Chaotic Good | the umbrella academy

SIXTEEN

"Oh."

"She was Diego's friend."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"How did you get out?"

"Diego."

"I didn't mean to leave-"

"-It's okay, Klaus."

"Oh good, both of you." Allison poked her head around the door. "Luther's calling a family meeting."

"Since when did we have family meetings?" Eddie furrowed her eyebrows at Klaus, who shrugged in reply.

\_|_/\_|_/\_|_/

Eddie let out an exceedingly long breath, closing her eyes briefly as her family, minus Five and Vanya surrounded her. She shifted on her armchair, crossing one leg over the other from her slumped position, crossing her arms over her chest.

Five seemingly vanished into thin air again, with absolutely no trances. Eddie remained quiet as Luther explained his probability tree and then his previous plan to kill a gardener before choosing a different one.

Her mind mulled over the facts. However, every time she reached the same dead end, it frustrated her.

-Theory one

Time travel.

Strength: done before, created the same outcome - gone without a trace.

Weakness: failed multiple times before, therefore less sureness in ability. No sign of usage of power, i.e., no blue light (apparently, this is Luther we're talking about).

-Theory Two

Divine interference.

Strengths: N/A.

Weakness: who would bother?

-Theory Three

Tumour.

That was it. Eddie was finally losing the plot, and she truly was hallucinating. She was probably in a hospital bed, and her mind found a way to occupy itself while she waited for a reply from death's door.

At least she could die with dignity in this and with more purpose than rotting away in a decaying cot.

I DON'T WANT TO DIE ALONE.

Sighing, Eddie looked at the others as they seemed to take it in, and she pursed her lips, not expecting them to take it within their stride.

"Three days?" Allison repeated.

Luther nodded. "That's what Five said."

"Well, can we even trust him? Five? I don't know if you've noticed, but Five's a little..." she trailed off, pointing to her head with a whistle.

"No offence to Five," Eddie spoke up, pausing slightly. "But, yeah, he's smart, but he's not exactly capable of making up something like that. It's got quite some depth, and there are real-world pointers that add reliability. How else would he get the eye, and why else are the assassin fuckers running about wreaking havoc?"

The others slowly nodded.

"That's why they were after him," Diego suggested.

Allison shrugged in agreement. "What did Five even see?"

Luther shifted. "Uh, apparently, we all fought together against whoever was responsible."

A smile formed on Eddie's face as she chuckled to herself while Luther jumped onto another train of thought.

"Okay. So here's the plan-"

"-Wait, what?"

"What actually happened the first time around?" Klaus joined Allison's objection.

"Yeah, what're you not telling us? Come on, big boy, spit it out," Diego encouraged.

Eddie found delight in Luther's struggle before she sighed. "Apparently, we all die horribly - kicked the bucket within a metre of each other. Five found the eye in Luther's dead hand and assumed that the owner caused whatever killed everyone."

No one replied to her explanation, staring at her with wide eyes at the information.

Suddenly, the door opened, and they all looked to see the person. Vanya stood in the doorway, a man standing beside her. Eddie raised an eyebrow at the man next to her.

"What's going on?" she questioned, her eyes fluttering around her siblings.

"It's a family matter," Allison replied.

The words caused Eddie to furrow her eyebrows. "Since when has a conversation about the end of the-"

Luther shushed her, and outrage formed on her face, forgetting the rest of her sentence.

"Did you just shush me? You shush me again, sunshine, and I'll skin you alive, put it through a spaghetti maker and knit a scarf out of it-"

"-Miss? There's a call on the line for you." Hermes' voice filtered through the living room, and her eyebrows furrowed. Glancing at her siblings, she rose and left the room, finding the landline phone on the side.

She picked it up, but static answered.

"Hello? Hello?" Eddie sighed before slamming the phone back into the holder with a huff. "Hermes, what the hell was that?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Miss."

"What do you mean you don't understand? You directed a call to here. Who was it?"

"I'm afraid I didn't direct a call here."

"Huh?"

Before she could push further, Vanya and the man stormed out of the room, the violinist breathing rapidly with anger.

"Vanya, hey, are you okay? What happened in there?"

"Apparently, our siblings are as concerned as I thought they were."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter. What about you? Are you okay? You just left, no note, nothing."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I didn't even think about it." She fell silent momentarily, glancing at the doors leading to the living room. "Vanya, I- Something's going to happen in a few days, and I don't know whether we can stop it. But, just so you know." Eddie turned to face her fully, locking their eyes briefly. "You're so much more than ordinary, and you'll never be a liability. You're my sister... and I'll always do my best to protect you. You know that, right?"

Vanya didn't get a chance to reply. Eddie had already turned her attention to the Lenoard. "Now, you listen here. Let me give you a little warning, just in case. You hurt my sister, and you'll have no DNA left when I'm finished with you, understand?"

Leonard glanced at Vanya before swallowing. "Uh... yes. Okay, sure."

Eddie narrowed her eyes at him before smiling at Vanya and returning to the living room. Even through the closed doors, they could hear her voice filter through with scolding and insults aimed at their siblings.

Vanya stared at the last place she'd seen Eddie, and she sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"Hey, you okay?" Concern built on Lenoard's face, and he cupped her cheeks.

"Yeah, it's just... Eddie has autism. She's not great with words or sentiment. But... I think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

He smiled. "Yeah. She seems like a good sister." The moment he hugged Vanya, his face dropped, and he glared as if Eddie could feel his annoyance through the walls.