THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
fragments || five hargreeves x reader

CHAPTER ONE: YOU LOOK LOST

Written By: peachyhxlland

°•.☆.•°

"Oh, God." You groaned in pain as you sat up, rubbing the back of your head. You looked around on an empty alleyway, the sun shining too bright that you have to shield your eyes. You stood up, weakly walking away but paused when you briefly heard something flashing. You turned around to see a camera. 'What?'

You continued your way out of the alleyway to see cars passing by and people looking a bit... odd. You spotted a newspaper across the street so you walked across the street, reaching out for the newspaper. Picking it up, you looked for the date. "Wednesday. August 28, 1963." You read out loud.

Suddenly, someone bumped into you causing you to lose your balance and ended up falling on the road. A car was about to hit you until a stranger pulled you out from the road. A young man was holding your arms, glaring at the driver who didn't even bothered to apologize then to the other stranger who bumped into you. He looked at you, dusting your shoulders off. "You alright, girl? People nowadays are rude."

You nodded, looking up to see the stranger who saved you. You couldn't really see his eyes but you could see his lips and nose. He was wearing a blue tattered baseball cap and some jeans matching his jacket. "You could've died. Watch where you're going. Not all people care about helping you."

"Thank you." You said kindly, standing up with the help of the stranger. "Uhh, sir? Is the year really 1963?"

"Yeah. Is there something wrong?"

'I remember being in 2019. Was that a dream or not?' You shook your head as a response to the stranger's questions. "No... no I don't think so..."

"Are you going somewhere? You look lost. Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

You gave the man a confusing look before looking down at your clothes. 'These clothes look familiar. And why the hell am I wearing a uniform?' You shook your head. "I-I don't know. My head's kinda... fuzzy."

"Do you want me to bring you to a hospital?"

"Erm... no thanks. But rest would be enough."

The man scratched the back of his head. "As much as I'd like to take you to a house to let you rest, I don't have one. Still finding a home to stay."

"You're lost as I am." You smiled. "Well, at least we've got each other now, sir."

"My name's Nicholas. But you can call me Nick." The young man smiled back. "You got a name?"

"(Y/n)." You introduced. "Just... (Y/n)."

"Let's get inside a building. It's pretty hot out here in Dallas, Texas."

"We're in Dallas?"

Nick gave a look of concern at you. "Did you hit your head or something? You don't even know where you are."

"I—"

"You two kiddos lost or something?"

You and Nick turned around to see a middle-aged man with bags of groceries in his arms. He looked like he hasn't have enough sleep for years as if he was finding for some answers. "Come inside. I'll give you two some water. I-It's a little bit messy but just don't mind them, please."

He led the way while you and Nick exchanged some looks before following behind. You saw the same building where the camera is and you immediately looked at the man suspiciously. The older stranger set his bags down, taking out his keys and unlocking the door that said Morty's Television Radio Shipping & Receiving.

You looked at the side to see the name Mortimer Gussman, D.D.S. You continued to follow the man upstairs with Nick. You tapped Nick's arm, getting his attention. "Hey." You whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I don't trust him."

"I don't trust him either but don't worry. I'll attack him if he does something wrong while you run."

You don't know why but being with Nick made you feel safe. He seemed trustworthy but you didn't want to trust him too quickly because you literally just met him.

"I saw a camera outside from a room in this building." You whispered again to Nick. "It took a picture of me in that alley."

"So he's your stalker or just a creep."

You saw a door with the same Mortimer Gussman, D.D.S. written on the glass window. The man unlocked the other door and you wondered what's behind the door with a name. 'Maybe it's an office.' The stranger finally opened the door and let you and Nick inside. "Sorry if it's a mess. I've been looking and waiting for something for three years. Okay, first weird question: you don't work for any government officials or—?"

You and Nick both shook your heads earning a sigh of relief from the stranger. "Okay, good!"

The man set the grocery bags down on the counter then grabbed two glasses of water. "Here. Drink this."

You and Nick took the glasses of water but you two just stared down on the water, not knowing if it's safe to drink it. The man became concerned. "You alright, you two? Is there something wrong?"

"Is this drugged?" Nick immediately asked, earning a nudged on the arm from you.

"Oh, God, no. I would never do that. I'm a good person, I swear." The man wiped his hands with a towel and then stretched out his arm. "I'm Elliott. Elliott Gussman."

You and Nick hesitantly shook the man's hand. "You're not Mortimer?"

"Oh no, no, no, no. He's my father. My father owns this place." Elliott explained as he sat on the couch. "Please, take a sit." He patted the couch.

You and Nick sat down beside him as you two finally drank the water. Elliott observed you both. "Are you two siblings? You somehow look like each other."

You and Nick turned to each other, giving each other looks before shaking your heads. "We don't know each other," Nick answered. "I don't even know where she came from."

"What about you? Where did you come from?"

"Ohio," Nick replied, his tone changing. "I... uh, had to leave. It doesn't feel like home anymore."

"Ohio is a pretty far place," Elliott said. "How'd you get here all alone for a young man like you?"

"Hitchhiking." Nick simply said. "It's pretty hard to trust people when..." Nick gulped, remembering his days back in Ohio so he shook his head. "I'm sorry for thinking that you're a bad guy. I just don't trust people that easily..."

Elliott shrugged with a smile. "Oh, it's alright. I also thought you guys were bad but I think you two are just lost and have good intentions. I can't blame you for not trusting me that easily. My own wife didn't even trust me so she left me. I love Eleanor but... I don't think she wants to see me anymore."

"Do you have kids?" Nick asked.

"Sadly, no. Never had the chance to even make one. Busy with our jobs, and when we wanted one, well she left." Elliott sighed sadly.

You pointed your finger up as you finished your water. "Why do you have a camera on the rooftop? It just took a picture of me."

"Oh, sorry. The camera automatically captures people who-" Elliott paused and pointed at you, shaking, his eyes wide open. "Oh, God. You're from that blue portal light thingy are you?"

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

Elliot grabbed your hand and brought you to a board full of pictures. "I've been finding answers for the people who came out of that blue energy light thingy from above for like three years now. You don't remember coming out from there?"

Nick narrowed his eyes, getting a bit interested in the topic while you thought about what happened to you. "No, I-I don't think I came out from there. I just remember waking up on the ground but that's it."

"We'll check the pictures later," Elliott suggested. "I can't believe I'm finally talking to one of you. Holy crap!"

As Elliott continued to whisper things and walking back and forth before heading upstairs for the camera, you sat back down beside Nick. "Well, he's a good guy. Just a weird and crazy one."

"I might stay here for a while," Nick announced, shrugging. "The guy looks harmless despite looking crazy and creepy with these monitors and pictures around him. What about you?"

"Do I really have a choice?" You sighed. "I have nowhere else to be. I don't even know how I ended up here in Texas."

"Well, while we're here, we'll find your parents," Nick said taking your glass before standing up and setting the glasses on the counter. "There's no way a kid like you stranded here in Texas for no reason. We'll post newspapers that you're missing so you could find your relatives."

You stared at Nick as your mind thought about what he called you. A kid. You do look like one but you felt like you're no longer a kid. 'I feel confused and crazy, right now...'

-•-°-•-°-☆

All chapters were made and ready to publish. The chapters will be published every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm (Philippine Time).

How's chapter one so far? Confusing? xD

Sorry for the short chapter too! I think people find the chapters in book 1 too long so I made it a bit shorter now. Every chapter in book 1 has 2-3k words so I plan to make the chapters in this book just 1-2k only because people might find it boring to have a very long chapter (and it's also for the lazy readers out there like me xD).