𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐎𝐗𝐘𝐆𝐄𝐍 - the umbrella academy

The Swedish Job

 Zero's injuries may be healing, but her mental health and general disposition are getting worse... Prepare for an even unhappier Zee this season.

------

Zero watched interestedly as Diego's eyes fluttered open, and then grinned when he yelled out in pain.

It had been an eventful evening.

The afternoon she had spent wandering in circles and drifting through horrible dreams, and then an hour or so after sunset, there was a banging of doors and quite a lot of shouting from downstairs.

Since then, Zero had been crouched on the edge of the sofa, catlike, while Lila, whoever she was, poked at Diego's stab wound.

However, she'd been getting bored and vaguely concerned, so Zero was pleased to see her brother wake up.

Lila glared at him from where she was sat, half on his legs. "Don't move. This thing is very finicky."

"What happened?" Diego groaned.

"I saved your stupid life."

"Were you two following me?"

"Just me. Your sister was thrashing about in her sleep like a maniac and it was freaking me out, so I left."

Zero chose not to respond to that, instead wiping Diego's hair from his sweaty forehead. He closed his eyes and mumbled, "Where are my clothes?"

"Leila took them off while making a complete fuck-up out of that wound." Zero said cheerfully. The girl opposite glared. "It's Lila."

"Whatever. Same thing."

"They really aren't."

"I do not care."

"Hey!" Diego snapped his fingers in Zero's direction, "What have I said about attitude?"

Zero shrugged. She knew perfectly well what Lila's name was, and she knew perfectly well that she was being irritating, but she wasn't really in a people-pleasing mood. Silently, she leant back into the sofa as Diego tried to sit up, and Lila, who was getting sick off all the moving, pressed the hot poker against his stomach.

He howled. Zero cackled.

Slowly, Diego's eyes rolled back into his head, lids falling shut, and when Zero turned her attention away from him, she was just in time to hear the woosh of energy coming from the other room.

Five.

Immediately she perked up, his voice ringing through the quiet.

"Ah. None of you are dead then."

"Disappointed?" Lila asked.

"Oh, to see you? Always."

He stepped forward to examine Zero's stitched lip and leg, then her wrist. Lila watched them carefully.

"So much hostility in such tiny packages."

Five said nothing, and as he was closer now, Zero could see a flash of red dribbling down his neck. She reached upwards, wiping it away with her hand, and then wiping her hand on Diego.

Lila grinned.

"Do you two always look like you've just fought wildcats?"

Five ignored that two. Zero stared at him. "Where'd you get that from?"

He smiled ruefully. "You'll never guess."

"Tell me."

"Pogo."

Zero's eyebrows shot up. She tugged at Five's collar to expose the wound better, grabbing and rag and warm water that had been intended for Diego and getting to work. He kept talking to her, softly, although Lila wouldn't understand without context anyway.

"He hasn't been properly developed yet; he's still nearly almost all monkey. And me and Diego, we didn't find anything proper. Chased Dad, Dad stabbed him, and I got even less." Five sighed. "Any fun here?"

"None. Elliot with the gun is still tied up."

"You didn't think to untie him?"

Zero shrugged. "I thought Linda would do it."

Lila looked up very sharply. "I literally just told you my name is Lila."

"My bad."

Zero yawned and rubbed her eyes, not keen to sleep after what her subconscious threw at her, but she seemed to be permanently tired at the moment.

Five helped her up, letting her lean on him because of her still god-awful leg, and they hobbled away to find a bed or two.

------

As always, Zero's dreams were plagued with blood and shrieks and memories she'd tried to banish, and when she woke the next morning, she found Five already up and dressed, watching her cautiously from the end of the bed. She nodded good morning at him, but his expression didn't change.

"You sleep bad or something?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You cry in your sleep, repeat my name over and over. You don't wake up. It's unsettling." He sipped his coffee calmly. Zero tugged on her dress.

"Just nightmares, you know?"

"Well, they're the reason I drink so much caffeine." Five said dryly. She nodded, wincing as she pulled strand of hair out of sticky cuts. Being it now day three, she didn't look awful, but she didn't look good either.

Taking a deep breath, she turned back around to face her brother.

"Where are we going today?"

A small smile stretched across Five's face. "To collect your favourite sibling. Vanya."