CHAPTER NINETEEN: ONE LAST SHORT

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When Five arrived home he hang his jacket on the hook by the door before walking farther in.

But then the lights was turn back on which caused him to jump a bit and he turned to see his wife "Jesus, you scared me" he said "Where were you?" she asked "At work" he said "Really, 'cause I track your phone and you were not at the CIA" she took a step closer to him.

"Are you spying on me?" he asked "Are you cheating on me?" she put her hands on cross "What?" he asked "If you are just admit it" she said "No" he shook his head "I'm not cheating on you" he said.

"Then where were you?" she asked "I had to do some undercover stuff" he said "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked "'Cause I was scared that you insists in going with me and I was nervous over that you would try to stop me" he said.

"Five" she walked over to him "This is your job, I wouldn't stop you from doing your job" she grab his hands "I thought you were cheating on me" she said "I would never cheat on you" he put his right hand on her left cheek "You and you alone are the key to my heart, you are the only woman for me, my dream woman, I have gotten everything I could ever dream off, something I thought I would never have. So don't think for a moment that I would throw that away for anything" he said and she smiled.

"I love you, always and forever" he said "I love you too, always and forever" they smiled before connection their lips.

While kissing, Maddie jump up and wrapped her arms around Five's waistline as he lifted her up before walking towards the couch and lowered her back against it.

---

Both Maddie and Five was laying on the couch with the blanket covered their naked bodies.

"That was a good round" Maddie said "Yeah. It has being a long time since we have done this" Five said as he was stroking Maddie down the side of her head while she was laying on top of him with a smile.

Maddie then looked at him "Promise that you will never leave me" she said "I promise, promise you will never leave me" he said "Never going to leave you, I will always be with you, always and forever" she said before she leaned closer to him.

But as their lips were about to connect, Maddie's phone rang. She pulled away before grabbing her phone from the coffee table and look at the caller ID to see Luther's name.

"It's Luther" she said "Let it ring" Five said and Maddie nodded before she put phone back on the coffee table and lean closer before connection her lips with Five's.

But then Five's phone rang and he pulled away "I'm gonna kill that person" he grab his phone from the coffee table and he look at the caller ID to see Luther's name, "I'm gonna kill him" he said before putting the phone to his ear, while Maddie continued kissing his neck.

"Bad timing, so I really hope it's life or death" Five hissed "Listen, this is important, so come meet me at my place, have already called the others" Luther said over the phone "It better be important" Five said before hanging up the phone "Luther needs us" he said "Then let's go" Maddie said.

---

Maddie, Five, Allison, Klaus, Lila and Diego arrive at Luther's place which was the old Academy.

They also saw that Ben already was there.

"Okay, Luther, we're here. What is it?" Five asked as Luther was holding a letter he have gotten.

"It says 'Your brother Viktor has been kidnapped. Follow my exact instructions, and no harm will come to him'" he read from the letter before handing it to Allison.

"All right. Any idea on who might be behind this?" Five asked "My money's on you-know-who" Maddie said "What, Dad? Come on. Did didn't kidnap Viktor. He doesn't give a shit about us" Klaus said as he was wearing surgery gloves and surgery mask "Not when he can't use us anymore, he don't care" Maddie said.

"It just really hurts when family stabs you in the back" Diego leaned his head closer to Lila's and she looked at him.

Maddie then turned around "Woah, where are you going?" Five asked "If dad is behind this, we should go talk to him. We have to save Viktor now" she said "Actually we can't, we don't have our powers anymore sis" Klaus said "It's nine against one, Klaus" Maddie said "She is right. We can take him down" Ben said.

"Five, can't you just call your CIA buddies?" Allison asked and Five let out an exhales "Well, the CIA doesn't investigate kidnappings. That's the FBI" he said "Wait. Hey, hey, no. We don't need anyone. We can handle this" Diego said "Yeah" Luther nodded while Ben took a sip of his mug.

"We're not exactly a team anymore, Diego" Five said "Or ever were" Ben said "But we are a family, always have and always will be" Maddie said.

"Then there's the whole 'no powers' thing" Lila said which caused Five and Maddie to glanced at each other, not knowing if this was the right time to tell them.

"No, I don't care. If Viktor's in trouble, I'm in" Maddie said "So am I, right?" Luther pointed on Diego who looked at Lila "What are you looking at me for? I'm not your mother" she said "I'm in" Diego looked at Luther with a smile "Good luck" Lila said "What?" Diego snapped his head at his wife.

"You can't even run up the stairs without getting a coronary" she said "I'm in the best shape of my life" Diego said "Jesus. Okay, anyway, now what?" Allison looked back at Luther.

"It says we're supposed to meet at Sy's Dry cleaning on 5th Avenue" Luther read in the letter.

"Perfect. Let's roll" Diego said before he turned around "Yeah!" Luther as he walked after Diego.

"What?" Klaus asked as Maddie also walked after Diego "Let's go guys, Viktor is our brother, our family, so come on" she said and the others follow after her.

They all eight got into Diego's van before driving towards the place.

---

The sound of tires screeching was heard as Diego turned the van.

The sound of brakes squeak was heard as Diego stopped the van on the street right across 'Sy's Dry cleaning'

"Stay behind Five. He's got the gun" Lila said as they all got out of the van "Stay behind me, Love" Five told his wife "You know that I don't need to right" Maddie glanced at her husband "I know, but only if you have no other choice, okay" he said as he lifted up the gun from just below his back.

"Yeah, well, with powers or not, we still have to protect each other, right, plus you can still get hurt" he whispered to her as he still remember what happen at the hotel.

Luther opened the door to the building before Five walked up from behind him, taken the lead into building, his right hand was resting on top of his left, with his right hand he was pointing the gun while he was holding a flashlight in his left hand as he scanned the place while walking farther in as Maddie was right behind him with the others behind them.

"Guys! Can't you smell that? This place is a chemical wasteland" Klaus said as he was wearing a gasmask while he was the one that was walking behind the others.

As Five was shining around with the flashlight Maddie spotted a person tied with rob to a chair while a black bag was covering their head.

"Viktor" Maddie walked past Five "Love, careful" Five warned and he started looking more around, making sure that no none would charge at his wife as she rushed over to the person before taken off the bag and she smiled when she saw Viktor.

"Hey, there he is" Maddie smiled "Looking good, buddy" Ben said sarcastically.

"Thank God! What's up, Vik?" Klaus asked as he took off his mask.

"Couldn't make it to your niece's birthday?" Diego asked "Well, I was on the way, and then I got kidnapped, so..." Viktor said "Yeah, nice excuse" Diego said sarcastically "Diego" Maddie glanced annoying at him.

"Do you guys wanna untie me, or..." Viktor said "Oh, yeah, sure" Luther said before him and Maddie started to untie Viktor.

"Who grabbed you?" Maddie asked "Was it Hargreeves and his goons?" Ben asked "No way. This is amateur hour" Five said as they released Viktor.

"I apologize if my methods are a little crude" a male voice said and Five quickly by reflex push Maddie behind him before he pointed his gun towards some hanging clothes.

"But this is my first kidnapping" the guy said before stepping out "And hopefully, my last" he said as he was holding a gun.

He had a beard, wearing glasses and was bald "But I need your help" he said as he had his gun pointed at Maddie and the others.

"Well, kidnapping our brother and pointing a gun at us isn't gonna buy you much goodwill. Now put down the gun" Five said as him and the guy was pointing their gun at each other.

"My name is Sy Grossman. And it was the only way I could make sure that you came here. All of you" the guy said as he was shaking a bit.

"I couldn't leave anything to chance. Especially when it comes to...the Umbrella Academy" Sy said.

Maddie and the others were all quiet for a moment, wondering how he knew about the Umbrella Academy.

"No one's called us that in six years" Diego said while Maddie was standing next to Five ready to use her powers if the guy decided to pull the trigger.

"Sorry, pal. The Umbrella Academy doesn't exist" Five said "Um...Okay, but..." Sy spluttering "Okay, but...just..." he put the gun on a counter next to him.

"Can...Can you explain this, then?" he opened a small brown box before he lifted up a new paper article and they read the headline.

'Umbrella Academy Saves Eiffel Tower, Receives Key to City of Paris'

A picture of the siblings standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, but it was the way they looked when they lived in Dallas in the 60'

"What the..." Maddie said as Diego grab the article.

"Umbrella Academy saves what?" Klaus asked as everyone except for Five looked at the article.

"When the hell did we save the Eiffel Tower?" Maddie asked as Five was still pointing the gun at Sy.

"Where did you get that?" Viktor asked "It was in this box of things in the trunk of my daughter's car" Sy said as he pointed at the box "Her name's Jennifer" he said and Maddie walked over to look in the box.

"Where did she get that?" she asked "I don't know" Sy said and Diego lifted up a mask that look like the one that Cha-Cha was wearing while Maddie picked up an Umbrella Academy comic as Klaus found Dave's dog tag in the box.

"But, okay, listen. So about a year ago, she met these new friends, and uh, they started going to these strange meeting. They're very strange people. They called themselves the Keepers, and, uh..." Sy said which caused Five and Lila to glanced at each other as he said the word 'Keepers'

"And then, over time, she stopped talking to me. Just stopped. And that was about three months ago, and I haven't seen her since, and I believe that something terrible has happened" Sy said "No offense. Maybe she just wants nothing to do with you" Diego said and Lila push a little bit to him with her shoulder.

"No, no. My daughter and I are very close. She would never do this to me" Sy said.

"Wait, hold on. How did you find us?" Luther asked "I saw you on TV. Toss N'Wash" Sy pointed on Allison "Ha! See? No small part" Klaus said.

"And I saw pictures of you and you performing on stage" he pointed on Maddie.

"I...I've actually been watching you for quite a while now" he said "That is not creepy at all" Maddie said sarcastically while Five walked over to take the Sy's gun that was still laying on the counter next to the box.

"Uh...And I'm...I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I apologize" Sy said as he looked at Viktor.

"Uh, but, I mean, she's all that I have left, and, uh..." Sy said "What do you need us for? Call a cop" Five said "I did. They didn't do anything" Sy said "We'd like to help, but we're not the same people in that picture anymore" Viktor said "Yeah, we don't even have powers now" Luther said as Five looked in the box.

"Yeah, we're not special" Diego said "Speak for yourself, tubby" Ben said as he glanced at Diego who glanced back at him.

"Give us 24 hours" Five suddenly said causing Maddie and the others to look at him.

"Five, what are you doing?" Allison asked "24 hours. We'll find your daughter" Five closed the box "Yes. Thank you" Sy said as Five started walking away with the box.

"Guys, let's go" Maddie said as she follow her husband "What are you talking about?" Luther asked "Thank you very much, Umbrella Academy. I think you're special" Sy said as the others walked after Five and Maddie.

"Five" Diego said as the others walked after Five and Maddie "Come on" Five said "What the hell was that, man?" Diego asked as they walked over to the van.

"Hey, why are you considering helping that guy?" Ben asked "Five" Allison said "Okay, I'm done with chasing" Maddie grab Five's arm causing him to stop.

"Explain, now" she said and Five sighed before he place the box down on the ground.

"What's going on you?" Luther asked as Five opened the box.

"Because..." he struck his hand into the box before pulling something from it "Of this" he lifted it up to show them it which caused Maddie's and the others' eyes to widened when they saw what Five was holding.

A glass jar filled with Marigold, that things that gave them their powers.

They all stared in shock as the sound of high, treble thrumming was heard.

"Is that..." "Yeah" Five nodded "Marigold" Five and Maddie said at the same time.

"I think we need to find a place to talk" Maddie suggested.

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"What I'd like to know is how the daughter of some random dry cleaner end ups with a jar of Marigold in the trunk of her car" Five said as he was holding the jar in his hands as him, Maddie and the others were all sitting by a nearby Japanese restaurant after deciding to send some time together and discuss what had happen back at the washing shop.

"How do we know that's not just a jar of glow stick juice?" Diego asked "Why don't you take a sip and find out, tough guy?" Ben sent him a sarcastically smirked "I will if you will" Diego said "Don't even think about it" Lila said.

"Okay, for the sake of discussion, let's say this is legit" Five put the jar on the table in front of him "Does anyone here actually want their powers back?" he asked "No, siree, Bob" Klaus said "Yeah" Ben lifted his hand.

"For the first time in my life, I'm sober. And...happy. But most importantly, 100% poltergeist-free" Klaus said.

Then the Chef enter the room and Maddie grab the jar before putting it in the box by the floor.

"Free? You rarely leave the house. And when you do, you're wearing surgical gloves in public " Allison said "Yeah, well, at least I'm in control" Klaus said.

"Showtime" the chef said before showing his moves with the object.

"Look at this chump" Diego leaned his head closer to Lila "Angele's wrong" he said and Lila glanced at him "Sloppy form" he said.

Maddie and the others cheered when the chef was done showing his moves.

"Good job sir" Maddie said "Nice" Five said as the two was clapping.

"He is so good" Luther clap.

"Look, guys, it's hard no for me too. I've got a bar to run, friends. Like, a real life" Viktor said "You're all nuts, all right?" Ben asked and they looked at him "We should be mainlining this shit right now" he glanced at the others before looking at Maddie.

"Come on Maddie, your powers, I mean they were so OP, and now you can have them, you were so powerful, no one will stand in your way, you will be powerful again" Ben said "Yeah, I was, but I was also too powerful" Maddie said "Don't you remember that your powers saved our lives" Ben said "And she almost died doing that" Five said "I have it fine now, so no. I don't want to drink that" Maddie pointed on the jar.

Ben rolled his eyes before looking at Luther "Look, come on, big guy. I know you want it" he said "Wait! I mean, that's though one" Luther said "Come on. You don't need that, Luther. Your life is fantastic" Klaus said as he was cleaning his teeth with some tooth string.

"I don't know about fantastic, but you know, I'm...I'm managing" Luther said "Is that where the bar is set these days?" Ben asked and Luther looked at him "Managing?" Ben asked annoying.

"I'll do whatever the group decides. How's that?" Luther asked "Yeah, I'm with Luther. Majority rules" Diego said "Yeah, right" Luther said and Klaus looked at Allison "You're not actually considering this, are you?" Klaus gagging as the sound of teppanyaki flame whooshes was heard.

Ben then glanced down at the box before he pick up the jar of Marigold and put it in his pocket without anyone notices it.

"No" Allison said haltingly "No, my life is great. I have everything I need" she took a sip of her small cup.

"Yup. Me too" Lila said "Same" Klaus said "Same" Five and Maddie said before looking at each other with a smile.

"All right, then. Motion fails. We don't drink the mystery juice. So we don't get our powers back" Five said "Thank God!" Klaus let out a relived sigh.

"I tried. You're all morons" Ben got up before walking away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Luther asked "To take a piss! Is that okay, Luther?" Ben asked annoying "Or do you need to run that by my parole officer too?" he asked before walking away.

"Oh shit! I was supposed to call him at 6:00!" Luther said and they all continue watching the chef entertain them.

He did something with a figure which made Lila laugh "Is that what I think it is?" Luther pointed at the figure "Yeah, it is!" Viktor nodded "That's disgusting" Luther lowered his hand.

"All right. I gotta hit the road" Viktor said "No, so soon?" Maddie said "Come on Vik! Stay a bit longer!" Luther said "No wait! Stay, man!" Diego said "It's just such a long drive. So, yeah" Viktor said before him and Maddie gave each other a quick hug.

"I should go too. I've got an audition tomorrow" Allison said "Like a big, important audition, and we have to boot camp the lines!" Klaus said and Allison gave him a small slap on the chest as Lila looked at her wrist watch.

"You've gotta drive the kids to the dentist at 7:00 am" she said and Diego let out a stilted laughter "Why you gotta make it so early again?" Diego asked as he took a sip of his beer "Because they have school at 8:00" Lila replied.

"Maybe it was time we leave too" Maddie looked at her husband "Yeah, you are right. Noa have school and we need to go to the doctor with Sam so she can get her vaccine before we drop her off at daycare" Five said and the two got up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey! Where's everyone going?" Ben asked as he came back to see that Maddie and the others all have gotten up and was getting ready to leave.

"We haven't even gotten to the steak yet!" Ben said "Party's over" Maddie said as a waiter enter with some shots. "No! No!" Ben shook his head "Okay. One last shot, on me" he said as the waiter put the shots on the table before leaving.

"For old time's sake" Ben glanced at them "Please!" he said before he looked at Klaus "Klaus!" he said "No!" Ben said "Ignore him!" Luther said "Come on. He doesn't drink" Maddie said "He don't drink" Five said.

Both Maddie and Five cared for Klaus very much. Klaus was like the complete opposite of Five, but those two seem close.

"Sake doesn't count" Klaus said as he took off his mask "Exactly" Ben said "It doesn't?" Luther asked and Ben grab a shot before he stretched the shot towards Klaus.

"Hey. Dude's sober" Diego said "Thank you" Ben said as Klaus grab the shot.

"Okay, then" Ben said as everyone except Maddie grab a shot which caused Ben to look at her. "Come on Maddie, give it a shot" he said "I don't drink alcohol, so I will just drink some juice" she grab her glass with juice.

"Fine" Ben sighed "Here's to the nonexistent Umbrella Academy!" Ben glanced at them with a smile "Kanpai!" he lifted his shot "Kanpai!" Maddie and the others said before taken a sip.

"Thank you!" Maddie put her glass down as the others did the same.

Five grab the box before him and Maddie left with others, except Ben who sat back down "Hey! You comin'?" Luther asked "I'm gonna savor my last minutes of freedom and finish this shrimp, if you don't mind" Ben said and Luther cleaned his throat "What about curfew?" Luther asked "Relax Captain Tight-ass. I'll meet you back at your shithole later" Ben said "Captain Tight-ass?" Luther asked before walking away.

When Luther left Ben pulled up the jar of Marigold, but it was not filled up anymore. More than half of the jar was empty.

Ben opened the jar before pouring some of the marigold down in his shot.

"See ya on the other side, fuckfaces" he smiled before taken a sip.

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"Maybe we should tell the others about me still having my powers" Maddie said as her and Five was getting ready to bed "I don't think I can keep it a secret anymore" Maddie turned to her husband "They are our family, Five" she said "I know and we will tell them, but we still need to study and learn about The Red Dragon before we tell the others" he said and she let out a sigh.

"Hey" he put his hand on her chin and lifted her head so she was looking at him "Everything will be okay, we will figure this one out, okay, we are not at war, no battle or end of the world is on its way, we have each other, the kids, a good and happy life" he stroke his thumb down her cheek.

She smiled before she rested her forehead against his forehead "I love you, always and forever" she said "I love you too, always and forever, and nothing bad is going to happen anymore" they smiled while their eyes were closed, without knowing the danger that was coming their way.

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