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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙ. ʙ. ᴇꜰꜰᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐈 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛʀᴀᴠᴇʟ ɪ ꒱　

❝ A SPACIAL JUMP IS
TRIVIAL COMPARED TO THE
UNKOWNS OF TIME TRAVEL ❞

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At eleven years old, certain members of The Umbrella Academy felt that they wanted to explore the strength of their powers— namely Number Five. The boy was pacing back and forth in his room when Alexa appeared in his doorway, out of breath from her quick flight from the library to meet him. At her entrance, he looked up and she saw the frustrated look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked with genuine confusion. Usually Five was much more relaxed after their "library time."

She sat down on the bed as Five answered almost furiously, "I want to time travel."

Giving him a concerned look, Alexa wondered, "how long have you been thinking about this?"

He glanced at her briefly before he answered, "awhile. I know I can do more than just spacial jumps— Dad's told me as much. I've been doing the equations, too, and I think I've figured it out."

The girl looked at him a moment before she opened her mouth to say carefully, "I know you can time travel, Five, but maybe you should ask Dad's opinion first."

His eyes narrowed in annoyance. "He'll say no."

"You don't know that."

Five scoffed. "You know him, Lexa. He wouldn't let me reach my full potential."

Now she rolled her eyes. "If there's anything Dad wants, it's the opposite. And believe me, Five, I know you can do it. Maybe you just need a little more practice with the abilities you have now."

He slowed his pacing to look at her critically. She certainly didn't look doubtful of his skill but he could see the worry in her eyes. Frowning slightly, it was his turn to ask, "what's wrong?"

Alexa's eyes darted away from his face as she twisted her hands in her lap. There were a few moments of silence before she finally admitted, "what if the future isn't something you want to see? What if your powers don't work for some reason and you can't return? What if you get lost?" Her voice cracked on the last question and Five came over to sit next to her on the bed.

Gently taking her hand in his, he used his free hand to turn her head to face him. "I wouldn't get lost, Lexa," he told her in a much softer tone. "I would never leave you behind."

The blonde blinked furiously as she refused to let her sudden tears fall. She knew she couldn't keep Five from doing what he wanted and she would never want to hold him back either. She knew he was capable of doing extraordinary things— and not just because she cared for him and believed it so. Coming to a conclusion, she said, "can you wait a few more years?" She watched his expression turn irritated again and she clarified quickly: "I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, Fi, but maybe. . . you'd have more time to practice and you could really show Dad?"

That wasn't exactly what she wanted to say but Five loved proving their father wrong and he wouldn't have taken kindly to her saying directly that he probably wasn't ready yet. Biting his lip in consideration, he nodded. "I'll wait a few years, but not for Dad." He suddenly smiled with amusement. "I just don't want to hear your nagging when I get it wrong."

Rolling her eyes, Alexa was glad that the matter was set aside for the time being.

☂☂☂

Apparently, fifteen was long enough, although Alexa didn't realize it at first. During their thirty minutes of free time on Saturday, Five predictably pulled her into the library. They could barely fit in the space now, although neither one minded. With their bodies pressed so close that both could feel the warmth radiating off the other, Five tilted his head slightly down to look at Alexa. The two teens were nearly the same height but the small space made the difference a little more noticeable.

Looking up at the boy, Alexa was surprised to find a very strange, almost disconcerted emotion on his face. She couldn't place the name of it which made her feel all the more uneasy— they'd always been able to read each other. He almost seemed to be studying her face and taking in her features, like. . . well, she wasn't sure what, but she would later realize he'd been studying what she looked like in a strange sort of goodbye.

It was a moment before he leaned forward— which wasn't too unusual— but instead of their lips meeting like she'd been expecting, he buried his face in her blonde hair. She laughed awkwardly. "What are you doing, Fi?"

He shushed her quietly without bothering to lift his head from her hair. Frowning in confusion, she didn't say anything until he pulled back slightly. The strange emotion was even more prominent in his eyes. "Did you know you smell like lavender and coconut?" he asked.

Giving him a confused look, she said slowly, "it's. . . my shampoo. I think it is, anyway. You're acting really weird, y'know."

Five didn't answer as his eyes flicked down to her lips. Then they were kissing again and his strange actions were forgotten. He seemed almost urgent as his lips moved against hers, which parted to let his tongue slide in. 

She didn't know how long they'd been at it but eventually the kisses slowed down like they always did. Somehow, they'd learned when— especially on Saturdays— a while had passed, in this case half an hour. Alexa ran her tongue over red lips and briefly wondered if anyone was going to say anything, but they hadn't so far and quite frankly, she didn't care. She'd kiss Five as often as she'd like, thank you very much.

Squeezing out of their space, Alexa took Five's hand as they left the library to head to lunch. The blonde smirked when she noticed that his lips were rather red as well. They joined their siblings as they ran down the stairs after their Mom rang the bell to call them to meal. Taking their assigned seats, Alexa stood in between Five and Vanya in front of their chairs. The record player had the usual recording playing in a crackling voice: "'. . .a controlled alpine descent begins with the girding of one's loins and the anchoring of the climbing rope to one's enemy, the mountain. The Dalfersitz rappel is the preferred method for descent when rope is the only available tool but must be regarded as a last resort. Begin by looping the rope. . .'"

Their father appeared and took his place at the head of the table. Turning to face them, he gave them permission. "Sit."

The record continued to play but Alexa tuned it out in favor of doing her usual routine with Five, which was tapping out funny comments in Morse code about what their other siblings were doing. They'd come up with it when they were younger when Alexa had found a book about the code in the library. To her surprise, though, Five was staring at their father with a fierce intensity on his face. Alexa felt her stomach drop as if she'd just gone down the hill on a roller coaster— not that she'd ever been on one.

Suddenly, the teen stabbed his steak knife in the table which caught Reginald's attention. "Number Five?"

"I have a question."

Their father barely glanced up from his meal. "Knowledge is an admirable goal but you know the rules. No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson."

The sinking feeling in Alexa's stomach deepened and she was surprised Vanya didn't say anything about her internal organs spilling out on the floor. She had a terrible feeling what Five's question was going to be. He promised he'd wait! she thought, but she added begrudgingly, he never said how long.

There was a brief moment of silence before Five harshly dropped his utensils on his plate which gained the attention of the entire Umbrella Academy plus Vanya. "I want to time travel."

Again, their father paid him barely any mind with his quick refusal, as was expected. "No."

Alexa placed a hand on Five's arm in an attempt to stop him but he shook her off and stood up. "But I'm ready. I've been practicing my spatial jumps, just like you said. See?" He demonstrated and landed at the head of the table.

Now Reginald glanced toward him. "A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn."

The explanation made no sense to Alexa and Five seemed to agree as he said, "well, I don't get it."

"Hence the reason you're not ready." Their father returned to his meal, clearly done with the conversation.

"I'm not afraid," the teen insisted. He glanced down the table to where Alexa sat looking at him with an almost betrayed expression. When she noticed him looking, she quickly shook her head. Ignoring the twist in his stomach, he turned back to his father.

"Fear isn't the issue. The effects it might have on your body— even on your mind— are far too unpredictable. Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore."

His temper got the best of him and Five turned from the dining room, disregarding his father's voice calling after him or the fact that Alexa stood up from the table to follow, only to be stopped by Vanya's gentle hand. He was out the door and running, leaving them behind, embracing his potential.

☂☂☂

Within the first hour of Five's disappearance, Alexa had been on the aforementioned roller coaster but this time it was her emotions, not her stomach. She paced her room worriedly, in turns frustrated, angry, hurt, desolate, sad, and above all, heartsick. She knew Five would've been back by now to boast to their father about his accomplishments and how he was most certainly ready. But he was gone, meaning something was wrong. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table for what felt like the five hundredth time— which indeed it was. The hour hand crept towards five o'clock at an incredibly slow pace.

Gnawing on her bottom lip, Alexa turned at the end of her room to repeat the series of ten steps she'd been taking again and again when her door opened. Her heart leapt in her chest and the blonde thought with relief: Five was back! 

But no, it was Ben's face that appeared in the crack with Klaus hovering behind him. Concern was clear on her brothers' faces as they took in her state. Entering without permission, the two came into her room and each took one of her hands to lead the girl to sit on the bed with one brother on either side. The feeling of her hands in theirs was nothing like Five's, which were so familiar and made his absence even more noticeable.

She didn't know how long they sat there in silence— which was especially strange for hectic Klaus— but Alexa would later think back on their actions and be forever grateful for being with her. After all, it was always said that the first hour is the worst.

☂☂☂

A week later, The Umbrella Academy plus Vanya stood in the living room as their father in front of them with a somber look on his face. He always looked like that but it seemed to be even more apparent than usual. His cold, gray eyes scanned over the assembled teens before they landed unsympathetically on the blonde who stood between Six and Three. Number Eight, who was supposed to be the most put together to be the glue for the academy looked a mess. While her clothes were pristine— as he would never let them be otherwise— her eyes were red and puffy and her hair had a frizzy quality to it. If she had been allowed to be messier, the girl most likely would have been. Most of the Academy wasn't affected but their training had been off and One had asked twice about if he knew when Five was returning.

After staring at them in silence for a minute, Reginald spoke: "I have called you here to put a matter to rest. It is clearly affecting the Academy's work, which is unacceptable. You should not let such things put an obstacle in front of the overall goal," his eyes landed on Number Eight again and when her blue eyes met his gray ones, he announced in a flat, monotone voice, "Number Five is dead. He is not coming back and it would be best to move on. The boy was foolish enough to use his powers too early and it is his own fault. I will not hear anymore of this nonsense and anyone who mentions it will be severely punished. Is that understood?"

The various teens gave their dutiful responses and he knew that they would do their best to follow orders. Of course, Reginald believed that Number Five was still alive somewhere, but it wouldn't do to have the whole Academy off balance. To his surprise, Number Eight didn't cry like he'd been expecting her to. Instead, her blue eyes hardened to a look of steely determination and he wondered about her expression for a brief moment before the notion was quickly brushed off and the Academy was dismissed.

Returning to her room, Alexa would've been able to tell Reginald exactly what she'd been thinking: Five wasn't dead, she knew she would've felt it— and she would do everything in her power to bring him back. She'd been through a lot of emotions in the past week and had often cried herself to sleep at night, but by day seven, Alexa had come to a conclusion. She could either sink or swim and somewhere, she knew Five was swimming so she would do the same to meet him.