To When We Were Young (Umbrella Academy Diego Hargreeves)

Years Ago

17 Years Ago...

The familiar voice of the man from the record player filled their ears as they ran down the stairs to eat Mom's food. There, Mom stood, holding a bell and smiling to them genuinely. Cassie and her siblings went to sit at their respective seats, her in between Luther and Diego. Before they were able to sit, they waited for their father to sit down first. 

Their meal was full of silverware clanging against each other and looks being exchanged from one sibling to another. To her left, Luther kept giving Allison looks while to her right, Diego was carving into his chair with a knife he had kept. Cassie giggled when she saw he was trying to carve her name. If only they were able to talk, she would be scolding him for damaging their furniture but at the same time, giggling at him. Instead, she turned her focus to her front, where she saw Klaus secretly rolling some drugs and looked at Ben, expecting him to stop him. But he looked at her with a defeated expression, as if to say, 'I've tried already'.

Suddenly, a knife was slammed into the table, causing everyone to look at the culprit.

Five.

"Number Five?" Their father asked with a warning tone.

"I have a question," Five forced through his gritted teeth. Never in her life has Cassie seen V so angry.

"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules." Reginald said while cutting his food. "No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson." 

Cassie leaned over to give V a look saying, 'Knock it off!'. But he shrugged her off, clenching his jaw. A tug on her sleeve made her turn away from her brother and Diego shook his head, not wanting her to be involved.

But Five pushed his plate forwards. "I want to time travel," he said as if he was a spoiled brat that didn't get what he wanted.

"No."

"But I'm ready. I've been practicing my spatial jumps, just like you said." He disappeared from his seat, only to reappear to Reginald's side. "See?"

Cassie sighed, not hungry anymore. She looked into Five's mind, expecting to find out why he was doing this. But it was blocked.

"A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn." Cassie poked into his mind and saw the little thing he allowed her to see. His little spiel was to confuse Five and make sure he doesn't understand to prove his point.

"I don't get it," Five fell for the trap.

"Hence the reason you're not ready." He said before taking a bite of his food. 

"But I'm not afraid," the boy said.

"Fear isn't the issue. The effects it might have on your body, even your mind, are far too unpredictable. Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore." Their father threw down his silverware, startling everyone else at the table, including Mom.

Cassie and Vanya shared a look and both of the girls turned to give Five a look, knowing what he was going to do and hoping he wouldn't.

But he did.

Five ran out of the door, not listening to his father's calls behind him. Cassie blindly stood up and ran after him, foolishly thinking she would catch up to him. But all she saw were the bustling people of New York, no sign of her brother.