Replacement (The Umbrella Academy)

Chapter 26: Start Over

Diego stirs and wakes and some glass falls off of him and to the ground as he rises.

"Good, you're up," Five says in a slightly condescending tone. "Ready for a drink now?"

Diego shoots up, ready to fight again. "Where is he?"

"I let him go."

"You what?" Diego walks towards them. "And you let him do that?" Diego asks, addressing Ashlinn.

"Just listen to him." She leans back against the bar.

"Now that the apocalypse is over, it's time for the fighting to stop." Diego didn't appreciate Five's comments as he grabs his knife. Five stopped him before he could storm away.

"Hey. He didn't kill Patch. His partner Cha-Cha did." Five clarifies, but Diego didn't care.

"So what? They were both there that night."

"This side of the partnership gave me both their guns. Which will clear you because the ballistics will match Patch's crime scene. Hazel came here looking for a way out. He wanted a fresh start. And he happened to have in his possession the one thing that could do our family a little good. So, it's time to move on."

"Not a chance." Diego was so blinded by vengeance, Ashlinn felt sorry for him.

Five nods and stands up from the barstool. "Suit yourself." He grabs Dolores and faces Diego again. "I am curious. Your girlfriend, Patch. What did you like about her?"

Five walks towards the exit and Ashlinn follows. They stop and wait for Diego to answer.

"A lot of things. Cute butt. Nice legs." Diego answers and Ashlinn raises her eyebrow at him.

"Nice, Diego." She says, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Anything more profound than that?" Diego hesitates.

"She believed in people. No matter how much shit and filth she saw on the streets. She always saw the good inside." Diego's answer made Ashlinn frown.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be proud to know that you're killing Hazel and Cha-Cha as a way to honour her memory." Five walks away, leaving Diego with that thought. Ashlinn looks at Diego sadly before following Five.

She follows him upstairs and into his room. She watches him grab his bag and gently place Dolores in it. She furrows her eyebrows as Five packs her up.

"Hey, Five? Where are we going?" She asks as he slings the straps over his shoulders.

"Tying up some loose ends." He holds out his hand for Ashlinn to take.

"Huh. You can ask nicely." She smiles at him as she takes his hand and they teleport to Gimble Brothers, the department store where they got Dolores. They walk inside and approach the stand where Ashlinn first met Dolores.

Five places the bag on the stand and he takes Dolores out. Ashlinn places her hand on his shoulder. "I'll give you a minute."

"Thanks."

Ashlinn walks out of earshot as Five has a heartfelt conversation with Dolores. She is quite surprised as to how sad she is looking at his goodbye to Dolores. Maybe they'll meet again.

She laughs at herself for that thought.

"Jesus, I need to get my act together. I'm meant to be the sane one...I say as I talk to myself." She mumbles before rolling her eyes at herself.

"Linn." Ashlinn looks to see Five finished with his goodbye. She walks over to him with a sad smile. "Let's go."

They begin walking towards the exit, but Five stops to talk to a shop assistant.

"Excuse me, miss?" Ashlinn panics as she looks at Five. Please don't say something stupid. "Could you give that mannequin something new to wear?" Okay, that's not too bad. "She likes sequins."

...

Five walks away and Ashlinn apologises to the shop assistant before following him.

They walk side by side back towards The Umbrella Academy, Ashlinn doesn't know why Five didn't just grab her and teleport considering it was a long walk from Gimble Brothers to The Academy but she went along with it.

"Are you gonna go back to your old life? Top secret FBI Agent and all that?" Five asks and Ashlinn chuckles. "What?"

"No, it's just...how do I just go back to how it was after all this? My whole life was flipped upside down this past week and I'm just supposed to...unflip it?" She says and he nods.

"Basically, yeah."

"Says the one who hasn't a notion of what to do now. You're young again, you could restart your life. I wish I could. I've let so much shit control me." She sighs and Five shrugs.

"It's never too late to start over." He says and she nods

"I know, but if I'm being honest Five, I'm a coward. It sounds easier to unflip my old life than it does to start a new one." Ashlinn looks at the ground with a sigh.

"I don't think that's cowardice. I think you just need the right reason. No one's gonna restart without reason. So, I'll give you one. You said I can restart and, if I'm being honest, that doesn't sound too bad. So, restart with me, Linn." Five offers and Ashlinn looks at Five in shock.

"Excuse me?" She stops and stares in surprise. She thought that Five would've wanted nothing to do with her after all this.

"It's not a trick question. It's only an offer, you can refuse." He shrugs.

"I barely know you." She tries to make sense of his outlandish offer.

"And yet, it didn't stop you from following me and helping me save the world." He had a fair point. It wasn't like she didn't trust him. She actually trusts him with her life at this point.

"You barely know me?"

"That is true, but you're an interesting character. And your company is adequate. And I trust you. I suppose." He says and Ashlinn nearly laughs at the hesitance he showed saying that he trusts her.

"Don't hurt yourself saying stuff like that. I might think that you're nice." She jokes and he smiles.

"I don't need your answer immediately. Think about it, not too long though." Five begins to walk again and Ashlinn catches up to him.

"I don't need to think about it." She says and he looks at her with curiosity.

"Oh, yeah? What's your answer then?" Five asks and Ashlinn opens her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted by a loud,

CRASH

Ashlinn and Five look in the direction of the noise and their hearts sink once they realize the source.

"That was the Academy."