Doomsday Creators (The Umbrella Academy) Book Three

14. Bargaining Chip

Later that day, Luther gathered the family together, to explain his plan for how they should all move forward.
Five was still missing, and Klaus was babysitting Stan for Diego, but the rest of the siblings had gathered in the lobby to hear Luther's plan.
He wanted to return Sloane to the Sparrows, unharmed, along with Jayme and Alphonso's bodies, as a peace offering to stop any future fighting.

"You've got to be kidding me" said Allison, once Luther had expained the plan.
"Look, we use Sloane as an olive branch to stop the fighting. We let her go, with the bodies of Jayme and Alphonso, as a gesture of good will" explained Luther.
"Once I'm back with my family, I will convince them that the old guy had nothing to do with you" added Sloane.

"You want to let her go, after she attacked us?" Frowned Diego.
"Me, attack you? I lost 2 of my siblings, thanks to you and your murder troll" snapped Sloane.
"Again, Harlan, is not with us" insisted Luther.
"Well, he's not, not with us" countered Diego.
"He was just trying to protect me" admitted Viktor.
"Look, this plan only works if I can convince my family that he is not a part of your team. So, is he with you or not?" Asked Sloane.
"Harlan saved our asses, he can stay as long as he wants. Heck, why doesn't he take your bed, Luther, since you're sleeping with the enemy" suggested Diego.
"Watch it" hissed Luther.
"Let's all take it down a few notches" interjected Lucy, who was not in the mood for another fight.

"Having an ally on the inside could help us right now" Viktor said quietly.
"Exactly" smiled Luther.
"Except, how do we know that we can trust gravity barbie?" Asked Allison.
"Really, name calling while we are trying to make a peace contract, very helpful" scolded Lucy.
"Look guys, I trust her, so you all should too" announced Luther.
"You trusted emails from a Nigerian prince" reminded Diego.
"Tunde was not a prince, he was a king. And he was unjustly deposed" insisted Luther.

"Alright, rumour me again then. If you need me to prove that I'm not hiding anything, then rumour me" instructed Sloane.
"Do whatever the hell you want Luther. I've got bigger shit to deal with" announced Allison, before pushing past Sloane and heading upstairs.
"Yeah, me too" mumbled Diego, before following her.
"Well, that went well" sighed Viktor.
"Technically neither of them said we couldn't do it, so we could still go ahead with the plan" admitted Lucy.

"So, you're on board with it?" Questioned Luther.
"Yes, if it will stop all this fighting, I'm down for it" answered Lucy.
"You were so against the Sparrows at first, what made you come around to this peaceful solution?" Asked Luther.
"The 2 dead bodies kind of made it real for me, and reminded me that I don't want to lose anymore siblings, no matter how much they get on my nerves. And since Jayme is dead, I have nothing to be afraid of, since it was only her hallucinations that scared me... I don't mind sending my consciousness into the Academy to give our terms to Ben, to see if he agrees to our deal. If he does, I can give him a time and place to meet up, so that we can give him his siblings back".

"Are you really O.K to do that?" Asked Viktor.
"I'm sure. My consciousness will be pretty safe, since it can't really be hurt outside of my body" answered Lucy.
"Can you push it that far?" Quizzed Luther.
"Probably. If not, I'll get closer to the Academy, and then push it out" informed Lucy.
"Sure you don't want me to go instead?" Offered Viktor.
"Yes. You need to stay here and deal with Harlan. Besides, I can deliver a message a lot faster than you, thanks to my gift" replied Lucy.
"It sounds like we have a plan then" smiled Luther.

****

That night, Viktor, Lucy, Luther and Sloane headed to the meeting point, to face the surviving Sparrows.
The exchange took place in silence.
Luther took the 2 body bags, containing Jayme and Alphonso, from the car and placed them in the back of the Sparrows truck.
He then made his way back over to Lucy and Viktor as Sloane crossed back to her family, where she immediately embraced Fei.

"So, this puts an end to it" announced Viktor.
"No, not quite. We want the old man too" revealed Ben.
"What are you doing?" Hissed Fei.
"You wanted a plan, here it is" replied Ben.
"It's a stupid plan" whispered Fei.
"He was not a part of the deal" reminded Lucy.
"She's right, he isn't a part of this" added Viktor.
"He is now" informed Ben.
"Ben, they aren't working with him. They had nothing to do with the attacks" insisted Sloane.
"Then they won't mind finding him and handing him over" smiled Ben.

"It's simple, bring us the man who killed our siblings, and then we will agree to your terms" continued Ben, before heading back to his car, with Christopher and the girls close behind him.
"Well, there goes our chance at peace" sighed Lucy.
"I won't give Harlan up. It's my fault he has powers in the first place" informed Viktor.
"I know. And I would never ask you to hand him over to the Sparrows. You and him are connected, just like me and Five. And I won't take him from you" reassured Lucy.

"We'd better head back to the hotel and give the others the bad news" said Luther.
"You're right... Eugh, Allison is going to be even more unbearable when she finds out we failed" groaned Lucy.
"She's going through a lot right now" Viktor said softly.
"I know. But that doesn't make it any easier to be around her at the moment. And I honestly can't see her attitude changing any time soon, unless she magically gets Claire back in her life" admitted Lucy.
"I'm afraid you might be right" sighed Viktor.