"𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠."
—𝑉𝑖𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑎 𝑊𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑓, 𝑂𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜

𝒟.

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐃 imagined the neighbourhood where the cause of the apocalypse lived, he had thought of a dark, sketchy street that doubled as an alley, and the only birds that flew by would be ravens and crows. Much to his dismay, his neighbourhood was actually quite nice; sleek cars were parked along the street and the sunlight flittered over the tended lawns. 

His house—a two-story, brick one—had no cars anywhere near it, which was perfect. No sneaking around needed to search inside.

"Be careful, okay?" Allison warned as they began to cross the lawn, her hand up to block to strong sun. "We don't know what Peabody's capable of."

"Yeah, he didn't seem dangerous when I first saw him," Diego pointed out with a scoff. "Looked kinda scrawny."

"Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and mass murderers," Natalia replied before gesturing at Five. "I mean, look at him."

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"Good point," Diego agreed as they approached the steps, not noticing as Allison branched off towards the side of the house. "So what does this guy want with Vanya?"

"I don't know," Five replied spitefully, grabbing onto the railing as he went up. "How about we ask him after we kill him?"

"Whoa, whoa. Hey, look, I'm gonna burst through . . ." Diego suddenly noticed the lack of presence from the fourth person, and he furrowed his brows. "You know what? It would be nice for people just to stick to—"

Five teleported away.

"—the plan. Great." Diego sighed. "No one ever listens to me."

"I'm still here." Natalia shrugged.

"Well," he sighed once more, now sizing up the door, "I guess that's why I'm marrying you."

She wrinkled her nose. "I'd hope you wouldn't marry your brother or sister."

He only rolled his eyes before looking at the door again. He braced himself for impact—clearly, the only way to get in was to break in in the literal sense. He took a breath and bounced on his toes for a few seconds before launching himself forward and—

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hotshot," Natalia interrupted, ending his momentum as she blocked his chest with her arm. "What do you think you're doing?"

Diego frowned, swatting her arm away. "Breaking down the front door."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Why don't you try just opening the door?"

"As if a murderer would keep his door unlocked," he scoffed. "Move, I don't want you getting hurt."

Rolling her eyes, she stepped away and made a grand—and extremely sarcastic—gesture for him to continue.

With a faked smile at her, he nodded and braced himself once more. He took a breath, and, once again, threw himself towards the door.

Just as planned, he managed to shatter the large pane of glass while jumping through. What went not so planned, however, was when he lost his balance and toppled face-forward onto the ground. Pain immediately electrocuted his injured arm as his weight dropped onto it, and of course, the small fragments of glass piercing his skin didn't make him feel any better, either.

"Subtle," remarked Allison as she and Five walked up.

Diego threw them a glare as he used his good hand to slowly shift himself up.

"Look at that," drawled Natalia, and Diego sighed as she pushed the door open. "The door was unlocked. Who would've known? Oh, wait."

"Shut up," Diego grumbled as he got to his feet.

"You're stupid," Natalia muttered as she stepped forward and brushed off the lingering glass from his clothes.

"Whatever. You come with me. You two . . ." Diego turned to the other two, who were watching with raised eyebrows. "Yell if you, uh . . . you know, you're in trouble."

He tugged on Natalia's sleeve before limping his way over to the living room, ignoring as Five and Allison remarked:

"Ah, inspiring leadership."

"One of the greats."

The kitchen, just like the neighbourhood, was pretty normal. Pretty nice for a murderer, at least.

Diego squinted his eyes as he scanned the place. There had to be something suspicious—a bloodied towel, or maybe even a diary filled with detailed recounts of his crimes. Yet, unsurprisingly, there was nothing abnormal about the dirty dishes in the sink or the chipped cabinets.

"Diego, check this out."

He turned to see what Natalia was reading on the fridge: a navy blue poster, titled 'ST. PLUVIUM CHAMBER ORCHESTRA.' And what was most interesting about this paper, was the picture display, her violin accompanying her. On the left, declared her as the principal violinist.

Natalia frowned as she peered closer. "She never mentioned this to me."

Diego raised his eyebrows. "Have you talked to her lately?"

She pursed her lips for a moment before sighing. "No."

"Well, that's why."

"Guys, you need to see this!"

Following the sound of Allison's urging voice, Diego, with Natalia and soon Five on his tail, headed up the stairs and to the attic.

Before Diego could question the look of shock on Allison's face, she pointed towards the bookcase she was standing in front of.

Photos of themselves, the Umbrella Academy, were pinned with their eyes scratched out; their little action figures had their heads melted off; and crayon drawings of the members getting murdered in their own way—Diego quickly understood the cry for help Allison gave.

"All our faces are burnt off," Allison pointed out as the three crowded around her.

"Well that's not creepy," Diego muttered, crouching slightly to look at the hate crime. "This guy's got some serious issues."

"This was never about Vanya." Natalia sighed from behind him. "This was about us."

A sudden thump caused Diego to turn around, and he was immediately worried by the sight he saw. Five had fallen onto the ground, his eyes fluttering and his hand clutched onto his stomach. 

"Five," Natalia exclaimed as she dropped to her knees beside him. As Diego crouched to get a better look, Natalia pulled his hand away, and they were all surprised to see the dark red that had stained it. "Wh—blood."

Diego watched with concern as she put Five's hands to his sides and lifted his top. His bloodstained hands were no match for the blood that was soaking his stomach, and the source of it all seemed to be a shrapnel piece that was stuck in him.

"Jesus, Five," Diego muttered. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You have to keep going," Five breathed out. "So . . . close."

His eyes shut, causing Diego's worry to skyrocket. His immediate response was to slap Five in the face, though that didn't work.

"Five," Allison exclaimed as she shook his shoulders. "Five!"

𝒩.

How Diego wasn't pulled over for going twenty over the limit, Natalia had absolutely no clue. Perhaps a miracle.

There was no time to ponder that while Diego and Allison lugged Five in, Natalia staying close behind. With all her worry over the small, stupid boy, she nearly forgot how the crazy sight back in Harold's house. Nearly.

"We should have taken him to the hospital," Allison worried aloud as they brought him to the living room.

Though he was losing more and more blood, Five managed to humour, "A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise some questions."

"Yeah, well," Natalia scoffed as they set him down on the couch, "so does the murder shrine in Harold Jenkins' attic."

"He's still losing blood," Allison pointed out as she took her jacket off and threw it to the side. "What do we do?"

Natalia was about to reply that they needed to stop the blood, but her mouth stopped working when she caught sight of Diego's widened eyes. She turned around to see what he was so shocked at, and she quickly felt the same once she saw who was in the main foyer. 

Full of life, humming, and dusting was Grace. Natalia could hardly believe what she was seeing. Only the other day, their mother had been limp on her chair, her eyes dimmed—yet here she was, alive and well.

But how?

Diego hurried over to her, though Natalia and Allison stayed in place. Natalia wasn't sure what to focus on at the moment, but she swiftly decided that perhaps the boy who was about to bleed out needed more tending to.

Diego returned with Grace a moment later, and they brought him up to his bed.

Natalia sat beside Five on the bed while the other two chatted quietly at the door. Grace, who had grabbed a first-aid kit along the way, began to work on the persistent wound.

"Five," Natalia said softly, her lips forming a frown, "you should've said something."

Five gave a weak shake of the head. "We've . . . almost got . . . him."

"Well, you're not gonna be any help if you're hurt," she said firmly. "Take some rest now."

"I don't think . . . I have a choice," he replied quietly, chuckling a little.

She rolled her eyes in amusement and kissed his forehead. "Sleep."

She gave the same kiss to Grace, who took a brief moment away from her healing to smile at Natalia, before walking over to Diego and Allison.

"What's the plan?"

"Alli and I think Jenkins could be hidin' out at his grandma's," Diego answered while Allison nodded. "And if he's there, Vanya might be, too."

"We have the address," Allison reassured her. "It'll take a little while, though."

"Well, considering that Diego got us here in five minutes, I think we'll be fine." Natalia sighed, and she rolled her eyes when Diego grinned.

Natalia glanced back at Five, and she smiled when she saw that he was fast asleep. Considering the day he's had (and whatever day he had before), she had no doubt he had fallen asleep the moment he closed his eyes.

She followed the two down the stairs and towards the front door, and she had no clue how to feel about their next venture. This was the man who not only thought of the most dreadful ways for herself and her family to die but also, apparently, was going to end the world. And now, they were about to (if they were right) face him head-on.

Nervous? Excited? She quickly decided that she was just ready to get it over with and finally get a good night's sleep.

It was colder than Natalia remembered when they stepped outside, though she figured perhaps the adrenaline rush had kept her warm before.

Diego pulled the iron gate open while Allison flipped through Jenkins' file. She was about to follow them towards the right, where the car was parked, when Diego suddenly stopped and turned the other way.

"Nope. Come on, this way."

"Wait, but the car is back that way," Allison pointed out while gesturing in the other direction.

"Trust me, okay?" Diego pleaded, and that's when Natalia realized that there were a few police cars that were beginning to trail slowly behind them. "Come on."

Seeing that Diego had hurried his pace, Natalia hurried to catch up to him. "What's going on?"

"They're here for me. Uh . . ." Diego sighed. "They think I did something."

Though Natalia decided against looking back, she could see the flash of red and blue against the pavement, and she decided to walk a little faster.

"What do they think you did?" questioned Allison incredulously.

"Murder," Diego answered, a little too casually while the sirens blared.

Natalia's eyes widened while Allison surprisingly asked, "Did you?"

"No, no, no, of course not, okay?" he brushed off quickly before rolling his eyes. "Why would you ask that about me, anyway?"

"I mean, you do carry knives with you everywhere."

"What if I just go back and get the car?" Natalia proposed. "Then I'll bring it—"

"You think they wouldn't recognize my fiancée?" Diego scoffed, and she sighed—he had a point there. Who else would be the person who cared enough to pick him up at two in the morning every other week?

"Yeah, okay, we're gonna have to split, okay?" Diego sighed. "I'm in charge. Remember? Vanya needs you guys."

Natalia opened her mouth to protest, but no plan was formulated in her head quick enough to use. Instead, she just groaned and kissed his cheek. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Me, do something stupid? Never." His attempt at a grin failed horribly. He glanced back at the approaching police cars, and his grin faded into a serious expression. "I love you, Nat."

"Don't act like you're gonna die—"

"I'm not! But I'm gonna be arrested, and I don't know if I'll be able to get out in time!"

"In time for what?"

"The end of the fuckin' world, Nat!"

Natalia's eyes widened. "No, I—I'm not gonna let that happen. Diego, this won't be the last time I see you."

"Just in case," he said softly, his voice now a little urgent as the cars came to a stop. "Hurry, say it back so you don't regret it when the entire world explodes and aliens invade—"

"Shut up, Diego." She sighed. She kissed his lips softly before whispering, "I love you."

"Good." He nodded. "Now go before they arrest you for being an accomplice or somethin'."

She glanced over at Allison, who was gesturing for her to hurry, and she gave Diego one last kiss before rushing over to her.

They hurried over to the next block, staying in the shadows beside a broken lamppost.

"Ready to go?" Allison asked.

"I think I'm gonna have to stay here, Alli," Natalia muttered, glancing over at the street. "I need to get Diego out."

"How?"

"However I fucking can," she answered. "Worst comes to worst, I use my powers and break him out."

"Okay." Allison nodded. "I'll get Jenkins."

"No, Alli, just wait till the morning," Natalia quickly reasoned with a shake of the head. "We don't have a car now, anyway."

"By morning, Vanya could be dead!"

"It's too dangerous—"

"Please, I can just rumour him." Allison scoffed, though Natalia worried that, perhaps, she was a little too overconfident. "I can fend for myself."

Natalia bit her lip. If there was a quality Allison had that was stronger than her overconfidence, it was her stubbornness. "You're sure?"

"I am."

She sighed. "If something happens to you, I'll—"

"Nothing will happen to me, Lia," Allison said gently. "I'll be fine."

Natalia wished she could have all the time to ponder this, but unfortunately, the clock was ticking. "Okay."