Myosotis
Reginald Hargreeves was a man of principle, and if sometimes it meant delivering stringent punishment to his subjects, then so be it. He had to keep up the standard of the academy and none of the children, no matter how useful their powers might be, was to be given a special pass.
Number Five, he mused as he looked over his notes. That boy was getting way too arrogant, too questioning, too independent for his own good. Reginald had anticipated him to be a hazard since the time he had dared to question his research procedures and their efficiency. That kind of behavior was unacceptable. Number Five had to be set straight or eliminated, lest he somehow taints his teammates too. Number Seven was already showing signs of rebellious behavior; Number Five's tendencies rubbing off on her.
In calculated strides, no effort wasted, he made his way towards the living room. The subjects needed to be reminded of where they stood. If it required him to make an example out of Number Five, then he better make the most of it.
Vanya was going through her new lesson of music notations in her room when she heard the bell. It wasn't an everyday occurrence that father called them for a impromptu meeting. With this, she left her sheets where they were and made her way downstairs. With no warning, an arm was thrown over her shoulders, prompting a squeak of alarm. 'It's Klaus', she realized, as his grinning faced barged into her field of vision.
"Aww, did I scare you, V?"
He was grinning, but Vanya knew that his flamboyant, careless deposition was simply a way for him to cope with the daily stress and trauma that came with being under the care of Reginald Hargreeves.
She gently swatted his face away, sending him an exasperated sigh, "We need to hurry up or we might end up in trouble."
As if to punctuate her sentence, they heard the bell ring again, as if telling to hurry up or they'll not be allowed food for the rest of the day. The two hurried to the main hall, meeting Diego on the way before entering and joining their other siblings in a line formation. She noticed Mom placing the bell beside the lamp before Mom went to stand behind the couch their father was sitting on.
Speaking of their father, the frowny man had his impervious glare trained on Number Five, who didn't shy away from his feelings to be let known, glaring right back at him. She barely suppressed her jerk of surprise when the man stood up and came to stand exactly three feet in front of their brother. Their brother didn't lower his gaze in submission as was expected of him. Instead, Five steadily held his signature haughty look to taunt and defy the man.
"Number Five," father began in a loud rumbling voice, looking straight down at Five without lowering his head, trying to make him feel lower than dirt. Vanya was well acquainted with that look, having it being directed at her so many times. "You've been exceptionally disobedient these past few weeks. I've been observing your deteriorating behavior and after multiple attempts at correction, which you've continued to resist, I've concluded that you're of no use to me anymore."
It was as if oxygen had gotten sucked out of the room. Vanya's gaze shot up from where she had been looking at the floor like the others. She felt Ben's body give a visible jolt, his mouth open in a silent protest. She couldn't believe what she had just heard, what did father mean? Was he going to just throw their brother away like they hadn't grown up together? Like he was just some stranger? She felt her eyes burning with an oncoming tide of tears she barely held back, her throat tightening with a heavy feeling.
Yet, the man continued, "I can't have your bad influence break the discipline and order I've implemented for the flawless operation of the Umbrella Academy."
"You can't be serious!? You're throwing him away like-like some TRASH!?"
"Number Four! Such insolence won't be tolerated!"
Klaus was going to retort back, she knew from the look on his face, but Five taking a hold of his wrist had him stopping short. The shorter of the two sent Klaus a look that screamed, 'shut up, don't do this,'
"Don't think that this will get you any leeway with the punishment I've decided for you Number Five; it's much too late for any repentance act you might want to play."
Five refused to back down even though Vanya saw how out of the whack he felt with the trembling of his legs and hands. Instead, he took a step forward, "I don't need any leeway, nor do I need any pity. If you're so insecure of yourself and your so-called genius that a kid questioning you have your hackles raised, I would say that the one with a problem is you, daddy dearest," he sneered out, ending it with one of his unsettling predatory grins.
"Five!"
As expected of Reginald's perfect foot soldier, Luther sprung up on his chance to defend his father's honour, "Show some respect! That's no way to talk to your father." When the other teen didn't show any signs of backing away he proceeded to physically push Five back, visibly preening under the look of acknowledgement he saw on his father's face.
Anger burned through her at that familiar holier-than-thou tone. Ben looked one second away from unleashing the monsters that lived under his skin if his hand resting on the hem of his sweater was to say something and truth be told, Vanya had half the mind to let him.
"Respect?" There was a slight deranged edge to the laugh that tumbled out of Five's lips, aggressively jabbing at Number One's wide chest with his trembling finger, "You, the guy our oh-so-caring father never bothered to call his son ONCE in his life, who only got named Number ONE not because he saw some leader in you, but you just happened to be born milliseconds earlier than us! Why the fuck are you so keen on being his fucking soldier boy!? With all the torment this-" his rabid glare fell on Reginald, who stood as impassive as ever, "this MONSTER put us through, how dare you even try and tell ME to show him RESPECT!?"
"FIVE!" Number One roared out, his fists clenching tightly on his side. In her peripheral vision, she saw Diego sliding a knife out of his belt, holding it to strike at a moment's notice. Vanya had a really bad feeling about where this was going. Klaus, possibly feeling scared by all the shouting going around, held onto Five's arm, pulling him back. His gaze fearfully traveled between Number One's bulging arms and Five's small figure.
"Don't you 'Five' me, you fucking obtuse idiot! That man is not your father! He's nothing! He BOUGHT us! And not because of the good of his damning stone cold heart, no! He did it because he wanted us to be his lab rats! Why can't you fucking take your head out of his ass and see for yourself for once!?"
"That's enough Five, I'm warning you. Stop insulting father right this instance or-"
"Or what, Number one?," he taunted, brushing off Klaus' hold to further close the already small distance between him and Number One, "Huh? Will you hit me? Punch me with those big bad muscles? Isn't that what your father," he spat out the word 'father' as if it had personally offended him, "taught you? To be a mindless soldier for him to command? To do his dirty work? Get it inside your head, Luther, he's nothing but a sadistic old ma-"
The next thing Vanya knew, Five was lying limp in the debris of what was previously their bar, "FIVE!"
Number One was heaving like a rabid angry ape, a dagger held in front of his eye stopping him from stalking over to his prey. Allison was holding on to Diego's arm, preventing him from jabbing the sharp end of his weapon in Number One's eye, as if she had been ready all along for this reaction. By the time Vanya had taken in the whole situation, Ben and Klaus were already helping Five up, pulling out any splinters stuck in his skin to the best of their ability. Noticing the blood oozing down the side of his head, Vanya quickly took the towel lying on the stand nearby from where Mom had been probably folding laundry and pressed it on the gash to staunch the bleeding.
Speaking of Mom, Vanya saw the woman standing where she had been since the beginning, behind the couch. She was well aware of their mother's limitations when it came to doing something against their father. Yet still, she couldn't stomp down on the feeling of disappointment that spiked up in her heart. Here was one of her children, bleeding and injured but Mom looked just as pleasant as ever. In moments like this, her non-human origin and nature were glaringly obvious. Shaking her head as if doing so physically will rid her of the thoughts clogging her mind, she turned her attention on her brother.
"Five..." though before Vanya could continue further, her throat tightened again, her voice failing her as she looked at his haggard face.
"I'm fine,"
"No you're not," Ben retorted, picking out a nasty piece of wood sticking inside his forearm, sending venomous glares to where their father and eldest brother were standing. Klaus was full blown sobbing, holding onto Five's blazer tightly in his fists.
"Enough ruckus! I don't have time to waste on your nonsensical brawls. Number Three," Allison jerked, turning to face their father. Reginald continued, "I hope you remember what I asked of you prior to this meeting."
She nodded jerkily, standing straighter.
"Number Five, simply banishing you from the premises wouldn't ensure that your influence on the others will be diminished."
No, Vanya thought with a strike of frigid cold realization in her heart. She heard Klaus let out a deafening shriek, having come to the same conclusion as her. He held his hands tightly over Five's ears, resting his head on his and keeping up a string of gibberish.
"Allison? The fuck?" Diego had his dagger pointing incredulously towards his sister whom he thought at least had some semblance of common sense. Apparently not.
Not wasting a moment, and with a nod from his father, Number One restrained Diego, jerking his head in a motion for Allison to do what she and he had been briefed about pre-meeting in their father's office.
"I heard a rumor..."
"Allison, no! Please!"
"Number Seven, cease this insolence right this instant!"
"No!"
"DON'T LISTEN! BANANA! BABY SHARK, BEYONCE, FACIALS, FUCK YOU REGINALD HARGREEVES!"
"LUTHER, YOU UTTER ASSHOLE! LET ME GO!"
"I heard a rumor, that Number Five died as an-"
"ALLISON, STOP!"
"Infant," she finished and suddenly the room grew eerily silent.
Vanya blinked confusedly at the strange boy standing and bleeding in front of her. Klaus jumped back with a yelp, barely avoiding stumbling over broken wood.
"Hey," she asked, the boy's tear-filled eyes jerking over to her, "who are you? Why are you holding uhh," she motioned towards the bruising grip the boy had on Ben's hand. As if not noticing, the boy just kept staring at her, then Klaus who patted his cheek, "Wakey wakey, how did you enter our house dude? Tell fast or big bad Luther is going to punch your guts out for trespassing,"
The boy jerked away from his touch, dropping Ben's hand with a wet gasp.
"What did you do?" he asked his voice heavy with tears.
Their father leveled him with his signature apathetic frown, "Number Three,"
"Yes, father?"
"There's a note in your blazer's right lower pocket, read it word to word, no questions,"
Vanya felt strange, she felt disoriented, as if something really wrong had happened.
"I heard a rumor that you," Allison looked straight at the strange boy who futilely tried to cover his ears, vigorously shaking his head, "time-traveled into the future."
Before they could react, the boy vanished in a cloud of blue energy.
Ahoooyyy~~~ Thank u for reading! Thank you citrusfriend (AO3) my hero, my savior TtuTT for beta-ing this!
My headcanon while writing Grace, if anyone feels confused: Reginald knew Allison's powers won't affect her so he had already erased/inhibited/ locked away any signs of Five's existence from her database.
Hope you liked it~ Any prompts or ideas are welcome!
Reviews are always welcome and appreciated! And to the guest reviewer on Hanging with Mi Hermano: Thank u for your criticism I really appreciate it. I got a beta to help me out uwu THANK YOU!
Please check out BTS_AHC if you've time uwu MY DEAR FELLOOOWWW ARMYs~