Sarcasm | Five Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy)

7 | peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches

Y/n sighed, rubbing her eyes before looking up at the myriad screens in the tape room. She glanced from Allison to Luther, frustration growing with each passing second. Finally, she gave up and joined them, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

"So, what exactly am I supposed to be seeing here," Y/n asked, pointing to the video on the monitor.

A few minutes after she had exited the prosthetics building, along with being left alone by Five, Y/N received a frantic call from Allison. Apparently, there was an "emergency" at home concerning Reginald's death and Grace.

Worried about their mother, Y/N rushed to the Academy. But instead of a dire situation, she found herself being shown a tape that allegedly depicted Grace poisoning Reginald.

"This is ridiculous," Y/N muttered, preparing to leave. "I have more pressing matters to attend to."

But Allison and Luther insisted, promising that they wouldn't bother her if she proved them wrong.

"Look closer," Luther said, pointing at the screen. "It appears that Grace is putting something in Dad's tea. Right after that, he clutched his chest. That was probably his heart attack,  sabotaged."

"If he were poisoned, the autopsy would have said so. And even if Grace did murder him, what does it matter now? He's dead," Y/N snapped, straightening her clothes as she stood up. "Thank you, very much, for this complete waste of time."

She turned to leave, only to find Luther blocking her path, arms spread wide to prevent her escape. "Wait! Where're you going? This is important. If something's wrong with Grace and we don't know, she might do something bad."

"She has no reason to harm anyone else. Pogo was kind to her, we were kind to her, and Reginald was not. That's the end of the story, Luther. I'm sorry if Dad's death affected you, but Grace had nothing to do with it."

Luther pursed his lips, hesitation drawn over his block-shaped face in colors, before he sighed and stepped out of the way. "You know, you've been the only one who's stayed here to take care of everything while I was living on the moon. That was four whole years, Y/N. There had to be a reason Dad didn't send you with me, especially after the...incident."

The girl stiffened, halting in the doorway at his words as she felt the weight of a wary and confused glance from Allison.

"What incident-"

"Don't," Y/N snapped, her brows furrowing as the memory resurfaced, a memory she had believed was relegated to the darkest corners of her mind. "It's none of your business, princess."

Allison's confusion deepened, but she wisely chose not to press further. The room seemed to thicken with tension, the air heavy with the unspoken truths Luther and Y/N chose to hide from everyone else.

"I...need to go now," the girl breathed, a certain rigidness seeping its way from her body into her voice.

Y/N turned on her heel, leaving the room with a hurried stride. She couldn't afford to dwell on the past, not now, when the present demanded so much of her attention and strength. As she made her way down the hall, her mind raced with thoughts and emotions she had tried so hard to bury. Each step felt like an effort to distance herself from the painful memories that Luther's words had dredged up.

She found herself in the kitchen once more, the familiar surroundings offering a fleeting sense of comfort. She resumed her earlier task, opening the cabinet and retrieving the bread and peanut butter. The mundane action helped ground her, even as her hands trembled slightly, a result of Allison's inquisitiveness. 

She placed two white pieces of bread over the chopping board, spreading the smooth peanut butter with ease before placing one toast on top the other. Y/N held her sandwich with two hands and brought it to her mouth, but paused, a sudden thought shooting to the front of her head.