said. "Look at how well Diego turned out! I taught him a valuable lesson."

"What lesson?"

"The lesson of patience and self control," Klaus said. "The lesson of life! Ipso facto, you cannot simply stab life into submission."

"Nah dude," Ben said. "You're just a bully."

Klaus gasped. "I resent that!"

"Well, I resent the way you've been treating Five," Ben said. "I'm asking you to leave him alone."

Klaus put the nail polish down to twirl a strand of hair around his finger. "Is that a light hearted request?"

Ben squared his shoulders. "It's a demand."

"Oooh, a demand? How forceful."

"I'm serious."

"I know you are, Benny boy." Klaus put his hands together, as if to pray, and bowed. "And, of course, I shall acquiesce!"

"That's enough sarcasm."

Klaus straightened. "What?! This is my most genuine of selves. After all, I can't say no to you, my favorite of all brothers!"

Ben groaned. "You're a douchebag."

"Aw, c'mon," Klaus said. "Five is a big boy. He won't break."

"You're hurting him," Ben insisted. "For real. Little by little, you're wearing him down. I think he almost cried today."

"Emotional pain is good for the soul," Klaus said. "Better than physical pain by far, which he doles out in heaps!"

"You deserve it," Ben said. "I kind of want to hit you too."

Klaus opened his arms. "And I shall turn the other cheek!"

"I can't deal with you anymore," Ben said.

"Then don't." Klaus turned back to his nails. "The door is right there, dude."

Ben frowned. In a way, it was nice that Klaus hadn't been tip toeing around him the way everyone else did. There was no special treatment from Klaus, no lingering looks or exuberant shows of affection. Or, no displays of affection beyond the kind that had always been normal from Klaus.

But Klaus was also an asshole.

"Just stay away from Five," Ben said.

Eyes still on his nails, Klaus saluted him.

Ben hesitated to leave.

Klaus looked up. "Need anything else?"

Ben shook his head. "I'll leave you alone."

He decided to leave Old Five alone for a bit. Let him cool off, or whatever. Vanya said that was the smart thing to do.

When Ben finally called him back, Five acted as if nothing had happened.

"How are you?" Five said.

"Um, I'm good," Ben said. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Five said.

Shit, shit, shit, Ben thought. This conversation is deader than dead. It's a zombie without a jaw.

"Hello?" Five said.

"I'm glad you're good." Ben wanted to die, he wanted to dig his own grave and lie in it.

"Thanks," Five said, sardonically. "Did you need something?"

"No," Ben said. "I mean, yes! I do need something."

"Out with it, then."

"I need to apologize," Ben said. "I'm very very stupid and very sorry about it."

"You're not stupid," Five said. "We can disagree, it's not the end of the world."

"I don't want to disagree," Ben said. "You were absolutely right about everything and you always will be."

"Ben, you don't have to stroke my ego," Five said. "I'm not the child you remember."

"Okay," Ben said. "But you were right about… about death being, uh, being worse than leaving."

"Maybe," Five said. "But I can understand why you would grow to resent me."

Ouch. Forget lying in a grave, Ben wanted to hurl himself to the moon. He wanted to strand himself there and unleash the Horror. Watch it flail helplessly in zero gravity and suffocate to death.

"Ben?"

"I don't resent you," Ben murmured.

"It's alright," Five said. "I know I… I abandoned you. All of you, but you and Vanya especially."

"You didn't mean to!"

"I didn't mean to," Five agreed. "But I did. So I'd like to apologize too."

"What if neither of us apologizes?" Ben said. "What if we just…"

"Just what?" Five said. "What's wrong with apologizing?"

"It feels unfair," Ben said. "You don't deserve it."

"I don't see what you're getting at."

"You didn't deserve all that resentment," Ben explained. "Everyone was so angry! Especially Diego, he was always bad mouthing you for leaving. He would say all these horrible things about you."

"I see," Five said.

"But the whole time you were all alone," Ben said. "You were alone and you were in danger and… and you could have starved to death!"

"Who told you that?" Five said.

"Klaus did. He said you were surviving on cockroaches and expired twinkies."

"He exaggerated," Five said.

"Did he? He said you said-"

"Then I'm the one who exaggerated!" Five snapped. "Just forget the whole thing, just-"

"No," Ben said. "I don't want to forget it. I feel terrible about it."

"What good does that do?" Five said. "It's over and done with."

"I'm sorry."

Five didn't say anything to that, but Ben waited patiently for a response.

Finally, Five said, "You should talk to Vanya about this."

"What? Why?"

"She would know what to tell you," Five said. "I don't have… I'm not…"

"I'll talk to her," Ben said. "If that makes you feel better."

"Good."

"But I think you're misunderstanding me."

"No, you're misunderstanding me," Five said. "All of you! Ever since I… goddammit. There's no point in talking about these things."

"No, you can say it," Ben said. "What were you going to say?"

"Nevermind," Five said.

"Please," Ben said. "I'm your vault, remember?"

It was a running joke between them. Ben couldn't remember who'd said it first or why, but it started when they were little. Really little and really angry. The why and what didn't matter, but Five had treated Ben like a Catholic Priest, a confidant that was sworn to secrecy, and Ben had treated Five the same.

"This is for the vault," they would say, and lock away the things shared between them.

"Wow," Five said. "How nostalgic."

"This is for the vault," Ben said. "Say what you need to say."

"Alright," Five said. "You know I was alone for years. Isolation like that, it muddles the mind."

"Okay," Ben said.

"I had a companion while I was there," Five said. "But she wasn't real. I know she wasn't real, but she felt real."

Ben blinked. "Oh. Okay."

"We didn't agree on everything," Five said. "But even when we disagreed, there was never any confusion between us. She always knew exactly what I meant and I always knew exactly what she meant. It wasn't a perfect relationship by any means, but at least we had that."

"So you miss it?" Ben said. "The clarity?"

"Yes," Five said. "Talking to real people feels like speaking a foreign language. No matter how long I practice, I'll never be fluent."

"That sucks," Ben said.

"Anyway, Vanya will speak your language," Five said. "So she can help you."

"Help me with what?" Ben said.

"You said you feel terrible," Five said. "Maybe she can fix it."

Ben chuckled. "Five, no one has to fix it!"

"What?"

"It's just a feeling," Ben said. "Like, yeah I feel guilty, but I know it's silly. It's just one of those feelings that gets stuck and you have to bury it under other feelings."

"Vanya would say that that is not the healthy way to deal with it," Five said.

Ben grinned. "She totally would, huh? All that therapy stuff."

"Yes," Five said. "And I think it's doing her some good."

"Diego says it's bullshit."

"Yeah, well, Diego's an idiot."

Ben was grinning so widely it was starting to give him a headache. Interactions with Five, with both Fives, always seemed to trigger this intense giddiness. Almost like an artificial high.

A dopamine rush, Vanya said, when he described it to her.

"I'm going to hang up now," Five said. "That alright?"

Five was always the one to end their conversations. It caught Ben off guard every single time. And it was depressing because Five never called first, he just responded to calls.

Did Five even want to talk? Was he just tolerating these conversations? He probably found them exhausting. A foreign language, it sounded like one big headache.

"That's alright," Ben said. "Um, have a good day."

"You too," Five said. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

And that was it. Old Five was gone again.

The cats came in all sorts of colors, patterns, and sizes. Some of them were friendly, rubbing themselves against Ben's legs or walking onto his lap, and some of them had their own thing going on. While petting the cats that were near him Ben would watch the ones that were far. Watch them lounge on the padded shelves of their cat tower, or stroll around, or fight amongst themselves.

When a particularly hyper kitten scaled Five like a tree he tried to teleport away from it, but it hitched a ride through his portal. "Get off," Five growled, trying to grab it. But the kitten was on his back, out of his reach.

Five made as if to slam his back against a wall, but hesitated.

"Wait, wait! Don't!" Ben gently nudged a cat off his lap and scrambled up, wanting to rescue the kitten, but Five teleported again before Ben could get close enough to them.

"It's sunk its claws into my back!"

Vanya remained where she had been sitting, wincing sympathetically. Ben gave her a look, but she just shook her head.

"Take a deep breath," Vanya said. "And hold still, okay?"

Ben tried to approach Five and the kitten again, but Vanya stopped him. "Both of you hold still."

"But-"

"When you charge at them you're just scaring the kitten," Vanya said. "Which makes it want to hold onto Five more tightly."

Five winced. "I think I'm bleeding."

"Deep breaths," Vanya said. "Keep holding still, Five. The kitten will let go when he calms down."

Ben took deep breaths too, and watched Five struggle to relax.

"Good job," Vanya said. "How does it feel now?"

The kitten was moving, slowly crawling up onto Five's shoulder.

"It's still scratching me," Five said. "But not as deep, I guess."

"Okay, I'm going to try and pick the kitten up with my powers," Vanya said. "Please stay still."

"You can just do that?" Ben said.

Vanya didn't answer, but Ben watched all the color drain from her face. Her eyes were glowing. No, her whole body was glowing an eerie pale whitish blue.

The air seemed to shimmer around Five, ruffling his clothes and his hair, and slowly the kitten hovered over him. There was also this soft ringing sound and when the poor little kitten meowed plaintively Ben could hear its cries echo around the room.

It was slow, but finally the kitten was placed on the ground.

Ben gulped and watched the color return to Vanya's face. The kitten left a pee stain underneath it and then ran off to hide under a cat bed.

It's one thing to be told Vanya has powers, Ben thought. But something else entirely to see them for myself.

"This whole time," Five said, awe and frustration mingling in his tone. "This whole time, you had telekinesis too?!"

Vanya glanced between the two of them, smiling sadly. Ben wondered what kind of face he'd been making and wanted to pinch himself. She's still Vanya!

"Sorry," Vanya said.

"I'm not mad," Five said. "But I'm going to need a comprehensive list of all of your abilities."

"That was cool though," Ben said, tentatively. "It was… it was cool."

It wasn't even the superpower that had thrown him off, but the way she looked while she used it. That eerie full body glow.

Vanya shrugged. "We should probably call it a day," she said. "Five, you okay? How's your back?"

"Eh, Mom can take a look when we get home." Five had no interest in his own injury. "But seriously, what other applications are there for-"

"We can talk about that later, okay?" Vanya had a way of gently interrupting Five. It struck Ben as both uniquely Vanya while also being completely out of character from the Vanya in his memory: a girl who could barely make herself heard.

Five frowned. "Fine."

As they made their way out of the shelter, Ben shuffled closer to Vanya.

"Maybe we should come without Five next time?" Ben murmured. "He doesn't deserve cats."

She chuckled. "Agreed."

The aquarium was huge. It was like its own little city, with pathways that led from seals enclosed in their own personal theme park, to dolphins that you could actually throw fish, and ending with the large tunnel that you could walk through that basically housed thousands of different fish in every color and size imaginable.

"It's official," Ben said. "I want to come here every day. We should come back with everyone."

Allison laughed. "They would totally humor you if you asked."

But today, it was just the two of them.

"I want some alone time with you," Allison had said. "Since I'll have to go back to L.A. soon."

It was sad that she lived so far away, but Allison had a daughter now. She couldn't just move home on a whim.

And there was also the older Five.

"For real though," Ben said. "This is the greatest place I've ever been."

"Oh yeah?" Allison teased. "Better than Cat Castle?"

Ben pretended to think about it and she lightly punched him on the shoulder.

"It's a tie with Cat Castle." Ben shrugged in a what can ya do? kind of way. "Because all animals are created equal."

"Suuure," Allison said. "You know what? Next time, I'm going to take you to a petting zoo."

"Oh my gosh," Ben said. "I love you."

She giggled. "You'd better!"

He gave her a hug. "You're the best sister ever."

"Uh huh." Allison was so much taller than him now, so she had to bend down to give him an eskimo kiss.

He indulged in the affection, but then glanced around self consciously. Thankfully, no one was paying attention to them.

"Aw, but I can't take all the credit," Allison said. "This was actually Klaus's idea."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup. I never would have thought of it." She sighed happily, smiling at the jellyfish that were majestically floating over their heads. "He said you would love it."

"Wow," Ben said. "He was right."

"Yup." Allison said. "Hey, listen. I know Klaus has been a little abrasive lately."

"What do you mean?"

"You know." She gestured vaguely. "He's… you know."

Ben did not know. Time to guess.

"He's been picking fights with Five," Ben said. "But I don't think he means it in a bad way. He just doesn't realize how sensitive Five actually is."

"Maybe, but I'm not talking about that." Allison turned back to the tank, studying the jellyfish with more intensity than they deserved. "I just think he's taken things kind of hard."

"What things?"

"It's hard to explain," Allison said. "It's really… it's complicated."

"Is it about my death?"

"Yeah." Allison peeked at him, but then turned back towards the jellyfish.

"Did it traumatize him?"

"I think so," Allison said. "I mean… well, you know what his power is."

Ben swallowed. "Did he…"

"Yeah. He spent a lot of time with your ghost."

"Oh." Ben turned towards the jellyfish too. They were really pretty. Calming. But they didn't keep his attention for long. "Was I a gory ghost?"

"No, no," Allison said. "You looked normal. Uh, your ghost liked to wear a leather jacket. You had this whole outfit, which was funny because you died in the mission uniform, but I guess that doesn't matter for ghosts?"

"But Klaus could have lied about what I looked like," Ben said.

"No I saw you," Allison said. "Klaus figured out that he could make you visible. And even solid! We all got to see you and talk to you, for little stretches."

Ben didn't know what to say to that.

"Anyway." Allison gave him that familiar imploring smile. "Just, go easy on him? He can be a jerk. I know he can, but don't take it too hard."

Ben nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Allison sighed in relief. "Okay, good! I said what I needed to say."

Ben chuckled. "Was it hard?"

"Oh, you know." Allison gestured vaguely again. Ben was starting to recognize it as a sign that she was really uncomfortable. "We're not used to talking about our feelings in this family."

"We're not?"

Ben remembered what Mom had told him on his first day in the future: I love you, dear. We've been making a habit of saying so more often around here.

"I thought everyone was more affectionate now?" Ben added.

"We're trying to be," Allison said. "But Vanya says it's not just about affection."

"What else is it about?"

Allison groaned and there was more vague gesturing.

Ben laughed. "Ah. Makes total sense."

Allison laughed too. "Right? I'm the queen of communication."

"It's your new superpower," Ben teased.

Allison grinned. "So anyway, do you want to pet a stingray?"

"Real talk, I'm not sure what a stingray is," Ben said. "I'm not, like, an oceanographer. I just think dolphins are cute."

"Fair enough!" Allison said. "But Klaus stressed to me that it is vitally important that you get the chance to touch one, so let's go figure out where and what they are, shall we?"

Ben saluted her. "Yes, m'am!"

"I hate planes," Luther mumbled.

Ben winced sympathetically. Airplane seats were generally cramped, but Luther had to buy three tickets just for himself, so that he could at least have the arm and leg room to not, like, suffocate a fellow passenger. But even with the row to himself, Luther did not look comfortable.

Ben was sitting in the row behind him with Allison.

"Did you say something?" Allison leaned forward. "I didn't catch that."

Luther shook his head, sighing heavily.

"You didn't have to come with us," Ben pointed out. "It's a simple errand."

The errand in question was an impromptu trip to Cleveland Ohio. Because they'd gotten a call from the Ohio police, who claimed to have recovered a stolen car that was Hargreeves property.

"I wanted to come," Luther said. "Besides, it's my name on the V5."

"The V what?" Ben said.

"It's like a certificate," Allison said. "Proof of ownership. For the car."

"Oh," Ben said. "Well, maybe we should have driven to Ohio instead? We could have gotten a rental or something."

"And add another seven hours of driving?" Allison scoffed. "It's bad enough we're gonna have to drive back to New York."

"Nevermind, Ben," Luther said. "This way is faster. And we're already here."

"Is this your first time in coach?" Allison said. "I mean, your first time since the accident?"

"Yeah," Luther said. "But it's fine. Not that different from a rocketship, really."

Luther chuckled weakly.

Ben tried to picture Luther cramped into a tiny little rocketship and wondered how long it had taken him to get to the moon.

But before he could ask, Ben processed what Allison had said.

"Wait a minute," Ben said. "What accident?"

Luther had been half turned towards them, but now he faced back forward, hunching in on himself.

"Oh," Allison said. "It was just a little mishap. While Luther was on a mission."

Ben squinted at her. "And what, was it a really bad injury?"

"Yes," she said, simply. "But as you can see, he recovered just fine."

Ben sighed. All hail the queen of communication.

It was another pair of puzzle pieces, but Ben didn't know how they could fit. On one side there was a mysterious injury, on the other Luther's obvious discomfort with the plane ride.

Ben had assumed Luther felt awkward because he was such a big guy cramped into a small space. But maybe Luther was uncomfortable for a different reason.

Something that wasn't visibly obvious...

"Luther, are you… does it still hurt?" Ben said.

Luther glanced back. "Huh?"

"Your injury," Ben said. "Are you in pain? Like, are there still side effects or something? Is it the altitude? Or-"

"Whoa, whoa," Allison said. "It's nothing like that."

Ben frowned at her. "I was asking Luther."

"I'm not in pain," Luther said, quickly.

Too quickly.

"You don't have to hide it if you are," Ben insisted. "I just want to help. Do you feel sick? Queasy?"

The look on Luther's face was difficult to decipher. His whole face had scrunched up in distress, but what kind? Physical pain, subtle illness, or… or was it emotional distress now?

It's me, Ben thought. I'm bothering him.

"Listen-" Allison started.

"I'm sorry," Ben blurted. "You can ignore me, Luther. I just…"

"I know how you feel," Luther said. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," Ben said.

"No, no," Luther said. "I should be the one apologizing."

"But-"

"Oh my god!" Allison burst out. "Would you guys stop?"

Ben blinked at her.

"What is even happening right now?" Allison said. "I'm really confused."

"You and me both," Ben snapped. "What happened to all that stuff about… about talking things out? You said everyone is trying to, like, communicate more. Didn't you? But you guys are keeping all these secrets from me!"

"We're not…" Allison hesitated, glancing at Luther.

"You totally are!" Ben leaned toward Luther and tried to adjust his tone to something calmer. "Luther, I just want to know you're okay. You're okay, right? What kind of accident was it?"

Luther rubbed at the back of his neck. "This isn't really the place for that kind of conversation."

He'd failed to appeal to Luther, so Ben turned back towards Allison, pouting imploringly.

"Don't give me the puppy dog eyes," she groaned. "It's not my secret to tell."

"So there is a secret," Ben said. "Does it have to do with that mission on the moon? Did he get hurt up there?"

"It was before that," Luther said. "Look, I was the last one at the Academy, right? I've told you that much."

"Yeah," Ben said. "At least."

"So Dad was sending me on solo missions," Luther said. "And this one time… I almost died."

Ben nodded stoically, encouraging Luther to continue.

"Dad saved me," Luther said. "But he had to do something… in order to save me. It's the reason I'm like this."

Luther gestured at himself.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

Luther held up his hands and dramatically removed his fingerless gloves. "Like this."

Ben tilted his head. "Your hands? Is something wrong with them?"

Looking closely, the texture of Luther's skin was a bit weird. It was kind of gray-ish.

Luther pushed his sleeve up to reveal a forearm, which had the same weird color. And there was stubble, like a five o'clock shadow, but on his arm instead of his chin.

"It made you... hairy?" Ben felt silly voicing the theory, but he just couldn't see what Luther was actually getting at.

Allison giggled and Luther frowned at her.

"Sorry," she said. "It's just… well that is what it did isn't it? It's not all that bad. Just a bit of hair."

"Wait, seriously?" Ben said. 'That's it?"

"That's it," Luther mumbled. He tugged the sleeve back down and put his gloves back on.

"I thought it was something really bad!"

"Luther just feels a bit insecure about his looks," Allison said. "I don't know why though. The ladies like him just fine."

Luther sputtered, blushing.

Ben grinned. "Oh yeah? Has he had a lot of girlfriends?"

"I've had zero girlfriends!" Luther said.

"But you have gotten laid," Allison said.

"And you've been married!" Luther retorted. "Twice!"

Ben whistled. "Twice? Wow, Allison."

Allison huffed. "Yeah well… I've only been divorced once."

"Does that mean you're still married?" Ben said. "Not to Claire's dad though?"

Allison winced. "Um, technically no?"

"It's a long story," Luther said.

"And I don't want to talk about it," Allison said.

"But Allisooon," Ben whined. "You're the queen of communication!"

She chuckled. "I'll have to give up the throne."

"What will the kingdom do without you?" Ben teased. "Whoever will lead us?"

"Luther can lead us," Allison said. "He's a natural."

Luther opened his little window and the sunlight was searing. He quickly closed it again. "Sorry."

"See?" Allison said. "Such wisdom."

"Very funny," Luther said.

"I bet Klaus will tell me," Ben said. "He loves to gossip."

"Hey now," Luther said. "You should respect her privacy."

"So decreed the king," Ben deadpanned. "And it must be law."

Allison bopped him on the nose. "I forgot how funny you are!"

"I can be funny too," Luther said.

"Oh yeah?" Ben said. "Say something funny."

Luther shifted in his seat. "I would need some time to think first."

"Looot of time between Cleveland and New York," Allison said. "You let us know when you're ready."

She sent a conspiratorial look Ben's way and winked.

They both snickered.

Luther scratched at his cheek. "Wait, so I need to come up with a joke?"

For some reason, this was hilarious. Ben broke out into giggles.

"You are funny," Ben said. "You're the funniest!"

Allison slapped his arm. "You're so mean!"

Luther looked confused. "Um…"

Allison laughed so hard tears ran down her face.

"You're meaner!" Ben said. "Stop laughing!"

But the more they tried to stop laughing, the harder they laughed.

Luther took it well. He just rolled his eyes and turned towards the front of the plane.

He'd forgotten the way Five liked to barrel into a room unexpectedly. The zap of light and sound startled Ben out of his book, and he almost dropped it.

"I can teleport people with me now," Five announced.

"Oh yeah?" Ben said, absently. He'd saved the book from falling, but had accidentally closed it.

What page had he been on?

"I'll show you," Five said. "Where do you want to go?"

Ben looked up. "Uh, you don't have to show me. I believe you."

Five scowled. "No one wants to let me practice."

Ah.

Ben gave up on the book. He'd have to find his place later.

"Alright," Ben said. "You can take me to the kitchen?"

"I can jump longer distances now," Five said. "I can jump all the way to Vanya's apartment."

Ben smiled. "Do you miss Vanya?"

"No," Five said. "I'm just saying, that's the farthest I've gotten so far. But I've only done it alone before."

"Okay," Ben said. "You can take me to her place, but maybe outside the building? And we can knock on her door, to be polite."

"Fine," Five said, holding out his hand. "Let's go."

"Perfect timing," Vanya said. "My last student just left."

"I know," Five said. "I memorized your schedule."

He pointed at her fridge and Ben saw that she had a calendar with all of her appointments pinned up with a magnet.

"Right," Vanya said. "Jeez, maybe I should try to hide that thing."

"It's probably better if you let him keep tabs," Ben said. "Or he'll show up when you're busy."

"Exactly," Five said. "You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Okay, okay." Vanya lifted her hands in mock surrender. "You can keep tabs, you nosy… nosy person."

"Just call him a nosy bastard," Ben said. "The rest of us do."

"That's rich coming from you," Five said. "Klaus says-"

"Anyway," Vanya said. "What did you guys want to do? We could put on a movie?"

"Actually," Five said. "I wanted to talk to you guys about something."

It was downright nostalgic, sitting with Vanya on her couch while Five stood in front of them, ranting about his powers. Trade the couch for Vanya's bed and that was how the three of them had spent most of their time together as kids. Or else with Vanya standing, playing her violin, and Five sitting or even napping through it.

"It's like a rocket ship," Five said. "They've gotta go full throttle in order to get away from the planet. If they don't, gravity will catch the rocket before it can make it past the atmosphere."

"So the first time you jumped you went full throttle?" Vanya said. "That's why you skipped over so many years?"

Five beamed at her. "Yes! Because it's actually harder to navigate shorter stretches of time. The smaller I try to go, the harder it is. Because of… well, it's not gravity, but it's like gravity."

"Wait a minute," Ben said. "I thought… the other Five uses a briefcase to-"

"Whoa," Vanya said. "That's, uh. That briefcase is something else. Um."

Five slammed his first down on her coffee table. "Stop it."

Ben blinked, glancing between them.

"I'm sorry," Vanya said. "It's just that some of these things are complicated."

"What happened to 'straightforward communication'?" Five growled. "What happened to no more secrets?"

"I'm sorry," Vanya repeated. She looked helpless, but also alarmingly pale.

Ben put his arm around her. "Hold on," he said. "Can we back up? I'm confused."

"Of course you're confused," Five said. "We're both just doomed to this confusion, I suppose."

Vanya seemed to shrink in on herself, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"I want to explain," Vanya said. "But the other Five is worried that you might…"

Vanya took a deep breath.

Ben gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and shook his head at Five when he looked ready to say something more.

"He thinks you'll want to go back," Vanya finally said. "To 2002."

She opened one of her eyes to take a hesitant peek at their reactions.

"Uh," Ben said, baffled by the idea.

"Of course I want to go back," Five snapped. "I belong there."

"What?!" Ben said. "No you don't!"

Vanya sighed. "So he was right."

"I thought you were happy with us," Ben said. "I thought…but you said..."

Vanya turned her body towards him and snaked her arm behind his back, so that they were in a weird sort of sitting hug on the couch. Ben squeezed her shoulders again, this time for himself and tried to calm down so he could properly articulate his argument.

And Five just stood in front of them. Apart from them. Why did he always do that?

"It's not about happiness," Five said. "Anyway, if I go back I can fix-"

"No," Vanya said. "You don't need to think like that!"

"I read your memoir," Five hissed. "I know how they treated you!"

"Wh-what?" Ben said.

"They didn't mean to," Vanya said. "It wasn't-"

"Intentions don't matter," Five said. "And ignorance is no excuse."

Ben could feel himself getting angry, but he squashed the urge to yell or demand answers. He knew it wouldn't help.

Instead, Ben resolved to listen closely for clues. He would use those clues later, maybe with Klaus or Diego. A well phrased question could go a long way, even when the person answering is trying to lie.

"I forgave them," Vanya said. "So you don't need to-"

"But you still felt it all," Five insisted. "It shouldn't have happened in the first place."

"Please," Vanya said. "Remember what Luther said about the moon? If you mess around in the past-"

The moon? Ben thought. Didn't the moon cause the apocalypse? It exploded or something.

"I'll make sure nothing like that happens," Five said. "I'll-"

"Why do you always do this to me?!" Vanya screamed.

The light bulbs overhead shattered, the glass sprinkling down like a light rain, and Vanya's voice reverberated through the room.

The sound of it was literally painful, it cut through Ben, sharp as a knife. His ears ached with it, a throbbing that synchronized with his heartbeat, and a lingering ringing sound prevented him from hearing anything else.

Vanya turned his head, cupped his cheeks in her hands, and said something. Ben didn't know what, but the concern on her face was palpable.

"I'm okay," Ben told her. He looked at Five. "You okay?"

Five ran a hand over his face and appeared to sigh heavily.

"You're okay, right?" Ben hated the way he could barely hear his own voice. He looked between the two of them. "Uh, I think my ears popped or something. Sorry, I can't hear that well, is that just me?"

Vanya touched his ear and then showed him her hand.

There was a drop of blood on her fingers.

"Shit," Ben said. "Am I bleeding?"

She held her index and thumb together, with an inch of space between. The universal sign for a little.

"Shit," Ben repeated.

In his peripheral, Ben noticed a flash of blue light. He turned and saw that Five had left.

He jumped up. "Five!"

"It's okay," Vanya said. "It's going to be okay."

Her voice was faint and Ben wondered if she was whispering or if his ears were still bleeding.

"What if he leaves?!" Ben said. "Really leaves, like last time?"

"He won't leave," Vanya said. "We just have to explain to him-"

"I know there's two of them now," Ben said. "But I want to keep them both. Is that stupid? Is it selfish?"

"It's not selfish," Vanya said. "Hey, why don't we call the older Five? We can explain what happened, get some advice. Or maybe when the younger Five calms down we can have another talk. The four of us."

"Okay." Ben took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay. Let's do that."

Vanya ran a hand through Ben's hair. "But will you let me take you to a doctor first? We should get your ears checked out."

"I can hear you fine," Ben said. "It already came back."

Though there was still a faint ringing sound in the background.

"Please?" She looked so sad and worried.

"Alright," Ben relented.

The Five on the screen was wearing a maroon polo shirt. He held himself with remarkable dignity, despite the large Power Puff Girls poster prominently displayed on the wall behind him.

"You already have access to my proofs," he was saying. "You can run your own equations, of course, but I'm confident you'll arrive at the same conclusion."

The younger Five scowled at him. "I will run my own equations."

"But even if the math doesn't check out," Ben said. "You get why we want you to stay, right?"

Five stiffened, but kept his eyes on the laptop screen. "I have more questions," he told the other Five. "Unrelated to today's meeting."

"We'll talk again," the Five in the maroon polo said. "In this same fashion."

"Five?" Vanya reached out as if to touch him, but then withdrew her hand. "Did you hear what Ben said?"

"He heard." The Five on the screen tutted disapprovingly. "Don't be rude to them. Your anger is childish."

Abruptly slamming the laptop shut, Five turned to glare at them. "Yes, I heard. Alright? I'm staying."

"I'm sorry if he offended you," Vanya said. "I'm sure he didn't mean to do that."

"I'm not offended." Five spoke in that tone of voice that confirmed he was, in fact, offended.

Ben smiled.

Five zeroed in on the smile. "Are you laughing at me?"

Ben exaggeratedly gasped and held his hand over his heart in his best Klaus impression. "Me? I would never."

Five tried to maintain his scowl, but his lips twitched upward. "Jerk."

"But you loooove him," Vanya said.

Maybe it was the contrast between her childish tone and her adult looking face, but this teasing is what finally managed to startle a laugh out of Five.

Ben laughed too. "And I love him more!"

"Nuh uh," Vanya said. "I love him more."

"I love him the most," Ben insisted.

"I love him the mostest," Vanya retorted.

Five rolled his eyes. "I'm surrounded by children."