Wednesday, 8:15 A.M. (again)
Four of the Hargreeves siblings stood around the bar while they debated what they should do. Guinevere stood further away from them with the twins, and jumped when she heard a crashing sound. She turned to see Five lying on the bar top. The twins ran up to say hello and she followed them.
Five instantly sat up and mentally cursed himself. He met Guinevere's eyes as she asked, "Are you all right? What happened?"
He nodded slowly. "I'm fine. We need everyone. Immediately."
"Follow us!" Liam and Layla cried.
Guinevere noticed that Vanya wasn't there and made a mental note to recap the meeting to her sister-in-law.
Once he saw most everyone there, Five started the meeting. "So, the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save the world is, well, us."
"The Umbrella Academy," Luther replied.
"Yeah, but with me, obviously," Five said sarcastically. "So if you don't get your sideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we're screwed. Who cares if Dad messed us up? Are we gonna let that define us?"
"No!" the twins yelled.
Five smiled briefly at them and went on. "No. And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I've come back with a lead." He lifted a folded piece of paper into the air. "I know who's responsible for the apocalypse."
Allison grabbed the note from Five's hand. She opened it and Guinevere read the note from behind.
Reassignment: Protect Harold Jenkins.
"Harold Jenkins?" Allison questioned.
"Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?" Diego questioned from his spot behind the bar.
"Bad word, Daddy!" Layla yelled.
"That's right, sweetheart. Sorry. Don't repeat it."
Five looked between his family and threw his hands into the air. "I don't know. Yet. But I do know he's responsible for the apocalypse. So we have to find him. And we have to do it now."
"How is he connected to what's gonna happen?" Luther asked with a frown.
Five glanced down and admitted, "I don't know."
From the look he was giving, Guinevere figured he was telling the truth.
Diego narrowed his eyes. "Wait. So you just know his name? That's it? There's probably dozens of Harold Jenkinses in the city."
"Well, we better start looking then," Five answered sarcastically.
Allison frowned. "Wait. Am I the only one who's skeptical here? I mean, how exactly do you know all of this about what's his name?"
"Harold Jenkins. You know those lunatics who attacked the house?"
"Oh, yeah. I think Gwen and I remember those guys," Klaus piped up.
Guinevere pursed her lips. "Oh, yes. I remember them quite clearly."
"They're bad people," Liam said. "They hurt Mommy."
"And made Daddy cry," Layla added.
Diego glanced at his wife and children before narrowing his eyes at Five. "Yeah, the ones who attacked us and kidnapped our brother and my wife, and almost killed her, while you were out getting drunk."
Five looked apologetically at Guinevere before answering, "Yeah. Them. They were sent by the Temps of Commission to stop me from coming back and preventing the end of life on earth."
"The Temps what?" Allison questioned.
"The Temps of Commission," Guinevere repeated. "Five, who are they?"
Five let out a sigh. "My former employer. They monitor all of time and space to make sure that whatever is supposed to happen happens. They believe the apocalypse is coming in three days. So I went to Commission headquarters and intercepted a message that was meant for said lunatics. 'Protect Harold Jenkins'. So he must be responsible for the apocalypse."
Allison, Luther and Diego began talking over Five.
"Do you know how insane this sounds?" Allison questioned.
Five shot her a look. "You know what else is insane? I look like a 13-year-old boy. Klaus talks to the dead and Luther thinks he's fooling everybody with that overcoat. Everything about us is insane. It always has been."
"He's got a point there," Klaus muttered from the couch.
Five took a moment to breathe before he continued. "We didn't choose this life. We're just living it. For the next three days anyway."
Allison frowned at him. "But the last time we tried to stop it, we all died. Why is this time any different? Why shouldn't I go home to my daughter?"
"Because this time, I'm here. We have the name of the man responsible. Guys, we actually have the chance of saving the lives of billions of people. Including Claire."
Allison seemed surprised. "You know her name?"
"I do, and I'd like to live long enough to meet her."
Liam looked up at Allison. "Layla and I got a cousin?"
Allison nodded and smiled at the little boy. "You do. She's a few years older than you and your sister."
"Can we meet her?" Layla asked.
"If my ex-husband allows it."
"Ex-husband? Mommy, Daddy, are you gonna become that?"
Diego and Guinevere shared a look as they laughed.
Guinevere knelt to her daughter's level and said, "No, sweetie, we aren't."
Allison looked between her family and nodded. "All right. Let's get this started."
"You had me at Gerald Jenkins," Diego answered.
Five and Guinevere corrected, the latter in a more amused tone, "It's Harold Jenkins."
"Whatever. I already lost one person I care about this week and almost lost one of the most important person in my life. I'm not risking anyone else." Diego left the room.
"Luther?" Five called.
"Yeah, you guys go. I'm gonna stay behind and go through Dad's files. I still think this has something to do with why he sent me to the moon."
Diego rolled his eyes. "Seriously? Now you wanna make the end of the world about you and Dad?"
"No. 'Watch for threats.' That's what he told me."
"You think that's a coincidence?"
"This all has to be connected somehow."
Allison linked her arm through his. "No, we should stick together."
Diego turned back to his family. "Let's roll. I know where we can find this asshole. Klaus, Gwen, you're with me. Liam and Layla, stay here with Grace, all right?"
"Daddy-" the twins began.
"Nope. You two are staying here. Be good."
Guinevere smiled at her children. "We'll see you soon."
Klaus stood and said, "Yeah. I-I'm good. I think I'll, uh, I think I'll pass. I'm feeling a little under the weather, so, uh-" He groaned and walked off, seeming like he was in pain.
Diego, Allison, Five and Guinevere left the house to search for something about Harold Jenkins.
Guinevere and Allison were sitting on either window side in the back while Five was in the passenger's seat and Diego drove.
Diego studied his surroundings. "I know this Jenkins dude has to have a record. I just have to get my hands on his file."
Guinevere frowned. "Isn't that illegal?"
He shrugged. "Probably."
Allison glanced at her brother. "And your plan is to what? Waltz in there and just ask for it?"
"I know the station like the back of my hand, sis. I've spent a lot of time inside. Here's the plan."
Five rolled his eyes at the conversation. "Plan? I'm just gonna blink in and get the file."
Diego turned and shook his head. "No. You don't know the ins and outs of this place, okay?"
"I literally just did this yesterday," Five protested.
"What?" Diego and Guinevere asked.
"My yesterday, not your yesterday."
"Fair point," Guinevere noted.
Diego narrowed his eyes at Five. "Listen to me. You are not going in there. I made a call. That's what a leader does. He leads."
Diego walked inside the station.
Guinevere sat back, awaiting his return. It occurred to her that Diego could get arrested for Patch's death and her near death, so she ran inside after him.
Diego glanced at her. "What are you doing here? I can handle this."
"Saving your hide," Guinevere replied.
"Gwen, I don't need my hide saved."
"Detective Patch died and I almost died. You showed up at a crime scene and likely touched things. Your prints are there. Trust me. You need me."
"Very well. Let's look."
The two of them searched and found Harold Jenkins' file in a pile of old files.
They walked out of the station and Five immediately asked, "Anything?"
Diego held the file in his hands and Allison took it from him. She held it so Guinevere could see.
Guinevere frowned. "Wait, that's Vanya's boyfriend Leonard. Why is he in Harold Jenkins' file?"
Allison glanced at her sister-in-law. "You met him?"
"I've met him once or twice at the stage door. He's an avid theatre attendee."
The group frowned and Allison studied the file and muttered, "Holy shit."
Guinevere's lip curled slightly. "Oh, no. Harold Jenkins' alias is Leonard Peabody, isn't it."
Allison nodded and the four of them drove to the address typed in the file. "Be careful, okay? We don't know what Peabody's capable of."
Diego frowned. "Yeah, he didn't seem dangerous when I first saw him. Looked kinda scrawny."
Guinevere nodded slowly. "Scrawny and rather odd. But he did seem to have an element of danger about him."
They walked up to the front lawn and Five caught up to them. Allison noticed him and motioned to him. "Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and murderers. I mean, look at him."
Guinevere nodded. "Fair point. I just don't understand why this guy is so interested in your sister Vanya."
Five looked at her. "I don't know. How about we ask after we kill him?"
Guinevere shot him a look. "No, we are not killing anyone."
He just shrugged and spatial jumped. Diego crashed through the glass as Five opened the door. He let Allison and Guinevere in first and the wife turned to her husband. "You realize the door was unlocked, right?"
Five nodded and Allison muttered, "Subtle."
Diego shot her a look. "I think my way worked pretty well. Spread out. Yell if you, uh... you know, you're in trouble."
"Ah, inspiring leadership," Five stated in a sarcastic tone.
"One of the greats," Allison replied.
Guinevere bit back a small laugh and smiled at Five.
Allison glanced at Guinevere. "Come on. Let's check upstairs."
Guinevere nodded and followed her sister-in-law. While walking up the stairs, Guinevere was well aware they were breaking and entering. She hoped they found something quickly, or that Leonard, Harold, whatever his name was, didn't come home during the time they were there. She to reassure herself that she was helping Vanya, but it didn't help much. She glanced into an open bedroom and saw nothing of interest.
Allison caught her attention by asking, "Help me?"
She pointed to a rope leading to the attic and Guinevere nodded.
Once the women were able to climb the ladder, Allison called to the boys. "Guys, you need to see this."
They gathered in the attic and almost instantly saw old Umbrella Academy memorabilia. Guinevere frowned, seeing something strange; a poster where Vanya's wasn't crossed out. Vanya was the only member of the Umbrella Academy who's eyes weren't crossed out.
Allison walked over to Guinevere and looked at the poster. "All our faces are burnt off. Well, all of us except for Vanya..."
Guinevere let out a light sigh, glad she wasn't the only one weirded out. Diego walked over to the figurines. The figures of Allison, Luther, Diego, Five, Klaus and Ben had their faces melted.
Guinevere picked up the figure of Diego and looked at it sadly before a frown replaced the sad expression.
Something caught Five's attention. "Uh, guys, that's not creepy."
They looked to where he was pointing and saw Vanya's figure standing on a shared shelf of its own. It was in pristine condition. It was obvious it had been cleaned recently.
Diego frowned. "Holy shit. What kind of sick fascination does he have with Vanya?"
Five saw a photo and pointed to it. "When was this taken?"
Guinevere studied the photo and shook her head. "Quite awhile ago it seems."
Five suddenly fell to the floor with a gasp.
"Five-" Guinevere began, turning to see the boy. "Oh my goodness!
The siblings and Guinevere fell next to Five. Allison gently pulled back Five's jacket and they noticed blood seeping through his shirt. She lifted his shirt to reveal a freshly bloody wound.
"This looks infected, Five," Guinevere stated quietly.
"Jesus, Five," Diego chastised softly. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Five closed his eyes a moment before saying, "We have to keep going. So close."
Guinevere let out a sigh. "Five, I don't believe that will make a difference. Especially if you -- Five?" She noticed that he'd passed out. She immediately checked his pulse to find he was still breathing. "We need to get him help now."
They rushed him back to the Umbrella Academy mansion. Diego and Allison were carrying Five inside.
Guinevere ran to find Grace and said, "Five needs help."
Guinevere grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom and handed it to Pogo. Five was laying on his bed. Grace took the first aid kit from Pogo and got right to work.
Liam and Layla wandered in and Guinevere instantly stepped in front of them.
"Mommy, is Uncle Five okay?" Layla asked.
"Uncle Five is hurt and he needs help."
"Are you gonna help?" Liam wondered.
Guinevere smiled softly. "I helped bring him here. But my job to help is making sure you and your sister are safe."
"Will he be okay?" Layla questioned softly.
"Your uncle is in good hands."
After putting the twins to bed, she stood next to Allison and Diego who were in the doorway.
After a moment's silence, Diego asked, "Anything?"
Allison shook her head. "There's no answer at Vanya's place. And the receptionist at her music school said she was a no-show for her lessons today."
Diego took his wife's hand as he said, "I don't know, it's just surreal seeing her."
Guinevere squeezed his hand softly and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Diego continued. "I just wanna tell her that I'm s -- We don't have enough time. We gotta go."
Allison let out a sigh. "I don't know, Diego. Five is laying there unconscious. We need him."
"We can do this ourselves."
"We did that already, remember? We all ended up dead. I don't know. I'm just thinking I should go and see Claire before-"
Guinevere shook her head. "We're running out of time, Allison. It's now or never."
Diego nodded. "You can't run away from this, Allison. That's what started this whole mess in the first place." He let out a sigh. "Luther was right."
Allison scoffed lightly. "I didn't think I would ever hear you say those words."
"Yeah, well, we gotta stick together."
Allison's expression changed to a hint of a smile. "Where do we start? There's no other addresses in the file, but there is another relation listed. Jenkins' grandmother. She lived near Jackpine Road."
"You think he took her there?" Allison asked.
"It's a good enough place to start."
Guinevere glanced between them. "Go ahead, guys. I'm going stay with Five so I can be there when he wakes up. I should also be here with the twins. Di, you know how they get. Be safe."
Diego chuckled lightly. "Don't I ever. I will. See you later, darling." He kissed her and he and Allison left.
Guinevere reentered back into Five's room and pulled up a chair, intent on watching over him to make sure he'd be okay.