Vanya went through the motions for the rest of the day. She was still reeling from the events that occurred in the office.
...she looked around the room and saw the chaos. ....uprooted and overturned... bookshelves knocked over... shattered... embedded in the wall.... She looked down and saw that the space around her was clear....blood on the chair father had been sitting in...
Father was encouraging her to release her powers, but she still felt like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. For father to drag her back to the room and drug her dead.
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Ben watched Vanya coast through the day, barely aware of what was going on around her. He'd tried to approach her multiple times, but every time he tried she shied away. Vanya didn't want to talk about it.
But it wasn't like they had enough time to get into it. Father packed her schedule with remedial classes and isolated study sessions. He wouldn't even know this if it wasn't for mother telling that they had some free time while Vanya caught up to them.
The others took this well. Except for Five and him. Five was filled with the same worry as him. But instead of it manifesting quietly, he was all barely controlled rage and concern. More than once, Ben caught him about to teleport.
"What are you doing Five?" Ben leaned against the doorway and watched Five falter. Five's indecision turned into clenched fists. Five quickly left the room and shoved his shoulder against Ben's. Ben watched him go.
If Ben was being honest, if he had Five's power, he'd be using it to check on Vanya. That's what he suspected Five was trying to do. Or maybe Five was just trying to get out of this house.
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Ben was able to corner Vanya right before bed that night by skipping his turn in the shower. He grimaced but promised himself he'd be the first one in tomorrow morning.
He wasted no changing before moving as quick as he could make seem casual, and knocked on Vanya's door. Diego side-eyed him but still went into the bathroom thirty minutes earlier than usual. Quietly Vanya's door opened enough for Ben to see one of her eyes, then he was yanked into the room.
Vanya shoved the door closed behind him, and locked it. Vanya fell into his arms, sobbing quietly.
"Shh, it's okay. Shh." Ben cradled her to him, stroking her hair. He lowered them to the floor, and settled Vanya in his lap. He was going to wait until she had calmed down more to ask what happened, but she surprised him.
"B-ben..." Her voice was rough from disuse, there was no mistaking it was her voice. He pulled back from her a bit still keeping his hold on her the whole time. Vanya didn't even seem to notice she had spoken, still crying into his shoulder.
"No one can hurt you while I'm here Vanya, no one." Ben glared over her shoulder. Wishing father was here so he could see this one act of defiance. Vanya's crying stuttered, and she pulled back from him. He kept his arms loosely wrapped around her back, but let her pull away.
"Not... not th-that." Vanya shook her head violently, hair whipping him in the face. He grimaced, then cleared his face after seeing her expression. His hands started rubbing circles in her back in an attempt to ease her grief.
"Then what, Vanya?" Ben carefully molded his face into sympathy, rather than the rage he was feeling. Vanya swallowed several times before she worked up the courage to speak.
"Fath-father wants... to use... my po-powers," Vanya paused and grabbed his shirt even tighter than before, "she, she, she wants... me to ki-... kill everyone..." Ben's eyes widened. She? Who did Vanya mean? Vanya hadn't been in contact with a she, except for mom, and Allison. But neither of them would use their influence or powers on Vanya. At least he didn't think. His face hardened.
"Who is 'she'?" It was a good thing Vanya hadn't looked up at all, because his face was almost as scary as the monster in his chest. She stared trembling, and continued to for the next several minutes.
"The White Violin." Vanya spoke with so much vitriol and certainty that Ben almost jerked away from her. He eyed her for any changes in her personality, or any sign that her powers had activated. Carefully he tilted her chin up, and took in her face. He sighed in relief when her eyes were their normal, ordinary brown.
"Who's the White Violin? How is she talking to you?" Ben kept his hand on her chin and adopted a relaxed posture.
"The world... ender," Vanya's eyes flashed white, but returned to their beautiful brown, "I... I think she's apart of, of me." Ben considered that. It made sense. The woman who ended the world was not the one in his lap.
The one who ended the world was so full of apathy, but Vanya was raw and wore her heart on her sleeve. He hugged her to him.
"I'm so proud of you Vanya. You have kept her under control in this highly stressful situation. Most would've lost control after realizing they were back in their highly traumatic childhood. You have faced down father, assassins, and our own siblings. But not once have you given in and let her destroy everything." Vanya started crying again.
Eventually she cried herself to sleep, and Ben maneuvered them into her bed.
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"Number seven, while you have been put back on the team, you are not combat ready. As such, you will not accompany the others on their missions until I have deemed you ready."
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A week after the day that father forced her to unleash her powers, and (officially, he didn't know she hadn't been on them for a while) took her off the dampening pills, the alarm blared.
Vanya hadn't been filled with so much anxiety since she got back and saw her violin case. But this anxiety wasn't for herself. It was for Ben, Five, and all of her siblings. She didn't remember this mission, and who knows what could change because of her or Ben.
Before he'd left, Ben hugged her. She held her middle with one arm, trying to recreate the reassuring feeling he always emanated. But it was only a cheap imitation.
Mom and Pogo had taken her with them to observe the television broadcasting the bank robbery her siblings were stopping.
It was going well. She thinks. There were no cameras in the building, but if the man thrown out the window was any indication, Luther was fine. And if Luther was fine, then so was everyone else.
Luther tended to stop fighting when one of their siblings was hurt near him. If only to guard them from other attacks.
The gunshots paused, then started again inter sped with bloodcurdling screams. Vanya frowned, Ben had activated his powers.
She ignored the reporter's comments, and listened carefully. The screams stopped, and all the hostages stepped out. Her siblings stepped out fifteen minutes later, likely helping Ben clean up. Father strolled up to them, his cane clacking on each stone step. Her siblings lined up next to him.
"I have adopted seven children gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary..." Vanya jerked. He'd said seven.
He'd said seven.
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Ben jerked at the same time, but for a different reason. Klaus was looking around with a certain deliriousness and confusion that he associated with druggie Klaus.
His brows furrowed.
It seemed Klaus had woken up.
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coming from a star wars nerd, its really hard to write five instead of fives. as much as i love klaus, it really doesn't make sense for him to be on missions, unless he has something up his sleeves. so i made him really good at gymnastics and well versed in using anything as a weapon.
god, i feel so bad for ben, he's constantly latching onto the most damaged family member and is kinda forced to try to help them. at least this time vanya wants help.
