Chaotic Good | the umbrella academy

TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
' ASSASSINATION   
AIN'T   REALLY  
MY . . .   STYLE . '

Neither sibling moved as the others entered, the tranquillity dissolving as the weight of failure crushed their shoulders. Eddie's eyes flickered up and locked with Vanya's for a brief moment before they fell, but she did not miss the awareness flooding through them. Eddie closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath as a dull ache set within her body.

Eddie sighed, lifting her hands to rub her face before letting her limbs fall. She grasped the pillar and initiated the slow ascent to stand. She felt a presence rush to her side, but she lifted a hand as her body hunched over.

'Please don't,' she whispered out.

Vanya nodded gently. 'I understand,' she replied softly, not leaving her side as her sister steadied herself.

'Who'd you have to kill to get your memories back?' Eddie let out a small piece of laughter as she leaned against the pillar. Vanya's face dropped, her eyes clouding as Eddie's rose to meet hers for a moment. She blinked a few times before she glanced at the others. Her eyes eventually moved back to Vanya's as her lips twitched.

'He wouldn't blame you, dearest.' They turned to the television as Five stood by it, his hand resting on the switch.

'The FBI believes that they have been working in concert with the alleged shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald.' Eddie kicked off the wall, pulling out the needle and dropping it to the ground, moving towards the screen. 'Vanya Hargreeves; wanted in connection with the deaths of several FBI agents.' Diego's face popped up as it changed from Vanya's. 'A bare-knuckled boxer with suspected mafia ties who fights under the alias King Kong.' Eddie let out a snort as she glanced at her Luther, shaking her head as she chucked. 'Allison Chestnut; a negro radical responsible for instigating and organizing the recent riots and at Stadler's Lunch Counter. Klaus; the controversial cult leader, and known tax evader. And, finally, Eddie Van Halen; a member of the shadow government known as the Majestic Twelve whose extent of involvement is still under debate.' The picture changed to Eddie, who was looking away from the camera as she adjusted her tie. 'The FBI is asking the public to be on the lookout for this unidentified boy, who they believe to be is being held hostage by the suspected terrorist network.'

Eddie raised an eyebrow. 'Oh, the shift from a crime-fighting-super-powered academy to a terrorist network; it just goes to show how consistency is our forte.'

'Well, it's true. I do feel like I'm being held hostage most days,' Five replied.

'God, I hate that photo.'

'They're saying I instigated that riot? That's unbelievable.'

Luther gestured broadly. 'Look, the good is we restored the timeline, and we stopped doomsday, so-'

'-I see this as an absolute win!' Eddie finished sarcastically, lifting her hands to her sides.

'Yeah, a bunch of real goddamn heroes. We let Kennedy die,' Diego seethed, and Eddie raised her eyebrows.

'Aw, he's missing his boyfriend already.' Eddie pouted.

'Yeah, and now we're officially the most wanted people in the world. The FBI is after us, the Dallas police, the Secret Service. It's only a matter of time before they hunt us down.' Allison recaptured the attention as Eddie ran her tongue over her teeth.

'Well, where are we supposed to go?' Vanya asked.

'I have this yurt just outside Reykjavik.' Klaus shrugged his shoulders as Eddie's eyes flickered up for a moment, pursing her lips as she tilted her head.

'Not one of your worst ideas, I must say.'

'Yeah, folks there a little weird, but lovely.'

'Hey, numb-nuts! Hiding's not gonna make a difference here. The Commission will hunt us down wherever and whenever we go,' Five spoke up.

Diego nodded. 'He's right. They'll never stop.'

'I'm sorry,' Five rounded on him. 'Since when are you an expert on the Commission?'

'Since I got back from there.'

Eddie whipped around. 'I thought you were doing some sentimental shit and burying Elliot?' Varying looks of confusion crossed the other's faces, but they did not get a chance to question.

'Yeah, well, I got distracted.' Eddie tilted her head as she went to open her mouth, but Diego cut her off. 'They headhunted me, offered me a job. Full time with benefits which I had to turn down.'

Five let out a scoff. 'They headhunted you?'

'The village idiot?' Eddie continued.

'What? Am I not allowed to be headhunted? Jealous, Ed?'

Eddie rolled her eyes as a smirk formed on her face. 'Assassination ain't really my... style.'

'Only the all-mighty Five needs to be in demand?'

'Diego, you're not Commission material, all right? Got an obstinate nature to you.' Five coughed slightly.

'Who do you think it was that figured out Vanya was the one that causes doomsday and stopped it? Me.'

'Okay,' Five agreed, though slightly sarcastically. 'You figured out how, but you weren't the only one who stopped it. Allison and Klaus were with you.'

Diego stalked close to Five's face. 'I figured it all out on the Infinite Switchboard.' A smug look crossed his face.

'You were on the Infinite Switchboard?' Five asked with raised eyebrows.

'Hell yeah, I made that machine my bitch. Y'all need to recognize I got shit going on y'all don't even know about.'

Eddie doubletracked. 'Are you mentally stable?' she asked incredulously as she lowered her head to catch his eyes for a moment, squinting.