Okay wow wow wow this story has blown up faster than anything I've ever written and I really want to thank everyone who's read and enjoyed this story. It really warms my heart that people take more than 2 minutes out of their day to read something I've written. Especially since in so many ways this story is so different for me. Honestly I was expecting it to flop. So, seriously, thank you to you all and I hope you enjoy :)

June 17th 1963, Champ de Mars, Paris

The view from the Eiffel Tower was breathtaking. After all the things, good and bad, that Five had seen it took a lot to truly make him speechless. The view of Paris from the top of the tower in the evening, with streetlights looking like fireflies, was definitely one of them. He looked across the table at Martha, the glow from the setting sun casting shadows across her face, and noticed that she too had her eyes glued on the view. Only she didn't look amazed. She looked frightened.

Five could count the number of times he had seen Martha scared on two hands. She was good at her job and a kindhearted person despite the ruthless killer that lived inside her. Even when she was afraid she was an expert at not showing it. But looking out at one of the most famous views in the world she looked more frightened than she had when a mafia boss had a gun to her head on their last mission.

He reached across the table and wrapped his hand around hers, getting her attention and startling her slightly. Her eyes, painted in eyeliner and wide with fear, softened slightly when she looked over at him. "You look really nice." He told her, both to make her smile and to distract her.

Five watched the blush rise to her cheeks before she looked down at the table. "Stop." She mumbled halfheartedly.

"Why?" he asked her. "It's true."

Martha simply shrugged and reached behind her, pulling their polaroid camera out of her purse. "Why don't you take a picture of the view?" she asked him, putting the camera in his hands.

He took it and stood up, quickly flagging down a passing by waitress. "Excusez-moi, would you mind taking a picture of us by the window?"

Five was thankful that she understood English since French wasn't his best language. She took the camera from him and Martha pushed her chair out, mumbling to him "you know I hate getting my picture taken" as they walked across the room.

They stood in front of the window, his arm habitually wrapping around her waist. Five saw her nervously glance over her shoulder to the drop down to the ground, a crease setting in her brows. He pulled her closer to him, gently squeezing her waist. "You okay?" he whispered.

"Couldn't be better," she replied sarcastically, "only 3 feet away from certain death."

As dark as her joke may have been Five couldn't help but laugh. It was the perfect comment, two hitmen joking about death. They laughed harder than they maybe should have but they didn't particularly care. They were still laughing when a bright flash went off and when they looked forward at the waitress a picture was printing.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

While the Umbrella Academy ate their lunch spread out in the living room Martha came out from her shared bedroom with a piece of paper easily as tall as her and a few thumb tacks. She removed a few paintings off the wall and replaced them with the paper, everyone in the room watching her silently. The more time they spent with her the more they understood why her and Five got along so well. They were both stubborn, motivated, and strange. They even got the same look on their face when they got an idea into their head.

Klaus was eventually the one to voice the question on all of their minds. "What's all this?"

Martha stuck the last tack into the wall and turned to face them. "This is training." She said simply. "You can learn everything there is to know about the academy and still walk in blind if you don't know anything about the experiments. They've been trained and modified to be the perfect weapon against you."

"How many are there?" Vanya asked.

"Three." Martha pulled a market out of her pocket and turned back towards the paper to begin writing. "There were five, but two are gone now."

"What happened to them?"

"They pushed Adam with his special jumps too much and he disappeared." She said.

"And the other one?"

Martha hesitated for a moment. "She escaped."

Five raised an eyebrow. "And they haven't found her?"

"Not yet, no."

She wrote three names on the piece of paper and underlined them. Viktor, Daniel, and Nicoli. "We'll start with Viktor. He's the least of a threat."

"Viktor is designed to face Luther and Diego. All of them have been given steroids to make them stronger but Viktor is a whole different story. He can lift 10,000 pounds without breaking a sweat, and all of his senses are incredibly heightened. His accuracy isn't necessarily at the level Diego's is but his eyesight is comparative to a bird of prey's."

"Like an Eagle?"

"More like an owl." Martha said. "Viktor's number 1 weakness is his emotions. He's empathetic and doesn't like hurting people. He will, but he doesn't like it. The best way to beat him is to talk to him before he gets the chance to attack. Tell him about your dad and all the things he made you do when you were young, his empathy is even stronger when he can relate. He's the only one I'd say we have a chance of verbally reasoning with."

Underneath Viktor's name she jotted down a summary of what she had just said about him. The Umbrella Academy had always thought they were some of the most powerful people that existed. They were slowly beginning to question how true that was.

"Daniel isn't quite as physically strong, but his mind is powerful." She said, more specifically to Klaus. "He's also a clairvoyant, and he can solidify spirits. But he has control over them, which is what you need to work on. You need to learn how to overpower their free will."

Klaus hesitated, glancing at an empty space that everyone assumed Ben occupied. "Isn't that kind of morbid?" he asked. "Bringing them back and making them do my dirty work just to send them back."

"You can't have morals when fighting against an enemy that has none."

It was true. It was a fact that Five had known for the majority of his 58 years of life. But his siblings were still concerned with doing the right thing. What Martha had said sat heavy with them and she and Five exchanged a look, both remembering the things they had done. Things that might make someone think they were a monster. They'd learned how to shut off their emotions when they were out in the field. Martha had always excelled at turning them back on once a job was over but it appeared she had lost some of that skill.

She let out a sigh and leaned against the wall next to the paper. "I know that all of this is the type of thing that takes a while to all set in. But unfortunately, we don't have the time." She said to them, spinning the marker between her fingers. "You all still have every quality that makes you human, which is your greatest strength and greatest weakness all at once. They can use it against you, but you can use it against them."

"If you're such an expert on this why don't you just face them yourself?" Diego asked, hardly even paying attention to the conversation.

"Diego." Five warned.

"And how do you even know all of this?" he continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "You have to have had more involvement than you're letting on. How do we know you weren't the one in charge of all this and this is how you're clearing your conscious."

"Are you the biggest idiot ion the face of the earth?" Five asked, pushing himself to his feet. "The fate of the world rests entirely on our hands. The perfect ally shows up at our doorstep, with all the information we need to beat them, and you're worried about how she knows what she knows?"

Diego turned to face him, not intimidated in the slightest. "No, actually, what I'm worried about is your judgement being clouded when we actually need you."

Five scoffed. "Clouded judgement." He muttered. "Coming from you that's rich."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that we all thought Mom killed Dad and you were worried about her feelings. She's a robot. She doesn't have any!"

Diego jumped up from his seat, instinctively pulling a knife out and pointing it at his younger brother's face. "Watch your mouth, she's still your mother."

Martha stepped in, wrapping her hand around the blade and pulling it from Diego's grip without flinching. Allison and Vanya gasped in surprise when they watched her do it and once she had control of the knife she looked over at them. "It's just a little cut, it's no big deal."

Five huffed and took the knife from her, placing it on the table. Both the blade and her hand were quickly being coated in blood. "You need to stop doing stuff like that." He said to her. "We have to sew this up."

"Not until we're done." She said, backing away from him towards the paper again.

He jumped so he was next to her, holding her arm and turning her to face him. "We'll finish this after you clean yourself up." He said sternly.

The two partners stared at each other, neither one willing to back down. They were used to Five's stubbornness and how set in his ways he was. But they weren't used to someone fighting back against him with the same persistence. They were just beginning to wonder if either of them would ever back down when Martha let out a sigh and gently removed her arm from his grip.

"Fine." She said quietly, tucking the marker back into her pocket. "I'll be right back."

She turned and headed out of the room, leaving a heavy silence in her wake. Five returned to his spot on the couch next to Vanya and practically deflated. He was convinced that she liked doing things to scare him. He'd thought she was dead for the longest time and seeing her slice her hand open made his heart stop.

The quiet tension in the air was all too much for Klaus so he wordlessly stood up from his armchair and wandered out of the room. He was about to pass by Martha and Five's shared room and head to the kitchen when he noticed her leaning against the dresser wrapping up her hand, her sweatshirt on the floor beside her. Klaus watched her while she'd yet to notice him. He imagined he knew how she was feeling, an outsider in a group that didn't seem to want her there. That took out their frustrations on her. Normally he would have walked right by and minded her business but he felt as if he had to say something.

"Hey," he began, standing in the doorway, "don't mind Diego. He's too macho to admit that we need your help."

Martha laughed quietly to herself as she finished wrapping her hand, setting the bandages on the desk behind her. "You might be the only one who thinks so."

But Klaus was no longer listening. With her only in a tank top he was able to see what her sleeves had been covering up. He closed the door over behind him and went over to her, but before he reached her she followed his gaze and folded her arms to hide them.

"Klaus," she said, her voice full of fear. "I can explain."

"No, no, no need to explain." Klaus said as he approached her. "I've been on drugs for almost 10 years, I know what collapsed veins look like."

Martha stared at him, seemingly stunned for a moment. She looked down at her arms and shook her head. "Klaus, no, I think-"

He held his hands up. "You don't need to say anything. Now, I know you're probably embarrassed, but I'll be here for you. I got sober, you can too."

She let out a laugh. "Excuse me?"

"I'm guessing you haven't told Five yet." Klaus continued. "I don't blame you. He's breathing down your neck enough as it is. But this is important, Martha, you have to tell him."

"Klaus!" she exclaimed, grabbing hold of both his arms. He could already tell she was much stronger than she appeared to be. "It's not drugs. God, you have no idea how much I wish it was drugs."

He blinked at her a few times while his mind processed what she said. "Oh, okay. Well what is it?"

A long, deflated sigh escaped her. "You have to promise not to tell Five."

"I promise." He lied.

"The reason I know so much about what's going on at the commission…" she released her grip on him and let her hands drop down to her sides. "They experimented on me. Gave me steroids and genetic modifiers. That's why my veins are collapsed, not drugs."

"Holy shit." Klaus breathed, reaching behind him and fully shutting the door. When he returned to her side he put a hand on her shoulder. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Martha shook her head. "I didn't want all of you to know I was a freak."

Klaus couldn't help but laugh. "You were afraid to tell a bunch of freaks that you were one of us?"

"It's different." She insisted. "You guys were born this way, you're real life superheroes. I'm just some modern-day Frankenstein."

"You know some people would argue he's not the real monster."

She laughed quietly and wiped at her nose. "Even if I didn't care I still wouldn't have said anything. Five has way too much on his mind. You all do. I know if I told him he would be too worried on me to focus on something that's actually important."

"Maybe." Klaus agreed, "But you guys are really close, and he's already worried about you. If you don't tell him now it's only a matter of time before he figures out something wrong."

"You're right." Martha said, "But I would rather wait until then."

Klaus could feel Ben's eyes on the back of his head, itching to interject but knowing he couldn't. They had to save the strength of solidifying him for more important occasions. Trying to give advice was not one of those occasions. "It's up to you, Martha my dear." Klaus said. "But if you ask me I'd say you should tell him."

"And I will." She assured him, "Once he has nothing better to worry about." Martha sighed and crossed her arms under her chest. "I'll be out in a second, okay? Telling you guys what you're up against is way more important."

"Yeah, yeah, just take your time."

Klaus closed the door behind him and hurried out to the kitchen where Ben was already sitting there waiting for him. His poker face dropped almost as soon as he was out of Martha's sight, an expression of panic taking its place. It was obvious that there were things she was keeping close to the chest. But out of the infinite possibilities of things it could have been he definitely was not expecting her to drop such a bomb. He paced the length of the kitchen tugging on his hair while Ben sat at the table, stunned and in shock at what they had both just heard.

"What the hell am I gonna do?" Klaus asked his dead brother. "I can't just pretend like I didn't hear that?"

"Why did you promise you wouldn't say anything?" Ben questioned.

Klaus scoffed. "You think I knew she was gonna say something like that? I thought she was gonna tell me she was dating someone or something like that. Besides, do you think she would have listened if I tried to convince her to say something herself? She's clearly made up her mind."

"Well someone has to say something."

"You think?"

"We can't just do nothing." Ben continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "It'll get everyone to understand her better. Which she needs since Diego is about two seconds from kicking her out."

He laughed. "Five would never let that happen and you know it."

"Five would never let what happen?"

Klaus whipped around to find his younger, but older, brother standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Everyone was so used to seeing him in his Umbrella Academy uniform that the sight of him dressed in clothes from the 90s was strange. His confused expression only grew when Klaus cast a nervous glance at Ben, who Five was unable to see.

"Five would never let what happen, Klaus?" he repeated, his voice becoming tight and stern.

It was obvious Klaus was backed into a corner and had no way out. Especially not with Five, the most persistent of the group. He held his hands up and tried to smile. "Hey, hey, relax brother." Klaus said to him. "I've been sworn to secrecy so I can't say very much."

"Well what can you say?"

"What I can say is… you just really need to talk to your girl."

Five didn't even bother snapping at Klaus for his teasing as a look of panic crossed his face. "Why? What's wrong? Is she okay?"

"That's debatable." He admitted. "She has something she needs to tell you but she doesn't want to tell you."

"And that would be?"

Klaus laughed. "Oh no, I'm not getting involved any more than I already am. You gotta ask her yourself."

Five huffed in frustration before turning on his heels and heading straight into their shared bedroom. Martha was leaning against the wall looking at the rain falling and filling up puddles in every pothole. He watched her for a moment, choosing to enjoy the last few moments of blissful ignorance where he could pretend everything was fine.

The sound of him closing the door behind him made her look up. A small smile spread on her face and she held up her bandaged hand. "All taken care of, see?"

Five nodded and crossed the room, leaning against the opposite side of the window. "Are you okay, Martha?"

She shook her head. "It was just a little cut. You know I've had worse-"

"That's not what I meant." Five clarified. "You're different, Martha. Sadder. Something happened and you don't want to tell me. Why?"

"Damnit Klaus." She mumbled to herself. She sighed through her nose and looked back out at the dreary view of London. "It's just not the time. You can't waste all your worry on me."

"I'm probably worrying more now wondering what it is than I would if you told me." Five argued.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what it was."

"So then tell me." Five practically begged. "You're my partner, Martha. I need you to tell me what's going on because I need to know how to help you."

Martha groaned and headed over to the bed, Five following close behind and sitting facing her. "You have to promise me you won't freak out when I tell you."

"I won't."

"Seriously, Five."

"I just said I wouldn't."

She sighed and wrapped her hands around his, pulling it into her lap. "After they said we couldn't work together they knew we both couldn't work in the field anymore. And I, obviously, have a longer track record of breaking protocol. They told me they wanted me to work in a new department.

"I didn't want you to know why I know so much of what's going on because I didn't want you to thin I was a threat. I pretended like I was on their side, like I was willing to do anything to stop you like they wanted me to, but I was just biding my time. They drugged me until all my veins collapsed and turned me into some kind of human super weapon, and I let them because I knew they were turning me into their perfect opponent."

Five stared at her, completely and utterly speechless. It wasn't news to him that the commission could be cold hearted. In their line of work they had to be. He had to be. Even Martha, the kindest person he knew, had to learn how to turn of that part of her personality when she got a gun in her hand.

But human experimentation? With steroids and genetic modifiers? Even Reginald Hargreaves hadn't been that cruel.

His fingers wrapped around the hem of her sleeve and he slowly pushed it up her arm. He expected her to protest but Martha stayed quiet, her eyes not daring to look anywhere near him. As soon as he pushed her sleeve up enough his stomach lurched and threatened to make him sick. Her veins halfway her arm were so dark they were practically black and the inside of her elbows were freckled with scarred needle marks.

"Five-"

"They can't do this to you."

"This is why I didn't want to tell you." She said, her voice soft in the way it always was when he got upset. "Because it doesn't matter how many times I tell you I'm fine, I know you won't believe me."

He let out a laugh that lacked any kind of humor. "You're right, I don't believe you." He said. "For fuck's sake, Martha, look what they did to you! You expect me to just act like it didn't happen."

She yanked her sleeve down. "Yes, I do. We're stopping the apocalypse, nothing else matters. Especially not my emotional wellbeing."

Five scoffed. "Of course it matters."

"In the grand scheme of things it really doesn't."

"Well it matters to me!" he shouted. Not really at her, at an organization that couldn't hear him and wouldn't have cared anyway. He looked over at her, the pain in her face more clear than it had been since she first arrived. Five jumped to his feet and stormed out of the room, knowing there was no point in arguing with her anymore. She wouldn't listen.

Her reflexes were as quick as ever. She was up and perusing him before he even reached the door. "Where are you going, Five?"

"The commission." He called back over his shoulder.

He heard her laugh. "I must have heard you wrong because it really sounded like you said you were going to the commission while you're at the top of their hit list."

Their raised voices caught everyone's attention before they reached the living room. Klaus and Ben exchanged a glance, not needing three guesses as to what they were arguing about. By the time Five marched over to the briefcase sitting on a table by the door everyone was silently watching their argument unfold.

"You heard me right." He said to her from across the room. "Screw the plan, screw the commission, screw the apocalypse!"

"Five-"

"I mean this in the nicest way, Martha, I really do, but you're an idiot if you think any of this is okay."

"Five-"

"30 years they did that to you." He continued, reaching for the latch of the briefcase. "They can't just get away with that."

"Stop!"

As soon as the word left her lips Five turned into a human statue, frozen in place with his finger hooked under the latch. Martha hurried over to him while the entire room stared at her. Klaus and Ben were the only ones who knew even a fraction of what she'd been hiding and even they weren't expecting that.

Once she reached him Martha slipped the briefcase from his frozen grip and set it down on the floor behind her. Only Diego and Vanya were positioned just right to see the look of panic and crushing guilt on her face. She put both her hands on Five's cheeks, handling the young killer with the same care one would for a newborn animal.

"I'm gonna let go of you." She said, her voice quiet but stern. "And then we're gonna relax and talk about this reasonably, without storming out. Okay?"

After a moment or two Five deflated as he seemed to come back to life, though he was still too stunned to do or say much. Martha retracted her hands and visibly withdrew into herself. It felt like forever that they were all silent, no one having a clue to say.

Allison stood up and walked over to them, taking on the responsibility of speaking first. "The girl that ran away, that's you isn't it?" she asked. "That's how you know so much about what's going on, because they did it to you."

Martha didn't say anything.

"You should have said something." Luther said. "We could have helped."

She scoffed, "Like that would have helped me gain your trust." She said, purposely not looking at Diego. "Besides, there's nothing to help with. What's done is done."

"There's other ways to help." Vanya chimed in. "Even if we can't do anything to change what happened we can still be there for you and help you deal with it."

Martha hesitated, clearly not quite sure what to do with this information. Her bottom lip did a fraction of a tremble that made Five worry she might cry. But her hardened demeanor returned and she shook her head. "I appreciate that. Really, I do." She eventually said. "But we have important work to do. I still haven't gone over Nicoli."

Five's lips straightened into a tight line as he resisted the urge to argue that it could wait until later. H returned to the spot next to Vanya on the couch and put his hands over his eyes while Martha resumed her position at the front of her room. She, and how much he cared about her, was going to be the death of him.