End of the Beginning [Five]

Eleven

Who's a fictional character you would hate to be sat next to on a long flight?

Five blinked them back to Gene and Jean's apartment where they landed on the large antique couch with a thump. Adele barked in surprise after Lila damn near landed on her and leaped off the couch, cowering and sitting on Emery's feet as if hoping he'd protect her from the Brit.

Five cursed, drawing Diego's attention to them as he had his back previously turned. He raised a brow upon seeing the three of them sitting side by side on the couch but decided not to question it.

"The hell are you doing?" He asked.

Lila plastered on a smile. "Did you find something, love?"

"Oh, I found something," Diego said, switching gears. "Something that's gonna blow this case wide open."

Emery stood and walked over to Diego who gave him some sort of file. The first page revealed an incident report with the subject being Jennifer with a blacked-out last name.

Five peered over his shoulder, frown riddling his lips as he read. "Umbrella Academy. That's impossible. There was no Umbrella Academy in 2006."

"Not in this timeline." Diego agreed.

"It must be one of Gene and Jean's artifacts," Lila said.

Emery nodded. "My Reggie had found a copy of the newspaper that issued his death in 2019. The original 2019."

"Keep reading." Diego prompted.

"October 14th, 2006," Emery said, eyes scanning the page. He glanced up to see Diego and Five trade a look. "What's so special about October 14th, 2006?"

"That's the day Ben died," Diego said. "Our Ben."

"That's a coincidence." Five muttered, gently taking the file from Emery as he leafed through the rest of the meager contents.

"Let me break it down for you," Diego said, pacing as he recalled the events of the past two days. "A random dry cleaner shows up out of the blue and hires us to go to New Grumpson, Maine, to rescue a girl named Jennifer. The whole town goes to shit, we get fired at by Santa, T-boned, and the girl gets kidnapped by two vigilantes in a station wagon. Now, in their trash, we find a foreign document that has something to do with Ben's death. Hence..." Diego sat down on the writing desk chair and hiked his feet up. "Whatever's going on with Jennifer, it's got something to do with Ben. Ipso facto, mofos. Bet you regret not sending in that resume, huh?" He teased Five.

"Resume?" Emery echoed.

Diego grinned. "When this whole thing's over, I'm going to make the CIA my bitch."

"Ah. I see." Emery blinked, lips pursed. "Have fun with that."

"The hell's the 'Jennifer incident'?" Lila asked a moment later as she read something on the file.

Five sighed. "That was a tragic accident." He gazed at Emery who swallows thickly. "It explains how our Ben died."

"We gotta get back to the others," Diego said.

Lila mocked jazz hands, splaying her fingers. "Road trip?"

Five nodded, snapping the file shut. "A short one. Only one problem though: we don't have a car. And I can't blink."

"A cab then?" Emery ventured. "I'd pull off a hijacking stunt but security has kind of been updated since the sixties. Diego? You don't happen to have a wad of cash in any of your pockets do you?"

"Hardy har har. That was one time." Diego said as he moved to the door, holding it open for them. "But no. I'm a delivery driver. You think I got that kind of cash on me? Ask Mr. CIA."