️.ೃ࿐ i.TRIGGER WARNINGS ⸺ This story contains triggering and upsetting subject matter such as PTSD and mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, there will be scenes of child abuse, both physical and emotional, graphic scenes of violence which are mostly canon events, assassinations/assassination attempts, child murder, drug-use, underage drinking, and addiction. there are also mentions/implications of past overdoses. There's mentions of unethical human experimentation (which goes hand in hand with medical inaccuracies because I am not smart when it comes to medical things) also canon character deaths as well as temporary character deaths! And finally, The Handler being very creepy with Five!
ii.PLEASE NOTE ⸺ This story contains LGBT themes, characters, and discussions so if for whatever reason you're hateful towards this community please click off rather than leaving hateful comments. also the main oc is a CHILD, just a lil baby so please, fictional or not, please do not leave any aggressively rude comments about her when she behaves like the 10/11 year old that she is! Up until S3 of this story, Victor Hargreeves will be referred to Vanya and She/Her pronouns in the case of the storyline until they come out in S3, then I will switch to the proper pronouns and the proper name in the story. However in the author's notes I will refer to him as Victor and use He/Him pronouns. I am only using Vanya and She/Her pronouns for Victor in the first two seasons because that's how everyone in the story knows him as.
ii. AUTHOR'S NOTE ⸺ This story follows the TV Show plotline & characterizations with the Comics mixed in! Please note that Thank You For The Venom is NOT CANON COMPLIANT and often diverges from canon events.MORE NOTES AT THE END . . .
THE THANK YOU FOR THE VENOM DUOLOGY
BOOK ONE: A SONG FOR PRUDENCE HARGREEVES
ii. EXTENDED SUMMARY ⸺ On Halloween of 2007, Prudence is born to Donna Sinclair and Klaus Hargreeves but Prudence is declared an anomaly, she is erased from the timeline. Hardly a year later she is announced dead, shot beside her mother in a robbery gone wrong.
Then one day, Prudence reappears, no longer declared an anomaly and no longer dead. Rather, she had spent her childhood in and out foster care because her dad is labeled 'unfit' and when her latest foster family falls through, she is placed in Vanya Hargreeves' temporary care, where Prudence finds a semblance of a normal life.
When Vanya Hargreeve's adoptive father dies, Prudence is forced to go to the funeral, where the worst thing she thought could happen, is running into her father but that is overshadowed by the missing Hargreeves sibling crashing the funeral by returning from the future. A future that entails the impending apocalypse that he is determined to stop. And Prudence is at the top of his suspect list.
THE PROLOGUE:
BORN UNDER SCORPIO SKIES
️ ⸺ THE THIRTY-FIRST OF OCTOBER, TWO THOUSAND AND SEVEN
PRUDENCE DAPHNE SINCLAIR COMES INTO THE WORLD AS MOST DO, KICKING AND SCREAMING. But, Prudence is not like most, she is a child of a Hargreeves but most importantly she is an anomaly. Upon first sight most would agree that Prudence's birth had completely normal, perhaps the flickering lights may give some people a pause but you can never rule out faulty wiring even in a hospital. However, there had been something brewing underneath the surface the day that Prudence came into the world ⸺ too much power in the wrong place and it needed to be corrected.
Her mother, Donna Sinclair, perhaps had been the only other person to notice that there's something more to her darling Prudence. Now, of course, every mother believes that their child is special but Donna Sinclair is certain that she had more claim to call her daughter special than most.
After all, Prudence's father is the Klaus Hargreeves and Klaus is special alright. More powerful than Donna knew that they let on and that is why after careful consideration Donna never placed Klaus' name on the birth certificate. She knew that Prudence would be special just like her father and she could not risk anyone knowing about that, not when she knew there were people out there who would want to use her daughter's specialty for their own gain ⸺ their own sick and twisted agenda.
But, when Donna worried and imagined people out there wanting to use her daughter for their own gain, she imagined people such as the likes of Reginald Hargreeves. The very same man who took Klaus and shaped him into the person that Donna knew; she imagined a power-hungry paranoid man turning her child into a traumatized so-called superhero. She did not imagine, not even for a second, a woman who had time at her fingertips, playing everyone around her like a fiddle to get whatever her nefarious heart desires.
And what this woman desired most at this particular moment was Prudence.
Prudence came into the world, rage bursting from the seams of her tiny body and the woman that calls herself, The Handler, watches over her birth. A smile playing across her lips as the screen before her glitches, dozens of frozen frames of Prudence illuminate the dark room. A finger with a sharp nail that resembled animal's claw more than anything human, reaches out and traces Prudence's face, The Handler's sinister smile grows.
Prudence Sinclair is an anomaly alright ⸺ Tatiana Kuzmina, the agent assigned to Prudence's case before The Handler caught wind of it, would argue that Prudence is not the most alarming of anomalies that the Commission had witnessed. She had planned to make sure that Donna Sinclair crossed paths with Klaus Hargreeves again, as a way to handle Prudence's powers without having to exterminate Prudence. But, the Handler has other plans.
No, in the eyes of the Handler, Prudence had many uses. There are so many ways that she could shape Prudence into what she needed. She, withdrawals her finger from the screen to push a button, beside her Tatiana is slumped over the desk, blood pooling from her head but the Handler pays no mind to this as the screen flashes.
It changes to a bedroom, a year or so after Prudence's birth, Donna Sinclair is attempting to put a fussy Prue down for a nap. The young woman unaware that this is her last few moments alive as she coos over her infant daughter, trying to calm her down with a yellow rabbit plushie.
A flash of blue seeps through the cracks of the bedroom door, Donna unaware as she hums a lullaby trying to settle Prue. The Handler beams, setting a suitcase down on the desk before her, it's time for her to collect her prize. She puts in the date and location with ease, she had it memorized after months of watching over Prudence.
On the screen, the door to the nursery creeps open, The Handler disappears in a flash of blue.
THE THANK YOU FOR THE VENOM DUOLOGY
️ ⸺ THE TWENTY-EIGHTH OF APRIL, TWO THOUSAND AND NINE
NUMBER FIVE SLIPS INTO THE ROOM, UNNOTICED BY HIS TARGET, THE WAILING BABY MAKES IT EASY FOR HIM TO GO UNDETECTED, NOT THAT HE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO SO WITHOUT IT. His target only turns because the baby points at him and the target assumes the baby wants something. His target, Donna Sinclair, gasps when she spots him and her body goes rigid as she expects the worst. The gun in his hands draws Donna's full attention, he doesn't shoot nor does he say anything.
"Money's under the sofa, take whatever you want," Donna Sinclair blurts out, struggling to stay calm as she places herself in front of the crib, "Please don't hurt us."
Five knows that the walls are paper thin, the neighbours will surely hear her shouting but they're unlikely to do anything until he fires the gun. He stays quiet, when everything is settled and his target is dead, the events will be written off as a robbery gone wrong with a long lists of suspects.
The lights flicker erratically overhead, Donna keeps her eyes locked on the gun in his hands as she quickly stammers out "You can take it all, okay, it's not much but it's all I have, you can take anything you can grab! I won't fight it, I won't report it, just please leave us alone."
Five shoots, the bullet strikes her through the chest and she goes down in one fell swoop. She dies almost instantly, body crumbled at the base of the child's crib. Her hazel eyes, devoid of life, stare at him and his skin crawls slightly but he looks away as he steps closer to the crib. The baby is wailing, chubby hands pressed against its ears, a yellow rabbit plushie in one hand, pressed tightly against her chubby cheeks.
Five regards the baby, unamused at being unprepared to find a baby on the scene. This is the youngest child he's come across on his missions, too young to remember anything which meant he could spare it. The mission, after all, is supposed to look like a robbery gone wrong. Most robbers wouldn't be heartless enough to shoot an infant.
The file he had been given on Donna Sinclair, had no information on the baby; he had no idea whether he is meant to kill or spare the child.
It lets out an ungodly screech, grating on Five's nerves as he debates his next move. Whatever he chooses clearly will not affect the timeline in anyway that goes against the Commission's will but it still feels like a test. The baby has been screaming for a minute straight and he wonders if it's even stopped to catch its' breath. No matter, he aims the gun at the baby's face, and ⸺
"No," The Handler says softly as Five tries to convince himself that it's worth it to pull the trigger; her appearance actually surprises him for once but he doesn't let it show.
It would be the first The Handler has managed to catch him by surprise since she recruited him roughly a decade ago. She lowers the gun, putting herself between him and the baby. He watches with cold indifference, as he tries to figure out just what kind of game she's playing at.
The Handler lifts the baby out of the crib, her eyes gleaming, she pays no mind when the baby's head slams into the thing that hovers over its' crib, a corner of the star that dangles from it manages to knick the baby's forehead. This causes the baby to scream louder, angrier, as its' faces grows a concerning shade of purple.
"So much anger," The Handler coos softly, her voice warmer than it usually is but it does not fool Five. The thing above the crib rapidly spins out of control before it comes crashing down, torn in different directions as it becomes strewn across the room. The Handler's smile grows, "So much power."
Five raises his eyebrows, barely dodging a star that had been cast his way. It's thrown hard enough that it whooshes audibly as it passes his head.
The baby tries to squirm its way out of The Handler's grasp, tear-filled green eyes wide and its hands reach up to its forehead. There's a bloody line where the star had nicked it, the baby's tiny fingers try to smooth over the wound and dull the throb it must feel. The Handler slaps at the baby's hands.
"Hush, little rabbit, the pain will make you stronger." The Handler coos to the baby but the baby's cries only grow louder.
Five knows better than to ask questions but he doesn't deny that his curiosity is running rampant. Clearly, the baby has telekinetic gifts that the Handler wants for whatever reasons but this certainly had to be against Commission protocol? Which means that The Handler had forged Carmichael's sign off on this mission.
This is definitely something that Five could use against The Handler when the time comes. Five tucks the gun into his suit pocket, from his peripheral he sees the baby still trying hard to free itself from the Handler. Smart kid, Five thinks as he watches the pleased expression melt from The Handler's face the harder the baby fusses to get away.
A rage-filled wail escapes the baby as it realizes that The Handler is not letting it go, the window shatters so unexpectedly that Five flinches slightly. The Handler flinches more noticeably but her surprise quickly turns into a pleased smirk.
"Oh, yes, you will do nicely, my little rabbit." The Handler coos as she places the child back in the crib, Five narrows his eyes at this move.
The Handler turns to look at Five and her smile widens "By now someone has called the police, Five, we don't have much time. Shoot her for me."
Five looks between the baby and The Handler, perplexed as he assumed The Handler was going to keep the baby due to its' powers.
"Is that an order," Five asks her, retrieving the gun from his pocket. Or is it a test?
"Yes," The Handler answers, eyes shining as she pulls a tiny bag of what Five assumes is cocaine from her just as tiny purse. With a wicked smile she casually drops the bag by the target's dead body before stepping away to shield herself from the oncoming gore.
Five inhales softly, thinking of his siblings as he trains the gun on the baby's forehead. He cannot stand murdering the children, they never get easier but the thought of saving his siblings gives him the strength to pull the trigger.
"Be a doll, Five, do remember to take that money, this is a robbery go wrong after all."
Five nods, skin crawling at the sight of the baby's brain matter splattered against the wall and crib. The apartment is silent now, ice lines his stomach but he nods along to The Handler's instructions. He turns a bit too quickly to get away from the scene, if the Handler notices his guilt, she doesn't say anything.
He thinks of his siblings, this is all for them and it will be worth it.
THE THANK YOU FOR THE VENOM DUOLOGY
️ ⸺ DATE ERROR, THE COMMISSION HEADQUARTERS
THE GUILT EBBS AWAY AS IT ALWAYS DOES, THREE DAYS DRAG ON AND WITHOUT ANY NEW MISSIONS FIVE HAS TOO MUCH TIME TO WALLOW IN IT. It's not as though given another shot at that mission he would do anything differently not when compliance above all else is the only thing that will reunite him with his siblings. But, the baby is the youngest he has had to slaughter thus far, it was hard to stop it from crawling under his skin and burrowing there.
It had been hardly any different than his other missions besides the baby seemingly having some telekinetic abilities, there had been nothing out of the ordinary. And yet, there is something more to it, The Handler is up to something which comes as no surprise to Five, but usually he is able to piece together her plans quicker than this. Having to slaughter the baby had thrown his assumptions for a loop and paired with The Handler's current radio silence, Five knows that she is doing something the rest of the Commission would not approve of.
Not that Five had any plans of thwarting whatever plan she had spun together, he just needed to know the ins and outs of it all. How could he use it against her when the time came? Could it benefit him? Would it put his plans in danger? He had to be ahead of The Handler and one simple request had left him feeling like as though he is ten paces behind.
Five had gone to the closest acquaintance he had, a young Russian woman that often worked on cases that involved the lighter solutions only to find they had replaced her with Herb. A temporary replacement he is told but the blood on Infinite Switchboard's desk, the one she was often sat at, tells him it's not quite that temporary.
In the end, he decides to seek The Handler out, he'd ask about a mission as it has been a few days since he had been assigned one and in doing so he'd be able to scope out her office.
The last thing he expects to find in her office is the baby, alive and well. He knows it's the same baby, there's the scratch from that star on its' forehead. There's an even fainter mark of what he assumes was the bullet wound that he swore had splattered its' head apart. And yet, here it sat on The Handler's love seat, struggling to support itself, as it made weird baby sounds. Five blinks, trying to mask his surprise.
The Handler looks up from her paperwork and smiles "Ah, Five perfect timing!"
Five tears his gaze away from the baby, not nearly fast enough for it to escape The Handler's notice, he watches as her eyes light up and her grin sharpens.
She looks at the baby "Amazing isn't it, in her DNA is the key to immortality. The problem is finding a way to extract it and use it to our advantage."
"Immortality," Five asks evenly, looking back to the baby with a raised brow, he wonders just how powerful this baby could grow to be. More importantly, how can he get it on his side when the time comes?
The Handler flashes him a sharp grin, her pearly white teeth sharper than any blade, Five feels his skin crawl but he hides his discomfort well. He gives her a small tight lipped smile and a nod for her to explain herself.
The less he asks, the more she feels safe enough to divulge information. She must believe that she has him like Pavlov had those dogs.
"She's an anomaly . . . Immorality, telekinesis, and as of recently I have detected some telepathic abilities. Imagine what we could do if we could harvest these abilities and splice them in with agents' DNA. Of course, I would prefer to find a solution that doesn't involve killing her to extract it."
The baby lets out sharp cry, Five's lip twitches in amusement at the timing of it. They both turn to look at the baby, it had fallen over onto it's side. It's face is red, chubby cheeks shiny as though it had been crying and it probably had, it's green eyes are wide and staring at something just off to Five's left, it's lips tremble and it lets out a wail.
Five frowns, looking away from the baby and The Handler does the same, looking exasperated.
"She does cry an awful lot, I will soon fix that but besides that, she will be a great asset to The Commission. Even further, I believe she would be best trained by you."
Five blanches, masking his surprise is hard, he stares at The Handler with a wide-eyed expression. He tries to school his expression into one of indifference but the idea of having to look after a child had left him feeling flabbergasted. In all honesty, he'd rather choke on his own spit than have to train anyone, he wouldn't even want to train another adult, let alone a toddler.
Her sharp smile widens at the uncertainty she can detect on Five's face "You are truly the best of the best, next to you would be Cha Cha and Hazel but they would not have the patience that I believe you could have."
It's not as though Five can say no, but the thought of training a child grates so heavily on his nerves that he can't even force himself to placate The Handler.
"It won't be for a few years yet," The Handler says in falsely reassuring voice, "And it would only be for a selected few field missions. You are the best the Commission has to offer, the most fearsome killer, and who better to lead the next generation of Commission agents than you?"
Five pretends to consider it, ignoring the way his stomach churns at the title of 'fearsome killer'. He makes note of how she refers to a future generation of Commission agents, it leads him to believe that The Handler is scouting out children with abilities. This baby is the first, that he is aware of, and it won't be the last.
"It would be an honour," Five says hollowly, giving The Handler a tight lipped smile as he bows his head.
The Handler seems to buy this as she smiles brightly at him "Brilliant! I know she will be a fearsome weapon with your guidance. Malinda will be the face of this Commission one day with you as her mentor."
Five feels his stoic expression wobble slightly as The Handler refers to the baby as a weapon but he doesn't let his emotions get the better of him. It's not as though Five hadn't just thought of using the infant to his advantage, he's not any better than The Handler, he reckons.
"Malinda," He decides on questioning, he swore he saw a name on the wall above the crib and whatever it had been, it had definitely not been Malinda.
"Her name," The Handler beams, "The first of many, as a field agent you can never have enough names but I find that the first is the most important. Malinda Wormwood, Agent Nine Nine Seven."
The both turn to look at the baby, still on it's side, unable to push itself back up, but she's much calmer now, green eyes fixated on Five.
"I see," Five says, keeping his tone dry and disinterested before turning to face The Handler, he decides that Malinda will be a problem for future him to handle.
The Handler looks on proudly, her sharp teeth bared as she smiles at Malinda. Any gentleness she had shown the baby before is gone as she stares down at her.
"She will be my greatest achievement, the face for the future of the Commission."
THE THANK YOU FOR THE VENOM DUOLOGY
AUTHOR'S NOTES
The Handler Number Five
trying to use Prue against the other
iv. AUTHOR'S NOTE pt II ⸺ The funniest part of this chapter is the end,,, because JOKE'S ON YOU the handler, prue is about to be your WORST NIGHTMARE and your greatest mistake. all you did was turn Number Five into the living embodiment of grumpy traumatized old man adopts strange traumatized child!
I'm writing this with the vibes of it being actually part of the umbrella academy show, so like how the show has intercuts with flashbacks to the siblings as children, i will intercut the story with flashbacks of prue's childhood in a non-linear manner similarly to how the first season of the show was written! which is a little different from how i usually write things, i've never really written a story with a non-linear plot before let alone a story that has both non-linear plots and linear plots so it's definitely gonna be an experiment and hopefully you guys enjoy this format just as much as I enjoy writing it!
thank you so so so much for reading, i hope you enjoyed the chapter, please let me know what you thought about it by leaving a comment!
v. FANCASTS FOR THOSE INTERESTED ⸺ Prudence doesn't have a set face claim in my mind, for my graphics on wattpad I use Malina Weissman because she has a lot of resources for those types of graphics but for my tiktok edits I use Millie Bobby Brown because she has a lot of scene packs and also Prue's backstory is lowkey based on El from Stranger Things so I chose her for that! However, readers you are welcome to imagine whoever you want for Prue or any other OCs/Fancasts in this story! I just share my face claims for self-indulgent reasons, by no means do you have to go along with it! this is all just for funsies y'all!
PRUDENCE "PRUE" SINCLAIR-HARGREEVES /
MALINDA MARWOOD PLAYED BY
⏳ MILLIE BOBBY BROWN / MALINA WEISSMAN
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
💼 ───── ALSO FEATURING . . .
Jeffrey Dean Morgan ───── older!Number Five
Kate Siegel ───── Tatiana 'Tati' Kuzmina †
David Harbour ───── Carl Davenport
Winona Ryder ───── Ellen 'Ellie' Davenport †
Jessie Mei Li ───── Xiaolin Jenkins née Huang
Simu Liu ───── Min Huang / Nighthawk
Sadie Sink ───── Katherine "Kat" Katz
Nikki Roumel ───── Donna Sinclair †
vi. FOR THE VISUAL/AUDIO READERS ⸺ i post my graphics on my deviantart account ( NEVILLESIONGBOTTOMWP ) and also on my pinterest account but mostly on my pinterest account ( NEVILLESIONGBOTTOMAO3 ) if you would like to see more than just graphics i made for this story you can always check out my graphic gallery pinterest board linked here to see them! down below are just the graphics i have made/will make for this specific story!
i also have a tik tok also have a TikTok where I post video edits for my fanfics, if you want to check it out it's: NEVILLESIONGBOTTOM,AO3 and also a youtube channel under the same user! This section is just for funsies and you can just disregard this bit if you wish to imagine the characters differently, once against the face-claims are just self-indulgent or for people who have troubling imagining this easily!
I have a playlist on spotify under the account NEVILLESIONGBOTTOM,AO3 and it's titled: "running after something that you'll never kill" for those who use spotify, if not i will give a brief list for those who would like to add them on their respective streaming apps:
Thank You For The Venom ────────── My Chemical Romance
A Song For Ernest Hemingway ────────── The Wonder Years
You Should've Killed Me When You Had The Chance A Day To Remember
I Am My Own Muse ────────────────── Fall Out Boy
Under My Skin ──────────────── Jukebox The Ghost
Don't Stop Me Now ──────────── The Regrettes / Queen
I Think We're Alone Now ──────────── Green Day / Tiffani
Choke ──────────── I Don't Know How But They Found Me
Body Bag ───────────────────── Hit The Lights
Well, Better Than The Alternative . . . ─────────── Will Wood
The Blob ──────────────── Lights featuring． PVRIS
Kill All Your Friends ───────────── My Chemical Romance
Hazy Shade Of Winter ─────────── Gerard Way ft. Ray Toro
The Vultures, The Bastards, The Wolves ────── The Wonder Years
We Both Reached For The Gun ────────────── CHICAGO
Starchild ─────────────────────── Sweet Pill
King For A Day ────────── Daisy Grenade / Pierce The Veil
Running Into Your Mom At An AA Meeting ──────── Butch Baby
Stupid MF (contains the R slur) ─────── Mindless Self Indulgence
viii. AUTHOR'S NOTE pt III ⸺ Please note that Thank You For The Venom is NOT CANON COMPLIANT and often diverges from canon events. I've also taken several creative liberties with the timeline because time really is a social construct in my brain,,, five spends less time in the apocalypse and more time at the commission in this because we were never given how long he was with the commission in the show and in this story he needs to be with for like 10+ years so for good measure to keep him the same age and without changing any major dates, in this story five spends less time in the apocalypse and was recruited by the commission a lil sooner!
Thank you for the Venom is heavily based off of the netflix show because that's first how i got into TUA however I have read the comics since the first rewrite of TYFTV and I've incorporated a few comic canon things into this fanfic the best that I could like how Diego can breathe underwater ( he's the Kraken baby ) and the fact that Klaus has telekinesis ( the show has briefly hinted at it but I will probably put it on full blast because I love the whole idea of telekinesis ) and a few other things that I can't think of at the time of writing this note! ALSO Prue is lowkey based on Eleven from Stranger Things, like the fact that telekinesis is her stronger power instead of seeing ghosts also some of prue's backstory is sort of based on El from Stranger Things for the angst y'all!
ix. CROSS-POSTING ⸺ Thank You For The Venom is crossposted on AO3, QUOTEV & FFN under the same title and under the same user, on wattpad it was originally posted on my back up account but i've moved it to this one since I use this account more. On AO3, I have another old version of this story published but we're gonna ignore that in favour of this one which actually has chapters written for it outside of chapter one! The plot is still relatively the same as the old one but I added depth to the backstory and whole bunch of other jazz that will actually be explored this time!