2002:

Riley strolled down the hallway with the easel in one hand and brushes and paints in the other.

They had recently finished their schoolwork and wanted to finish painting the picture before training in the afternoon.

On the way to the garden, Riley passed the study room, which was supposed to be empty.

But it wasn't.

Luther was still sitting at the large table and seemed to have a problem with something. 

Riley looked at this for a few minutes before deciding to help.

The child put aside the things they had been holding and entered the room.

"Luther?" Riley spoke to the boy. "Do you need help?"

Riley's brother looked at his sibling with a look that was partly desperate and partly relieved.

The child sat down next to Luther and pulled the piece of paper with the math-problem towards them to read through it.

Riley remembered it. It also took them a long time to solve. And wouldn't have been able to do it without Five's help.

Just help– Five didn't want to give them the solution.

So Riley started helping Luther. 

It turned out that Luther misunderstood the math-problem (this could happen when Reginald wrote them down).

And Riley saw the imaginary light bulb above Luther's head start to glow. He wrote down the solution faster than Riley could watch.

Then he leaned back and threw the pen on the table. 

Riley chuckled, "How long did you actually sit on the math-problem?"

"An hour," Luther murmured. "Thanks Rils. You saved my ass."

Luther packed up his things and the two left the room.

In the hallway, Riley grabbed their painting supplies.

They looked at the clock– the afternoon training would soon begin.

"Oh, you wanted to paint?" Luther murmured.

And suddenly he felt bad that Riley helped him.

"It's okay," the child assured. "I still have time to finish painting it."

Riley smiled at Luther and he smiled back.

Little did they know that Riley would be gone before they could finish the painting.

~~~~

Riley woke up the next morning still wrapped in a blanket.

But they didn't remember taking one.

"Slept well?"

Riley looked up.

Five was already awake and reading a book.

"Oh my– you're awake. How are you?" Riley wanted to know immediately and sat up.

"Way better," Five assured.

The other teen nodded, stood up and sat on the bed next to Five.

"That's good," Riley said and punched him in the arm.

"Hey!" Five complained.

"Don't scare me like that ever again."

Five nodded.

"Good," said Riley.

They got up and sat back down on the chair.

A moment later Klaus stood in the doorway.

"Wakey wakey, you two– Oh, you are awake. Great. Important family business. Meet me downstairs in a minute."

Riley assured him they would be in the kitchen in a minute and Klaus turned around again.

Her brother left the door open and Riley forced themself to get up from the comfortable chair.

Five also started to get up.

Riley didn't like that at all and the two had a little discussion about how Five should take it easy, but he just wanted to stop the apocalypse.

Five and Riley jumped into the kitchen next to the kitchen table.

Luther was about to drink his coffee, but unfortunately for him, Five took the cup from him.

He passed the cup to Riley and took the cup that Klaus put on the table for him.

Then he pulled a chair away from the table for Riley and sat down next to it.

"Jesus," Five said after taking a sip. "Who do I gotta kill to get a decent cup of coffee?"

"Thank you for the coffee, Klaus. That's very nice of you," said Riley.

The coffee couldn't be that bad, the teenager thought.

And after Riley also had a drink it was clear–

The coffee was terrible.

Still, Riley forced a small smile as they put the cup down again.

But they didn't miss the fifth cup that Klaus had placed on the seat next to him.

"Can we get started, please?" Luther murmured.

"Anyone seen any of the others? Diego? Allison? No?" Klaus began.

Riley looked around and shook their head.

"– All right, then, this is the closest thing to a quorum that we're gonna get. Now, listening up. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spit it out… Yeah–"

Klaus paused and seemed to find the right wording.

"Klaus."

"I conjured Dad last night," reported Riley’s brother.

Riley, Five and Luther looked at each other.

"You said you haven't been able to conjure anyone in years," Luther pointed out.

"Ah, yes, I know, but I'm sober. Ta-da."

Riley leaned back in the chair and smiled: "That's great!"

"Thank you, Ri. I got clean, yesterday, to talk to someone special, and then ended up having this... conversation with dear old Daddy himself," Klaus explained.

He seemed to be waiting for a reaction from the others, but there was hardly any.

Riley, who simply nodded, had the biggest reaction.

While Luther and Five, well–

"Has anyone got some aspirin?"

"Top shelf, next to the crackers."

"Hey, hey, hey. This is serious, guys, all right?" explained Klaus. "This really happened, I swear."

"Okay, fine. I'll play. What did the old man have to say?" asked Five.

"Well, he gave me the usual lecture about my appearance and my failures in life. Yada yada yada. No surprise there. Even the afterlife couldn't soften a hardass like Dad, right? But he did mention something about his murder, or lack thereof, because–"

Klaus paused for dramatic effect.

Riley looked at him eagerly as they reached for their cup.

"– he killed himself."

The teenager raised an eyebrow and leaned their head to the side.

"I don't have time for your games, Klaus," said Luther annoyed and stood up.

"I'm telling you the truth, Luther. I'm telling you the truth."

"Okay," Riley said. "Why'd he do it, then?"

"He said it was the only way to get us all home again," Klaus replied.

"No. Dad wouldn't just kill himself," Luther contradicted.

"Well, you said it yourself. He was depressed," Riley pointed out.

"Holmed up in his office and room all day and night," Five added.

"No. There weren't any signs. Suicidal people exhibit certain tendencies, strange behaviors."

"Like sending someone to the Moon for no reason?" said Klaus.

"I swear to God, Klaus, if you're lying–"

"I'm not. I'm not."

"Master Klaus is correct."

Riley turned his head and saw Pogo standing at the kitchen door.

"Regretfully… I helped Master Hargreeves enact his plan."

"What?"

"So did Grace. It was a difficult choice for both of us. More difficult than you could ever know. Prior to your father's death, Grace's programming was adjusted so that she was incapable of administering first aid on that fateful night," reported Pogo .

"Sick bastard," Five muttered.

"So the security tape we saw?"

"It was meant to further the murder mystery. Your father hoped that being back here, solving it together would reignite your desire to be a team again."

"And to what end?" Five wanted to know.

"To save the world, of course," replied Pogo.

"All right," Klaus scoffed.

"First the Moon mission and now this," Luther muttered.

"You watched me search for answers and said nothing. Anything else you want to share, Pogo? Any other damn secrets?

"Hey, calm down, Luther."

"No, I won't calm down. We've been lied to by the one person in this family we all trusted."

"It was your father's dying wish, Master Luther. I– I had no choice."

"There's always choice," Luther replied.

He left the room and Pogo also turned around and went through the door into the hallway.

"Wow," Riley commented on the new information.

They put the cup back on the table and shook their heads slightly.

"I gotta think," Five sighed.

He stood up and held out his hand to Riley.

However, his better half refused and assured him that they would follow him in a minute.

Five nodded and jumped back into his room, leaving Riley and Klaus (and Ben) in the kitchen.

"So, you wanted to talk to someone special," Riley spoke to Klaus, starting a conversation.