Doomsday Creators (The Umbrella Academy) Book Three

3. Battle Wounds

All of the Hargreeves siblings regrouped at a local park, to rest and recover from the fight against the Sparrows.
Some of them were in so much pain they could barely walk, and they immediately collapsed onto a bunch on benches.
Lucy noted that she was the one in physically the best shape, as she wasn't covered in blood like the others, and only had a few visible bruises.
However, seeing Daniel again had shaken her, and she couldn't get his face out of her head. It had been like seeing a ghost.
All the memories she had been trying to supress for the past 2 years, had suddenly come flooding back to her. And she couldn't seem to get to rid of them.

"Well, that didn't go well" commented Diego.
"It wasn't our finest work, no" agreed Five.
He kept glancing nervously at Lucy, but he didn't say anything out loud, as he did not want the rest of their siblings to know what she had gone through.
"Ugh, everything hurts" groaned Klaus, as he laid down on the top of a picnic bench.
"Luther, are you alright?" Asked Allison, as she sat down on the bench beside him.
"I think so. I mean, I've never had my ass handed to me like that before... It was like, here you go, here's your ass" answered Luther.
"O.K, I think Luther's concussed" announced Allison.

"Luther, how many fingers?" Questioned Klaus, as he sat up and held three fingers in front of Luther.
"Three- Wait, where is Vanya?" Quizzed Luther.
"I'm here" announced Vanya, as she stumbled out of the bushes to join them.
"Are you alright?" Allison asked her.
"Yep, I think so" answered Vanya.
"It's good that you're alive" replied Allison.
"Speaking of alive, Ben is also alive now" said Klaus.
"Yeah, and he's a total dickhead" admitted Allison.
"They're all dickheads" added Diego.
"Dickheads who can fight" pointed out Luther.

"The next person to say dickhead is getting a punch to the throat" warned Five.
"Dickhead" said all of the siblings in unison, except for Vanya and Lucy.
Lucy was in no mood to joke around with her siblings, after coming face to face with her abuser again.
"I don't suppose dad told any of you why he was calling them his kids?" Asked Diego.
"He did actually. Get ready for this. Dad was so repulsed by us back in Texas, that he adopted a whole new group of kids, just so that he didn't have to raise us" revealed Klaus.
"Sounds like classic dad" sighed Diego.

"So, he just didn't want us anymore?" Quizzed Vanya.
"Did he ever?" Mumbled Lucy.
"Are you O.K?" Five asked Lucy, using his mind to communicate with her, so that no one could hear them, as her lack of conversation with them all, was worrying him.
"I'll be fine" reassured Lucy.
"It's O.K if you're not alright. We'll talk about what happened later, once we're alone, and I will help you through this, I promise" replied Five.
"See, I knew that seeing dad and asking for his help, in the 60's was a bad idea" reminded Luther.

"You're all missing the big picture. Dad didn't adopt us as babies, which means he changed the timeline. Who knows what else is different" admitted Five.
"Shouldn't you know" frowned Allison.
"Sorry Allison, but it might take me more than 20 minutes and a traumatic brain injury, to figure all this out. If that's O.K with you?" Questioned Five, as he pointed to the large cut on his face.
"Actually no, it's not. Don't forget that I gave up a lot more than you did, to return to the present".

"Let's just calm down everyone. We still have the briefcase, so worse case scenario, we can just travel back in time and fix everything" reminded Vanya.
"Great" smiled Klaus.
"There's two problems with that plan" admitted Five.
"Here we go" groaned Diego.
"Number one, time travel is a very complicated thing" announced Five.
"We get it, your job is so hard. What is the next problem?" Questioned Diego.
"Well, the second issue is, that I no longer have the briefcase" answered Five.

Allison got off the bench, and stepped closer to Five.
"Where the hell is it, Five?" She demanded.
"I don't know. I went back to the place we left it, and it was gone" explained Five.
"Then maybe you should Blink back in and search the house until you find it" suggested Allison.
"No! Five is not going back in there. They nearly killed us when we were working together, and I'm not letting my brother go back in there all by himself" snapped Lucy.
"She's right. It's too dangerous to go back in there now" agreed Five.

"Then what is the plan? We can't just stand here, bleeding out in the middle of this park" pointed out Allison.
"She's right, we need somewhere to lie low, and clean ourselves up before the Sparrows come back for round two" admitted Diego.
"What makes you think they are going to come after us?" Asked Vanya.
"Because I would, if I were them" answered Diego.
"We did also break into their house-" began Klaus.
"Our house" corrected Allison.
"And destroy all of their nice antiques" finished Klaus.
"Yeah, and I don't think the crime fighting super nerds, are going to let that go" admitted Luther.

"We need some place safe where we can lie low and not draw attention" said Five.
"What kind of place are we not going to draw attention to ourselves?" Questioned Diego.
"He's right. We're covered in blood and bruises, wearing clothes from the 60's. We'll stick out like a sore thumb, wherever we go" sighed Lucy.
"Then we will need somewhere equally as strange and unusual as us, to hide in" replied Diego.
Everyone then turned to look at Klaus, since he was the weirdest one in the group.
"Well, any ideas?" Questioned Diego.
Klaus smiled, "I have the perfect place".

****

Klaus led the siblings across town to a large building called Hotel Obsidian.
"Hotel Obsidian, I missed you, you slutty old dame... Absorb her. Absorb her into your bosom's... You know, in her heyday, she had world leaders staying here. And allegedly, not one, but two Kardashions" announced Klaus excitedly.
Allison rolled her eyes, and began to part from the group.
"Hey, where are you going?" Questioned Klaus.
"I've got to make a call" answered Allison.
"Don't wander too far" warned Lucy, as Allison walked away.

"Anyway, nowadays she's a party house, for those of us who don't like to be judged by societies rules and norms" informed Klaus.
"You mean a hideout?" Questioned Luther.
"Yes, exactly. And the best part is, she's going to look after us, no questions asked" answered Klaus.
"This place is weird" commented Vanya, as they headed towards the front desk.
"Chet, my friend, good to see you. I'd like my usual suite please" instructed Klaus.
The man behind the desk named Chet, frowned, "I've never seen you before, in my life".
"See, I told you this place was discreet" grinned Klaus.

"We'd like some rooms please" said Luther.
"Super, and how will we be paying today?" Asked Chet, before tapping the sign that said cash upfront.
"Oh. Umm" Luther faltered, and all of the siblings looked awkwardly at each other.
They then began emptying out their pockets, revealing several condoms, tissues, and buttons, but no money.
"I just spend the last of my cash on that phone call" admitted Allison, as she rejoined the group.
Lucy rolled her eyes, before placing a big wad of cash from her pocket, onto the reception desk.
"You guys are useless" she sighed.
"Do I even want to know where you got all that money from?" Questioned Five.
"Probably not, no" answered Lucy.

Chet took the money, before returning with two room keys.
Allison picked up one, and Luther picked up the other.
"So, I guess the boys share one room, and the girls share the other" announced Allison, as they all headed towards the lift.
"Let's all meet back down here in 2 hours, to come up with a plan" suggested Five.
"I have a plan. We attack the Sparrows, and wipe the floor with them. We then beat up dad a bit, until he admits that we are better, and he loves us more. Boom, plan" said Diego enthusiastically.

"Woh, easy man. Those bird freaks aren't going anywhere for a while, so no need to do anything drastic just yet. I bet they are just as exhausted as we are" said Klaus.
"You think?" Asked Diego.
"Oh yeah, beating our asses looked very tiring. So, I bet they are all having a nap, just like we are about to do" replied Klaus.

****

When they all stepped out of the lift, the boys went one way and the girls went the other.
"Wait, Five, do you have to go?" Lucy asked quietly.
Five hung back and let the others go on ahead.
"I need to clean my cuts, and have a quick rest. I've been on my feet for days, trying to stop two apocalypse's. I really need a break. But I promise that once I've rested and figured everything in this new timeline out, the two of us will talk. Until then, try and get some sleep" replied Five.
He reached out and squeezed her arm supportively, causing Lucy to flinch at his touch.
After seeing Daniel again, she couldn't bare to be touched by anyone, even Five. And she knew that there was no way she was going to get any sleep, not with Daniel's face etched into her mind.