It was a calm day at the Umbrella Academy. The children had finished their training for the day and were now allowed to spend their free time however they wished.

Zero was sat in the Academy's back garden underneath the Orchard tree. Zero had pushed their Father into allowing her to keep the small garden. He had wanted to cover it all in cement to make more room for training purposes, but Zero had managed to persuade him into choosing a different area.

Zero loved their small garden. The Academy was such an imposing structure of dark brickwork and harsh corners that she loved to sit outside in the garden when it all got too much.

The Orchard tree was her favourite part, in the autumn the tree was painted in beautiful warm tones and in winter the snow covered the branches like fairy dust. In the warmer seasons, the tree was a great place to sit under for shade.

She'd asked Grace to help her plant more flowers around the garden and now Zero sat surrounded by full blooms of pastel colours.

Today was a hot day and so Zero had brought her book outside with her as she lay against the base of the tree. Four was laid across her lap and his eyes were shut but Zero knew he wasn't sleeping. It was too humid to sleep in the day, but she was glad her brother was getting some rest.

Zero had asked Six if he wanted to come outside with them, but he'd claimed it was too hot and that he wanted to stay inside to read in the cool library.

Zero had put her hand to his forehead to make sure he wasn't running a fever. She'd seen his cheeks flush and had assumed it was from the humidity and told him she'd see him later.

Five was sat across from her and Zero wondered how he could stand to be wearing his uniform shirt, shorts and knee-high socks. Zero and Four had changed into lighter clothing. Zero had chosen a thin polo shirt and shorts for Four and a light floral blue dress for herself.

Her and Five were deep into a conversation regarding his powers, Zero's book lay forgotten on the grass.

"But what about taking other people with you?" Zero wondered.

"What do you mean?" Five asked.

"Like, you've gotten pretty well with your spatial jumping, but that's on your own. What about taking someone with you?"

Five had a thoughtful expression at her question. They'd been wondering how Five could improve his power without trying time travelling yet. He'd almost perfected his spatial jumps and made them as accurate as possible with quicker reaction times, but Five wanted more.

"Would they be able to travel with me?" Five spoke his thoughts aloud, "Or would I disappear, and they'd stay where they were?"

Zero understood his train of thought, "I wonder if your power would, like, cloak the person you're touching? Or if maybe you have to think about who and what you want to travel with?"

Five nodded in agreement, "Maybe. Because how else would it know what travels with me? If I'm holding you, but you're touching the floor, would the carpet travel with us?"

Zero hummed in thought. Five's powers were an interesting topic of discussion. All of their powers were, really.

Just how much could One realistically carry? Could Three rumour something into existence that didn't exist? Could Two make his knives travel miles? Could Four control the dead as well as see them? Where exactly did Six's monsters come from?

Even Zero herself wondered about her powers. Just how much of the brain could she control?

"Number Zero! Number Four! Number Five!" Grace's voice could be heard calling from the Academy door that lead into the backyard.

"Children! Come inside, please."

Zero and Five shared a look of confusion. What could they want? They'd all completed their training and it wasn't time for dinner yet. Five shrugged and got up, dusting off the dirt from his shorts.

Zero patted Four on the head, "Four, get up. Mom's shouting us inside."

Four grumbled but got up while rubbing his eyes. "I'm up."

He hadn't been able to sleep with the heat, but he'd drifted off into a calm state while listening to Zero and Five talk.

Zero took Four and Five's hand as the three of them walked back inside the Academy. Five had picked up her book that had laid forgotten on the ground.

They walked into the living room to see the rest of their siblings stood in front of Grace, Three stood grinning beside her.

Zero walked over to Six who stood at the side of the group and gave him a wide smile. Six blushed and smiled back softly.

Four continued to hold her hand and Five walked over to the sofa and laid down with a huff. They all turned their attention toward Grace at her polite cough.

"Now, Children. I have recently gotten permission from Sir Hargreeves to bestow you all with names of your own."

There were mixed reactions to her announcement. Three was still grinning beside her, and Two and Six looked happy at this news. One was smiling fondly at the grinning Three.

Zero and Four didn't really care, they'd gotten used to their current names, but they didn't mind having new ones either. Five scowled at the news.

Zero noticed Seven standing close to Three and Grace and saw her face was lit up with excitement at the thought of getting a new name.

Zero smiled at that, she knew her sister didn't like her name as she was sure she'd been given it because she had no powers. Number Seven, the last in line.

Zero didn't really agree with Seven's reasoning, Six was just before her, after all, and he had monsters underneath his skin. Zero was just sure Hargreeves had named them based off of the usefulness of their powers in missions, not how powerful they were. But who knows what goes through the old man's head.

"Now, I've already named Number Three. She's happy with the name Allison." Three, or rather, Allison, grinned happily at this and gave them all an encouraging nod. "I'm Allison!"

Grace turned to the other children, "Now, who's next?"

One, Two and Seven all ran up toward Grace wanting to be named next. She would stop for a moment while looking at the children before announcing their names.

One was now Luther.

Two was now Diego.

Seven was now Vanya.

Six walked up to Grace shyly and she smiled fondly at the boy. "Hmm, let's see. What about Benjamin? What do you think?"

Six nodded with a smile on his face. "But call me Ben," he added.

Grace nodded happily at another child being happy with their name.

Ben walked back over to the twins and Zero smiled at him. "Benjamin. It's cute, it suits you," she told him. He turned pink at her comment before mumbling, "It's Ben."

Zero grinned at him. "Hmm. But I like Benjamin," she teased.

"Number Zero, Number Four, would you both like to go next?" Grace asked.

The twins nodded and walked over to her hand in hand. Grace looked down at the two children and adopted a thoughtful expression.

"Well, I think you'll both need names that match, don't you think? Zero, you'll be called Thea, and Four, you will be Nikolaos."

Zero hummed in thought at her new name before nodding in agreement. "I like it," she said.

She turned to her brother who had a frown on his face. Four turned to Grace, "I don't want such a long name. Too hard to say," he whined.

Grace laughed at his pout, "Not to worry, Four. We can shorten it to Klaus. How does that sound?"

Four repeated the name a few times before smiling widely, "Cool. I'll keep it."

Klaus turned to his sister, "Klaus and Thea. We have the coolest names," he whispered not so quietly.

Thea heard the others let out indignant sounds at his comment and she laughed at her brother. "That we do, Klausy. Coolest names for the coolest people," she declared.

Klaus scrunched his face up at the nickname, "You just ruined it."

Thea grinned cheekily at Klaus, "That's because I have to make sure everybody knows I'm the cooler twin, Klausy." She winked.

Klaus pushed her playfully and she pushed him back.

"Number Five, you're next," Grace spoke over the shouts of the twins who were messing around.

Five looked up at her voice and the rest of the siblings waited for his naming. Five scowled, "I don't want a new name," he protested. "I'm fine with the one I have."

Grace frowned in confusion and her head tilted to the side. She hadn't predicted any of the children refusing a new name.

"Why not?" Luther asked, "We all have one now. You can't stay as Five."

"Why not?" Five demanded.

"Because it's not a name. And you'd be the only one left without one," Allison tried persuading him.

Having new names was her idea and she'd managed to get Grace and Pogo to convince their Father into letting them. He'd still refer to them by their numbers, but Grace and Pogo would call them by their new names.

"I just don't want a new name," Five argued.

"I think it's fine. Five is a nice name," Thea spoke up.

The siblings and Grace turned to her and she shrugged. "Changing his name won't make any difference, he'll still be our Five. Why not just let him keep it? I like Five. It suits him."

Five gave Thea a small smile at her sticking up for him.

Grace gave a small hum, "Very well. Five will stay Five," she said with a smile.

The rest of the children nodded not wanting to argue the point. They all got to keep their new names, so they didn't mind Five keeping his old one.

"Children. Enjoy the rest of your free time. Dinner will be at 6. Until then," Grace announced before leaving the room to continue her duties.

Allison dragged Luther upstairs with a grin talking about her new name and how it was going to sound amazing when she was famous.

Diego and Vanya both left for separate parts of the house, smiling happily.

Thea, Klaus, Ben and Five were left in the living room. Thea had an idea and grabbed a hold of Ben's hand and dragged him toward the library, calling over her shoulder to her brothers, "Come on. I have an idea."

Five and Klaus followed their sister down the hallway and up the stairs into the library.

Ben was being dragged along by Thea and he looked at their joined hands shyly. He could feel his hand getting clammy from nerves and he hoped she didn't notice. Thea turned to grin at them all, her eyes sparkling.

"So what's this idea that's so amazing you had to drag us up here, Z?" Five asked.

Thea turned to her brother and raised a brow, "It's Thea now, Five," she reminded him.

Five shrugged dismissively. "I'm still going to call you Zero. Deal with it."

"So you're not going to call us by our new names?" Thea asked in confusion. She knew he wanted to keep his old name, but she felt the others would get annoyed if he continued to call them by their numbers.

Five turned his face to the side so the three siblings couldn't see his pink cheeks, "No. Just you," he admitted.

Thea's eyes widened at his admission but then she smiled at her brother. "Hmm, okay, then. Five and Zero. It can be our little thing," she said.

Five was pleased and grinned at her. Klaus and Ben watched their interaction not knowing what to feel. They both knew Thea and Five were close but weren't sure just how much Five liked her.

Five saw their expressions and smirked at them both when Thea turned her back to check out the books. He knew what they were both thinking, but Five didn't like Thea more than a brother should, he was just possessive of her because she was one of the only people to understand him.

"Guys! Found it! I knew Dad would have one of them in here somewhere," Thea called them over. She held up a heavy bound book that read 'Compendium of Names' in gold cursive.

The boys all gave Thea identical blank looks and she huffed in exasperation. "This book has a list of pretty much every name. It'll let us know the meaning of our new names," she explained.

She looked toward Five, "No offence Five, I just wanted you to come with us anyway." Five smiled at her to let her know he wasn't offended.

Klaus and Ben nodded at her idea and followed her to one of the tables. Thea dropped the heavy book with a bang and dust blew into her face. She coughed and waved the dust from her face. Thea pried the heavy book open onto a random page.

"Right. Who's name first?" she asked the boys.

"Luther? Let's get the boring ones over with first," Klaus joked.

Five snorted at Klaus' comment and Thea nodded before turning the pages toward 'L'. After a few minutes, she found 'Luther'.

"Okay. It says; Luther is an American name meaning 'famous in war'. People with this name have a deep desire to lead, organise and supervise," Thea read out what was written in the book.

"Sounds like him, a control freak," Ben murmured.

Klaus snorted and slapped Ben's back. Thea looked up from the book and grinned at his remark. She turned back toward the book and moved onto 'A'.

"Allison is an English name meaning 'of nobility'. People with this name often have powerful personalities. They have the ability to implement their ideas with efficiency and determination."

Five chuckled, "Couldn't have described Allison any better. I wonder if Grace already knew all of this when she chose your names."

Thea hummed in agreement, "I know. She probably did. That's probably why she took so long before giving us them."

"Carry on. I want to get to our own," Klaus told her impatiently.

Thea flipped to 'D'.

"Diego is a Spanish name. It is the Hispanic form of James meaning 'supplanter; he that replaces'. People with this name tend to be dedicated to building their lives of order and service. They value truth and justice and may be quick-tempered with those who do not."

"Basically Diego in a nutshell." They all agreed.

"Vanya next."

"Vanya is a Russian name meaning 'gift of God'. People with this name have a deep inner desire for love and companionship and want to work with others to achieve peace and harmony."

After going through the other's names and commenting on how similar the descriptions were to each personality, it was now their turn.

"Ben next!" Thea declared. Ben smiled at Thea as she eagerly flipped through the pages toward 'B'.

"Oh, here we go! Benjamin is a Hebrew name meaning 'son of my right hand'. People with this name are dynamic, visionary and versatile. They tend to be optimistic, intelligent and make friends easily. Ben, that's so you!" Thea exclaimed.

Ben's cheeks turned pink at her words. Klaus and Five nodded along with her words.

"He is easy to be friends with," Klaus agreed.

"And you do like learning things," Five added.

Ben blushed more at all the attention, "Thanks, guys."

Klaus broke the silence by shouting, "My turn!" as he jumped in his seat in impatience.

Thea smiled at Ben before flipping toward the 'K' section of the book. She read the passage and her face lit up, "Ohh Klaus! Yours is good, too!"

"Tell me, tell me!" Klaus whined.

"Nikolaos is a Greek name meaning 'victor of the people'. People with this name are unique, creative individuals and they tend to resent authority. They're sometimes stubborn, proud and impatient," Thea read out.

Klaus grinned at the cool meaning behind his name, not minding the long version anymore. He still preferred Klaus, but the meaning behind his name was cool enough.

"Victor of the people? What does that even mean?" Five drawled.

Thea shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe like, he'll be king?"

Ben laughed at her confused expression. Klaus whooped in joy, "I'll rule you all!" he exclaimed as he pointed at them all.

Thea giggled as she stood and bowed dramatically, "Your grace."

Klaus lifted his chin and wore a haughty expression, "A king does not surround himself with peasants," he drawled.

"Peasants! Who the hell are you calling peasants?" Thea exclaimed as she tackled her brother onto the floor. They both began wrestling as they laughed and argued over who was better.

Five watched them both in amusement.

Ben stood up and walked over to the book, flicking to the 'T' section. Once he found 'Thea' he read what it said below. Ben grinned and spoke over the shouts of the twins on the ground, "Hey, guys. You might want to see this."

The twins stopped fighting and jumped up toward Ben looking over the book to where he was pointing. Ben read out what was written,

"Thea is a Greek name meaning 'Goddess; Godly'. People with this name have a deep inner desire for a stable, loving family or community, and a need to work with others and to be appreciated."

Thea was shocked at the meaning behind her name. Goddess? Her? She snorted and her brothers all turned to her in question. Thea explained what she found so funny.

"Was Mom trying to give me a big head, or what? Goddess, really? It's a good job I'm not Allison or else I'd take it as a sign and start acting like one."

Five chuckled at Thea's words. He agreed, Allison already loved her name because it sounded 'perfect for a movie star'. Imagine what she'd be like if she were literally named Goddess?

Klaus was whining that Thea's name was cooler than his own, while Ben was biting his lip in contemplation. He wasn't sure if he should speak up but knew Thea wouldn't make fun of him, and so he went for it.

"I think it describes you pretty well," he whispered.

Five and Klaus stopped what they were doing at Ben's words and Thea's cheeks burned a bright red.

"R-Really?" she stuttered.

Ben nodded, his own cheeks dusted with pink. "Yeah. Goddess is pretty accurate," his voice went high at the end from his nerves.

Five rolled his eyes at the two of them while Klaus scrunched his face in disgust.

"T-Thanks," she said biting her lip.

Five mimicked gagging and Thea's blushing face turned into a fierce glare as she slapped his shoulder, "Shut up," she hissed.

Klaus got up and stretched, groaning. "Enough flirting, it's gross. I think I'm going to be sick," he drawled as he began walking out the room.

"Just kiss already!" he shouted over his shoulder before sprinting down the hallway.

Ben choked when he heard the word 'kiss' and Thea jumped up and ran after her twin screaming for him to shut up.

Over Ben's spluttering Five could distantly hear Thea and Klaus' screams down the Academy halls and sighed, "Idiots."


These flashback chapters WON'T be in chronological order! They'll just be from random moments between the children and just before the main plotline begins. Most of them you can just guess if it's not stated!