AFTERGLOW
─── tell me that you're still mine, tell me that we'll be just fine, even when I lose my mind

─────────

─────────

❝I KNOW
MY WORTH.
I'VE PAID DEARLY
FOR EVERY
OUNCE OF IT.❞

─────────

─────────

On the twelfth hour of the first day of October, 1986, forty-three women around the world gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began. Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to adopt as many of the children as possible. He got nine of them.

Estelle Hargreeves was one of these children. Number Nine, in fact. Aside from her powers, there was one thing which made Estelle stand apart from the rest of her siblings and that was that of the forty-three women who gave birth on that fateful day, her mother was the only one who gave birth to twins. And yes, Reginald Hargreeves triple-checked this fact, a thorough man he was, before paying a fortune to adopt them

Estelle and her twin brother, Everett, were always studied closely by their adoptive father, in hopes he'd figure out why they were different than everyone else. If Reginald Hargreeves ever found an answer, he didn't share it with his children. Though, of course, he had never shared much of anything with his children that he didn't have to in order to train them to get better with their powers.

In the years following their rather unorthodox adoption, Estelle left home with her brother to live a life on their own terms. They weren't the only ones, all but one of their siblings left home when they were able to. They didn't hear from their father and they barely heard from their siblings. Estelle found some semblance of peace living away from home, just having her brother for company and getting to do what she wanted, live how she wanted. She'd lived for so long under the strict rules of her father that living on her own was like living in an entirely new world.

Many years after leaving home, Estelle and Everett are approached by a mysterious man with an eye patch about a superhero team he's putting together. With their experience being a part of a team, the twins are hesitant to join another one, but the threat seems like a big enough deal they agree to at least hear him out on joining.

What they didn't expect was for this new team to feel like a perfect fit. While there is still someone in charge of the team, Director Fury doesn't give orders the way Reginald Hargreeves always did. Unlike her father, Fury seems to have faith in the team he put together. But beyond finding a superhero team she actually wants to be a part of and fighting a Norse god and his army of aliens, the thing Estelle expected least of all was falling in love with Steve Rogers. Or, it was until the brother she lost over a decade prior reappears and still looks thirteen, anyways.

─────────

─────────

❝FALLING FOR HIM
WASN'T FALLING
AT ALL. IT WAS
WALKING INTO
A HOUSE AND
SUDDENLY KNOWING
YOU'RE HOME.❞

─────────

─────────

❝ 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐄 ❞
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔

☾ ✧ ☽

ESTELLE HARGREEVES
THE MIRAGE
( brianne howey )

EVERETT HARGREEVES
THE GUARDIAN
( lucas till )

and...

LUTHER HARGREEVES — tom hopper
DIEGO HARGREEVES — david castañeda
ALLISON HARGREEVES — emmy raver-lampman
KLAUS HARGREEVES — robert sheehan
FIVE HARGREEVES — aidan gallagher
VIKTOR HARGREEVES — elliot page
LILA PITTS — ritu arya
STEVE ROGERS — chris evans
TONY STARK — pedro pascal
THOR — chris hemsworth
NATASHA ROMANOFF — annet mahendru
CLINT BARTON — jeremy renner
BRUCE BANNER — hugh dancy
WANDA MAXIMOFF — alba flores
TUA CHARACTERS — their actors
MCU CHARACTERS — their actors

─────────

─────────

❝MY PAST IS
AN ARMOUR
I CANNOT
TAKE OFF,
NO MATTER
HOW MANY
TIME YOU
TELL ME
THE WAR
IS OVER.❞

─────────

─────────

disclaimer
I do not own The Umbrella Academy or Marvel. It's shocking, I know, take your time to process that. All I own are my original characters, scenes, lines and dialogue. Everything else goes to the rightful owners.

dedication
this story is dedicated firstly to pepperronys with whom this is a collab with, I am very honoured to be writing this with you. And secondly, this goes to my lovely friends  dunbonnet -beewrites- capnbarnes xonceuponatimex justanillusion dash-of-clarity liminal_faces KookieANDLeo arsvenal indirys 

note
this book is, as mentioned, a collab with the amazing Kelly. This crossover was one of the first fics I thought of when I started watching The Umbrella Academy but I could never figure out a plot for it so when Kelly mentioned she wanted to write one, I could not agree fast enough to doing this with her, as I'm sure she'll confirm. To make the two universes fit together, we did have to change a few dates, like shifting everything (not including season two) three years backwards in TUA and shifting the beginning of season one forward a little bit, too. Rest assured, aside from the month or year, everything else has remained the same. In reference to Viktor Hargreeves, for those that don't know, the show started before Elliot transitioned so he is playing a female version of the character in the first two seasons who is called Vanya. In season three, they had the character transition as well and handled it beautifully so Viktor will be referenced in the story as Vanya until season three when he transitions and I will not tolerate any slander about him or referring to him or Elliot by the wrong pronouns outside of the text of the story. I can't wait for you guys to see what we have planned for Estelle and Everett, I hope you'll love it. Questions are welcome, though don't expect spoilers in the answers.

important notice
just wanted to remind everyone at the beginning of the fic that I want to hear each and every thought you have and I especially want you to leave them in comments. Seriously, I don't care if you are referencing something off of something I wrote, because there's a chance I might have been thinking it as I wrote the line! I want people to comment on it! And I don't care if it's nonsensical "asdfghjkl"'s or anything similar. I am a person that thrives on people responding to my work. It's part of why I write, I want to touch people with my writing. It also lets me know better than a vote that you're enjoying my work. Which is important to me!

ENJOY THE FIC!