As the bullets zoomed past his and Dusk's heads, Klaus crouched down further, trying to stay as low to the ground as possible. Shit, it's them! They're back! How did they find us?! Klaus internally panicked. For a brief second, he looked up at his wife, and amid gunfire and the assailants getting closer, their options and methods of escape were quickly beginning to dwindle. "What do we do now?" Viktor yelled over the noise. "Well, the way I see it, we either fight back or die," Five answered. "You forgot option three!" Klaus pointed out. Without warning, he darted out from behind cover and ran down the hallway, vowing never to look back. "Klaus, what are you doing?!" Victoria called after him. "Get back here, boy!" Reginald ordered.

But their voices faded the more bullets pierced through the mansion's walls. Klaus's heart pumped with adrenaline, but as he continued running and turned the corner, he quickly realized there was no door at the end of that hallway. And with no door, there was only one way to get to safety. Without a second thought, Klaus flung himself out of the window, covering his head as the shattered glass rained down on him. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted with the chiseled and dark stones of the path leading into the back garden.

Did I really do that? The continued gunfire pulled him back to reality, and it sounded as if they were getting closer. "Gotta run, gotta run!" Klaus muttered as he jumped over the bushes and climbed over the stone wall into the woods. But no matter how far he got to safety, the looming feeling of dread sat at the bottom of his stomach. The tiny voice in his head screaming and chastising him for his decision. What if you left Dusk and your baby to die? How could you live with yourself?

"No! They will make it out of this!" Klaus denied. "She'd never let a few bullets take her away from me!" The voices only continued to torment him the more he ran through the woods. For hours, he kept running, letting his feet take him as far as they would let him. But as he found himself on one of the busy street corners. His bones ached, and he feared just one more step would send him toppling to the ground in pain. As the cars continued to pass him, Klaus stuck out his thumb, shivering as the winter air grew colder around him.

"Come on, I'm freezing!" he whined, nobody cared enough to pull over. He switched arms, waving his right like it was a flag. Eventually, a black two-passenger car slowed to a halt, the window rolling down just an inch. "You need a ride?" A deep male voice asked. "Yes, please! It's freezing!" Klaus nodded. The passenger door unlocked, and the driver reached over to open it. Without hesitation, Klaus climbed in, immediately cranking up the heat. The black-haired middle-aged man looked at him with brief surprise before turning back to the road.

"So, what's got you out here alone so close to Christmas?" The driver asked. "Oh, it's a long story. My family and I got split up. These weird guys were shooting at us!" Klaus sighed. "Why would they shoot at you?" The driver inquired. "Who knows? One minute we were meeting up with Dad and his new family, and then BANG! Bullets and gunfire every which way!" The driver squinted behind his thick sunglasses, with a hint of worry and suspicion. "You weren't followed, were you? Cause I don't want to deal with some assholes,"

"I don't think so. I ran through the woods for hours. I just hope everyone else is alright," Klaus pressed his forehead against the window, slightly banging it with regret. "So, where are you heading now?" The driver questioned. He couldn't go back to the mansion, who knew if the gunmen were still there, breaking every window and stealing as many valuables as they could. But where was everyone else heading if they managed to make it out? Klaus's stomach began to churn, he hadn't thought that part out.

"At this point, I just want to go home,"

~~~~~~~~~~

The GPS blinked every few minutes as Dusk steadily drove behind Reginald and Abigail's car. Through the mirror, the brown blonde looked up for a brief moment, making sure Allison was trailing right behind her. Besides the occasional sighs and the blinking GPS, hardly anyone spoke a word, still in shock that they managed to escape their deadly situation. But in particular, Dahlia seemed to be processing more than just the break-in.

The icy blonde pressed her forehead against the passenger window, the cooling glass mixed with the cold weather outside awakened the familiar senses she'd grown to miss. Just when she started to live a normal life with her fashion and traveling around the globe, once again, the past kept pulling her back, and she could never seem to escape it. Now, a part of that past was following them in the next car over. And in the pit of her stomach, her relief began to mix with dread.

"You still alive back there, Dahlia?" Dusk slightly looked into the back, but Dahlia could only nod before returning to the window. Sitting in the opposite window seat, Victoria snapped out of her daze, catching a glimpse of the blonde's inner distress. And while no words were spoken between them, Five too sensed the disturbance, both silently speculating what was going on in Dahlia's head. But they couldn't be too sure, as she was a tough cookie to crack.

"After all these years, all the times I've spent looking for Sloane, she was with him this whole time," Dahlia scoffed and shook her head. "All the times I've spent looking for her, watching Luther break down over her 'death,' this feels like a sick prank. We never should've helped him back in Oblivion," Would she rather we died at the hands of the Kugelblitz instead? Dusk's eyebrow quirked up as Dahlia continued. "I'll bet you he was sitting back and enjoying it like the sadistic lunatic he is!" She spat. "And that shit about Sloane losing her memory after being lost to Oblivion? I don't buy it, he did something to her, whether he wants to admit it or not,"

"At least she's still alive, unlike the other Sparrows," Five reasoned, adjusting his tie. "That's the other thing! If Sloane is still here, where are the others? Maybe not Jayme and Alphonso, but surely Marcus, Chris, and Fei would've ended up here too," the icy blonde closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. "I think you might be overthinking that one, D. I'm sorry you lost your family, but we have to focus on what's happening now," Dusk looked through the mirror at her sympathetically.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just not easy, especially with me and... never mind. We'll find him eventually," Dahlia nodded. Suddenly, a loud crackle came from the passenger door. "Hargreeves 2, come in. Hargreeves 2, can you hear me? Over," Rosalie's voice crackled over the walkie-talkie, and Five reached over to Dahlia's seat and grabbed it. "Affirmative, we can clear you loud and clear. Over," the time-traveler answered, having remembered all the codes from his and Vic's time training for the CIA.

"We have word about a possible Ben and Jennifer sighting a few miles outside of one of Gene and Jean's homes, about five and a half miles from our current location. Over," Rosalie spoke. "The coordinates should be transferred to your GPS right now. Over," Abigail chimed in, the faint sound of the radio playing in the background. Five looked up from the walkie-talkie over to the driver's seat. And as Dusk momentarily looked at the screen, she gave a thumbs up, assuring her twin the coordinates had indeed been sent. 

"Roger that, the coordinates have been sent. Anything else we should be aware of? Over," Five answered. "Affirmative. Remember, when we find your brother and the girl, nobody must touch them, or else it will be difficult to keep the Durango reaction contained," Reginald replied. "We'll meet you at the location. Hargreeves 1, over and out," The walkie-talkie's crackling stopped as Five hung it back on the hook and sat back in his seat. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Not long after the brief conversation, Dusk, Allison, and Reginald's cars drove through the woods, past the bunches of trees that surrounded Jean and Gene's property. Past the open stables and the smoldering barns, the Hargreeves bunch pulled to a stop at the house. Cars had been flipped onto their sides, dead sheep and alpacas littered the ground, and an endless array of arms, legs, and other body parts were strewn about, making Dusk suppress the urge to throw up. The local police and CIA were already present, photographing the incident, and trying to put the pieces together of who was responsible. But as they all got out of the cars and started searching looking for Ben and Jennifer, the Hargreeves siblings were once again met with a dead end. 

"Hey, guys? I think I found something!" Dahlia gestured them over. Lying on the ground was a squirming severed tentacle. Ben had to have been here! There's no one else walking with tucked-away tentacles! "This is not good. First, your brother and Jennifer created a chemical reaction, and now he's on a murderous rampage!" Reginald shook his head. "Okay, Ben is an asshole, I'll give you that. But a mass murderer?" Allison quirked a brow. Clearly, you've never seen him beat people to the point of unconsciousness, sometimes death. Dahlia wanted to reply but bit her tongue.

"He turned everyone into haggis," Lila tsked, staring at a pile of guts as she stepped over the severed parts. Why she was intrigued with a dead person's organs, Dusk didn't know. And frankly, she didn't want to know. But as Lila bent down, reaching for an arm, she noticed something tattooed onto the wrist. And as she lifted it for the rest of the Hargreeves to see, it was an umbrella tattoo. But nothing like theirs.

The umbrella looked misshapen like it had been caught in the wind and folded up on itself. "And they have terrible taste in tattoos," Lila frowned. "Some next-level psycho shit," Diego muttered. "This could have been a rescue mission," Viktor reasoned. "The Durango reaction must be connecting them. How else was Ben supposed to find her?" Rosalie speculated, looking up at her father. But no matter what theories the Umbrellas threw his way; his mind was already set.

"More likely a massacre by two individuals who are growing increasingly violent by the minute," He responded. "Okay boomer, believe what you want," Dusk rolled her eyes. "Excuse me?" Reginald looked at her incredulously, like she had spoken a rare language he couldn't interpret. "You heard me," Dusk bit. "Enough!" Viktor glared at the brown blonde before turning back to the old man. "Anyway, you don't know that! This wasn't just one of Gene and Jean's houses, I think this was one of their main headquarters,"

"Viktor's right," Five's voice echoed as he and Victoria caught up with the rest of the group, having just finished speaking to some of their colleagues. "This whole farm actually belongs to those two lunatics who ambushed us at New Grumpson, Gene and Jean Thibedeau," Victoria explained. "Well, maybe Ben killed them too?" Luther questioned, not wanting to jump to conclusions quite yet. "Forensics found fresh tracks leading out of the barn. So, my guess is that they escaped," Five answered.

"They couldn't have gone very far. Based on the signs of rigor, I'd say the time of death was six, maybe seven hours ago," Allison spoke up, examining the dead man in front of her, poking at the corpse with a small stick. "How the hell do you know that?" Dusk inquired. "Wichita PD, Thursday nights at 9/8 central," Allison smiled. Of course, she practically shoved that show in Klaus's face. It's more boring than Grey's Anatomy.  

"Ready the car," Reginald called to one of his bodyguards as he walked back to the main black van. "I got to make a call," Allison too excused herself, and the rest of the group split up, Dusk walked past the house, hoping to escape the lingering smell of smoke and blood. While she did feel some relief, knowing that they were one step closer to finding their brother, Dusk couldn't suppress the feelings of dread for her husband. What if he got shot? What if someone saw him escape and followed him? Damn it, Klaus. You can never stay put for one second, can't you?

Aren't you forgetting something else? Dusk snapped out of her daze and whipped her head around, but found that no one was talking to her. He abandoned you! One minute, he claims you're his world, and the next, he leaves you in the dust without a care in the world! The strange voice taunted again, its tone shifted, lower pitched and the echoing whispers sent shivers down Dusk's spine. You truly do have bad taste in men.

"You don't know anything about me!" Dusk hissed. The strange voice chuckled darkly; its voice sounded like it was directly at Dusk's left ear. "What do you want from me? Who are you?" Dusk questioned, swallowing the lump that was beginning to form in her throat. An old friend. Was the only answer she received before the air grew quiet around her. Dusk's heart pumped with fear. No... she could just be imagining things, right? That voice... she hadn't heard it in a long time.

"Excuse me, ma'am. You're not supposed to be here. This barn is a crime scene," A CIA agent wearing a thick navy blue jacket approached her. "Sorry, just needed to rest for a moment," Dusk stood up and walked away, still shaken up.

~~~~~~~~~~

The car pulled to a stop, just outside of Allison's house. Klaus untangled his seatbelt, nearly faceplanting onto the asphalt as he got out, thanking the driver numerously before dashing up the driveway. Reaching into his pockets, Klaus pulled out the spare key, fidgeting as he tried to press it into the lock. Those dreaded voices were starting to fill his head again. Thanks to the involuntary Marigold dosage, the thing that Klaus dreaded the most with the return of his powers was pushing him back into a habit he vowed to break permanently.

"Leave me alone! Go away, go away, stay outside!" Klaus pleaded, finally unlocking the door and slamming it shut. He pressed his back against it, as if the demons were threatening to break it down. The moment he felt safe and secure within the empty house, the voices once again began to taunt him, and it drove him to the point of insanity. While it wouldn't be his proudest moment if he had been thinking rationally; then again, when did he ever think rationally? He started scouring the house, looking for anything of value, from the silver candlesticks to the jewelry box resting on Allison's dresser.

Tucking the jewelry box under his arm, his eyes lit up at the sight of the jar resting on the kitchen counter. Claire's Money Jar, the blue label read. At the mention of money, Klaus snatched the jar and smashed it on the floor, picking up all the ones and fives he could carry. But even that wouldn't be enough. He needed to think bigger, think more expensive. Think... His eyes flickered to the flatscreen TV hanging off the wall. Surely, that would be worth enough to grant him a one-way ticket to paradise. 

"Uncle Klaus?" Claire walked into the living room, her eyes widening at the sight of him yanking the TV off the hooks. "Claire Bear! You're here!" He gasped. "Uh, what are you doing?" Claire stepped carefully into the living room. "You know, this TV has... been on the fritz for a while. Haven't you noticed?" Klaus strained, trying to steady his grip on the massive weight. "I just thought I'd take her down to the geek lab and let them work their magic," He lied. Claire stepped further into the living room, her socked feet crunching over the glass shards, making Klaus gasp at the possibility of her being in pain.

"Hey, careful! Careful of your feet! Your feet on the glass! Watch your feet on the glass!" Klaus inhaled sharply. "That was an accident," But Claire's face fell with realization at what her uncle just broke. She had only heard about Klaus falling off the wagon of sobriety from her mother and Aunt Dusk. But never before did she think she'd have to witness it herself. "I'll pay you back," Klaus promised. "Uncle Klaus, whatever happened, why don't we just sit down and talk about it?" Claire stepped closer, offering her hand.

"I appreciate your input, Claire Bear, and I'd be happy to discuss it at a later date. However, your Uncle Klaus has had a truly horrible day, and he just can't have this conversation right now. I'm sorry," Klaus sighed, his gaze shifting from the ground to Claire, whose heart only kept sinking. "Come on, Uncle Klaus," Claire persuaded. "Are things so bad a drink won't make it worse?"

Klaus grew silent as he pondered her offer, but the inner demons hold on him were much too powerful, the painful memories of his past combined with the aching of the present threatened to destroy him. He lost all hope of ever getting better, of being the husband Dusk deserved, and the father their child needed him to be. He put up a long fight, but the figurative weight tied to his ankles was pulling him deeper into the dark and freezing depths. He had finally hit rock bottom. "No, it's too late," Klaus whispered.

"No, it isn't!" Claire shook her head. "Yes, it is... I'm going," Klaus started walking back to the front door, Claire trailing right on his heels. "Please, just stay and talk to me for a minute!" She pleaded. "Will you move, please?" Klaus asked. "We could just get through this together-"

"WILL YOU PLEASE JUST FUCKING MOVE?! NOW?!" He shouted. Claire backed away, reluctantly quieting down as Klaus struggled to keep his composure, but he was failing miserably. "I already told you, it's too late," he quivered. Scooting past Claire, he hurried towards the door, still keeping the TV tucked under his arm as he finagled with the knob, but finally got it open with a strong grip. As the door slammed shut, Claire slid onto the floor, her back nearly brushing against the Christmas tree, feeling only guilt and shame at her inability to pull him out of the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Victoria asked, wrapping her arm around Five's as they walked down the somewhat steep hill. "That depends. What are you thinking?" Five questioned. "There might be a way to stop all of this," the redhead started. But Five, knowing exactly where this conversation was heading, was quick to shut the idea down. "The answer is no," He shook his head. "Hey, you didn't even let me ask the question!" Victoria elbowed him in the ribs, not hard enough to hurt him, but enough to catch him off-guard.

"Vic, I know you like the back of my hand. I can pretty much guess what you're going to say before you even say it. But carry on," Five replied. "Why don't we use that subway to go back in time and stop the coming Armageddon?" Victoria suggested. "And how would that work?" Five inquired. "Well, we travel back to the original Jennifer Incident, stop your Ben from ever touching that Jen," The redhead explained. "Vic, I love you. But if you recall, we almost got our heads blown off. Right? Plus, it'd never work without a briefcase,"

"Stop being such a Debby Downer, it's worth a shot. The rules are different this time. Maybe we don't even need a briefcase," Victoria reasoned. "You must have these altered powers for a reason, right? Let's use them," Five hesitated, really pondering the thought. Like everything in life, there was always a risk that things could go wrong. Paradox psychosis, traveling to the wrong timeline, and worst-case scenario, getting trapped again.

"All right, fine. But at the first sign of trouble, we're coming back," Five finally agreed on that one condition. "We do have one problem though," Victoria's gaze shifted from her boyfriend to Lila, Luther, and Diego, both men still examining and poking at the bodies, while Lila kicked her feet around, bored out of her mind. "I don't suppose we can explain any of this to them," Five's voice grew quiet." Lila and Diego are like sponges that can't take no more water," Victoria whispered. "It's a shame," Five nodded in agreement. "If we can just keep the other distracted, they'll barely notice we're gone,"

"What about the others? Dahlia? Dusk? Allison? And that other blonde, I keep forgetting her name," Victoria inquired. "Rosalie, and from the looks of things, they seem to be focused on something else. Finding Klaus, finding Ben, and I have no idea what those two are gonna get themselves into. Viktor and Rosalie, I mean," Five answered, watching from the distance, and the two and Reginald were arguing over the search and Ben's potential fate. "Fair point," Victoria nodded.

"Mr. Five, Ms. Wilson, I thought you said you had this situation under control," The deputy director stared at the couple disapprovingly. "Well, the situation is proving more kinetic than anticipated, sir," Five explained. "No shit. We have The Texas Tentacle Massacre out here," Lance retorted. "Okay, I need to know who's responsible for this bloodbath," "Well, sir, we do have a few leads, but I need a favor before we can follow up," Victoria negotiated. "I'm listening," Lance squinted, the look in his eyes sending a clear message that they better not waste his time.

"Okay, you see those two idiots and that woman over there? Those are my brothers and Victoria's sister. Now, they're kinda stepping all over the crime scene, asking dumb questions, getting in the way. Do you mind taking them back to HQ? You know, show them around, maybe let them hold some guns?" Five asked. "You're asking me to babysit," Lance pointed out. "You want this case solved, don't you?" Victoria treaded carefully, watching as their boss closed his eyes and slowly nodded. "You both owe me," He responded.

With a grateful smile, Five looked over his shoulder. "Diego! Luther! Lila! Come over here, we want to introduce you to our boss, Deputy Director Lance Ribbons" he called them over. The three Hargreeves immediately walked over, the two brothers with a bit of a pep in their step. They shook hands with the director, and with the three of them distracted, Five and Victoria took the chance to get away from the group. Taking Victoria's hand, Five and Victoria blinked back into the subway station, hoping that this time they'd diffuse the incoming apocalypse bomb before it exploded.