Life's lie || Umbrella academy

Chapter 12: The Frankel Footage

"This way." The man with half long hair told the two girls as they stood up from behind the car. Zariah signed her siblings to follow, although she knew that they would anyways. They ran into an alley. It was dark and cold, but Zariah didn't mind. They rounded a corner and stood still for the first time in a while.
"All right, we can't stay for too long. They are going to be looking for us." The man, who's voice was still familiar told them.
"The cops or those large Scandinavian fellas with guns?" Lila questioned.
"Both." The man confirmed. Zariah took the time to look at the man since she felt like they were some sort of safe. That's when it clicked in her mind.
"Diego? Why did you change your appearance? Was this why I couldn't see you after yesterday?" She looked him up and down. She nearly hadn't recognized him at all if it weren't for the scars on his face.
"Zariah?" The man looked between confused and relieved. Apparently her brother hadn't known that she had come along with them for some weird reason. He should know that she was there, right? He had followed her around for four years.
"Four years and you chose yesterday to change looks?" Zariah questioned as she took in the hair and beard. It made him look impossibly much older.
"What do you mean 'four years'?" Diego questioned as he stepped closer to his sister. His hand reached out to her tangled hair. Again she expected the hand to just go through her face, but instead a hand slowly combed through her hair. It stopped after a few seconds, the hand resting on her cheek as the thumb wiped away stray tears that she hadn't noticed had fallen.
"You're real?" Zariah asked breathlessly. She was quickly pulled into a hug by her brother.
"I'm here, sis. Don't worry." Diego told her before parting. He looked around and quickly made his way up to where clothes were hanging, presumably drying.
"Lovely duo, you two. Mad house siblings." Lila commented with a grin. "What are you doing?" She questioned as she walked over to where Diego was grabbing the clothes.
"I'm not gonna get far dressed like a lobotomy case." Diego told her.
"You mean we won't get very far." Lila tried to correct him.
"Look, I appreciate your help, but now we-" Diego stopped and turned around as Lila took off her clothes. Zariah just looked at them. A set of clothes in her own hands, but she didn't know what she needed to do with it. "Now we go our separate ways."
"Why?" Lila questioned a little bit angry. Zariah honestly didn't follow the conversation, probably due to the lack of many people around her the past four years.
"Because they're gonna be looking for us. Together." Diego clarified.
"You need me. We make a good team." Lila responded as she pulled a shirt over her head.
"Too dangerous." Diego told her again. Zariah honestly didn't see the problem either way. If Lila were to come with them it would mean for extra company, but if she didn't she still had her siblings. As she thought of them, she looked up to where they were standing watching the debate go on. She smiled their way, scanning through them once again. Five was still not with them and she now knew where Diego had gone.
"Take her with you." Allison told Zariah with a soft smile.
"Allison says-" Zariah was about to tell Diego what Allison had just said, but she was pulled behind a pole as cops drove by.
"Allison isn't here." Diego whispered to her.
"Come on, we'll take my car." Lila told them before Zariah could object to her brother."
"What car?" Diego was quickly distracted by the girl.
"This one." She told them as she picked up a brick and smashed the window with it. Diego tried to stop her, but it didn't work. "What? You don't like the color?" She questioned sarcastically.
"I love the color." Zariah said with a small smile, not noticing the sarcasm. Diego turned around to face his sister, noticing the clothes in her hands.
"Why didn't you chan-" He sighed. "You know what, never mind."
"Stop being little princesses and get in." Lila ushered. Diego opened the door for Zariah, who took her seat in the back, before walking around the car as he took a seat at the passengers side.
"You know the other window was open, right?" Diego questioned irritated. The answer didn't come though.

They were sitting in the car. It was the day after they had escaped. Zariah was still in the same clothes she had worn all those years. She hadn't payed much attention to her brother and the girl as they planned something. Instead quietly staring out the window, looking at the massive building.
"Diego's talking. You might want to pay attention." Ben whispered to Zariah from where he sat next to her. She hummed as she turned to look at the back of her brother's head.
"Once he walks out those doors, we force him into the front seat."
"But I'm in the front seat." Lila objected.
"Fine. In the backseat."
"But Ben and I are in the backseat." Zariah objected too.
"I'd rather have you wait outside." Diego told her, there was something in his voice that made him sound a like their father for a second before he turned back. Zariah nodded non-the-less.
"You're gonna pin his arms, I'm gonna cut off his trigger finger and tell him he has 24 hours to exit Dallas." Diego turned his attention back to Lila.
"That's your plan?" Lila sounded unimpressed and honestly Zariah understood why.
"You got a problem with it?" The irritation was so clear in Diego's voice that Zariah had to hold back a laugh as she got a glare from her brother.
"Why don't we just kill him?" Lila asked with a serious look on her face.
"What?" Diego sounded confused. Zariah chose to zone out after that again. She wasn't part in Diego's big 'project', so she didn't see the need to pay attention. She instead looked at Vanya and Luther who were standing near the entrance of building, looking at it's architecture. Allison and Ben, who seemingly had left the car while she was listening in on the conversation, were talking under a tree while Klaus was casually dancing across the parking lot. A flash of blue ripped her out of her thoughts. Five had appeared next to her. They made eye contact, worry was clear in his eyes, but he turned to look at the two in front eventually.
"Because he's an idiot." He suddenly said, cutting into the conversation the two were having. Lila nearly jumped through the roof, making Zariah snort. It was honestly such a Five thing to do, scaring everyone with his stealthiness.
"Who the hell are you?" Lila questioned confused.
"Hi. I'm their loving brother." He gave a small wave with a smile on his face, but Zariah could see he put it up to make fun of Diego.
"Who left us to rot in the nuthouse." Diego commented.
"To protect you from yourself and if I could've taken her, I would've." Five's face went grim at the thought of the events from the day previous, but he was quick to recover.
"That's quite sweet." Lila commented, but she still looked confused.
"Okay, all of you, out." Diego ordered.
"Lose the crazy lady and come with me. We have important business." Five ordered him, but even Zariah knew that Diego wouldn't come that easily. She really wanted to go with Five. The whole 'cutting of a finger' thing didn't really sound appealing to her.
"First of, which one of the two. Secondly, I am not going anywhere with you." Zariah glared at Diego, but the man dismissed it. Tired of the conversation, she stepped out of the car. She could hear Five say something behind her, but since it was probably not directed at her she didn't pay attention. As she walked a bit further people began to stare.
"Why are people staring?" The girl asked Ben, who had come walking towards her.
"Maybe it's because of the clothes you're wearing." He suggested with a fond eyeroll.
"What? Did I get it dirty again? I can ask for the sweet lady to wash it when we get back." Because they were going back again eventually, right? She'd spent her last four years there, but yet had seen more light of day there than she had at home. She didn't want to go home, because her siblings wouldn't be there.
"Mom's back home though." Ben commented as if he had read her mind, which probably was actually the case.
"Did she make cookies?" Those chocolate chip cookies her mom used to make were always her favorite.
"She pro-" Ben was cut of as Five spacial jumped in front of him, his back towards the older looking, yet younger, man. How she knew that Five happened to be older was a mystery to her.
Ben had a somewhat irritated face, but there was a small smile hidden, which only Zariah saw.
"You really shouldn't be running off." Five told the girl, his hand reaching out before pulling it back to his side, remembering what had happened last time.
"And I told you many times to not cut off Ben when he's talking, yet you never seem to listen." Zariah shot back, but nothing came out mean, as she didn't mean it that way.
"Zariah, Ben isn't-" Five sighed before sighing in defeat.
"Oh, by the way, did I make my clothes dirty or something? I can't see it myself, but people keep looking at me in a weird way." Zariah complained as she looked down at her white clothes which indeed had not even a speck of dirt on them. She never knew how she did it, but she was quite proud of it.
"It's because you're still walking in the clothes you've been wearing in the nuthouse." Diego came walking up behind her. She looked at her brother and then past him to see Lila staring at them from the car.
"Yeah, about that. When are we going back? It's getting late and today is music day." There was a wide smile as she remembered hearing all of the music flowing through the building. Although Vanya would often play for her, it was always lovely to hear others play too.
"We're not going back, Zar. We're free." Diego grabbed her hand as he started leading her to the car, knowing that if they stayed out too long, they would be caught again. Five looked at him with wide eyes, a million questions in them left unsaid. Diego shot a somewhat arrogant, but apologetic glance back, having seen the way he pulled away his hands before. When they got to the car Diego took a seat in the front next to Lila while Five and Zariah took the backseat. Five was behind Diego and Zariah behind Lila until Zariah moved to the middle, sitting against Five. When he looked up at her, mouth already open to ask a question, she already answered with: "Allison wanted a ride too."

The next time they stopped, they stopped in front of an electronics store. Without a word they got out of the car and walked through a door only to take the stairs to where she presumed someone either was living or used to live, depending on how Five's temper had been.
"Who li-" Zariah's question was cut of as a man with a gun came walking through another door, pointing the gun at them. Diego was quick to pull her behind him.
"Where did you get the film? 'The Frankel Footage.' The truth this time." The man sounded scared, but that was honestly the same as Zariah felt. She was normal, not like her siblings. She didn't have any powers to protect her. Lila was the same, but that girl seemed to be scared of nothing.
"You know this lunatic?" Diego asked Five, already tired of the man with the gun. Five sighed before answering.
"New acquaintance. He's harmless." He told them.
"Are you sure about that?" Lila questioned.
"Are you or are you not an enemy of the people?" The man started yelling, startling Zariah. Diego was quick to grab her wrist before she would trip and fall of the indoor balcony.
"Such an open-ended question, yeah." Diego responded actually thinking about it.
"That really depends on the people." Five added in the same tone as his brother.
"You move one more muscle, I will blow your brains out." The unknown man threatened.
"You want to take this or should I?" Lila questioned. Zariah could already see her thinking of different ways to kill the man.
"No, I got him." Five said before spacial jumping away.
"Hey, Lila-" Diego turned to their new friend, his hand never leaving Zariah, which she was kind of grateful for. He didn't finish the sentence tough as he finally let go of Zariah and grabbed the gun Five had disarmed from the man. At some point there had been a gunshot, but Zariah had been too preoccupied with looking at Ben, who was smirking and casually leaning against the wall. The round clattered on the floor as Lila sputtered.
"What the hell just happened?" She questioned, looking from one to the other.
"Okay, Lila, Five. You two tie this idiot to a chair while I go help Zariah change into something else." Diego sighed as he looked his sister up and down. The girl in question looked at him questioningly.
"If I change, how are they supposed to recognize me when I get back." Zariah questioned as she saw Klaus and Ben facepalming at the same time.
"The point in changing is not getting recognized." Diego told her as he took her into a random room. Just their luck that it happened to be a bedroom. They could hear the strange man struggle before his voice got muffled and only strangled sounds came out. Diego opened a closet, searching through the clothes, all for men, but that guy who owns the place had around the same size as Zariah.
"Ben told me something was wrong with my clothing earlier too. I don't see the problem honestly. I've been wearing them for four year and never had a problem."
"Four years what now?" Diego turned around immediately, grey trousers and a red shirt in his hands. Zariah took them, already knowing that she actually had to change clothes.
"I don't think he's been here that long." Vanya commented. Zariah looked at where she was standing, Allison by her side. The boys weren't there, probably giving them some privacy as she changed.
"Get changed and meet us after, yeah?" Diego quickly changed the subject, but there was still shock in his eyes and a thousand questions running through his brain. She nodded and he left the room.

It took her a while to change, but when she was finally changed, missing the comforting clothes from before, she found her brothers watching some old movie or something.
"Well, he was killed before he could explain. But whatever he wanted us to see was on this film." Was the first thing she heard as she entered the room. She didn't make a noise, deciding to just watch in silence and let her siblings discus whatever super-family related thing, just like the old days. The film played further until Five suddenly stopped it. The boy pulled back the projector, still not noticing her, making the screen become bigger.
"This can't be." He sounded shocked. Zariah took a better look, only now recognizing the beard, mustache and monocle, although the umbrella had to be a pretty clear hint. She walked up to the screen, her hand touching the place on the wall where her father's face was projected.
"Okay, you gonna fill me in now, boys? What the hell is this shit we're watching?" Lila sounded panicked and confused at the same time.
"No, that's impossible." Diego murmured as he placed a gentle hand on Zariah's shoulder.
"Clearly, it's not." Five commented sounding evenly shocked.
"What- what is it?" The strange man's muffled voice sounded.
"Dad." The eight siblings said in unison, all sounding just as shocked at the other. Zariah cracked a small smile as she heard the unison of her siblings, but noticed she was the only one.

S2E2 17.50 minutes to go.