Wednesday, 11:15 am (again?)
Thea was chilling at the bar in the living room sipping her whisky when Five came crashing onto the bar-top. Thea jumped back in surprise, falling off of her chair and onto the floor. Thea groaned as her stomach wound protested against her sudden movement. Five lay across the bar-top face first, clutching a large briefcase which was covered in dust and filth.
Thea jumped up and helped him down from the bar. "Oh my god, Five are you alright?" Her hands ran all over his body, looking for any visible wounds.
Five groaned and looked towards Thea, "What's the time? The exact time?" Thea felt a sense of Deja-vu but looked at her watch nonetheless. "11:15 am, why?"
He looked perplexed but shrugged and muttered, "Three hours late but it'll do." His face became grave, "Call the others. Family meeting, now." His voice was deadly serious and so Thea just nodded and ran to get the others, though not without giving him one last worried glance.
"So, the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save our world is, well, us."
Five didn't give anybody a chance to talk before he got straight down to business. Thea had managed to round up Allison and Luther from upstairs - she'd found them under some kind of tent doing god knows what - as for Diego she'd sent him a text to come home urgently. Thea had simply released Klaus from his bindings, though she did make note that though he was acting normal around her again, he still seemed a little on edge. Thea just chalked it up to grief. She'd been a wreck for weeks, even months after she lost Ben, so she'd continue to be supportive of Klaus no matter his behaviour.
"The Umbrella Academy," Luther stated.
"Yeah, but with me, obviously," Five drawled. "So if y'all don't get your sideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we're screwed. Who cares if Dad messed us up? Are we gonna let that define us?"
They all shook their heads in response. "No. And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I've come back with a lead." Five held up a folded piece of paper. "I know who's responsible for the apocalypse."
Allison reached out for the note and Five handed it to her. She opened it and Thea peeked around her side for a better look. The note read:
Reassignment: Protect Harold Jenkins.
"Harold Jenkins?" Allison questioned.
"Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?" Diego asked from behind the group. Five stared back at them all before throwing up his hands in dismay, "I don't know, yet. But I do know he's responsible for the apocalypse. So we have to find him. And we have to do it now."
"How is he connected to what's gonna happen?" Luther asked.
"I don't know." Thea raised a brow, That's a first. Never thought I'd see the day oh-great-and-knowledgeable Number Five admitted he didn't know something.
"Wait. So you just know his name?" Diego asked incredulously. "That's it? There's probably dozens of Harold Jenkinses in the city."
"Well, we just better start looking, then." Five replied sarcastically.
"Wait. Am I the only one that's sceptical here?" Allison asked, "I mean, how exactly do you know all of this about what's his name?"
Five was clearly agitated and losing his patience. "Harold Jenkins. You know those lunatics in masks who attacked the house?"
"Oh, yeah, I think I remember those guys," Klaus drawled sarcastically. Thea joined in, "Not very hard to forget when I have a hole in my stomach with their name on it." She gave a bitter smile.
"Yeah, the ones that attacked us and kidnapped our brother and sister while you were out getting drunk." Diego accused Five.
Five gave Thea an apologetic glance before continuing on. She didn't take it personally, he looked pretty stressed. "They were sent by the Temps Commission to stop me from coming back and preventing the end of life on earth."
"The temps what?" Allison asked. Everyone was just mostly confused at Five's ramblings and Thea felt he should just get to the point of his long-winded story. Didn't he just stress the importance of the little time we have left yet here he was monologuing?
"My former employer. They monitor all of time and space to make sure that whatever is supposed to happen...happens." Thea droned Five out at this point, she was all for helping him with his apocalypse plan and didn't need to hear the backstory to it all. She trusted him enough to take his word for it. She blew the hair out of her eyes and glanced at Klaus, who sat on the sofa looking as bored as she felt.
Allison, Luther and Diego all began talking at once, asking Five questions about his story. This is why I wanted to just skip the story and go with it. Too boring and confusing.
"Do you know how insane this sounds?" Allison demanded.
"You know what else is insane?" Five asked. "I look like a 13-year old boy. Klaus talks to the dead, Thea reads minds and Luther thinks he's fooling everybody with that overcoat. Everything about us is insane. It always has been."
It was silent for a moment before Thea burst out laughing. They all looked at her incredulously at her outburst, but Thea could feel tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. She was wheezing, "his-his overcoat!" she giggled again, "Oh god Five, who knew you had a sense of humour. That was hilarious." Luther looked around awkwardly at the mention of his attempt at hiding his huge physique under the long coat he wore.
Five carried on, ignoring Thea who was trying to catch her breath, "We didn't choose this life, we're just living it. For the next three days, anyway."
"But the last time we tried to stop it, we all died." Allison cut in. "Why is this time any different?"
"Because this time, I'm here. We have the name of the man responsible. Guys, we actually have the chance of saving the lives of billions of people." He stared at them all in determination.
Allison looked around before shrugging, "Alright. Let's get this bastard."
"You had me at Gerald Jenkins," Diego said seriously. Thea cracked up again at him getting the name wrong. "Gerald! You guys are hilarious today."
Five gave Diego a bland look, "It's Harold Jenkins."
"Whatever. I already nearly lost two people I care about this week. I'm not risking anyone else." Diego began walking out of the room.
"Luther?" Five asked.
"Yeah, you guys go. I'm gonna stay and go through Dad's files. He may have known more about this than we did. I mean, why else did he want us all back together again?"
Allison took his arm in concern, "No, we should all stick together."
Diego cut across them both, "Let's roll. I know where we can find this asshole. Klaus, Thea, you're with me. Thea stood and walked over to stand next to her brother, while Klaus attempted to talk his way out of leaving.
He began walking out the room with his hand on his stomach and Thea clutched his arm when he passed, giving him an inquiring look. Klaus just nodded back at her, I'll be fine, I just need time to myself. She nodded back, and Klaus leant down to kiss her forehead before making his way upstairs. Thea hoped he took a nap to soothe whatever was bothering him. Although she had a few suspicions in mind, she now trusted he'd come to her when it got too much, after their talk.
Diego left with Five, and Thea went after them, followed closely by Allison.
Thea sat in the back of the car next to Allison, whilst Five sat in front with Diego in the driver's seat.
"I know this Jenkins dude has to have a record. I just have to get my hands on his file," Diego said whilst scanning his surroundings.
"And your plan is to, what? Waltz in there and just ask for it?" Allison asked.
"I know the station like the back of my hand, sis. I've spent a lot of time inside."
Weird flex, but ok. "That's not exactly something to be proud of, you know." Thea chimed in.
"Whatever. Here's the plan."
"Plan?" Five asked. "I'm just gonna blink in and get the file."
Diego shook his head, "No. You don't know the ins and outs of this place, okay?"
"I literally just did this yesterday. My yesterday, not your yesterday." Five pointed out.
"He's got a point," Thea mumbled. Allison nodded from next to her.
"Listen to me. You are not going in there." Diego said. "I made a call, that's what a leader does. He leads."
Thea snorted at his comment. Whatever you say, dude.
Thea and Five leant against the wall as they waited for Diego. Allison was making a call from the payphone in front of them to who Thea assumed was Vanya.
"Things have gotten so messed up. And...all I ever wanted was to be a good sister to you. Guess I pretty much failed at that. But you need to call me. Okay? I love you, sis."
Thea felt for Allison, she really did. Although she felt bad for how the others often treated Vanya as children, she could also see it from Allison's perspective. The two girls had nothing in common. Allison had always been interested in more girly topics - boys, clothes, celebrities - whereas Vanya was the total opposite. She was more interested in her music and keeping to herself. Thea knew that pushing people away was Vanya's way of coping with their childhood; her defence mechanism. But that didn't mean it didn't also affect Allison, because whenever Allison did go to Vanya to play or chat, she'd been pushed away by the emotionally guarded girl.
Thea felt for them both because they were equally to blame for their stunted relationship but neither could do anything to overcome it.
"Anything?" Five's voice brought her from her thoughts. Diego had come walking back to where they stood, a file in his hands. Allison grabbed the file from behind him and Thea jumped over to see what it said inside.
Inside was a sheet of information but at the top, a picture was clipped in of Vanya's friend, Leonard. Thea frowned at the sight of Leonard. Why would he be in a police file on Harold Jenkins?
"Why's Leonard in Harold Jenkins' file?" she asked.
Allison looked startled at her comment, "You know Leonard?" Thea just shrugged. "Not really, but I spoke to him a little when I ran after Vanya this morning. He seemed nice. Even knew my old code name."
Diego, Allison and Five frowned at this information. Allison looked back down at the file before exclaiming, "Holy shit."
"What?"
Her face was grave, "Harold Jenkins is Leonard Peabody."
After Allison's shocking discovery, the four of them had driven straight to the address listed in Harold Jenkins' file.
"Be careful, okay? We don't know what Peabody's capable of." Allison warned them all.
"Yeah, he didn't seem dangerous when I first saw him. Looked kinda scrawny," Diego muttered.
"He seemed sweet," Thea chimed in. She didn't want to jump to conclusions about Vanya's friend, but she was slightly uneasy with the whole situation.
Five ran to catch up with them all as they made their way up the front lawn and to the doorstep. "Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and murderers. I mean, look at him." Allison replied, gesturing to Five.
"Good point. So, what's this guy want with Vanya?"
"I don't know," Five said, "how about we ask him after we kill him?"
Thea was making her way up the front steps when Five spatial jumped away and Diego threw himself through the glass of the door. Thea was bewildered as she slowly walked up the steps before reaching the door. She was about to try the knob when Five opened it for her. She thanked him quietly before walking inside. "You know, the door was unlocked." Diego groaned as he lay flat on the floor, surrounded by broken glass.
"Yeah well, my way works just fine. Spread out." He got up from the floor, "Yell if you, uh...you know, you're in trouble."
"Ah, inspiring leadership." Five mocked. Thea nudged him in the side, but she had difficulty holding her laughter in. Five winked at her before he started looking around the house.
Allison took Thea's arm, "Let's check up here, okay?" Thea nodded and followed her up the stairs. They reached a hallway and Thea could see a bathroom at the end and a bedroom. She peeked into the room but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Allison tapped Thea's shoulder and pointed above her. "Give me a hand?"
Thea saw a little piece of rope leading up the attic and nodded her agreement. Allison grabbed Thea's midsection and lifted her upwards, so she could grab onto the string and open the latch. Once the ladder came down, Allison walked to the top of the stairs and shouted for Five and Diego. "Guys, you need to see this."
After they'd all made their way up into the attic, all Thea could see was old Umbrella Academy memorabilia. There were posters lining the walls with her sibling's eyes scratched out on every-one. She noticed with some trepidation that her own had been left intact. Thea saw a close-up poster of a younger Klaus and bit her lip nervously at the sight of his eyes scratched out furiously.
"All our faces are burnt off," Allison commented. "Well, all of us except Thea..." she finished nervously. Thea was glad she wasn't the only one unnerved by this fact. Diego walked over to a shelf where small figurines of Allison, Luther, Diego, Five, Klaus and Ben sat, all their heads had been burnt down and the plastic melted in a grotesque fashion. "Well, that's not creepy..."
Thea walked over and delicately picked up what she guessed was Ben's figure - if the tentacles coming from the figure's body was any indication - and felt sick at it's mutilated state. Diego saw how unnerved Thea was at the figurines and put a hand on her shoulder in comfort.
"Uh, guys, that's not all that's creepy." Five's voice brought them out of their investigating. The three of them walked over to where Five stood, hunched over a corner of the room and Thea felt bile rise in her throat.
On a shelf of its own, Thea's figurine stood, head in-tact and cleaner than the others which had been covered in a layer of dust. Her old code-name, 'The Divine' was written above the shelf, and a few of her posters were pinned up around the shelf. The one that stuck out most to Thea was of a younger her, stood next to a grinning boy wearing a home-made Umbrella Academy mask. A boy she recognised from a memory she'd thought long-forgotten.
"Holy shit," Diego muttered. "What kind of sick fascination does he have with Thea?"
Five narrowed his gaze on the photo of the two younger kids and turned to look at Thea, "When was this taken?" he asked. Diego and Allison took a closer look at the photo and then back at Thea.
Thea took a deep breath before recounting the memory from years ago, one she could hardly remember if not for the weirdness of it...
The Hargreeves children were all seated in the car as they pulled up outside their house and they saw all the crowds surrounding either side. Many of them held up Umbrella Academy posters and comic books in their hands, cheering.
A young boy who wore a home-made Umbrella Academy mask was stood at the front, holding a large bag and an old, beat-up camera hung around his neck.
As Diego and Luther got out of the car, followed by Allison, the young boy began to try jumping over the barrier separating the children and the crowd. Ben and Klaus were next to leave the car, and as Thea followed them she felt her arm being grabbed from behind. She turned to look at whoever grabbed her, bewildered. She saw a boy, around the same age as her wearing a similar mask to her own - albeit one that was clearly cut out and made from paper.
Klaus came up to them both and grabbed the boys arm, making him let go of his sister, while Ben hovered behind them both. "Hey, you're not supposed to be here," he said.
The boy stuttered, "I-It's just, I'm your biggest fan, all you guys." The boy looked starstruck and nervous and Thea felt bad for him. She didn't agree with his actions, and grabbing her wasn't a very good way to make a good impression, but he looked harmless enough.
She turned towards Klaus, "It's okay, he's just a little excited." Klaus gave her a dubious look before walking back towards the house with Ben and the others. He knew his sister could take care of herself if the boy tried anything.
Thea turned back to the boy and gave him a sheepish grin, "Sorry about him, overprotective twin and all." The boy had a large grin on his face as she spoke, but it soon disappeared when Sir Hargreeves came up behind Thea and pointed back towards the crowd. "Get back behind the barricade," he demanded harshly.
The boy looked terrified but continued on regardless. Thea was a little impressed, it took a lot of guts to stand up to someone intimidating like Reginald Hargreeves. "It's just, I was born on the same day as the Academy kids. I think I'm like them, I must be. I haven't quite figured out what my power is...yet. Maybe with your help, we can find out." His voice sounded desperate and Thea cringed at the whole situation. She knew her Father and knew he wouldn't go easy on the young boy in front of him.
Hargreeves knelt down to the boy's level, one hand gripping Thea's shoulder tightly. "You have no power. You never will have power. Now, go home." He pointed his cane towards the street in dismissal.
The boy began to beg, "No, please. You have to let me stay, I came all this way. Please don't make me go back." Thea was worried at his begging, why didn't he want to go home? Did he not like it there?
Hargreeves drew up to his full height and put on a false cheery expression, "A little word of advice, my boy. Not everyone in this world can be powerful. Chasing something unattainable is a recipe for a lifetime of disappointment and resentment. So get off my property." Thea saw what her Father planned to do and swiftly stepped in between the two and gave her Father a charming smile.
"Father, I'm sure he'd be willing to politely leave if asked. How about I take it from here?" Thea looked at her Father and subtly willed him to agree. She knew he'd rather not cause a scene and that made it easier for Thea to twist his thoughts towards leaving the boy and heading inside. Hargreeves huffed in dismissal and turned to leave. "See to it, Number Zero."
Thea turned to the boy and gave him an apologetic look, "I'm sorry about that. He's like that with everybody, don't take it personally. You said you haven't found your power yet, but maybe bravery and determination are yours. I mean, standing up to the old man like that was pretty brave." Thea knew it sounded cheesy, but she just wanted the boy to feel better about himself, especially after her Father's harsh words.
The boy looked at Thea in awe and she noticed the camera hanging around his neck. "Hey, how about we take a picture before you go? I mean, you did say you came all the way over here, right?" The boy grinned brightly at her suggestion and Thea felt relief that she'd managed to make him focus on something happier. The boy picked up his large camera and turned it to face them both. Thea wrapped an arm around his shoulder and grinned at the camera, before the shutter went off, capturing the moment.
The boy looked down at his camera and back up at Thea. "Number Zero! Hurry up now, we don't have all day to waste!" Hargreeves' voice shouted from the front door. Thea smiled at the boy before whispering, "Just keep practising your power. Determination is a great thing to have." With that said, she turned and ran towards the Academy doors, back into her home.
The young Harold Jenkins stood clutching his camera as her words rang in his mind. 'Determination is a great thing to have.' He knew what he had to do.
End of Flashback
Five, Allison and Diego were shocked at her story. Five had already disappeared at that point in time so he never even knew. Whereas Allison and Diego could vaguely remember, as interactions like that happened a lot when they were younger and so they all kind of blurred into one.
Thea looked away from the photo, and the reminder it brought with it, feeling her heart sink with guilt at what she might have unknowingly encouraged. Her words might have encouraged a young boy to murder his father and now he was - according to Five - the person responsible for the apocalypse. Not to mention he was somehow related to Vanya, although Thea had a sinking feeling that Vanya wasn't his real goal.
Allison seemed to agree, "This was never about Vanya. This was about us."
Before they could talk on this revelation any further, Five gasped and fell to the floor clutching his side. "Five-" Diego, Allison and Thea dropped to the floor worriedly. Allison removed his jacket and they could see a patch of blood from underneath his shirt and jumper. She lifted his shirt up and a bleeding wound was revealed. Thea winced at the sight of the untreated wound as it looked slightly infected.
"Jesus, Five. Why didn't you say anything?" Diego asked.
"We have to keep going. So close." Five choked out.
"That won't make a difference if you die on us, idiot." Thea reminded him. Five didn't hear as he had passed out from the pain. Allison and Diego called his name in worry. Diego looked at both his sisters, "We need to get him home. Now."
Diego and Allison were carrying an unconscious Five while Thea ran ahead to the bathroom for an emergency medical kit they kept stocked at all times. She passed Grace on the way and shouted to her, "Mom! Five's downstairs bleeding! Diego and Allison are with him, please help!" before continuing to run towards the bathroom.
When she made it back, Grace had Five laid out on his bed as she took the medical equipment Thea had brought and got to work. Thea sat beside his bed, holding his hand in worry. She could hear Diego and Allison mumbling from the doorway but left them to it, too worried about her brother laying on the bed, unconscious.
I hope this clears up the whole time-travel and them forgetting things in the episode 'the day that wasn't'. Basically, instead of travelling back to 8:15 am again, Five travels back to 11:15 am instead, meaning everything that happened in the previous chapter (which all happened within a couple of hours) stayed the same. Hope that makes enough sense.