Would you rather know when you die or how you die?
"He fucking left." Emery spat the words as they drove away, car lurching forward as they rushed back to the Academy.
"Wouldn't you be happy about it?" Luther asked. "You guys hate each other. For God's sake, he had your name written down for murder."
"What?!" Klaus exclaimed from the backseat, so loud Emery flinched.
"Irrelevant." Emery muttered, turning back to Luther. "The Handler won't follow through on her word. All she speaks is empty promises."
"And what is her word?"
"Right. I forgot you guys were frozen in time."
"What?!" Klaus exclaimed again.
"Jesus, Klaus! Shut up!" Diego said from beside him in the back.
Emery rubbed at his temple, trying to dispel the inevitable headache. "Thank you. And yes, while you all were frozen in time, The Handler paid Five a little visit, offering him a job and our protection if he came with her... and he did."
There was a moment of silence that passed through the veichle.
"He'll come back." Luther said, more to reasure himself and his sibling more than Emery. "He always does."
"Yes, but last time it took what? 17 years? Who knows how long it's going to take this time. If not in the next day, we're all dead."
"Didn't she offer our protection though?"
"Were you not listening? Empty promises. The Handler will do anything to get what she wants and now that she's got it..." Emery trailed off.
"You know," Klaus began as cities erupted around them and they bid the open fields goodbye. "I can see why you and Five are so close. Because you guys are so similar. Emerino my friend, you just sounded like him a minute ago."
Diego snorted. "And I can see why you guys always fight. 'Because you guys are so similar'. What do they say? Opposites attract? Two of the same repel?"
Emery let his head fall back onto the headrest in an unceremonious lull. "Are none of you guys concerned? The apocalypse is in three days and we just lost the one person who has the highest potential to change that."
"He'll come back." Klaus said, leaning forward and placing a comforting hand on Emery's shoulder.
"Right." Emery said distantly, looking out the window as they drove closer to the city. His thoughts plagued him the whole way and when he finally had the chance to breathe fresh air, he was grateful.
They found Allison in the academy waiting for them. They filled her in on what had happened and she guided everyone to the kitchen where they all got drinks and sat around the table.
It seemed everyone needed a moment to let the weight of the situation they were in sink in because it was only when they got back did Luther swing into his leader mode and start hypothesizing. Four of the seven were there- five once Emery caught a glimpse of Ben seated next to Klaus. At first he thought it was a trick of the eye but then he bent the light around the area he saw the man in just like he did the first time he saw Ben and saw twinkling eyes staring back at him. Emery hesitantly smiled in hello.
That peace didn't last long as it could have purely because Diego and Luther were now in the same room, debating the same topic. An argument broke out quickly.
"No, we need to figure this out."
"Is it just us?"
"It's everybody."
"In the house?"
"The whole planet?"
"No, outside the house."
The siblings all said in a rush, trying to get the concept of absolute doom down.
Emery rubbed at his temples (a motion he was begin to suspect he would be doing a lot of in his final days) and spoke, louder than the others. "It's the apocolypse." He said. "Everyone dies. Including you and Luther and Diego and the bloody neighbors cat. Everybody."
Everyone fell silent not just because of what Emery had said, but because Vanya had walked in, a man trailing behind her. He smiled in a way that could be passed as nervous and folded his hands behind his back.
"Hey," said Vanya. "What's going on?"
Allison opened her mouth and looked to the others in support. "It's a family matter." She finally settled on.
Emery looked up at her with an expression that could only mean 'are you stupid'.
"A family matter." Vanya repeated dryly. "So you couldn't bother to include me. And him?" She jutted her chin towards Emery who wanted to fall into a hole and die. "He's not family. What's he doing here?"
"No, it's not that. We were-" Luther tried to fix the mistake but Vanya was moving away.
"Don't let me interrupt." She said.
"Vanya, wait." Allison said, going after Vanya. "I'll fill you in later when we're alone."
"Please, please, don't bother. And I won't either."
"Vanya, that's not fair."
"Fair?" Vanya repeated incredulously. "There's nothing fair about being your sister. I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember. And I used to think it was Dad's fault, but he's dead. So it turns out you're the assholes." Vanya turned around and walked out, the man she was with following behind.
Emery didn't know who he was or when he had shown up but there was something in the way he looked at Allison before he followed her out was unnerving. In fact, his whole presense was dissuading and Emery found himself moving over to the window to watch him leave.
"I'm going to go find Vanya and explain." Allison said, moving to follow after the pair.
"No, wait, there isn't time." Luther insisted. "We need to figure out what causes the apocalypse. Now, there are loads of possibilities. Nuclear war, asteroids. But I'm thinking this is about the Moon. Right?" Emery mentally facepalmed and closed his eyes for an extended amount of the time as he faced the window. "Dad must have sent me up there for a reason. And I was giving him daily updates on the conditions, I sent field samples. So the first thing we need to do is find his research."
"Woah, woah, woah, hold on, hold the phone." Klaus interjected. "We all died fighting this thing the first time around. Remember?"
"Klaus shockingly has a point." Diego agreed. "What gives us a win this time?"
"Five." Luther responded without any hesitation. "Last time we didn't have him. We weren't all together. This time we'll have the full force of the Umbrella Academy. That's what we need."
"Yes, but we don't have that now, do we." Emery said tiredly.
"We also have him." Diego gestured to Emery. "But I have no clue how that would give us the edge up on this."
"Trust me," Emery said. "I'm trying to figure that out too." After all, wasn't that the only reason Five had kept him so close?
"So, where's Five now?" Allison asked.
"Well, he had a plan to change the timeline. He'll be back. Soon." Luther promised.
"Well, I'm going after Hazel and Cha Cha." Diego said.
"What, right now?"
"Hell yeah. Three days. I'm losing light by the minute."
"Wait Diego. Look, I know you want to avenge your friend, but we've got a bigger problem here."
"She wasn't just some friend, Luther! If I'm going to die, I need to know I killed those bastards first. It's not about dad. It's not about me." Diego turned with a last glare and retreated out of the room.
Then Klaus stood from where he was doubled over on the nearby chair and started following.
"Klaus?" Luther called out after the man. "Klaus!" He said again when he didn't get a response.
"Yeah! Sorry." Klaus threw his arms up and spun around.
"So, what? You're giving up on the world too?" Luther asked.
Klaus gulped. "Yeah," He said through a strangled slur. "Pretty much. Yeah. Mn-hmm."
"So that's it. You're cool with us all dying in three days?"
Klaus opened his mouth to say something but decided against it, exhaling and shaking his head as he turned away and left as well.
"I can't believe it." Luther muttered as he turned back to face Emery and Allison, the only two remaining. "It's just us." He groaned, shoulders deflating when he saw the look on Allison's face. "Not you too." Luther said.
"Sorry, Luther. If we only have three days left, I'm catching a flight to LA and spending them with my daughter. Custody be damned." She offered a weak smile as she brushed past Luther and left as well.
"And I suppose there's no point in asking you." Luther said.
Emery sighed and pushed himself off the wall. "Sorry, Luther. Like you said, we only have a chance if everyone is working together. And quite frankly, I don't think your moon theory is going to lead anywhere. Let me know if you make any progress though." He patted the big man's shoulders as he passed though his mind was elsewhere, specifically with the man that was with Vanya.
He wondered upstairs where he thought had caught a glimpse of the man's figure. He found him snooping around upstairs, observing a case of little Umbrella Academy figurines. Emery hadn't even known they existed.
"Hey man." Emery said, speaking when he saw the man dip his hand into the case and draw one of the figurines out. "What'cha doing? I thought you left with Vanya."
"Oh!" The man turned around, hiding his hand behind his back but his face remained composed, so composed it was almost scary. He smiled a little. "I just forgot my jacket." He said, holding the aforementioned coat up for show.
Emery nodded with pursed lips.
The man laughed almost nervously but he covered it up well and jutted his head to the exit.
"I'll be on my way then."
"Right, you do that." Emery said, watching the man leave with narrowed eyes. He didn't know what purpose this man had with figurines or why he had stolen one so he made the unceremonious decision to follow.
He trailed Vanya and the man (of whom he learned was named Leonard) down the street at quite a distance. He wasn't interested in knowing what they were talking about, he just wanted to see where the man lived.
It started raining and people drew out their umbrellas. Emery cursed but didn't disband his trailing as the pour wasn't nearly enough to send him back inside. He figured he would have followed them even if it were pouring. The thought alone made Emery shake his head. What had he turned into that he was willing to stalk people through horrid weather?
They kept moving until they rounded a street corner and whatever conversation Vanya and Leanard was having started to get heated. Vanya moved her arms to convey her distress and Emery heard creaking follow her as she walked.
The cars he was using for cover started to vibrate and then the lamposts that were stationed along the street groaned and creaked and bent.
Ordinary Vanya Hargreeves... just bent several lamp posts without so much as looking at them.
The pair stopped when they realized what Vanya had done before Leanord muttered something and tugged her down the street and down the corner.
Emery moved to follow once more but was stopped by cool metal on the back of his head. He closed his eyes and swore under his breath as he slowly raised his hands and turned around.
"We were told of Five's whereabouts and how he is plotting." Cha Cha said, arm out and clasping the gun. She stepped back but kept the weapon aimed toward him. "We also have strict orders to eliminate you."
"Yeah, I gathered that. Geez you guys really can't give it a break." Emery's gaze drifted through the area, noting the lack of people around them and better yet, the lack of Hazel. "Say uh, where's your buddy there Cha Cha?" He asked.
"We are masters of our work of course we don't have all the time in the world to deal with powered teenage boys."
Emery's eyebrows furrowed in fake thought. "That's right." He clicked his tongue. "Then why are you spending so much time on us? Why not just- end it now?" He smiled. "Or maybe the reason this is taking so long is because you aren't as capable of your job as you say."
Emery ducked before the last word even left his mouth, avoiding the bullet that pierced through the air.
"A silencer," Emery observed, dancing out of the way of another bullet. "Smart." This time, Cha Cha must have been anticipating his next move for she jammed the but of the gun into Emery's temple.
He groaned and held a hand over the area, trying and failing to duck out of the way when Cha Cha pulled the trigger again. Emery cursed a string of words that no teen boy should have in his vocabulary and hit the ground. Rolling out of the way, he grit his teeth and pushed himself up to his knees, all but throwing himself around the nearest corner and stumbling down the street. The pain in his abdomen was blinding but the adrenaline coursing through his veins kept him going.
"Don't do this to yourself, Emery." Cha Cha called out after him, watching as he tried to open a door but finding it locked. Emery cursed under his breath. "You can't manipulate large mounts of light can you. I know there are drawbacks, areas that you haven't learned. Give up."
Emery ducked when another gunshot rang out. People were fleeing now upon seeing the woman chasing a teenage boy with a bloodied shirt down the street and he was left alone. Another two shots and Emery was ducking blindly as he moved to another door he could only pray was open. At least there he could make himself invisible- it was a smaller area. But it was locked. He assumed all of them were locked. Damn his bad fortune.
Slowly, he turned around to meet Cha Cha face to face. The woman let a false apologetic smile onto her lips as she adjusted her stance and held the gun. "I'm sorry it had to be this way." Cha Cha said, releasing the trigger and letting the bullet fly. Emery watched as it soared through the air. It was like time had slowed down but this time, he knew the Handler was no where close by and in less than a second, everything would return to normal and the bullet will have found its mark.
Desperately and not knowing what else to do- as his mind tended to fail him in situations such as this, Emery raised his hands and closed his eyes just as he saw the woman release the trigger, bracing himself for the impact of the bullet and the cold wet ground beneath him.
Then there was a dizzying feeling like he was being sucked from the air and dropped from fifty feet. The ground met him below and the air was snatched from his lungs. And then, the blinding pain.