10 hours, 28 minutes, and 33 seconds since the reset.
Though the Hargreeves home for wayward boys looked abandoned, it surprisingly had running water and electricity. Most of the pipes burst and the basins were stained beyond comparison but the water was running in a way. Probably best to avoid drinking it as a safety precaution. And though lights were dimmed, many shattered or burnt out, it was a relatively good sign.
Now that it was morning, Luther could finally make his way through the halls without fear of tripping over some rumble. As he roamed, he thought back to when he was the sole Umbrella living in the academy. This quietness of the halls nearly matched that of outer space.
In a way, Klaus was right. Through multiple timelines and even a different era, this building stood tall. From Reginald's home in 1963 to the Umbrella academy then Sparrow academy and now to today. Luther had seen this place go through a multitude of scenarios. Somehow all with him returning back here like there was a tether pulling him when there should be no reason to. He honestly thanked the creaky floorboards for filling some of the noise void. Their dad would have never allowed for such a flaw to persist if he was really here.
A thump came from the kitchen. Worried that Klaus was up to something dangerous, Luther made his way towards the sounds of clattering. Good thing he already made a thorough check of the place to make sure there wasn't anything that Klaus could potentially take as a form of medication. Then again, he's never really paid attention to how the rehab centers treated his brother to know how to handle a withdrawing person.
Arriving in the kitchen, he was surprised to see that some of the rumble was moved aside enough to make a path. Through the unclear mumbles he could see that the person huddled behind the kitchen island was not Klaus. "Hello? Who's there?"
Out popped Five. Not in his usual blue flashy way but in a literal sense. "Luther?"
"Five?"
"What are you doing here?" They both said at the same time.
"Viktor dragged me here because he lost the keys to his apartment and didn't want CPS on me. You?"
"Had Klaus following after me and didn't know where else to go."
"And going to find Sloane?"
He sighed. "I don't know. I want to find her, I do but... why didn't she come out of the hotel with us? I should have been the one dead or missing. Why did I survive Five?"
Five didn't have an answer. He had the same questions after all. Cielo was the one that was supposed to be the one to live a normal life. She shouldn't have been the one to die for their sake. He had the same survivors' guilt that he had once finding his siblings' corpses in the apocalypse the first time. He was lost. They were lost.
"Maybe- maybe there's a reason why it was us that had to be the ones to survive."
"Maybe? My wife is dead and the only thing you can think of is a maybe answer?!"
"You're not the only one that lost someone Luther! So how about you do something more useful and get me a cup of coffee before I start having to figure out everything. Again!"
"Will you two shut up?!" A half asleep, pissed off, Lila stormed into the kitchen with her bird's nest of a hair style. "I thought a raccoon had gotten into the pots but turns out it's you two buffoons yelling at the crack of dawn!"
"It's 11 in the afternoon?" She waved off Luther's comment to make her way to the fridge. Nothing inside. Fantastic. By now the two assumed that Diego had brought her here. Meaning that, minus Allison, all the Umbrellas were gathered.
"Luther, go wake the others. Looks like we need an actual family meeting." He was a bit thrown off but ultimately compiled knowing that Five didn't like to take no.
Five slid onto the old plastic stool. Aggressively scratching the back of her head, Lila sat next to him. "What are you thinking old man?"
"That your breath stinks." He gave her a handful of individually wrapped mints that Hotel Obsidian offered at the wedding. She huffed out a breath out in his direction before taking some to chomp on.
Though they didn't have to save that they were on the same wavelength. A new timeline where they clearly didn't belong was a dangerous game to play. The first thing that was trained into them was to assess the situation and any potential threats. However, both of them had bigger fish to fry than to worry about the possible paradoxes that can arise. They had just barely avoided one. To repeat that so soon was draining.
The two didn't say anything as they waited for Luther to return with the others. Whatever they could say would only result in an argument. One that both were too tired to engage in. It didn't take long for everyone to gather in the broken down living room. They had all wanted to avoid this conversation last night but it seemed fate had brought them together once more.
"So Five, what is happening to us?" This was the norm. Five was meant to be the brains of the group even before he became an old man. In this once more strange turn of events, he was probably the closest as to figuring out what was happening.
"From what I can gather, when we stepped on the sigils whatever gave us our powers was sucked out of us. Then that energy source was used to reset the universe. Not the strangest thing that could have happened to us."
"So how do we get our powers back?"
"Do we even need them back?" Klaus asked.
They were going to argue but fell short of a why. Their powers were a part of each of them. They each hated themselves and the part of that their powers forced them to be. Would it truly be so bad to just be normal? Was this even possible after the 30 years they spent being anything but that?
Five looked down at his hands. It was because of him and his powers that their issues seemed never-ending. But what was he without his ability to blink? Just a stuck up old man trapped in a teenage body. "Whether we need them back can be discussed later. The way I see it, if we do end up wanting our powers back it's not going to be easy. We have two options. Either we talk to dad or we find Allison. How about we do this the family tradition way? Who votes for dad?"
No one raised their hands.
"And Allison?"
There was hesitation. It was definitely the better choice of the two. But none of them raised their hands to vote for her.
"Then we do nothing?"
"Yeah because that worked so well last time."
"Correction, we tried to do nothing which resulted in multiple deaths forcing us to do something."
"Hey I didn't just die. We got murdered! At least Klaus was immortal. Me and Cielo were dead dead! Now look I don't know what we're going to do but it is not going to be with the help of dad."
"So that's one negative vote for dad. Anyone else want to contribute absolutely nothing to this conversation? Hm?"
They all looked up when the pipes above their heads groaned loudly with a flush of water. All of them doing a mental count of everyone that was here. "Who's in the washroom?"
They all rushed to the main staircase. There was a low tone mutter that came with heavy footsteps. Preparing themselves for a fight, they were all shocked when the preparatory tripped down the stairs. It didn't take them long to recognize that grumpy face.
"Ben? What are you doing here?"
He sluggishly dragged himself off the floor. Brushing off the dust and dirt that came with the fall and untaken care for floors. Ben, in his incredibly tired state, felt his anger rise seeing the Umbrellas surround him. "What are you assholes doing in my house?"
"Your house? This is-"
"We are not going to be doing this skit again." Five pulled on Diego to relax. It was clear that, just like them, Sparrow Ben had nowhere else to go. At this point, this building was neither the Umbrella nor Sparrow academy. It was a run down orphanage that they were familiar with.
"Hey, are you okay Benarino?" They fully started to take in how awful he looked.
His skin was pale and damp. Forearms red with scratch marks. He looked like he barely slept the night. Plus, he just tripped over nothing to tumble down the stairs. He may be an asshole but he wasn't uncoordinated. His visible irritation was still present though. That was a good sign considering the last time they met a Ben in a new timeline, he turned into a completely different person.
He slapped Klaus' hand away. "Absolutely peachy."
Ben refused to look directly at any of them. They were together just as he expected. Living in his house was the least of his qualms. They were together when they were supposed to be as separate as his. He had seen them fight with harsher words than the Sparrows have ever thrown at each other. It was bullshit that they were still together.
"Hey! We may have lost our powers but you're outnumbered. Don't treat our brother like that." Diego threatened. He had long separated the image of their Ben versus the one standing in front of them right now.
"Whatever. You losers can stay in this shithole while I go actually do something productive about all of this. Don't come crawling to me when I figure this all out."
"Don't be like that Ben."
"Don't stop him Klaus. He's doing this to himself." No one stopped him nor said anything after he slammed the doors open for his grand exit. The breath of not dusty, moldy air making him relax. He didn't need the academy or the Umbrellas. He'll be fine on his own.
Back inside, the Umbrellas just silently chose to ignore that mess that wasn't really related to them. But what more was there to discuss? Like Ben, none of them liked to be tied to this strange form of the concept of a family. Their powers were gone and so with it, any connection of them actually being siblings.
"We're out of here too. Come on Lila."
"And where are we gonna go? Your gym place already struck out. At least this place is rent free."
"How about we live here together?" Viktor first proposed. All of them loudly protested the idea. He waved them to be quiet. They only slightly flinched as they temporarily forgot about the power loss; giving him a chance to speak. "Listen guys, I get it. This place isn't paradise. For more reasons than one but it's all we got now. Let's just make the most of it and try living together. There's enough rooms that we wouldn't even have to see each other if we try."
They all sighed. Deep down they didn't really want to kick the others onto the street. Didn't mean that they wanted to live in the same house as them again. And between all of them, there was no clear way to kick each other out. They all had equal footing. Like children they grumbled a 'fine' out as they kicked their feet.
"Then it's agreed on. We'll all live together for the time being. The next issue is money. This place needs a lot of fixing up and some essentials. Groceries included."
"Klaus and I can probably manage that part for a little bit." They looked at their antsy sober brother. Before they could question Luther, Klaus revealed some of the jewelry and crumbled up bills from his pockets. Luther doing the same as he had taken the majority of the stolen objects.
"Okay? Not going to question that. That solves our money issue once we pawn it. I think I know a place downtown."
"So Viktor, Luther, and Klaus will go pawn for some cash. Viktor, you should be in charge of that money and getting us some groceries too. Lila and I have to head down to the police station to return something." Something Lila groaned at internally. "Five? How about you?"
"There's not a lot that I can do in this body so I'm just going to see if I can find anything about Cielo or about how dad did all of this."
"Oh if you're going to visit Cielo's favourite places can you stop by that cafe she really likes? I wanted to try one of those lemon pound cakes she always went on about. Ugh I'm getting hungry just thinking about it."
Five was reminded of the girls' relationship. It was sad to admit that Lila might actually know more about her than he did. "Diego, I'm going to borrow Lila for the day."
"You and her? Alone for a day without killing each other?"
"I'm more so focused on Cielo's disappearance than killing her best friend." The couple had seen first hand what her disappearance had done to him. Putting aside their bad blood to find her wasn't too crazy to consider. Though it would be a challenge for the both of them.
"Pay for my breakfast and we'll call it a deal."
"Deal." So it was all decided on what they do. No mention of their possibly retrieving their powers was needed. Right now, all they had to do was survive.
13 hours, 22 minutes, and 1 second since the reset.
Diego looked the police station up and down. He didn't want to look weak in front of his family but he was frightened to return here by himself. If Lila were here, she would shove him through the doors, telling him that he needed to grow the balls. In theory he could have gotten the wallet dropped off at a post-office. He didn't need to come all this way. But he did. He knew why he showed up here in person.
Walking in, everything was the same. He didn't really expect his dad to change much about a police station of all things. A few changes would have been nice though as a reminder that this wasn't the same station that he worked in.
"Hello there. How can we help you?" He took in a breath as he approached the front desk. Usually he would just walk past them because they knew about his reputation for constantly showing up without permission. He didn't have that privilege in this universe.
"I found this wallet last night. If you could return it, that would be great."
"This is very responsible and kind of you. We'll be sure that it gets to the rightful owner. Thank you."
"Can I take a look at that?" Diego froze when a voice asked him from behind.
Eudora Patch walked up right next to him. Alive and well, she offered him a kind smile as a greeting. Not a shred of recognition in her eyes. She continued to talk to the front desk, not even caring how he was so close to crying as hard as he did the day she died. Finally, she turned to him with the wallet in hand.
"You know, not a lot of people go through the effort of dropping off lost wallets in person. Thank you for your hard work." It was weird hearing her actually praise him and not nagging him.
"N- n- no this was n-n- n- nothing." He quickly covered his mouth realizing that his stutter was coming back. He could hardly breath that this was making it worse.
Her, quickly recognizing his uncomfortable stance, held a hand out for him in good faith. "I'm Detective Eudora Patch. Can I know your name?"
"D- d- d- Diego." He chose to hold back on saying his last name. Forgetting to take her hand. For the better though seeing that his hands were shaking.
"Well Diego, it was very nice to meet you. If there's anything else that we can help you with then please feel free to ask." She made a comment to the front desk about heading out for patrol now but all it meant was that she was going to leave. If she left now that meant there was a chance he wouldn't get to see her again. Like it was last time. He couldn't let that happen again.
"Um!" The two turned to him.
"Yes?"
"Are you hiring?" Stupid stupid! "I- I- I'm unemployed and my girlfriend she's p-p- pre- pregnant. If you have any s- s- suggestions that would be helpful."
He came up with multiple excuses to continue the conversation in his head that this was the best he could come up with? He could have asked about his dad and how this city came to be. He could ask about Sloane, if there were any academies in this timeline. He could have asked about her. How her life was. Especially now that he wasn't in it. But he, also, didn't want to creep her out by asking anything too personal.
"We have a pretty strict hiring process but if you're looking for just a regular part time with full time hours, I do actually know a few places hiring. Any preference or something that an employer should know?" Oh shit that actually worked?
"No, no, preference. Just one that pays well and doesn't need... a lot of paperwork." Telling a police officer that he didn't have any government given papers wasn't the best idea. He trusted Patch but knew her way of working. Breaking any law, even to help the less fortunate, was always a case by case story. Unlike a certain pregnant woman he knew.
"Okay, you seem like a good guy so I'll look in to it later. How about you come by tomorrow morning?" Damn that actually worked!
"Yeah that sounds great. I knew I could count on you to help out."
She tilted her head a little. "You knew?"
"Not you specially- just you in this case would make sense for you- a detective- a really nice one- to be able to h- h- h- help out. I don't know you. I met you today. First impression, you're a good detective."
"Thank you, I take pride in my work." He couldn't help but smile at that. She was living the best of her life here. "But it's a lot of work that you wouldn't want to work here anyways. I'll try to get you something that's a bit less stressful until you get back on your feet."
"I really appreciate it." He really did.
Outside the police station, Diego held back his overwhelmed emotions created tears. Yesterday he had been worried sick about how he was going to adapt. But it was all somewhat working out. The family had a roof over their heads and some money coming in. And best of all, those innocents that suffered a murder were now living. This world might not be so bad.
1 day, 11 hours, and 28 minutes since the reset.
Would it be bad to say that Diego was excited to be back at the police station? Lila was sure excited when he told her that he could possibly get a job. That's how he reasoned that it was important to return. Seeing Patch again was just a bonus. An addition that he had no control over. Or it was more of a condition that he was welcoming to. Never mind.
Today would be the last time he would see her anyways. He would talk to her about a job offer that wasn't police related. He'd give his gratitude. Then they would never meet again. He was given a chance to give a proper goodbye this time. He couldn't pass it up.
"Hi." Was the first of the last words he would speak to her.
"Good morning." She was none the wiser to his sorrow. "So as promised, I looked around for anyone hiring and you're in luck. An old acquaintance of mine is looking for a delivery driver for overnight or early morning, urgent deliveries. I know it isn't the best but it pays higher than minimum wage because of the undesirable hours. If you want it, you'll essentially be hired on the spot."
"No- it- it sounds great. I'll take it. Thank you. For everything."
"You're very welcome then. I'm actually heading in the same direction so I can give you a ride there. I just need to give them a heads up that you're on your way."
"Detective Patch!" Another officer signalled for her attention.
"Just a moment." She told Diego. He nodded for her to go right ahead. The folder in the other's hand telling him that she was about to be called out onto a scene.
She took the folder and quickly flipped through it. It was one of her best skills to properly and efficiently read through cases without breaking a sweat. Her professionalism was unmatched here. Diego never could do the same as her.
"Arson? At a prosthetics lab? What kind of sick person gets a high over burning a laboratory? They don't even have anything of value in there to be destroying. Monetary value I mean."
"Who knows? Apparently the owner was involved with some black market deals so that's a lead we could follow. Forensics are already there so we have to make way." She nodded as she started to gather up everything that she would need.
"Got it. Meritech is off 4th street so we'll have to take the local route to avoid the rush traffic."
Diego physically budded into the conversation. Just like old times of trying to help them in cases. "I'm sorry to interrupt but did you just say Meritech? As in Meritech Prosthetics?"
"Yeah? Do you know something about it?"
"No but my brother's somewhat girlfriend- complicated relationship girl friend works there. I think?" An awfully strange coincidence to the officers.
"Well luckily the report said that no one was hurt in the fire but I would like to get her contact information."
"Uhh y-yeah I can- t-t-tr-try to get that."
"I'll leave that in your hands then. Unfortunately, I won't be able to escort you to the job like I said I would. Will you be okay by yourself? I'll write down all the information you need about it."
"You've already done so much. I can handle it from here. And I'll bring my brother tomorrow too? He can give you more information about Meritech than I can."
"I'll see you tomorrow then." She said it so nonchalantly. This was another chance to see her again.
It wasn't supposed to happen like this but he was helping Five. He was helping find Cielo. Five was right that if they wanted to figure out anything, she would be the key. Meeting Patch again would be a good thing. It had to be a good thing. It was Patch after all.
1 day, 18 hours, and 19 minutes since the reset.
"Five! Five! Five are you back yet?!" Diego kept turning around in circles. Anticipating the small body to pop up like normal. Only to have his brother walk in with his own two feet.
"Relax, I'm here. Lila too. Why are you screaming so much?"
"Where did Cielo work before Commission?" The simple question shifted Five's annoyance to serious curiosity.
"She was a prothestist at Meritech Prosthetics. Why?"
"It burnt down today." Five couldn't believe his ears. He had been there yesterday and earlier today with Lila. The building had nothing wrong with it. But what was even more disturbing was that this had happened in their original universe.
"How? Did you see anyone on the scene? Any foul play?"
He shook his head. "I wasn't there. I just overheard Patch talking about it with another officer. I even went there myself to confirm that it was really the place she worked. They think it was arson but is highly unlikely. That's why, when I brought up Cielo to her, they wanted her contact info. Probably to see if she knew anything about it. I didn't bring up that we technically didn't know her here."
"Detective Patch? You met her? She's the detective in charge of this case?" His eyes went once to Lila then back to Diego. Diego signalling to Five not to mention anything. The situation was messy enough with Cielo not existing in their lives that he didn't need to add to it. "Let's meet her tomorrow then."
"We already checked Meritech before though. They said that they didn't have any worker named Cielo."
"That's why the fire is even more concerning."
"Okay so we're going to meet with this random detective in hopes that she would maybe know something about someone that doesn't even work there? Sounds like a great plan."
"We're not doing anything. Diego and I are going to the police station. You, however, can't go anywhere near there."
"What? Why not?"
He tried not to look at Diego. "You're an assassin with a bad streak with authority. You accompanying me to a police station is a bad look."
"You share those exact traits?"
"But I'm just a little kid. I wouldn't hurt a fly." He innocently batted his eyelashes which made her roll her eyes. "Just look into the fire and we'll compare the police notes back here."
"Um no? Lila, you shouldn't go anywhere near a burnt down building. Doesn't Cielo hang out in more, I don't know, calmer places? Like a nice, quiet library? I met her in a library. She might be in there?" He knew the chance of her actually being in the library was low. He just wanted Lila to be as far away from the Meritech case as possible.
"You're actually agreeing with the geezer that doesn't have any outfits besides suits? And a library? Really? That's the best place you want to sign this highly trained personnel into?"
"It isn't that bad and I'm not siding with Five. I just think that we need to- split up our resources. Five and I are enough to figure things out there." She never did like listening to Five. To have Diego, the father of her child, say the same thing was starting to sound disrespectful. But he was stubborn and she didn't have the energy to go against the two of them. Two brothers against herself didn't have the odds in her favour.
"Fine. Whatever. Weirdos." She stormed away from them without more farce.
"Are you ever gonna tell Lila about Detective Patch?" Five whispered once she was out of sight.
"Look, I know this doesn't look good on me but Lila doesn't need to know about this right now. I just got a job and currently, the only one in that house making a living. I don't need to be stressing her even more than you two trying to find Cielo."
"Just to be clear, you still don't have feelings for her? Detective Patch?"
He thought of the rush that he felt seeing her again. Then about her dead body that he found in that cheap motel. She was only there because of him. That guilt had never left him. Seeing her after all this time, was a relief. Nothing more. At least one good thing came from this reset.
"I don't."
"Good. Though Lila gets on my nerves, I don't recommend ticking her off anymore."
"Aww Five, are you finally warming up to her?" He mockingly asked in hopes that it was true.
"You better pay me for her breakfasts when you get your paycheck." And the moment was ruined. He really doesn't know how Cielo manages to get the two of them to get along. At least cordially.
Meanwhile, with Lila, she kept trying to find reason with why the two of them were suddenly on the same page about their situation. She and Five had spent both today and yesterday around the city trying to find clues as to where Cielo was. Now that there might be an actual lead, he wants her to sit out? And Diego agreed with that?
Actually, it wasn't too out of character that Diego decided that she not go. With the pregnancy and his desire to constantly be the protector of his family, he had been unbearable. It was both warming to see and annoying to be on the receiving end of. Almost like this was a Commission mission, she was forced to put in another act. To put it fake compliance with who she thought she loved was not a concept she was unfamiliar with.
Lila pulled her unwashed jacket tighter around her body as she approached the rest of the family eating cold leftovers. "I don't know what's sadder. The fact that we don't have a simple microwave or the fact that I'm willing to eat it."
Viktor offered his remaining pizza slice to her. "How's the search for Cielo?"
"Don't ask. And Sloane?"
"Same."
"I don't get it. Sloane was with you all at the hotel. Cielo and I were already dead before you guys went in. So why did she die, and only one of us were brought back to life? And if the universe was reset then shouldn't it be easy to find someone normal like Cielo? Sloane was a hero as well. She should be easy to find."
"You guys aren't heroes in this world. We don't have our powers and there's a good chance that us Marigold children don't even exist in this world."
Viktor turned to her in confusion. "Marigold? Why are you using that term?"
"Cielo told me that's what we were called? Marigold children. Why?"
"Harlan compared our powers to the sound of marigolds."
"So this isn't a common knowledge type of trivia."
"Hey." Luther spoke up. "If the academies don't exist in this universe, then doesn't that mean that Harlan never got killed by the Sparrows? And that there's a chance an old man Harlan just walking around?"
The three kept exchanging looks. It wasn't just themselves that got reset. From what they knew, it was the whole universe. That brought on a lot of questions and possibilities. If they didn't have their powers, then what about the other children born like them? Were they even born? Then about the people they affected? Would the living be dead? Would the dead be revived?
"You know a trip to the library doesn't sound that bad." They agreed.
2 days, 9 hours, and 12 minutes since the reset.
"We're here to speak to Detective Patch. Is she in?" Diego was almost embarrassed that Five was doing the talking. Whenever a child walked into a police station it caught everyone's attention. Five wished that it wasn't so but it was. And he hated it with every fiber of his being. But given that his task was to find out anything about Meritech, he tried to put on a calm persona.
And back came Diego's nerves as they waited in Patch's office. This time it was mainly because of Five jittering his foot in his seat. The two of them preparing themselves for the arson case that they were going to be faced with. Both of them scared that the results weren't going to favourable. But Patch did say that no one was hurt in the fire. That was their only saving grace from a full blown panic.
"Five, no matter what happens, no matter what Patch says, it doesn't mean that Cie-"
"I know." He didn't need Diego to finish that sentence. Even if Patch couldn't help, that didn't mean that she was truly gone. He had to believe in that. "Just don't do anything stupid to get us arrested."
"Hey!"
"Diego?" Patch finally made her appearance making the two of them stand up to greet her.
"Patch! Detective Patch I mean. Sorry. Um. This is my brother Five. I think he can help you figure out a bit more about the M- m- meritech fire."
"I thought you said that she was your brother's girlfriend who was a worker?" She clearly looked up and down the young boy with doubt.
"Not- not this brother. I have 5 brothers. He- Five is- he's- he was free today to meet you."
"So you brought your teenage brother to discuss a possible arson case? Instead of the actual worker or significant other that we wanted the contact information of?"
Five slightly pushed Diego away. "The worker that we're talking about is missing. We don't know how we can contact her but we think this might be a clue. Is there anything that you can tell us?"
She sighed. This case was just getting more and more complicated but she couldn't turn down the poor boy's request. Not that there was a lot this little kid could do in her eyes. "You're awfully mature for your age."
"I get that a lot."
"Okay. Fine. There's honestly not a lot of information there. We believe arson given the lack of possible fire starters in the area but we haven't found any traces of malice practice. It's almost as if the building itself just exploded. But if a worker is missing, we can try to find her and see if there's any connections. Can you tell me her name and description?"
"Cielo Cavallone. Born February 29, 1988 of mainly Italian descent. She's around 5 feet, 6 inches, brown hair usually keeping it short, matching eye colour, relatively pretty fit but not very coordinated. She is typically seen in formal clothing but it's never well kept. She has a very keen eye for things so if you see her, it'll be good to watch your words and actions as she has a pretty bad tendency to overreact if you rub her the wrong way."
"Wow that's all good information to know about, kid. Okay, so when was the last time you guys saw her? Or had contact with her?" She jotted down everything in her notepad.
"3 days ago. She was at our brother's wedding but left early due to her exhaustion."
"Is there a missing person report on her already?"
"No. We didn't think that it would be needed. That we can find her ourselves. But if this relates to anything about that fire, she might be in danger."
"Danger from what?"
"Sir Reginald Hargreeves." Five didn't hesitate to tell her the truth. Though he didn't think highly of police authority, this one was an exception based on Diego's opinion of her. Even through their short conversation right now he can tell how sharp she was. And if he could get some legal help in cornering their dad, that would be a bonus.
"Hargreeves? The most powerful businessman in the city? Or even the world? He could be the cause of a prosthetist going missing and the burning of her work place?"
"We never were fans of the man." Patch didn't know how to refute that. She never liked the businessman but she didn't think he would go through such extreme measures for whatever goal. Little did she know what he was capable of.
"If you truly believe Sir Reginald Hargreeves to be guilty you're going to need to provide some major evidence. Not just that you don't like him. I can help you file your missing person report but that's as far as I can do. Any more information given about the fire will be given to the owner of Meritech. I'm sorry but any theories can be brought up with reason later."
Five shook his head. "It's fine. I understand."
Diego awkwardly stuffed his hands back in his pockets, not knowing how to comfort his brother. "Thanks Pa- Detective Patch. I'll take him back home now."
"Your welcome. I'll, maybe, see you around."
"Y-yeah." Five took the hint of the conversation ending to take his leave. With his own two feet rather than blinking out like he wanted.
Outside the police station, he aggressively rubbed his face. He tried to relax himself so that he could figure out what to do next. But the fact that their dad's name was everywhere made it hard to calm down. To everyone in this city, he was untouchable. Even if the police were to try questioning him about Cielo's disappearance, they wouldn't be a match for him. The only person that would actually try to fight back against was her. And look where she was now.
"Hey Five. I'm sorry that Patch couldn't help out more. She's always been a stickler for the rules. But she will try to look into dad and if he has done anything. I mean, how could he have this kind of empire without dirtying his hands a little?"
"He reset the universe. He could have done anything he wanted and no one is any the wiser."
"Except for us. For how smart dad is, he clearly didn't cover the fact that we're here and know his secret. Let's stop by Griddy's and we'll talk things over. Make a new plan."
"Griddy's doughnuts doesn't exist in this universe! We don't know anything about what happened here. We don't know anything about what dad planned for us, the Sparrows, Oblivion, this universe, nothing. Over 50 years I tried to understand him. This- us living is a mercy. Not an opportunity to get into that sick twisted mind."
"So you're just going to let dad win?"
"He already won the moment I tried to save the world instead of listening to her. You can try being a hero, vigilant, police, whatever. I'm done trying to bargain with the old man." When Five wasn't shouting commands at their family, Diego saw how small his brother was. The first thing that came to mind was a joke disguised by an insult. He couldn't bring himself to say it in this moment.
Instead he just let his lost, broken brother walk away. Fuck, sometimes he felt like a real jackass to his family.
Inside the police station, Patch stood starring at the door. Shaking her head, she tried to focus back on her work when she noticed her notepad in hand. The pages already flipped open to one about a Cielo Cavallone. She read through the few sentences. This was all written in her handwriting but the name didn't sound familiar. Why would she note down all these things about a stranger?
"Detective?" A knock came to snap her out of things. "Sorry, was I interrupting something?"
"No, I was just... was there anyone in my office just now?"
"Not that I'm aware of? Is everything okay?"
She shook her head again. "Yeah I just lost my train of thought. Sorry, what's up?"
"Unknown explosion at the Icarus theatre. Whole roof collapsed down."
"Explosion? In broad daylight? Any eye witnesses?"
"None. It was like any other day. People were making their way without a care. Next thing they know, boom."
"Alright I'll check that out right away. Hey, can you do me a favour though?" She ripped out the note with all of Cielo's information. "My brain is honestly all over the place right now and I can't remember which case this person belongs to. Can you just look them up?"
"Of course." They took the note. "Meritech? How about you stop by there yourself? It shouldn't be too far from the Icarus theatre."
"Good idea. I'll check it out later." She patted them on the shoulder before heading out.
The worker, unconsciously, tucking the note into their pile of folders. Both of them completely forgetting about it the moment they stepped out her office.
3 days, 23 hours, and 12 minutes since the reset.
The disgusting piss smell mixed with the sticky beer cement ground strangely resonated with Klaus the moment he stood outside the Mothers of Agony's home base. It wasn't a welcoming environment but it was one he was used to. The first thing he was familiar with in this universe.
It was strange. Along with the universe, it seemed that their bodies had reset the same. Not just in removing their powers but any damage done to them. Klaus felt it the moment he stepped out of the elevator. His body was flushed of any drugs. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this clean. His mind silent with only his own voice and nothing coursing through his veins. It was all very strange. And when things were normal, he didn't feel comfortable.
He had told Luther that he had wanted to go sober but technically he already was. So what was his goal then? Physically he knew that he was fine. Logically there was no reason to resort to drugs again. Then why was he standing here again the moment they left him alone?
He continued to stand there. Watching the low, blinking lights try to lure him in. Multiple druggies passed by him. He used to be one of them. He still considered himself to be like them. The way they looked at him expected him to be like them. But what was different between him and them?
"Hey man." Someone gave a light push on Klaus's shoulder. "Ya' got a light?"
"Nah man sorry." He was lying. He always had one on him. But if he smelled anything being lit in his face right now, he would crack.
Klaus didn't want to crack.
The druggie groaned but went inside without a word more. How Klaus wished that was him. He took out the lighter from his pocket and fidgeted it in between his fingers. See, lying was still okay for him. That part of him hadn't changed. The memorized path to this place was still here. What changed that he couldn't step inside?
"Fuck this shit." Klaus pushed open the doors. Walking in as he had done a thousands times and a timeline ago.
No one batted their eyes as he started to push his way through the crowd. Obnoxious music blasting into his ear drums. Lights flashed off beat. Bodies pressed all over his. Whether it was on purpose or from their own respective high states, he didn't care. He just kept pushing through. Like always.
Getting to a burly security guard, Klaus looked them dead in the eyes. "Take me back there."
He got the normal once look over to check if Klaus was in any way a cop. The mix of almost homelessness and years lacking in self care couldn't be an act by the best of actors. So he was taken to a back room where all deals happened away from any wondering eyes.
Different universe, same bullshit all the time. Sat down with water that wasn't solely water, Klaus was with the ever welcoming Quinn. The leader of this lovely establishment. He smiled at the new customer. Klaus knew that look. He had already been on the receiving end of that eagerness to get another civilian hooked on their substances before.
"Name's Quinn. Can I ask yours?"
"I'm Klaus."
"A fine name for a fine gentleman such as yourself. Now, what can I help you with today Klaus?"
He didn't know. Quinn used to have everything that Klaus wanted. Drugs, money, self confidence. The man used to be a saviour when he went through withdrawal. With a sober mind, he took in the reason why Quinn appeared so trustworthy was because of how different they were. He didn't have the same dead eyes as those dancing in the club. He was free of the damage he sold to people like Klaus.
"Why do you sell drugs?" The question came so straightforward that it set Quinn a bit on the edge.
"Saying it like that makes it sound so bad. If you think about it anything can be a counted a drug if you consume too much of it."
"Okay but you sell drugs. Hard drugs. Consistently. And you always had an eye for the people that would fall for your lies. How? Why?" Klaus stood up, pacing back and forth in front of him. "Was it the way I looked? Did you know about me from the academy? Why me? Why do I crave drugs when I know I shouldn't?"
Now, Quinn had been exposed to his fair share of crazies. That meant that when one started ranting it could be both good or bad. Good because they were already hooked and would sink deeper if he wanted. Bad because it could result in the death of a customer. It was always the best play to go along with their imagination. Thing was, he had no idea who Klaus was to be able to reason with him.
"Customers come and go all the time. They are the ones seeking me. Not the other way around."
"And you take pride in that? The weak, vulnerable people that just want some peace and calm. Those are the people that you should be helping. Not making them worse! You're just a bully at this point."
"I prefer to call myself a businessman and I can offer you anything to make you stop those questions swimming in your head. On the house this first time." A small clear bag was thrown into his direction. His reflex making him catch it. He had no idea how he managed to get swindled all this time by a terrible man like him.
"Then all those times you looked at people like me, you never once felt guilt? It was just business. Life is undeniably precious and you choose to waste it... hurting others. Because no matter the universe, you hurt people. No matter the sacrifices made to save this world, what's the point if we're saving horrible people like you? Saving people that don't even want to live."
"Damn man, don't just come into my place asking all these lame questions. Saving the world? Please. The world isn't ending any time soon even if those freaks outside believe it will. There's a reason why so many of those people are high out of their minds right now. It's to shut up that dread we all face. It's the closest thing we got to death." The mention of death triggered something in Klaus. These people don't get it. He didn't get it until recently.
"Do you know what it's like to die? Really die?! It feels of nothing. You go around your whole life wondering why your dad pushed you as hard as he could. Forcing yourself to confront ghosts that only demand your body as a tool just the same as him. And you know what greets you when you get the sweet release that so many people hope to be the end?! Nothing! Just a little girl on a bike with a pinwheel that doesn't even say hello as if she's all high mighty to not to talk to a lousy junkie. There's no meaning in life, no place for freaks like us to live, and no reason why I need to try to continue living. And dying. And living. No reason."
But he had seen it. Ghosts crying that they wanted one last chance. Ben's constant desire to try living through him. Death was meant to be irreversible. The grief in both the living and dead was irreversible. To live didn't mean to die in the end.
The little bag slipped through his fingers. There was no reason to continue living in his mind. Just as equally, there was no reason to suffer and make the same mistakes as he did before. He didn't have a reason to value himself. But there was a reason why Ben and all those ghosts tried to live again. There was a reason why his family hugged him so tightly each time they saw rise from the dead. He loved those hugs. Those were stronger than any drug he could ever experience.
"I want to go home."
Luther and Viktor were in the living room when Klaus came back. They stopped their conversation seeing him. He knocked lightly once on the wall before slithering his way to sit in between them. No words were exchanged. Viktor just grabbed one of the spare blankets and draped it around him. Neither commented on the alcohol smell coming off his jacket. Klaus really appreciated it.
"Can we get doughnuts from Griddy's tomorrow?" He whispered as he started to dozy off.
"Sure Klaus. We can try those vegan doughnuts that I saw today."
"Vegan doughnuts?"
"Yeah but I only saw them for a second since I was in the area to check if Cielo was around Meritech."
"That's a good idea. If we can find something about Cielo, Five would relax a bit." Klaus barely could keep his eyes open for their conversation. He was glad he didn't take the bag when given that chance. The blanket was so warm. His brothers were warmer. It was in their presence that his body felt so light that it was almost like he was floating.
4 days, 19 hours, and 49 minutes since the reset.
Ben never thought he would see the day that the Sparrows fell. That wasn't technically right. They were just gone. Never had existed as far as he could tell. The once hero was huddled in a corner of the park with nothing in his pockets. The few bills that he did carry around for the fun of it didn't last too long.
It was times like this that he missed Sloane's cautious yet prepared mindset. If only Marcus and Fei could see how far he had fallen. They would have had a circus with it. Jayme would offer him food with a condition of repayment in a mocking fashion. Christopher wouldn't have been any better as curiosity would have brought on a thousand questions about the situation. Alphonso being the only one to just laugh and not say anything in the background.
They were always so annoying when they were alive. They were all stuck together by the glue called expectations. He never thought that he would miss them.
Taking out Christopher's letters, he contemplating when would be the right time to read them. Now before his malnutrition, shivering death? He didn't know what he was waiting for. No one could tell him to read them. Cielo was the only one that knew they existed. It just had to be when he was ready. He wasn't ready yet. Maybe he'll never be.
Cielo told him that she admired his ability to make a decision. He couldn't do it now. She was the one that placed the letters in his hand. If she never spoke to him at the party, gotten involved with the Sparrows at all, maybe there was a chance that some of them would have been saved. He wanted to blame everything on her. It was easier this way.
Their dad's bust stood in the middle of the park. He thought that if he returned here, he would find some kind of clue. He would find the answer to not only how to get their powers back but to return everything back to normal. His normal.
Instead, he was alone.
He pushed himself off the ground to stare down the bust. "Is that what you wanted? This is your perfect utopia without your kids. I should have known when you abandoned the Umbrellas for us. I just thought that it was because they were imbeciles. Turns out you were just a fucking heartless monster that did whatever it took to get your name on some city buildings."
Ben refused to cry. He was better than this. He had to better than to cry by himself in the middle of the park at night. They could take his powers, fame, money, home, family, but he refused to let go of his pride. It was the only thing he had left.
More than he hated the Umbrellas, he was starting to hate his father. His hand landed on that stupid monocle. If he still had tentacles he would have destroyed the whole thing. His whole body pushes weren't doing anything but make him more upset.
"Fucking hell dad! Come face me like a man! You raised us to fight against the end of the world! I was by your side when they weren't! You needed me to activate that machine! You needed us! And yet you let everyone die!" He didn't cry. "I let everyone die."
Many people looked over to Ben shouting like a madman. Not many looked for long. Only 3 kept their gaze. This was the first time they've seen this side of the Sparrow. While the Sparrows looked so well knitted together, they weren't too different than the Umbrellas.
"Should we say something?" Luther asked.
"What would we even say to him?" Klaus shook his head at Viktor's question. That raging man wasn't their sweet brother. That image of him was smashed the moment they saw his emo hair and wearing a Sparrow uniform.
"We can't just leave him though."
Luther was the first one to step forward. Grabbing his hand before he could give another punch to the stone. Ben, snapped out of his anger, was starting to feel the pain coming from his bloody hands. Heavily breathing, he took a step back to see the Umbrellas watching him. "What the fuck do you guys want?"
"We... we want to talk. Are you okay?"
"Okay? Am I okay? Are any of you okay?! Our dad betrayed us and your sister helped him! Now we're stuck in this mess! You fucking idiots don't see how everything is okay?!"
This was the first time they've ever seen Ben so upset. It completely shut them up.
"It doesn't mean that we don't want to help you. We can... you can come back to the academy? At least get out of the streets. We have some food. We just got a bunch of blankets for beds too."
He scoffed. "If you really want my presence that badly then you'll have to drag me back there. Just leave me alone."
He pushed Luther's hand off him and walked away. None of them trying to stop him. "Maybe we should have offered him some doughnuts?"
Ben bit down his lip, holding his hands close to his body. This world was a punishment. He let the world die and his siblings with it. It would have been better if it had taken him out as well. No amount of punching a stone resemblance of his traitorous father would satisfy him. He needed to do it to the real thing. But even that wouldn't help bring back everything that he lost.
Forcing open the back window to Icarus theatre, Ben shimmed his way in. This had been his makeshift home for the time being. It was almost better than the academy given that the auditorium seats were surprisingly comfy to lie on. Overall the maintenance of the whole building was better as well. The only downside being that he had to be out during the day when people came in to work. And the occasional hiding in tight spaces during late night security checks.
After running his hands under some water, he laid on the stage. His head a bit clearer now that he was away from the Umbrellas and his dad's statue. Something about this place felt right. Like he had been here before. That something was going to happen here. There had to be a reason why he was so attracted to stay here.
Strange enough, Ben questioned why he never noticed the hole in the roof letting the moonlight shine through.
5 days, 15 hours, and 55 minutes since the reset.
Five slowly walked around his room. A pencil in hand. His walls were barren. Nothing was coming to mind. Meritech Prosthetics was burned down. Griddy's doughnuts was replaced. Her apartment was occupied by a random person. Hospitals tried to admit him into a psych ward. Every stop mentioned by Lila was a dud. Nothing helped to find her.
He kept replaying all his memories with her. She spoke so many riddles that he was only scrapping the surface to figure out what each meant. There had to have been something he missed.
"Don't save me." That was the only thing he could think of.
One of her last wishes. Passed her death he wanted to go against her. Maybe that was the reason he could never stop. He was never satisfied. His arrogance made him jump to the apocalyptic future. His desperation made his family and Cielo get involved. His obsession ruined all their lives. And still he couldn't let her die in peace.
He picked up her watch from the blankets that acted like a bed. Her watch wasn't meant to be worn by him. He smiled remembering how brightly she showed off buying it. What was meant to be a accessory forced upon her by pushy salespeople turned out to be so much more. Everything about her turned out to be so much more.
It didn't matter if she knew she was supposed to die. If that was what Time had written for her fate, then he would change it. He had already set his sights on that goal a long time ago. But its was a lot harder this time when it felt like everything he worked for was reduced back to zero.
"Five?" Viktor's voice from outside his door stopped his slow pacing. "Five I know you're in there. You didn't eat last night."
"You don't know that."
"We have a limit on how much person can eat with our budget. We can tell when someone doesn't eat."
"So give the extra to Luther. I'm busy."
He could hear him sigh through the thin walls. "Fine. You give us no choice. Luther. Klaus."
Next thing he knew, the damaged door lock was picked open and Luther grabbed him off the floor. The small child body having no chance against the naturally built adult Luther. "Don't fight it buddy. Hey we even got you doughnuts yesterday so they're only a little stale."
"I don't need doughnuts! I need to get back to finding Cielo!"
"She probably loved doughnuts too!" Klaus skipped ahead to grab the half eaten box. Luther plopping his older brother down in the short plastic stool. His larger body stopping Five from running off the moment he was released.
"None of that Five. You need to eat."
"And you need to mind your own business Luther. I may not be able to blink but you can't hold me here."
"You know, you're a lot cuter now that you lost your powers. Easier to control." Five almost bit his hand that tried to pet his head. "I take it back. Damn I don't know what Cielo saw in you."
"I can say the same about Sloane."
"You-" This time Diego stepped in between them.
"Stop Five. They were just trying to help you." The two separated. All of them taking up a small space in the 'dinning room' to sit down.
"Unless you can summon some all knowing being to answer all our questions then I don't need any of your help."
"Well we can't do that but we can help looking for Cielo. Broaden our search than just where she liked to hang out."
He mumbled curses under his breath, grabbing a stale doughnut. The box's pink sticker catching his eye. Griddy's doughnuts. He raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get these?"
"Griddy's. Glad that dad didn't think to get rid of that."
Griddy's Doughnuts was one of the first places that Five and Lila had checked. They didn't even get a chance to see if Agnes had existed because it had been replaced by a restaurant. Had they seen it wrong? Got the address mixed up? Something wasn't sitting right.
"Hey Five, have you asked any Meritech workers if there's another lab she could be working at? Or if there was someone that physically resembled her? Maybe I can ask since you may scare them away with your attitude." Viktor asked to return back to the main conversation.
"Doesn't matter. Meritech was a bust. The police even went as far as to block off the premises to investigate the crime scene."
"Crime scene? They didn't block off anything when we passed by it last night? It looked fine."
Five and Diego looked at each other. They had both went there to check out the burnt down building. They had people like Patch and other officers to back this up. But the same could be said about the doughnuts sitting in a very clearly labelled box. They may fight as siblings but this kind of lying was not like either side. So who was right? They both were.
"Uhhh guys? Was that portrait there before?" Klaus drew their attention to above the fireplace.
A never before seen portrait was hanging in the mantle. Not one of Five. Not one of Sparrow Ben. But a mix of the two. Split straight down the middle, the two portraits from their past combined to create an ominous message about the universe.
"Okay, that's straight up creepy. What is happening here?"
"Griddy's doughnuts and Meritech Prosthetics. You guys have managed to visit places from our timeline that I was sure didn't exist here."
"What does that mean?"
He roughly sunk his teeth into the dry doughnut. "From the sounds of it stuff from our timeline are disappearing and reappearing in this universe. That portrait being physical proof that everything is mixing together in a way blender type of concoction."
"Is this another grandmother paradox or something that we're not understanding?" The other siblings kept shaking their heads to show that no one understood what Five was talking about. If it wasn't for that terrifying portrait staring them down, they would have completely disregarded any crazy talks he conjured up.
"It's not a paradox. It's an effect." Lila started. "Could be the Mandela Effect? While normally very harmless and possible due to small changes in the timelines, I've never heard of it removing and changing buildings before. Or taking artistic value of people's death paintings."
"Maybe that's because the universe hadn't been reset before. We don't know the effects that can happen when two or more timelines merge into one. Today it's buildings and portraits. Tomorrow it can be people. Or worse. Given our luck, I think I can already tell where this is going." They looked at Five. They knew that stressed tone of his.
"Don't say it Five. Please don't."
"The world is ending again. Shocking."
The air became heavy. Out of all the things that their dad didn't change, this had to be one of them.
"I'm going to Meritech."
"No you're not Diego." The commanding tone making him stop. He always hated that his brother was so bossy. Even when they were kids Five thought he was better than them. But he just as confused as they were. He didn't have the right to command them like he was the leader. They were never truly a team to begin with.
"Yes I am. We saw things wrong. This world... nothing is wrong. No academies of traumatized kids. No deaths of innocent people that were too good for this world." He looked at Lila's stomach. "This world is perfectly fine for everyone."
"Diego timelines merging can be dangerous. There's no guarantee that even we won't change suddenly. And the fact that no civilians are panicking over changes is a sign that only we can do something."
"Why do we have to do anything about this? Ever hear of the third times the charm? We failed. We don't even have our powers anymore. Saving the world isn't our job anymore. It never should have been our job!"
He hated that all the eyes were on him to answer. He didn't have any answers. He never did. He knew that better than they did.
Motivational words weren't his style. He had tried and failed multiple times to get his family to rally together to save the world. Nothing he said reached them. They weren't even superheroes any more. The only thing separating them from the rest of the population was just simply the knowledge of the world ending. They couldn't do anything with that. As Diego said, they tried 3 times before. He, himself, had given up in the last timeline. He wanted to be free of these responsibilities.
"You're right. This never should have been on us. Dad told us when we were young that that was our role and it turned out to be a lie. Everything that he taught us about family, the outside world, about each other, and ourselves, it was all lies. I don't have an answer as to what we need to do. All I do know is that..."
His one constant was all he knew. If she were here she could convince them to save the world again. She would hold his hand as he opened up to his family. But she wasn't here. He couldn't do anything alone. He knew that.
"Five?" When he didn't continue, Viktor slowly placed a hand on his shoulder. That's when they saw his eyes dimmed with no emotion behind them. No anger for his siblings not listening to him. No sadness that they were going to, possibly, die again. No tired show of his old age. There was nothing behind him.
"This is the world you all live in. She lives here. I want to protect the world that holds any form of the people I let down so many times. That's been my reason for living even though I should have been the one to die." It was her. That's the answer that he was looking for.
Viktor's hand flinched away at his hollow delivery of such heavy words. Even when Five told him in private that the first apocalypse was coming, he didn't look this defeated. But these were his honest feelings. This was the first time they've ever seen him speak honestly without crude remarks. He was just as broken as them.
None of them had to question who she was. This was her influence. Through all the apocalypse, in addition to the possibility of returning to his family, it was the mystery of who the woman that visited him in 2002 that further pushed him to finding the answers he needed. It was her that was there for him. Somewhere in this world and even in a place of no time and space, she existed. He needed to protect a world for her to return to him.
Lila was the first one to approach him. She pinched his cheek hard, practically yanking the void longing off his face. Before anyone could yell at her for her rude actions, they saw that she was crying on their behalf.
"You little shit... Cielo... she... why are you making that kind of face when all she wanted was for you to be happy?" He pulled back, holding his face with a sore cheek. "You have no idea how many hours she dedicated to fixing your messes. How worried she was for you and your family. The amount of times she forced herself to suck up all of Commission bluntly hating on her for being Carmichael's replacement. She fought day in and day out with a smile on her face while you become this lifeless boy when talking about her? It's disgusting."
"Lila-"
"But you're not the only one that misses her." She took a breath in. "She was a nosy Commission head that believed too much in people. Including me. I miss her too."
He raised an arm to cover his eyes. He couldn't look into Lila's tear filled eyes. In that moment, big, bulky arms wrapped around him. Even without his ape structure it was pretty easy to determine who was hugging him. "Let me go Luther."
"I miss Sloane just like you miss Cielo. During our time in the afterlife, she made me open my eyes to how I treated everyone. She cried the most at the wedding."
Another pair of arms came from behind. "I miss Sissy and Harlan the same. Cielo was the only one that stood up for Harlan when he killed the Sparrows. She even checked up on me after dad's memorial."
There was a pat on his back. "Cielo was a weirdo but it always came from a good place. She was looking out for all of us. All of us."
Suddenly an entire body weight threw the family onto the ground. "I miss Cielo too! She was the only person that talked to me about Dave. The only person that listened to me. I miss her so much!"
Lila chuckled seeing all the boys trying to push each other around on the floor. The teary mess with entangled limbs having their eldest in the middle; a small smile on his face. Klaus was crying the hardest, burying his face into the dirty suit. He was blubbering reassuring words to his brothers as if he wasn't the biggest mess of tears within the bunch.
Now she understood why Cielo always said that she loved to watch people. Placing a hand on her stomach, she remembered how Cielo was so determined to save the world for the sake of others. How she loved to compliment people on the tiniest of things. She was always watching people through the ISB, admiring that this was the work that Commission was trying to uphold.
Lila thought it silly. But watching these grown men joke with one another on the floor made her tears disappear. Through this small moment she saw how unbreakable the Umbrella bond was despite all their bickering. It was heartwarming in their own little way. This was the family that her little one was going to join. How she wished Cielo was here to watch how her efforts resulted in the way she wanted. Her actions, though it seemed small and useless at the time, allowed for Five to open up to his siblings even in the slightest bit.
Five didn't truly know it but Cielo did love him. Lila saw it and heard it so many times. It was honestly disgustingly cute how they got along. If Lila could choose anyone to be with her best friend it wouldn't be that stuck old man. But with Cielo he became just a tiny bit more tolerable. He almost seemed normal surrounded by his loving brothers now.
"Alright alright boys, break it up we still have a world to save. If you are all still up for the challenge?" They stopped crying and laughing to look at each other.
"The old man is on his knees begging, we might as well." Five pushed Luther again but with no real power behind it. Though the effect that his brothers' hugs gave settled him down a bit, he was still too lost to fully be at calm.
"Thank you. I don't know what will happen next but thank you."
"Yeah don't get too mushy on us. Save that when we save the world and find Cielo." Diego roughly scrambled his hair as he got up. He loudly clapped his hands together to hype himself up. "Okay so we're doing this. Hands in, Team Zero is a go! Whoop!"
They cringed at the team name that he had been so insistent on. "Yeah, no."
Lila patted him on the back as they all dispersed onto the old couches. "You tried sweetie. Let it go."
"Wha-" his shoulders slumped. Going to join the others.
Five did have to continue prying Klaus off of him, eventually settling for the two to sit next to each other. Luther sat on the arm rest next to them while the couple sat on the other couch. Viktor being the only one standing took the to the center of them all.
"If I can say something while we're all in the sappy mood. I think we should find Ben. Sparrow Ben." There were boo's all around. "Look I get it. Compared to our Ben, the guy's an asshole. But some of us saw him yesterday. He's in the same boat as all of us. If the world is trying to end itself again, we can't do it without him."
Yes, in a way, they knew that Viktor was right. Ben was only a different version on their brother. Technically he was already their brother in law because of Sloane and Luther's marriage. And he was one of the few in this world that could see the timelines overlapping. He truly was in the same predicament that they all were in that they couldn't leave him alone. No matter how much they found him annoying.
Out of instinct, they looked at Five to be the deciding factor. He placed a hand over Cielo's watch; the same habit that she did whenever she had to make a decision. "Don't blindly hate. Be it Umbrella or Sparrow. All those born of unusual means, those that suffered a fate forced upon them. This is the promise that I made to Cielo. We do this with Ben."
This triggered another attack hug from Klaus that he allowed. Glancing around the room, he was reminded of their time at the Super Star Lanes. How it was her words that brought everyone to put aside their differences to work towards one common goal. She always did say that she loved to see them together as a family. He knew that was her truth.
"Alright! Then let's go get that loser!"
6 days, 23 hours and 48 minutes since the reset.
"Put me down! Fight me one to one you cowards!" Ben shouted as he struggled to pull his limbs out of Luther's and Diego's hold. After they had found the Sparrow alone on the streets, again, it wasn't hard to grab the poor weakened man off his feet. His two kidnappers choose to hold him like a living gurney than give him any class. Luckily the whole situation was weird enough that no onlookers wanted to comment on it.
"Someone get the doors." Everyone was tired of the man's screaming by the time they reached the academy.
The moment they stepped through the gates, Ben's body went limp. The action startled the two that they almost dropped him. They should have when he let out a fart that they all cringed at. "Why the fuck is it so hot in here? Have you idiots never heard of getting a fan? At least let me go to the bathroom before you try your sad attempts at threatening me."
Five raised an eyebrow at his sudden change in tone of shouting and resisting to being defeated. Tossing the man onto the couch, the family started to show more concern in his awful condition. They had no idea what he went through alone in the streets but it didn't look good. Or smell good.
"Relax Benny. We're not going to threaten you. We just thought that we should get the family together to save the world again!"
"Fuck off." He scratched the back of his neck, while wiping some sweat off.
Klaus slightly deflated. "Yeah I should have expected that from you. Come on Five, start crying to make him feel bad."
"I wasn't crying before." He took one look at the Sparrow. He didn't say anything as he grabbed Ben's face to further examine those crazed eyes. "Lila, come look at him for a second."
"I'm not a nurse." She still crouched down next to him. At first, she didn't know why he was reacting this way when she saw Ben scratching his arms again. He was scratching and sweating a lot. The moment he had been brought in he had complained about needing a drink or using the washroom. Even farting as they were examining him. These were all symptoms that they were warned about time and time again.
"Is something wrong with him?" The two nodded at each other. Five grabbed at his arms to try dragging him somewhere else.
"We need to move him out of here fast. He's experiencing Paradox psychosis." Luther was the quickest to react to grab him back into his arms. Pausing only out of confusion on where it would be safe to go. Having been on the receiving end of the craziness, he couldn't have that experience repeating here.
"How is that even possible?"
"I don't know but we can figure that out later. We need to move him anywhere but here."
"Wait what's happening? Is this another timeline thing attacking him?"
"Worse. It's himself."
6 days, 23 hours, and 59 minutes since the reset.
A knock echoed out in the academy. Followed soon after by the sound of the old door dragging open. Again, they mentally counted who was here and meant to be here. Deciding to deal with their guest, Luther put Ben down in the corner of the room. Klaus quickly threw a blanket over him and tied him as tightly as the fabric could hold him. Which wasn't too hard given his state. As a group, they all silently made their way to the door with Klaus staying behind with the weak Ben.
As an old habit Luther stood in front of the group. Diego slightly pulled Lila behind him. Viktor and Five standing side by side as the ones to help assess the situation but still being extremely cautious without either of their powers.
Their recently brought dollar store lanterns barely illuminated the hall to the entrance but they could make out enough to see the intruder. Upon seeing their guest their concern flipped to anger. Before they could start a screaming match, Viktor moved to stand in front.
7 days, 0 hours, and 2 minutes since the reset.
"Allison?" She held her head low. Before falling to the floor in a crying sob on her knees.
"Please. Please, you guys are my only hope. Please help them."