the return of a brother

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"Travel makes one modest

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"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in this world."


On the top floor of the Umbrella Academy, in the farthest left room, two people sat cramped into a single, child-sized bed. It was the twins' old bedroom, of which they had shared as children.

Reginald Hargreeves had attempted to separate the two, trying his hardest to force them into sleeping in separate rooms by spouting psychological anecdotes about co-dependency and healthy setting for optimal progression in a child's mind, which was ironic considering they were being said by the very man who in one breath proclaimed his children needed a healthy growing environment and in the next would condone their torture under the guise of "training".

At one point in their childhood, he had even gone so far as to forbid them from sharing a room. Dragging Thea into another room further down the hallway, almost at the opposite end to her brother. At the time she had gone quietly, waiting until nightfall to sneak back into their room. The following morning she had woken to see her father's face, darkened in a manner that suggested he was frustrated at things not going his way. Thea had tried to keep the smugness from showing too much on her face, but from his pinched expression she guessed it had let slip. Eventually the man had to concede to the advantages of their sharing, as Klaus' nightmares when left alone would affect everybody else in the house, his screams loud enough to leave them all groggy in the mornings.

If there was one thing Reginald could not stand more than insubordination then it was unproductivity.

Thea had been allowed to sleep back in her original room alongside her brother under the premise that she ensured Number Four retained a healthy sleeping schedule so that they would all be in optimal condition for missions.

Other than the frankly insulting wordage used to describe them – they weren't bloody cattle no matter how much their father seemed to think so – Thea had agreed to the terms without much a fuss. It had been her responsibility to look after Klaus all her life, anyway. She didn't need an order from their father to do so. Besides, sharing had its advantages.

Other than the obvious – that she was so close to her brother –it had been fun figuring out how to decorate their room so that they could both enjoy their own respective hobbies and interests. While physically identical, the twins could not be further apart in aesthetics. Allison always commented on the harsh contrast of their room whenever she visited, saying that it was like an invisible line had been drawn down the middle to indicate which side belonged to who. Though those trips weren't very frequent, as Allison preferred Thea visit her room instead, which was bright and girly and filled with pinned up posters of boys from glossy magazines.

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