May comes in like a lamb; Umbrella Academy

24

Mary, though she had tried to stay up and make sure Five was okay, had ended up falling asleep at his bedside, her head on her arms, Five's face near hers as she slept, oblivious to the teasing from Luther and Diego, also oblivious when Diego left.
Her eyes fluttered open, and as her sight got clear, she saw the face of her best friend in extreme detail, their noses mere centimeters from each other. She let out an awkward yelp, stumbling back and falling off her chair onto the floor, waking up her gorilla of a brother who had dozed off on a chair nearby.
"Mary!" Luther jumped to his feet. "Are you okay?" Mary cleated her throat and stood, brushing off her skirt as she usually did.
"I apologize. I startled myself." Luther smirked.
"Sure."
"Do you guys mind? I have an insane hangover." A pissy voice mumbled from the bed. Mary smiled.
"Good morning, honey~" she cooed mockingly, earning a sarcastic smile from her beloved friend, who sat up and intertwined his hands, placing them in his lap.
"I told you about the apocalypse, didn't I?" He asked Luther.
"When is it supposed to happen?" Luther asked.
"I can't give you the exact hour, but from what I got...we have four days left." Mary frowned.
"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Five looked at Mary for a split second before hanging his head.
"It wouldn't have mattered."
"Of course it would! We could have helped you stop it if we banded together."
"For the record, you already tried." Five snapped, making Mary wince.
"What do you mean?" Luther asked. Five swallowed deeply, looking down, before meeting Luther's eyes.
"I found all of you.." he said. The sorrow in his voice wounded Mary, and she bit her lip. He finished, "your bodies."
"We die?" Luther asked. Five couldn't bring himself to nod.
"Horribly." Luther looked deeply troubled, and Mary put a hand on his shoulder. "You were together, trying to stop whoever it was that ends the world."
"How do you know that?" Five pulled out the prosthetic eye that had given him and Mary so much grief not many days before.
"You were holding this when I found you." He tossed it to Luther, "you must've pulled it out of their head right before they went down."
"Whose head?"
"If he knew we wouldn't be here." Mary spoke up. Luther studied the eye.
"Well, there's a serial number on the back, maybe you could-"
"No, that's a dead end." Five chuckled bitterly, "It's just another hunk of glass." Luther handed the eye back to Five right as Diego kicked open the door, clearly pissed.
"Piece of shit." He fumed. He began to storm towards Mary's direction, and when she realized he was heading towards Five she stood, standing protectively in front of him. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" Diego hissed, Luther stopping him from reaching Five. Diego kicked and yelled insults at Luther, and Mary stood with her arms crossed, still standing in front of Five. Diego finally calmed down, and Luther set him down.
"Now what the hell are you talking about?" Mary asked.
"Our little bro here has been pretty busy since he got back." Diego spoke, "he was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's, and then at Gimble Brothers, after the guys in the masks attacked the academy. Looking for him." Mary spun towards Five, an "are you shitting me?" Look on her face which he returned with a blank stare as he turned calmly towards Diego.
"None of which is any of your concern."
"It is now." Diego panted, "They just killed my friend." Mary suddenly remembered Claudia, and sighed deeply.
"Who are they?"
"They work for my former employer." Five explained, "A woman called the Handler. She sent them to stop me. And as soon as Diego's friend got in the way..well...fair game." Diego huffed.
"Now they're my fair game." He hissed, "and I'm gonna see to it they pay." Diego began to walk out.
"That would be a mistake, Diego." Five spoke up, "They've killed people far more dangerous than you."
"Yeah, we'll see about that." He called over his shoulder as he left. Mary began to get a headache, and she plopped onto the bed next to Five, sighing with her head in her hands. She saw him look over in concern, yet she didn't meet his gaze.
"'Former employer"?" Luther made Five look away from Mary and at him, "what's this really about Five? And don't say it's none of my business."
"Well, it's a long story." Said Five. Mary smiled.
"We have four days." She said sarcastically. Five smiled at her a little, and began to tell his story.
He told them about how he had been recruited by the Handler in person to become a member of the Commission, whose main purpose was to keep the time continuum the way it was meant to be, however, the only way it could be achieved was through removals and manipulation. She made a deal with him that in five years of working at the Commission he would be able to go back to the time he wanted, i.e. their teen years. He became their star member, quite like Mary with the mafia. He had been instructed to assassinate John F. Kennedy, and that's where he put his strongly-worked-on plan into action. He had hoped to stop the apocalypse, as Mary now knew, and showed up the day they held the funeral.
"So you were a hit man?" Luther asked.
"Yes."
"Uh...you had a code, right? You didn't kill just anybody.."
"No code." Mary stared at her hands. She had only told Five about her previous job, and judging by Luther's reaction to Five's job, that's the way it would be forever. "We took out anyone who messed with the timeline."
"What about innocent people?"
"It was the only way I could get back here."
"But that's murder." Mary looked up, her and Five speaking simultaneously.
"Luther, please..."
"Jesus, Luther, grow up." Five turned to Mary, who avoided his eyes. "We're not kids anymore. There's no such thing as good guys or bad guys. There's only people." Luther looked away, "But when the world ends, all those people die, including our family." At Luther's stare, Five sighed, "Time changes everything."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five and Mary decided to go back to the manor, Mary wanting to check on Klaus and Five agreeing to join. Five and Mary walked up to Klaus' room, where they saw bloody footprints leading from the bathroom. Mary's concern grew as she knocked on the door, opening it slightly. Klaus was getting his shirt on, and he turned with wide eyes when her and Five came in.
"Are you alright?" She asked softly.
"Mary, Five, hey..yeah, I just...long night." He said.
"Why don't I believe you?" She asked kindly, walking in and approaching her brother.
"Maybe because it's been more than one night." Five said, making both of the other people in the room turn his way.
"Yeah."
"I don't remember you getting those dog tags." Mary observed, "did you meet anyone?"
"Yeah..a friend." Klaus said, Mary nodding.
"That tattoo. It's new, right?" Five said, an amused look on his face that confused Mary.
"You know, I don't even remember getting that." Mary stuck near Klaus as he paced around his room, having a feeling that he would collapse or something.
"You did it, didnt you?" Five asked, Mary arching a brow at him.
"What are you talking about?" Klaus asked. Five looked overjoyed, which disturbed Mary.
"I recognize the symptoms, Klaus." Mary day next to Klaus on his bed, watching Five approach them happily with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.
"Symptoms of what?"
"The jet lag. Full body itch." Klaus sighed. "Headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up your nose and through your brain." Mary frowned deeply, gently patting Klaus on the back. Five shrugged, "are you gonna tell us about it?" Mary was still completely confused.
"When your friends couldn't find you, they took me hostage instead." Mary just got more sympathetic, while five smiled widely.
"And so you took their briefcase."
"Yeah, I thought there was money in it...and then I opened it."
"And the next thing you know you were...where? Or should I say when?"
"What? How?" Mary sputtered. Her two friends ignored her questions, continuing their own conversation.
"What difference does it make?" Klaus asked tiredly.
"What diff-" Five scoffed, "how long were you gone?"
"Almost a year."
"A year?"
"A year?!" Mary exclaimed.
"Do you know what this means?"
"Yeah, I'm ten months older now."
"No, Klaus, this isn't a joke. Hazel and Cha Cha will do whatever they can to get to the briefcase. Where is it now?"
"Gone. I destroyed it." Klaus mumbled, "poof."
"What the hell were you thinking?" Five seethed.
"What do you care?"
"What do I care? I needed it, you moron, so I could get back and start over!" Klaus stood up, stumbling.
"I..just..." he started to walk out and Mary watched him, frowning.
"Where are you going?" Five called.
"Interrogation is over..just leave." Klaus responded. Five looked around quickly before rushing to Klaus' desk, grabbing some paper and scribbling things down. Mary sighed.
"You need to explain things to me."