THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

Man on the Moon

By the time the sun had risen, Jen was startled awake by the closet door being shoved open. She hadn't even remembered falling asleep, but she felt more exhausted now than she did before. Her eyes were still droopy, and now her neck was aching along with her cheek and arm due to the awkward position she'd been in all night.

"Get up," Cha-Cha demanded, not giving the girl a chance to move on her own before she'd yanked her up and thrown her out of the closet. Jen stumbled, catching herself on the bed with a squeak. "Oh, woah, woah, hey... c'mon now, there's no need for that...-" Klaus' exhausted sounding voice came after a second. When Jen looked over at him, she winced. Partly because her cheek and arm were aching- and partly because he looked awful.

There was blood on his chest, his face was clearly red, a little bruised and a little bloody. His hair was messy and he even looked exhausted. "Shut up." Cha-Cha scoffed, smacking him before she walked off behind him with a huff. She sat down on the bed, and Jen noticed both she and Hazel looked almost as exhausted.

Clearly their torturing wasn't going too well for them. Cha-Cha groaned a little before she picked up a cable and stood up to stand behind Klaus. She wrapped the cord around the mans neck and Jen winced as she pulled it tight. Klaus coughed a bit, attempting to gasp for air but was clearly unable to. After a few seconds, Cha-Cha spoke. "Number Five- where is he?" She demanded, planting her feet to wrap the cord tighter around her victims throat.

Jen grimaced and looked away. She heard Klaus gasping something out, but she couldn't hear what exactly he'd said. "Is that a...?" Cha-Cha suddenly spoke, disgust seeping into her voice. Hazel stood and stepped over, peering over the other mans shoulder. "Yep."

Suddenly Klaus started to cough and gasp again, clearly able to breathe once again. Jen frowned a little and glanced up just as Hazel and Cha-Cha both sat beck down, looking defeated. Klaus groaned a little from in front of them. "Nothin' like a little... stranglin' to get the blood flowin', am I right?" He shuddered- probably from the lack of oxygen before he started to giggle.

"What is so funny, asshole?" Hazel stood, moving over and a sharp slap sounded in the room as his hand connected with Klaus' face. The latter yelped before speaking shakily. "Well, for one... you spent the last ten hours... beating me senseless, and... you've learned... absolutely nothing!" Jen glanced up from the floor as Hazel collapsed back onto the bed. "I mean, nobody tells me shit. The truth is, I'm the one person in that house nobody will even notice is gone. You assholes kidnapped the wrong guy!" Klaus suddenly erupted into laughter which just made Hazel shoot up and hit him again.

"Please make him stop talking." He grumbled and moved over to the nightstand to stuff a cookie in his mouth. Cha-Cha stood, grabbing a slightly bloodied rag. "Let's waterboard him." She offered. As Hazel once again moved over to the two, Jen could hear the water pouring and Klaus' gargling. Then slurping. "Ah! Oh, I needed that. I was..." Hazel threw the cookie off the side. "Oh, come on!"

"...so parched." Klaus tilted his head back a bit. "Thank you. Thank you." He was laughing again, and after a second Hazel and Cha-Cha had walked off to the bathroom, leaving just Klaus and Jen. It was quiet between the two for a minute before Klaus lolled his head to the side to peer at her. "Hey..." He drawled, drawing the little girls attention. She lifted her head, peering at him from under a curtain of dark hair. "Hey- hi..." He gave her a weak smile. "You alright there?"

The question made her pause. No one ever really asked her that. Not even Dot, though maybe that was because she knew Jen was far from okay. It was unfamiliar, and she didn't know how to respond to it. He didn't push for an answer, though he kept looking at her- and after a second she slowly nodded. "Your cheek's looking a little, ah... bruised there, little one." He said slowly. Her eyes shifted over to him again, and her hand instinctively went to what he was speaking of. She swallowed thickly. "...yeah." Was all she gave in response.