How long has it been? Over a year? Almost a year?

Whatever has been, well…it's nice to be back updating this story again lol. I really am sorry it's taken so long to update Bright Young Sun. I was feeling motivated recently and read through all the chapters I've published so far to prep myself again and then re-read over what I'd written for this so far. I apologize if this chapter feels fragmented or fractured in some weird way cause it took a few months to put it together.

Also, I just binged season 3 in one day and MAN – I am so excited for what I have planned for Penny in the season 2 and 3 storylines. I'm going to try to change some of it up since Penny is there and there's not a Number 8 in the Sparrow Academy, so expect some interesting twists. :)

Anyways, enough of my rambling – please enjoy this (very long awaited) eighth chapter of Bright Young Sun!

Chapter 8: The Day that Penny Remembered

Protect Harold Jenkins.

"Harold Jenkins?"

"Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?"

Diego, Penny, Klaus, and Luther huddled around Allison, who had taken the piece of yellowed paper from Five.

Five downed the coffee he had snatched from Allison and tossed the empty takeaway cup over his shoulder. "I don't know…yet. But I do know he's responsible for the apocalypse."

"The catalyst," Penny nodded. "We have to find him."

"And we have to do it now," agreed Five.

Luther shook his head. "How is he connected to what's gonna happen?"

Five shrugged. "I don't know."

Diego stepped forward. "Wait, so you just know his name? That's it?"

"That's enough."

"There's probably dozens of Harold Jenkinses in the city."

Penny held up a hand. "It's way better than what we had to go on before."

"Yeah, all we had before was some eyeball," Luther chimed in.

Allison stared at them all incredulously. "You were working with an eyeball?"

"It was a glass eyeball, not a real one," Penny replied.

"Hey, Five has five eyeballs," giggled Klaus, stumbling one foot over the other and falling back unceremoniously onto the sofa behind him.

Five sighed. "Thank you for that very helpful comment, Klaus."

"Hey," came a familiar voice from behind them.

Penny's eyes flickered up to see Vanya standing in the living room, her hands in her coat pockets. A man she'd never seen before was trailing behind Vanya, seemingly amazed. He stood with a stupid grin on his face next to her as he caught up.

"What's going on?" Vanya asked curiously.

"It's a family matter," Allison answered hesitantly.

Penny sighed. Why did she have to phrase it like that? It seemed callous – like they'd purposely not contacted Vanya. And, of course, without an explanation, that's how it would be interpreted.

"A family matter. So of course, you couldn't bother to include me," Vanya scoffed.

"No, it's not like that. We were -," Luther attempted to resolve the situation.

"Don't let me interrupt." Her tone was icy.

"Vanya, you already know what we're discussing," Penny announced. "Five and I spoke with you the night he returned."

Five added nothing to the conversation, merely held the bridge of his nose with his fingers, as if everything around him was giving him a terrible migraine. Penny could tell that he was growing more impatient by the second.

"Are you kidding me? You think I actually will fall for that?" spat Vanya, marching towards the door.

Allison scurried towards their adopted sister. "Vanya, I'll fill you in later when we're alone."

"Please, please don't bother. And I won't either."

"Vanya, that's not fair."

"Fair? There's nothing fair about being your sister. I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember. And I used to think it was dad's fault, but he's dead. So it turns out you're the assholes."

And with that, she'd said her piece. She stomped out of the double doors.

Just for a moment, the man that had accompanied her narrowed his eyes at them, as if scolding them nonverbally.

Penny popped her knuckles as the room fell quiet once again.

The comment Vanya had made about them leaving her out constantly…it had finally gotten on her last nerve. First, she had said Penny had been asking their father to leave her out, and then this?

Penny hurried out into the foyer, where the man was walking in the opposite direction of her adopted sister, who made a beeline for the front doors.

"Hey!" called Penny. "Wait a second!"

Vanya spun on her heel, anger still burning in her pupils.

"What?" she retorted.

"Five wasn't lying that night," blurted Penny. "The world is going to end in three days and we have to figure out how to stop it. We can't do this without you."

"Seems like you were doing just fine without my presence," Vanya snapped.

"I didn't think it pertinent to call you here because you already knew," reasoned Penny. "We weren't purposely trying to exclude you."

"This is the same bullshit you used to spew when we were kids." Vanya's tone was like venom.

Penny huffed, not wanting to get into that at the moment. "Don't bring your perspective of our messed up childhood into this. We're adults now. Can't we talk about this as adults?"

"No, everything you're doing right now is a perfect imitation of what you used to do every single damn day."

"I meant it when I said I wanted you in the Umbrella Academy, Vanya."

"Bullshit! Why did you always go secretly speak with Dad in his study, then?"

"I was trying to convince him to let you join the Academy!"

Vanya's face fell, her mouth dropping open. "Are you…are you serious?"

"Yes! I know what you thought I was doing – I read all about myself in your stupid book."

"I-I didn't…"

"I know you didn't think about it because you just assumed I hated your guts. Guess what, Vanya? I wanted you in the Umbrella Academy the whole goddamn time! You were the only person who seemed to pay attention to me outside of missions when Five left! I thought we were friends."

Vanya stayed silent.

Penny continued. "And that night when I stormed out of the study? Dad had threatened my place in the Academy – in the family. He threatened to kick me out of the house without any of my belongings if I continued to ask about you joining us. He told me how worthless I was. How no one, not even you, would miss me if I suddenly disappeared like Five. He said how much he wished it was me that had vanished instead of him. That's why I was so angry with you…and then you walked in on one of my most despicable, embarrassing habits I ever let myself get into. I'm sorry I yelled at you, but I never wished you out of my life, nor did I encourage Dad to make sure you were isolated."

Number 7 was flabbergasted. Never had she expected such an explanation from the sister she thought had been her friend before Five left. She wasn't sure how to respond.

She shuffled her feet. "I…I'll talk to you later."

Penny was astonished that after her entire rant, the pouring out of her most frustrated emotions, that Vanya would just…walk away. "Fine. Believe what you want."

And before Vanya could respond, Penny had stalked back into the living area. Her adopted siblings at the bar stared back at her, eyes wide.

Diego somehow was snickering. "Ah, Miss Penny Perfect finally snapped."

"You know what, Number Two, call me that one more time and I'll snap your fucking fingers in half," she snipped.

"Calm down, Penelope," Five interjected firmly.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Five," Penny retorted. "I am perfectly justified in my frustration with Vanya." She slumped down on the couch next to Klaus, arms crossed. She knew that to a certain extent, Five was correct. Her priorities were in the wrong place, but after years of putting up with Vanya's misconceptions of her past actions, she had come to a breaking point.

Five sighed, but didn't push the subject any longer. "What we need to do is figure out a plan to stop the apocalypse."

"I'm sorry," Allison said suddenly, "am I the only one that's skeptical here? I mean, how exactly do you know all this about what's-his-name?"

Penny frowned as she observed Five twitch and look down at his sweater vest under his jacket. He stood at a slight angle, as if putting pressure more on his left foot than his right. He was in pain.

"Harold Jenkins," he corrected. "You know those lunatics in masks who attacked the house?"

"Oh, those guys with the stupid animal masks," Klaus rambled from the sofa.

"Yeah, those guys – the ones that tore off Penny's fingernails and ripped out her tooth; the ones who attacked us while you were getting drunk," Diego said, a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Don't throw that back at him, Diego," Penny defended. "Five and I have talked about it already."

"Yeah, them," Five continued. "They were sent by the Temps Commission to stop me from coming back and preventing the end of life on Earth."

Allison's eyebrows shot up. "So Penny, Diego, and Luther were telling the truth about your former employer? They're actually called the Commission?"

"Yes, them. The organization that monitors time and space to make sure whatever is supposed to happen…happens. They believe the apocalypse is coming in three days. So, I went to Commission headquarters and intercepted a message that was sent for said lunatics. 'Protect Harold Jenkins.' So he must be responsible for the apocalypse."

There was a beat of silence.

Chaos erupted.

"What do you mean – time and space?"

"Where is this Hazel, Five?"

"I'm going to need to do some recon, then…"

"My skin is on fire."

Penny ran a hand over her face, adjusted her glasses, and sighed. Her adopted siblings sure did know how to make something seemingly straightforward into something extremely complex. She said nothing, not wanting to add on to the rapid fire stream of questions and strange statements.

Allison's voice triumphed over the others. "Do you have any idea how insane this sounds?"

Five glanced down at that same spot on his sweater vest again. "You know what else is insane? I look like a thirteen year old boy. Klaus talks to the dead, Penny's best friend after I left was a chimpanzee butler of inhumanly superior intelligence, and Luther thinks he's fooling everybody with that overcoat."

"Hey," Penny complained. But he ignored her.

"Everything about us is insane. It always has been."

Klaus raised his head from the sofa arm groggily. "He's got a point there."

"We didn't choose this life, we're just living it. For the next three days, anyway..."

"But the last time we tried to stop it, we all died," Allison argued. "What makes this time any different? Why shouldn't I go home to my daughter?"

Five had an immediate answer. "Because this time, I'm here. We have the name of the man responsible. Guys, we actually have the chance of saving billions of people. Including Claire."

Penny's eyebrows raised as Allison stared at Five.

"You know her name?"

"I do," Five said, decidedly more tranquil, "and I'd like to live long enough to meet her."

Allison, arms still crossed with uncertainty, glanced over at Penny. To Penny, it felt like she was asking her if it was all true – if they could trust everything Five was saying. So in return, Penny nodded. Number Two sighed and uncrossed her arms.

"All right. Let's get this bastard."

"You had me at Gerald Jenkins," Diego added.

"Harold Jenkins," Penny and Five corrected in unison.

"Whatever," scoffed Diego. "I've already lost two people this week, I'm not losing anyone else."

Penny stood from the sofa, smiling slightly. "I'm in…not that you had to ask."

Five gave her the slightest of grins. "And Luther?"

Number One had other ideas. "Yeah, you guys go. I'm gonna stay behind and go through Dad's files. I still think this has something to do with why he sent me to the Moon."

"Seriously? Now you want to make the end of the world about you and Dad?" deadpanned Diego.

"No. 'Watch for threats.' That's what he told me. You think that's a coincidence? This all has to be connected somehow."

Penny wasn't convinced that Reginald blasting Luther into space had any speck of real intention behind it, but she wasn't against him doing so.

"No, we should all stick together," Allison replied, resting a hand gently on his arm.

"We don't have time for this!" griped Five.

"Let's roll," Diego said. "I know where we can find this asshole. Klaus, you're with me."

"Yeah, I-I'm good," stuttered Klaus, still clearly not sober. "I think I'll, uh…" He slowly got to his feet and clutched his stomach like he was sick. "I think I'll pass. I'm…feeling a little under the weather so, uh…"

Penny decided not to comment on Number Four's lack of sobriety, spun on her heel, and followed Diego and a limping Five out of the room.

"We need to make a quick pit stop first," Diego announced as they headed towards the basement kitchen.

"Hey, I'm coming with you guys."

All three turned at once to see Allison catching up.

Diego and Five nodded.

Penny fell into step with her sister as they marched down the stairs.

"Are you okay, Penny?"

Penny frowned slightly. "You mean because I steamrolled Vanya back there?"

"For what it's worth, I don't think you steamrolled her." Allison's voice was gentle. "I mean…I definitely wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it, but she's misconstrued your intentions for so long that I honestly don't blame you."

Penny sighed. She could tell that Five was listening intently on the conversation, but ignored him.

"I thought she was my friend," she replied quietly. "After – after Five…disappeared…I leaned on her. I told her things I didn't dare tell anyone else. I trusted her. I wanted her in the Academy with us. I felt so alone and I knew that if she was with me, I wouldn't feel it as much. But when I read her book, I didn't realize that Dad took out a lot of his frustration with me on her. My attempt to make her life better, to feel more included, actually pushed her away. And she took it as me wanting the rest of the family to push her away, too. I understand her pain, I really do. But the fact that she assumed I hated her too? That was the worst part of it all."

"Vanya's biggest mistake was assuming the worst of you," Five chimed in from ahead of them. "And I don't need a lecture on eavesdropping, Allison, thank you very much."

"Five's right," Diego added on. "Besides, Vanya betrayed us all by writing that piece of shit in the first place."

"Is this what you two do for fun? Eavesdrop on random private conversations?" joked Allison.

"I worked as a contract assassin for years," Five said point-blank. "It was my job to listen to others discreetly."

Diego smirked. "I'm just nosy."

The car ride to Diego's 'pit stop' was relatively quiet.

Penny tenderly prodded the empty space in her gums with her tongue. It was still sore. The fingers that were still missing their nails throbbed lightly. A reminder of the shit she'd put up with to save the world from its impending doom…

"I know this Jenkins dude has to have a record," Diego told them. "We've just got to get our hands on his file."

"How do you know he's got a file? You said the name was too common," Penny asked.

"I'm pretty certain I heard a couple officers discussing a case with that name attached to it recently."

"And your plan is to what? Waltz in there and just ask for it?" wondered Allison pointedly.

"I know the station like the back of my hand, sis. I've spent a lot of time inside."

"Handcuffed."

Penny snorted.

Diego shot her a glare. "Whatever. Here's the plan…"

"Plan?" questioned Five. "I'm just going to blink in and get the file."

"No, that's not…" Diego shook his head. "You don't know the ins and outs of this place, okay?"

"I literally just did this yesterday."

"What?"

"My yesterday, not your yesterday…It'll take me two seconds."

"Diego, we're wasting time arguing about this. Just let Five pop in and pop out," Penny interjected. "We need to find Harold Jenkins now."

"Listen to me, you are not going in there –," he turned to Penny, "and you need to trust me. I made a call. That's what a leader does. He leads."

Penny groaned. "Diego…"

"I want to go in there to make sure you aren't still a suspect in the Griddy's Doughnut case, Penelope!"

Her eyes widened. She had completely forgotten about that.

Allison's gaze snapped between Number Two and Number Eight.

Five shifted guiltily in the passenger seat.

"I'll be back in ten." Diego got out of the car and slammed the door as hard as he possibly could after.

Allison set her eyes on Five. "What did you rope her into?"

"I didn't rope her into anything she wasn't willing to be roped into, Allison," he defended. "Those men were going to kill us if we hadn't fought back."

"You got her framed for murder, Five!"

"Can you not treat me like a kindergartener?" Penny burst. "I willingly went with Five. I willingly protected Five and myself from those men who were, indeed, trying to murder us. I'm not some kid that needs to be guarded from the big, bad world."

There was silence between them all.

Something caught in Penny's heart. She was quiet. "Maybe this is how Vanya feels…like we don't treat her like an equal."

Five's eyebrows shot up.

Allison ran a hand over her face. "Maybe we should call her."

"She won't listen to me, no matter what I say. But she'll listen to you," said Penny.

Number 3 nodded slowly. "Do you have your phone? I forgot mine at the house."

Penny winced. "It was smashed by Hazel and Cha-Cha when I was kidnapped."

Allison inhaled sharply. "I'm going to assume Five doesn't have one, either."

"You don't have to refer to me as if I'm not present," he deadpanned. "There's a payphone around the corner."

The three exited the car and traipsed slowly to the payphone Five had identified. He and Penny leant against a building while Allison dialed Vanya's cell.

"This is Vanya," chimed the voicemail, "leave a message, I'll get back to you."

Penny didn't hear Vanya's message, but did eavesdrop as to what Allison relayed to Number 7.

"Hey, Vanya, it's me. I just wanted to…" She paused, shaking her head slightly. "Things have gotten so messed up. And…all I ever wanted was to be a good sister to you. And to Penny…guess I pretty much failed at that. But you need to call me, okay? I love you, sis."

Penny's heart fell. Allison considered her efforts to be a good sister as a complete catastrophe. While what Allison did to Penny wasn't necessarily something Penny could immediately forgive, she understood why Allison had done so. It was because she cared. She wanted the best for all of her adopted family, no matter how far or deep they had fallen.

She uncrossed her arms, opened her mouth to tell Allison she finally felt like she sympathized with her rumoring when they were younger, when Diego strode up with a hand in his jacket.

"So?" Five asked.

"You're welcome," Diego announced smugly, brandishing a blue file from inside his jacket.

Allison snatched it from him, opening it with haste. Penny went to look over her shoulder, eager to discover more about the catalyst for the apocalypse.

"Holy shit," the two women said in unison as Allison flipped to a recent picture. Penny's heart dropped as her eyes grazed over the face on the photograph.

"What?" asked Diego.

Allison brandished the photo for the other two to see. "Harold Jenkins is Leonard Peabody."

"You're shitting me," Five scoffed as he tugged the entirety of the file away from Allison, eyes flickering over every bit of information they could. His shoulders heaved. Diego read over his shoulder, jaw hanging.

Penny's memories seemed to flash through her like a film reel. The glass eyeball with the distinct section of amber and brown…the suspicious behavior at the family home…She wondered what she had discovered in Five's yesterday of that same day. Had she been able to figure this out without him? Without Diego? Without Allison? And were the cops still considering her a suspect in the Griddy's Doughnuts case? So many questions, so little time for answers…

Her stomach lurched, suddenly feeling nauseous.

Allison noticed her sister's suddenly pale complexion. "Are you okay, Penny?"

The woman in question shook her head. "No. No, I'm not. This is a lot…this whole thing is a lot for me right now."

Her fingernail-less hand was now throbbing out of control. Her entire mouth ached endlessly.

Five thrust the file into Allison's hands once more, grabbing Penny by both shoulders and grasping firmly. "Penelope."

She didn't meet his eyes. "I feel like an idiot. All this time, he's been right there. Right there, Five. This whole freaking time…and Vanya's in danger, isn't she?"

His voice was gentler. "Penny. Penny. Penny, look at me. Look into my eyes."

She did as he said, the pain seeming to dull significantly.

"You are not at fault for not recognizing the catalyst. None of us are. If anyone should be ashamed of themselves, it's me. If this is too much, please let me blink you home."

She took several deep breaths as Diego and Allison looked on in concern.

"I-I'm okay. Really, I am." Five shot her an unconvinced eyebrow raise. "Five, don't look at me like that. I promise, I'm good to go."

He removed his hands from her shoulders and nodded once, turning to the others. "So, who's up for a little stealth mission?"

Apparently, Five had decided a good way to discover more about this Harold Jenkins, the alleged catalyst for the apocalypse, was to snoop around inside the Jenkins household.

Penny read through the file in the car on the way there. Allison glanced over at some of the reports every once in a while, but kept her eyes forward.

"He's a piece of work, that's for sure," muttered Penny as they moved swiftly down the road.

"How so?" Diego asked.

"Well, he killed his own father for starters."

"Whoa."

"Are you serious?" demanded Allison.

Penny handed the file over so Allison could look on her own.

"Holy shit," she cursed.

"How old was he?" Five wondered reservedly from the passenger seat.

Allison's eyes scanned the document. "Sixteen. Oh my god, he was sixteen."

"We were killing people when we were sixteen," Diego reasoned.

"Not our own father," Penny pointed out grimly. "Did he give any reasoning as to why he murdered his own dad?"

Allison was quiet for a moment as she read. Then she nodded. "Yeah. It says here that he claimed his dad had been abusing him for years."

"When you get smacked around enough," commented Five quietly.

"That's really sad," said Penny.

Diego directed the car to pull up in front of an old house. Penny eyed the place warily as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out.

"Be careful, okay?" Allison warned as they walked toward the house. "We don't know what Peabody is capable of."

"You mean Jenkins," Penny corrected.

"Whatever his name is, he didn't seem dangerous when I first saw him," countered Diego. "Looked kinda scrawny."

"Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and mass murderers. I mean, look at him." She gestured to Five, who had a strange limp in his step.

"Thanks," he said passively.

"Good point. So what's this guy want with Vanya?" Diego said.

Allison broke off from the group to round the other side of the house.

"It can't be anything good," replied Penny. "I mean, he changed his name entirely. Either he's a reformed convict who wants to live a normal life, or he's up to something. I'm guessing he's up to something if his name comes up with the Commission. Five? Any ideas?"

She watched as Five struggled to walk at a normal gait. Something was wrong. She made a note to herself to keep an eye on him.

"I don't know. How about we ask him after we kill him?" He struggled to pull himself up the steps onto the porch. Penny followed along just behind him, worried he'd fall backwards.

"Whoa, whoa. I'm going to burst through –," Diego started. He stopped himself, noticing Five's utter lack of attention.

Penny ignored the two and went to lean against the brick to the left of the door. She observed with a slight smile on her face as Diego's attempts to get Five to stick to the plan were completely brushed aside.

"Great," mumbled Number 2 as he spun around to face the door. "You still have the hots for that asshole dwarf? Is that why you're smiling?"

Penny rolled her eyes. "You know what, Diego? You can find a way in on your own. I'm not helping you."

"What? I'm just playing around," he said smugly.

"He's thirteen, Diego."

"Not with that kinda mouth he's not."

"Well are we going to stand here arguing about your weird obsession with me and Five's previous relationship as children, or are you going to find a way inside Harold Jenkins' house?"

Diego huffed.

Of course he was going to bring up the thing with Five again. What was with their adopted siblings being so invested in how they were feeling about each other? Penny couldn't help but feel frustrated with Diego. He was an ass to her for so many years and now here he was, asking about her and Five. Ha. Typical Diego – prying into others' business without a single thought of how much of a jackass it made him.

Penny was suddenly blazened with an extreme hot flash, then an icy cold one. She blinked several times, trying to stay still. Was she about to be sick?

"Penny?" said Diego suspiciously.

Her back went tingly, like when a foot falls asleep. And all of a sudden, the wall seemed to slide out from behind her and she was sprawled on her back in the front foyer of Harold Jenkins' house.

She gasped, scrambling to her feet.

"Penny? Penny!" called Diego desperately. "Penny! Penny, where are you?"

Her voice seemed to catch in her throat as she realized she recognized the sensation she had just experienced. The motel. It was just like when she had fallen through the wall at the motel.

Then she checked the wall. There again, right where she had slipped through, the wall glowed orange.

Diego promptly burst through the window in the door, shards of glass going everywhere. He landed with a dull thud, groaning as he lay there. Penny was still too in shock to move.

Allison was suddenly present, crunching over shattered glass with her fashionable shoes. Five blinked into the hallway to come stand in the consequences of Diego's stupid decison.

"Subtle," she joked, stopping with her hands on her hips next to Penny. She turned to face her adoptive sister. "Wait, how did you get in?"

Penny's throat had gone dry. Her eyes went wide and she pointed to the glowing orange spot on the wall.

Five, not paying attention, turned the handle. "You know, the door was unlocked." He eyed Penny. "Did you come in through the door before Diego pulled a James Bond?"

She shook her head, finger still directed at the wall.

Both Five and Allison gasped as they noticed the faint orange glow.

Diego stood with difficulty, voice strained as he admitted, "It was like you melted into the wall. Freaky."

Allison's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "Melted? Into the wall?"

"I-I..I don't know…how," stuttered Penny.

Five whirled around to slam a hand against the wall. It didn't make the resounding smack any of them expected it to. He wagged his finger, as if tapping out an idea into the air.

"Have you done this before?" he demanded.

Penny nodded fervently. "Yes. But only once."

"When?"

"The motel. It's how I escaped Hazel and Cha-Cha."

"You're telling me you just…phased through a wall like it was some kind of hologram?" Diego hissed.

"I mean…yeah, it was a lot like that, actually," Penny said slowly. "They put me in this closet in the motel room and I was leaning up against the wall in my chair and then I was just…falling through the air. I changed the density of my chair so that it would be a softer landing in the parking lot. So the chair broke me out of my bonds and then I ran for my life."

"Penelope, feel the wall," Five ordered.

"Feel…the wall?" she repeated, dumbfounded.

"Yes, feel the damn wall!"

Penny put her hand against it, expecting to feel the rough texture of the wall, but instead, found that it had some give. She pushed on it ever so slightly, and it sprung back against her palm.

"What the hell…" she mumbled. She spun on her heel. "Five, what…what did I do? I know I basically phased through it, but I don't understand how."

"We know that your abilities have to do with atoms, right? Up until now, we all thought your powers were to change the atoms' densities. Whatever you change the density of has a specific color depending on whether you make it lighter or heavier," ranted Five quickly.

"Red when it's heavier and blue when it's lighter," added Diego.

"Exactly," agreed Five. "But Penny, this is orange. Orange."

"Orange?" questioned Allison.

"Orange!" exclaimed Five.

"What does orange mean?"

"It means this is something else entirely. This is completely different. Diego said Penny melted into the wall. Phased through it."

Penny's mind reeled, things finally adding up. "Five, are you saying that I can…I can rearrange atoms, too?"

"That's precisely what my theory is," he nodded enthusiastically. "You're acorning!"

"That's insane, right? Is that possible?" Allison questioned.

"I can only guess we've only brushed the surface of what Penny can do with her powers. Imagine – being able to rearrange atoms into whatever you need! Air to cinder blocks. Fire to water! Penny, if we save the world, our first priority is to figure out the fullest extent of what you can rearrange. Or even reconstruct!" Penny had never seen Five so excited before.

She sighed. "If we save the world. If. Not if. When we save the world. I'm curious as to what else I can do, but we need to focus. We're in Harold Jenkins' house. We need to stop the apocalypse before we worry about my powers."

"Penny's right. We need to focus on Harold Jenkins and whatever evil plan he's concocted," nodded Diego. He winced as he took a step forward. "Spread out. Yell if you, uh…you know, you're in trouble."

"Ah, inspiring leadership," snarked Five.

"One of the greats," Allison agreed sarcastically.

"So motivating," joked Penny.

Allison chuckled and started up the stairs.

Five attempted to limp back down the hallway, but Penny put a hand on his shoulder.

"Five. I know you're hurt."

He sighed grouchily, plastering on a sugary fake smile. "Thanks for noticing. Anything else you'd like to point out?"

"Don't do that with me. You know I'm genuinely concerned."

"Yes, Penelope, I do know, and that's what makes it more aggravating."

She rolled her eyes. "I've been aware since the moment you returned from the Commission that something was wrong. Just let me know if the pain is too much for you."

"You've got a whole hand of missing fingernails and a hole in your gums where a tooth should reside; not to mention countless fading bruises and cuts. If anyone should be concerned about anyone else's pain, it's me to you. Now I don't know about you, but I'd like to search as to why Harold Jenkins is the catalyst for the apocalypse."

And with that, he grumpily trudged away from Number 8 down the hall.

Penny sighed, glanced back at the orange glow on the wall, and took the stairs up two at a time.

When she got to the top, she saw Allison clomping up the steps to the attic.

There was a pause, then Allison's hesitant tone came from above. "Guys, you need to see this."

Penny rushed up the small ladder, quickly stepped into the attic, and immediately felt the air leave her lungs. "Diego, Five. Hurry."

What was in the attic was horrific. Posters of the Umbrella Academy were everywhere, but all of the eyes had been eerily scratched or crossed out using white-out. Pictures from magazine cover shoots, official merchandise, calendars, cutouts from newspapers, personal photographs taken at live events…every single photograph of the Hargreeves siblings had their eyes blanked out in some manner.

Penny's heart thumped faster and faster against her ribcage as she moved to take a look at the mangled figurines on a small shelf.

"Oh my god…oh my god…" she whispered to herself.

She heard Diego and Five arrive in the attic. Both whistled.

Allison moved next to Penny, voice thin. "All our faces are burnt off."

"Well that's not creepy," added Diego, inspecting the shelves. "This guy's got some serious issues."

Penny grabbed a small plastic figurine she figured must be her. Its tiny hands were painted different colors, one red, one blue. But the face…the face was dripping in long tendrils off the shoulders. The discolored plastic shown remnants of the black mask Reginald had made them wear on missions.

"Tell me about it," she chimed in, voice low.

"Shit," Five breathed.

Allison's brow furrowed at the figure in Penny's hand and gently grabbed the one in her own likeness.

"This was never about Vanya," she realized. She turned to her adopted siblings. "This was about us."

Five slumped to the ground in a deafening thud.

"Five," gasped Penny, immediately kneeling next to him. The other two followed suit.

Allison grasped his hand. "Blood."

Penny's eyebrows shot up as they all finally noticed the redness soaking into Five's sweater vest on his side. Allison tentatively lifted the material.

Lodged into Five's flesh was shrapnel, but Penny could only guess from what; possibly something happening at the Commission.

"Jesus, Five. Why didn't you say anything?" Diego scolded.

"Penny noticed," he muttered. "You have to keep going." His voice was growing lighter, fainter. His breathing was shallow.

Penny held a hand to his cheek. It was warm, sickly warm.

"So…close," he exhaled. His head turned away from Penny's palm.

She inhaled sharply, trying to keep her voice level. "Five. Five." She slapped his face lightly. "Five, wake up. Five!"

Allison shook him. "Five!"

"He's lost too much blood," Diego said hurriedly. "We need to get him home."

"We should have taken him to the hospital," Allison griped as she held onto Five's legs.

She and Penny lugged an in-and-out-of-consciousness-Five into their childhood home as Diego opened doors for them and cleared pathways.

Penny had driven back to the manor in such a hurry, Diego vowed to never let her drive them anywhere again. She had argued that if not for her speedy nature, Five would be even closer to death than he already was. Then Allison had scolded them both for their petty quarreling. It was a very productive conversation, obviously.

"A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise some questions," Five interjected groggily.

"Yeah, like 'what are you letting this eighth-grader do in his spare time,' and 'how dare you not set a curfew for this growing boy?' Or even 'why would you let him go around exploding things?'" Penny griped.

"There's no need for your snark, Penelope," Five griped back.

"Well I apologize if I'm using humor to cope with this situation, Five. For record, yes, three twenty nine year olds with a thirteen year old as an adopted brother with shrapnel in his body would absolutely raise some questions."

"Yeah, well, so does the murder shrine in Harold Jenkins' attic," Allison retorted as she and Penny gently laid Five down on a sofa in the living room. "He's still losing a lot of blood. What do we do?"

"We gotta get the shrapnel out," Diego replied quickly.

Penny knelt at Five's side, using a spare towel she found on the way in to soak up the blood around his wound. He groaned. "Sorry, Five. I could probably get it out. I've got a first aid kit in our room, Allison, if you could go get it."

"Of course."

Diego suddenly bolted for the foyer.

"Diego, where are you going?" asked Allison.

"Mom?" two sisters heard him say. They shared a puzzled glance.

"Wasn't Mom killed when Hazel and Cha-Cha invaded?" Penny questioned.

"Yeah, she was," Allison nodded.

There was silence between the two as Diego and their automaton mother's voice echoed through the large space. Penny continued to sop at the crimson blood dripping out of Five. She apologized softly as he shifted on the cushions.

After a minute of silence being filled by Five's various sounds of pain, Diego and Grace came into the living area.

"Penelope, Allison," their mother greeted warmly. She glanced at Five. "Has someone gotten themselves into some trouble again? No worry, dear. I'll fix you right up. Penny, Allison, can you lift Five and take him to his room? I'll gather my supplies. Oh, Penelope, don't look so distraught. I know it can be scary to see someone you care about in this state, but I promise that I will do everything I can."

Penny forced a small smile. "I know you will, Mom."

Grace returned with a grin. "Alright, you three take him up and I'll be there in a jiffy."

She scurried off to gather the right medical supplies while Penny and Allison took the same positions – Penny with his torso and Allison with his legs. They hauled Five up and off to his room.

Barely anyone spoke as they did so.

Penny could feel herself beginning to panic. Since when did she panic when someone was hurt? Sure, in the past she was concerned, but that didn't explain why she felt so anxious.

They gently deposited him on his bed and their mother came quickly into the room, pulling behind her an IV line.

"Now, Penny, dear, I want you to go get some air," she told Number 8 kindly. "You've been through a lot today, I can tell." She patted Penny's cheek gently.

"But, Mom, I'm just –,"

"I know you're worried. I don't need you hovering over me as I work. I'll make sure either Diego or Allison come and get you when I'm done. Then you can stay by his side all you want. Okay?"

While Penny wasn't interested in taking a walk by herself, she could understand her mother not wanting her in the way. She was right – Penny would most likely be hovering, which was not helpful. She certainly didn't like people hovering when she worked one-on-one with Vinny at the zoo.

Finally, she nodded. "Okay, Mom."

"Good, good, dear."

With one last uneasy look at Five, Penny did as her mother requested.

Penny exited their manor in the back. She took a shaky breath and walked very slowly down the street. She tried to relax her very tight shoulders and rolled her neck out, earning her some very loud cracks and pops. She hadn't realized how much tension she had been carrying.

Guilt wracked her body. All day, Five had been feeling worse and worse and she could have said something about it to the others. She could have insisted Five go to the doctor's. She could have done something so it wouldn't have had to come to this.

The world would end in just a few days and here she was, pacing around the darkening city, waiting for shrapnel to be dug out of Five.

She felt useless.

Sirens blared in the distance, coming closer by the second. She wondered what crime might be happening close by. In that city, crime was a constant.

But then they grew louder, the pitch wailing. She wondered lightly if they'd pass by her as she walked.

Shrugging it off, she looked both ways, and began to cross the street.

But then the lights appeared, sirens screaming. The police cars were coming from both ends of the street.

She began to hurry off the road when it hit her like a ton of bricks.

Had Diego found out if she was still a suspect in the Griddy's Doughnut Shop case?

Oh no.

The vehicles came to a screeching halt, officers leaping out with guns aimed in her direction.

Her chest rose and fell steadily. She had to stay calm. She had to stay quiet. She had to stay strong.

She put her arms in the air. It was better to come cooperatively.

An officer approached with a detective's badge.

"No! No, Chuck! No!" a familiar voice yelled. Diego. He had come running from the manor. He blocked the officers' view of Penny.

Penny shook her head, voice firm but low. "Diego, this doesn't concern you."

"Like hell it does," he snapped at her.

"Diego, stand down or I have to charge you with obstruction of justice," warned the detective.

"I expected better from you, Chuck," he retorted bitterly.

"Stand aside," the detective warned again.

Diego looked back at Penny pleadingly. Let me take the fall.

Penny shook her head, brow furrowed. No.

He sighed, then stepped aside with his arms raised.

The officers narrowed in on Penny. One pushed her roughly to her knees, the skin grazing asphalt through her jeans. Another clicked handcuffs on her.

The detective spoke again. "Penelope Delores Hargreeves, you are charged with the murder of Patrick Campbell, Richard Smith, and Bruce North. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."

Yep, it was the Griddy's Doughnut Shop case.

Well, shit.

Oh my goodness, we've made it to the end of the chapter. I don't feel like this was necessarily my VERY best work, but I'm so glad I finished the dang chapter! I'm so very excited to continue to work on this story. I FINALLY have some time coming up in the next month or two and I'm feeling really inspired and motivated.

Leave a review if you feel so inclined and follow or favorite if you want to stay updated on the story. :) Thanks so much for reading!