Work Text:
Training days at the academy mostly consisted of sparring against each other while their father watched on, encouraging them to attack each other and not hold back. For a bunch of thirteen-year-olds, being told to beat up your siblings was occasionally enjoyable. They all squabbled at times and every once and a while, having a controlled environment to wrestle their frustrations out was extremely convenient.
The problem was, their father wasn’t satisfied with a little pushing and shoving.
If there wasn’t at least a bloody nose or two by the end of the session, he concluded that none of them had learned anything and would reconvene a few hours later and try again.
It got easier as they got older. They learned better fighting techniques and they knew each other’s weaknesses like the backs of their hands. In addition, the older they got, the more those with combat-oriented powers were the ones with the bruised knuckles and those not-so-gifted in the fighting department were the ones with black eyes and split lips.
It wasn’t fun for anyone involved, except maybe when Luther and Diego were paired up. But, as much as those two enjoyed to occasionally put each other in their place, no one wanted to see their siblings hurt.
So, like every training session before, all six siblings, Vanya cast to the side to take notes with their father, changed into their training uniforms and stood in their assigned pairs of two, face to face.
Using their powers was allowed, save for Diego and Ben, who had been deemed too dangerous for group training, which essentially only benefited Luther, Allison, and Five. Technically no one could really stop Klaus from using his powers, but it wasn’t like they would make a difference anyway.
So Luther took his place across from Ben, Klaus opposite Diego, and Five to Allison.
Vanya sounded her whistle and they all took off. Some went straight on the defensive like Allison and Ben, whereas Klaus lunges straight for Diego, reliant on the element of surprise to make up for his lack of strength at least a little bit.
Luther knew he could beat Ben easily. He’d done it many times before and with his brother’s powers banned from sparring, it really wasn’t a fair fight. Still, he held back for a little while, making sure Ben got at least a little bit of practice in before he took him down.
It wasn’t until he glanced over and saw that Diego already had Klaus pinned down on the mat, their father congratulating Number Two on his victory, that Luther realized he couldn’t just take it easy on his brother anymore.
He swung blindly, Ben dodging the first few punches before Luther, never particularly very skilled with his legs, kicked the smaller boy in the side, sending him doubling over, right before time seemed to stop and all that he could hear was a resounding crack.
He froze, stepping back slightly as he realized what had happened. Ben sank to his knees, clutching his shoulder at the base of his neck. He was breathing shakily, clearly trying to bite back tears.
“Very well done, Number One,” his father spoke, snapping Luther out of his horrified state. He glanced up at his father, who didn’t seem to be remotely concerned by his son on the ground, tears pooling on the gym mats below them.
Luther steppes towards Ben, crouching down enough to put a hand on his back. Klaus immediately appeared at Ben’s side shoving Luther’s hand away with a fury in his eyes Luther had never seen before.
“Ben, I’m so sor-“
“This is no time for sympathy, Number One. I can only hope Number Six has learned from his shortcomings and will prepare himself better next time,” Reginald announced, glancing down at Ben without an ounce of emotion before walking out the training room door, Vanya trailing behind him. She whispered something to Allison before hurrying out the door and down the hallway.
“Vanya’s going to find mom,” Allison spike softly, kneeling around their smallest brother. Klaus smiled up at her, his arms still tightly wrapped around Ben.
“Ben,” Luther started, only for every one of his siblings to whip their heads towards him, glaring. He sighed. “Ben, I swear I didn’t mean to. I would never hurt you on purpose, I just-“
“You just couldn’t accept that I had beat you for once,” Diego interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest. “You decided you’d rather take down Ben the hard way than just deal with the fact that I was faster than you.”
“Diego, that’s not it at all!“
“Save it,” he finished, smiling briefly at their mother as she stepped in the room with Vanya hovering silently beside her. “Lay a finger on him again and you won’t live to see the end of it.” Diego stormed out of the room with that final threat and Luther waited until he could hear Diego’s footsteps down the hallway above them before heading out the door with nothing more than a solemn nod.
His father was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when Luther made it down the hallway. He rushed over to him, eager to explain himself.
“Dad, I...I swear I didn’t mean to hurt him, I just lost control! I didn’t want to think I couldn’t do it!” He rambled, not noticing his eyes had started watering until he opened his mouth to speak.
“Number One, do you trust me?” The way his father spoke sent a chill down his spine. He hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “Very well. Then you must know that when I tell you not to be concerned for Number Six, or any of your siblings’ faults during your training, that I know what’s best for you. Getting a few scrapes and bruises is all to be expected. I can’t have you shedding any tears when you should be celebrating an impressive performance.”
Luther bit his lip, squeezing his eyes shut to prevent any more tears from escaping. He nodded sternly, trusting his father, but still feeling guilty.
“He’s going to be okay, right?”
Reginald scoffed.
“That is none of your concern, my boy. I’m sure Grace will have Six good as new before you know it. Now, go get cleaned up for supper, I’ll be scheduling you for solo training first thing tomorrow morning.” Luther nodded shyly at his fathers words before jogging up the steps to his bedroom and stepping into the shower in his adjoining bathroom. As the water hit his face, he kept his eyes closed, trying to wash away the image of his little brother’s tears from his memory. If his father thought doing that to Ben would help him develop his powers...he would have to find a way to get over it.
He hated seeing his siblings get hurt. Even more than that, he hated being the cause of it. He hated that it was so easy for him to hurt them.
If he was being honest, a lot of the time he hated his powers.
Yeah, he didn’t have as much of a right to complain about his powers as, say Ben or Klaus did, but there wasn’t much more that made him upset than when he hurt his brothers and sisters.
If his father didn’t want him to care, he’d just have to get used to it.