Chapter One

We Only See Each Other and Weddings and Funerals

(Part I)

March 24, 2019, again.

If you walked by you might think she was waiting to be let in the gates with the "U" and the "A" on them, but Celeste was feeling the siblings through the walls. All of them standing so close yet so far a part. All of them except Klaus. Is he not here? Oh wait, there he is. Why did it take so long to find him? He's normally the first person-oh. That's why. She really wished he wasn't high right now, then she could telepathically ask him to come to the gate and she wouldn't have to knock and everyone know she was there at once. She seemed to be glued to the sidewalk.

Then the second most wonderful smell in the world wafts over her. Street tacos. She suddenly becomes unglued and walks over to the truck, suitcase in tow. "I'll take seven of everything, please."

Somehow Celeste manages to roll her suitcase while holding two large triple bagged bags of street tacos with both hands up to the front door. She's working out how to knock when she feels Klaus coming down the stairs. She tries calling out to him in her mind, just in case, but there's only static. Oh well, maybe she'll just kick the door. She's about to do so when she feels Klaus stop and his excitement grow. Can he feel her? Oh, no. He smells the tacos. Well, at least that helps in this case, she thinks as he opens the door.

"Tacos!" He exclaims, hands raised in there air. He glances at Celeste then does a double take as shock falls across his face. "Lest?!" He cries out, his hands covering his mouth. When she's both physically and emotionally close to people, their feelings strike her like lightening. Maybe that's too dramatic, but she imagines this is what trees would feel if they could. And like trees, there's damage after a strike, but unlike lightening, feelings strike more than once which is why she can't stay in one place for too long. It's painful to see Klaus in this state, but it's also good just to see him. "Hello, brother-brother." She says as Klaus collapses over and embraces her. His joy. Strike. She wants to hug him back but her arms are weighed down by the bags.

Vanya, Allison, Luther, and Diego all make their way into the foyer. Strike, strike, strike, and strike. "Careful, the tacos!" Celeste says as she takes the hits. Klaus releases her. "The tacos!" he cries out as he dramatically puts his hands over his cheeks.

Klaus takes a bag and makes his way into the main room. "Hey, Celeste." Diego says as he comes over and gives her a hug. She knows she's one of the few people he'll do this to, which is a shame because he gives the best hugs, and she is always honored. But like, what on earth is he wearing? She's about to ask when she feels Luther and Allison come over. Diego takes the other bag and follows Klaus. Luther picks her up and spins her around. She's always selfishly loved this because it makes her feel like she weighs less than she actually does. She feels smaller than usual in his arms though. Something has happened, maybe an accident in space? She knows it's not the time to ask. He sets her down and takes her suitcase into the main room. Allison gives her a side hug. "It's good to see you." she says. It is good. Strange and painful, but good.
"I'm sorry it's in this circumstance." Celeste says. The two of them have always been a little weary of the other's ability and they have a mutual respect for some distance. Celeste feels Vanya putting herself in the corner. Her pain. Strike. None of her own siblings greeted her, let alone like that. To be fair, none of them greeted each other like that. Except Celeste did feel Allison greet Vanya.

She embraces her best friend who always turns from stone to flesh actually very quickly once she is hugged. Like Klaus though, it's hard to get a hold of her exactly. There's always been some static. Vanya has been on medication since long before Celeste moved in next door. Celeste lets go and gives her space. They'll talk tonight. Pogo stands behind them. She could never feel his feelings but he is a life form so she can feel his presence. She turns around and smiles. He smiles back. "Will I be needing to make a room up for you, Miss Celeste?" "Oh. no, I'll be staying with Vanya. Thank you very much though, Pogo."

The sound of foil being unwrapped is heard from the main room. Celeste whips her head. "Those boys are eating all the tacos." She exclaims with urgency. The girls react immediately and rush into the main room. "Hey save some for us!" Celeste yells. "Don't you dare eat them all!" snaps Allison. "I just want at least one." Vanya says pleadingly.

First, Celeste makes a beeline towards Klaus. She takes the taco out of his hand and wedges herself between him and Vanya on the couch. She stares straight ahead at Luther. She's determined to not look at the portrait of Five staring down out them from over the mantel. No, don't think of Number Five. He's not here. They are. Then, there's some small talk about Klaus wearing Allison's skirt, breathing bits, and why Celeste is in town. She was hoping maybe one of them knew about Vanya's concert, but of course none of them do. Then there's talk about a ceremony at sunset. Celeste insists she doesn't attend, it should be just for them, like Ben's was. Oh, Ben. Celeste can't feel his influence over Klaus currently, only the whiskey and cigarette and this makes her sad for many reasons. Most importantly, there's a lot of taco consuming. Celeste looks over at the urn next to her twin. The thought runs across her mind that the body seemed to be incinerated rather quickly when Luther asks Klaus out loud if he could talk to their dad. It goes from that to everyone leaving the room upset that Luther thinks one of them killed their dad, very quickly. "I'm just going to go murder mom, be right back." Klaus says as he helps himself to one last taco and leaves.

It's just Celeste and Luther left. And Five's portrait. "Well, that went well." Luther says and looks down at his big shoes. Did his feet grow? At their age? Something definitely happened. A million things run through Celeste's mind to say. She takes a moment and sifts through them. "I don't know what it's like to lose a father so suddenly, but I do know what it's like to lose a father and for that I'm sorry." He looks up at her and doesn't say anything, they all know they don't need to say anything around her. She gets up and puts a hand on his shoulder. That is not a human shoulder she's touching under that big coat. "And I'm sorry for whatever happened to you." She leaves the main room before she feels things he doesn't want her to. That's something she has had to learn to do. As she leaves, she feels Five's portrait watching her go. No that's silly, she thinks to herself. Those are your feelings. It's just paint.

It was the first time she felt death and it stung and lingered like a bee sting. They were on kill three, no four, now. Four bee stings in a row and those were people she had no attachment to. What if one of the siblings got hurt or worse? She shook the thought from her head. It was too late, she had already talked Sir Reginald Hargreeves and her own father into letting her be a scout from afar and act as a secret radio with Klaus. Sir Reginald wanted them all focused for their first mission so they agreed not to tell Five. Celeste mainly wanted to make sure Klaus was okay and had something to do. If he didn't preform well, The Monocle would isolate him again in a crypt and the thought tore at her.

"Alright, are there others? Any hostages hurt?" Klaus asked from inside her head.

Celeste leaned a little over the roof's ledge they were on and closed her eyes. She wanted to get as close to the bank as she possible, she couldn't mess up the first mission.

"The hostages are fine. Just scared. But more men have entered in through the back, they're in the vault." She thought in both her mind and her twin's at the same time.

"Got it. Can we let the hostages go?" Klaus thought back.

Celeste looked across Vanya to Sir Reginald and said out loud, "There's more men in the vault, but the main floor is clear. Can they release the hostages?"

Sir Reginald lowered his telescope.

"Yes. Though, the numbers are all to stay inside and take care of the rest."

The numbers. You mean your children? Celeste fought the urge to quip back. Instead she nodded and silently relayed the message to Klaus.

Celeste looked over to Vanya, who felt like stone. Vanya was wearing the one wearing an Umbrella Academy jacket, Celeste just wore a generic purple one, but who was actually contributing? Celeste felt terrible. Then-

"Um, Lest?" Klaus voice rang in her head. Celeste snapped her head toward the bank.

"Yes?"

"Five knows."

"How?" She yelled into his brain.

"He's asking me how I know to let the hostages go and about the men in the vault. I said there's a ghost, but I guess I'm using too much amazing detail because he doesn't believe-shit!"

She felt Five's frustration and could basically feel him pin Klaus against the wall demanding to know where she was.

"Just tell him I'm far away and take care of the vault!"

"Oh, that would have been good, but I already told him the roof across the street."

She could feel where he's going to be exactly two seconds before he blinked in, they've timed it. She knew this would be the highest point he's tried to blink to and accuracy was crucial. Two-she felt him on the ledge and moved three steps to the left-one-BLINK. There he was. She instantly pulled him down to her before his sudden force pushed him off the ledge.

"Number Five, get back immediately!" snapped Sir Reginald as Celeste felt the relief of the hostages leaving the bank below.

Five didn't take his eyes off Celeste, which took a second to adjust to as they were covered by a mask.

"We agreed you wouldn't accompany until you had combat train-"

"-and I am not accompanying I'm scouting from afar." She pointed out.

"Number Five," The Monocle said in his tone that turned blood into ice, "you are to never, under any circumstances, leave your siblings in the middle of a mission."

Five lowered his head and put his hands in his pockets. The air was ripe with unease. Five turned his head toward The Monocle and she could feel his anger rise. Celeste decided to cut it off.

"We both decided not to tell you and you're proving us right." She stared down Five, right through the white eyes of his mask.

Sir Reginald looked back and forth between them.

"Does it hurt you?" Five asked. Celeste searched him.

"Death?"

He nodded.

"Not as much as I thought it would." Which was true.

"Your recital is tonight."

"Call time is not till three." She lifted up her wrist and pointed to the watch he got her for the holidays. Five smiled.

"I will not ask you again, Number Five." Sir Reginald said entirely too calmly. It was terrifying. Celeste felt across to the bank and could feel Ben's uneasiness.

"Ben needs encouraging." Celeste stoked.

"She's okay, Five." Vanya assured him

Five nodded to Vanya and blinked away.

The three of them stood there in silence. She tried to feel Sir Reginald, but as always, there was nothing. Sometimes she could feel Pogo more than she could feel him. She could tell though, and it had nothing to do with her abilities, that she would not be back on a mission anytime soon.

She felt Ben in the vault. Sting, sting, sting, sting, sting, sting. And Ben's pain. Strike.

"Why can't I go play with the others?" Vanya asked out loud.

Play? Double strike.

"We've been over this before, Number Seven. I'm afraid there's just nothing special about you." Sir Reginald said through his telescope.

"Oh." Vanya deflated out.

Celeste was just considering Sir Reginald's words when Klaus tuned back in her head.

"Alright, anymore? Ben wants to know if we can go home now."

She leaned over the ledge. No others, Ben did it. Poor Ben.

She looked over to Sir Reginald. "Ben took care of the vault. They want to know if they can leave."

He put away his telescope.

"They are to come out the front door and line up in numerical order on the top step and not say a word. I'll meet them there. You two stay here."

He made his way to the stairs as Celeste relayed the message to Klaus.

Chapter One

We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals

(Part II)

It's still March 24, 2019

((*Author's note* My goal is to do one chapter per episode, BUT there's so much get through in the first one! I still have to cover the dance sequence and of course, Five's return. It felt like it would be too much for one chapter. I'm new to fan fiction, shorter chapters are ideal right? (There's so much to fun stuff to read so little time!) Is it dragging? Should I pick up the pace as I go along?))