The First Mission
It was more than a year earlier than Reginald Hargreeves had intended to introduce the Umbrella Academy to the world and send them on their first official mission— September 9th, 2001, to be precise— but this was too big an event not to intervene in. Was it too big for six 11-year-olds to prevent? Ordinarily, the answer would definitely be yes, but the Umbrella Academy did not consist of average schoolchildren.
It was a long drive— Reginald had insisted on taking the car, for some reason— but he put every second of the journey to good use; drilling the children on what they were to do upon reaching their destination: Find a man— Reginald forced the children to memorize every curve of his face— and capture him. They weren't to seriously harm him unless "things went sideways". Reginald refused to tell them what this man was guilty of, only saying that he was a danger to the country.
Number Two dared to ask why Reginald didn't simply call the local law enforcement to take care of this man, but was ignored; leaving the children to make their own guesses. Perhaps it was because the government wouldn't take their father's warning seriously. Maybe he didn't want to be held accountable if the tip he'd been given was false— Reginald had an intricate network of informants, but even they could make mistakes, right?
More likely, their father didn't want to let the professionals handle this was because he wanted the glory for himself. Assuming that the children succeeded.
Number Three, in particular, was to play an important role on this mission: The baddie that they were after wouldn't give in without persuasion. That was where Three came in: I heard a rumor that you came with us and didn't put up a fight. It was a longer statement than Three was used to delivering with her power, so she practiced hard to make sure it would count.
Upon reaching the motel, the six Hargreeves siblings split up: Number One went with Number Three, Number Two was partnered with Number Six, and Number Four was working with Number Five. The teams went in different directions to cover as much ground as quickly as possible. Their father waited in the car.
The air smelled of cigarette smoke, and the sky was dark and menacing. One and Three told each other jokes as they walked along and tried to forget that they were afraid. There wasn't any need for them to whisper, but they did anyway.
"What did one volcano say to the other?" Number One hadn't even gotten to the punchline of his joke yet, but he looked immensely proud of himself. "I lava you!"
"That is the dumbest thing I ever heard," Number Three told him, though she was giggling. She appreciated his efforts to brighten her spirits. Three was glad that Dad had partnered them up for this mission; One was her favorite sibling.
After making another lap around the motel and passing the other teams, One sighed and said, "We still haven't found the guy we're looking for. We'll have to start knocking on random doors." When he saw his sister's grimace, he tried to cheer her up: "Knock knock."
Three smiled reluctantly. "Who's there?" But she'd never hear the answer.
A door closed loudly behind the two children, and they spun around to be confronted by an extremely tall bald man in a crisp navy-blue suit.
He didn't look anything like the man One and Three were searching for, but he was pointing a gun at them, and was looking to be much more dangerous to them than their target.
One rushed to disarm the man, but Three knew that he couldn't get there in time. "I heard a rumor that you decided not to kill us!" She shrieked. Reginald would have scolded her for this— There were more efficient ways for her to have utilized her ability- but this was the first thing that had popped into her head, and there wasn't any time to mull it over.
The man in the suit frowned, fighting the rumor with every inch of his being, but settled for hitting Number One over the head with his gun rather than firing it.
One crumpled to the ground.
Number Three surged forward, ready to fight for her brother, but received the same treatment as Number One.
The two siblings woke up at the same time and found that they were tied up tightly with a cord, back-to-back, in a dimly lit motel room.
To their left, their four other siblings were tied up, as well; conscious and terrified.
Number Four caught Number Three's eye. "Who is this guy?" He mouthed.
Three tried to answer him, but realized that, unlike her brothers, there was duct tape over her mouth. She gathered that the bald man had realized her power.
Number One started struggling against his bonds. Relief washed over Three; With One's level-headedness and super strength, they'd surely escape in no time.
Unfortunately, the man in the blue suit must have been thinking the same thing— he'd been watching the children from the opposite side of the room, but now he strode over to One and casually knocked him out, again.
One's head lolled to the side and he slumped against Three.
The other boys all gasped.
The childrens' kidnapper returned to where he'd been standing, over by the window. He peered out through the curtains, perhaps watching for Reginald.
Three wondered if her father even realized that they'd been captured. What time was it, anyway? She craned her neck to check her watch, but it was no longer on her wrist. A quick look around revealed that it had been tossed on the motel room's bed, along with her siblings' watches.
Each watch had an emergency button on it, but if none of the children had theirs, that meant that they couldn't contact their father, which was not good.
Everyone was silent for what felt like hours, except for Five, who grunted from time to time; trying to perform a spacial jump, undoubtedly. Although he had been practicing, he hadn't ever succeeded under any real pressure before, and he wasn't having any luck now, either.
It occurred to Three that it was up to her to get them out of this situation. She started licking the duct tape covering her mouth, trying to make it less sticky so that it would fall off.
Suddenly, a bright blue flash lit up the room and momentarily blinded the children.
When Number Three's vision cleared, she was astonished to observe that a new person, a woman, was in the room. She had grey hair piled on top of her head and an aged face covered in vibrant makeup. But it was her black silk dress that caught Three's attention: The entire skirt was covered with embroidered golden butterflies that almost looked real. She was undoubtedly the most elegant person Three had ever laid eyes on.
Two murmured, "Who the heck..?"
"Well, Biff? Which one?" The woman asked. Her voice was melodic but packed with authority.
The man, Biff, lowered his head respectfully. "The girl."
The woman strode over to the children, her cherry red stilettos clicking on the floor. She halted in front of Number Three and looked her up and down.
Number Three made sure to give the woman her steeliest glare, but the woman looked delighted. "Oh, I like her! If she's as talented as you say she is, you were certainly right to call me, Biff. Yes, I'll take her off your hands. She'll get along nicely with Lila." She clapped her hands together. Her fingernails were painted gold and perfectly matched the butterflies on her dress.
Three made eye contact with Five, who looked deeply alarmed. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying harder than ever to blink out of his bonds. Still no success, however.
Number Six started to tear up.
"It's gonna be okay, guys," Four said soothingly, though he looked just as panicked as his siblings.
Three dug her elbows into One's back, trying to wake him up, but he didn't stir.
"What about the others?" Biff inquired.
The woman surveyed the children, considering the question. "I have a feeling that the girl won't cooperate if we kill her family. Let the man who calls himself their father come and fetch them, but keep them here in the meantime." Her mouth stretched into a smile, as though she were being generous. "As for the man that they've come to intercept, tip him off immediately and make sure he gets away unharmed, so that the timeline isn't disturbed. He's involved in something momentous that happens two days from now, you know."
Biff nodded solemnly. "Of course."
Before Three could even begin to figure out what all of this meant, the woman pulled out a gun from the folds of her dress and hit Three over the head with it— The running theme for the day, evidently.
Darkness fell.