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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR twist of fate
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
"OKAY. I'LL TALK to you later."
Nadine Vidal had justclosed the door on Vanya and Leonard when a crash sounded from the living room. It was Wednesday, eight-fifteen in the morning, and she was exhausted, her eyelids laden, a headache pulsing at her temples from her late-night bonding session for Klaus.
The sound—a crackle of electricity and a loud thud—sent her heart jackknifing in her chest, her palms immediately beginning to sweat, and she leaped into defense-mode. After she'd regained her bearings, realizing that she wasn't about to be attacked, she figured that there was only one person who could make such a noise unprompted, and that was enough to make her rush back where she came, even though anger at the Hargreeves siblings for abandoning Vanya was still sitting tight in her chest.
Sure enough, when she got back to the entrance, there he was, taking a long sip of coffee, looking worse for wear. There was the slightest limp in his step, his uniform was covered in a layer of debris, and he chugged down his coffee like it was water. But he was there. Five Hargreeves had finally returned.
Klaus, who was still sitting amongst his siblings, looked toward the doorway, where Nadine was hovering, and acknowledged her presence with an "Ah, and the Chosen Onereturns!" All of the others were too fixated on the shambled Five to notice, and so they consequentially also didn't notice Nadine flip Klaus the middle finger for the new nickname.
Five finished his coffee, letting out a sigh as Nadine tentatively stepped into the room. "So, the apocalypse is in three days," he said. "The only chance we have to save our world is, well, us."
"The Umbrella Academy," said Luther, still looking a little shaken up from what had obviously been an unprompted and impressive entrance. Nadine almost wished she'd seen it, though she supposed if you see someone fall through a blue whirlpool once, you've seen it a thousand times.
"Yeah, but with me, obviously." Five's eyes flitted over to the doorway where Nadine was hovering. "And her," he added, almost as an afterthought. And although Nadine had spent nearly a week with the Umbrella Academy already, that comment made her stomach dip like she'd just gone down a rollercoaster. "So if y'all don't get your sideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we're screwed. Who cares if Dad messed us up? Are we gonna let that define us? No. And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I've come back with a lead. I know who's responsible for the apocalypse."
He held up a slip of paper, and Nadine felt relief run through her. This was exactly what she'd wanted from Five. She'd felt like giving up, before, when it was her against the Hargreeves (sans Vanya) and there was no Five in sight, but now, with him here, she felt her hope rekindle again. All wasn't lost. Perhaps the world could be saved.
