On the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989, 44 women around the world gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible.

He got Eight of them.

Number 1 Luther.

Number 2 Diego.

Number 3 Allison.

Number 4 Klaus.

Number 5

Number 6 Ben.

Number 7 Vanya.

and

Number 8 Riley.

Luther was strong, Diego was an excellent fighter, Allison could manipulate others by saying the words 'I heard a rumor', Klaus could communicate with the dead, Ben could grow tentacles from his body and Five could do spacial jumps.

And Riley could turn invisible and create a protective shield around themself and others.

~~

It was an ordinary day, or at least as ordinary as a day at the Umbrella Academy could be.

It was midday and the children were busy with all sorts of things. Klaus and Ben tried to find out what burned better, paper or pillow. Allison and Luther sat together in the courtyard and Diego practiced speaking, so he wouldn't stutter anymore/less.

Riley was in their room drawing on their canvas.

They weren't alone in the room.

Julien was in their shoulder. Julien was the little gray mouse who had taken up residence in Riley's room.

And (more important) Five was with them. He sat down on their bed, legs crossed and a book on his lap.

All Riley knew was that it was a book about time travel.

Five had told them that he wanted to try time-jumping. He said he was ready for it. Riley had doubts. Not because they didn't trust him, it was because they were worried.

If Five wasn't careful, he could and up somewhere in the past or future and could get into trouble.

What if he couldn't go home?

Then he would be alone, not knowing what to do. Without his family.

When Riley told him of their concerns, he promised them he would not travel alone and always come back.

On this day, Riley decided to paint a landscape with a small lake.

"Looks good", Five said, ripping Riley out of their thoughts.

The boy nodded to the painting.

Riley looked from Five to the canvas and back to Five.

"Its just the backround."

Five just struged his shoulders and turned back to his book.

The comfortable silence of the room was broken when the young teens heard a chime telling them dinner was ready.

But this lunch was going to be anything but ordinary.

The teenagers waited until Reginald Hargreeves sat down with them before they began to eat.

Riley and Five entered the room with the others and the two sat down next to each other at the table.

As always, the meal was quiet, and no one said anything.

Meanwhile, Riley watched the others. Luther and Allison looked at each other, then looked away, cheeks flushed.

Riley raised an eyebrow. Luther and Allison made a very good team, she just wasn't sure if it could get any more than that. Maybe they were too siblings like.

The teenager let their gaze wander further.

Klaus secretly rolled a cigarette... or a joint?

Riley could not tell and honestly they didn't want to know.

Diego scratched something in the table with the knife, Ben read a book and Vanya just ate her food.

When they were sure no one was looking at them directly, they slipped some bread into their jacked pocket, were Julien already waited for this dinner.

Then, out of nowhere, Five jammed his knife into the table and everyone was looking at him know.

Riley jumped a little in shock, because they didn't expect such a sudden movement.

Five put his hand on their hand without looking away from Reginald.

"Number Five?" said Reginald.

"I have a question."

"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules. No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson."

"I want to time travel," Five explained, ignoring Reginald's rule.

Riley looked at Five in surprise. They thought he wanted to wait until they were a bit older.

Or was this a misunderstanding?

"Five, something could happen to you," Riley said, slightly upset, flopping down on them bed.

Five sat down next to them.

"Riley, I promise I won't be traveling alone, ok? You know me. I'm a man of my word."

And if Five traveled with Reginald's help, then he would keep his promise to Riley.

"No," Reginald said simply.

"But I'm ready. I've been practicing my spatial jumps, just like you said," said the teenager.

He got up and let go of Riley's hand.

They tried to hold him back, but Five jumped across the room next to Reginald.

"See?"

"A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel," Reginald replied. "One is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn."

"Well, I don't get it."

"Hence the reason you're not ready."

Five glanced at his siblings, who seemed to be ignoring the conversation between the two and quietly eating their food.

All except Riley, who was looking intently in the direction of Reginald and Five. When Riley and Five's eyes met, they shook their head slightly.

"I'm not afraid," Five said.

Riley turned their face away from them both to hide the twitch of the corners of their mouth.

His stubbornness was one of the reasons Riley liked Five. But just that stubbornness could get him into trouble.

"Fear isn't the issue," Reginald replied. "The effects it might have on your body, even on your mind, are far too unpredictable. Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore."

The teenager glared at Reginald, who turned back to his food. For him the conversation was over.

Five looked at his siblings one more time before turning and storming out of the room.

"Number Five!" Reginald called after him. "You haven't been excused!"

Riley jumped up and ran after him.

"Number Eight, sit back down. Now!"

The child ignored Reginald. They caught up with Five on the road and grabbed his arm.

"Five, where are you going?" Riley asked concerned.

"I don't know," the boy replied and just wanted to leave at that moment.

"Five, just–"

"Don't. Please don't ask me to come back," Five asked them.

He knew very well that he would go back home with them if they asked him to.

But they did not.

Riley was acutely aware that Five was dying to try time travel. They couldn't and didn't want to stop him. However, the teenager also did not want him to travel alone. So, they did the only thing they could think of at that moment.

"Then take me with you. We'll travel together and show the old man how much he underestimates us."

"Okay, let's go then."

Five took Riley's hand and together they set off.

They walked a few steps and flaunted.

The sun was now shining directly on Riley and Five, it was summer.

"Not ready, my ass," Five said without stopping.

"You did it," Riley said happily. "That is so cool."

Five stopped and looked at Riley. Both teenagers had big grins on their faces.

The boy did it.

Five actually traveled in time.

And he took Riley with them, even when Reginald said it was impossible.

"How far do you think we've traveled in the future?" Riley asked, looking around.

"Weeks," Five guessed. "Or even months–"

Riley and Five looked around silently for a moment.

"So... should we try again?" Five asked and Riley nodded.

The two walked on and jumped one more time.

The snow fell on the teenagers' faces and hair. This time they said nothing and jumped straight on.

But they didn't land a season ahead as expected, or they did and didn't realize it.

They were still on the same street, only everything around them was reduced to rubble. The houses were only ruins and small and large fires were burning everywhere.

What the hell happened? Riley wondered anxiously. They tightened their grip on Five's hand, who also looked around in disbelief.

They ran back down the street to where they'd just found their house. But the house where Riley and Five grew up was also just a ruin.

"Klaus! Vanya!" Riley shouted.

"Ben! Dad!" Five tried. "Anyone!"

"Five, let's get out of here," Riley stuttered.

Five nodded in agreement.

The teenagers tried to jump back, but it didn't work.

Riley and Five were stuck in the middle of the apocalypse.

The two looked around in panic between the destroyed buildings. Among the rubble and ash, Five saw a hand clutching a bloody eye.

He pulled Riley with him. Then he took the eye and took a closer look. It had to mean something when someone held this in their last moment.

Riley gasped in shock, they looked up again and saw who had held the eye in his hand.

It was their brother Luther– older, but it was definitely Luther.

Five got up and he and Riley continued to look around. They found Diego and Allison close to Luther.

The teenagers stumbled towards the older versions of their siblings.

They squatted down and Five tried to shake Diego awake but he didn't respond.

Riley and Five picked themselves up and faced each other. If three of her siblings were dead, then-

No, that couldn't be.

They went a few steps further.

There was Klaus. He was covered in rubble like the others and his arm was stretched out from his body, revealing his Umbrella tattoo.

Five closed his eyes.

He just wanted to travel through time and now he and Riley were stuck here. Their siblings dead, and it was his fault.

Five opened his eyes after a few seconds and looked at Riley. Tears ran down their cheeks.

He wanted to help them; tell them he's sorry. But he also knew that well- intentioned words wouldn't help Riley.

~~~

Roughly, Riley landed on the floor next to Five.

Apparently, their plan worked, and they weren't stuck anymore.

They stood and looked at the group of people who slowly and cautiously approached them and Five.

It was their siblings (minus Ben).

Apparently it's been years since Riley last saw them (alive).

They were all alive, which meant they could still stop the apocalypse.

"Does anyone else see little number Five and Riley, or is that just me?" Klaus asked.

Riley and Five frowned and looked down at themselves. His suit and their clothes were suddenly too big for them.

It took Riley a moment to realize that they and Five were back in their thirteen-year-old bodies.

This was definitely not planned and Five had to apologize for another thing he screwed up.

"Shit."

~~~~

A brief time later, the siblings gathered in the kitchen. Klaus and Diego sat on the table while Luther, Vanya, Allison sat on the chairs.

Riley didn't quite know what to do and leaned against the wall. Five put a wooden board on the table and went to the cupboard.

"What's the date? The exact date," he asked.

"The 24th," Vanya replied.

"Of what?"

"March."

"Good."

"So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?" Luther asked.

Five ignored him and placed four slices of toast on the wooden board.

Luther, who finally wanted an answer, stood up and blocked the way for Five, who was just about to get something from another cupboard.

"It's been 17 years."

Five scoffed and stood in front of his brother. "It's been a lot longer than that."

The boy didn't wait for a response and jumped across the room.

"I haven't missed that," Luther murmured.

"Where'd you go?" Diego asked.

"The future. It's shit, by the way," Five replied, placing a bag of marshmallows next to the toast.

"Called it," Klaus said.

Most of his siblings ignored him, only Riley gave him a small smile.

They were glad he hadn't changed much over the years.

"I should've listened to the old man and Riley," Five continued. "You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice."

Five put the peanut butter jar on the table as well and looked up briefly.

"Nice dress," he complimented Klaus.

"Oh well, danke."

"Wait, how did you two get back?" Vanya wanted to know.

"In the end, we had to project our consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of ourselves that exists across every possible instance of time," the boy explained, smearing the sandwiches.

"That makes no sense."

"Well, it would if you were smarter," Five replied without looking up from the meal.

Diego jumped up, but Luther held him back.

"Five, don't be so mean," Riley said. "Diego is our brother."

"How long were you there?" Luther asked.

"Forty-five years. Give or take," Riley replied.

The teenager pushed off the wall and joined five.

"So what are you saying? That you're both 58?" Luther said.

"No," Five said slowly. "Our consciousness is 58. Apparently, our bodies are now 13 again."

He folded the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches, gave one to Riley and took the other.

Riley mumbled a 'thank you' and started eating the sandwich.

"Wait, how does that even work?" Vanya asked, confused.

"Riley kept saying the equations were off," Five replied.

Riley wanted to say something, but at that moment their mouth was full of food. Five took the opportunity and looked at them.

"Do not say it."

Riley chuckled and after they chewed, replied, "I didn't say anything."

"But you wanted to say it," Five replied, biting into his sandwich.

"Say what?" Riley probed.

Riley and Five looked at each other while taking another bite of their sandwich.

"'I told you so'. I hate it when you say it–"

Riley raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

"You're the reason I have to say this," she reminded him.

"Um guys-" Luther joined the conversation again.

Riley leaned back against the wall and Five picked up the newspaper lying on the table.

"Guess we missed the funeral," Five commented.

"How'd you know about that?" Luther wanted to know.

"What part of 'the future' do you not understand?" Five asked and Riley rolled their eyes.

"Heart failure, huh?" the kid tried to change the subject.

"Yeah." "No," Diego and Luther answered simultaneously.

"Hmm. Nice to see nothing's changed," Five said and headed for the door.

The boy stepped towards Riley, grabbed their hand and pulled them along.

"Uh, that's it? That's all you have to say?" Allison asked.

"What else is there to say? The circle of life," called Five when they had already left the kitchen.

Riley and Five went to their rooms first to change.

Riley opened their dusty closet and only saw their old school uniforms.

"Damn," they murmured.

Then Riley put their ring on the desk and put on their old school uniform. After they put on their jacket, they hung the ring on a string and hung it around their neck.