The Mission

2000

Willa had always kind of internally scoffed whenever the whole 'Superhero' side of the Umbrella Academy had been brought up, Reggie liked to harp on about how they would one day become heroes and save the world, how they had the potential to save lives, how it was their 'Duty' to do just that. She guessed that as a kid coming into the Umbrella Academy at nearly ten years old, having grown up and learnt that there was no such thing as superheroes in the real world, the concept was kind of a little too late for her to fully be able to fall for, but not so much for the other kids. She wasn't sure, really, if Five or Allison or even Klaus bought into it, either, but Luther and Diego had. Anything to get on daddy's good side, she guessed, anything to make him vaguely impressed, and any of the kids would run with it with both hands. But for Willa, it all kind of seemed like a silly joke, one that Reggie had made to try and make them train, keep them in line, perhaps give them something to look to with hope.

After all, the idea of becoming a superhero and saving the world, that was a pretty cool idea, right?

It wasn't just an idea, though, it wasn't just something that Hargreeves had made up to keep his kids in line, and shortly after the New Year, Willa learnt that herself. And the reality of her place in the Umbrella Academy became truly concrete within it. There was no escaping it after the first mission, she was forever tethered to the Umbrella Academy from that day forward, she supposed they all were, but to her it felt like the last thread of her life with Ma in Wales was stolen from her after all of that. It was cruel and hard, and bitter to swallow, but like everything in her life since Hargreeves Senor had arrived in her home, what she wanted or liked, meant nothing.

It all still felt kind of like a game, though, even when she was in the thick of it, kind of like yet another scary realistic training session back at the Academy. They were even decked out in their normal uniform, (The first time, anyway), only Hagreeves made them wear a pair of black eyes masks that had been specifically moulded to their own faces, the eyes of the mask covered with a milky white lens to protect their eyes and identity further, or though Willa doubted if a little mask would actually keep anyone from knowing who she was, her ginger locks made that impossible. It all just felt like dress up, Allison acted like it was, giggling and posing in her mask in front of the mirror when Grace had helped them fit them for the last time, making sure that they fit correctly. Willa had stayed silent and toyed with her own mask, a sickly feeling in her stomach, one that never really went away until the last time she wore the mask.

They had their positions and roles, hell, they even had their stupid new codenames...Willa hated hers, 'Consciousness' felt weirdly on the nose, and it hadn't helped that Klaus had laughed himself almost silly when they had all first heard it, exclaiming excitedly:

"That's perfect for you, 'cos, like, you're our own little angel on our shoulder!"

"Not unless she turns out to be our devil on our shoulder," Five had pointed out flatly, though even he had seemed oddly amused.

Yeah, Willa wasn't a fan, but, hey, at least she wasn't being called 'The Girl,' unlike a certain Five who was simply being known as the 'Boy,' for whatever reason...probably to keep his powers secret, since they kind of lost a lot of tactical advantage by revealing to much about those...damn. Yuck, she was sounding just like Hargreeves Senor now, thinking like him, anyway. Moving on!

Sirens blared as they crouched on the roof of the Capital West Bank, having had Five to jump them up onto the bank, one at a time, until all of them, but Vanya, who was forced to stay behind, were sitting on the roof, out of view from all of the media and cops on the ground below. The bank had been taken over by a group of professional bank robbers an hour ago, and no sooner had the first news report broken, did Willa and the kids find themselves being bundled into the back of a black van and sped off in the direction of the bank.

"Okay," Luther said as he peered intently at them, crouched low on the roof of the bank, blonde hair lightly blowing in the breeze of the day, "You know what we've gotta do, we've been training for months..."

"You're not going to give us a pep talk, are you?" Klaus groaned slightly, rolling his eyes behind his own mask, "I've heard enough of dads to last a lifetime, thanks..."

"Get your head in the game, Number Four," he snapped, and Willa's eyebrows darted up slightly, surprised, "As Number One, I'm in charge here, remember?"

"And dad's watching," Diego added, not overly helpfully.

Willa grimaced slightly and glanced over towards a nearby building, spotting the distant glint of glass coming from where Hagreeves senor was watching through a telescope. She imagined Vanya standing by his side...she'd looked so disheartened and lonely when they had been running around back at the Academy, of course, not allowed to join them.

"I don't want to do this..." Ben muttered uneasily, his voice so small, it was almost lost on the breeze as he wrapped his arms around his skinny knees, frowning nervously. He was sitting at the end of them all, his powers not called upon until the last moment.

"We're doing it," Luther said firmly, seemingly truly taking this whole 'Leader' thing to another level. It made Willa feel slightly sickly. He cuffed Diego on the arm, the pair exchanging nods, "We're a team, all of us, we go in and we fight as one, and we leave as one, just like the plan. Does everyone know their mark?"

The sound of gun fire distantly echoed from below them, in the bank, and Willa flinched and briefly squeezed her eyes shut. She was on Ben's side here; she really, really didn't want to do this. There were mumbles of 'Yeah' from around her.

"Number Seven?"

Willa sighed heavily and looked back up to see them all staring at her. It only helped a little bit that Ben and Klaus seemed as reluctant about all of this as she felt, though she found it a little uneasy that Five almost seemed kind of excited, a slight flush to his cheeks that she hadn't seen before, while Diego and Luther looked like miniature soldiers in shorts, and Allison kept patting her hair and sneaking little glances at the brick railing that they hid behind away from the cameras, looking as if she was preparing herself for a photo shoot or something.

"Yeah, I guess..." she breathed out grimly, and she glanced sideways to Klaus, who sat beside her with his legs tucked up to his chest. She gave him a weak grin, a poor attempt to at least pretend like she was okay with all of this, "You ready, partner?" she held out her open palm to him.

It had been decided, early on, that since Kluas's powers would likely be of minimal help during this mission, he would be placed in charge of watching over her body while she...stepped out from it. He'd hang around on the roof and if any guys managed to, for whatever reason, get up to them, he'd deal with them (That had earned a giggle from Willa, or though she knew that Klaus could hold his own, when he wanted to), though the chances of that were pretty slim. She was far more upset by the fact that she was expected to be the first one to enter the bank and check that the civilians were okay, though at least nothing could shoot her when she was in her astral form.

Klaus slapped her palm with his own, his sweaty, "Go get 'em tiger," he said a little weakly, which rather defeated the purpose behind his words, she thought.

"We're going to have to work on your encouraging thing..." she sighed warily, and glanced at Luther, last second. Luther gave her a firm nod and she almost rolled her eyes, though she resisted, somehow, and sat more comfortably back against the brickwork of the railing behind her, eyes falling shut...

...and she stepped up out of her body, peering down at it from above as it slumped limply, head lolling to the side like a creepy ragdoll. She kept herself invisible as she quickly passed through the rooftop door of the bank, running down the stairs, until she reached the ground level. More gunshots rang out, screams of terror and the loud, bellowing voices of the robbers sounded as she slipped into the bank. It was big and grand, lots of yellowed marble and with high windows, none of which being of any help to any police snipers that might be outside. She found the civilians instantly, terrified and grouped together in the middle of the bank itself. No blood, no one had been shot...

She easily slipped between them, moving like an invisible shadow, until she found her way nearest to one of the robbers that seemed to be acting as a watch. He was carrying a scary big gun and a black stocking was tightly over his head, obscuring his features. She crept up around to stand before him and made herself visible. She grinned at him as he jolted back from her in horror and shock, his strangled gasp drowned out by the alarm and terrified chatter of the civilians.

"You seriously need a better job, mate," she told him, tutting.

"What the f..."

She walked straight through him and glanced back over her shoulder at the sound of the resounding, heavy thud of a body smacking against the marble flooring sounded, looking down at the slumped, prone body of the criminal at her feet. He was twitching slightly, eyes squeezed shut tightly and a pained furring of his brows creasing his masked face. She wasn't entirely sure what she had just inflicted upon the bloke, she was still learning, but whatever it was didn't seem very nice...a stab of remorse bubbled in her chest, but he was a bad guy...That kind of made it even, right?

That was when she looked up to see Allison come strolling into the bank, smirking to herself as she walked right up to seemingly the leading bad guy, the only one not wearing a mask or anything over his head. He turned and caught sight of her standing calmly by his side, and his eyes widened slightly in disbelief.

"Hey, get back with the others!"

Allison merely turned to face him, "I heard a rumour," she said, almost mockingly.

He gaped at her blankly, "What?" he demanded, "What did you say?"

She leaned towards him and cupped her mouth, "I heard a rumour...that you shot your friend in the foot!"

The man straightened; eyes glazed over and turned to point his gun at one of his own men as they began walking across the bank floor. The man froze and held his hands out in confusion.

"Hey, dude..." he began, "What the hell...?"

Bang! Bang!

The robber screamed in pain as his foot was literally shattered by the shots being fired into it by his own team leader, blood splashing across the floor as the man collapsed in a heap, and as he collapsed, he accidently hit his own gun's trigger, spraying a glass window above a group of huddled hostages with bullets. The men and women screamed and ducked for cover as the glass rained down over their heads, while the robber leader looked stunned, staring blankly at his gun, trying to make sense of why the hell he had just let a little girl talk him into shooting his own man...

Willa walked through another robber as he stood over a group of the hostages on the other side of the bank, causing the man to groan loudly in pain and double over, dropping his gun with a loud clatter at his feet. She eyed the man curiously as he began gagging and coughing, clutching at his middle, before his knees seemed to give way beneath him and he dropped onto the floor, curling up on his side, pitifully moaning. Again, she really wasn't overly sure what the hell she had just done, just that if she walked through people, half the time they either ended up getting sick or falling unconsciousness. It didn't seem to work on the kids at the Academy during training, only once, when Five had taunted her during one training sessions only recently. The kid had ended up spending the night vomiting, much to her horror. She turned away from the moaning man and grimaced slightly to herself...Seriously, where were the rest of the kids? Allison was too busy having fun and making a mess, while she had already taken down two of the bad guys without any help from anyone, she never would have predicted that outcome.

That was when Luther finally decided to join the party, literally dropping out of the sky through one of the massive skylights in the ceiling on the bank, landing smoothly, before immediately grabbing another baddie standing a few feet away from where Willa stood. She briefly forget that she was incorporeal and ducked away from the flying shards of glass, only remembering in time to glance around to see Luther thumping the robber head first into the wooden counter top, before sending him flying. The man screamed and went flying straight through one of the upper windows of the bank, smashing through it and disappearing with a muffled cry from the waiting crowd outside the bank.

"Guns are for sissies!" Diego shouted as he came running through the bank, carrying his throwing knives, "Real men throw knives!"

Willa snorted slightly as he released the knives, which went flying towards Allison and the main baddie...only to do a full turn and go flying off to the left-hand side of the bank, hitting another robber in the chest. It sent him backwards into the wall behind him with the force, blood staining the wall as he fell in a heap, not moving. That was enough to cause the lead baddie to start really panicking.

"Get away from me!" the man began shouting, and Allison rather calmly backed away from him, smirking smugly, looking utterly unconcerned when the man aimed his gun at her, his eyes bulging with panic and terror, "Who the fuck are you, you're kids!"

"Are you sure about that?" Allison shot back playfully, taunting him.

"Keep away from me!" he scrambled backwards and, almost frantically, pulled himself backwards and slightly awkwardly up onto the bank teller counter, apparently thinking, for some reason, that he would be safe from them if he could have the height advantage. He aimed his gun at them, moving it from Allison to Diego, to Willa, who stepped up beside the other two, "Get back, you freaks!"

"Hey, careful up there, buddy!" Diego called up to him, smirking.

"Get back now!"

"You're seriously gonna shoot a kid?" Willa raised a semi-transparent eyebrow, scoffing, "What a tough guy!"

"I said, get back!"

"Or what?" Five appeared behind the man, grinning cheekily and sitting crossed legged on the counter, as if he had always been there.

The man whirled around and fired his gun, only Five blinked away well before the bullets came close to hurting him. The sound still made Willa flinch and grimace, while the man frantically kept on firing at the same spot, spraying the counter with bullets in his panic...Five blinked back into existence standing directly behind the man, arms crossed over his chest, looking almost bored. The man stiffened and spun around, eyes widening as he raised his gun and fired, only an inch away from Five's chest...only to fire a harmless staple at him. Five had swapped the gun out, somehow, replacing it with a stapler, one that he merely glanced down at and arched a dark brow at, while the man frantically kept on clicking, until it dawned on him, too, what had happened. Five looked back at the man and smirked.

"That's one badass stapler!"

The man, utterly bewildered, gaped at him for a second, before Five sneered and suddenly lunged at him, grabbing his wrist and slammed the stapler in his hand right into his forehead. The man grunted and wobbled backwards a few feet, eyes glazed over and a large bleeding gash in his forehead, before he collapsed in a heap, toppling off the counter onto the floor. Willa whistled lowly in mock sympathy, because that was gonna hurt...and probably scar.

"Show off," Diego muttered with a slightly dark glare at Five.

"Problem, Number Two?" Five threw him a sarcastic, mocking smile, all teeth and oddly shark-like, and Willa was horribly reminded of Hargreeves Senor as the boy blinked, disappearing off the counter, only to blink back into existence right beside her. It was only a year of living with the kid that made her only jolt very slightly.

"Quit it, Number Two and Five," Luther snapped sharply, joining back up with them, "Stay on focus, we're not finished yet".

Five spared the fair-haired boy a slightly disbelieving stare, while Diego scoffed loudly and seemed to roll his eyes behind his mask, shooting Luther a rather annoyed glare. Willa simply sighed...it was pretty hard to take Luther seriously as a leader, sure, the kid might be the strongest out all of them, but leader material? Meh, probably not, in fact, none of them were exactly leaders, but Luther seemed to be really taking it to heart and running with all that nonsense that Reggie went on about. Just because daddy called you Number One, doesn't mean the rest of them were going to.

"Hey, guys! Guys!"

They all turned around to see Ben and Klaus come hurrying over to them, the pair of them rather out of breath, not in the least helped by the fact that Klaus had Willa's limp body slung over his shoulder like a sake of potatoes. The boy's cheeks were red, and he looked dangerously close to dropping her body, much to Willa's alarm.

"Can you, like, get back into your body now?" Klaus gasped out slightly, looking at Willa with barely concealed pleading, "You're way heavier than you look".

"He dropped you twice, by the way," Ben cut in with a slightly apologetic look to Willa, who's eyes widened slightly.

"What?" Willa blinked, appalled. She pointedly ignored Diego's snort of amusement.

Klaus gasped and threw him a betrayed glare, "Did not!" he deflated slightly under her increasingly alarmed stare, grimacing very slightly, "Okay...it was a close call, but I didn't technically drop you...you probably had a bruised hip before and didn't realise..."

Willa gaped at him in disbelief, making a rather strangled, indignant nose in the back of her throat. Nothing good ever came from someone using the word 'Technically' when trying to justify themselves in a sentence. Who the hell came up with the idea of Klaus taking care of her body again?

"Huh," Five glanced sideways at Willa, far too innocent and curious for her liking, "I wonder what happens to you if you get brain damage when you're not inside your body?"

"I hate you," she glared at him darkly.

"Seriously, can you get back in your body, you're slipping again!"

"I told you he dropped you," Ben said oddly victoriously, stabbing a finger in Klaus's direction.

Klaus huffed out a slightly annoyed sigh and grunted as he just barely seemed to catch Willa as her limp, ragdoll-like body did slip and almost topple off his shoulder...it somehow didn't stop the curly haired boy from throwing Ben another betrayed glare, though. Willa, wide eyed and horrified, jumped forward.

"Put me down! For Christ's sake, put me down!"

It wasn't nearly as gently as she would have wished, but Klaus did hastily and rather eagerly, move to lower her limp form onto the floor, before rubbing at his shoulders as he straightened, acting as if he had been heaving boulders or something. Ben shook his head and gave Klaus a pointed glare, which only got him flipped off by the curly haired boy. Willa paid them both barely any mind as she immediately moved to settle herself back into her body, allowing the rubber band that tethered her to it to snap...Oh, yeah, Ben wasn't kidding, Klaus had definitely dropped her, her right hip was totally bruised and her left elbow tingled a little bit, like she had hit her funny bone, right down to her fingertips. She opened her eyes and laid there, looking up at the shattered glass of the skylight above her head. She could see the fluffy white clouds in the blue sky lazily drifting by, offering little distraction from the dull ache in her hip.

"Next time..." she groaned slightly, "I vote anyone, but Klaus carries me around".

"I thought I did I pretty decent job, considering!"

Five appeared, upside down and looming above her, regarding her with a rather curious squint of his eyes.

"Did you expect anything better?" he asked her flatly, "It's Klaus".

She groaned and closed her eyes, flinging her arm dramatically over her eyes, "I'm in enough pain already without looking at you face right now, Five," she moaned slightly.

"That's mature".

"Enough messing around," Luther huffed tightly, "We have to secure the bank, remember?"

Willa made a rather annoyed noise in the back of her throat, protesting with that idea when she just wanted to go back the Academy and curl up in bed with an ice pack on her hip, then, after that, she was so going to plot her revenge against Klaus for being such a sucky partner. She let her arm fall from her eyes and opened them, blinking slightly against the bright lighting on the bank, only to be mildly surprised to see a hand being offered to her. It was Diego. She accepted his hand and was relieved by the help back up onto her feet, leaning slightly onto her left leg once she was up, throwing Klaus a slightly dirty look. She liked the kid, he was by far the easiest person in the house to get along with, but damn it, her hip did hurt.

"Where's the rest of them?" Luther was asking, eyes narrowed thoughtfully, "Dad said that there was at least eight in the crew, we've taken out five of them, so where's the other three?" he turned and pinned Klaus with a look, the other boy innocently staring back at him...he pointed at him sternly, "Number Four?"

Klaus gave him a blank stare, "What...?"

"You know what, Klaus," Allison gave him a level look, rolling her eyes impatiently, while Luther looked about ready to throttle the kid.

"Oh, you mean the ghost thing?" he blinked, all innocent and slightly mocking. He flattened a hand over his chest and shook his head, smiling thinly, "We're in a bank, no ghosts here, nope. None..." he flinched, and his expression briefly contorted with something that looked almost like annoyance and misery, and Willa frowned slightly in alarm. He cringed and shook his head, a little firmer, and squeezed his eyes shut, "Nope," he gritted out a little firmer, "No ghouls, not today".

He tried to laugh, but it fell flat and a little hysterical sounding, his eyes still firmly closed, while his expression remained tight and strained. Willa's frown deepened regarding the boy, her own annoyance draining away near instantly. She had always thought that seeing ghosts would be kind of cool as far as powers went, but the few times that Klaus had successfully used his powers during training, he had always seemed almost scared. She didn't know what he saw, how they looked, but however they presented to him, it seemed scary enough to make Klaus truly hate his powers.

"Do you really think we're buying it, Klaus?" Diego scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, glaring at him, hard, "What are they saying? Spit it out, ghostie boy!"

"Alright, fine!" the boy exclaimed, and threw his arms up in the air, eyes snapping open. He glared at Diego and then Luther, "You want to know? The vault, okay? They rest of 'em are in the vault? I've got some old grandpa carrying on in my ear about how they're gonna steal his family's diamonds and..."

Luther and Diego didn't bother to stick around listening to him ranting; they both turned and immediately dashed off towards the back of the bank. Five and Allison followed them, while Ben lingered, throwing Klaus a slightly sympathetic glance, but he also went after them. Willa sighed and reached out to link her arm with Klaus, giving him a forced, bracing smile.

"Come on," she said to him, "Sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get out of here".

Klaus took a deep, shuddering breathe and seemed to almost try to calm himself, big blue eyes fixing on her with a hopeful look, "I'm sorry about dropping you," he said quietly, almost meekly, if he could ever be described as such.

"It's okay. I forgive you".

He smiled brightly at her and she smiled slightly back, rolling her eyes as she gave his arm a little tug. They soon met back up with the other kids as they stood before the door of the bank manager's office, right before where all the bound and gagged hostages still stood, observing everything in terrified silence and confusion. Ben stood slightly apart from the other kids, pale and shaky looking, and Willa realised that they had missed something while they had hung back. The final part of the plan hit her, then, and she felt a wave of nausea wash over her, forcing her to bite her bottom lip to try and stop herself from trying to protest. It would get her nowhere, Reggie had insisted that they had to show that they meant business, leave a mark that would make criminals fear them and know that they weren't just kids in silly masks, they were a real threat. There surely had to be better ways to go about it, but apparently not this time.

"Do we really have to do this?" Ben asked in a small, nervous voice, glancing at the bank manger's door, where they could see shadows of figures moving through the frosted glass of the office, and back to Luther and Diego.

Diego nodded immediately, while Five and Allison didn't even blink. Willa frowned and glanced sideways at Klaus beside her, who looked just as reluctant as she felt. And miserable.

"Come on, Ben," Luther said with a stern glare, "There's more guys in the vault".

Ben deflated and glanced around at them all, almost hopefully, but when no one, even Willa could only look back at him silently, he sighed and briefly pressed his lips together.

"I didn't sign up for this..."

None of them had, Willa couldn't help thinking bitterly, unable to do anything but stand by and watch as poor Ben turned and stepped up to the door of the office. She wanted to save him, save them all, but there was nothing that any of them could do right now. It was a matter of survival for her, she had no choice but to keep her mouth shut and do as she was told, because what was the alternative? This was her life; just like it was Ben's, horrible as it might be. She watched as Ben briefly seemed to brace himself, before turning the door handle and pushing the office door open, just enough to slip inside. The moment the door closed; Diego turned to the hostages.

"Everyone, out!" he called to them, gesturing for them to head towards the bank front doors, "Go! Get out!"

The hostages didn't need telling twice, each and every single one of them made a dash for the doors, just as there was a loud cry from behind the office door. Willa gasped and jumped, looking around sharply...her eyes widened in horror as blood suddenly splattered the frosted window, while within the room the blurred, darkened shadows of Ben's tentacles were visible as they whipped about the office, grabbing and thrashing the remaining bad guys against the walls, their screams and blood splattering the window, cracking some panes. They all stared in disbelief and horror at the sight, when...it all suddenly grew eerily silent. The office door opened, and Ben appeared, covered, head-to-toe, in blood and viscera, looking like he'd just stepped out of a horror movie. He took a shaky breath and looked at them all.

"Can we go home now?"

Willa didn't hesitate to dash forward, shoving her way between Luther and Diego, to reach Ben. She felt sick, but she tried very, very hard not to show it, not wanting to make Ben feel even worse than he had to feel. The smell of iron was nearly overwhelming, rolling off his blood-soaked uniform and out of his drenched hair. She had no idea what to do...her instinct was to cover him up, pull her blazer off and wrap it around Ben's shoulders, just like her Ma used to wrap her up in a blanket when she was little and sick. Instead, she grabbed his upper arm and only cringed a little bit at how sodden the fabric was. Don't think of it as human blood, don't think of it as human blood...she repeated it over and over in her head, though it did little to ease how her stomach rolled with disgust.

"Come on," she said gently, eyeing Ben worriedly, half afraid he might faint once the adrenaline started wearing off, "Let's get your cleaned up. Come on..."

"Make it quick, Seven," Luther told her, impatiently.

Allison fluffed out her curls and straightened her tie beside him, and the sight made her want to throw something at her head. Somehow, she held back the urge...barely.

Willa glanced back to Luther and scowled at him darkly, "You're all heart, Luther," she scoffed mockingly, feeling a tiny sting of satisfaction when his eyes widened slightly in shock, not caring if her words were a tiny bit harsh, perhaps.

She was sick of Luther acting all high and mighty, though, tired of him putting on this big front of being the 'Leader' just because his dad said he was, but the way she saw it a real leader would have wanted to make sure that his team were okay before pushing them any further, and clearly Ben was not okay right now. It also irritated her that Allison was clearly just excited about getting her face in front of the stupid cameras, barely seeming to notice that a bunch of humans had just died and that they had been brutally murdered by her own brother. They were kids; they shouldn't be taking down bank robbers and killing people, for God's sake.

Luther gaped at her as she shoved her way passed him with Ben, tugging him gently alongside her. Klaus hastily moved to follow them, looking rather wide eyed himself, while she caught Five staring at her with his eyebrows arched high above his mask, lips curved slightly. She didn't stop to think about any of it as she dragged Ben into the bathroom and began quickly trying to help clean the blood off him. His uniform was wrecked, but there was little to be done about that. Klaus was oddly quiet as he also helped mop up the worst of the blood, and within five minutes they had cleaned him up vaguely well enough that hopefully people wouldn't think too much on it. They left the bathroom and joined up with the other kids, and Luther avoided Willa's gaze, even as they slipped outside of the front doors of the bank.

Police cars were dotted everywhere outside, while the press stood eagerly awaiting their appearance, all of them standing behind the safety barriers that the cops had set up, cameras pointed up at the front steps of the bank, immediately fixing on them as they came to stand at the top of the stairs, lining up from Luther to Willa last. The sound of cameras going off filled the air and shouts came. Willa plastid a strained, closed lip smile to her lips and kept her arm draped seemingly casually over Ben's shoulder, feeling the very slightly shorter boy leaning into her side. If he was shaking, she ignored it, while blood stained beneath her fingernails and dried in the lines of her hand from where she had grabbed him.

"How did you get in the bank?" one reporter shouted.

"What happened inside?" followed a second, all clambering to try and get a quote.

Willa hugged Ben a little closer and pretended not to hear how he sniffled, pretended to ignore the smell of blood that still wafted off him as the breeze tugged at their clothing, and before she knew it Hargreeves was appearing, marching straight through the police lines with barley a flicker of his eyes. He came to stand before them all on the steps, addressing the media.

"Our world is changing!" he called out, smiling thinly for the sake of the snapping cameras, "Has changed. There are some amongst us gifted with abilities beyond the ordinary..." he gripped his umbrella at his front, looking almost human, "I have adopted seven such children. I give you the inaugural class of the Umbrella Academy!"

He moved to step up beside Willa, who barely stopped herself from flinching away from him, somehow managing to keep her face fixed in a pained smile that didn't even come close to reaching her eyes. All she could do was keep up her fake smile and stare out at the media.

...

Following their first successful mission, Hargreeves deemed it necessary to mark the occasion with a grand gesture. For most, one would imagine this might be a small party for a group of ten-year-olds...instead, they got branded. They were made to line up in the entrance foyer of the Academy, chairs awaiting them as they were forced to sit down and watch as, one-by-one, they were each forced to sit in the large, intimating looking tattoo chair that had been brought in for the event. Klaus and Allison went first...Allison burst into tears the second the tattoo needle had touched the delicate flesh of the underside of her wrist, squirming in pain throughout the entire ordeal, tears streaming down her cheeks, until it was over. Klaus followed next, looking rather resigned to his fate...he was far more stoic than Willa could have imagined, squeezing his eyes tight and clenching his jaw, until it was over. He stepped off to the side and hugged Allison, who cried into his chest. Next was Diego, who sat rigidly in the chair as the tattoo gun buzzed loudly against his skin...

Willa felt rather as if she was witnessing something out of a movie, seeing kids being given a tattoo just wasn't what was supposed to happen. She gripped the edge of her seat and could only watch on in sickening horror. But she wasn't the only one, at least, though it was small comfort, Five sat beside her, staring with pale features and an anxious crease to his brow, while Ben was on the other side of him, breathing heavily and Luther sat at the end of the line, struggling to look tough. He failed miserably.

"Today marks the day that you fully embody what it means to be a team, children," Hargreeves had told them when he had forced them to line up, cold, shark-like eyes lingering on each of their pale, shaky faces in turn, "This symbol will be a lasting reminder to you all of who you are, what you stand for, what your duty is to this world! The pain will be a test of your ability to endure, children, a small taste of the hardships that will be necessary to bare, but one that you will all share..."

Willa had no interest in having a small taste of what hardships might be awaiting her in the future; she didn't want any tattoos or symbols forever marked into her pale skin to remind her of who she was supposed to stand beside. She was ten, she just wanted to be a kid, she didn't want to stop bad guys or save the world, she wanted to be normal. She licked her lips and cringed as Diego's face screwed up in pain, his entire body stiffening in the chair as the artist continued his work. Grace stood to the side, watching them all with barely conceal distress in her features. She reached out to place a hand over his, but Diego immediately jerked his hand back, scowling rigidly and the poor robot blinked, a flicker of hurt crossing her lovely features...Hargreeves stepped up beside her and she swiftly clasped her hands down her front, forcing a small smile in his direction when the older man peered at her and Diego with sharp, narrowed eyes, full of disapproval.

"He's going to blackout," Five murmured, and it was the first time Willa had ever heard him sound so terrified and shaky, green eyes fixed on Diego, who was as white as paper and stiff as a stature.

"I can't do this," Ben whispered, horrified, eyes wide, "I...I can't..."

"We don't have a choice," Luther reminded him lowly, though he looked just as scared as they all did, staring wide eyed at Diego.

Willa licked her lips, but kept her mouth shut, half scared that if she spoke, she might end up just vomiting. Her stomach rolled as the sound of the tattoo gun buzzed through the air, eyes glued to how the tattoo artist, a large, burley guy covered in his own tattoos and a leather vest dabbed up some of the ink and blood from Diego's wrist. She felt lightheaded as the artist seemed to finish up his work, the buzzing dying off as he glanced at Diego, who looked as if he still may pass out.

"Finished, kid," he said gruffly.

Diego visibly swallowed and moved to shakily stand, gripping the edge of the chair wearily...he looked ready to either faint or vomit, Willa couldn't quite decide, his jaw locked tightly as he cradled his freshly tattooed arm to his chest, no bandage over it. He moved to stand by Klaus and Allison, and reached out a hand to grip Klaus's shoulder, not glancing at him, but the act alone said more than enough about how he must be feeling. Klaus gave him a knowing, miserable look and clapped his back sympathetically.

And then the chair was free.

"Children?" Hargreeves turned on the spot to settle his cool, expected gaze onto the four of them still remaining, evidently expecting them to serve themselves up, like the lambs to slaughter that they were.

None of them moved, even stoic, daddy worshipping Luther stayed in his seat, eyes wide and jaw locked tensely, looking about ready to sooner throw himself in front of a bus then willing take the chair. Ben looked positively terrified and close to hyperventilating, while even Five looked as if he could think of nothing worse right now, features pale and lips slightly parted in horror. Willa looked down the line at them and, heart racing, realised what she had to do. She couldn't save them from being branded, but she could maybe protect them for a tiny bit longer.

"I'll...I'll do it," she found herself saying, voice barely a whisper, briefly closing her eyes as she fought against the urge to swallow back the words as they left her lips.

The boys looked around at her in disbelief and shock, but she merely gave them a weak, frightened twitch to her lips. It couldn't be called a smile, nor even a grimace, just a tiny jolt to the corner of her lip that she wasn't even sure if they noticed. They gaped at her and a tiny part of herself might have found it funny, at any other time, but right now she was to filled with dread to find much amusement in anything.

"Good, Number Seven," Reginald said with an approving incline of his head, gazing at her with cool, narrowed eyes.

Willa barely heard him, swallowing down the urge to vomit as she forced herself to stand, knees somehow holding her up, even though she felt as if they were about to buckle beneath her. She shakily crossed the distance from her chair to the tattoo artist's chair, glancing nervously at the tattoo gun that the burly man was fastening a fresh needle to. She shakily breathed in a shuddering gasp and released it, seemingly unable to look away from the needle.

"Left arm out, little girl," the man instructed her.

She slowly, reluctantly, held her left arm outwards to the man and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the cold brush of the alcohol wipe be dragged across the flesh of her wrist, just on the underside, barely an inch above the heel of her palm. She tilted her head back and breathed in short, sharp breathes as the tattoo gun started up, and then the man was gripping her hand roughly to keep her still and the first sting of the needle was biting at her. She gasped and cringed, and immediately tried to pull her arm back, but the man held it firmly, starting the black lines of the Umbrella. It hurt, worse than any needle she'd been given before, dragging over veins and tendons in her wrist, burning, at worst, and prickling at best, as she kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut, feeling tears dampening under her lids and spilling down her cheeks. She was totally a weirdo and a certifiable geek, because in the face of some of the most enduring pain she had ever experienced before, Willa found herself mumbling the periodic table breathlessly to herself...it wasn't alphabetical, she wasn't quite that level of geeky, but she managed to recite each element, painfully and slowly, through gritted teeth and clenched eyes...

...

"Did it really hurt that badly?" Vanya asked her in a small voice later that night, while Willa sat on the end of her bed in the tiny closest size bedroom that was the dark-haired girl's one.

It always made Willa feel so uncomfortable whenever she saw how tiny and modest Vanya's bedroom was, her own bedroom at least three times larger, in comparison. It didn't help, either, that her own bedroom was so bright, sure, it didn't get the greatest light during the day, but her sunshine yellow walls and white rug on the floor seemed to somehow make her room brighter, but Vanya's room didn't have the same space to be able to make having her walls a cream colour make any difference at all. In fact, it only made it look more prison cell-like.

"Yeah," Willa sighed, eyes still sore from the tears she had shed earlier, while her left wrist prickled and burned. A thin, clear piece of plastic film had been tapped over the top of her fresh ink, revealing the brand for all to see. She turned her wrist over and eyed it, the skin pink from the abuse, while the thick, black lines of the circle that circled the black umbrella in the middle of the framing circle stood out starkly against her skin. The only colour in the tattoo was the red, curved handle of the umbrella. She frowned down at it and grimaced, "I don't get why anyone would want to willing get one. It sucks".

Vanya eyed her with an oddly blank, thin sort of smile, her dark eyes slightly downcast, lingering on the tattoo. A flash of longing crossed her features and Willa, glancing at her in time to see it, felt her stomach drop as she realised: Vanya had been left out, hadn't even be considered for a tattoo. She was the only kid in the house to miss out on it, her entire existence to the rest of the world had been completely ignored...but Willa, who had been dragged into their lives seemingly at random, had been swiftly celebrated and welcomed into the Umbrella Academy fold.

"Van..." her eyes widened slightly, slightly mortified with herself for how insensitive she had been...how she had just totally forgotten how awful this must be for Vanya. She was a terrible friend.

"It doesn't matter, Wills," Vanya gave her a tight smile, one that didn't meet her eyes. She reached out and pattered her arm, "I probably wouldn't be able to pull it off, anyways..."

It was a terribly lame attempt to deflect, Willa was only ten and even she knew it sucked, but she also didn't have the heart to try and push the subject, because she could almost see how pained Vanya was, and even she knew there was literally nothing she could do or say to make it better. Sometimes, words could only do so much. And right now, all they had were words.

...

Dear Ma,

I got my first tattoo tonight. It hurt. It seems like the longer I stay here, the further and further I move away from the girl I was in Wales. I know it's only a tattoo; you can even get those removed, right? But I dunno, Ma, the longer I stay here the less and less I feel like the girl I was when I left Wales. Like yesterday, I watched Ben murder a group of men and I didn't say anything, Ma, I just...let it happen. It's wrong and I hated it, but what else can I do? This is my life now, if I don't keep my mouth shut about some things, I'll never make it and see you again, and I'm not gonna let the Umbrella Academy be the end of me. It's like Vanya, I wish I could make everyone see her, help her to see herself, but I just...I just don't know how to do that, Ma.

Wish you were here,

Love, Sunshine.

And we officially enter the Umbrella Academy's superhero era. Poor Willa, at least she had a year to get used to the joint before being thrust into that messy, questionable side of things. I hope you liked it, please tell me what you thought :)