VALERIE LOOKS AROUND THE ROOM FRANTICALLY, her breathing erratic while the gun shakes in her hand. No remorse. She felt no remorse as she watches the blood seep down the walls and in the middle of the woman's head.
"Void," she hears someone call out but she just stands above the dead body feeling more alive than ever as a laugh falls from her lips until she's staring into the eyes of her father.
"Void! What did you see?" He demands only for Valerie's cheeks to feel cold and wet, realizing that she's crying. The empty gun out of her grasp as her vision comes back.
She just shakes and cries, "please don't make me do that again, dad, please," she begs to her dad who seems slightly annoyed before letting her go and turning away from her.
"You must know by now, Void that you will never become greater if you don't get a hold of your powers," he states as he walks forward, Valerie hiccuping to stop, "you need to learn how to—"
"I can't!" Valerie calls out as she bows her head in shame, "I can't, dad, I can't."
It goes quiet except for Valerie's choked cries while her dad stares at her with an expressionless face, "very well," he admits, "go to your room."
Valerie walks downstairs and into the living room where the rest of her siblings are, well kind of the rest, "what's going on? Where's Vanya?"
"I don't know if you noticed, but Five's a little..." Allison whistles as she makes a "coo-coo" gesture.
Klaus smiles at his sister, "our little psycho."
Allison walks over and hands Valerie a cup of coffee while the blonde pulls out her phone, "thanks," she mumbles and types her younger sister a message:
Wru? Family meeting.
"He was pretty convincing, if he wasn't trying to stop the apocalypse, those lunatics wouldn't be chasing him," Luther explains making Valerie being to understand what this meeting is about.
"So, you guys don't believe that Five could be telling the truth?"
She gets ignored when Diego speaks up, "that's why they were after him?"
"Yeah," Luther informs only for Allison to look at him.
"What did Five even see?" She asks, the only one who hasn't been caught up on the whole apocalypse situation.
Valerie puts her coffee on the little stand behind her before leaning against the back of the couch, "uh... apparently, we all fought together against whoever was responsible," Luther explains to his siblings only to be greeted with silence, "okay, so, here's the plan. Uh, we go through dad's research—"
"Wait, what?"
"Wait a tick, wait a tick, wait a tick," Klaus speaks up making the others besides Valerie look down at him on the ground, "what actually happened the first time around?"
Diego looks over at Luther, "yeah, what are you not telling us?" He wonders, "come on, big boy, spit it out."
This question peaks Valerie's interest as to what Luther is keeping from them making her cross her arms and look up at her brother who looks down at his coffee, "we died," he says softly before taking a drink of his coffee.
"What was that?" Allison asks with a shocked expression on her face.
Luther finishes taking a drink and keeps his eyes on his coffee while he clears his throat, "I said, uh, we died."
Valerie stares at him with wide eyes, "wow," she drones out.
The siblings find themselves huddled together in a circle at the bar throwing questions at Luther about the apocalypse until Vanya and Leonard walk in, "hey."
Instantly the memory of what Allison told her about him comes back and realizes she forgot to call her yesterday after she got home. They all turn to the couple, "what's going on?" Vanya asks but as Valerie goes to explain the words die on her lips while she looks at Leonard.
"It's a family matter," Allison speaks as she also looks at Leonard.
"A family matter," Vanya repeats before she looks at her family members, "so you couldn't bother to include me."
Valerie frowns at her words, "Van, I text you," she explains as she pulls out her phone and opens the app to see that she forgot to hit send, "I..." the words die on her lips.
Luther looks from Valerie to Vanya, "no, it's not like that, we were—"
"I thought I hit send..." Valerie mumbles to herself before looking up at her sister and seeing the hurt in her eyes causing Valerie's chest to ache.
Vanya turns to leave, "Vanya, wait," Allison calls out as she walks over to Vanya, "I'll fill you in later when we're alone."
"Please, please, don't bother," Vanya snaps as she turns to Allison, "and I won't either."
"Vanya that's not fair," Allison says with an exasperated expression.
"Fair? There's not fair about being your sister," Vanya states, "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 your the assholes," she grumbles at her siblings before turning and leaving making Valerie's chest pinch in guilt that she's a reason why Vanya feels this way.
"Ouch," Klaus mumbles out.
Valerie lets out a shaky sigh, "I should've doubled checked," she mumbled to herself, "I'm so fucking forgetful."
"I'm gonna go find Vanya and explain," Allison admits as she turns to leave, Valerie getting up to follow her.
"I'll come with you."
Luther looks between his sisters, "no, wait, there isn't time. We need to figure out what causes the apocalypse."
Valerie's body feeling jittery as she decides whether or not she should leave but decides against it as she and Allison turn back to their siblings. The feeling of guilt making Valerie's shoulder drop.
"Now, there are loads of possibilities," Luther snowballs to them, "nuclear war, asteroids. But I'm thinking this is about the moon, right? Dad must've sent me up there for a reason."
Valerie tries to listen but her mind is stuck on the fact her sister probably thinks that she secretly hates her now, "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."
"Hold on, hold the phone," Klaus cuts in, "we all died figuring this thing the first time around, remember?"
"Klaus, shockingly, has a point," Diego chimes in as he stops throwing up his knife, "what gives us the win this time?"
"Five, last time we didn't have him," Luther reminds them as Klaus struggles and gages making Valerie struggle not to feel sick of the sight, "we weren't all together. This time we'll have the full force of the Umbrella Academy, that's what we need."
Valerie flexes her hand in the glove while Klaus goes to lay down on the seat, "we don't have everyone now, Luther," she states with a pointed look, "our sister just left and Five isn't here."
"So where's Five now?" Allison questions as she looks between her siblings.
"Well, he had a plan to change the timeline. He'll be back soon," Luther assures and explains as he looks at Allison and Valerie.
Diego stands up with his knife in his hand, "I'm going after Hazel and Cha-Cha."
"Oh yeah? With what? You're one good arm?" Valerie questions making Diego roll his eyes.
He ignores his sister and makes his way to the door, "what right now?" Luther asks as she watches.
"Hell yeah," Diego agrees, "three days, I'm losing light by the minute."
"Wait, Diego," Luther calls out only for Diego to turn to him, "look I know you want to avenge your friend."
"Luther—" Valerie warns only for her brother to ignore her again.
"But we got bigger problems here."
Diego glares at Luther, "she wasn't just some friend. If I'm gonna die, I need to know I killed these bastards first."
Valerie tries to calm her mind as she puts her head in her hands at how chaotic her family is right now, "stop making this about you," Diego finishes before he leaves.
Klaus also goes to leave only for Luther to stop him which gives Valerie the chance to sneak away and hide away herself upstairs in her room, the day already causing her to feel completely exhausted besides the lack of sleep.
VALERIE DIDN'T REALIZE SHE FELL ASLEEP UNTIL she opens her eyes and sees the time on her phone, showing that she's been asleep for half an hour.
She gets up and rubs her eyes while the day comes back to her making her wish she was a kid that would sneak a joint in throughout the day with Klaus. The idea makes her check her old hiding place, "I'm gonna laugh if—"
A joint sits on her hiding spot under her bed frame making Valerie laugh to herself, "oh my fucking god," she mumbles to herself before Valerie sits up and debates whether or not she should smoke it.
"It's only a decade old?" She mumbles to herself as she weighs the pros and cons before standing up and looking for a lighter, "I'm here for a good time not a long time."
When Valerie finds a light, she begins to make her way up the stairs that leads to the attic only to find Diego and Klaus. Diego who seems to be tying up Klaus to a chair, "what the actual fuck?"
The two brother's look at their sister as she had a joint in her mouth, "I could say the same to you, missy," Klaus jokingly scolds with a flat tone, "keep going," he tells Diego who only continues tying him up.
"So? What's with the bdsm?" Valerie asks as she takes the joint from her lips, "please don't tell me I have to think about more of my siblings having feelings for each other, Luther and Allison are bad enough," she cringes crosses her arms and looks at Diego who's tying up Klaus.
"I am going clean, little sister," Klaus explains with a small smile at Valerie making her roll her eyes at the 'little sister', "that's it, tighter and higher," he demands Diego who stops to tighten the rope around Klaus who lets out a grunt, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."
"If I see a boner, I'm out," Diego warms as he continues tying while Klaus winces making Valerie frown and shake her head.
"This is actually better than my original plan," Valerie admits as she watches her brothers with entertainment.
Diego and Klaus look over at their sister, "which was to smoke up?" Diego wonders as he continues to tie up Klaus.
"How'd you even get ahold of weed? Last time I checked, I was always the one buying for us," Klaus questions with a grunt from the tighten of the ropes.
Valerie goes quiet, "I found it under my bed in my old hiding spot," She admits shyly knowing their reactions.
"So, what your saying is that's old weed?" Klaus continues to pry making Valerie drop her head back to look up at the ceiling and groan.
"Oh my god," Diego mumbles out, "you know that could be bad for you?" He asks with an annoyed tone, stopping to look at Valerie.
Valerie waves her hands to make them stop, "this is about Klaus, okay? Not me and some old weed that probably won't even do anything."
It goes quiet in the room as Diego continues walking around Klaus, "end of the world and you want to get sober all of a sudden," Diego speaks up, "don't get me wrong, man, good by you but I'd think you'd want to pop every pill on the planet."
Klaus sighs as he keep his eyes ahead, "oh, the thought did cross my mind, believe me, but... there's something I need to do and the whole pesky thing doesn't seem to work when I'm sober."
Diego gets on his knees and begins to the the rope around Klaus' feet while Valerie slides down the wall and onto the floor, "is it about conjuring the one you lost?" Diego asks making Valerie wonder it too, "what was her name?"
Valerie sees Klaus close his eyes, empathy for her brother and what he went through that lead him up to this point makes her realize that the guy was more important to Klaus than she knew, "his name was Dave."
Klaus' soft reveal makes Diego look up at him, "we shouldered together in the A Shau Valley... in the mountain of the crouching beast."
"Well, Dave must have been a very special person... to put up with all your weird ass shit," Diego says making Klaus and Valerie snort.
Klaus smiles to himself as the memories of him come back, "yeah, yeah, he was... he was kind, strong, and vulnerable, and... beautiful," Klaus explains softly making Valerie smile at the thought, "beautiful, and I was... foolish enough to follow him all the way to the front line."
"You fought in the shit?" Diego asks as he looks up at Klaus.
Valerie feels a little shock at finding out Klaus actually fought, "front line especially?"
"Oh yeah, baby," Klaus says with a nod while looking at Diego over to Valerie.
Diego continues to tie up Klaus' feet, "how'd they let you do that?"
"Let me? War couldn't take enough bodies, please," Klaus tries to joke about how bad it was, "including his," his voice and expression somber.
Valerie runs a gloved hand through her hair to do something with herself, "hey, look at us," Klaus starts, "loggin' in some quality family time before the end of the world."
Diego goes to finish up typing Klaus as Valerie gives a weak smile, "Yeah, might as well," he agrees as he tightens the rope again only for Valerie's smile to falter, "everyone I like is already dead."
Klaus hums at the reveal, "ah, yes, the lady cop."
Valerie frowns at the memory of what happened that night, seeing Diego that way was a first even when they were kids and it completely broke her to see her brother like that. Especially someone she believes is one of the strongest people in the world, "yeah, mom too, I let them both down. So here I am, alone with you two."
Diego smiles at his siblings before he goes to leave only to Valerie to follow, "ah, shit!" Klaus groans making the pair turn back to him.
"What?" Diego asks only for Valerie to let out an airy laugh.
"I bet you—" she mumbles out before Klaus speaks up again.
"I need to pee," Valerie lets out a little laugh as she shakes her head.
"I knew it."
VALERIE THROWS AWAY THE JOINT OUT THE WINDOW as Klaus comes back with Diego when Klaus sits on the chair, "so, as much as I'd love to watch Diego struggle keeping you tied to that chair," she says with a smile, "I am gonna go buy myself some better gloves because Allison's are only meant for winter and my hands have been sweating constantly."
"Give me some sugar," Klaus mumbles out making Valerie roll her eyes as she walks over gives him a kiss on his forehead, "stay golden, pony boy."
Valerie laughs softly at her brother's words, "stay golden," she says back, "don't be too hard on each other," she warns before leaving.
The two were inside jokes between the two as they grew up, they weren't specific about anything but it just jokes for each other. Klaus and Valerie always had a close relationship growing up, people claimed they were actual siblings all over the press but they weren't.
'Stay golden, pony boy' was just from another high session with each other while watching 'The Outsiders'. The two repeated the saying to each other constantly after that whenever they'd leave and it became a habit until it eventually got old and they forgot it from time to time.
Valerie and Klaus has tons of inside jokes with each other as they grew up, their siblings believed they're dad lied to them about Klaus and Valerie not being siblings from how in sync the pair was:
Valerie was asleep next to Klaus in the vehicle, her mouth open and leaning on his shoulder while he talked to Ben.
"So, how did the hipster burn his tongue on his coffee?" Klaus begins his joke as Ben sighs and puts down his book.
Ben didn't get to reply before Klaus spoke up, "he drank his coffee before it was cool!" Ben stays quiet and shakes his head until Valerie shots up in her seat and starts laughing.
The sight alone cause Klaus to burst out laughing along with her. After the whole fiasco, the two also realized how they're a pair of weirdos.
Valerie chuckles at the memory as she browses over gloves in a store a block away from the house until her phone rings in her pocket:
So, I can't stop thinking about the kiss at the bar. Want a do over? Maybe during a date?
sent at 5:45PM
"I'll get this," she says when she puts down some black leather gloves on the counter with a smile before going to type a quick message back:
Totally! Tonight? At 6:30?
sent at 5:45PM
The teenager smiles back before ringing up the gloves, "19.20, please."
Valerie pulls out a 20 dollar bill and gives it to her, "keep the change," she explains before walking away with the new gloves.
"Have a good day!"
"You too," Valerie says back as she walks out the door and begins to walk back home when her phone rings again:
Sure, wanna meet up at Mr.Mike's?
sent at 5:46PM
Fine with me, See you soon!
sent at 5:46PM
She pulls off Allison's gloves and puts them under her arm before taking off the price tag to put them on. The gloves being more comfortable and less made for winter.
When Valerie walks back inside, Diego's standing in the doorway of the living room and looking down at the ground, "what's wrong?"
Diego lets out an annoyed sigh as he walks over to the stairs, "don't start with that."
"With what? I was just asking what's wrong?" Valerie explains nonchalantly while she goes and puts Allison's gloves on the little table by the door, "you were staring at the floor like it stole your knives," she jokes making Diego roll his eyes.
"Is that just your default?" He asks annoyed as he stares over at Valerie, "I get you want to help but I don't need it, Val, I'm perfectly normal."
Valerie smirks and laughs softly at the slight jab from Diego, "real funny, you are," she says while Diego lets a small smile show on his face before quickly turning into a frown as he looks down.
The action makes Valerie's smile falter, "why do you hate me?" She asks softly causing Diego to swiftly look back up at his sister.
Diego lets out a sigh as it goes quiet in the foyer, "you left... V," he starts before sitting down on the staircase, "I didn't get to say goodbye, you were just... gone."
Valerie frowns, "I didn't get a choice, Diego," she admits with a sigh as she also goes to sit down by her brother, "dad, thought it was best that I just left, he didn't want me to distract you guys from training just because I didn't want to be here anymore."
"You didn't even call or anything, you left and it was you that used to tell me that when you leave you'd make sure to call and tell me that you're okay."
Valerie frowns before she scrunches up her face in confusion as she looks at her brother, "I did call," she tells, "I called every two weeks but every time, Pogo would tell me you didn't want to speak to me or that you'd be busy."
Diego shakes his head and looks at Valerie, "he never told me you called."
She turns her body towards him, "I did though, I'd even tell Pogo to give you a message, every time," the two realized that Diego never got the messages due to Pogo never getting the chance to tell them.
The siblings look at each other with the new information, "that— he— dad did that because all he ever cared about himself and what the Umbrella Academy gave him."
"Dad did it because he knew talking with you guys would still make me part of the Umbrella Academy," Valerie explains softly as she continues to think why their dad would do it as she looks down at her hands, "that if I kept in touch, I'd come racing back here for you guys."
Diego looks at his sister and scoffs, "you actually believe that? He kept you away from us!"
Valerie shakes her head and gives a scoff, "keeping in touch is a two person job, Diego," she informs, "the others tried calling me but you never did and why? Because you thought I left you," she reminds making Diego stare at her with a dumbfounded expression.
"Yeah, well what else would you think if I left you? Just up and left, after everything, huh?" He snaps, "without so much but a call every two weeks?"
Valerie scoffs at the hypocrisy, "Well, at least I keep in touch."
Diego's glare deflated as he look up to see his sister with hurt in her eyes, "V—"
"No, you know what?" She states while she stands to her feet and looks down at her brother, "you claim that I left you to be normal? No! I left because of all the shit my powers and this academy put me through!"
"Val, I didn't—"
"You did though! You left me, you pushed me away at the first sign of me trying to be the least bit normal after the all the shit that proved that I never was!" She screamed with tears welling in her eyes at how much it hurt her, "I was always the one who tried and tried but where were you?" She demanded, "huh? Where were you!"
Diego's head falls, "I'm sorry, okay? I was hurt, alright? you and mom were the only two who ever seemed to give a shit about me," he admits softly, "and you leaving, I figured you didn't want anything to do with me much less the fucking Academy. Is that it? Is that what you wanted to hear?" He asks with a slight snap in his tone from hearing his sister's words.
Valerie's throat aches from trying not to cry before she sighs, "I want to hear that you're done pushing me away, you moron," Valerie chuckles out as a tear falls from her eye making her quickly wipe it away, "you're my brother, Diego, how can I ever get rid of your ugly ass?"
Valerie walks over and sits by her brother who looks over and give her a playful smile, "I couldn't push you away if I wanted to anyway," he states, "not when you're constantly bothering me."
"It's one of my many talents," Valerie jokes with a nonchalant shrug making Diego smile.
"I'm sorry, V," Diego admits softly while he looks at Valerie who gives him a smile.
"I'm sorry too," Valerie tells as she lays her head on her brother's shoulder, "guess we're just two sorry sons of bitches."
Diego and Valerie chuckle before it goes quiet.
After a couple minutes, Valerie stands back up, "I better get going, I was gonna meet a friend later," she explains remembering Jolene asked her on a date later.
Valerie sees Diego nod as she begins to walk up the stairs to get ready before hitting Diego at the back of his head making look back at her with an annoyed expression, "Val-"
"Bye, love you!" She calls out while running up the stairs with a big smile on her face and her chest feeling lighter than it has in days.
VALERIE AND JOLENE WALK IN A PARK, HAND-IN-HAND, "you know," Valerie starts with a smile, "this has to be my favourite date so far," she reveals making Jolene laugh.
"Oh, really? Well I'm glad to be your favourite," she replies with a playful smirk before Valerie moves closer.
"You said that we'd be doing over that kiss?" She jokingly brings up making Jolene giggle.
Jolene pretends to think, "I did, didnt I? Because the last time we kissed, you were almost wasted and it happened in a crappy bar bathroom," Valerie laughs before nodding.
"Fun times," she tells with a shrug making Jolene smile before they go to kiss.
Before their lips touch, time stops and immediately rewinds. Bringing it back to Wednesday at 8:15AM. Again.
"Hold the phone, we all died fighting this thing the first time around," Klaus cuts in, "we all died figuring this thing the first time around, remember?"
"Klaus, shockingly, has a point," Diego chimes in as he stops throwing up his knife, "what gives us the win this time?"
Electricity cracks making Valerie flinch and look up to see a bright light only for Five to fall out of it.
"Je-jesus!" Allison says when Five lands on the bar.
Klaus gets up from falling on the little couch, "you guys, am I still high or do you see him, too?" Five gets down from the bar.
"Five, where have you been?" Luther interrogates as Five almost falls over making him and Allison go over to hold him up.
"Are you alright?" Allison asks with worry.
"Who did this to you?" Luther questions again before Five moves away from their hold and takes Allison's coffee.
"Irrelevant," he mumbles out as he walks away from his siblings while he drinks the coffee, limping as he walks.
Valerie winces softly, "you're limping, Five."
Five ignores his sister as he chugs the coffee in one go, his siblings watching in shock until he finishes, "so, the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save our world is, well, us."
"The Umbrella Academy," Luther chimes in as they all look to Five.
"Yeah, but with me, obviously," Five explains, "so if ya'll don't get your slideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we're screwed," he snaps making Valerie just stare in shock.
"Who cares if dad messed us up? Are we gonna let that define us?" Five asks making both Klaus and Valerie shake their head in reply.
"No and to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I've come back with a lead," he supplies them with a folded note, "I know who's responsible for the apocalypse."
Allison holds out her hand causing Five to hand over the note, she opens it and the group huddled together to see it, "this is who we have to stop," Five tells them when they read it.
"Harold Jenkins," Allison says while they read it, "Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?"
They all look up to Five for answer only to have him once again chugging the coffee.
author's note:
chapter six.
thoughts?
I was trying to deliver Valerie and Diego's make-up more better but it's honestly so flat. I was rushing to publish this after the first one to repay you guys for missing one publish day. I will be going over and fixing them because I messed up by rushing. hope it was good enough for now though