Semi-Hiatus

Reginald nodded, mostly satisfied with the boy’s account. He had expected Number Two to tell the truth of course, but had been interested in seeing what details would be added and left out. Standing from his chair, Reginald straightened his back and leveled him with a disappointed stare.

“You always were a bad student, and a painfully slow learner. I suppose your failure to pass was to be expected. But if that had been the only thing to happen, I suspect you’d still be in the academy, hm?”

He walked around his desk, hands clasped behind his back, to stand in front of it opposite Number Two, meeting the challenge of the boy’s stare with his own. “The problem, of course, is your attitude. As it always has been. All of you children are a great disappointment to me, and you no less than anyone.

“You decided to leave the Umbrella Academy and throw away a bright future, yes. You gave everything to this new passion, and now your anger has led you to throw that away too. You have embarrassed the Hargreeves name, and now you still have nothing. When will you learn, Number Two?”

Diego kept a brave face on, refusing to let Reginald see how he’d gotten to him. Externally he was sneering and rolling his eyes, but internally he flinched like he’d been struck with Reginald’s cane. He had to hand it to the old man, he really knew how to get his claws in where it would hurt.

“Maybe if I’d been shown a little encouragement as a child rather than punished and yelled at when I wasn’t a perfect student, I might have had some drive to improve. But then, that would require you to show something called compassion, heard of it?”

Part of him wants to back down when Reginald meets his gaze, but he’s not some kid that Reginald can push around and mistreat. He’s an adult now, but he’s still lying to himself when he tells himself he’s not scared of him and his opinion doesn’t matter to Diego.

"Then perhaps if being a police officer was something you really wanted, you would have found your own drive to improve. I have no compassion for someone who doesn't even know what he wants." What Reginald wanted was for Number Two to come back to the Academy, but he knew that ship had sailed years ago. He would settle then, for the boy at least living up to his potential, not being an embarrassment.

He continued to hold the boy's gaze, refusing to be intimidated by such a foolish brat. Instead, he took a step closer, raising his voice only slightly in an effort to stop the nonsense Number Two was spewing.

“Oh, no dad, we’re all fucked up. Thanks for that, by the way.” It’s true, though, that he’s more fucked up than the others. Luther and Diego try their best to make the world a better place, Allison has her fame but she also has used her powers to get everything she ever wanted, Vanya - who knows what Vanya is doing and Five? Well, Five’s a little crazy last time he checked.

“You call locking me in a crypt for hours teaching me to face my fears? I begged you to be let out, dad! I begged you over and over! You knew exactly what you were doing and you didn’t care.” He refuses to believe that Reginald didn’t know what he was doing was ABUSE.

“Yeah, well, your push is more like a shove off the deep end.” Does dad really think he wants to be an addict? He’s been this way since he was twelve and it’s because he knows NO OTHER WAY. Reginald hadn’t taught him a healthy way to cope with the ghosts. Was it really any wonder he’d become an addict?

"That crypt was your only real experience with the dead as a child. It was your one chance to practice your power, to learn from them. You should have been thanking me. But no, you chose to scream and cry. It's hardly my fault you weren't ready. And then what, instead of rising to the challenge you decided to poison yourself for well over a decade? It's no wonder you became such a disappointment. And not only to me. You've disappointed yourself as well." The boy had no idea what he was capable of. Reginald only wished he cared– Number Four was the poster child for wasted potential and it would never stop being gravely disappointing.

fuck me up ft @mcnocle

“…..Their names are Luther and Diego” The words sting. They hurt like someone has taken a knife to his heart and TWISTED, driving the knife in deeper. Leave it to dad to never let him forget how much of A BURDEN he can be to his siblings. It’s why he does what he does, steals and does the other things he rather not do but is forced too.

He’s never once asked anyone to pick him up from the hospital but that doesn’t matter. What matters is how much these words HURT. “…..Yeah, well, maybe if I had a better role model then I wouldn’t be this fucked up. But hey, I got stuck with your sadistic ass.”

The words are spoken bitterly but he recoils at the thought of how harsh they had been. Because the truth is, he still cares. “All i ever wanted was a good dad. Someone who taught me to face my fears and control my powers rather than traumatize me with them.” Klaus’ voice rises, almost to a yell, and he doesn’t give a damn whether he gets crazy looks from people. 

“I deserved a good dad! I didn’t deserve what you put me through! None of us did! Was saving the world really so important to you that you didn’t give a damn about how we felt? You’re wrong, I can’t do better, because I don’t know how.”

"I did teach you to face your fears, Number Four. You just weren't ready. Maybe that is my fault, but I won't apologize for it. I did my best to prepare you for this world in my own way. You didn't need a loving father. You needed a push."

Reginald regarded the boy sadly, with the same mixture of sadness and disappointment he'd grown used to associating with his biggest failure. "My dear boy, I did not come here on my own. You summoned me, whether consciously or not."

Reginald could hear the boy’s approach, as sneaky as he liked to think he could be. “Come inside and close the door.”

He didn’t look up from his notebook before him, simply kept writing. Number Two would wait– as insolent as he truly was, there were still a few ways he still knew to obey Reginald. Conditioning, as it were. Reginald simply liked to test if his theories were correct every now and then. So he made the boy wait.

Finally, Reginald closed the notebook and looked up. “Yes, I did. You know why. I will give you one chance to tell me in your own words what happened, and then I have some of my own words for you.”

Of course he knew full well what had happened, but he wanted to see how truthful Number Two would be. Whether he felt any shame or remorse. The account he delivered would very directly determine the next actions Reginald would take. He waited patiently for Number Two to begin, trying very hard to ignore the boy’s sneer and disrespectful attitude.

He decided that for that, he would keep Grace from seeing the boy today. The days of the Academy may have passed, but Reginald was still determined to put Number Two in his place.

Diego kicked the door shut behind him, making sure that he left a scuff mark from his combat boots on the finish just to spite Reginald. He didn’t appreciate being summoned like a dog and made to wait, but he played along for the time being. He would have wound up in a lot more trouble if he curved a knife through the middle of that damned book the old man was always scribbling his little notes in.

He clenched his jaw and debated what to tell Reginald, he’d been dragged in like a wet cat after being kicked out. There wasn’t a chance in hell he didn’t know, so…that meant that he was being tested here. Like he was a fucking kid in the academy all over again.

Diego had the power to leave and never come back, but someone else didn’t. Mom. He didn’t doubt that Reginald wouldn’t punish Grace if he was enough of a dick to him, so he’d be obediant. For Mom’s sake, not the old man’s.

"You always were a bad student, and a painfully slow learner. I suppose your failure to pass was to be expected. But if that had been the only thing to happen, I suspect you'd still be in the academy, hm?"

He walked around his desk, hands clasped behind his back, to stand in front of it opposite Number Two, meeting the challenge of the boy's stare with his own. "The problem, of course, is your attitude. As it always has been. All of you children are a great disappointment to me, and you no less than anyone.

“In closing, I’d like to point out that I never desired to break the children. I merely sought to foster their potential–which was unfortunately never that vast.“

@mcnocle

NAME: daddy dearest 🗡 🗡 🗡

RINGTONE: chorus of this song

PICTURE: 

LAST TEXT RECEIVED: I am very disappointed in you Number Two.

1. He bought 7 children when they were infants and didn’t give any of them a single ounce of emotional support or love, and exploited them for their powers to become famous. He was a smart man and he knew damn well how fucked up he was making life for these kids but never gave a single shit because he was making money off of them.

2. He raised Vanya to constantly believe that she wasn’t special, forced her apart from her siblings and caused an unbelievable amount of damage in her. Instead of raising her to gain control of her powers, letting her understand she’d have to be put under some control but letting her be one of her siblings, he made her feel excluded during every moment of her life, and encouraged the other children to do the same, never deterring them from mocking and hating her, which caused them to do the same in adulthood because they’d never been taught any better because yet again, he cared only about money and fame.

3. He locked Klaus in a fucking crypt, knowing full well how traumatic it would be for him and how damaging it would be to his psyche for the rest of his life, and proceeded to shame him for doing drugs when he knows that’s the only thing keeping him sane. No one ever knew he did this because I’m sure he threatened Klaus to tell no one, so to this day his siblings think he is insane and a useless addict when he is just trying to escape something none of them could imagine.

4. He didn’t see Ben as a kid, he saw him as a monster and he pushed him and pushed him and never told him that he. was. Not. A. Monster. He wrote in his journal that Ben cried himself to sleep, and knowing how much torment he was putting this kid through, he pushed him anyway until he died. Reginald Hargreeves murdered Ben and I don’t care what anyone else says about it.

5. He let Allison use her power to get her way when he knew it would ruin her adult life.

6. He couldn’t deal with what he’d done to Luther, after years of being shitty to the kid and him still respecting him, he had finally done something he couldn’t forgive himself for, so he sent his mistake to the moon alone so that he’d no longer have to look at him.

7. He showed blatant favoritism to Five, constantly letting him put down his siblings, resulting in a lovable but egotistical adult.

8. He never showed an ounce of love or respect for Diego, he didn’t care about his stutter and he pushed him to the brink making him feel like one of the most useless of the siblings, aside from Vanya and Klaus.

9. He made Grace and he made her to have feelings, she has the psyche of a human being, and he knew that, and he used and stored the woman like a vacuum cleaner, never appreciating her.

10. And finally, this bastard of a man after all he’d done, took his life to get them back together, in a final stroke to make every single Hargreeves child feel guilty for isolating themselves from each other, when every bit of isolation was on him.

@cuchillosdos | plotted starter

Reginald slammed the phone down into the receiver and looked up at Pogo, who had been hovering near the door to his study. Doubtless the chimp had heard most of the contents of his conversation; he had allowed his voice to raise a little more than usual.

“I want Number Two here, now.” He reached into a side drawer and pulled out a notecard, holding it out for his assistant. On the card was the boy’s most current address and phone number. He’d made sure to obtain it, but rarely bothered to use it. It was the same with all of the other children. Except for Number Four, who rarely had an address to write down.

“Do not have him make me wait,” he snapped, turning his attention back to the work before him, a clear dismissal to Pogo. He was not in the mood for more conversation than necessary.

All of the Umbrella Academy had disappointed him over the years, most of them on a regular basis. But something about this was different. Maybe it was the proximity to Number Two that allowed Reginald to bring him here so easily, or maybe it was the tenuous relationship the two of them had that made the boy’s latest stunt seem like so much more of a personal attack.

Either way, Reginald had the power to bring him here. And he would.

Diego knew that Reginald had moles in the academy, he knew that some of his supervisors were reporting to dear old daddy how he was doing. He knew he likely had less than twenty four hours to enjoy his newfound freedom and relax in the basement suite he called home before some yuppy of Reginald’s came and knocked on his door.

He wasn’t even surprised when Al yells at him that there’s a talking chimp here to see him. Of course ‘Dad’ sent Pogo to fetch him, he had half a mind to tell him to go away but decides he won’t make things any harder for him. Diego comes along almost willingly, a scowl etched onto his face the second he steps onto the Academy grounds.

He hates the house and everything it stood for, and hates the fact Reginald had the power to bring him here to yell at him for getting kicked out of the academy even more. At least he might be able to catch a glimpse of Mom later, after Reginald reams him out for being a failure or a disappointment or whatever label he wanted to assign to him this time.

He didn't look up from his notebook before him, simply kept writing. Number Two would wait– as insolent as he truly was, there were still a few ways he still knew to obey Reginald. Conditioning, as it were. Reginald simply liked to test if his theories were correct every now and then. So he made the boy wait.

Finally, Reginald closed the notebook and looked up. "Yes, I did. You know why. I will give you one chance to tell me in your own words what happened, and then I have some of my own words for you."

Of course he knew full well what had happened, but he wanted to see how truthful Number Two would be. Whether he felt any shame or remorse. The account he delivered would very directly determine the next actions Reginald would take. He waited patiently for Number Two to begin, trying very hard to ignore the boy's sneer and disrespectful attitude.