Empathy [Ben Hargreeves]

Episode Seven. Part II.

"The Day That Was"

Allison used the payphone outside of the police station to call and leave a message for Vanya to hear her out. Elle had returned to the group after Officer Beeman went inside to search for the file on Harold Jenkins. Elle and Five leaned against the cement building in silence while they waited for the documents that had Five twitching to get his hands on.

"So?" Five prompted Diego when he appeared in front of them.

"You're welcome," Diego said and presented the file that Allison quickly snatched from his grasp. She flipped through the pages with an aura of desperation. Elle pushed off the wall and stood up on her tippy toes to peer over the top of the folder.

"Holy shit," Allison exclaimed as she came across the mug shot photo of Harold Jenkins.

"What?"

"Harold Jenkins is Leonard Peabody."

Vanya's boyfriend.

"Shit. Well, his address is listed. We'll start there," Diego said, taking charge. He missed having a team for missions. He had been a solo vigilante for the last thirteen years.

"I could have told you that," Allison said sheepishly. "I broke in a few days ago."

Diego looked slightly impressed. "You broke into someone's house?"

Allison frowned. "I was worried about Vanya."

The four siblings climbed back into the car to drive to their next destination of the mission. Ten minutes later, Diego pulled into a neighborhood in the quieter part of town. They piled out.

"Be careful, okay?" Allison worried. "We don't know what Peabody is capable of."

"He gave off weird emotional vibes when I saw him with Vanya," Elle chimed in as they walked across the front lawn. "He had a messy aura. A lot of conflicting colors."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Elle shrugged. "I thought he was trying to put on a brave face in front of us for Vanya. You know, a tough guy act for his girlfriend's psychotic family, which is why his immediate emotions were lighter, but I guess I can see how he'd be dangerous with those undercurrent emotions." She pursed her lips as she remembered the colors that he'd attempted to hide.

Blacks and reds, browns and greens...

"He didn't seem dangerous when I first saw him," Diego countered, bumping Elle's hip with his own to distract her from the thoughts that put a worried frown on her face. "Looked kind of scrawny."

"Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and mass murderers," Allison said. "I mean, look at him." She gestured towards Five's thirteen-year-old body.

Elle snorted a laugh. Diego's lips quirked up, despite his attempt to douse the mirthful smile.

"Thanks," Five said flatly.

"Good point," Diego agreed. "So what does this guy want with Vanya?"

"I don't know. How about we ask him after we kill him?" Five said.

"Good plan. Shoot first, ask questions later," Elle said with a roll of her blue eyes before she and Allison parted ways from the boys.

"Whoa, whoa." Diego stopped on the front steps. "I'm going to burst through--" He turned to the team only to find that it was just Five following him. Allison was circling around back with Elle. He inhaled deeply in annoyance. "You know what? It would be nice for people to stick to--" Five disappeared in a flash of blue static. "The plan," he finished into the air. "Great."

On the other side of the house, Allison was kneeling on the ground to give Eloise a boost through the unlocked window that she had slid open. Elle straddled the window frame before pulling herself all the way into the room. Allison climbed through the window easily with her longer legs.

Shattering and a thud brought the sisters' attention to the front door being burst through by Diego. He landed in a pile of glass on the floor of the foyer. He groaned in pain.

Allison crunched through the glass in her boots. "Subtle."

Five tried the door handle. "You know, the door was unlocked."

"Diego has a flare for the dramatics," Elle joked. She held out a hand to help Diego off the debris on the floor. He used his good arm and strong legs to pull himself to his feet.

"My way worked just fine," Diego grumbled.

"O' Captain, My Captain -- what's the game plan?" Elle questioned.

"Spread out. Yell if you, uh... you know, you're in trouble." He sighed and limped away.

"Ah, inspiring leadership," Five said sarcastically.

"One of the greats," Allison responded with an unimpressed look.

"Still better than Luther," Elle mumbled under her breath as she followed Diego's trail with her eyes.

The team split up because that always worked so well in Scooby Doo. Allison wandered down the hall. Elle scoured the living room for clues. Diego hunted around the kitchen. Five ventured off towards the bedrooms.

Allison's voice interrupted their search: "Guys, you need to see this!"

Elle, Diego, and Five stopped what they were doing and hurried in the direction that her voice came from. She had pulled down a latch with a folding ladder to the attic. The siblings quickly climbed up into what looked like a child's bedroom.

"All our faces are burnt off," Allison commented, shakily pointing towards a shelf of limited edition figurines of Numbers One to Eight, minus Seven. The room was filled with a plethora of Umbrella Academy paraphernalia; collectibles, posters, clothing, and comic books littered the room. The eyes were scratched out of all the faces on the posters taped to the wall.

"Well that's not creepy." Diego stared at the headless collectible figurines with a look of unease. "This guy's got some serious issues."

"This is like a horror movie," Elle added with a shudder. "The heebie-jeebies feeling that's going on right now is like ants on my skin."

She picked up what used to be a Barbie doll modeled after herself as The Empath. It was mostly melted wax with a burnt Umbrella Academy uniform. The hand of another doll was melted into the tiny hand, and Elle couldn't tell if it was from the broken pieces of Ben or Klaus. She set it back down with another shudder.

"This was never about Vanya," Allison realized as her fingers brushed over the ruined doll of The Rumor. "This was about us."

An out-of-place emotion stabbed at Elle's stomach like sudden cramps. She doubled over in surprise and pain. "Shit," she gasped.

Diego put a hand on her shoulder and leaned down near her face. "Elle?"

Then Five collapsed to the floor.

"Five!" Allison exclaimed. "W-What?" She and Elle fell to their knees beside Five. "Blood." Allison pulled up his bloody sweater to reveal a bullet wound carved into his stomach.

Diego squatted down. "Jesus, Five," he admonished softly. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You have to keep going," Five said slowly, painfully. "So... close..."

Elle felt the moment that he passed out. It was like his emotions were bubble-wrapped around his body.

"Five? Five!"