|Doppelgänger| Five Hargreeves

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖𝟒

Five blinked us back to Gene and Jean's apartment, exactly where we had left. Me and him fell on top of a couch, Lila falling on the floor in front of us. She let out a vocal complaint about the rough landing, but we had to pretend nothing happened when we realized Diego was right in front of us, slowly turning to see what we were up to.

_"The hell are you doing?"-He asked with furrowed brows. He had something in his hands, it looked like a file.

_"Did you find something, love?"-Lila changed the subject, getting up from the ground.

_"Oh, I found something. Something that's gonna blow this case wide open."-That sparked Five's interest. The boy got up and walked towards Diego. I decided to stay on the couch, watching from afar.

_"Okay. Let's see."-Five grabbed the file that was handed to him, immediately starting to read it. I was expecting them to talk about the contents out loud so I'd understand too.

_"...Umbrella Academy. That's impossible. There was no Umbrella Academy in 2006."-It was my turn to get intrigued. I recognized that year. My plan to stay put had to be canceled, so I got up from the couch and walked towards the trio.

_"Not in this timeline."

_"But in the original one..."-I spoke, leaning to look at the file. I didn't have to read too far to quickly understand what it was about.

_"It must be one of Gene and Jean's artifacts."-Lila said. Diego signaled with his head.

_"Keep reading."

_"October 14th, 2006."-Five read out loud, and my muscles tensed. I tightened my fists, but felt the boy by my side discreetly reaching out to hold my hand.

_"Wait, what's so special about October 14th, 2006?"-Lila realized how the three of us knew what it meant, but she didn't.

_"It's the day Ben died. Our Ben."-I said, my voice a bit weaker than I wished for. I further read the paper. My eyes fixed on one specific information.

...Two casualties?

_"That's a coincidence."-Five said, sarcastically. He looked down at the papers again, pressing his lips into a line.

_"Let me break it down for you."-Diego started, and I glanced at him. He looked too confident. Usually not a good sign.

_"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 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 a chair, putting his feet on the desk and looking at us as if he was damn Holmes.

_"...whatever is going on with Jennifer, it's got something to do with Ben. Ipso facto, mofos. Bet you regret not sending in that resume, huh?"-Diego concluded as if he made some great big discovery, failing to acknowledge that we were present in every single one of these events and were already aware of the nuances. But whatever, let him have his moment.

_"The hell's the 'Jennifer Incident'?"-Lila changed the subject, turning her eyes back to the files.

_"That was a tragic accident."-That was all Five said. Something bothered me about that, but I couldn't tell why. He also seemed to have something on his mind.

_"...We should find the others. And Reggie."-I spoke, letting out a sigh right after. I hated that idea but if this was all tied to the Umbrella Academy, that man certainly had more information about it.

_"Right. Take the file, let's go."-Five gave Diego the file back, wanting for him to keep it safe.

We left the Keepers HQ, not that excited to meet "dear old dad".