Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

ALLISON:
She clutched Ray’s hand for support as she walked toward the stately mansion. Why the hell had she thought this was a good idea?
As if reading her mind, Ray kissed her forehead and whispered, “Remember, you’re not doing this for yourself. You’re doing it for them, and for Claire and little Grace.”
She drew in a shaky breath and nodded as they reached security.
“What’s your business?”
“My name is Allison Hargreaves. I’d like to see my father.”
Even if she couldn’t rumor them, she’d learned that she still had a power in her words that came from her acting skills. A slight up tilt of her chin, an arched eyebrow and her tapping foot all conveyed the idea of a wealthy, busy woman not used to waiting. And if these guards had any intelligence at all, they’d know that that was a dangerous combination.
“We’re sorry ma’am, but we can’t-“
She took a step forwarding, listening for the satisfying clack of her heels in the cement. “Tell him I heard a rumor about something he’ll want to know.”
The guard raised his eyebrows in disbelief, “You really think a rumor is gonna change his mind, lady?”
Allison smiled as brightly as she could, looking at Ray to make it seem warm and genuine. “Just give it a try.”
The guard muttered something and paused for a minute before he waved his hand. “Okay, ma’am, you can go in. But only you, he has to stay here.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but Ray cut her off, “It’s fine. I’ll wait here, baby, go do what you need to do.”
Allison nodded and followed the guard up the winding driveway, passed another set of guards at the door, and then a maid guided her through a winding maze of corridors lined with priceless artifacts and artwork.
Ugh. Had he always been this pretentious and arrogant? And was this what she was like? The walk came to an end in a formal sitting room, where the man himself stood in front of a blazing fireplace, neatly arrayed in a three piece suit and immaculate beard. “Well, child, have you discovered your powers in this timeline?” He declared impatiently. It appeared some things were the same in every timeline.
“No, I haven’t.”
He sneered slightly and raised an eyebrow. “Then why on earth are you wasting my time? Guards-”
Allison stepped forward and continued until she was barely an inch from his face. “Oh, no, old man, you’re the one wasting my time. If you call those guards in here, I’ll call my siblings and tell them all that they are free to kill, torture and harass you in any way they want. And I’m the one that convinced them to spare you, so I can make good on that threat. Just play along and answer my questions, and you’ll never have to see me again.”
He sniffed. “Fine. You have five minutes. What is it you want to know Number Three?”
“First off: is there any way for us to get our powers back?”
Reginald took a step back and sat down on a plush chair. “Goodness, child, did you not listen to a word I said the first time around? Your powers are granted by marigold, a chemical developed by my wife. Without more marigold for you to consume, you have no chance of getting powers, and even if you did, you might not have the same powers as before.”
Besides the bit about gaining different powers and his wife, this was also information she knew. And it appeared that he was at least being somewhat honest with her.
“Where are the rest of the Sparrows? We’ve been searching, but there’s no record of them anywhere.”
He folded his hands in his lap and leaned forward a bit. “Now that is a much more interesting question. To the best of my understanding, all marigold infected children emerged in this world exactly as they were in the other timelines.”
“Then why the hell is Luther alive?”
“If the children were alive or killed by natural means, they returned.”
Allison began to pace, trying to determine what she wanted to know from here. “What would be an unnatural death?”
“Any death involving either your powers or the kugelblitz. So, Sparrows Number One, Three and Seven didn’t return because of kugelblitz related deaths and Numbers Four and Six are dead by power related incidents.”
“So then why didn’t Sloane show up with the rest of them?”
Hargreeves sighed and rubbed his temples theatrically. The man certainly had a sense of drama. “For the same reason you didn’t, child. When I rewrote the world, she wasn’t directly involved in the process, since she didn’t exist in relation to me in the original timeline. I separated you and your family from the world intentionally but Number Five simply fell through interdimensional cracks.”
“So then, she’ll remember us?”
“I believe so, yes. She most likely is living an ordinary life elsewhere. Now is there anything else? You have 43 seconds left.”
“Why did Lila show up with us? Was she originally connected to you?”
“My guess would be that due to her power mimicry, and due to the unfortunate rush of the spell-” He paused to glare pointedly at her. “I must have misread it and placed her with the rest of you.
“Who the hell is Abigail?”
He stood up. “That is far too complicated a story for right now. Please leave, Number Three, and do not return any time soon.”
“Alright, Reggie. Have a terrible life.”
She strode out, weaving her way through the halls to the entrance. As she exited, she pulled out her phone and typed a message into the rarely used family group chat.
Just talked to dad. There’s no way to get our powers back. Sloane is alive and remembers us.

LUTHER:
She’s alive.
She’s alive.
She’s alive and remembers him, and he just didn’t look hard enough. Over the past year he had crossed the country and scoured the internet for signs of her. He checked every food blog and travel site, NASA staff lists and extreme sport groups. But no mention of the honey blonde girl with a heart of gold.
Without thinking, he stood up and muttered, “I have to use the restroom,” pushing his way out of the conference rooms.
This school may have been small and desperate enough to hire a teacher with an online degree and no real history, but the teachers certainly did get perks. Access to a nice lounge, these fancy conference rooms and private bathrooms.
He stormed in, and dialed Allison’s number before he even locked the door.
“Where is she?”
“Hello, Luther. Nice talking to you, and yes, Claire is doing great, thanks for asking.”
“Cut the crap, Allison. Where the hell is my wife?”
“Luther, I’m sorry, but I don’t-”
“NO! You’re the reason she’s gone, so it’s your goddamn job to get her back.”
“And I’m trying to do that. I bugged Dad and his house, and marked a couple of entrance routes for Five to sneak in tonight. I’ll have an answer for you by 1 am.”
“I-” his voice cut off as his fingers curled into fists at his sides, unable to decide between sadness and anger.
“Luther, please believe me when I say I get it. Living without Ray was hell. But I’m doing everything I can, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you.”
“Easy for you to say, considering you have a daughter and husband for your new family, even though you threw away your old one to do it.” Luther knew in an instant he had gone too far, but he couldn’t find it in him to feel bad.
Allison’s voice was quivering as she replied. “You’re right. I fucked up, and I’m sorry. Honestly though, I don’t regret my choice. I was going crazy without them, but-”
He hung up abruptly. She was so full of shit. He just couldn’t handle it today. He grabbed the sides of the sink as tight as he could and took three heaving breaths before he stood up straight, splashing water in his face. A minute later, he was walking back through the hallways and slid into the meeting as if nothing had ever happened.
By some miracle, he got through the meeting without event, taking notes on classroom management and leadership styles. The moment it was over, he bolted out, skipping the small talk he usually loved with his fellow teachers. Instead, he fired off a rapid text.
Ben, I know you don’t want to see me. But there’s $200 in it for you if you meet me at Hart’s tonight.

BEN:
That motherfucker. What was it with Luther and his stupid dedication to making friends and playing nice like some sort of bitch.
God, at least most of those idiots left him alone. Klaus was too stoned to care, Diego and Lila were disgusting and only cared about their kid, Viktor ran away and Allison exiled herself. But the big idiot just didn’t know when to quit.
On the other hand… he had just been fired from his job. Apparently his attitude was off putting to shoppers. $200 would probably make a difference for his rent until he could figure something out.
Fine. 9:00 pm.
The response was irritatingly quick.
Yay!
Jesus Christ.
He spent the rest of the day in an irritated haze, applying to stupid entry level jobs online. It would have been nice if Allison had bothered to give them some credentials when they reset the world.
In the late afternoon he stopped by a grocery store, sneaking out a week’s worth of groceries. It was almost comically easy. Everything was pointless.
When he met Luther, he was sitting at a bar drinking a full pint of beer with a sullen look on his face.
“You look terrible.”
Luther glanced up. “Hello to you too, Benny.”
“Don’t call me that, asshole.”
“God, sometimes you’re so much like our Ben. He always hated that nickname too, you know.”
“Well then, I guess it’s my new favorite.”
Luther grunted a laugh but kept staring at the table.
“Man, why’d you drag me out here? Wasn’t Diego or someone who actually cares about your whining available?”
Luther looked up at that with disbelief written all over his face. “Diego has a 5 month old! He can’t just pop out to talk to me.”
“He’s still married, can’t Lila just take the kid so that I don’t have to deal with you.”
“Hey man, you’re getting money out of this, so just shut up and listen.”
He plopped down in the stool next to Luther, crossing his arms. What sort of problem could he have? He was living the world’s most boring life by choice.
“Okay, Ben, I know you saw Allison’s message. I need to find Sloane. Please, I’ve tried everything I can think of, do you know anything about her mom or somewhere she could be?”
He sighed. So it was going to be this kind of night. “For the millionth time, I don’t know. We barely knew anything about our families. I think she’s from somewhere in California, maybe? But either way, I’m not the brother to ask for information.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“How stupid are you? Five knows everything about everyone because he’s a nosy little bitch, and Klaus found his mom, so I’m sure he can find the rest of them. Now, can I have my $200?”
Luther paused. “You get double if you come with me right now.”
“I’m not a prostitute.”
He smirked. “Don’t worry, I’ll have you home by midnight, baby. Now let’s go.”

FIVE:
He was too old for this sort of reconnaissance work. When he’d asked Allison why him, she said that he was the best trained and the smallest. Well, she was right about that, but she forgot he was also the oldest. He played a long game, and that did not include sneaking into his dad’s house so that his idiot brother could stop feeling sad.
But he always was down for gathering intel. Especially when it involved spying on Reggie Hargreaves.
So that was how he ended up crouched on the roof of Dad’s mansion, ignoring Allison’s pre-marked routes in favor of those more useful to him (and ones that were easier on his knees. His body may be young, but old habits died hard).He slipped in a hall window and snuck down to the parlor she had described, collecting Allison’s backup bug, the one she’d placed in case her comms were jammed.
Next, he detoured to Reggie’s lab. Not on Allison’s list of stops, but he didn’t really give a shit. The space was massive, with one wall covered in white boards with notes on the timeline. He didn’t stop there for long, since it didn’t seem like anything he didn’t already know. He did spend several minutes staring at the intricate subway map covering one wall, and took several pictures. In addition to the detailed and colorful web, tiny notes and images were scrawled next to each intersection. It looked strangely familiar, but Five couldn’t put his finger on why.
The rest of the workshop was a mess of lab tables and intricate experiments. He was genuinely curious to see what the old man’s mind was cooking up, but he’d already lingered for nearly five minutes, and he had more sleuthing to do.
He checked a handful of files in a nearby archive room, gaining snippets of information on the Hargreeves plan for world domination, but nothing sparked his interest. In quick succession, he stopped in another, smaller office, a sitting room and a bedroom. The cameras were definitely picking him up, but quite frankly, he didn’t care. If Hargreeves saw, he saw. He had to know that his security was a joke.
Finally, he landed in the room Allison had marked, a closet tucked away in the corner of a long hallway. It seemed to be empty, except for a couple of coats, discreetly marked with the umbrella and sparrow logos, but when he tapped a back panel, it revealed a small room containing about 50 cubbyholes. Shit, this was a list of the rest of the marigold kids. He searched quickly down the alphabetical list until he found Sloane, checking her information and then tucking it back.
As much as he wanted to keep looking, he figured that Hargreeves was smart enough to have an alarm on something this sensitive, so he sealed the door and slipped out the window.
Once he was outside, it was child’s play to move through the trees and drop outside the gate. He had a sudden memory of a Commision obstacle course, fake trees pitching in hurricane strength winds and smiled as he rolled to a stop.
He felt a strange prickling at the back of his neck, and spun on instinct, drawing his gun in the same moment. “Luther you hairy idiot, you might as well just come out. Is it Diego with you?”
He heard a muffled curse and couldn’t stop his smirk. “Ah, I see Benjamin has accepted his role in the family.”
They both stood up, Ben angrily shoving Luther away from him. “I’m not your fucking brother, this asshole just didn’t tell me I would be stalking you tonight.”
“So what exactly do you want? Luther, I assume this is about Sloane?”
“Where is she?”
“Calm down. I’m on my way to Allison to explain the whole situation, and I don’t have time to deal with you too.”
“Allison doesn’t give a shit about her, tell me where Sloane is.”
Five rubbed his temples wearily. How did this always happen to him? “So what’s he doing here?”
“I knew you wouldn’t take me seriously, so he’s here as backup.”
“And for $200.”
Well. He hadn’t had Luther bribing Ben into an argument on his plan for today, but anything to get out of this situation.
“She’s in Paris, in training for the European Space Agency. Now please get the hell out of my way, or you won’t like what comes next.”
Ben stepped forward and sneered. “Not so fast. You’re too smart to just do Allison’s bidding like a sad little puppy dog. That’s his job,” he jerked his head toward Luther, “What else did you find?”
Fuck. It appeared that new Ben was just as perceptive as old Ben. His luck was truly shitty tonight. “Nothing your inferior mind could understand.”
“Listen, Grandpa, I got nothing to lose, and I fight like it. What the fuck is Dad up to?”
“He’s trying to figure out how the timeline fractured when he broke the world. He’s mapping it or something like that.” He paused for a moment. “Now get away and there won’t be a second chance this time.”
Five started to walk away and then turned back. “I’ll know if you’re following me, so don’t even think about it.”
Four minutes later, he was standing in front of Allison. “What took you so long?”
“I ran into our brothers. Looks like Luther was desperate enough to contact Ben.”
She frowned. “Okay, that’s strange, but whatever. Give me the bug. I assume that Luther knows about Sloane?”
“She’s flying her way to the moon, it’s a match made in heaven. And here’s your bug.”
He dropped it into Allison’s hand, and she turned to go.
“Send me everything you find, Allison. And a word of advice- don’t share this with anyone else. Viktor wants a quiet life, Klaus can’t handle this, and Diego and Lila are busy playing parents. So keep this to yourself and hopefully, we’ll never see each other after this is finished. Understood?”
She nodded once. “Agreed. But Five? Remember that I’m playing parent too. So if you come after us, know that I can still make hell rain down upon you. And don’t even get me started on Diego.”

DIEGO:

“Lila! Where the hell is the diaper bag?”
“It’s wherever you left it, and reminder, no swearing around the baby!”
Diego growled to himself as he searched the house for the bag. When it was, naturally, right where he had left it, he felt nothing but a brief moment of humor. Somehow, even the most inconvenient things about having a child seemed humorous and easy to deal with.
He was laughing by the time he handed Lila the bag. “You were right, as per usual, jaani.”
“Jaanu. But your accent’s getting better. Now, who’s ready for a diaper change?”
As she cleaned up Grace, Diego checked his phone for the first time in what felt like days.
“Shit.”
“Oy!”
“I know, I’m sorry, but have you checked your texts?”
“Does it look like I have the fucking time, Diego?”
“You just said-you know what, never mind. Allison just talked to my dad. There’s no way to get our powers back.”
At this, Lila finally looked up. “All right then. That’s that.”
“That’s that? That’s all you have to say? This means that our lives-“
“Are ordinary! We can raise a child, you can keep learning Punjabi, we can be happy! Did you honestly even want your powers back?”
He paused. This whole time, he’d assumed that he needed his powers back. That it would fix his problems, make him happy. But would it?
“I don’t know. I love you, Lila, I love Grace, but I used to feel so much. I was always angry or driven, or something, but now I’ve got nothing. I’m just a little bit happy, that’s fucking it. The powers… they left a hole in me. And I want that hole filled.”
Lila set Grace down on the couch gently, and wordlessly walked over and hugged him. He buried his face in her shoulder, unexpected tears pricking at his eyes.
“Diego, love, that’s not your powers. I think you’re depressed, love.”
“No. No, I’m stronger than that, it’s not just in my head!”
“I never said that, D. But Diego, if you don’t talk to someone this is just going to get worse until you’re a bloody wreck.”
“I’m not weak.”
“Diego, this is the strongest thing you can do. Listen, we’ll keep talking about it. For now, let’s ignore that message. Focus on me, okay? I promise, it’ll get better.”
“How do you know?” Those words were barely a murmur, like he was embarrassed by even the idea.
“Because it did for me.”
With that, she kissed him and led him over to Grace. And for the next few hours, he found he didn’t wish for his powers even once.

Chapter Text

THREE YEARS AFTER REWRITE

KLAUS:

How had his life come to this? Two years ago, his Friday nights had involved partying and club hopping with cool people, and he’d probably end up having sex with at least one of those cool people. And now-
“Uncle Klaus, come on! I finished!”
With a long suffering sigh, he turned to face the mirror.
“You know, Claire Bear, if this was how I looked at 8 am after a very long night out with some very special people, I’d be quite happy with it.”
“Klaus!”
“Oh, relax, Allison, she doesn’t know what it means, do you Claire?”
Claire smirked. “He means sex!”
“KLAUS!”
She was so much like Ben. How many nights had he spent laying on the floor, saying ridiculous things and listening to Ben mocking his every action.
His smile faded as he realized that on nearly all of those nights he was high or drunk off his ass.
Allison grabbed his hand. She had a sixth sense for his emotions. “You’re doing good, Klaus. Three months is a long time.”
Sensing the direction of this conversation, he gathered up the makeup scattered across the floor. “Hey Clairey-fairy, why don’t you go do Dad’s makeup? I bet his beard would look amazing with sparkles.”
“Okay!”
Eight year olds were easily distracted. Not unlike himself. He already was thinking about their childhood instead of whatever they were talking about. “Do you remember when I stole your makeup and tried to dye Ben’s tentacles pink?”
She laughed as she leaned in closer to him. “God, we were idiots. Then me and Viktor tried to steal your weed but found it too disgusting.”
“Yeah, Ben was the only one who could get rid of my shit without me noticing. He used to drop my pills out the windows, or burn my cigarettes.”
Allison stared at him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d willingly talked about Ben/ his Ben, not the asshole one.
“Klaus, how much time did you spend with him? After he died, I mean.”
“Almost every day. Even if I was partying or sleeping or- not sleeping, the little perv.”
“Don’t call me an asshole, but did you even like him? I mean, you barely talked when he was alive.”
“Shit, Allison, that was mean. But yeah, I did like the little shit head. Way better than the new guy. He used to take care of me, you know? Made sure I didn’t die too much, kept me from making the worst decisions, kept the cult in line. This is fucking morbid, Allison, let’s move on.”
She got up and started cleaning up the mess Claire had made. With her back still turned away from him, she whispered, “Why did you come here, Klaus? I love having you here, and Claire adores you, but you just called me from rehab, begging for a place to stay. What happened?”
“Ally, can you not take a hint? You can’t make me tell you anything anymore, lemme go.”
Quick as a snake, her hand darts out and clamps his wrist like a vice.
“Klaus, even if I could, I wouldn’t fucking rumor you. I only did that to a sibling twice, and it ended terribly both times.”
“Viktor and who?”
“What?”
Klaus knew he had an advantage. “You rumored Viktor to think he was normal. Who’s the second? I’ll trade you a secret for a secret, babe.”
For the first time all night, Allison looked uncomfortable. She shifted in place and her gaze flirted around the room. “Promise me you’ll tell me about rehab.”
“Jesus Allison, I’m gay, but I’m not a-a Fae or faerie or whatever bullshit they’re called. But yes, I’ll tell you.”
“Okay, I was at a really low point when this happened, right? I found out my family was dead, and I was lonely and Viktor liked Harlan better, and I just… I hated myself. So, when Luther walked in, I…I wanted to go back to what we had, since it was always easy and, I don’t know, familiar. Um, so when he was talking about Sloane and all, I snapped. I rumored him to love me, but I stopped, okay! I didn’t let it go far, he just kissed me, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry-“
Her words cut off with a sob. On instinct, Klaus leaned in and hugged her. “Look, Allison, I’ve always known you’re not a saint. And that is beyond fucked up, don’t get me wrong, but I lived on the streets for 16 years, I did really shitty stuff too. Did you apologize?”
“He never really let me. A few days later Reggie offered me a deal and I was so lonely and hurt I took it, then… well, you know. Okay, okay,” she wiped the tears from her face. “This isn’t about me and my fuck ups. What happened to you?”
“You know. A year of heaven. Doing drugs, sleeping with everyone, spending money. I was a god, Allison!”
“Klaus, we both know that’s not true, so move on.”
“Fine, Grumpy Gus. I got into some debt with some guys, got freaked out and tried to calm myself down with a bunch of stuff. I tried to call you when I realized I had taken something bad, but I think I was too high and it didn’t work. Whenever this shit happened before, I either came back to life or Ben saved me, you know, the little bastard would drag me to the hospital or a passerby or something. So I don’t know if this is real, but when I woke up, Ben was carrying me. But not our Ben, and I think it was Asshole Ben. Anyway, I think he dropped me at rehab and left, so that no one knew he was nice.”
“Wow.”
He sighed. This is why he hadn’t told her. She was too removed from him to understand why he had wanted to be left alone, why he had so badly needed Ben to be real. It’s why he told her he didn’t know what went wrong with the phone call, when he thinks he probably called Ben on accident.
“Look, Allison, I’m fine now. It’s hard, but it’s a lot easier when ghosts aren’t literally haunting my every move. I know the rest of you miss your powers, but I’m so happy they’re gone. Now, I don’t have to get high to ignore the voices in my head. Instead I can listen to the adorable little voice outside my head, who’s probably listening at the door right now!”
“No I’m not!”
Allison stood up and smiled. “Claire, we talked about this!”
She reached a hand down to him and hugged him close. “How about this? You talk to Ben and I’ll talk to Luther and Viktor. This family deserves better than the shit we put it through, okay?”
“Deal.”

VIKTOR

The shit he went through for this family. He was half awake when Allison called. “What do you want?”
“Where’d you go babe, I-“
“Hang on one second, Al-uh, Cassidy.”
The girl stood up and glared at Viktor. “Christ, can you not even remember my name?”
“No, I’m just-“
“Oh my God, are you actually getting a call from another girl right now?”
“It’s not like that-“
“Whatever, Viktor. Have a nice life.”
With that, she threw on a discarded pair of shorts and long wool coat and strolled off.
“Damn, little brother, who was that? Girlfriend?”
“I’m not your little brother. And that was not a girlfriend, that was Cassidy.”
“Oh, so one night stand? Nice.” Viktor set his teeth, groaning at the judgment obvious in her voice. There was a reason he had moved to Canada, why he never went back to New York.
“Allison, I really don’t feel like getting judged right now. What do you want?”
There was a long and awkward pause. Just when Viktor was about to hang up, Allison spoke. “I’m sorry, Viktor. I’m so, so sorry.”
“For what?” Allison had apologized before. Had sounded sincere before. But still, she always turned around and betrayed Viktor.
“Everything. I should have trusted you, should have believed in you. I fucked up, working with Dad, but I was just so lost and angry and I didn’t know how badly I needed you guys until I was all alone.”
“Honestly, Allison, I don’t give a shit about any of this. Just tell me what you’re winding up to and let’s get this over with.”
There was a faint thudding sound through the phone, like Allison had hit something or thrown the phone. “Viktor, there’s no sucker punch. I’m just sorry, and I’d love for Claire to meet you. I know Diego and Lila feel the same.”
So she was asking for something. Shocker. Honestly, he wouldn’t have minded seeing Diego. Diego was a dick in a predictable way, unlike the rest of his siblings.
“No thanks.”
“Viktor, this has nothing to do with me,” It was never about her. It was always about everyone else needing him or needing her or needing them together. But he was tired of this shit. “I’m just asking because we miss you. All of us. And me and Klaus agreed we’re trying to do better-”
“Oh, so this is all some self actualization thing? I’m good. I don’t care about you and I just want this stupid fake ass family to leave me alone and let me live an actual life! So I’d really love it if you lost my number.”
“What about Luther? Isn’t he calling you weekly?”
God, she didn’t let up. “He another stop on your apology tour? Saying no to Luther is like kicking a puppy. And we’ve been working on projects for the wedding together, so it’s not like it’s just for fun.”
“Viktor-“
“Bye.”
He collapsed backwards into the still warm bed and sighed. This was easily the worst morning he’d had in years.

LILA:

Holy shit. This…was not going to go well.
“Hon, you okay? You’ve been in there for a while, and I thought I heard a crash.”
“I’m fine, sweetheart. I dropped some bottles, that’s all. Just stay with Grace, I’ll be out in a few.”
She stared down at the stick in her hand and forced herself not to cry. Life was finally going okay again. Their depression medications were keeping them both sane, Diego had graduated from his fire fighting academy and Lila had finally gotten a fucking job. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough. Her parents were taking care of Grace, they were happy, Diego’s siblings had a somewhat normal relationship and they had enough money for a house. And it was all going to go to shit now.
She crouched down in the corner, pushing her back into the wall and hugging her knees to her chest as she rocked forward and back. This was the position she’d always held when things went wrong. When her parents died. Every time she disappointed the Handler. In the asylum. With Diego.
“Lila, I’m coming in!”
“No-“
There was horror on Diego’s face as he took in the bathroom. Bits of the shattered sink were scattered across the room, toilet paper and tissues shredded on the floor, and Lila curled in the corner, mascara streaking down her cheeks. “Hey, hey, breathe with me. What’s wrong?”
He crouched down close to her but not too close. God, he knew her so well. “In for four, out for four. Good, two, three, four. And out, two, three, four. Keep going.”
Over the next five minutes, Diego gathered up the paper and inched his way closer to her, until his hands were clasped around hers. “What’s in your hand, Lila?”
“I can’t- I- don’t make me say it, I-“ a sob cut her off.
“Okay, I’m going to take it out of your hands. I’m going to open up your fingers a little. I’m going to reach in now. Now you can grab your hands again, or you can try to loosen up.”
He pulled the tiny blue stick from her hand and stared at it. “Lila?”
“It’s real. I’m- I’m pregnant.”
His face convulsed for a moment, excitement, confusion and pain darting across it. “Honey, this is great! What’s wrong, why are you so upset? We’re better prepared this time, we can take care of it.”
“I don’t want to,” Lila murmured, voice so soft as to be inaudible.
“Say that again for me?” He leaned in closer, too close, and suddenly the claustrophobia took over her and she shoved up into him, flipping him onto the ground as she screamed, “I don’t want another fucking baby!”
Her voice echoed in the tiny room. She heard shuffling and a door shutting, hopefully meaning that Amma and Appa had taken Grace out of the house.
“Lila, let me up, and we’ll talk about it.”
With a start, Lila realized that she was kneeling on Diego’s chest, one hand holding his knife arm down, the other bracing against the ground.
She scrambled off of him, whispering over and over again, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” He pushed himself up off the ground and into a sitting position that matched hers. “Can I ask why not?”
“What?”
“Why shouldn’t we have the kid?”
Fuck, did he not know her at all? Had she made a mistake even telling him. “I can’t handle it, Diego. I never wanted to be a goddamn mother, and even though I’m not total shit at it, I can’t handle any more. I don’t want to be pregnant, I like my job, I like our fucking lives and I don’t want them ruined, okay?”
“Okay.”
“What?”
He reached out and paused, fingers hovering above her hand. Hesitantly, she took his fingers in hers. “It’s your choice, Lila. I like our family too. We can do whatever you need to stay sane, babe. I’m just sorry you were scared to tell you.”
“So you’re not mad?”
“Never. I’ve always got your back.”

SLOANE:
“I promise to always support you and find you. I’ll always have your back, Luther and I swear to always love you.”
“You may kiss the bride!”
She leaned up and kissed Luther deeply and slowly. It was still strange to have to stand on her tiptoes instead of just floating up. It was also strange to feel his strong, but average sized arms wrapped around her instead of the oversized, rock solid ones.
It somehow all felt right though.
The last two years had felt like a dream, after the first haze of a year. She’d fainted when Luther showed up at her doorstep with a bouquet of flowers and a sheepish grin.
In just two years since, she’d gone to the moon with the ESA, traveled the world, and now gotten married. Sure, she missed her family, but now she had a new one. And her wedding was proof of that.
She’d tried to track down Jaymie, Marcus, Fei, Chris and Alfonso, but none of them seemed to have any real memories of her. That was fine. She was fine. By some miracle though, all the Umbrellas were here.
It was the family she’d always wanted, with Claire and Grace running around underfoot, playful bickering between Diego and Five and an overall sense of happiness, despite the strained relationships between some of the siblings.
Later that night, at the reception Luther smiled at her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “$10 that Ben starts the first fight.”
“You’re on. It’s definitely going to be Allison, though.”
He laughed, the sound deep and booming.
“Okay then. Although, our last wedding had Klaus starting the fight so it’s hard to say.”
“How does this compare to the wedding at the edge of the world?”
He grinned at her. “It’s even better. Because this time, I’ll get to actually live with you.”
As they kissed again, Klaus sho ur ed from the crowd, “Oh, get a room already!”
“Yeah, assholes, think about Five’s tender young eyes!”
“Shut up, Diego. And Klaus, leave Luther alone and go get another coffee with me.” Five muttered as he dragged him away.
Sloane felt a pang in her chest at the sight of the easy, casual sibling interaction between the brothers. Luther whispered under his breath, “Go talk to Ben. I’ll be fine.”
She smiled gratefully at him. He really was the most thoughtful man alive.
As she walked over, she stopped to chat with Lila and Allison who were leaning against a wall together with Ray, passing a joint back and forth between them. “You guys enjoying the party?”
“Oh, it’s great, love. Family reunions are always interesting to say the least.” Lila’s smile was wicked as always, but there seemed to be genuine sincerity in her voice.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Sloane. I’m Ray, and I must say, you look absolutely stunning.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. Apparently Allison wasn’t the only charming one in that relationship.
“Yeah, congrats. I’m glad to see Luther happy.”
“Oh, that was always your concern, wasn’t it.” The words come out sharp enough to cut, but Sloane didn’t care. She would never forgive Allison for what she did to Luther, even if he had come to terms with it.
“Sloane, I’m sorry.” Her eyes were big and pleading, and the way her face relaxed from the weed made her look younger somehow. “I was in a bad place, I never meant to hurt him. I fucked up and I know it, and I don’t expect your forgiveness, but I genuinely do want him to be happy.”
That did sound surprisingly honest. “Well, I’m glad we can agree on that at least. Enjoy the party.”
She strolled off to where Ben and Viktor were sitting in silence at the back of the ballroom. “Hey guys. Doing okay?”
“Yeah, it’s a beautiful party Sloane. Congratulations.” Viktor’s smile was warmer than she’d ever seen it and he seemed surprisingly happy.
“So, what have you been up to these last few years?”
“I’m running a bar, now. Doing some music on the side.”
“That’s good! Ben, what about you?”
“I’m in… sales.”
Everything about Ben reeked of irritation and lying. “Ben. What’s going on?”
He rolled his eyes dramatically and turned away. “God, Sloane, I’m selling crypto. Deal with it. Go back to your perfect fucking life with your new perfect fucking family and leave me alone”
Ben had often said cruel things, but rarely with this sort of venom. Sloane’s voice caught in her throat, and before she could say anything, Viktor cut her off.
“Ben, shut up and listen to your sister. She cares about you. We all love you. And if you’re anything like my Ben, you’d know that. Because you saved my fucking life and everyone else’s. And you know what you said then? Your-“
“Family always has your back, Vanya. And that’s part of why I stayed with Klaus for all those years, right?”
The three of them stared at each other, all wearing identically confused expressions.
“Uh. Yeah, Ben, that’s exactly what you said. Except for the Klaus part. How exactly did you know that?”
“I don’t know. It’s not important. Just- Sloane, I’m happy for you, okay?”
She paused for a moment, still confused by the emotional swings around her. “Thank you. And if you ever need anything, Ben, I’m here for you, okay?”
“Okay.” The word was soft and vulnerable, and on an instinct, Sloane leaned down and kissed his cheek before dancing her way back to her wedding.

BEN:

Your family always has your back, Vanya.
What the fuck? He’d never said that. He’d barely spoken to Viktor before everything.
Ben groaned and rubbed his temples. Lately, he’d been getting migraines. Not frequently, necessarily, but every few months, for sure. And then there were the dreams.
Little bits of lives he’d never lived. Memories of Klaus passed out in a bath tub, and Five laughing over a game of chess. But other, stranger ones too. A Korean woman tucking him into a small, cozy bed af the top of a skyscraper and singing him a lullaby. Riding the subway with a girl he somehow knew, although he’d never met her.
Ben’s dreams had always been a little odd, though. In the original time line, he’d dream of a woman’s face and the shock there as she died, or he died, always in some horribly grisly fashion.
He used to draw out the dreams, to the point where he covered his bedroom walls in charcoal sketches. Now, though, there were too many random images to keep track of. Instead, he shoved them all down deep, and managed to keep them hidden most of the time. It was only when he saw the others that it acted up, so he hid away from the Umbrellas. Figured out where his actual family was and avoided them too.
Only downside was his severe lack of money and his need to make some. Hence the pyramid scheme.
Honestly it was amazing that was what they arrested him for and not the murderers or the thievery or the attacks.
So now his life would be jail. Sleep and dream of lives he never lived. Wake up and play the asshole. Deal with the idiots incarcerated with him. And repeat.
Just three more years in this hellhole.

Chapter Text

6 YEARS AFTER REWRITE

LUTHER
“Ben, old buddy! Been a while!”
“Shut up.”
“That’s no way to greet your brother in law, now is it?”
Ben rolled his eyes dramatically, and Luther had a strange flash of what it must be like to be a parent. It was almost enough to make him have sympathy for Dad. Almost.
The years apart hadn’t changed Ben too much. His hair was longer, hanging shaggily to his shoulders, and his face seemed a bit harsher and narrower. To be fair, Luther might be comparing him to his Ben, not this Ben.
Luther knew he had changed a lot over the past few years. His hair was longer, his body less toned now that he didn’t fight for a living. He smiled easily and frequently, and his hair had begun to gray at the roots.
He loved it. Loved his life with its simple, domestic joys. This was the sort of life he never thought was possible for him to have.
“So, how was prison?”
“I’d rather go back then talk to you.”
“Ben, you’re the one who called me.”
“No, I called Sloane. Where is she? Because I might just be headed back to prison if I have to spend more than 20 minutes with you.”
He hesitated. Ben’s cold words didn’t sting as much as they once would have, but it still hurt to see that there was real venom behind the words, instead of brotherly affection. “Sloane is waiting for us at our destination. She got caught up with some work.”
“We’re not going to your house?”
“No, I have to run some errands first.”
“Fine.” Ben slouched back as they got into Luther’s rickety old car, making the seat groan in complaint. “Christ, this thing is a shitbucket.”
“Hey, leave my car alone. It’s taking you to the room you can stay in for free, remember?”
“I’m not living in your house. I just needed an address for my parole officer.”
What? “Isn’t that illegal?”
Ben sneered at him. “Why, scared?”
“Sloane and I both have public service jobs, we can’t be caught up with this! Ben, just try it for a week or two, we’re not gonna force you to do anything. Just chill for a minute while you get back on your feet.”
To Luther’s surprise, he really did want Ben to live with them. He cared about his brother, if nothing else, since he seemed to make Sloane happy. So, if he had to deal with shit talk and nagging for a few weeks, he could deal with it. For her. Besides, he grew up with six siblings, Ben was nothing, really. He rolled his eyes again and sat back sulkily.
They drove in relative silence, the soundless awkwardness only broken by Luther humming along to the radio and Ben forcefully shutting it off. When they finally arrived at their destination, Ben looked up and groaned. “What the fuck are we doing here, Luther?”
“You’re going to your niece’s birthday party! Now come on, and be on your best behavior!”

VIKTOR
He couldn’t believe he was doing this. When Diego called him, he was fully prepared to ignore him, until he put Grace on the phone and she begged him to come since “everyone would be on their best behavior!”
So now he stood in front of an arcade holding a box containing a ninja Barbie. He had no clue what to get a 6 year old, but he figured that Diego and Lila would get a kick out of it.
Besides, from their calls, he knew that Grace loved anything combat related. Diego and him were weirdly close now, closer than they’d ever been. It started a few years ago when Lila got pregnant again. They were planning on giving the kid up for adoption, but then an intense miscarriage left Lila in the hospital for weeks.
Diego had been a wreck, trying to care for her, Grace and Lila’s parents.
Despite what his siblings might think, Viktor wasn’t a monster. So he got on the first flight to New York that he could find. And he spent a month and a half living with Diego and spending hours with Luther and Five, who were also helping out.
They kept up the closeness from afar for a good 6 months, until Five’s smartass mouth pissed off Diego one too many times, and Luther and Viktor got into screaming matches over Allison every time that they spoke.
So yeah, Viktor had lost his family every goddamn time they spoke. But here he was, because apparently he was a glutton for punishment. He started to walk toward the door when he felt a tap on his arm.
He turned and saw a tall, stocky man standing next to him. “I’m sorry sir, could you help me find this building?”
Viktor turned away. “Yeah, I don’t actually live in New York, so—“”
He felt a sharp pinch in the side of his neck and then nothing at all.

DIEGO
“Ow! Grace, let go-“ For someone so small, her punches sure hurt like hell.
Lila stepped up next to him and scooped Grace out of his arms. “Gracie, we don’t fight Daddy remember? Save it for the ring and use your words.”
She pouted and stamped her foot as Lila set her down. “That’s boring!”
“I know, love. But you know what’s not boring? Annoying your Uncle Klaus. Now go, go find him!”
As she scampered away, Diego called out, “Make sure to go for the ankles!”
Lila shook her head fondly. “You’re raising a monster.”
“No, we’re raising a monster. Now how are you feeling today?”
“I’m fine. I should be checking on you, you’ve been working too much lately.”
Diego shrugged. He had been working a lot, but as long as he made time to see Grace, he didn’t mind. He loved the thrill of his job, the joy that came with saving people and the fulfillment he felt at the end of every day.
“I like it. And besides, I don’t mind as long as you can keep doing your work. I haven’t seen you this happy in…”
She smiled at him, the expression so different from the cutting smirks she used to throw at him like darts. “Ever. But yeah, school’s great. I can’t wait to graduate though.”
“Well, just a few months, then I’ll be the trophy husband of Lila Pitts, esquire.”
She laughed and shoved him away before walking over to greet a clump of Grace’s classmate’s parents.
Things were just about perfect. And soon, his whole family would be here to complete it. “Oy, Five! It’s been a while, how you doing?”
It was still weird to look at Five and see a lanky 20 something instead of a kid. But it suited him. Five smirked at him and responded, “It’s going. You know I can’t give details.”
“Yeah, yeah, big shot government man. But I meant how are you. Anyone make it past the vetting process, or are you still living like a 60 year old hermit assassin?”
Five stretched back in his chair and sighed wearily. He still acted like an old man, and it never failed to amuse Diego. “I’m not interested in people in the way you mean, Diego, but I do have friends, yes.”
“What, like you’re too busy right now? Because I think you might finally have time to-“
“No you idiot, I’m aromantic and asexual. Believe me when I say I’ve tried it all, and it’s all equally meaningless to me. I can live a perfectly good life without being nauseatingly in love like all of you lot.”
“I-“ Damn, Diego had not seen that one coming. “Well, good for you. As long as you’re happy.”
“I am. But if you’re looking for someone to annoy to death about love, it looks like Klaus just got here.”
“I think I’m good-”
“Hey, Klaus, over here!”
“Diego! Happy Father’s Day, brother!”
Diego exchanged a look with Five. Klaus may have looked sober and relatively normal but maybe he was high? “Um, you are aware this is Grace’s birthday party, right?”
“Yes, the anniversary of the day you became a father! Father’s Day!”
“Oh.” That made sense in a weird, Klaus-y way. “You look good, man.”
It was true. He’d gained a bit of weight so he no longer looked like he would fall over in the next strong wind. His hair was washed and while it was still messy, it was clearly styled, and his neon pink dress shirt and blue slacks were clean and stainless.
“Thank you! And thanks for the lovely present of your daughter attacking my beautiful pants!”
At this, Five burst out laughing, full on howls, and both of his brothers turned to stare at him in surprise.
“Diego, you dick, I told you I was doing good. And Klaus, you do look good. How long have you been sober for?”
“Three years, thanks for noticing.” He shot a pointed look at Diego.
“Hey, I knew you were sober! I was there when you got your one year chip, puta!”
“Yes, well I need constant reassurance. Say you love me!”
At this, Klaus sprawled dramatically onto his knees in front of his brothers. Diego and Five were too busy laughing to notice their audience.
“Hi.”
Klaus twisted around and jumped back to his feet. “Benerino! Welcome to the party. When’d you get out of the lockup?”
“About an hour ago,” Luther interjected with a grin. “So ignore the god awful haircut. And his complete lack of manners.”
“Bastard.” Ben muttered almost instantly, effectively proving Luther’s point.
They sat in awkward silence for a minute, until Diego sprang in. “Well, Ben, I’m glad you could come. I assume Sloane is around here somewhere? We’ve almost got the whole family back together.”
“She saw Lila in the parking lot, and I think she’s talking with her and Allison.”
All of them, even Ben, wore the same incredulous expression as they looked up at Luther.
“I know, I know. But we’ve been working on it, and Sloane knows how important to me you all are.”
“Let’s hope they don’t kill each other.”

ALLISON:
“Let’s hope they don’t kill anyone,” Allison muttered to herself as she watched Claire and Klaus stroll into the arcade. Knowing that she wouldn’t be leaving for at least a couple of hours, she cracked a window and pulled out a pen, settling into her seat.
Only to jump out of it at a sharp knocking sound.
“Oy, Allie, I’m coming in!”
“Lila-“
“What’s up? Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy.”
“Hm, I’ve seen your commercials, not bad stuff, really. Big fan of the detergent one.”
“Did you just come in here to insult me?” Usually, she could count on Lila to not pester her. She didn’t pull her punches, but she also didn’t cause unnecessary drama.
“No, I’m here since your husband and daughter are inside having fun and you’re moping out here, waiting for someone to come beg you to grace us with your presence.”
“I am not! You know as well as I do that no one wants me there-“
“You mean Viktor doesn’t want you there. Christ, you two are so bloody similar. Get over yourselves, none of that shit happened in this timeline, and everyone else can manage to get along like civilized human beings.”
“I-“
And because of course it could get worse, Sloane yanked the back door of the car open and crawled into the back.
“Lila, we need you inside.”
Somehow, she looked better than ever, with her honey blonde hair cut to her shoulders and a bit more weight rounding out her face. She pointedly looked away from Allison, reaching down and grabbing the pen from Lila, sending a lazy curl of smoke through the air. “God, is this flavored or some shit? It’s awful.”
“It does its job. And isn’t that against regulations or something?”
“Not an astronaut anymore, honey. Just calculate their flight paths. Which you’d know if you ever called.”
“You said you didn’t want me to-“
“But Luther misses you.” Sloane sighed softly and took another drag on the pen. “Look, Allison, we might never be best friends. But Luther loves you and he’s convinced that you hate him. So I’m asking, for his sake, for you to come in and talk to him. Just a few minutes, then you can come back here and feel sorry for yourself for hours if you want. Okay?”
Jesus Christ. “Fine. But I make no promises. And I need to be higher than this if you want it to go well.” With that she snatched the pen back and started frantically sucking it. She heard Lila laughing her ass off behind her, and a few of Sloane’s gentle chuckles. To her surprise, she didn’t feel angry, just…nostalgic. She’d missed this. She loved Klaus, but she needed her siblings back.
With that in mind, she opened the door and climbed out of the car, the others following close behind. A few steps in, she heard a crunch under her heel, and looked down to see that her heel had punctured a gift wrapped box. When she reached down to pick it up, she saw there were two small cards attracted to it, one written on a colorful birthday card, and one on plain white paper.
She grabbed the colorful one as Sloane took the white one and Lila picked up the box. The three of them were weirdly in sync, all reacting with the precision of people more used to disarming bombs than cleaning up messes. Allison’s card read, “Happy Birthday Gracie! Miss you. Love, Uncle Viktor.”
Allison took quick, shallow breaths as she tried to prevent herself from crumpling the card. What the hell was Viktor playing at, abandoning his gift out here?
Suddenly, Sloane screamed, shoving the card into Allison’s hands. “I have your brother, Viktor. Eleven o clock at 4 King Street East. I need all 6 of you.”
Wordlessly, she pssses the note to Lila, who was now holding some sort of doll.
“Shit.”

FIVE
It was nice to see his siblings. Without the need to save the world, they were living pretty good lives. He was happy to see they had all found peace, and as irritating as they were, he enjoyed seeing them every once on a while.
Getting asked when he wanted to “settle down” was getting real old though. He loved his job, and although the work was more basic than the Commission’s, he got to use his skills. The FBI wasn’t perfect, but it filled his needs.
And of course, it gave him access to everything he needed for his side project.
Speaking of, he really needed to leave if he wanted to make his meeting.
He wasn’t really in the mood to make excuses, so he was stalking toward a side exit when he was swept aside by Lila.
“Diego! Luther!”
In the next moment, Allison ran in and grabbed Five’s arm. “We need your help.”
“Allison, I’m busy-“
“It’s Viktor. Someone fucking kidnapped him, look.”
He stared at the note she thrust into his hand, instinctively pinching the corners to avoid leaving prints, and analyzing the handwriting.
“This was planned out.”
“What?” This came slightly breathlessly from Diego, who had run over alongside the rest of his siblings.
“Not many people knew Viktor would be here; he only decided to come yesterday. The note specifies his name, so they weren’t just guessing. They also knew we would all be here, and requested all of us come. Plus, the note is typed and was in a damn envelope, they knew what was going on.”
“What do they want?” It was Luther now, anger making his voice far too loud for the small space.
“Luther, quiet the fuck down. And they want to meet at the Academy.”
“So it’s the old man who has him then?” Five was more than a bit surprised to hear Ben speaking up. Maybe prison really had changed him.
“I doubt it. This isn’t his style, he’d have just showed up here and started arguing.”
“So we’re going then?”
Diego grinned, a wholly inappropriate reaction. “Looks like the Umbrella Academy is getting back together.”
At once, Sloane, Ben and Lila all started speaking. “Not- why- hell no-“
“Enough! We can figure that out later, let’s go get Viktor.”
Klaus grinned devilishly, “We’re back, bitches!”