THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
fractured || five hargreeves x reader

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: STOP ASKING QUESTIONS

Written By: peachyhxlland

°•.☆.•°

Reginald led the group and his wife into a room filled with blue lights where the reverse brainwashing machine was placed. Allison, Diego, and Luther had sat down on the available chairs of the machine and Reginald started prepping Luther first. "Just lean back and relax, Luther." Reginald reassured.

Luther rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right." He muttered.

Reginald moved to Allison and began fastening the machine's straps around her. With concern, Allison cast a glance toward Reginald. "Do we all have to do this? Can't you just do it to one of us?"

"Fragments of your original memories are still locked away in your minds," Reginald explained. "They are all integral pieces of a bigger puzzle."

"Shouldn't Klaus and (Y/n) deserve to know?" Diego pondered out loud.

"We'll tell them." Five reassured his brother. "They both deserve to know the truth as well."

Viktor stepped forward as soon as Reginald was finished prepping Allison. "I wanna be connected too." Viktor volunteered.

"But you weren't on the mission." Luther told Viktor.

"I wasn't on the team then, but I am now, and I wanna know the truth as much as you do."

Reginald nodded. "Excellent," He said. "Please take a seat." He instructed Viktor.

Viktor complied and took a seat in one of the machines while Reginald turned to Lila. "How about you?" He asked.

Lila shook her head. "Yeah, I think I'm going to spectate."

"Ditto." Five chimed in. "No offense, but I'm not letting you near my gray matter."

Reginald sighed. "Very well. Perhaps you could help." He went on to prep Viktor while Lila walked towards Diego. Five, on the other hand, stayed standing as he saw that Reginald and Lila had it all covered in preparing his siblings for the machine while Abigail was crossing her arms, watching everything.

Lila began to apply the machine's straps to strap Diego. "Any last words before Dad liquifies my brain?" Diego asked Lila.

Lila and Diego shared a moment of silence for a few seconds. Lila looked at Diego; her face was filled with sadness and remorse. "I'm sorry I lied about my book club." She told him.

Diego faintly smiled. "Good." He said in relief. "You know, a husband and wife shouldn't have any secrets, Lila. That's a rule." He glanced at Five, who was watching him and Lila. "Communication is always the key, after all."

Lila nodded as she stared at Diego. "You're right." She sighed. "No more secrets." Lila took an object that resembled a pacifier and thought for a moment. "I think that we need a break from each other." She suddenly said, causing Diego's eyes to widen. "Time to reassess our marriage."

Lila pressed the mouthpiece into Diego's mouth before he could utter a word. Diego burst into a fit of rage, but his words were muffled. Lila quickly walked away and stood beside Five, who was looking at her and Diego. "What the hell was that?" He whispered.

"What needs to be said." Lila whispered back, as she shuddered a breath.

Reginald pushed a button on a control panel to start the process of running the machine. The loud blaring of the system speakers caused the blue lights in the room to turn red. It made no contribution to calming everyone's nerves.

"Are we able to see their memories?" Five asked Reginald.

"I prepared a monitor just for this occasion." Reginald answered while his spouse started setting up the monitor's screen to display the memories.

"Wait!" Luther managed to say despite him having a muffler in his mouth. "Is this gonna hurt?" He asked Reginald.

"Indubitably." Reginald replied before pulling down the lever on the control panel. A holographic video from the machine turned on and was shown in front of Viktor, Allison, Diego, and Luther. There was a collective scream from the four of them as they began to feel as though everything was shaking.

°•○●○•°

It was October 14, 2006. The alarms inside the Umbrella Academy mansion were blaring, indicating that there was an incoming mission and there would be a briefing. It was like a normal day for everyone to prepare for a mission.

"Step lively, children. We have a mission to do," Sir Reginald Hargreeves, from the original timeline, announced to everyone. "Number One, round up the children."

Emerging from his chamber, a young Luther, suited up. Moving up the corridor, he gave a loud clap of his hands. "Let's go! Get your asses in gear." He saw young Diego standing by the hallway. "My man, Diego!" Luther praised as gave his brother a shoulder pat.

"My ass is always in gear." Diego told Luther as the blonde boy passed by.

"Come on, guys!" Luther yelled. "Come on!"

Allison was attempting to drag Klaus out of the bathtub when Luther opened the bathroom door. "Are you kidding me, Klaus?!" Allison complained. "You just got back from rehab!"

Klaus snickered as he took a sip from his tiny bottle of vodka. "I'm California sober, Allison." He slurred.

Luther sighed. "Come on, guys. Just hurry up. Dad's waiting."

Suddenly, you exited from a room hastily and discovered Luther observing the commotion in the bathroom. You caught a glimpse of what was going on and noticed that Allison was still attempting to remove Klaus from the tub, but Klaus was still drinking. You heaved a sigh. "Go ahead, I'll help Allison."

Luther glanced at you and patted your back. "I know I can always count on you, (Y/n)." He walked away while you entered the bathroom to help Allison.

Luther made his way to the other rooms in search of Ben. Upon opening his brother's room door, he discovered that his brother was not yet dressed. "Why aren't you dressed?" He questioned.

"I'm not going." Ben grumbled with his gaze fixed intently on the words in his book.

"But we'll be one man down."

"Relax. Vanya can take my place."

Luther turned to face Vanya, his sister, who was dressed up, complete with a domino mask. "I wanna help you guys." Vanya insisted.

Luther thought for a moment as he glanced at Vanya and Ben. "Dad?" He called out for Reginald's assistance.

Ben scoffed. "Narc." He mumbled.

Reginald stormed into the room and saw Ben unprepared. "Number Six! Why aren't you dressed?"

"He says he's not going." Luther told Ben to Reginald.

Ben was the next person Reginald looked at after glancing at Luther. After a brief minute of staring at Reginald, Ben huffed in exasperation and closed his book. Right from the start, he had disliked attending missions. Reginald then turned to look at the young Vanya. "And what do you think you're doing?"

Vanya became nervous. "I just... I thought I could help on this mission." She stammered.

Reginald glanced at the girl, knowing full well the extent of her skills and how dangerous they were. "Take that off immediately," Reginald scolded. "You look ridiculous."

Vanya removed her mask and looked at it solemnly after Reginald and Luther had left the room.

After spending a few minutes getting ready and suiting up, you and the others were called to an urgent meeting in the living room by Reginald to discuss the mission. "A Moldovan arms dealer has acquired a deadly new weapon," He told the kids as he pointed the board behind him. "It's being held in a shipping container, awaiting a buyer. Your mission is to locate and destroy the weapon before the deal can be made."

You and the other children carefully listened to everything. Vanya was behind the couch, looking upset; Ben, Allison, Luther, and Diego were seated on the couch; you and Klaus were seated on the floor.

"Number One will take point." Reginald handed Luther a device and a walkie-talkie.

"What about me?" Diego quickly asked. "What should I do?"

Reginald glanced at Diego. "Stop asking questions."

Diego slumped back on the couch while Luther smiled smugly.

"Now, children, whatever you do, it is imperative that you keep the weapon contained. Do not, under any circumstances, open the container. Is that understood?"

You raised your hand to ask a question. "What happens if we do?"

Reginald narrowed his eyes and gazed at you, knowing how you were always intrigued by learning new things and solving mysteries like a detective. "Just do as I say, Number Eight, and stop asking questions," He answered, instead of telling the truth. "Am I understood?"

You stared at Reginald and nodded. Reginald nodded back. "Very well," He said. "It's time, children."

You and everyone else were transported to the team's personal jet. The aircraft was raised, and the roof of the academy opened. The pilot, Pogo, took a quick look at each and every one of you. "Buckle up, children," He announced as he began to press buttons. "Prepare for departure."

The roof of the academy closed as the aircraft quickly took off. Everyone was silent inside the plane as they awaited to arrive at the mission's location. You looked at the photograph of you and the others, including Five, who went missing after he tried to time travel.

Ben glanced at you, and then his eyes looked down at the picture. "You know, even if we went to a lot of missions after he disappeared, I'm still not used to that he's not with us kicking asses." He told.

You stifled a laugh and nodded. "Same." You replied. "I miss when he keeps boasting that he fought more bad guys than Luther." You said to Ben. "It was annoying, but... I do miss his arrogant ass."

Ben chuckled. "You are one of his closest friends in this team." He said. "Missing him is a valid feeling." Ben nudged his elbow onto yours, an act of reassuring since he was restricted from moving from all the belts he was wearing. "He'll come back."

You stared at Ben and smiled. "I know." You said as you and Ben held hands to comfort each other. "I won't stop hoping."

Soon, the aircraft landed and all of you finally reached the location. After a quick preparation, Luther led the way into a huge warehouse. You and the others followed Luther as he guided all of you to the container where the weapon was. As soon as you heard voices nearby, all of you ran to hide next to a nearby cargo container, and Luther held up his hand for everyone to stop. "Tangos, three o'clock," Luther whispered as he looked at the guards. When they were gone, Luther gestured for you and the others to follow him. "Go."

Following Luther, you and the others walked past stacks of crates and boxes. Luther soon discovered the right container. He looked to see if it was the correct container, then turned to face you and the others after checking again. "Yeah, this is the one. Let's go."

Everyone proceeded to work on the mission, performing their assigned tasks for which they had gone over training. Diego placed a small briefcase down and opened it to reveal an explosive device that could blow up the container along with the weapon inside of it. Ben, who is a specialist when it comes to gadgets and technology, received the device from him and began to twist and insert a key.

All of a sudden, there were some nearby voices again, and everyone froze. Ben turned to look at Luther, who was searching everywhere for enemies. "Go, I got this!" Ben whispered.

"Ben, are you sure?" Luther whispered back.

"I got this!" Ben insisted.

Luther sighed. "Okay, Diego, Allison, Klaus, (Y/n), you're on me. Let's go."

Even though you and Klaus were hesitant to leave Ben alone, you obeyed Luther's orders and handled the matter. Ben got up from where he was on the ground, turned the key a few times, and then put the gadget onto the container after you and the others had left to confront the guards and give him some time. The gadget was ready to be powered on when he pressed a button, and the key began to turn on its own.

Ben was forced to click the button once more to stop the device when he heard a muffled thumping sound that came from inside the container. Ben inclined his ear toward the container. "Is someone in there?"

Ben heard a pair of thumps in response to his question. Ben saw a hatch on top of the container and sprang into action, easily scaling it. A girl was inside with half of her body submerged in water when he carefully opened the hatch. "It's okay," Ben reassured the girl. "I'm here to help. What's your name?"

The girl hesitated for a moment. "Jennifer." The girl introduced herself.

Ben took off his mask for the girl to see. "My name is Ben." He also introduced himself. "I'm gonna get you out of here, okay? Can you trust me?"

Ben smiled at the girl, Jennifer, as she gave a weak nod. Ben reached down into the container with his hand. "Take my hand."

However, you and the others headed back to the location of the container before Jennifer could even raise her arm to grasp Ben's hand. "Ben!" Luther quietly scolded. "What the hell are you doing?"

"There's someone in here," Ben explained. "We have to get her out."

"That wasn't part of the plan!"

"So what? You're gonna blow up an innocent girl, Luther?"

"But Dad said─"

"I don't give a fuck what Dad said!" Ben angrily argued. "We need to help her."

"Ben, wait!" Luther hissed. "Shit!" But after seeing Ben turn his back on him and look back at the container, Luther pressed his earpiece to contact Reginald. "Dad, we've got a bit of a problem. Dad?"

Ben lowered his hand once again and this time, Jennifer was finally able to take it. As soon as their hands touched, a fiery orange light appeared. Ben ignored the glow and helped Jennifer out of the container. Both of them climbed down the container, and they both turned to stare at each other. The two of them shared a sweet smile.

"Okay, let's go." Luther whispered.

Suddenly, you and the others saw Jennifer being shot right in the head, and the poor girl quickly fell to the ground. Ben was the next to be shot dead in the head and collapsed to the ground before any of you could comprehend what was happening. You've all seen Reginald point his weapon at the spot where Jennifer and Ben used to stand after Ben fell. "I told you not to open the container."

Allison clutched your arm, tears running down her cheeks, while Klaus shockedly clasped his mouth with both hands. Luther felt betrayed as he looked in horror at Reginald. "Dad?" He asked breathlessly.

You fixed your gaze on Ben and Jennifer, who were face down and lying side by side with their eyes wide open. The moment the reality of the situation sank in, your eyes grew wide, and you fixed your horrified gaze on Reginald. "You killed them..." You whispered. "How could you?"

Reginald looked at you with his cold and unusually calm eyes. "I told you to do as I say and stop asking questions, didn't I, Number Eight?"

-•-°-•-°-☆

I think this is the only scene in season 4 where I really cried lmao. Like I cried angrily in this part only.