The Flood // the umbrella academy [Klaus]

t w e n t y

"Well it's a long story."

Five spun his harrowing tale, details becoming increasingly more tragic and graphic as he went. He spoke of a woman known to him only as 'The Handler'. How she plucked him from his apocalyptic home and saved him from a lifetime of isolation. How, in return, his only option was to become a loyal member of the Commission - an organisation whose top priority was preserving the time continuum by any means necessary.

Both Bea and Luther listened intently, not daring to interrupt lest any parts of the story be lost. It was only towards the end of Five's confessions that Bea became aware of her elevated heart rate and increased breathing speed. What she was hearing was a nightmare. Her poor brother, a child, living a lifetime of isolation and given the opportunity to regain his place in a populated society...only to be tasked with destroying lives. To top it off, he took that deal, accepted his new fate, just for a glimmer of a promise that he could return to his family. Everything he did, she thought, he did for us. That thought made her the most miserable of all. 

"They turned me into the perfect instrument for rehabilitation of the time continuum," Five continued. "Or 'corrections' as they called them." He winced as he said that, as if the memories behind the word were physically hurting him. "They didn't realize it, but I was biding my time - trying to figure out the right equation so I could get back. If I could just get back, I knew I could stop the apocalypse. Save the world." Suddenly, he looked up, making direct eye contact with Luther. "So I broke my contract."

And there it was. The catalyst to understanding every single event that had transpired over the last couple of days. Bea knew that Five had worked for an organisation; that he was their 'top player' as he had put it in the car ride to Vanya's. But now that organisation had a name. Now she understood just what he had done. Seeing his guilty face was enough to accept why he didn't want to tell her the facts in the first place - why his hand had to be forced in order for him to spill. And just like that she knew why Hazel and Cha-Cha were out to kill Five. He betrayed them. While this kind of 'betrayal' was totally admissible by Bea's standards, she could understand why the Commission may not have been as forgiving. 

As Five finished, Bea stood, allowing her thoughts to consume her as she paced away from the bed. She missed the frown etched on Five's face as he watched her go, mistaking her emotions for revulsion towards his actions. Luther, who had moved away to make something for the boy to eat, returned and handed his brother a sandwich.

"So," Luther began, "you were a hit man?"

"Do you have to say it?" Bea asked, turning only her sullen face towards him, arms hugged tightly around herself. Her voice was soft, barely audible, but its impact was great.

"I was," Five cut in, accepting the plate and mug held out to him.

Luther frowned, returning to his seat. His mind was racing; he always knew that Five was steps ahead of the rest of the Umbrella kids, though he refused to admit it aloud. It somehow hadn't surprised him that his brother had turned to a life of, well, villainy. Five wasn't the most sympathetic person and Luther had often referred to his behaviour as 'robotic' when they were children. The emotions rolling off of him now, however, completely skewed and altered that view. Luther hadn't failed to notice the subtle looks given to Phoebe - the checks to determine how she was feeling. He really does care about her a lot, he thought to himself. Of course, Luther knew that Phoebe and Five had been best friends of sorts as children; where Number Eight's peppy attitudes had annoyed him, to Five they seemed endearing. Still, there were more questions to be asked and not all that much time left to ask them.

"I mean," Luther began, "you had a code, right? You didn't kill just anybody."

From her place beside the kitchenette, Bea perked up at this question, raising a concerned eyebrow. The answer that came from Five was one she had been dreading.