8 ○ Umbrella Academy

Day Out

"Like I said to your son earlier," the doctor explained as I leaned back in my chair, eying the man carefully, "any information about the prosthetics we build is strictly confidential. Without the client's consent, I simply can't help you."

You can't do that impressionist thing, Ada? Klaus whined loudly in my head.

Does it look like this man's sleeping to you? I countered. Even if I messed with his mind, I'd need to touch his head in order to get him to do what we want. In a glass-walled office where this man was already distrusting of Five, it wouldn't be easy to grab his noggin and start shaking things about inside. As Klaus sat beside me, Five paced in front of us, his tension growing.

"Well, we can't get consent if you don't give us a name," Five pointed out, his patience wearing thin.

"Well, that's not my problem, sorry," the doctor shrugged, holding his hands in front of his chest. "Now, there's really nothing more I can do, so--"

"And what about my consent?" Klaus challenged. I snapped my eyes to him in confusion.

"Excuse me?" the doctor asked, also taken aback.

"Who gave you permission," he softly sniffled, "to lay your hands...on our son?" Oh, lord, I sighed, catching Five's confused expression.

"What?" the doctor deflated.

"You heard me," Klaus insisted.

"I didn't touch your son," he tried, meeting my eyes. I knew it was true, though, this wouldn't be the first time I lied for Klaus; but, it would be the first time that it wasn't guaranteed through the knowledge of my telepathy.

"Oh really? Well, how did he get that swollen lip, then?" Klaus challenged, sitting up straighter.

"He doesn't have a--" I leaned back as Klaus pushed his chair back, resting a hand on Five's shoulder as the other quickly retracted to slap the poor boy. Man. Man-child-thing.

Klaus took a sharp breath, Five met my eyes in disbelief, and I could only give a one shoulder shrug. If they were going to drag me around for their own goals, I'd play devil's advocate. "I want it. Name, please, now," Klaus softly requested, leaning forward against the man's desk.

"Y-You're crazy," he shakily breathed. Understatement of the year.

"You got no idea," Klaus chuckled, looking directly down and grabbing a snow globe of the desk. "'Peace on Earth,'" he read off, holding it up for my view. "That's so sweet." I jumped when he smashed the glass against his forehead, shaking as he yelled and resisted clutching his skull. "God, that hurt!" he groaned, slowly standing and turning a bit towards me.

"Do not," I warned in a hard tone, Klaus then turning back to the doctor as he picked up the phone.

"I'm calling secur--" He couldn't even get the rest of the warning out as Klaus reached over the desk and snatched the phone away from him. "What are you doing?!"

"There's been an assault," he breathed unsteadily into the receiver, "in Mr. Big's office, and we need security, now. Shnell!" Klaus dropped the phone haphazardly onto the dock, all of our eyes cautiously falling to him as he shook off some off some of the pain. "Now, here's what's gunna happen, Grant," he slowly started.

"It's...Lance," the doctor hesitantly informed.

"In about sixty seconds," Klaus continued, ignoring the correction, "two security guards are gunna burst through that door and they're gunna see a whole lot of blood, and they're gunna wonder, 'What the hell happened?' And we're gunna tell them that you..." he paused to speak around a sob, "beat the shit out of us." He sobbed dramatically so I leaned forward and ran a hand over his back, shaking my head at the smugness that oozed off of Five.