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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘ. ᴘᴀʀᴋᴇʀ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ
ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ꒱


❝ WHAT THE FUCK
IS WINTER'S REQUIEM? ❞

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"Okay. Ben is an asshole, I'll give you that," Allison allowed as they stared down at a number of mangled corpses, "but a mass murderer?"

Apparently, their brother had found Jennifer at some out-of-the-way place and proceeded to kill everyone in sight. Lila wrinkled her nose at the scene and nudged a body with her foot. "Turned everyone into haggis." She noticed one of the hands that still had a wrist attached and picked it up to wave it at them. "And they have terrible taste in tattoos."

Alexa recognized the tattoo right away— the same symbol she'd seen on the Director's wrist and on other CIA agents. Her boss was at the scene, too, acting for all the world like he was here on official business. But she was suspicious of his presence, wondering if he was trying to cover this up and was disappointed that they'd arrived before he could.

"Some next-level psycho shit," Diego commented.

"This could have been a rescue mission," Viktor argued hopefully, determined to prove his father wrong.

Reginald brushed off his reasoning. "More likely a massacre by two individuals who are growing increasingly violent by the minute."

The blonde sighed, knowing her family could go on like this for a while. She left them to it and went over to Director Ribbons. While she didn't trust what he would tell her, it would at least be good to know what story he'd come up with. He gave her a slight nod as she came to stand next to him. "Regretting becoming a field agent yet?"

"Trust me, I've seen worse," she replied, forcing herself to not think of her Ben's death— a memory that was now at the forefront of her mind. "What's it looking like?"

"We did a background check on the house. It belongs to two loonies— Gene and Jean." He noticed her start with recognition. "Ah, you've heard of them?"

"What CIA agent worth their salt hasn't?" she asked. "The whole Cleanse business sounds like something thought up by two college kids smoking hookah."

The Director didn't immediately give away any offence he might've felt for her insult, though he did raise a disbelieving eyebrow. "I don't know; even crazy theories start out with some element of truth in them."

Alexa inclined her head in pacifying agreement. "Well, to each their own. Did you find out anything else, like who's responsible for all of. . . this?" She gestured to the remains around them.

"We found tracks leading out of the barn. We're thinking this was a rescue mission gone wrong and both the captive and instigator ran free," the older man informed her.

"What's the estimated timeframe? Do you think they could've gotten far?"

Ribbons shook his head in response to her second question. "They were fresh; probably made earlier last night. If they're on foot I'd say, at most, they couldn't have gotten more than twenty miles away."

She nodded. "Well, I better get back to my family; I'm sure they're messing up crucial evidence by now. Let me know if you need my help at all."

She left her boss and rejoined her siblings, informing them, "so this whole farm actually belongs to the Genes. Y'know, the ones who ambushed us at New Grumpson."

Luther looked around at the bodies that could've belonged to anyone. "Well, maybe Ben killed them too."

"Forensics found fresh tracks leading out of the barn so we're thinking they escaped," Alexa told them.

"They couldn't have gotten far," Allison reasoned, crouching down to examine the corpses more closely. "Based on the signs of rigor, I'd say time of death was six, maybe seven hours ago."

Diego crossed his arms, looking at his sister in disbelief. "How do you know that?"

"Wichita, PD. Thursday nights at nine-eight Central."

Reginald ignored their banter, solely focused on the mission at hand as he prepared to move on to the next location. "Ready the car."

The siblings dispersed after this discussion. Five fell into step with Alexa, interested to know what else the CIA had said. But rather than returning to their previous subject, the blonde glanced at him with an unusually apprehensive expression on her face. "I. . . um, had an idea."

He came to a stop, turning to face her so she could see that she had his complete attention. "What were you thinking?"

Taken a bit by surprise at being under the full weight of his gaze, it took her a second to remember what she wanted to say. "Uh, well, with keeping the recent events in mind— you know, the memory wiping and all— I've been thinking about the past and what we could've done differently. How. . . how it all could've been avoided and I wouldn't have failed. . ." Her voice caught. Seeing her distress, Five took her hand and intertwined their fingers, giving hers a squeeze. She swallowed and continued hesitantly, "there might be a way to stop all this."

He sighed, understanding what she was getting at. "Lexa, you know I'm here to help, but time travel is never a certified solution. You saw what happened the last time we took the train; we almost got our heads blown off." He pointedly didn't mention the part about where he'd frozen. "Plus, it would never work without a briefcase."

It was Alexa's turn to squeeze his hand and she looked at him imploringly. "Please, Fi? You heard what Abigail said. I'm supposed to be the one to stop all of this. If there's a chance, any chance, that we could prevent any of this from happening, isn't it my responsibility to take it?"

She saw Five's jaw tense at her words, his disagreement with Abigail's beliefs made clear before he even spoke. "I know you think this is your responsibility, that it was meant for you, but her words aren't gospel."

He regretted his harsh, patronizing tone as soon as the words were out of his mouth and he watched the hurt flash across her face. The blonde's shoulders slumped and she curled in on herself a little, pulling her hand from his to cross her arms over her chest. "You. . . you don't think I can do it."

Five's expression softened at her question, filling with confidence as he reassured her, "of course I think you can do it, Lexa. I just. . . our family doesn't have the best history when it comes to people with savior complexes." His voice dropped to a murmur as he continued, almost to himself, "I don't want to lose you."

She smiled and relaxed her arms, retaking his hand in hers. "If we use your subway to change the past, you wouldn't have to worry about that."

Five shook his head, a reluctant smile tugging at his lips despite the tension in his gaze. "I know you're determined to 'fix things' but time travel doesn't come with guarantees. And with no briefcase, we're looking at a one-way trip if things go wrong."

While she still had her doubts about whether Abigail was right, there was just a feeling she couldn't shake; a gut instinct that told her that maybe this was what she was meant to do, a purpose she hadn't fully understood until now. And, unlike Five, she trusted her feelings— even without logic to understand them. "I get it, but if I could stop the Cleanse, or at least keep the timelines safe, isn't it worth a shot? We have to have these powers for a reason. Shouldn't we try to use them?"

Five exhaled, frustration flaring up again but laced with resignation. He knew he couldn't change her mind, and part of him admired her courage even as it terrified him. "Fine. But the second it looks like this is going south, we're out. Agreed?"

A small, grateful smile appeared on her face as she nodded. "Agreed." Then, she glanced over at their brothers (Dumb and Dumber, as Five had probably called them at one point in their lives.) "We have to do something about them, though."

He watched as Diego dared Luther to kick one of the corpse arms as far as he could with his super strength. "Shoot them with tranqs?"

The blonde laughed for the first time in what felt like days as she gave her boyfriend a reproachful look. "No, Fi. Something a little less. . . catatonic. Let me handle it."

He felt inordinately please to hear her laughter and a smug grin appeared on his lips. Five shoved his hands into his pants pockets, giving into his characteristic lean as he conceded leadership to her. He watched her walk towards their brothers, knowing he had a besotted look on his face, but he didn't care. Her confidence, the way her CIA job was giving her a new sense of authority— especially around their unpredictable family— was something he found endlessly appealing. 

Unaware of her boyfriend's unusually romantic thoughts surrounding her, Alexa went over to where Luther had finally decided to pick up both an arm and leg and was testing out which one would be a better projectile. "Hey, I know this is probably the most excitement you've had in weeks, but maybe we could refrain from desecrating evidence?"'

Her brother gave her a sheepish look and quickly set the limbs back on the ground. "What's up, Lexi?"

Then, he caught the glint in in her blue eyes. The mischievous curve of her lips. The downright impishness in her entire expression. Luther became suspicious, wondering what she was planning. That look and their family always spelled trouble. Her gaze flicked to Diego and she casually stated, "you've always wanted to see the inside of the CIA haven't you, Go-go?"

While he normally would've balked at the nickname he hated (but had secretly grown to like), the question distracted him entirely. "Uh, yeah. Where have you been for the past six years? Or my entire life? Have you not been listening to all those times I extolled the reasons why I would be an asset to the CIA to you?"

"A simple yes would have sufficed," Alexa replied with faux-haughtiness, the playfulness on her face ruining any true attempt at the tone. Now that she had Diego on board, she turned back to Luther and said simply: "Luther, operation twenty-three."

The blond took a minute to remember their long-forgotten code. Then, the realization caused his face to lift into a jubilant expression. "Winter's Requiem," he breathed out, suddenly excited.

"What the fuck is Winter's Requiem?" Diego demanded, looking between the two of them like they'd gone crazy.

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Alexa informed him, as if that was all the explanation he needed.

--

Operation Twenty-Three

Codename: Winter's Requiem

In the unlikely event that an elaborate, high-stakes infiltration of a secure government facility is needed, Numbers One and Two (in a facsimile of Captain America and the Winter Solider) were to gain access to the organization and work from within to take down the corrupt, undercover shadow organization that was pulling the strings. Should a diversion be necessary— ideally in an elevator, with a shield— Number One would be responsible for the instigation. A successful coup would expose the covert group to the rest of the world and regain control of the aforementioned government agency.

Once upon a time, many years ago— before Ben's death, before Five's disappearance, before they were even an official group— there had been a short, happy period where their days hadn't been filled with training. After their lessons, their father would lock himself in his office for the rest of the day and they were supposed to be studying, but Mom and Pogo never enforced the rule. While some did what they were supposed to, others bribed their guardians to let them do things they normally weren't allowed to.

Surprisingly, Luther fell into the latter group— though he argued it was for a good cause, since he was researching potential scenarios that they could find themselves in one day. He roped Alexa into it as well since, back then, he had trusted her as his second-in-command. It wasn't even as boring as she'd feared it was going to be; instead of listening to their dad drone on and on about maneuvers, she got Five to steal— under the impression it would help him practice his blinks— movies from the nearby Blockbuster. Then, she and Luther would watch the films and come up with codenames for the impossible 'operations' that they might one day (never) have to carry out. He'd even written everything down in their dad's formal tone, hiding the notebook and movies under one of his loose floorboards.

The time they'd spent bonding with their shared love of movies was long forgotten by the time all the shit went down at the Umbrella Academy, broken apart by their father's machinations, but Alexa had always wished she and Luther could be that close again.

--

"But I don't have a Vibranium shield!" Luther protested, sounding extremely put out by this fact.

Alexa patted him consolingly on the arm. "You've got your super strength, Luth. You'll be fine."

"I'm gonna ask this again," Diego said, looking more annoyed by the second. "What the fuck—"

"We heard you," the blonde cut him off impatiently. "You want in on the CIA, don't you?"

"Well, yes—"

"There you go, then. Look," she continued, lowering her voice as she glanced at the other agents suspiciously, "you're not gonna be facing HYDRA or anything like that, but you know Gene and Jean?"

Diego rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I think I've heard the names before."

"They're the leaders of an organization—"

"The Keepers!" Luther exclaimed, snapping his fingers as the answer came to him.

She gave him a confused look. "How the hell do you know about them?"

"Well, when you were having your heart-to-heart with Klaus, Five told us everything," Diego told her. Then, his gaze sharpened as he realized something. "Is that why you didn't give my resume to your boss?"

Alexa smiled guiltily. "Figured that out, have you?"

"You're a pretty shit liar, Al," he replied bluntly.

She nodded. "Fair enough. But yes, I. . . I didn't know how volatile the situation was and I was already in deep, and so was Lila—"

"So you're the homewrecker!" the brunet exclaimed, but his tone was mostly amusement with just a hint of accusation.

"Yeah, sorry," she said with a wince. "But you know Lila is perfectly capable of taking care of herself; I just didn't want to put anyone else in danger if I didn't have to risk it. Now that we do have our powers back and could use a distraction, I want to send you guys in. All these people you see?" She gestured to her coworkers. "At least fifty percent of them are Keepers undercover, including my boss. Hence why Operation Twenty-Three works perfectly in this scenario."

Luther eyed the suited men with fresh anticipation. "Do you think there'll be an elevator fight scene?"

Alexa grinned, the mischievousness returning to her expression. "I'd put good money on it. So, what do you guys say? Is Operation Twenty-Three a go?"

"We're in," Diego confirmed. He eagerly rubbed his hands together while her other brother nodded, looking only marginally less enthusiastic.

Their easy acquiescence took her by surprise. "Really? I thought I was gonna have to make concessions to get you guys to agree."

Luther shrugged, appearing suddenly awkward as he shoved his hands into his vest pockets. "Well, you are technically Number One. We never were very successful under my leadership; it might be time to turn over a new leaf."

The blonde stared at him in shock. She could barely believe what Abigail had told them; she'd never expected her brothers to, either, especially with the strong personalities they had. She glanced at Diego, who'd vied for being leader as long as she could remember. "If we're handing over the mantle, wouldn't you want it? I'm last—"

"Nah, Al," Diego cut her off gently, clapping a supportive hand to her shoulder. "You heard what that freakoid alien lady said. It was always supposed to be you in charge and frankly, I can see it. You were Luther's lieutenant, after all."

Alexa blinked, taken aback by her brothers' unexpected support. She'd grown so used to their banter and stubborn independence that hearing Diego acknowledge her as a leader—without a hint of sarcasm—felt surreal.

"Thanks, Go-go," she said softly, her tone genuinely touched. She cleared her throat and straightened. "Right, then. Let's get you guys into the CIA."

Luther gave her a curious look. "How are you gonna get us into the CIA?"

Alexa shrugged. "I'm gonna ask my boss for a favor."

As she turned away to find him, Diego smirked at his brother, crossing his arms. "So, what's Operation Forty? Operation Seventy-Five? Can you even count that high?"

"Shut up, Diego," the blond grunted, annoyed.

When she located Director Ribbons, he was looking more irritated than when she'd left him— not a good sign for the request she was about to propose. "Sir?"

"You recognized the names Jean and Gene earlier. We need to know everything you know regarding the Texas Tentacle Massacre out here," he informed her shortly.

Alexa hesitated; as much as it hurt to admit that Ben hated her, she was quite aware of his hostility. If given the chance and the situations were reversed, he probably wouldn't hesitate to throw her to the wolves. But, he was still her brother. He was still Ben, and she had failed at saving him before. She refused to let him down again, no matter what version of him she had. So, she decided to brush off the Director's question. "Well, sir, I do have a few leads, but I need a favor before I can follow up."

"I'm listening."

She pointed to her brothers, who were helping out her case by resuming their debate of which limb was a better projectile. "Okay, you see those guys over there? Those are my brothers. Now, they're kind of stepping all over the crime scene, asking dumb questions and generally getting in the way. Do you mind taking 'em back to HQ? The Magnum, PI wannabe is a big fan of what we do; he'd be over the moon if you gave him a tour."

Her boss gave a disgruntled sigh. "You're asking me to babysit."

"You want this case solved, don't you?" she prompted him.

Ribbons pinned her with a very displeased look. "You owe me, Hargreeves."

Then, pretending like she hadn't already set this up, she waved her brothers over. "Diego! Luther! Come here, I wanna introduce you to my boss." She continued once they'd come closer, "Deputy Director Lance Ribbons."

Diego wasted no time in sticking his hand out for a handshake. "It's an honor to meet you, sir."

"Hello, Lance," Luther added, copying his brother's greeting.

"I understand you gentlemen have a keen interest in the CIA," Ribbons said. "I'd love to give you an insider's look, if you're interested."

"Are you kidding? We're in!" Diego exclaimed. Luther caught Alexa's eye and gave her a subtle thumbs-up.

The Director nodded approvingly and handed them his business card. "Good. Meet me at the office."

As Ribbons walked away, Diego watched him go with satisfaction. "Okay, now that we've made contact, we're gonna need suits."

"Suits?" he echoed.

"Yeah, man," Diego said as he put on a pair of sunglasses. "Gotta look the part, playboy."

Luther frowned at him. "Did you steal those from a dead guy?"

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Five and Alexa blinked into the time-travelling subway. It was exactly the same as it had been the other times they'd been down here. There was nothing that indicated this time he might actually figure out how to properly use the damned thing. They began to walk towards the turnstiles as he reminded her, "okay. Do exactly what we did last time. Just ride one stop eastbound. Go up to the apocalypse timeline. Avoid getting killed and warp back to 2006. Stop Ben from ever going on the Moldovan mission. Got that?"

Alexa rolled her eyes. "I'm the one who came up with this idea, you know. It's just too bad that you didn't get something cooler than a subway. I mean, we already had the whole Marty McFly thing going on in the sixties— minus mom falling in love with one of us— why couldn't you have gotten a DeLorean?"

If he had carried himself with a little less dignity, he would've rolled his eyes right back at her. But, he was above such childish antics, so he merely pointed towards a brochure that was lying on a nearby bench. "Grab that, would you?"

She flashed him a grin and acquiesced. He took a minute to appreciate her easy going nature; he could be going on this mission with someone like— heaven forbid— Lila. She'd have fought him every step of the way and for every inch of progress they made, they would be set back trifold. He and Alexa rarely argued and were almost always on the same page, which was making him feel a little more confident about this undertaking.

The train rolled into the station and stopped in front of them, opening its doors to allow them on. The blonde held out her hand towards him. "Shall we?"

He accepted her hand and they stepped onto the train, letting the doors close behind them. It didn't take long for them to return to the apocalypse station. When they stepped out, Five took note of their surroundings once more. "Okay. Broken vending machine. Australia. Three burnt-out light bulbs."

"And your suits still make you look hot," the blonde added with a smirk. At his sigh, she held up her hands placatingly. "I know, I know, be serious. You don't have to lecture me about it."

"Good, it'll save me the oxygen. Come on." They headed towards the stairs and he let out a breath. At least he could prepare himself this time; he hoped it wouldn't be as much of a shock. (He was probably wishing for this in vain.) Trying to take his mind off of the scene that waited for them above, he cautioned his girlfriend: "alright. Knowing me, I probably set a trap, so be careful."

The smoke and rancid stench greeted them once more. Five focused on keeping his breathing steady to avoid a total breakdown like last time. He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out his binoculars to check the direction of where the bullets had come from last time. His younger self wasn't there, to his relief. He stowed the binoculars away. "Alright. There's no sign of him."

"Well, we better get going in case he decides to show up," the blonde commented, sliding her hand out of his. She looped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly.

While he didn't complain— there were very few circumstances where he would— he did eye her exasperatedly. "You're enjoying this way too much."

She just smiled at him in response. "Get on with it, Benjamin Button."

They disappeared in a flash of purple-white and arrived in the very-familiar hallways of the Umbrella Academy seconds later. There was no one around, nothing to immediately indicate that they'd been successful. Five knew the best way to find out was looking for a paper with the date on it, and he spied one by the foyer table. He went over to it and tugged it free from the stack.

"October 14, 2006," he read off. Then, he glanced at the blonde in concern. "Are you feeling any Paradox Psychosis symptoms yet?"

"We just got here, but. . . no, I think." Alexa took how she was feeling into account and didn't register anything odd. Then, she paused. "Although. . . would that count as denial? Or because I denied it, that means I know I don't have it? Am I being paranoid now? Or maybe the first denial—"

Five huffed a short laugh and shook his head. "I think you're fine." They began moving through the halls with Alexa taking the lead. "Okay, so, remember that I haven't seen him in, like, five years. It won't help that he might be seeing two of you at once, so he'll probably be a little jumpy. Just. . . play it cool."

"Don't try and kill myself, got it," she confirmed. "Hey, do you think my protection abilities protects me from Paradox Psychosis? It might make me exempt from the side effects of time travel. But that could also be the paranoia talking—"

"Lexa, love," the brunet interrupted her, "you're fine—" Before he could reassure her further, the alarm blared loudly and the halls filled with red light. He grabbed her arm with a muttered 'oh, shit!' and pulled her down to hide on the stairs.

"Step lively, children," came their father's command. "We have a mission to do. Number One, round up the children!"

A teenaged Luther came out of his room wearing a yellow formal jacket. He clapped to get everyone's attention as he called out: "let's go. Get your asses in gear. My man, Diego."

He patted Diego on the shoulder as he passed his brother, who retorted, "my ass is always in gear."

"Come on, guys." He paused outside of one of the rooms at the sound of laughter. "Are you kidding me?"

"You just got out of rehab," another, less familiar person commented.

Although they couldn't see him, Five would recognize Klaus' voice anywhere. "I'm California sober, Alphonso."

The name made them pause and Alexa turned to the brunet worriedly. "Alphonso?" She continued to watch as Alphonso made his appearance, followed by the Hargreeves she was more accustomed to. "Umbrellas. Sparrows. Who's that?"

Five's eyes narrowed as a much younger-looking Fei followed her brothers down the hallway. "We're in the wrong timeline. We need to go."

"Hey!" Too late. "Who the hell are you?"

"What happened to 'hello? How are you? My name is?'" Alexa wondered as she and Five stood from their apparently not-very-good hiding place.

The Fei look-alike snorted at her statement. In a very dry tone, she replied, "hello. We're the Phoenix Academy."

Another teen next to her lit his palm with fire, which he thrust towards the pair. "And we're about to fuck you up."

Five darted out of the way, grabbing onto the blonde's shoulder and blinked just in time to avoid the attack. When they reappeared in the subway, she ran a hand through her hair to stave off her nervous energy. She let out a breath. "Okay, so, that didn't go exactly to plan."

"You think?" he retorted, his desire to stay away from all things subway redoubling. "Christ, I should've never let you talk me into this. We are going home. We're going home right now, and don't you give me that pouty look."

"What pouty look?" Alexa asked innocently, giving him the pouty look.

For what was possibly the first time ever, it didn't work and his gaze remained hard and unyielding. "I told you, at the first sign of trouble, we're leaving. That was trouble in capital letters and neon lights. You had your chance, I'm sorry it didn't work, and now we're going back to plan A."

"I thought you didn't like plan A!" She protested. "That's why I came up with plan B."

Five crossed his arms and scowled at the empty rail bed, not liking being stuck between a rock and a hard place. "Well, it turns out that I like plan B even less. There's twenty-four other letters we can use; I'm sure we'll think of something."

The train arrived and they got on, the atmosphere around them tense. When their stop came into view, they prepared to deboard. Then, they watched as it passed. . . and kept passing. . . and kept passing by them. Soon enough, it was completely out of sight as the train made its way down another tunnel, this one lighting up green as it transferred timelines.

"That was our stop," Five said, his tone filled with disbelief.

The same incomprehensible voice spoke over the PA system as the train continued onward.

"Oh no."

"Shit."

A/n: this was probably my favorite chapter to write so far! I think the big, final fight scene will also be in the top three with how I plan to change the ending, not to mention the subway arc that's coming up! (Which will be a lot less nauseating than the Fivela that happened. 🤮) There's one more chapter before we get there, just to tie up some loose ends with Ben/Jennifer and what Klaus has been doing.

Also, as soon as I saw the CIA fight scene, I (along with everyone else, probably) immediately thought of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I wanted to make a reference to it, even if I wasn't actually going to write Luther and Diego's plot. I know the timeline for CA:TWS's release and when Alexa and Luther watched it doesn't match up, but TUA also has rotary phones being commonly used in 2029(?) so I don't mind forcing it to fit.