Where's Cass?
"Oh my god," Cass breathed. Her words barely formed and every hot breath caught in her throat, "Elliot..." her voice wavered and everything around her became hazy but not in the same way as her visions. She knew this was real and she couldn't take it. Her mind just couldn't take it.
"Elliot!" Cass sobbed and fell to the floor. Her knees were weak and her whole body felt exhausted. Her shoulders shuddered as hot tears spilled down her cheeks.
Elliot was dead. That's the only way Cass wanted to describe it. He was dead, lying face down, strapped to a chair, impaled with knives and bleeding from multiple stab wounds, but very, grotesquely dead. He didn't even look much like Elliot anymore. No wonder it didn't register as him in her vision.
Cass held out a shaky hand and cupped the side of his head. It lolled into her hand and rested seemingly peacefully, still against her palm. His eyes were wide open. A gasp stuck in Cass' throat as she blinked away tears so she could look at him. His eyes were bloodshot and vacant, the skin around his eyes and cheeks were bloody and bruised. The ghost of a scream still lingered on his lips. Cass let her tears blur her sight.
"No..." she whispered, sniffling. She smeared her tears away with one hand and rubbed circles with her thumb against Elliot's cheek with the other, "No."
"Cass..." Diego breathed, not knowing what to say, "Cass, I'm..."
Cass sniffled, leaning her head forward to rest against Elliot's forehead.
"Cass," Diego said tentatively, crouching down next to her to see if she'd heard. She didn't move as he draped an arm across her shoulders, "Do you want to...move him?" Diego asked. It wasn't doing anyone any good seeing Elliot's mutilated body in their sitting room, least of all Cass.
"No," she sniffled. Diego sighed and nodded, thinking she had answered his question but she ignored him, "No," she sniffed, her breath shaking and eyes clouded with tears, "No, no."
Diego looked up at Luther, his eyes slightly furrowed, asking what they should do without having to say anything that would upset Cass. Luther just shrugged.
"No, no, no," Cass cried, her voice breaking, "No," she fell back onto the floor, her legs weak and head light as she cried and screamed and let her voice hurt and her hoarse throat sting. She didn't want this.
"Cass, maybe you should-"
"No," Cass shrugged off Diego's arm as he'd reached out to her, trying to get her to move, "No, no," she squeezed her eyes shut and flinched away every time Diego tried to help her up, "Stop it, I don't want this."
"Cass you need to get up," Diego said, his voice soft but firm, "This isn't good for you. Go lie down and well take care of him."
"No, I don't want this," Cass shook her head repeatedly as Diego held her by the elbows, trying to get her to look at him, "I don't want this. I don't want this."
"I know," Diego said solemnly as he held her arms with more force to get her to stop moving.
"I don't want this, I don't want this, I don't-" Cass' top lip quivered as she ran out of energy. Even her tears seemed to stop falling. Her body relaxed into Diego's grip. He adjusted his arms and let her body fall against his, stopping her from dropping to the floor.
"I know," Diego repeated as Cass sobbed silently into his shoulder, "I know."
*
Diego sighed as he came back into the sitting room from sitting with Cass in the bedroom, letting her cry herself out. He looked over at Luther and the two of them shared a sombre look. Elliot was a good man. He'd been a little weird, sure, but he'd helped them when no one else would have and they owed a lot to him. He deserved better than this.
"Should we burry him?" Luther asked, sighing and turning over a bloodied sofa cushion before slumping down.
"In the morning," Diego nodded, "Go get a sheet, we should cover him at least."
"Why do I have to get a sheet?"
"Because you didn't just sit with our grieving sister for an hour and half while she cried herself to sleep!"
Diego locked eyes with Luther.
"Yeah okay," he said at last and clapped his hands against his legs as he stood up.
*
There wasn't a lot of sleeping that night. Every time Cass managed to cry herself to sleep she would wake up with tear stained cheeks a few hours later and, unable to keep herself from tears, would stay up sobbing. She didn't fall asleep properly until sunrise.
Diego was already up the time Luther emerged into the sitting room. Blood had seeped through the white sheet but it was less disturbing than leaving Elliot's body exposed. It was still enough to put Luther off his breakfast.
"You're up," Diego said blandly as Luther lingered in the doorway. Luther nodded, his eyebrows furrowed as if to say "Yes...obviously". Diego turned around to fully face him, leaning back against the bannister at the top of the stairs, "Look," he said and beckoned Luther over, "I didn't notice this yesterday on account of... well, you know."
"Cass?" Luther said even though they both knew, "Yeah. She finally asleep?"
Diego nodded.
"What's this?" Luther asked, looking down to the first floor where, in giant letters and written in blood, were the words 'Oga Foroga', "Who's Oga Foroga?"
"No idea," Diego admitted, "But it's gotta be like a calling card. Like whoever did this wants us to know."
Luther shrugged as if to say "as good an idea as any."
"I'll look her up," he said and crossed the room to where the phone book was.
*
"Okay..." Luther mumbled as he flicked through the pages until he reached the F section, "Holy shit, she's in here."
"What, really?" Diego asked, peering over Luther's massive shoulder to where Luther was pointing. Sure enough there was a number for Olga Foroga, "What kind of assassin has their number in the phone book?" Diego scoffed as Luther dialled up the number. Luther shrugged by way of answering and held the phone up to his ear.
"It's ringing," he whispered to Diego to keep him in the loop. Both of them were so distracted by the phone, they didn't hear Five teleport in and discover the body.
"Damn," Five whispered, loud enough for Diego to hear. He poked his around the alcove where the phone was and saw Five in the sitting room, holding up the sheet corner that was covering Elliot's face.
"Put that down," Diego scolded. Five dropped the sheet and rolled his eyes.
"You're not my mum..." Five grumbled and Diego pretended not to hear.
"Uh, hello, Olga?" Luther stammered as the phone connected. Diego shot him a judgemental look, "She sounds old," Luther said, lowing the phone from his mouth. Diego rolled his eyes, "What should I say?"
"Say-" Diego began but Luther immediately put the phone up back to his mouth.
"Um, excuse me ma'am, I was wondering- what?" Luther stopped and frowned, "Oh, uh, my name is Luther Hargreeves and I-"
"Oh for God's sake, give it here," Diego grumbled and snatched the phone out of Luther's hands, "Listen Olga," Diego threatened, leaning against the wall menacingly as if she could see him, "You killed one of ours, now we're coming after you."
Luther's eyes widened.
"You will be dead by midnight," Diego continued and Luther sighed, rocking on his heels trying to pretend he wasn't part of this.
"Hey," Five said, nodding with his head by way of saying hi, "You know what I'm looking at right now?" Five asked strangely calmly. Luther frowned.
"What?" he asked, half knowing that Five's question was loaded.
"Two halves of an idiot sandwich!" he snapped, pointing from Luther to Diego, "It's oga for oga, idiots. It means an eye for an eye in Swedish. It means the Swedes killed Elliot."
"Sorry, wrong number," Diego smiled and slammed the phone down.
"Where's Cass?" Five asked nonchalantly as he took off his blood soaked blazer.
"Why are you covered in blood?" Luther asked, watching Five wipe his face.
"She's sleeping," Diego answered, "Was up all night crying. Don't wake her."
"Gees. Poor kid," Five sighed as he rolled up his sleeves, "Didn't think she liked Elliot that way," he shrugged. Diego sighed and folded his arms.
"I think she was starting too."
*
"So," Five announced once he was done cleaning the blood off him, "I found a way home."
"What?" Luther asked excitedly, "How?"
"The details are irrelevant," Five brushed off as he did up his tie, "I made a deal to get back to our timeline."
"What about doomsday?" Diego asked.
"Doesn't happen," Five smiled.
"And the 2019 apocalypse?"
"Averted," Five grinned and clapped his hands together, but Diego and Luther weren't so convinced, "Everything will be back to normal, alright? Now, no more questions, we gotta go. Where are the others?"
Diego and Luther looked blankly at each other. Five sighed.
"Okay, here's the plan. Luther, you find Allison," he said, pointing to Luther, "And Diego, you get Klaus, I'll get Vanya. Meet back at arrival alley in-" he paused and checked his watch, "77 minutes. Here," he said, thrusting two more identical watches at Diego and Luther, "I've synchronised these watches."
"Of course you have," Diego shrugged, "Cause that's such a normal thing for you to have done."
"Are you done?" Five asked judgmentally. Diego said nothing as he fastened his watch, "Good. See you in 76 minutes."
"Woah, woah, woah," Diego interjected, waving his hands to get Five to stop, "What about Cass?"
"You said so yourself, didn't you?" Five shrugged, "Let her sleep. She's been through enough. We'll get her when we're ready to leave."
Diego went to protest but it was actually a pretty good idea.
"Meet back here in 75 minutes now," Five rolled his eyes, "And don't be late! Or you'll be stuck here. Good luck!"