I am SO SORRY for anybody waiting for the ending of this! I had uploaded them both to wattpad and ao3 but completely forgot to do it here, too! Anyways, here you go! And maybe check out my ao3 (tetsuyacchi) just in case I ever do this again, haha.
After a tense car ride through the deserted highway, filled with longing glances to the scenery that whizzed past them and Vanya surpassing almost all safety limits in order to get there in record time, the Hargreeves family finally arrived at the farm.
What greeted them however was something from a fantasy novel; the singular plot of farmland was enclosed in a grey fog, the looming, stormy cloud above the barn sending sprawling shadows across the entire land. Not to mention the thick, flurry of snow that fell from the sky, creating a picturesque, snow-globe effect on the farm, where it had descended into winter despite its surroundings remaining a lush green.
"What the hell..." Diego muttered, pressing his face closer to the window to look at the bizarre phenomena.
Thea blinked a couple of times at the stormy cloud above, unable to help but picture it as a similar occurrence to something she'd read about in one of her fantasy novels.
"I think somebody inside is causing that storm," she murmured, frowning at the sheer intensity of the thunder descending upon the barn. "It's too intense to be natural. That's nothing to say of the snow," she finished dryly.
Almost immediately as the car stopped, Vanya had ripped herself from the driver's seat and ran towards the barn door. She was greeted by a blonde holding a shotgun directly towards her.
The rest of the siblings clambered out of the car and hurried to stand beside Vanya in protection, eyeing the blonde woman warily, unsure just how close she was to pulling the trigger. Thea automatically moved in front of Klaus, who was wide-eyed at the escalation of events.
"Hey! Hey...what's wrong?" Vanya yelled over the roaring noise of the storm above.
"Carl," the blonde muttered with a suspicious expression, eyeing them all sternly as she pointed her gun to and fro.
"What did he do to you?"
"He's...he's dead," the woman said shakily. "Harlan tossed him aside like a rag doll, just the same as you did with those policemen."
"Z," Five muttered, finally having enough of this tense stand-off and the girl nodded her understanding.
Thea quickly focused in on the blonde she now suspected to be Sissy and slipped inside of her mind. Demanding authority of her functions, Thea easily wrestled control of Sissy and forced her to drop the gun. The blonde's expression was shocked as her body moved without her permission and she stared back into Thea's eyes, narrowing her down as the apparent 'Z'.
"Thea!" Vanya called out for her to stop, and the girl blinked innocently back at her sister.
"I'm not hurting her," she assured softly. "I'm stopping her from making a mistake by shooting the only people that can help her son."
That got Sissy's attention and immediately her wide, blue eyes were intent on Thea. "You can help him?" she said, almost begging.
"I can try," Vanya said, focusing Sissy's attention back on her. "I'm the reason he's like this, to begin with, I promise to stop it."
Sissy nodded her head shakily and with a pointed look from Vanya, Thea let go of all her restraints upon the woman, causing her to limp with relief. "Okay...Ha-Harlan's inside."
The group followed the mother inside the barn, shielding their eyes from the intense beam of light pulsating from the top of the roof. The noise was almost deafening and the crackling of energy caused a rush of wind that ruffled their hair and clothes.
"Harlan!" Vanya yelled over the noise. "It's me, Vanya! Harlan!"
Thea squinted through the tumultuous whirlwind of blue to see the small body of a young boy in the centre, his head thrown back as his body spasmed uncontrollably. Thea had been witness to people in the throes of a seizure before and she worried for the young boy's health.
"Look, Harlan – I know you're really scared but I can help you," Vanya said, trying her best to sound reassuring whilst raising her voice to be heard.
"Can he even hear her?" Klaus muttered from beside her and Thea thought he had a good point. She said as much to Vanya, who frowned in devastation, racking her brain to think of any solution to save the boy she'd come to love as her own.
"Thea!" she shouted all of a sudden and the group turned to look at her, startled. "What?" the blonde asked, uncomfortable at the intensity with which her sister was looking at her.
"You can connect us," she said in rising anticipation. "You can get him to listen!"
"What do you mean?" Sissy cut in. "She's not going to control him the same way she did me, is she? I won't let anybody hurt Harlan, Vanya. Not even if they're your family."
"I wouldn't hurt a child," Thea snapped, offended at the assumption but Vanya tried soothing their nerves.
"She won't hurt him, Sissy, I promise. But Thea can make it so that Harlan hears me clearly. She can connect our minds so that I can stop the panic that's causing all of this."
Thea glanced over towards the boy and narrowed in her focus, not yet trying to enter his mind but taking a peek at his defences – trying to enter such a turbulent mind was a risky thing, it was the reason Thea never dared enter the mind of somebody truly insane, she could never be sure what state she'd return. Or hell, if she'd return. She'd read enough science fiction about being stuck inside one's mind to be scared right off that entire idea.
But if the risk can save an innocent child...is it worth it? Thea asked herself, already knowing the answer and cursing her weakness in helping others. This is all your fault, old man. Thinking of Reginald and the hero-complex he'd instilled in them all annoyed her to no end, so Thea vehemently pushed his face out of her mind to focus on the poor boy in front of her.
The one that had unwillingly been dragged into the Hargreeves' affairs. Our name is a bloody curse, I'm sure of it!
"Okay, then let's do this before shit really hits the fan," she said with determination.
"Are you sure about this?" Surprisingly, it was Luther who spoke before anybody else could voice their concerns. The blonde turned around to look up at her brother and his big puppy eyes and smiled affectionately. She bumped their arms.
"I'll be fine, big-bro. Though, if the rest of you guys could play defence we'd appreciate it," she said, nodding towards Vanya. "The last thing we need is somebody sneaking up on us when we're vulnerable."
Luther looked ready to protest again when Allison placed a hand upon his arm. She faced Thea with a soft smile. "You can count on us," she said, glancing between both of her sisters. "You both can."
Vanya smiled shakily, and Thea knew they shouldn't waste more time.
"Well then, let's cross our fingers I don't end up insane from even attempting this," Thea said with a self-conscious laugh. Klaus squeezed her hand before walking away to the barn door to keep watch and she met concerned blue eyes for a moment before Five followed suit.
"Ready?" Vanya asked.
Thea took a deep breath before releasing it slowly. Her eyes were set and determined. "Ready."
Without wasting even a second Thea pushed into Harlan's mind, taking advantage of the emotional turmoil he was feeling to gain control of his functions. Her first action was calming the boy down and so she slowly – hoping to go mostly unnoticed so that he didn't panic – lowered his heart rate into a comfortable rhythm, instilling a sense of tranquillity.
She honestly had no training in this and while in the back of her mind there was a part of her freaking out about potentially hurting not only herself, but Harlan in the process, her sheer determination for this to be a success pushed her past any insecurities.
Now, for the hardest part.
Thea had only thought of pushing her power in this way in mere passing, deeming it both too risky and honestly, a little unnecessary. She'd already had to struggle through life constantly hearing the thoughts of those around her, suffering from chronic migraines and low-key substance abuse to dull out the pain, so why on earth would she choose to activate an ability that would enhance that part of her gifts?
The fact that Vanya had even thought of such a thing amazed her. Truly, her sister had a scarily-good head on her shoulders. Though the way I'm now suddenly doing this speaks more for her proclivity to guilt-trip those she needs...damn it, and she knows just how sentimental I am!
Despite seemingly not remembering her past – at least in Thea's eyes – Vanya was observant enough to recognise the blonde's weakness and capitalise on it, however unintentionally and despite meaning no ill-will.
If anything, rather than frustrate or anger Thea, it made her smile. Despite the memory loss and emotional damage Vanya had suffered, she remained the good-hearted girl that was her sister. Thea couldn't deny her wish of saving those she evidently cared for, even if it meant opening herself up for a whole other level of her powers.
Well, no point stalling. Let's finish what we started.
Whilst keeping a stronghold on Harlan's mind, now much calmer than before after being put into an almost hypnotic state by Thea, the girl concentrated hard on not allowing it to slip from her grasp whilst simultaneously entering her sister's mind, too.
Sure, Thea had been able to control multiple people at once and could quite easily gain her own mini-army if she'd wanted, however, this was entirely different.
Thea wasn't attempting to control either of the two individuals she currently oversaw right now. No, she was trying to link them – to act as their soundboard and bridge the gap between them both when normal conventions wouldn't allow their meeting.
In a way, she was doing what her brother did with the dead, only with the living. Klaus acted as a medium in which the living and the dead could 'connect', per se, and now Thea was doing the same thing, only with two living, breathing individuals.
It rankled her, but the easiest way to describe what the blonde was doing right now was to compare her to a power line – allowing the voices and consciousness of both Harlan and Vanya to converge as though they were simply using the telephone.
This was also different because whenever Thea controlled somebody, it was only herself and her own will that was entering somebody's mind and while there were certain dangers, she remained mostly free from worrying about becoming trapped or influenced herself. Right now, though, Thea was allowing her sister and the boy to use her as a foundation in which they could communicate, and subsequently opening herself up for dire consequences.
"Harlan!" Vanya's thoughts were loud and echoed within the muted chamber Thea had constructed.
Physically, all three of them remained exactly where they'd stood before, with Vanya and Thea outside of the whirlwind while Harlan was inside. However, with all of their eyes closed, they were mentally somewhere else entirely.
"V-Vanya?" a soft, nervous voice called out tentatively. The sound echoed a slight reverb that created an odd filter to his voice. It was the effect of his clearest thoughts manifesting as words. "Where are you?"
"It's alright, Harlan! I'm here, don't worry. I need you to calm down enough so that I can save you. Do you understand?"
"Where's Mom? What's happening?" his voice began to rise again in a panic.
"Hey!" Vanya said quickly, picking up on his rising distress. "Your Mom is perfectly fine, okay? She's safe, here with me. Now I need you to listen to what I'm saying and you can see her again, alright?"
"O-okay..."
A mental sigh of relief from Vanya was all Thea could make out before there was a loud bang, followed by multiple ringing shots. The noise was so sudden that it disorientated her and the sounds within the mindscape she'd erected were like metal clanging against steel walls.
The subsequent echo dazed her completely, as though a gong had been struck right beside her ears.
"What-"
"Harlan!" Vanya said in a frenzied panic.
"Vanya, what-" Thea tried to speak again, confused and alarmed at the sudden interruption but felt herself slipping away bit by bit...she couldn't keep a hold on either of their minds and as a result, she experienced the jolt of pain at the exact moment they were forcibly disconnected.
It was only after blinking a few times that Thea realised with sinking dread that the reason her body felt so light – so free and weightless – was not from her mindscape but because in the terror of bullets raining down upon the barn, Harlan's fear had spiked once again and her body had been thrown back along with Vanya and Sissy's.
In a last-ditch effort to gain a semblance of understanding before she was dropped like a tossed ragdoll, Thea desperately latched onto her sister's mind.
What she saw there was akin to a person's final moments before they died – an interspersed snapshot of memories and thoughts, emotions and regrets of your life – and the blonde's eyes widened in abject horror when she saw, as though her vision pinpointed in, a horribly, heart-wrenchingly familiar smile.
A smile she'd loved her entire life, turned down in bittersweet sadness as it said its final goodbye.
In an ironic sense of luck, it was at that exact moment, when her body was overwhelmed in grief and soul-crushing understanding, that Thea's body hit the wall of the barn with an echoing thud, sending her into the sweet release of darkness.
. . .
Thick lashes blinked slowly; lids heavy from the comfort of sleep. She saw above her the beautiful cloudless sky and could hear the soft chirping of crickets and the birds above.
"Finally awake, sleepy-head?"
That voice. So painfully familiar for a reason she couldn't quite remember. Rather than dwell upon something she did not understand, Thea moved her gaze from the bright blue sky to stare into soft, brown eyes.
"Ben," she said softly.
His lips tugged at the corners making his smile endearingly goofy. Her heart lurched at the sight but Thea pushed the feeling aside, unconcerned with anything but looking up at the boy she loved.
He looked so young, just as he was when they were children.
"Hello," he said in amusement, likely believing her to still be half-asleep. Thea certainly felt that way.
"Hello," she repeated, giggling a little at the ridiculousness of it all.
Ben laughed at her dazed expression, delicately brushing away a strand of hair from her forehead and watching as the bright golden locks settled across the lush, green grass where they sat.
Her head was comfortably rested on his legs, both of their bodies shaded from the beaming sun under the wonderful orchard tree in the Academy garden. It was a space the children would often come to rest themselves whenever possible, hiding from their oppressive father who they knew would never venture this far out from the manor.
Ever so slightly, in the distance of the trees, Thea could see the outlines of her siblings, all playing happily together. Her heart felt full of love.
"Did you sleep well?" the boy asked, idly running his fingers through the soft strands of her hair.
The blonde scrunched her brows, trying to recall what had happened before she fell asleep. "I think I had a horrible nightmare..." she mused, recalling bits and pieces of her dream. She suddenly laughed, startling Ben.
"What is it?"
"Oh! I remember a part of my dream now!" she said in rising amusement. "Five disappeared, only to reappear years later stuck in his thirteen-year-old-body!" she giggled, wiping tears from the corner of her eyes. "And then we time-travelled back to the sixties and met his older self! There were two Five's, Ben!"
"Sounds like a nightmare, alright," the boy said wryly. Thea cracked up, lightly smacking his arm.
"Of course that wasn't the bad part, Ben!" Her eyes widened as more memories rushed in. "Oh, and Luther was this giant half-man, half-ape! And Allison got married, twice!" she said with a big grin. "And Diego was like, this super-cool assassin, though he was still just as much of a dork," she snorted.
"Vanya's first boyfriend was a psycho obsessed with me but now she's got a wonderful girlfriend and son!" she sighed happily.
"What about Klaus?" Ben asked with an affectionate smile. Thea's lips curled at the sight until her smile was just as bright.
"He fell in love with a man called Dave and fought in the war with him! And he became a fake Prophet and started his own cult!" she cackled.
"Sounds exactly like something Klaus would do," Ben said with a laugh of his own. "And what about me?"
His question was entirely innocent, but it gave Thea pause. As though only just realising it, the humorous tales she'd been parroting of her siblings came crashing down and the reality to their situations kicked in...all of the struggles they'd faced swarmed her at once.
Luther's crushing realisation that his entire life had been meaningless...the horrors of being forced into a creature against his will... Diego's heartbreak at their father's vitriol and betrayal...time spent locked up in an asylum... Allison losing her husband and child and almost dying from Vanya's attack... Klaus watching the love of his life die...twice... Five struggling through a lifetime of loneliness and depression...losing his entire family... Vanya causing the world to end and losing all of her memories...and Ben...
"Thea, what's wrong?" Ben asked worriedly, wiping away the tears that now streamed down her cheeks.
"B-Ben, you're – I mean, you're not..." she struggled to say through her cries and the boy pulled her into a warm, strong hug. Thea clutched onto him as though her life depended on it, and right now, she felt more vulnerable than ever.
"I lost you. I lost you so early and I tried to kill myself to find you again but I couldn't..." she sobbed. "I had you again- just for a little while...but now you're gone and I- I don't think you're coming back this time." She wept loudly and brokenly, uncaring of the mess of tears and choked sobs.
"Please don't leave again...why do you always leave me?" she begged, desperate for an answer.
"I would never willingly choose to leave you, love," was his heartfelt reply. His hand, now suddenly much bigger than before rubbed soothing motions on the back of her head.
Pulling back momentarily to look at him, she noticed how he had changed into the Ben she remembered seeing the time Klaus had summoned him in the theatre. Grown-up as he should have been, giving her a sense of comfort and protection. Thea had never felt so small wrapped in his arms before.
After following Ben's lulling voice into taking big, steady breathes, Thea's heartrate finally calmed down, though she remained clutched to his body, unwilling to let go.
"Are you really gone?" she asked finally, voice painfully weak and vulnerable.
"I'm never really gone so long as you remember me," he said, continuing to brush through her hair in the way that he knew she loved.
"Then, are you real?"
Ben laughed, not mockingly, but that honest chuckle he had whenever she said something he found endearing. "I've never felt more real, love."
She sniffled, her heart heavy, feeling like it would shatter at any moment. She felt so young, unsure of what to do next. Thea had never really wished for a parent's guiding hand until this moment.
What was she supposed to do? Could she stay here forever? Simply not-exist alongside Ben and the rest of her siblings, who all continued to play far off in the distance, blissfully unaware of their un-existence?
It sounded like a dream to her, and unfortunately, she knew all too well how dreams often ended.
"You need to go back now," Ben said slowly, his voice inches away from her ear. "Our family needs you." He pressed a delicate kiss to the shell of her ear before another was laid upon her rosy cheek.
"I don't want to go back," she said in a surprising amount of selfishness. "Please, don't make me."
Ben laughed once again, and rather than take offence at his amusement on her behalf, she tried desperately to remember the sound perfectly, locking it away into one of the many hidden areas of her mind. She would undoubtedly need to re-play this moment in the future.
"We both know that's not true. One of the many reasons I fell in love with you, Thea Hargreeves, is because you're the most caring person I know."
Her throat felt tight and she struggled to force air into her lungs at the raw honesty and pure love in his words. "I love you too," she sobbed, finally realising that this truly was a final goodbye.
"I'll love you for the rest of my life, you know. You've ruined me forever," she laughed shakily.
He laughed too, though his eyes were a little hazy as he spoke. "That's not true, you're going to live a wonderfully long life and eventually, you'll meet someone you love, who'll love you just as much." He paused for a moment, before cracking a ruefully bitter-sweet smile. "Though nobody can claim to love you as much as I do."
"Nobody," she promised, clutching his hands to her chest. "Nobody will ever have as much as my heart as you have," she insisted. "It's yours, Ben. It always has been."
"Don't be so quick to rule love out. It's closer than you think," he said cryptically. "It always has been," he said, mirroring her words, though she acknowledged the wholly different meaning behind them.
She opened her mouth to refute his claim but paused upon noticing how the world around her, once so solid and real, now begun to crumble at the edges, revealing only a blinding white behind. It was as though she'd been dropped into a simulation that had now expired and the wonderful, perfect world she'd imagined was disappearing piece by piece.
She desperately looked to where her family had been before but all that remained was emptiness. There was simply a chunk of the scenery missing from the picturesque summer's day, like a missing puzzle piece that had yet to be found.
"What's going on?" she asked, biting her lip as she watched piece by piece, her dream becoming a nightmare. "Ben?"
When she turned to face the boy, she took notice that his body was becoming lighter – more transparent by the moment. With desperate, clawing hands Thea grabbed a hold of him, shaking and afraid.
"Please don't go. I can't take you leaving again."
"Klaus will look after you. Five, too. They're all counting on you, love," he reassured her, that wonderful, beautiful – goddamn angelic – smile on his face. The sight once so reassuring now filled her with further pain.
"Please," she croaked one final time, already knowing how futile it was.
"I'm putting all my trust in you now, Thea. You have to look after them all. We'll see each other again, but it's not your time yet."
"It wasn't yours either," she argued, almost petulantly.
He actually laughed at that. "I suppose so," he mused vaguely. "Either way, we have to accept things as they are."
"I refuse. I don't want to accept a reality without you."
"Hahaha! You never change, love. Still as stubborn as ever." It was said more as a compliment, but the jab caused her cheeks to puff regardless. His eyes were crinkled in fondness at her pout.
"I'm not stubborn," she argued, momentarily forgetting her pain. That was Ben, able to cheer her up and distract her from almost anything just by existing.
Though the fact remained that his body was almost completely translucent now, the only positive that she could still feel him beneath her hands. He wasn't gone quite yet. Not yet.
"I know you can do it, look after them all because god knows they can't do it themselves," he said endearingly. "Before it's too late, you have to make sure our family stays together. Do you promise?"
"But-"
"Thea," he stressed, uncharacteristically stern. "Do you promise?"
She stared into his eyes – such a lovely, warm shade of brown – and could only nod. She understood, however reluctantly she was to make such a deal when it meant leaving him.
She couldn't leave him, she refused to leave him and never see him again. Who knows when they'd see one another again? Thea wasn't sure she could take it! But...
Blinking back the tears that had once again begun to fall in rivets down her cheeks, she bit her lip harsh enough to bleed to stop the horrid sob from escaping her throat.
Grow up. Face reality. This is happening and there's nothing in this world that you can do to stop it.
This wasn't some bad guy she could overpower and control. This wasn't a fairy tale where everything ends in perfect happiness.
This was real-life, and reality fucking sucks.
Thea Harrgevees, face reality head-on and make it regret everything it did to upset you. Show it that it hasn't defeated you yet. Turn to life, snickering at your suffering and pain and stare it straight in the eyes and tell it 'fuck you, I'll survive'.
Resolved blue eyes stared dead-on, burning with a passion to take life by the reigns and force it to bend to her will. She met the beautiful brown that she would remember for the rest of her life and forced herself to take a deep, steady breath.
"I promise."
Ben's smile was angelic and the sheer pride was directed solely at her. It leant resolve to her heart. She would not waver, not when Ben looked at her like that. She could never let him down and so she would be forced to face her promise.
She would not break the promise, no matter what.
"That's my girl," he whispered before bringing her forward so that their lips met in a searing kiss.
To Thea, it was like a moment of pure revelation – euphoric and heart-breaking all at once and the sheer intensity of emotions caused her to become dizzy. She gripped onto Ben's arms for dear life, wanting to somehow envelop the boy completely, so that he would never leave her.
Pulling back so that their lips barely touched – sending sparks down her spine at the hot breath fanning red lips – he spoke so quietly she could barely hear him.
"I'll miss you."
"I'll think of you every second of every moment," she promised. "You won't have the chance to miss me."
"And I, you," he promised with a shaky laugh.
"I love you so much, Ben."
"I love you, too. Forever..."
"...and always."
He took a moment to simply stare into her eyes, the world around them now completely crumbled and a stark, white emptiness, before delicately pressing the pads of his fingers against her eyes, closing them.
"Close your eyes and think about our family," he instructed. "They need you more than ever. Can you hear them?"
Flustered, it took her a moment to ornament herself but just as he'd described, she could slowly begin to hear the real-world trickling into her awareness. Her fingers automatically gripped his arms tighter.
"Follow them, Thea."
"..."
"Thea," he stressed. "Follow them. Quickly, before we lose any more family."
That caused her body to jolt in shock and hurt and while his fingers rubbed soothing circles upon her cheek in apology, she knew he was right. She needed to stop being so selfish and help out her family, who from the sounds of things, were clearly in danger.
"Don't say goodbye," she muttered. "I refuse to hear it."
He laughed and with her eyes closed, she could swear she almost felt the vibrations against her skin. "Well, till we meet again, love."
"See you soon."
"Not too soon," he laughed and ever so slowly, the sound of his laughter became weaker, softer as the chaotic sounds from the real world filtered in.
It was a painful transition but with gritted teeth, she refused to allow herself to become sucked into the dream-world again.
She'd promised.
There was a brief moment of silence when Thea felt more like she was floating in an endless world of clouds and nothingness. She felt no pain and her mind was blissfully blank...
Promise me.
With a lurching jolt, Thea's eyes snapped open and she sprang awake once again in the living world.
All around her was the aftermath of chaos. Spitting hay from her mouth and stumbling to her feet, the girl hissed as she felt her sore body protest against the sudden movement. Eyeing the small crater in the wood of the barn wall, she winced.
I suppose getting thrown into a wall like a ragdoll isn't the best method of staying alive...
Thea felt like her entire body was bruised and battered and nothing sounded better than taking a nap right about now, preferably for a week or two.
Follow them, Thea.
Eyes widening at remembering Ben's words, the girl's heart rate picked up, beating pure adrenaline straight into her veins as her feet began to move without conscious thought, taking her outside.
I need to save them...I can't lose any more of my family.
Running now, anxious at the near-silence after the chaos she briefly remembered when helping Harlan, Thea rushed around the barn and her eyes first set sights on a familiar dark-haired woman fighting against her sister.
"Lila?" she muttered, too quiet for the two fighting to hear her, which gave Thea a moment to collect her shock. Shaking off any qualms about fighting the girl, Thea managed to arrive just in time, as Allison's eyes went wide as she clutched her neck in a wild panic.
The scene was entirely too reminiscent of a past Thea would rather forget and as the girl hurriedly dropped to her knees beside her sister, cupping her face in her hands, she swallowed back a scared cry.
"Allison!" Luther's booming voice rang out as he came lumbering towards them both, Lila entirely ignored for the moment as both siblings desperately watched Allison struggle to breathe. Neither of them knew what was going on, but it was clearly something Lila had done.
"Thea, do something! Anything!"
"Fuck," Thea gasped and slipped inside her sister's mind with panic, entirely too anxious to even think of going slow and winced when she made a shoddy mess of it. Hurriedly, she forced her sister's mind to calm and repeated the same command that Luther was saying aloud.
"Breathe, Allison. Breathe."
Pulling back, Thea's hands shook as Luther continued to couch Allison through breathing properly – Thea's command could only do so much and now it was Allison who had to follow through with passing the air through into her lungs. Luther pressed their lips together in a desperate attempt.
Hearing an amused laugh from behind her, Thea's head whipped around lightning fast, fixing dead-blue eyes on Lila, who paused at the sheer intensity of her stare.
"Is something funny?" she hissed, deadly-quiet. Her shaking had stopped and now all she felt was an eerie calm.
Lila shook herself out of the momentary spook, though she eyed the blonde warily, recognising the atmosphere that screamed 'DANGER!'.
"I asked you if you found something funny?" she repeated in a biting tone, tilting her head like a predator eyeing its prey.
"Not really," Lila said, attempting to act casual to hide her unease. "Though it was amusing how surprised she was to have her power directed back on her."
Oh? You're a little loose-lipped when uneasy, aren't you? Thea thought to herself, eyes narrowing, just like a hunter realising their prey had taken the bait.
"I suppose she hadn't ever experienced anything like that," she mused. "It's quite the rare occurrence that somebody has the advantage against us." Thea rose a brow in a purposefully provocative manner, knowing just what buttons to press.
Lila scoffed. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. People who are overconfident always lose when it costs the most."
"I didn't know you were a prophet, too," Thea jeered.
Lila narrowed her eyes, teeth bared. "I have to admit, your power is certainly one I've been looking forward to using."
Bingo! So it is the ability to borrow another's power, then? Perhaps a mirroring ability?
Thea grinned back, perfectly white teeth on full display. "Try me, bitch."
Lila's smile vanished instantly and she charged with a frustrated growl. Thea easily dodged her charge and used the other girl's momentum to twist her arm back and flip her over, where she landed with a yelp on the snow-covered ground. Thea didn't have long to gloat, however, because her feet were soon kicked from under her and the blonde tumbled, too, luckily rolling aside and avoiding the pointed elbow directed right where her head had been.
Thea noticed from the corner of her eyes that Allison and Luther had disappeared and she was glad they trusted her enough to take on Lila alone – at least this way she wasn't worried about them getting in her way – the last thing she needed was Lila utilising Allison's rumour and Luther's super-strength against her.
Bloody hell that would make a brilliant tag-team! She thought and swiftly dodged the punch directed her way, realising that right now wasn't the best time to be lost in thought.
She rolled again and went to stand but suddenly felt all of her limbs pause at the ringing command in her mind, "STOP!"
The blonde narrowed her eyes on Lila's gloating laugh. "Wow, that was easier than I thought."
"Overconfidence doesn't suit you, Lila," Thea tutted and before the confused girl could open her mouth, she yelped when her entire body seemingly shut down and she dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
Thea crawled over her and sneered down at the wide-eyed brunette. "Not all powers are as easy as trying on a new outfit, you know. A lot of them actually require a strong enough mentality to master."
There was a push against her own mind and while it definitely didn't have enough strength to overpower Thea or control her, it did give Lila enough to wiggle her way out of her hold and kick the blonde back.
The two began throwing and dodging blows once again, only this time there was a constant mental battle between them – one that Lila knew she was losing as she began to rely more and more on her physical strength. When the brunette yanked one of Thea's ponytails back, the blonde yelled and swore at her dirty tactic.
"You know, I actually liked you," Lila revealed, almost as though it pained her to admit it. "But you're too dangerous to keep alive."
"I could say the exact same thing," Thea spat, jabbing her elbow back into Lila's gut, taking satisfaction in the grunt she released. "But when you decide to hurt my family, you're asking for a fucking fight."
"How vulgar," Lila chuckled, spitting out blood from her split lip onto the clear snow. Thea now had her in a chokehold and was glaring down at her smug look. "It makes me like you even more."
Somehow managing to use her remaining strength to flip them both over so that Thea's grip was loosened, Lila hastily crawled away to stare the blonde down. Thea glared back just as deadly.
"Looks like a stalemate."
"If I wasn't concerned of Diego's feelings, your brain would be mush right about now," Thea threatened.
"Who's to say I won't do the same thing to you?" Lila warned but Thea outfight laughed her threat off, waving her hand in dismissal.
"Oh honey, why do you think I let you 'take control' a couple of times during our fight? I wanted to see just how well you've grasped this ability, and I'm afraid to tell you – you're frankly shit at it."
Flustered and humiliated, Lila looked ready to tackled the blonde to the floor and finish things once and for all, but they were interrupted by a distinctive voice.
"Hate to break up the cat-fight, but I believe we have business to finish," Five said, looking between both girls with his brow raised.
"Nobody asked you," Lila spat and Thea unwillingly laughed at the surprise on Five's face at being dismissed so easily.
As though predicting what their next moves would be, both Five and Lila suddenly disappeared with a pop, causing Thea to blink at where she now stood, alone.
"Well, that was rude."
Huffing and looking around her, she couldn't spot any of the others and so decided that her best bet was finding Five. She couldn't let him die because of some stupid chivalry bullshit he'd decided to perform. She could have perfectly handled Lila on her own, thank you very much.
Figuring that they would likely be back in the barn, Thea ran as fast as she could to where she'd initially woken up, seeing the tell-tale sign of blue sparks of energy through the slits in the wood.
She made it just in time – which seemed to be a thing for her, arriving just in the nick of time to save the day – and didn't think twice about grabbing a fistful of brown hair and yanking it back so that dark eyes stared into her own. Two can play dirty.
"So help me, if you don't let go of my brother right now I'll blow your brains out," she said in a dark tone, allowing no room for her seriousness to be mistaken.
Lila, easily recognising the very real threat, hastily removed her boot from Five's neck and raised her hands in a defensive stand. She didn't even attempt at reversing Thea's power back at her or utilising Five's spatial-jump, understanding that in the feral state Thea was currently in, she'd fry her brains before letting even a millisecond slip by.
"It isn't fair!" the girl cried out, trying to balance herself as Thea's hold caused her neck to bend back painfully. "He deserves to suffer!"
"Why?" Thea asked, not letting up on her grip but willing to hear the girl out. There must be a reason she was coming after her family so intently. "Tell me why he deserves this because right now, I have no sympathy for you. All I have is contempt."
Lila was breathing heavily, black eyes staring right at Five with an unnatural amount of vitriol and hatred. "He deserves to suffer as much as my parents did when he killed them."
"Your...parents?" Thea stuttered in shock. Her eyes glanced toward Five, questioning. However, the boy was blinking at Lila's accusation in mounting understanding.
"Ronnie and Anita Gill," Lila choked out. "1993, East London. You hogtied them before shooting them in the head."
"Five?" Thea whispered lowly, wanting an explanation. What had her brother done in order to cause such a visceral hatred in a completely random stranger?
The girl knew her brother had been an assassin for the many years he'd been apart from them all, but it was only now that she was forced to face the ugly reality.
A girl made an orphan because of her brother's actions. Thea felt sick.
"They never did any wrong!" Lila sobbed. "They didn't deserve to die like that!"
"Five?" Thea stressed, frustrated at how quiet he was being in such a tense situation. Her grip remained firm but as more information was revealed, she was beginning to understand the larger picture, realising that they were all just broken people using violence as a means to an end.
"I remember," Five said finally. "And you're right, they didn't deserve to die like that. But I've killed many people over the years and it was never personal. I was only following orders."
His words were directed to Lila but his stare was focused on Thea and the girl swallowed thickly at the desperation to be understood that shone in his eyes.
"Whose orders?" Lila shot back. "You killed them, don't try and shift the blame!"
"I'm not! Look, you wanna blame someone? Blame the Handler! She faked the kill order!"
Lila's reaction to that was visceral and it took all of Thea's strength to keep her hold on her position, even forcing her to stay still with a low command. "Listen to him," she advised lowly.
She felt awful for the girl, now beginning to realise the ugly truth as Five told the story from his perspective, of how shady the entire night was and how suspicious it was that Lila, who was gifted, just happened to be found that night, perfectly unharmed by a woman who never normally went on such lowly missions.
"Ask yourself why," Five stressed to Lila who was shaking her head as much as possible in Thea's tight grip.
"Stop trying to muddy the waters!"
"Don't you understand?" Thea finally said in a strained voice, not wishing to have to point out the painful truth to somebody already so beaten down. "She wasn't there for your parents. She was there for you."
"Why?" she said in a broken whisper.
"Cause you're one of us," came a voice from beyond them and the three turned their sights on Diego, who had spoken the words. Behind him stood the rest of their family, who eyed their situation in trepidation.
Thea was thankful to see Vanya safe as well as Allison. Her eyes raked over Klaus in intense scrutiny for injury. He looked alright as far as she could tell, but the need to go over and pat him down for the slightest bruise was strong.
Deciding to do both, Thea slowly released Lila's hair from her hold, allowing the girl to rub her sore neck, though she soon realised that while her upper body was free, her legs were locked tightly in place.
"You're not going anywhere, I'm afraid, and don't bother trying to overpower me. It's pointless."
"Lila," Diego caught her attention again and he tried explaining to her the painful truths of her situation and how the Handler had stolen her from her home.
Meanwhile, Thea kept a tight leash on her movements while smiling at the way in which Klaus was now fussing over her, pausing at the sight of blood on her chin from a split lip and a bruise forming above her brow.
"Listen to me, Lila. You were born on October 1st, 1989, the same day as all of us," he said slowly, but the girl was barely listening, eyeing them all anxiously.
Five sighed and Thea looked at him in question. "She's not going to listen to us," he said loud enough for them all to hear. "Z, put her out."
Thea pursed her lips, not particularly wanting to hurt the girl any further but trusting Five's intuition on this when Diego desperately called her name, begging her to wait.
"Please, she'll understand, just give me a minute."
"I trusted you!" Lila accused, eyeing Diego wildly, like cornered prey. "I trusted you and you left me all alone!"
"That's because I needed to save the world!" he rebutted, inching closer to her as he spoke, urging her to listen. "She's using you, Lila. The Handler. Can't you understand?"
"You're wrong! She raised me!"
"That means nothing, trust us. We had the shittiest father in the world and he royally fucked us all up," Thea said with a bitter chuckle.
"Hey, Lila? Truth?" Diego said, his voice softening along with his expression as he smiled shakily her way. "She's dangerous. I know you're worried what she's going to do with all that new power and that's why you dragged me to the commission, isn't it?" he guessed. "Because I know what it's like to love dangerous people."
He took a moment to look at all of his siblings. Luther, Allison, Vanya, Five, Klaus and Thea, all stood by and ready to defend him at a moment's notice. All supporting his choice to talk things out with a dangerous unknown. All trusting him.
"The difference is, they love me back," he smiled vulnerably. "The only thing the Handler loves is power and the minute she can no longer use you, she'll throw you away. Trust me, I understand being disposable by somebody you looked up to."
"Please...stop," Lila said lowly, slowly becoming broken by the bitter truth.
"We can be your family, Lila. If you'd just let us," Diego said with raw honesty. "We won't judge you or expect anything from you. Family is unconditional."
Lila, with more vulnerability than ever before, looked around at the circle of siblings with wide, tear-filled eyes, taking in the way they all nodded back at her one by one. Even Allison and Thea, those she'd fought so harshly before, both gave her a small, sympathetic smile.
Thea squeezed her brother's hand in her own, finally allowing herself to release the hold she had on the girl's body as her heart filled with warmth at the touching moment. Klaus looked down at her and smiled wide.
She was so caught up in smiling at her twin that she ignored everything around her. For just a second, Thea felt like, despite the heartbreaking loss she'd faced, things were looking up in her life.
Of course, that was when the sudden rain of gunfire descended upon their distracted group and Thea only had a millisecond of instinctual reaction to try - in a futile attempt - in covering Klaus' body with her own before they were both knocked to the ground in a flurry of pain and splattered red.
Neither of them had a moment to spare for regret or sorrow because their minds went dark the minute they hit the ground; hands still entwined.
.⋅ ✯ ⋅.
Five had known the minute he'd heard the first gunshot and felt the first bullet enter his torso that his entire family was dead.
It was a horrifying and sobering thought that led the boy to stare blankly up at the barn ceiling, struggling to breathe through what he could only guess was a ruptured lung. Panting like an animal, Five attempted to move his body but could only manage on turning his face sideways, only to wish he hadn't bothered.
There, lying across the mess of hay and dirt was a small body riddled with bullet wounds. The lightness of her clothing did a horrible job at hiding the wounds, as the white of her skirt and the gold of her hair soaked up the crimson blood, creating a ghastly painting of death.
Five felt like the air was suddenly harder to force into his body and he knew it was entirely due to the sight in front of him and not his own wounds.
He surprised even himself at the sob that left his lips, his hand leaving its place covering the wound on his chest to desperately claw its way towards the open palm beside him.
When their hands finally made contact, he felt no relief to be greeted with her usual warmth. He could see as clear as day that her chest had ceased to move and yet the warmth of her touch gave him a cruel sense of hope.
"Z..." he choked on his own blood in an attempt at calling her name. "Thea..." he tried again, using a name he'd rarely spoken hoping that anything would happen. But Five was all-too used to reality kicking him in the face.
What made the entire situation worse was the flashbacks the boy was having from the first time he'd seen his family dead, during the apocalypse. Gazing at her profile and the pool of blood that surrounded her, he could only think of how this was somehow worse than seeing her dead the first time.
Back then, it had been Klaus who was laid atop of his twin, seemingly protecting her. Five chuckled in a dark bitterness to see that this time, the blonde was the protector.
Five laughed and laughed, unable to accept that he was going to die whilst staring at the lifeless body of the girl he loved.
To round his entirely shitty day off, the Handler loomed above him, mocking his obvious affections with a sickly-sweet smile.
"Perhaps when you're both dead, unrequited love won't hurt as much anymore," she cooed condescendingly, digging the proverbial knife even deeper.
Five's jaw clenched, unwilling to show the spiteful woman even an ounce of fear. "Fuck...you."
She giggled, entirely too immaturely for a woman her age and pointed the gun straight at his temple.
"Goodbye, Number Fi-" she choked on her words as a searing pain registered in her abdomen. The woman looked behind her in confusion, blinking away the pain only to frown when she saw the lone Swede stood at the barn door holding a smoking gun.
Before she could question how exactly the tables had been turned so thoroughly against her, the Swede raised his gun and shot her another three times for good measure. Her body slumped to the ground as blood flew from her parted lips, eyes dazed in death.
Five was panting, adrenaline wearing off at the sudden turn of events and he eyed the Swede down, who looked around at the barn full of dead bodies with narrowed eyes.
Sure that it was finally his time, he turned his head to face Thea, wanting her to be the last thing he saw, even if it was painful to see her so still.
'What will we do, Five?' he could almost hear Thea's voice asking him, her tone worried as their family stood within the theatre, the looming threat of the meteor hurtling towards them.
'We use my ability to time travel,' he'd answered like it was the most obvious plan in the world.
.
'You're the genius who said we should jump,' came Luther's scathing remark upon finding him again in the sixties. 'You're the one who got us all stuck here.'
.
'Maybe your appetite is disproportionate to the size of your abilities,' Reginald Hargreeves told him, with that same tone of sage wisdom he remembered as a child. 'Start small. Seconds, not decades.'
.
'You're brilliant Five. If anybody could do it, it'd be you.' Thea smiled at him, brilliantly gold hair shining in the sun as she smiled, putting all of her faith in him.
'I trust you more than anybody. I know you'll keep us all safe.'
Five's body began to thrum, static with energy that encased his hands before moving to cover his entire body. He watched, almost in an unbelieving daze as the world around him begun to slowly move backwards in time, reverting all of the previous events.
He watched as first the Handler and then Lila was pulled from the floor, both now alive once again before his own body was yanked upwards, almost as though he was attached by strings.
Just as he did as a teenager, Five began to run, though it felt more like running through water, as his feet were heavy and sluggish. It took all of his energy to concentrate on allowing only the barest of time to pass instead of years like before.
One by one, his siblings rose from the ground, the blood returning to their bodies in a morbid display of revival and the bullets returning to the Handler's gun, who now stood at the barn door once again.
Amazed and still in complete disbelief that he was able to do such a thing, Five finally reached the end and with a yell, broke through the barrier to return time to its normal speed and direction once again.
He blinked wide eyes towards Thea, who cocked her head at his sudden disappearance from her side and was watching him owlishly across the barn.
She opened her mouth to call his name when the boy remembered the Handler just in time to knock the gun from her hands, surprising everybody at her arrival. Five pointed the gun at her, slowly edging his way closer to his siblings whilst staring the woman down.
Lila confronted her, but Five paid her little attention, uncaring of their domestic dispute. Instead, he only had concern for the blonde who now stood beside him once again, her lips pursed in the way he knew meant she had many questions. It made him smile despite the terror he was still feeling from seeing her dead only moments ago.
"You okay?" she whispered and Five chuckled lowly. She always could recognise when something was bothering him, huh? No hiding things from her.
No, I love you so much that it's painful, he wanted to say. Thankfully, he kept quiet.
He met bright blue eyes with his own and couldn't stop himself from basking in the fact that she was alive. That they were all alive. He actually did it.
There was a ringing of gunshots and the Handler dropped to the floor, dead once again. Lila made her escape in the confusion and he watched briefly as Luther tried to stop her, Diego getting in his way and allowing her to disappear.
He focused his attention on the same platinum-blonde man that stood at the door with his gun raised and when the boy felt Thea shift from beside him, he quickly put a stop to it.
"Z, don't."
Thea paused and frowned at him. "He's going to kill us," she pointed out but the boy faced the Swede head-on, narrowing his eyes.
"No, he's not. There's been enough killing for one day." To prove his point, Five dropped the gun he was holding onto the floor, showing his free hands in a sign of peace.
Seemingly understanding the gesture, the man took one last look at them all, pausing briefly on Allison before backing up and disappearing from sight.
With a gasp, Vanya sprinted from sight down the stairs and the siblings all followed with confused looks. Five pointedly stayed near Thea, trying not-so-subtly to bask in her animated form.
"Something happened, didn't it?" she whispered to him when their family was distracted by the sight of Vanya helping Harlan. Five narrowed his eyes, glancing her way.
"What makes you think that?"
She smiled at him in amusement, eyes crinkling at the corners. "I notice these things, you know. Besides, you haven't let go of my hand since the Handler walked into the barn."
Five jolted at suddenly realising she was right, looking down at his own hand as though it had betrayed him. Thea giggled and didn't allow him to remove it from her hold.
"Don't," she whispered. "I could do with the support right now."
Her eyes were sad as she spoke, a complete change from a second ago and while Five didn't know the reason, he was adamant on offering any kind of comfort the girl wanted. He wasn't the best at expressing himself, but he felt like Thea understood that as she gripped his hand a little tighter.
"Thank you. I'm not sure what you did, but I can tell something bad happened. The fact that we're still here means you must have done something to save us all," she whispered softly, bringing their joined hands up to her lips to press a delicate kiss. "So, thank you."
Five had nothing to say in response and not for the first time in his life, he cursed that Thea Hargreeves remained to be his single, biggest weakness. Anything for you.
.⋅ ✯ ⋅.
Resting her head upon her brother's shoulder, Thea stared out at the scenic landscape. The twins were sat upon the steps leading up to Sissy's house, waiting for their family to sort out their individual affairs.
Thea took a deep breath before she finally broke the silence.
"Ben's gone."
Klaus didn't outwardly react other than to squeeze her hand a little tighter. "I know," he said quietly, staring out into the distance like her. "I'd kind of figured when I couldn't hear his annoying voice berating me every other second..." he trailed off, sighing softly. "Or when I couldn't get mad at him for making moon eyes at my sister."
Thea snorted softly, her eyes crinkling at the corners at that visual. "You shared a single brain cell between you."
"That's being generous," Klaus mused and it caused Thea to crack up, her laughter high as she muffled it against his shirt.
Though, he soon noticed that the shakes of her shoulders were not from laughter anymore, but from crying. The girl was attempting to muffle her sobs in the fabric of his coat but the whines slipped past.
The sound was heart-breaking and so Klaus cupped the back of her head with his hand, rubbing small circles to calm her down. He didn't say anything against her sudden tears, knowing how difficult it was to lose somebody you loved. Emotions were an overwhelming and confusing mess.
He wasn't surprised to realise that she'd suppressed her sadness in order to ensure her family's safety, he'd expect nothing less. That was just the way she was.
Now, what was best was for her to let it all out.
Acknowledging your sadness leads to a lightening of the heart. With that thought, Klaus lifted his free hand to clutch the dog-tags that always hung around his neck, bringing them up to his lips to press a kiss.
Thea had pulled back and hastily wiped her nose and ears with the sleeve of her shirt, grimacing at such bad manners. "Sorry," she muttered.
"What good's a brother if not as a snot-rag?"
"Shut up! I didn't get anything on you!"
"My drenched shoulder says otherwise."
"You're wearing black, nobody will notice," she muttered, yet she still wiped the fabric of his coat in worry. Klaus laughed, taking her hand back into his own.
"I'll miss him," he finally whispered, feeling solemn at the finality of losing his best friend.
"Me too," Thea sighed, a longing to her voice that Klaus didn't like. He let go of her hands so that he could cup her face, bringing it to face his own. He didn't allow her gaze to stray from his intent stare.
"Don't even think about leaving me, Thea. Ben wouldn't want it and I can't live without you, do you understand?"
Surprisingly, the girl laughed. It was a light, airy laughter, one mostly free of sorrow. "Klausy, I'm not going anywhere," she assured him, cupping his hands with her own. "I made a promise to look after you because you're incapable of it yourself."
Klaus' mouth opened in order to defend himself before he paused and nodded. "Fair enough."
"Besides, I've realised that I need to live my life to the fullest to respect his wish. And when we do finally meet him again, I want to have plenty of funny stories to tell him."
Just as Klaus had done before with his tags, Thea brought her wrist up to her lips, where she pressed a kiss to the tattoo that was in remembrance of her love.
"For Ben, let's create plenty of memories, okay?"
Klaus smiled, blue eyes sparkling in a mischievous way. He copied his twin and pressed a kiss to her cheek, loudly smacking his lips for comedy's sake. "I'll make sure to tell him all of your embarrassing moments, too!"
"No fair, you traitor!"
"Nuh-uh."
"Are we interrupting something?" someone asked and both twins turned as one to face the rest of their family. They blinked in unison, eyes wide like a pair of owls.
"Not at all," they said as one, before turning to each other and giggling like school-girls. "Jinx – double-jinx!" They continued to speak at the same time, experiencing the bizarreness of twin-speak.
"Alright, you pair of clowns. Wrap up the comedy act, we're ready to go home," Diego said in exasperation, though his lips were curled in amusement.
"We're going home?" the blonde asked with a wide smile. Her eyes scanned her smiling siblings before landing on Vanya. The brunette looked sheepish and could barely meet her stare. Thea had an awning realisation and murmured a soft 'ahh' as her sister's shifty behaviour all clicked into place.
When the pair walked over to join them in a small circle, Thea took a moment to whisper into her sister's ear. "I know he's gone. It's not your fault."
When it looked like she was ready to argue, Thea grabbed hold of her hand and shook her head with a sad yet understanding smile on her face. Vanya squeezed her hand in reassurance and gave a shaky smile in return.
"Everybody ready?" Five asked them all, brows furrowed in concentration as he fiddled with the briefcase in his hands.
They all nodded, ready to leave when Klaus interrupted them all as he scurried over towards the porch to pick up a discarded hat, placing it on his head and scurried back toward them all with a goofy grin on his face, posing toward his twin.
"Ready now, cowboy?" she laughed, grabbing a hold of his hand.
"Ready!"
Five sighed and rolled his eyes, and as the briefcase began to light up with energy, making a crackling sound as the light became brighter and brighter, he looked around to his siblings, each wearing a mixture of hope and anxiety as they were finally about to go home – successfully this time.
The air charged with energy so thick that it was palpable for barely a second until they were consumed within the vortex, disappearing from the farm in a blink of an eye. In fact, when Thea opened her eyes once more upon feeling solid ground beneath her feet, she saw to her delight that they were once again in the atrium of the familiar Academy.
"We did it..." Luther said with an overwhelming amount of relief. "Wait! What day is it?"
Five picked up the newspaper that was conveniently left out upon the centre table. "April 2nd, 2019. The day after the apocalypse."
"Holy shit..." Klaus trailed off and Thea finished his sentence. "...We did it?"
"Wait, so we actually stopped it?" Allison said, almost collapsing against the table in happiness.
"My god, so it's really over?" Vanya looked flush with delight at the thought of their troubles finally coming to an end.
Klaus began hugging everybody in his abject happiness and started planning out their celebratory drinks, to the eager agreement of both Allison and Vanya.
Thea followed Five into the living room, her sights set specifically on the large, plush sofa that practically screamed 'rest', wanting to faceplant the cushions and sleep the week away.
She placed her hands against Five's shoulders and leant over to grin at him, pressing a loud kiss against his cheek. "We're finally home."
Five chuckled lowly, raising a brow at her happiness. "I think this is the happiest you've been to see the Academy."
She hummed, looking around the room and recalling all the horrible memories that reminded her of their childhood. "It's not my favourite place, but right now, I'll take familiarity over comfort. Besides, it's not...all...bad..." she slowly trailed off when her eyes landed on a certain painting.
As always, Thea had moved her gaze to focus on the portrait of Five that hung above the mantlepiece, however, it was not the sight of her smug brother that greeted her, but a boy she'd only just allowed herself to grieve for.
A painfully familiar face.
Thea's heart thudded within her chest and suddenly, the room had gone deadly silent, leaving only a ringing within her ears. The rest of her family were busy pouring drinks but they all paused as Thea's strained voice rang out within the room.
"Why is there a painting of Ben here?"
All actions stopped and the rest of her siblings scurried over to crowd around her, all staring up at the foreign painting in confusion.
"I knew you'd show up eventually," a cold, clinical voice rang out within the room and as one, the Hargreeves children came face to face with their supposedly dead father.
"You're alive?" Luther whispered out and the man's bird-like eyes narrowed in on his words. "Why shouldn't I be?" he asked sharply.
Luther stuttered for a response, shakily muttering a quiet agreement. "I mean...I'm just happy we're all home...together again."
"Home?" the man asked, aghast. "This is certainly not your home."
The ringing in Thea's ears was getting progressively louder and she recognised the tell-tale dread in her stomach, her instincts were screaming out that something was horribly wrong.
"What are you talking about?" Allison said with a shaky laugh. "This is the Umbrella Academy."
"Wrong again. This is the Sparrow Academy." At his words, a collection of footsteps echoed from above and the siblings all turned to see a group of dark shadowy figures watching them from the balcony.
And then, her entire world came crashing down when a singular voice spoke from near them – so painfully close it sent shivers down her spine.
"Dad, who the hell are these assholes?"
It was Ben, so painfully similar and yet so very different, he stared at them all with narrowed eyes full of suspicion and distrust. But, the emotion that hit hardest to Thea was the blatant lack of recognition within his eyes.
Her hands gripped the sofa cushions to calm her heart before she did something stupid, like run forwards and engulf him in her arms. Even Thea, emotions so tumultuous, could tell the wrongness of the entire situation.
"Shit..." they all muttered as one, their reality finally sinking in.
It seemed like the Hargreeves curse had yet to abate and the siblings were once again victim to fate's cruel sense of humour, forced to dance within her palm for her sole entertainment.