Alma Hargreeves huffed irritably as she exited the room, leaving behind her idiotic brother. She couldn't believe what he was thinking. His own family!?

Klaus looked over at her, watching her face contort from varying emotions, "Now don't stress yourself too much, sis. We wouldn't want a wrinkling forming on your young, little face."

This only agitated Alma more, causing her to scowl at her brother. In addition to her ability to heal and bring things back to life, due to her harness of life, Alma was blessed with the ability to age much slower than the average human. Despite the fact that she was the same age as all of her siblings, physically she appeared much younger. Because of this, she earned flack constantly from her siblings, most of which was mostly stemming from jealousy.

"You look great though!" Klaus tried to backtrack. "I love the hair! Did you get layers?"

Alma bit her tough and rolled her eyes, sending a look towards Klaus, "It's good to see you out of rehab, Klaus, although it's sad to know you're back at it again. I wish you wanted more for yourself."

Klaus rolled his eyes knowing full well that Alma kept an eye on him despite how difficult it was to do when he was high. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he appreciated how much she cared and he wished she knew that he felt the same way towards her.

"Oh, lovely, sister, you truly haven't changed," Klaus grinned, twirling around in Allison's skirt. "Still the caring self you've always been. Believe me, there's nothing better I could want. I feel great!" Alma shook her head, a soft chuckle leaving her lips as the two separated.

Eventually, Alma found herself in her old room, yet another place she hadn't been in three years. Just like before, she was still surprised to see it completely clean. Her room, filled with plants that her father would insist she keep alive, covered in music posters and pictures, looked the same it had since the last time she had been there. She assumed that Mom cleaned their rooms on a regular basis despite the fact that they no longer lived in them.

She could see the carpet stain from spilled nail polish caused by Allison and the engraving in the wall that she, Klaus, and Ben had done with one of Diego's knives, it read: "A, K, and B were here!" She could remember the secret sleepovers she and Vanya very rarely had, the first time she had smoked pot with Klaus, and the open conversations she would have with Ben. In addition to all of the good memories that were created in this room, there were bad ones that followed just as strong. She remembered the many cuts and bruises Mom would have to clean, the number of times she would cry into her pillow, and the constant pressure and stress that always loomed over her shoulder.

A sigh escaped her chapped lips as she made her way towards her bed. She fell backward onto it, the sunlight from her window pouring down upon her. At that moment she wished she wasn't alone. Yes, she had Vanya, Pogo, and Mom, but those weren't the people Alma was seeking.

»

"This is where you grew up?" Delilah asked, confusion and awe lacing her words. The two women stood in front of the Umbrella Academy, a place Alma hadn't been in years.

Alma laughed lightly, a blush creeping on her cheeks. She quickly swiped a bit of her hair behind her ear, her anxious hands leading her to mess with her dark tresses. "Yeah. It's a bit much, but I guess you get used to it when that's all you've ever known."

Delilah nodded, following Alma into the large mansion, her eyes filled with wonder as she took in every aspect of the home her partner grew up in. She'd heard about Alma's home briefly, a place that Delilah knew she wasn't particularly fond of. Behind the extravagant paintings and other decorative pieces hid the truth of the place: the neverending push towards success, the cries of children, and the horror of death. She knew of Alma's struggle with her family and how hard this was for her to bring her home.

Alma felt strange in her own home. It had been years since she'd stepped foot in this place. The last time she was here, she was packing up her bags and heading out the door, her head filled with self-hatred and loathing. She can remember the pleads she got from Klaus in her head and the reassurance she sent back that they'd see each other again – even though they both knew it was a lie –, the disappointment from Luther, Allison, and Dad, and the sadness from Mom, Pogo, and Vanya. But she couldn't bear to be in that house anymore, not with the looming thoughts of how she was unable to save her brother, and that if she wasn't able to do that, then she wasn't even worthy to be a superhero at all.

Coming back after all these years, in hope of some sort of approval, made Alma feel sick. In spite of this, she pushed her worries to the back of her mind. She had to do this, not only for herself but for Delilah.

The two made their way through the house, Alma occasionally having to stop in order to explain something to Delilah. As they entered the living room, they found Pogo, who despite the immense amount of warning Alma had given Delilah, scared the living daylights out of her. (Later that night Delilah would say how she didn't believe Alma one bit until she actually saw the chimpanzee in person.)

"Miss Alma," he spoke in surprise, his eyes moving between the two women before him. "It's such a wonderful surprise to see you. Who is the guest that you have brought?"

"Oh, um, this is Delilah. Delilah Henson," Alma introduced, her cheeks flaring up.

Delilah grinned, having recovered from her initial shock, "It's lovely to finally meet you. Alma has told me quite a bit about you!"

»

Alma squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the oncoming memories of her. How she was completely enamored when she first saw her room, but at the same time wouldn't stop teasing Alma for days on end, how she was so compassionate and understanding of Alma's fear, and how she gave her the confidence to finally go through with it.

She hated thinking about it and about her. It hurt too much.

Alma laid still for another moment, feeling the sunlight on her skin and listening to her own breathing. She would have gone to sleep if it weren't for the sudden sound of music that kept her awake.

With her eyebrows scrunched, she slowly sat up, listening intently to the pop song seemingly blasting in the house. A sense of relaxation overcame her, memories of her siblings and herself randomly dancing to songs after a mission came to her mind. A smirk graced her lips at the thought.

She peeked around her room, checking to make sure that no one was near, before standing up and beginning to dance around her room. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she swung and jumped around. No matter how tense of a situation she might find herself in, music was always a good way to calm her down.

Her outrageously embarrassing dance moves were cut short, however, when the sound of an unnatural and sudden thunder cracked through the air. Alma jumped, nearly falling over in shock at the sudden noise. Without any further consideration, she was out of her room and rushing down the hall towards the noise. No matter how hard she tried to get rid of her old superhero complex and desire to protect others, she couldn't stop herself.

As she got closer to the sound she found herself surrounded by her siblings. They were all huddled together in the courtyard, staring up at some giant, flashing mass in the sky.

"Looks like some temporal anomaly," Luther explained, trying to speak of the loud hisses of thunder. "Either that or a miniature black hole. One of the two."

"That's a pretty big difference, Paul Bunyan," Diego explained, earning a jab in the ribs from Alma. Now was certainly not the time to start anything.

Before Diego could say a word, Klaus pushed his way through with a fire hydrant. At first, he tried to spray the anomaly, before chucking the whole thing into it. "What is that going to do?" Allison questioned.

"I don't know! Do you have a better idea?" Klaus retorted, moving back from the anomaly.

"Everyone get behind me," Luther commanded as a particularly loud crash of thunder and lightning struck.

"Yeah, get behind us!" The anomaly continued to flash and screech as it continued to become unstable. Alma grabbed Vanya and Klaus' hand, fear filling her body. But before her very eyes, she began to see someone in the middle of it. The wind continued to pick up and move her hair in her eyes, leading Alma to be unsure if what she was seeing was even real. However, within the seconds the person fell to the ground and the anomaly disappeared completely.

The six siblings stared in shock at the person before them, their mouths gaping as they slowly inched closer. There, upon the ground, seemed to the one person they least expected.

"Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?" Klaus slowly asked, breaking the silence.

'Little Number Five' in question looked at the faces before him in shock and then down at himself, "Shit."

Alma was lost for words. He looked the exact same from when she had last seemed him, except for the change of suit. She couldn't believe it. Five was back. After seventeen years, he was back.

»

Alma, like her other siblings, watched Five in awe. Underneath their unwavering gaze, he seemed unaffected and continued to make his sandwich. "What's the date? The exact date," he asked in a bored tone, his focus remaining on the cutting board before him.

"The 24th."

"Of what?" Five snapped.

"March."

Five paused for a moment, seemingly in thought, "Good." Five didn't continue, obviously not having any intent on explaining anything further.

Luther huffed in annoyance, voicing all of the sibling's curiosity, "So, are we going to talk about what just happened?" Five remained silent, set out two pieces of bread on his cutting board. Alma and her siblings looked at each other in exasperation. It had been so many years since they saw their brother, and now that he's back he does care enough to tell them how he got here. "It's been seventeen years."

Five scoffs at that, stepping away from his food to meet Luther's standing figure, "It's been a lot longer than that." Without a second thought, Five teleported through Luther, grabbing a bag of marshmallows from the cabinet.

"I haven't missed that."

Unfazed, Diego finally spoke, "Where'd you go?"

"The future," Five replied, flashing back towards his cutting board and bread. "It's shit, by the way."

"Called it!" Klaus proclaimed. Alma sighed, placing her head in her hands.

"I should've listened to the old man," Five admitted, moving to retrieve peanut butter. "You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice." Alma bit her tongue, trying her best not to say the sarcastic remark building in her throat. She could practically hear her father's warnings of how unstable time was and how Five wasn't ready before the boy in question did it anyway.

"How did you get back?" Vanya asked, increasingly growing done with the conversation at hand.

"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time," Five explained, spreading peanut butter on the bread for his sandwich.

The siblings remained in awe, most of them not understanding a word that Five just said. "That makes no sense," Diego spoke, earning a few nods of agreement from his siblings. Alma could somewhat understand what he meant, but she couldn't help but think about how Delilah would have understood it, she loved science and theories.

Unfazed, Five responded, "Well, it would if you were smarter." Diego moved to get up and attack, anger boiling within him. Luther quickly reaches out an arm to stop his brother.

"How long were you there?"

Forty-five years. Give or take."

Both Luther and Diego fell back into their seats at this. Everybody's mouths were now gaping open. Little Number Five, was definitely not little anymore.

"So, you're what? fifty-eight?" Alma finally asked, her tone filled with shock.

Five scoffed, although his normal, sassy tone seemed to soften towards his sister, "No, my consciousness is fifty-eight. Apparently, my body is thirteen again." He quickly stacked his pieces of bread together, now having completed his peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich.

Her siblings continued to voice their confusion, unable to comprehend any of what Five had said. He moved away from the group, his back turned towards them, "Delores kept saying the equations were off. Bet she's laughing now."

Despite how many questions her siblings and her asked, Five kept on moving and ignoring. It was frustrating to no end. They hadn't seen their brother in years and yet he didn't seem to have a care in the world.

Five looked down at the newspaper on the table, quickly reading over the headline, "Guess I missed the funeral?"

"How'd you know about that?" Luther asked obliviously. Alma scoffed at her brother; if there was anything Alma understood about what Five had told them, it was that he had been in the future and would obviously know about any happens they were experiencing already.

At the inquiry of their father's death, Luther and Diego once more continued to bicker back and forth. "Nice to see that nothing's changed." At that Five made a move to walk out of the room, unaware of the varying emotions that were on his siblings' faces.

"Uh, that's it?" Allision asked incredulously. "That's all you have to say?"

Five seemed unfazed as he continued to walk out of the room, "What else is there to say? The circle of life."

The siblings stayed in their places for a moment, looking at each other and where Five once stood. "If we continue to have family reunions, I really hope we don't have to keep dealing with this," Alma explained in exasperation.