ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ ᴏꜰ ᴅɪᴠᴏʀᴄᴇ
'ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀɪᴇꜰᴄᴀꜱᴇ ɪɴᴄɪᴅᴇɴᴛ'

The house was empty, and seemingly more broken than Inanna and Luther recalled it being, and Five was no longer under the rumble of bricks where they had both last seen him.

The barn was the only other place Five and Lila could be, unless one of them was already dead, but the clattering of metal inside the barn as a fight took place, gave away that they both were alive still.

As they approached the barn the fighting came to a stop as Lila decided that before she killed Five she'd at least tell him why she wanted him to suffer and die slowly.

Five struggled to remember Ronnie and Anita, Lila's parents, but as Lila continued the night of their murders came back to him and it all made sense to him.

"The Handler gave me the kill order" Five said, taking a step back from Lila as she held Inanna's knife in her hand. "She came on the job, which she'd never done before" Five stated. "You're Commission. You know execs never go on jobs, but that day in London, she was there. Ask yourself why" Five said.

"Stop trying to muddy the waters" Lila muttered.

"I never realised what she was up to at the time, but..." Five's eyes met with Lila's "Now it all makes sense".

"What?" Lila asked.

"She never cared about your parents. She was looking for you" Five said.

"Why?" Lila whispered.

Diego entered the barn first with a slight limp, causing Lila turn around as he answered her question. "'Cause you're one of us".

Lila kept the knife in front of herself as the others followed in behind Diego. Lila's eyes flickered over all of them, stopping for a longer second on Inanna before she looked at Diego again.

"The Handler stole you, Lila" Diego said walking closer to her. "Just like our asshole father took all of us".

"No. It's not the same thing" Lila disagreed shaking her head.

"You're right. Because he didn't have our parents murdered" Diego said. Lila was tormented, she wanted to believe what Diego was saying, but she always wanted to believe that the Handler wasn't what Diego said. "Listen to me, Lila. You were born October 1st, 1989-" Lila shook her head. "-the same day as all of us".

Feeling corner and frightened, unable to see if Five was sneaking up on her, Lila shouted "Stay back!".

"Hey! Hey, stop!" Diego shouted, his extended towards Lila. "Wait. Wait. Hey!".

Luther, Allison, Klaus and Vanya circled around Lila, keeping a distance from her. Inanna stayed by the door, her focus solely on the woman who held her knife — She had already almost been killed by Lila and Inanna didn't want to give her another chance.

"Lila, stop" Diego said.

"I trusted you" Lila said, forcing back any tears that dared to push against her waterline. "I got you a job, I even introduced you to my mother, and then you took off on me" Lila shouted.

"Because I needed to save the world!" Diego shouted. Diego sighed as Lila dropped her arm down to her side. "She's using you, Lila. The Handler".

"You're wrong. She raised me. She loves me" Lila said.

"Yeah, you know what?" Luther spoke up. Lila looked over her shoulder at him. "Love shouldn't have to hurt this much" Luther said.

Lila fake gagged at his words. Luther nodded his head, unsurprised by her response "All right, I tried" Luther said.

"He's right" Five said. "We have to kill her".

Five inched towards her as Diego shouted his name, holding his hand up for him to stop. If it wasn't for Diego's glossed over eyes, Five wouldn't have listened, but he wanted to give Diego the chance.

"Hey, Lila" Diego's soft voice made Lila turn back to him. "Truth? She's dangerous. And you're scared of what she'll do with all that new power. That's why you dragged me back to the Commission. Because I know what it's like to love dangerous people. Difference is..." Diego looked around at his family. "they love me back".

"Shut up" Lila pointed the knife at him again.

"The only thing she loves is power" Diego stated. "Now, the minute she can't use you, she will turn on you, and deep down, I know you know that".

"You don't know me, Diego" Lila muttered.

Diego took a step towards Lila, the end of the knife pressing into his jacket. "Don't I?" Diego asked. "I know that we can be your family... if you just let us".

Lila looked around at the others and as Allison gave her a small smile, the tears that she had fought against fell down her cheeks.

With a round of unexpected bullets fired behind Inanna by the Handler. Inanna fell onto her front, three exit wounds through her chest where the bullets had tore through her body. Each Hargreeves sibling fell just like Inanna as the spray of bullets continued, leaving all but Lila, who had fallen to her knees to avoid being hit, either dead or bleeding out on the floor.

Lila removed her hand from in front of her face, her eyes settling on Diego's dead body in front of her. Lila placed her hands on his chest, her voice trembling "Diego, no..." Lila shook her head, sniffling as the Handler smiled, proud of her quick work and crossed the barn to her daughter.

"Aww" The Handler mocked.

"It's true" Lila said looking up at her mother. "What Five said, isn't it?".

"Darling, I need to know that we can get past this, be a happy family again. Hmm?" The Handler smiled.

Lila stood up as she looked around that the Hargreeves family. "They're my real family" Lila said. Lila stepped around Diego's body, walking over to the Handler. "Do you even love me?" Lila asked.

The Handler didn't respond, but the loveless and cold look in her eyes told Lila that everything Diego had said about her was right. The Handler only wanted power, she didn't love or care for the child she had stolen and as Lila went to stab the Handler with Inanna's knife a round of bullets were fired into her torso.

Lila fell to the ground and the Handler didn't even flinch. The Handler looked over Lila, feeling nothing but disappointment "Que será, será".

Five gasped as his eyes shot open. The Handler glanced towards him, smiling when she realised he was still alive. "Oh, good" The Handler walked across the barn to Five, looking over him "You're still alive. Lucky you. You got to see how this all played out... unlucky Inanna" The Handler pouted and she tilted her head, unable to hide her amusement as Five tried to look at his wife across the barn. "If only the briefcase had done what it was supposed to".

Five looked back at the Handler, trying to form the words to ask what she meant by her last sentence, but as the puddle of his own blood grew underneath him, he only choked.

The Handler chuckled. "Yes" The Handler nodded. "It was you or her, Five. One of you had to go. And without a tracker and a little tampering... Inanna's death would have been an accident. But fortunately for me, I had the pleasure of finishing her myself".

The Handler finished her sentence by pointing her gun at Five's head, wanting Five's final thoughts to be of his wife's assassination attempt years before. Five turned his gaze back to Inanna, waiting for the last bullet to ring out.

But before the Handler had the chance, she inhaled sharply as multiple bullets shot through her back and exited out of her torso.

Five's eyes widened, shocked, and the Handler turned around slowly towards the barn doors as Axel, the last Swede, entered the barn with a gun in his hands. Axel raised his gun again, firing a bullet straight into the Handler's heart and two more into her chest.

Axel lowered his gun as the Handler fell onto her side on the ground and a trail of blood ran out of her mouth, pooling by her head. Axel walked over to the Handler, briefly glancing to Inanna who had murdered his youngest brother, before his eyes caught sight of Five who was watching him with half open eyes.

Axel raised his gun again, this time pointing it at Five. Five laid staring at the end of the barrel, believing that he deserved it more than any of the others, his mind torturing him with his worst moments with his siblings. He blocked them out, turning his gaze back to Inanna across the barn.

"Your dad is crazy, Five. I mean, seriously, what are you supposed to accomplish with seconds?" Inanna scoffed leaning against the wall of the lift. "Start small, seconds not decades" Inanna repeated what Reginald had said to her at the bar and what she had just told Five. "You got any other solutions cooking in that brain of yours?".

Five looked back at Axel, gasping painful as his hands began glowing blue. It took a split second for the energy to grow but Five lifted his head, having just enough strength to watch the time tick back second by second.

Five forced himself to his feet, Inanna's voice replaying in his head as he ran towards her, his body moving in slow motion as he turned back the clock, only seconds, and his family rose up from the floor around him, the bullets leaving their bodies and returning to the gun they were fired from.

"I know that we can be your family" Five pressed his hands against his chest as he looked around the room at his family that stood around Diego and Lila.

Inanna glanced over to Five, hearing him thud against the barn wall next to her. Five saw the confusion in her eyes as she tried to piece it together, wondering why he had blinked across the room suddenly and how he had done it without the others noticing. Five didn't have the time to answer any question she had, knowing that Inanna was the first to die.

"If you just let us" Diego said to Lila.

Five pulled his attention from Inanna, his hands catching the end of the rifle as the Handler pointed it at Inanna.

Five snatched the gun from the Handler's grip, putting himself in front of Inanna as he turned to face the Handler, pointing the weapon back at her while the Handler stumbled into the barn, trying to regain her balance.

The Handler raised her hands next to her head as all eyes turned to her and Lila stepped around Diego.

"It's true, isn't it? What Five said" The Handler didn't answer Lila and instead glanced to Five. "Answer me!" Lila shouted. "Is it true?".

The Handler sighed. "Well-". A round of bullets were shot through the barn doors, each one hitting the Handler. Five took a step closer to Inanna, using his body to shield her from the man who still might be seeking revenge for his brothers death.

The Handler fell to the floor and a trail of blood ran out of her mouth, creating a puddle next to her head. There was a moment of silence in the barn as everyone looked at the Handler's dead body in shock, but the silence was broken when Lila made run for the briefcase.

Luther shouted "The case" and before he could get to Lila, Diego threw himself in front of Luther, knocking the both of them down as Lila picked up the briefcase and disappeared.

Five pointed his gun at Axel as Axel stepped into the barn. His eyes moved from Five to Inanna and Inanna swallowed harshly, her throat still burning from Lila's attack.

Axel tilted his head and looked back at Five, almost challenging him with his next move. Five let go of the gun with his left hand, reaching his arm behind him to grab Inanna's hand. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, asking her to trust him without saying it.

Inanna squeezed his hand back and Five dropped the gun by his feet. Five tilted his head as Inanna's brows furrowed and she looked from the gun to Axel.

"Enough" Five said.

Axel looked around the room at the others he and his brothers had attacked over the week, all of them looking just as tired as he felt.

Axel dropped his gun to the floor as he said repeated "Enough" in Swedish.

Axel turned on his heel to leave and nodded at Inanna, if she wasn't so stunned Inanna would have returned it but instead she just stared blankly at him and watched him leave.

Luther patted his hand on Diego's chest, looking at his brother who laid underneath him. "I almost had her. Why the hell did you stop me?" Luther asked.

"Because... I love her" Diego said.

Luther didn't utter another word as he stood up, Diego's confession silencing him. Diego turned around and as he stood his eyes caught a brown beaded bracelet that laid in the straw.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Klaus asked extending his arm to the barn doors as Diego picked up the bracelet and Sissy yelled for help.

Five turned to Inanna as the others followed after Vanya down the stairs of the barn. Five put his hand on Inanna's cheek, "I swear I'll explain, I'll explain everything, okay?" Inanna nodded.

Five had a lot to explain and not just what had happened in the barn, but things that had been unanswered for years.

Vanya forced herself through Harlan's energy shield and fell to her knees in front of the young boy who had his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them as Five and Inanna ran down the stairs.

"Harlan? Harlan! Whatever it is I gave you, I can take it back, okay? We just, we need to stop this".

Vanya's hands shone the same colour as Harlan's energy shield and she placed them upon Harlan's hands. Vanya absorbed her energy back from Harlan and Sissy prayed with her eyes shut.

The energy that spun around the shield Harlan had created, picked up its sped before a small blast of energy like wind, exploded through the barn, knocking Vanya from Harlan as the shield dissolved.

Vanya gasped, catching herself with her hands behind her back. Harlan slowly looked around, and a shocked smile grew on Vanya's face as Harlan's gaze settled on his mother.

Sissy stood up smiling at her son as she ran to him. Sissy crouched down, hugging him tightly and she sobbed with her chin resting on his head.

━━━━━

"You do listen to me then" Inanna looked up from her hand as Five picked out the pieces of glass from her skin. Both of them sat outside of Sissy's barn, wanting to watch their final sunset in 1963.

Herb and Dot had turned up at the farm after everything was over, leaving behind a single briefcase after they cleaned up the bodies.

"Who would have thought it, Five Hargreeves, listens to his wife" Inanna smirked as Five's eyes met with hers.

Five had told her about how he had travelled back seconds to save them all after the Handler had killed everyone but him. And even though, Inanna was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she had died, she was grateful that she had gotten a second chance and a chance to understand why Five had chosen to keep things from her — even if Five was yet to tell her about the briefcase incident.

"You know I listen to you" Five mumbled, flicking a piece of glass into the grass next to them. "I have to otherwise you won't shut up" Five's smile tugged into a smirk as Inanna shoved his shoulder, her mouth falling open as she shook her head.

"That's gold coming from the guy who rots my brain with math equations, when I nod and smile that means 'I have no idea, please shut it'".

"Really" Five raised his brow. "So that's why you kissed me for the first time in the apocalypse? To get me to shut up?" Five asked.

Inanna thought back to that night, it was blurry but she could still remember it well. "Absolutely" Inanna nodded "If you want to complain, you can file a complaint later, al-".

Five pulled Inanna closer to him by her arm, being careful not to touch her hand which still had a few pieces of glass embedded in her palm. Five tucked her hair behind her ear and Inanna's startled eyes met with his as he pressed his nose against hers.

"I wasn't complaining" Five mumbled.

Inanna leaned back, placing her hands on either side of Five's neck, chuckling at Five's sudden actions. "You've gotten-". Five pressed his lips to Inanna's, interrupting her like she had done during their first kiss.

"When did-" Inanna's words were quiet against Five's lips and Five silenced them by kissing her again, knowing that she was desperately trying to make a joke about him being stronger than he looked.

Inanna smiled as Five pressed his forehead to hers and mumbled "You are gonna be the death of me, Inanna" with a smile that mirrored hers.

When the sun set and Allison had returned back to the farm, leaving a letter for Ray in their home, Five gathered his siblings and Inanna outside of Sissy's broken and empty home.

"Everyone ready?" Five asked.

"Let's do it, yeah" Luther said.

"What's 2019 like?" Inanna asked Diego who stood next to her as Five set the briefcase up to get them home.

"You'll love it" Diego gave her a small smile as he took her hand. "And if you don't, you've got us" Inanna gave him a small nod, knowing that she would have them even if 2019 turned out to be worse than the apocalypse — but she doubted that it would be that bad.

Five looked around at his siblings as they took each others hand and Inanna hooked her arm with his, all of them preparing to travel.

"Wait" Klaus said, he slipped his hand out of Luther's before running back over to the house.

Klaus grabbed his black hat which he had gone on a hunt for after the Handler had been killed, unsure of exactly where it had flown off when he had ran to save Inanna.

"Fifty bucks if we leave him here" Diego whispered to Inanna and Five.

Klaus ran back over to Luther, sitting his hat on his head with a happy smile. He took Luther's hand again and extended his hand out to Vanya. Vanya and Klaus closed the circle and Five switched on the briefcase.

The briefcase powered up and before Inanna had the chance to shield her eyes from the brightness of the portal that opened in the darkness, they were in 2019.

Inanna's fell forwards catching herself on a wooden circular table in the middle of a large entrance way. "I still hate it" Inanna muttered, poking the strange animal statue in front of her.

"Wh...What day is it?" Luther asked pointing at the newspaper in front of Five.

Five picked up the newspaper reading the date off the top. "April 2nd, 2019. Day after the apocalypse".

"Wait, so we stopped it" Allison said excitedly.

"Oh my God, it's over?" Vanya asked.

"Did we actually succeed at something? That's incredible" Klaus laughed in disbelief. "I don't know about you guys, but I need a drink" Klaus said as he hugged Vanya.

Five stepped away from the table looking around the house that he recognised as the Umbrella Academy.

"Yes" Luther agreed with Klaus.

"In fact, I need several" Klaus said going to hug Luther.

"I should go find Claire" Allison said looking at the front doors. "Maybe you should go find your family?" Allison suggested looking at Inanna. "Might as well rip off the bandaid sooner rather than later, right?" Allison said.

Inanna nodded uncertain as she itched the side of her neck, pulling away the fabric of her coat that rubbed against it. Inanna wanted to see her family, but it wasn't as simple as just turning up and saying "I'm home". Inanna looked like the same girl who left all those years ago and that was the problem.

"One drink" Luther tapped Allison's shoulder and although she wanted to find her daughter, she still followed Luther and the others as they walked into the next large and open room of the house.

Inanna stayed by the table, needing a moment to take everything in. She like Five only existed in 2019 after the world ended and even though she had been fighting to get back to it, she was scared for what was to come.

"Quit being a baby" Inanna muttered to herself.

Inanna took a small shaky breath as she entered the living room, she turned on her heel looking up at an animal head that was hung up on the wall, itching her neck in the same place again, feeling uncomfortable in her own skin.

"Why is there a painting of Ben over the mantelpiece?" Diego asked.

Inanna spun round, almost bumping into Luther's shoulder as she turned to look at the painting of Ben.

"I knew you'd show up eventually" Inanna startled, grabbing Luther's arm as she jumped backwards and away from Reginald Hargreeves voice that came from across the room.

Inanna turned with the others towards the fire place. "Dad" Diego muttered looking at his father who stood in front of the fire and next to his arm chair he had been sat in.

"You're alive" Luther said softly as Inanna let go of his arm.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Reginald asked.

"Yeah. Y-yeah, you're right. I'm.. I'm just happy that we're home and... together again" Luther said.

"Home? This isn't your home" Reginald stated.

"What are you talking about?" Allison asked the question that they were all wanting to ask. "This is the Umbrella Academy".

"Wrong again" Reginald said. "This is the Sparrow Academy".

On cue an echo of footsteps were heard on the upstairs balcony and stood in front of a circular window were six people with a grey cube floating next to them.

Another, quieter set of footsteps came from the shadows, pulling the family's attention from the people on the balcony to the man that walked in front of them.

"Dad, who the hell are these assholes?".

this is the final chapter of act one!

the first chapter of act two
will be hopefully published
by this sunday — i am having
to rewrite half of act two so
the chapters will be out
slower than i had originally
planned.

thank you for all the love.
the comments honestly make my
day and make me laugh when
i'm pretending to listen to
my little sisters school drama