Island music was playing lightly over the speakers, around a colourfully decorated table in the middle of the room with a giant fruit tower on it.

"Classy." Ris mumbled, resisting the urge to pull out the knife tucked away in the end of her sleeve. This place made her skin jump and crawl in the worst ways.

"All right, when Dad gets here, I'll do the talking, okay?" Five said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Got a few questions for him myself." Diego said instantly.

"Hey, we don't wanna scare him off." Five replied. "If that's even possible." Ris mumbled, looking around room. Allison smirking at that. They were alone, besides the sounds of a cook far away from them and music above them.

"He might be able to help us stop doomsday, get us home." Five continued. "No, we need to figure out why he's planning to kill the president." Diego said manically.

"Oh my god! Diego," Ris moaned. "I swear I'll kill the president, if you don't shut up about him."

"Yes. This is a matter of life and death, you imbecile." Five snapped, glaring at him from across the table.

"Okay, yeah, maybe we should take turns talking. Yeah?" Vanya suggested, picking up a pick conch shell. "Here, whoever has got this conch shell gets to talk."

"Vanya, we don't have time for a debate, okay?" Five said as if he were speaking to a child.

"Maybe I should lead." Allison said, taking the shell from Vanya's hand. "We all know I'm a better public speaker than the rest."

"Okay, Daddy's girl." Diego shot instantly. "Oh, jealous, Number Two?" Allison shot back.

Ben rolled his eyes from his seat behind Ris. "Here we go." he said, picking his legs up on the table. Ris grinned, leaning back in her chair, deciding the safest place to sit would be between Five and Allison.

"Hey, no more numbers. No more bullshit." Diego said seriously. "We're Team Zero. We're all Team Zero." he gesturing around at table.

"Me too?" Ris asked. "Well, you're not Team One." Diego said flippantly. "That makes no sense." Ris replied easily.

"Uh, Diego. Ris." Luther said awkwardly. "You guys don't have the conch."

Diego and Ris looked up at him dubiously. Diego grabbing the conch from Allison's hand, throwing it across the room. The shell shattering into pieces.

"Classic." Allison said dryly. Ris opening her mouth, when fast footsteps rang out.

"Not only have you burglarized my lab, set my chimp loose, conned your way into the Mexican consulate, repeatedly stalked and attacked me, but you have, on numerous occasions, called me..." Reginald Hargreeves started, marching in sliding out a chair.

"Hey, Pop. How's it hangin'?" Klaus slurred. Ris smirked, biting down a smile.

"Dad." Hargreeves finished, seeming to throw as much disgust as he could to the word. "My reconnaissance tells me you're not CIA, not KGB, certainly not MI5, so...who are you?"

"We're your children." Five answered, but Ris could almost feel his tension. "We're from the future. In 1989, you adopted us all and trained us to fight against the end of the world. Called us the Umbrella Academy."

"Why on earth would I adopt seven..."

"Six, well I mean, you did adopt seven, but I'm not one of them." Ris interrupted. Allison nodding. "One of us isn't here." she added quietly.

"Dead."
"One of us is dead."

"Dead, yes, but I'm here. Klaus!" Ben hissed from behind Ris. "Yeah, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba." Klaus said, waving his drink around, the rest of them looking like he was mad. "Tell them I'm here." Ben said impatiently, turning to Ris.

Ris sighed. "The dead child wants me to tell he's here in spirit." Ris said, not liking the callousness, but knowing that Hargreeves wouldn't know his name yet.

"I love you." Ben said from behind her. Ris leaning her head back, shooting him a grin.

"Enough of that now. Regardless, what would possess me to adopt seven ill-mannered malcontents?" Hargreeves said, looking at Ris and Klaus strangely.

"We all have special abilities." Five answered. Ris understood why he wanted someone familiar close, he looked close to having an aneurism.

"Special? In what sense?"

"In the superpower sense." Luther said simply. "Ris too."

"Hi." Ris said, giving the old man a half-hearted wave.

"Called me old-fashioned," Hargreeves started, looking back at the table. "But I'm a stickler for a pesky little thing called evidence. Show me." he demanded.

"Everybody wants to see powers all of a sudden." Allison scoffed, taking a sip of her drink. "We're not circus animals, okay? We're not gonna bounce balls on our noses and clap our hands like seals for your amusement." Luther continued angrily.

Diego rolled his eyes, whipping out his knife throwing it in the air, it curled as it few around the table, embedding itself in a wooden pole behind the man.

Hargreeves hardly even flinched, simply opening a book he brought with him, and began writing with his pen.

"What are you writing?" Diego said, everyone but Ris leaning forwards. The girl simply relaxed into her seat. People writing in books, at the Lab was so normal for her that she had become quite unbothered by it.

"You are zero for two, young man." Hargreeves said calmly. Ris snorted, covering her mouth to repress a giggle. Allison spluttering into her drink next to her, the two sharing looks of mild amusement.

Diego jumped out of his seat. Five spatial-jumping in front of his grabbing his by the shoulders. "Stop!" he scolded.

"Now that is interesting." Hargreeves mused.

"All right, uh, quick rundown." Five said walking back to his seat. "Luther: super strength. Klaus can commune with the dead. Allison can rumour anyone to do anything."

"Except she never uses it." Diego jeered. Allison looked up, glaring at him. "I heard a rumour you punched yourself in the face."

Diego eyes rolled over, punching himself hard in the face. "Ah! Damn it!" he groaned in pain. Allison slurped her drink loudly. "Nice." Ris grinned, she and Allison sharing a quiet girl-five under the table.

"And you?" Hargreeves said turning to Vanya. "Uh, maybe we don't take Vanya for a test run." Luther said gently, placing a hand on Vanya's shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, that's probably not a good idea." Klaus added.

"Yeah."
"It's fine."
"I can handle it."

"Handle it? Last time you handled it, you definitely blew up the moon." Allison quipped. "I believe in you Vanya." Ris said encouragingly.

"Don't encourage her, Ris." Five scolded, knowing from the evil look in her eyes that she was enjoying the chaos. "It's not like she's gonna blow up the moon again." Ris said, waving him off, smiling at Vanya.

Vanya seemed to take Riis's words well, reaching out with her fork to her glass. The room descending into chaos as the rest of them tried to stop her. The high-pitched tone bouncing off the room.

The soundwave flew to the giant fruit bowl in the centre of the table. It exploded, Ris spatial jumping out of her seat just at the last second.

The others weren't so lucky. Giant fruit chunk's slamming into them like tiny fruit bullets. Everyone sighed, the rest of them trying to pick the fruit out of her clothes.

"This is my favourite shirt."

"Wow."

"Oops." Vanya mumbled, Ris patting her on the shoulder. "I see this as a huge success, you didn't blow up anything important."

"That was impressive." Luther added kindly.

Hargreeves adjusting his eye-piece, looking at Ris. "She did the same thing you did." he said pointly to Five. "Yeah," Five said, picking some pieces of fruit out of his jacket. "Ris has the power to mimic anyone's abilities and skills."

"Mmmhh." Ris hummed, walking back to her place, sliding between Five and Allison. "Interesting, tell me-

"Look," Diego said interrupting Hargreeves. "We know that you're involved in a plot to assassinate the president." he said.

"You were recently hospitalized, isn't that correct?" the man replied, the air around them instantly turning dark. "You still appear to be suffering from delusions of grandeur and acute paranoia."

"Am I?" Diego replied, whipping out a picture, slapping it on the table. Ris shifted uncomfortably.

"Explain this. That's you. That's two days from now on the grassy knoll at the exact spot the president's gonna get shot."

Hargreeves examined the photo. "Well...I suppose you've solved it. You've single-handedly unearthed my nefarious plot. Is that what you want to hear? You fancy yourself a do-gooder? The last good man who will save us from our descent into corruption and conspiracy? This is a fantastic delusion. The sad reality is that you're a desperate man, tragically unaware of his own insignificance, desperately clinging to his own ineffectual reasoning. More succinctly, a man in over his head." Hargreaves said darkly.

Ris watched the light from Diego's eyes quite literally begin to go out.

"You're wr...wrong." Diego stuttered, unshed tears shining in the dim light.

Ris made a small move, Five's hand catching hers before anyone could notice. He shook his head slightly, Ris sinking back into her chair, but all thoughts of relaxation gone.

"Look, forget about the president." Five said breaking over the silence. "We have a catastrophic war coming in five days. We need to figure out how to stop it."

"War?" Hargreeves said as if Five were joking. "Men will always be at war with each other."

"No, this isn't just some war. I'm talking about a doomsday. The end of the world." Five continued.

"Well..." Hargreeves said after a second of silence. "You're the special ones, aren't you? Why don't you band together and do something about it?" he said gesturing to the group.

Ris sighed. "All right. Screw it." Ben suddenly yelled, jumping into Klaus. "Ben, no-" Ris started, jumping up.

Klaus's body spasming up, his entire form shaking. Klaus grunted and moaned in pain.

"Is he having a seizure?" Allison said worriedly.
"Overdosing probably."

"Should we do something?" Luther mumbled, glancing at Ris. Ris shrugged. "Just wait for it to stop."

Five leaned over. "Klaus!" he hissed. "Now is not the time. What are you doing?"

Ris flicked him on the back of his head. "He's not doing anything. He's being…" Ris started.

Klaus beginning to gurgled violently. "I'm..."

"Out with it, boy."

Klaus gasped, his face turning the darkest red Ris had seen on him. "...Ben!" he gasped, shuddering, before instantly passing out onto the floor.

"Being possessed." Ris finished, sitting back down. "Idiots." she grumbled under her breath.

"Well..." Hargreeves said after a few seconds, looking up from Klaus to the rest of them. "Thank you for coming." he said gathering his things. "I've seen about enough."

"No, I..." Luther spluttered. Hargreeves ignoring him, busy maneuvering himself over Klaus. Luther suddenly slammed his fists against the table, making the dishes clink together. Ripping off his shirt, a button flying past Ris.

"Look at what you did to me." Luther cried. "Look at it!"

Ris covering her mouth. "Oh my god." she whispered, looking down at the table cloth. Five leaning back in despair. "Oh, shit. Why?" he whispered.

Hargreeves stared at them, pointing to Five, "You in the culottes. A word, in private?" he said walking off. Five quickly getting up following him.

Allison and Ris shared a look.

Allison raising her hand. "Check, please."

10 minutes later…

The elevator doors closed, leaving Ris alone in the strange restaurant. Sighing to herself, she sat down at a table, glancing at the clock.

She hoped that old geezer gave them something.


"You seem to be the sensible one of the bunch." His father said, sitting next him at the bar. "That's because I'm the oldest. You know, technically, I'm older than you right now." Five said quietly.

"Hmm," Hargreeves hummed, the bartender setting a bottle down next to him. "Cognac?"

"Just a smidge."

"The other night you quoted Homer at me. Why?" he said pouring the glasses.

"You forced us all to learn it as kids. In the original Greek, no less." Five replied adjusting himself on his seat. His father sliding the glass to him.

Hargreeves raised in slightly in toast, Five doing the same. "Mmm." he said taking a sip, holding it in his hands. "This world ends in five days if we don't get out of the timeline."

"Worlds end. Paleozoic, Jurassic, and so on."
"We can do something about this one."
"Man's greatest flaw: the illusion of control."

"I need your help. All right? You're my last sane option. Otherwise, I gotta make a deal that I really don't wanna make." Five insisted. "What do you know about time travel?"

"In theory?"
"In practice."

Hargreeves paused. "I know it's akin to descending blindly into the depths of freezing waters and reappearing..."

"As an acorn. Yeah." Five said remembering that conversation all too well.

"What transpired when you tried traveling before?" Hargreeves asked. "I botched it." Five replied.

"How?"

"I jumped too far forward, got stuck in the future for 45 years in an apocalypse, I met a girl their and then…" Five paused. "Then I jumped too far backwards...except this time I brought my entire family with me."

Hargreeves nodded, drinking in his words. "Maybe your appetite is disproportionate to the size of your abilities. Start small. Seconds, not decades."

"Seconds?" Five repeated. "Look, no offense, but I need a bit more time for what I'm trying to accomplish."

"So much can change in a matter of seconds." Hargreeves said gently. "One could overthrow an empire. One could fall in love. An acorn doesn't become an oak overnight." he said wisely.

"I was really hoping you had more than that." Five mumbled. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help." his father replied. "I'm sorry, too. I gave you such a hard time as a kid. I didn't know any better." Five said quietly.

"Hmm." His father hummed, glancing at him. "No skin off my teeth, old man." Hargreeves said taking a sip.

Five sighed, downing his whole drink. He didn't like where this headed and he knew someone who wouldn't like it even more.


"Elliott?" Diego called walking deeper into the apartment.

"Diego?" Luther said quietly.

"Holy shit."


"You waited." Five said walking out instantly seeing Ris lounging on the table. She nodded jumping off, matching his pace. "You smell. Did you shower today?" she asked, making a face.

"Yeah," Five mumbled. "It's the Cognac and fruit blast."
Ris smirked. "Not a great combination."

"No." Five replied, pressing the elevator button. "So, what did dear old daddy say?" Ris said lightly. Five grimacing her words. "Please never say that again."

Ris laughed, the sound vibrating in the elevator. Five smiled, he could listen to her laugh for decades. "Nothing helpful." he continued walking out the elevator and down the steps.

"So, what's the plan?" Ris asked, taking two at a time, to keep in pace with him. "Dunno," Five lied, opening the door, holding it open for her. Ris walked past, watching him as he closed it behind him.

Her dark eyes piecing into his lighter ones. "You know…" she said after a few seconds of silence. "You really, are a shitty liar."

"Ris-"
"I'm not finished."

Five paused, the cold air making his hair tumble slightly in the wind.

"It's always been you and me. Always, and I wouldn't change that for the world. But just because it's you and me, doesn't mean that I'm always going to agree with you and follow you blindly like some glorified house pet." Ris said simply.

"Ris-"

"And it doesn't mean, that I'm going to condone whatever you and the devil are doing. Because it will, as it always does bit you in the ass. Not her." Ris snapped. "But…Five, I'm done talking, because you obviously, don't want to listen." Ris finished, turning around, walking in the opposite direction. "Do what you like. I don't care." she said over her shoulder.

"Ris, it's not…Ris, come back!" Five called, unsure if he should follow or not. "Shit…Ris!" Five groaned, running his fingers though his hair as if he were pulling it out. Before marching in the opposite direction to the Handler's address.


"Interesting." Hargreeves mumbled, watching the girl vanished down the sidewalk. "Very interesting."


"Just in time for a nightcap." The Handler said, opening the doors, grinning at him. Five walked in, closing the green door behind him. "To be clear," Five said walking in. "I take out the board…You get me and my family home."

The woman poured him a drink, offering it to him.

"No more doomsday, no more apocalypse. Is that correct?" he continued ignoring the glass.

The Handler picking up a slip of paper, glass in hand, cigar in her mouth, lying across her bed. "That's the deal." she said simply.

Five paused, Ris's voice was in his head again.

"Then I'm in."

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