AN: Hey guys! I'm sorry this took so long. It shouldn't have. I had the whole damn thing written a long time ago, but work is kicking my ass. For those who don't know, I write smut for a living, much more smutty than the things I post here, lol, and I've been struggling with finishing a few books, so everything else fell away. I, wholeheartedly, apologize. At least this is long! Let me know what you think and please enjoy!

Chapter Twelve

When the appointed time came, Andy and Klaus found themselves standing in front of a large building cast in shadow. Actually, it was well-lit, but somehow seemed incredibly dark. Andy assumed it was because Sir Reginald was in there. He tended to suck the life and light from everything.

"Are you ready for this?" she asked the man at her side.

"Oh, yeah, totally," Klaus replied, lifting his flask to his lips. He took a hefty sip. "Let's go see Daddy, hm?"

He offered his hand, which she took. They interlaced their fingers and held strong as they approached the building together. Something crept up her spine, a bitterly cold thing that crawled and bit at her skin. Klaus must have noticed because he forced her to stop just before they entered.

"Hey," he said softly. "It's going to be okay, okay?"

"You can't promise that."

"Sure I can," he chimed. Klaus smiled. "He's just a guy, that's it. And we both know, guys are easy."

She snickered a little, but the pit hadn't faded.

"I haven't seen or spoken to Sir Reginald in nearly fifteen years," she said. "Not since…"

Her gaze fell to her arm. Her dress had sleeves that passed her elbow, but the scar left behind was longer still. Six or so inches of raised pink flesh stood out against her fair complexion. Klaus noticed, hard not to since it was the attached to the hand he was holding.

To her surprise, he lifted it to his lips and kissed the scar before clasping his free hand over the mark. He smiled at her.

"Nothing to worry about. Promise."

Whether for his benefit or hers, Andy nodded.

Together, they entered the building and soon found the others had decided to heed the invitation as well. Andy had done her best to steady herself as they rode the elevator, breathing deep until the air became infected with an ungodly stench.

"Sorry," Luther muttered. "I'm nervous."

They couldn't reach their floor soon enough and spilled out of the elevator the moment the doors opened.

They were presented with a set of swinging doors that led to their destination. It was a tiki lounge, complete with hideous bamboo furniture and every stereotypical thing people in the sixties could think of to add to the "atmosphere".

Within seconds, the others had begun to argue and Klaus abandoned her to get himself something to drink. Andy was hardly surprised.

Something hard shattering against the wall brought her back into the moment. Diego had thrown something, hard, but she hadn't seen what.

"Classic," Allison sighed as she fell into her seat.

Before anyone could speak, the door swung open and in walked the man himself. Andy stared at him in shock, the others sharing her expression. It was surreal to see him, not only because it'd been so long, but because he looked the same. How could he look the same?

He sat and began to speak. The others were slower to follow.

Too fast. This is happening too fast. Klaus? But he wasn't there, instead at the bar waiting for his drink.

Sir Reginald continued to speak. "Not only have you burglarized my lab and released my chimp,"

Pogo?

Most of them had taken their seat around the large table, even Andy.

"Conned your way into the Mexican consulate, repeatedly stalked and attacked me, but you have, on numerous occasions, called me-"

Sir Reginald paused as Klaus, the last of them, clamored into a seat between him and Andy.

"Hey Pop, how's it hangin'?" Klaus smiled.

"Dad," Sir Reginald said flatly. "My reconnaissance tells me you're not CIA, not KGB and you're certainly not MI-5. So, who are you?"

No one spoke. Instead, they sat around with their mouths gaping like fish struggling for air.

"We're your children," Five finally said. "We're from the future. In 1989, you adopted us all and trained us to fight against the end of the world."

"Um, pardon." Andy held up her finger. "You adopted them." She motioned to the others. "I came later, when we were thirteen."

"Right," Five nodded. His lack of snark and irritation surprised her. "You called us The Umbrella Academy."

"Why on Earth would I adopt seven-"

"Eight," Allison interjected. "One of us isn't here."

"Dead," Diego said. "One of us is dead."

Andy's heart sank, but the sadness hadn't lasted long before Klaus spoke to something behind him. She hardly noticed. He always seemed to be speaking to nothing.

And while fully aware that he wasn't, in fact, speaking to nothing, Andy was far more comfortable believing he was. The alternative being a ghost lingering in the background. Ever since they were kids, there was hardly a time when Klaus didn't hiss or scold something they couldn't see. Believing he was speaking to thin air made her much more comfortable.

"Regardless." Sir Reginald clapped his hands together, resting them on a leather notebook that Andy had seen so much of growing up. "What would possess me to adopt eight ill-mannered malcontents?"

"We all have special abilities," Five said.

It didn't take long for the meeting to devolve into what Luther said it would, them clapping their hands like trained seals. But it wasn't until Vanya tapped her glass that they worried.

Without warning, the fruit centerpiece exploded sending bits of mango, pineapple and melon through the air. Andy held up her hand, stopping the pieces from landing on her. Of those gathered, she'd managed to remain clean.

"Is that your gift, then?" Sir Reginald asked in his typical clipped tone. He motioned at Andy with the end of his fountain pen. "Telekinesis?"

"No," Andy replied flatly. She flicked her wrist, sending the bits of fruit sailing into the background. "Hydrokenetic."

"To what degree?"

"All of them."

He narrowed his eyes. Andy didn't look away, didn't break eye contact as much as she wanted to because she knew he was sizing her up. She wouldn't back down. She wasn't a child anymore.

"Look," Diego said, drawing Sir Reginald's attention and allowing Andy to breathe for the first time. He stood, planting his hands against the table top and leveling a stare on his father. "We know you're in on a plot to assassinate the president of the United States."

"You were recently in a mental institution weren't you?" Reginald asked without missing a beat.

Diego flinched. "That's not-"

"You still appear to be suffering from delusions of grandeur and acute paranoia."

"Am I?" Diego dug into his back pocket and retrieved a photo which he set down in front of the old man. "That's you, taken two days from now on the grassy knoll where Kennedy is shot."

Reginald looked over the photo only briefly before doing what he's always done. The old man turned his attention on Diego and with a skill learned over who-knows-how-many years, he proceeded to cut the knife-thrower to shreds.

Each insult, each pointed comment struck Andy. They hit her as hard as a fist to the face and took her somewhere she didn't want to go.

The lights flickered, the fluorescent bulbs humming. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Andy trembled as she cried, desperate for someone to wrap their arms around her or offer a comforting word.

Sir Reginald swept the bunny into the box he'd taken it from, a streak of blood staining the metal table.

"You lack efficiency," he said, setting the box down with a thud. From over the lip of it, she could see the mass she'd created, the once-white fur tainted and motionless. "It took far too long for you to unwind the creature's muscular structure. This should be second nature. Because of you inefficiency, the creature suffered needlessly. Is that what you wanted?"

She could still hear its cries echoing in her ears. Andy shook her head vehemently.

"I don't believe you. You must have wanted it, otherwise you would have done what you were told."

"I tried." She choked on the words, sobbing because of what she'd done.

"Unacceptable! We will have to keep going."

Her head shot up. Andy looked at him, eyes wide in shock. "No. I can't do that again."

"You will," he said coldly. "You will do it again and again until it becomes second nature, until you can completely dissect a creature with nothing more than a thought."

"No! You can't make me."

"I can and I will. This is your training, Number Five. You had better-"

"NO!"

Sir Reginald had sailed across the room and hit the distant wall, but she didn't care to stay. Andy raced from the basement and up into the academy.

She couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't listen to the sound of the animals crying in pain. She couldn't look into their trusting eyes anymore. She couldn't do it and wouldn't. Never again. Never again would she hurt another animal.

Andy didn't know how she'd found herself in the bathroom she shared with Klaus and Ben or where Diego's knife had come from, but it felt right. The weight of it, the cold, unforgiving metal felt good in her hand. She knew Reginald wouldn't stop pushing her, wouldn't stop demanding that she hurt things. She was the monster her family said she was. People weren't supposed to do those kinds of things. It wasn't right.

She tore at the umbrella tattoo she'd been required to get the moment she was accepted amongst the ranks, scratching it away until very little peeked out through the blood.

The blade then glided along her skin, so easy and smoothly, leaving a chasm and a thick trail of red behind. It was so sharp, she hardly felt it.

And then everything went black.

A strange noise drew Klaus's attention to his right. Sir Reginald was choking. His mouth remained open, spilling sputters and gasps instead of vitriol.

"What's happening?" Five asked. "What's—"

His words fell away when his gaze landed on Andy. Klaus turned to see. A chill tore through him. She had her hand forward, fingers clenched but not quite fisted. Her eyes, glowing that haunting blue color, were set firmly on Reginald.

"Enough." Her voice echoed, ethereal and terrifying. "Enough of your insults, your cruelty. Enough of you spouting your high and mighty bullshit."

"Andorra, let him go," Five demanded.

"Andy, seriously, stop," Allison said.

"No!" She yelled, stunning them with her rage. "This son of a bitch tortured us for decades, made everyone here feel insignificant, lesser than. He belittled us, hurt every one of you and I'm not going to let him keep going." Tears trickled down her cheeks. "He doesn't deserve to share the same air as anyone here."

The atmosphere had become thick and, to the horror of the others, it had begun to take shape. Wisps of fog caught Klaus's eye. It was coming from the pieces of fruit on the table that Vanya had exploded. It was coming from the living plants that surrounded them, from the taps and drafts. Andy was drawing every hint of moisture out of everything in the room.

The fog took shape above their heads, a swirling vortex of liquid that grew denser by the second.

"Andy!" Diego shouted.

Klaus looked down at his hand and saw droplets of water beading on his skin before being drawn into the cloud above. She was taking the moisture from the people, too.

"Andy, stop!" Luther shouted.

"Never,"

She was out of control. Something inside her had snapped.

Leaping from his seat, Luther brought his hand down hard on the back of her head. Within an instant, Andy's eyes rolled back, Sir Reginald began to breathe and every bit of water that had been suspended above them fell to the floor with a thwack.

Luther caught her as she crumbled while Reginald gasped and coughed and sputtered some more. Klaus shuddered in his wet clothes and opened an eye. Everyone was in the same boat, worse off than they'd been with Vanya's fruit. He grumbled.

"Jesus," Five said in an exasperated tone. "She was going to kill him."

"Can you blame her?" Klaus asked nonchalantly. "He made her torture and kill animals when she was a kid. I mean, hell, he's the reason she killed herself."

"What?"

Horror stretched across the table. Klaus realized quickly that he must have been the only one to know the truth.

"Um, nothing," he mumbled, dipping back into his drink, but it was gone. It'd been part of the cloud. He groaned in disappointment.

Klaus looked at Andy hanging limply in his brother's arms. She seemed so peaceful, much less horrifying than she'd been seconds ago.

It didn't take long for the situation to devolve further and soon the group, minus Five, left with their heads hung low. Klaus doubted anyone was surprised, though.

Luther heaved Andy over his shoulder and grabbed Klaus by the ankle when they reached the bottom floor. Sometime during the ride, the medium had lost the will to stand, but that will returned before Luther could drag him over the uneven concrete outside, or down some stairs.

He heaved himself to his feet, desperate for a bottle to drown himself in. Luther shifted the small young woman, cradling her to his chest in a bridal hold.

"Where's your car?" he asked.

"That way," Klaus said, pointing in the general direction of the vehicle.

The two reached it in silence. Klaus opened the back door so his brother could set her down.

"How hard did you hit her, man?" Klaus asked, noting that it'd been a while and she still hadn't woken up.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "I was just trying to get her to stop." Luther's brow furrowed as he stared down at her. "You think she's going to be okay?"

Klaus shrugged. "I'll put her in the bathtub or something."

Luther nodded. The pair lingered, straddling a line as to whether or not they should hug or do something else familial, but in the end it didn't matter. Luther patted his shoulder and said goodbye. That was plenty.

Klaus got behind the wheel in spite of his inebriants and headed home. He'd get the others, Destiny's Children, to pick her up for him. In his current state, Klaus didn't stand a chance of doing it himself.

When he made it home, Klaus found the biggest guy he could and brought him out to the car.

"Just be careful," he said, holding the door open while the behemoth dipped inside and retrieved Andy. "We need to get her into the pool."

Flask in hand, Klaus led the way, the heavy crush of gravel close behind. He wove through the hedges and along the pathways, doing his best to keep steady on his feet. He staggered, which might have been a problem if he wasn't doing his best to figure out how to get drunk enough he couldn't move at all.

When he came to a clearing, Klaus scowled. It'd been turned into an encampment, and he hadn't realized it. There were dozens of them, maybe more, with small lanterns and lights. Klaus scampered away as quickly as he could, unwilling to be spotted by them.

"Here we go," he said, motioning to the large pool with multiple fountains, the one overlooked by the stairs where he and Dave spoke earlier that day. Klaus did his best to move beyond the sadness creeping up his throat at the memory. "Bring her in here." The giant followed him to the water's edge, Andy still hanging in his arms. "But be careful, man. She might freak out."

"What am I to do, Profit?"

The airy, obedient tone of his followers' voices always made Klaus's skin crawl.

"Put her in the water," he said, motioning toward the stairs that led into the pool. The giant did as he was told and descended into the pool, but kept Andy hovering over the surface. "Drop her."

The giant seemed mortified, which as a bit cute. Klaus smiled reassuringly and motioned toward the water. The giant set her within it, hesitated once more, then let her go. Klaus sipped on his flask, finishing off the alcohol within.

Andy sank beneath the surface, the dark water swallowing her up in an instant. Klaus barely had a chance to screw the cap back on his flask before the water erupted. A tower shot into the air as though someone had dropped something massive into the pool from a great height. The giant ran out of the water as quickly as he could and soon knelt beside Klaus, coughing up water that had been forced up his nose.

A split second later, Andy emerged from the pool, standing waist deep and coughing. She charged for the steps that led into the pool, moving much easier than anyone should. She was on steady ground within seconds, the water cascading off her body, beading out of her clothes and slithering back to the pool as though it had a mind of its own, all the while Andy continued to cough. She hacked and hacked until, to Klaus's mild disgust, she spat something very snot-like onto the ground.

"Oh, I can still taste it," she groaned. "Bloody chlorine, ugh."

Klaus arched a brow. "That was chlorine? You just hawked a chlorine loogie?"

"It gathers in my lungs like a c-" Andy paused, her gaze dancing around. "Where am I?"

"We're back at the house," Klaus said.

She turned her confusion on him. "How'd I get here?"

"A car. What do you remember about the meeting with the old man?"

Andy shrugged and shook her head. "He was berating Diego and then everything went black. Why?"

Klaus's brows rose. "Well," he said, looping his arm around her shoulders and holding her close. "What had happened was…"

He recalled the night's events as he led her back to the manor.