𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves¹

2│. . .AND THE BEGINNING

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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙ. ʙ. ᴇꜰꜰᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ . . . ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇɢɪɴɴɪɴɢ ꒱　


❝ YOU WERE ALWAYS MY
FAVORITE SISTER! ❞

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On October first, 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to locate and adopt as many children as possible.

He got eight of them.

Alexandra Hargreeves— or as she was known to her father, Number Eight— had built a reasonably successful life for herself after the Academy collapsed. At age seventeen, she'd left the house to start a new life on the uptown side of the city. Having been homeschooled by her father, she attended the local community college to have more of an academic career before she transferred to a four-year university to become an art teacher for an elementary school. She was fond of the children she taught and she was especially good at telling stories about superheroes during class time.

Her apartment reflected her personality with a bright and airy space that was small and charming. She'd bought white wallpaper that she painted herself and could constantly add to whenever she was in the mood. The main part of the space was the kitchen, eating area and living room (which was practically all one) with her bedroom— her favorite room— being separate. While that space wasn't very big either, it held her favorite possessions: her art supplies, her books, a chalkboard filled with numerous equations, and perhaps most importantly, her bed.

Although she didn't have much of a life outside work and home, she was as happy as could be expected as long as she didn't think about her separated family members. Alexa had kept in touch with Vanya and Diego briefly but the communication soon fell apart and she was left on her own. Allison had quickly risen to fame, Klaus had slipped beyond her reach and Alexa had never been close to Luther. A part of her was guilty that this was so, as she was supposed to protect all of them and she'd failed at that. She didn't want to dwell on the thought, though, so she forced it to the back of her mind and out of sight. Alexa had even stopped using her powers since she didn't have need of them in her current life. Her invulnerability was always there, of course, but her shields and power transfers remained obsolete and unused for seventeen years.

A rainy day on March twentieth brought a change to her usual routine. Having returned home from teaching class, Alexa had set about relaxing for the evening and her routine of sketching while listening to the news. She sat down on the couch— which wasn't the most comfortable in the world with its rough, brown cushions and wooden frame, but it was hers— and placed her sketchpad on her lap as her feet were placed on the low coffee table in front of her. Reaching for the remote, she powered on the TV before she picked up the hot tea she'd made a few minutes ago as she took a sip. Alexa let the noise of the TV drone on as her pencil moved across the pad while she traced curving lines and sharp angles, only to be pulled out of her stupor when the breaking news noise sounded:

'Moments ago, police reported the death of the world's most eccentric and reclusive billionaire.'

Alexa's head jerked up from being bent over her drawing and she stared at the screen in shock when her father's face was shown. Dad! she thought. He can't die, can he? This was rather stupid since of course he could die, but when he was alive he seemed invincible. The blonde's heart pounded in her chest as the screen switched to something else and there was a twist of something heavy in her stomach that made her nauseous— she'd have to go back to the Academy. The bastard had probably planned for them to reconvene because no matter how they all hated their past, they would never miss the funeral. Besides, she hadn't expected Sir Reginald Hargreeves to die so. . . quietly.