SECRETS ↳ FIVE HARGREEVES

1: ONE

Episode One: We Only See Each Other At Weddings And Funerals

Part One.

I don't own the Umbrella Academy.

Although she had joined the Umbrella Academy much later than the other children—they had all been seven when Sir Reginald Hargreeves had stumbled upon her—they all had good relationships with her. But she had always been closer to Vanya out of all of them, because most of the time, she understood Vanya the most—they had both felt like an outsider to their own family. Vanya because she had no powers, despite being born on the same day, and her because they had seemed like a family far before she had even seen them for the first time. And although they eventually included her, Vanya had never felt further from them.

When Vanya had first published her book, all their siblings had hated her. All but her. She understood the other girl, understood why Vanya had felt a need to share all her trauma to the world. Perhaps she hadn't been too excited about it—the book had, after all, said almost every secret there was to be said—but she had supported Vanya in the end. Because when you felt like everybody hated you, and you tried to explain why it made you so depressed, the worst thing in the world that could happen would be for those exact people to hate you for that.

But sometimes, she found herself wishing Vanya had never published it, because the other girl spoke often of the death of Ben, and the disappearance of Five.

Ben... how she missed him. He had possibly the most gruesome power out of all of them, a power that shouldn't have been given to a boy like him—soft, sweet, shy. She remembered how much Ben cried every time he had to use his power. He did it in the dead of the night, when their father wouldn't be able to hear him, but she often did. She would usually spend a couple of hours with him, if she could sneak out, just to make sure he would be okay in the morning, but how could they be okay? Could they ever be okay?

She tried to think of happier thoughts, but her mind kept drifting to Five.

And just thinking of him brought a wistful, but sad, smile to her face.

She remembered how he was sometimes cold, but he loved his family to death, and would do anything for them, no matter how much he acted like he hated them. How he, even as a child, had a genius-level intellect, and that sometimes did result in arrogance, an inflated ego, and a superiority complex, but she did have to admit, he was quite intelligent, especially in mathematics. Of how he was one of the only ones out of all of them that would dare stand up to their father.

She supposed it shouldn't have come as a surprise when she realized she had liked him when they were eleven, but she had locked her feelings away. She had seen how Allison and Luther had acted around each other, and she couldn't help the slight disgust that rose at the sight of it. They were siblings. Adopted, yes, but raised as siblings. Technically they weren't, she supposed, but if you ever had to use the word technically while arguing you weren't doing incest... well, you were already in trouble.

And because she found it slightly disgusting to have feelings for someone you should've seen as your brother, she was disgusted with herself. Because she should've seen Five as a brother, nothing else. She shouldn't have seen Five as someone to crush on. But she had.

She remembered crying for hours when Five had disappeared. For the next few days, weeks, months, even, she had hoped he would come back, that he would apologize for leaving for so long and that the only reason he was late was because he had gotten lost. She supposed now that it didn't make any sense, because Five's power was practically teleportation, but she had been desperate for an explanation. For years, she and Vanya had left peanut-butter-and-marshmallow sandwiches out for him in case she returned.