The light shining in from the window woke Thea from her slumber. She winced at the ache in her neck from sleeping on an angle and her arm was sore from being draped over Five's bedside. She gently removed her hand from Five's and kissed his forehead. His brow creased in his sleep and Thea let out a quiet laugh.
She stood up and stretched, groaning in relief when her back popped. Thea decided to leave Five sleeping to recover and went in search of Klaus. She hadn't seen him since before she, Allison, Diego and Five went out yesterday and she wanted to make sure he was okay.
Thea soon found Klaus - or rather heard him - when she turned the corner and saw him walking down the hallway ringing a bell in his hands and singing, "Wakey, wakey. Eggs and bakey."
"Klaus, what are you doing?" Thea asked, making her presence known.
Klaus turned to his sister and grinned, "Calling a family meeting."
"What for?" she asked.
"I'll tell you with everyone else, can't be bothered to explain it all twice." Klaus linked their arms and pulled her down towards Luther's room. Thea hummed along to Klaus' singing and they both saw Luther stumble out of his room shirtless, only a blanket around his waist.
"Oh, here's the man. Someone pulled a disappearing act last night. What mischief did you get into?" Klaus asked. Luther looked dazed. His door was wide open and from inside Thea could see a woman sat up in his bed, clearly naked. Thea's brows rose in shock and she nudged Klaus and pointed the woman out.
"Maybe I should ask her. Hello!" he chuckled and waved. The woman waved back.
Luther hurried to close his door. "Oh, come on, don't be so shy, big guy. You needed it!" Klaus laughs. "Not a lot of ladies on the moon, I assume." Thea snorted at that.
"Klaus, enough." Luther snapped. His face showed clear anxiety and Thea raised a brow in wonder. Klaus noticed too, and he chuckled nervously, "Wait. Was this, like...Is this your..."
Luther didn't need to answer for his expression said it all. The twins were both shocked. "No way," Klaus exclaimed. He did a little dance and celebrated, the bell ringing as he raised his arms. "Whoo. He popped his cherry!"
Luther turned away in embarrassment and frustration. Klaus turned and gasped dramatically, "Now you're gonna have to marry her!"
Thea snorted, "That's not how it works."
"Would you keep your voice down!" Luther hissed.
"Hey, you know, I remember my first...Oh no, I don't." He chuckled. Thea's face scrunched up at that, "Ew Klaus, I don't want to hear it." Klaus smirked at his sister, "Oh don't act all innocent, dear sister of mine, I know you're just as bad." Thea decided to get back at him and smiled smugly, "If you want to hear about my first time so badly, why don't you ask Ben? I'm sure he'd be willing to share."
Thea smirked at Klaus' disgusted expression and laughed when he put his hands to his ears and began yelling to drown at what his sister just said.
"Oh god, I think I'm scarred by that visual," he muttered, rubbing his eyes furiously.
Thea snorted at his dramatics and looked back at Luther. He was watching the two with furrowed brows and glazed eyes. Thea wasn't sure he could even follow their conversation. Luther had enough and snapped at them, "What is it?"
Klaus dropped his arms and looked to Luther, "Important family business. Meet us downstairs, okay?" Klaus linked arms with Thea again and walked away. Luther watched them both go, still confused.
Thea sat across from Luther, who had his hood up and looked ill. Klaus was pouring coffee into everyone's cups and Thea noticed he put one in front of an empty chair. She raised her brow and whispered "Ben?"
'Yeah. I'm here, right next to you.' Ben said, and Thea looked at the empty spot next to her and smiled at what she could only assume was where his face was. Five came walking into the kitchen still wearing his blue pyjamas. He grabbed the coffee out of Luther's hands and sat down next to him.
"I wouldn't drink that if I were you," Thea said. Five ignored her and took a drink. He made a disgusted face. "Jesus. Who do I gotta kill to get a decent cup of coffee?"
"Told you," Thea mumbled.
Luther sighed as he rested his face on his arm, his form hunched over the table. "Can we get started?"
"Anyone seen the others? Diego? Allison? No?" Klaus asked.
"We were with them yesterday," Thea said, gesturing to herself and Five. "We went to check out Harold Jenkins' house. Turns out he's got some lowkey obsession with the Umbrella Academy or something. He had all our old memorabilia."
"More like he has a creepy obsession over you," Five drawled.
At Klaus' worried look and Luther's inquisitive one, Thea explained. "I remember meeting him when we were younger, he was a massive fan and Dad just dismissed him, as did most of you guys. I may or may not have been too nice to him...none of my posters or figures were destroyed like the others."
"It was more like a shrine," Five chimed in. Thea glared at him, "Shut up. You're not helping."
Klaus looked disturbed by the news while Ben's eyes narrowed at the thought of some random guy having a shrine dedicated to Thea. His Thea.
Luther got sick of the silence and coughed, "What was it that you wanted to tell us, Klaus?"
Klaus jumped and span to face them all. "Oh yes. Now, listen up. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spit it out."
'This is a bad idea,' Ben drawled. Thea nodded, "I agree." Luther and Five gave her a weird look and Thea turned pink at having spoken to seemingly nobody. "Probably shouldn't reply around others..." she mumbled. She heard Ben laugh and shot a glare in his direction.
"Klaus?" Luther prompted.
"I conjured Dad last night," Klaus admitted. Thea was shocked, and Luther stared at Klaus in disbelief. Five was just intrigued.
"You said you hadn't been able to conjure anybody in years," Luther pointed out.
"Ah, yes, I know, but I'm completely sober. Ta-da! I got clean, yesterday, I had to talk to someone special and then ended up having this...conversation with dear old Daddy himself."
At the reminder of Klaus' love Dave, Thea bites her lip and laid her right hand on the table next to the empty chair, her palm facing upwards. She knew Ben couldn't hold her hand, but she liked the thought of it nonetheless.
Klaus snorted at the look of adoration on Ben's face as he saw Thea's hand next to him. He reached out to touch her, but his hand went straight through hers. His smile was sad, but he laid his hand next to Thea's anyway.
Luther sighed and completely dismissed Klaus' claims and asked for the aspirin. Thea narrowed her eyes at her two brothers and slapped her left hand on the table to get their attention. "Don't be assholes and listen to what he's got to say for once, will you?"
Klaus gave her a thankful look. Five sighed, "Sorry, Thea." Klaus pulled an affronted face at Five's apology to his sister and not himself. Five ignored it. "Okay, fine. I'll play. What did the old man have to say?"
"Well, he gave me the usual lecture about my appearance and failures in life. Yada yada yada. No surprise there. Even the afterlife couldn't soften a hardass like Dad, right? But he did mention something about his murder, or lack thereof, because..."
'Wait for it'
Thea gasped at what she saw in Klaus' mind.
"-he killed himself," Klaus finished. He looked down in false sadness.
Luther stared at Klaus and rolled his eyes, "I don't have time for your games, Klaus."
Thea wanted to defend her brother, but she was honestly too stunned to speak. Hargreeves killed himself? Just to get them all back together? Did the old bastard not know how to pick up a bloody phone? Why'd he have to be so god damn dramatic?
"Dad wouldn't just kill himself," Luther denied, he stood up in frustration.
"You said it yourself. He was depressed. Holed up in his office and room all day and night," Five contemplated the idea.
"No. There weren't any signs. Suicidal people exhibit certain tendencies, strange behaviours."
Klaus scoffed, "Like sending someone to the moon for no reason?"
"I swear to god, Klaus, if you're lying..." Luther threatened.
"He's not," Thea denied. When they both turn to her in question she pointed to her temple reminding them she can tell if he's lying. Not that Thea doubted him for even a minute.
"Master Klaus is correct," Pogo said as he walked into the room. Luther turned around and his face fell with the confirmation. "Regretfully...I helped Master Hargreeves enact his plan. So did Grace."
"What?" Luther asked in disbelief.
"It was a difficult choice for the both of us. More difficult than you could ever know. Prior to your father's death, Grace's programming was adjusted so that she was incapable of administering first aid on that fateful night."
"That sick bastard," Thea seethed in fury. She knew he was willing to hurt others for his own gain, but to make it seem like Grace had killed him all for some stupid murder mystery? Sick bastard, indeed.
"Your father hoped that being back here, solving it together, would reignite your desire to be a team again." Pogo said.
Thea bristled at that comment. The nerve of him. She scoffed and when they all turned to look at her, she clenched he jaw in anger. "Reignite our desire to be a team? What kind of bullshit is that?" Luther looked shocked at her outburst while Pogo sighed in sadness. "We haven't been a team since we were teenagers and that's his own damn fault," Thea grit out.
'Calm down. I know you're mad but, please, calm down, love.' Thea took a deep breath at Ben's words and sat back on her chair with her arms crossed. She gave Pogo a look, "Whatever. Carry on explaining this stupid plan of his."
"Bring us together, to what end?" Five asked.
"To save the world, of course," Pogo replied.
Klaus found it just as ridiculous as his sister and let out a bemused chuckle, "All right, then."
Luther was looking down in anger, "First the moon mission and now this. You watched me search for answers and said nothing." Pogo looked down in regret. "Anything else you want to share, Pogo? Any other damn secrets?" Luther accused.
"Hey, Luther, calm down."
"No, I won't calm down. We've been lied to by the one person in this family we all trusted."
"It was your father's dying wish, Master Luther," Pogo pleaded. "I had no choice."
Luther didn't agree, "There's always choice." He stared at Pogo before walking out.
"He's kinda got a point," Thea pointed out. "Not that I blame you or anything, Pogo. But even you have to admit it's a pretty fucked up wish." Pogo gave Thea a sad look and sighed, following Luther and leaving the room.
Five had his head in his hands and sighed. "I gotta think." He turned and spatial jumped away, leaving just Thea, Klaus and Ben in the kitchen.
Klaus took a seat opposite Thea and Ben.
"That went well."
"-but I don't get it, why would he want to be in Gryffindor of all houses?" Thea exclaimed, throwing her arms up in defeat. Her head was laid on Klaus' thighs as he attempted to knit above her. They were both laid on Klaus' bed in their room and Thea was using the downtime to talk to Ben - something she'd missed doing more than anything. As long as Klaus paid attention to what Ben was saying, Thea could hear his replies through his mind, meaning they'd finally been able to speak more than two sentences to each other. They were currently debating the first Harry Potter book.
'What's wrong with Gryffindor? The house of the brave and chivalrous?' Ben asked.
Thea snorted, "More like the house of the idiotic and brash."
Ben laughed at her reply. 'You wouldn't date a Gryffindor then? I'm offended, love.'
"You're offended? Ben, I'm sorry but you're, like, the epitome of a Hufflepuff." She laughed at Ben's offended noise. She made a cooing noise, "Aww don't worry, I'd still date you. Even if you were in Hufflepuff."
Klaus laughed at their conversation and Ben's expression. "So where would I go then, sis?"
Thea looked up at her brother in consideration. "Well, not Ravenclaw. No offence, but you have zero concentration span. Hmm, you're too out-there to really fit Slytherin and I guess you are pretty brash..." she winked.
Klaus laughed at her, "So I'm in the house of the 'idiotic and brash' then?"
"Well, the poor Hufflepuffs wouldn't know what hit them if you went there, so I guess so."
Klaus snorted, "So where does that leave you?"
Thea gave him a blank look, "Ravenclaw, of course."
'Because you're creative and like to learn?' Ben asked.
"No. Because I'm smart as fuck, duh." It was silent for a moment before all three of them burst into laughter.
Five stood at the doorway and just watched them laugh, he almost didn't want to disturb their peaceful moment. He sighed before knocking and walking in, "Get up. We're leaving."
Thea sat up and saw Five. "Where?" she asked.
"To save the world," he replied.
"Oh, is that all?" Klaus drawled sarcastically.
"So, Pogo said Dad killed himself to get us all back together, right?" Five spoke to himself, "It had me thinking. I had to jump to the future to figure out when it happened, but Dad, he can't time travel. So how'd the crazy bastard know to kill himself a week before the end of the world?"
Thea shrugged. She'd given up trying to understand what went on in Reginald Hargreeves' twisted mind. Klaus got up and began getting dressed while Thea sat beside him on the bed. Klaus hummed, "Well, you know-"
"Don't answer. That was purely rhetorical." Five cut in.
"Why ask then? If you don't want an answer?" Thea asked him sarcastically.
Five ignored her question and carried on. "Truth is, our whole lives, he's been telling us we'd save the world from the apocalypse."
"Yeah, but I always thought that he just said that to scare us into doing the dishes," Klaus admitted.
"Me too." Both Thea and Five replied at the same time. "But what if the old man really knew what was going to happen?" Five asked.
"Yeah, but how? As you said, he couldn't time travel." Thea pointed out.
"No idea," Five sighed. "But the fact remains, his fakakta plan worked. We all came home. Since we're here we might as well save the world."
Klaus sniffed a dirty shirt and Thea gave him a disgusted look before reaching into her bedside table and offering one of her old ones. Klaus was slim enough that it fit him fine, and Thea wore the top as a young teen meaning it was small to fit her non-existent curves as a kid. Klaus smiled before putting it on. "Oh yeah? What, like, the three of us?"
"Well, ideally, no...but I have Thea too, so we'll be good," Five admitted.
They walked out of the room and saw Diego running towards them before turning into his room. "Where have you been?" Five asked.
"Jail."
"And why exactly have you been in jail?" Thea drawled. Couldn't anyone in her family have a normal social life? How was it that Thea could hear her brother say he'd been to jail, and she hardly reacted anymore?
"Long story. Where's Luther?" Diego asked.
"Haven't seen him since breakfast," Five replied.
"Yeah, two days till the world ends and he picks a great time to drop off the grid," Klaus remarked.
"What's going on? Why do you need Luther?" Thea asked Diego.
Diego came back out of his room, clipping his straps around his chest.
"Allison is in danger."
The four of them had driven up to a bar, and once making their way inside, saw Luther sitting on his own, nursing a drink.
"Look. Trying a little hair of the dog, are we? Hm?" Klaus asked as they made their way over to Luther's empty table.
"Leave me alone."
Diego turned to Thea, Klaus and Five, "Give us a minute."
Klaus huffed a sigh and led Thea and Five over to the corner of the bar, "Come on. Maybe they'll brood each other to death," he said. Thea took a seat at the bar whilst Klaus stood next to her and Five took a seat a little away from them both.
Thea curiously looked around the room at the patrons of the bar. It was so dark in here and it was such a lovely day outside, why would they waste it here? Thea enjoyed drinking, but even she wouldn't want to stay cooped up in this dingy place. She caught the eye of a man sitting further down the bar and smiled politely. The man looked her up and down before gesturing her over, inviting her for a drink. Thea turned a little pink at the attention and politely shook her head, but Klaus noticed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, giving the man a glare that screamed 'off limits'. "Look like somebody has an admirer," Klaus muttered distastefully.
Thea muffled her laugh, not wanting the man to think she was laughing at him. "Stop being so overprotective, Klausy." She gave him a playful jab.
Klaus turned his head to her so only she could hear what he was saying. "Yeah, well, Ben looks positively murderous right now," he teased.
Thea couldn't hold in her laugh and giggled at the thought of Ben being jealous of some random man at a bar. "Yeah, well, you should both know I'm not interested. And Ben should know I've never been interested in anybody but him."
Klaus looked shocked at her admission, "Anyone? Ever? Even after, you know..." Thea knew what he was hinting at and had no shame in admitting she'd never been with anybody but Ben. She shook her head, "No, never. Only him," he admitted.
Klaus was stunned but gave his sister a tight hug. He knew she'd been in love with Ben like he had been with Dave, but he hadn't realised she'd never tried dating again even after Ben had died. Thea hadn't even known Ben was hanging around Klaus and it'd been years since his death, yet she'd still not moved on. Klaus honestly hadn't known whether she had or not during his time doing drugs and being apart from her, and never thought to ask. When Klaus had brought it up once in passing, Ben had said he wouldn't have minded - as it wasn't exactly fair to stop her when he wasn't even there - but Klaus knew he was lying. Seeing her with anybody else would've hurt him, but Klaus knew he'd be happy for her regardless because he loved her.
'I love you.' Thea heard Ben murmur from somewhere behind her. She gave a goofy grin and told him she loved him too.
Klaus couldn't help but ruin the serious moment, "You know, he has the smuggest grin on his face right now." Thea snorted and smacked Klaus playfully on the chest, "Shut up, both of you. You're as bad as each other, honestly..."
Thea didn't finish her sentence as she saw Luther running out of the bar and almost ripping the door off its hinges, Diego hot on his heels. Thea shot out of her seat and followed them with Klaus and Five.
"Hey. Can you go any faster?" Luther asked.
Five gave Luther a blank look, "Ask me again, and I'll burn you with the cigarette lighter," he warned.
Thea was watching the scenery pass from outside the window. She was leaning against Klaus who sat in the middle seat in the back of the car. Thea was on his right, while Diego sat on his left. Luther had claimed the front passenger seat and Five was driving. They'd been driving for what seemed like hours. The lovely weather that Thea had enjoyed before arriving at the bar, had turned to night and with the darkness came a chill.
Five pulled up and the van stopped, and Thea could see they'd arrived at a log cabin in the middle of the woods. Not creepy at all. Let's just walk into this obvious murder cabin like some cliché horror movie.
They all got out the car, Luther running into the cabin calling out for Allison. Thea felt unnerved when he got no reply. Wasn't she supposed to be here? Once Thea and the others reached the door, she could see exactly why her sister hadn't replied and felt her heart drop at the sight of Allison laid on the floor, blood pooling out of the cut on her neck. Thea gasped out her sister's name and turned to cry into Klaus' chest.
Klaus held Thea tightly as he watched Luther desperately cradle Allison to his chest, her eyes were wide open in fright and pain. Thea's sobs and Luther's cries were all that could be heard in the cabin as they all stood there in shock and sorrow at Allison's almost lifeless body.