9
The Court Of Clothes
The world was hot, an unbearable hot that made his clothes stick to his skin and his throat dry. His whole body felt heavy from his lack of sleep. There was nothing more than what he wanted to do but fall asleep in the sun but he had to keep moving, he needed to find some more food or any other items.
It had only been two years since Five had gotten himself stuck in the apocalypse and the world had changed, and stayed the same. He had expected some part of nature to start growing back, tufts of grass between the rocks or even a flower now and again but the world had remained a desolate wasteland. The buildings had begun to crumble, bits of them falling to the ground and shattering into dust clouds. Dust clouds that would come blooming into Five's nostrils and tear through his throat.
He turned his head at the sound of crumbling concrete and dread passed through him.
He was currently on the outskirts of the city on an expedition with Delores hoping that they might find more food or even another survivor. He wasn't betting on that last bit. He had come to the conclusion six months into the apocalypse that no-one had survived but a small part of him wanted there to be, the small part that had been squashed by the hellhole.
On the outskirts, there had once been suburban homes with perfectly cut lawns and cookie cutter driveways. Now there were nothing but empty husks with shattered windows.
The building that was beginning to crumble was an old office building that still had the various remains of tattered posters on. It had fallen sideways, half of it splitting in the middle arching upwards towards the sky. Five was walking along the road, about twenty paces in front of it, his red wagon trailing behind him. As he looked at the building he saw a large chunk of the building falling from the top of the arch, it looked to be part of the foundation. It fell and fell, shattering into the tarmac.
The ground shook as dust arose and began to form into a large cloud. It felt like Five was in a movie, he had seen a couple when he had found an old vcr and tv from the dumpster. He had taken it back to the academy with him. Ben and Vanya had found him asking where on earth he had found it. He remembered telling them that was his secret and they would never know. That night the three of them had ended up watching a movie that had a lot of large explosions and gunfire. It had reminded Ben and Five too much of their missions. They never got the opportunity to watch it again because their Father had found it in the morning. Five had taken the punishment. He still made him sick thinking about it.
As the dust cloud formed, it began to come straight towards Five. At first he tried to spacial jump but his powers flickered. They were useless. He began to run, his legs screaming in protest. He was tired but the adrenaline he felt pulsating through his body gave him the energy to push himself as he began to sprint.
He knew it might have been better to leave the wagon behind and carry Delores. However the wagon had been useful to carry her with him so he wasn't alone and she didn't have to wait for him.
Five, we're not going to make it! Delores shouted, her voice echoing in panic.
Five didn't reply, instead focusing all his energy into running. However his running had been in error because the dust cloud had caught up with him.
Put yourself into a ball. Delores told him. She sounded so confident and sure of herself.
Five nodded and buried into himself, covering his eyes and nose with his tattered scarf. It did little to protect him as the dust ravaged through his eyes and lungs. He coughed and coughed but he couldn't breathe. His lungs were heavy and his eyes stung. He tried to go into a tighter ball and focused on his siblings.
He conjured up their images, Vanya playing the violin and being so happy when he complimented her. Ben sat in an armchair, reading his book silently in the library. Klaus laughing to himself as he tried on Allison's skirt. Allison practicing her faces in the mirror. Diego throwing knives at a target on the wall. No nonsense Luther beaming proudly at their Father.
They were quickly replaced by their corpses, ashy faces that had begun to rot when he had found them. He wished he could cry but Five had learned that he needed to preserve energy so had started to push his emotions deep down where he couldn't find them.
The dust storm raged around and a part of him wondered if this was it. He was going to die at fifteen and no-one would ever know. At least he would be able to be with his siblings. Five huddled into himself, sending a silent prayer to his siblings while the dust cloud raged.
Five awoke with a start, his heart was hammering and lungs were aching. His chest and arms hurt too. He took a deep breath as he lay back into his pillow. What on earth had he dreamed about the apocalypse?
A memory. His older self's voice echoed in his head, sounding distant.
A memory of his old self. Five tried to shake his head. However this mental battle was going to take place, he wanted to win. He had to win for a future that his older self had never had.
He looked to his window where the sun was streaming through the window. He wasn't even sure what time it was. When Allison had left, with nothing to do Five had fallen asleep again.
Although his whole body ached, he knew that he needed to get up. He was still in pajamas but he didn't care as he blinked into the kitchen. He found Diego sat at the table, munching through a pile of six fried eggs.
"Diego," he said as he took a step forward but his legs gave way. They were still aching.
Five almost fell to the floor until he felt someone wrap their arms around him and pull him up to his feet.
"Careful Fivey!" Klaus said.
Diego looked up, grunted and went back to his meal.
"What happened? Did the police let you go?" Five asked, walking a few paces with Klaus leaning on him. Despite how skinny the older man looked he was quite heavy.
Diego didn't reply at first. Instead he lifted his plate to his lips and scoffed the remainder of the eggs down his gullet. He slapped the plate down and gave out a satisfactory burp.
"As much as I love you Diego that's the grossest thing I've ever seen you do and that's coming from a guy who snorted a whole line over a random-," Klaus's eyes widened and he covered Five's ears. "Little Five, this is for grown up ears."
Five pushed Klaus's hands away from his ears and stepped away from his brother.
"I'm old enough to know what you're talking about and I don't think anyone wants to hear it." Five scoffed.
Klaus shrugged.
Five turned back to Diego, hoping that he was going to answer his question.
"Beaman was able to convince the woman at the diner not to press charges. Claimed I wasn't the one who started the fight. They still have your friend locked up there." He raised his eyebrows at Five.
Old partner, the words floated through Five's head. He really wanted to say but he didn't. Those words didn't belong to him. Instead he tried to focus on the feeling of relief knowing that Diego was safe.
"You're not going to leave again are you? Allison said you kept leaving." Five asked, shuffling his bare feet. He wanted his family to stay put where he knew where they were. If Diego left again, who knows what could happen to him.
Diego tilted his head up and gazed at Five with a gruntled expression. He looked like he wanted to tell Five something as he bit the corner of his mouth, his hands trailing over his knives strapped to his chest.
"You're still a kid aren't you?"
"Yes." Five hesitated, unsure of where this was going.
"Let's just say that a lot of shit went down when we time travelled to the sixties and I haven't really been myself since and that's why I have been leaving the house." Diego shrugged.
"Allison told me about some things that happened but I have a feeling that she left some of it out." Five said, hoping that his brother might tell him some more of the truth. He wanted to find out through his siblings instead of through his memories. The more he saw of his older self's memories, the more that he would become him.
"There was a girl, her name was Lila. She had a lot of dirt with you," Diego said frowning, his hand wavered on his belt.
"Why?" Five asked, feeling a pit in his stomach.
"You killed her parents. She had a lot of problems with you. She also happened to be my ex-girlfriend." Diego said, not looking at Five.
It felt like several bombs had been thrown at Five at once, hitting him one after the other. Would his older self expected that something like that would come to bite him?
"I'm sorry." Five said, apologising. He wanted to cry but he was too tired.
Pathetic. His older self insinsited through his mind. Five tried to ignore him.
Five felt a tap on his nose and Diego smiling down at him. It looked like a pained smile but Diego had never really smiled genuinely in the first place when he was younger. The whole time Five had ever seen it had been when he had been talking to Mom. Once, Five had caught them talking when he was sneaking around the academy at eleven practicing his spacial jumps.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. It's my problem to deal with." Diego looked at him with a strained smile again.
Five had been on the end of that smile more than once. He remembered one of the last missions, their Father had sent them on before he had disappeared. Diego had kept smiling at all his siblings like that. It had been a dangerous mission, one that involved a criminal gang's hideout. They would have died if it hadn't been for Diego throwing his knives at the leader. None of them had thanked him, Luther had blamed him for taking his shot. They had gone home tired and beaten. Five supposed the missions over the years had gotten worse. He had never really gotten the details that he wanted to get from Vanya's book.
"But I feel like I should apologize," Five started.
Diego shook his head.
"You can be an asshole, even as a kid but you're family. We do bad things to each other. I'm sure the older you would have understood." Diego nodded.
Five expected his older self to say something but there was only silence. It was like he had blocked him away.
"Maybe." Five shrugged.
"Sorry to interrupt your brotherly bonding you two but it is almost noon. Little Five has had no breakfast. I think it's time he had some." Klaus interrupted standing in front of Diego. He was now in Five's line of sight.
"I don't need to be babied." Five muttered glaring at Klaus.
Klaus smiled. "Eggs?"
"Fine." Five said with an eye roll.
"Patrick for the last time, I would have to get a plane ticket tomorrow night to be there for that date." Allison growled down the phone.
"Not my problem." Patrick replied, his voice sounding smug.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Allison snapped, feeling the rage burning through her.
"It means that you need to be here if you ever want to see her again." Patrick spat.
Allison wanted to cry, she thought that she had more time. That she wouldn't have to deal with all of this building up now. She had no choice, if she wanted to see her daughter again then she had to go to court. She was not going to get her visitation rights taken away from her. She had worked too hard to be treated like this.
She quietly subdued her anger and clenched onto the phone wire.
"I'll be there." She said in a whisper.
Patrick said nothing and slammed the phone down. Allison placed the receiver down gently, staring at it. All these years of waiting and it had come to this. She was going to fight for it, and nothing was going to stop her.
She heard voices come from the kitchen, they were mumbled but it sounded like Klaus and Diego. A younger voice joined, sounding as sarcastic as he normally did. Five was awake. She had already seen Diego walking in the morning. They had exchanged a few words before he had disappeared into the kitchen.
As Allison entered the kitchen, she found Klaus hovering over Five watching him as he chewed on a couple eggs slowly and methodically. Five looked uncomfortable as he cut another piece of egg off and stabbed his fork into it. Diego was playing with one of his knives looking at the two of them occasionally.
"They taste burnt." Five muttered as he took another mouthful.
"Five, they are cooked to perfection. How dare you insult my cooking?" Klaus pretended to cry. His eyes then drifted over to one of the chairs that was pulled slightly aside. "Shut up Ben, your opinion is invalid."
Allison's heart hurt when she heard Five say, "Ben are you here?" As he swallowed his mouthful of egg.
"He's here." Klaus answered, his gaze softening.
Five took another mouthful and then noticed that Allison was in the kitchen. He didn't say anything but his pause alerted her two brothers in the room.
"Allison are you here to join the breakfast party?" Klaus said, patting one of the chairs next to him.
"Does this breakfast party involve burnt eggs?" She said looking at the last one on Five's plate. The white was burnt around the edge and the yolk looked like a child had drawn with a crayon all over it, the lines out of place.
"They aren't burnt." Klaus said, defending himself.
"They are." All three siblings said unison staring at Klaus.
Klaus rolled his eyes. "It hasn't stopped Five from eating it."
"I only ate them because you wouldn't shut up otherwise." Five defended, crossing his arms.
"Excuses! You're a growing boy Five, you need to eat!" Klaus pushed the plate even further towards him.
Five started at the plate. "Don't coddle me."
Klaus flicked his wrist so that his yes tattoo was on full display. "You're the baby of the family now we can coddle all you want."
"Allison has a daughter, coddle her instead." Five said as began to cut around the burnt parts of his egg.
Allison tried her best to keep herself calm. She didn't even know if she would be able to see her daughter again if she didn't win the court case that would begin in a couple of days. Her next job would be to see if she could secure airplane tickets so last minute or it was going to be a long drive to LA. Maybe it would be better to drive anyway, she could think of what on earth she was going to say in defense. That was she stranded in the sixties for two years and she had almost died a couple of weeks ago? Yeah that story was going to hold up well in court. In fact the only person that might believe her would be Claire.
"Allison what's wrong?" Klaus asked, pulling Allison's out of her thoughts.
"Nothing." Allison said, faking a smile. She looked again at Five and the academy pajamas that he was wearing. If she was going to distract herself from the ongoing court case, then she wanted to get some new clothes for Five. Maybe today was the day that they would drag him shopping, although was he really going to enjoy that?
"Five, do you want to get some new clothes today?" She asked him as he placed his knife and fork down.
Five froze looking like a deer in highlights. "Today?" He asked, his right eyebrow rising slightly.
"It's time to get you out of that uniform, you don't have to wear it." Allison said, crossing her arms.
Klaus cheered as he picked Five's plate up and took it to the sink. He turned to face them both.
"Five you've got no choice! I'm going to get changed and then I'm coming as well."
Allison laughed, while Five sunk deeper into his seat.
"Fine." He muttered.
Around an hour later, Allison was waiting for Klaus. Five had dressed himself in the academy uniform once again, but this would be the last time he would be wearing it properly. At least that's what Allison hoped. Klaus came down the stairs wearing something that would be considered very casual for Klaus.
He had decided to put his leather pants on, as well as an old t-shirt. It looked a little wrinkled, but that was unnoticeable as he had also decided to throw on a blank trench coat.
"Whose funeral are you going to?" Five muttered. Allison watched as he looked Klaus up and down.
Klaus smiled and did a twirl. He cupped Five's chin with his left hand.
"Your uniform's." Klaus said as he took his fingers away from Five's chin.
Five looked at Allison.
"Do we really have to bring him?"
She smiled at him.
"Even if I said no, Klaus would find a way. Now come on." She grabbed Five's hand. He looked up at her with a blink of surprise.
She stared at what she had done too. It had been something so instinctive, like when she used to hold Claire's hand when she was smaller. Allison moved her hand away with a sheepish grin.
"Sorry, old habits. I used to do it with Claire."
Five gave her a sorrowful nod.
They decided to get a taxi to one of the closest malls in the Academy. It wasn't particularly busy with it being a week day but she looked at Five and how he was gazing at the car park, his face a solemn mask. The three of them got out together after she had given the taxi driver his money.
"Where should we go first?" Klaus asked but the both of them caught Five's expression.
He was staring, his eyes unfocusing. His hand was clutching his head as if he was in pain.
"Five?" Allison asked. She got no response.
The people that were heading into the mall gave him a weary glance and moved several feet away from him. Allison couldn't really blame them. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his back. He didn't react at all. He was shaking.
"Five?" She asked again.
This time the boy seemed to hear her and his eyes flickered towards her.
"Allison?" He asked, looking unsure about where he was.
Allison nodded and tightened her grip on his back. She wanted to comfort him in some way. Whatever had just happened, she had a feeling that it might have been to do with the apocalypse.
"There's so many people," He said, standing up from his crouching position. Allison removed her hand. "I forgot how busy the world was."
Allison touched his forehead with the back of her hand. His skin was sweaty and sticky.
"Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after. We can go back home?" She said looking at Five.
He shook his head. "I'm fine, Allison."
He clearly was not fine. However she decided to humour him for the time being. She would keep a close eye on him and if he got any worse then they would go home and she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Okay." She said with an affirmed nod.
Five quickly wiped his face with his uniform sleeve. He looked pale. Allison frowned but let him walk in front of her, as she and Klaus followed from behind.
The mall they had come to was pretty upscale. Not only did it have a large car park that wrapped around the entire mall, but several floors of various shops. The first floor dealt with electronics and various assortments of technology. It was the third floor they wanted. Five used his powers to get up there much to the digress of Allison. He was lucky that no-one had seen. The Umbrella Academy, was much like a faded dream to the public and to be honest she wanted to keep it that way.
When she had first become an actress, the questions in her interviews had always been about what her childhood had been like. What she thought of her brothers, what she thought of her Father. She had always avoided these questions, wanting to forget about that side of her life. When the media had learned that they could get no answer from her, then had turned to her love life instead. To be honest it had been a relief, but then Vanya's book had come out.
Everything had gone to shit when the media tried to publish stories on her, about her childhood. She took three weeks out of the spotlight to get away from the paparazzi constantly clicking their cameras outside her house's gates. She remembered how angry she had been back then. How Vanya had ruined her life. Part of her still blamed Vanya, it was buried deep down now. When she thought about how she had treated Vanya, her sister deserved to have the book published. The only way that they could have both moved forward is forgive each other, and they had begun that.
Allison and Klaus headed up the stairs and found Five looking at a particular window display. There were several mannequins wearing corduroy pants and button up shirts. There was also a mannequin wearing a blouse that sparkled under the dim mall lights.
"Delores would have loved that blouse." Five mumbled underneath his breath as he rubbed his chin.
Klaus wrapped his arms around him and squeezed Five.
"Interested in sequins my little brother?" He cooed.
Five squirmed out Klaus's grip.
"No." He said, pretending that he hadn't been admiring the blouse.
"Let's get you some clothes!" Klaus cheered as he pulled Five by his sleeve into the store.
What followed was the longest four hours of Allison's life. Everytime her or Klaus would pick anything they thought Five might like he looked at in disgust, commenting on how he would stab it several times with a knife so that 'no one would have to see that ever again.' Over the last four hours, they had managed to get three pieces. A plain white collar shirt that looked similar to the Umbrella Academy's one, a plain black sweater that Five had scoffed at and some black oxfords.
"Why do you want to dress like a college history professor?" Klaus muttered, staring at the black oxfords in their shopping cart.
"I like them," Five scoffed, pulling off the pasty pink sweater that Klaus had given to him as a joke. "This wouldn't take so long if you just let me pick instead of giving me stuff."
"But you have no taste." Klaus muttered picking up the sweater from where Five had thrown it onto the floor. There was the fifteenth piece of clothing that Klaus had picked up. If left to his own devices, Allison was pretty sure he would have created a clothing mountain.
Five rolled his eyes.
"I'm choosing." He then blinked away from them.
"Teenagers." Klaus muttered as he looked at Allison.
Allison shrugged.
Another hour later, they were exiting the store with several large paper bags bulging at the brim with brown pants, a few pairs of jeans but they bags mostly had button up down shirts. Klaus had managed to convince Five to throw a few t-shirts in there and one pair of shorts that Allison was pretty sure Five would never wear. Allison had bought some things for herself that she had put into a separate bag that she was carrying.
They took another taxi back to the academy but she couldn't help but notice that Five eyes were glazed over as the car passed through the city streets. When they arrived at the academy, he was still staring straight ahead as if he wasn't aware they were home.
"Five?" Allison said as she shook his shoulder.
Five blinked once then looked at Allison. His eyes were full of tears. He quickly realised and then wiped them away.
"You were crying." Alison said, stating the obvious.
"I wasn't," Five defended. He picked up his bags and pushed past her. He blinked away with them. Allison didn't see him for the rest of the day.
Allison sat on her bed, breathing a deep sigh of relief. She had managed to secure airplane tickets after being on the phone waiting list for forty minutes. As she lay backwards, staring up at her ceiling allowing her to process the day's events.
In a few days she would be standing in a courtroom facing her ex-husband and her daughter would be outside only metres away. The daughter that she had birthed and created, some would argue her very being for her existence. She had felt those two years every single day, missing her daughter. It was strange to love someone that much.
Before her daughter, she had often thought if she was capable of love that didn't involve being in the same situation. Her Father had always been cruel and callous, for her first thirteen years of life she had believed that was the way families were supposed to work, until she had discovered the world of movies. She had vowed to herself that she would never be like her Father. However she had been controlling Claire, hadn't she? She had been like her Father in that sense and she had paid the price.
She let out a sob as tears streamed down her face, how long had she held onto this feeling? It had bubbled underneath the surface for so long and not that it was rising to the surface, it was coming out in waves that rattled her whole body.
As she sobbed, Allison didn't hear the sound of warping in her room.
"Allison?" Five asked.
Allison sat up startled and saw Five looking up with a gaze of concern.
"Are you crying?" He asked, mirroring her question from earlier.
He walked across her room towards her.
"Why are you in my room?" She asked.
"I think this is yours." Five held out a red t-shirt that she had bought earlier.
"Oh, thanks." She took it out of his hands.
"You didn't answer my question." He said rising his eyebrow.
"I miss Claire, I have to go to court on Wednesday. Everything is a mess." Allison muttered burying her head into her hands.
Why did it feel like she was the child and Five was the adult right now?
"The court," Five mumbled. "The court case with Patrick?"
Allison nodded. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to tell anyone but I can't pack up my bags and leave. I managed to get two tickets but I don't know if I can take anyone." She said looking at him.
Five thought for a moment and then smiled.
"I'm coming with you."