8 ○ Umbrella Academy

Empath

I repressed a flinch when the pins came crashing down, Diego's hand tightening around mine in consolation. My mind kept replaying the house falling around Mom, the pain that shook his voice, I took a deep breath and leaned into him, the two of us as silent as the rest of our siblings. That is, until Luther disturbed it. "Look, I hate to be the one to say this, but everyone needs to prepare, especially Ada."

"For what?" Diego growled, tightening his hold protectively on my hand.

"To do whatever it takes to stop Vanya." I didn't get the chance to spit something off before Allison smacked Luther's chest with her notepad. Dad may have taken me out of the field when we were younger, but I'd proven myself more than capable this past week. "We may not have a choice, Allison."

"Bullshit, there's always options," I defended, my knuckles white around Diego's hand.

"Yeah, like what?" Five countered. My eyes narrowed and I tapped my temple, my breathing a little uneven for words. I couldn't stand listening to them treat Vanya like some criminal. No matter what she'd done, she's our sister, we need to stand by her.

"Look, whatever we decide, we need to find Vanya and fast, okay? She could be anywhere," Luther rushed out, clearly not accustomed to all this negative criticism.

"Or...here?" Klaus offered, shaking the newspaper he'd been flipping through. "Look at this." Everyone moved forward but me, I recognized even a glimpse of the advertisement, I just hadn't realized Vanya's concert was tonight. From where he was leaned forward, Diego straightened his posture at a new voice, dropping my hand and turning to the woman speaking to our little group.

"I hate to intrude but my manager says if you're not gunna bowl, you gotta leave." I looked past her to the disgruntled man at the counter, feeling his irritance add to my own. I turned around with enough time to watch Luther chuck a bowling ball over his shoulder, not even glancing in that direction and hitting a strike several lanes down.

Ada. My gaze snapped to Allison, instantly switching into mental translator. "She's our sister," I spoke, my eyes locked on Allison as everyone turned to me. I nodded to Allison and they seemed to understand, though I couldn't guarantee it since my eyes never left her head.

"We're the only ones capable of stopping this. We have a responsibility to Dad--"

"To Dad?" Diego spun around incredulously. "No, I've heard enough about--"

"He sacrificed everything to bring us back together," Luther challenged, the argument breaking my focus on Allison's mind.

"I'm with Luther on this one," Five agreed. "We can't give her a chance to fight back." I could feel the warmth draining from my body. Maybe I had been gone from this family too long... "There are billions of lives at stake," he reasoned. "We're past trying to save just one."

"Hey, you know, guys, uh," Klaus butted in, "maybe I can help."

"Now is not the time," Luther quickly shot down.

"Let him finish," I defended, directing all the anger I currently harbored into a glare aimed at Luther. "He has as much say as the rest of us."

"Today...Ben punched me in the face." I took a slow breath, trying to focus on his mind but too much was eating at my own to filter through and determine what was his, Diego's, and mine. "And earlier at the house, I played around with this stuff some more and we touched hands."

"You are unbelievable, Klaus," Luther sighed.

"You want proof, is that it?" he asked, eyes darting around all of us. I help up my hands in surrender; I, for one, believed him. "Alright, I-I'll give you proof." He picked up a bowling ball and rolled it between his hands. "Alright, it's showtime, baby," he breathed, tossing the ball into the air with, "Catch!"