#or like doing the thing the umbrella academy show did when elliott came out and just transition the caracter when the actor transitions

[uncanny-tranny]

I think that there should be a show where one of the principal actors transitions midway through and there's no explanation, they just act like they've Always Been That Gender, Actually

[thisisawonderfulusername]

let’s save the world

season two, episode five

five hargreeves x reader

summary: gathering the family together never ends well, but at least you can relax with a few of the siblings.

trigger warnings: cursing, drinking

word count: 5k

a/n: it took me literal years to find a gif for this one. not even kidding. i ended up settling. i am also sorry about how long this took to come out, i was very busy with school and some other health stuffs😂 anywho i hope you enjoy it

you all watch as reginald’s car gets farther away, and you sigh softly. it’s the eyeball all over again. time to chase after it before it bursts into flames before your eyes.

“you know, i’m starting to get the impression that dad’s avoiding us.” you look to five, away from all the people that filed out of the consulate.

“what gave you that idea?” you chuckle quietly, shaking your head as you look down at the dress you wore, and hated. you couldn’t wait to get it off, but you frown as you notice the missing piece. “i lost my bow to choke that guy, and it didn’t even work.”

scratching the back of her neck, lila glances to the three of you. “i hate to be the boring one, guys, but we need to get the hell out of here.”

as she moves to leave, you getting ready to follow, five steps in front of you to look at the woman with narrowed eyes. “when you mean ‘we’, who exactly are you referring to?”

your eyebrows furrow in confusion as you look at the boy, and lila seems just as confused, shifting her gaze to the side for a moment. “not a lot of ambiguity in that sentence.”

five doesn’t back down- by now you’re used to that. “listen, i don’t know who you are or where you came from, but i’d advise you return posthaste.”

diego leans towards him, “five, she’s right, we have to get out of here.”

“i just saved your life, you kinder shit!” lila spits out, “if i hadn’t stepped in, all that would be left of you is a blazer and some bloody socks.”

looking to the side as you chew on your lip, you felt quite ready to leave right about now. the dress was starting to feel a little too tight, enhancing the pain you felt from the hits you had taken.

“that’s the problem.” five points out, “you’re too good, you ask too many questions. you know too much. and you fight like you know what you’re doing.”

looking back to the small group, you think about what he had said, and it was starting to make sense. “he’s got a point.” you mutter, looking at the girl with a raised eyebrow, almost asking for an explanation.

“so i know how to handle myself, and that makes me the bad guy?”

you wanted to believe she was a good person, the ‘crazy lady’ who you had met in the car who just seemed to be tagging along- but she was starting to seem more suspicious the more you hung around her.

“whoever you are, you’re in my way.” five tells her, “if i see you again, i will kill you.”

he starts to walk away, and for a moment, you’re planted in your spot, staring at his retreating form. quickly shaking your head, you leave the other two behind, catching up to him.

-

when you got back to elliott’s, you had crashed on the couch after changing back out of the dress, and as you did, you had seen that one of the punches you took left quite a gash in your side, and you assumed the only reason you hadn’t noticed it before then was because of the blood that had clotted and dried around it, or maybe the adrenaline from such a fight.

either way, it didn’t matter. you were use to getting injured by now, it was a part of working for the commission and now, apparently, it’s a part of saving the world. you simply cleaned it, put some bandaging over it, and called it a day.

now, you sat on the same rolling chair that you always claimed in the door frame to the kitchen, leaning your head against the wall as you watch luther- who had finally decided he was ready to help, apparently- made some scrambled eggs. the mug that you held, filled as much as possible with coffee, was still scalding hot, but that didn’t stop you from taking the smallest sips every so often.

diego paced the kitchen floor, “no, no, no. i don’t understand. they keep following me.”

luther doesn’t even look up from the pan, which was basically overflowing with the eggs. “who?” he questions, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

���those dutch sociopaths!”

“they’re swedish, you idiot.” five corrects him, leaning against the wall across from you, “hired guns paid to eradicate us before we can do any more damage to this timeline.”

“yeah, but why now?” diego raises an eyebrow at the boy, “i mean, i’m-” he snaps his fingers, “-fine. for three months until you showed up.”

luther nods slightly, “yeah.” he finally looks away from the eggs, “i was here for a year and no one messed with me.”

looking back to you two, diego holds his arms out, looking for an explanation. rolling your eyes, you stand up, kicking the chair away from you and into the living room. “so you’re saying it’s our fault, hm?” you raise an eyebrow at them, “even if it was, and it’s not, it doesn’t change the fact that we only have six days left before the end of the world.”

nodding, five glances at you for a second. “the closest anyone’s gotten to dad was that driveway, at the consulate.”

as his stirring slows, luther looks up. “well, that’s not exactly true.”

your eyebrows furrow in confusion, and you watch as five steps closer to him. “what do you mean?”

“i saw him.”

you listen as he recounts the time he landed in the alley, when he got on a bus and went straight home- to the umbrella academy. when he arrived, there was some sort of house party going on, as people filled the building, all chatting and drinking champagne.

reginald stood with a circle of people- coincidentally talking about the end of the world and the uncertainties with time. when he walked away to get another glass was when luther stepped in, and was brushed off and humiliated in front of all the guests.

“that’s pathetic.” you all watch as the man scarfs down the eggs he had made, diego being the first to speak when he finished his story.

luther looks to him as he shovels more eggs onto his fork, “yeah, well, at least he didn’t shank my ass.”

“no, bro.” diego leans forward slightly, “he shanked your heart.”

you can’t help the small laugh that escapes you at the comment, and five looks between the two of them as luther hums in acknowledgement.

elliott enters the kitchen, looking to the large man. “is that my bath robe?”

luther looks to him, his mouth full and his eyes wide as if someone caught him sticking his hand in the cookie jar. “no.”

“look, who cares what he shanked?” five finally speaks from beside you, moving to the more important business. “he knows something about time travel.”

raising his hand slightly, elliott looks to him, “uh, why don’t you just do your thing and, uh, time travel us out.”

with a sigh, five stands up to refill his mug, and you quickly hold out your own in a silent request. “anyone care to explain?” he questions as he takes the cup, walking over to the counter and grabbing the coffee pot.

“first time he tried, he got lost in the apocalypse.” luther states.

diego is next, “second time, he ended up without hair on his balls.”

chuckling quietly, you finish, “this time he scattered us all across the timeline here- in dallas, texas, also possibly triggering a doomsday.”

five turns as he finishes refilling the mugs, looking to the man. “any more questions, elliott?”

he quickly shakes his head, and diego starts to speak again. “guys, you’re all missing the big picture here. dad is the ringleader of a sinister cabal that’s planning to kill the president.”

you take your mug back with a quiet thank you as five hands it over, and luther looks to luther with confusion written all over his face. “a cabal?”

“ignore him.” five tells him, leaning against the counter, “look, the way i see it, we only have one option.”

without looking away from his eggs, luther raises the question everyone has. “oh yeah, and what’s that?”

“it’s time to get the umbrella academy back together.”

oh god

you’re not sure if you can handle them all at once again.

diego looks at the ground for a second. “hell yeah. family meeting.”

“okay, then can one of you guys get allison?” you look to luther as he stares down at his plate, suddenly incredibly invested in his eggs.

raising an eyebrow, you take a sip of your coffee. “are you two still... uh, canoodling?”

the man doesn’t answer, only tilting his head to the side a bit. diego slowly leans towards him, “do we need to talk?”

“no, she’s married.” luther speaks through his mouth full of eggs, and you scrunch your nose up slightly.

diego nods slightly, “dude, that’s rough.” he leans back into the back of his chair.

luther forces a chuckle, “i can handle it.” the expression on his face only a second later, as you honestly think he’s close to crying his eyes out.

“i’ll get her.” five sets his mug down, and you watch as he walks towards the archway into the living space. “do you think you can get vanya without, uh, squeezing her to death?”

luther looks at him with a deadpan expression from the comment. “i’ll try.”

“good.” he looks to you, “you should go with. just to, you know, supervise.” you nod with a light laugh, though luther doesn’t look nearly as amused as you are from the light jab at him. a second later, five is gone with a flash of blue.

you down the rest of your coffee as elliott stutters for a moment. “uh, what should i do?”

with a small smirk on his face, diego looks towards him. “prepare for company.”

-

“y’all know, jell-o used to be a delicacy.”

you sit in the living room of the apartment after you had managed to get vanya, along with her, luther, and diego, as elliott goes on about the disgusting concoction in front of him.

“in order to make it, you have to boil down a whole mess of hooves... you know, horses, cows, pigs, it doesn’t matter.” fire begins to dance across your fingertips as you stare at it in boredom, your lips pressed into a thin line. “but not everybody has a bunch of hooves lyin’ around. it wasn’t until, uh, a couple of sassy new yorkers figured out how to dry it out for the rest of us to use to... enjoy this ambrosia.”

diego looks to him after sticking all his knives in a little sheath, clearly as bored and annoyed as the rest of you. “if we have some, will you shut up?”

your nose scrunches up at the thought of having to eat that... sludge, and the fire immediately dies out. “maybe.” he quickly grabs one of the bowls around the table, beginning to distribute the thing he called food.

“i’m good.” you mumble, waving your hand as he looks to you, clearly disappointed from your refusal, but you could handle that. there was no way you were going to eat whatever that was.

luther’s face is scrunched up as he watches the man scoop up the ambrosia, deciding to look away and to vanya instead. “how are you feeling?”

the woman, who was slouched into the couch with her hands resting on her stomach, glances towards him. “pretty shitty, to be honest.”

flipping one of his knives in his hand, diego looks to her. “how would you say you are on a scale from one to... ending all life on this planet?”

sighing heavily, you lean forward and rest your elbows on your knees, ignoring the searing pain in your side. “seriously? put the knife away, idiot, she’s fine.”

his gaze doesn’t move from her. “the last time i saw this one, she had me suspended midair, sucking the life out of me with energy tentacles.” he stops flipping the knife to point it towards you, “i think i’m allowed a little time to process.”

“i would love to see an energy tentacle.” elliott looks up from his creation, looking between the three of you.

shaking your head, you sigh. “no you don’t.”

vanya sits up, looking to the man. “i don’t remember what i did, but i’m sorry.” she shrugs slightly, “if that means anything.”

he looks to her for a moment before he finally stops pointing the knife around, instead holding it at his side on the armrest. “it does.” that surprised you, but at least you wouldn’t have to stand around for another family argument. “just going through a lot right now.”

beginning to speak about ‘a girl he likes’, you roll your eyes. before he’s able to speak too much, the bell on the door downstairs jingles and you can hear laughter- allison and klaus.

“anyone here?” she calls out, and you stand from your seat, as does everyone else, going to stand at the railing of the balcony.

you can tell that the two of them are at least a little drunk from the amount of giggling from the two of them. they stop to look up at the five of you, and klaus takes his glasses off. “i know this is impossible, but did we all get... sexier?”

rolling your eyes, you watch as everybody else goes down to have a heartwarming family reunion, allison and vanya hugging before klaus joins in.

“alright, let’s get down to business.” five turns and goes up the stairs, everyone else following. as they come up, you take your seat once again, all of them taking their own places around the room.

standing in front of all of you, five sticks his hands in his pockets. “first thing i want to say is i’m sorry. i know i really screwed the pooch on this whole going back in time and getting stuck thing.” diego nods slightly, and you prop your feet up on the coffee table, nudging the empty bowl out of the way. “but the real kick in the pants here is, we brought the end of the world back here with us.”

“oh my god, again?” everyone looks to klaus in silence. “all of you knew? why am i always the last to find out about the end of the- oh my god, my cult is going to be so pissed, five! i told them we had until twenty-nineteen!” he whines.

you sigh softly as you run a hand down your face, “well, better inform them it’s coming sooner than that. we have six days.”

“is it vanya?” he takes a sip from his drink, and allison scoffs, “what? it’s always vanya.”

deciding to ignore it, vanya looks to five and you turn back in your seat, shaking your head. “do you have any leads, five?” the woman questions, and diego is already handing him the file that holds the picture of their father in the knoll.

“yeah, we have one.” five tells them, passing the folder over to allison, who doesn’t waste time in opening it up.

“holy shit, is that dad?” she looks at it in disbelief, and vanya quickly leans toward her to examine the photo as well.

after a moment, five continues to explain. “we’ve been trying to talk to him about what exactly this means, so far we’ve got nothing.”

“not nothing,” diego quickly adds, “we know that he’s planning to kill kennedy.”

“possibly,” you make your entrance into the conversation, “but we don’t know who or what sets doomsday in motion.” you remove your legs from the table, leaning forward slightly, “could be kennedy, could be something that doesn’t have anything to do with him.”

five nods, “but, if we know something changes the timeline, we have to make it right.”

her eyebrows furrowing, allison cuts in. “yeah, but how are we supposed to do that if we don’t know what to fix?”

“oh, come on, do the math.” diego tells her in irritation, “we know dad’s having shady ass meetings with shady ass people. we know he’s on the grassy knoll in three days to kill the president. so i think we all know what we have to do.”

“kill dad.”

“find dad.”

the two have very different ideas, apparently, and five turns his head to look at him with furrowed eyebrows, and you have to bite your tongue to keep from laughing at the incredulous look.

it’s quiet for a moment before vanya speaks. “none of us are supposed to be here, right? i mean, what if it’s us?” she looks around, “has anyone here done anything to screw up the timeline?”

another bout of silence surrounds you as looks are exchanged between everyone, before luther takes a deep breath to start a circle of accusations.

“diego has been stalking lee harvey oswald.”

pointing a finger at the big man, his voice raises immediately, “and you’re working for jack ruby!”

“allison has been very involved with local politics.” klaus pipes up from his seat beside you.

“okay, and you started a cult.” she points at him, giving a mocking smile.

while klaus hissed as if he were a cat, vanya sat up in her seat slightly. “i’m- i’m just a nanny on a farm, i don’t have anything to do with all of that.”

allison looks at her, “well, maybe you do, we just don’t know it yet.”

a loud whistle catches everyone’s attention, looking towards diego. “look at yourselves. everything in our new lives is connected to kennedy. that can’t be a coincidence. luther works for ruby, allison is protesting against the government, dad’s on the grassy knoll, klaus-” he pauses for a moment, looking at the man, “is doing something weird and pervy, but it’s probably connected in some way. clearly we were sent here for one special reason. save john fitzgerald kennedy.”

rolling your eyes as everyone starts to argue, you stand from your seat, feeling a headache coming on from being around this incredibly dysfunctional family, unable to not think about how peaceful it was when you were normal for once, just working in a diner.

“guys, you all die.” you look back at five as he speaks, cutting through all of the clashing voices. “i was there. i saw it. i wish i could forget it, but i can’t. i saw russian nukes vaporize the world with all of you in it, in a war that never happened until we brought it here. hazel gave his life to save us so you may need to shut up and just listen to me.”

you frown slightly at the confession, feeling bad that he had to see his family die yet again. you couldn’t imagine seeing your family buried in the rubble of your home, or actually watching the blazing fire that wipes them out from a nuke that takes out the city.

“i don’t know if the things we all experienced here are connected. i don’t know if there’s a reason for everything. but dad will.” he looks around at his family and to you, “we need to him before everyone and everything we know is dead.”

you’re about to voice your agreement, but luther is the one to speak first. “okay. i’m out.”

with furrowed eyebrows, you watch as he stands from where he sits, already heading towards the stairs. “were you even listening, luther?” you question in disbelief.

he looks to you. “yeah. yeah, i was. i heard a fifty-eight year old man who still wants his daddy to come and fix everything.” he gives a derisive grin, “and you can count me out. it’s time we all grew the hell up.”

everyone begins to call him back, and you can’t believe what you had just heard, quickly running around the chairs and being able to step in front of him before he starts making his way down the stairs, you walking backwards with each step he takes. “you’re kidding, right?”

five appears next to you with a blue flash, and luther finally stops as he stares up at him. “no one leaves until we figure this out.”

he looks between the both of you for a second, before suddenly he’s grabbing your arm and tossing you over the railing of the stairs as if you’re as light as a feather. you yelp from the surprise, and five is gone before you can grab onto him, landing on the tile floor with a groan as you curl in on yourself.

“asshole!” you call out to him as he leaves the building, diego following after him for who knows what reason.

standing from the ground, you hiss in pain as you feel the gash in your side sting like hell. you lift your shirt slightly and peel the bandage back a bit to see that the scab that was starting to form had teared apart, and you press your lips together as you let the bandage and your shirt fall back into place.

“let’s go!” you hear klaus call out, and you see the remaining three siblings start to make their way down the stairs. “oh, y/n!” he calls when he sees you standing at the bottom, smiling slightly, “would you like to get some tacos with us?”

looking to the side for a moment, you sigh, before looking back to him. five was gone and you didn’t know when he was coming back, so why not? “tacos sound amazing right now.”

-

music played from the radio resting in front of the mirror on the table matching the rest lined along the wall in the hair salon, and allison ranted about her husband, comb in hand as she messes with klaus’ hair.

with a groan of annoyance, she continues. “the nerve of that man.” she chuckles bitterly, shaking her head, “i mean, one thing goes wrong, and he’s on a warpath! i mean, doesn’t know who i am?” she looks into the mirror in front of him, pointing the comb, “no, no. no ray, you know exactly who i am. you just can’t handle it. i’m protecting him.”

you take a sip from the bottle of champagne on the table next to you, already feeling the alcohol taking effect as you smile slightly, watching the two of them as you hum along to the music. “protecting him from what?” klaus questions, his cigarette between his lips as he raises an eyebrow at her.

“the end of the world, for one.” she responds, the irritation clear in her voice.

vanya speaks from her seat across the room, her feet propped up on top of the table. “hey, is the world really going to end in six days?”

it’s quiet for a moment, and you take another drink from the bottle. “it did last time. i saw the aftermath.” you shrug, “sure, i didn’t see this one, but five wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

klaus gets up from the salon chair, and allison puts the comb she was using to the side. “hey, wouldn’t it be weird if five grew up all hot?” he asks, moving to stand in the middle of the room, grabbing one of the extra bottles to fill up his flask. allison expresses her disgust. “oh, ew! ew! please, miss ‘luther was my lover.’“

holding her hand up, the woman started defending herself. “we have never even kissed.”

“yeah, but you guys were making little sick moon-dog eyes at each other, all through puberty and breakfasts and all that.” he argues, motioning wildly with his hands.

turning her seat around so she can look towards all of you, vanya voices her confusion. “aren’t we all brothers and sisters, or?”

klaus snorts at the question, and you look to allison as she sits in klaus’ previous chair. “well, technically, it-”

“technically?” you cut her off, sitting up in your seat with a chuckle as you look to her, “if you have to use the word technically, you’re already in trouble.”

klaus giggles from where he stands, looking to vanya for a moment, “okay, can- can we focus?” allison dismisses the conversation, “i mean, clearly, we’re not saving the world tonight, but maybe, maybe, we can at least try to save my marriage!”

“no!” klaus cries out, and you grin, “no, because that’s- that’s like asking a nun how to hump someones leg. i mean, who in this room knows shit about relationships, huh? this one-” he points at vanya, “in secret love with some... farm frau,”

“her name’s sissy.” the woman whines.

“which is an improvement from her last lover, the serial killer.” he laughs, and vanya looks very confused from that comment, her eyebrows furrowing. “meanwhile i’m carrying a torch, for a soldier i haven’t technically met yet, luther is... in love with his sister. and you!” he spins around to point at you now, and you’re surprised by his sudden call out, “y/n, you don’t even realize that you’re ridiculously in love with five!”

you gape at the declaration, not even able to comprehend the accusation, but it doesn’t matter, because he keeps on. “face it, the only healthy long-term relationship in this family, was when five was banging that mannequin.” allison crosses her eyes, falling back into her seat, “the only thing the umbrella academy knows about love,” he holds his flask up into the air, “is how to screw it up.”

the two women mutter their agreements, and you take a long drink from the bottle, sighing as you let your head fall against the back of your chair, the champagne resting on your leg.

“how do you guys deal with this?” vanya questions, and you lift your head slightly to raise your eyebrows in question, and she continues. “all of it. the time travel, seeing the dead, the end of the world...”

“well i get really high,” klaus tells her, plopping into the chair behind him, “allison, allison... lies to herself.” the woman kicks a rolling stool towards him in irritation, causing him to flinch, “y/n works herself to death helping five, and you suppress all your emotions, deep, deep down, until you... you blow shit up.”

rolling your eyes, you decide to ignore his comments, looking to vanya. “yeah, i’d like to not do that anymore.” she looks to the floor.

“well,” you stand up, stumbling slightly, “you have six days.” you look at the nearly empty bottle of champagne, and you scrunch your nose up. did you really do that?

“what are we supposed to do with six days?” allison scoffs.

klaus mutters an ‘i don’t know’ and vanya seems like she has an ah-hah moment as she sits up in her chair. “i’m going to tell sissy i love her.” she announces, and klaus looks at her with raised eyebrows, his hands up in the air at his sides, “i don’t want any secrets.” she shrugs her shoulders.

“yeah-” allison grabs her bottle and stands up from her seat, “yeah, you’re right! ‘cause if everything’s going to go tits up, the least i can do is be honest with my husband!”

klaus rests his elbows on his knees, “oh... does that mean i’m going to have to face my cult?” he sighs, “i just hate group breakups- it’s why i stopped dating twins.”

vanya throws her hands out to the side, her eyebrows furrowed. “this family is amazing.”

the other two chuckle, and you shake your head with a grin on your face. yeah, their family is incredibly dysfunctional, but at least they were connected on some level. “let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” allison giggles, and klaus stands to hug her, both of them struggling to stand upright on their feet.

they motion for you and vanya to join, and when the woman hops over to engage in the group hug, you sigh and join in, having to lean against them all to keep yourself up.

taglists:

main: @horrorklaus @megasimpleplan4ever

tua: @rasberrymay @noodlextrash @atomicpillar

five taglist: @anapocalypseinmymind @five-hargreeves-official @insatiable-ivy @coffee-e-addict @xplrreylo @fandomfreakff @colie-babi @flowertoty​

let’s save the world: @aspiringwriter1 @thetrashypanda423 @lilacs-lavender @wow-lookit-all-the-fandoms @ohmyitsfaith @xplrreylo @fandomfreakff @onedollarduck @sleepygal124 @faith-quake @stripedchickens @youcandalekmyballs @pettyjayy @libidinexx @bts-chub @theoriginalkat @flowertoty @whenyouwantdeath @ot7purple @ purblerain @megasimpleplan4ever @whenyouregrungeaff @dumdumsun

[thorin-is-a-cuddler]

Hero

A/N: (Y/N) is Number eight of the Umbrella Academy siblings. Her power is that she can make people feel things when she looks at them. From pain over warmth to relief. It has been of help to her siblings many times aready. But sometimes it is more fun to mess with them. And that is easily done...

- Diego is having a broody moment in Elliot’s house after the dinner with your father and you are trying to cheer him up now. -

word count: 2780

characters: Diego, (Y/N) 

You found Diego lying on Elliott’s bed, a knife between his fingers, his eyes focused on the way he was twirling it around.

He didn’t seem very happy all in all. He had taken a real beating to his self-confidence from his father and you could tell that he was trying not to let it hit too hard to home. Yet it did. And he wasn’t that good at working through those feelings all by himself, had never been. Isolating himself from the others who were cooking in the kitchen was just one way to avoid having anyone else notice his gloom. While some of the others might think it better to leave Diego alone and let him sort it all out, you didn’t share that point of view. 

Quietly you closed the door behind you after you had entered the room. You wrapped your arms around yourself, cleared your throat and looked at your brother carefully. He was already looking at you, his lips curled into a very small smile as his eyebrows were raised expectantly. You could see and feel the sadness he was trying so hard to swallow.

“(Y/N),” He addressed you softly while looking at the knife in his hands again, “I know what you will try to do. You don’t have to. Go on, get back to the others. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Sadly you sighed, your shoulders moving up and down very harshly. In your head, you tried to find the right words to say to him, just anything to get him some relief. You knew he didn’t like it when you used your power on him without consent and you could totally understand that. It just made you crazy that you could so easily help him and he didn’t want it. 

“Diego, I-”

“Really, (Y/N), I don’t want you to burden yourself with my- ... feelings. You always try to make everything okay for all of us. And you don’t have to. Some things we just have to figure out by ourselves. I’m just starting to understand that-” 

“Would you... shut up for a second?” You said loudly, frustrated by his endless babbling that only made it more and more obvious to you just how small Diego was feeling at the very moment. 

He stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth with a gentle huff. His brown eyes were full of love for you, as they always had been. Still, you were getting the feeling that Diego really was changing. He wasn’t quite as defensive as he usually had been before the 60s. He was trying to work through his defenses to be able to openly show you all more of his love, compassion and trust. That was good. Still, he didn’t have to do it all by himself. Protecting everyone he loved didn’t mean he couldn’t be protected in return. 

With another sigh, you walked over to the bed and settled down on the side of it, your face turned towards your brother over your shoulder. He was making more space for you, a slightly tenser expression in his eyes now that he realized you weren’t gonna drop the issue so easily. 

“Listen,” you started, turning your face forward again to look at the nervous fingers in your lap, “what Dad said to you was ... it was ... “ 

Fighting with the words in your head, you looked at him again, despair in your eyes, while you saw the sadness color is own gaze more clearly now. 

“Diego, it was complete idiocy!” You exclaimed, anger blooming between your eye brows like a dark flower. “It was the stupidest thing I ever heard an old man say and you know that Five can say some pretty stupid things. You are a hero. You have been always been my hero. I mean, not just mine, but mine in a way you weren’t to others. You were so cool, you never said no when I asked you to pin my stupid Umbrella themed socks to a wall with your knives.”

He chuckled softly at the memory, a bit of his sadness making room for better emotions. 

“You always try to do the right thing.” You continued, daring to look at his face again. “You protect people. Not just your family, but other families as well. I mean if that’s not something to be proud of, what is, right?”

Diego’s lip was wavering slightly and you weren’t sure if that was a good thing, but it seemed to you like he was less burdened by self-depricating thoughts than before. You nodded to yourself and tried to decide whether it would be good to take his hand when he made the decision for you. It moved you when Diego’s fingers gently closed around your own, stopping your nervous fumbling and making you look at him. 

“And you think you need your power to make people feel better?” His eyes were glowing with fondness, something that happened more often lately than it had before. It was a good change. It was precious. 

“Oh,” you made, dropping your face in your other hand with a relieved smile, your cheeks slightly darker than before, “man, I wasn’t sure what the hell to say to make you feel better, but it was all the truth and I��m glad if that reminded you of how great you actually are.” 

Diego raised his eye-brows meaningfully and grinned at you. “Yeah, I know, I’m amazing, right?” 

“Ooookay, apparently that was a bit too much. Next time I’ll just use my power on you again.” You tried to get up off the bed with a laugh, when Diego pulled you back by your hand, exclaiming his disagreement loudly while also tousling your hair in a playful manner. You were pulling at you arm to get away, when you had an idea all of a sudden. With a smirk you focused on your brother and sent a nice little feeling his way.

He squeaked in a very uncharacteristic manner and pulled his arm back, letting go of your wrist in the process. You snickered to yourself as he gaped at you with an open mouth. This had always been your favorite part of your power when it came to your siblings. You could make them feel better, yes, that didn’t take much effort. But you could also make them feel other things. Maybe take a little detour and cheer them up in a process that took a little longer...

Diego knew just what you had in mind. And he was not in favor of it. That wasn’t very surprising, considering how ticklish he was...

“Don’t you do it.” You saw the glint in Diego’s eyes as he warningly pointed a finger at you. “I swear my revenge will be devastating.”

You barely were able to hold back a grin at his words, rememebering all the tickle fights you had already lost against your beloved brother. Once he hit the right spots, you were out of the game, unable to focus on your power anymore and closing your eyes too much to really use it anyway. He knew just where he had to tickle to make you squeeze your eyes shut and laugh your head off. That was one of the best and worst things about having a brother. 

“I can see you smile in that veeeery unsettling way and I tell you no. You will not have fun with it, (Y/N), I swear this time you will regret every single ticklish feeling you send my way because I will tickle you so hard in return you will- GAHH!!” 

“You are in a really babbly mood today, aren’t you?” You asked with an innocent smile as Diego started twitching away from invisible hands. 

“Plehease don’t!” He giggled when your power started stroking all over his ticklish spots. “Please no tickles! I’m a grown ass mahahan, (Y/N)!!” 

“Just a little bit of it right over here.” You grinned when Diego threw himself onto his back on the bed as your tickle mojo circled around his middle. He wrapped his arms around his torso in an attempt to stop the ticklish feeling, but it was useless. He couldn’t stop it and he knew that very well. He had always been your favorite when it came to using that special side effect of your powers. Probably because it had always worked so well on him when it came to a good cheer up. 

Laughing so hard his cheeks started to glow in a cute rose color Diego now curled into a tiny ball and hit the sheets with his feet.

“SthaAAHAHAHAP, (Y/N)!! I’M OKAY I SWEEHHEEAR I AM!! NO MOHOHORE BAD MOODS I PROHOHOHMISE!!!” He shrieked with laughter when your tickles reached his upper ribs, poking, prodding and scratching all simultaneously as you just sat there and smirked at your brother’s strong reaction to the tickling. 

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad. This is bad!” You chuckled as your brother started kicking much harder when you jumped on top of him and added your own hands to his sides while your mojo focused completely on his armpits, keeping his useless elbows pinned to his ribs in an attempt to protect himself. He was laughing so hard his eyes stayed squeezed shut and his hair started to get real tousled from him rubbing his head all over the pillow. 

You were just pinching his ribs, when Allison opened the door and crossed her arms in front of her chest, clearing her throat audibly. You whipped your head around and lost your focus on your brother for a second. Enough time for Diego to grab you and pin you to his chest with your back against his pecs. 

“ALLISON!!” You yelled and immediately tried to worm out of Diego’s embrace so that you could get a good look at him again and continue where you had been so rudely interrupted.

“Oh, how the tables have turned!” Diego murmurred in your ear with a rough laugh and you immediately knew your were doomed. 

“Sorry, sis, but saving Diego is the least of an apology I can offer him right now after the way I acted during the... dinner.” She said, unusually soft, making your brother breathe differently for a second. He was just as surprised as you were. Positively so. 

“Totally accepted.” He said to Allison, unusually soft as well, making you start kicking harder again. This was ridiculous. Diego was the one who needed some cheering up. You hadn’t signed up for immediate revenge.

“YOU CAN START THINKING OF AN APOLOGY FOR ME RIGHT NOW, ALLISON, YOU HEAR ME!!” You were trashing around way too much, you knew that, it was futile anyway and Diego was only waiting for you to be too weak to fight back properly anymore. 

Allison chuckled and leaned down a little to direct her next words at you. “My apology? I won’t rumor you to be more ticklish than you already are, how about that?” 

Your eyes widened and your struggles died down for a second. You bit your bottom lip and said. “Yeah please don’t do that...” 

Diego laughed at that and growled into your ear, making it impossible for you not to giggle at the slight tickle his beard was producing on your neck. 

Allison chuckled as well and started turning around to leave the room again. “No, you’d definitely be a goner if I did that. Have fun, guys.” 

“No. ALLISON! DON’T LEAVE ME! NA- GAHAHAHAD NOOOO!! DIEGOOOO!!” 

You knew Allison had left the door open on purpose. It probably felt a bit like the good parts of home to your siblings to hear you and Diego have a tickle fight. The sound of the laughter of you two must have been quite nice and reassuring to them. Wonderful. Couldn’t they have had the same response to Diego’s wheezing before? 

“Oh, I told you, little sis. This is gonna tickle.” Diego buried his face in your neck and blew a long raspberry, accompanied by the general ticklishness of his beard on your skin while his hands were worming their way under your arms to heighten the ticklish effect even more. 

You were an instant mess, your laughter completely out of control as he wrecked you like back in the old days. You couldn’t say that you hated it. You didn’t, despite the struggle you put into your fight against him. You just felt too loved and cherished as his sparkling eyes focused on getting just the right spots and his playful growls showed how much he enjoyed making you laugh like that. Well, maybe you had been in need of a good tickle. Still, it was an outrage that Diego still called you his “little” sister despite you having told him time and time again that you were all the same age.

In an attempt to make him laugh again you tried to fight back by skittering your nails down his ribs when you saw an opening, but he had the upper hand now and easily pushed your hand away before it had the chance to weaken him enough. 

“PLEHEHHEASE!! THIS IS MEHEHHEEAN!!” 

“Oh, you calling this mean, sweetheart?” Diego chuckled and managed to pin one of your arms down to the mattress, proceeding to tickle you even harder than before with his free hand, five fingers digging right into the spots that made you squeal. “You know what’s mean, is when you’re helpless like this, that’s mean.” 

“STAHAHHAP!! DIEGOO PLEHEHEHEASE!!!”

“Just a little bit right over here!” He mimicked your words from earlier and turned you on your back to get at your stomach. You tried to get a good look at him to summon your powers again, but it was no use. You just couldn’t keep your eyes open.

Defeat had to be called when he managed to lift your shirt just the littlest bit and blew a raspberry right on your side. You were screeching with laughter, pushing at his head and trying harder than before to weasel out of his embrace, but it didn’t work. He just kept dipping his head down to brush your belly with his beard and blow tiny raspberries all over the sensitive skin, until all you yould muster in coherent words was “OVER GAME OVER SOLDIER DOWN”. 

He actually had mercy then, a sweet smile on his face, as he put his chin up on his hands and crossed them over your belly. You rubbed at your face and groaned. But despite trying to, you could’t keep from laughing a little more, making your brother chuckle as well and playfully bury his face in your stomach. That feeling was enough to make you squeak again which made him lift his head up quickly, a big smile on his features. 

“We’re a little sensitive now, huh?” 

You mustered your strength and moved closer to ruffle through his hair very wildly with both your hands, making him sigh dramatically and say “Okay, you’re asking for this!” before he buried his face in your stomach again and went back to squeezing your sides with his hands. This time you didn’t last ten seconds before you could barely breathe anymore and tried to pull his hands off of your skin, your laughter adorably tired by now. He moved his head away soon and took his hands off of your ticklish spots with a clear offering of peace on his pleased face. “You had about enough, you little toad?”

You nodded with a giggly wheeze and rubbed at your eyes as he climbed off of you, huffing gently to himself. He scrambled up on the mattress to drop on his back next to you and sent you an affectionate glance. It all felt way too embarrassing to you now that it was over and you hid your face behind your hands with a groan. 

“Don’t look at me!” 

“Oh, come on,” He laughed and nudged you carefully, “I get to win too once in a while, or don’t I?” 

You looked at him out of the corner of your eye and couldn’t keep from grinning now as well. 

“Attagirl.” He gently nudged your chin with his fist and your smile grew. 

You took your hands away from your face and quickly buried it in his chest, as you threw your arms over his body and snuggled up to him. He let out a loud breath when your knee hit him in the stomach, but merely patted it with a gentle laugh once you were settled and nestled. 

“Diego?”

“Hmm?” 

“You still are my hero.”

He made a pleased noise and entangled one of his leg with yours. “Even though I am a ticklish hero?”

You smirked into his shirt. “Definitely.”

[sapphichollow]

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY- The Swedes/ Platonic/ Part 8

Darkness swamped the corners of the room, chased away by the soft glow of overhead lamps. Winnie lowered herself onto the floor and undid her laces. She fumbled and slipped her boots off, but she did not speak. They already knew she was home. If their cat like senses weren’t enough, they knew the steady tread of her footsteps by heart.

Before turning into the open living room, Winnie scooped the groceries into her arms and willed a smile to her lips. The Swedes were many things. But they were not stupid. She’d have to really sell it. So a mask painted her face, pinched her cheeks with a smile, filled her with an overexcited bounce- all to make sure they didn’t worry. Or worse, they worried too much. Bad things happened when they worried too much. Who knew what they’d do to Elliott if they found out?

“I’m back,” She called from across the room. 

Axel lifted his head and gave her a curious glance from the stove. He was wearing a floral apron, tied neatly at the waist, a white shirt and a pair of beige boxers. This was not uncommon. She considered it - they considered it- underclothes, and it was just his way of being comfortable. Their work clothes were thick, exhaustingly so, heavy and undesirable. She’d once jokingly tried Axel’s coat on, and she practically swam in the blue material, the sleeves drooping down past her hands.

As she eased past, Otto and Oscar paused at their usual game. A knife sank into Otto’s leg, but he didn’t seem to notice, nor did he care. He just smiled. On any other day, she would have said something. Told them to be careful and wrinkled her nose at the flash of silver. They never listened, of course. They were adults, she was not. Therefore, they could make their own choices, even if it meant seriously injuring themselves. 

What lunatics. She almost smiled.

“You get fish?” Axel asked as she set the groceries down on the counter. Otto wrenched the knife from his leg, handed it to his brother and joined them both at the table.

“Yeah.. ungutted, like usual,” Winnie grinned at him with heavy eye contact. As she delved through the bags with forced vigour, she felt him eying her.  Winnie pulled out a wrapped fish and waved it at him, grinning. But then she stopped. He was staring..

 He knew- of course he did. It was obvious. Was she smiling enough? Did she put up a proper authentic guise of...Winnienesss to fool three intuitive men who had known her over five years? Then, as he appeared to dismiss it, she relaxed a little. Apparently not.

Otto reached into the bags and helped her find places for the food. He took charge of the higher spaces- the nooks and crannies she couldn’t reach, often swiping things from her hands just as she was about to find homes for them. It got a little irritating sometimes. But he meant well, and she was too tired to protest or joke around. So she manned the lower cupboards- though there was little to unpack. The smell of fried fish tainted her nostrils. It was her favourite- but somehow she wasn’t hungry for it.  Perhaps, she thought, glancing down at the cats which lazed about, she would donate her dinner to them. If Axel would let her.. of course.

It was alright. So far, so good. They wouldn’t find out, and she could just ignore Elliot for the time being. No biggie.

However, as Winnie stowed a packet of pasta into the cupboard, Oscar skimmed the top of her hair with his fingers as he passed. She ducked away instinctively- her first mistake. Winnie dropped her gaze at once, anxious to push away the concerned looks she knew to be there.

She opened the freezer, squeaked, and slammed the door shut. One of the cats leapt back in surprise.

“Forgot about the head,” She gasped, reeling back. Her facade slipped away at once, revealing the hollow, fragile look in her eyes, shaken up to the bone. The black and white cat- Marabou- gave her a sour look and sulked off to the sofa, her fluffy tail scrubbed up like wire.

Axel’s head snapped up, suddenly alert. If he had been a cat, she was certain his ears would have pricked up.

“What’s wrong?” He asked immediately. Winnie looked at him, then her gaze ran to the others, who hovered nearby, bleeding out of various wounds across the length of their bodies. Concern dashed across each of their faces, but she dismissed it at once.

“I think I saw some bandages in the cupboard earlier,” She told them, turning back to Axel.” It’s nothing.. I’m going to paint,” She insisted and turned on her heels, snapped her suitcase open and grabbed her paints, dragging her last canvas with it to the dining table.She could feel their gaze boring into the back of her skull. The sound of Swedish muttering hushed in the room. Hoping it would ease her mind a little, she took up her paintbrush.

For a while there was nothing- just the steady sound of the brush stroking against canvas, the bubbling of water as she cleaned her brush and patted it dry. She dotted black across the canvas absentmindedly. Her eyes were cloudy and unfocused. But the feeling inside still remained. At a glare from Axel, Oscar and Otto had dressed and cleaned their wounds carefully, still hovering about nearby.

Every so often, one of the cats- the black one- would butt her leg with its head, mewling to be picked up and held. She would have liked to be picked up and held herself, but she continued painting. Her lips sealed. As she worked, Oscar settled beside her, pulling the mewling cat onto his lap.  But Winnie barely noticed, she was so engrossed in her work that black and grey smears dappled her cheeks, and splattered her fingers, caught under the nails.

It was out of line. The way in which it had panned out. Elliott was her friend- he was desperate. He could have been called crazy. Those were the reasons. The excuses that rose foggily in her mind when she tried to justify his actions. It had deeply unsettled her. It was out of line.

Start of flashback:

“No, you’re outta line,” and the torn pages spiralled to the ground, spread like white feathers at her feet. The girl tried to pick them up, but he stood there waiting. She caught a glimpse of the ink illustration Alice, cradling her pig babe in arms until he kicked the pages away, rough hands capturing her tiny butterfly shoulders. She screamed. But he wouldn’t have it. Nails dug into soft skin. Another scream and he was gone. Poof.

Then, his face warped and changed. His once shiny forehead became that of Elliot’s sallow brow. His eyes were small and weasel-like. Now he bore no resemblance whatsoever to her father. Now he was Elliot and the fingers came back and he squeezed and squeezed.

End of flashback.

As Winnie’s eyes snapped into focus, her hand jerked of its own accord into the jam jar which she kept for water. Murky grey water spilled onto the table, and she sprang back instantly.

“Shit...sorry, sorry,” She blurted out. Salmiak (the black cat) hissed, Winnie backed away from the table, her shoulders flying up to her ears.  Axel was there in an instant, having snatched the towel from its shiny holder. She reached for it, wanting something  else to hold, something to distract herself with. But he shook his head. His gaze shifted to her hands, which trembled. 

“Oh..,” Her mind went numb as Otto took her gently by the shoulders. He gave her a soft nod, with a sad look in his eyes and sat her down on the sofa, giving one of the cats a light shove to get it to shift.  The cat mewled lowly and proceeded to stare balefully out at her.

Shit. Shit. Abort mission. Now she would have to speak to them. Now they wouldn’t leave her until they knew every detail. Everything. It had happened before.... it had happened and they’d broken Raj’s nose, killed Rita that one time, and that along with countless other incidents, gripped her with a choking fear, pressing in on her throat. She couldn’t breathe. She-

The sofa dipped as Otto settled beside her. He shushed her softly, and she realised she was holding one of her paintbrushes, squeezing it into the palm of her hand, whimpering subconsciously. It hurt.. It all hurt. She could see Oscar, crouched down in front of her, his white trousers covered in black cat hair. 

“Vinnie?” Oscar said, worriedly. She looked up, pushing her hair back, soft tears slipping down her cheeks. She looked like a soft, scared animal. Pathetic, she thought and wiped her eyes hastily. 

“No. I’m fine,” She added, snapping a smile to her lips. But it was no use. If she was smiling, it was in that bizarre taut way In which a clown smiles. The shiny greasepaint does nothing to hide the sad creases in the corner of each eye; the dishevelled look of a broken man hiding underneath a painted face, a big red nose and a bow tie.

“You’re not fine,” Otto said suddenly. She looked between them.

“Lilla björnen, “ Oscar licked his lips, his eyebrows furrowed, trying to muster the right words. “You ...tell us anything,’ He managed at last. 

Winnie’s throat ached, and she swallowed thickly. It meant a lot that he was trying so hard. Oscar struggled with his English more than the others. He wouldn’t pick up a book like Otto, nor did he infuse much effort in learning the language at first. When she’d  first met him, he spoke only Swedish. Actions meant more than words.

“Elliott..he-,” she despaired, struggling to form the words. Her fingers gripped the paintbrush tightly, hands like little claws,” I can’t explain it,”

Oscar took the paintbrush from her before she could hurt herself and dropped it onto the oak coffee table. His soft eyes pierced her own, a subtle language. She knew what he was asking. It was obvious.

Show us.

“Okay..,” She swallowed a wave of nausea, lifted her hand and rubbed her fingertips together. 

At once, the home vanished before them, replaced by a mask. A hollow mask. They were in Elliott’s home- she recognised the stacks of paper, the faded photographs and news clippings on the wall, the boxes and the books. Then her memory began to replay itself, a spool of film unravelling and changing. She avoided the their gaze and stood by the wall of photographs. 

 When people tell you to reflect, it’s usually meant in a sense of memory. Take a good, hard look at yourself and your actions. Really reflect on them.  But for Winnie it was literal. She could see herself, just.. standing there. Helpless, scared. She watched as past Elliott gripped her wrist, gripped her wrist and squeezed. Fear sparked in her past self’s eyes. Helpless, scared.  She couldn’t move.  

Winnie wondered what would have happened if she’d refused. Would he have hurt her again? Would he have apologised and let her leave? He was desperate for security- that was all she knew. He didn’t want other people getting involved. At least, that was what she told herself. As she willed her illusions away, Winnie finally looked up at them. 

Something dark thundered across each of their faces. Dark, twisted. It scared her. Elliott’s apartment simply vanished behind them, rolled up like parchment.  They were back home. 

The three of them exchanged a  long hard look. One look was all it took. They had decided. Nevertheless she crept closer to Oscar for a hug. Burying her face into the material of his shirt, she clung to him. It smelt faintly of lavender- probably the soap she’d given him a while ago. His arm looped around her shoulders at once, a warm protective barrier as if he could chase away her fears one by one. She squeezed her eyes shut, still damp and sticky. 

“Is okay,” He murmured,” Safe.” 

He looked up at Otto and Axel, both of which had sprung instantly into action As they bustled about, collecting guns and checking them for ammunition, her stomach curdled inside. Well shit. She had known this would happen. What was she thinking?

 Axel’s lip curled. He frowned and gritted his teeth, surging off in the direction of the coat rack. She knew that look, and wriggled round desperately. She had to give him some kind of sense.

“Axel,” She stuck one arm out and caught the hem of his shirt. Axel turned around, his eyes softening as he looked down at her. “Please don’t hurt him,” She begged, still hugging Oscar tightly.

For a moment, he closed his eyes, and drew breath to speak. She knew he was about to argue. He sighed, “Lilla björnen He hurt you-”

“There’s no mark, just a bruise from earlier. Check if you want,” She interrupted with desperate look.

“No,” Axel shook his head and motioned towards her chest. No, underneath her chest- her heart. ” In here.”

“I know,” She said, ”But it doesn’t warrant a gun in the face,”

“Please,” She tipped her head back, looking up at Oscar who sighed heavily.  His fingers tangled in her hair, stroking it thoughtfully, like the touch of father.. or brother. So natural. So calm. But after a moment he nodded.

“Stand down,” he said to Axel, then erupting into a bubble of Swedish something he often did when he couldn’t think of the English translation. Never the less, she knew that if she had not been hugging him in that instant, his hands would have surely tightened around his gun.

“Fine,”

At once, Winnie’s body went slack. Her shoulders slumped to her sides. But Axel wasn’t finished.

“But,” His gaze held her firmly in place,” If it happens again you will tell us,”

“Thank you,” She cried and pulled free of Oscar. It was all she could do but press herself into Axel’s arms for a hug. She wanted to be held, and though she was too big to be picked up anymore like one of the cats, she wanted the closure. No.  She needed the closure, dammit. 

He held her close, and he was warm and in that instant she felt....safe. A wave of ease washed across her mind, loosening her shoulders. The weight had been spread evenly across the shore. Less of a burden now. She was safe. That was what she knew. She was safe and loved and warm. 

“Is okay,” Axel muttered, sighing against her hair.

And that was that.  

@gorgeourrific-nerd

Done! I’ll probably post another chapter soon. Maybe this evening, maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day. She can cast illusions! This means a multitude of things for her, opens her up to a multitude of vulnerabilities which is just swell for me as a writer. But probably not so swell for her, you know? Anyway, expect plenty of fluff- I have some great scenes all planned out. Then we can develop the story and have her meet some more familiar faces.