Wonderful World - Sam Cooke
I groaned at the sunlight hitting my face the next morning and tried to pulled the covers over my face. I say tried because I met some resistance in the form of my boyfriend. I finally gave up and flopped my arms down beside me as I squinted my eyes open.
"How are you feeling?" Diego asked.
"Like dog shit that got stepped in... twice." I muttered.
"You look it too but at least I made you shower last night." Diego said, "Why don't you get ready and come to the living room. Vanya is here."
"What? This early in the morning?" I asked, pushing myself to sit up.
"It's noon baby."
"Still, how does she not feel how I feel? Is she the Terminator or something? Like geeze."
Diego chuckled, "Just get ready."
He went to leave but I stopped him, "Diego... about last night. I'm sorry for being so sensitive. I'm just..."
"Just what?" He asked, sitting back down on the bed to face me.
"I'm tired of all the hot and cold of our relationship. One minute we're the golden couple and then next it's like we're back to how we were before. Maybe we're not as solid as I thought we were." I explained, thinking back to what Klaus said, "Maybe we're screwing this up... doomed to failure."
"Don't say that. Nothing is getting screwed up. We aren't supposed to agree on everything. It doesn't mean at the end of the day I don't know where I want to be. You're the psychologist, why am I the one counseling?" He chuckled.
I let out a breathy laugh, "I guess it's different when I'm the one with problems and not a client."
Diego leaned forward and kissed me quickly, "I'll deal with your problems too then. It's only fair since you're going to help me save Kennedy."
"Wait a minute. I never said I was going to help- and he's gone. I really will kill him one of these days." I muttered as I got up and got dressed.
I put on my tan ankle pants that I haven't worn in months and a green sleeveless turtle neck to help cover the abrasions on my neck at least a little bit. My belt was black and my loafers were black and my hair was in the high pony like usual. When I entered the living room I smiled at Vanya and then saw Luther checking out the invitation. That's right, we were invited to have dinner with Mr. Hargreeves tonight.
"I think it's a set up." Luther said.
"It might be but we should go anyway." Diego said, pulling on an atrociously orange button up t-shirt.
"That looks like the bedspread in my shitty motel room. Looking at it hurts my eyes." I said.
"This is 1960's fashion." Diego said.
Luther tossed the invitation on the table, "Didn't you already get stabbed by him once this week?"
"Oh, don't worry. Me and him are going to have words."
"Malia, would you tell him that he's nuts?" Luther asked, shoving food in his mouth. I don't remember him ever eating so much.
"I could but it wouldn't do any good." I said, going into the kitchen to make some bacon. I really needed bacon.
"Vanya?"
"I think we should go." She replied.
"What? Out of all of us, you should hate dad the most." Luther tried.
"Oh come on, could he really be that bad?"
"Okay, let's see... he isolated you from the rest of the family." Luther started.
"Kept you hopped up on pills." Diego added.
I popped my head around the corner, "He locked you up in a soundproof room located in a dungeon none of us new we even had."
"And he brainwashed you into thinking you had no powers." Luther finished.
"Jesus, this guy." Vanya said, horrified and then grinned, "Now I have to meet him."
"Diego, Malia... you already know how this going to go. He's going to play all his little mind tricks on us. Get into our heads and he's going to turn us all against each other. Just you watch." I heard Luther say. He was probably making ridiculous hand gestures too but I couldn't see him.
"Luther, we're not twelve anymore." Diego said.
"He can't manipulate us if we don't let him. We know what he's like so we take it with a grain of salt." I called out from the kitchen as I added salt to the eggs I decided to make with my bacon.
"Listen to the nut doctor. We're all adults now. We can handle him." Diego said, "You want to know what's different this time? You got me."
"And me!"
"We go in there as a united front. No more Number One, Number Two bullshit. From now on its Team Zero."
"Team Zero?" Luther asked.
"Team Zero. All the way." Diego affirmed.
I came back into the living room with my plate of food, popping a bit of bacon in my mouth, "Why is it whenever you try to give a pep talk, it sounds like you should be on a Saturday morning cartoon?"
"Really Malia? I thought we talked about you being more supportive?" Diego asked.
I shrugged and took a seat beside Vanya, closer to my cheesy boyfriend. He stole a piece of bacon from my plate and I frowned. He didn't even ask if he could have some. I knew people in relationships shared everything but I didn't think that pertained to my bacon. My eyes widened as Vanya reached over and took a piece of my bacon this time.
"Guys! Get your own bacon!" I shouted before stuffing my mouth with the rest of my bacon.
I turned to all three of them with my chipmunk cheeks and then giggled through my mouthful at how stupid I was being. The others laughed as well and then we were able to talk about less serious topics. I told Vanya of the few good memories I had with her and we also told her of some of the mischief we all got up to growing up.
"It's hard to believe you two hated each other so much growing up." Vanya said, motioning to Diego and I.
"Well... it was really just a front on Diego's part but I very much could have throttled him." I said and leaned back to pat Diego roughly on the cheek. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I smiled, "You're hurting me Diego."
"Am I?" He asked and I ripped my hand out of his.
"Actually... I take that back." Vanya said, eyeing us, "I can totally see it."
I grunted as I stood up and brought my empty plate to the sink and then went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Diego came to lean against the doorway as he watched him. I spit the toothpaste out and set my toothbrush down before turning to him thoughtfully.
"What's going through your head?" He asked.
"It's just, you've never taken me on a proper date."
"I never had the chance."
I stepped closer to him, running my fingers up his ugly orange shirt and into the hair on the back of his head, "Well, we aren't doing anything right now except waiting for this dinner to start."
"You want me to take you on a date right now?" He asked, clarifying.
"If we're going to get married in six days, shouldn't you at least take me on a date first?" I asked.
Diego took me to a diner where he ordered us each a milkshake. Chocolate for him and vanilla for me. We also shared a plate of fries as we got to know the little things about each other. It was simple but I loved it.
"You mix your mayo and ketchup?" Diego asked as he watched me dip my fries in my concoction.
"Don't judge. You're dipping your fries in mustard."
"It's more normal than whatever that is."
"Just try it." I said, holding up a fry with said creation.
"No thanks, I'm good."
"Oh come on, just one bite." I said, trying to stick it in his mouth. He sealed his lips together at the last minute and the ketchup and mayo got smeared across his lips and into his beard. I giggled as I took a napkin to wipe it up, "Sorry."
"Yeah. It's so funny." He said with a roll of his eye but the teasing smile on his lips told me he didn't mind.
"So I have a question."
"Shoot."
"Eight months before Mr. Hargreeves died, those robbers broke into my office. You just happened to be around and when I asked you about it, you said were tracking a few robberies in the area and that you didn't actually know that place was mine. Was that true?"
Diego chuckled as he looked up to the ceiling for a moment, "You really think I would lie about that?"
When he turned his gaze to mine again, I had an eyebrow raised. He was deflecting. "Was it true?"
"It was true that I was tracking this organization that was planning out a few heists. I took them out as they happened but that night was pretty quiet so I went to check on you."
"So... you knew where I lived."
"Of course I knew where you lived. I'd check on you all the time. I wanted to make sure you were alright. Sometimes I'd even see you in your office window, doing paperwork well after closing time." Diego said.
"But you never knocked on the door." I wondered, putting my chin in my hand.
"Can you blame me?" He asked.
"I guess not." I said and then teased, "You know, that's considered stalking. I could have had you arrested."
Diego said something else but I didn't hear what he had to say because toward the back of the diner sat a familiar man that I never wanted to see again. I frowned as my eyes met that of Special Agent William Cross. What was he doing here and how did he find me?
"Malia?"
I forced my frown into a smile and looked back to him, "You know what, I think I'm ready for a walk now."
I slapped a twenty on the table, since I knew Diego didn't have any money in this time period, and stood up. I glanced back to Agent Cross as I waited for Diego to stand and then turned to leave with him out the door.
"You alright?" Diego asked, "We left quickly."
"Fine. I just wanted to enjoy the sunny weather a bit before heading back."
"Really? So, it had nothing to do with that guy back there?" Diego asked.
I sighed; I forgot how observant he could be. I didn't want to tell him who that guy was because I knew his hot head would begin to steam. I also knew Diego wasn't likely to let something like this go.
"He was my former employer. He must be tailing me."
"You mean the guy you said was getting handsy." Diego said, pulling a knife from his pocket.
I grabbed the knife and put it back in his pocket, looking behind me. Agent Cross wasn't following us, so that was good. That's not to say that someone out here on the street wasn't working for him. There was nothing I could do about that though, so I just linked my arm through Diego's and leaned my head on his shoulder.
"You don't need to kill him." I said quietly.
"I wasn't... I was just going to scare him a little."
"I told you I had it handled." I complained.
"The guy followed you to a diner while on a date with your boyfriend. You call that handled?"
He had a point but still, "Just let it go. I'm not in any danger. I'd feel it if I was."
"Fine." He grumbled.
"Now let's enjoy the rest of our date before we go meet Mr. Hargreeves." I said.
"Speaking of. I could have paid back there." He said, motioning behind him.
"How? You spent three months in an asylum."
"Luther left his wallet unattended."
"Really?" I asked, giving Diego a sly grin, "How much was in there?"
"A few hundred."
"We should definitely go shopping then!" I said excitedly as I eyed a clothing store across the street. I went to drag Diego to it but he pulled back. "What is it? Don't you want to spend Luther's cash?"
"I do but I had something else in mind besides clothes." Diego said and dragged me into a store instead.
I looked around and realized we were in a jewelry store. Diego had walked over to a glass case holding rings and I let out a breath at what he was implying with this gesture. I stepped up beside him and looked down into the case as well.
"What are we doing here Diego?"
"I'm buying you something nice before the world ends... again."
"Just because the world is ending, doesn't mean we have to rush into anything. Just being with you is enough."
"Let me do this Malia. Please." Diego almost begged.
"Alright." I said softly with a smile.
"Hello young ones! How can I help you today?" A lovely older lady with cat eye glasses, stepped out from the back.
"Can we look at those rings there?" Diego pointed to the white gold rings with various styles of diamond cuts.
She pulled out the ring holder and set it down in front of us and Diego told me to pick one I liked. I looked at all of them carefully until the one in the bottom right caught my eye. It was a simple ring but I never really liked anything overly fancy. To me, simple equated to elegant and this ¾ carat brilliant cut solitaire ring was exactly that.
We left the store after Diego handed over every cent that he took from Luther and I admired the ring that now fit snuggly on my left ring finger. I suppose this means our impromptu engagement was official. I thought I'd feel more anxious but I was just filled with contentment instead. Diego brought my left hand up to his mouth and kissed the back as we continued to walk down the street.
It was time for us to meet Mr. Hargreeves for dinner, so we called a taxi and the closest payphone and then gave the driver the address that was on the invitation. It didn't take us long to get there but when we did, it was a really tall building that had the words 'Southland Life' in huge glowing letters. I paid the driver as we got out.
"You remember what floor right?" I asked.
"Yeah." Diego said, putting his hand on the small of my back to direct me forward.
We entered the building just as everyone else arrived and went up to the elevator. The doors were just about to close but Diego stuck his hand in to keep them open. Five was already in the elevator as we all piled in around him. Looks like everyone else received the invitation as well. I was standing between Klaus and Diego.
"Good, we're all here." Five said, closing the elevator doors.
It was a silent elevator ride as the numbers slowly climbed up. The silence was almost deafening and I wanted someone to say or do something. I should really be careful what I wish for though because this rank odor started to fill up the small space. I gagged as I covered my mouth and nose with my arm. Diego was trying not kill himself laughing but everyone else was disgusted.
"Luther." Klaus grunted.
"Sorry. I'm nervous."
"Really? I'm right behind you." I groaned.
The doors opened on the top floor and we all pushed our way past Luther to be able to breathe fresh air. As I took some deep breaths, I looked around at the Tiki style restaurant that we entered. We walked down the stairs and to a large round table that was set up to seat all of us.
"Alright, when dad gets here, I'll do all the talking." Five said.
"I have a few questions for him myself." Diego said.
"We don't want to scare him off alright."
"Mr. Hargreeves doesn't strike me as the type to run scared." I said.
"Regardless, he might be able to help us stop Dooms Day and get us home." Five said.
"No Five, we need to figure out why he's planning to kill the president." Diego argued.
"This is a matter of life and death you imbecile." Five snapped.
"Maybe we should take turns talking." Vanya said and picked up a shell, "Whoever has this clamshell gets to talk."
"Vanya, we don't have time for a debate, okay?" Five said.
"Maybe I should lead. We all know I'm a much better public speaker than the rest of you." Allison said, taking the shell from Vanya.
"Okay, daddy's girl." Diego chuckled.
"Oh, jealous, are we Number Two?"
"Hey. No more numbers, no more bullshit. We're team zero." Diego said.
I took the shell from Allison as I walked by her, "This isn't an assembly. I'm much better at talking to people one on one. I should lead."
"Dad isn't one of your clients Malia." Five said.
"Uh, Five? You don't have the conch." Luther said, pointing to the shell in my hand.
Five blinked to me, took the shell and whipped it at the wall. It shattered into a million pieces on impact, "We don't need the conch."
"So much aggression in such a tiny body." I said, waving my hand all down his body.
The back doors then slammed open and Mr. Hargreeves stormed into the room holding a few books. One of these books was actually a very familiar leather-bound red journal. We followed him with our eyes as he took a seat and then we all sat down as well. Mr. Hargreeves sat down with Luther to his right, then Vanya, Allison, Five, Diego, me, and an empty chair for Klaus who was at the bar.
"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..." Mr. Hargreeves spoke in a very severe tone but was interrupted as Klaus took his seat beside him with a drink in hand.
"Hey pops, how's it going?"
"...dad." Mr. Hargreeves deadpanned before continuing, "My reconnaissance has told me you are not CIA, KGB, and you're certainly not MI5. So! Who are you?"
"We're your children... from the future." Five said after the rest of us failed to speak. "In 1989, you adopted us all and trained us to fight against the end of the world. You called us the Umbrella Academy."
"Why on earth would I adopted seven-"
"Eight." Allison corrected, "One of us isn't here."
"Dead. One of us is dead." Diego said.
Klaus turned behind him, "Enough of that now." He then turned back in his seat for us to continue.
"Technically, I wasn't adopted with the rest. You took me in when I was eleven." I tacked on.
"Regardless... what would possess me to adopt eight ill-mannered malcontents." Mr. Hargreeves asked.
"We all have special abilities." Five explained.
"Special? In what sense?"
"In the superpower sense." Luther said.
"Call me old-fashioned but I'm a stickler for a pesky little thing called evidence."
"That's perfectly reasonable Mr. Hargreeves." I said to him, "But I won't-"
"Everyone wants to see powers all of a sudden." Allison admonished, taking a sip from her drink.
"We're not circus animals." Luther snapped, "We're not just going to balance balls on our noses for your amusement. Okay?"
Diego flung a knife in Vanya's directing and then made it curve to fly past Mr. Hargreeves' head, letting it stick to a post behind him. Mr. Hargreeves didn't look shocked, just wrote something down in his journal. We all leaned forward to see.
"What are you writing?" Diego asked.
"You are zero for two young man." Mr. Hargreeves taunted.
Diego shot to his feet to go after him but I stood to get in his way just as Five blinked in front of him to get him to sit back down. I took Diego's hand and squeezed it gently to try and calm him down as Five went back to his seat. Diego and I sat back down next.
"Alright, a quick rundown." Five explained, "Luther has super strength, Klaus can commune with the dead, Allison can rumour anyone to do anything."
"Except she never uses it." Diego said snarkily.
"I heard a rumour that you punched yourself in the face." Allison said to prove him wrong.
Diego punched himself in the face and then grabbed his face in pain. He cursed Allison under his breath and I giggled as I rubbed his thigh in comfort.
"What about you?" Mr. Hargreeves directed toward me.
I stopped giggling at Diego as I spoke, "Well Mr. Hargreeves, I can make people see whatever I want. Usually their worst nightmare. I can also sense danger coming from a mile away."
"More like a meter." Five corrected and I shot him a glare.
"Mr. Hargreeves? Now that is a proper way of address. Tell me, were you my favourite?" Mr. Hargeeves asked.
I blushed and scratched my cheek, "I don't think you really had a favourite to be honest."
"And you, young lady. What can you do?" Mr. Hargreeves asked Vanya.
"Uh... maybe we don't take Vanya for a test drive." Luther said wearily.
"Yeah... probably not a good idea." Klaus agreed.
"It's fine. I can handle it." Vanya said as she grabbed a fork.
"Handle it? Last time you handled it, you definitely didn't handle it." Allison tried to persuade her.
"Mmmm... I'd rather not save the world from two Dooms Day's at the same time. One at a time is usually enough for me." I said.
"Vanya! Don't do it!" Five said shouted.
We all shouted no as she hit her cup, creating a ding sound. I ducked under the table, waiting for the worst possible thing to happen. I heard something explode and saw fruit fly over my head. I crawled back into my seat and looked at the table. The pineapple was gone from the center and everyone was covered in bits of it. Everyone was brushing themselves off and I leaned my chin in my hand as I looked at Vanya amazed.
"Oops." She said proudly.
"That was impressive." Luther said.
"Look, we know that you're involved in the plot to assassinate the president." Diego said, standing to lean on the table.
I covered my face with my hands to keep myself from saying anything untoward. I promised I wouldn't ridicule him anymore but he really does make it hard.
"You were recently hospitalized. Isn't that correct?" Mr. Hargreeves said more than asked, "You seem to still be suffering from delusions of grandeur and acute paranoia."
I dropped my hands from my face and back onto the table. That was uncalled for. Diego isn't paranoid because we know the president IS going to get shot. He just doesn't like seeing good people die. He doesn't suffer from acute paranoia; he suffers from having a big heart and giving a shit about people.
"Am I? Explain this." Diego took the photo of Mr. Hargreeves out of his pocket and placed it on the table, "That's you, two days from now. That's the exact spot the president is going to get shot."
Mr. Hargreeves looked at the picture and then smirked, "Well, I suppose you solved it. You 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 decent into corruption and conspiracy. This is a fantastic delusion. The sad reality is, you are a desperate man tragically unaware of his own insignificance." I saw the defeated heartbreak wash over Diego's whole demeanor as Mr. Hargreeves cut him up in the cruelest way possible. "He's desperately clinging to his own ineffectual research. More succinctly, a man in over his head."
"Y-y-youuu're wr-wr-ong." Diego stuttered out and I grabbed his hand and squeezed firmly. My heart was breaking for him as I saw the lone tear escape his eye.
"If that's really what you see. Then it's because you made him that way." I said quietly, squeezing Diego's hand even more to offer comfort to him but strength for me.
"I beg your pardon?" Mr. Hargreeves said, clearly offended.
I looked at him, "You think you're all high and mighty because your IQ is genius level. Well, let me remind you that we're here BECAUSE of you. You adopted seven babies and took in a stray because you wanted to give the world another reason to look at you, to make you feel good about your miserable life. You're a narcissistic asshole how used children as tools for your own gain but you had no business having them."
I let go of Diego's hand and stood up, "You were harsh Mr. Hargreeves but I respected you. I was grateful you gave me things I wouldn't have had otherwise but the man I see before me now is nothing but a disappointment. You're a parasite and soon everyone you know will realize that too. When 1989 does come around and you find us, because you will – there is no way that your egocentric ass would ever pass up that kind of power – remember that YOU search for US. Not the other way around. We are people and we deserve to be treated as such!"
I stormed out of there, not wanting to look at his face anymore. I paced around in the lobby as I waited for the others to come down. With the way that dinner went, I had no doubt that it would be ending shortly. Sure enough, five minutes later the elevator dinged and everyone, minus Five, came down the stairs.
"Good. It's over, how did the rest of it go?" I asked them.
No one answered but Diego did pull me into him and kiss me with so much passion that I was left totally breathless when he pulled away. His gaze was smoldering and held a promise of how our night was going to end.
"No one has ever stood up to him for me like that before." Diego said.
"It had to be said. He treated us like less than people."
"Let's go home." He said and put his arm around my shoulder, kissing my temple. He slowed when we got out of the door and I followed his gaze to see Grace sitting in a car. "I'll just be a minute. Alright?"
He left me standing there and walked over to the car Grace was in and knocked on the window. She cracked the window and they had a short conversation and then Diego left. He walked up to me, took my hand and pulled me toward the car Luther was waiting in. I glanced back at Grace who was staring right back.
When we got back to Morty's, Diego helped me out of the backseat. Luther was behind us as we walked up the stairs. Diego was undoing the buttons on his ugly orange shirt and was about to take it off as we walked through the door. I slid off my jacket and hung it up as Luther closed the door.
"Guys, look." Diego said quietly. He pointed to a small dark puddle in the middle of the kitchen. "Malia, do you feel anything."
I closed my eyes and listened but there was nothing, "No. Nothing."
We cautiously stepped toward the puddle and Luther bent down to touch it, "It's definitely blood."
Diego picked up Elliott's keys off the table and called his name as I stepped over the blood and into the living room. It looked like Elliott was lounging in his dad's dentist chair, facing the showroom. I wasn't stupid enough to believe that was all that was going on here though. There was more blood pooled on the floor in front of him. Too much blood for anyone to be alive after losing such an amount.
"Guys!" I called, "I think I found him!"
I walked around the chair to get a better look at Elliott, just as Diego and Luther came into the room. They came to look at the mutilated corpse that was once Elliott as well. His teeth were ripped out and he had dental tools sticking out of his face. The odd thing was, he had one of Diego's knives lodged in his chest.
"Holy shit." Diego said.
I turned to look at him, not realizing he left my side, and saw him looking down over the banister to the showroom. Luther and I stepped up beside him to see as well. On the floor in the showroom, in giant bloody letters, read 'Oga Foroga'.