Chapter 2

The next day, Vanya had Luther follow her to the park. "So it turns out my friend is on vacation but she had another friend we can talk to."

"Vanya, what is this really about?"

"What do you mean?" She lamely inquired.

Luther frowned at her. "You know what I mean, Vanya. Who am I really meeting? I don't like surprises."

"Uhm..."

"Hey!" In came a short woman with big brown eyes and light brown skin, long silky black hair and an hour glass to boot. She wore a plaid shirt with a white top inside and casual jeans. "Halo Fleming at your service." She reached her hand out to Luther who gave his name and shook her hand with brows furrowed. "By your expression, Vanya didn't actually tell you why you're here." Luther shook his head. Halo gave a disapproving look to Vanya who looked down in shame. She looked back to Luther with a well-meaning smile, "You look like a forthright man, so let's clear the air. I'm a social worker who specializes in counseling, and don't worry. I'm not here to dissect your life with a critical eye. I'm just here to be an ear for you. I'm well aware of what your life was like through Vanya's eyes, but I bet there's more to the story that not many have heard of."

Luther did not feel comfortable at first, but Halo was being very pleasant and professional without being overbearing with calmness or intelligence. It felt safe. He hated how Vanya roped him into this through deception, but he reasoned that after being so open last night, of course she would do this.

"I got food!"

And that was a very good offering.

Vanya left the two to their picnic on the snow, and Halo had a lot prepared since the violinist warned her about his appetite. They ate first and Luther gobbled up her twelve hotdogs, thermos of hot soup, whole bag of blueberry bagels, and practically inhaled her two eggsalads before drinking half a gallon of water.

She just enjoyed her curry.

"So did you watch television as a kid?" She started the talk.

Luther burped first, excusing himself before answering, "No. Dad never liked it. He rather have us listening to professors and other professionals talk over the radio."

"Mm, educational. You know, I've read the Umbrella Academy comics and watched the news about you guys. You guys really seemed like a team. But I bet there was a lot of strife growing up and only having your siblings around."

"Uhm..." Luther thought back to his childhood, and there really was a lot to unpack. He started off with how they were born, and then the whole story seamed itself together by itself. He talked about Pogo, Grace, his siblings, Reginald, the missions- everything that happened before, "I carried him in my arms, running as fast as I could to mom and dad so they could save his life. I thought they could even though I knew I was holding a corpse in my arms. The heat I thought I could still feel was just my own, and the eyes I thought was still looking at me, was just the eyes of everyone else who saw the murderer I was. I was the one who ordered Ben to do what had to be done, and in return, I destroyed the Umbrella Academy. Dad would tell me that they left because they couldn't handle the mission. That Diego couldn't handle me being Number 1. And in my foolish misguided selfish anger, I believed him, but the truth is, I failed them as a leader, and they knew they couldn't rely on me anymore..."

Luther stared at the grassy ground, remembering Ben's lifeless torn body.

He was pulled back by a hand on his arm. He looked to his side to remember that he was talking to Halo. "Uhm yeah, no, it's not your fault."

"What?"

"It's not your fault." She told him plain and clear. "The person at fault is that so-called dad of yours. Luther! Your dad is a monster!"

"Okay, hold on-"

"Hold on for what? Luther, wake up!" She snapped her fingers at him. "Look around you! There are kids playing on the swings. There are kids running around playing tag. There are kids getting hurt, but they have their parents closeby to help them. Kids are not meant to be locked up in a mansion and trained to be soldiers!"

"It's not that simple!"

"What? Because you have powers? That doesn't take away your right be treated like a human being."

Luther was silent, yet he was obviously still trying to argue.

Halo huffed, "C'mon." She got up, taking her basket, and walking away. She looked back to see a confused Luther. "C'mon." She gestured him to follow and he did, taking the blanket with him. She got them in her van, and she drove them to an abandoned building. And oddly, in her van, she had a big mirror and a mallet. "So my methods are unconventional, but you've lived an unconventional lifestyle, so unconventional means comes to simple solutions." She set the mirror upagainst one of thewalls and placed the mallet on the floor near it. She reached into her pocket to take out an ear comm. Luther put it on, not sure what she was getting at even though it was obvious.

She walked out of the building, and drove away. She turned on her own comm and talked to him, "Luther, can you hear me?"

"Yes? But what am I supposed to do?"

"Let out your aggression. After hearing your story, it's obvious that you've never let yourself get angry. You never once argued, yelled, or thrown a tantrum, and why is that?"

"Because it's not how a leader should act."

"But it's how children should act. If one does not act on emotions at a young age and be disciplined afterwards, they can't form the empathy or the sympathy that a leader should have because you aren't just leading soldiers, Luther. You're leading individuals with their own dreams and hopes. Do you know why your siblings left the academy?"

"Because...Because Ben died."

"But why would they leave after Ben died."

"Because I failed as their leader."

"And why would you say that?"

"Because a leader should be able to keep a team together."

"A team of what exactly? Who were each and every one of those members. What were their hopes and dreams?"

"We were a team of superpowered individuals born on the same day and adopted by our father, Reginald Hargreeves. Number 2, Diego, The Kraken, has the power to hold his breath under water and curve his trajectory. He wanted to be Number One, but because he couldn't do be, he left."

"Are you sure about that? If that was the case, then why leave when Ben died? He could've left any other time. He could've taken your position after you failed. But he chose to leave at that time. It sounds like you have a lot of agression against this sibling, so I can see why you'd think of the worse of him, but there has to be good sides to him, too. Can you remember them?"

Luther didn't want to do this, but he wasn't a quitter. He dug deep into his memories for the good side of this asshole. "He...was attached to our mother, Grace."

"The android mom."

"Yeah...He always spent a lot of time with her. Ha. Diego actually had a stuttering problem, but mom helped him through it. And he could be a dick, always provoking a fight out of me when we were kids, but he never let that get ahead of the mission. I knew I could always count on him when I needed him."

"What about him and Reginald?"

"Dad never liked Diego for his attitude, and Diego never much liked dad either."

"So he never liked your dad, never was fond of you, but he loved his mom and still played for the team. But he left, and I don't expect you to know exactly why, but from what I hear, he wanted to be his own man, and he couldn't do that under you, under Reginald. So maybe, and I'm just saying maybe, maybe he didn't leave because you failed as a leader, but because he realized he didn't want to die without being his own person. I mean you guys were sixteen going on seventeen. It's what teenagers are supposed to do."

Luther felt something open inside his mind. He...never thought of it that way. He was speechless, and Halo allowed him a couple of minutes to process that before calling out to him again, "Luther?"

"Uhm...yeah?"

"Who was number 3?"

The number helped Luther lighten up a little. "Number 3, Allison, The Rumor, has the ability to warp someone's reality with her rumors. She always wanted to be a star."

"Just like now with her multiple awards for her star-wiinning acting in the movies, on broadway and more. I bet she wouldn't have been able to live such a life if she stayed in the academy."

Another door opened in Luther's mind. "You're right."

"And Number 4?"

Luther inwardly groaned, letting out a heavy sigh. "Number 4, Klaus, The Seance, has the ability to communicate with the dead, but since we were kids, he has been taking intoxicating himself in order to stop using his powers."

"Sounds like you don't like this sibling either."

"Klaus is...Klaus."

"Aaaah, the eccentric sibling you can't quite understand but have to get along with because of your parents. Gotcha. But to intoxicate himself at such a young age? Now why would he do that?"

"Because he couldn't handle the pressure of being part of the Umbrella academy."

"Any normal child would feel that pressure, but maybe there's more to this story. Was there anything weird that happened during your childhood?"

Luther took a moment to think because these talks have been enlightening for him. He doubted he could think of anything, but then he remembered one particular odd event. "There was this one time when dad and Klaus were gone for several days at a time, and every time he came back, he seemed less...Klaus, but soon after he'd be back to being himself, but little by little, I began to realize that he had been intoxicating himself. At the time, I thought it was fine since dad didn't do anything about it, and I figured he would when the time came."

"That's terrifying, especially considering how your dad treated Vanya and you behind closed doors. Who knows what he must've did to Klaus. What with the powers to see the dead. With the crime rate in this city, there aren't that many happy ones still walking among us. I mean look at what he did to you after your last mission at the chemical site that made it in the news."

Luther felt a dangerous door open in his head. He stepped back, tripping yet his back hit against the wall behind him. His pulse picked up and his breathing shortened yet quickened as he began to perspire.

"Luther? Luther?"

"Y-yes." He took a moment to control himself.

"I know it's going to be hard, but I need you to remove your sweater."

"My what?"

"Your sweater. If you want to see a point to this exercise, you will need to remove the sweater."

Luther was hesitant, feeling hidden eyes on him. He took a moment to feel the comfort of the shield the sweater somewhat provided, and then removed it to reveal his deformed body. He took a good look at himself in the mirror, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He felt disconnected from this body that he could move.

"Okay." He let Halo know he did what she ordered.

"Okay." She said gently, and then firmly told him, "Now who is the man in the mirror?"

Luther wasn't sure what the correct answer was but he replied the predictable one, "Number One, Luther, Spaceboy, has the power of super strength. He...never left the academy."

"Why?"

"Because..." Reginald was at the forefront of his mind, and then he could see his siblings behind the man. But instead of wearing the Umbrella Academy uniform, they wore what was fitting for their own individual being. As for him, he wasn't himself. He wasn't what he wanted to be. He took another good look at himself, but imagined the former person he was, "I was Number One."

"And who is Number One?"

"Leader of the Umbrella Academy, Reginald's favorite, and...a boy who wanted to become an astronaut. A boy who wanted to go out to space and see what's out there."

"And why didn't he do that?"

"Because it was my mission to save the world."

"Who gave you that mission?"

"Reginald."

"Reginald who?"

"My...My father. The man who adopted me. The man who...made me feel special. Made me feel like I had a purpose to play. The man who...saved my life."

"You say father, but what I hear is master. Did he ever wanted you to address him as father in the first place?"

"...No."

"And this man who adopted you. Did he adopt you because he wanted to have a son in the first place, or did he adopt you just to fulfill this purpose you speak of."

"To fulfill this purpose I speak of, but I became a son to him."

"You say that, but this man didn't want you to refer to him as his father. Luther, you keep contradicting your own words. You already know who Reginald Hargreeves is, but you keep trying to put a mask over this man, and for what? To make sure all you've done had meaning? To who? For what? For a man who does not see himself as your father, so never saw you as his son. And adoption is only a legal form of taking a child away from their mother. You weren't adopted Luther. You were taken and experimented on, and brainwashed you to believe that what he wants was what you wanted, too, but that was never the case."

"NO!" Luther felt his mind spiralling as he tried to fabricate a truth that wasn't there. "No. I wanted to save the world."

"You wanted to be an astronaut. You only took up the leadership position, not because it was the right thing to do, but because it meant that you had Reginald's attention, but you never once were given an 'I love you'. You were never referred to as his son. You weren't even given a name! Even after everyone left, did he ever call you Luther?"

"It's just a name. It's just a name!"

"A name that gave you an identity! A name that did not rank you and practically ostracized you from your family! A family trapped in a mansion should at least be aware of the pains of each other, and work through that, but that never happened! Instead Reginald pit you guys against each other! You never realized the pain that Vanya was going through or that Klaus or Ben or anyone else was going through because Reginald kept you away from that! That is the reason why you failed as a leader! Reginald kept you away from the world, kept you away from your siblings, and now even destroyed you!" Her voice became soft, "The little boy who wanted to be an astonaut, but now you're a man without a family or a friend, without a purpose since that man abandoned you, and not even a name that carries an identity that stands on its own outside in this world like you deserved as a human being. So I ask you this what has that man done, what has he given you since for all his failures against you! NOTHING!"

Luther felt something snap inside him as every single memory he thought was filled with affection was smashed and pummeled to reveal the truth behind it all. He grabbed the mallet that was on the floor and smashed the mirror along with the wall. He swung that mallet in every direction, letting out a roar that stretched for miles.

"Luther!" Vanya watched as that tall abandoned building crumble down. "Luther!"

"Wait, Vanya!" Halo called out to her. "He's fine. He has super strength remember."

"But he can still get hurt!" Vanya panicked.

"He needs it. He needs the pain to subdue his anger or else he'll go berserk on the rest of this city." Halo assured her, "He will be fine." Vanya honestly only met this woman today, but she didn't know what to do. She looked out to the mess again, not seeing a hand sticking out. "In fact," Halo grabbed her attention. "Let's talk. Your therapist and my friend told you to be open and creative about your anger, which led to you doing the worst thing: Writing your biography."

Vanya felt like she should remain concern about Luther, but the woman caught her intrigue, "Uhm, yeah."

"Well, as the professional, I would've let your anger out in other ways that was more controlled and less damaging. Otherwise if Luther had finally broke down out in the open, someone else might've gotten hurt, which is why I bought him here. Luther suffers from a god complex, a hero complex, body dysphoria, and the golden child abuse, and other psychological damages. Right now, I helped him unleash emotions he had supressed in order to please Reginald. The calm and collected Luther you know Vanya, is just a closed bottle of emotions. Not a person in control of them. Luther will need to have his body checked and given the proper medications if need be. I advise that you do the same as well."

"Me?"

"You've been taking pills that Reginald had prescribed you, and I've heard enough to know that he does nothing within the best interest of children. So my advice is that you get yourself clean off those pills for a good week before coming by my office to check if you need a better subscription. Don't worry, I won't charge my services until the old man kicks the bucket and leaves a possible inheritance." Halo smiled in an odd way that Vanya should be suspicious since Halo didn't seem the same way the first time they met, but then again, she was the professional.

"Okay?"

An arm popped out of the debri, catching the women's attention. "Luther!" Vanya ran over and carefully climbed and walked through the rubble to get to him. Luther pushed himself out and looked cut, bruised, dusty and exhausted. "Luther, I'm here!"

"Vanya?!" Luther squinted due to the dust on his eyelashes. "Vanya." He breathed as he was led carefully out of the rubble. He was put into the back of the van with Vanya sitting by his side, telling him that everything was going to be okay. He didn't listen to her, and told her, "I'm done making excuses for dad...for me. I hate myself, Vanya. I hate this body. I hated being left alone, and I thought I could hate you all for that, but I knew better and I can now accept that I can say that I was weak, and scared, and too stupid to leave that academy. I was stuck in the false glory of the umbrella academy, and I was too scared that whatever was waiting for me in the outside world could never measure up to that. That I could not make something of myself above being Number One. I have been in denial these past several months, but I recognize now that I was nothing to begin with and I'm nothing now."

"What are you saying?" Vanya looked at him tired and incredulous. "Forget what dad tried to make of you. He did not name you Luther. He did not give you dreams about going into outerspace. He did not teach you to care and love us, but you did. That was all you, Luther. I'm so sorry for what I said in my book. You're so much more than that. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry!"

Luther teared up with her, and the two cried together. They separated when they arrived at the hospital, but Vanya stayed at the waiting room, unable to feel easy. She wanted to take a pill, but Halo asked for them, and Vanya gave the bottles to her. The social worker then rubbed her back as she waited in agony.

When Luther was available for visitors, she rushed by his side, and the two comforted each other with their childhood abuse and then reminiscing the sweeter memories of Klaus' shenanigans, Ben's love of ice cream, Allison's narcissism, Diego's ridiculous bad boy attitude and even what little they remembered about Five. They talked about Grace and Pogo, and laughed together over so many other things they never got to talk together about.

While they did this, Halo talked with the doctor that examined Luther. "So doctor Tala, diagnosis?"

The doctor looked through the papers on her clipboard with her onyx eyes behind eyeglasses. She was six feet tall with olive skin, long shiny black hair tied in a high ponytail, and had eyebags to show how worn out her job made her. "As I've always remarked, Reginald is a stupid genius. The serum he injected this man with mutated his DNA to become more compatible with a chimp's than a human being. And it gets dumber when comparing his medical results that were taken in a previous incident that landed him in a hospital before Reginald took him. His mutant DNA that gave him super strength and near invulnerability appears to have minimize."

"He's been weakened." Halo nodded in understanding. "That explains why he took more damage from that collapsed building than expected." She sighed. "Maybe Keane's science can save his strength, considering what we're planning."

Tala sighed, "For the 36."

Halo repeated sadly, "For the 36."