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Chapter Text

For such a public base of operations owned by a billionaire and housing 6 children, it was laughably easy to break into The Umbrella Academy. 

To be fair, they were probably biased. To be double fair, a common method of killing time in their family was hacking into a wide assortment of governments and international agencies and basically anything they had a passing interest in.

But, still, It took longer to walk up the driveway then it did to loop the camera feed from the cameras that hadn't been updated since the nineties and disable the academy's meager and similarly-outdated security system. 

In a weird way, it seemed like Reginald was worried less about people breaking into his mansion, and more about people breaking out.

Their mission for tonight was simple- plant recording devices and sensors all over the mansion to get a read on Reginald's behavior and determine whether they should be looking into it. Red Robin, the first on the case and manager of all missions pertaining to it, was in charge, backed up by Batgirl and Spoiler. Any one of them could finish the job and be in and out in less then an hour or two, but it was unfamiliar close quarter terrain with six meta-humans, so all three of them came.

They wouldn't take their chances, even if the Umbrella Academy Students were 'just kids'. At some point, they had all been 'just kids'- hypercompetent child soldiers, really- and they knew better then anyone not to underestimate threats because they're 'just kids' .

Besides, Bats were nothing if not paranoid. 

With nothing more than a wave from Red Robin, all three of them expertly faded into the shadows.

Reginald Hargreeves would never know what hit him.

--

"Well, fuck." Spoiler breathed, trying to stay level headed. The three of them were far away from the mansion they had set out to investigate, having wrapped up the job in little over five hours. It was nearly twice as long as they expected it to take, but they had stumbled across a few things that they couldn't just ignore, so they took their time for as long as they dared.

First, there was the Monitor Room. There was nothing inherently wrong about it, of course. B had cameras everywhere, and there wasn't a Bat in Gotham who could confidently define 'healthy privacy boundaries'. Everyone kept tabs on everyone, and they didn't even bother being subtle about it anymore. Spoiler was 72% sure that Red Robin microchipped her at some point.

So. The monitor room itself wasn't an issue. It was, however, a cornucopia of potential information. They knew the house had cameras, of course, but they didn't expect the control room to be so easily accessible, or even in the mansion itself. It was awfully sloppy, they thought, but they left Red Robin to dig through the information and copy whatever they needed. He was the best at tech stuff, and Spoiler wasn't good at staying in one place. She wanted to snoop through the house as much as she could as long as she was here, maybe find something important. 

Red Robin waved them off after they triple-checked that their comms were working, and the girls set off to poke their heads where they shouldn't be. They weren't bothering with bugs anymore. The raw security footage would be of much better use.

Second, there was The Basement they found while wandering the Academy. 

They were exploring slowly, marking off each room they found. A medbay. Several training rooms and gyms. a room where a woman was seated perfectly still that they quickly exited. An indoor pool. A hallway of children's rooms with a number branded into each door. 

Those, overall, were about what was expected, although neither of the heroines remembered anything about a woman living in the house. They'd have to ask Red Robin about it.

Then Batgirl silently pointed out a half-hidden door that led to a basement. 

Spoiler nodded, walking cautiously over to the door. Perhaps, if she hadn't spent her formative years cozying up in The Batcave, a creepy basement would phase her. As she stood now, it really didn't. She opened the door, let Batgirl go first, and kept checking their Comm signal in case the basement interfered with it and Red Robin freaked out.

In the basement, they found a sound proofed containment room, a child-sized cot the only thing in the room. The scratches in the door from small fingers.

Being the insightful bats they were raised to be, both instantly recognized how likely it was that this was, rather than a containment cell for potential enemies, a containment cell for one of the six children. Probably the girl, seeing that her power was voice activated.

Spoiler stomped into the room and closed the door behind her so she could loudly rant and rave, trying desperately not to imagine a little girl locked in this barren room with no escape and no one to talk to. No room to breathe until she had no air to scream with. She snarled to work out her aggression, and tried not to remember being locked in a closet and forgotten about for days.

Maybe she was projecting. She didn't care. 

Eventually she calms down and taps on the comms, checking in with T- checking in with Red Robin as she opened the door again to apologize to Batgirl. She comes out and sees Batgirl sat against the closed door to the basement, a protective and silent watch while she waited for Spoiler to finish having her moment. She also sees Batgirl, posture stiffened and distant, trapped in memories of what was almost certainly her own memory of being silenced or trapped.

(Fuck B's rules, if David Cain ever showed his ugly mug Steph was beat him with her bear fists until he started coughing up bits of his internal organs like a goddamn pez dispenser. Or, ya know, die trying.)

"Let's get out of here." Spoiler said through clenched teeth, slowly uncurling a fist and offering it to Batgirl tenderly. It took her a minute to come back to reality, but she nodded and took Spoiler's hand to stand up, even though she probably didn't need it at all. 

"Thank you." Batgirl whispered, in the soft but eerie voice she insisted on using whenever she was in costume. Practice for her future Patented Batman Voice, Spoiler was sure. Spoiler couldn't wait for the old man to let her take up the mantle, really- Batman was intimidating, sure, but Batgirl was terrifying. She would do great things with Gotham, Spoiler could feel it. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just. Ready to get these kids the fuck outta here." She sighed, pulling at her hood in place of running fingers through her hair. "And no problem, BG. You ok?" 

Batgirl nodded, and Spoiler may not be fluent in body language, but she didn't believe her for a millisecond. they went upstairs to meet back up with Red Robin, done exploring. Hopefully, he would be finished soon. If they stayed much longer, they were viable to do something they'd probably regret and/or get in trouble for. 

It was never a good sign when Spoiler was the one keeping Batgirl from running off and making a mistake.

At the top of the stairs, they nearly ran straight into Red Robin. He was flipping a new thumb drive between his fingers silently, walking straight for them. Apparently, their timing was absolutely perfect.

"We're leaving. Help me carry these books." He whispered, barely audible, and pointed at a small stack of seven books. Spoiler rolled her eyes behind her mask and took her cloak off, sacrificing her aesthetic to use the eggplant cloth as a sack. Batgirl hefted the makeshift sack, amusement shown through her lighter gait, and Red Robin smirked a little at the absurd image. Spoiler could see him struggling to restrain himself from making some sort of quip about it, knowing that they really couldn't speak right now as they slipped out of the house and off of the property. 

They ran across the unfamiliar city, the Gotham in her veins crawling with discomfort and disgust, and kept running until sunrise. They reached the pickup spot an hour late, and the jet is gone. They'll have to wait until Batman can risk sending it back again. 

Awesome. They had who-knows-how-long to kill time, and nothing to do but brood and comb through their new intel. They didn't even consider sleeping, all still caught up in their own thoughts. Their own memories.

Small Spaces. Silence. Cold Mansions. Everyone has Bats in the Belfry, right?

They all slipped into an empty alleyway to change into Civies. Steph went to buy a duffel bag from the local Walmart with Tim's billionaire-pocket-change. They all stuffed their gear and the seven books into the newly purchased bag and they bought a motel room. One room, one bed. None of them wanted to spend the night by themselves, especially given there was little chance any of them would be sleeping.

They showered, got dressed, and sweeped the room for anything that might be hidden. As soon as Cass finished taking her shower and the water turned off for good, Steph couldn't handle the brooding silence anymore. 

"So, Timmy, you gonna tell us what's up with those books we stole?" Steph piped up, shamelessly cutting through the silence. It's not like either of them were going to do it first.

Neither of them even tense up at the sudden noise. They probably expected her to speak up sooner or late, knew better then to expect her to stay quiet unless she absolutely had to. Tim hesitated to actually answer though, and didn't relent until Steph shrugged and picked up a book, ready to answer her own question and read it herself.

"It's- you aren't going to want to read them. I didn't even really, just a few random pages from each book. Didn't want to, uh, emotionally compromise myself on a mission. Gotta stay in a clear space of mind and all." He ranted, stalling for time. The girls, long used to him, patiently waited him out. "They were- well. from what I saw, they were meticulously kept hand written accounts of each of the Student's training. Impressive book-keeping, I'll admit, but parenting skills that are on par with those of Cain." He seethed. 

Steph sucked in a breath through her teeth, and remembered the child sized cot in the child sized soundproof cell. The educational-themed posters hung around The Academy depicting acts of violence and murder in simple step-by-step instructions. 

And now here they were, 5 hours after entry, and Tim had unceremoniously dropped the role of 'impulse control' onto her shoulders, picking up a book and starting to read while Cass tried to rectify the implications of what he had just said. 

She hated when he did that. 

"Well, fuck." She repeated, shaking herself from her thoughts and back into the moment. "That can't be good. Any chance you'll take a nap before diving right into that?" She tried, and Tim didn't even look at her. He was taking notes on his computer as he read, wearing gloves so his fingerprints wouldn't be on the books. Great. 

She turned to Cass and tried again. "Well, he'll be like that for a while. Wanna watch a movie?" Steph asked, even though she could tell it was the last thing on Cass's mind right now. 

Right now, the only thing on Cass's mind was kidnapping seven (Seven? Weren't there only six Students?) kids. And, honestly, Steph wasn't very far behind her, but she knew it couldn't end well.

"No." Cass spoke, giving her the stink eye.

"C'mon, Cass, we can't do anything about it now. If we take the kids without doing any of the legal stuff, they'll get sent right back to Reginald. You know that." Cass was still giving her the stink eye, but it was a little clouded with tears now. Steph wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She puts her hand on Cass's leg and continues. "If we try to do anything about it right now, Cass, it'll be harder to actually get them out, and they'd be in even more danger. Tim straight up stole their records, we can't risk anything more."

Predictably, that pushes Cass to soften, splaying out reluctantly across the entire bed. Steph laid on top of her and followed her example, putting on the first free movie to pop up on the motel's TV. Eventually, Tim  was tired enough to listen to reason, and she gave him the same coaxing that she gave Cass earlier.  Steph dragged Tim into their Pirates of the Caribbean marathon they somehow ended up in. He was a nitpicky asshole that wouldn't stop complaining about how they were all shit after the first two, but he didn't try very hard to escape the movie night. Steph took that as the win it was.

All of them fell into a well deserved sleep, all belongings besides the clothes on their back and emergency batarangs in their hands packed into the duffel bag for a quick escape, if the need arose. 

They all fell into a light sleep, which was better than nothing. 

Chapter Text

They're all sitting in silence at breakfast, sucking in every word spoken over the speaker (or, at least, Luther is), when there's a knock at the front door. Half of them drop their silverware at the foreign noise, and the other half tighten their grips, tensed and ready to fight.

No one ever knocks on their door.  

Mom leaves the dining room to go answer the door. Dad sends them all to their rooms, ordering them not to leave until he came to retrieve them. Breakfast is left half eaten on the table, and they scatter as instructed.

Minutes pass in tense silence, and then an hour. Slowly, tense silence morphs into anxious activity.

First it's Diego in the room next to him, throwing knives into the wall. As if the steady thud thud thud was an invitation, he hears Allison doing melodic vocal warm ups, and Klaus following suit in a far screechier voice. There's frustrated muttering from Five's room soon after, only audible if he tried to focus in on it, and Ben could occasionally be heard laughing or hissing or otherwise reacting to whatever he was reading.

Luther took a deep breath in and then out, and moved for the first time since he got to his room. He started doing simple exercises, refusing to be completely unproductive in his free time, but his ears don't stop keeping tabs on the quiet noises from each of the five rooms down the hallway.

(He felt a little guilty about forgetting Vanya when he eventually hears the distant notes of a violin, but shakes the feeling easily enough.)

Time passes, the sun goes down, and Luther has exhausted himself as he lays panting on his bedroom floor. His stomach growls so loudly that there's a falter in the rhythm of knives impaling in the wall, as Diego starts snickering. Allison and Klaus, who were in the middle of singing some duet, fall silent at Diego's sudden laughter, and Luther can faintly hear Allison and Diego tapping messages on the walls back and forth to each other.

Allison's eventual giggle makes a childish part of him pout in betrayal. She must pass the message on to Klaus, because his laughter is loud and obnoxious, and even Vanya's violin screeches to a surprised stop and stays silent. Laughter continues flow from rooms two three and four and, really, there's no way it was that funny, but he's mainly just happy that they sounded happy.

Today had been tense, even though they really hadn't done anything at all. It had been spent in a suspenseful silence, and none of them had had anything to eat besides half of breakfast. Mom hadn't even come by to drop off snacks or meals. Luther was almost worried about her.

The sudden levity fell all at once as they hear the familiar sound of the fabric of reality being ripped into.

Where did Five go?

There's confused muttering and shuffling, and even Luther has to fight the urge to disobey dad and go look for his suddenly-missing brother.

Thankfully, Five reappears before any of them can do anything too rash. They're standing in front of Luther, placing something on his desk just out of view, and gone again before Luther can say anything. He hears a muffled shout of surprise from Diego and a hiss from Allison, so on and so forth, as each of them are visited by Five. Then the familiar popping sound stops, and Luther stands on legs exhausted with exercise to see what Five left.

A plate of food and a cup of water, with a fun-sized twix on the edge of the plate as a rare dessert. How did Five even know his favorite candy? why did he?

Luther's stomach rumbled again, thankfully quieter this time, and Luther struggled. He was hungry, he was starving, but Dad told them not to exit their rooms. He couldn't eat food that Five got while directly disobeying Dad, a part of him argued, but he was too hungry to turn it down.

He was guilty as he ate, but what Dad didn't know wouldn't kill him, and Five was awfully good at keeping Dad out of the know. Whether he liked it or not, they all were by now.

Belly full and muscles sore, he laid down soon after. Five eventually came in to dispose of the dirty dishes.

At some point, he stopped hearing rustling from four of the other rooms, and let himself fall asleep. It's not like he would stay up later then Klaus or Five anyway- he had tried before, and it really didn't help anyone.

Four out of six was the best he could do, because his best wasn't perfect. Not yet.

--

The next morning, none of them saw Dad. They didn't even hear him. Mom brought them meals throughout the day, and Pogo dropped off handwritten training instructions and told them all to stay in their rooms. Dad was busy, apparently, very busy with something very important, and they had to keep to themselves while he worked through it.

That worked about as well as could be expected. By noon, they had all piled into Ben's room, eating sandwiches on the floor because he didn't want them getting crumbs on his bed.

"So." Klaus broke the silence, mouth still full of food. His pupils were a bit blown, but no one bothered to comment. The atmosphere was tense enough already. "Any idea what's going on downstairs?"

Silence stretched again, and Ben shifted in his seat, unwrapping a third sandwich. No one commented on that, either.

"I can find out." Five and Allison say at basically the same time, causing them to glare at each other and everyone else to laugh. Even Vanya let out a little giggle, sitting besides him, though she immediately hid it behind her hand.

"No." Luther said firmly, though even he couldn't hide his slight amused smile. "Dad told us to stay upstairs. He's talking to important people, we shouldn't interrupt them."

"Actually, Number One, Dad said to stay in our rooms, but here you are." Diego rolled his eyes. "Who cares what Dad said? If it's so important, then we should know, and its not like he'll tell us."

"We could ask Mom." Ben offered, then immediately reconsidered- "We can ask Pogo. It doesn't hurt to try, at least."

Luther, Vanya, and Diego nodded, which meant the decision had majority vote. Five seemed annoyed, but Allison just shrugged, and Klaus didn't seem to care either way.

Ben sighed. He didn't think asking Mom and/or Pogo was going to work, really, but he did think that sneaking downstairs was a bad idea. At least this decision would push that one back a bit.

For now, he was going to enjoy hanging out with his siblings, casually, for the first time in....a while. At least since Christmas, when Dad was invited to that party for the weekend.

They all stayed in his room for hours. After lunch, they played cards, and everyone got so tired of Allison winning that they let her pick what they did next as long as it wasn't cards.

(Diego didn't actually look half bad in a dress, Ben thought. Luther didn't quite pull off the crop-top, but it was well worth Klaus's smile. By the end, Allison had sold her soul (probably) in exchange for Five trying on a pastel polka-dot skirt, and Vanya had stars in her eyes when she tried on a button down shirt in the back of Ben's closet that fit her. It was one of their better days, he thought.

Even if his feet hurt from all the shoes Allison made him try on.)

--

Approximately the least surprising thing about the day was when, in the dead of night, Allison awoke to a familiar pop.

"What do you want, Fi-"

"Its CPS." They interrupt, settling in to the foot of her bed.

"What?" She whispered, blinking slowly as she woke up. Just because they were all light sleepers who could be ready in 90 seconds flat didn't mean that she didn't care about sleeping.

"Downstairs. With Reginald for the past two days- it's CPS. That's why he's keeping us in our rooms."

Allison scrunched up her nose and decided, reluctantly, that this wasn't something that could wait until morning. She sat up with a yawn, and grabbed a cup of water off of her bedside table. She always woke up with a dry throat.

"Why hasn't he just-" Another yawn. Five was starting to look annoyed. She didn't care. "Just paid them off, yet?"

"I don't know." Five hissed. tapping their nails in thought. The noise grates on Allison, but she takes another sip of water instead of telling them to stop. "But if he hasn't already, then I don't think he can."

"So....someone submitted something solid? Something they can't ignore?" She proposed, mentally going down a list of people it could have been. Hypothetically, any of them, but they wouldn't. The only one she could see maybe doing it was Five themself, but they seemed pretty genuinely confused. Mom couldn't. Pogo wouldn't. It obviously wasn't Dad. "I can't think of anyone who could have."

"Any evidence could be ignored, with enough money. More likely, someone more powerful is demanding the investigation." Five corrected, shaking their head.

"That makes even less sense!" She protested, only barely keeping it to a whisper.

"I know." They sneered back. The tapping gets more frantic, and she purses her lips.

"What....What's going to happen?" She asks reluctantly, head spinning, and she had to get her emotions in check but she didn't know how to begin responding to this information. Her throat has gone dry again. She takes a sip of water. It doesn't help. "Five, what if...They're going to separate us?"

"They can try." Five hisses, fire burning in their eyes, and she wants to trust her brilliant brother, but-

"I'm serious. Really, what could we do to stop them?"

They bit their cheek, but doesn't hesitate long. "I'm serious, too. Really, its not like they can stop us. We just run."

"And then what?" She insists. "Luther will want to come back here for dad. Diego will want to come back here for mom. And if we do manage to make it onto the streets, we'll be the most wanted children in the country. No one will hire any of us, even if we weren't twelve. We won't last a month, between the witch-hunt and the starvation. Hell- we wouldn't make it out of the state."

Five's face was turning red with anger, she noted absently, and still didn't care all that much. Honestly, what did they expect? The plan was for them all to leave when they turned 18 for all of these exact reasons, so they couldn't really be surprised.

"They....try not to split families up." They posited. "we can group up into groups of two or three that are more reasonable to keep together, and I'll make sure we all keep in contact, and I'll get emancipated at 16 and get started on sorting out a place we can all live when you all age out of the system."

Allison thought about it, and sighed. "They try not to split biological families up. I'm...not sure how much that'll apply, to us."

"Me and Luther are actually brothers, I'm pretty sure." Five admitted, looking a bit like they were sucking on a lemon. Allison bit back a snort.

"Okay. that's...a good start. Anything else?" she asked, accepting the odd new information quickly.

"Ben, Diego, and Klaus are practically attached at the hip." they pointed out. "You and Vanya....you're girls. Sisters. If you act super protective of her, and she acts like herself, they might stick you together anyway." He offered.

She grimanced. It wasn't the worst reasoning, but she didn't really like their chances.

"So are you and Vanya. Or me and Luther. All of us, to some extent, because we're family. Saying we're attached to each other might not be enough." She reminded him again.

They did not like that, but also didn't have a rebuttal. She closed her eyes and tried to think.

"Ben..." She furrowed his eyebrows, having a bit of a terrible idea. "The Horror is...unstable. If we frame him as reliant on Diego and Klaus to stay calm?"

They tilted their head, considering, and made a frustrated noise. "No. That would run the risk of getting Ben sent to a ward or facility of some kind. Or all of us. Crap, Allison, what if they-" They cut themself off, blank terror sprayed across their face, and she trembled with the force of holding back tears. Five did not react well to tears.

"I don't know, Five." She whispered, shaking her head. They were staring at their hands, laying still and limp on their lap.

They shuddered, eyes dulling as they got lost running numbers and scenarios in their stupid big head. "It's someone with enough power to supersede Dad. Whoever that is- Jesus. They could do- they could do anything-" they choked, struggling to keep their breath even.

Allison didn't think about leaning forward and tugging them into a hug, but it was okay, because they didn't scream or blink away. They probably didn't think about returning it, either, but did so anyway.

She can't remember ever seeing them cry before, she realizes all of a sudden, and she that holds true. Their head is buried in her shoulder and her eyes are closed anyway, and neither of them make a sound as their night shirts grow wet and salty and their backs get sore from desperate burrowing fingers.

In the morning, Five is long gone, and she isn't the least surprised. There's a full glass of water on her bedside table, which is a bit surprising, and the small kind act makes her smile, and then makes her tear up again because if Five is being kind with no alternative excuses to hide behind then they really are probably fucked.

Either way, she has a headache, and the water is appreciated.

She stuffs her confusing emotions away and tries to pack a bag. Eventually, Mom comes by with a strange expression and tells her to go downstairs. On her way out she can't help but linger in her doorway a few seconds too long, and wonders if this is the last time she'll ever see her room.

Chapter Text

A long, expensive car pulls up to the gate, and Vanya shifts nervously on her feet as a tired looking woman got out and walked towards them.

Vanya only knew bits and pieces of what was going on. Only knew what little anyone bothered to tell her. Something about someone sneaking into the academy and stealing some stuff that got Dad in trouble when it was revealed, and he tried to sweep it under the rug and have it ignored, but someone even more important then him in some way caught wind and pressed against Dad and, people started coming over and asking questions and looking around and, somehow, all of that meant that they couldn't live at the Academy anymore. Couldn't (didn't have to?) see Dad. It meant they were moving in with the more-important-guy that started all of this in the first place. And that meant that they weren't getting split up, which was good at least, but which was also apparently a possibility and no one thought to mention it until after the fact.

She shifted nervously again, and Diego stepped aside a little, putting himself between Vanya and the woman. Vanya recognized her, kind of. She was pretty sure the woman was the main person that had been asking all of them questions, for the past couple weeks. But she also wasn't good at remembering faces, and wasn't paying all that much attention in the first place.

The woman gave them a smile that made Vanya's skin crawl for no particular reason. Her eyes were a dark green, almost sludge color, and her burgundy hair was choppy.

"Children." She greets with a nod, looking at each of them and then turning back to her clip board and writing something down. "Do you all have everything packed?"

no. Vanya's mind hisses, and she closes her eyes to make sure she doesn't look angry. No, because Dad threw away everything he got to before we did, and anything he found after we packed it anyway. Klaus doesn't have his make up, and Ben doesn't have his favorite hoodie, and Diego couldn't find some of the goodbye-gifts Mom gave him, and I watched Dad throw my violin and bow into the fire because he caught me trying to sneak Allison back one of the posters he took.

"To the best of our ability, Ma'am." Allison speaks up, which is at least true, Vanya supposes, but she's using her Doll-voice that makes her sound a bit dead, and it doesn't make Vanya want to scream any less.

"Splendid. Get in, then." She. waved, opening the car door a bit wider for them. They all stared at her a bit blankly, and she took a measured breath. "Oh, Children, I understand that this is all very sudden and confusing, but we really don't have time to dawdle." Nothing. They didn't move- Vanya wasn't sure they could. Was it physically possible, for them to just....Leave the academy?

The woman sighed, looking a bit frustrated, but it didn't phase any of them much. They knew anger as well as they knew how to count.

"Okay." She says slowly, putting a hand up. "How about this; the drive is very long, children. If you get in the car without making a fuss, I'll answer some of your questions during the drive."

Five perked up at that, she saw in the corner of her eye, and then a familiar flash of neon blue, and they were gone. A moment later, they poked their head out of the seat of the car and raised an impatient eyebrow.

If Five trusted it, Vanya trusted it too. She scrambled in and sat next to them, watching with amusement as Allison had to actually drag Luther and Diego away from the gate and into the car. It was both amusing and sad, but Klaus's snort when he got in and saw Allison laying across the boys to keep them seated made her lean more towards amusing.

"Who are you?" Five asked, the instant the engine started. The woman looked over her shoulder in the passenger's seat- there must be someone else driving, but Vanya hadn't seen who.

"Um. Joan. Joan Darling." She said slowly, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I suppose I forgot to tell you."

"No." Five shook their head, glaring at the woman and shifting closer to Vanya. "Who are you? Who do you work for?"

"Child Protections Services." She answered, sounding more then a bit bewildered. "I'm your social worker. Who do you think I am?"

"Well, I wasn't quite sure." They scoffed. "That's why I asked. Can you prove it?"

"Prove...That I'm your social worker?" She shrugged. "I guess not. I could show you your file?" She offered.

They frowned, obviously not entirely satisfied, but made impatient grabby hands for it anyway. Still looking befuddled, she gave them a manila folder that they leafed through, squinting at it, before handing it back.

"Where are you taking us?" They asked next, and everyone settled silently into their seats. Five could take a while, when they were allowed to just ask questions, and everyone was awareone else would get a word in edgewise. She was pretty sure Klaus was already drifting off for a nap. She hoped she was relaxed enough to do that- she was tired.

"Wayne Manor, in Gotham." The social worker answered, beaming smile overpowering every other emotion on her face. "Y'know, Mr.Wayne hired me himself for your case."

"Oh did he?" Five asked, not sounding nearly as excited about the news as the woman was. Vanya yawned and rested her head on Five's shoulder.

If they were going all the way to Gotham, she could totally get a few hours of sleep in.

--

Klaus thought maybe, just maybe, life would be better now that they had gotten away from dad.

Then they rolled up to a manor almost eerily similar, but for the gothic aesthetic and much, much older vibe. Like there was something rotting inside.

Hesitantly, he gets out of the car- behind Allison and in front of Five, on reflex, though the little shit quickly caught themself and blinked to the front of the line- and when he looks up, there is a very pretty guy with kind eyes and a comforting smile, and something desperate in Klaus wants to scream trust, safe, things will be better.

And then he looks just a bit behind the man, and sees two floating corpses, twisted and contorted, and is distinctly annoyed at himself for being naïve enough go clean, listening to Ben's lecture about 'turning over a new leaf'.

He'd been here for maybe a minute, and he already wanted a shot. Not a great sign.

"Hey there!" Pretty-man greeted, all but bouncing down the steps to greet them. "Ms.Darling, a pleasure. I trust your drive was safe?"

"And uneventful, Mr.Grayson." The social worker nodded. "I'll be back in two weeks for a wellness check. If that's all..?" She trailed off questioningly. The man's smile widened, somehow, and he waved her off.

"Oh, you've done plenty Ms.Darling, thank you. It's always a pleasure."

"The pleasure is mine, you're aware." She returns politely, but her smile is more genuine then the rest of them, almost affectionate. "You take care of everyone, yes?"

"Don't I always?" He laughed, a truly beautiful sound if Klaus said so himself. "You can wait in the car. Kids, can you help me with the bags?" He asked, finally turning to face all of them with wide, curious eyes.

Luther stepped forward immediately, of course, and Diego was barely a step behind him. Five twitched like they wanted to blink, but didn't, just pushed themself in front of the first two boys. It was a little surprising, but not very. Five had always been really particular and possessive over their stuff. they were pulling things out before the trunk had even open all the way.

"Anything you all need help with?" Mr.Grayson offered, watching from a few feet back. They looked between one another and the trunk with considering looks, but ultimately shook their heads. They didn't trust Mr.Grayson as far as they- as far as Vanya could throw him, even if he was pretty.

Luther heaved a few more suitcases then a kid- a person, really- should be able to carry, but Mr.Grayson seemed to take it in stride.

"Cool, if you say so. I guess I'll show you to your rooms, then, and we can do introductions to whoever is in the manor, if you're feeling up to it." He told them, turning on his heel and heading back up the stairs. They followed, trying and mostly-failing to minimize the ruckus made by all the luggage. Maybe it was a good thing that Dad destroyed all their shit, actually.

"Whoever is in the manor?" Ben asks, quiet enough that Klaus isn't sure that Mr.Grayson heard him until his electric blue eyes cut to Ben at the back of their gaggle. "Shouldn't you- shouldn't you know who's in the manor?"

Mr.Grayson's expressions twisted a little, but he rolled his eyes and huffed instead of getting angry, which was surprising but nice.

"You would think." He agreed, turning forward again to keep walking. How many stairs were there, really? "But my siblings are notoriously hard to keep track of, and Bruce doubly so. I think he's....in New York right now? The state, not specifically the city. Probably." Mr.Grayson shrugged, ringing the doorbell.

"Do you seriously not have a key?" Five scoffed. Mr.Grayson didn't say anything, but he leaned down and picked a key up from under the rug to show Five before putting it back and stand back up. Almost as if on queue, the door swung open.

"Master Dick." An old British butler greeted, looking around the man to stare at the seven of them. "Am I right to assume these are Master Wayne's latest charges?"

Dick nodded. "The Umbrella Academy, they were called. Can you believe?" He laughed, walking the seven of them into a wide opening hall, a closet concealed to their immediate left until he presses something on the wall and it opens. He takes off his shoes and sweater, and gestures for them to follow suit.

"An odd name." The butler nods, though Klaus would swear he saw the man twitch. He took his shoes off- none of them were really wearing multiple layers, it was summer. A good thing too, because Summer in Gotham was apparently sweltering. Why and how was Grayson even in a long-sleeved shirt, even if it was thin, and the Manor was a bit colder then outside?

"Exactly! Makes you wonder if that Reginald guy was batty." He said with a strange teasing tone.

Klaus definitely saw the butler twitch, that time. Just as two more ghosts walked through a wall and froze, giving them all very strange looks.

It made Klaus shiver. Not a great sign at all.

Something was wrong here and, by some cosmic joke, he was the only one that could hope to know what. Ugh.

--

"And this," Their tour guide- who exactly was he again?- smiled, flaring his arms out and standing in front of a hallway, "Is where all of you will be staying. We weren't really sure if you'd all want your own rooms or whatever, so I told Tim to ask Alfred to tell Bruce to tell me to tell you that we'd just give you the hallway and let you sort yourselves out. Four bedrooms on either side and a bathroom at the end of the hall. I booked my whole day until dinner to show you around and get you a bit more comfortable, so I'll be right over here if you need any help unpacking, or just wanna ask questions or whatever." The guy nodded, leaning against the wall at the mouth of the hallway and waving them in with a smile Diego didn't trust one bit.

He almost hesitates to walk forward, wary of a trap or test or something, but Luther doesn't hesitate so Diego scowls and doesn't either. The rest follow close behind, with Five at the back eyeing the guy suspiciously. 

They all stand a little awkwardly in the middle of the hall, realizing at approximately the same time that their old hallway had been seven rooms on one wall, not four on each- they couldn't just sort themselves like they did before.

"..Number order?" Allison suggested, more out of obligation then desire by her expression. Luther purses his lips and starts to nod.

"Ugh, do we have to?" Klaus whined obnoxiously, sticking to Ben like glue. "No offense, but I don't want to be stuck between the aspiring pop star and the muttering maniac again! Sleep is hard enough as it is."

Allison and Five glare at Klaus, who not-so-subtly hides a bit behind Ben.

"You-" Five starts, voice scathing with an insult doubtlessly on their tongue, but they throw a glance at the guy at the edge of the hallway. "Raise an excellent point, F- Klaus." That claim alone raised all of their eyebrows, and seemed to physically hurt Five to say, but they continued like the tactless bastard they've always been. "Mr.Grayson said we were allowed to organize ourselves as we please. Practically, I see no reason we'd have to go by numbers."

Diego got that shiver down his spine- the one he always got when Five was up to something and no one was quite sure what, yet. He ignored it, knowing as well as anyone that there wasn't much else he could do about it.

"Really?" Klaus asked, perking up. "Then I want to be next to Ben and no one else."

"You're still going to be across from someone." Ben pointed out, but didn't object. Klaus didn't seem to hear, grabbing his hand and running to the end of the hallway, standing in front of one of the doors and pushing Ben torwards the one next to him.

Allison scowled. "No. Absolutely not." She stomped over to Klaus, coming to a stop accross from him. "There is no way that you're going to be a single hair closer to the bathroom then me, you pampered weasel."

Diego snorted. If nothing else, at least he wouldn't have to put up with her next door anymore. He walked in the other direction, taking the first door to the left of the entrance. If anything happened, he'd be first in line to respond.

Speaking of firsts....his eyes trailed to Luther, who was looking between the door next to Allison and the door across from Diego with an expression so conflicted Diego snorted.

"C-can I...." Vanya piped up, quiet as a mouse, but sudden enough that they all turned to her. She paused when she realized they were all looking at her, hands starting to fidget, but continued anyway. "Can I have the room next to Five?"

Five blinked at the question, looking away from their weird assessing look at the guy that was now playing on his phone.

"Yeah. Of course." They nodded, like it was the most obvious answer in the world. They went to the door besides Ben, leaving Vanya with the door across from Diego and Luther with a mouth hanging wide enough to catch flies.

"Now, wai-" The blonde started, frowning, before being cut off by a whine.

"Luther! C'mere, you get the room next to mine!" Allison commanded, crossing her arms.

"I don't-" He tried again, hand flexing.

"Do you not want to be next to me?" She challenged, with that dangerous face that they all knew meant there was a right answer the question. One of those expressions she picked up from Dad, over the years. For better or worse, they all had at least one of those.

"No!" Luther assured instantly. Allison raised her eyebrow, expecting either a concession or a valid argument.

She got the former, of course. Luther slinked over to the door across from Ben with a very put out expression, and Diego counted not laughing as his good-deed-for-the-day.

Chapter Text

"You got that all sorted out?" Dick smiled, looking up from his family group chat to look at the kids. He'd obviously been keeping an ear on them, but he acted like he didn't, glad to let them do their own thing. From what he'd heard- and seen, with how cautious they were of 'not being in number order'- They could do with more freedom in their lives.

The blonde- Luther nodded briskly, placing the last of their bags into their rooms. "Yes sir. What next?"

Dick's eye twitched at the formal address, but didn't comment. They'd work on that later. Instead, they looked carefully at all of the kids. He'd already started mental profiles on them, of course, but they hadn't given him a whole lot to work with. These kids obviously have a million preconceived ideas about billionaire 'parents' and mansions and kids, and Bruce literally broken the 1st rule of raising child soldiers- don't leave the child soldiers in charge of the other child soldiers.

At least he has Alfred.

On first impression, Luther is eager to please, Diego doesn't want to be here, Allison reminds him of himself, Klaus is terrified, the unnamed one (why was he the only one still going by a number?) is paranoid and protective, Ben is cautious, and Vanya is doing all she can to pretend she doesn't exist.

In other words, Dick thinks these poor kids will fit right in. Eventually. Right now, though, they were supposed to finish the tour now and then go to dinner, but....Dinner was going to be stressful, no two ways about it, and it had already been had a long day. He could throw them a bone.

"We'll go over rules real quick. Let you ask some questions, if you want." Several of them not-so-subtly glanced at the second shortest boy that he didn't get a name for. He hid his amusement and pretended not to notice. "Then you can all unpack your stuff and wait until either Alfred or I come and get you for dinner, at seven o' clock. You'll meet whoever happens to here then. And probably Stephanie, because she seemed really excited to meet you all."

"Oh, is she a fan?" Allison asked, voice honey sweet in a sickeningly familiar way. She sounded like a socialite. Dick nearly sharpened his smile on instinct alone, which probably wouldn't go over well.

"Of.....sorts?" He shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. She probably just wants to meet you so she can tease Bruce about doubling his amount of legal kids overnight with the rest of us."

He got various looks of confusion at the comment, but any follow up questions were cut off by the second-shortest boy.

"The rules?" He prompted impatiently.

"Right. Well, uh, there's a lot, and I'm sure Tim or Jason has them written down somewhere, but I'll go over the most important ones. No fighting in the manor- if you have to, go out back."

"Are fights that common?" The boy scowled suspiciously. Dick managed to stop from laughing, but didn't hold back a sharp smile.

"You'd be surprised." He admitted, because hiding things from these kids would be hard enough. "Next is always listen to Alfred. It should really be first, though, it's certainly the most important- I know it sounds a bit weird, but trust me. Whatever he says goes."

"What about Mr.Wayne?" Luther speaks up agian, confusion clear on his face.

"Well, yeah, him too. But Alfred's gonna be the one telling you what to do more with how busy Bruce is, and the one who can and will actually do things about it if you don't listen to him." Is what Dick ends up saying, instead of the hundred snarks and scoffs (what about Mr.Wayne?) at the thought of Bruce having much authority over the manor at all. While they were all hilarious because Dick is hilarious, he knows that he shouldn't be actively telling the seven new kids Bruce adopted not to listen to him. Might makes some problems. "Besides that....No weapons in the manor. Don't touch anything in Bruce's study. No drugs or cigarettes or anything of the sort in the manor. Don't leave the Manor without telling someone. Try not to break stuff. And no murder, under any circumstances. We do non-lethal self-defense training to help whenever we get kidnapped, and you don't have to join, but you probably should. There's a lot of 'don't get caught' rules, but, again, that'll be something Tim or Jason'll have. Or Alfred, of course."

Honestly he's been silently cursing Bruce for taking in so many at once- it was bound to end terribly.

He knew, though, that the only thing that could possibly make him angrier would be if he had left the super-powered kids to fend for themselves in the foster system.

Bruce Wayne, the collector of lesser evils. Dick should make him a tacky trophy or something.

Chapter Text

Ten minutes after Dick leaves them with nothing but a warning for dinner, Ben's siblings all silently pile into his room. None of them had all that much to unpack, after Dad quite literally tore through their belongings, so the quick time was more depressing then impressive.

As he closes the door, Ben can't help but wonder why meetings always happened in his room.

"SitRep?" Luther said- probably meant to be an order, but it came out too unsure. They all nodded anyway, even Vanya, who may or may not actually know how to do a SitRep. It was honestly weird, how much they'd been including her recently. Like having an extra finger grafted onto a hand. Ben was happy for it, obviously, more then glad to see more of his sister, but it would still take some getting used to. No longer sitting beside Luther in a circle, no longer being the quietest one in the room, occasionally catching her eye with a shared emotion that leaves them both a little surprised. A weird sort of nice, but nice all the less.

"We've been adopted by Bruce Wayne. In Gotham, thousands of miles away from the academy. That guy, Grayson, has enough authority to get us from the social worker in Wayne's steed. There's another guy named Alfred who's apparently the real one giving orders in the house. And...he has kids?" Diego started, eager at first to start but quickly losing momentum as he realizes how little he knows about the situation.

"Dick Grayson is his kid." Allison picks up smoothly. "His first one, before any of us were even born. I read up on them in gossip rags and stuff. He had some big blow-out fight with Wayne and got emancipated just to move to the other side of the country when he was, like, a teenager. Bruce picked Jason Todd up from the street a few months later, and kept him for a few years before.....something happened and Jason was reportedly dead. All the details were murky. Timmy Drake- probably the Tim that Dick mentioned- was a few years later, Bruce's neighbor's rich kid that he took in when they both died. Cassie Wayne wasn't long after that, but there was surprisingly little material on her. No one ever saw her at Galas, and there are theories that she may not actually exist. Damian Wayne is a surprise blood-son that appeared a few years ago, but stories on his mother are inconsistent. Duke happened very recently. after his parents got Joker Gassed and Bruce was there or something? He only appeared at his first Gala a month ago, and I haven't had time to get caught up on the rags." She outlined.

"There's ghosts." Klaus whispered, clutching his sleeve and shooting a paranoid look around. Ben shifted, wishing he sat next to Klaus instead of Five, who cautiously scooted away. At least Allison put a hand on his shoulder, slowly starting to rub circles in it sympathetically. Klaus licked his lips and elaborated. "That Dick guy- he had two just. Following him around. They....They didn't seem angry, at least, but that doesn't always mean they aren't. So much for transparency, right?" Klaus tried to joke, only getting a few pity laughs from Diego and Ben. He didn't seem to care either way. "I saw.....two more, but I think there's more. I don't know how, but I just know." He insisted, hands shaking even as he clutched them together, and he groaned. "Shit. I need a drink."

"Wayne is the one who pressed charges against Reginald." Five claims. Their confidence in such a wild claim would be absurd, from anyone else, but it's Five, and no one questions their propositions until they're at least done speaking. It generally doesn't end well for anyone involved. "The charges wouldn't have stuck if it was someone Reginald could bribe or threaten. There's only a handful of people in the country with that kind of pull that aren't Superheroes, and a Superhero wouldn't risk their secret identity for a bunch of kids they probably don't have time to watch anyway. Bruce Wayne is definitely on that list. He has a propensity for adopting children. Grayson was very familiar with Darling, like they'd known each other for a long time."

"He's.....more important then Dad." Ben observes aloud, stomach starting to sink as he realized some things. "He got all of us in Gotham, a place even Dad wouldn't let us go to for a few years because it was so dangerous and generally disapproving of metas. Mr.Wayne had to have gotten us all for a reason, and he can do anything to us. We need to know how his other kids feel about him. What side they're on. Dick seemed nice, like he cared. Maybe some of the Wayne kids could be allies."

Not siblings. Not family. They already had all of that, they didn't need any more. Personally, six siblings is more then enough for Ben. Everyone in the circle on his bed nodded at the proposal, even Five. Slowly they all turned their attention to Vanya. It was her turn to offer information, though she might now know.

"Aflred?" She eventually offered, when she realized what they were waiting on. "That's important. We need to find out who Alfred is. If he's really in charge, and if so, why. That'd....be a good start at least, right?"

Nods all around had Vanya relaxing, a bit of pride tugging up the corners of her lips. Five nodded at her, and Ben patted her leg reassuringly.

"Right." Luther said aloud, only making Vanya's smile widen further. "So what do we know about the guy?"

"Grayson said that listening to Alfred is literally the most important thing to do. That Alfred....knows everything, somehow. Sounds weird, but he's been here the longest, so he'd be the one to know." Diego tilted his head. "Maybe the guy's a meta?"

"Maybe." Ben pursed his lips. "We don't know. We can circle back to it tomorrow or something."

A short silence, the helplessness of the situation creeping into their skin again. Ben shivered. Allison groaned.

"I think we're all overthinking this." She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Mr.Wayne isn't here right now, for one reason or another. He travels a lot. He's not super responsible, from what I've read. All we really know is that this Alfred guy keeps the rules. Just don't break any until we get a feel for him and see what his deal is. Easy."

"Did everyone get the rules?" Luther checked, looking over each of them carefully. Not a single one of them was impressed by the gesture.

"Yes, number One, We understood the rules that we heard a few hours ago. Of which there were eight. Honestly, What do you take us for?" Diego scoffed, taking upmost offense. Not even Allison reprimanded him.

"Good." Luther grit his teeth, visiably deciding not to let Diego start a fight over this. The restraint was surprising, and certainly wouldn't last long. Leaving the Academy had hurt the two of them more then anyone else, and they were bound to end up, as always, working it out with a 'friendly spar'.

"They...There was a lot to stop violence." Vanya observed quietly. Allison rumored Diego and Luther quickly to get their attention back on track, nodding at Vanya with an encouraging smile. "It....Out of Eight total rules, Three of them were prohibiting different kinds of violence. It's weird, right?"

"Hella weird." Klaus mumbled, tilting his head up to be better heard but not opening his eyes. Either his head really hurt or there was something he didn't want to see. Ben would probably put his bet on an unhealthy mix of both. "Especially the murder thing. Why would they need to specify?"

"Um. I mean." Ben started, suddenly very uncomfortable. "That could just be because we. Ya'know. Have...done that. Sometimes. So they were just....Making sure we knew."

No one spoke for a very awkward minute, and Ben held his breathe to stay calm.

"He did stress the 'under any circumstances'." Five finally spoke up, tapping their fingers curiously, and Ben gave a sigh of relief. "'Including kidnapping', he said. That is strange." They agreed, though now for an entirely different reason.

"Wait. Do you think they're like...scared of us?" Allison asked, eyes wide. "That they think we're dangerous?"

"We are dangerous." Diego scoffed. "But they don't have a reason to be afraid of us. We've never hurt civilians."

Five scowled. "This all makes no damn sense." They seethed, fingers speeding up in their rhythm.

"We'll make it make sense." Allison assured them all, eyes hard and expression set, like they were on a mission. "One step at a time."

--

Chapter Text

Vanya felt, acutely, like her heart had traveled up her throat and into her head. Her skull seemed like a balloon ready to pop, every beat of her heart echoed and roared in her ears, and the only coherent thought she could hold onto was that now absolutely is NOT the time for this.

"Oh!" A far too cheery voice chimed, sending a new stab through her skull, "Go on and sit; No reason to wait around getting hungrier." She waited until she heard her her siblings pull out chairs until she followed the direction, squeezing her eyes shut against the evil noise. The voice- Dick?- waited until they were seated to continue. "Cool. Now, I feel that introductions are in order?"

"Um. They are?" A more familiar voice- Allison- responded, sounding confused. She cleared her throat quickly, though, covering her confusion with a quick laugh. "They are! Of course. We can go first?" She offered.

"Start with her." A second unfamiliar voice requested, and she couldn't help but be thankful that it was quieter. Then it got too quiet, all around, and Vanya braced herself and opened her eyes, more then a little grateful for the low lighting, even if it was a little creepy. Confused by the uncomfortable silence she looked to Five, who nodded quickly at the only woman. Sluggishly she dragged her eyes up, noticing far too slowly that everyone was looking at-

"Me?" She squeaked, wincing at the pain of her own voice echoing in her head. The woman nodded, eyes burning with curiosity, and she took a deep breathe. It was just a headache, she'd be fine. Her siblings dealt with way worse all the time and didn't complain, and right now they needed her to not mess up. She was good at not messing up, not that anyone really bothered to notice.

"If you don't mind." Dick, sitting only a seat over, was quick to assure. She kinda did mind, but she doubted it was actually a choice, so she shook her head. He pursed his lips. "If you're sure, I guess. But I think I'll go first- really, it was rude of me not to do it earlier. Sorry. Lets see..." He tilted his head back and forth, thinking something over, before his smile widened into something blinding, and she averted her eyes back to the curious teen. "I'm Dick Grayson, older brother of at least five. I like flying on the trapeze, watching Disney movies, and spending time with the people I care about. I dislike people being mean to my family, Bruce when he's being a bastard, and not being able to help people. My favorite color is blue, and my favorite animal is an elephant." He introduced. She looked back to him to offer a timid nod, but her head was spinning with all the information she was in too much pain to really process.

"Do I have to say...all of that?" She asked warily, licking her lips. The woman shook her head easily, encouraging smile a strange contrast to her eyes as they glimmered with intruige.

"Nah, not if you don't want to. You can say anything you want! That's all just what I wanted to say." Dick assured, picking up his fork to take a bite of mashed potatoes. The young boy sitting beside him seemed to take this as a cue to start his own meal, but every other Wayne had already started eating. She wondered if she could get away with not eating her mashed potatoes. They would not do any favor for her nauseating headache.

"I'm Vanya." She whispered in her naturally quiet voice, sitting up straighter. She could speak up if she needed to, but she wouldn't unless someone asked. She really hoped no one asked. "Number Seven. I- I'm ordinary, so I'm not allowed on missions, so that's why you probably didn't know about me. If you were curious." She wanted to stop there, but it felt wrong. Dick had said likes and dislikes. She should probably do that too, right? Should she say she didn't like Mashed potatoes? What if she got in trouble for being rude about the meal, though? "Um. I...Don't like oatmeal. But I do like playing Violin."

She gave it another second of thought, but the teen across from her grinned, so she cautiously sat back and hoped it was good enough.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Vanya." The woman says, and she's sure that her siblings are giving her the same wide-eyed look that Vanya was, to one extent or another. Did she just....use her name? No other human besides each other had ever done that. No one at all but Pogo and Mom. It was either numbers with Dad, or the 'code names' that Dad gave them with everyone else. This- it sounded...weird. Good? But weird.

The woman furrowed his brow, glancing around the table, between their shocked faces and the Wayne's probably-confused ones. "Did I say something wrong?"

Allison giggled, high pitched enough that Vanya had to bite her lip on a pained hiss. "Oh! No, it's fine. Don't worry about it." She waved a dismissive hand. The Wayne's didn't stop looking varying levels of curious and concerned, though, and an awkward silence stretched again.

"Violin, you said?" The kid sitting between the woman and Dick asked, not looking up as he cut up the asparagus on his plate. He looked about their age, actually, which she somehow didn't expect. She nodded on reflex. Her head did not appreciate the gesture, and her vision swam with the motion. Ugh. "You'll be pleased to note that we have one in the solarium, then. And Pennyworth is accommodating to dietary restrictions, so you have nothing to worry about."

The tension in the room broke as the conversation moved on. She gave the kid a small thankful smile, and he nodded back in acknowledgement. She couldn't help but be a bit jealous of the effortless movement.

"Well, aren't you downright pleasant today?" The man at the end of the table snorted around a mouthful of food. The kid's eyes cut sharply to the man with a glare, hands tightening on his silverware. The teen sitting to the man's right looked distinctly like he no longer wanted to be there, but the woman gave what looked like a laugh, though Vanya couldn't hear it.

"Right." The uncomfortable teen cleared his throat, glancing between the man and the younger boy- "Cool. Next?" He prompted looking back the the five of them.

She put her tongue to the roof of her mouth to try and quell the nausea. Honestly, the end of dinner couldn't come quicker, even if Five had been covertly picking away at her mashed potatoes.

--

"Me! Diego and Luther demanded at the same time. Beside them, Vanya couldn't suppress a whimper, and Five reluctantly ignored it, fork returning to his plate for the last time. The last thing she needed was the attention of the room drawn back to her.

"I'm Number One, I go first." Luther insisted, trying to keep his voice level.

"Vanya already went first. By that logic it's my turn, because I'm Two so I go second!" Diego argued. Five sighed, mentally apologizing to Vanya as they spoke over both of them.

"I'm Number Five. I don't like listening to these idiots argue over stupid things, or being told I'm wrong when I'm obviously right, or being told what to do by people who have no idea what they're talking about." They goaded, obviously confrontational. They could feel the incredulous looks of their siblings- not to mention the downright venomous glare from Allison, always the people pleaser- and stoutly ignored them all, sitting forward, almost daring a reprimand.

At least One- Luther and Diego weren't arguing anymore.

The man at the end of the table- who they could only assume is Jason Todd- laughed, giving them an intrigued look. "I like your spunk, kid!" He claimed, putting down his silverware and resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward. Five didn't back down, leaning forward in turn, though their hands remained beneath the table. "Any chance you have a name?" He prodded, and Five bristled.

"Yes. My name is Number Five." They insisted, eyes narrowing in outright challenge. The list of things they'd start a fight over is long but extremely circumstantial. Their name was one of the things they always stood their ground on.

"Huh." Probably-Jason propped his arm upright on the table, resting his chin on it. "For real?" He pressed.

"Yes." Five all but hissed.

Jason studied them another moment, and ultimately shrugged. "Fair enough then, Five. Is there anything you actually like, or is it just a list of complaints in that head of yours?"

"It might be. I don't like zombies that ask too many questions." They scoffed, still a bit bitter about how quickly this guy found one of their softer spots. If anyone tried to make them change their name, they would tear the mansion down. They crossed their arms and tilted their chin up in outright challenge, ignoring the feeling of their siblings eyes on them as it intensified. Vanya placed a comforting hand on their thigh. They didn't look at her, but they didn't shake it off, either.

The silence didn't stretch nearly as long as the last one, broken quickly by another laugh from Jason, who looked almost manic in his delight. The boy their age a few seats down from him snorted as well. Even Dick looked more exasperated then upset, as did the teen beside Jason. Five had the distinct impression that their taunt hadn't had the provocative effect they were going for. They tried not to feel too wrong footed as they remembered Dick's earlier words.

Jason's going to like you far too much, Dick had claimed, seeming distantly horrified, and Five wondered again what the hell that meant.

"I prefer reverent, actually." Jason shrugged good naturally, looking at them again, but the manic glint hadn't left his eyes. "I damn well earned it, after digging myself out of the dirt and all."

"Is that so?" Five asked, rolling their eyes as they remembered Dick's earlier warning of tall tales. Quickly, they caught sight of the youngest and the woman were signing to each other as they ate, but he didn't seem to notice. curiously it didn't seem to be American Sign Language, but it was probably that they just couldn't see it well enough out of the corner of their eye. When they looked back to the man, his smile had sharpened.

"It is. So, something you like?" He prodded again.

"Do I have to be honest?" They asked, but the man's pleased disposition didn't falter.

"It's only fair." He claimed. Five narrowed their eyes.

"Were you honest?" They pressed, because another thing they disliked is being lied to.

Jason adopted a dramatic pose, the hand not supporting his head covering his heart, and adopted a faux-offended tone. "Why would I lie about my death? It was very traumatic." He said. If it wasn't for his smirk, they would have believed him- he sounded very genuine. Further down the table, the youngest scoffed. Five raised an eyebrow, more then willing to wait the man out.

At least, until Vanya squeezed their thigh, and they couldn't help but notice her uneven breathing. Their pride was worth a lot, but not any of their sibling's outright pain, which Vanya was clearly in.

"I like math." They conceded, the words feeling like pulled teeth as they came out. they brought  their hands back under the table and rested them on Vanya's, and her slowly-tightening grip relaxed.

"See? Was that so-" Jason started, but his mocking purr was cut off by the distinct sound of a door opening.

"Elbows, Master Jason." Alfred scolded from the doorway, and it was like a switch flipped- Jason sat up straight and moved his elbows off the table, a shining example of table ettiquite. Five felt unease creep down their back at the automatic response, the clear demonstration of power, and looked at the doorway before they could dwell too much.

Alfred stood straight as he waved waving Ben and Klaus inside under Five's- and no doubt the rest of their sibling's- critical eye. They looked fine, though. Well- Klaus still looked pale and wouldn't raise his eyes from his feet, but he didn't look like he was about to collapse or anything either. He was barely even shaking. A marked improvement.

Ben waved hesitantly at them, clearly uncomfortable with all the eyes, and pulled Klaus by the hand to the table. There was a seat empty between Five and Allison, but instead they sat on the other side of Vanya, leaving Klaus across from Jason.

"All washed up?" The woman- either the 'Cassie' that Allison mentioned earlier or the 'Steph' that Dick warned about, Five supposed- asked, with a bit too much suspicion for comfort.

Klaus nodded timidly, quite possibly not even hearing the question. Were there really that many ghosts in the room? What the hell?

"Yes ma'am." Ben claimed, actually looking at her. She very clearly didn't buy any of their bull, which Five very much did not like, but she didn't say anything either, so it was probably something to be addressed later.

At least all of their siblings were here, Five mentally noted with relief that almost made them slump in their chair. Whatever they were going to face- at this dinner, but also in general- they'd prefer to face it with their siblings.

Chapter Text

"I'm Diego. Number Two." Diego rushed out, before Luther could get a word in edgewise. "I like-"

"I heard a rumor you waited your turn politely." Allison hissed, glaring at Diego. The rumor was masked by a well placed napkin wiping her lips and only barely audible, and her demeanor instantly softened into something closer to how she was when they did press releases. What was she...? Oh, she was nodding at him. Oh!

"I'm Number One, Luther. I like training and missions. I dislike most time wasted not working on either of those things." He introduced, the words as practiced on his tongue as his perfect posture. There's a tense silence at the table, and Allison smiles in the way that means she's scared. She's been trying so well to make sure their first impressions went well. He couldn't ruin that for her. "Um...I like space, too. And old music." He expanded, dusting off the proud-but-friendly smile he used in interviews. This kind of was like an interview, if he thought about it right.

"Space is cool." Dick nodded from across Luther. "We're gonna have to take you to the observatory some time. There's probably some records and a record player somewhere in the manor, right Alfred?" He called over his shoulder.

"Certainly, Master Dick. I'll search it out tomorrow." The butler- Mr.Pennyworth- nodded.

"It's no rush." Luther assured quickly. The last thing he wanted was to be seen as asking for rewards he hadn't even earned yet.

"Regardless. If you do not want it, I'm sure it will find a place in the library." Mr.Pennyworth insisted. Luther still felt a bit uncomfortable, but nodded. Arguing would be worse then getting stuff he hasn't earned yet, right?

(There was a reason he tended to leave socially delicate matters to Allison and, on occasion, Klaus.)

"We've also got a gym room you can keep training in, if you really want." Dick carried the conversation forward, a little....hesitantly? "But you guys won't be going on missions anymore. Sorry bud."

"We- what?" Luther blinked, honestly not registering the words Dick had spoken.

"You won't be going on missions anymore. None of you." Dick repeated, more firmly. There was a long silence, so quiet they could all hear-

"Really?" Ben whispered, from the other end of the table.

"Really. Promise." Dick nodded.How- how were they supposed to react to that?

Ben didn't move, but Klaus threw his arms up and cheered. Five scowled, and Allison tried not to react at all. Diego had froze completely.

"You can't promise that." Luther scowled, staring the man in front of him down. "You can't. What about the apocalypse?"

The question draws the attention of the whole Wayne family.

"The what?" asked the only Wayne that hadn't spoken up yet; a tired teenager who'd so far seemed more then content to leave the talking to everyone else.

"The apocolypse." Luther repeated, sitting up a little straighter. A little prouder. "The one we are training to stop."

"Well, that sounds like something we tell Bruce to tell Mr.Gordon to tell Batman to talk to the Justice Leauge about, then." Dick shrugs, not taking the situation nearly seriously enough. Just like that, the rest of the Waynes nod and are content to go back to their dinners and quiet conversations.

"They can't do anything! Dad said it would have to be us. It's why we were born!" Luther insisted.

Dick shook his head, like- like Luther was some child to be placated. "You'd be surprised to find there's very little the Justice League can't do, kid. They'll talk to Hargreaves, try to figure something out. Your assisance would be the last of last resorts, trust me."

"We have-" Luther starts, going to punch the table in his anger, but his arm is grabbed before it can make contact. He freezes and looks at the contact point. Quickly, his eyes follow the well manicured hand up to Allison's pleading face, and closes his mouth. This conversation was not over, but....

He couldn't ruin tonight for Allison.

(She was still scared.)

"I know it's a big ask." Dick sighs, when Luther stays silent. "You guys are going through a lot right now, and probably aren't used to trusting anyone else. I wouldn't be surprised if Hargreaves had told to you distrust the Justice League specifically. But....Well. If nothing else, I promise that the people in this house? We'll do everything we can to keep you guys safe. And I've never met anyone as stubborn and resourceful and protective as my family. More then any superhero or vigilante or whatever, you can trust that." Dick said. He was still smiling, but there was something....sharper about it. Something heavier about the way he was talking. "And- I do appreciate your worry, Luther. It's only natural to want to help, especially when you think you can. Maybe we can see if there's somewhere else you could help? Volunteering, or something."

"I- Maybe. Maybe that'd be nice. Thanks." Luther stuttered, torn between conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he couldn't imagine doing anything but fighting for what he believed in, for the world he wanted, but....It sounded a little absurd, when Dick laid it out like that. Whenever dad thought he was doing something wrong, he was very cuttingly clear about it, but Dick....Wasn't that. And it didn't make him any less believable.

(And, maybe, in the back of his mind......Maybe "I do appreciate your worry, Luther" sounded much, much better then "You know better then that is expected of you, Number one.")

--

"-st think about it. Next?" Dick was saying, as Steph approached the door. Usually she'd be more then happy to kick it down, but the situation called for....a more delicate approach. At least, if those damn journals were anything to go by. She snuck in- sure to actually be sneaky, because they still weren't sure quite how well trained those umbrella kids were- and waited for a good time to enter the conversation from her perch in the shadowed ledge above the fireplace.

"I'm Diego. Number Two." Said the boy sitting a little to the right of the middle of the table. Number Two....the one who could control metal in the air, and was trained to do so using his family and 'Grace' as target practice. The boy who was noted as defective because of a stutter, and kept in line by being pitted against "Number One". She wondered who the others were- she supposed that's what she got, for arriving late. Whatever, she could watch the footage later. " I like knives and Mom and training, but just those three things. I don't like losing or being told what to do by any of these jerks."He huffed, gesturing out towards his siblings. They looked varying degrees of amused and offended, but none of them really protest.

She would probably be some shade of amused as well, if she wasn't focused on-

"Mom?" he asks, frowning, and Diego nods but does not elaborate. some of the other kids are nodding along behind him but not elaborating. Dick puts a pin in that when Five glares at him.

"Okay. Well." Dick started, hesitance slight for a normal person but damning for the Grayson, "We've got a private gym you can use pretty much whenever downstairs, and knives shouldn't be a big deal unless you intend to hurt anyone with them. But.....Mom?" He asks.

"Yeah. She's the best." Diego nods, very seriously. "She likes art."

None of the bats responded to that- of course not, why would they? Either they also made the immediate connection she did between a potential "Mom" figure for the kids and the creepy lady her and Cass saw sitting in that art room or, more likely, they were confused.

If she knew anything, from years and years of exposure (and assimilation), it's that hell hath no fury like a Bat confused.

Well. She was looking for an entrance opportunity. Few things were more timely then giving Bats a reason to avoid emotional confrontation......Which meant they couldn't hold her method against her too much. Especially when Bruce wasn't even here.

"Hey assholes!" She called, leaning out of the shadows and letting her face be illuminated by the fire behind her. Everyone snaps to attention, from Cass's friendly wave to Duke shaking his head pleadingly to the poor new kids looking terrified and jumping to battle stances. They'd be working on that, later. For now, she was content to cup her hands around her mouth, give a big smile, and shout the magic words into an atmosphere tense enough to cut with a batarang;

"THE FLOOR IS ACID!"