8 ○ Umbrella Academy

Big Little Sister

As it happens, Diego was serious about me going back to the Academy, so I folded my arms over my chest and refused to get out of the car. "Ada, the last time you went up against these guys, you were out for the count."

"I seem to recall you were the one pinned down by gunfire," I scoffed, looking up at the glass doors, metal framework inlaid to form two umbrellas, each of them in their respective circle, just as the tattoo on our arms. Diego took a sharp breath, held it a second, and tensely released it.

"The fighting forced you into possessing one of them," he pointed out. "Last time we fought together like that you had a pretty good handle on it, better than that, at least." I rolled my eyes, the possession was my dice roll, either it happened or it didn't, only thing I could control was a person's actions. "I don't want you getting hurt."

I scoffed and popped the door open, my fingers going slack as I tried pulling my hand from his firm grasp. You wanted me to go, didn't you? I thought with an impatient breath, one foot on the curb but most of me still in the car. Diego reluctantly released me, dark eyes boring into me as I stood. "Have fun," I tried, shutting the door and walking up the steps.

You've gotten used to having your own head. I snapped back towards the black car as Diego tore down the street, glaring into the back windshield as he disappeared around the block. I hated how right he was; with our unspoken privacy, I didn't have to worry about keeping what I didn't want public from him. And just as unspoken, I'd given him permission to occupy my mindspace.

Still glaring at the spot he'd disappeared, I found myself caught in hypocrisy, finally understanding how anyone around me felt: My thoughts were not my own, anymore. I'd sadly grown attached to the privacy, finding myself craving isolation again but, with four days left until the world supposedly ends, it was selfish and instantly crushed by my priorities. Some other time then.

With a sigh, I gave up thinking Diego might change his mind, walking up the stairs to my room slowly. By the time I'd reached the landing, I took notice of the still wet, bloody footprints tracked down the hall, following them to my closet where I'd come to a halt. It wasn't that Klaus had found my stash spot, as a fellow klepto, I was surprised he hadn't found it sooner.

It was that since I saw him yesterday - well, my yesterday - he didn't have a tattoo on his shoulder, one that was by no means fresh. Even looking past that factor, his mind had elasticized, similar to the way Five's had. As well as having the day that I had missed, there was another ten months added to it, technically making him the second oldest of all of us. "Hey, Ada, do you think expired drugs are less potent or more?" he giggled out the last word, sifting through the things I'd stashed over the years of adolescence. "Do you know how long I looked for this thing? You even helped me!"

He turned, holding up whatever trinket I'd pilfered before studying my face a minute. I dropped and knelt before him, mostly mirroring his stance as his confusion only grew, my eyes prickling with tears. "Ada, babe, you're worrying--" I wrapped my arms around him, shutting him up and dropping whatever he'd had in his hands, gingerly returning the hold.

"Telepath, remember?" I whispered, still unsure how to process the addition on his life. Sleeping for over a day didn't make me drowsy in the slightest. With the skin contact I'd gained with Klaus, I felt instantly tired, everything - even things I didn't know could - itched, a headache unlike any telepathy aftermath I'd endured felt like it was drying out my mind. "What happened?"

His tone instantly changed, everything I felt shining through his voice. "Why don't you take a look for yourself?" he suggested. I instantly pulled back, shaking my head at the distant look on his face.

"I don't want that." Taking a deep breath, I sat back on my heels, trying to enact my Klaus-capabilities. "You know, I wasn't completely isolated out in those woods."