3
A Wake Up Call
Five's body felt heavy, as if it wasn't his own. It was a sensation that he wasn't used to like he had been in a deep sleep. He wanted to laugh, in the apocalypse he didn't sleep. Maybe somehow he had managed to get some sleep? That was almost laughable in its entirety. He opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. It was his old bedroom. He looked down at himself as he saw the duvet covering him and he was clothed in his old pyjamas. Was he home? Then it clicked as some memories washed over him. He had somehow appeared home, Allison and Klaus had been there. They had looked too similar to the corpses then he had liked, but they had still looked different. Five didn't remember Klaus having long hair.
He started to move, his limbs feeling strange as if they didn't belong to him. He pulled the covers up and stared at the content of his room. It was covered in equations from floor to ceiling. Five padded across to look at them and saw some names in the chalk. They were circled but they meant nothing to him. Who on earth was Milton Greene? He reached his hand out and touched the chalk. It came off quite easily leaving white powder on his fingertips. It was his handwriting, but he didn't remember writing it. Was this how he had got here?
He realized that he didn't know what day it was. If he was in the year 2019 judging by his siblings appearance then he needed to find out what date. He was scared to know because if it was before April 1st, he would have to try and figure out how to stop it. He had no idea how he would stop it when he didn't know what caused it. He tried to recall last night, waking up from the apocalypse and seeing his siblings. He couldn't recall what had been said, it had faded with sleep. He was sure that Klaus had called him an 'old man'. Maybe that was just Klaus's way of joking? There was also the fact that they weren't surprised to see him. Could he have really lost his memory somehow?
The only thing that would put his mind to rest if he was to find a newspaper. He padded to his wardrobe, noticing how his pyjamas seem a little too big on him. He opened it to see his old uniforms. A pang went through his chest. His uniform had lasted about a month into the apocalypse. When it had eventually started to get torn, he knew that he would have to part from the uniform. The last tie he really had to his previous life. It had hurt burning it but he had needed something to burn for a fire. Looking at them also made him think of the day he had left, his Father had been right. Time Travel was impossible. That was even proven by the fact that he had ended up in 2019, that had to be the year but he didn't know how. His whole body still ached from whatever long sleep he had. It also didn't help that his head seemed to be fuzzy from the night previous.
Five wracked his brain and tried to recall more details. He had hugged Allison before Klaus had come in, but then he had been confused. Then he remembered that Allison had rumoured him to sleep. She had only used a few rumours on him in the past, which was only a couple of months for him. He had refused to do some stupid training and then his Father had forced Allison to rumour him. All Five had recalled from that training session was an aching body and a fuzzy mind. They were nothing more than weapons to their Father, tools to use and dispose when he needed them. Whenever Allison used her rumours, the person was often left with some vague idea of what had happened, or didn't even recall it.
There had been something else about him suddenly waking up but he couldn't recall anything else. Or had he been wearing a uniform in the first place?
Five reached across for a hanger and pulled the uniform out, his fingers tracing the logo of the Umbrella Academy. The fabric was soft to the touch, softer than anything in the apocalypse. He lifted the blazer up to his cheek and rubbed it. It was like heaven exploding onto his face. It was recently washed, the fabric soft and it smelt like laundry detergent as he inhaled the smell.
He knew that if any of his siblings walked in he would pretend that this never happened. He wanted to know what the rest of them were like, but he needed to find the date. There was an inner panic building in his chest. If the date was a couple of days before the apocalypse then this beautiful and strange dream would come to an end. He tried to push the feelings down as far as they would go. However fear gripped him still. He needed to find a newspaper.
He brought the uniform out and began to get dressed. Putting the shorts and socks on again felt strange. It was almost as if he had never left as he admired himself in the mirror. As he began to take his pyjama top off, he noticed a bandage on his abdomen. He touched it and flinched because it still hurt. The dressing had recently been replaced but he wondered where it had come from. He added it to the mental note of things he didn't remember.
It took him a few more minutes to get dressed, tying his tie and he looked in the mirror properly. His eyes were darker, black circles that he contributed to his lack of sleep and his hair slightly shorter than he remembered, however it was cut into his signature style. He was sure that was wrong. His hair had been a lot longer in the apocalypse. It had felt dry as well. This looked healthy. This was another thing that didn't make sense.
He looked for a pair of shoes and found them nestled by his bed. They looked brand new, as if someone had just polished them. Slipping them on and tying the laces, they felt right like they had always belonged there. Five wouldn't have noticed how things were new or if they felt soft before the apocalypse. The last four months, he had missed feelings things and it had brought a new found respect to things he never thought twice about before.
He blinked through his door and into the corridor, admiring the way the corridor hadn't changed at all. With the sunlight streaming in through the window a layer of dust was floating in front of the posters that had dominated Five's childhood. Looking at them now, they were slightly yellowed from the light and some look like they had been dog eared. He looked at the one near the window, the figure holding two hands up into the air. If Five was younger, he might have thought the poster looked sad but that was a childish notion.
"Five?" A voice asked from behind him. He didn't recognise it but it was female's, it wasn't Allison's and so that left only one person.
"Vanya," He said as he turned around and saw his grown up sister.
The first thing he noted was how small she was. It looked like she hadn't grown since she was thirteen. He couldn't tell if he was taller than her but he assumed so. She looked like the picture he had found on her book, except in that picture she had almost seemed miserable. It was eerie, the Vanya he was used to knowing stood hunched with shoulders and face down as if she didn't want the world to know that she existed.
This Vanya? Well she looked him in the eye, her posture straight as if she finally understood who she was. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail that swished as she walked towards him. She was smiling. His Vanya had never smiled like that before. If he hadn't seen a picture of her as an adult, he would have thought she was a total stranger.
As she approached him, Five took a step back. He felt overwhelmed as all the memories came crashing into his head. Vanya shaking her head, telling him to stop it before he ran out of the house and straight into his doom.
She kept coming closer and didn't notice how he kept stepping back. She started to talk again. She also didn't seem surprised that he was backing away from her, or perhaps she hadn't even noticed.
"I've been meaning to ask you-," Five didn't hear the rest as he blinked away.
He knew that it was rude. He hadn't seen his sister in over four months, true this wasn't the version he was used to. If he wasn't feeling like everything was wrong and made no sense then he might have hugged her but he couldn't. When he looked at her, he was reminded of the mistake he had made.
Five looked up to see that he blinked into the kitchen. He hadn't really thought about a destination in mind. The kitchen was empty, no other siblings in sight. It did make him wonder what the others were like. If Vanya was that different, then what about the others? He hadn't talked to Allison and Klaus enough to know what they were like.
His eyes darted to the table and saw a newspaper nestled onto it. There was a magazine laid underneath it, it looked like a gossip magazine. Five had no interest in it as he walked over and picked up the newspaper. He didn't care about the brand or the headlines. Only the date. Which was Wednesday 17th April 2019.
Five dropped the newspaper in shock. He had known it was 2019 or at least thought that, but the 17th April? That was impossible. Had the apocalypse been prevented, somehow? Five thought about the reasons why it couldn't have happened. Perhaps it was do with the fact that he couldn't recall how he got to 2019? His chest began to feel heavy and his breathing quickened. No, he didn't want to have one right now!
The world felt like it was spinning as he sat down onto the kitchen tiles. They were cool, contrasting to his clammy skin. He wanted to lie on them as the whole room began to feel hot. He tucked his knees into himself and tried to focus on his breathing. It did no good however as his heart hammered through his chest.
He wanted to cry but he couldn't. Crying was weak and Five Hargreeves wasn't weak! Or was he? He had fucked up. First was traveling to the apocalypse and now he seemed to have lost his memory. He rocked back and forth, trying to calm down.
He felt a hand touch his knee and saw Vanya sitting across from him. He blinked at her, trying to hide his tears. He had been so wrapped up in himself that he hadn't heard her approaching him.
"Keep taking breaths with me, okay?" She said with that smile he liked but then didn't like at the same time.
He didn't reply but changed his breathing to match hers. It took several moments before he felt calm enough to speak.
"Thanks," He whispered still not making eye contact.
Vanya moved back and sat cross legged on the floor with him.
"All better now, old man?" Vanya said. There was a joking tone at the end that he would have never thought Vanya was capable of.
Five blinked. Old man again? Why did they keep calling him that!
"I'm not old." Five bristled at his old sister.
"I think fifty eight is kind of old." Vanya said with a smirk.
Fifty-eight? He certainly didn't look fifty-eight. Were his siblings blind?
"I'm thirteen Vanya...I'm not old. Why does everyone keep saying that?" Five said slowly standing up.
Vanya frowned. "Are you okay?"
Okay? Why did everybody ask him that! He was okay, it was his siblings who didn't make sense. He decided to cut straight to the chase. He needed answers and he didn't care how rude he came across. She had to know something.
"The apocalypse, do you know something about it?" Five said to her. He expected her to laugh and say that he was crazy or even ask what he was talking about but instead Vanya stiffened, and for once he recognized her posture.
She had hunched herself over like the Vayna of his childhood and bit her lip as she answered him.
"Don't remind me Five. If you think I've forgotten everything I haven't, I know the apocalypse was me."
"Allison you're going to have to run it by me again." Klaus said blinking slowly as he stared at her.
Allison pinched the bridge of her nose. She was tired, she had tried explaining to him last night but with Five asleep and the night drawing closer; she had decided to put Five to bed, and let Mom take care of him.
Klaus had trailed after them, unsure on what he was supposed to do. They had both agreed to talk about in the morning much to Klaus's protests. So here they were and Klaus still didn't seem to get it.
"Klaus, I've been over this five times now. How many times do I have to tell you?" Allison sighed as she sat down on the sofa.
Klaus frowned as he stood in front of Five's portrait above the fireplace. Allison grimaced, they needed to take it down. Five was no longer missing and it didn't even look like their Five. Their Five...She didn't even know what their Five was now.
"You rumoured Five into believing that he was," Klaus looked at her with his eyes wide.
"Thirteen." Allison continued with a sigh. She really didn't want to go over it a sixth time.
Klaus looked over to one of the seats, mumbling something underneath his breath.
"I don't know Ben..." He said a bit louder. "Fine," He said a moment later with an eyeroll.
Klaus's fists began to appear blue and Ben appeared. Allison almost jumped out of her skin. It had been two years since she had last seen him at the Icarus theatre, and even then it had only been for a couple of minutes. This was perhaps the first time in seventeen years that she had actually seen her dead brother.
He looked older than when he had died, like if he had aged along with them. Maybe that was a side effect of Klaus's power? He was also wearing a leather hoodie, complete with dark black jeans. She had never seen him wear anything like it before so the only thing she could really attest was that it was Klaus's power as well.
"Ben?" She asked startled.
"Hey Allison, I wanted to be included." Ben said with a smile.
Allison wanted to smile back, but she couldn't. Too much had happened over the past day and she was exhausted. She had tried to sleep last night but she had been worried about Five, the constant tossing and turning had left her hair slightly frazzled and the beginning of black bags around her eyes.
"Hi." Allison managed to say and looked at both of them.
Klaus was frowning.
"Okay...why did you rumour the little psycho? I know he's a bit cuckoo sometimes but you've never rumoured him randomly before." Klaus said sharing a look with Ben.
Allison knew she shouldn't been surprised by the body language that the two of them seemed to share. Klaus could see ghosts and Ben had probably been with Klaus since he had died but she still found herself being. This Ben was different to the one she remembered, even by the appearance.
"I didn't mean to, I was drunk and missing Claire. He was sitting there and my drunken mind thought what about if he was kid, and then I rumoured him." Allison whispered the last part. Even admitting it, felt wrong. She really had fucked up.
Klaus frowned before he then smiled.
"Why don't you just rumour him back?" Klaus said.
Ben turned to face him.
"You know for once that's actually not a bad idea." He said. Allison stared at the back of his head.
"Benjamin, I am full of great ideas." Klaus said swiveling his hips.
"You're really not." Ben said. Allison could only assume he had rolled his eyes at their brother.
"You're just jealous." Klaus blew a kiss to him.
"Bite me," Ben replied.
"What do you mean rumour him back?" Allison interrupted, finally finding her voice.
"If you rumoured him to be thirteen, why not rumour him to be fifty eight again?" Klaus said.
Allison shook her head. She couldn't, she could never take her rumours back so even if she did, she didn't think it would work. It might even screw up his mind. The was also the fact that she had worked so hard on not rumouring people but she had done it on her own brother.
"No, I don't think it will work," She finally said with another shake of her head. "I can't take rumours back."
Klaus frowned and even Ben frowned this time.
"So what do we do then?" Klaus questioned. He sat down onto one of the armchairs and frowned again.
Allison thought for a moment. What could they do? She could potentially rumour Five but she really didn't want too and she was afraid of the effects on his mind. What she had done, it was wrong. She had betrayed his trust and she wasn't going to do that again.
"We need to tell him the truth." Allison stated with a nod. Five deserved to know.
"And then what?" Klaus said. "I'm sure he'll believe us. He thinks that he's thirteen right? Ah yes Five you were a time traveling assassin who stopped the apocalypse. However you ended up stuck in your thirteen year old body. I'm sure he'll believe that."
"Klaus is right Allison which is another thing I thought I would never say." Ben mumbled.
"He deserves to know the truth. I rumoured him without his permission. I can't do what I did to Claire to him. I need to make this right." Allison replied.
She had never told Claire that she had rumoured her. She didn't know if Patrick would have told her. In fact Allison didn't know if she could ever tell her daughter, she might lose her even more. However she knew that she needed to tell her when she was old enough to understand, so that she might actually have a real relationship with her daughter. The only way she could think of redeeming herself was talking to Five, and for once when she wanted to Klaus to see sense. He was being his usual self.
Would she have made more progress if she had stayed in the sixties? She knew it wasn't an ideal time to live, not like it was much better now but it had been slightly worse back then. She knew her siblings were important, they had been there for her younger years but the thing that had really brought her back had been Claire. She couldn't really mother her though because she was all the way in L.A. She often wondered if Claire even knew what exactly happened between her and her Father, maybe she knew the truth.
Allison looked up to see Ben fading from view, Klaus was trying to keep him there by he was sweating.
"Klaus it's okay, I said what I had to say." Ben said with a smile and then he faded away from view. Allison stared at the spot where he had been. Or was still. He probably was wondering why on earth she was staring at him so she moved her gaze back to Klaus.
"Well if we do tell him the truth Allison, it's on you." Klaus said with a shrug.
Yes it was on her, her mistake that she had to rectify even if that meant Five demanded that she never spoke to her again. It would hurt since it would be in Five's usual asshole way that she doubted had changed that much but maybe he would be a little bit more understanding about it? Allison decided that it might be best to go and see if Five was awake so left Klaus in the lounge.
As she exited, she saw Luther coming down the stairs. He stared at her and frowned.
"I think we need to go and check the kitchen." He said walking straight past her.
"Why?"
"Vanya and Five were both shouting at each other, or at least that's what it sounded like."
Allison's eyes widened. This wasn't good.