The Umbrella Academy ~ Number 8

Brother Dearest

"No, that's a dead end. It's just another hunk of glass." Five sighed as Luther handed him back the prosthetic eye.

"Piece of shit."

Diego suddenly burst through the door, charging towards Five.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?" He yelled and Luther grabbed him before he could attack the smaller boy.

"Nope. Let me- get your ape hands off of me!" Diego yelled, not thinking straight from his anger.

"I can do this as long as it take you to calm down." Luther said, easily lifting the man.

Diego struggled in Luther's hold, until finally calming down after a few moments.

"Fine." Diego agreed as Luther abruptly set him down.

"Now, wanna tell us what you're talking about?" Luther asked, confused at Diego's sudden outburst.

"Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back. He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's and then at Gimble Brothers with Eleanor after the guys in the masks attacked the Academy, looking for him." Diego said furiously as he pointed at Five.

"None of which is any of your concern. And I asked Ellie to help me, so don't blame her." Five said casually, still recovering from his hangover.

"It is now. They just killed my friend and they almost..." Diego began before becoming to overflown with emotion to finish.

"And they hurt someone that I love very much." He said vaguely, as Luther and Five gave him a sympathetic frown.

"Who are they, Five?" Luther asked, trying to fit the pieces together in his head.

Five paused for a moment, debating whether to lie or not, before ultimately deciding to tell the truth.

"They work for my former employer. A woman called The Handler. She sent them...to stop me. Then, soon as Diego's friends got in their way, well, fair game." Five said matter of factly.

"And now they're my fair game and I'm gonna see to it they pay." Diego said with vengeance in his eyes as he turned to leave.

"That would be a mistake, Diego. They've killed people far more dangerous than you." Five warned, but to deaf ears.

"Yeah, we'll see about that. And that friend of mine is Eleanor." Diego finally revealed as Five and Luther's eyes went wide in shock.

"What?!? Why didn't you tell us?" Luther exclaimed.

"Where. Is. She." Five spat out angrily, in an effort to mask his worry.

"At the Academy with Klaus. But she's just fair game, right Five?" Diego asked bitterly, using the boy's words against him before slamming the door shut on his way out.

"We need to go. Now!" Five ordered Luther, feeling immense guilt and worry for Eleanor.

~ Time Jump ~

Five stormed through the Academy doors with a just as concerned Luther following close behind.

"Eleanor...Ellie..." Five called out, desperate to know if his sister was okay.

"I'm going to call Allison and let her know what happened." Luther announced as he left a worried Five searching through the halls.

Five's heart was pounding as every possible worse case scenario ran through his mind. The reason he came back was the save his family and he was so close to losing them again.

After a few minutes, Luther returned as they made their way upstairs, looking for Eleanor.

But, before they could go any farther, Pogo emerged from the shadows.

"Pogo, is Ellie okay?" Five asked quickly and the ape nodded his head tiredly, having stayed up all night with Grace, attending to Eleanor's wounds.

"Yes, she's currently in her room resting with Master Klaus. I think it's best if we don't wake her." Pogo advised and Five agreed, despite his desire to be right by his sister's side.

"How did this even happen? When?" Luther wondered, as Five slumped onto the couch, exhausted.

"I don't know the specifics, but from what I've heard, when those two people in the masks attacked the Academy, they took Master Klaus hostage. Miss Eleanor was wounded when she went to rescue him by herself." Pogo explained and Luther shook his head.

"Why would she go alone? Why didn't she wait for us? We could have helped her." Luther said aloud, a million questions coursing though his mind as he tried the process the information.

"It's my fault. I forced Ellie to help me, I dragged her into this." Five said guiltily, as he held his head in his hands.

"Nonsense. You and your brothers have a tendency to blame yourselves for everything that happens to this family." Pogo said, remembering Diego and Klaus saying something similar.

"So, what are we going to do Five? Maybe Diego's right. We can't just let them get away after what they did to Klaus and Ellie." Luther argued, wanting vengeance for his siblings' suffering.

"I know, but we have bigger problems at the moment." Five reminded him.

"I need to find out how to stop the apocalypse." Five said as he marched up to his room, determined, the fear of losing his family again being too much to bare.

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this is a shorter one, but I wanted to get another chapter out before Christmas.

Don't forget to comment and vote!

Happy holidays and stay healthy and safe ❤️