8 ○ Umbrella Academy

A Night That Was

Diego stood in the doorway of Five's room, his whole body tense. I put a hand on his right shoulder as I stood behind him, watching as Mom taped down gauze to Five's stomach. "Anything?" he asked, easing a bit as I smoothed my hand over his shoulder.

"Allison still can't get ahold of Vanya and the receptionist at her music school said she was a no-show for lessons today." Diego nodded for a minute and walked away, instantly dragging my attention away from Mom. "Are you okay?" I asked gently, reaching out for his arm again, his good arm this time.

"Yeah." I gave him a pointed look, his hand slipping into mine as he turned away. "I don't know... It's just surreal seeing her." He squeezed my hand and turned his stare to the room again. I just wanna tell her I'm sorry, but she doesn't even remember past the night Dad died.

I sighed and tightened my hand around his, even without his guilt, I had second-hand guilt from walking his mind, seeing him shut her down as if I had been doing it myself caused guilt when she walked around. Mostly because we hadn't come forward about Diego's part, we left our siblings to think Hazel and Cha-Cha had killed her, for that I felt guilt enough. "We don't have a lotta time, we gotta go," Diego breathed, righting himself and pulling me a bit down the hall.

"Hey, slow down," I coaxed, getting him to turn back to me. "Five's unconscious in there, Allison's got her mind set on going to see Claire, we don't know where Luther or Klaus are--" As if he didn't want me droning on, Diego butt in.

"We can do this ourselves," Diego insisted, to which I shook my head.

"We all died the first time, remember?" I gave him a stern look, my eyes drifting to the sling his arm still dangled in. "Neither of us is in the proper capacity to do this ourselves and we can't keep running from this. That's where all this mess started." I ran my thumb over the back of his hand when his stare dropped to the floor.

"Luther was right," he mumbled quietly. I scoffed and gave his thoughts a quick once over, thinking the crash might've damaged his brain.

"I didn't think I'd ever hear you say something like that, let alone those exact words. You feeling okay?" I chuckled, taking a step closer in mild concern.

"Yeah, well...we gotta stick together," Diego breathed, meeting my eyes assuredly.

"Welcome back to the family, Diego," I mumbled, giving him a wide smile.

"When did you come back in?" he scoffed, keeping his fingers tight around my palm.

"Somewhere between helping Luther find Five the other day and carrying that same brother half dead through the house," I informed with a shrug, a light smile still on my lips. "It's good to have you back." I stood on my toes a bit and kissed his cheek, pulling my fingers from his as I walked to my room, listening to the humming in Mom's mind as I organized my stash space.

A few minutes in though, my ears twitched at the sound of sirens just outside the house, sending me bolting down the stairs and through the front doors. But by the time I made it to the gates, an officer handcuffed Diego as Beeman read him his rights, twisting my stomach in knots.

Thinking on my feet, I ran through the house once more, stopping at Five's room where he still slept with a soft frown on his lips. I ran a hand over his head but decided against peaking into his dreams. "I'll be home soon, Five. No murder sprees until I get back." With an ache in my arm that spread its way up my shoulder, I turned from Five's room and exited the house once again.

●

It had been a long night, Diego had long since fallen asleep, dreaming about taking his skills out into the woods and hunting game. It was a nice thought, but I'd been taken from it the moment a sob rang through the hall. Judging by the volume, it couldn't have been the first one to sound.

With a sigh, I got up on socked feet, knowing Pogo would be making his rounds soon, and opened the door as quietly as possible, stopping at the first creak and squishing myself through. I looked up and down the hall and followed the sound of the crying. It hadn't been the first night I'd heard it, but I'd heard it enough times by now that I had to know. I peaked into Klaus' room and found him whispering to himself, leaving him to his ghost as I moved closer to the sound.

I stopped in Ben's doorway, the sobs muffled yet still clear. I jumped at the footsteps on the stairs, quickly opening the door and leaving it open a crack when I stepped inside. I'd found the source, alright. With a soft breath, I padded over and sat next to Ben, using my striped sleeve to wipe his tears before putting my hand on his head.

Ben was fast asleep, explaining why he didn't react to me barging into his room, but that didn't explain why he was crying. With a soft frown, I looked into his dreams, flinching and instantly retreating with a soft breath. I turned to the door as the footsteps came closer, looking back to Ben and hesitantly putting my head back on his head.

I didn't even like a glimpse of what he saw, I couldn't imagine being stuck in it. I gave him something better to dream, Mom taking us to the beach. I could bet swimming with tentacles would be loads of fun. I jumped at the light across my dark eyes, looking to the opened doorway with mild panic, jumping further at the hands on my arms. "Let's get back to bed, Miss Adelaide," Pogo whispered, gently pulling me from the bed.

"But Ben--"

I looked back and found a soft smile on his lips, his tears drying against his cheeks. "Seems to be doing much better now. Well done." I smiled too, letting Pogo guide me back to my room, reattaching the wires to my head once I'd laid back down.

○

I forced a composure over myself, being in hysterics wasn't going to help Diego. I walked myself into the somewhat busy bullpen, headed straight for Beeman's desk. He did a double take behind his glasses, eyes coming to me a moment before back to the paperwork, most likely on Diego, before shooting back to me. "Where's my brother?" I asked in a firm tone, my eyes never leaving his.

"He's in lock-up. There's no posted bail because he's being transferred to county in the morning," he informed, almost apologetically. With a deep breath, I laid my hand on Beeman's. I didn't have his head, so it would be a mere suggestion instead of a command, but I had to try.

"You know Diego didn't kill Patch," I agreed, he knew it without me even having to remind him. "Do what you think is right, I'll be in the alley." I pulled my hand back from Beeman's and stood up straight.

"You should go, it's getting late," he advised, going back to his paperwork. With a deep breath, I made my way out of the building. Officer Beeman had been weighing the idea in his own mind already, I could only hope I gave him the push he needed. I pulled my car into the wider end of the alley, hanging outside the doorway that was barred and marked 'Police Department' with a drawn badge on a white sign. I had about decided to break Diego out myself by the time the door finally opened, Beeman coming to the barred door and unlocking it, stepping aside and letting Diego walk freely out.

Completely forgetting about his arm since it no longer hung in a sling, I rushed up to his chest and wrapped my arms around him. I only remembered because of the ache now spreading down my elbow as he returned my tight hold. "Thank you," I said to Beeman, holding his gaze over Diego's shoulder. Beeman only nodded and relocked the door, tilting his head to get us to move along. "C'mon," I softly encouraged, pulling back and grabbing Diego's hand. "We need to get going."

He grabbed the side of my head and brought our foreheads together, bringing a dazed smile to my lips, though the overwhelming feeling of his mindspace invading mine didn't last long. "Let's go," he mumbled, having to pull me from the spot. My brain went on autopilot as I got into the car, replaying what I'd gotten from the brief, clear view of his mind. For a couple years I'd been convinced Diego hated me, but that unfiltered glimpse into his head told me anything but.