Doomsday Creators (The Umbrella Academy) Book Three

5. Success

Lucy couldn't bring herself to get undressed and take a shower, as seeing Daniel had made her feel uncomfortable in her own skin.
Every time she looked at one of her scars, she was reminded of how they were caused.
She felt sick every time she glanced at the handcuff scars on her wrists.
So, she decided to patch herself up the best she could, without having a wash, before joining the boys downstairs.
Lucy told them that Allison had returned home to Claire, but lied and said that Vanya was having a nap in the room, so that they didn't discover where she really was.

Klaus had ordered food for everyone, which Diego and Luther were intent on shoving into their bodies as fast as possible.
"You know, if you tried chewing the food, you might actually taste it" commented Klaus.
"I haven't eaten in days" replied Luther through a mouthful of food.
Lucy was picking at her food, and not much of it was actually passing through her lips, as she felt too sick to consume any proper food.

Five joined them a few moments later, wrapped in a white bath robe, with a huge grin on his face.
"What's the matter with you? You look happy?" Frowned Luther, who wasn't used to seeing Five smiling.
"That's because I am happy, Luther. I had a nap and a nice bath. What more can a man ask for?" Asked Five.
"Brothers who don't eat like barn animals" commented Klaus.
Luther and Diego frowned at him, but since they both had noodles hanging out of their mouths, they couldn't really defend themselves.

"So, I've been thinking through our little timeline debacle, and I think we are in the clear" revealed Five.
"That's great" smiled Klaus.
"Awesome" added Luther, through a mouthful of noodles.
"There's just one small issue, but it's nothing we can't manage" reassured Five, before beginning to pile up his plate with food.
"So, spit it out boomer" Demanded Diego.
"Alright Diego, it's like this. Dad didn't adopt us as babies, but those babies still existed somewhere" replied Five.
"So?" Questioned Diego.
"So, where are they? It seems likely that we all have identical versions of ourselves out there, living completely different lives".

"Oh, our doppelgangers!" Announced Luther excitedly.
"What? That's a made up word" replied Klaus.
"No, it's not, I learned all about this in Texas. Tell them about the paranoid psychosis, Five" encouraged Luther.
"The what now?" Questioned Lucy.
"Yeah, I thought you said this was no big deal" added Diego.
"Well, technically speaking if we are around our doppelgangers for too long we will go insane. So, if you see your other self-" started Five.
"Kill them?" suggested Diego.
"Sleep with them?" Countered Klaus.
"Avoid them" finished Five.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Questioned Luther.
"Oh come on, like you wouldn't want to climb Luther mountain" grinned Klaus.
"So, how exactly do we avoid bumping into our doppelgangers?" Asked Diego.
"Well, we have the benefit of being adopted superheros. We were all born across the globe before dad adopted us. Our doppelgangers probably aren't even in the same time zone as us" reassured Five.
"That's true" replied Luther.

"Hang on, isn't it slightly offensive that dad unadopting us didn't change anything" said Klaus.
"I never said that, Klaus" replied Five.
"Well then, how do we know what has changed?" Questioned Luther.
"We don't" admitted Five.
"I'll be right back" mumbled Diego, before getting off the table, and heading out of the lobby.
"Look, the point is we saved the world, we stopped the apocalypse, and made it home in time for dinner. So, whatever dad may or may not have changed, whatever timeline we are in now, we can handle it... We won" announced Five, as he raised his cocktail in the air.
"We won" repeated Luther, as he raised his beer in celebration.

Five caught onto Lucy's lack of enthusiasm, but he didn't want to call her out in front of the others.
"Did everyone recover from our little fight earlier?" Asked Five, as he tried to make his question not look like it was directed at Lucy.
"Oh yeah, I'm totally ready for round two. Those bird freaks won't know what hit them" answered Luther.
"That's a hard pass from me. I won't be going anywhere near those psycho's again" admitted Klaus.
"Me neither" mumbled Lucy.

"Maybe we should get back to my room, to talk" suggested Five.
"I don't want to interupt your dinner" replied Lucy.
"You matter more to me than my dinner" insisted Five.
"Alright then, let's get out of here".
"O.K, me and Lucy have twin things to discuss. So, we'll be back later" announced Five.
As Lucy pushed away her plate of food and stood up, she began to feel rather dizzy.
She looked over at Five, and her eyes widened, "I'm going to slip away. I can't stop myself".
Five lunged at Lucy and caught her, just as her eyes rolled back in her head and her consciousness left her.

****

Lucy opened her eyes and found herself back in the apocalypse future, standing beside a 20 year old Five.
A part of her longed to stay with him, as he looked so broken and alone, but she knew she couldn't.
She had already missed out on too much of her life, and she didn't want to spend anymore time unconscious, especially as the real Five was with her now.
So, Lucy closed her eyes and imagined herself pulling her consciousness back into her body.

When she opened her eyes, she realised she was lying on the floor of the hotel lobby, with Five, Klaus, and Luther kneeling beside her.
"How long was I gone?" Asked Lucy, as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.
"Not long at all. Only a couple of minutes. Me and Luther had only just started arguing about who should carry you back to your room" answered Five.
"Only a few minutes. That's pretty impressive for me. I haven't been out for that short of time, since I was a teenager" admitted Lucy.

"Why do you think you weren't out for very long?" Quizzed Five, as he helped Lucy up off the floor.
"I don't know. I guess now that you are here with me, I don't feel the need to spend time with you in the apocalypse anymore. So, I was able to just pull myself back into my body, straight away" revealed Lucy, as she allowed herself to smile for the first time since facing Daniel again.
"That's pretty impressive" complimented Luther.
"It is. I'm proud of you, sis" praised Five.
"It seems like you've finally got the hang of your gift" added Klaus.

"Thanks guys. I might not be able to stop my consciousness from wandering, whenever it feels like it. But it seems like I might have succeded in figuring out how to bring it back to my body, almost instantly. It helps knowing that me and Five are twins, which is why there is a connection between us. Having you here beside me Five, made it much easier for me to leave you in the apocalypse, and come back to the present" informed Lucy.
"Speaking of being twins, let's head upstairs and talk about what this really means for us, since we didn't get the chance to do that in the 60's" instructed Five.
"Yes, there is a lot we need to talk about" agreed Lucy.