As it turned out, Peabody was Vanya's boyfriend– or the guy she had apparently been spending a lot of time with over the last few days.

Luckily, his current address was in file. So, the group got back in the car and drove off.

"Be careful, okay? We don't know what Peabody's capable of," Allison warned as they got out of the car that Diego parked in front of Peabody's house.

The house looked oddly common, like every other house on the street.

"Yeah, he didn't seem dangerous when I first saw him," Diego replied as he walked towards the front door. "Looked kinda scrawny."

"Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and mass murderers," Allison pointed out and added: "I mean, look at them."

"She's right."

"Hey, Riley isn't–"

"Good point. So what's this guy want with Vanya?"

"I don't know," said Riley. "But I would really like to find out."

It seemed like the guy was just taking advantage of Vanya and Riley didn't like that at all.

Because noone messes with Rileys Family– which Peabody would find out soon enough. Riley was sure about that.

"How about we ask him after we kill him?" Five suggested as he, Riley and Diego stopped in front of the front door.

"After we kill him?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Hey guys, look, I'm gonna burst through–" Diego started, but stopped when they noticed that Allison was already walking around the house.

"You know what? It would be nice for people just to stick to–"

Five didn't listen to his brother either and jumped into the house.

"– the plan," Diego finished the sentence.

He mumbled, "Great," before gently pushing Riley further away from the door.

"Okay, Riley, stay back. I got this."

And before Riley could suggest that he first check whether the door was even locked, Diego jumped through the glass pane in the door.

"Subtle," commented Allison, who simply walked into the house through the back door.

Riley stepped towards the now broken door and opened it without any problems.

"Brother, the door was unlocked," they addressed Diego.

"Yeah, well, my way works just fine," replied Diego and got up from the floor.

"Spread out. Yell if you, uh... you know, you're in trouble."

"Ah, inspiring leadership."

"One of the greats."

They did split up and started searching the whole house.

Riley looked around the living room.

Couch, coffee table, bookshelf, television– all very ordinary.

The teenager would have arranged it differently, but fine.

"Guys, you need to see this," Allison suddenly shouted throughout the house.

Riley, Five and Diego followed her call to the attic.

There Peabody had a collection of Umbrella Academy action figures and posters.

They immediately noticed that Peabody scratched out the eyes on the posters and on the action figures–

"All our faces are burned off."

Riley didn't even know that there were action figures about the Umbrella Academy.

They and Five had been on the first missions, before all this stuff became a thing.

"This guy's got some serious issues."

"This was never about Vanya," said Allison.

Five suddenly stumbled back against Riley.

The teenager looked at him confused.

Their expression went from confused to worried when they saw how pale Five was.

"Five?"

"– This was about us."

Then, without warning, Five collapsed.

"Five!" Riley called and crouched down next to him.

"Five. Wh... Blood," Allison murmured.

She and Diego also crouched down next to Five.

Allison pulled up Five's shirt a little and Riley gasped in shock when they saw the bleeding wound.

"Jesus, Five. Why didn't you say anything?"

"You have to keep going," the teenager murmured. "So... close."

"Five? Five!"

~~~~

Year Four of the Apocalypse:

"You really had to do that, didn't you?" Riley complained.

They helped Five sit on the floor and immediately looked in their bag for something to bandage the wound.

"I keep telling you to be careful. But do you listen to me? No. You do whatever you want–"

Riley started cleaning the wound Five on Five's arm.

They held the arm so Five didn't pull it back, which he did anyway.

Meanwhile, Riley continued to fuss over the situation.

Five didn't even try to explain himself, preferring to watch as Riley bandaged his arm.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry, what?"

The young man looked up and realized Riley was looking directly at him.

"I asked you why you climbed into the ruins," Riley repeated their question and sat down next to Five.

Then Five remembered why he climbed into the ruins in the first place and reached for his bag.

"I found something for you," explained the black-haired young man.

Riley furrowed their eyebrows and asked, "For me? Why?"

"Just because. I saw it and thought it would make you happy," Five explained, running a hand through his hair.

He saw Riley shook their head slightly as he placed the bag on his lap.

"You really need a haircut," commented the young adult.

Five rolled his eyes with a grin and replied that Riley's hair also got a little too long.

They tapped Five on the shoulder as a response.

Five smiled as he opened the bag. However, before he took out the object, he stopped.

"Close your eyes," he asked Riley.

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I don't like surprises."

"But you like gifts."

Riley sighed and Five grinned at them.

Finally Riley gave in and closed their eyes.

They heard Five rummaging through his bag before placing the book (Riley immediately recognized what it was) in their hand.

But it wasn't just any book– it was a sketchbook.

A sketchbook that Riley could actually draw in if they only had a–

The young adult looked up and accepted the pen Five handed them.

"Thanks," Riley managed to say.

They wasted no time and began to draw something– for the first time in years.

Five and Riley both had smiles on their faces as Riley drew and Five watched them, while he swore his heart skipped a beat.

~~~~

Riley opened the door and held it open so Allison and Diego could carry Five inside.

"We should have taken him to the hospital," said Allison.

"A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise some questions," Five muttered.

"Yeah, well, that's what the murder shrine in Harold Jenkins' attic does," Allison replied.

She and Diego laid Five down on the couch.

"He's still losing blood," Riley noticed, looking worriedly their husband.

"What do we do?" Allison wanted to know.

"We gotta get the shrapnel out," Diego explained.

At that moment his eyes fell on Grace, who was about to go up the stairs.

He paused for a moment before walking towards her.

"Diego, where are you going?" Riley called after him. "We kinda need your help here."

Riley sat down next to the couch.

"I swear, if you die", they said to Five. "I will be so angry with you."

Now, this may not be a big threat, but Riley knew that Five hated it, when they were angry at him.

A few moments later Diego came back with Grace who was able to help them with Five.

~~~~

"Anything?" Diego asked, standing next to Allison at the door to Five's room .

"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," Allison reported.

Diego nodded and turned back to her.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah– I don't know, it's just surreal seeing her," Diego murmured, looking past his sister at Grace.

Grace was checking on Five again and covering Riley with a blanket.

They refused to leave Five's side and fell asleep on a chair in his room.

"I just wanna tell her that I'm s– Anyway, we don't have enough time. We gotta go."

"I don't know, Diego. Five is laying there, unconscious. And Riley isn't much of a help either right now. We need them both," Allison pointed out.

"We can do this ourselves," assured Diego.

"We did that already, remember? We all ended up dead. I don't know. I'm just– I'm thinking I should go and see Claire before–"

"You can't run away from this, Allison. That's what started this whole mess in the first place. Luther was right."

Allison turned back to her brother and raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't think I would ever hear you say those words."

"Yeah, well... we gotta stick together."

"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?"

"It's a good enough place to start."