𝑊𝑒𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑦. 8:15 𝐴.𝑀.

𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑, 𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍, 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎, Klaus, and Valerie were all gathered in front of the bar in the living room. 

Valerie and Luther had called for the meeting, knowing that they had to tell the rest of the family about the oncoming apocalypse. Time was running out, and they still had no idea what to do, and now that Five was nowhere to be found . . .

Valerie looked around as the group settled into their spots. "Okay, everyone good?"

"Where's Five?" Klaus questioned, spreading his legs out in front of him as he sat on the ground in front of one of the couches.

"Yeah, where'd he go?" Diego questioned. His left arm was now in an arm sling; he had gotten shot during a tussle with Hazel and Cha-Cha just before the ice cream truck incident (like an idiot).

Valerie wished she knew where Five was. One moment he had been right next to her, the next he was gone. 

She knew that it had probably been part of whatever his big plan was, but still, she worried. She wanted for him to have told her what the plan exactly was, but him being the annoying little prat he was, he hadn't.

"Can't you check around the city?" Allison suggested to the girl as she handed to-go cups of coffee to everyone.

"Well—" Valerie was about to tell them that she thought she knew where he had gone when Diego interrupted.

"It wouldn't hurt to look," he agreed, glancing around as he nodded. "Just in case."

She shook her head. "But—"

"It'll take, like, ten minutes, won't it?" Klaus raised his eyebrows, nodding in agreement with the others. "You're a fast girl."

"No," Valerie tried again, "actually—"

"Don't you want to see?" Allison questioned with raised eyebrows. "You never know. He could be out there."

Figuring she wouldn't get a word in until she actually did what they wanted, Valerie sighed, "Okay. I'll be back in a bit."

She dashed off, racing through every path in the city as she examined every who lined the streets. But to her unfortunate luck, the only faces that passed were those belonging to strangers. She knew it was a hopeless case; if he was carrying out his plan, there was no way he would be doing it in the city. Especially if it was connected to some higher power.

Valerie arrived back in the same spot, shaking her head as she grabbed her decaf coffee from the bar counter and sighed, "Nope."

"Wha—you just left, like, a minute ago!" Klaus's head spun towards her, his eyes wide as a look of bafflement came over his face. "You said you'd be back in a bit!"

"That's the thing about super-speed" —Valerie raised her eyebrows as she sat next to Diego on the couch— "it makes me really fast."

As Klaus gave an "Ah, right" of understanding, Diego looked around at everyone and slowly asked, "So . . . why exactly are we here?"

"Right, so . . ." She sighed as she looked over to Luther and folded her arms. "The world's ending in three days."

"Three days?" Allison repeated in shock as her eyes widened, glancing between Luther and Valerie.

"That's what Five said," Valerie confirmed with a short nod.

"The bastard did mention the apocalypse, come to think of it." Klaus nodded as he leaned back on the couch and exhaled. "He just left out the part about how soon."

"But can we trust him?" Allison questioned before taking a sip of her coffee. "I don't know if you've noticed, but Five's a little . . ." She whistled while making a circling motion with her index finger toward her head.

"Our little psycho," Klaus chuckled endearingly.

"He was pretty convincing," Luther spoke up from beside Allison as he gave a small shrug. "If he wasn't trying to stop an apocalypse, those lunatics wouldn't be chasing him."

A look of realization came over Diego's face as he leaned forward and questioned, "That's why they were after him?"

"Yeah." Luther nodded.

"What did Five even see?" Allison questioned as she leaned her hand against the bar counter, narrowing her eyes at Luther.

Luther stared at her for a moment, unsure of what to say as he stammered, "Uh . . . Apparently, we all fought together against whoever was responsible." He gave an unconvincing nod before clicking his tongue and getting up. "Okay. So, here's the plan. Uh, we go through Dad's research—"

"Wait, what?" Allison interrupted, her eyebrows furrowed. "Hold on, hold on."

"Wait a tick, wait a tick, wait a tick." Klaus raised his hand, his eyes shifting around between Luther and Valerie. "What actually happened the first time around?"

"Yeah. What are you not tellin' us?" Diego's expression displayed concern as he stared at Luther. "Come on, big boy, spit it out."

Luther glanced nervously at everyone, obviously not wanting to spit it out. He turned to face the young girl, gesturing to her as he agitatedly instructed, "Valerie, you tell them."

Valerie, whose attention had turned to a small, gold statuette of a horse that was on the table next to them, raised her eyebrows in surprise upon the call of her name. "What are we talking about?"

Luther sighed, "What are you . . . What Five saw when he came to the apocalypse."

"Oh," she said timidly, "right. That. What about it?"

"Tell them what he saw," he urged with a quick nod.

Valerie sighed, feeling everyone's attention on her as she closed her eyes. "We died," she muttered quickly before burying her face into the lid of the coffee cup, the hot brew immediately entering her mouth.

Allison leaned forward, her eyes wide. "What was that?"

Valerie took the cup away from her mouth and raised her voice. "I said, uh . . . we died."

A few minutes of shock later, and the group was huddled around the bar. They pestered Luther and Valerie with questions, all of their foreheads creased with worry.

"Just now, you're telling . . ." Diego sighed, shaking his head. "No, we need to figure this out."

"Is it just us?" Allison questioned.

"It's everybody," Luther said grimly.

"In the house?" Diego questioned in surprise, pointing his finger down to the floor to help indicate.

"The whole planet?" Allison added on.

"No, outside the house," Valerie answered as she shook her head. "Everyone died."

Suddenly, a new voice spoke up, "Hey."

They all turned to see Vanya, and another man (who Valerie assumed was Leonard Peabody— Vanya's boyfriend. Allison had told her all about him and how she didn't trust him in the least).

Valerie's eyes widened when she saw Vanya.

Shit.

"What's going on?" Vanya questioned.

"It's a family matter," Allison said, immediately making Valerie groan internally. That was the last thing that she should've said.

"A family matter," Vanya chuckled bitterly, her eyes shifting from one sibling to the next. "So you couldn't bother to include me."

"No, it's not like that." Luther looked around at the others, his eyes pleading for them to help him out. "We were . . ."

"Don't let me interrupt." Vanya gave a small scoff before turning and heading towards the exit, her boyfriend trailing close behind.

"Wait." Allison rushed up to her, glancing back at the others before looking back and promising, "I'll fill you in later when we're alone."

"Please, please, don't bother," Vanya pleaded as she shook her head. "And I won't either."

Allison was silent for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing. "Vanya, that's not fair."

"Fair?" Vanya echoed, her eyes now moistened with tears. "There's nothing fair about being your sister. I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember. And I used to think it was Dad's fault, but he's dead," she sniffled. "So it turns out you're the assholes."

She turned and left without another word, not bothering to look back at them. Her boyfriend gave them a wary look before following her out.

"Ouch," Klaus commented as he crinkled his nose.

Allison began to walk towards the exit that Vanya had just left through and quickly told them, "I'm gonna go find Vanya and explain."

"No, wait, there isn't time," Luther said quickly, causing Allison to halt and turn to them. "We need to figure out what causes the apocalypse. Now, there are loads of possibilities. Nuclear war, asteroids. But I'm thinking this is about the Moon. Right?"

"Hey, Speedy Gonzalez," Diego whispered to Valerie, who was leaned against the sink beside him, "mind helping me out?" He lifted his hand towards her, wanting her to take the leather glove off for him.

Valerie ripped off the velcro strap and slipped the glove off of his hand as Luther continued.

"Dad must have sent me up there for a reason. And I was giving him daily updates on the conditions, I sent field samples. The first thing we need to do is find his research."

"Hold on. Hold the phone." Klaus shook his head as he waved his hand to grab their attention. "We all died fighting this thing the first time around. Remember?"

Diego, who had begun to play with one of his knives with his good, now gloveless, hand, nodded. "Klaus, shockingly, has a point. What gives us a win this time?"

"Five," Valerie answered instantly. "Last time we didn't have him. We weren't all together. This time, we'll have the full force of the Umbrella Academy. That's what . . . we need," she slowed down her last sentence as she stared at Klaus with worry, him starting to gag as he flopped down on the couch.

"Okay, but we still don't know where Five is," Allison pointed out, tapping her fingers against her coffee cup.

Valerie folded her arms. "That's what I was trying to tell you guys before you made me waste my time and search the city—"

"Took you less than a minute," Diego muttered.

"—but anyway, he had a plan to change the timeline. He'll be back soon. I think. He never really told me what his plan was."

Diego suddenly brushed past Valerie, folding his jacket over his arm as he began to walk towards the exit. "I'm going after Hazel and Cha-Cha."

"What, right now?" Luther questioned.

"Hell, yeah," he answered. "Three days. I'm losing light by the minute."

"Wait, Diego." Valerie walked around the bar and towards him, causing him to stop and turn to her. "Look, I know you wanna avenge your friend, but we've got a bigger problem here."

"She wasn't just some friend," Diego said angrily. "If I'm gonna die, I need to know I killed those bastards first. It's not about Dad. It's not about me. The longer I wait, Hazel . . ." He sighed before looking up at Valerie. "Don't try stopping me."

He then stormed out, his hand clutching his knife tightly. He didn't bother to look back as Valerie called his name, and he was soon gone.

Klaus slowly got up from the couch and began to follow him.

"Klaus?" Luther called but received no response. "Klaus!"

Klaus turned around to face them, a goofy grin on his face as he nodded. "Yeah! Sorry."

"So, what?" Luther gave a small scoff as his eyebrows furrowed. "You're giving up on the world, too?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Klaus nodded almost immediately, shrugging lightly. "Yeah. Mhm."

"So that's it." Luther rubbed his eyes as he let out a deep exhale. "You're cool with us all dying in three days?"

Klaus shrugged before leaving.

"I can't believe it. It's just us." Luther turned to face the other two, a look of utter disbelief set on his face.

Allison gave both of them an apologetic look, silently telling them that she'd have to join the bandwagons of abandoners.

"Oh, please, not you, too," Luther said softly.

"I have to book a flight back to LA," Allison sighed. "If this happens I have to be with my daughter, custody be damned. And you said it yourself, Val—we need the full force of the Academy to even stand a chance. I'm sorry, guys."

Valerie looked at Luther as Allison left the room. "We're fucked."

About ten minutes later, Valerie was heading down the second floor as she heard an "Ah, shit." She peered through the open door to see that Diego was the source of the noise, clearly frustrated as he tied his shoe—or attempted to, at least.

She was about to go help him when Klaus slid into his room, blue rope slung over his shoulder. He was lathered in sweat, his hair sticking to his forehead, and he seemed quite dishevelled—although that wasn't unusual for him.

Whatever Klaus was about to do, it seemed real sketchy.

"Hey." Klaus leaned against the doorframe, giving a small nod of greeting to the man.

"Hey. You, uh . . . you mind?" Diego asked as he gestured to the untied shoe.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. I'll . . . I'll tie that up." Klaus nodded as he tossed the blue rope towards Diego, who caught it. "If you tie me up after."

Valerie crinkled her nose as she walked into the room. "Come again?"

"Oh, Val, you're here too, perfect." Klaus nodded as he clapped his hands together. "You know, last time I was sober was that roaring good time when those freaks had me tied up in the motel room."

"Wow." Diego stared at Klaus, a mixture of amusement and disgust on his face. "You are one twisted bonehead."

"Why?" Klaus questioned. "You're the one who's always like, 'Klaus, you need to get sober, bro.'"

Diego shook his head as he scoffed, "There's better ways to get clean, bro."

"Not for me, no." Klaus had a pleading look in his eyes as his gaze shifted between Diego and Valerie. "I need someone to take away my options."

Valerie and Diego exchanged sighs as they looked towards each other, having a silent conversation as they expressed with their eyes.

Finally, Diego nodded. "Fine."

"Okay. Thank you." Klaus sighed in relief.

"Okay, can someone help me now?" Diego pointed down to his shoe, its laces still untied.

After Klaus had tied Diego's shoe (in which he just made several knots that would probably be impossible to untie), the three of them headed up to the attic.

Sunlight streamed through the one window that stood in the middle of the wooden room, casting light on Klaus, who was sitting on a chair as he prepared to be tied up. The room was a lot emptier than Valerie remembered, it only having a few cardboard boxes and some lamps.

"I hate this room," Diego grunted as he wrapped the blue rope tightly around Klaus's body, tying him against the chair.

"Oh, it got me high enough." Klaus winced in pain, the rope digging against his skin. "I picked it clean of anything of value after Daddy kicked the bucket. That's it, tighter and higher. Ooh. Ouf! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," Klaus began to mutter to himself, seeming to enjoy this.

"If I see a boner, I'm out," Diego warned.

Valerie sat on the ground, in front of Klaus as she remarked, "It's the end of the world and you wanna get sober all of a sudden. Don't get me wrong, Klaus, it's great, but I'd think that you'd be trying to do all the drugs in the world by now."

"Oh, the thought did cross my mind, believe me, but" —Klaus stared off to the front— "there's something I need to do, and the whole pesky thing doesn't seem to work unless I'm sober."

"Is this is about conjuring the one you lost?" Diego asked as he tied the rope around Klaus's right leg. "What was her name?"

"His name was Dave," Klaus informed them. "We soldiered together in the A Shau Valley in the Mountain of the Crouching Beast."

"Well, Dave must have been a very special person" —Diego moved on to his left leg— "to put up with your weird-ass shit."

"Yeah. Yeah, he was . . ." A smile came onto Klaus's face as he reminisced. "He was kind, and strong, and vulnerable, and . . . beautiful. Beautiful. And I was . . . foolish enough to follow him all the way to the front line."

"You fought in the shit?" Diego questioned, looking up at him.

"Oh yeah, baby."

"How'd they let you do that?" Valerie asked as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Let me? War couldn't take enough bodies. Please," Klaus chuckled before his face suddenly became grim. "Including his."

Diego, nearly finished with his rope, stood up, seeming to want to tie the rope behind the chair.

Valerie got up and gestured for him to give her the rope.

"No, I've got it," Diego refused as he shook his head. "I'm fine."

Valerie raised her eyebrows, stretching her hand out further as she demanded, "Give me it."

Diego scowled and gave it to her, although he let out a small sigh of relief once she had begun working on it.

"Hey, look at us," Klaus mused, turning his head to look over towards Diego. "Loggin' in some quality bro and sis time before the end of the world."

"Yeah, might as well," Diego sighed as he folded his arms and shrugged. "Everyone I like is already dead."

"Hey," Valerie warned while she kept her eyes on the rope as she knotted it.

"Almost everyone I like is already dead," he corrected, causing Valerie to give a satisfied nod. 

"Ah, yes." Klaus nodded slowly in understanding before listing, "The lady cop. Mom, too."

"I let them both down," Diego said roughly, shaking his head as his eyes lowered to the hardwood floor. "So here I am."

"There." Valerie sighed as she let go of the rope once she had finished tying it up. She clapped Klaus on the back as she reassured him, "You're good."

Diego and Valerie began to walk away when Klaus moaned, "Ah, shit!"

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows, concerned as she and Diego stopped to look at him. "What?"

"I need to pee."

With a long groan, Valerie used her speed to untie him in a few seconds, and he did his business. Diego picked up the rope as Klaus sat back down, preparing to tie him up once more.

Klaus suddenly got up, a worried look on his face as he murmured, "You know, no, I . . . I think . . . I think this was . . ."

"Whoa, wait." Valerie folded her arms as Klaus stumbled around to leave.

"I think this was a bad idea. No. I just . . . I should have had just one last hit to ease me into it. That's all I need."

"Mhm," Diego refused as he shook his head. "No, no, no."

Klaus began to walk towards the door, giving them a phoney smile in the hopes that they'd let him pass. "I'll be right back."

"I don't think so." Valerie sped in front of him, placing a hand on his chest to stop him as she gave him a stern glare.

"No . . ."

"That's not how it works."

"Val, please."

"Nope. Sit down."

"Valerie, listen. Just listen."

"Sit."

"Just listen."

"Ugh." Valerie grabbed onto his sweaty shoulders and sped him towards the chair, then pushing him onto the seat with all her strength.

"Dammit, Val!" Klaus groaned as Diego handed her the thick rope. She began to speed around him, tying him tightly as he yelled, "Dammit! Stop it! Get off! Get . . . Get off!"

Valerie stopped once she was done tying the rope a few moments later. She stepped back, letting out an exhale as she wiped her hands on her skirt and stared at the panting man.

Diego shoved a plastic, blue bucket towards Klaus and told him, "This is for next time. Puke, pee, whatever you need. Multipurpose. See?"

Diego and Valerie walked out again, this time ignoring as Klaus yelled at them to come back.

The two of them headed down the steps and into the main foyer, passing the entrance to the living room, the crashed chandelier to the right of them. As they moved past the open entrance, so did another figure.

Diego and Valerie suddenly stopped and exchanged wide eyes, realization dawning on both of them.  

Diego whispered, "Is that . . . ?"

"Let's go see," Valerie muttered before she gestured for him to follow her as she entered the living room.

Sure enough, Grace was there, alive as ever, humming away as she feather-dusted the boar's head.

"Mom?" Diego uttered as he stared at her in shock, his eyes wide.

"Oh! Hello, Valerie, Diego!" Grace greeted with a smile as she strode over to them, the black feather-duster clutched tightly in her hand.

"How are you" —Valerie shook her head slightly as she examined the woman's face— "walking around?" She lifted Grace's forearm, which showed stitched skin over the control panel that was hidden underneath.

"One foot in front of the other," she giggled. "Why? How do you do it?"

"Mom, I . . ." Diego's eyes slowly drifted from her arm to her face, his eyebrows knitting tightly together. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Oh, let's see . . ." Grace looked up, trying to remember for a few moments before reciting, "March 21st. Sunset was 7:33 P.M. Moon was waxing crescent. Dinner was Cornish hen, rice, carrots."

"Mom, that happened over a week ago," Valerie pointed out as her eyebrows furrowed, glancing over to the man beside her.

Diego glanced back at her as he swallowed, and he then asked, "Do you remember anything else?"

Their mother paused for a moment before shaking her head. "No. I suppose that's odd." She looked towards the window, where the glass glimmered, and the smile resumed on her face as she said, "I wonder what the weather is like today. It would be nice to go to the park."

"Dad never let you off the grounds," Diego murmured.

Grace gave the two of them a warm smile. "Your father isn't here anymore."

Valerie nodded slowly, a smile spreading on her face as she looked towards her mom. "You can do whatever you want, Mom."