Raincoats | The Umbrella Academy

Apparition

The brothers shared a look.

"Maybe there's a reason she's mad."

"I don't know," Ben said in a hushed tone. "But he deserves a chance to move on, don't you think?"

Eyeing the dead man standing in his room, Klaus let out a huff. "Okay, fine. But why can't we ever just chill? The world was ending like a day ago and now we have to get involved with ghosty business."

"What about ghosts?" Denis asked from his decided spot next to the dresser.

This was going to be a long day.

-----
The sound of a blender whirring registered in Charlotte's head. She watched as the margarita mix slushed around the glass. Nobody had ever told her how exhausting ignoring all your issues can be, but they were starting to catch up to her now.

Thoughtfully, Five switched the blender off and began poring the mixture into three glasses. A weight had visibly lifted from his shoulders. He moved easily, without haste or irritation, like she had known him to do.

"Do you think we really did it?" he spoke up, looking between Delores, who was perched up on the bar, and Charlotte. "Do you think we really stopped the apocalypse?"

Shifting under his gaze, the redhead took her glass. To hell with sobriety. The world was still spinning and they could finally celebrate. "My guess is as good as yours."

He lowered his head as he added a tiny umbrella to each of their drinks.

They locked eyes and out of all of the times that the two had made eye contact, this seemed like the most important. They were lost, truly. Five had nothing to save, Charlotte had no revenge to get, and everything seemed to be in place. It felt too good to be true. What would they do now?

"I'm open to suggestions," he said as he turned from her, staring at the shelves of liquor behind the bar.

There wasn't much to suggest. It was over, all of it. Charlotte closed her eyes as she sipped her margarita. She could still feel the warmth pouring from the back of Denis's head into her hands. She could still feel the enraged eyes on her as the knife twisted in her thigh. The disappointment on the Handler's pale face when her offer was declined.

It was all over.

"Now, we celebrate." She lifted her glass and clinked it with Five's, then to the cup sitting in front of Delores. "To the real end of bad things." She retrieved the phrase from a simpler time, when they had known so little of each other.

A small smile found his lips. This girl surprised him at every turn. Just when he thought she was going to shut down again, things were all sunshine and rainbows. He sipped from his swirly straw and allowed them to sit in a comfortable silence.

Maybe now, with the apocalypse out of the way, he could start his life again, the way he was meant to. Five could grow up (again), but with his siblings this time around. He could have a real life and possibly a career. He could make friends, learn new things, get to know Charlotte. He just didn't know where to start. In the back of his mind, this didn't feel right. After all this time, everything was suddenly fixed? Surely the universe wouldn't be so kind to a Hargreeves.

The sound of a knock on the glass doors to the Academy rang through the living room. They both looked up, but Five stopped Charlotte from moving with an outstretched arm. "I'll get it."

She relaxed on the bar stool with a wince. Walking and just moving in general was made hard by the deep wound in her leg, though she couldn't imagine how Five must've felt with all of his injuries. He must have been in pain too.