17 years ago
"Nietzsche once said, 'Man is as a rope, stretched between the animal and the superhuman. A rope over an abyss. It is a dangerous crossing, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and haltering."
Sir Reginald Hargreeves stood at the top of the stairs with his book in hand, Vanya standing beside him, a whistle around her neck as they both stared down the winding staircase.
Thea, Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five and Ben all stood below at the bottom of the stairs, looking up. They were wearing their training outfits; matching green tracksuits.
Vanya blew the whistle, signalling the beginning of the race and all the children below began running.
Luther was at the front immediately, forcefully pushing his way past Diego and Allison. Five was next, whilst Klaus, Thea and Ben hung at the back.
"As much as you must strive for individual greatness, and strive you must, for it won't come to you of its own accord...you must also remember that there is no individual stronger than the collective."
Diego had briefly managed to push ahead to first place, Luther and Allison hot on his heels. Five soon became fed-up with his position and spatial jumped to the next set of stairs, putting himself in first place.
"That's not fair, Five's cheating!" Diego shouted indignantly.
"He adapted," Hargreeves drawled.
Thea heard her fathers reply and narrowed her eyes, a sly smirk quirking the corner of her lips. So they were allowed to cheat? That was basically permission, right? Well then, don't leave me out...
All at once, everybody but Thea had stopped moving, frozen in their place. A triumphant grin spread across her face as she ran past them all, smirking at their startled expressions.
Luther, Diego and Allison all yelled their protests while Five's eyes narrowed in frustration, realising she was only doing the same as he had.
"Should have spatial jumped to the finish line. Thanks for the idea, by the way." She sent him a smug grin and winked as she passed him by, her feet jumping the steps two at a time.
Once she'd completely passed Five and subsequently secured first place, Thea glanced back at the others before smirking devilishly, an idea in mind. The frozen Hargreeves children heard exclaims of surprise from both Klaus and Ben as they were now able to move again. Thea looked back at them both, grinning widely.
"You gonna move, or what?"
They both looked up at her in surprise and began to run again, taking advantage of their easy win. Thea ran all the way to the top before turning to Vanya and smirking.
"Did I win?"
Vanya nodded with a wide smile on her face. Thea glanced at her father for his reaction and saw that within his normally stoic, cold eyes was a glint fo amusement.
Thea heard the footsteps signalling Klaus and Ben's arrival, placing second and third respectively. She peeked down at her other siblings, who remained frozen down below, grumbling their annoyances. With a quick thought, she had them all released and watched as they all began racing again.
Five, learning his lesson had spatial jumped straight to the top, placing fourth. His brows were furrowed in frustration but Thea could tell he wasn't truly angry, just more upset for being outsmarted.
The other three finally made it to the top some seconds after, panting and out of breath.
"So not fair..." Diego muttered sourly.
Thea shrugged casually, no guilt in her tone whatsoever. "How was I supposed to know we could use our powers? Thank Five for the idea."
Five's eyes narrowed further while Hargreeves coughed, gaining their attention.
"Indeed, Number Zero. Though may I inquire as to why exactly you let Number Four and Number Six free also?" he asked shrewdly, his beady eyes trained upon her.
Thea wore a sheepish look on her face, scratching her cheek and pursing her lips, trying to seem innocent.
"Practice?" she mused.
"And the fact that it just so happened to be those two in particular?" Hargreeves pushed, an eyebrow raised acutely.
Thea's eyes sparkled mischievously, a small smirk tugging at her lips.
"I must just have great luck."
"The ties that bind you together, make you stronger than you are alone."
Thea's eyes narrowed dangerously at the tattoo artist as he worked, carefully inking the Umbrella Academy insignia onto Klaus' arm.
Allison and Luther stood behind her, having had their tattoos done already. Thea could see them both holding hands behind their backs, comforting one another through the discomfort. Allison was teary-eyed and even Luther was biting his lip to keep his tears at bay.
The stinging from the tattoo had remained even after the deed was done, and Thea's jaw clenched as another throb assaulted her arm, the skin around the ink flushed.
Klaus let out another whimper and Thea's glare heightened; the intensity threatening to set the man aflame. The tattooist was visibly uncomfortable with the girl's glare; one that was much too intimidating for such a small child.
Finally, the tattoo was done and Klaus gave Thea a significant look. It's okay. It said. I'll be fine, go wait with the others.
She squeezed his hand in response and walked over to sit between Five and Ben. She'd already had her tattoo done but wanted to support her siblings that hadn't yet. Diego was now in the chair, Grace trying to comfort him by holding his hand, but the stubborn boy wouldn't have any of it and instead grimaced as the needle began.
"They will make you impervious to the pain and hardship the world will thrust upon you."
Five's brows were furrowed deeply as he watched Diego squirm in the chair, while Ben was shaking in fear. Thea glanced over to their father, seeing that he wasn't even looking their way and was instead writing something down in his book.
She subtly took Ben's hand in her own, doing the same with Five on the opposite side. She gave them both squeezes, trying to assure them without words that everything would be okay. Ben's shaking lessened and he sent her a shy smile, Thea smiling back. Five squeezed her hand back; his own way of showing his gratitude.
"And believe me when I tell you, life will be hard. It will be painful."
Vanya, who stood hidden upon the staircase, watched as the rest of her siblings got matching tattoos. She had been left out, again. This time, she wasn't sure whether to be thankful or not, seeing their pained expressions.
Vanya wanted to be a part of the team more than anything; to be included, for once. Nodding resolutely, she took out a permanent marker and began to carefully draw the umbrella insignia onto her inner wrist, a sad smile on her face as she did so.
"We can accomplish anything when we accept responsibility together. This is what creates trust. Together, you will stand against the rein of evil."
End of flashback
Thea was currently sat in the kitchen, her head was on Klaus' lap and her feet propped up on the opposite chair. She was wearing a pair of large, pastel blue headphones and wore a distant expression; her eyes glossed over.
Klaus' hand was running through her long hair, sending calming vibes throughout her whole body and he hummed quietly as he watched Five rummage through the kitchen cupboards.
The sound of Allison's heels clicking against the tiled floor announced her arrival. "Where's Vanya?" she asked.
"Oh, she's gone," Klaus replied, his tone light.
"That's unfortunate," Five began.
"Yeah," Allison agreed, thinking he was speaking of Vanya.
"-an entire square block. Forty-two bedrooms, nineteen bathrooms but no, not a single drop of coffee." Five finished, uncaring of their previous conversation and instead focused on the distinct lack of caffeine in the building.
Alison shrugged, rolling her eyes at his irked tone. "Dad hated coffee."
Klaus chuckled dryly, "Well he hated children, too, and he had plenty of us."
Allison and Five cringed at his blunt comment, knowing he spoke the truth. Five glanced at Thea, his gaze lingering on her blank expression and lazy form that was draped across her twin. She didn't acknowledge any of them, her gaze focused on the far wall, distant.
Five quickly turned away and instead adopted a bored expression. "I'm taking the car," he announced.
"Where are you going?" Klaus asked, his eyebrows raised in interest.
"To get a decent cup of coffee."
"Do you even know how to drive?" Allison asked sceptically.
"I know how to do everything," Five replied with narrowed eyes.
He briefly glanced at Thea again and then without as much as a goodbye, spatial jumped away. Allison and Klaus heard the car starting from outside and shared a bemused look.
"I feel like we should try and stop him, but then again, I also just kinda want to see what happens..." Klaus mused with an impish grin.
Diego strode into the kitchen seconds later, his full gear on and a bag slung over his shoulder. "All right, I guess I'll see you guys in, what, ten years? When Pogo dies?"
"Not if you die first," Allison snarked back.
"Yeah, love you too sis. Good luck with your next film. Let's hope it turns out better than your marriage, huh?" He picked up some food from the table and took a bite, condescendingly.
Allison pulled a spiteful face at his smug expression before glancing toward their unresponsive sister. Diego followed her gaze, his eyebrows creasing in worry. Klaus could feel the tension in the room and lightly tapped Thea on her shoulder, arousing her from her dream-like state.
She blinked slowly, taking in their forms. "Where's Five?" she asked worriedly, eyes searching for her missing brother.
"He's gone somewhere to get coffee," Allison replied softly, her eyes sympathetic. "Hey sis, want to come upstairs with me? Have some girl bonding like old times?"
Thea looked up at her sister and could see her hopeful expression. She hummed and nodded slowly. "Okay...yeah. That does sound pretty good right now."
She jumped off of Klaus' lap, giving his head a quick kiss. They whispered a quiet 'see you later' to each other before Thea followed Allison out of the kitchen.
She could briefly still hear Klaus talking to Diego inside the kitchen, his voice pitched up to become as irritating as possible.
"A-are we leaving?"
"No. I'm leaving, me by myself."
"Oh, fabulous! I'll get my things." Klaus declared loudly, clapping his hands together.
Thea heard Diego's grumbling and let out an amused huff as she continued following after Allison up the grand staircase.
Don't just invite yourself places, Klausy.