𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐒 dreary as the group headed outside into the courtyard.

Rain hammered against the umbrellas that shielded them, and the grey sky was just as sorrowful as the mood that followed them towards the middle of the courtyard. 

The darkened sky made no effort to hide the thick ivy that crept up the brick walls, and rain poured upon the rusting statue of Ben that stood in the corner. Dead leaves were dispersed amongst the ground, letting out faint crunches as feet shuffled upon them.

Valerie closed her eyes for a moment, indulging in the cool winds that blew past her. Though it caused her goosebumps to rise and her entire body to shiver, she felt nothing but pleasure. 

Her attention turned back to the group as they approached the middle of the courtyard.

Luther tightly clutched the glossy, black vase that contained Reginald's ashes in his gloved hands as he came to the centre of the group, facing them.

"Did something happen?" their mother, Grace, questioned with a joyful smile that greatly contrasted the mood.

"Dad died," Allison reminded as her eyebrows furrowed. "Remember?"

"Oh." Grace looked taken aback for a moment. Her eyebrows knitted together and it seemed as though she forced her mouth muscles into a frown as she nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Is Mom okay?" Valerie asked as she watched her mother with uncertainty, tilting her head.

"Don't worry, Sonic, she's fine," Diego reassured her with a nudge. "She just needs to rest. You know, recharge."

Pogo appeared, his walking cane gripped in his hairy hand and a black-and-white umbrella in the other. He looked towards Luther, his eyes solemn behind his spectacles. "Whenever you're ready, dear boy."

Luther clenched his jaw as his eyes gradually lowered to his hands. He tentatively lifted the lid off before turning the urn over, allowing the ashes to spill out and create a small mountain on the grass in front of him.

They all stared at what remained of their father as it deepened in colour from the rain; all the pain, suffering, hardships they've gone through . . . now sat in front of them, withered away and unable to cause any further harm.

As the final ashes drifted out of the urn and towards the ground, Luther looked up at them and muttered, "Probably would have been better with some wind."

"Does anyone wish to speak?" Pogo asked as he looked around the family. Getting only the sound of wind and rain in response, he heaved a sigh and nodded. "Very well. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt. He was my master . . . and my friend, and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy—"

"He was a monster," Diego interrupted, rain dripping down his face from his hair (he was too tough for an umbrella, apparently).

Klaus removed his cigarette from his mouth and laughed.

Diego continued, giving the ground a cold stare, "He was a bad person and a worse father. The world's better off without him."

"Diego," Allison warned.

"My name is Number Two," Diego said quietly, though his voice soon loudened. "You know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mom do it."

Grace suddenly spoke at the mention of her name, "Would anyone like something to eat?"

"No, it's okay, Mom," Vanya reassured quietly, shaking her head.

"Oh," Grace said as she nodded, though her smile remained clear on her face, "okay."

"Look, you wanna pay your respects?" Diego stepped forward, turning on his heel to face the group and spreading his arms out. "Go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man he was."

Luther's voice was low with rage, "You should stop talking now."

Diego looked back at him, narrowing his eyes before stepping towards him and raising his eyebrows. "You know, you of all people should be on my side here, Number One."

Luther stared at him. "I am warning you."

Diego continued as he walked closer to the man, "After everything he did to you? He had to ship you a million miles away."

Luther seemed to be growing more exasperated with each word that came out of the other's mouth. "Diego, stop talking."

"That's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!" Diego spat.

Suddenly, Luther swung his fist at Diego, who ducked just in time. They both grunted as they continued to aim hits and avoid the other's fists, beginning to shift all over the ground.

Five grabbed Valerie's arm, pulling her back as Vanya did the same for Grace.

"Boys, stop this at once!" Pogo shouted, but to no avail.

"Come on, big boy!" Diego screamed, a smirk on his face as he challenged the other man.

Luther made to punch him but the strike was evaded as Diego ducked and gave a blow to Luther's gut. As the large man folded, Diego pounded onto his back, each hit with more fury than the last.

"Stop it!" Vanya shouted.

"Hit him!" Klaus cheered. "Hit him!"

Seeing that the two men weren't going to listen to his request, Pogo heaved a deep sigh and turned around, shaking his head. He headed back towards the building, clearly not caring to see another moment of the battle.

Not noticing this, Luther seized Diego by his jacket's collar and hurled him to the ground.

Quickly, Diego got to his feet, though he lowered his head to dodge a punch that Luther had thrown. He then gave a few kicks to the larger man and was met by a few punches in retaliation.

Luther grabbed ahold of Diego's left hand, grasping it tightly and preventing the blow it was about to yield.

"Get off me!" Diego struggled with his hand, then twisting it before Luther punched Diego's arm, forcing him to release him.

Another few punches were thrown until Diego backed away, now standing in front of Ben's statue as the both of them panted.

"We don't have time for this." Five rolled his eyes, beginning to walk towards the doors they had come through.

Valerie gave him a look as she chided, "Five."

Five let out a long groan before walking back to her.

"Come here, big boy!" Diego challenged with a yell.

Luther then charged towards Diego, but his punch instead hit the statue of Ben, knocking it backwards. The statue's head broke off upon the impact of the grounds, shards flying everywhere.

"Oh. . . ." Klaus winced.

"And there goes Ben's statue." Allison grimaced, pressing her lips together as her gaze turned to the broken statue.

Diego and Luther were now facing each other, about ten feet apart from each other. Diego drew a knife from his pocket, a look of fury painted across his face.

Valerie's eyes widened. There was no way she was going to risk Diego doing that, powers or not. 

Time slowed down around Valerie as she sped towards him. Everything was happening in slow-motion: Vanya screaming for Diego to stop; the look of slight regret forming on Diego's face; and the knife that was soaring through the air, now moving so slowly that it looked as if it were trying to move through jelly.

Valerie grabbed the silver handle of the knife as it crossed the halfway mark between the two of the men, slowing to a stop once it was safe and gripped tightly in her hand.

Time resumed back to normal. Everyone's wide eyes were still on Luther, expecting the knife to hit him. When they realized that there was nothing in the air and that Valerie was now on the other side of the yard, they all looked toward her, understanding what had happened.

Valerie shook her head as she threw the knife in front of Diego's feet and scoffed, "You never know when to stop, do you?"

—♫—

Valerie sat at the island in the kitchen, slowly chewing on a piece of bread as she watched Five rifle through the pantry. 

Klaus was sitting at the side, his bare feet leaning against the table as he clutched an electric guitar close to his chest.

"I told you ten million times already, Five," Valerie chuckled after swallowing the last piece of her bread. "You will not find any coffee here."

He turned to her, his eyebrows raised. "There has to be at least one goddamn packet of instant coffee or something."

"Trust me, I've already looked," Valerie told him as she pushed her plate away, folding her arms over the table. "There's nothing."

"When have you looked?" Klaus asked, his eyebrows knit tightly together as he tilted his head back. "You've been here for less than a day, and I didn't see you in the kitchen ever."

"First of all, I was in the kitchen, like, five hours ago," she corrected with a raised finger. "And second, I checked three minutes ago."

Five rolled his eyes as he turned to her before scoffing. "You've been sitting there and eating ten slices of bread for the last five minutes, how the hell would you have searched three minutes ago?"

"And you haven't even moved from your chair," Klaus added with narrowed eyes.

"Super-speed, remember?" she reminded, a small smile playing on her lips as she raised her eyebrows. "And also, you're as high as a kite, Klaus."

Klaus giggled. "Yeah."

Five groaned, shifting back to the cabinet and beginning to sort through all the spices once more. "Whatever. I'm still going to look."

"Where's Vanya?" Allison asked as she walked into the kitchen, peering her head around to see if the girl in question was in there.

"Oh, she's gone," Klaus answered as he looked over at her, shaking his head.

Allison frowned. "That's unfortunate."

"An entire square block. Forty-two bedrooms, nineteen bathrooms" —Five turned around, slamming the empty coffee pot on the kitchen island— "but no, not one single drop of coffee."

"I told you," Valerie muttered, her eyebrows raised as she gave a small shrug.

"Dad hated caffeine," Allison pointed out with a creased forehead.

"Well, he hated children, too, and he had plenty of us," Klaus giggled as he wiggled his toes.

Allison looked over to Valerie, and the two of them exchanged eye-rolls. It was something they found doing often with each other around the other boys, both when they were younger and now. 

Five sighed, shoving his hands into his pocket as he airily informed them, "I'm taking the car."

"Where are you going?" questioned Allison as they watched him turn around.

"To get a decent cup of coffee," he answered, rolling his eyes as he shoved the coffee pot back into its original spot.

Valerie stood up and shook her head. "You don't need the car, I can run us there."

Five, however, seemed very against the idea as he shook his head. "Val, running with you makes me feel like vomiting my guts out."

"Deal with it." 

Valerie disregarded his protests as she grabbed his shoulders and took off.

Within a few seconds, the two of them were standing outside the diner that they had visited often when they were teens: Griddy's Doughnuts.

The yellow sign glowed brightly, lighting up the darkness in the parking lot around them. A large, cartoon coffee stood above the sign, drawing in no one, apparently, seeing that the diner was empty as they entered.

The diner was empty as they walked in, and they were greeted only by the bright lights overhead and the gentle hum of electricity.

The two of them took their seats at the counter, and Five tapped against the silver bell to alert whoever worked there that there were customers. 

There were a few moments of silence before Valerie spoke, her eyebrows furrowed as she turned to the boy. "By the way . . . what did you do when you went to the future? What happened?"

Five heaved a heavy sigh, looking down at his clasped fingers before turning his eyes to her and muttering, "Long story."

Valerie stared at him for a moment, her eyebrows knit together tightly. There had never been a time where he had held back from her. In fact, a lot of the time, he had told her things she did not want to know.

"We have time," she pointed out.

Before Five could tell her anything, however, the creak of the door sounded, accompanied by the ring of the bell above.

Valerie turned to see that a stout man, who looked to be in his forties and wearing a hat and thick jacket, was walking in. 

He took off his cap, revealing his balding head, and placed it on the counter with one hand, taking out the daily crossword from the inside of his vest with the other. He glanced at the two of them before taking a seat, one away from Five. 

Five gave her the sweet smile that she knew had no means of sweetness behind it before he shook his head. Keeping his voice low, he told her, "Don't exactly have time."

Then, the light thud of footsteps approached as an older lady dressed in a pink uniform came up to them, giving them an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, sink was clogged," Agnes, according to the name stitched on the shirt, excused. She grabbed a pen from her breast pocket and a notebook from her apron. "So, what'll it be?"

The man pondered for a second before deciding, "Uh, give me a chocolate éclair."

"Mhm. Sure," she hummed as she wrote down his order, the soft scratching of her pen sounding. She glanced over at Valerie and Five before looking back at the man and nodding toward them. "Can I get the kids a glass of milk or something?"

Five scoffed. "The kids want coffee. Black."

"Cute kid," Agnes chuckled to the man, who just squinted his eyes in return. She looked around at them for a couple of moments, Five giving her the same sweet smile he had given to Valerie. "Okay," she mumbled before she set off to the counter behind her, beginning to prepare their orders.

Five sighed as he looked around the room. "Don't remember this place being such a shithole."

He seemed to be talking more to the other man than Valerie.

"Used to come here as a kid. Used to sneak out with my brothers and sisters and eat doughnuts till we puked."

Yep, he was talking solely to the other man. Straight-up just ignoring Valerie's presence. Cool. It's not like this was the first time they'd seen each other in years.

"Simpler times, huh?" Five shrugged.

"Eh," the man grunted, seeming to be slightly taken back by the boy's reminiscent words. "I suppose."

The waitress came back with their orders, placing a cup in front of both of them and handing the treat to the man. "Here."

The man pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, taking out a few dollar bills and handing them to Agnes. "I got theirs."

"Thanks." Five smiled as he picked up his cup and nodded towards the man, who returned the favour. His eyes then focused on the stitching on the man's vest, which read: ISHMAEL'S TOWING 24 HOUR SERVICE. "You must know your way around the city."

"I hope so," the man chuckled, glancing down at the logo. "I've been driving it for twenty years."

"Good," Five murmured as he placed his cup back down, an intrigued eyebrow quirked. "I need an address."

"For what?" Valerie asked quietly.

He ignored her.

After scrawling the address to some random department store that Valerie had never heard of, the man left the diner. 

"Hey, dude, what was that?" Valerie questioned as she leaned towards him and tried to peek at the paper, which he then shifted away from her view. "Why do you need to go to that store?"

"Like I said before," Five said mindlessly as he folded the paper and tucked it into his jacket pocket, "long story."

Valerie was about to persist, but the faint sound of a group's footsteps caused her mouth to press into a thin line. Her posture stiffened, and she tilted her head to the side, trying to get a better gauge of the sound.  

She knew Five was giving her a strange look, though she paid him no mind. With the steps only getting louder, she slowly turned to look out the window behind them. 

From what she could make out through the darkness, a group of men were approaching the diner. They were dressed in all-black, and she was sure that the large objects in their hands were not friendly. 

Five, who had followed her gaze, sighed. "Aw, shit."

"Let's go," she said quickly, pushing her cup away and starting to get up, "I'll run us back home."

Five, however, shook his head. "No, no, I need to kill them."

Valerie paused, furrowing her eyebrows as she leaned toward him. "You need to—Five, you know I don't kill people."

"Yeah, I know, Val. That's why I said I," Five pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "You go bring that waitress somewhere safe and wait for me outside the back."

"Five—"

"They're here." He looked behind them again, watching as the men approached the glass doors before turning to face the front. "Go."

She groaned. "You're the worst."

"Yeah, yeah, what's new?" He scoffed. "Go!"

With one last glare, she ran towards the back room, swiftly grabbing the waitress and hiding her underneath the desk just as loud gunshots filled the air. She shook her head as she raced outside and pressed her back against the wall.

Valerie did as he told her, waiting outside the back of the diner as she held her breath. Brutal gunshots and screams of pain echoed through the air as Five did . . . whatever he was doing.

She trusted that he was all right, because if she thought anything else . . . No, thanks. She didn't even want to think about thinking about it.

Valerie wished she could help him, but she had to remain loyal to her own code. Sure, killing bad guys was what the students in the Umbrella Academy had to do in certain situations, but she would absolutely not take part in any murdering.

She had spent the first eleven years of her life learning that murder was bad, after all. What a shock it was to her once she had joined the Academy and was given the order to do the very thing she knew was the worst sin a person could commit. And it was an order she decided not to follow. 

She wanted everyone to join her in keeping everyone alive, but there was no one she could convince—especially Reginald (and Diego, he really loved stabbing guys). So, instead she just kept the code by herself, much to the annoyance of a few others (Diego).

There had only been a couple of separate occasions where it was a life-or-death situation. And she chose life—for herself, that is. She didn't so much as offer death as she did force it upon the opponent. But those were times she locked and pushed to the back of her brain, and never thought of again.

She was pulled out of her thoughts and brought back to reality as the sound of footsteps came, and she turned to see Five, whose white collar was now stained with blood and arm was dripping with the same maroon. 

"Five, what—what happened?" Valerie asked worriedly as she gingerly lifted up his arm to better inspect the wound. "Are you okay?"

"Those sons of bitches put a tracker in me," he chuckled bitterly as he watched her squint her eyes at his arm. "I had to take it out."

She gave him an imploring look. "I could have at least done it."

"Yeah?" He scoffed, his eyebrows then raising. "You could have taken a knife and sliced me open?"

Valerie was silent for a moment, causing a look of satisfaction to express itself on his face. She sighed. "Shut up. Can we go home now?"

"No." He shook his head. "Vanya's."