Chapter Text
"When did Dad start killing kids instead of just crushing their souls?"
"I died next door."
"No offense, but I shouldn't be able to," Klaus loosely gestures in front of himself, hang dragging through the air leisurely, "this."
"I'm not used to people seeing me either."
"It's kinda my thing, unfortunately."
Klaus sounds exasperated, mostly unbuttoned shirt flopping out to the side as he leans back. He sits down, cross legged, and props himself up by one arm.
"Klaus."
"Abgina."
Abgina ignores his outstretched hand. She subtly sets the book she was examining down on the desk behind her.
"Why are you here, exactly?" Klaus asks.
"This house is always empty, except for the monkey and robot lady and old guy. Now there's a bunch of weird looking people. I was curious. Didn't think anyone would be able to see me."
Abgina watches as Klaus snorts, letting his head tilt backwards. Klaus spends a few seconds staring at the ceiling before his face lolls forward again and the smile drops. His laugh lacks any sort of humor. His skin seems stretched to thin and the bags under his eyes are massive. His makeup looks nice.
"I like your skirt."
"Why thank ya. I stole it from my sister."
"Is this her room?"
Abgina's been in here before, several times, but she still doesn't understand why it's so much bigger than the other bedrooms. Some of them are clearly repurposed linen closets while this one could fit an entire kitchen. A rather frilly and poster filled kitchen.
"I don't usually use this much pink," Klaus offers. "Black is more my color."
He has a bracelet on his wrist. Looks like one from a hospital. Abgina can't make out the writing from where she's standing.
"So, what unfinished business do you have ghost child?"
"My business is all finished."
"Can't be, otherwise you'd have moved on already."
Abgina sighs dramatically and lifts up a hand to examine her nails.
"I wanted to finish my puzzle," she confesses. "My soul refuses to rest until I do."
"Must've been a good puzzle."
"You don't look like the type to know a good puzzle from a bad one."
Klaus puts a hand to his chest, eyes going overly wide and mouth agape. He looks like Abgina accused him of not knowing the difference between a car and a taco.
"How very dare you."
"In the minute I've known you, you haven't impressed me as a puzzle person." Abgina gestures at the skirt. "I do know you like thievery. That's a good trait in a puzzle maker."
"Oh, Allison won't mind," Klaus offers as he swings the fabric belt of the skirt too and fro. "It's too dated to be missed."
"Why are you here? I haven't seen you before."
"A bucket supposedly got kicked and I've gotta make sure it's true. Ah, an I need to steal everything from the attic. That," he says, "will be actual thievery."
"Why? And why the attic?"
"Drugs, and so no one notices before I get a chance to nab some more loot."
"Well I promise not to tell."
Klaus snorts and squints at Abgina. He has his chin on his hand.
"How did you die-no, no, let me guess." He lifts up his hands, making a square with his fingers and focusing on Abgina. "Unnaturally pale, brown eyes and hair-terrible hair cut by the way, you need a new barber-no visible wounds, no blood soaked into your clothes, old scars not new ones…I've got it, you were trampled by a rhino."
"Spot on."
Klaus stands up with a groan. He dusts off his skirt. It rains down like dandruff over the rug. Abgina makes sure to take a step back so there's no chance of the dust falling on her shoes.
"This has been fun but I needa go ahead an find a bar before any meaner ghosts show up."
"There's one in the living room. Kind of a weird spot for it." Klaus snorts.
"Not in this family."
Abgina's never met Klaus. She's heard about him and seen him in portraits along the halls but she's never spoken to him. Talked with him. Seen how he acts and holds himself and looks at the world. She's never met him. She's never met any of the Hargreeves children.
"You should steal from the library. There's a bunch of old expensive artifacts in there."
"Thanks for the tip," Klaus says as he opens the door.
"Master Klaus."
"Jeezus, you scared me half to death Pogo."
Abgina winces at the sight of him.
"The others need you downstairs."
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Klaus waves goodbye to Abgina half heartedly. "Have fun with your rhinos and puzzles. Gotta go deal with the land of the living."
He mutters something about not being high enough on his way out. Pogo and Abgina stand silently and listen to his footsteps. He stumbles around a lot. He sounds uneven as he walks. Abgina wonders if it's drugs, alcohol, sleep deprivation, or something else entirely. Maybe it's the unsteadiness that comes with starvation. He certainly didn't look healthy. Pogo shuts the door and the noise disappears.
"You were told to stay in your room."
"I knew Klaus wouldn't think I was real. I just wanted to talk to him before I met everyone."
Pogo peers over the edge of his glasses at Abgina. They barely count as glasses they're so small. They match his outfit and the cane in his hand. It's always so loud when he walks around, thick with a golden handle. Abgina wonders what else Reginald did to him, what other things Pogo needs to help him be function as a person when he wasn't born like one.
"I wouldn't have done it with anyone else. I promise."
"Your room Miss Abgina. Now."
Abgina turns around and quickly adjusts the book on the desk. Back in it's original spot. Like no one ever touched it at all. She exits the room with practiced caution and leaves the door open for Pogo. He doesn't follow. The hallway lacks any signs of other people. No Grace, no Reginald, no Umbrellas. Abgina avoids the main balconies that overlook the first floor entrance. If anyone else sees her she might not get to meet the others (Reginald wouldn't do that, right?).
Meeting Klaus was pushing it. Abgina knew meeting Klaus was pushing it but they have been here for hours-Abgina avoids the main balconies and gets to her room through more convoluted and obnoxious methods. She can stay on everyone's good side if she tries. She just has to put the effort in. It isn't to late to put the effort in.
Abgina has to force her door open, pushing hard against the piles stacked against it from the inside. She kicks some of it out the way once the gap's wide enough to slide in. The clattering noise of glass against itself is loud. This entire room is loud. Abgina steps through the trail she's hollowed out for herself and sits on the bed. It is the only place in the room not coated in glass. The walls have large glass shelves nailed to them with glass trinkets on top. The floor is piled high with it. There's even some on the ceiling. Chimes, strands of beads, mirror frames. Abgina grabs a hunk of it from the ground and runs her fingers along one of the cracks on its side.
She winces as she hears the door lock. She probably won't be meeting anyone today. Maybe Grace hasn't been told Abgina is in trouble and will let her out, not knowing any better. Pogo said they had a mission. Pogo said it was important. That's the only reason everyone would come back home. They have to deal with it and save the world. Probably the world. At least a continent. Abgina doubts everyone would've come back if it was anything less than a continent.
She examines the glass in her hands. The piece is clear but slightly tinted blue. The sphere has glitter inside, sort of resembling a snow globe. Abgina holds it in one hand and with the other she gently pull one part of the sphere up and away until it sort of resembles a neck. Then she forms a beak, two eyes, and a feathery texture. Nothing too complex, just lines suggesting depth. The bottom of the sphere shifts next. Two tubes come down before being thinned down and given three talons apiece. Abgina sharpens them until they draw blood when touched.
She pulls two wings out and up, stretching them every which way. Abgina used to craft the wings at the birds side but that was to awkward when they had to fly. Abgina makes sure the feathers are exact, particularly on the tips of the wings. They matter more than the body and head since they actually help the little thing fly. She finishes with the tail.
The bird looks nice. It reflects the mostly dim light coming from the ceiling. Abgina loves the shiny bits in it, floating around freely. She sets the bird down beside the bed. Several dozen rest around it. She starts to work on another bird. This time she uses an orange pyramid as a base.
There are only so many times someone can morph pieces of glass before you become so bored you want to shatter everything and wait around in the pieces. Reginald did not appreciate that approach. The first time he had rolled his eyes at Abgina but let her out of her room to train anyway. The second time he wouldn't leave or let her take a break until everything was back how it used to be. Reforging all the glass objects took hours. Reginald said it was her own fault. If she couldn't be bothered to break the things she broke why should he bother with her?
Abgina lifts up a new piece of glass. It's a stapler. There isn't anywhere to put the staples. Isn't that the sole purpose of a stapler? No wonder it ended up in here, Reginald got ripped off.
Abgina twitches slightly. There's a somewhat familiar noise in the hallway. It's not meant to be there. It was quiet and not just because she heard it through the solid wood door. It had a static quality to it and reminds Abgina of jello. It warbles and jiggles like jello does. The doorknob shakes. Abgina stands up, stapler in hand.
Grace doesn't make sounds like that and Abgina would've heard her heels coming. Reginald and Pogo would've known she was locked in. It's got to be someone else. Abgina hears the lock click and watches as the door is shoved forward. Someone mutters. Didn't expect the pile of glass. They shove the door again and this time the door opens enough for them to slip through.
There is a mildly disheveled and clearly annoyed child a few feet in front of Abgina. His brown hair is ruffled and gets worse as he drags a hand through it, moving his entire torso. He puts a lot of effort into the action. His brown eyes are calming down bit by bit but there's still an air of unease and an distinct lack of steadiness. The tilt of his nose, the superior look of in his eyes amidst the chaos, the way his eyebrows curve. He's just like the portrait above the fireplace.
Abgina throws the stapler at his face. The noise comes back and he disappears in a bout of blue light before reappearing a few feet to Abgina's right. The stapler hits against the wall uselessly.
Well Reginald is going to kill her.
"I thought you were a shapeshifter," Abgina admits, "but those can't teleport. Sorry."
Abgina just threw a stapler at Five. He's been missing for decades and she welcomes him back home with a stapler to the head.
"I didn't expect anything else." Five sounds matter of fact but his voice is edging towards amusement. "Do you want to take them?"
"How are you here?"
Abgina might as well get some answers before Reginald puts her six feet underground.
"I am going to explain once we get out of this damn room." Five kicks a piece of glass with his foot, sending it scattering a few feet away. He's glaring at it like the glass has personally offended him. "Do you want to take the birds?"
Why would he assume Abgina cares about the birds?
"We can leave them."
Five strides over and grabs Abgina's elbow before she can protest; not that she would protest. She threw something at him a moment ago and lost the moral high ground. She shuts her eyes as blinding blue light covers everything. She shoves her free hand over her mouth. Abgina can feel saliva gathering in her mouth and resists as breakfast from a few days ago tries to climb up her throat.
"Blipping was faster. You get used to it."
"Pogo's going to kill me."
Abgina winces. Not the greatest thing to say to the dead kid.
"I won't let him," Five answers, eerily casual. He has one hand in a pocket and the other is holding a sandwich. He gestures at the bed. "Sit down."
There's a few windows, blue walls, a bed, posters, and a desk. The desk has a toy train on it and the closet is stacked with things on top. There's a toy boat. The walls have a thin rectangle of wallpaper going around, between the painted wall and the wood paneling. A repeating pattern of children playing. It's Five's room. Abgina's only been here with Grace while Grace dusted. She told stories about him. Abgina wasn't allowed to touch anything.
"I already locked the door."
Abgina sits on the bed. Five tears the sandwich in half and offers one part to her. She takes it. Five stares at Abgina. She stares at Five. Abgina doesn't have a prepared script for this scenario. She had one for him coming back, of course, but this sandwich ordeal? She's got nothing. He nods his head toward the pieces of bread. Abgina hesitantly bites down on it, giving him plenty of time to tell her to stop. Five turns on his heel the second she takes a bite and starts to go through the closet. Guess eating was the right answer.
"What time period have you been in? It has to be recent, unless you intentionally switched to a baggy suit."
It looks terrible on him. Five looks over his shoulder and smiles. It's not the smug thing Abgina saw in the painting. It's softer than that.
"I told Delores you'd still be the same, still be sharp."
Abgina now has additional questions.
"Time travel is a crapshoot. I wasn't able to get back until now. It's been forty five years for me, give or take."
"You're fifty eight."
"Correct."
"And you look thirteen."
"Correct again."
"Well that sucks."
"I messed up the math. Delores warned me the equations were off but I didn't listen."
The sandwich has peanut butter and marshmallows. Abgina hasn't had one like that in years.
"Why did it take so long to get back? Were you in one time period the whole time, trying to figure it out, or did you try a lot of times and just now finally get here?"
The second, she'd assume. Then again maybe Five didn't want to leave whoever Delores is until Five was sure he could get home.
"That," Five says calmly, "is a very long story we do not have time for."
Abgina looks away while Five takes off his suit jacket and presumably shirt off. She assumes he's replacing them with his Umbrella Academy uniform. Five doesn't seem like the type to wander around half naked.
"We knew each other well."
"You got stuck in a year I was in?"
"Yes, I did."
They were friends? No. No, Five didn't say friends. He said they knew each other well. Abgina knows plenty of people well and utterly loathes them.
"I am aware of everything about your old family and your interactions with his one."
Abgina takes another bite of the sandwich. She can't answer while she's chewing, it's rude. The marshmallows and peanut butter taste good together.
"We don't have to discuss it but I do know."
"Why did I tell you?"
"Because you knew I would understand." Bullshit. "And that if I didn't I wouldn't do anything about it."
Alright, so Future Abgina lied to Five and gave him some of the information but not all of it. She never gives all of it. Abgina will let him fill in the gaps later and make sure she doesn't tell him things Future Abgina didn't bring up.
"Do you want to go to the funeral?"
"Sure."
What funeral? Why are they going to a funeral? Abgina hopes one of the siblings didn't die. Maybe that's the mission? To gather together and avenge them? She hears the door open and looks over. Abgina expected Five to appear more childlike in the shorts and long socks but it's like a spectacular haircut on a person half starved and beaten nearly to death; just a reminder of how far from normal they are. The new clean clothes do nothing to mask the way he holds himself, like an old man with back pain, and the deeply desperate look in his eyes.
"What about Pogo?"
"I already yelled at him." Five yelled at Pogo. Pogo. No one yells at Pogo. "Let's go." Abgina hops off the bed and walks beside him.
"Do they know you're back?"
"We conversed briefly."
Five's hands are shoved deeply into his pockets, back rigid, shoulders straight.
"I want to find Vanya."
Abgina winces as the window to their left cracks loudly. She fixes it quickly. Five definitely noticed but he doesn't mention it.
"You don't need to talk to her."
"Why is she here?"
"Vanya came for the funeral." Definitely a sibling who died. She wouldn't be here for anything else. "You don't have to talk to her," Five repeats.
"I can talk to Vanya."
Five shrugs and keeps walking.
"Could you look for her?"
Five nods his head to one of Abgina's better hidden glass birds. Okay, so, Future Abgina told Five about the birds and where she keeps them. At least some of them. Abgina continues to walk while she switches from the eyes of one bird to the next.
No matter how hard Reginald tried he could never get Abgina to see through more than one set of eyes at a time. Vanya isn't on the roof, there's only trees. She's not in the kitchen though Allison and Klaus are sitting together. She's not in the garage, that place just has cars. The bedrooms are empty.
"Stairs." Five's hand is on Abgina's arm, pulling her to the side so she doesn't trip.
"Living room," Abgina tells Five. She shakes her head a bit as she returns to her own set of eyes.
"Thanks." They get all the way down and go to the left. "Cut through the kitchen?"
"Klaus and Allison are in there."
"Not cutting through the kitchen."
Vanya, Klaus, and Allison are alive. That leaves Luther or Diego dead. Probably Diego since Luther is on the moon. Or was until today, Grace was excited about him returning. Abgina thought she might like Diego. If she got to meet him. She won't find out now.
Five and Abgina step into the front entrance hall. It's loud and echoing. They can see Vanya in front of them, staring up at Five's portrait.
"Want me to wait?" Abgina asks, working very hard to keep her tone calm and casual.
"Stay on the stairs. Finish eating."
"I'm not hungry."
"I said Future You told me everything. You're hungry."
Five walks off, shoes calmly hitting the floor. Abgina sits on the stairs and takes a bit of the sandwich.
Five is alive and present. They were apparently friends in the future and he's physically thirteen despite being fifty eight. The first part of that sentence is absolutely the weirdest bit. He came back from the future, a recent enough future that they knew each other. Something must've gone wrong for him to come back, risk time travel again, when he would've been around his family. His siblings. Future Abgina at least somewhat trusted Five. She told him about the birds.
Abgina takes another bite of the sandwich.
Five is intense. He picked the lock on the doorknob when he could've just teleported in. When Abgina tried to hurt him with the stapler he didn't get mad. She wasn't trying that hard, but still. It was impolite. It's possible he feels guilty for leaving Future Abgina. Maybe he remembers her more kindly than he ought to.
"I thought it was pretty good, all things considered. Pretty ballsy, giving away the family secrets. Sure that went over well."
"They hate me."
That's Vanya's voice. It's different than what Abgina is used to. She sounds so old.
"Well there are worse things that can happen."
"You mean like what happened to Ben?"
Ben died. No one likes to talk about it. No one gives specific answers. There's a pause while Five stares forward.
"Was it bad?" Five's voice is close to his ever present calm verging on snark but it's shaky. Just a bit. When Vanya nods he turns his head away and stares in a new direction. New directions don't make graphic sibling deaths any easier, whether you witnessed them or not.
"I'm glad you're back Five," Vanya says. Abgina stares up at the ceiling, the chandelier suddenly feeling very interesting. "I missed you."
"I missed you to."
Five exhales sharply, gathering himself at a speed no thirteen year old could manage.
"We need to have a family meeting."
Normally Reginald calls those but since Five is almost as old as him-well, no, but Five is the oldest Umbrella. It makes sense that he can do that to.
"We're all about to go outside, at Dad's favorite spot."
"So I didn't miss the funeral?"
"Not quite."
Vanya's smile is soft. Abgina's surprised she's as happy as she is, considering Diego is probably dead. She can grieve how she wants. Abgina would be happy to get a long lost sibling back to.
"Abgina."
Abgina stands, finishing off the sandwich. She sticks close to the arched entrance of the living room but stands where they can both see her. Five has turned around. He gestures forward and Abgina comes to stand next to him.
"Vanya, this is Abgina."
"Hi," Abgina offers politely.
"…hi." Vanya is staring at her shoulder. Did Abgina get peanut butter on it, somehow? "He started the academy again?"
Oh, the logo. Good old Umbrella Academy Branding.
"Not quite."
Five looks down at Abgina. She's not sure how he manages that, she's a bit taller than him.
"How much do you want to tell her?"
Abgina gets a choice?
"Your father took her in when she arrived here from another timeline. It was an act of kindness."
Abgina tugs the sleeves of her jacket down. Pogo. She sidesteps a bit so she's closer to Five. He doesn't miss the motion, grabbing onto Abgina's wrist, but doesn't verbally comment on it.
"Yes, the old man took Abgina," Five snaps, "but it wasn't out of kindness."
Abgina makes eye contact with Pogo for a few seconds before turning to look at Vanya.
"I've only been here six months. I…I'm sure Dad meant to tell you."
Vanya sort of smiles. It's mostly sad. Lonely. It isn't familiar to Abgina at all.
"No, he didn't. It's nice to meet you." Vanya looks at Five. "You already know her?"
"We met in the future."
Abgina taps Five's arm and nods to the main staircase. It's not a particularly helpful warning, seeing as Klaus barrels into the room arms full of umbrellas a few seconds later.
"Really, inna academy named after these things you'd think they'd be easier to find."
Klaus dramatically hands a black umbrella to Vanya, Pogo, and offers one to Five.
"Where did you find the pink one?"
Abgina doesn't remember seeing a clear umbrella with pink trim anywhere.
"…you should not still be here."
"This is Abgina," Five says. That sentence is getting old.
"So you're not a ghost."
"No." Abgina turns her head to look at Vanya. "I talked with him a bit earlier."
"What is it with Dad and adopting children?" Klaus asks. "Anyway, I stole this fant-ta-bu-lastic umbrella from Allison's room. I'm sure she won't mind."
"Because it's dated," Abgina agrees.
Klaus grins and opens it dramatically.
"Exactly ginny-gina." Ginny-gina? "Everyone's already waiting outside, let's go give Luther a heart attack."
"We'll be there in a minute."
The three of them leave the room. Vanya looks over her shoulder at Five. Klaus leans against her, throwing an arm over her shoulder and joking with her as they file out.
"You're sure you want to go to the funeral?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you hated him."
"I don't hate Diego."
Five looks confused.
"Pogo said we're going on a mission. Allison, Klaus, Vanya, and you are alive. Grace said Luther got home earlier today. That just leaves Diego."
"Why do you think one of our siblings is dead?"
"Because you said it was a funeral and everyone else is alive."
"Reginald died. It happened a few days ago."