CHAPTER TEN: JELL-O SALAD

Luther stood in the kitchen, in his pyjamas with a robe tied tightly around him. Eggs sizzled as he moved the pan around, some toppled off and landed on the stove top. Lotus couldn't help but laugh as he had cracked open about a dozen eggs, acting as if it was no big deal.

Apparently Luther lost his job the night before, he showed up before they all came back. It was good to see him there, even if he was in the middle of cooking all of Elliott's eggs.

"No, no, no, I don't understand. They keep following me!" Diego paced between Luther and Five who leaned in the doorway, she stood next to him with her arms crossed. "Those Dutch sociopaths!"

"They're Swedish, you idiot." Five huffed, "Hired guns paid to eradicate us before we do any more damage to this timeline."

"Yeah, but why now? I mean, I've been fine for three months until you showed up."

Luther nodded, "Yeah, I was here for a year and no one messed with me."

"Even if it was my fault, which it isn't, we only have six days before the end of the world, and the closest anyone's gotten to Dad was that driveway at the consulate."

"Well," Luther sighed, glancing at them. "That's not exactly true."

Lotus stepped towards him with an intriguing look, "What do you mean?"

"I saw him." Luther said, grabbing a large bowl and dumping all the eggs into it. He turned the stove off and grabbed a spoon, trudging to the table as he sat down. "When I showed up, I tried looking for you all. When I couldn't find you, I scrounged up enough money to take a bus back home. When I got there, I found and told him about me— about us. He basically said I was crazy, and that if I was his kid I would have better manners and not smell... whatever. Apparently he hates kids. He sent me on my way and I came back to Dallas."

Diego snorted, "That's pathetic."

"Well, at least he didn't shank my ass."

"No, bro, he shanked your heart."

Lotus snorted, grabbing another spoon and sat beside Luther, she took a spoonful of his eggs and took a bite. He sent her a look before moving the bowl between them, a shrug finding his shoulders.

"Is that... my bathrobe?" Elliott was in the doorway, examining the scene.

"No." Luther mumbled, taking another bite.

Five huffed, "Look, who cares what he shanked? He knows something about time travel."

"Um, wait." Elliott placed his hands on his hips, "Wait, why don't you just do your thing and, uh, time travel us out?"

Five snickered, "Anyone care to explain?"

"Last time he tried, he got lost in the apocalypse." Luther grumbled.

Diego took a seat, "Second time, he ended up without hair on his balls."

Five wandered over to a long table across from them where a few mugs and a pot of coffee sat, he picked it up and chose a mug, pouring the liquid in. "The last time I tried I scattered my family across three years in Dallas, Texas, possibly triggering a doomsday." He picked up the mug and carefully waved it around, "Any more questions, Elliott?"

"Uh, no."

"You're missing the big picture." Diego pointed, "Dad is the ringleader of a sinister cabal that's planning to kill the president."

"A cabal?" Luther questioned.

"Oh my god, are we still on this?" Lotus leaned her elbow on the table, "I thought we already passed this. This is like Luther with the damn moon."

"Ignore him." Five said, "Look, the way I see it, we only have one option."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"It's time to get the Umbrella Academy back together."

Lotus raised her hands in defeat, "Finally! I've been saying that ever since we got here— Jesus."

"Hell yeah." Diego nodded, "Family meeting."

Luther jabbed at his eggs, "Okay then, can one of you get Allison, please?"

"You two still a thing?" Diego quirked. When Luther paused, without saying anything his brother leaned forward. "Do we need to talk?"

"No, she's married."

"Whoa, dude, that's rough."

Luther chuckled, shoving another spoonful of eggs into his mouth. "I can't handle it."

"I'll get her." Five huffed, shaking his head. "Can you get Vanya without, uh, squeezing her to death?"

Luther sent him a glare, "I'll try." He said sarcastically.

"Wait!" Elliott exclaimed as Five zapped out, pursing his lips as he focused on the other three who remained. "What should I do?"

"Prepare for company."

Lotus jumped up, "I'll help."

"What should we make?" Elliott questioned as she walked by his side towards the fridge. "I keep a few cookbooks over here."

"What's a popular thing right now?"

Elliott paused, "Oh! Jell-o Salad!"

"I've heard of that. Sounds gross."

"It's the best!" He told her, opening the fridge and pulling out what she assumed was the ingredients. "It's super simple to make, you'll like it, I promise."

When all was said and done, and Five had managed to get Vanya there, they all sat around in the living room. Of course, Five vanished again to go after the last two Hargreeves children.

"Ya'll know, Jell-O used to be a delicacy." Elliott said proudly, a large bowl of colour sat at the end of the coffee table. A row of empty bowls and spoons followed, and though she helped make the dish, it managed to look worse than the picture did in his cookbook. "You know, in order to make it, you gotta boil down a mess of hooves... you know, horses, cows, pigs, it doesn't matter. But not everybody has a mess of hooves just lying around. It wasn't until, uh... a couple of sassy New Yorkers figured out how to dry it out so that the rest of us could have a... a chance to enjoy this ambrosia."

Diego flicked his knife around, while Luther stared into space. Vanya was leaning against the couch while Lotus stared distastefully down at the bowl. "If we have some, will you shut up?" Diego finally said.

"Maybe." Elliott picked up the first empty bowl and spooned a big chunk into it. "Here."

Luther turned to Vanya, "How you feeling?"

"Pretty shitty, to be honest."

Diego flipped his knife again and Elliott carefully placed the bowl in front of him, "Where would you say you are on a scale from one to... ending all life on this planet."

"Really?"

Luther leaned forward, "Diego, put the knife away, you idiot. She's fine."

"The last time I saw this one, she had me suspended midair, sucking the life out of me with energy tentacles. I think I'm allowed a little time to process."

Elliott's eyes widened, "Oh, I would love to see an energy tentacle."

"No you wouldn't." Lotus shook her head.

Vanya sat up straight now, "I don't remember what I did, but I'm sorry. If... if that means anything."

"It does." Diego paused, "I'm just going through a lot right now. There's this girl that I like, I though she liked me, but turns out she's..."

A bell rang and laugher echoed, Luther made a face as he jumped up. "Oh, thank god."

Lotus scrambled up as well, they rushed to the railing and looked down at Five who watched as Allison and Klaus slowly made their way in.

"Oh, wow!" Klaus paused, slipping his sunglasses off his eyes. "I know this is impossible, but did we all get sexier?"

"Klaus!" Lotus grinned, running down the stairs. He opened his arms and pulled her into a hug, "To be honest, I didn't think you'd listen to Five."

"It physically hurts me when I do." He whispered. She snorted, stepping away from him, sending a wave to Allison who was staring up at everyone else.

"Vanya."

Vanya smiled, staring down. "I can't believe I have a sister."

They all came down the stairs and shared hugs and little words, it was a sweet thing to watch. Five stood off to the side, "Klaus, is Ben here?"

"Oh, uh... no. No, unfortunately, ghosts can't time travel."

"Are you kidding me?"

Lotus' eyes widened as they landed on a chair set up against a far wall, there sat a figure clad in black.

"Ben?" She whispered.

"You can see me?'

She froze, staring, unable to look away. Why could she see him— what was happening?

"Lotus, you good?" Diego questioned.

She pointed at the chair, where he sat. He was leaned back, hands crossed in his lap. "He's right there."

"How can you see him?" Klaus wandered to her side, "I thought you had a different power."

"I don't know. What's going on?"

Ben stood up and walked over to her, she wasn't expecting him to be this tall. "You can really see me?"

She nodded slowly, "Yeah."

Luther clapped his hands, she blinked and Ben was gone. Was that real or was she just crazy?

"Everyone upstairs." Five's voice echoed, "Time to talk business."