The Jennifer Incident - (Ben Hargreeves X OC)

Chapter Two - Back to the future

"So this is really happening, huh."

Five clutched the briefcase tightly in his hand. After a terribly boring few months of living in 1963, I was finally leaving to live out the remainder of my life by living equally as boringly in 2019. What a treat!

"Everybody ready?" Five sighed, pulling us close together. "Let's do it, Yeah." Luther nodded, overly excited about going back to a life where he had nothing going for him. "Okay." Vanya nodded, and I grabbed Klaus's hand in anticipation. "All right." Luther agreed. "Wait!" Klaus gasped as if he had been burned, and I sighed in mock annoyance. "Please don't tell me this is about that god awful hat." I joked, and Klaus scoffed. "My hat is beautiful, Jen, and looks amazing on me," Klaus informed, running quickly into the farmhouse in search of his treasured hat, then quickly sprinting back. "Permission to leave him here?" I sighed and Klaus nudged my shoulder playfully. Together with unspoken agreement, I clasped Vanya and Klaus's hands, preparing ourselves to jump through time. Slowly, Five opened the briefcase, a blinding light consuming us.

When I opened my eyes again, we were...home. Surprisingly, I had not missed this place at all, regardless if me and Klaus had spent most of our childhood goofing about here. Simpler times, but not more exciting times. Gasping, Luther exclaimed in shock, stepping back from the table we had emerged next to, asking us all what day it was as if we would magically know. "April 2nd 2019" Five informed us all, and I gasped at his statement, remembering what that truly meant. "We've only been gone for a day." I told myself, realising just how useless the last 3 months had been. "Wait so we stopped it?" Vanya asked in surprise, and a smile graced my face. "Hopefully it'll be the last apocalypse we have to deal with." I wished, unknowingly jinxing us beyond recognition. "Did we actually succeed at something?" Klaus asked, and I flicked his hat. "You succeed in being my only friend every day." I joked, and Klaus laughed along with me. "That's incredible!" Klaus celebrated, throwing his hands dramatically in the air. "I don't know about you guys, but I need a drink." Klaus giggled, pulling me and Vanya in for a hug. "Sure, I could use a coffee." I joked, and Klaus scoffed. "I was thinking of something...stronger. In fact, I need several 'drinks'" Agreeing, Vanya and Luther announced that they would join us, and Allison stormed away. "I should go find Claire." Count on Allison to immediately want to find her daughter before celebrating our survival. Shaking her head, Allison disappeared behind a corner, leaving us alone. Again.

Following her, my eyes scanned the room. This definitely wasn't the academy I was used to. "Did we screw up?" I asked genuinely, my eyes landing on the portrait of Five. Only, that wasn't Five. No, that was someone else entirely. Though he didn't look familiar, I could feel a memory attempting to resurface, as if I did once know this man, maybe in a different lifetime, or more likely, another timeline. "Who is that?" I asked, and every head in the room snapped to me. "What?! You don't remember Ben?" Diego asked sceptically, and I slowly shook my head. "Should I?"

"I knew you'd show up eventually" A voice boomed from behind the chair in the centre of the room, a familiar face emerging from it, slicing through the silence. "Dad." Diego seemed to question, though it sounded more like a tired comment. "You're alive." Luther stated, softly and I rolled my eyes. "No way! Thank you for your input. None of us had noticed!" I deadpanned with a mischievous grin. "Why shouldn't I be?" Reginald questioned in confusion, and I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Because-" I started, but was quickly shut down by Luther. "I'm just happy that we're home and...together again-" Just as I was before him, Luther was cut off. "'Home'? This isn't your home." Reginald scowled in confusion, his eyes scanning each of ours. "What're you talking about?" Allison asked as if Reginald had finally lost the plot. "This is the umbrella academy." Reginald was quick to interject. "Wrong again. This is the Sparrow Academy." Laughter erupted inside me, as everyone went quiet. "What? So in this timeline you founded a company which made and sold Sparrows?" I inquired, deadly serious. Nobody found this amusing though, so I cleared my throat, rocking on the balls of my feet in embarrassment.