Chapter Two: Guess Who’s Back

17 YEARS AGO

PEOPLE STOOD AROUND THE BLOCKED OFF ENTRANCE to the Capital West Bank. Police vehicles, news vans, and cameras littered the outside of the bank in organized chaos. "In five, four, three, two This is Jim Hellerman," a reporter started as he stood in front of a camera. "Reporting live for Channel 2 News outside of the Capital West bank at Main and Sixth. A group of heavily armed men stormed the bank not three hours ago and took an unknown number of hostages."

As the large group of onlookers waited anxiously to see some sort of sign from inside the bank, it was chaos inside. There was a large number of hostages inside and nobody was certain what would happen to them if the robbers didn't get what they demanded.

"Hey, get them behind the counter!" The man who seemed like the leader of the group of robbers shouted out the order to the others as he held a large phone. He pulled the phone to himself and spoke to the police who were on the other side of the line. "Now you've put me in a position where I gotta do something I don't want to do. Hmm?" He hung up on the phone and shouted in frustration, "Shit!" A young African-American girl in a school uniform skipped up towards the man. What was quite strange was that she was also wearing a domino mask on her face. The robber's eyebrows furrowed when he saw the girl and he scowled. "Hey, get back with the others."

She turned to him with a mischievous smile, "I heard a rumor."

"What?" His eyebrows were furrowed as he stared at the young girl in annoyance. "What did you say?"

Allison leaned in closer to him as he leaned down to hear her better. She placed her hand over her mouth as if she was telling him a secret and spoke to him right in his ear. "I heard a rumor that you shot your friend in the foot." The robber lost the scowl on his face as he became dazed and his eyes became hazy. He lost all coherent thought as Allison's words were the only thing he could hear. He turned to another one of his masked buddies and raised his gun.

"Hey, dude." the other robber said as he noticed his partner pointed his gun at him. "What the hell?" With the dazed look still on his face, the man who had his gun raised pulled the trigger and allowed himself to just as Allison said.

Outside, people cringed and ducted at the sound of the shots. Police officers grew anxious at the sound and were nervous about getting inside. "We just heard shots from inside the bank." The same Channel 2 News reporter, Jim, said after the shots. "It's uncertain if any hostages have been harmed in that."

"Up there!" Someone shouted as they pointed towards the roof of the bank. Everyone stared at the figure that scurried across the top of the bank.

"There's some movement on the roof." Jim reported, "possibly law enforcement."

Luther came crashing down through the glass roof and landed right on top of another robber. Using his super strength he bashed the robber's head into the counter before throwing him across the room. The robber screamed as he was thrown from the bank and out of the window like a baseball.

Everyone outside jumped at the appearance of the robber and turned to the now unconscious man on the ground in shock. "Looks like one of the armed robbers has been thrown from the bank." How that could have happened, they weren't sure. However, something strange was most certainly happening inside the bank

"Guns are for sissies," Diego shouted as he came running into the room with his two long silver daggers held in his hand. "Real men throw knives." He threw the dagger in the direction of the leader of the band of robbers only for them to curve mid-air and impale another goon.

A small blonde girl came walking into the room as a robber tried to hold back the hostages. She turned towards the man who held up his AK in her direction and stopped a few feet in front of him. "Can you let those people go, mister." Her voice was soft and sweet like honey as her lips were pulled back in a wide smile.

The robber sneered at her as he knew that this little girl would be just like those other kids. "Get back, girl! Before I kill you!" The hostages with duct tape on their mouths and wrists all cowered at his shouts.

The young girl tilted her head and allowed her long hair to sway slightly. "That wasn't nice." The robber didn't care whether it was nice or not. He also didn't care about whether it was morally right to shoot a little girl who appeared to pose no threat. However, these robbers most certainly didn't know all too much about morals. He pulled the trigger of his gun to shoot the small girl only to find that she had moved out of the way with killer speed. The girl tutted and shook her head as the wind whipped around her and caused her hair to sway wildly. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to shoot people?"

The robber shouted in frustration and pulled the trigger again only for the blonde to move at lightning speeds to avoid the bullets. With a speed that could only be dreamed of, the young girl ripped the gun from the man's hands and whacked him across the face with it before he even knew what was happening. He fell to the ground with a thud as he was now unconscious.

She cringed at the sight of the criminal on the ground who would have a nasty bruise on his face from her hit. "Sorry, mister robber." The hostages then watched the girl as she turned to them with a wide smile. In only a few seconds flat, each and every one of them had the duct tape binding their wrists and covering their mouths ripped off of them. The girl yelped happily as she threw down the wad of duct tape onto the ground. "You guys are okay now!"

Jim turned to the camera and addressed the audience to the news show once again. "I've been in many hostage situations, like this," he told the camera, "and it can escalate very quickly."

The ringleader climbed the counter in the middle of the room with his gun pointed at the kids in front of him, fearfully. The hostages watched the strange sight. It wasn't every day that you see an adult man with a gun frightened of a group of children. "Get back, you freaks."

"Hey, be careful up there, buddy," Diego called out mockingly as the man backed away from them on the counter.

"Get back now!"

Allison joined in on the taunting, "wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Suddenly, a boy popped out of nowhere and sitting right behind the man which startled him completely. "Or what?" He then disappeared once again when the man turned to shoot him. He shot multiple shots in the place where the boy once was in frustration. These kids were complete freaks! He looked around the room to see if he could find the teleporting boy only to hear a sound behind him once again. He spun around to find the school uniform-clad boy with his arms crossed. Thinking that he finally had the boy, the robber raised his gun to shoot the kid right in the chest. However, he only found out that he now held a stapler in his hand instead of his gun. The boy laughed, "that's one badass stapler!" Then he used the stapler in the man's hand to hit the robber over the head which created a large, bloody cut and the man to fall off the counter unconscious.

"Although there's been no activity for a few minutes, we're gonna stay live on location to make sure we don't miss anything in this hostage situation at the Capital West Bank."

Ben shifted from foot to foot as he looked at the other children around him in uncertainty. "Do we really have to do this?"

"Come on, Ben." Luther sighed out, "there's more guys in the vault."

Jemma appeared at his side in a blur as the wind whipped the group at her arrival. She flashed the boy a soft smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, Ben. It'll be over soon."

Ben stared at her for a moment and sighed heavily. Her smile held such promise and reassurance that he was filled with the obligation to do his part. "I didn't sign up for this." He opened the glass door and entered the vault.

Screams from the hostages who were let go filled the air as they all ran out of the bank in a panic. How could they not panic after what they've just seen? "Now we see the hostages. They- They're free." Jim observed, "they're scared, clearly, but they do seem to be unharmed."

There was also the horrified and pained screams of the other robbers who were inside of the vault. The children all gathered around the door as they waited for the final member of their team to finish up. Jemma cringed at the sight of the blood and bodies being pressed up against the glass as Ben used his power to kill them all. The inhuman sounds and screeches disturbed her slightly as she looked away from the scene.

When the screams died down and the roars of the beasts under Ben's skin diminished, the door then opened to reveal the boy. He was covered head to toe in blood as he shakily exited the room. He sighed heavily and took in a deep breath. "Can we go home now?"

Jemma's small nose crinkled up in slight disgust at the sight of her best friend covered in blood. In only a few seconds with the wind whipping around the room, Ben was cleaned up of the blood to the best of Jemma's ability. Ben sighed out in relief after being somewhat cleaned up. He flashed the blonde a small, thankful smile, "thanks, Jem."

She returned it and brushed off her slightly red hands as she grabbed his hand with a heartwarming smile and gave his hand a comforting squeeze. "No problem, Ben!"

"People are coming out now," Jim said as the seven uniform wearing children exited the bank and came to stand in a line in front of it. Jim's voice was drenched in confusion at the sight. "It's not the armed robbers. These are young schoolchildren in uniforms with masks on."

"Lower your weapon!" A police officer demanded even though the children obviously had no signs of weapons on them.

"Jim Hellerman, Channel 2 News." He said as he and the cameraman tried to get a closer look at the group in front of the bank.

There were an array of questions that were shouted at the children who only continued o stand tall and proud due to their accomplishment. One asked, "how did you get in the bank?"

"What happened inside?" Another shouted.

Across the way on a tall building, Sir Reginald Hargreeves watched the scene unfold through a telescope. He was quite satisfied with the end result of the debut for the Academy. He knew that this was the start of promising things for the team.

Next to him, a girl with brown hair also watched them. She turned to her father, "why can't I go play with the others?"

"We've been through this before, Number Seven." Reginald gruffly said as he turned to the girl. "I'm afraid there's just nothing special about you."

Vanya bowed her head in disappointment, "oh."

"Our world is changing," Reginald declared as now he stood in front of the group of children. Cameras flashed and took pictures of the proud and peculiar children behind him as he spoke. "Has changed. There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted seven such children. I give you the inaugural class of the Umbrella Academy."

Questions were shot at him quickly left and right from all of the reporters there. "Mr. Hargreeves! Mr. Hargreeves. Channel 9 News. What happened to their parents?"

Reginald looked indifferent at the question as he stood to the side of the children. "They were suitably compensated."

Another woman spoke up with another important question, "are you concerned about the welfare of the children?"

"Of course." He firmly said, "as I am for the fate of the world."

---

"Listen up, old man." Klaus said as he paced in front of the bar in the living room. The ashes of his father sat on the bar itself as he spoke to it. He was trying(and failing) to use his powers to communicate with Reginald as Luther had wanted. "You know, if I was murdered, and if one of my sons- adopted sons happened to be able to commune with the dead, I might think about, I don't know," he laughed out. "I don't know, manifesting!" He shouted out and throwing his hands up while he started to grow slightly frustrated. "Do the whole big angry ghost lecture. Tell everyone who done it, and find eternal peace."

Jemma watched the scene with a raised eyebrow as for once she wasn't sipping on a glass of alcohol. Even though she really wanted to have something to numb her mind, Klaus had forbidden it for the time being. However, thanks to her fast metabolism, her body easily burned through the alcohol and became sober quite quickly. She could guess that was one upside to her superspeed. Though if she wanted to stay drunk, it meant that she would have to constantly be drinking the liquid to keep her mind hazy.

"Eternal peace is probably overrated." She told him from her seat at the bar next to the urn of their father's ashes.

Klaus snapped his fingers at her words as he seemingly agreed with her. Klaus just about glowered at the picture of the old man and sighed. "Come on now, Reggie. Any time now. Please." Jemma found quite a lot of entertainment from watching Klaus try to use his powers. An amused smile was plastered on her face. "Just need to sober up! Clear thoughts." He hit himself on the face a few times as if that was what would sober him up. "Come on! Come on, chop-chop!" He shouted while clapping his hands impatiently. Jemma snickered as he grew even more frustrated, "you always were a stubborn bastard!" He pointed all around the room as if their father was there somewhere. He sighed and shook his head at the fact that he was getting nowhere with his powers. "I don't know about you, but I need a drink."

"I'll take one too if you don't mind," Jemma smiled sweetly only to pout when Klaus shook his head sternly. Well, as sternly as you could get when you were completely high. She stuck out her lip, "But Klaus!"

"Nope. None for you, sister!" He then reached over the counter to get what he needed to make a drink only to accidentally knock over the earn. Reginald's ashes went everywhere across the bar. Klaus gasped before laughing, "Oh! Oh."

Jemma shook her head as she moved away from the bar. "Good going, Klaus. If dad wasn't pissed already, he certainly is now."

Klaus shook his head as he disregarded the ashes and started to get a glass for his drink. He waved his hand over his shoulder in her direction and asked a rhetorical question, "when was he not pissed?"

The blonde puckered her lips as she thought about that for a second, "I guess you're right." She then sighed, "anyway, since you won't let me have a drink," she glared at him for that. He merely raised his hands in surrender before continuing to pour himself a drink. "I'm going to my room."

Her brother nodded his head as he flashed her a tight-lipped smile. "Alright, and don't try sneaking out to get a drink, young lady!" Klaus did his best to imitate a father scolding his child.

Jemma rolled her eyes with a cheeky smirk, "like you would even know if I've left or not." With that said, the blonde disappeared in a blur and a gust of wind which left Klaus alone with his thoughts.

He shook his head at her words. He didn't like the fact that she drank herself stupid every day. He didn't like how she tried to drown herself to death in alcohol. If Jemma wasn't a speedster and didn't have a fast metabolism, he was certain that she would have died of alcohol poisoning years ago. Though he supposed that's how she and the others felt about him and his drug usage.

---

All of the Hargreeves children tried to make themselves comfortable in the house. Luther and Allison went to their bedrooms and started to go through all of their things. Allison looked at an old magazine with herself on the cover and even found the heart-shaped locket that she had had ever since she was a kid. 'A+L' was engraved on it.

Luther rummaged through his old stuff in his room also. He looked through the array of records that he had and the books that he used to read. His room was left the same ever since he left for his mission on the moon.

Also in her old bedroom, Jemma plopped herself down on the green duvet of the small bed. Multiple posters of boy bands from when she was a kid were plastered on the walls along with pictures of her family from years ago. One particular picture frame caught her eye. It rested on her desk face down. She walked over to her desk and picked up the picture and what stared back at her caused her stomach to turn slightly. It was of herself when she was about sixteen. She had a bright smile as always and her eyes were alight with happiness. She was encased in a pair of arms that belonged to her best friend, Ben. She shook her head at the sight and put the picture frame down again. Though this time she kept it upright instead of it being face down. She stared at it a moment longer before turned to lay down on her bed facing away from the picture. It was obviously too painful to look at.

Klaus shuffled into the basement kitchen with his father's urn in his hands. He placed the ash-filled container on the table before rummaging through his coat pockets. He found a small baggie with a few pills inside of it. These were the drugs that he had bought with the money he got from selling that box. He poured them out into his hand, "three?" He sighed at the amount, "okay!" He threw back his head and swallowed the pills before hopping onto the table and laying down on it.

Diego plopped himself down on the couch in the living room and laid down with a soft sigh. He pulled out a small dagger from a sheath on his person and started to play with it. The thoughts of his family's dynamic running through his mind bitterly. How Luther could just insinuate any of them for killing their father is baffling! Yes, Diego hated Reginald and has no problem saying that out loud. However, he wouldn't have gone as far as to kill the old bastard. None of them would have gone as far as to commit murder!

In the foyer, Vanya sat on the grand stairs alone. She felt completely out of place in the home. Her family didn't seem to want her there and she couldn't completely commend them for their thoughts on her. She did basically reveal all of the deep, dark secrets of their family to the public. She can understand their hatred for her.

Luther bent down to the various records that he owned and pulled out one in particular. He pulled it out of its case and set it into the record player. The rhythmic beats of Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" echoed through the house. Everyone could hear it from Allison who was right next door to Luther to Klaus in the basement.

"Children Behave," Jemma shook her head at the song and continued to lay down on her bed. Though she couldn't deny that she felt like dancing slightly, just a little bit. The song just reminded her too much of her childhood. At least, it reminded her of the good parts of her childhood. "That's what they say when we're together!"

Everyone else had the same feeling. All of the superpowered adults started to dance around the rooms that they were in. Klaus had started to use Reginald's urn as a dance partner while Allison danced with a fluffy pink boa on her bed. Diego hopped around the living room after closing the door to the room so no one would see him. Vanya also started to dance as well, though it appeared slightly awkward and stiff. Eventually, the music got to Jemma who started to dance around her room. She could forget about everything for a moment and let the old pop song encase her in some sort of momentary joy.

Though the moment of bliss didn't last for long. Jemma squeaked when thunder boomed from outside. A blue hue poured through the windows as she took a look outside to see a large portal like thing in the courtyard. Her eyes widened before she sped out of the room and outside. For a moment, she was glad that Klaus had stopped her from getting drunk. However, she was certain that she would need a drink after witnessing whatever the anomaly was.

In the basement, Klaus jumped at the sound. "Oh!" He gasped and caught his father's urn before it could clatter to the ground as it slid across the table like it was being pulled by an invisible force. "Daddy?" He then jumped out of the way when an assortment of sharp objects, specifically knives, flew through the air and embedded themselves into the wall.

Everyone came running out of the house and into the courtyard to see what the hell was going on. Jemma was already out there and pretty close to the strange thing. They all stared at it and came to stand before it.

"What is it?" Vanya shouted over the loud noise.

Allison shook her head while staring at his and moving to stand next to Luther. "Don't get too close!"

Diego grabbed Jemma's hand and pulled her back as he thought she was too close to it. "Yeah, no shit."

Luther assessed the large portal, "looks like some sort of temporal anomaly. Either that or a miniature black hole. One of the two."

"Pretty big difference there, Paul Bunyan," Diego shouted which earned him a smack on the shoulder from Jemma.

Klaus then came running out of the house with a fire extinguisher held in his hands, "Out of the way!"

Everyone stared at him in disbelief. "Klaus-" Jemma started out in concern and confusion. Klaus only tried to use the extinguisher on the portal thinking that it would do something. Though when it proved to do nothing, he just threw it into the portal which caused it to disappear.

"What is that gonna do?" Allison asked in exasperation.

"I don't know." Klaus stated in vexation, "do you have a better idea?"

The wind and thunder then started to pick up as lightning seemed to strike the ground around them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Luther shouted as he pushed Klaus behind him. "Everybody get behind me."

"Yeah," Diego agreed and made sure that Jemma was behind him. In turn, Jemma made sure that Vanya was close by to her and behind their brothers. "Get behind us."

"I vote for running, c'mon!" Klaus tugged on Jemma's arm to hopefully get her out of there only for her to stay planted on her feet. She was far too enraptured with whatever the large blue portal was. A figure then appeared on the other side of it and seemingly was trying to push its way through. A body then flew out of the strange portal and landed on the ground hard. The portal disappeared as quickly as it appeared and left the figure there and everything went back to normal.

Whoever fell out of the anomaly shifted slightly on the ground and slowly sat up. The person, a young boy, wore a grey suit and tie that was obviously too big for him. Everyone stared at the boy with wide eyes as they recognized the unforgettable face of the boy who had been missing for nearly two decades. Klaus was the first one to speak up, "does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?"

Number Five stared at the older versions of his siblings before glancing down at himself. The realization of the situation he was now in dawned on him as he started to curse himself. He may have been able to travel back in time but somehow, he got the equations slightly off. "Shit," that was the first word that the siblings had heard Number Five mutter after seventeen years.

Jemma stared at her little brother for a long moment in shock before sighing deeply, "I definitely need a drink now."

---

The group of seven all sat or stood in the basement kitchen. Six pairs of wide eyes watched the seemingly young boy bustle around the kitchen in search of a snack. "What's the date? The exact date," Five asked as he started to grab a few things around the kitchen.

"The twenty-fourth," Vanya told him through her shock.

Five nodded his head as he started to make himself a well-deserved peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. That amused Jemma slightly. The fact that even if it had been some time since he had been gone, Five would still jump at the chance to eat his favorite snack. "Of what?"

This time it was Jemma who answered him with wide eyes that she had yet to tear off of him, "March."

He glanced up at her and stared for a short moment before turning back down to his sandwich. "Good."

"So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?" Luther asked sternly though Five stayed silent. Everyone glanced at each other as they tried to comprehend what was happening before Luther stood up to tower over little Number Five. "It's been 17 years."

Five scoffed and glared at the large man. "It's been a lot longer than that," he then spacial jumped from in front of Luther to behind him on a stool to grab something off of a shelf. Something that annoyed Luther and the others to no end!

Luther clenched his jaw and muttered under his breath, already annoyed, "I haven't missed that."

"Where'd you go?" Diego asked with his arms crossed.

"The future," Five commented offhandedly like he was answering a question about the weather. "And it's shit, by the way."

"Called it," Klaus couldn't help but put his two cents in with a raise of his hand. Jemma rolled his eyes at his comment and hit him over the head. His side comments weren't necessary at that moment. Finding out what happened to Five was the most important thing that they should be worrying about.

Five only continued to make his peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich as he explained everything to them. "I should've listened to the old man." He sighed, "you know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice." He finally looked up at stared at Klaus who was still wearing Allison's skirt while criss-crossed on top of the table. "Nice dress."

Klaus gasped out in a bashful, playful manner as he twirled the skit slightly, "oh, well, danke!"

Vanya shook her head and tried to stay on task, "wait, how did you get back?"

"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time."

Everyone stared at him as if he had grown another head. No one could understand what the hell he had spewed on about. The group was all smart individuals but none of them were intelligent enough to truly understand all the time travel science that Five had explained to them. Diego shook his head, "that makes no sense."

Five flashed the group a tight-lipped, sarcastic smile, "well, it would if you were smarter." At his insult, Diego jumped out of his chair to lunge at his brother. However, Luther held him back as both of them glowered at him.

"How long were you there?" Luther asked in order to try and sever the uncomfortable and soon-to-be hostile environment. It seemed like even after all this time, Five was still the annoying brat they knew and, reluctantly, missed. Though, at the moment, just about everyone was questioning why they missed the boy.

"Forty-five years," his answer earned him even more wide-eyed stares of disbelief. "Give or take."

Luther, baffled, stumbled over his words, "so what are you saying? That you're 58?"

"No," Five turned up to them with an annoyed scowl. "My consciousness is 58. Apparently, my body is now thirteen again." The way that he stared at them made it plain to see that he thought they were all idiots. They most certainly couldn't understand what he was trying to explain which frustrated Five quite a bit.

"Wait, how does that even work?" Vanya asked him though didn't get an answered.

Jemma shook her head from her seat beside Allison and rubbed her temple. "This is getting so confusing," she sighed out before taking a swig of her alcoholic drink.

Five ignored them as he turned away with his sandwich in hand while an unreadable expression crossed over his young face. "Delores kept saying the equations were off," He shrugged his shoulders before taking a large, satisfying bite out of his sandwich. "Eh. Bet she's laughing now."

All of their eyebrows furrowed at the mention of someone they did not know about at all. "Delores?" Vanya asked.

Five once again ignored her and shrugged his shoulders, indifferently, "hmm." He picked up the discarded newspaper for that day where a stoic picture of his father stared back at him blandly. He read the headline: 'CITY SAYS GOODBYE TO REGINALD HARGREEVES' "Guess I missed the funeral."

Luther's eyes narrowed, "how'd you know about that?"

"What part of the future do you not understand?" Growled Five in annoyance. He stared at the picture for a long moment, "heart failure, huh?"

"Yeah," Diego confirmed only for Luther to grunt out with a disagreeing; "no."

"Hmm." Five hummed before throwing down the newspaper back onto the table. "Nice to see nothing's changed."

The group watched in bewilderment as Five stepped away from the table, "Uh, that's it?" Allison spoke up, "That's all you have to say?"

Five didn't look back at them as he made his way or the exit to do god knows what. "What else is there to say? The circle of life."

The group of six were left without their missing, now found, brother who seemed to not care about Reginald's death at all. It was taking them all a moment to comprehend everything that had just happened in such a short amount of time. "Well…" Luther broke the silence. "That was interesting."

---

After speaking with his siblings, Five instantly ran up to his old bedroom in search of some more suitable clothes. It felt strange to be back in his old childhood home after forty-five years. The last time he had seen the Academy, the building had been reduced to rubble and ash while fire decorated everything. He sighed while opening up his wardrobe to get some new clothes. However, the moment he opened it, he grimaced slightly. He rummaged through the multiple uniforms that were completely identical to each other. He sighed when he knew that there was nothing else to wear. "Ah, shit."

The boy then found himself standing in the living room and gazing at the portrait of himself hanging above the fireplace. Soft footfalls greeted his ears as Vanya entered the room. He glanced over his shoulder and caught a glance at the small woman. "Nice to know Dad didn't forget me." He said as Vanya slowly came to stand next to him. He turned to her and took in a deep breath, "read your book, by the way. Found it in a library that was still standing. I thought it was pretty good, all things considered." Vanya gnawed on her bottom lip as Five nodded his head with pursed lips. "Yeah, definitely ballsy, giving up the family secrets. Sure that went over well."

Vanya gulped as an expression of sadness washed over her pale face. "They hate me." Her voice came out weak and soft.

Five shook his head slowly, "oh, there are worse things that can happen."

"You mean like what happened to Ben?" Vanya couldn't help herself but ask the question.

The mention of their brother, Number Six, caused even more tension to flood the room. "Was it bad?" Five asked stoically. From reading Vanya's book, he knew that Ben had died young. He could tell that his death had fractured the family even more than it had been before. He also could not imagine how painful it was to lose him at that time. In the past, when he first found out about Ben's death, it was saddening to hear. However, he also found out about it right after all of humankind had been wiped off of the Earth. A death of one single person was insignificant to that of the extinction of an entire planet.

The silence that was a response to his question instantly answered his question. Vanya's mind then jumped to Jemma. The blonde was the most heartbroken over Ben's death. It seemed like a part of her also died that day along with Ben. She never truly was the same after his death. Vanya knew that Jemma was the closest to Ben as the same could be said about Ben being close to her. They were attached to the hip basically all their lives. Jemma had been torn apart when he died… Vanya hated that Jemma had fallen into the deep, dark depression that caused her to become a chronic alcoholic.

As if she heard Vanya's thoughts, said blond appeared in the doorway of the living room. Her short hair had been pulled back slightly by a soft green colored headband. Her makeup was fixed and her clothing had been straightened out(no doubt the work of Allison) and a small rosy hue licked from one of her cheekbones to the other and up the bridge of her nose. Jemma appeared to be slightly buzzed but it would soon pass quickly due to her superspeed. She flashed her two siblings a small, kind smile. "I think we're going to start the memorial for dad," she took in a deep breath. "We're going to do it in the courtyard."

"Alright," Vanya said as she looked at Five and gestured them to follow after Jemma who still waited for them at the doorway. "Come on."

Five stared at Jemma for a moment with furrowed eyebrows before nodding his head. The trio then headed towards the courtyard to meet the rest of their family for the memorial to Reginald Hargreeves.

---

Rain poured down from the dark sky. It was completely appropriate for the droplets of rain to pelt the umbrellas in the courtyard. All of the Hargreaves family crowded together right by the spot that Luther talked about earlier. Jemma hugged her midsection to try and keep herself warm. The white cardigan she wore wasn't doing the trick. She stood beside Klaus who carried a small pink umbrella and Five who shared his umbrella with her.

"Did something happen?" Grace asked airily with a smile. It was strange… Their mother seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that their dad had died.

Allison's eyebrows furrowed, "Dad died. Remember?"

"Oh," Grace then frowned at the reminder, "Yes, of course."

They all shared a look in confusion. Jemma spoke up from underneath the black umbrella she was currently sharing with Five. "Is Mom okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's fine." Diego denied with a sniff, "she just needs to rest. You know, recharge."

They all nodded their head at that, yet they didn't seem too convinced. However, that wasn't all too concerning at the moment. Getting through this memorial to their father was the main focus on their minds. Yet, all of his children's minds were filtered with a variety of different thoughts. There were many in between but at least one thought that they all had in common was 'thank god he's gone'. Well, except for Luther. The boy was ever loyal to his father!

Pogo stepped up holding his own umbrella, "whenever you're ready, dear boy."

Luther nodded his head solemnly and opened up the urn to pour the ashes out of it. In an anticlimactic manner, the dust just fell limp to the ground. Everyone was silent as they either stared or glowered at the pile that was once Reginald Hargreeves. Luther cleared his throat, "probably would have been better with some wind."

"Does anyone wish to speak?" Pogo asked and only earned silence in return. It was obvious that either no one wanted to speak because they didn't know what to say or they knew exactly what to say and they weren't exactly pleasant words. Pogo sighed, "very well. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt. He was my master and my friend, and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy."

Diego clenched his jaw as he could no longer stay quiet, "he was a monster. He was a bad person and a worse father. The world's better off without him."

"Diego," Allison tried to scold him only for him to snap at her in return.

"My name is Number Two. You know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names." The others shared glances with each other at his words that were completely true. "He had Mom do it."

At the mention of her name, Grace perked up with a large smile, "would anyone like something to eat?"

Vanya shook her head, "no, it's okay, Mom."

Grace's smile didn't falter, "oh, okay."

"Look, you wanna pay your respects? Go ahead." Diego shook his head as he walked so he stood into the middle of the small circle. "But at least be honest about the kind of man he was."

Luther growled at the disrespect Diego was spewing out, "you should stop talking now."

The anger had built up between the two was growing even more and was on the verge of snapping. From the glares that they were sending each other, it was only a matter of time before their emotions boiled over and they did something drastic. "You know, you of all people should be on my side here," Diego shouted, "Number One."

"I am warning you."

Diego continued to taunt him, "after everything he did to you? He had to ship you a million miles away."

Luther's body started to shake from anger, "Diego, stop talking."

Diego jabbed his finger into Luther's chest and poked him multiple times, "that's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!" And that was the last straw. Luther swung at Diego who quickly ducked underneath his arm.

"Boys," Pogo shouted out, "stop this at once!"

The two only ignored his shout and focused on each other. The two of them had only just started to let out their frustration and anger on each other.

Diego started to taunt Luther with a smirk, "come on, big boy!"

"Stop it!" Vanya shouted out desperately.

"Hit him!" Klaus encouraged the two, "hit him!"

Pogo couldn't watch the scene any longer. So, with a shake of his head, he turned around to head back inside.

Jemma was starting to get annoyed with the childish ways of her brothers. In the past, it was quite a feat to annoy Jemma as she was a very tolerable person. She used to be patient and understanding of everyone! Though she could really only blame her alcoholism for causing her to become intolerable easier than in the past. "Guys come on, just stop!"

The two of them ignored their family's calls to end their fight and continued to throw punches and dodge others. "Get off me!"

Five heavily sighed out in frustration while watching them, "we don't have time for this." He then spun on his heels and disappeared into the house. That left Jemma to embrace the cold droplets of water that fell onto her skin now that she didn't have an umbrella to protect her.

"Come here, big boy!" Diego taunted. Luther then jumped and aimed a bunch at Diego only for the smaller of the two to jump out of the way. His punch then collided with the statue of Ben which caused it to break loose and fall to the ground with a loud thud.

Jemma clenched her eyes shut as her body started to shake slightly. And it wasn't due to the cold, at all.

Allison stared at the scene lamely, "And there goes Ben's statue." Luther watched as she shook her head lightly at him before turning around to head inside.

Diego stared at Luther who was momentarily distracted by Allison's departure and pulled out one of his knives. Vanya's eyes widened when she saw him do that. "Diego, no!" The knife then flew through the air and cleanly cut Luther in his arm. The large man panted out slightly in pain before covering up the wound and rushing to get inside. As they watched their brother dash back inside, Vanya approached Diego. "You never know when to stop, do you?"

Diego glared at her and bent down slightly to her smaller height. "You got enough material for your sequel yet?"

She wouldn't allow his malicious taunts get to her at that moment. She understood how she betrayed the family and was willing to accept that. However, she wouldn't let Diego insinuate at she was only there to get material for her sequel. "He was my father, too." With that, Vanya turned around and walked away.

Diego disregarded her comment and approach his mother who stared off into space with a small smile on her face. "Mom. Let's go inside." He grabbed her arm gently and started to lead her away. "Come on. Okay? Come on."

Only Jemma and Klaus remained outside. The junkie's eyes were trained on the ashes in the ground. He stood up from his spot on the stone bench and lazily trotted over to the remains of his father. "I bet you're loving this. Hmm?" Klaus asked the pile of ash as he crouched down to be level with it. "The team at its best. It's just like old times." Klaus lazily took a drag from his cigarette before sticking it into the pile of ashes that was once his father. He stood up and turned around, "best funeral ever." Klaus exclaimed as he started to walk back towards the door that leads into the house.

He looked back over his shoulder to see Jemma still standing in the rain without any protection from an umbrella. Rain pelted down on her and flattened her hair to her skull. The make-up that was on her face started to run across her flustered cheeks as she continued to stare at the broken statue of her dead best friend.

"God, you'll get a cold out here," He commented as he walked over to her. He used his child-sized, pink umbrella to cover her. "I don't want a repeat of last week." The remembrance of last week where Jemma had gotten ill and still insisted on getting drunk surfaced in his mind. Let's just say that it hadn't turned out well for either of them… Or that bus driver…

Jemma shook her head, "don't worry, I'll only be a minute or so… I just need to be alone."

Klaus was about to interject and tell her to come inside only for his eyes to drift off at an empty space just off to the side of Jemma. For a moment, he was silent, as if he was listening to something(or someone). He then sighed and nodded his head, "fine, fine! But don't come whining to me when you get sick!"

His sister let out a weak giggle at his words. She nodded her head, "I promise I won't get sick and if I do, I'll stay as far away from you as I can."

Satisfied with her answer but still slightly concerned about her thoughts, Klaus nodded his head and skipped towards the door into the house. "See ya, Jem."

Jemma sighed as she rolled her eyes at his behavior. She knew for a fact that Klaus was going to enjoy himself with the drugs that he had bought a few hours ago. Her electric blue eyes surveyed the courtyard and landed on the now empty platform where Ben's statue once was. Her cheeks were soaked. Whether it was from the rain or her own tears, she wasn't sure.

She slowly approached the fallen statue and stared at it long and hard. If she really was crying, no one would have noticed. Well, only two people probably would have. However, one of those people was currently getting as high as a kite while the other was… well dead.

Though it wasn't like she could notice the figure sitting on the empty platform next to her. They stared at her from underneath their black hoodie with eyes filled with sorrow and regret as they watched her cry.