Raincoats | The Umbrella Academy

Ford's Theater

Just as Charlotte Cafferty came into the world, she started to fade out of it. It was poetic, really. Lying on the wet sidewalk, assisted by strangers. If only her mother could be there, that would be the real kicker. Bring this whole thing full circle.

Similarly to her birth, she was silent. The only noise she made was her rapid breathing and the occasional pained gasp. She was in shock. One moment she was debating finding a good coffee shop, or even going back to Griddy's, and the next, she was laying on the sidewalk with a gun shot wound to the chest.

Her mind was desperately trying to put a coherent thought together.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" Someone shouted from above her. The woman's face was blurry. Why did she have to be so loud?

The rise and fall of her chest off the cement was slowing. Blood mingled with the rain coming down around them. Charlotte's bright yellow raincoat deflected both.

It was almost like her brain wouldn't let her know she was dying. Or at least, whatever signals it would normally send to the body to start panicking were non-existent. She lay still, in a growing pool of blood, watching the sky rain down on her. It would be peaceful if it weren't for the sound of sirens.

That part didn't matter, though, because Charlotte's eyes were glossing over. The brown irises reflected the dark clouds above her.

This is beautiful, she thought suddenly. The sky, the tiny raindrops landing on her pale cheeks, even the wirring sound of the sirens drawing closer.

But she was too late to take in all the beauty around her. Her body was already growing cold. The person above her left when the paramedics came to check her body for any sign of life. They found none.

-----

"Hold on, hold on," Klaus spoke up. "We all died fighting in this thing the first time around. Remember?"

Charlotte scoffed. "Speak for yourselves."

"Shockingly, Klaus has a point."

Suddenly, the living room lit up in an electric blue and a familiar gust of stale wind washed over the group. Charlotte held her newly acquired flask to her chest.

There was a disgruntled shout, and somebody fell on the table with a thud.

"Jesus!" Allison shouted as everyone sprung back. Diego pushed himself in from of Charlotte with his knife drawn. The redhead peeked around him curiously, pushing him away from her in the process.

Klaus, who had fallen to the floor to get away, lowered his arms from around his head. "You guys, am I still high, or do you see him too?"

The siblings came to Five's aid, but he pushed them away while he struggled to roll off the bar. He snatched his sister's coffee cup. Charlotte watched him limp a few feet away from the group as he slurped the coffee. He was covered in dust and gasping like he had just run a mile. Time travel had some nasty effects, all of which she was very familiar with.

He turned toward them with a grimace. "So the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save our world is- well, us."

"The Umbrella Academy," Luther added breathlessly.

"Yeah," Five scowled. "But with me, obviously." That would have to be their advantage.

Charlotte listened to his angry pep talk halfheartedly. Despite being in the room, she didn't really feel like it was directed at her. She didn't need the same kind of motivation that the Hargreeves had. Charlotte had nothing to lose, not ever.

So this was it, huh? She had really gotten herself mixed up with the end of the world and some infuriating old man in a pubescent boy's body? This was her shot to make something of herself, to make her years of useless work for good worth something.