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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘ. ᴘᴀɴ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ʜᴇʟʟ ʜᴀᴛʜ ɴᴏ ғᴜʀʏ
ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ sᴄᴏʀɴᴇᴅ꒱


❝ SWEET. YOU GUYS
FIGHT JUST LIKE US ❞

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Not long after the Umbrella Academy family meeting wrapped up, Sloane made her way back to the room where she'd left Deianira. While she knew that the Romani woman wouldn't have necessarily agreed with her plan— working with their enemies was never Nira's first choice— it was what she had to do so they could reunite with their family. Sloane just hoped that Deianira wouldn't be too mad when she found out.

Quietly, the blonde slipped inside the room and went over to the bed where the woman was resting. She sat down on the mattress carefully from the opposite side and placed a gentle hand on the brunette's arm. "Nira," she whispered as she shook her girlfriend slightly. "Nira, wake up."

Deianira grunted and tugged the covers up in response. A fond, relieved smile found its way to Sloane's face at her reaction. It was a sure sign that, above all else, Deianira would be okay. "C'mon, Nira. Don't you want to go home?"

The eighth Hargreeves rolled over with a sigh to look at the blonde grumpily. "What's all the fuss about? And why does it feel like I have the world's worst hangover?"

Sloane's lips tugged into a frown. "Don't you remember what happened? Ben led us to attack the Umbrellas—"

"And that weird old guy protected them," the brunette recalled as her mind caught up to the past events. She froze before her eyes hesitantly flicked up to meet her girlfriend's. "Jayme and Alphonso?" she asked quietly.

Sloane's barely noticeable shake of her head was enough of an answer. Deianira's heart sank. As much as she acted cool and detached from her siblings, she did still love them, even if she didn't know how to show it. It had been bad enough when they discovered Marcus' death but now. . . She let out a heavy sigh. "That's half of the Academy gone now. So much for being able to save the world."

The blonde moved her hand from the woman's shoulder to intertwine their fingers together. Deianira used her free arm to rest the back of her wrist against her forehead as she closed her eyes. Behind her eyelids, she could picture her three lost siblings: Marcus, tall and strong; Alphonso, humorous and friendly; Jayme, sarcastic and cynical. Gone. They were all gone, and she'd never get to see them again.

"What do we do now?" she wondered aloud.

The fifth Hargreeves hesitated for a moment before she answered: "well. . . I've made a deal with the Umbrellas. We'll be able to go home in exchange for keeping them in the loop."

Deianira's eyes shot open as she bolted upright. Her head throbbed from the sudden motion but she ignored it as she stared at her girlfriend with wide eyes. "What? You know you're conspiring with the people who killed our siblings, right?"

"I know," the woman replied calmly, though she flinched at the brunette's accusing tone. "But the old man isn't with them. They didn't even know who he was until Viktor recognized him."

She scoffed. "Oh, like that's supposed to make it any better? The only way I'd ever work with them is if we get that guy's head on a platter."

Sloane had expected this exact reaction— from the Romani woman and the rest of her siblings. "How would his death help us, Nira? So many people have died already. . . one more would only make it worse."

Deianira dropped the blonde's hand (not because she was mad at Sloane, but she couldn't sit still for a moment longer) and got up to pace. The room spun for only a minute until she recovered her bearings. "He would've killed you, Sloane! He'll probably kill more before he's done, so the only way to keep everyone safe is if he's dead. Besides, we have to avenge our siblings, or have you forgotten?"

"Of course I haven't," she said. "But. . . we have bigger things to worry about. Our families need to work together to stop whatever's causing the people to disappear. Then we can give Jayme and Alphonso a proper burial. After that, we should just. . ."

"What? Let him go?"

She ignored the brunette's mocking tone. "Yes."

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Deianira exclaimed without warning. Frustration burst forth and she couldn't contain it; her arms swung wide to let out a gust of red power. The entire right half of the room was nothing but broken furniture. Wind blew through the shards of what was once a window.

Sloane stood from the bed to make her way over to her girlfriend. She wrapped her arms around the other woman without a pause and rested her head against Deianira's shoulder. "I know," she agreed softly. "But more violence isn't the answer, Nira. I know letting go isn't your strong suit but just this once, can you try?" The blonde shifted so that she was looking up into the eighth Hargreeves' drawn face as her chin rested on her chest.

The brunette heaved another great sigh, one that seemed to come from somewhere near her toes before it exhaled past her lips. Her shoulders slumped as she returned her girlfriend's embrace. "I'll always try for you, Sloany, even if it kills me."

A faint smile appeared on the other woman's lips. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that."

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Later that night, the two Sparrows, their siblings' bodies, Viktor and Luther drove down a dark street. Sloane and Deianira sat in the back, holding hands. The entire car was swamped in a thoughtful silence that was too potent to even think about breaking. Finally, they arrived at the designated meeting place and climbed out.

Deianira stood with her arm wrapped around her girlfriend's shoulders comfortingly while the Umbrellas waited anxiously at the front of the car. Headlights soon appeared from the other end of the street as another black car rolled into view. It stopped just a few feet away from them to allow Fei, Ben and Christopher to step out. Not much was said as the bodies were transferred from one trunk to the other. Then, the two Sparrows walked slowly over to their still-living siblings.

Fei immediately wrapped Sloane in a welcoming hug. Ben met Deianira's eyes for a moment before he spoke in a voice too quiet for their enemies to hear: "glad you're not dead, I guess."

Her lips twitched up into a faint smile. "Glad you had the good sense to run like hell."

She stepped off to the side next to her sister and girlfriend. Viktor watched them carefully. "Well, this is it. This puts an end to it."

"No," Ben countered. "We want the old man too."

"What are you doing?" Fei hissed.

While Deianira could admit that she normally would've gone with her brother's plan, Sloane's words also made sense, which she begrudgingly conceded. As much as she loved chaos and revenge on a daily basis, now she just wanted a break and maybe to never see the Umbrellas again. Wouldn't that be nice?

"You wanted a plan. Here it is. Besides, Deia agrees with me. Right, Deia?"

The brunette pressed her lips together and dropped her gaze to the ground. Thankfully, her sister kept Ben from questioning her lack of immediate agreement. "It's a stupid plan."

"He isn't a part of the deal."

"He is now."

Sloane spoke up quickly: "Ben, they aren't working with him. They had nothing to do with the attacks—"

"Then they won't mind finding him and handing him over," he cut across her evenly. "It's simple. Bring us the man who killed our siblings and this will all be over. If not. . ."

They turned away from the Umbrellas with only a sarcastic comment from Christopher. After they got settled in the car and began to drive away, Deianira finally spoke: "you know I'd normally be all for wiping out our enemies, Ben, but this time. . . it's different. We're at half strength and we don't know what that old man's capable of. Threatening them again after we narrowly escaped extinction just isn't. . . smart."

"For once our sister is speaking with a clear mind," Fei said from the passenger's seat. "I agree with Deianira."

Ben's grip tightened on the steering wheel, though his expression didn't change at their words. "Fine. I didn't need either of you anyway. But when I cut you from my plan I don't want either of you trying to claim my success for yourselves."

The brunette leaned forward to pat him condescendingly on the shoulder. "No need to worry, Ben-er-ino. We'll be there to plan your funeral when your scheming inevitably goes south."

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

When the Sparrows finally returned home, the two now-ex-captives went straight upstairs to collapse in bed together. Deianira had been spared nightmares of her dead siblings thanks to being knocked unconscious but Sloane hadn't wanted to sleep alone— a request that she happily fulfilled. Upon waking up the next morning she felt mostly refreshed, save for the buzzing of her skin that felt like she'd stuck a fork in an electrical outlet. This was due to the excess energy from the old man's attack the day prior: the only other force besides their new basement resident that was stronger than hers.

The Romani woman carefully extracted herself from the blonde's tight grasp so that she could stand and stretch. Before she left the room, she took a minute to admire her girlfriend's sleeping form for, even in an unconscious state, she somehow still seemed. . . perfect. Her light-colored hair fanned out on the pillow next to her and her head was propped up by her bent arm. Sloane's body was slightly curved inward as Deianira was always the bigger spoon. The woman's soft lips were parted somewhat as she took deep, even sleep-breaths. With a faint smile on her own lips, the brunette quietly got dressed and left the room.

Ben caught her on her way to get breakfast. "Okay, can you tell me now why you have a sudden change of heart about our usual attack-first method?"

"Good morning, Ben-er-ino. Good morning, Deia." She deepened her voice to mock his in greeting. "Did you sleep well? How are you feeling after being a captive? I'm great, thanks. Is there something that you wanted to talk about?"

The Asian man spared her an irritated look. "We don't have time for mental health check-ins, Number Eight. We need to talk about why you don't want to pursue the old guy."

Deianira let out a long-suffering sigh. "Maybe I don't want to be predictable, Ben-er-ino. I mean, if I wanted to make the first move every time then I'd eventually form a pattern that could be defeated."

"That's not the reason and you know it. Tell me the truth, Number Eight."

"Why don't you tell me why we need the old guy so badly and then I'll answer your question?"

He paused for a moment. "Fair enough. We need to punish their killer."

"Well, that much is obvious. Is there a deeper reason?"

"You mean besides avenging our siblings or have you forgotten about them?"

Deianira stopped on the landing of the stairs and crossed her arms. "That's not what I meant."

Ben's expression became impatient. "Tell me what you do mean, then."

The curly-haired woman hesitated for only a moment before she answered: "Sloane asked me not to."

He scoffed. "You're being a coward because of your girlfriend? Jesus, Number Eight, I thought you were more iron-willed than that!"

"I'm not being a coward," she snapped in response. "I'm being smart. What about that thing in our basement? I think that's slightly more important than getting justice for people who are already dead. No offense to our fallen siblings, of course."

"Of course," he replied dryly. His lips curled into a disbelieving sneer. "So, what, are you suggesting that work with our enemies? Because that's what your precious Sloany wants?"

Deianira's eyes narrowed dangerously and she stepped towards him. "Don't talk about Sloane like that," she said menacingly; a less arrogant person would have shivered at her tone. Her voice shifted back to normal as she continued: "besides, more than just animals are disappearing now. I think it's time to reorganize our priorities. We can go back to killing the Umbrellas once we're certain we won't be killed first."

"The man who killed our siblings is an outsider— neither Sparrow nor Umbrella. He needs to be dealt with before we can even think about merging our families."

The brunette resumed her path down the stairs, forcing Ben to follow her. "What if they refuse? You weren't the one who was captured. I was, so I know the relationships. The little guy with big powers seemed pretty attached to him."

"We can be pretty persuasive if you're not influenced by your girlfriend," her brother reminded her. "I don't think that. . . convincing them will be a problem."

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Grace held out a plate of cookies as the assembled adults sat in the living room of the Sparrow Academy. Lila took almost all of them with hardly a word except: "lovely to meet you."

There was a clear divide between the two Academies with Diego, Lila, and Five on one side of the table. Allison sat separately from them but on their side of the room. Luther was the exception: he stood with the Sparrows. Deianira eyed him coldly from her place next to Sloane, causing the larger man to shift with discomfort.

"Welcome," Fei greeted them as she entered the room. "Please make yourselves at home." A raven followed behind her and cawed to announce her presence.

Allison didn't take kindly to her words. "Bitch, this is our home."

"Excuse me?"

In an effort to prevent an argument from breaking out, Luther reached forward and picked up a bowl. "Jellybean?"

"Where the hell are Viktor, Al and Klaus?" Diego asked.

The Romani woman watched the boy's eyes flash with worry before he adopted a look of indifference. "With our luck, probably Kugelblitzed by now."

"You're a dark little dude sometimes. I thought you'd care more about your girlfriend."

Deianira raised an amused eyebrow at the teen. "You have a girlfriend? Did you have to bribe her?"

The boy's gaze narrowed as he leaned back against the couch. He crossed his arms across his chest as he met her eyes evenly. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

Fei's attention was more focused on his physically-older brother and she leaned towards him with interest. "Ooh, what happened to your hand?"

Ben clapped his hands together to get their attention. "We don't have time for idle chitchat. Everyone, sit down."

"A please would be nice," Diego grumbled, but they all did as he said.

Deianira let out an impatient sigh before she rose to stand next to her brother. "Look, team morale speeches aren't my strong suit. I'm not good with words of flattery especially when I hate half the people in this room but I can be honest. Our two academies will never be chummy or close; there's too much bad blood between us. I know that I— for one— will never forgive you for murdering our other siblings. However, I'm willing to put these feelings aside for the greater good— for now. If you lot would be willing to do the same, I'm sure that we can work together for the time being." She leaned towards Sloane. "How was that? It wasn't too threatening, was it?"

"No, you're fine," she whispered back. The brunette straightened with a self-satisfied smile on her face; diplomacy wasn't her strong suit but she was making an effort to do as her girlfriend had asked: reduce the amount of unnecessary bloodshed.

The second Sparrow took over for her: "What Deia's said is the truth but whatever, alright? Let bygones be bygones." Diego raised his hand. "Question?"

"Yeah. If I kill you, do we get our Ben back?" Fei snickered with amusement at his suggestion. "Hypothetically. . ."

"Keep talking and your hand won't be the only thing bleeding."

Five didn't give his brother a chance to argue further. "Okay, if the testosterone twins are done, I'd like to get back to a plan."

Viktor finally made his appearance then. Without hesitation, he demanded: "where is he?"

"Viktor," Allison said slowly.

The short man turned to look at the Hargreeves that surrounded him. "What did you do to Harlan?"

"They didn't do anything. I did. I killed Harlan," she announced calmly.

"What—?" It took a moment for him to process the news. "I. . . I don't. . . I don't understand. Why?"

"Because he didn't deserve to live."

Ben came over to sit on the couch with a container of cheese puffs while Deianira retook her seat on the couch next to her girlfriend. She gently slid her hand through Sloane's to tangle their fingers together. As the blonde leaned against her side comfortably, her attention turned to the brewing argument with mild curiosity.

Viktor stared at his sister with betrayal clearly on his face. "What? Because they said so? You don't have to listen to them! They don't get to tell us what to do."

The second Sparrow leaned towards Five. "Twenty bucks on the little one."

"I'll take that action," the boy agreed.

"You coulda. . . you coulda talked to me. We could've figured out something else," the brunet continued fiercely.

Allison wasn't having any of it. "What, so you could lie to all of us again and take his side?"

"That not what happened."

"Oh, no, that's exactly what happened." She leaned forward menacingly and her voice dropped. "I know Harlan killed all of our mothers."

There were exclamations of shock amongst the Umbrellas. Lila gave them an interested look as she ate some licorice. "Bloody plot twist."

"Who told you that?" Viktor asked.

"Harlan. After you lied about it to my face," Allison snarled through gritted teeth.

Diego watched his brother carefully. "Is that true, Viktor? Harlan started all of this?"

The man glanced down to avoid meeting anyone's eyes. "Yeah, but he didn't mean to hurt anyone. He—"

"How do you know?" Five spoke up for the first time.

Viktor looked over at the boy. "Because I knew him, and he was sweet and kind until I made him like us. Okay? So I screwed him up. And if you need someone to blame, I'm right here—"

"What makes you think I don't?" Allison cut him off coldly.

"This wasn't about saving the world. This was about hurting me. Payback for—"

The brunette stood as she stared him down. She approached her brother with slow, measured steps until she towered over him. "Go on. Say her name."

Luther quickly stood up to intervene. "You know what? Maybe we should all just take a minute. . ." His sister held up her hand, causing him to sit back down. "Okay."

"Did killing Harlan bring Claire back?"

"Did protecting him bring Sissy back? Because it was just as personal for you—"

"I didn't kill anyone!" Viktor protested loudly.

Allison countered him with equal volume: "but you risked everyone! Do you know what that felt like? Watching you fight harder to protect the man who helped destroy my daughter than you ever did to bring her back?"

The short man shook his head. "I don't know how to bring Claire back. Okay? No one does. But I was there for you. I tried. I was—"

"To what? Help me grieve? God, this whole family is so quick to tell me to suck up my pain and so worried about fixing yours! Someone had to pay because you never seem to. Destroy the world, kill Pogo, almost kill me, and for what? So we can all run around and clean up your mess? I'm sick of it."

Five tried to calm their fight. "Take it easy, Allison." Ben shushed him, too involved in watching the drama unfold.

"Okay, I—"

Allison's eyes glowed a bright yellow-orange as she completely lost her temper. Rings of power echoed from her lips with her next words: "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

Viktor's own eyes turned white and his lips snapped closed upon command. He began to choke as he was unable to breathe except through his nose. Luther shot out of his seat. "Allison!"

"Every time I build a new life for myself, you end the world and TAKE IT FROM ME!" she screamed in her brother's face.

The boy leaned forward with concern. "How are you doing that without saying 'I heard a rumor?'"

"Just a little residual gift from Harlan," she answered evenly.

The larger man finally stood up for the brunet. "Alright, that's it. Knock off the power shit, Allison. It's not okay!"

Allison released Viktor from her hold and he took in a deep breath. He coughed several times and he leaned his hands on his knees to recover from his closed mouth. The woman leaned down to his bent level to whisper in his ear: "we should have left you in the basement."

In retaliation, the man straightened violently from his bent position and used surprise to his advantage to smack his sister across the face. Allison went reeling backwards from the force of his hit— it had been so strong that her nose had left a trail of blood on her face. Defeated, Viktor turned and left the room.

"You okay?" Five asked his sister.

Allison licked the blood off her lip as it dripped down her nose. "I'm fine. Let's continue."

Ben met his sister's gaze across the table; they smirked knowingly at each other as he commented: "sweet. You guys fight just like us."

"Nah, man," Diego disagreed. "We don't fight like this."