#eight8

Thirteen couldn’t help but cry out when the sharp edge of what felt like a hardcover book jabbed into her ribs. The pain temporarily took over everything before dulling away. Thirteen glanced to the side, seeing herself laying on some kind of table. Maybe if the adrenaline wasn’t trying to find its way out of her system she would’ve freaked out, but her head felt far too muddled to think of anything other than that stabbing pain in her side. Thirteen pushed herself up and looked around. 

The place was strange. Faded red wallpaper with subtle white designs. Carved baseboards with swirls in them. You could hardly see the walls behind the obscene amount of furniture. Bookshelves and glass drawers filled to the brim with obviously expensive things. Decorative eggs and silverware. Paintings that Thirteen recognized from history books. 

“Kyra? Thirteen?” Diana called. 

Thirteen looked up to see her sister Diana looking much younger than she had when they left. The previously forty something year old was now reduced to her fourteen year old self. The one Thirteen remembered meeting on her first day in the lab. Her hair was no longer in a slick back bun, now back to its usual loose and curly state. Thirteen felt a pang of amusement when she realized that the suit her sister was wearing was far too big on her, making her look like a child playing in her mothers clothes.

“We need to go.” Kyra said abruptly. 

“What? Where?” Thirteen asked, confused. Thirteen climbed up off the table, nearly falling onto the couch when her knees buckled. Thankfully, the leather couch was there to break her fall. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing around, but it was better than the floor. Thirteen groaned and pushed herself up against the cushions. Her body felt like it had been pushed far beyond its limits and it wanted to shut down for at least three days minimum. 

“I don’t think we should be rushing into anything right now. I just got reverted to my fourteen year old body, and Thirteen can barely stand. Should we– and she’s already walking.” Diana let out a sigh.

“Well, it’s not like we have anything better to do, right?” Thirteen muttered, raising her hands to her head. Her palms lit up with a weak white light. She pressed her hands to either side of her head, feeling the last of her energy start to flow into getting rid of that headache. The ability to walk was overrated anyway. 

Kyra stopped and turned to look at Diana. “They’re fighting.” She said, her voice sounding distant, as if she wasn’t entirely there. Had she gotten a premonition or something? Thirteen stayed quiet, trying to hear whatever it was Kyra had heard. People were talking. Loudly enough that she could hear the sound through the walls, but not their voices. 

“Who?” Thirteen asked. Kyra didn’t explain any further. She only started walking again. Thirteen rubbed her forehead. Diana moved over to Thirteen, holding out a hand and helping her up off the couch. She stayed there for a few moments, letting Thirteen gather her bearings. 

“Are you going to need help walking, or do you have it from here?” Diana asked. 

Thirteen shook her head. “I’ve got it from here. Just… don’t expect me to be running anytime soon.” With a heavy sigh Thirteen forced herself to start walking. Her legs, muscles long atrophied, were pushed to their limits. Every step was just one unsteady motion followed by another. She could feel Kyra’s heartbeat in the distance, following it until she found the girl standing outside a window. Thirteen walked over, grabbing onto the coffee table and using it to keep herself standing. She was starting to regret being so stagnant back in her cage, but it wasn’t like she had access to a gym or anything down there. 

Outside the window there was a gathering of people, standing around a… pile of ashes? Thirteen’s focus was quickly drawn to the two men in the circle standing nearby a statue of a young boy in a uniform. The first man, a man with a buzzcut who was dressed in dark clothes and black leather straps around his chest, seemed to be antagonizing the second man. A man who was abnormally tall and bulky, wearing a large jacket as if to hide his puzzling stature. 

“After everything he did,” The buzzcut man started, approaching the taller man. “He had to ship you a million miles away. Want to guess why?” 

“Diego,” the much larger man warned. A convenient way for Thirteen to learn the other's name. “You need to stop talking.” His fists were clenched tightly and the tension in his jaw was visible, even from far away. A fight was about to break out. 

Diego, previously known as the buzzcut man, jabbed a finger into the other’s chest. “I’ll tell you why. Because that’s just how much he couldn’t stand the sight of you!” This seemed to be the other’s breaking point, as he le out a loud yell and shoved Diego back. Diego stumbled with the force of the shove but managed to catch himself before he fell. The bigger man chased after him, throwing a few punches. Unfortunately Diego was much faster and more agile than th either, and was able to dodge every attempt. The other people surrounding them backaway, but didn’t seem surprised by the development. Thirteen couldn’t help but assume that this was the norm if their only reactions were to back away from them.

Thirteen’s breath began to fog up the window and she quickly wiped it away, wanting to see what would happen next. There was a chimpanzee in a suit, a somewhat familiar sight to Thirteen. Although she was used to seeing him in a sanitary suit, not a suit and tie. “Boys!” He exclaimed, using a cane to approach them both. “Stop this at once.” He demanded. 

“Yeah guys.” A third man giggled. He wore a very unusual outfit. A feathered scarf and a long coat to match his leather skirt. “Hit him, hit him!” He exclaimed, dancing with his pink see-through umbrella. Thirteen had never met another man like him. Then again, Thirteen had only ever met a handful of people. Most of them wore suits. The others wore lab coats. 

Whether because of the third man’s cheering or their anger, the fight continued on, with the bigger man finally landing a punch on Diego. One that really seemed to hurt. Diego shrugged off the damage, moving away again. The bigger man chased Diego with a second punch, but Diego dodged, causing the punch to land on the crotch of a statue of a boy. The people outside seemed to hold their breath as the statue trembled before cracking and falling to the ground in three even parts. Thirteen winced at the sound of the crash, the sound loud even through the 

window. 

Thirteen held her breath, fearing that if they looked just a few feet to the right they’d see her and her sisters staring at them through the window. Apparently Kyra had wanted that attention, choosing now to step outside and intervene. Before Thirteen could say anything, Diana followed her outside. Caught between hiding in the house and following her sisters, Thirteen rubbed her wrists, before reluctantly following them as well. She stumbled on one of the steps, managing to catch herself before she fell. Thirteen stayed behind Kyra and Diana, feeling safer standing behind them knowing that if the fight came that way, they could handle it. After just barely evading the entirety of The Commission, Thirteen could not handle a fight. She couldn’t even handle a tame walk. 

The attention of the family turned to them, and Thirteen felt small under their gaze. She felt like she was back on the exam room table while the surgeons looked at her. Thirteen was broken out of her thoughts by a boy no older than fourteen. “Who the hell are you?” He asked. Thirteen stayed silent, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself than necessary.  

A girl with brown-blonde curls spoke next. “Better question, why the hell were you inside our house? I can’t be the only one that finds that a little strange.” 

“Really? Cause that’s not the only strange thing about them.” The fourteen year old muttered, his glare stuck on Diana for some reason. 

“Oh goodie you noticed them too! I was beginning to think those ibuprofen pills were laced or something.” The scarf man said with a giggle. 

Thirteen felt utterly confused by these people. They seemed to be very familiar with each other, a family of sorts. But none of them seemed close. They interrupted each other and ignored each other. Thirteen was starting to feel a headache coming on. Kyra glanced back at Diana and Thirteen before stepping forward, almost hiding Thirteen with herself. “We don’t want any trouble.” She said, raising her hands in a placating gesture. “We didn’t mean to end up inside your home. We’re just lost.” 

Diana let out a huff. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.” She muttered. 

Diego crossed his arms, and Thirteen spotted one of his hands reaching for one of the many blades on his person. “Maybe you should get unlost.” He warned. “This isn’t a bed and breakfast.” 

“Children please, let us not be so rude to our new friends.” The blonde woman in the black dress spoke. There was something off about her, Thirteen noted. All the electricity in her body was screaming out to Thirteen that this woman was not human. Thirteen peeked out from behind Kyra to see the woman's face more clearly and realized, this was Mother. But… not her Mother? The Handler had mentioned timelines. Thirteen’s was called 44D25C. What was this one called? Thirteen’s staring must’ve caught the attention of Diego, who stepped in front of Mother– err, their timeline’s Mother, protectively. 

Kyra noticed him reaching for the blade and moved to stand in front of Thirteen. “We didn’t come here to fight, so if our presence here is a problem, we will leave. We just need a few moments to gather our bearings and we’ll be on our way.” 

“Oh my god wait, are you guys like, a lesbian couple and she’s your kid? Cause I mean if so, I totally support you guys.” The scarf man said. Diego reached over and gave the over man a firm smack across the head, making a face at him. “Seriously? Have a little decorum.”

Kyra nodded slowly, ignoring the comment. “Alright. I think introductions are a good place to start. My name is Kyra.” She gestured back to Thirteen and Diana. “These are my sisters, Diana and Thirteen.” 

“Whoa whoa, her name is Thirteen?” The scarf man snickered. “What, were you like, bad luck or something when you were born?” 

Thirteen glanced at Klaus, not sensing any malicious intent. “Something like that.” Thirteen said quietly. She noticed everyone else’s strange looks at her name. She regretted not coming up with a name, even something small. Just so she could pass for normal and not get strange looks every few seconds. 

Allison stepped forward. “Mom’s right, we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.” She held her hand out to Kyra, a polite smile on  her face. “I’m Allison.” 

Kyra shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Allison.” 

Allison took her hand back and gestured over to the young boy behind her. “You’ve already met my brother Five. Oh, and my brother Klaus.” Five? Thirteen glanced over at Five. Was he an experiment like them? Maybe that’s why they gave her that look. 

Klaus, the one with the pink umbrella and eccentric outfit, grinned and waved his hand. “Aloha my friends.” 

“The two idiots who broke the statue are Diego and Luther.” Allison gestured to the two behind her. Diego gave a nod of acknowledgement while Luther gave an awkward sort of wave. 

Then there was the girl with straight hair. She walked over, stopping right in front of Thirteen, which struck Thirteen as odd. The girl held out her hand to Thirteen as Allison had done with Krya. “I’m Vanya,” She introduced herself. “But you can call me V.” 

Thirteen glanced over at Kyra, who gave her a nod. Thirteen reached out and put her hand in V’s, giving it a firm shake. There was something about her that Thirteen found familiar. A feeling. Thirteen had never met this girl, but she knew they had something in common. “Thirteen.” She said after realizing she hadn’t said anything for a while. “No other nickname, just Thirteen.” She could feel herself cringe internally. She had been trying to mimic the way that V had introduced themself, but it only came out wrong. V laughed like Thirteen had said something funny. Thirteen felt a strange feeling wash over her. Something warm. 

Kyra cleared her throat, knocking Thirteen out of her thoughts. “You can let go now, Thirteen.” She advised her. Thirteen looked down and realized that she was still holding V’s hand. She quickly let go, pulling her hand back to her side. “Sorry. I haven’t done one of these in a long time.” She said quietly, feeling her face flush with embarrassment.

“It’s no problem.” V said with a smile. 

Kyra began to talk to the others, but Thirteen couldn’t bring herself to listen. She was stuck on the girl, V. Thirteen didn’t know why. Something was very different about her, she wasn’t like the others. But Thirteen couldn’t tell why. She seemed ordinary. From her clothes to the way she carried herself, nothing stood out. But this was one of those things where everything felt too carefully chosen to brush over it. 

Thirteen turned to Diana in the hopes that she would have an answer, but Diana’s attention was elsewhere. Thirteen followed her gaze to see that Diana and Five were locked in some kind of staring contest. Thirteen didn’t know if there was something about him that she was supposed to know about, or maybe some kind of off feeling that Diana was getting that she wasn’t. 

Thirteen looked up to see Kyra and the others walking back inside. Apparently they had decided this was a conversation best held indoors, and not in the pouring rain. Thirteen followed along, stopping when she saw Scarf man shove a white stick into the pile of ashes on the ground. He stood up and blew smoke out of his mouth, and for a moment, Thirteen could feel her innate curiosity rearing its head. The original Umbrella Academy, the people she suspected they were, were experiments of Reginald's as well. Could Klaus have been part dragon like her sister Kyra was? 

Klaus started walking inside and Thirteen quickly followed, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. The man whirled around, pointing his index fingers at her before lowering them. “Hey, Thirteen right?” He asked. 

Thirteen nodded. “Question, are you a dragon?” She asked, not wanting to waste any more time. 

Klaus let out a surprised snort before waving his hand. “Me? A dragon? Only when I close my eyes. Or have one too many magic mushrooms if you know what I mean.” He winked at Thirteen, as if sharing an inside joke with her that she didn’t understand. 

“You have magic mushrooms?” 

“Well, not on me.” 

“Oh.” Thirteen said, disappointed. Thirteen had been a little excited at the idea of getting to try some magic mushrooms. “So are you a dragon?” 

“Sadly I am only a dragon in spirit.” He brought his hands to his chest and made a sad face. 

“So how are you able to do the smoke thing that Kya does?” 

“Oh you mean this little thing.” Thirteen watched Klaus pull out a white and red box, pulling out a longer white stick than the one from earlier. He lifted it to his lips and pulled out a purple item, a lighter she realized, flicking it a few times until a flame sprouted up. He lifted the flame to the white end of the stick, taking a breath and pulling it away to blow smoke into the air. Thirteen watched the smoke curl in amazement. 

“Unfortunately, it’s just cigarette smoke.” Klaus shrugged, taking another drag. “I do not have dragon abilities, though I so wish I did.” Klaus held out the stick to Thirteen. “Wanna try?” 

Thirteen reached out, picking the stick up and being cautious of the burning end. She examined the stick, turning it over in her fingers. “So what do you do? Blow through it? Breath through it?” 

“Uhm, kinda but not really.” 

Thirteen blinked. “No offense, but that doesn’t clear up anything.” 

“None taken, I’m terrible at explaining.” Klaus reached over and switched the cigarette in Thirteen's fingers so the orange part was facing her. “So this part is the filter, the part that actually goes in your mouth– NO DON’T EAT IT!” Klaus quickly caught Thirteen’s wrist before she could put it in her mouth, letting out a groan that was half amusement and half frustration. “Alrighty, someone has been living in a cave their whole life.” 

“A cage.” Thirteen corrected. 

“Huh?” 

“You said the orange part is the part that goes in my mouth?” Thirteen asked before he could think about it for too long. 

Klaus blinked before nodding. “Between your lips, yeah. Same way you would with a straw. You just inhale and exhale. I mean I really wouldn’t recommend keeping that smoke in for more than a few seconds y’know? But if you want to, be my guest.” 

Thirteen glanced at the cigarette before following Klaus’ directions and inhaling the smoke. She pulled away and started coughing. The taste was awful, and the feeling of smoke in her lungs was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. When she looked back up, she saw Klaus laughing while holding his stomach. “Oh! Oh that never gets old.” He said with a grin, wiping his tears. 

Thirteen frowned. “You lied to me?” She asked, not liking being the butt of the joke. 

Klaus waved his hands. “No no, I didn’t lie to you. It’s just what happens the first time everyone smokes. So I didn’t lie to you, it’s just what happens y’know?”

“No, I don’t know.” Thirteen snipped, looking back down at the cigarette. “This is disgusting. Why would anyone willingly breathe in smoke like this?” 

Klaus shrugged. “All the cool kids are doing it. I mean for me I’m just in it for that nice little buzz that makes everything feel better.” 

Thirteen held up the cigarette in disbelief. “This small stick of smoke makes things feel better?” 

“It makes me feel better.” 

Thirteen's body still hurt after all the running she’d been doing. While the injuries would heal, it wasn’t going to heal immediately and was still going to leave her with a lot of discomfort. Hesitantly, Thirteen placed the cigarette back between her lips and took another inhale of the smoke. Thirteen coughed, but not as violently as she had the first time. Thirteen pulled it away and waved the smoke out of her face. “This is still disgusting.” 

“It’s an acquired taste.” 

“What do I do with it now?” Thirteen asked, wiping the water from her eyes. 

“Why don’t you give it to me?” 

Klaus and I both looked up to see Kyra holding her hand out. I hadn’t noticed her stay behind while the others went inside. Thirteen placed the cigarette on her palm and Kyra lifted it up, taking a long drag. She pulled back and breathed out much more smoke than she could’ve gotten from that little stick. Instead of putting the cigarette back between her lips, she took a breath of fresh air and let out a cloud of smoke that spiraled out into the air. 

“Show off.” Thirteen said quietly before moving past her and headed into the house. Thirteen glanced back and saw Klaus putting his hands together and bowing to Kyra. “I have been out-classed.” He said, holding out a hand for her to shake. Thirteen noticed the ‘HELLO’ tattoo on his palm. It reminded her of Kyra’s spiral tattoos on her wrists. Thirteen decided to leave them two to talk while she went to go find Diana and the others. 

Thirteen walked into one of the large rooms to find that everyone had claimed a seat. Thirteen chose to sit away from them, sitting down on a simple chair at the corner of the coffee table. Thirteen glanced around at everyone, taking in their outfits once again. She glanced down at her own. Everyone was dressed formally, which made sense seeing as they were having a funeral of sorts before they had interrupted the party. Thirteen was starting to feel a little self conscious about still being in her prisoner garbs, those being a beat up tank top and a pair of shorts. Thirteen reached over to the couch in front of her and picked up one of the pillows, using it to hide herself. 

Kyra and Klaus finally rejoined a few moments later. Thirteen noticed a smile on Kyra’s lips. She decided then that Klaus must be a good person if Kyra was sharing a laugh with him. She was a good judge of people after all. 

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Kyra sighed and jumped into action. “I won’t make us wait any longer, I’m sure you’re all confused as to why we’re here.” 

Because Sir decided that he wanted to dabble in human experimentation, and once Thirteen and the others were old enough and the opportunity arose, they decided to escape. Only for them to land in the same place, and be kept apart from each other for years. Then finally when they found each other and escaped a second time they ended up landing in a new timeline. Obviously there were a few details Thirteen was leaving out, but she didn’t feel like giving a synopsis on her entire life story. 

“My sisters and I are from a different timeline.” Kyra explained. 

Thirteen noticed each of their surprised reactions, but the one that bothered her the most was Five’s lack of reaction. As if he’d known about it. Whether he knew about them or the timelines, Thirteen wasn’t entirely sure. But either option still warranted caution around him. 

“Timelines.” Luther repeated. “What do you mean, from a different timeline?” 

“Do I need to explain timelines to you?” Kyra asked. The question seemed genuine, but Thirteen could hear the slight passive aggressiveness to her tone. 

Luther shook his head, not catching the undertone. “No, I know what timelines are. I’m just more surprised that they actually exist, and that you’re from a different one.” 

“They exist. And in the one we’re from, when Ben–”

Klaus perked up almost immediately, nearly knocking over a vase in his excitement. “Ben? Like, like Ben-Ben? He’s got something to do with this?” 

Kyra paused. “I’m uh, I’m getting to that. In our universe when Ben died, Reginald decided to do away with all the children born on the same day.” Kyra explained. Thirteen couldn’t hear his name without trying to hide, pulling the pillow closer to her chest. “So what he ended up doing was making children.” Kyra finished. 

Klaus raised a hand. “Wait, Dad can do that?” 

Thirteen couldn’t help but smirk at the idea of Sir creating children. She reached up to hide it before returning her face to its usual neutral expression. 

“No, I mean he created us in test tubes.” Kyra corrected him with a smile of her own. “Choosing DNA and body parts that would suit whatever role he created us for. Merging and mutating us with superpowers and seeing what would fit. Experimenting on us essentially.” 

Klaus let out a dramatic gasp, lifting a hand to his mouth. “Oh my god, test tube babies.” He whispered, as if the existence of unicorns had just been revealed. Thirteen was starting to like Klaus a little more than she’d like to admit. 

“So you guys are what, the better versions of us?” Luther asked. Five scoffed, crossing his arms and looking away. 

“That’s what he wanted us to be.” Kyra confirmed. 

“But you’re not.” Diego stood up. “You said, that’s what he wanted. So why weren’t you guys better?” 

“Maybe we were better.” Diana stood up as well, ready to take him on if needed. “But we weren’t going to let him continue to experiment on us so we could spend the rest of our lives being his perfect little soldiers. So we escaped.” 

“You escaped. And that escape landed you in the middle of our house?” Diego asked. 

Diana and Kyra shared a look. “Sort of,” Kyra answered. 

“What does that mean, sort of?” Luther questioned, stepping closer, as if using his height to try and tower over her. He had a few inches on Kyra. Thirteen didn’t know exactly how tall Kyra was, but she knew she was either around or close to six feet tall. At least, to Thirteen she was. 

“Luther!” Allison warned, holding out an arm to him as if she could stop him. 

“No, Allison. I agree with him.” Diego said, crossing his arms. “We’re supposed to believe that these… people, let’s say, walked into our house, and claimed to be the Frankenstein that Dad created–” 

“Frankeinstein’s creature.” Five corrected.

Diego spun around to face Five. “Excuse me?” 

“Frankeinstein was the name of the doctor, dumbass. What you’re saying is that Dad created himself.”

“I don’t fucking care! That’s besides the point.” Diego scoffed, trying to move on. 

“Alright genius, what’s your point?” Five pressed. 

“That these people were literally built to be better than us, right?” Diego asked, turning towards Kyra. 

Kyra pursed her lips. “Okay first of all, that is not what I said at all.” 

“Okay hold up,” Luther said, raising his hand. “Can we rewind this conversation a little, because what do you mean you sort of just happened to land in the middle of our house after escaping from a different timeline.” 

“It means that the situation is a little too complicated for us to explain over champagne and cucumber sandwiches. Do you understand, or does that need an explanation too?” Diana gave Luther a pointed look, as if challenging him. For a fourteen year old, it was impressive how easily Diana was able to make Luther take a step back. 

This time it was Allison who spoke up. “Alright, just so that we’re all on the same page.” Allison stood up. “You guys are from a different timeline where Ben’s death affected Dad so bad, that he decided to start experimenting and creating super powered kids of his own?” 

“Correct.” Kyra confirmed. 

“And you guys had enough of that, and decided to escape, but somehow you ended up in the middle of our house?” 

“Just about.” Diana nodded. 

“Great.” Allison clasped her hands together. “We’re all on the same page.” She glanced back at the others to make sure no one was confused before turning back to Kyra. “I guess the question now is what do we do?” 

“Not what we do,” Five stepped forward. “But what I do.” 

“Ooo, is this the part where you tell us where you’ve been for the past… what, seventeen years now?” Klaus asked, leaning forward in his seat. Thirteen looked even more confused now. Five had been missing for seventeen years? He didn’t look like someone who’d been gone for seventeen years. He hardly even looked like someone who was gone for ten years. Every minute Thirteen spent with these people only seemed to raise more questions that she was not getting the answers to anytime soon. 

Five opened his mouth before shutting it and rubbing his face. “I need some coffee before I even attempt to explain what’s going to happen to any of you.” With that, he turned on his heel and left the room. 

V quickly stood up, looking panicked. “Wait, you’re just going to leave again?!” 

“I’m just going to the kitchen, Vanya. I’m not going to disappear into time again.” He called, not bothering to turn around or slow down to answer her. 

V let out an exhausted sigh and sunk back into her seat on the couch. Diego turned to face her. “What? Disappointed that he didn’t actually leave so you could have more material for your next book?” 

With the reveal that V had written a book, Thirteen suddenly liked her a lot more. Thirteen loved books. Reading time in the lab was the only kind of solace she found other than an experiment or training done well. Thirteen shook her head, not wanting to become attached. She didn’t know these people. For all she knew they could be like him. They were his children after all. Raised by him. Chosen by him. 

V threw Diego a glare. “Can’t you go five minutes without having to be the biggest asshole in the room.” 

“I’m the asshole? I’m not the one who decided to air out the family’s dirty laundry for a few bucks.” 

V abruptly stood up, leaving the room almost as fast as Five had in search of coffee. Maybe her book was a bit of a sore spot for the family, but Diego seemed to be the only one truly bothered by it. Thirteen couldn’t help but wonder why that was. Maybe it mentioned a few personal things about him that he didn’t agree with. 

Luther stepped over and shoved Diego, pushing him back a few steps. “What the hell was that?” He demanded. “Can’t you just let the book go already?” 

Diego’s anger flared up like a fire. “How could you forgive her so easily?” 

“Because it was just a book, Diego. You have to let it go at some point.” Luther retorted.

“Really? Just a book? It’s so strange to me that you can write off something like that so easily but you’re still stuck on the idea that somehow someone got into the most secure place in the damn world, and killed Dad without anyone knowing.” 

Thirteen was honestly surprised that a fight had broken out once more when Luther shoved Diego into the coffee table. She knew now why everyone had been so desensitized to it when they had begun fighting outside. This was just a common occurrence in the Umbrella household. Thirteen looked over at Kyra to find that she wasn’t surprised by this either. Thirteen reasoned that she’d already seen it coming, and had decided not to get involved. Which might’ve been the case, had she not heard Kyra whisper “This should’ve happened earlier. Just what have we done…?” 

Thirteen was about to turn and ask her what she meant before Pogo shook her out of her thoughts. “Boys, cease this at once! Do not do this on your fathers–” Pogo was cut off by Luther lifting Diego’s jacket and throwing him down onto the coffee table, a loud crack resounding. Thirteen couldn’t tell if it was Diego or the table that had made that sound. Klaus however didn’t share her concern, and instead let out an amused giggle while lighting himself a second cigarette. Or maybe it was his third? Klaus giggled and waved his cigarette around. “Yeah guys, stop it.” He said, while sounding like he didn’t actually want them to stop. 

Diego rolled off the table before Luther could bring his fists down on the table. Diego grabbed one of his various blades, brandishing it as Luther before moving forward and starting to slash at his coat. Luther ducked away from each slash until he bumped into a pedestal, starting a chain reaction that knocked over all the other priceless vases and artworks sitting atop them. Thirteen winced at the noise, her hands quickly reaching up to shield her ears from the loud shattering sound. 

When Thirteen looked up to see Diego finally landing a hit on Luther with his blades. Thirteen grimaced, expecting blood, but to her surprise there wasn’t any. Just… fur? Thirteen tried to get a better look but Luther quickly covered the space with his hand. He seemed almost panicked about it, looking at every one to see if they had seen it, but his eyes lingered on Allison. He turned away and hurried off into the mansion. 

Allison let out an annoyed breath and glared at Diego before following Luther. The two must be close if she was the only one who chased after him. 

“Is your family always like this?” Diana asked Klaus, giving the coffee table and destroyed artifacts a raised eyebrow. 

Klaus snickered and leaned forward to put his cigarette out on the destroyed coffee table. “Well isn’t yours?” 

Diana glanced back at Kyra and Thirteen. Thirteen could tell she was thinking of their time back at the lab with Sir, Mother, and their siblings. Diana turned back to Klaus and shook her head. “No, not really.” She answered. 

Klaus shrugged. “Then you’re lucky.” 

Thirteen didn’t agree with what Klaus had said. She didn’t think any part about any of them was lucky. Not the powers they had been cursed with through human experimentation. Not the place they grew up in, the one that was so terrible that they decided to risk escape despite not knowing if there was anything better out there for them. Maybe they were lucky because they survived their butchered time jump, but it cost them each other. Diana grew old without them. Kyra grew up while she was there. Then they’d managed to find each other, and escape a second time. Thirteen looked up at Kyra and Diana. Her siblings in every way, including artificial blood. She didn’t want to lose them again. She clenched her fist. She wouldn’t lose them again. 

V ended up calling them all into the kitchen as Five didn’t seem like he’d be able to find coffee anytime soon. Luther and Diego had fortunately calmed down, with Diego even going as far as to hold a hand out to the three sisters. “I’m Diego.” 

Thirteen hesitated before giving him a light handshake. She hadn’t formed a solid opinion about him yet, other than the fact that he had a lot of knives and would fight his brother a lot. 

Diana only shook his hand for a second before pulling away. 

Kyra was the only one of them to give him a proper handshake. “Kyra. And I know who you are.” 

“You do?” Diego frowned, as if growing suspicious again. “How?”

“Oh!” Klaus exclaimed, “So did Dear old Dad mention us while he was…” He gave a glance at Kyra and Diana, noticing the subtle suture marks in the skin around their joints. “Playing mix and match with your body parts?” 

Thirteen didn’t know how to feel about his comparison. It wasn’t the best way to put it, but it did hit the nail on the head. If Thirteen recalled correctly, Diana and Kyra were among the few that actually received parts that weren’t their own. 

Kyra let out a whistle. “You could say that.” She shrugged. Thirteen had to fight back the jealousy that welled up inside her. She’d always wanted to learn how to whistle, but she’d never figured it out. Five years in that cage and that was the one thing that pissed her off more than The Handler; being unable to learn how to whistle. 

“Not just that.” 

Thirteen looked up to see Five leaning against the table, taking a sip from the mug in his hands before continuing. “You’re the Seer.” He said, focus solely on Kyra. Thirteen briefly questioned what was in the coffee if it had somehow given him the ability to know people’s titles. Maybe it was those magic mushrooms that Klaus had mentioned earlier. 

“The what?’ Klaus asked, stretching out the ‘a’ until it became a ‘whaaaat.’ No one answered him, and Thirteen got the feeling that everyone had a tendency to ignore him more than they did answer him. 

“You know,” Five continued. “I’m surprised that we never ran into each other. But then again, you must’ve been busy up in that fancy office seeing as you were the only ever Seer the Commission had.” 

“You could say that.” Kyra replied evenly. 

Five let out a sigh and took a sip from his coffee, letting the tension build. “A psychic human-dragon hybrid who escaped from a ruined timeline. A few days ago I would’ve been ordered to take out someone like you. So how was it that you were not just allowed to stay alive, but asked to come work for the Commission?” 

“I’m sure you have a better question on your mind.” Kyra replied, smoothly moving past the question. 

Five paused, giving Kyra an analytical eye before starting a new line of questioning. “How much do you know?” He asked, setting his mug down on one of the small tables nearby and making eye contact with each of them. If he was trying to hide that, he wasn’t doing too good of a job. 

“How much do you think we know?” Kyra countered. Thirteen bit back a groan. One of her least favorite things about Kyra, aside from her tendency to answer her questions in riddles, was her tendency to answer her questions with more questions. 

Luther entered the room, glancing between all of us. Seeing the tense atmosphere he decided to ask a question of his own. “What’s going on?” 

Klaus stood up and patted Luther’s shoulder. “Little brother is keeping secrets again~!” He sang. 

Luther frowned and turned to Five. “Five, how do you know these people?” 

Five decided to ignore Luther as well. “You’re right.” He said to Kyra, despite her not saying anything. “We don’t have time for this.” Thirteen was a little confused by his reply, seeing as no one had mentioned anything about a time limit on anything. “We need to talk. Immediately.”

“Like hell we are.” Diana said, stepping in front of her sisters. Thirteen felt a brief moment of safety as her sister stood protectively in front of them. “We are leaving.” 

Thirteen heard a strange warbling sound. The same one she recognized from the briefcase. Her eyes darted to Five and for a split second she saw some kind of clear effect surrounding him, like water right before the surface tension broke.  The effect seemed to swallow him whole, causing him to disappear. The warbling sounded again and Thirteen's eyes darted to the top of the stairs. The ripple effect appeared again, and Five emerged from it. “That’s too bad. Because I wasn’t exactly asking.” He called. “All three of you are coming with me.” 

Thirteen looked at Kyra, waiting for her to tell them what to do. Kyra started walking towards the stairs, and Thirteen got up from the chair and followed. Thirteen looked around the house as they walked. The place was a stark contrast from the white walls and dark rooms she’d known all her life. For some reason, despite all the items in it and the size of the place, it held that same constricting air about it. 

Five stopped in front of a door. He seemed to hesitate when reaching out for the doorknob before shaking it off and opening the door, leading them inside. It was a fancy sort of office. Large bookshelves pressed against the wall stacked with books. Files and papers left untouched on the desk from the last time they’d been used. TV monitors still tuned into what looked like camera footage of the house. Thirteen’s eyes were drawn to the bookshelf again, looking at each of the books. Most of them were rather boring, but one in particular caught her attention. A dark book with bright white letters. ‘EXTRA-ORDINARY, by V- HARGREEVES.’ That must’ve been the book that Diego was so upset about. Before Thirteen could reach forward to grab it, she heard the warbling sound again. 

Thirteen turned to look at Five but he was gone. The warbling sounded right behind her, and she tried to turn around, but Five was faster. She was knocked down to her knees, and something sharp and metal pressed against her neck and she froze. 

“Alright look.” Five started. “The way I see it, you three are hiding far too much for me to actually trust anything you say. Especially you.” Five jerked his chin in Diana’s direction. “So in order to make sure you’re telling the truth, I’m going to use this one as collateral damage.” 

Thirteen glanced down to see a thin line of blood begin to spill from her throat because of the sharp silver blade Five held tight against her. Half of Thirteen was curious as to when he had picked it up, and where from, but the other part of her was just a little more focused on trying to survive. 

“Don’t do this, Five.” Diana warned, sounding as if she’s had to say this before. 

“Stay there.” He told her. “No one moves, no one leaves this room until you tell me exactly what you’re hiding.” 

“Okay, okay.” Diana took a step back. “Just don’t hurt her.” 

“Question one, why are you here? Commission send you to finish  me off?” 

“We’re not here to kill you.” Kyra answered. “But now I have a question for you.” 

“That’s not how this works.” Five said, pressing the knife closer to Thirteen's throat. The pressure made her panic for a second, and the lights in the room seemed to flicker to match her state. 

“Well it is now.” Kyra continued. “Eight days, what does that mean to you?” 

Five paused and sighed. “Of course the Seer would know about this.” He nodded slowly. “Eight days. That’s the end of everything. The apocalypse.” 

Thirteen felt like someone had cut her open, taken her heart, and literally dropped it into her stomach. The apocalypse? On top of everything she’d learned today, this had to take the cake. Five had been missing for almost twenty years, Luther had some kind of animal arms (Thirteen suspected gorilla), Klaus was not a dragon physically but apparently was spiritually? V had written a book that no one liked. And Allison–... actually, Thirteen hadn’t learned anything about Allison. But she dressed nicely. Unfortunately Allison’s knack for fashion took a backseat to the pressing concern that was the apocalypse in eight days. Thirteen let out a slow sigh, regretting it as the motion caused the knife to slice into her freshly healed skin. She winced, feeling the blood run down her chest. 

Did she care about the apocalypse? One glance at her sister Kyra said she didn’t have a choice. They wouldn’t get another chance to jump to another world. Thirteen’s choice was either return to the Commission, or try and stop an impending apocalypse. She didn’t have to think too long to make her choice. Even if it meant working with the man– er, boy, holding her at knifepoint. 

Five started the conversation once more. “Three commission workers. I know what your job was, Seer. And you of course, The Handler’s prized possession. But her, I don’t recognize her. What did you do for them?” 

Thirteen clenched her jaw. “I didn’t do anything for them.” She bit out, trying not to get too aggressive considering he held a knife to her. “But they did a lot to me.” 

“What the hell does that mean?” 

“It means she was kept prisoner.” Diana answered. “They kept us all apart for about a decade or so.” 

“So you were all there at the same time, either employee or prisoner, and neither of you had any idea that they were keeping from each other?” 

“I was in the field, Kyra was kept in an office far away from everyone, and Thirteen was hidden away in some basement no one even knew about. Not that hard to imagine how we never found out about each other.” Diana crossed her arms. “That, and we landed at different moments in time.” 

Five nodded slowly. “Yeah, that makes a little more sense than just the Handler working her magic.” He shook his head. “They’re going to come after you, you know they will. They don’t like their property, be it employees or prisoners escaping from them.” 

Thirteen felt a cold feeling wash over her, something akin to fear. She had just escaped from there less than an hour ago. She didn’t want to go back there. She didn’t think she could handle it any more. It was likely she’d crack and give into whatever it was they asked of her. Whether it be asking her to be a glorified battery that powered their building, or to don a suit and be one of their agents. Her breathing became sharp and quick, unable to stop her thoughts from spiraling. 

“They’re going to come after all of us you dipwad.” Kyra hissed, smoke pouring from her nose in her frustration. “We are four runaways from the Commission. As in, the organization that is literally built to prevent any anomalies and ensure that major events in human history go as planned, by any means necessary.” 

“I am not a runaway.” Five scoffed. “I broke my contract.” 

“The only way to break a contract is if they let you go, or you die on a mission.” Kyra retorted. “And you know they don’t like to let people go.” 

“The only way out is death.” Diana said, more to herself than anyone else. She said it as if she’d heard the phrase a thousand times before. 

“So what was your plan then?’ Five tilted his head. “Escape and live out the rest of your lives on the run from the commission?” Upon the lack of response, Five let out another scoff. “That’s some plan. I’m curious though, how di you manage to pull this off? Did you steal a briefcase? Make one? Or does one of you have some kind of time traveling ability?” Each word was spoken with levels of condescension that Thirteen had only ever heard from Sir. 

Maybe Kyra picked up on it, because Thirteen could see the anger written all over her face. The air around her wavered with the heat emanating off her. “Listen here, Number Five.” She gritted her teeth and took a step forward. “Diana and I have worked at the commission far longer than you have. Twice as long in fact. We jumped to escape from the commission, and to stop the apocalypse from happening so we could live our lives in peace. So maybe instead of constantly antagonizing us at every turn, I recommend that you stop and think about this. You know my job and you know I’m damn good at what I do. I’ve seen things about the upcoming eight days, things that you’d never be able to find on your own.” She took in a deep breath, blowing out some more smoke before continuing. “You want to question our escape? That was our chance to finally be with our family. To be free, even if we have to constantly be on the run. It’s better than being locked up in that godforsaken lab, or working for the commission. So if we have to live on the run we will. But we won’t let our freedom be taken away by the end of the fucking world.” 

Five seemed physically stunned by what she had said, staying silent as he mulled over her worlds. “I don’t need your help.” He said finally. 

Thirteen felt like the walls were beginning to close in on her. The idea of being returned to the commission, being tested on again. Brought back to life over and over again until they finally cracked whatever Reginald did to make her the way she was. Then what? Keep her down in that basement? Wait to see if she would die of old age? Test on her more just for fun? She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t breathe–! Thirteen lurched forward, biting down on Five’s arm in a desperate move to try and remove the pressure from her neck.  Five let out a yell and tried to free himself, but Thirteen bit down harder. The knife lodged itself in her neck in the struggle, and Five ripped his hand free and tossed her to the side. Thirteen felt the knife fully plunge into her neck before her vision blinked out. 

✦✦✦

When Thirteen opened her eyes, she found blood clouding her vision. Thirteen reached up a hand to wipe the blood from her eyes. The feeling returned to the rest of her body, temporarily overwhelming her before she managed to get a grip on herself again. Thirteen started to push herself to her feet, but her movements were jerky and she slipped in the puddle of blood beneath her. She coughed, spitting out blood from her mouth. Every breath in was a wet noise, blood mixing in her lungs. She reached up to feel a gash in her throat trying to close around a knife. Right, she’d been stabbed. Thirteen reached up to grab the desk, using it to push herself up. She saw Kyra sitting in one of the arm chairs, hands covered in blood and her face pale. She saw Diana as well, one hand covered in blood, but her expression was angry. Thirteen then turned her gaze to Five, and she saw that he was sporting a bloody nose. More than likely the cause for the blood on Diana’s clenched fist. Five was staring at Thirteen with apprehension, glancing at his bite mark. 

“Great. Now I have to deal with a zombie bite and an impending apocalypse.” He muttered, trying to feign casualty, but Thirteen could tell that he was a little unnerved by her. 

Thirteen tried to speak but the knife in her throat reminded her that it probably wasn’t a good idea. She reached up and yanked the knife free from her throat, tossing it on the floor a few feet away. A spray of blood landed on the carpet.  Finally the gash in her throat healed without anything stopping it from closing. She sucked in a breath before speaking. “Are you done… arguing?” She asked, her voice sounding like it hadn’t been used in years. “We don’t have… the time. For… this shit.” 

Kyra took in a shaky breath and reached up to wipe the blood from her face, only managing to smear it more. She stood up. “Look, Five. You might not want help, but you’ll certainly need it. If you want to be stubborn and do things your own way, that’s too damn bad. My family and I are here to stay, and we’re not going to let you screw this all up and destroy the one shot at living a normal life that we have. So like it or not, we’re here to help.” 

After what felt like an eternity, Five sighed. “Fine. How do you plan to help?”

✦✦✦

Thirteen tried to pay attention to what was going on, but between the escape and her death, she was exhausted. She kept nodding off in the chair, unable to keep herself upright. Thirteen gave a glance at Kyra, who seemed to understand the situation and gave her a nod to go before finally leaving. Thirteen rubbed her arms. She’d lost track of how many times she’s died, but every time she came back she felt cold and hollow. Like she was just occupying a dead body, and not one that was alive. 

She stopped and leaned against a table, feeling like she was moments away from passing out. Thirteen suddenly became aware of another heartbeat in the hallway with her, and she turned to see Pogo approaching with a jacket thrown over his arm. He gave her a knowing smile, walking up in front of her and holding it out. 

“You seem chilly… Miss Thirteen, was it?” 

Thirteen reached out and took the jacket, pulling it on. “Yes, you’re right.” She admitted. She didn’t think to question how he knew. In her timeline, Pogo always seemed to know everything. 

“You should wash up and change out of those clothes.” He advised her. 

Thirteen winced, remembering her current bloody state. “I uh, don’t have any other clothes.” She said quietly, embarrassed of her lack of… anything really. 

“There are spare clothes in each of the rooms upstairs. Each one has a conjoined bathroom. Would you like me to escort you?” 

Thirteen was slightly wary, but her exhaustion and grimy state made her a little more compliant than she normally would be. “Yes please.” 

Pogo held out his arm to her. “May I?” 

Thirteen reached out to take his arm. “Yes, please.” She said, being careful of how much of her weight she was putting on him. He adjusted his grip on her arm, helping to keep her upright as they walked.  

“So as I understand it, you were also an Umbrella child, correct?” He asked. 

Thirteen nodded. She got the feeling that he was mostly asking her questions to keep her awake so she didn’t pass out, but she didn’t mind it. She’d prefer it over collapsing to the floor. 

“That’s not the entire story, is it?” 

Thirteen shook her head. 

Pogo hummed. “I helped raise these children. Grace and I. You could consider this an academy of sorts, thus the name. Together we taught and trained these children to save the world.” Pogo let out a tired sigh, stopping at one room in particular. “But we failed to teach them how to save themselves.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“No no, don’t apologize. It is no fault of yours.” Pogo patted her arm and they began walking again. “Tell me, what of your timeline, dear girl? Were Grace and I able to save you then?” 

Thirteen paused, thinking of their very first escape. Thirteen recalled Pogo’s sacrifice. Grace’s struggle against her programming to help them. Thirteen nodded. “Yes, you did.” She answered finally. 

Pogo smiled. “I am glad then. One version of me succeeded.” 

They stopped at the door at the end of the hallway. “This is my favorite room, I think you’ll enjoy it. It has the best view in the academy, you can see the park from here.” Pogo let go of her arm and opened the door. Thirteen stepped inside and looked around. Thankfully this room did not have the bleak white walls or dark brick that she was used to, but a nice red wallpaper with some kind of flower stem like design. In the room was a large bed pressed against the wall with plenty of space for her to crawl underneath and sleep. There was a large closet pressed against the next wall, and a desk underneath a large window on the wall across from the door. “This door here leads to the bathroom. Would you like me to ask Grace to make you something to eat?” Pogo asked. 

Thirteen shook her head. “I ate yesterday, I’ll be fine until tomorrow.” 

Pogo gave Thirteen an alarmed look. “Yesterday? That is not healthy at all. Please, allow us to make you something small to snack on.” 

Thirteen quickly shook her head. “No- I don’t want to be a bother.” 

Pogo was already out the door by the time she replied. “It’s no bother at all! It’s almost dinner time, please wash up before then alright?” He gave her a small smile to try and mask his concern before closing the door behind him. 

Thirteen walked into the bathroom and flicked the light on. It was cozy enough. The lime green tile backsplash and sky blue linoleum tub. Thirteen looked around to see what else there was. Pressed against the wall was a shelf with clean towels on it, and even a bathrobe. Thirteen couldn’t pretend she wasn’t debating the robe, but she ultimately decided against it. Thirteen walked over to the shower and turned it on, jumping back as a hiss-like sound echoed in the room. She bumped into the sink, knocking over the glass soap dispenser which crashed and shattered on the floor. Starting to freak out, Thirteen stepped away again only to bump into the rack with towels on it as well. Thirteen’s chest felt tight and she didn’t feel like she was getting enough air in her lungs despite her sharp and quick breathing. She reached up to cover her ears, trying to block out the sound of the spraying water with the sound of her rapid heartbeat hammering in her ears. 

It took a while for Thirteen to work up the courage to get up off the floor. She needed to turn off the shower. To stop the noise. She took slow steps forward, forcing her legs to stay steady despite how much she felt them shaking. She stopped in front of the tub, willing one of her hands to stop covering her ears and shut off the shower. 

Thirteen let out a loud sigh of relief when the sound stopped. She sat down on the tub, rubbing her legs to try and get them to stop shaking. “I don’t know anything.” She said to herself as she continued to massage her legs. “I don’t know anything.” She repeated, shutting her eyes tightly. “I don’t know anything…” 

Somehow Thirteen managed to turn the shower on again, rapidly switching it over to the tub before the noise could get to her again. She discarded her bloody clothes and climbed in, staying still for a few moments. The water was all around her, feeling like it was giving her a hug that was far too tight. She was suffocating. All she could hear was the water dripping off her hair, and she couldn’t stand it. She could taste Five’s blood in her mouth still, even though she had washed it out. She reached into the water and pulled the drain, letting half the water drain before plugging it again. She felt a little more comfortable now despite the sound of water still dripping from her hair. At least this way she didn’t feel like she’d drown. 

Thirteen climbed out of the tub once she’d finished washing all the blood and grime off. It was a relief to finally be able to wash her own hair again and not have someone roughly handing her hair. She wrapped a towel around herself, looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair, as better as it looked now, was an untamed mess. Thirteen glanced over at the towel rack, seeing a hairbrush there. She grabbed it and started to try and comb through her hair. But just like before when she’d tried to brush her hair with her fingers, the tangles were too tough. Thirteen rapidly grew frustrated and tossed the brush aside. She exited the bathroom, moving over to the desk in search of scissors. She opened the drawer and found a pair sitting neatly amongst a few other supplies. She moved back into the bathroom and started cutting her hair. 

By the time she finished there was hair all over the bathroom floor, mixing with the glass shards she’d forgotten to clear up. Thirteen ran her fingers through her hair, liking how much easier it was to comb through it. Her hair was awkwardly layered and covered her shoulders, giving her a rather shaggy look. Knowing it was unlikely to get any better, Thirteen started to clean up all the hair on the floor, picking up the glass shards as well. She shouldn’t leave a mess. She was a guest after all. 

Once she was done she left the bathroom to get changed. In the closet was the uniform of the Umbrella Academy. She could tell because it had the words Umbrella Academy embroidered on it just below the official crest. Not wanting to wear it, she decided on a white tank top and navy blue pants. She was used to tank tops and didn’t feel like switching so many things up so quickly. She did however take a pair of socks and shoes, not wanting to walk around barefoot anymore. 

She was in the process of trying to remember how to tie her shoes when a knock on the door interrupted her delicate process. “Come in.” 

Pogo opened the door. “Miss Thirteen. May I say that you look much better now that you’ve freshened up. A new haircut as well I see. It looks lovely.” 

“Thanks.” Thirteen said, fully aware that her hair was a mess. 

“If you’d like to cut your hair again, please let Grace know. She’s the best equipped among us to assist with haircuts. But for now, please join us for dinner.”

“Who is us?” Thirteen asked. 

“You, Grace, and myself. It seems everyone else might be a little too busy to join us. I hope you don’t mind.” 

Thirteen shook her head. “No, I don’t mind.” She was used to having dinner alone. This was a nice change of pace. 

“Good. Allow me to escort you back downstairs.” 

Thirteen leaned down and took his arm again. Her hair fell into her face and she quickly pushed it back. She really ought to fix that before it becomes a problem. 

They arrived downstairs at the dinner table and Pogo pulled out the chair for her. Thirteen sat down, drumming her fingers along the table. 

“And for today’s very special dinner for our very special guests, we have my secret recipe for lasagna and some garlic knots made by yours truly.” Miss Grace gave a warm smile to Pogo. Thirteen could feel the electricity in her veins again, just as she had outside. The feeling was all the more persistent since Miss Grace was closer. Thirteen shook her head, pushing away the feeling. 

Miss Grace walked over with a tray, setting it down. Pogo walked over as well with a plate of garlic knots. “Bread making was always one of my favorite pastimes.” Pogo said as he set them down on the table. 

As soon as Miss Grace set down a slice of lasagna and garlic knots in front of Thirteen, she was eating as quickly as she could. 

“Whoa,” Miss Grace laughed. “Someone is hungry.” 

Thirteen blinked, remembering where she was. They weren’t going to take this from her. She could relax now. She wasn’t there anymore. She felt her face get hot with embarrassment and she sat up straight, grabbing a napkin and wiping her mouth. “I’m sorry.” She said quietly. 

“Don’t apologize.” Pogo said. He set down his fork, reaching for a garlic knot and piling the lasagna on top. “We’re friends and family here. There’s no need to be shy.” he said before taking a big bite. 

Thirteen reached for her food again, feeling more welcomed than she had before. She copied what Pogo had done, piling the lasagna on her garlic bread and taking a bite, eating a little slower than before. When the plate was empty, Miss Grace walked over and picked it up. “Would you like me to fix you a second plate?” She asked. 

Thirteen perked up almost immediately. “I can have a second plate?” She asked, unable to stop the child-like hope in her voice. 

“Of course you can! A growing child needs all the nutrients they can get.” Miss Grace said as she got to work on fixing Thirteen a second plate. 

Thirteen tried to hold back from asking for a third plate. She was used to eating as much as she could, never knowing when her next meal was. But here, they were friendly. She could relax. She didn’t have to survive anymore. 

✦✦✦

After dinner, Thirteen left upstairs to try and get some sleep. She looked around the room. During the day it had seemed welcoming, but now at night the wallpaper was almost pitch black, reminding her too much of the cage. Thirteen grabbed a blanket off the bed and left in search of her sisters. She walked down the hallway, hoping that maybe the two heartbeats she could sense in the distance were her sisters. She walked up to the door and knocked twice, not wanting to barge in on something. 

Thankfully it was Kyra who opened the door. Thirteen glanced past her to see Diana in the room as well. Was she… missing something? 

“What’s going on?” Thirteen asked. 

“Nothing. Just catching up.” Kyra held the door open. “Come in.” 

Thirteen stepped inside, looking at the room. It was blank like hers, but felt a little cozier. Maybe because this room had her sisters in it. Thirteen moved to take a seat on the bed. It was a tense silence for a while. No one really knew what to say. What do you say when you’ve just been reunited with your sisters who’ve been missing for years? Do you ask where they’d been? What they’ve seen? Do you tell them about what you did? Thirteen realized then that she didn’t actually do anything interesting. Kyra and Diana did though. They went out on missions like Agent Coronado told her. Maybe they’d seen a few interesting–

“Thirteen, your hair.” Diana murmured, eyes traveling over her sister's new appearance. 

Thirteen reached up to brush some hair out of her face, feeling a little self conscious. “It was frustrating.” She said simply. “I uh… never got to do anything to it back there. It… doesn’t look bad, does it?” 

“I like it,” Kyra said, lifting the towel around her neck to finish drying her hair. She had apparently taken advantage of the showers here as well. 

“Seeing as you two showered, I suppose I should too.” Diana spoke up. 

Thirteen moved over to sit on the bed. “I was meaning to ask, what happened to you? You uh… look a little different from when I last saw you.” The last time she saw her being only half an hour ago. 

Diana looked down to her bloody umbrella uniform. 

“It’s a long story.” Kyra chuckled. 

“A very long story that I don’t want to get into.” Diana agreed. She left the room, likely going to shower as well. 

Kyra moved over to join Thirteen on the bed. “So, how do you like it here so far?”

Thirteen looked up at her sister. “It’s not bad. It’s got a bed and a shower, and some free clothes.” She said, tugging at the straps of her tank top. 

“I assume you didn’t like the academy uniform?” Kyra noted. 

Thirteen shook her head. “I appreciate the free clothes, but I don’t want to be matching with Five.”

“Understandable.” 

✦✦✦

Diana returned after a while, finding her sisters laying on the bed. She closed the door behind her. “So, what have you two been up to?” She asked. 

Thirteen sat up on her elbows, smiling at her sister. “Girl talk.” 

Diana moved over to the bed, laying down next to Thirteen. Diana reached out and grabbed Thirteen's wrist. Thirteen tensed for a minute, not used to having someone grab her wrist without cuffing her afterwards. “Is… everything alright?” She asked warily. 

“Just checking your pulse.” Diana said, as if it were a normal thing to do. Thirteen didn’t realize why at first, until she remembered that she had died only a few hours ago. Thirteen nodded slowly, understanding that her sisters didn’t know about this ability of hers considering Sir would test it in one of the labs, and not where her sisters would see. “

After everything she’d been through, Thirteen wouldn’t lie and say that oftentimes she wished she didn’t come back at all. But with her sisters back and at her side, she’d stay alive. If not just for them. 

“This doesn’t feel real.” Kyra spoke. Diana and Thirteen both turned to look at her. “I’ve been thinking about this moment for years. I’ve dreamed about it, not one of my visions but an actual dream. Now that it’s here… I’m not sure it’s real.” She admitted. 

“It’s real.” Thirteen said, trying to reassure her. 

“It doesn’t really feel real when the oldest sister somehow becomes physically fourteen and mentally forty something, and the other one died and got back up like she was just taking a nap.” Kyra said, gesturing between Thirteen and Diana. 

“Alright first of all, I am right here.” Diana grumbled, crossing her arms. “And I’ll have you know, I’m forty-six.” 

Kyra snorted, turning over to face her sisters. “I missed you.” She said quietly. “Both of you.” 

“I’ll admit, I missed your morning philosophical talks.” Diana said, brushing a few loose curls behind her ear. 

“Did you really?” Kyra asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. 

“No. I like my brain unscrambled in the mornings.” 

Thirteen couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She didn’t know about them, but she knew that she needed sleep or else she was going to crash. Thirteen pulled the small blanket up to her chest.

“I think Thirteen’s got the right idea.” Kyra spoke up. “After breaking her out of the commission and jumping through time, I am absolutely exhausted.” 

“You’re telling me.” Diana muttered, brushing her hair back again. “I am so not used to being in my fourteen year old body again.” She stretched out on the bed, grabbing the blanket and pulling it over herself. 

“It’s nice to be with you two again.” Kyra admitted. “I just…” 

“What is it?” Thirteen asked. 

“I really… really wish it could stay like this.” She said. Thirteen knew full well that it was likely that this would be the last peaceful moment they would face for a while. Thirteen wanted to believe, even for just a second, that things could be this way. That things could be better, but after everything that happened at the commission, she couldn’t really hold out hope for anything anymore. 

Diana laid on her back and let out a dramatic sigh, placing her hands behind her head. “Way to ruin the moment, sister.” She muttered. 

Thirteen pulled the blanket closer, feeling uncomfortably cold. “It was always like this in my cage.” She said without thinking. “Back at the Commission, they liked to keep it cold.” 

Kyra’s eyes flitted over to her. “Yeah?” She prompted, wanting to know more. 

“She’s asking you to turn the heat on, you dork.” Diana said without opening her eyes. 

“Right, yea. Sorry.” Kyra quickly brought her hands up and began rubbing them together. Her skin started to light up like embers in a fireplace, causing Diana to let out another exaggerated sigh. 

“Now I know for a fact you don’t have to be doing all that.” She said, sitting up and turning to give Kyra a deadpanned look. 

Thirteen reached back to shove Diana. “Shut up. You’re going to get this taken away from us.” 

“Me? I’m just saying that little miss smoke breather over here doesn’t need to do her whole little magic hands pose to generate some freaking body heat.” 

Thirteen sat up and grabbed the pillow from behind her, lunging at Diana with the pillow and shoving her down onto the bed. 

“Hey– get off!” Diana exclaimed, voice muffled from under the pillow. She quickly started to grab at her arms and pull her off. But considering it was a twenty something year old who had been kept stagnant in a cage for years versus a fourteen year old assassin, they were pretty evenly matched. 

Unfortunately, Kyra seemed to want to keep the peace and pulled them apart. “If you two want a personal space heater, then I don’t want to hear any more fighting.” She said, her tail moving from behind her to wrap around Thirteen’s waist and pull her off of Diana. Thirteen grumbled and reluctantly let go of the pillow, moving to burrow herself in Kyra’s warm arms. Diana shot her a glare before reluctantly moving closer. “Don’t steal all the heat you leech.” She said under her breath. 

Thirteen ignored her comment. “What do we do now?” She asked Kyra. 

Kyra shifted to lay on her back, looking up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and draped an arm over Thirteen’s side. “Let’s get some sleep for now. We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.” 

“Like what?” Thirteen asked again. 

Kyra mumbled something that either sounded like ‘hollow’ or ‘tomorrow.’ Thirteen decided on the latter as she drifted off to sleep. She let out a quiet yawn, relaxing into the bed. “Missed you guys.” Thirteen said as she closed her eyes. 

“Yeah yeah. Missed you too.” Diana said, turning to face Kyra and Thirteen.

--------

Masterlist for the Umbrella Files

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Soundtrack: Between the Bars, Elliot Smith

Diana's pov: @cl0udy3

Diana tried not to focus on the way every cell in her body felt like it was being split in half.

Something had definitely gone wrong in the jump. She just hoped they hadn’t been separated again.

Diana let out a yelp as she fell, dropping to the floor in a barrel roll and hitting the wall with a grunt.

To say everything hurt was an understatement. Her bones physically hurt, her muscles felt weak. She curled into herself, hoping the pain would quickly subside.

Her body screamed in excruciating pain, but her mind was yelling at her. Get up. Get up. Get up. 

Diana reached out to the closest stable surface, small fingers reaching out to grab something - anything - that would help her stand.

Her eyes locked on her hands and she fell back. Maybe her vision was blurry, maybe her mind was playing tricks on herself, but her hands were… small and smooth.

She willed herself to crawl towards the nearest reflective surface and tried to get a glimpse of herself.

In the glass was a face Diana hadn’t seen in decades.

“No-” She got closer to the glass cabinet, her reflection refracted by the glass. “No, no, no, no…!”

Behind her, Kyra groaned, dragging herself upright. Thirteen rubbed her shoulder, holding herself up against a very fancy looking couch.

“Are we... in a house?” Thirteen murmured.

“A museum, maybe,” Diana muttered. She tore her eyes away from the reflection, clutching her jacket tighter. “This is bad. This is really bad.”

Kyra seemed to have quickly recuperated from any injuries from the landing and began walking towards a door.

“Let’s go,” she said quietly, like it explained everything.

Thirteen frowned. “Where?”

Kyra had already moved, not giving an answer as she walked toward two grand doors that seemed to lead to an outside area.

“Unbelievelabe,” Diana muttered, hesitantly following Kyra with an eyeroll. This bitch so cryptic!

Behind it, yelling could be heard.

Diana opened her mouth to protest, only to mutter ’unbelieveable..’ as her sister began to walk to the sound.

 ???: “After everything he did to you? He had to ship you a million miles away!”

???: “Diego, stop talking.”

The trio peeked through the partially opened doors to find a group of people all dressed in black, seeming like they should be mourning, but instead were watching two men arguing.

“That’s how much he couldn’t stand the sight of you!” Diego poked a finger into the other man’s chest. That was his breaking point.

The taller, burlier man threw multiple punches, but Diego ducked to dodge it. In the background, the other ‘attendees’ backed away as their fight ensued. Someone else audibly laughed.

“Boys, stop this at once!”

A monkey in a suit spoke, but his words fell to deaf ears. Their little tantrum continued as the ape-like man threw yet another punch and missed completely, giving Diego an opening to land a barrage of hits.

“Come on, big boy!”

???: “Stop it!”

The same skrunkly little man continued to egg them on, clutching the cigarette in his hand like a mom cheering for her son at a football game.

“Hit him! Hit him!”

The fight continued. The monkey walked away, shaking his head in what seemed to be disappointment.

The ape-ish man finally landed a hit, but Diego escaped his grasp, taunting him for another punch which was gladly attempted.

Diego ducked away, and the burly ape man punched directly at the crotch of a nearby statue.

The sound of crackling stone echoed across the courtyard, sharp enough to stall every movement.

The statue toppled, too far gone now to catch. It slammed into the ground, shattering into three massive pieces.

For a moment, no one breathed—not a single sound save for the soft patter of the rain.

The person who was cheering them on now seemed visibly pained now. He let out a quiet, Oh, no… and his shoulders sagged.

And, as if taking that as her cue, Kyra pushed the door to the courtyard open.

The sisters, now presenting themselves, stood framed in the doorway like some baroque painting.

Kyra first, Diana right next to her (visibly annoyed), and Thirteen behind their shoulders.

A strange man holding a pink umbrella whispered to one of his nearby companions, “You see them too, right?”

Five was the first to question squinting at the trio as though he could place them from memory.

“Who the hell are you?”

No one answered, trying to find the right words to explain without sounding like they had just escaped a mental asylum and had been hiding in their home. 

A woman chimed in, her hand moving to her hip. “Yeah, that’s a good question. Who are you and why are you in our house?”

Kyra glanced at Diana and Thirteen, then stepped forward.

“We don’t want trouble. We didn’t exactly mean to end up here.”

Thirteen finally found her voice, quiet but steady.

“We’re just.. lost.”

Diana let out a short, dry laugh.

“That’s one way to put it.”

Diego took a step toward them, jaw tight. “Then maybe you should get unlost. This isn’t a bed and breakfast.”

“Are you guys like a lesbian couple and she’s your kid? If so, I totally support you guys.”

Diego slapped the eccentric man across the head and he made a face at him, muttering ‘Klaus, dude…’ 

Klaus shrugged and took another hit of the cigarette perched between his fingers.

Viktor took a step forward, the first of his siblings to offer an olive branch instead of an argument.

“Hi. Vanya. Um, but you can call me V.”

“V, wait…” Allison called out as she approached the trio.

Thirteen spoke first, taking her hand to shake it.

“Thirteen. No other nickname. Just Thirteen.”

The rest of the family visibly perked up.

More numbers?

Kyra cleared her throat as Thirteen held the handshake for way too long.

“You can let go now, Thirteen.”

Thirteen let go and backed away as Kyra introduced herself and Diana to the family.

Luther was almost excited, but suspicion was still thick in the air.

“So… you are one of us? I mean… I knew he hadn’t adopted all of us, but I didn’t think we would ever meet some of you guys.”

The assumption filtered through the rest of the family. More Umbrella’s, more of those who had been born from mothers who hadn’t asked for the abruption, more of those raised away from Reginald.

“Um, I don’t know. Who are you?” Diana asked.

Five scoffed and, as if one cue, all seven of them seemed to unconsciously step closer together, loosely getting into a movie poster formation.

“We’re the Umbrella Academy.”

How… flashy.

Diana glanced at the statue. “Who’s that?”

Klaus spoke for the rest of them. “Ben. Ben Hargreeves.”

Kyra pointed to the sad pile of ashes on the ground.

“Right. And who’s that?”

“Our father. Reginald Hargreeves.”

Thirteen’s jaw dropped.

Kyra sucked in air through her teeth.

Diana watched Kyra eye Viktor indiscriminately. 

She knows something.

Kyra tore her gaze away. “...Yeah, okay. I think we all need to have a talk.”

Five was unimpressed. Unfortunately for them, he had end-of-the-world- matters to attend to, which trumped anything they had to say. 

However… he had definitely seen the dragon freak one before. And the short, curly haired girl who had remained mostly silent. He knew exactly who she was (he had to hold back a laugh to remain composed).

“About what?” He asked dryly.

“About your father– and our curator.” Kyra responded.

⚜

Everyone had congregated in the long living area within the Academy.

Kyra, Thirteen, and Klaus had sort of banded together, helping Thirteen experience her first cigarette, and introducing themselves.

Diana kept to herself, not really wanting to interact with the equally freaky and dysfunctional band of Umbrellas.

As everyone settled into a chair, or by a couch, Kyra spoke. “I won’t make us wait any longer. I’m sure you’re all confused as to why we’re here.”

She cleared her throat. “So, my sisters and I are from a different timeline.”

The Umbrella siblings blinked back at them. Five crossed his arms, face still as blank as it was earlier.

He still managed to be menacing, even in such a prepubescent state.

“I’m sorry?” Allison asked.

“What do you mean, a different timeline?” Luther frowned.

“Well… you heard me mention our relationship to your father.”

“You called him your creator.” Five said cooly.

“That’s right. Your brother, Ben-”

“Whoa whoa, Ben? Like Ben-Ben? What does Benerino have to do with this?” Klaus suddenly perked up.

“I’m getting to that. When Ben died, Reginald Hargreeves deemed his previously built Umbrella Academy a.. a failure. So, in our timeline, he did not adopt any more children. He decided to make new children instead.”

Diana gave Klaus a weird look as he cocked his head back and whispered something over his shoulder. Was he schizophrenic?

Klaus then raised his hand. “Dad can do that?”

“Um, no. I mean he created us scientifically. We’re artificial beings of science. Lab rats, if you will. Patched together with a selection of body parts and organs, and injected with a selection of superpowers he saw fit for each experiment. And that’s what he called us. Experiments.”

“So are you… real human beings?” Klaus asked.

“Hard to say. Anyway, I-”

“So, you guys are what, the better versions of us?” Luther asked.

“That’s what he wanted us to be.”

“But you’re not?” Diego pressed. “You said that’s what he wanted. Why weren’t you guys better?”

He seemed a little bitter.

“Maybe we were better.” Diana stood up. “But we weren’t going to let him continue experimenting on us so we could spend the rest of our lives being his perfect little soldiers. So we escaped.”

“You escaped. And that’s how you ended up here?” Diego continued.

Diana, Thirteen and Kyra shared a look.

“Sort of.” Kyra finally answered.

“What do you mean, sort of?” Allison stepped closer.

Diego stood up.

“She’s right. I mean, how are we supposed to believe these Frankensteins who just waltzed into our home telling us they-”

“Creature.”

Diego blinked, stepping his build up to whip around and face Five.

“What?”

“You mean creatures. Frankenstein is the name of the creator, idiot.” Five said flatly.

“I don’t give a flying fuck,” Diego said, sounding juvenile. “And that’s beside the point.”

“What’s the point, then?” Five asked, tone unchanged.

“The point is that these people were built to be better after our failures, is that right?” Diego said, crossing his arms toward Kyra.

“That’s not what I said.” Kyra replied, refusing to back up.

“Okay, I feel like we need to ask it again.” Luther cut in. “What do you mean, sort of?”

“It means the situation is a little too complicated for us to explain over tea. Do you understand, or does that need an explanation too?”

Diana gave Luther a pointed look, as if challenging him to try and intimidate them again.

Luther raised his hands in surrender, and took a step back.

“Alright, just so that we’re all on the same page,” Five stood up, his words stinging as if Kyra were full of bullshit. “You guys are from a different timeline where Ben’s death affected Dad so bad, that he decided to start experimenting and creating super powered kids of his own.”

“Yep.” Kyra confirmed.

“And you guys had enough of that, and decided to escape, but somehow you ended up in the middle of our house?”

“Just about.” Diana nodded.

“That sounds… insane. Truthful, maybe, but insane,” Allison blinked. “Do you even have a place to stay?”

“How about we concentrate on what we should do next?” Luther asked, trying to step back into a position of leadership.

“Not what we do,” Five stepped forward. “What I do.”

“Is this the part where you tell us where you’ve been for the past… what? Seventeen years now?” Klaus asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Five rubbed his face. 

“I need some coffee before I even attempt to explain what’s going to happen to any of you.”

He turned on his heel and left the room.

Viktor quickly stood up, looking panicked.

“Wait, you’re just going to leave again?”

“I’m going to the kitchen, Vanya. I’m not going to disappear into time again.” he called, not bothering to turn around or slow down to answer her.

Diana heard the other siblings beginning to argue. 

She watched as they got into another physical altercation and leaned to her side.

“Is your family always like this?” Diana asked Klaus.

Klaus snickered and leaned forward to put his cigarette out on the now destroyed coffee table.

“Isn’t yours?”

Diana glanced at both her sisters. All three of them were thinking of the horrors of the lab.

She turned to frown at Klaus. “No, not really.”

Klaus shrugged. “Then you’re lucky.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say that.”

⚜

V had called them into the kitchen. The two macho men of the family seemed to be calmer now, and Diego even stood up, approaching the three sisters with an outstretched hand.

“I’m Diego.”

Thirteen shook his hand lightly. Diana barely touched his hand. Kyra gave him a firm handshake.

“Kyra. And I know who you are.” “You do? How?” Diego frowned.

“Oh!” Klaus perked up. “Did dear old dad happen to mention us at some point or another while he was… piecing you together?”

Allison shot him a look at that last part.

Kyra whistled lowly. “You could say that.”

“And not just that.” Five suddenly spoke from his place leaning against the edge of the table, eyes squinted and an empty mug in hand.

“You’re the Seer, aren’t you?”

The entire band of siblings turned their attention to Kyra as Klaus asked “The who?”

He was ignored.

Five scoffed, starting to step closer.

“I’m surprised we never ran into each other. They must have kept you quite busy up in that office.”

Kyra matched his gaze. Something accusatory was hiding in his look, becoming increasingly less subtle as he stepped closer.

“You could definitely say that.”

He sighed again. “The psychic. I honestly thought the Commission would’ve taken out someone like you. How did you come to work for them in the first place?”

“I think you have a better question on your mind.” Kyra told him.

Diana was staring back at him now, too. The three Commission members.

“How much do you know?”

Five asked Kyra, setting his coffee cup down. His eyes darted from Kyra to Diana to Thirteen, then back to Diana again.

“What do you think?” Kyra asked him. 

The air was tense. Finally Luther broke the silence that Five was taking as an opportunity to ponder his next move.

“Okay, what’s going on?”

“Don’t bother asking. Five doesn’t have time to let you in on all his big secrets.” Diego responded. He stood up from his chair, prepared to leave the scene.

Luther ignored him.

“Five? Do you know these people?”

Five ignored Luther.

“You’re right,” he muttered, agreeing with Diego. “We don’t have the time.”

He gave Diana a sideways glance. “We need to talk. Immediately.”

And then, he was gone.

A look of severe annoyance crossed Diana’s face as Five blinked away, reappearing at the edge of the stairs before starting to walk up them.

“All three of you.” 

He called out to the trio, not stopping like he expected them to just pick up and follow. 

Diana had already started walking forward. Thirteen gave Kyra a quizzical look. Kyra nodded back to her, a quick form of assurance.

 The three of them headed upstairs, behind Five, through the hallways lined with posters of kids demonstrating basic fighter techniques. The ornate wallpaper was peeling ever so slightly on one of the walls.

Diana admired it all. It was definitely a well-lived home. She could only imagine what it was like to grow up with so much life.

Five didn’t say a word as they walked, hands stuffed in his pockets with an even face. 

Then, finally, Five opened a door that led to a spacious office.

As soon as the office door clicked shut, the air seemed to change.

Five stood circled towards Reginald’s desk, hands in his pockets, posture deceptively casual as he looked the trio over.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Diana took a step back as she felt the familiar force of Five blinking.

“Why exactly are you here? He asked. “To kill me?”

It had only been a second. He was behind Thirteen, who was down on her knees, a mail opener pressed up against her neck.

Maybe she hadn't noticed, but her hands had drifted up just ever so slightly in surrender. 

Kyra looked at Five. She could see it all written in his eyes, unfurling with ease and calculation.

“Alright look. The way I see it, you three are hiding far too much for me to actually be able to trust anything you say. So in order to make sure you tell the truth…” Five pressed the knife closer to Thirteen’s neck. Crimson began to trickle from the blade on her skin.

“I’ll use this one as collateral damage.”

“Don’t do this, Five.” Diana said, her hands also lifting now. She gave the warning like she had done it many times before.

“Stay there,” Five commanded. “No one leaves this room, no one does anything until you tell me what you’re hiding.”

Kyra swallowed thickly as the room began to buzz with tension. It settled in the air as Five seemed to drop his shoulders, still poised with the blade.

“Okay, okay. Just… don’t hurt her.”

“Alright. I’ll ask again. Are you here to kill me?”

Kyra held her hand up, trying to calmly motion that it was her turn now. Wrong steps could not be taken.

“No, we’re not. Now, I have a question for you.”

“That’s not how this works.”

He returned, flat and demanding, the knife pressing closer.

Kyra took a breath.

“Eight days. Does that mean anything to you?”

He shifted slightly, but did not move from his position.

“The end of everything. The apocalypse.”

He only took a moment to readjust, getting the upper hand again.

“So three Commission workers.” He started.

“I know what your job was,” Five motioned to Kyra, only tilting his head so he could keep Thirteen tightly locked.

“And you, of course,” he said to Diana. And then he looked down at Thirteen.

“But I don’t recognize you. What did you do for them?”

“I didn’t do anything for them.” Thirteen gritted her teeth while eyeing the steel against her throat. “But they did a lot to me.”

“The hell does that mean?”

“It means she was kept prisoner.” Diana said flatly to him.

He turned and looked at her, holding her gaze.

“So you were all there at the same time, whether employed or prisoner, and none of you had any idea? They kept you from each other.”

Diana and Kyra both nodded at each, murmuring a little ‘yea.’

“Well, I’m… sorry. That’s terrible.”

It was obvious he was wondering how the hell the trio hadn’t managed to find each other sooner.

“They’re going to come after you, you know. They don’t like their property escaping from them.”

He eyed Thirteen on that last part. Thirteen was giving him a withering glare back.

“They’re going to come after all of us, dipwad,” Kyra hissed in response. “We’re four runaways from the Commission who have vowed to stop one of the most major events in the history of this universe.”

Five scoffed. “I’m not a ‘runaway.’ I broke my contract.”

“The only way to break a contract is if they let you go or you die on a mission,” Kyra responded.

“The only way out is death.” Diana said, quieter than the other two.

Five cleared his throat.

“So what was your plan then? Escape and live out the rest of your lives on the run from the Commission?”

Diana and Kyra winced at how weak he was making their plan sound. Like they had been desperate. And they were.

He took note of their silence, scoffing again. He continued to rub in the point.

“Some plan. How’d you manage to pull this off, hm? Steal a briefcase? Make one? Jump through time by the skin of your teeth?” He shook his head. “Amateurs.”

Kyra’s face was steaming, literally. She was visibly angry at how redundant he had made it all seem. Assuming he had the full picture with little knowledge of how difficult the process had been to even discover her siblings were there in the first place, let alone leave all together. Abolished with a single word.

“Some plan? Really? Nice boy shorts, by the way.” Diana gave him a pointed look, and Number Five became increasingly aware that he was a tiny thirteen year old holding a knife to a woman in her mid twenties. Five almost looked tomato red at her retort. Why had that gotten to him?

“You’re one to talk,” He said, noting the exact same predicament Diana had landed in.

Diana sighed. “I know things went wrong on our end. But don’t act like you jumped without making any mistakes either. I mean, look at yourself.”

Kyra cut in.

“Listen, Five. Diana and I have worked at the Commission far longer than you have, twice as long, actually. We jumped with the intention of stopping the apocalypse. So, maybe instead of constantly antagonizing us at every turn, I recommend you stop and think about this. You know my position, and you know I’m damn good at what I do. I’ve seen things about the upcoming eight days. Things that you’d never be able to find on your own.”

Kyra took a breath, calming herself down. The heat simmered down on her skin, as if cooling off.

“And regarding our escape? That was our chance to finally be with our family. To be free, even if we had to constantly be on the run. It’s better than being locked up in that godforsaken lab or working for the Commission. So if we have to live on the run, we will, but we won’t let our freedom be taken away by the end of the fucking world.”

Silence.

“I don’t need your help.”

Kyra threw her hands up in frustration.

Diana let out a strangled groan.

And then Thirteen grabbed Five’s arm and bit down on it. He let out a yell, grappling with her as she only sunk her teeth in deeper.

Diana screamed as he threw her aside, watching the knife lodge itself into her neck.

With blood pouring out of the gash in her neck in nasty, greedy spurts, Number Thirteen fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, dead.

Diana ran to Thirteen, kneeling at her side, trying to figure out how to bring her back. “No- no, no, no!”

She sobbed, her sister's body continuing to seep its life from the wound.

It was too late now.

Diana slowly stood, her body moving before she could think, crossing the room in three strides and slamming her fist into Five’s face.

The impact sent him staggering back, colliding with Reginald’s desk hard enough to knock over a stack of papers. His nose was already bleeding when he straightened, one hand gripping his arm where teeth marks were still seeping red while the other covered the flow of blood from his nostrils.

“You son of a bitch!”

Five didn’t answer. He just wiped the blood from under his nose, jaw tight, eyes still locked on them like they were dangerous animals.

Diana loomed over him, fingers wrapped around his collar, ready to keep punching his lights out.

Thirteen’s limp body began to stand, pushing itself out of the pool of blood that surrounded her, staining the carpet and furniture. 

Thirteen pulled the knife out of her neck, the blood now pouring out harder, staining her clothes and sticking it to her skin. 

She took a while to get to her feet, almost slipping in the dangerous amounts of crimson liquid that was spreading through the office, along with the coughing and hacking as life started to hum into her body again. It was frankly a horrific scene, a Frankensteinish display of reanimation.

Thirteen clawed at her neck, feeling the gaping absence of closed skin as her hands stained red.

Five took care to observe the gash in her neck slowly stitching itself closed, allowing less blood to flow out over her body. He was nursing his own wound, blood flowering at his forearm where Thirteen had bit him.

Diana and Kyra looked at one another.

“Stop.” Thirteen, hoarse like the dead. “We need him… alive.”

Kyra’s eyes widened. Thirteen took the bloodied knife she had pulled from neck, and pointed it at Five.

“No. More. Tricks.” Her voice was barely audible. “Just. Talk.”

Kyra swallowed, attempting to get her voice back. The situation had turned around fast.

“Listen, Five. You might not want our help, but you will certainly need it. You know what my job is. I’m the Seer. And In every vision I’ve gotten, it shows my family working with yours,” She said, firmer, more authoritative than before. “If you want to disregard what I say, go right ahead. But I’ve seen how your way ends, and I’m letting you know, no one survives.”

She took care to press in the last part. This man cared about his family more than anything, after all. You could say they had all escaped for a similar reason.

Five returned, staring at the recovering Thirteen. He turned to look at his own wound.

He didn’t take too long to answer. Number Five always thought quickly.

“How do you plan to help?”

Kyra couldn’t help breaking into a smile, even as tired as it was. Diana audibly sighed with relief. So did Thirteen, although it was accompanied by a strange gurgling sound coming from the blood pouring out of her neck. 

⚜

“What you said before… about all of us vowing to stop the apocalypse. How did you know that’s what I came back for?”

Kyra blinked at Five. She was recovering from the whiplash of a dead sibling who was very much alive again. 

She cleared her throat.

“Because I saw you. That one day, when we bumped into each other in the Commission cafeteria. You were only ever thinking of your family.”

Five was silent for a moment. “We’ll talk more later. But for now..”

His head turned to Diana.

“Come with me.”

Before Diana could question him, he was already grabbing her by the elbow.

“Hey! What the hell is your problem, grandpa?”

“My problem is the Commission.” His eyes narrowed. “You were the Handler’s little protege. Which means you know things. A lot of things. And right now, I need answers.”

Diana scoffed incredulously. “Excuse me? That’s your pitch? Drag me off because you decided I must be full of secrets?”

“That’s exactly my pitch. You don’t want me assuming the worst? Then start talking.”

Diana folded her arms. “You don’t get to boss me around like I’m one of your little soldiers.”

“Funny. You let her boss you around.”

That landed like a slap. Diana froze for just a second, her jaw tightening.

“Don’t.”

“Why not? Truth stings?”

Kyra and Thirteen exchanged a knowing glance, tension thick between them.

“Fine. But not like this,” She gestured to her oversized clothes. “If you think I’m setting foot in public looking like a kid playing dress up, you’re insane. Two minutes.” Five huffed in annoyance, but agreed. “Two minutes. That’s all you get.”

Diana mocked him. “You practice this little dictator act in the mirror, or does it just come naturally?”

Five walked away, towards the foyer area of the house. “One minute, fifty five seconds.”

Diana turned to Kyra and Thirteen, filled with rage and annoyance.

“Can you believe this guy?”

“He’s kind of not wrong, though.”

Diana narrowed her eyes. “Seriously? You’re taking his side now?” “I’m not taking his side. I am just saying it might be worth hearing him out.” Thirteen added, her voice slightly less raspy now. “He… doesn’t seem like the type to wait long.”

Diana groaned, throwing her hands up like the whole world was conspiring against her.

“Unbelieveable. Betrayed by my own sisters,” a pause. “Fine. But if he blinks away, I’m crawling into the closest bed and letting him deal with his caffeine withdrawal alone. This day has been way too long for my liking.”

She stormed off, muttering under her breath about ‘self important little time travelers’ and ‘short men with god complexes.’

She threw open a wardrobe only to find rows of perfectly pressed Umbrella Academy uniforms stared back at her like soldiers waiting for orders.

“Seriously? Do these people own anything that isn’t a school uniform? Would it kill to invest in a nice dress?”

She yanked out a pair of navy blue trousers, and a button down shirt. May the forces that be strike her down if she ever had to wear the same embellished Umbrella blazer as Five.

She caught sight of herself in the mirror as she put everything on. The clean lines of the uniform did fit her better than the oversized clothes she’d been swimming in since they landed.

“This is in no way better than what I had on before. But it’ll have to work…”

She shoved her feet into some black knee length socks and matching black loafers. She walked over to the bathroom and quickly gathered her frizzy curls into a pony tail, slicking it back with water, to the best of her ability.

She twisted the faucet off and behind her, she heard the tail end woosh.

PFFT-TIK.

A metallic thud now.

Her fingers tensed.

She turned and saw a gleaming light behind a tile in the wall. 

Diana pushed it, and it opened as she expected, to reveal a pneumatic tube.

She snatched it instantly.

The cap twisted open with a soft hiss.

A single, rolled up card slid out.

The paper was a little yellow, and the message was clearly written with a typewriter, but the tone was all the same.

Don’t disappoint me.

Before she could mull over it longer, a knock rang through the bathroom. 

Her pulse sped up.

Diana didn’t think. She crumpled the note and shoved it into her mouth, teeth sinking into the some-what sweet paper just as a knock rang loudly.

“You done?”

She turned on the tap, letting the water run like she’d just finished washing her hands.

Diana leaned forward, cupping her hands to her lips like she was wiping water off her face, chewing quietly.

“Yeah, hold on.”

She swallowed the sharp paper, but her face didn’t change.

She dried her hands with a towel as Five opened the door.

“You look tense.”

“Seeing your baby face in the mirror might do that. Let’s go.”

Five huffed and followed after her, stepping down the stairs in sync like the twins from the Shining.

He looked her over once, his expression unreadable as always.

“At least you look less ridiculous.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult?” “Whichever gets you to the door faster.” She rolled her eyes but followed him, brushing past.

“Just for the record, if this ends with you throwing me in a ditch somewhere, Kyra will burn this house down.” “Then I’ll make sure it doesn’t end that way.”

⚜

The bell over the door gave a cheerful little ding that felt almost insulting in a place this run down. Five pushed in first, shoulders squared like he owned the place. Diana followed, catching the door before it swung shut.

Another figure slipped inside behind her. A man in a weathered jacket that read Ishmael’s Towing. She gave him a quick glance, but he just tipped his head politely and made for the counter.

Five dropped onto a creaky stool. Diana slid onto the one beside him, more out of resignation than choice. The man took the seat just down from them, nodding a faint hello before setting his elbows on the counter. 

The waitress bustled out of the back, drying her hands on her pink and white apron, her smile automatic and kind.

The waitress came by, her nametag read AGNES,“Sorry, sink was clogged. So- what’ll it be?”

The older man spoke first. “Chocolate eclair.”

Agnes wrote his order down on her little notepad. “Mmhmm, sure thing,” Her pen hovered as she looked at Diana, then Five.

“And for the kids? A glass of milk?” Diana let out a quiet laugh, but Five’s eyes narrowed.

“The kid wants coffee. Black.”

Five’s expression formed into a vicious smile, a smile weird enough that it made her step back a little faster than she meant to. She turned toward the kitchen.

Agnes chuckled nervously. “Cute kid.” Diana leaned her cheek onto her hand, side eyeing him.

“So did you bring me here to interrogate me or did you just wanna be alone with me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

Five drummed his fingers against the countertop, eyes never leaving her.

“You, of all people, should be able to give me a straight answer. The Seer always responds in riddles and the other one doesn’t know anything.”

“Her name is Thirteen, not the other one. And don’t expect me to just hand everything I know to you on a silver platter. What’s in this for me?”

“Well, I didn’t drag you here for your winning personality. You want me to believe you’re not a threat? Start talking.”

Diana let out a frustrated sigh, her mind wandering back to the tube she had received.

“Fine. What do you wanna know?”

Five leaned in just slightly.

“How did you get here?” Diana held his stare, then leaned back slowly on her stool, arms crossing.

“My contract ended. So, I took my sisters and we left.”

“You’re lying.” Five quickly bit back.

“I answered your question, so don’t accuse me of lying.” Diana huffed, clenching her fingers into a fist.

Their tension was interrupted by Agnes returning, setting down a mug of steaming coffee in front of Five and a plate with the man’s eclair. She left a glazed donut in front of Diana , no questions asked.

“Here you go. Anything else?”

“No. This’ll do.”

The man pulled a bill from his wallet and slid it across the counter, towards Agnes. “Here. I’ve got theirs too.”

Five blinked, caught off guard.

“...Thanks.”

The man got up to leave, and Five’s eyes landed on a patch on the man’s jacket. “Ishmael’s Towing Company.”

“You been driving around the city for long?” “Twenty years.”

Five leaned in, “Good. I need an address.” The man hesitated, studying him with mild confusion, but eventually scribbled something on a napkin and pushed it across the counter. Five folded it nearly and slipped it into his pocket.

The man left soon after, the little bell above the door jingling faintly as it swung shut.

Diana took a bite of her donut, eyeing Five.

His eyes flicked to the reflection of the door in the small service bell on the counter.

Four new figures stepped inside. They were definitely not here for donuts. Diana could see the subtle bulge at their sides where weapons hid under fabric.

“Commission agents.” Diana whispered under her breath.

Five’s lips curved in the faintest smirk.

“Took them long enough.”

The lead man didn’t waste time. He pulled a silenced rifle, barrel trained squarely at Five. Five slid off the stool slowly.

“You really think this ends well for you?”

The first shot cracked off. Five blinked and the bullet punched harmlessly into the wall. He reappeared behind the shooter, coffee mug in hand, and smashed it across the back of his head.

Five grunted as he stabbed a knife into one of the agent’s neck, blood spraying on his uniform. “Try to keep up, Dolly.”

One agent charged Diana. She pushed the barrel of his gun down, throwing it out of his hands.

Diana slowly approached him, eyes glazing over a milky white color, watching as the man fell to his knees, yelling in agony. His partner began to shakily raise his hands, gun pointing at the man breaking down. His finger trembled as it pulled the trigger back until there was a click, and the other man fell to the floor, lifeless. He then reluctantly pointed the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger once more, his dead body hitting the tile.

The neon sign buzzed overhead, its reflection bleeding into puddles of crimson scattered across the peeling floor. Diana leaned against the wall, wiping a trickle of blood away from her nose. Five stood a few feet away, eyes sweeping the parking lot like he was already a dozen moves ahead on some invisible chessboard.

“That surely wasn’t a coincidence.”

“It wasn’t. We’re tagged.”

Diana frowned, not following. 

“Tagged?” Five bent down and picked a hand held device that beeped angrily. A little red dot flashed on the screen. He traces it up and down his forearm before finally finding the spot where the beeping seemed to hit a million miles a minute.

Five walked over to the counter and grabbed the blunt butter knife as he tugged his sleeve up, exposing his forearm. Without hesitation, he roughly pressed the knife to his skin.

“What the hell are you doing?” “What I should’ve done the minute I got here.”

The knife sliced into his arm. Diana grimaced as she watched Five dig out a small metal capsule from his arm.

“Is that?-”

“A tracker. They’ve had their eyes on us from the second we landed.”

Diana rubbed her arm. She pressed a hand to her wrist instinctively, as if she could feel it lodged under skin.

“She uhm… She never told me.”

“Of course she didn’t. You think the Handler gave you anything without strings attached?”

Diana bristled, but the heat in her chest was muddied by something else. Fear, betrayal. She swallowed hard.

Five held the knife out to her. 

She hesitated to take it, but the minute she blade touched her fingers, it didn’t matter. She pressed the sharp edge against her skin.

“I better not be digging for nothing.”

She dug in. The pain was sharp, searing, but she forced herself to keep going until the tip scraped against something unnatural. She fished out the capsule, blood slicking her fingers, and she dropped it to the floor.

“Happy now?” She muttered dryly.

“Ecstatic.”

He crushed both chips under his heel. The sound of glass and circuitry crunching like breaking bones drowned out behind the buzzing of the lights.

“No more leash. Welcome to the club.”

For a moment, silence hung heavy between them. Two runaways, bleeding in the dark, both pretending it didn’t hurt like hell.

Five finally met her eyes.

“We need to head back now.”

Diana let out a bitter laugh.

“Great. Can’t wait for round two of ‘things the Handler forgot to mention.’”

Before she could say more, Five grabbed her arm, dragging her back to Reginald's pristine Rolls Royce.

“Can you stop dragging me around? I can handle myself, thanks.” Diana muttered, opening her door.

Five didn’t answer, only turning the car on and pulling it out of the Griddy’s parking lot.

⚜

The house was quiet when they returned. The air smelled faintly of rain and smoke. 

The blood on Diana’s sleeve was tacky where it clung to her skin. She smoothed her curls down with one hand.

“Um. Hello. Out having fun, I see.” 

Kyra was waiting at the base of the stairs. She straightened the second she saw them.

“You’re bleeding.”

“I know.”

Kyra caught Diana’s wrist before she could tuck it away. The cut was clean, purposeful. She didn’t fight Kyra’s grip.

Five came forward. “Alright Seer. You’re next.”

Kyra turned, still holding Diana’s wrist, brows furrowed. “The Commission’s been tracking us. That’s how they found us at the diner. Five and I cut ours out.” “And where’s the other one? Your last sister” Both anomalies shrugged.

“You don’t know?”

“Thirteen’s fine. Probably in a room somewhere in the academy.” Five shoved his hands into his pockets and stomped up the stairs, muttering under his breath. Critical thinking skills, nonexistent… poor planning, unbelievable… if he could do this himself, he would…

Diana and Kyra traded a look, rolled their eyes in unison and followed. 

⚜

The room was empty. It was dark, the bed vacant.

“You’re kidding.”

Five’s voice was teetering on the edge of Of course.

“It’s fine. We’ll just do Kyra’s tonight and get Thirteen’s out tomorrow.”

Diana half-whispered to him. 

“If we wait that long, you might be cutting the tracker out of her dead body.”

“Are you serious right now?” “No. I’m joking.” Five said flatly. “You think the Commission is going to wait that long to take any of us out? They run efficiently. They always have.”

Kyra was already halfway down the hallway during this conversation when Five realized she was walking away from them.

“Where are you going?”

“To find a knife.”

Kyra replied.

The three made their way into Reginad’s office. It was out of the way, and although Pogo and Grace had done their best to clean up the colossal amount of bloodstains covering the carpet and furniture, the room was still evidently messy, like a crime scene cleaning crew had run out of time.

Diana and Five ran the scanner they had taken from the Griddy’s up and down Kyra to find any evidence of a small chip embedded into her skin.

“Usualy, the field agents have them on the wrist, like us. For positions like you, I’m not totally sure.”

Eventually, the scanner went crazy by her neck. Kyra reached back and felt a very small but noticeable bump, right where it met the base of her skull. Eerie and elusive if you weren’t actively trying to search for it.

“Found it.”

Five spun the knife, the hilt facing away from him, and held it out to Diana. Waiting.

“Well?” He shook the knife at her expectantly.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I can cut that thing out of my sister.”

“Oh, for god’s sake.”

Without hesitation, he secured Kyra’s neck and cut into not the spot where the tracker was embedded.

Diana smacked him on the shoulder. Five’s expression was completely barren of remorse. Except for a little smirk.

“I missed.”

“Do you actually have a problem?”

Five shrugged.

“Oh my god,” Diana huffed, exasperated. “Give me the fucking knife, before you kill her, too.”

Diana set the knife to the side and grabbed a handful of paper towels to wipe away the small line of blood starting to spill out of Kyra’s neck.

With more precision, Diana drew a larger cut with the blade, big enough for someone to reach in with their fingers.

“Are your hands clean?”

“Uhm… no.”

Diana dug her fingers around as blood continued to wash her neck red, the pain stopping her from biting back.

And then Diana pulled out a small, cylindrical chip. Blinking and angry, like it wanted to make itself at home again in her skin.

She handed it to Kyra, and Kyra pinched it between her fingers and crushed it beneath her foot.

Diana smiled as she handed the bloody knife back to Five. 

Kyra wrapped her hand around the blade of the knife, making sure the hilt was still secure in Five’s hold.

The blade turned bright hot, and Five immediately let go of the handle with a high-pitched shriek.

Diana chuckled, mumbling ‘loser…’ under her breath.

The steel of the knife melted away, spilling over Kyra’s fingers as she pressed harder, the entire object having lost its shape and singing with smoke illuminating the room.

This was accompanied by quite the glare pointed at Five.

Kyra dropped the deconstructed knife and it clattered onto the desk, coldened and hardened and permanently changed.

“She’s pissed.” Five said, amused.

“Understandably,” Diana replied. “...Why did you cut her?” “To be frank, I’m not totally sure I can trust her.”

Diana bristled.

“She’s my sister.”

“And?” He headed towards the doorway.

“She worked at the Commission for a full decade, as did you. She had access to an Alexandria level library of knowledge about the time continuum that I’m sure she’s not planning on handing out. I can’t exactly trust most of my family. I suggest you watch yours.”

And with that, he left.

Diana sighed. “He hasn’t changed one bit.”

She turned, and Kyra was gone. Why was everyone leaving without telling her?

She walked down the hall and passed a room, the spray of a shower audible from behind it. 

Probably Kyra or Thirteen.

She kept walking, inspecting the rooms. Each one had their own decorations, a reflection of each siblings’ lives during the Academy.

Allison’s was her favorite. The bed was grand, the walls pink. Her dresser had a decadent flair that drew her into the living space. It was the kind of room she dreamed of living in.

⚜

After cataloging every room in the house, Diana found herself upstairs again.

As she walked down the hall, she bumped into Five, who had just been talking to Kyra.

She walked past him with a visible grimace.

Five rolled his eyes and stormed off to his ‘pressing’ business.

“Kyra?” Diana called out, just loud enough for her sister to hear.

She made it to the rooms, and only one door was closed.

Diana softly knocked on it, and Kyra answered seconds later.

“Hey,” she murmured, letting herself in.

Kyra closed the door behind her.

“Soo… how goes things?” 

Diana slumped back into a random armchair in a corner of the room. She didn’t really know what else to say.

Kyra huffed a quiet laugh. “You don’t know what to talk about, do you?”

Diana dragged her hands down her face, groaning at her own awkwardness. Kyra was her sister, for crying out loud.

“Yea… I mean, how do you have a normal conversation after you’ve been separated from your sibling for decades, only to find out you’ve been stuck in the same evil time company, escape from said evil time company, and try to live a normal life which is now being threatened by an impending apocalypse.”

“That was a mouthful…” Kyra muttered.

Diana laughed, letting her head cock lazily to the side as she watched Kyra.

“So, what are we going to do about the apocalypse?”

“I’m… not sure yet.”

“Well, we can figure it out together, right?” Diana gave Kyra a cheesy smile, but the glint in her eyes was something almost sinister.

That fucking letter oh my goddd

Another moment of silence, and there was knocking at the door again.

Kyra walked over to open the door.

Thirteen stood outside. Something about her looked different.

“Thirteen, your hair…” Diana murmured, her eyes updating Thirteen’s new look into her memory.

“It was frustrating.” Thirteen responded simply.

“I like it.” Kyra chimed in, towel hanging around her neck.

“Seeing as you two showered, I suppose I should too.”

Thirteen sat on the bed. “What happened to you, by the way? You look like a mess…” She pointed to Diana’s bloodied, wrinkled Umbrella uniform, her finger waving in a circle.

“Long story.” Kyra chuckled, using the towel around her neck to keep drying her wet hair.

“Very long story that I don’t really feel like articulating right now,” Diana muttered, rolling her eyes.

She opened the door and walked out, following the hallway down to Allison’s room to steal some clothes. It’s not like she used it anymore, anyway, right?

From Allison’s closet, Diana stole  a set of pajamas embellished with yet another Umbrella sigil from her drawers.

After successfully getting some clothes to change into, Diana walked off to the bathroom.

The bathroom quickly steamed, fogging up the glass. Diana stood under the spray until her skin flushed pink, washing the fight from Griddy’s off of her.

When she stepped out, she felt marginally more human. She figured out a way to style her curls into something presentable, and tugged on the clothes she had taken earlier. It sucked, but it was better than the tacky, bloody uniform.

Diana stared at herself in the mirror installed in the bathroom. Too young again. Fourteen in the face, forty-six in her head. It was jarring every time she looked.

For a moment, she felt she could forget about everything. About the Commission, the lab, the apocalypse. Life could feel like she’d been the child of an eccentric billionaire who was never home, leaving her and her sisters to fend for themselves in their grandiose home.

But that wasn’t real.

Diana rubbed her eyes and left the room, walking back to find Kyra and Thirteen.

They were on the bed already, seemingly enthralled in a conversation.

“What are you guys up to?”

“Girl talk.” Thirteen smiled, sitting up.

Kyra followed, only sitting up on her elbows to see Diana.

Diana approached the bed, making a swatting motion at Kyra to shift more to the right so there could be space for her sister to sleep in.

She slipped under the sheets, and the three slowly laid back in unison. Their heads were resting on pillows, they were under clean blankets.

Was this a dream?

“This doesn’t feel real.” Kyra spoke. Diana and Thirteen both turned to look at her. “I’ve been thinking about this moment for years. I’ve dreamed about it - not one of my visions, but an actual dream. Now it’s here… I’m not sure it’s real.”

“It’s real,” Thirteen said, trying to reassure her.

“I know it's real,” Kyra replied. “I wouldn’t dream of Diana wearing that tacky vintage uniform.”

Diana scoffed, crossing her arms. ”Tacky? At least I don’t dress like a hippie who has a job interview at Khol’s.”

“I’m not surprised you know what Khol’s is.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The two locked into a staring contest of sorts before eventually breaking out into laughter. 

“More than that, we…” Kyra motioned between herself and Thirteen,”...are grown adults. But the oldest sister is physically fourteen and mentally forty-six.”

“Tell me about it…” Diana grumbled, crossing her arms. “And also, I am forty-six. This body does not make me any different.”

Kyra snorted, turning over to face her sisters. “I missed you,” She said quietly. “Both of you.”

“I will admit, I missed your morning philosophical talks.” Diana said, brushing a few loose curls behind her ear.

“Did you really?” Kyra asked, raising a skeptical brow.

“No. I prefer my brain unscrambled in the mornings.”

Thirteen rolled her eyes. She seemed a little more tired than her sisters.

She pulled the blanket up to her chin, sighing softly.

“I think Thirteen’s got the right idea.” Kyra spoke up. “After breaking her out of the Commission and jumping through time, I am exhausted.”

“You’re telling me,” Diana muttered. “I am so not used to being my fourteen year old self again. 

She also pulled the sheets up to cover herself.

“It’s nice to be with you two again,” Kyra admitted. “I just…”

“What is it?” Thirteen asked.

“I really… really wish it could stay like this.”

Diana flipped onto her stomach, resting her cheek on the backs of her hands. “Way to ruin the moment, sis.”

Thirteen pulled the blanket closer to herself. 

“It was always like this in my cage. Back at the Commission, they liked to keep it cold.”

Kyra’s eyes flitted over to her. “Yeah?”

Diana let out a strangled laugh, closing her eyes.

“She’s asking you to turn the heat on, you dweeb.”

“Oh. Right, yea. Sorry.” Kyra quickly brought her hands up and began rubbing them together. Her skin lit up like embers in a fireplace, causing Diana to let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Do you really need to do all those theatrics and rub your hands like a devious little fly?” She asked, sitting up and giving Kyra a deadpanned look.

Thirteen sat up and shoved Diana back down. “Shut up and enjoy the heat. You’re going to get this taken away from us.”

“Me? I’m just saying little miss smoke breather over here doesn’t need to do her whole little magic hands bit to generate some freaking body heat.”

Thirteen grabbed the pillow she had been laying on and lunged at Diana with it, shoving her down onto the bed.

“Get off!” Diana exclaimed, voice muffled from under the pillow. She quickly grabbed her arms and pulled her off.

Considering it was a twenty-something year old who had been kept stagnant in a cage for years versus a fourteen year old assassin who had been trained for decades, the scales weren’t exactly even.

Diana began taking control of their little battle.

Unfortunately, Kyra wanted to keep the peace and pulled them apart. “If you two want a personal space heater, then I don’t want anymore fighting.” She said, tearing Thirteen off of Diana.

Thirteen grumbled and reluctantly let go of the pillow, moving to burrow herself in Kyra’s warm arms. 

Diana huffed quietly and moved closer.

“What do we do now?” Thirteen asked Kyra.

Kyra stared up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes, and draped her arms behind her sisters. “Sleep. We’ve got a lot of shit to do tomorrow.”

“Like what?” Diana asked.

Kyra mumbled something that sounded like “tomorrow.” Thirteen didn’t bother to decipher as she drifted off to sleep. She let out a quiet yawn, relaxing into the bed.

“Missed you guys…” Thirteen whispered as she closed her eyes.

COMMISSION FILES 

The Revenant 

UPDATED 

PRISONER NAME:

 Refers to themself as subject 13, no other given name. Files recovered from the original timeline also give no name. To retain secrecy, the subject will be referred to in files as ‘THE REVENANT.’ 

STATUS: 

Kept in the lowest level of the holding cells. Refuses to work for the commission, but we will change that in time. 

UPDATED: 

The Revenant has been moved away from most electronics and can be found in the cells below the broiler room. Approach with caution, the subject is docile but can become aggressive very fast. 

BEHAIVORAL NOTES: 

The Revenant is unnervingly silent, as if conditioned to be so. However when presented with the opportunity to join the Commission, The Revenant reacted violently. The person who interviewed her had their pen inserted into their throat. Afterwards she became docile and we were able to chain her. In light of the violence she is capable of, we will need to ensure complete obedience when she finally comes to work for us. 

ABILITIES: 

After further interviews, we determined that The Revenant possesses a regeneration ability, one that goes far beyond just healing any sort of injury. This could make her into a great agent for us. The subject has reported that this ability seems to get faster with each injury. This will be taken into account during training. 

UPDATED: 

The Revenant recently revealed an ability consisting of electricity, or perhaps lightning. They kept this ability hidden from us. From what we could see during the incident, the Revenant has been moderately trained with this ability. 

GUARDS NOTES: 

Prisoner is to be chained at all times and dept in a dark cell. There is a shock collar that can be used to keep her in line should she become too aggressive or defiant. 

WEAKNESSES: 

The Revenant is very reactive to the shock collar. However, too much use of the shock and she will become very aggressive. Keep the shocking to a minimum. 

As for the regeneration, there seems to be no limit for what it can heal. We suspect that this ability might not just be classified as a healing capability, but something more.  

HANDLER ASSESSMENT:

The assimilation of Thirteen into the Commission will have to wait. With the discovery of her two siblings, we’ve decided that she is better use to us as leverage. Our agent Dolly, or as ‘The Revenant’ knows her, number 8, is loyal. The same goes for our Seer, Kyra. However we are unsure of how strong their loyalty is to us, and if it will waver in the face of Thirteen. For now, we’re keeping them apart with the promise of reuniting them. 

FINAL ASSESSMENT UPDATED: 

PHENOTYPIC NOTES

– HAIR: Brown, wavy. Roughly waist length.

– EYES: Brown. When using lightning abilities, the eyes turn bright silver. 

– ADDITIONAL NOTES: 

Subject 13’s nerves will light up when using electric abilities. Skin has a slightly indigo hue/

ABILITIES: 

 ELECTRICITY/LIGHTNING: 

Subject 13 demonstrates the ability to manipulate electricity. Subject 13 can cause objects to malfunction and perhaps even explode with more training. As training has gone on, Subject 13 has become more and more reactive on certain days. After much debate, ‘Mother’has discovered that each of Subject 13’s outbursts have coincided with storms. When put to the test, Subject 13’s eyes as well as their veins began to glow, their skin holding a tint of blue. Further testing is required. 

REGENERATION:

Subject 13 has highly advanced healing abilities. This was discovered when a duel between another subject became fatal. Just as I was harvesting Subject 13’s organs, they returned to life. Subject 13 seems to have developed some kind of resistance towards death. If properly trained, this healing ability can be redirected outwards and become a valuable ability if used towards keeping the others alive when finally released into the field. 

OBSERVED WEAKNESSES: 

ELECTRICITY/LIGHTNING: 

Subject 13 reacts as though severely electrocuted. Side effects include headache, tremors, muscle fatigue, deliriousness, shortness of breath, numbness in arms and tissue death in arms as those are used as the outlets for the electricity. Powers must be released every few days or else the subject will become unstable and randomly spark with electricity. The limit appears to be three days, as the subject nearly caused an outage in the lab when kept alone in their quarters.

REGENERATION: 

Subject 13 becomes very drained and disoriented after use. If used too much, subject 13 is prone to passing out and falling into a comatose-like state. Side effects include headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, confusion, spacing out, loss of consciousness, possible coma. 

BEHAIVORAL NOTES: 

Subject 13 was defiant at first, seemingly spurred on by their predecessor who was also very defiant. However with the death of Subject 10, the previously mentioned sibling, Subject 13 has become docile and withdrawn. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES: 

Subject 13 is being trained as a medic for the elite task force. Subject 13’s healing abilities are being tested more and more often in order to try and force Subject 13’s ability to evolve just as Subject 12’s ability has begun to evolve. Perhaps this can be forced with the ability of Subject 8. 

CONCLUSION: 

[AUDIO PLAYER WHIRRS TO LIFE]

[LOUD BEEP]

[CLICK]

[AGENT CORONADO BEGINS]: “Happy Birthday, Thirteen.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “What…?”

[AGENT CORONADO]: “It’s been five years since you’ve joined us. I thought we should celebrate.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Five years? I was told I’d only been here a year.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Time works differently in the commission. While you’ve been with us for only one year, you’ve technically been gone from your timeline for five. Time is fickle and I’d rather not spend your birthday giving you a lecture.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Birthday.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Do you know what that is?” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Yes.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “You don’t seem too pleased for me to call it that.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “I don’t mind.”

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I felt that birthday was a little happier sounding than anniversary, wouldn’t you agree?” 

[THIRTEEN]: “They’re both the same to me.” 

[AGENT CORONADO SLIDES A PLATE WITH A SLICE OF CAKE AND A NUMBER FIVE CANDLE ACROSS THE TABLE TOWARDS THIRTEEN] 

[THIRTEEN]: “Fire.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “A candle. I thought you might like to blow it out and make a wish.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “I wouldn’t know what to wish for.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Well, I have a wish.” 

[SHUFFLING]

[STATIC]

[AGENT CORONADO SETS DOWN AN AGENT APPLICATION] 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I’d like for you to consider formally applying to be an agent. All these training sessions have been forced upon you, and I’d like it if you considered choosing to work for the commission instead. Now, I’ve already written a letter of recommendation for you, so you don’t have to worry about getting accepted.” 

[STATIC]

[TAPE SKIPS]

[TRANSCRIBER NOTE: THE AUDIO FROM HERE ON OUT BECOMES VERY GRAINY. SOME TRANSCRIPTIONS MAY NOT BE ALL CORRECT] 

[THIRTEEN]: “You want me to work for you?” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “If you’d like I can arrange that you work under me, but technically all agents are overseen by The Handler.” 

[THIRTEEN SAYS SOMETHING BUT THE AUDIO IS GLITCHY]

[AGENT CORONADO]: Yes, ha. The ‘hat lady.’ She’s actually quite lovely once you get to know her.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “I’m sure she is.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “With your skillset, I think you’ll be best put to use as a field agent. Wouldn’t you like that?” 

[AGENT CORONADO CONTINUES]: “You’d be able to fix anomalies that could threaten timelines. Maybe you could even help find lost people like you. Help them find a home here, or maybe elsewhere.” 

[THIRTEEN IS SILENT]

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I think you’d like that. I’ve noticed that you have a very caring heart. In each of our training exercises you often opt to save people. Even if you get points deducted.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “It’s good to help people.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Do you pride yourself on being a good person?” 

[CRACKLING]

[THIRTEEN]: “Sir raised me to be good.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “He did a nice job from what I can tell.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “You think I’m a good person?” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I do.”

[SHUFFLING]

[AGENT CORONADO PLACES A HAND ON THIRTEEN’S SHACKLED HAND] 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “And I think you’ll be a good addition to the commission.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Don’t do that.” 

[AUDIO STARTS TO GLITCH] 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Thirteen? Thir–” 

[AUDIO DISTORTS AND CUTS TO THE SOUND OF ELECTRICITY CRACKLING] 

[AUDIO RECORDER IS FRIED]

[CAMERA FOOTAGE FROM HALLWAY AND GUARDS REPORT THAT THERE WAS AN EXTREME AMOUNT OF ELECTRICITY IN THE ROOM CAUSING A TEMPORARY BLACK OUT IN THE COMMISSION BUILDING.]

[AGENT CORONADO’S BODY WAS FOUND SEVERLY BURNED]

[THIRTEEN WAS FOUND UNCONSCIOUS WITH BOTH ARMS ENTIRELY GANGEROUS] 

[AUDIO PLAYER WHIRRS TO LIFE]

[A SHARP TONE PLAYS]

[CLICK]

[AGENT CORONADO BEGINS]: “Good afternoon, 13.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Good afternoon.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I understand that you’ve come very far in your training and are soon scheduled to begin training with the other trainees. Are you excited?” 

[THIRTEEN IS SILENT] 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Let’s review your results, shall we?” 

[AGENT CORONADO FLIPS OPEN A FILE] 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “You were given a basic physical exam to see your improvement from the first physical we gave you. You seem to have made a lot of progress, but you still display tendencies that suggest previous rigorous training. Were these habits learned back in your timeline?” 

[SILENCE]

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I understand that you don’t like talking about your past life, but you do have to give me an answer, 13. Even after a year The Handler will not hesitate to send you back to the harsh sprays of the hose.”

[THIRTEEN]: “She does that anyway.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “What do you mean?” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Every night they hose me down.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I see. Well, I’ll see what I can do about them giving you something nicer. Would you prefer a warm bath?”

[THIRTEEN]: “So they can waterboard me next?” 

[AGENT CORONADO FALLS SILENT]

[THIRTEEN]: “Sorry. That was meant to be a joke.” 

[AGENT CORONADO GIVES AN AWKWARD CHUCKLE]: “Well, let’s continue this so that you can return to your room and rest up.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: "According to this, they asked you to test out your powers. You’ve demonstrated your abilities over lightning, but you haven’t been able to make improvements with those abilities even after all this time. Why is that?” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Electricity doesn’t like to be controlled.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Have you always experienced difficulty with this power?” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Yes.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I can’t imagine that Reginald was very happy with that.” 

[CRACKLING]

[AGENT CORONADO]: “...I’ll move on. So according to this, your inability to control the electricity ended up causing an explosion, and you were caught in the crossfire. Is this correct?” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Yes.” 

[AGENT CORONADO FLIPS OPEN TO A NEW PAGE]

[AGENT CORONADO]: “You were burned on your left side, and your left arm had severe nerve damage and turned… black? Is that normal?”

[THIRTEEN]: “Electrocution leads to necrosis.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Necrosis, as in tissue death?” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Yes.” 

[AGENT CORONADO READING FROM FILE]:“ So this necrosis led to your left arm being amputated to prevent further gangrenous tissue.”

[AGENT CORONADO FACES THIRTEEN AGAIN]

[AGENT CORONADO]: “From what I can see, all the burns are gone, and you appear perfectly fine. Except for the stump of course. How long has it been?” 

[THIRTEEN]: “What time is it?” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “7:38.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Training starts at one every day. It’s been… roughly six hours and thirty eight minutes.”

[AGENT CORONADO]: “So we can round that up to about seven hours. In seven hours you’ve nearly regenerated that arm entirely. Now we’ve seen regenerations like this before, and they often leave you drained. How are you feeling?” 

[THIRTEEN]: “Rather tired.”

[AGENT CORONADO]: “You really impress me.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “...how so?” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “You can regenerate your entire arm in a little over seven hours and only feel tired. Most people when they lose an arm, they don’t exactly get it back.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “I’m not a person.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Yes, of course. You’re not most people. You’re… a special case.” 

[AUDIO GLITCHES]

[AUDIO BECOMES GARBLED FROM HERE ON OUT]

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Sorry, I don't mean to embarrass you.”

[THIRTEEN]: “I’m not embarrassed.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “In any case let’s finish this. My final objective is to check whether or not you will be able to participate in training tomorrow. If you feel you cannot, you will be given another days rest in your room.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “I will be ready for training tomorrow.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I’m afraid that with your arm missing, you won’t be able to participate to your full potential.”

[THIRTEEN]: “I’m not missing an arm.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Excuse me?” 

[THIRTEEN LIFTS THEIR ARM ONTO THE TABLE] 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Oh my god. How- did you just…?”

[SILENCE]

[AGENT CORONADO]: “You didn’t have that a few minutes ago.” 

[THIRTEEN]: “But I have it now. I can return to training tomorrow.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Alright, I’ll clear you for training tomorrow.” 

[PEN SCRATCHING ON PAPER]

[SHUFFLING]

[CHAINS CLINK]

[CLICK]

[RECORDING ENDS]

------------------------------

[POST INTERVIEW TAPE #00357]

[AUDIO PLAYER WHIRRS TO LIFE]

[CLICK]

[AGENT LINKIN BEGINS]: “So for the record, she came in with that stump?” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Yes, that is correct.”

[AGENT LINKIN]: “And when you brought up her having to miss a day of training, she just… suddenly had her arm back?” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Somehow in the time between when she first walked in and when the interview ended she managed to regenerate the entire arm.”

[AGENT LINKIN]: “This is a good development.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Her healing abilities are getting better.” 

[AGENT LINKIN]: “No, not that. She seems desperate to stay out of that cell. If we can show her the tastes of freedom she’ll get as a field agent, offer her a place to live rather than just a place to keep her, we have a better chance of earning her loyalty rather than just having another agent to keep in line.”

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Even then, what keeps her coming back? There’s no one, and nothing for her to return to other than whatever hotel room we put up for her.” 

[AGENT LINKIN]: “Mm… how close are you two?” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “You’re not implying using me to get to her, are you?” 

[AGENT LINKIN]: “She talks to you about her past more than she does anyone else. Even if it’s just a simple yes or no, or a passing mention, it’s still more than anything I’ve gotten.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “So you want her to grow an attachment to me, that way we have someone for her to come back to. Someone she can’t leave behind after she’s lost everyone else.” 

[AGENT LINKIN]: “Honestly The Handler would be a better fit. You’ve seen how she has Agent Dolly wrapped around her finger. Two assassin children under her belt. What trouble is a third?”

[AGENT CORONADO]: “There are two very big reasons as to why that wouldn’t work.” 

[AGENT LINKIN]: “And those are?” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “Reason one, Agent Dolly is Number Eight of timeline 44C25D. Which makes her Thirteen’s sister. Having them both together might cause problems, especially when Agent Dolly starts asking the harder questions like why they were kept apart, and where Thirteen has been.” 

[AGENT LINKIN]: “And your second reason?”

[AGENT CORONADO]: “If she hasn’t made it obvious, Thirteen is far too suspicious of The Handler to let her work her magic. Unless there was a way to make her forget everything that happened down here, there’s no chance of The Handler getting her hands on Thirteen.” 

[AGENT LINKIN]: “You think so highly of her. Are you attached already?” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “No.” 

[AGENT LINKIN]: “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you hesitate. For the record I’m going to write that you believe she’s unnerving and you’ve been getting stressed out, and I will take over tomorrow’s interview, giving you some much needed rest from this.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “I don’t think that’s a good idea. She already doesn’t like you after your first interview there.” 

[AGENT LINNKIN]: “It’s been almost a year since then. I can handle it.” 

[AGENT CORONADO]: “...Well, I suppose you’re right anyways. Maybe I’ve been on this too long. Keep me updated, okay?”