∽☂ ∽

"𝐈 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐈'𝐌 𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐎 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 , 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊?"

∽☂ ∽

"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆?" Allison was the first to break the awkward silence by asking when the seven kids walked down the park, getting weird stares from others and looking out of place.

Five looked at her, trying to think of a good answer that wouldn't sound dumb. "Ruminating."

"Why is everyone staring at us?" Klaus pointed out the obvious when a family of three stopped in their tracks and followed them with their eyes.

"I don't know." Y/n sarcastically answered him. "Maybe because we're all bloody and look like a bunch of freaks?" She turned around and began walking backward, giving Klaus a mocking smile, which made Five furrow his eyebrows in suspicion.

"Plus, we look like the damn Village people lost a fight." Diego added in and took Klaus's hat off his head.

The two began fighting with each other, Klaus trying to get his hat back to himself from Diego's clutch, as Y/n rolled her eyes and turned around, continuing to walk beside Five. She put her hands together, but Five could obviously see that she was acting uneasy.

"You know what?" Allison finally lost her patience when Klaus bumped into her. "I need to go find Claire. I will catch up with you guys later." She began walking away from them but was stopped by Vanya.

"Hey, Allison, no." She caught up with her while the others waited a couple of feet further away. "First, let's get somewhere safe, clean up those cuts, and then we'll go find her."

"No offense, Allison," Y/n took a couple of steps forward. "But I'm going to have to agree with Vanya on this one. Finding Claire is the last of things on our priority list."

"Maybe on yours." Allison cut her off almost instantly Y/n mentioned her daughter. "To me, it's the only thing that matters now." Y/n nodded her head at that and looked away, not having enough determination to talk this through till the end.

"But what are we doing, really?" Allison asked the others. "Because we can't stand here bleeding out in this park."

It seemed as if Diego was waiting for that question to be brought up when he answered her almost immediately. "I don't know, but we better gear up fast before they come for round two."

"What makes you think they'll come after us?" Vanya curiously questioned him.

"Because I would."

That was a valid point. That's why it made them go quiet for a moment. They just had their first fight with the Sparrows and the result could not be more obvious. Not to mention, the Hargreeves really wreaked havoc on their home from their perspective.

"Yeah, we did break into their house..."

"Our house." Y/n quickly corrected Klaus.

"...bust up all their nice antiques and shit." He fiddled with his hands in the air, earning an eye roll from Allison.

"Yeah. I don't think the crime-fighting...super nerds are gonna let that go." Luther pointed at a Sparrow poster hung up on one of the buildings in front of them.

If you thought The Umbrella Academy liked advertising and was plastered on every corner of the city, then you haven't seen what the Sparrows do. They were taking this very seriously and wanted that praise more than anything.

Every magazine, every poster on the buildings and walls were showing the Sparrows, proudly posing themselves. The Umbrellas never did that.

Five thought to himself and walked over closer to Y/n and others. "Let's just think of some place off the radar where we can lie low and not draw attention."

"Oh, yeah," Y/n chuckled at that and crossed her arms on her chest. "Super, great. Just at what kind of weird place we're not going to draw attention? Every place we go to we turn into a freak show."

Now that was the real question. That's why the six of them slowly turned their heads at Klaus, who was dancing around like a little child, and waited for an answer from him. Luckily, he didn't disappoint them entirely this time.

∽☂ ∽

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐋 𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 wasn't the place they imagined they were going to go to. Its light jazz music playing in the hotel lobby, the snobby people on every corner, giving them stares, and the modern hotel design really gave it an appealing and expensive look. Why did Klaus know about this place? It definitely wasn't in his budget.

"Oh, Hotel Obsidian." Klaus laughed to himself after the siblings barely managed to get through the spinning doors without crushing each other. "I missed you, you slutty old dame. Absorb her. Absorb her into your bosom." He ordered everyone, waving around his hands in the air.

Each sibling was looking in different ways to see around the hotel as Klaus continued his speech. "You know, 'cause back in her heyday, she played host to world leaders. Roosevelt, Gandhi, Stalin, Gorbachev, Castro, King Olaf of Norway, one of the Kim Jongs, Tito, Dalai Lama, Elvis, and not one, but two Kardashians, allegedly."

Despite the constant looks they were getting, just by standing at the entrance, the Hargreeves didn't seem to give a damn about it. They were all dressed in black and didn't hide the fact that they just had two fights in a few hours, that's what attracted them. Klaus was in his moment, giving his long-awaited speech, right before Allison rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Wouldn't that - Where you going?" Klaus asked her when he followed her steps with his look.

"I gotta make a call."

Everyone watched Allison walk away just as Y/n sighed to herself and stepped foot from her spot as well. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Five was the one this time who asked where one of the Hargreeves women was going. He kept his hands in his pockets and tilted his head, having some suspicions about her already.

Y/n stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him. "To the bathroom."

After giving him one last fake smile, the girl did the same as Allison and walked away from her siblings to find the restroom, not knowing that Five held those worries inside him. She made it inside, luckily there was no one there, and walked over to the sink.

Taking a moment to breathe, she could feel her head pounding as hard as ever, her legs about to give up on her, and her stomach not being able to function properly. Thinking that this was because she fell down from the second floor or the terrible stress her body couldn't take anymore, she only splashed some water on her face.

She always felt terrible. Never having a fully functioning and healthy body for as long as she could remember, her feeling awful didn't make her draw her attention to it. 

Slowly and hesitantly, she raised her head from the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. Her nose was bleeding down to her mouth, leaving a blood trace, her left cheek was badly bruised and a brain concussion was guaranteed for sure.

But not wanting to stare at herself any longer, she scurried out of the bathroom and to the others who were standing at the reception. They looked like they just wanted to get a room and sit down, not horse around with the worker.

"We need some rooms, please." Vanya kindly asked the receptionist.

"Super. And how will we be paying today?"

Yeah, the part they completely forgot about.

"Ah."

"Oh."

The receptionist kept looking back and forth between them, feeling the skepticism rise, especially when Luther told everyone to empty their pockets. That definitely gave the wrong kind of look. The siblings all started to dig in through their clothes only to find everything but money.

Some condoms, knives, candy, hairnets, and hair clips - nothing that could make the cut.

"Oh." Luther hesitantly took off his watch and showed it to the worker. "What does this get us?"

The receptionist took a magnifying glass and inspected the watch in his hands. Upon closer look, it seemed to be worth something, because he returned with not one, but two room keys in his hands. "Two rooms. Mazel tov." He put those two keys on the counter for the siblings to take it. 

Walking through the grand hallway of the hotel made everyone turn heads at them once again. Not only did they stand out with clothing, but they also were obviously not from around. It was obvious and more than visible.

In the middle of the day, the guests saw seven lunatics walk as if they had just been in a war, looking disheveled and barely conscious, walking down the hallway. Surely, that was a sign you couldn't miss.

"Uh, meet back in the bar in two hours so we can make a plan." Five instructed everyone when his eyes landed on the dozens of vodka, wine, and champagne bottles lined up together.

Of course, Five would notice that. Who else?

Y/n stopped in her steps and sighed. "Maybe we don't?" She rhetorically asked, making Five turn around and look at her. "How about you just let us get a moment to breathe and sit down before you make us think of plans for shit we already have no motivation to work with?"

As if Y/n's strange behavior hadn't lured him enough before, this was the last straw for him. "All right. What's the matter with you?" He asked her, walking over to the girl and putting his hands in his pockets.

"Nothing."

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sober? Clean?"

"Yes, I'm not Klaus, you moron."

"Then what is it?"

"What is?"

"I have a plan." Diego's voice caught everyone's attention when he ran up the stairs and turned around. "We attack the Sparrows, and we take back our house, and then we punch Dad a bit," He began talking louder when everyone walked past him, not paying a single drop of attention. "Until he admits that we're better and he loves us more. Boom! Done! We're wasting time!"

"Relax." Klaus came over to him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't sweat it, man. Those shit birds are staying put for a while. I bet they're as wiped as we are."

"Really?" Diego waited for all of them to walk inside the elevator and stand outside.

"Yeah," Klaus assured him as he walked inside with the others already waiting for him. "I mean, kicking our asses was exhausting. They're probably dead right now."

∽☂ ∽

"𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋." Vanya tried looking at this on a brighter note after they saw their room. "It's definitely ugly."

"For a hotel this old?" Y/n turned her head. "I'd say it's pretty well."

Allison went straight for her bed, finally laying down with exhaustion after what felt like an eternity of fighting. "Last night, I was sleeping in my own bed next to my amazing husband." She did a reality check as Vanya lay down on a bed next to Y/n's.

"I kissed Sissy goodbye a few hours ago. Give or take 50 years."

Then the two turned to look at Y/n, whose bed was right in the middle of them. She saw that they were waiting for her to chime in and sighed. "I found out Lila is my long-lost sister. That's a reunion."

Allison and Vanya chuckled together at that remark, making Y/n smile a bit herself but, at the same time, re-think things. "You should go home." Y/n said out of nowhere after realization struck her. "Hug your daughter."

"Why?" Allison asked with a confused expression as she sat up in her bed.

Y/n also did the same, just lowered her voice tone a bit. "Because I would if I were you."

The girl gave a soft, but small smile, making Allison shake her head and chuckle. "God, I can't handle your mood, Y/n."

Hearing that made Y/n's smile slowly vanish. As much as she didn't want to admit it, it was true. But deciding to avoid it and being scared of it, she changed the subject as fast as she could. "You should go to the airport."

"Y/n's right." Vanya agreed, sitting down on Y/n's bed next to her. "You should get back to your real life."

Appreciating her sisters' never-ending support, Allison stood up from her bed and walked over to them with open arms for a hug. "Thank you." 

But the hug was special. It felt unique. After not hugging for a while, this one felt better than all of the others. Y/n and Vanya followed Allison out of the room with their eyes until she closed the door and was out of sight.

"You feeling all right?" Vanya turned to look at the girl.

"Yes. Why?"

"No, it's just that you're..." Vanya tried to think of something. "...a huge emotional trainwreck."

"Uh..." Y/n refused to add anything to that and changed the topic to bypass it. "...I think we should go see the Sparrows."

"What? Why?"

"Because..." Y/n walked away from her, taking the room key off a table nearby. "...we need to get the briefcase. Plus, we should make some sort of peace with them, don't you think?"

∽☂ ∽

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐃𝐒 of crazy fans, circling the Sparrow Academy's home was the last thing the women expected. When they were young superhero kids, they could only dream about this kind of attention, they were never even close to the Sparrows when it came to adoration.

"Oh, wow," Y/n chuckled when she and Vanya barely managed to get through the people without being thrown to the ground. "They sure got a big following, huh?"

"Yeah, one thing they definitely don't lack is popularity." Vanya agreed with her, even though she was more interested in Marcus, who was right on the rooftop.

Y/n noticed him too and when she saw how Vanya was focused on him, she got the message loud and clear and decided to make her move. "You go and talk to him, I'll go inside."

"Wait," Vanya stopped her after she heard the last part. "You think it's safe for you to go inside there after last time? What if something goes wrong?"

"Relax, Vanya." The girl reassured her. "I just have to go inside and look for the briefcase. If I don't find it in time, I'll leave. I just need to look around the place without having to fight them off."

After giving one last smile, the two separated and went their own ways. Y/n made sure to be sneaky and quiet while making her way inside. Even though she knew every inch of this house by heart, it somehow still felt like it wasn't hers.

Yes, it was the same building. Yes, it had the same layout and design. But it wasn't the same. It was now being run by egoistic and laconic people and it was no longer deemed her home. 

First, she roamed the room, where the briefcase was last seen - the entrance room. But it wasn't either on the table, under the table, or anywhere near in sight. Her best guess was that either they took it or it was thrown somewhere during the fight and never found.

Looking around herself, her eyes landed on the entrance of the living room. The fire was softly cracking, but there was no one in sight. After looking around and making sure no one was there, she made the daring move to go. 

Looking to her left and right, the girl began rummaging through and, at this point, looking for anything. But nothing was in view. She searched on the couches, tables, bars, chairs, cabinets - everywhere.

"What are you doing?"

Y/n gasped and stood up at the sound of Ben's sudden voice. She jolted up from the ground as her eyes met his and she saw his annoyed facial expression. "I think I'm allowed to go to my home, don't you think?"

Ben began menacingly walking towards her in slow steps. "For the last time, this isn't your home. And we told you to stay out of here." He stopped walking right in front of her, standing three feet away.

Y/n held her breath, not daring to take a second to inhale, and looked deep into his eyes. Even if he changed, even if he wasn't the same Ben as before, he still felt the same to her. Ben saw that she wasn't speaking, so he took a couple of steps closer to make her talk.

"Where's the rest of your family, Y/n?" He asked, pretending to look behind her to see if there was anyone else.

"I..." The girl cleared her throat and shook her head. "...why do you care? Yours is not enough for you?"

"I don't. I was just trying to maintain small talk."

Now that took her by surprise. Ben was so close to her, that she could feel his breathing on her face. He was looking deep into her eyes as if he wanted to hypnotize her. In a certain way, it almost felt comforting. But Y/n snapped back to reality just seconds before the disaster.

She backed away from him and saw his evil smile of satisfaction. "It was lovely talking to you, Ben." Y/n sarcastically smiled at him back.

But Ben wasn't breaking the eye contact with her and it didn't seem like he wanted to. "I could say the same for myself, Y/n."

The girl rolled her eyes at that comment before walking past him and scurrying out of that house as fast as she could. Not only did she do what she was supposed to, but she also got off track so much, that there was no going back from that.

∽☂ ∽

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 was cold and the wind was warm, making it a very comforting evening on the rooftop for Fei and Ben. As they waited for Fei's ravens to come back from spying on Vanya and Marcus, Ben wanted to share his proud observations with her.

"You know that small one of the group? The girl?"

"Yeah, what about her?" Fei asked him with zero emotion.

"Well, it seems as if she might be our weakest link." Ben told her with a smile she couldn't see but easily feel. "Easily manipulated, gullible. Perfect for us."

"You think?" Fei questioned him with some suspicion. "I don't think it's time to trust them yet. We barely even know them."

"Tell that to Marcus. He's the one with them."

"So are you."

Ben rolled his eyes at that comment, knowing that she was correct after all. "I'm saying, that we can use her in our favor. It would be beneficial."

"We already planned that we'll be using the big one." She reminded him of Luther. "Why do we need two of them? It will just be more weight on our shoulders."

Ben came in closer to her and tilted his head. "Because you can never have too much of Umbrella Assholes for ourselves."

∽☂ ∽

"𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒𝐍'𝐓 supposed to be a very big problem, right?" Luther asked Five with a mouth full of noodles he just couldn't chew fast enough.

"No," Five shook his head. "There is a very slight chance that we will even see them. It's nearly impossible. So, essentially," He raised his cocktail in his hand up in the air for a toast." We're done."

Luther and Klaus looked at each other in utter disbelief, not being able to wrap their heads around the fact, that they were finally over with this. It seemed as if it would never end. Now, they didn't have a world to save.

"Congratulations to us then!" Klaus pretended to toast to them with his almost empty box of noodles.

Just as the three boys were celebrating with each other and enjoying one good meal, Y/n came back to the hotel. She noticed the three of them, sitting at the bar at one of the tables with high chairs, and was about to go and talk to them, but decided to ditch that at the last second.