EMBERS : the umbrella academy [2] [COMPLETE]

III

"HARLAN?" Vanya approached the boy surrounded by waves of crackling electricity, "Harlan, it's Vanya."

"Look, Harlan, I know you're really scared, but I can help you," she fell to her knees, "I need you to listen to me, okay? Can you do that?"

Carla looked on in concern as Vanya pushed herself through the electric barrier, Five muttering a quiet, "Be careful."

"Harlan?" Vanya tried again, "I dont know if you can hear me."

"Uh... guys?" Klaus asked tentatively from the barn entrance, the others going to see what had caught his attention, "Who are they?"

"One's the Handler, the other is Diego's girlfriend," Five commented wryly.

Carla felt her breath catch in her throat at the mention of the Handler, and she glared at the small figure by the horizon, no more than a smidge of silver hair.

"Lila," Diego corrected, "That's my ex girlfriend."

"You know what?" Luther said, "Doesn't matter. They both look angry."

Klaus nodded weakly, "Yeah."

"Our brother has that effect on people," Allison teased, although the humour seemed to be missing from her tone.

Carla was growing impatient. She could feel her heartrate increasing, the only thing on her mind being the corpses of Marie and Quentin, and making the Handler regret her actions. Seemingly picking up on her emotions, Five cautiously glanced at her before speaking.

"I'm gonna go find out what they want. You guys stay with Vanya and the kid."

Carla couldn't help but scoff, "As if. I'm going to go over there and melt that womans flesh so that it falls right off her bones."

The snarl in her voice was unlike anything the others had heard before, and perhaps what made it so terrifying was that they didn't doubt she meant every word of it.

Klaus and Five shared an uneasy glance, before the latter nodded at Luther, who stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Carla's torso to restrain her. Almost instantly, her hands started to glow, the veins under her skin being lit up as though magma was flowing through her body.

She reached down to try and burn Luther's hands in an attempt to free herself, but his weird monkey skin seemed to be thicker than leather and apparently lacking in nerve endings too, because he didn't even flinch at the heat.

"Sorry, Carla," Five said genuinely, "We can't let emotions get in the way-"

"Emotions?!" Carla spat, still trying to escape Luther's iron hold, "Don't you dare try to downplay what I'm feeling, Five. That woman killed Marie and Quentin! I had to walk in on their corpses..."

She paused, trying to blink back the tears that were stinging at her eyes, "I want that woman dead. I want to see her die- I don't give a fuck what you have to say!"

Five regarded her for a few moments, kicking and struggling, skin pasty, face sullen, shadows under her eyes more prominent than he remembered. She looked an awful lot like the Carla he was with in the apocalypse- tired, desperate, holding on by barely a thread.

Eyes pleading, Carla held his gaze, begging for him to undertstand, to let her do what every nerve in her body was telling her to. However, he coolly turned away, instead heading out of the barn, Diego right by his side.

"No!" Carla screamed after him, thrashing violently against Luther's grip, hair beginning to glow too as her emotions started to flair out of control.