Chapter 28: Reunion

[Third Person's PoV] 

The Umbrella Academy siblings were initially confused when they heard the music begin to play, but soon, they couldn't help but smile and get into the groove. Luther nodded his head in time with the beat, Diego twirled his knife around as he sat on his bed, his eyes fixed on the target by the door. Allison leaned back in her chair, swaying slightly to the rhythm, while Klaus, sitting cross-legged on a table, clicked his lighter in time with the music, a joint in hand, with their father's urn placed in front of him.

Meanwhile, Ben watched Jennifer laugh softly beside him. Vanya, standing by a wooden railing, tapped her foot to the beat while gazing at the large portrait of Five. Nathan, lying in his bed with one leg crossed over the other, swung his foot in time with the music, a small smirk spreading across his face.

🎶🎵 "Children behave; That's what they say when we're together; And watch how you play, 🎶🎵

As the song continued, everyone slowly started dancing, the music infectious. Nathan smiled, feeling connected to his siblings as he saw them enjoying themselves. Ben and Jennifer danced together, grinning widely, while Klaus gently swayed with their father's urn cradled in his arms.

*"Your family's weird…"* Phoebe remarked as she watched Nathan jump on his bed, dancing along with everyone else.

"It's called having fun. You should try it sometime," Nathan teased her.

🎶🎵 "Running just as fast as we can; Holding on to one another's hand" 🎶🎵

"You know, this would be more fun if my *wife* was here dancing with me," Nathan said, swinging his arms to the beat.

*"I think you're doing just fine without me,"* Phoebe mused, amused by his antics.

Nathan tried to coax her into joining him by singing along, 🎶🎵 "Trying to get away into the night, And then you put your arms around me, And we tumble to the ground and then you say—"*Record scratch*

"Eh?" Nathan froze, and everyone else did too as the power suddenly cut out, silencing the music. The sound of crackling lightning and a brewing storm grew louder outside, and objects around the house began to fly around, as if caught in a whirlwind. Nathan's eyes widened, and a smile spread across his face.

"He's here," Nathan muttered under his breath.

The sudden commotion caused everyone to scurry out of their rooms, heading outside where they saw the sky twisting and swirling with blue energy.

"What the hell is that?" Diego asked, stepping out to examine the phenomenon.

"It looks like some temporal anomaly, or maybe a miniature black hole. One of the two, honestly," Luther guessed, squinting at the swirling vortex.

"Out of the way!" Klaus came running out of the house with a fire extinguisher, spraying it at the anomaly to no effect. When that failed, he tossed the extinguisher into the vortex, where it promptly disappeared.

"What the hell was that supposed to do?" Allison asked, looking at Klaus incredulously.

"I don't know! Do you have a better idea?" Klaus shrugged.

"It doesn't just look like a temporal anomaly—it *is* a temporal anomaly," Nathan confirmed, his smile growing as they saw an old man struggling to push through the vortex.

As the man pushed harder, his form began to shift, changing from an old man to a little boy. The vortex grew brighter, forcing most of them to shield their eyes from the intense light and wind. Luther used his large frame to protect Allison from being blown away, grabbing her hand for support. They exchanged a brief glance before returning their focus to the anomaly.

With one final effort, the old man pushed through the vortex, and a little boy tumbled out, landing flat on his face.

They all stood in stunned silence as the boy groaned, "Nathan, you bastard, I know you could have caught me…"

"And where would the fun be in that? I would have missed you falling face-first into the ground," Nathan smirked.

"I'm sorry, but I know I'm on drugs, but are my eyes deceiving me, or is that little Number Five?" Klaus said, staring at his joint in disbelief.

Five stood up, dusted himself off, and glared at Nathan before smirking at the rest of them, who were still gawking in shock. "Well, don't just stand around like idiots. Let's go inside—I'm hungry."

They all followed Five into the kitchen, where he promptly began making himself a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich.

As Five moved around the kitchen, grabbing ingredients for his sandwich, he asked, "What's the date? The exact date."

Nathan, leaning casually against a cabinet, replied, "March 24th, 2019."

"Good," Five nodded, satisfied, and continued assembling his sandwich.

The siblings gathered around him—Luther sat in a chair, Diego leaned on the table, Allison and the others also took seats except for Klaus who was sitting on the table, and Nathan remained by the cabinet, all of them focused on Five.

Luther, sensing Five wasn't going to offer up an explanation, broke the silence. "So, are you going to explain what just happened?"

Seeing Five remain quiet, Luther stood up, adding, "Although Nathan kept us updated on your situation, we want to hear it from your perspective. What happened? After all, you've been gone for 17 years."

"It's been way longer than that," Five corrected, glaring slightly as he blinked past Luther to reach a cabinet and pull out a bag of marshmallows.

Luther sighed, grumbling, "I didn't miss that."

Five shrugged and continued, "What is there to say that Nathan hasn't already told you? I went to the future—it's shit, by the way. I should have listened to Nathan and the old man when they warned me not to go. Time is far too malleable and unpredictable."

Five paused, blinking as he turned to Klaus, "Nice dress, by the way."

Klaus grinned and bowed theatrically, "Why, thank you."

Ben, still processing everything, asked, "Wait, Nathan told us you were working on a way to get back. How did you do it? And why are you... short?"

Five sighed, "I did what Nathan always did, but with a twist. I projected my consciousness forward in time to a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time."

Diego, frowning in confusion, said, "That makes no sense."

"Well, it would if you were smarter," Five retorted, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Diego started to get up, but Luther put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "How long were you there?" Luther asked, trying to keep the focus on Five.

"Forty-five years, give or take," Five replied nonchalantly.

The room fell into a stunned silence, everyone staring at Five in disbelief.

"So... what are you saying? That you're 55?" Luther finally asked, trying to wrap his head around the information.

"No," Five corrected, "my consciousness is 55. Apparently, my body is back to being 10 again." He grumbled, chewing his sandwich. He paused to add, "Dolores said the calculations were wrong. Bet she's laughing now."

"Who's Dolores?" Ben asked, puzzled.

"His wife," Nathan chimed in, casually.

Allison's eyes widened in shock, "He has a *wife*?"

"Yeah," Nathan said with a grin, "I was the best man and the priest at their wedding."

The siblings stared at Five in shock, trying to process the idea that he was married. Nathan, enjoying their confusion, had no intention of clarifying the situation any further.

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