Last Chapter….
"Harold Jenkins?" Allison asked in confusion. "Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?" Diego asked Five and Ris. "I have no idea." Ris said.
"I don't know yet," Five admitted, throwing the second cup of coffee into the air. "But I do know that he's responsible for the apocalypse. So we have to find him. And we have to do it now."
Ris bit her lower lip, an odd feeling had infused into her chest. A sort of tightening. "How is he connected to what's gonna happen?" Luther asked. "I don't know." Five repeated, though Ris could tell he wanted to speed this along. She clenched her fists, the tightening feeling seemed to grow. Like pure rage had started to eat away at her insides. Even though she knew the feeling of anger, was not her own.
"Wait, so you just know his name? That's it?" Diego demanded dubiously. "That's enough." Five said irritably. "There's probably dozens of Jenkinses in the city."
"Well, instead of arguing. We just better start looking," Ris snapped, desperately trying to keep her (well, someone else's) anger in check. "We have a lead."
"I'm sorry. Am I the only one that's skeptical here? I mean, how exactly do you know all of this about what's his name?" asked Allison. "Harold Jenkins." Ris and Five answered instantly. The former letting out a quiet sigh of relief. The anger and tightness had disappeared as quickly as it came.
"You know those lunatics in masks who attacked the house?" Five sibling each let out groans. "Oh, yeah, I think I remember those guys."
"Yeah, the ones that attacked us while you were getting drunk." Diego said dryly. "Yeah. Them. They were sent by the Temps Commission to stop me from coming back and preventing the end of life on Earth." Five explained. "The Temps what?" Allison asked. Ris groaned to herself. They were wasting time.
"Our former employer. They monitor all of time and space to make sure that whatever is supposed to happen happens. They believe the apocalypse is coming in three days. So I went to Commission headquarters and intercepted a message that was meant for said lunatics. "Protect Harold Jenkins." So he must be responsible for the apocalypse." he explained.
Silence. Then: "What do you mean, protect time and space?"
"Where is this Hazel, Five?"
"My skin is on fire."
Ris shut her eyes, desperately focusing on Vanya and Leonard. Her uneasy feeling with him, the stench of lies and death that hung around him. She was more than a little concerned
"Do you have any idea how insane this sounds?" Allison questioned. "You know what else is insane? I look like a 13-year-old boy. Klaus talks to the dead, and Luther thinks he's fooling everybody with that overcoat. Everything about us is insane. It always has been." Five snapped.
"He's got a point there."
We didn't choose this life, we're just living it. For the next three days, anyway." Five said softly, sensing his sister's distress.
"But the last time we tried to stop it, we all died. Why is this time any different? Why shouldn't I go home to my daughter?" Allison cried out.
"Because this time, we're here. We have the name of the man responsible." Ris said gently.
"Guys, we actually have the chance of saving the lives of billions of people. Including Claire. You know her name? I do, and I'd like to live long enough to meet her." Five said quietly.
Allison paused, thinking. "All right. Let's get this bastard." she said loudly. Ris allowed a small smile to form on her face. "You had me at Gerald Jenkins." Diego admitted.
"Harold Jenkins." Ris corrected. "Whatever. I've already lost two people this week, I'm not losing anyone else." He walked over to Ris. "Not to vengeance." He whispered into her ear.
The young girl gave him a knowing look, before turning her attention to Luther. "Luther?" she asked.
"Yeah, you go. I'm gonna stay and go through Dad's files. I still think this has something to do with why he sent me to the Moon." Luther said. Diego and Ris instantly shared a look before replying. "Seriously? Now you wanna make the end of the world about you and Dad?" Diego snapped. "No offence Luther, but I highly doubt that the, Moon is gonna help us, in this situation." Ris said calmly.
"No. Watch for threats. That's what he told me. You think that's a coincidence? This all has to be connected somehow." Luther defended. "No, we should all stick together." Allison said gently. "We don't have time for this." Ris and Five snapped simultaneously.
"Yeah, Let's roll. I know where we can find these assholes. Klaus, you're with me." Diego called out, walking to the car with Ris and Five in tow.
"Yeah. I I'm good. I think I'll, uh I think I'll pass, I'm feeling a little under the weather, so, uh" Klaus mumbled as he staged up the stairs. Ris glanced at Klaus with worry, just as a soothing hand had placed itself on her shoulder.
She glanced up at Allison. The older woman gave her a warm smile before slowly leading her out of the room.
"Hey Five!" Ris called out from the broken road of the decimated world. "Come look at this!" Five peeked his head out of their home, before walking towards her. Bending down, Ris handed him a small dusty book. At closer inspection, Five realised it was a diary. He raised his eyebrows at Ris. "Open it." She urged. Five sighed, before flipping the diary open.
His eyes widened. "Its…its Allison's." Ris scrunched up her face in thought. "She's your sister, right?" Five nodded. "Look at this." He said, pointing out a page in the diary. Before falling to his knees.
Ris hurriedly scanned the page. "She had a daughter, Rissa. She had a child." he whispered. "Clare." Ris said, copying his voice. "It's not your fault, you know. You didn't curse the world." She said soothingly, slowly sliding her hand behind his back, rubbing it in circles.
"You don't know. I could have been able to stop this." He answered flatly. "Or you would never have been able to. Maybe, that's why you're here now." Five gave Ris a confused look. She smiled. "What I'm saying is, maybe abilities sensed you couldn't defeat the threat then. Maybe you sent yourselves here to prevent something worst for happening." She squeezed his shoulder.
"Hope is a powerful thing. It can make you believe, dream…it is a assurance of sorts. But, Hope can also be…destructive, painful…like someone ripped a piece of you away. Personally, I like to focus on the former, but I never forget the latter. With that said," she gradually started to pick herself up.
"Have hope, Five. Always have hope."
"I know this Jenkins dude, has to have a record. We gotta get our hands on his file." Diego said as he, Five, Allison and Ris watched the police station. "And your plan is to what? Waltz in there and just ask for it?" Allison asked dubiously.
"I know the station like the back of my hand, sis. I've spent a lot of time inside." Diego replied. "Yeah, Handcuffed." Ris added, making Allison grin.
"Whatever. Here's the plan." Diego began. "Plan? I'm just gonna blink in and get the file." Five interrupted. "No, that's not, you don't know the ins and outs of this place, okay?" Diego whined. At the back, Ris and Allison simultaneously roll their eyes.
"I literally just did this yesterday." Five argued. "What?" Diego exclaimed shocked. Ris groaned. "My yesterday, not your yesterday. It'll take me two seconds. Why don't I just go?" Five said. "Listen to me-" Diego started. "For goodness sake! One of you just go in, or I'm going to go get the stupid file myself." Ris snapped angrily.
She looked at the two. "Well?" "Yeah, I'm gonna go…" Diego said, jumping out of the car and walking to the station.
Ris sighed, massaging her temples. Five gave her a concerned look. She could understand, she was never usually snappy. She could feel both Five and Allison's eyes on her. Allison was the first to break the silence. "I'm gonna call, Vanya. See if she's okay." Allison said, opening the car door.
"You guys, coming?" she asked. The 13 year olds nodded, climbing out of the car and on to the pavement.
"Hey." Five whispered, as Allison made her phone call. "Ris." She blinked. "Hmm. What's up?" He raised his eyebrows. "You know exactly 'what's up'. What's wrong with you?" he asked. "Nothing." she hissed back.
"That's bull. And you know it." He snapped back. She sighed, desperately thinking of a passably excuse. "Girl stuff, okay." She said, hoping it would be enough to stop him asking.
Five folded his arms around his chest. "You are a terrible liar." Ris's eyes widened. "How would you know I'm lying?" Five shot her a look. "We've been together for about 45 years, I know when you're lying to me, Clarissa." The younger wrinkled her nose at her full name.
"I could say the same about you." she grumbled. Five scrunched his eyebrows together. "What have I been lying about?" he asked. "Not lying. You're hiding something. I just don't know what." she replied curtly.
Just as he was about to reply, Diego walked towards them. The two walked strutted over to him. "So?" Five asked. "You're welcome." Diego replied, handing the file to Allison. Taking it, Allison immediately started flipping though. Her eyes widened. "Holy shit." she said.
"What?" Deigo asked. Allison showed them the file. "Harold Jenkins is Leonard Peabody." She said. "Aw, crap." Ris groaned.
"Ris!" Five shouted. "Ris! RIS!" he bellowed. "I'm coming!" she yelled back. Sliding a heavy backpack onto her shoulders. "Impatient." She snapped. "We're wasting daylight." Five snapped back. "Come on." He grumbled trekking ahead of her. Ris made an anger noise. Before begrudgingly following…..
"Can you STOP that!" Five yelled out. They had been walking for over 2 hours and she hadn't stopped coughing. He was almost 100% sure she was doing it on purpose. "If I could, don't you think I would?" Ris replied. Though her voice did sound a bit raspy. "Hhug! Hhug!" she coughed, slowing starting a coughing fit. Five sighed, knowing that he was being rather insensitive to his companion. "I'm sorry, Ris. Are you okay?" he asked, turning to face her
"Hhug!" the younger covered her mouth with her hand. The second Five looked at her, he knew something was wrong. She was paler, sweating and shaking. "Ris?" he said slowly, edging closer towards her. The younger removed her hand from her mouth. Five's eyes almost flew out of there sockets. On her hand was red dripping blood. Her eyes widened in horror the sight. Five could only gap in horror.
The shaking got worse. And before he knew what was happening. She was falling. "CLARISSA!"
"Be careful, okay?" Allison called out from the back. "We don't know what Peabody's capable of." She added. "Yeah, he didn't seem dangerous when I first saw him. Looked kinda scrawny." Diego replied, sounding fairly relaxed.
Ris shook her head. "Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and mass murderers." Allison defended. "I mean, look at them." She said gesturing to Five and Ris."Thanks." Five answered, seeming to take it as a compliment causing Ris to giggle slightly. He gave her a smile.
"Good point." Diego agreed. "So what's this guy want with Vanya?" Diego asked. Ris shrugged. "No idea."
"How about we ask him after we kill him?" Five suggested. Ris nodded in agreement. "Whoa, whoa." Diego said, looking at the door. Five and Ris shared a look. Slowly Five looped his hand into Ris's gently clasping it. "Hey, look, I'm gonna burst through. You know what? It would be nice for people just to stick to-" Diego started, just as Five spatial-jumped them inside.
Unfortunately the landing was not the greatest. Five stumbled crashing into a wall, while Ris gripped onto Five for support. "Rocky landing." she commented suspicious. Five had perfected his spatial jumps. He always landed correctly. Unless-
"Ah!" Diego yelled out as he crashed through the glass panel of the door. Landing on the wooden floor. "Subtle." Allison commented, as she walked towards them. "Brilliant landing." Ris said dryly. Diego groaned.
"You know, the door was unlocked." Five said, causing Ris to let out a snort of laughter, before wisely covering it as a cough.
"Yeah, well, my way works just fine." Diego snapped, groaning as he did so. "Spread out. Yell if you, uh you know, you're in trouble." he said walking off into the house. "Ah, inspiring leadership." Five said sarcastically. "One of the greats." Allison agreed dryly. Ris let out a giggle before walking around the house.
Though the subject of Five's rocky landing was still bothering her. He would only land like that if he was injured. Or protecting something. The latter was unlikely though. And if he was injured. He would tell her. Wouldn't he?
Ris paused in her search. He told her everything. She knew when he was sick or injured or when the other was lying or…any problem really. They were close. Her mental connection that she had with him made them closer. Even allowing them to share thoughts, feelings. Everything. Even with the connection severed. (She hadn't established it back yet.) She could still feel him. Even though it was extremely faint.
So what was he hiding?
"Guys, you need to see this." Allison called out from the attic. Instantly Ris, Five and Diego climbed up to room. "All our faces are burnt off." Allison said clearly creeped out. Ris was too. And she had seen some freaky stuff.
"Well, that's not creepy. This guy's got some serious issues." Diego murmured. "Shit." The Hargreaves sibling said simultaneously. "This wasn't about Vanya." Ris whispered quietly as the pieces slowly began to fit in to place. "This was about us." Allison said quietly.
Suddenly, Five let out a groan of pain, falling to the ground with a loud thump. Instantly Ris flew to his side. Leaving the gaping Hargreaves siblings.
"Five! What's wrong?" Ris asked instantly, as the older boy groaned in pain. Ris slowly started to find the source of his pain. Feeling the side of his sweater, finding to her horror that it was wet. Instantly Ris pulled up his shirt to revel a piece of shrapnel. That was embedded into his skin.
"Jesus, Five. Why didn't you say anything?" Diego asked concerned. "You have to keep going." He whispered, his breathing laboured. "Yeah, well we can't exactly do that if you're dead." Ris whispered quietly, slowly running her fingers through his sweat filled hair.
He had a fever.
"I'm sorry, we were just so…so close…" he whispered, slowly falling unconscious. "No! Five don't you dare-Five, Five!" Ris started, but he was already out cold. "Damn you." She whispered, taking a sharp intake of breath, before flying into doctor mode.
"Diego, Allison get him to the car. Try not to shift him too much." Ris ordered, ripping out of piece of her shirt out, handing it to Allison. "Here. Cover the wound with this. But don't apply any direct pressure." Ris said, before spatial-jumping out of the attic, before Allison and Diego could even say anything.
Ris flung open the cabinets desperately looking for some sort of First Aid. "Ugg! There's too many!" she groaned to herself, stopping in the middle of the kitchen leaning heavy onto the counter. 'Breath, Ris. Breath. Inhale. Exhale.'
Ris took a deep breath. Her eyes widened. She didn't know where the kit was. But the air did. "Please work," she whispered to herself, shutting her eyes focusing hard on A First Aid kit.
She felt the wind swirl around the room, the air being sucked out, and the rattle of the cabinets, drawers and dishes. 'First Aid. I need to find the First Aid.' She thought. Suddenly a small cabinet at the very top (mush too high for her to reach) burst open. A small first aid kit fell from the cabinet fall directly at Ris's feet with a loud clatter.
Instantly she relaxed, the air slowly returning to the room. Picking up the kit, she turned on her heel and ran to the car. Five was laying on the backseat with Allison hovering over him. His tall form barely fitting into the car. Allison instantly straighten up. "What's-"
"First Aid. Excuse me." Ris answered instantly, climbing onto the floor of the car and checking inn on Five's wound. "We should take him to a hospital." Allison said worriedly, climbing into the front seat. Ris shook her head. "Too many questions. Diego, ready to go?"
"Yeah," the older man grunted, starting the car. Ris nodded to herself, opening to kit. "Good. Drive. Fast. There's not much I can do for him."
"Come on, Rissa! Wake up!" Five yelled at the unresponsive girl. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair, his eyes filled with worry. He shut his eyes, taking in deep breaths.
Mentally scolding himself. There was no point in yelling, it wasn't going to help her. He needed to be calm. He exhaled. Opening his eyes, that were filled with determination. Sliding his hand underneath her, he slowly picked her up.
"Damn it! I knew, we should have taken him to the hospital." Allison called out as she and Diego carried Five into the mansion, with Ris on their heels.
"A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise some questions." he replied, setting Five down. Ris instantly sat next to him, slowly removing the thin bloody shirt and bandages. "Yeah, well, so does the murder shrine in Harold Jenkins' attic." Allison groaned. "He's still losing blood. What do we do?"
"We gotta get the shrapnel out." Diego said, before slowly walking away. "Rris?" came a slurred voice. Ris's eyes flew open. "Five." She breathed out, relive flooding her. He made a sound almost as if he were trying to talk.
"Hey, hey. Don't talk. Save you energy. Kay?" Ris whispered, slowly running her fingers though his hair, in attempt to calm him. He murmured something unintelligent. Ris leaned closer. "…..Risssaa…don't…go.." he whispered. "I'm here, I'm not leaving. Rest Five." she whispered back. "Umm." He groaned, hissing out in pain.
Before she could say anything else, a golden blonde haired woman, dressed as if she came straight out of a 90's housewife show. She gave Ris a big almost inhuman smile. "Don't worry. He's going to be just fine." she said, placing a soothing hand on Ris's shoulder.
Before effortless picking him up and walking away. Ris blinked immobilised, before jumping up worriedly. "Where are you taking him?" she called out, making to run after the woman.
Allison walked over placing a hand on Ris's shoulders. "Where is she taking him?" She asked fear laced in her voice. "To the infirmary." Allison said calmly. "Who is she?" Ris demanded. "Our Mom." Diego answered, sensing her distress. "Relax Lissa, she can stich anyone up. He's gonna be okay."
Ris relaxed slightly. "You should get cleaned up. You look like shit" Diego continued. Ris raised her eyebrows in questioning, before looking down at herself. Her shirts was ripped and her hands were covered in Five's blood. Her shoulders slumped.
Allison squeezed her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay." Allison said gently. "Let's get ya cleaned up." Allison said, guiding her out of the room.
The hot shower water stung her at first contact. Closing her eyes, she allowed the water to temporally take her worries away. She sighed, stretching her arms out, running her fingers though her dirty, bloodstained hair. Looking down at the drain, she saw the water mingle with the blood, as it went down. Picking up the soap, she scrubbed furiously at her hands.
Washing away any stains of blood from her. She wasn't in a hurry and if she came out she might just barge in to the infirmary. And Five needed rest. Not her fretting form.
Sliding her hand over the hot water tap, she pushed it into full blast.
Wiping her wet hair with one of Allison's fluffy white towels, Ris sank onto Five's bed, closing her eyes. "Hey, you okay?" came Allison's voice from the door way. Ris peeked an eyes open, before sitting up straight.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." She whispered, staring at her hand. She felt the bed sink further as Allison sat next to her. "You don't look okay." She said quietly. Ris smiled sadly at her observation. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Ris looked down, refusing to look into Allison's kind eyes. "I should have known." She whispered. "I mean, I knew something was wrong. He stumbled when he spatial-jumped, he limped slightly, he looked to be in pain. I…I just, should have known." Ris whispered quietly.
"It's not your fault, Ris." Allison replied, snaking her hand to grip Ris's shaking shoulders. "He…he hide it well." Ris shook her head. "I should have known. If it was the other way around, he would have known….I'm a horrible person." Ris said darkly, squeezing her hands into tight fists.
"You're not. Five is…complicated. And I'm sure no one knows that more than you. He puts up a tough front, because he doesn't want to get hurt. He wants to stop this thing more than anyone. No matter the cost. What he did was stupid, but he did it to try and help us. But, this is not your fault, Ris. Trust me." Allison said gently, giving her a one armed hug.
Allison gave her a smile. "Come on, I have some nice things for you to wear. Better than Five's clothes anyway."
Ris smiled. "Okay," she said quietly. "But, no pink." Allison grinned. "It's a deal."
"Anything?" Diego asked, as he watched Mom, fix Five. Ris, now dressed in a light blue denim jeans, a white 'Wonder Woman' T-shirt, with a pale pink shirt over and a pair of black converse.
Shook her head. "There's no answer at Vanya's place." Allison said. "And the receptionist at her music school said she was a no-show for her lessons today."
Diego nodded. "Hey, you okay?" Allison asked. Diego didn't answer, looking at Ris. "I can't believe it, you're wearing colours. Never pegged you for a fan of pink." Ris raised her eyebrows. "It's warm, and your one to talk. You dress like Batman gone wrong." She said curtly. "Anyway, don't change the subject." she said folding her arms over her chest.
Diego sighed. "Yeah. I don't know, it's just surreal seeing her. I just wanna tell her that I'm s- We don't have enough time. We gotta go."
"I don't know, Diego. Five is laying there, unconscious. We need him." Allison said. Ris put her arms on her hips an irritated look on her face. "We can do this ourselves." Diego said. "And what am I, hmm? Chopped liver?" Ris asked faking offence.
"We did that already, remember? We all ended up dead. I don't know. I'm just… I'm thinking I should go and see Clare before-" Allison said, ignoring Ris's comment.
Diego sighed. "You can't run away from this, Allison. That's what started this whole mess in the first place." he said gently. Ris opened her mouth to say something, before spotting 'Mom' waving her to come inside the 'healing room'.
"The blonde haired woman smiled. "He wants to talk to you." she said, smiling. "But, make it quick."
Ris nodded, leaning over the bed. Five groggily opened his eyes. "Ris?" he said quietly. Ris smiled. "Hey, Five. How you feeling?" she whispered quietly, not wanting to break the quiet calm energy that had been established.
"Good, but I think that's mainly because of the morphine." He smiled giddily. Ris shook her head. "You're an idiot. You know that, right? You could have died. Why didn't you tell me?"
His smiled falter. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to worry." He said, his deep aquamarine eyes stared into her brown ones. "Well, that clearly didn't work out." She said dryly. He gave her a weak smile. "Rissa."
"Yeah,"
"Can you…put back our…" he tapped his head. She smiled. "Yeah, I can put that back." She said squeezing his hand tightly. He squeezed back. "Clarissa." She looked up at him. "Be careful, okay?"
She nodded. "You too." She whispered, leaning over and gently pressed her forehead to his. A warm familiar feeling filled into Ris's head. One she knew very well. He smiled. Ris gave a watery laugh. "Yep, definitely the morphine." she whispered, running her fingers through his sweaty hair. "You're smiling way too much."
He shrugged. "I can't help it, I smile when I see the things I care about." Five said. Shaking her head, she gave him a soft kiss on his forehead.
"Get some rest." she whispered, quietly walking out of the room. Closing the door with a light click.
"She lived near Jackpine Road." Diego informed. "You think he took her there?" Allison asked. "Think who took who where?" Ris asked, as she exited the room. "Jenkins grandmother." Diego said, already making his way down the stairs. Ris nodded. "It's a good enough place to start." She said making to follow. "Wait, you not going to stay?" Allison asked slightly shocked.
Ris sighed rolling her eyes playfully. "Five and I might be joined at the hip. We aren't always joined at the hip." she said dryly. "Anyway, things are just getting interesting. Why should I miss out?"
Diego shrugged. "Kid's got a point." Ris grinned. "Great, I call shotgun!" she cried out. Hoping down the stairs.
Ris, Allison and Diego started to make their way to the car. "Nope. Come on, this way." Diego suddenly said, pulling both girls away. "Wait, but the car is back that way." Allison said confused.
"Trust me, okay? Come on." Diego said pulling them in the opposite direction. "What did you do?" Ris asked sharply. "Yeah, what is going on?" Allison questioned, slowing down slightly.
"They're here for me. Uh…They think I did something." Diego admitted. "What do they think you did?" Allison asked, a siren whooping in the background. "Murder." Diego said.
"Oh," said Ris uninterested. The two looked at her. "What? There are worst things."
"No there really not." Allison answered. Ris held up her hands in an 'I surrender' motion.
Allison turned to Diego. "Did you?" she asked looking both shocked at worried. "No, no, no, of course not, okay?" Diego burst out shocked. "Why would you ask that about me, anyway?"
Allison gave him a dubiously look. "I mean, you do carry knives with you everywhere." Allison said. "And dress like Batman gone wrong." added Ris. Diego shot her a glare. She rolled her eyes. "Your Bat-glare needs work."
"Yeah, okay, we're gonna have to split, okay?" Diego said, turning to the two girls. The wailing of the sirens became steady louder. "I'm in charge. Remember? Vanya needs you. Both of you." Allison nodded, patting his shoulder. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?" she said. "Come on Ris!" she called out, making her way to the car.
Ris turned to Diego. "Be careful. Be smart. Don't die." She said, squeezing his good arm, before following Allison.
Half an hour later….
The rain poured down heavily, as Allison and Ris drove down the abandoned road to Harold Jenkin's grandma's lodge in the forest. Allison turned to Ris giving the young girl a small smile. "We're gonna get Vanya back." Ris said suddenly. "No matter what."
Allison nodded. "I know." She said quietly. "I just hope we do, before…" she trailed off. "That's not going to happen Allison." Ris said determination filling her voice. "Harold Jenkin's has no idea, what's coming his way."
