Klaus and Thea sat side by side in their shared room on Klaus' bed. Their Father had tried getting them to sleep in separate rooms and had at one point even forbid them from sharing. But when Klaus' nightmares got worse, and his screaming started affecting the others in the house too, he decided to just let the twins share; anything to let the children sleep and be in top shape for their next mission.
Thea didn't mind, she'd never really wanted an overly girly room like Allison, anyway. If anyone else were to look into their room, they'd probably find the contrasting colours pretty funny. Whilst Klaus' side mainly consisted of dark colours and his wall was adorned with posters and tapestries, hers was a stark white only decorated by a few choice photographs and fairy lights. The room looked like the embodiment of yin and yang, but Thea liked it. She felt it reflected them perfectly.
Not that Klaus was the darkness in her life, as a matter of fact, he was her only light. However, she felt that both the contrast and the fact that one wasn't complete without the other, described them better than she ever could.
"Lost in thought again?" Klaus asked. Thea blinked a few times to come back from her thoughts. She did that a lot - always thinking too much - she guessed it was a remnant of her powers.
"Just thinking. This room brings back memories, don't you think?"
"Memories, sure. Memories like walking into my own room and seeing my sister making out with my best friend?" he asked sarcastically. Thea blushed.
"I mean, it is my room too..." she mumbled.
Klaus continued on like he hadn't heard her, waving his hand around dramatically. "Or better yet, what about that time I opened the door and you two were-"
"Alright, I get it!" Thea exclaimed, bright red. "No need to bring up those memories. Don't you have any good ones?"
"Hmm, well the time you did that makeover was pretty funny, although Dad didn't seem to think so." He huffed out of laugh.
Thea could remember that day. She'd been wondering what to wear as their Father had allowed them a rare day off to go outside the academy - though it was more for training purposes than for fun - and she'd wanted to impress Ben.
Klaus had gotten sick of her whining over choosing an outfit and had grabbed all her clothes but one dress and declared that she just had to wear that one. He'd then proceeded to put on her long black skirt and prance around the room declaring that 'It doesn't matter what you wear, my dear, you'll never look as dashing as moi.'
They'd both burst out laughing at his comment before their Father had interrupted them sternly. 'There is no time for playing around, Number 0, Number 4. Stop this foolishness at once.' He'd then taken one look at Klaus in Thea's skirt and walked out.
Thea huffed. "Don't think I never realised that most of my skirts never made it back into my wardrobe," she told him.
"I look better in them anyway." Klaus said, mirroring his comments that day and sticking his tongue out childishly.
Thea smiled at her brother fondly, "You're probably right." The two laughed at that.
"So what exactly did the others say when Luther accused us of murder?" she asked. She'd been so deep in her thoughts that she'd missed everyone walking out.
Klaus leaned back onto the bed and sighed. "Hmm, well Vanya seemed hurt that he'd even thought it. Allison pretty much stormed out after giving him a glare, and Diego was pissed off but pretty smug."
"Not much surprise there, then."
The whole house knew of Luther and Diego's constant fight for dominance. Thea just thought it was a stupid battle over a useless title. "They're both idiots, honestly. Who gives a shit about how he died?"
Thea probably sounded cold, but she honestly didn't really care Hargreeves was dead. Didn't mean she'd killed him though.
Klaus seemed to be in thought and Thea nudged him, "What's up?"
"Maybe I should try contacting him...I mean, it can't be that hard, can it? It's what I do," he finished bitterly.
Thea didn't want her brother having any contact with the bastard, but she could see the benefits in trying. Not for Luther's stupid investigation but for Klaus' self-esteem. He often forgot just how powerful an ability he had and felt it was 'useless' compared to everyone else's.
Thea disagreed. She understood where her brothers fear of his power came from; seeing the dead everywhere and hearing their tales must be horrible. But she couldn't help that nagging jealousy that lived in the deep recesses of her mind that whispered the benefits of being able to contact the dead.
I'd be able to see him every day. Talk to him. Ask him if he's okay.
Thea shrugged to his question. "If you want to. You know I'll support you either way."
Klaus smiled at her before bringing his hands up to the sides of her face and kissing her forehead. "Thanks, sis."
He jumped up from the bed before stretching his arms above his head and grinning at Thea. "Well then, let's get going. Time to speak to dear old daddy-o."
Thea sat at the bar sipping a glass of whisky, bored out of her mind. Klaus was across from her talking to their Fathers urn that sat on the bar table, trying - and failing - to contact him.
"-to communicate with the dead, I might think about, I don't know, I don't know...manifesting!" Klaus said making a wide-armed gesture.
Thea continued to watch on in part amusement as he animatedly put his hands on his hips imitating an angry parent. "Do the big whole angry ghost lecture."
He raised his hands in a mock prayer "tell everyone who done it and find eternal peace."
Thea snorted. Eternal peace. If that old bastard gets eternal peace, then karma really is fucked up.
Klaus sighed in frustration before rubbing his face in agitation. "Just need to sober up."
"Being sober is overrated," Thea commented, lifting her drink up in a salute.
Klaus seemed to agree as he leaned forward against the bar top. "Yeah...god, I need a drink."
He reached over to the glasses by Thea before accidentally knocking over Hargreeves' urn, the ashes spilling all over the bar.
Klaus choked before putting his hands up to his mouth in horror while Thea just stared in shock. She looked over at her brother and as he looked back they both couldn't help but burst out into hysterical laughter.
"I don't know whether to feel bad or find it hilariously fitting," she muttered.
She looked down at her drink and then at her Father's ashes before knocking it back in one go. "Forget alcohol, what I need right now is something more..." she trailed off and looked to her brother "-compelling."
Klaus grinned at Thea and showed her two joints he had kept from before. Thea grinned back.
The twins were tangled up with one another atop the kitchen table, high and giggling when they heard the music coming from upstairs.
"Children behave. That's what they say when we're together."
Thea rolled her eyes. Luther. Of course that doof would think that apologising for accusing them of murdering their own father would be to play a song he knew they all liked.
"And watch how you play. They don't understand and so we're running just as fast as we can."
Thea felt Klaus shift beside her before looking up at the ceiling. He turned towards her with an eyebrow raised and she shrugged in amusement.
"Holdin' on to one another's hand."
Klaus gripped Thea's hand and pulled her up and off the table.
"Tryin' to get away into the night, and then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say-"
Klaus began spinning her around and she let out a laugh before joining in and twirling into his arm.
"I think we're alone now. There doesn't seem to be anyone around."
The two continued to dance together. They had big grins on their faces as they mock waltzed around the kitchen. They were having way too much fun.
"I think we're alone now. The beating of our hearts is the only sound."
Klaus stood on the table and pointed towards Thea who stood below him. He began mock serenading her. Thea threw her head back and laughed at Klaus' dramatics.
"Look at the way, we gotta hide what we're doin'. Cause what would they say, if they ever knew and so we're running just as fast as we can. Holdin' onto one another's hand. Tryin' to get away into the night and then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say 'I think we're alone now. There doesn't seem to be anyone around..."
They continued to dance, unaware of the rest of their siblings doing the exact same thing all over the house. Thea was about to jump up onto the table to join Klaus when lightning struck, and the music stopped. The lights went out, blanketing them in darkness.
Thea looked around in confusion before a knife went flying past her head, barely missing by an inch.
Klaus caught their fathers urn before it flew off the table. "Daddy?" he asked in a high pitch voice.
They both looked at each other before running outside to see what the hell was going on.
Thea got outside before Klaus and when she looked up, she could see a giant mass of blue energy that was fluctuating. She was about to ask what was going on when her brother ran past her with a fire extinguisher in hand.
"Out of the way!" he ran up to the blue energy and tried spraying it before getting annoyed and throwing it in. The portal seemed to just absorb the extinguisher and Thea ran forward to grab Klaus, dragging him back to safety.
"What the hell are you doing? It could be dangerous, idiot!"
"What is that gonna do!?" Allison shouted in frustration.
Klaus shrugged. "I don't know. Do you have a better idea?"
The mass of energy crackled and got bigger. Luther stepped in front of them, his arms raised either side. "Whoa, woah, woah. Everyone get behind me."
Diego butted in, "Yeah get behind us."
Thea would have rolled her eyes at them, but she was too busy looking at the volatile swirling of energy above them.
"I vote for running, c'mon." Klaus shouted as he took a hold of Thea's hand and tried tugging her away.
She put a hand on his chest and looked closer at the anomaly, where she could see the barest outline of a person inside it. What the hell-
The thunder cracked even louder and then stopped completely as a figure fell out and onto the floor. The blue energy disappeared completely, leaving only the figure of a small boy laying on the ground below.
They all cautiously stepped closer as one to get a better look. The small boy lifted himself up and looked at them all. Thea felt frozen as her eyes widened in shock.
She glanced around at her siblings to see them all in a similar state. Luther and Diego's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion whilst Allison and Vanya were as astonished as herself. Klaus spoke from the back of the group.
"Does anyone else see little Number 5 or is that just me?" He turned to look at his twin for confirmation, but she was too busy staring at the boy in front of them.
Five Hargreeves. He stood there looking at them in confusion before he glanced down at the baggy suit that swamped his petite figure. He looked back up at them and swore.
"Shit."
Five set the breadboard down while the rest of the family sat around the kitchen table, watching him. "What's the date? The exact date." He asked nonchalantly as he looked inside the fridge.
Thea answered before anyone else could. "March 24th." Five looked up at her answer. Thea couldn't pinpoint the emotion in his eyes before he looked back down at his hands.
"Good." Five began making his sandwich as Luther cut in.
"So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?" Five ignored him and continued with what he was doing. Luther stood up, towering over Five. "It's been 17 years."
Five scoffed, "It's been a lot longer than that."
He spatial jumped through Luther over to the kitchen cupboard.
"I haven't missed that," Luther muttered.
"Where'd you go?" Diego asked.
"The future. It's shit by the way." Five replied, jumping back in front of them again.
Klaus' arm shot up. "Called it!" he looked around for recognition and Thea smiled at him fondly.
"I should've listened to the old man. Y'know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice." He continued making his sandwich but looked up at Klaus. "Nice dress."
Klaus was pleased and thanked him with a flourish, "Oh, well, Danke."
Vanya finally spoke up from her position at the side of the table. "Wait, how did you get back?"
"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time." Five explained.
Thea looked around at her siblings and burst out laughing at their confused faces. They all looked to her, including Five and she put up her hands in mock surrender. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But your faces were hilarious." She mocked their confused expressions.
Diego didn't seem to find it funny. "That makes no sense," he said to Five.
"Well, it would if you were smarter," Five shot back.
That just set Thea off again. She had to cover her mouth to stop the giggles at Diego's affronted expression. Diego shot up and Luther held him back.
"How long were you there?" he asked.
"Forty-five years. Give or take." Five replied and Luther sat down in shock.
Everyone looked at Five in bewilderment, but Thea just felt pity. Five noticed as he made eye contact with her before looking away. Luther carried on, "What are you saying? That you're 58?"
"No, my consciousness is 58. Apparently, my body is now 13 again." With that said he took a bite out of the peanut butter-marshmallow sandwich he'd been making.
Thea smiled at that. It seemed that even as an old man he kept his childish appetite.
Vanya couldn't wrap her head around what Five was saying as her brows furrowed. "Wait, how does that even work?"
Five took a step away from the table. "Delores kept saying the equations were off. Eh." He took another bite. "Bet she's laughing now."
His comment only confused the group more. "Delores?" Vanya asked.
Five ignored her and instead picked up the newspaper from the table. "Guess I missed the funeral," he hummed.
"How'd you know about that?" Luther shot back.
Thea couldn't stop her eye roll this time. "God Luther, stop being so suspicious. What part of coming from the future don't you understand?" she asked sarcastically.
Luther huffed and Five continued, "Heart failure huh?"
"Yeah." "No." Luther and Diego answered at the same time.
Everybody rolled their eyes at the childish display and Thea huffed in amusement, leaning against Klaus who sat in front of her, her head on his shoulder.
Five didn't seem to care and clicked his tongue in annoyance. "See nothing's changed," he said as he walked away.
Allison turned to follow him. "Uh, that's it? That's all you have to say?" she questioned.
"What else is there to say? The circle of life," Five dismissed as he walked out of the room.
The rest of the siblings were left in silence at his abrupt departure. Luther huffed, "Well. That was interesting."
Thea decided to sit in the living room to rest for a while before they had the memorial. Her head was beginning to ache as she came down from her high and sobered up. She lay on the sofa with her arm thrown over her eyes, blocking out the light.
She could feel a constant humming in the back of her mind that signalled the returning of her powers. Thea could control her power, and the mind-reading aspect was something she could be selective about using.
However, just because she didn't hear someone's every thought, if they felt anything strongly - like fear or surprise - the voices in their head were almost shouted out to her. It seemed that no matter how well she controlled it, some thoughts and feelings were broadcasted loud and clear.
She hated the constant humming when she was around others. It was the replacement for the voices in her mind, as the noise indicated someone was near and thinking, but their thoughts were muffled and just left behind a humming.
A humming that drove Thea bat shit insane.
"Are you okay?" a soft voice asked.
Thea opened her eyes to see her sister stood over her, looking concerned. She hummed in confirmation. "Just a headache. I need another drink."
Vanya was concerned. "I don't think that's the best idea. C-can I do anything to help?"
Thea could hear the hope in Vanya's voice loud and clear. Even after all these years, you're still clinging to that need for approval, Vanya? Thea loved her sister, she really did, but she never agreed with her constant need for validation.
Why bother? Who gives a shit what anyone thinks but you? You're the one that's got to live with yourself, nobody else. Thea didn't agree but that didn't mean she didn't understand. Out of all the children in the Umbrella Academy, it could be argued that Reginald Hargreeves fucked up Vanya Hargreeves the most.
"Nah, I'm good. Just need to see it through. Thea looked up at Vanya and gave her a small smile, "But thanks, sis. It's nice to know you care."
Vanya smiled back and gave a small nod. She walked up to the fireplace where the portrait of Number Five hung proudly. Thea was about to close her eyes again when another voice got her attention. "Nice to know Dad didn't forget me."
Five walked in and stood next to Vanya, looking up at his portrait. He gave Thea a glance before looking back at Vanya.
"Read your book, by the way. Found it in a library that was still standing." Five walked past Thea on the sofa, his hands in his pockets. "Thought it was pretty good, all things considered."
Vanya only looked on, staying quiet. "Yeah, definitely ballsy, giving up the family secrets." Five took a step closer and snuck a fleeting glance at Thea. "Sure that went over well."
Vanya glanced at Thea too. "They hate me," she admitted.
Thea snorted in amusement, causing Five and Vanya to turn towards her. Thea's eyes were still closed against the harsh light but she decided to speak her mind.
"I'm pretty sure they don't hate you. Though maybe Diego..." she hummed. "But you're our sister, and honestly if I was in your situation I probably would have done the same thing," she admitted.
Vanya looked shocked while Five simply raised a brow in question. Thea opened her eyes to look at them both.
"I mean, why not, right? Siblings argue all the time, and yeah, you probably could have been a little nicer in how you depicted us, but I'd say most of us had it coming." She ignored their surprised looks and met eyes with Vanya.
"Although you could have gone without calling my brother an 'attention-seeking boy who refuses to use his macabre powers to the best of his abilities.'" Thea narrowed her eyes and leaned forward a little. "I don't give a shit what you said about me, and honestly the rest probably deserved what you wrote, but mentioning Klaus' powers like that was uncalled for," she muttered darkly.
Vanya looked down, ashamed. Thea knew her sister wrote the book at a time of anger and loneliness and understood that a lot of what was written were words of spite and envy at a time when Vanya was just hurt and confused. However, that didn't excuse the hurtful things she'd said about Klaus' powers. Powers he didn't even want.
Sensing the awkward mood she'd created, Thea clicked her tongue before falling back against the sofa in a dramatic huff.
"But who cares about that shit anymore, right? Dad's dead, this guy" she pointed at Five, "-decided to come back, and I hear we're having cucumber sandwiches after the memorial. Happy days," Thea grinned lazily.
Five was amused at her rambling, though there was a glint of something else in his eyes that Thea was honestly too tired to even work out right now. Vanya cleared her throat before nodding, a small smile adorning her face.
Five hummed, "Well, there are worse things that can happen."
Vanya spoke without thinking of who exactly was sat in the room. "You mean like what happened to Ben?"
Thea froze, her previously calm demeanour shattered. Her fingernails dug into her palms at the reminder of the one person she missed most in the world. Her eyes started watering and her throat felt tight.
Vanya and Five didn't seem to notice. "Was it bad?" he asked.
Thea didn't hear Vanya's reply as she shot up from her place on the sofa, landing on shaky legs. Five and Vanya seemed to realise with a start that she was still there, and their eyes widened in regret.
Thea gave a false cheery grin, but both siblings could see the wetness in her eyes. "What's with all this sad talk, eh? If you're just going to be saps, then I'm off to find Klaus."
She waved her hand with false bravado, "Cheerio!"
Both figures left in the living room watched as Thea sauntered off outside, a slight tremble in her steps. Vanya looked down in guilt and shame, while Five clenched his jaw as he watched his sister leave in pain.