The Umbrella Academy is not mine.
Extra Ordinary
iii
Oh, sinnerman, where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman where you gonna run to?
Where you gonna run to?
- SINNERMAN - Nina Simone
"YES, MAMA, I'M BEING SAFE. I promise."
In a silent act of betrayal, the slowly-healing bruise on Halyn's jaw throbbed, a painful reminder that she was currently lying—and to her own mother nonetheless. Regardless, lies were a normal part of a superhero's life—even a washed up and semi-retired one. What her mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Besides, if Halyn was honest and told her mother 'oh, yeah, I've been in two fire fights back-to-back nights in a row!' she would most certainly be guilted into coming home.
Or worse: her mother would drag her home herself.
As much as Halyn missed her mother, with the impending apocalypse rapidly approaching, she couldn't just up and leave. This fight was now hers; even if she didn't want it nor even knew how to help.
Halyn was just holding onto a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, when all this was over, she could go home—and maybe take Five with her so he was away from this hellhole.
'You know I can tell when you're lying, Halyn?'
Internally cursing her mother's, well, motherly instincts, Halyn rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall, "Can't get anything past you, can I?" huffed the brunette, playing with the phone's spiral cord.
On the other end of the line, her mother hummed in affirmation, 'Have you ever been able to?'
Halyn snorted at the comment before sighing heavily, "I can't come home yet, mama."
'Halyn, I—'
"I'm fine, okay? I—" The events of the past few nights played heavily on Halyn's mind, and she drew in a shaky breath as she ran a hand through her disheveled locks, "I need to be here right now."
The brunette heard her mother pull in a deep breath, and Halyn instantly knew she was gearing up for a speech, 'I worry about you in that place, sweetheart. Your father and I made a mistake taking you there all those years ago and we just—'
Footsteps approached Halyn as her mother rambled on in her ear, and the brunette glanced up, "We need to talk." Diego's voice was firm as he made eye contact with the younger-appearing teen.
Annoyed, Halyn quirked a brow before silently pointing to the phone she had pressed to her ear. Diego didn't seem to care, and instead stepped forward before yanking the phone out of the Sioux teen's hands.
"Hey!" She cried, just barely able to hear her mother's concerned voice from the receiver end.
"Sorry Mrs. Alberty, Halyn can't come to the phone right now." Diego spoke lowly, holding Halyn at an arm's length away as she struggled to take the phone back from him. She cursed her shorter stature—and the Number Two—as her fingertips just barely grazed the receiver, "but I can take a message?"
"Diego, you asshole, give it back!" Her hand smacked his bicep, and only when she attempted to strike him again with a metal fist did Diego move to hang the phone up. Scowling, Halyn shouted, "Mama, I love you and I'll call you as soon as I can!" She just hoped her mother managed to catch her words, and the phone was hung up with a click.
"What the hell, Diego?"
"I said we needed to talk."
"And I was clearly already talking to someone. You could've waited."
"No," Diego's hand curled around Halyn's wrist, and he began to drag the younger girl up the stairs, "It can't wait."
Halyn hissed as the jerk on her arm pulled at the bullet graze on her shoulder, and Diego dropped her arm. Irritation was obvious in his brown eyes, and from his place a few stairs above her, he towered over the teen as he stared down at her, "What's with all the injuries, Halyn, huh?" He gestured to her bruised jaw, and the fact she was currently rubbing her sore arm, tone accusing, "Just what exactly are you and Five up to?"
Halyn pressed her lips together in a firm line, "Who says we're up to anything?" Her tone was defensive.
Diego jabbed an accusatory finger her way, "I know about Griddy's, Halyn, and Gimbel Brother's, so don't even think about lying to me."
Clearly caught off guard by his words, Halyn balked up at the man as her mouth went dry. Her mind scrambled for words, for an excuse, but she was completely spacing, so she instead just stared up at him with wide eyes. How he had figured things out was beyond the brunette, but she supposed that was also irrelevant at the moment.
Under other circumstances, Diego may have been smug about leaving the teen speechless, but in this given moment, her silence was more irritating than anything else. He scoffed, "So, what? Now you've got nothing to say?"
Halyn composed her features to some degree, surprise melting into a strange mixture of sorrow and shame. Her eyes dropped to the floor, and she felt small in that moment. Diego was already almost a foot taller than the Sioux teen, but now that he was stood a few stairs above her, he felt infinitely times taller, which made her feel even smaller.
Still floundering for words, the silence continued to drag on. Halyn's mind combatted with itself as she laid out the options in her head. Would Diego even believe her if she tried to tell him the truth, or would he write her—and Five—off, much like how Vanya had done? Similar to how their Number One functioned (for the most part, at least), Diego relied on facts and evidence.
And seeing as the only evidence Five actually had of the apocalypse was someone's manufactured-but-also-not-yet-manufactured glass eye, that wasn't a lot to go on.
Halyn wasn't given much longer to dwell on this thought before Diego sighed, "I'm just trying to look out for you, Halyn." He had dropped the accusatory tone, trying to sound more approachable in the process.
The Sioiux teen scowled and swallowed the rest of her surprise, "No one asked you to, Diego!" Halyn pushed past the Number Two to continue up the stairs, and he was quick to follow her.
"Family looks out for each other, you know that!"
Halyn whirled around, a sarcastic laugh bubbling past her lips, "Oh, now we're family?" She sneered, and Diego's jaw tightened at her sardonic tone, "Please, Diego, you've never once treated me like I was your sister, so why now?"
It was clear Halyn was taking the sudden topic change and running with it, using it to distract Diego from his original question, and he had clearly taken the bait.
The knife-wielder's fists clenched at his sides, his patience wearing thin. Halyn had always been stubborn—this he knew for a fact since he could be equally as stubborn and they often butted heads due to this shared trait—but this was a whole new level. She was clearly protecting Five, lying to Diego and the rest of the Hargreeves in the process, and Diego just needed to know why she was throwing herself in harm's way for an asshole who had left her behind all those years ago.
"Because, Halyn, I—"
Diego's words were cut off short as a voice—once Halyn recognized all too painfully well—cried out, "There's the girl!" Halyn's heart rate spiked, blood running cold as fear seized her body. If they were here, that meant they were still on Five's trail—but how they managed to track Five to their childhood home is what really concerned her.
Noting the sudden fear that had taken over Halyn's body, Diego stared cautiously at the two intruders, and shifted so he was standing between them and Halyn. One of his hands moved towards the knives strapped to his chest.
"Who the hell are you?" Diego called out.
A gun cocked, "We'll just take the girl and be on our way." They didn't answer his question.
"Like hell you will."
With a flick of his wrist, Diego let two knives sail through the air. They clanked harmlessly off the metallic helmets the intruders were wearing, but they provided enough of a distraction for the knife-wielder to move Halyn around him and shove her forward.
Gunfire filled the air, the walls around Halyn and Diego erupting as they ran down the hall. Debris and splinters rained down upon the duo and the floor and Diego paused for a moment. He urged Halyn to keep running, before throwing two more knives in the intruder's direction. They proved just as useful as the first ones, and he scowled in frustration.
Halyn turned the nearest corner, Diego right behind her, and the two pressed themselves up against the wall. Bullets sailed by in the open hall, and when Halyn tried to move to the edge to use her powers to shield them from the onslaught, Diego put an arm over her chest to keep her pinned in place. She glared up at him in irritation.
"They're after you, so you keep running and I'll hold them off." The knife-wielder answered her silent anger.
Footsteps echoed down the hall, gunfire ceasing for a moment, and Diego moved the arm from Halyn's chest to hold a finger to his lips. Letting her fear fall away to deep-seated irritation at the dangerous situation the teen found herself in for the third night in a row, Halyn ignored Diego's order in favor of diving headfirst into the hallway and the nearest assailant.
"Halyn!" Diego protested with a hiss, but the girl was already around the corner, "Shit."
Hazel grunted as a metallic forebody collided with his abdomen, and he fell into the nearest wall with a loud thump. Halyn's steel fist bounced off the assailant's metal mask with a sharp clang, a small indent forming where her fist had hit. Hazel's ears rang as the clang echoed in the mask, and he lifted his shot gun.
With a blind fire, Halyn took the full force of the shotgun blast to the chest, the bullet ricocheting off her metallic form. The force of the impact sent her reeling backwards, body returning normal in shock. Hazel lined up another shot as the Sioux teen shook the reverberations from her system, but Diego darted into the fray before he could pull the trigger.
Diego lunged, yanking the shotgun from Hazel's grip, before kicking the large assailant in the chest. He went for a few more blows, fist and head clanging harmlessly against the man's oversized headwear.
"Cha-Cha! Shoot him!" Hazel's muffled—and annoyed—voice shouted.
"Get out of the way, dumbass!"
With another well-aimed kick to the chest, Hazel landed harshly against the backwall. Just as Cha-Cha's gunfire lit up the small hall, Diego grabbed Halyn by the wrist before pulling her down an opposite hall.
The two ran, the assailants hot on their heels and gunfire raining down upon them, towards the drawing room. As they approached the banister that blocked them from the lower floor, Diego shifted so Halyn was in front of him. With no time to explain what he was doing, the knife-wielder pulled Halyn into his chest before rolling himself—and her—over the banister.
Halyn gasped at the sudden weightless feeling that blossomed in her chest as the two fell, and Diego grunted from their combined weight as his back hit the couch. Head buried in the older man's neck, Halyn didn't get a chance to move before Diego rolled the two off the couch. They landed on the ground in a heap before Diego pulled them behind the nearest table, still holding the Sioux teen close to his chest in a protective manner.
"Stay down." He muttered.
"No shit."
Footsteps clambered down the stairs, and Halyn held her breath as they stilled in the entryway to the drawing room. The silence was deafening as she waited to see what would happen next, and she felt Diego shift to try and see what the assailant's were up to. It proved to be the wrong move, however, as gunfire immediately filled the air once more as they homed in on where the two were hiding.
Acting quickly, Diego curled his body protectively over Halyn and pulled themselves towards the end of the table to cower behind. She had half a mind to protest their position—as she was the one who could use her body as a shield not him— but as bullets and debris assaulted the two, she held her tongue in favor of sheltering in place.
Abruptly, the gunfire ceased, the sound still echoing hollowly in Halyn's ears. It was quickly replaced with the sound of blows being traded, and Diego uncurled himself from around the smaller girl in his arms. Halyn and him shared a brief look, both silently checking the other over for any new injuries—and when none were found, they leapt to their feet.
Juliet and Allison were currently facing off against Hazel, the two taking turns in landing blows on the burly man, but he wasn't phased by any of their punches or kicks and seemed to be growing more irritated by the second. Just as Juliet had resigned herself to using her powers, Hazel knocked her to the floor and pressed a heavy foot to her throat, holding her down in place.
"Juliet!" Allison cried out, but before she could help her friend, a burly hand wrapped around her throat, cutting of her air supply and route to her powers.
Diego saw red as he watched Juliet struggle against the shoe pressed dangerously against her throat, and he faced Halyn, "Stay here." His voice was cold, a dangerous glint in his eye, and he darted off to help Juliet and Allison.
Halyn scowled, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she watched her friend's struggle, "You can't tell me what to do!"
"Let them go!" Diego practically roared, kicking and punching at Hazel with all his might. Each blow bounced harmlessly off the burly man, and his grip didn't lessen on Allison's throat, nor did his foot let up on Juliet's.
With her own cry of rage, Halyn threw herself at Hazel's back, the man grunting at the sudden force. Balance compromised, he was forced to remove his foot from where it had been propped, and Diego immediately pulled the woman from harms way to recover. Meanwhile, the Sioux teen wrapped her arms around the masked assailant's neck, legs around his lower torso; as he had yet to release Allison.
Focusing on the steel bracelet that encircled her wrist, Halyn shifted as much of her body as she physically could manage into steel. And with the added strength, she tugged backwards with a cry of determination.
The additional weight pulled Hazel backwards, body tipping and he gasped as Halyn's now metallic arms pressed painfully against his windpipe. She tightened her grip, a gargled sound bubbling past the burly man's lip at the added pressure as her arms slipped under his mask, but his grip still remained strong on Allison's throat.
Diego resumed his onslaught, but the man was like a giant rock, completely unphased by the blows until Luther joined the fray. With a wind-up and a battle cry, Luther plowed a fist right into Hazel's exposed abdomen. Hazel was nearly evenly matched with Number One for strength, but the force of the punch finally caused him to release his grip on Allison's throat.
Halyn immediately slid off the masked assailant's back, falling to her feet with a light thud before finding herself by Allison's side. She helped steady the woman as she sucked in deep breaths, trying to relieve her body's momentary state of hypoxia, and Luther tossed the man into the hall, wiping out the center table in the process.
With a momentary reprieve, Allison glanced around at her family, "Who the hell are these guys?" She continued to gasp for air, and Diego immediately pointed a finger Halyn's way.
"Don't know, but they seem to know Halyn and have made her their prime target, tonight!"
As all eyes snapped towards the teen, she clenched her teeth, "I—I don't know anything about them, okay!" It was the truth. She had tried to pry information about them out of Five on their stake-out, but he was just as tight-lipped as ever. At their disbelieving looks, Halyn sighed, "Look, they attacked Five and I last night—"
Allison cut her off, "So that's what happened to you and Five last night."
"Yeah." Halyn waved dismissively, offering up no further details to their escapades last night, "They're after him for some reason, and I guess by extension me, but that's all I know!"
"Whatever. We're discussing this later okay?"
"Yes, dad," Halyn sneered, and Diego stiffened, dark eyes narrowing. He was prepared to snap back before his attention was diverted.
Luther faced Number Two, "You're welcome, by the way." He called out to his brother almost condescendingly.
"I was doing fine!" Diego turned his harsh glare from Halyn to Luther.
"Oh, yeah, you really had them—"
"Ever hear of rope-a-dope?"
"Is this really a conversation we should be having right now?!" Juliet rasped out from her place on the floor, irritation heavy in her broken voice, and Diego was immediately at her side.
There was no further room for argument or commentary, however, as a gun cocked, and then bullets lit up the drawing room once more. Luther pushed Halyn back, Allison latching onto the physically younger girl, and he turned to them, "Get her out of here, now! Go!"
A firm hand pressed itself into the small of Halyn's back, and before she could utter a word of protest, she was being ushered away. Between rounds of bullets, she could just barely make out Luther yelling something to Diego and Juliet, but then Allison pushed her around a corner and deeper into the academy.
They came across the stairs Halyn and Diego had just come up, hallway walls already painted with bullet holes, and Allison yelled at the Sioux teen to keep moving. The stairs trembled beneath their clambering feet as Halyn bolted down them as fast as she could, feet nearly tripping over themselves a handful of times.
When she reached the base of the stairs, she rounded the banister, Allison right behind her. Halyn urged her feet to move faster as she caught sight of Cha-Chat, hot on their heels, through the slats of the banister. Her heart hammered in her chest, lungs burning at the pace she was running, and she yelped as bullets pierced the air by her head once more.
"Shit." Allison cursed before shoving Halyn into the nearest adjacent hallway. It led towards more stairs, which took the two into the back of the kitchen and game area. Halyn still led the way as they rounded another wall, which protected them from another burst of gunfire as Cha-Cha laid sights on them once more.
The sound of gunfire ceased, and Halyn cried out in surprise as she was suddenly yanked downwards. Allison held a hand to her lips, signaling the teen to be quiet, and together they ducked behind a pool table.
Cha-Cha's prowling footsteps echoed lightly off the tiled ground, and Halyn had to strain her ears to hear them. Sir Hargreeves had trained them when they were kids to pick up the lightest of sounds but given that she had basically elected to forget all her training out of petty spite these past few months, it was hard to discern the footfalls over the sound of her hammering heart.
Beside the younger brunette, Allison shifted quietly. From under the pool table, she watched Cha-Cha point her gun around a counter, and while their assailant's back was turned to them, she silently reached up to pull a pool cue off the game table.
Just as Cha-Cha resumed her hunt, Allison slid the pool cue under the billiards table. It collided with the assassin's feet, tripping the woman up so she fell to the ground with a grunt. Halyn heard Cha-Cha's gun clatter to the ground, and that was Allison's cue to move.
"Stay here." Number Three's look was pointed, voice firm, and Halyn frowned.
"Why's everyone telling me that tonight?"
"Halyn."
The Sioux teen waved her friend off, but didn't verbally confirm nor deny her willingness to cooperate with Allison's command. Now wasn't the time for arguments, however, and the older woman groaned before moving out of her hiding spot to take up a fighting stance.
Cha-Cha picked up the snapped pool cue from its spot on the ground, holding them out in a defensive manner as Allison raised her fists. Halyn did as she was told for now, keeping herself hidden behind the pool table as Allison steadily backed away from the assassin, drawing her away from the teen's hiding spot.
They traded blows, Allison doing her best to parry each attack from Cha-Cha. The sound of wood slapping against leather echoed in the underground space, and Halyn flinched at each rough-sounding hit. She hated hiding; hated not doing anything as her friends put their lives at risk for her, but if she tried to intervene, Halyn risked making things worse.
And that'd only make her feel guiltier.
For now, she'd just have to bide her time. Despite her appearances, Allison was a skilled fighter. She knew what she was doing and could hold her own in a fight. Halyn just had to trust her.
A particularly harsh hit knocked Allison across the face, immediately splitting her lip and sending her careening into a table with a thud. Halyn geared up to jump into the fight, but before she could get involved and reveal her hiding spot, Diego entered.
"Did you wanna rumor this psycho?"
Allison sneered up at him, though the look of irritation was meant for the assailant behind her, "I don't need to," She wiped some blood off her chin, "because this bitch just pissed me off."
"We just want the girl and boy."
"Oh, well in that case!" Allison jeered.
Acting on more than just adrenaline, Allison surged forward to continue the fight. This time, she didn't seem to be holding back. With a flurry of well-placed dodges and kicks, Number Three had Cha-Cha on the defensive, the assassin doing her best to counter each of the black woman's blows.
Diego, meanwhile, stood back and watched the two's fight. Analyzing Cha-Cha's fighting style, he mentally planned out his battle strategies should he be needed. From the corner of his eye, he caught Halyn lifting her head over the pool table, eyes following the fight as well. When Halyn lifted her gaze to the knife-wielder, he pointed at her to get down, eyes narrowed.
Halyn's eyes rolled in response, but when Allison cried out after being kicked into a table, Diego didn't get to see if the younger-appearing girl had listened to his silent command.
Cha-Cha's focus fell to Number Two as he began to circle her, and she lashed out with one of the broken halves of the pool cue. His forearm took the hit, hardly phased as the protective padding of his vigilante outfit—the very one his family teased him about—diffused the blow. Diego's fingers, however, weren't as lucky when the assassin swiped at his opposite hand, and he hissed in pain.
Still hiding behind the pool table—but once more ignoring Diego's orders and not getting down—Halyn watched as agitation began to fuel the knife-wielder's attacks. With his own well-placed series of kicks, Diego pushed Cha-Cha back, but she continued to counter with the splintered pool stick pieces, which gave her some range.
A particularly well-placed blow sent Diego careening towards the foosball table, and Halyn fully revealed herself from her hiding place. Cha-Cha turned towards the teen, her new target, but before she could even make a move on Halyn, a long, metal pole collided with the center of her abdomen.
Cha-Cha grunted from the force, and just as the metal pole came her way again, she countered with half a pool cue. Diego twirled his newfound weapon in his hand, placing himself between Halyn and her would-be assassin.
"Nah ah, lady. You aren't getting to her today."
"Just you wait and see." Cha-Cha countered, clearly undeterred by Diego's confidence.
This time, she charged Diego. Cha-Cha ducked under his metal pole, swinging around to whack the knife-wielder in the back with a pool cue. When he flinched from the action, she dropped to a knee, using the other half of the pool cue to swipe his legs out from under him.
Halyn watched with wide eyes as Diego landed on his back with a grunt, his make-shift weapon falling from his fingertips and rolling away. Diego arched his back as he sucked in a deep breath, and Cha-Cha descended on him. Twirling the splintered pool cues above her head, the assassin prepared to bring the jagged ends down onto Number Two's chest; a blow with potentially deadly consequences.
Completely writing off both orders from the Hargreeves siblings, Halyn launched herself back into the battle. She was sick of people she cared about getting hurt on her account, and she'd be damned if she'd just sit by and do nothing about it.
Resorting to good old-fashioned football methods, Halyn tackled Cha-Cha away from Diego. They rolled onto the tiled floor, the assassin cursing under her breath, and the Sioux teen popped up to her feet with more ease than she thought she could manage. This time, it was Halyn who had placed herself between Cha-Cha and Diego, fists raised as she allowed memories from hand-to-hand combat training with Sir Hargreeves to flow into her mind.
"Why you little…"
Halyn deflected an incoming fist from a clearly irate Cha-Cha. She countered with her own punch, putting more force behind it by shifting it into steel. It bounced off the assassin's metal mask with a loud clang, and though Cha-Cha may have been protected from the actual blow, she reeled back as the reverberations from the force disoriented her.
The sudden attack from Halyn proved enough of a distraction for Diego to recuperate. He placed himself between the Sioux teen and Cha-Cha once more, visibly displeased with Halyn's intervention, "I had that." He glared over his shoulder at her.
"No, what you would've had was two sticks in your chest if I didn't intervene!" Halyn snarked back.
Diego scowled, "Well, I told you to get down."
"And I told you to stay put!" Allison rejoined the two, interjecting before Halyn could sass Number Two back. The older woman placed herself at her brother's side, putting herself between Cha-Cha and Halyn, much to the younger's irritation.
"I understand I look like—" Halyn gestured vaguely to her teenage body, "a child but I will not be treated like one!" She protested with a scowl, "We're all still the same age."
"You three clearly have some issues," Cha-Cha goaded.
Allison chuckled sardonically, "Issues are a requirement to be a part of this family." Despite the assassin engaging in some banter, Number Three's fists were still raised and on the defensive.
"Just give me the girl and my partner and I will be on our way."
Diego sneered, "Piss off, lady."
Moving on the offensive, he lashed out with a kick, which was deflected. He countered with a punch, dropping it low at the last second to nail her side, and Allison swooped in with a kick to the chest. Cha-Cha stumbled backwards, ramming into a table before she spun around. Realization that she was outnumbered seemed to finally dawn on the assassin, and Halyn watched as she attempted to retreat.
Allison picked up a knife from the nearest table, "Get her." She tossed it to Diego, who caught it with ease before hurling it around the corner of the wall. There was a sickening thud as the knife nailed its target, followed by a pained grunt, and suddenly Cha-Cha's ascent up the stairs seemed clumsier and more disorganized.
Given the momentary reprieve in battle, Allison whirled on Halyn, "I told you to stay put."
"Oh, so we're back on this?" Halyn huffed, folding her arms over her chest.
"Fuck yeah, we're back on this!" Interjected Diego.
"We told you to stay out of—"
"Halyn, this is dangerous—"
Allison and Diego's voices blurred together as they laid into the teenage-appearing woman, and instead of trying to fight them, she leaned back against a nearby table. Halyn knew they were both protective in their own right, and this was their poor way of showing it, but that didn't mean their words were any less irritating. She was the same age as them—even if her appearances didn't exactly appear that way.
Pushing herself off the table, Halyn decided she had had enough beratement. If this was their way of letting off some steam because of the chaos of the night, then that was all fine and dandy, but the material mimicker didn't want to hear it. She started towards the stairs.
"And where do you think you're going, young lady?"
The choice of words had Halyn scoffing, and when she turned around to sneer at Diego, he at least looked perplexed and offput by the words that had just come from his mouth. A flicker of amusement danced on Allison's face, and she turned towards her brother with a quirked brow.
"Did you just?"
Diego waved his sister off with a frown, "Yeah, yeah. I heard what I said," He sounded mildly sheepish, "and I'm sorry, okay?" His hands were raised in a faux surrender as a form of apology, and Halyn snorted. Diego's submissive apology was quick to melt into accusation as he pointed the teens way, "but my point still stands!"
"Careful, Diego, you're starting to sound an awful lot like your old man." Halyn's voice dripped with indignation, and Number Two scowled.
"Save it. I said I was sorry."
With a curt laugh and a shake of her head, Halyn dropped the subject. Gesturing vaguely to the ceiling above their head, she shifted topic, "If you two are done treating me like child, we should probably make sure the rest of our family hasn't been murdered by the oversized, bear-man assassin. Does that sound okay?"
Allison and Diego shared a glance, the latter rolling his shoulders in consideration, "Well, when she puts it like that."
Allison rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on."
"Luther, Juliet!"
The three entered into the wrecked foyer of the Umbrella Academy, where Luther laid sprawled out on the ground, groaning. Juliet had been thrown into one of the pillars that held a vase, the shattered remains now scattered around her as she winced in pain. Hazel was nowhere in sight, and the trio had lost Cha-Cha in the maze of hallways below.
"Come on, Luther, get up!" Allison voiced, falling to Number One's side. Diego took a place on Luther's other side, and together they helped haul their burly leader to his feet.
"Ah, you gotta cut down on that fast food, soldier." Diego joked with a grumble, straining to help hoist the heavier man.
At the same time, Halyn had gone to Juliet's aide, "You okay, Jules?" She asked her friend, arms on the other woman's shoulders to help steady her as she rose to her feet. Juliet nodded.
"I've had better days." She admitted with a light chuckle, and Halyn cracked a small grin. The Sioux teen reached up to pull a small ceramic shard from Juliet's hair, and she held it up for the darker-skinned woman.
"You've got a little something…"
With a groan, Juliet shook her head, fine particles of dust and ceramic falling from her curly locks. Halyn breathed out a small laugh before she turned her head to avoid the falling debris, and her eyes caught sight of Cha-Cha.
The assassin stood above the gathered Umbrella Academy alum, staring down at them through her stoic dog mask. Without so much as a warning, she jabbed a knife into the chandelier's chain, which had been hooked into the wall beside her. There was a sickening sound of clanging metal, and the chain that held the grand piece of metalwork above began to give.
"Out of the way!"
Halyn and Juliet had already been off to the side, but Diego and Allison had been stood next to Luther. With little hesitation, Number One pushed his siblings to the side, Allison falling to the ground at Halyn and Juliet's feet, while Diego went the opposite direction.
Number Three smacked away the hands of those trying to help her up, instead whirling around to stare wide-eyed at Luther in the middle of the foyer. She cried out his name in vain, the chandelier once hoisted safely above hurtling towards him, and Juliet snapped her hand outwards.
The speed of the chandelier's descent was slowed slightly thanks to Juliet's powers, but her body was fatigued and aching, and they gave out just as quickly as she had started using them. Now acting once more under the force of the Earth's gravity, the chandelier continued its descent.
Luther took on the force of the chandelier, Halyn watching with wide eyes as he was knocked to the ground with a sickening thud. The decorative glass shattered, the bulbs flickering, and Luther groaned from his place on the floor. From amongst the glass he panted, shifting in the wreckage as he tried to find the strength to stand, and Halyn was glad to see he appeared to be at least semi-okay.
Drawing in pained gasps, Halyn and the others could only stare in shock as Number One limped to his feet. The metal of the chandelier groaned as it tipped on its side, glass bulbs falling and shattering against the ground, but the mess was paid little mind.
Metal prongs dug into the fabric of Luther's oversized coat, and the sound of ripping cloth mingled with sounds of shattering glass and disaster. Halyn could only stare in shock as the material was pulled from Luther's shoulders, leaving his top-half bare for all those present to see.
And what a sight it was.
As teens, Halyn could remember how proud of his physique Number One had been, and he never hesitated to show off his rippling chest and six-pack, which were perks of having super strength as a power. Luther's current physical state, however, was vastly different to the one she had seen growing up around the academy, and the reason for his bulky and oversized coats was suddenly clear.
Gone was the rippling and toned human flesh, replaced with what appeared to be simian flesh. Luther's torso was darker in tone than the rest of his body, skin calloused and patterned with wiry hair. The upper half of his body looked like he had been Frankenstein'd together, and Halyn wondered just what Sir Hargreeves had done to his own son.
Based on the silence of the other Umbrella's in the room, it was clear Halyn wasn't the only one shocked by Luther's new appearance. And despite Nunber One being the biggest out of the lot of them, under their surprised gazes, he seemed so small, and Luther only seemed to shrink further in on himself when his gaze fell upon Allison.
"Holy shit." Diego spoke, breaking the tense silence of the room, and his simple comment seemed to set Luther off.
Luther's sullen gaze trailed around the room, scanning the faces of his gathered friends and family, gauging their reactions to his new appearance, but no one said another word. Swallowing thickly, and seemingly moving in a stupor, he turned to make his way towards the stairs, heavy footsteps echoing hollowly in the destroyed foyer.
Halyn watched his retreating figure, shoulders hunched inwards, and only when he disappeared up the nearest staircase, moving at a faster pace than she had seen him in a while, was the silence broken once more, "Did you know?"
A new voice spoke, and Halyn turned her head, not having realized Vanya was even with them—or that she was even still in the academy. The ordinary woman's gaze was set on Allison, and the actress made her way towards her sister, "No." She glance back towards the stairs, eyes hesitant and heartbroken.
Adrenaline levels flatlining once more, Halyn found her hands shaking as a familiar pain blossomed in her injured shoulder once more, and her jaw throbbed as it clenched. It was a miracle she hadn't been injured for a third time, and she silently counted her lucky stars, but that didn't mean her old injuries hadn't been agitated. At this rate, she was never going to heal anytime soon.
She rolled her shoulder in an attempt to shake out any new kinks from all the running—and falling—she had done that evening, and when she glanced down at the bullet graze, she was grateful to see it hadn't yet bled through the bandage. For the most part, she was left unscathed this time, but the same couldn't be said for her poor t-shirt. Three evenings in a row her outfit had been ruined, and the teenage-appearing girl made a point to maybe stop wearing clothes she actually liked for a little while.
Just as Halyn finished her mental checking over of herself, Diego glanced over her way. They made eye contact, the Sioux teen could tell based on the tenseness of his jaw that Number Two was ready for that conversation he had promised earlier. Halyn scrambled to find a reason to wiggle out of the conversation—she really needed to let Five know that Hazel and Cha-Cha had somehow found their home—when a soft humming flittered through the foyer.
Realization dawned on the knife-wielder, and he glanced concerningly upstairs, "Shit, mom." His shoulders heaved with an irritated sigh, and Diego flicked his gaze back towards Halyn, "Stay put."
"Now you're sounding like a broken record." She bit back.
"I mean it, Halyn."
Grace's soft tune continued to lull through the foyer, the melody a stark contrast to the disaster that was currently the Umbrella Academy, and Diego quickly turned heel, but not before flashing Halyn one last curt glare. She stuck her tongue out at Number Two's back as he disappeared up the stairs where his brother had just run off to.
Now that Diego was gone, Halyn only had one other person to sneak away from. With a turn of her head, she watched as Allison fussed about with Vanya, who was now holding a hand to a cut on her forehead. Seeing her disheveled and injured appearance, Halyn suddenly had a second thought about running off as a pang of guilt shot through her. Vanya was the only one of them without a power and was also therefore the only one without actual combat training.
While the other's managed to hold their own—even if they did slightly get their assess kicked—Vanya was defenseless on her own. Just knowing Halyn had played a role, even if it wasn't purposeful in the slightest, in the assassins attacking their home—her friends—caused a knot to form in the pit of her stomach.
Family looks out for each other, you know that!
Diego's words from earlier popped into Halyn's mind, and she swallowed thickly. Despite her adamancy that she was not a member of the Hargreeves family, deep down, she knew that was complete bullshit. Though not a Hargreeves herself, the Umbrella Academy was still a family—an incredibly fucked up and dysfunctional family, but a family regardless.
And running around, chasing after Five as he sought out the answers to saving the world while also trying to not die every night was clearly starting to become a big concern for her 'family'.
Sometime between her silent battle of 'should I stay or should I go now', Halyn had turned herself towards the front door. It was well within her reach, and despite her shorter stature, just a few strides away. Given the preoccupied nature of Allison and Diego, she felt she could slip out of the academy with ease and be off into the night, but while her mind tried to give the command to move, her feet wouldn't listen.
The Hargeeves—and Juliet—were just looking out for Halyn.
It wasn't fair to keep them in the dark, especially with how involved they all had gotten—and without even knowing what they were getting involved in. Klaus and Juliet had blindly agreed to helping Halyn and Five interrogate the poor prosthetics doctor, while Allison had been the one to patch up Halyn and calm her down after the gunfight at Gimbel Brothers. She hadn't even had the courtesy to explain to the actress just what had even happened to her.
Even Diego had gotten himself involved, somehow working out details to her misadventures with Five and then interrogating herself about them on his own. Vanya had been the only one told directly about what was coming, but the ordinary woman had a hard time believing her brother, and Halyn supposed that was where the hesitancy in telling anyone else had stemmed from.
But that was before Hazel and Cha-Cha had attacked them on their own turf.
It was one thing for her and Five to be 'sneaking' around trying to find answers on how to stop the apocalypse behind the others back, without them involved, but now that their actions had put their dysfunctional family at risk, they had a right to know just why they were targeted.
Chest heaving with a heavy sigh, Halyn ran a shaky hand through her disheveled locks. Even if she didn't fully know just what was going on, she could at least fill in the others to the best of her ability. Besides, while Allison and Juliet might let her go should she decide to bolt, Halyn knew Diego would go all vigilante on her ass, and that was not something she wanted to deal with.
"Sticking around, are we?"
Juliet had her arms folded over her chest when Halyn turned to face her. Though her voice was light, there was an underlying terseness to it, and another bout of guilt jolted through the Sioux teen. Despite all this internal talk of Juliet being one of her closest friends, Halyn hadn't really seen her much these past few days.
Whether that was because Halyn was subconsciously avoiding her friend, or for another reason, she really wasn't sure.
Shoving her hands into her jacket pockets—and ignoring the hole in one of them her finger went through—she shrugged, "Guess I've got some explaining to do, huh?" Halyn found it hard to make any sort of eye contact with those gathered.
Allison scoffed, "That's one way to put it."
Five briefly flickered into her mind, and Halyn hoped he wouldn't be too upset with her for spilling the apocalypse beans to the rest of their family, but she supposed it didn't matter. If he wasn't going to come to family meetings, then he didn't get a say in what exactly was shared during those family meetings. They were bound to find out eventually. Her and Five weren't exactly the most subtle about the chaos they had been causing the past few days, and each new injury Halyn turned up with came with another raised eyebrow.
Heavy footfalls thumped down the stairs, "You have some explaining to do." Halyn had barely faced Diego when the irritated man grabbed hold of her arm—though she did note he grabbed her non-injured arm—before he dragged her towards the sitting area in the parlor.
"Did I not just say that?" Halyn asked no one in particular.
Diego's grip on her good arm was firm, and she hissed under her breath. The corners of his lips were dipped low, and his jaw was clenched tightly as he breathed deeply. The Sioux teen knew he hadn't been in a good mood earlier when the shooting had first started, but now Diego appeared to be in an even worse mood.
She wondered if she was the one to cause it.
When Diego loosened his grip, Halyn flopped down onto one of the couches, taking mind to avoid the more bullet-riddled areas. Vanya was sat across from her, Allison on the coffee table between them, and Juliet hovered just inside the entryway. Diego had begun to pace, posture tense as anger darkened his handsome features. Halyn thought she had seen a flicker of pain in his eyes when they made contact, but Number Two had been so fast in averting his gaze, that Halyn thought maybe she had imagined it.
"Who were those people?" It was Vanya who voiced the question, and when everyone turned towards Halyn, the ordinary woman did the same.
Halyn picked at the threads of one of the holes in her jeans. Despite feeling the intensity of everyone's gaze, she kept her eyes cast towards the floor. "As I said earlier," She started, hesitating slightly as she tried to find the right words, "I don't know exactly who they are, just that they're after Five."
Juliet's nose crinkled, "And why would they be after Five?"
"Er, well, maybe because… he'stryingtostoptheapocalypse."
The ending of her sentence blurred together as the words tumbled out of her mouth, and those gathered tried to make sense of what she had just confessed. Confusion danced on their faces, and Allison was the first to speak, "I'm sorry, did you say apocalypse?"
Juliet wanted to question Halyn on the topic as well, as she remembered Five briefly saying something about the world ending soon a few days ago, but someone else spoke before she could.
"Five's still on that?"
"Wait, you knew?" Diego turned on his ordinary sister, and Vanya shrugged her shoulders.
"Yeah, he stopped by my place the day he came back and explained it to Halyn and I."
Number Two scoffed, the sound ominous, "And you didn't think to tell us?"
Vanya was visibly taken aback by the hostility in his tone, mouth gaping as she floundered for words, and Halyn blinked. This wasn't the direction she expected the conversation to go, and as Diego returned to pacing, body clearly agitated as he breathed shakily, she felt there was something more to his irritation than what he was letting on.
"Well, d-dad always said time travel could mess with one's mind. So, I didn't think—"
Diego sneered at his sister and jabbed an accusatory finger her way, "Of course you wouldn't think that was something important to share!" His eyes were blazing, "Why the hell would you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're a liability." Diego punctuated each syllable of the word, and Halyn watched as Vanya flinched under the intensity of his glare.
"Diego!" Juliet hissed, fists clenched at her side, "Vanya is not—"
"Save it, Jules." He snapped, turning his fiery gaze towards the darker-skinned woman, and she glared back just as vehemently, "We all know it's true. Hiding information like that is how she gets killed. Or worse: how one of us gets killed."
Halyn's jaw ticked, "It's not her fault, Diego!" She jumped to her feet to whirl on the knife-wielder, "I knew from the start as well. They weren't here just looking for Five; they were here looking for me as well!"
"Yeah, and I'm pissed at you too!"
"Well, you can't just take it out on—"
As Halyn and Diego dissolved into bickering, Juliet trying to play mediator, Vanya turned her sullen gaze towards Allison, who had yet to speak on the matter at hand, "Allison?"
The actress looked apprehensive, voice hesitant as she began to speak, "I think what he's trying to say is that this kind of stuff is dangerous, Vanya, and withholding important information like that can be catastrophic."
Vanya leaned forward in her seat, eyes pleading, "I didn't think—"
"I know. You didn't think Five was serious, but we could've decided that as a family. You're not—"
"Like you." Vanya cut her sister off, swallowing thickly. When Allison didn't immediately confirm nor deny her statement, she nodded numbly, "I get it now." She stood up abruptly, the action catching Halyn's attention, and she dropped her argument with Diego to watch as Vanya exited the parlor.
"No, that's not what I—" Allison stood up, "Vanya, wait." She tried to follow after her sister, but Diego placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Let her go." Diego's tone was indifferent, unconcerned even, and Halyn bristled at the casualty. His gaze had turned so he was glaring at the portrait of Five above the fireplace, so he didn't see Vanya curl further in on herself as she made her hasty retreat, "It's for the best."
Juliet folded her arms over her chest as she watched her friend leave, "We may not be Vanya's biggest fans, Diego," She glanced towards him, and he returned her gaze, "but you shouldn't be such—"
"An insufferable dickbag!" Halyn whirled on Diego as soon as the door slammed behind Vanya, and he flashed her a scowl. Somewhere along the way, their conversation had completely dissolved, and Halyn just didn't care anymore.
She was just pisssed.
Pissed at the stupid apocalypse.
Pissed at the assailants who attacked them in their home.
Pissed that she was being treated like a child.
"Name-calling? That's real mature, Halyn."
She scoffed, "Please, Diego. If I'm immature, then what does that make you?"
"Makes me hell of a lot more mature than you." The knife-wielder's tone was condescending as he jabbed a critical finger in Halyn's face, and her narrowed eyes mimicked his own, "I'm the one who's been cleaning up yours and Five's messes these past few days while you two are off trying to play superhero!"
Halyn's lips curled into a dangerous sneer, eyes full of vitriol, "Should I be on my knees, thanking you?"
Despite her tone being clearly one of venomous sarcasm, Diego rolled his shoulders, "A little appreciation wouldn't hurt."
"Oh, that's rich." The Sioux teen barked out a laugh, voice dripping with ire, "You're not fooling anyone, Diego. You're doing this for you; not us." Halyn began to further close the gap between herself and the vigilante, eyes ablaze, and his jaw ticked with each accusatory word, "Your sick sense of vigilantism is for your own personal self-gratification; not ours, and certainly not for anyone else."
They were now chest to chest, Diego towering over the teen-appearing woman. His lips were pressed in a firm line, and his own sinister glare matched Halyn's. Her words were rich with venom as she continued to speak, "All you truly care about is proving to yourself that it was you who deserved the title of Number One from the start," She jabbed at his chest, each harsh word punctuated by the action, "but you're far from worthy. And even you know that."
The energy in the room had long since turned hostile, and Allison and Juliet stood helpless on the sidelines. They had both been caught off-guard at just how fast the conversation had turned and how their ire at the two assailants had quickly morphed into ire at each other. It was a cruel reminder of just how dysfunctional of a family they were; if you could even still call them a family.
With heaving chests and angered breaths, Diego and Halyn maintained their glare-off. Their stubbornness had come to head, and neither seemed willing to be the first to back down. Diego's jaw continued to clench and unclench, and his mind struggled to come up with a retaliation—not that their given situation needed more hostile words, but he couldn't let Halyn know she was right.
She had hit the nail on the head.
Inadequacy was a feeling Diego had long ago become familiar with and was one he was constantly fighting against. He had been chasing the Number One spot since they were kids, but no matter how hard he tried, he always ended up as Number Two. It infuriated him, and while Luther went off to play on the moon, Diego continued to play hero. This way, he could fool himself into thinking he was doing more good for the world than his brother was doing on the moon.
Irate brown eyes glared down into Halyn's own. They were alight with anger, but the more Halyn stared into them, the more she could make out underlying hues of sadness. And as Diego's fists clenched at his sides, he found words of retaliation, "Well, at least I didn't let me p-powers get the b-better of m-m-me."
Mild surprise suddenly simmered some of Halyn's anger, and she found herself backing down as her hostile expression morphed into confused sadness. Though his words were harsh and matched the venom she had previously spoken with, the part that stung the Sioux teen the most was the return of his stutter. When Diego became too frazzled, or let his emotions get the best of him, his speech pattern tended to regress; and it wasn't a very common occurrence. Knowing she had been the reason for his stutter to return had knocked Halyn down a peg, and remorse churned heavily in her stomach.
Finding her own self faltering for words, Halyn swallowed thickly, "Diego, I—I'm sor—"
"Save it, Halyn." Though Diego's words were clipped, the heat that had once laced his words was diminished. The fight within him had died down as well, and now the two were dealing with the aftermath.
They often fought as kids, and though they had shared harsh exchanges with each other in the past, neither had turned to such personal attacks. Halyn knew she was the one truly in the wrong, as she had been the one to issue the first low blow. Apologizing for starting their heated banter was the right thing to do in this instance, but Diego had already rejected her attempt for an apology, and she knew if she continued to push him to accept one, they'd dissolve into mindless bickering once more.
Not that she could entirely blame him.
Instead, Halyn viewed this as her chance to finally leave. Patching things up with Diego could come later when the embers of their anger were fully extinguished, and neither was ready to ignite once more. Five was still on his stupid stake-out, blissfully unaware his pursuers from the night prior had found their home and were still hot on his tail. She needed to warn him, and in her fury at Diego, Halyn had briefly forgotten the danger their lives had all just been in.
Stumbling backwards from Diego and dissolving into a fumbling mess, Halyn nodded her head numbly, "Well, then I, uh, maybe I should just…" The sudden change in her demeanor had her powers flaring, and Diego watched as the denim material of her jacket began to creep up her neck, "go." The Sioux teen finished her sentence in a whisper. She chewed her lower lip, the small action causing pain to flare up in her bruised jaw.
Diego's fists clenched at his sides, "M-maybe you should."
Halyn floundered for a brief moment, fully aware the knife wielder was purposefully avoiding eye contact with her, and she found her feet hesitating to cooperate with her escape. Like a fish out of water, her mouth opened and closed as she struggled with whether or not to spit out a hurried apology. In the end, however, the material mimicker decided to keep her mouth shut.
She had done enough damage for one night, so she spun on her heel.
"Wait, Halyn!" Juliet called out.
"Let her go." It was Allison who spoke this time, eyes conflicted. When Juliet turned on her, gaze irritated, the actress explained her point, "She needs to cool off."
Without acknowledging that Allison was right, and everyone just needed to take a step back, Juliet watched with saddened eyes as Halyn left. As soon as she had crossed the threshold from the parlor and into the foyer, she began to run, glass crunching under her tennis shoes, but the Sioux teen paid the mess no mind. She yanked open the front door, and then disappeared into the night as it slammed shut behind her.
Exhaling softly, Allison turned towards the two remaining, "I'm going to go to bed and pretend this whole night was just a bad dream, okay?" Juliet mumbled a goodnight to her friend, but Diego stayed silent. His gaze had trailed upwards, eyes focused on the landing above the parlor.
Now alone, Juliet turned on Diego. Irritation had simmered in her veins, but seeing the man suddenly so shattered had a different emotion stirring within her. Their relationship lately wasn't as strong as it was when they were kids, but that didn't mean she didn't hold a soft spot for the vigilante in her heart.
"We've been back together for a just couple of days, Diego." Juliet opted for a cheeky jest when the man didn't acknowledge her, "Can you go one day without picking a fight with someone?"
Irate eyes snapped to her, "She started it."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you had to end it."
Agitation tensed Diego's body up, and he exhaled heavily, averting his gaze, "I d-don't need s-shit from you t-too, Jules."
"And I'm not here to give you any." Juliet clicked her tongue. She took a hesitant step towards Diego, stopping only when about a foot of distance laid between them, "I was pissed at your attitude earlier, but something else is clearly bothering you. So, what's on your mind?"
"Besides two intruders breaking into my home?" His nostrils flared.
Juliet kept her voice calm despite Diego's outburst, "You're deflecting again, Diego."
A heavy silence lingered between the two, and Diego's shoulders sagged as he exhaled a shaky breath, "I hate how well you know me." His tone was quiet when he next spoke, and there was an underlying hint of fondness in his words.
"You're like an open book to me." Juliet's words weren't meant to be condescending, and as she cupped Diego's cheek with her hand, his gaze finally met hers. A look of understanding passed between the two before a bold grin split the gravity manipulator's lips, "And you know how much I love books."
A quick wink accompanied her cheeky words, and Diego breathed out a laugh, the tension in his body melting ever so slightly. Not many people could put him to ease like Juliet could, and despite the agony that sat heavy in his heart, he couldn't stop the fond smile from toying at the corner of his lips.
Twisting his head slightly, Juliet's mind short-circuited as Diego pressed a chaste kiss to the palm of her hand that had been cupping his cheek. The action had happened so fast, however, that Number Zero wasn't quite sure if it had actually happened; the redness of her face, and the sly grin threatening to split Diego's lips, said otherwise.
Their soft moment was broken all too soon by the cruel reminder of their chaotic life, and Diego's shoulders sagged as his eyes flickered to the darkening bruise that was beginning to show through the dark skin of Juliet's neck. Noticing his sudden change in demeanor, she called out to him, "Hey, Diego, talk to me."
"I-I feel like I'm f-f-failing everyone, J-Jules."
Juliet's thumb traced the crest of his cheek, "How so?"
"M-mom, Halyn, my s-siblings," The knife wielder started, voice low and broken, "y-you. I keep trying to h-help, but I just m-mess it up."
"Have you considered you're trying to do too much on you own?"
Diego's jaw clenched, "Everyone's too preoccupied with their own bullshit to help."
"You haven't asked for my help"
"Don't want you getting hurt." Number Two was quick to fire back.
With an eye roll, Juliet scoffed, "I think you forget," She pinched his cheeks, and Diego swatted her hands away, "I am still technically a superhero. It's part of the job."
Diego sighed, but he didn't offer a rebuttal. Instead, he shifted closer to the woman, hands falling to her waist. Juliet wrapped her arms around his neck in response, and he leaned his head down to press their foreheads together.
"You don't have to work alone, Diego." Her voice was a whisper against his lips, "You have a support system here; you have me."
There was a pause as a shaky breath tumbled past Diego's lips, the weight of the night's events lifting ever so slightly from his shoulders. The knife wielder was so used to doing everything on his own—or at least, thinking he had to do everything on his own to prove himself—that he often forgot that he wasn't alone.
Diego pressed his lips to Juliet's forehead, "Thank you, Jules."
The passenger side door of the van slammed shut as Halyn slipped into the vacant seat. Five barely paid the girl any mind, but when a dramatic groan begged for his attention, he turned towards her. An irritated quip sat on the tip of his tongue, but when he took in her disheveled state, panic and worry ebbed away the annoyance.
"What the hell happened to you?"
Halyn whacked at Five's hands as he attempted to look her over, and she grimaced at the volume of his voice. The chaos and ever-changing emotions had caused a headache to split her skull, and the pounding was becoming almost relentless, "Sssshhh." She hissed, and Five frowned. Still, he leaned over the center console, one hand resting on the dash while the other was propped up on the back of Halyn's seat, and his head hung close to hers.
Five was grateful to at least see no new injuries on his best friend, but that still didn't lessen his concern, "You left for a family meeting, Halyn." His tone was quieter when he spoke, but his words weren't any less strained, "And I ask again, what the hell happened to you?"
Halyn rolled her head, tilting her chin so she was staring up at him, "Remember your friends from last night?" Her breath fanned over his lips, and Five nodded tersely as his jaw clenched at the unfriendly reminder of Hazel and Cha-Cha, "They found our home, Five."
Despite her words having tapered off in a whisper, Five still caught onto the underlying panic in her voice, "Shit." He dropped back into his chair and ran a hand through his disheveled locks. As soon as Halyn had referenced the events of the night prior—had that really only happened twenty-four hours ago?— Five knew what she was going to say, but now that she had confirmed his worst fears, he wasn't sure what to think.
Five had already put Halyn in the line of fire—and he was still certain he'd never forgive himself for it—but now his family had become targets. This was quickly getting out of hand, and he needed to figure out a way to dispose of Hazel and Cha-Cha before anyone else he cared about got hurt. But at the same time, he was running out of time to stop the apocalypse.
If Hazel and Cha-Cha killed any of them in their pursuit for him, then staving off the apocalypse was going to be basically pointless. At the same time, however, if he took time to end the assassins himself and because of the wasted time, the apocalypse still happened, then everything would've been for naught.
When push came to shove, what was ultimately the biggest threat to his family?
As if sensing his internal conflicts, Halyn pulled his hand into her grasp, "We're all okay, Five. A little worse for wear, but alive regardless."
Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Five kept his gaze locked on the damned prosthetics building he was still staking out. Guilt gnawed at his heart, and he struggled to find the will to meet Halyn's eyes; but he did thread his fingers with her own. She squeezed his hand in response.
Based on the tone of her voice, Five knew Halyn placed no blame on him, and that made his guilt feel all the worse. Even apart and somewhere where she was supposed to be safe, Five still managed to put Halyn in harm's way. The teleporter knew this was a risk when he returned to 2019 to save her and his family, but he hadn't expected Hazel and Cha-Cha to be smart enough to find his home.
But he wasn't going to underestimate them again.
Swallowing thickly, Five pulled his gaze from Meritech, "Are you okay?" It wasn't that Five didn't care about his family—he certainly wouldn't be here if he didn't—but this was the third night Halyn had found herself on the other side of a barrel of a gun because of him, and he needed to make sure his best friend was okay.
"'Mmm fine, Five."
"Halyn—"
Shifting so her side was pressed up to the back of the passenger seat, Halyn interrupted, "I'm alive." To prove her point, she moved their conjoined hands to place his fingers over her heart; heartbeat echoing through his fingertips, "I'm here." Five sighed deeply, eyes slipping shut at the reminder that she was in fact still with him.
Their fingers remained intertwined for another few moments, and during that time, Five shifted their hands to his lips, where he pressed the faintest of kisses to her knuckles. Halyn smiled through tired eyes, and when his lips moved against her knuckles once more, she spoke before he could him, "If you so much as try to say you're sorry, Five."
With a shaky laugh, Five dropped their hands from his lips, but their fingers remained intertwined between them on the center console, "Can you ever just accept an apology like a normal person?"
Halyn grinned at him, "Only when the apology is needed." There was a twinkle in her eye when his gaze met hers, and he returned the look with his own light smile.
"Don't be an asshole."
"If I'm an asshole, Five, then what does that make you?"
Despite her words clearly being a light jest, Five tensed. The world's biggest bastard. He thought lowly to himself, but he wasn't about to say those words aloud. Halyn noticed his shift in demeanor, but before she could comment on it, he redirected the conversation.
"You should get some rest." Five's words were soft, "Lance should be back in a few hours."
Halyn rolled her eyes, "Five, you should rest."
And despite the fatigue that sat heavy in her bones, the Sioux teen found it in herself to still argue with her best friend. Five had been here all day, and despite the excessive amount of empty coffee cups that littered the floor of the stolen van, the slight droop of the teleporter's eyes gave way to the clear exhaustion he was feeling.
"I can rest when I stop the apocalypse."
Halyn's heart ached at his dejected words, and when he tried to pull his hand back, she increased her own grip in protest, "You can't stop the apocalypse if you have no energy."
"That's for me to worry about, not you." Five bit back.
"Then I'll stay up with you."
The teleporter sighed, "Don't be an idiot, Halyn, you need to sleep." Halyn opened her mouth to retort, but he squeezed her hand in warning, "and don't tell me I need sleep as well."
Despite her first instinct to be to argue further—could you blame her? Stubbornness could be her superpower—a yawn stopped the argumentative words from tumbling past her lips. Five's look was smug, a told you so on the tip of his tongue, but a yank on his hand from Halyn as she pulled it towards her to use as a makeshift pillow had the taunt halting in his throat. And as she snuggled into their intertwined fingers, a sleepy expression soft on her features, the teleporter's throat went dry, heartrate spiking.
Damn hormones.
"At least try and sleep, Five? For me?"
Her voice was soft, words borderline slurred, and Five shook his head. He didn't protest however, noting the pleading smile that split her lips, and the teleporter relented.
"Okay. I'll try."
A light flush tinted his cheeks at the bright, but sleepy, grin Halyn flashed him, and the reassuring squeeze she gave his hand sent butterflies to his stomach. Five was quick to shoo them away with a silent curse. There was too much going on in his life right now to be dealing with feelings as well.
Five studied Halyn for a few more moments, an unfamiliar openness dancing on his face, before he cleared his throat. As he turned away to face Meritech once more, Halyn didn't protest as he pulled his hand away from her own; though she internally frowned as she missed his touch. Without so much as another word, however, Five shimmied out of his jacket before draping it over the Sioux teen.
Nostrils filled with the fresh scent of Five—fresh coffee and wintergreen—Halyn's own cheeks matched the shade that Five's once were as their eyes met. She offered a hushed thank-you, burying herself into the jacket's warmth as she tucked it tighter around herself, and Five couldn't help the fond smile that graced his lips.
Attention refocusing on his personal mission, Five laid his hand on the center console, palm upwards; a silent invitation. With the hand not tucked under her head, Halyn draped it over his open palm. The angle didn't quite allow their fingers to interlock in a comfortable manner, but the soft contact was more than enough for them.
Silence befell the two teen-appearing-adults, and for a brief moment, as Halyn's breathing steadied, Five thought she had fallen asleep. This proved untrue, however, as Halyn began to toy with his fingers, hesitancy evident in her features, "Are you…" She pursed her lips, and Five glanced over at her. After another brief pause, she found the courage to finish her question, "Will you ever tell me who they are?"
Five swallowed thickly. This had been a conversation he had been avoiding ever since he had gotten back. Despite not being overtly ashamed of his assassin past (or was it future?) and the blood that laid heavy on his hands, he feared as soon as Halyn knew, her opinion of him might change.
And then he'd lose her for good.
Again.
Five wasn't sure if he was ready for that.
Halyn has a right to know.
From the corner of his eye, Five could make out the vague outline of Delores in the shadow of the back of the van. In Halyn's haste to get into the van, she had been knocked off the center console, and the teleporter hadn't bothered to put her back up after seeing the disheveled state of his best friend.
Delores was right, however, and Five sighed. Halyn had been kind enough to offer him her assistance with limited information, and now that she was clearly in harms way without him present, she deserved to know who exactly was threatening her life.
"Their names are Hazel and Cha-Cha. And they work for my former employer: The Commission."
And then, Five spilled the rest of his secrets to the girl who seemed to hold his heart.
A/N: Oof first new-new chapter in a while. Sorry for being MIA, folks! I'm currently in veterinary school- my second year starts up in two weeks!- and that's been a major distraction. I'm hoping to try and get some sort of schedule set for this story, but we'll see. I really, really want to finish this story as I have a lot of ideas for the next few seasons!
My goal for next chapter is to start writing out the full episodes, and then posting parts from there. Going to aim to have three parts per episode. That may seem like a lot of chapters, but I think the separation works better than constantly throwing 30k words at you guys each time.
Anyways, thanks for the continued support and hopefully a new chapter will be up soon! I'm excited for the next chapter because I have a different direction I plan on taking the plot! :)
- Snow