Vide Noir | The Umbrella Academy

Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen:

An alarm was going off, loud and very much annoying. Della groaned as her eyes peeled open, she pushed herself off the couch and stumbled tiredly towards the source of the commotion.

Elliott was sat at one of his many desks, a machine in front of him was sounding off wildly. Five was leaned over his shoulder, a coffee mug gripped in his hand.

"What's this?" She questioned, stopping just behind them.

"Sound wave." Five turned to her, he leaned back and mumbled something to Elliott before stepping in front of her. "We found someone."

"Vanya?"

He shrugged, walking forward. He wrapped an arm around her as he did a few times before, swinging her into him as they vanished from Elliott's living room. That seemed to be a new thing he was doing, wether it was a subconscious choice or not.

They landed in a corn field, a few shucks hitting in her in the face as she caught her balance. Her feet ached, her previously up kept two tone t-strap shoes from '45 now scuffed and ruined. Della wasn't one for fashion, but she had taken quite the liking to those shoes. She pursed her lips, staring down. Come to think of it, she was still in the same clothes she left Paris in. A pair of beige trousers she'd stolen from a clothes line, a worn black belt off a line in someone's yard and an overly loose white button down she had hastily tucked in while on the run. The white of it was stained in various places, a mixture of mud, blood and sweat. No wonder people had been giving her odd looks.

"Your sister is a corn field?" Della questioned as he lead the way, picking a random direction. "Why a corn field?"

"Don't know."

She sighed, "Why not, like, a nice hotel or something. Or the beach."

He pushed his way through, until the field that should've went on forever, came to a halt. Five mumbled something under his breath as she stepped beside him, nudging him out of her way for randomly stopping.

A giant circle had been flattened over the field, most seared with soot, burnt from whatever force put it there.

"Well." Della sighed, "Someone was definitely here."

"You think."

She snorted, "Maybe it's one of those aliens Elliott likes to talk about. Do you think they're actually little green people, aliens I mean. Of course, if they actually existed."

"Adella."

Her nose scrunched, "Why do you always call me that. I prefer Della, it sounds more casual. If you had a normal name I'd come up with a nickname for you, and I'd make sure it was top-notch."

"A real name?" He looked down at her, his pace slowing. "What, do you not like Five?"

She shrugged, "It's unique. I can't imagine calling you anything else but that now. I'll come up with a nickname, and I really hope you'll hate it."

"I most likely will, if you come up with it."

"Yeah, whatever."

He snorted taking off, cutting down the middle of the circle. Della rushed after him, unaware that he heard a few disturbances on the other side of the flattened field. She remained quiet as he seemed determined, his posture back and hunched as he peeled back the first layer of corn, she supposed the posture was from the first few years of desk work. He was one to slouch without the cloud of arrogance constantly hovering around his head.

Five scoffed as a woman appeared, curled in on herself on the ground, hidden amongst the shucks. "Hi, Vanya."

"Who are you?" Vanya questioned, worried brows bunched in fear.

"I'm your brother." He said plainly, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"I have a brother?" Her eyes widened, suddenly turning to Della. "And who are you?"

So this was Vanya. She was a lot more petite that Della was expecting, her eyes clouded with fear. Her clothes were all messy, stained with various things, and her brown hair was knotted against her head. She'd been running from something, no doubt the brothers.

Della smiled, giving a small wave. "An unwilling participant."

She was met with Five's hand whacking her side, "Look, you can either stay here and wait for the IKEA mafia to come to kill you, or you can come with us."

Della snickered, hitting him back. "So you do have a sense of humour."

Vanya scrambled up to her feet, they way she looked between them, she was trying to make out the meaning of their little spat. "Wh... Why are they trying to kill me?"

"Why are any of them trying to kill us?" Della asked matter of factly, "Maybe it's 'cause they can't have people with superior humour around to annoy the shit out of 5'4 here."

"I'm not 5'4, thank you very much--" He paused turning to Vanya as he began to lead them back out into the flattened field. He took a breath, focusing back on his sister. "'Cause you're not supposed to be here, Vanya."

"In Dallas?"

"Nope." Della cut in, "Here, in grand ol' 1963."

Her eyes widened, staring around at the circle. Vanya blinked, slowly, "Holy shit."

Five nodded, glancing at her. "Yeah, pretty wild, right?"

"I'm Della, by the way." She turned to the woman, nodding. "My job is to make sure Five doesn't get everyone killed with his ego."

"What?"

"Don't listen to Adella," Five huffed, sending her one of his infamous glares. "It's good to see your powers are still intact. But we should go, before they come back."

"You think they'll come back?"

He shook his head, "You never know, between those three and the one after Adella."

Vanya turned to her, lips forming a straight line. "Someone's after you too?"

"What can I say," Della grinned, "I'm popular with the men."

Five whacked her again, but she swore his lips quirked up at that. "We really need to go." He said, "Hold on tight."