ᶾ allison hargreeves | the umbrella academy

[rumorate]

	✔ Cʀᴏssᴏᴠᴇʀs/AU ✔ Aᴄᴛɪᴏɴsᴘᴀᴍ ✔ Pʀᴏsᴇ	✔ Pɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛs ✔ Oᴛʜᴇʀᴡᴏʀᴅʟʏ ✔ Sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀs	♥ F/M, F/F ⏰ Pᴏsᴛ-Sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 3

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[fogey]

[rumorate]

It's late, when Five returns to the Academy from one of his various missions to try and thwart the end of the world. Most sane and logical people would be sleeping at this time of night, but none of the Hargreeves children happen to fall under the category of "sane" or "logical," even if Allison tries to get close every now and again.

Right now, however, she's not. Sleep is eluding her as she turns over the twists and turns of Vanya's new beau in her mind, trying to figure out what her instincts are trying to tell her about the man and what exactly he's looking for from her sister.

(Because as much as they try to deny it, everyone's looking for something.)

She doesn't hear the door, but she does hear the signature thwump that signals Five appearing out of nowhere - over a decade apart and that sound never fails to make her tense like she might get caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar, before she glances back over her shoulder to the man in question.

"Can't sleep either?"

[fogey]

He pauses briefly, also like someone who's been caught unexpectedly. He hadn't expected anyone else to be awake either, hadn't expected to run into Allison tonight.

(Which could be a complication. Or could not; it's not like he can't teleport away when he needs to leave.)

"Too busy," he answers, brisk, like a correction. He's walking after that, heading towards the kitchen in hopes of coffee. Not like he can return to Griddy's after he left it a crime scene, after all. "What's your excuse?"

[rumorate]

She holds up the phone in her hand. "Trying to reason with my ex. Which turned into fighting with my ex. The usual."

Time zones make trying to coparent complicated and apparently her ex-husband has decided that a death in the family is not a legitimate excuse for not holding up her end of the custody agreement.

It sucks, and she hates everything her life has become, but she also isn't one to deny that she likely deserves it for all the shit she's pulled. All the karma she tipped the scales on finally caught up with her, and all she can do at this point is tough it out until the pendulum swings again.

Then she pauses. "Not that you know that's the usual. Sorry."

{We fight and we argue, but the truth is, I'd kill or die for you

[deadlycurves]

let me know if this isn't okay

[rumorate]

The look Allison gives him at that statement is a strange mixture of fondness and exasperation, because for one, she can't actually say any words. The lined memo pad is sitting on the coffee table between them, and she hasn't reached for it. Instead, what she reaches for his him. She gestures once with her hand to come closer, before holding out her hand for him to take.

She knows that Diego has had a day. They've all had a day, between Vanya and everything else. She also knows that she doesn't want to be alone, given the Day that has happened, and if Diego is here, than Luther probably won't hover.

Using one brother to avoid the other is probably not the best plan, but for now, it's the plan she's got and it seems to be working.

[deadlycurves]

On one hand, Allison is probably used to, and largely unphased by, Diego and the acid-coated dagger-tip of his words; on the other, it's still really, really weird for her to not have a quick snapback to throw at him. It would probably take too long to write one down, though, and-- fuck. Everything has snowballed so fast in the last week and there's such a weird adjustment period in the idea of never hearing his sister's voice again. But still. That she reached for him is probably the most confusing response she might have managed at all. Diego doesn't even try to stop her, or pull away from it, because he's so thrown by it. Instead, he just frowns and stares at her hand, slides his gaze back up to her face (and he hates how he can't miss the bandage still in place against her neck before he finds her eyes). "What--" He can't explain the way he can't really deny that silent request, even as he tries to figure out why, of all things, that's what she wants, and from him, of all people. Inevitably, he caves to his sister's whim and shifts a little closer, closes his fingers around hers and just doesn't say anything at all.

[rumorate]

She squeezes his hand gratefully, before leaning back against the couch. Everything's on fire and the world sucks, but at least Diego's not in jail anymore. That's something, at least. Eventually, she lets go of his hand long enough to scribble on her lined pad:

How'd you get out?

{Help me, sister, I don't feel okay

[bestfuneralever]

They have barely been reunited under this hellscape prison of a roof for one night and everything has already started to explode, some of which is at least easily contributable to Diego's fucking mouth. And also a myriad of other things. But it wouldn't be a Hargreeves gathering if things weren't blowing up, would it? Still. There's something downright suffocating about being here again. Like all the memories he'd spent ages trying to escape just came flooding back the second he past the threshold of the Academy. A heavy awfulness that sat waiting for him to return one day. And here he is. And sleep just isn't happening. Klaus is downstairs, on the couch with his legs in a criss-cross, fumbling with a joint. Not because he never tried to sleep-- he did, he tried really hard--but there are ghosts in this place that have never known how to leave well enough alone and it's kind of hard to sleep through. If he can just quiet them enough to drift off... He flicks the lighter in his hand and lights the joint, taking in a deep breath with it.

[rumorate]

Allison can't sleep either.

If asked, she'll make a half-baked excuse about still being on LA time, but it's more than that. It's coming back to the life she left behind a long time ago with not much to show for it. And also the fact that they fall so easily back into the same patterns.

She had come down to get a drink, see if that helps calm her nerves when she comes across Klaus on the couch. She could scold him for getting stoned, but at the moment, she thinks it might just be what they both need.

"If you're going to light that up here, you better be sharing."

[bestfuneralever]

He glances up when he hears someone enter the room and smiles, giving a silly little finger-wave at his sister as he takes another hit from the joint. And then he's sputtering and coughing because she couldn't possibly have said anything more surprising that what she just did. "What?" And then he takes a breath and recovers quickly, suddenly taking on a ridiculous put-on accent, "Doth mine ears deceive me? The starlet wants to partake in scandal?!" He presses his free hand to his chest in mock-shock.

[rumorate]

"Of course she does. Starlets love a good scandal."

She moves to sit next to him, before holding out her fingers for him to pass her the joint. After a bad call with her ex, and the day they've had on top of that, she just wants to chill out for five minutes.

"You sharing or not?"

[somebadnews]

Five doesn't have time for this. Not while the world seems so determined to end, and there's almost always someone ready to jump out of the shadows at him. He aches and there's blood on him, but he's too tired to even get cleaned up before he leaves. It doesn't really matter. He'll just pick up a fresh shirt and be on his way.

He didn't tell anyone he would be stopping by the Academy, just blinks in and makes the rest of his way up to his old room. As urgent as this should be, he takes his time walking there. He can't help it. He's still baffled how little changed in all those years. Every room looks like a shrine to their childhood. Parts he remembers, voices he can still hear ringing in the halls. When it's quiet like this, it really does feel like he'd made it all the way back. Like he'd never left.

That's the feeling he'd like to hold onto while there's nobody around to spoil it. After all he went through to get here, he should want to stay with his family, but every time he sees them alive it just reminds him of when they weren't. Because he knew them when they were kids, and the only other time he'd seen them at the age they are now was when was burying them. If he allows that to happen again, knowing what he knows...

At his door he reaches for the handle, when he's suddenly distracted by the blood on his hand. As if he needed a reminder of why he's there. These are times when he wishes Dolores was around so he'd at least have some sane company. Someone to tell him he's being ridiculous. He shakes his head as he thinks better of it and teleports inside. Looking around, he talks to himself instead; the next best thing.

"They should have turned this place into a museum."

[rumorate]

"That would require Dad actually wanting to deal with regular people."

And given how he treated his own children, Allison's not sure that he would have been thrilled with the prospect. Five bouncing around like a ping pong ball is not unusual. It's a part of her childhood that she's not one hundred percent sure she missed. But when she turns to face the sound of his voice and sees the blood on his clothes, concern immediately crosses her features.

"Is that yours or someone else's?"

... It's a valid question with Five, okay?

[somebadnews]

Five smiles at her first comment, because it's true. Regular people didn't get the time of day when it came to Dad.

He still isn't used to getting a response when he voices his thoughts, but he can't be too surprised that someone was home. It's possible Allison was one of the better options, even if he'd rather she have waited another minute for him to get rid of the evidence. He only glances her way and starts working at his tie with short, jerking movements, before he replies.

"It's nothing you need to be concerned about." That's a typical response from him. As much as he appreciates it, he goes through great lengths to keep his family safe from knowing all about what he does. "I just came for a shirt."

[rumorate]

"If it's your blood, I think I might need to be a little concerned."

Or does he forget that he has much less blood than he used to, given his much younger form. Passing out from blood loss happens a bit faster than he's accustomed to. But Allison crosses her arms in front of her chest as she stares him down.

"Do you need me to get the first aid kit?"

i'll just hit you up with a prompt here then

[gladiokinesis]

[rumorate]

The one thing that Allison has always appreciated about Diego is that even if he doesn't always know how to put words to his feelings, he isn't afraid to feel them. While all of them are screwed up in their own ways, and Diego's pride gets in the way of things more often than not, he's living his life on his terms, which is more than she can say for the rest of her brothers.

Still, they have a few moments on the farm before they return home, and she inches her way over to settle next to him.

"So. Lila."

Yep, she's going to pull one of those sister moments she so rarely gets to do. On some level, it's good for a little normalcy.

[gladiokinesis]

It could be worse, Diego figures. It could be Five trying to talk to him about Lila again....that has historically gone poorly and knowing now that Five was the one who killed Lila's parents well it put a lot of pieces together. And as complicated as it all was...he loved Lila, for better or for worse.

"Lila...is complicated."

It's putting it lightly but it had been hard enough telling Luther how he felt about the woman, despite everything they had put one another through. But she had left. Maybe that makes sense. She just found out the person who she thought was her mother was just using her as a tool -- if there's anything he can relate to, it's that feeling.

"But I couldn't let Luther hurt her."

[rumorate]

"No, you made the right call. I mean, I'm still not fond of how she used my own powers to try and kill me but the Handler was using her just like Dad used us."

She deserved a chance to go and figure out her own life. And Allison now knows better than to ever try and rumor her again.

"And I think after what went down with Vanya, we should know better than to follow Luther's first instinct on these things." At least until he proves he can use those first instincts wisely.

But it was nice. Seeing Diego caring about someone. She missed the time when he was with Patch, so it's good to know that he's not holding himself back from that.

[veracious]

( one, two, three, four.

pick and choose or randomize - anything works for me!)

a little of each

[rumorate]

[In a world where Allison manages to get through to her sister and the world doesn't end in Season 1, Allison keeps an eye on the Sokovia Accords, because she's the only one in her family who will and understand the gravitas of it. Diego and Five are too into their own thing to care, Luther will follow the rules because that's what Luther does, and Klaus and Vanya have their own issues to deal with. She's also been aware of the fact that Henry Ross has been nipping at Reginald Hargreeves heels, wanting to incorporate them into his defense plan, but Hargreeves always held out.

Probably because he sensed that Ross was a scheming piece of shit who was only out for his own gain. The only remotely fatherly thing he ever did for them, but Allison appreciates it.

So Allison watches the coverage, watches as the king of Wakanda dies, and everything goes to shit. Which is surprising, given none of her siblings were involved in the process. It's then she knows that the motion is going to pass. There's no way around it. Then things get worse, and well. She packs up Vanya and Klaus, leaves the rest of her brothers to contend with the fallout with Ross and hopes that she's bought them enough time.

As far as she's concerned, Ross isn't conscripting any of them. Fury, she might have been able to reason with. But Ross? N O P E.

They wind up at a cabin in the woods, hunker down and try and wait it out. Somewhere along the way, she gets a text from Maria Hill, asking her to play halfway house for a few powered folks also on the run from the Accords. Allison isn't one to make exceptions for anyone other than family, but Maria points out that Allison owes her for an incident back in the days of SHIELD, and Allison reluctantly agrees.

"If they pull anything, I'll blow their eardrums." Vanya smirks. "I'm getting pretty good at it."

Allison hopes they won't have to test it.

She makes the long drive down the mountain, making her usual supply run for the week, and picking up a little extra for their surprise guest. She doesn't know who she's expecting, but when she returns to the car, they're leaning against the passenger side door. She can't tell much from the silhouette, but she takes a deep breath and slowly makes her way closer.]

I take it you're Maria's friend?

[She hits the unlock button on the key fob and goes to place the groceries in the trunk.]

I'm almost disappointed that she didn't give me some kind of fun spy code phrase.

[veracious]

[ Steve had been given nothing but a set of coordinates, a date, and time. He'd been wary at first, knowing that the world was slowly exploding from the inside out under Ross's thumb, and that Steve had played a part in it, whether he liked it or not.

(He won't be able to shake the look on Tony Stark's face in the bunker for a long, long time, he suspects. But some things are what they are. He can't change the past no more than he can try and predict the future. He didn't predict this).

The spot is in a hilly, mountainous area, which he'll give it to Fury - it's secluded enough that no one will look here right away. It gives him time to take a breath, to try and close both eyes at once instead of keeping them both wide open. So, he waits. Watches the occasional car come and go from the little gas station parking lot, but one car catches his eye. Maybe it's the careful way she circles once before pulling in, the way she waits in the car and looks around, but Steve knows in his gut this is the person he's expected to meet.

So he settles against the passenger side of the car, like he's just gotten out of the very same to stretch his feet, save for the bag he's left propped against the front wheel. A hat pulled low over his brow, he peers over his shoulder at her, glancing warily first to the pumps then to the store. ]

Spy passwords aren't exactly all that useful when you don't know who is on your side.

[ A soft huff, like it might have been amused, once upon a time, but instead - he just sounds tired. The last car in the parking lot skids away and he raises his head then, the light playing across his face. ] I'm Maria's friend. I appreciate you helping out. I won't stay long, don't worry.

text;

[imprudency]

knock knock


and i should really wait for you to say who's there
but the fact of the matter is a little birdy told me someone you know
miiiiiight be dropping by the good ol' city of angels
soon
like hours soon

[rumorate]

[Why is she not surprised.]

If you puke on my couch again, you're paying to have it cleaned.