Time Travel and the Apocalypse: Book 2

10. Home (Part I)- Five

-

Whatever it was Vanya transferred to that little boy was gone. Overcome with joy and relief, Sissy engulfed her son in a tight hug and inescapable kisses. It was a sweet moment, but we had bigger things to deal with.

I anxiously rocked back and forth, fidgeting endlessly with the bottom of my jacket, when I saw a blue flash in the field. I quickly excused myself, but regardless, was followed by Holly and Diego anyway.

Tension lodged itself in my chest and made it difficult to breathe. I forced myself to take shallower in-and-ex-hales, which only made me dizzy.

"Herb, Dot," I coughed.

"Wassup, Herbie?" Diego beamed, giving Herb from the Commission a special handshake. "All good?"

"Good to see you guys," Herb said. "I really can't believe it. Is she...?"

"Really dead this time?" Finished Holly. She chuckled. "Yeah, she is."

"Ah,"

I tried to stand up straighter and jam my hands into my pockets, but for some reason, it was just too painful. I coughed again, this time, the taste of coppery blood lingering in my mouth. "Now that the Handler is gone, what happens at the Commission?"

"Well-uh-I-eh-"

"Just tell them," Dot nodded.

"Uh-we-we need to elect a new board of directors. But until then, I-I've been voted in as acting chairman."

"No shit," Diego chuckled. "That's huge, Herbie, congrats."

His Buddy-Buddyness with Herb and Dot confused me. I glanced over to Holly and rolled my eyes, a slight grin pricking my lips.

"I'm so goddamn nervous,"

"Oh, you'll do fine," Holly said kindly, placing her hand on my chest.

I slipped my arm around her shoulders and my free hand on top of hers. "Herb, we need a favor; a briefcase, actually,"

The little man looked around at the field of dead agents. "Take your pick."

•••

We said our goodbyes to Sissy and Harlan, then headed out to the yard with the briefcase. My stomach did flip-flops as I opened it.

"Okay, is everybody ready?"

"Yeah, let's do this," Luther sighed, clapping his hands together.

"Alright, here we-"

"-Wait!" Klaus exclaimed. He darted from the circle we had formed to the house and grabbed a cowboy hat.

"Fifty bucks if we leave him here," Diego mumbled in my ear.

"You're on," I chuckled.

Klaus came running back, hat on his head. We all joined hands as I flicked open the case and the electric blue light swallowed us whole.

•••

We landed in the same circle, now around the table in entry hall of the Academy.

"Oh, good God," Luther sighed. "What day is it?"

I tottered around, leaning over the table for balance, and grabbed a newspaper.

"A-April 2, 2019,"

Holly's face lit up as peaked over my shoulder. "That's the day after the apocalypse; we stopped it!"

"Did-did we actually succeed at something?" Luther laughed.

"Oh," I stumbled backwards. "I need a drink. In fact, I need several." I felt the exhaustion finally catching up to me. My head was pounding, bleeding, and bruised, the pain from my stomach wound was getting worse by the second, and my heart felt like it was about to fail. Luckily, none of my siblings noticed, and followed me.

"Yeah, me too," Luther echoed.

"I should go find Claire," Allison said.

"Oh, come one, one drink,"

The seven of us clambered into the sitting room, but immediately stopped in front of fireplace. Above the mantle, my portrait had been replaced. Replaced with a portrait of Ben.

Something isn't right.

"Why is there a painting of Ben over the mantle?" Asked Diego.

Suddenly, a chair on the other side of the room creaked, and our father appeared.

"I knew you'd show up eventually."

"Dad? You're alive?"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

My legs turned to jelly, and I fell into Holly. She held me up by my arm, paying hardly any attention to me, and instead, focused on my father.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Luther said. "I guess we're just happy we're home and all together again,"

"Home?" Dad scoffed. "This isn't your home."

"What are you talking about? This is the Umbrella Academy."

"Wrong again. This is the Sparrow Academy."

Behind us, footsteps approached from above. Everybody turned around to see a crew of five led by a man in a suit like mine.

"Who the hell are these assholes, Dad?"

I gasped, and like a true old man, grabbed my chest as a pain tore through it.

The man was none other than the ghost himself- this time in flesh and blood- Ben.