Strong Language
A taxi winds its way down a series of twisting gravel roads. Dense forest on all sides. A young woman sits in the back of the taxi, gazing out the window, her mind a million miles away.
The taxi deposits the passenger outside the mansion. She watches as it pulls away. Feeling very small. Very alone.
Vanya walked over to the grand hall.
Once upon a time this was a magical place, a wonderland of cutting-edge technology and strange archeological artifacts gathered from around the globe. But Hargreeves spent the last decade of his life alone, and the once-great manor has fallen into disrepair. Nowhere is this more evident than the automatons that Hargreeves created, robotic creations imbued with some small degree of intelligence. Now these malfunctioning robots litter the manor, broken and crippled things. Vanya enters the lobby, as she looks around the hall, a broken automaton comes limping toward her, an ancient teddy bear, its face sloughing off, arms extended for a hug.
'MY PURPOSE IS LOVE!' Vanya kicks the bear over, stepping past. The bear's legs continue to scissor mindlessly. 'WHHHHHhhhhyyyyy..'.
"Would ya look at that."
Vanya turns to find Allison standing in the doorway. "Everyone was like taking bets on whether you'd show."
"Did you win? " Vanya asked.
Allison gives a small, rueful shrug. Nope. Then she steps forward to embrace her sister. It's an awkward moment since neither of them quite ready to make physical contact.
"Are we supposed to...how's this go?"
"I have no idea."
Allison gives Vanya a quick, obligatory hug. Then she reconsiders, pulls Vanya in closer. Vanya closes her eyes, rests her chin on Allison's shoulder. God, she needed this. "I'm glad you're here."
"Least someone is."
They break apart to reveal Diego, glaring at Vanya. Unlike the others, Diego is wearing his usual attire: a Kevlarreinforced black bodysuit, complete with domino mask.
"Eat shit, Diego."
"You're seriously gonna defend her? After what she did?"
"You're seriously gonna do this today? At Dad's funeral?"
"Dad knew what she was." He turns away in disgust as Vanya stares after him, dismayed.
☂☂☂
Hargreeves' bedroom, chilly and austere. Luther runs his hand along a faint indentation left in the mattress. The spot where his father slept for the last 30 years. Luther's body is hidden beneath a massive overcoat that does little to disguise his monstrous, unnatural proportions. Luther moves to the window, examines the locking mechanism. Behind him, Diego saunters into the room.
"If you're looking for the will, you're wasting your time."
Luther glares at his brother. No love lost between these two. "Diego."
"But you're not looking for the will, are you? Mmm. You're looking for something else." He gets closer, touching Luther's overcoat. "Nice monkey suit, by the way." Luther irritably slaps his hand away. Diego flops down into Hargreeves' favorite armchair, one leg thrown over the side.
"What do you want?"
"To save you some time." Diego hands Luther a crumpled medical report.
"What is this?" "Dad's autopsy report."
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Rain Institute
FanfictionReginald Hargreeves collected 7 children out of 43. What happened to the rest? Rebecca Kinsella collected 7 children as well. Read this fanfiction as The Umbrella Academy goes against someone their own size. The academy clashes with the institute an...
