#kyra12

Working as the prophetic consultant for the timeline meant a lot of visions and a lot of paperwork. Kyra was mostly isolated in her work, save for her meetings with AJ and the few times she interacted with other employees in the main building's cafeteria. 

She was unaware of how meticulous the process was to keep her away from running into a certain Agent Dolly on those occasions. 

In through the door walked AJ.

“Good afternoon, Kyra.”

“Hello.”

She had been waiting for him already, leaned back in her chair and held some paperwork loosely in her right hand. She let them slip from her grasp and fall onto the desk.

AJ invited himself to come and stand by her desk. He did not sit down, remaining on his high ground. 

“So… any chance of storms for today?”

“I’m not a weatherman.”

“You know what I mean.”

Kyra inhaled, letting the air circulate through her brain. 

“Last night, I… I saw something strange.”

“Go on.”

“Another field job being altered. Involving two agents.”

Kyra didn’t know if it was safe to press with AJ. What would he tell her without becoming suspicious? Without knowing what she was thinking?

How long did he think it would take before I found out?

“Alright. Make sure the paperwork gets completed by the deadline. We’re pushing some of those back to comply with the Kennedy facilitation.”

That’s it?

“Did you need me for something else?” Kyra asked, perturbed. 

AJ fiddled around in his tank. 

“You’ve been a long time employee, Seer. I only came in because… it’s come to my attention that you have an opportunity for an upreach. More power.”

“I thought I was just a cog in the machine. Equal to everyone else.”

“Well, some cogs are more equal than others.”

Silence.

“Look, you’re smart. I’m sure you can figure out what I mean. You’re up for a promotion.”

Kyra tapped her fingers on her desk.

“What kind of promotion?”

She was looking down. At the things covering her desk. The new belongings she had acquired during her time at her job.

“For a position much like the Handler’s.”

Kyra stopped cold at her desk. “I’m up for the Handler’s job?”

AJ clacked his fish like teeth together. “Not precisely. It would be very personalized to your skills, of course. However, the Handler has become much more focused on an agent of hers that she’s in charge of. And I feel that… she’s letting personal emotions become mixed with business.” He gestured with his hands, interlacing his fingers together.

Kyra hummed. “...So what does that mean?”

I’m not taking that job. In fact, I don’t want anything more to do with this place anymore.

AJ took a few steps backward. “It means that you sleep on it. If I were you, though, I’d take advantage of your time and power here. Why not step up on the ladder?”

Kyra suddenly perked up. “Would that mean that I wouldn't be holed up here anymore? I’d be moved to a new location? The main building?”

AJ scratched the back of his head. “I’m… afraid not. Your attention and use to the Commission is much more effective when you’re isolated. Agents need not see you.”

Of course. 

That was all the reassurance Kyra needed. She wasn’t going to be brought into the light, not ever. And it was clear AJ had planned to keep up this game indefinitely, just to squeeze everything they needed from her out. The promotion was only an illusion of change. Keeping her on the teat. 

“Right. Well… I guess I’ll think about it.”

AJ headed toward the door, tipping his finger toward her like he was satisfied. “That’s what I thought. Good on you.”

“Just close the door on your way out.”

Kyra groaned, taking care to sit upright slowly and brush her hair out of her face. She stretched her back as she felt the humps for her wings ache, sore and bruised from the impact against the furniture. Her lungs needing air, she took in deep breaths, letting out a few coughs that came out as puffs of black smoke. She looked around to check for her sisters in the room. 

“Holy shit.” 

Kyra said, unabashed, as Diana caught her reflection in a glass cabinet a few feet away.

Her sister blinked, unable to speak further as she stared at Diana. 

A fourteen-year-old girl in the body of NUMBER 8 was now sitting upright, clutching her face in complete shock.

“No. No, no NO-”

Something had gone wrong in the time jump, clearly. Thirteen and Kyra had kept their ages, but Diana’s body had… changed, to say the least.

What the hell happened?

It made Kyra think it was a miracle nothing like that had happened to their bodies the first time they had jumped, when they did it without the proper technology.

In other news, the room that surrounded them was a grandeur display. Spacious and carved, the house had an aged look that was accompanied with its formality and decor. 

A chandelier hung in the center of the ceiling, emphasizing the grand bookcases and sheer volume of literature that belonged in it, along with displays of paintings and statues lining the walls. 

Kyra rubbed the back of her neck.

That’s one hell of a chair. 

“Are we... in a house?” Thirteen asked, her voice quiet.

“A museum, maybe." Diana responded.

Kyra watched her shrink closer into her jacket.

“This is bad. This is really bad.”

Kyra felt her back twitch as her wings ached to stretch out. She turned her head to the sound of voices, most of which sounded upset. There was a bit of shuffling around going on outside. 

Is that where that’s from? What I just saw?

“Let’s go.” Came out of Kyra’s mouth. The voice did not feel like her own.

 She rose to her feet, her movements vague, like she was being pulled in a direction that was commanding her to follow.

She heard Diana mutter, “Unbelievable…”

Kyra ignored her as she gently pushed open a back door that was ajar, peeking out to see…

“That’s how much he couldn’t stand the sight of you!”

What the hell?

A very sad and dingy funeral service was currently taking place in the courtyard. At the moment, two men in the group were fighting with each other.

Then the chimpanzee dressed in a suit spoke up to say-

Wait what?

 “Boys, stop this at once!”

It apparently did not matter. The fight escalated, and the rest of the group had opposing opinions about the scene. There were some stop it’s thrown around, of course, but one very strange man who was wearing a fur coat paired with a skirt (and not much of anything else) was excitedly egging them on. 

Also, a young boy. Dressed in a school uniform. Looking thrice as uninterested as someone could be during a fight scene, if that’s possible.

Kyra recognized them all, of course. 

Some family gathering.  

 “Hit him! Hit him!”

A knife was pulled out. Someone sucked in a breath as blood was drawn from the taller, sort of apeish man.  

Too much. And then it happened.

Statue head. Old and partially covered with moss. A young boy. It will hit the ground, breaking at the neck on impact. Courtyard. Dust. Leaves scattered on the ground.

That’s our cue.

The door creaked as Kyra stepped outside. Discovered, the entire family turned to face the band of experiments. 

There was silence. And then, Mr. Pink Umbrella chimed in.

“You guys see them too, right?”

“Who the hell are you?”

Was ‘the boy’s’ response to- I think that’s Klaus-  his brother and his welcoming statement to the strangers.

Okay. Hello… Number Five? Wow, he looks freaky. Why is he prepubescent?

Kyra squinted her eyes at him as she recognized him, missing Diana pointedly looking very much away.

“Yeah, that’s a good question. Who are you and why are you in our house?”

That’s Allison. It must be.

She had her arms crossed, also looking crossed, wanting a good answer.

How the fuck am I supposed to do this?

Kyra held out her hands.

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

Thirteen chimed in, her voice a touch quieter. 

“We’re just... lost.”

Diana let out a dry laugh. “That’s one way to put it.”

She had stepped closer now.

Diego spoke up, a butterfly knife still clutched in his hand.

“Then maybe you should get unlost. This isn’t a bed and breakfast.”

“You got lost inside our house and ended up out here? That’s a little strange.” Klaus brought his cigarette to his lips. He looked like the only family member who was, in any semblance, enjoying the conversation.

“That’s not the only strange thing about them.” Five said flatly, giving Kyra a once over as her wings sat dormant on her back.

“Are they… one of us?” 

Kyra heard Luther ask with hesitance, also noticing the strange manner of the three sisters before them. They definitely did look like freaks, Kyra’s power the most overt.

Something like that.

Viktor was the one who stepped forward, holding out a hand. 

“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 perked up at that.

More numbers?

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

“You can let go now, Thirteen.” 

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

“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 get to meet some of you guys.” 

Luther was almost excited, but suspicion was still thick in the air. 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. As if on cue, all seven of them seemed to unconsciously step closer together, loosely getting into a movie poster formation. 

“We’re the Umbrella Academy.” 

Kyra pointed at 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. She eyed Viktor indiscriminately.

‘STATUS: Specialized prophetic consultant for field agents and higher ups who work on the Infinite Switchboard. Oversees apocalypse-related events in particular.’

“...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 tall, 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 them dryly.

“About your father- and our creator.” Kyra responded.

꩜꩜꩜

Someone, probably Pogo, had suggested that the whole Brady Bunch head inside to talk about what exactly was going on. 

Kyra walked among the rest of the academy members as she overheard Thirteen and Klaus beginning to mingle. After Thirteen almost hacked up her (harvested) lung from trying a cigarette for the first time, she decided to step in.

“Why don’t you give it to me?”

She turned around to face the pair, holding out her hand. 

Thirteen placed the cigarette in Kyra’s palms and she lifted it to her lips, taking a long drag. Pulling back, she breathed out much more smoke than any normal human would be able to do, the gray ash mingling with a thicker smoke, black in color as she gently breathed fire from her mouth. Instead of taking another hit, Kyra took in another breath of air and let out a cloud of smoke in the shape of a spiral. It lingered above the three of them, with a bit of mystery and flair. 

Thirteen let out a cough and waved it away.

“Show off.” She said quietly before heading into the house.

As she left them, Klaus turned to Kyra, dumbfounded and bowed to her with his hands together in prayer position.

“I have been outclassed.”

Kyra chuckled as Klaus held out a hand for her to shake, which she returned with a firm grip. 

“Kyra. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Klaus.”

Kyra noticed the tattoos on his hands, the ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ and brightened, exposing her wrists to show the small spiral shapes she had tattooed on her own body.

“Hey look, we’re matching.”

Klaus let the handshake linger for too long, giving her a crooked smile with a gleam in his eyes that might’ve been influenced by the blunt he was holding in his other hand.

“Must be fate.”

Kyra smirked back, and the pair started to head inside. “Must be.”

The house was tense inside. Everyone had found a seat or a place to stand in the sitting room, and the Academy was carrying impatient and wary expressions on their faces.

Kyra spoke up first. She rubbed her temples, nostrils stinging and head still pounding from the time travel. This was not the time to falter. “Okay, so, 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 had little to no reaction with his arms crossed. He was the most intimidating, even with his pipspeak stature.

“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? What does Ben 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, you all, a… a failure. So, in our timeline, he didn't adopt any children, the lot of you that were born on the same day. He decided to make new children instead.”

“Ben, that’s rude.” Klaus whispered roughly under his breath. No one paid attention to him. He 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. 

Man, this family loved to interrupt. It was a blessing in disguise, though. Kyra rarely liked to discuss the psychological torment of what being “technically” human being does to your personal identity.

“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 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’s how you ended up here?” Diego continued.

Diana and Kyra shared a look. 

The Commission. Years and years of it.

“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 house telling us they-” 

“Creature.”

Diego blink, stopping in 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 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. 

There was a beat of silence. Save for Five’s short huff of amusement.

“Alright, just so that we’re all on the same page.” Five said, words stinging as if Kyra’s words 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?”

“Yes.” Kyra nodded. 

“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. Maybe truthful, 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 continued. “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. 

Viktor let out an exhausted sigh and sunk back into his seat on the couch. Diego turned to face his. 

“What? Disappointed that he didn’t actually leave so you could have more material for your next book?” 

Yikes.

Viktor threw Diego a glare. 

“Can you go five minutes without being 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.”

Viktor abruptly stood up, leaving the room almost as fast as Five had in search of coffee. Kyra took in a breath, wanting to explain more before- 

Luther stepped over and shoved Diego, pushing him a few steps back. “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? Funny 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!” 

This seemed to throw all of Luther's reasoning out the window, and he shoved Diego once more. 

Shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

They knocked over a couple of vases and objects on the coffee table before Diego nicked Luther with his knife.

Already, the ripple effects are starting. 

Kyra made eye contact with Five, who was just leaning against a pillar and watching. He raised his eyebrows at her.

Not your place. 

Kyra nodded as Luther left the room, ashamed and covering the spot on his jacket where the knife had slashed.

Allison flipped Diego off before hurrying after Luther. 

So they’re pretty close, I guess.

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

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

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

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

Klaus shrugged. “Then you’re lucky.” 

Kyra scoffed, going to sit down beside Klaus where Allison had left.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t say that.”

꩜꩜꩜

Viktor had called them into the kitchen. The men of the family seemed to be calmer now, and Diego even stood up, approaching Kyra with an outstretched hand.

“I’m Diego.” 

Kyra took his hand and gave him a firm handshake. 

“Kyra. I know who you are.”

“Oh, yeah? 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. Real nice.

Kyra whistled lowly. “You could say that.” She responded evenly. 

For the most part, she knew a great deal about the Hargreeves siblings throughout her job at the Commission.. 

“And not just that.” 

Five suddenly spoke from his place leaning against the edge of the table, with squinted eyes and a coffee 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.

“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.

How do I stop the apocalypse?

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

“How much do you know?” 

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

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? How do you know these people?”

Five ignored Luther.

“You’re right, 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 of you, actually.” 

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

Thirteen gave Kyra a quizzical look.

The four of them headed upstairs, 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.

 Kyra was drinking it all in. 

Imagine growing up here. Well furnished, paintings, house plants, wainscotting, rooms with space and softer beds and personality.

It smells like life.

But maybe at the end of the day, Reginald was all the same. 

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 door shut with a nice CLICK, and they had all shuffled into the office:

BLINK.

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

It had only taken a second. He was behind Thirteen, who was down on her knees with a knife 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.

Kill all 3 and eliminate any threat.

And he waited until we were out of sight from the rest of his siblings. Probably wise, considering he most likely wants to talk freely about the Commission and avoid any questions or attempts at stopping him from murdering three people in the kitchen for seemingly no reason. 

“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 into Thirteen’s neck. Crimson began to sneak out from the blade on her skin.  

 “I’m going to 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 continued. 

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

“Okay, okay. Just… don’t hurt her.” 

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. 

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

Kyra held up her hand, 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 still.

Kyra took a breath.

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

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

Of course the Seer would know about…

“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?”

Awkward.

“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.

“They kept us all apart for about a decade.”

A pause.

“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?”

“Yep.” Kyra responded dryly.

Five looked behind her for a moment, seemingly at nobody, before shrugging.

“Well, I’m sorry. That’s terrible.”

Giving his sympathy while acknowledging that we really don’t have the time to go over it more.

Kyra could also see that he was wondering how in the hell the trio hadn’t managed to find each other sooner. 

“And it does sound like them.” He finished.

“They’re going to come after you, you know. They don’t like their property, be it employee or prisoner, 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 human history.”

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. “And you know they don’t like to let people go.”  

“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?” 

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 felt her face burning, 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. The air was burning around her body, wavering as her fire power began to activate in frustration. 

“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, Number Five. Diana and I have worked at the commission for 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 that 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 on her skin, as if cooling off.

“And as for 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. And then…

“I don’t need your help.”

Kyra threw her hands up in frustration. 

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, dead.

꩜ ꩜ ꩜

Kyra and Diana had lost their voices. How did it all happen so fast?

No longer than two minutes had passed, not enough to let grief claw itself into the bodies of the two sisters. 

Five had a bloody nose from Diana, who had lunged as soon as Kyra had pressed her fingers to Thirteen’s neck, feeling the lack of pulse. 

Gone.

Kyra’s face was in her hands. She was sitting now, on an armchair beside Reginald’s desk. Diana was still looking at Number Five, how could you’s riddling her eyes with every second that passed.

And then…

Something moved in the corner. 

The body was standing, pushing itself out of the nightmarish pool of blood that surrounded it, staining the carpet and furniture. 

Number Thirteen twitched, alive.

She took a while to get to her feet, slipping in the dangerous amounts of blood that was spreading throughout 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.

Kyra and Diana looked at one another. 

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

Kyra’s eyes widened. Thirteen ripped out the knife from her neck, wet with blood, 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. 

 “Okay, Five. You might not want our help, but you will certainly need it. With every vision I’ve gotten, it shows my family working with yours.” She said, firmer and 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 turned, staring at the recovering Thirteen. He turned to look at his own wound. Kyra felt her shoulders still rigid with tension. 

Everything from here on out depends on his reply. 

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 later. But for now…” His head turned to Diana. 

“Come with me.”

Diana walked with him, brow furrowed.

“Where are we going?”

“Coffee.”

꩜ ꩜ ꩜

After the others had left, Kyra had planned to rifle through Reginald’s belongings to see if she could trigger any kind of vision that might aid in the great apocalypse prevention. Unfortunately, her hands and forearms were very much still stained red, and someone was about to interrupt. 

“Do you do those on purpose?”

Kyra turned around to face… Klaus, who was standing in the doorway that currently was bearing most of his weight. It looked like an attempted sexy lean that had turned into a pure lean of support in his half drunk stupor. He had a cigarette in hand, and was motioning to the top she had on.

“I mean your shirt. Do you rip those holes in them on purpose, or are they for your…” He flapped his wrists up and down, motioning like a bird.

“You mean these?”

Kyra unleashed her wings and let them fully extend to the corners in the room. A bit of a haphazardous choice, as at least one vase and several books were knocked over in the process. 

“Holy shit.”

Kyra let a smile spill out of her.

There were footsteps a little ways off. Another brother was coming up the stairs.

Diego, panting, slid into the spot in the doorway next to Klaus. It was apparent he had come with a question in mind, but was immediately thrown off by…

“What the fuck?”

Kyra suddenly became self aware that she looked probably insane. 

“You are covered in blood.”

Diego stepped in closer to the room, darting his head around like it was now a crime scene. It was, but the body was up and walking again.

“What happened in here? Five’s gone.”

Kyra carefully let her wings fold inward and morph back into her body, placing her hands on her hips. Diego was taking a closer look at the pool of blood on the carpet, which earned a side eye to Klaus.

“I heard talk of coffee.”

꩜ ꩜ ꩜

It was late at night when Five and Diana blinked back in through the front door.

They were a little ruffled, and both had blood making the sleeve of their uniform shirts stick to the skin. Kyra had cleaned up by then and was sitting on the grand staircase a little ways away from the entrance, waiting for them. 

“Um. Hello. Out having fun, I see.”

Five rolled his eyes, making his way toward the stairs to move right past her.

Diana smoothed down her hair and walked toward Kyra, with a limp that was trying to remain hidden.

“You’re bleeding.” Kyra remarked.

“I know.” 

Kyra took her hand, observing the cut down her wrist. It was clean, and purposefully done.

“Okay Seer, you’re next.”

Five blinked behind Kyra.

Kyra turned calmly to face him, still gently holding Diana’s hand.

Did he think he could jumpscare me or something? Did he forget I was psychic?

“What?” She asked.

“The Commission has been keeping tabs on us. Our location. Five and I had to cut trackers out of our skin.” Diana replied.

Five’s eyes narrowed.

“Where’s the other one? Your last sister.”

Both anomalies shrugged. 

“You don’t know?”

“Thirteen’s fine. She’s probably up in a room somewhere.” Kyra said.

Best for me to take her tracker out myself and not this strange old man whose already killed her once today.

Five shoved his hands into his pockets and stomped up the staircase, muttering about critical thinking skills and poor planning and if he was able to do this by himself, he would…

Diana and Kyra gave each other a collective eye roll before following him.

No one was inside Thirteen’s room. It was dark, and the bed was 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 only 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 hall 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 Reginald’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 cleanup crew had run out of time. 

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

“Usually, 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.

Diana looked squeamish, uncomfortable in her uniform. 

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

“Oh for God’s sake.”

Without hesitance, 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.” 

What the fuck?

“Do you actually have a problem?” Kyra said.

Five shrugged.

The most feared assassin in the entire time continuum, and he misses. What an asshole.

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

With more thought this time, Five drew a larger cut with the blade, enough for someone to reach in with their fingers. 

“Are your hands clean?” Kyra asked.

“Shut up.”

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

Ow ow ow

ow

ow

ow

ow

And then Five pulled out…

A small, cylindrical chip. Blinking and angry, like it wanted to make itself at home again in her skin.

Kyra pinched it between her fingers, away from Five’s grasp, and crushed it beneath her foot.

Then, she fully wrapped her hand around the blade of the knife, making sure the hilt was still secure in Five’s hold. The blade turned bright and hot, and Five immediately let go of the handle.

The steel 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 knife and it clattered onto the desk, coldened and hard 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 toward 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 just planning on handing out. I can’t exactly trust most of my family. I suggest you watch yours.”

And with that, he left.

꩜ ꩜ ꩜

The steam clouded around Kyra’s back in the tub, the first time she had a proper shower in a long time. She took a moment to savor the sound of the water being the only thing filling the room, needing the solace.

Turning off the faucet, she extended her tail to reach past the curtain and grab a towel.

There was a knock at the door.

Kyra hesitated. She wrapped the towel around herself and cracked the door open a bit.

“Hi, Five.”

Number Five stood in her doorway. “Kyra.”

“...Did you need something?”

“I was going to ask to come in, but I can wait until you’re decent.”

Kyra chuckled. She kept having to remind herself he was an unsocialized 58 year old and not a pre teen boy. 

“Sure. Give me a sec.”

꩜꩜꩜

He had refused to sit, and instead leaned against the small desk right by the bed.

“So.” He started. Kyra eyed him as she dried her hair.

“I need to know what you know. You have the key, I know it. You could save us days.”

“I’m sure you're familiar with Chaos Theory.” She replied.

“Don’t patronize me.” He replied, mind you in his children’s academy uniform and five foot stature.

“I wasn’t.”

I was, a little bit.

He paused. 

“I know you can’t tell me everything. But if you’re keeping something from me, something crucial, especially if it has anything to do with my family…”

His eyes were sharp now.

“I will find out. And I’ll kill you for it.”

Kyra's mind raced with images of Viktor.

That's unfortunate.

She set the towel down and approached her next words carefully.

“Truth be told, there’s not much I know for now. If there’s anything I can tell you, it’s in spite of the Commission, not because of them. Don’t forget that they wanted me in the dark, too.”

She crossed the room, brushing past him to adjust the bedsheets. 

“But I understand.”

Five stiffened for a moment. 

“The better visions of mine come in dreams,” She continued. “I’ll let you know what I see first thing in the morning.”

He stood up, tilting his head for a moment in thought. 

“Fine. If I’m out of the house, just… take the car or something and come find me. Diana will probably know where I am.”

“If you want me to be faster…” Kyra smiled. “I have another way to get there.” She pointed to her back.

“Right. Well, if you’re planning on flying in the city, try not to draw too much attention.”

“I’ll try my best.”

Five just walked away and out the door, effectively ending the conversation.

Unsocialized old man.

Kyra closed the door and turned to face her crumpled up, dirty, and ripped clothes laid on the desk in a pile. She placed her hands on her hips. 

Guess it’s not much worse than the getup I had in the lab. Although, that was a long time ago. 

Kyra put back on her clothes that looked like they had been in their own fight.

“Kyra?” A voice called softly outside the door, just loud enough for her to hear.

She answered seconds later.

“Hey.” Diana responded in the doorway, 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.

“Yeah… 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."

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, I’m kind of sure. Most of it involves Vanya.

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

Another moment of silence, and there was knocking at the door again. Thirteen stood outside. Something about her looked different.

“Thirteen, your hair…” Diana murmured.

“It was frustrating.” Thirteen responded simply.

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

To cool down.

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

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 stood from her chair and left the room without another word.

“Guess we should give her a chance to clean up in peace.” Kyra said to fill the silence.

Thirteen sauntered over to the bed, flopping down on it like a sponge. "This was the longest day I've had since... well, I guess I can't quite remember."

Kyra nodded and joined her on the bed. "I think we all lived enough lifetimes today. So..." She layed on her back and peered at Thirteen from an upside-down view.

"How goes it?"

"Seriously? That's what you have to ask me?"

"Can't think of much else. Other than... how was the jump for you?"

Thirteen closed her eyes and placed her fingers to her temples.

"Uh, it feels like I've been given a reverse lobotomy. My head hurts. And my stomach has been upside down for the better part of today. I think if I sneeze, I'll keel over and die."

"Well, at least we'd get you back soon."

A few moments later, Diana returned to the room. “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?

By now, the headache had faded slightly, intuition was at a dull roar. Kyra had picked up some pain killers from Grace when her sisters were out, and it had brought her an ounce of peace.

“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.” She said. “I wouldn’t dream of Diana wearing that tacky vintage uniform.”

“Tacky?” Diana scoffed. “At least I don’t dress like a hippie who has a job interview at Kohl’s.” 

“I’m not surprised you know what Kohl’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 wish it could stay like this.”

Kyra said wistfully, almost like she knew it wouldn’t. Like she knew it didn’t do any good to harbor wishful thinking, no matter how badly you wanted something.

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. Sorry.” Kyra quickly brought her hands up and began rubbing them together. Warmth spread across the bed. The heat coming from Kyra’s body came off subtly, not too hot as to produce smoke or sizzling. Just warm enough for comfort. Her skin lit up like embers in a fireplace, causing Diana to let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Do you really need to do all that and rub your hands together 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.

Kyra pulled them apart to keep the peace. “If you guys want a personal space heater, then stop 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.

“Yeah, yeah. Missed you too.” Diana murmured, curling in toward the bed on her side so that she was sleeping facing Thirteen. 

Kyra squeezed her eyes tighter. She had done this many times before, but having a premonition during waking hours still created this pit in her stomach as she dug around her intuition, stretching out her mind looking for something, anything. 

It confused her. 

How am I supposed to predict anything with nothing to go off of? 

It was like shoving someone into a car, taking away their map, and telling them to bring back something beautiful from anywhere in the world. And Kyra always had to bring back something beautiful. 

It’ll come soon.

Then, it filtered through. Smells came first.

Gasoline. A stale garage. 

Sounds were next. The sharp hiss of tires. 

An auto repair shop, maybe?

Bingo. 

“See anything yet?”

The Handler’s voice sounded foggy and far away, losing its sharpness as Kyra began to delve deeper and deeper into the vision’s world. 

The Handler and AJ were perched in Kyra’s office, leaning against her desk with their arms crossed, watching her closely but without much patience. Kyra was sitting on the carpet, legs crossed, looking somewhat like a Buddha figure as she spoke. 

“Almost.”

Crank. Screwdriver. Oil covered rags. Oil. Oil covered rags. 

Kyra furrowed her eyebrows.

That means nothing. 

She sighed and rubbed her temples, leaning forward as her elbows rested on her knees. 

“Come on, Seer.” The Handler continued. 

“I’m going.” Kyra responded, more firm. 

Black shirt. Worn red sneakers. Seventeen years old. His father owns the shop. He will leave the place to pick up some batteries for his son.

Then, she noticed. The mistake. The anomaly in the timeline, as if it was underlined in a bright red marker. 

That’s the wrong light. He shouldn’t turn there. The store is in the other direction. Now he will have to turn around and take an extra 7 minutes on his way to the store. 

Kyra’s eyes blinked open slowly, her ears ringing from the sudden impact.

“Well?”

She swallowed thickly. “George Werner, forty-two, in Birmingham, Alabama, will take a wrong left turn this morning rather than a right, creating 7 extra minutes where he’s on the road rather than at the store purchasing a pack of batteries.”

AJ nodded, satisfied, and pulled a thick manilla folder away from his body. It landed on Kyra’s desk with a solid thud. 

“Here’s your paperwork. It should be fairly simple to follow. I imagine you’re perceptive enough. When you’re finished, sign your name, secure the stack together, and slip it into the mail slot. Someone will be ready for you on the floor below to relay the information for agents.”

Kyra blinked.

All that paperwork for one vision?

Just a father who was briefly absentminded when going throughout his day and now it requires this whole process. And death, I assume. 

“So…” She started carefully. “This whole process doesn’t require me to leave this room at all?”

The Handler smiled, already halfway out the door as AJ followed her.

“No. In fact, we’d prefer you didn’t.”