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Sound. It was everywhere. It always had been. Even when she was little she knew sound was important. It spoke to her and she could almost see it in the air around her. When she started playing the violin it took a real shape and form and it made her feel.
She couldn’t tell you how much that meant to her. She didn’t feel much in her life. Everything had been muted for so long. Now she knew why. Sound was her power. Sound was her safe place. The violin was her medium and she could control everything.
It was so freeing. She had never felt this way before in her life. Free.
That’s when the gunshots penetrated her safe place. She could hear them clearly and it did not go with her music. It unsettled her and she looked up. Masked men in the theatre. There were dozens. They were inconsequential. They were not firing at her. She could ignore them. It would be all too easy. Her violin could drown out the bullets sounds. Then she caught sight of them. All of them.
Her siblings.
Her fingers did not slow in their song. But she saw them. They were cowering. Looking for a way out. Making a plan. A distant part of her brain wondered if this is what it was like on missions. She wouldn’t know. She had never been a part of the team.
She could see everything so clearly now. Sound made waves and waves would change when they ran into something. Was that even Ben? She could see an outline forming close to Klaus. They were outnumbered and they weren’t a team anymore. If they ever were one. Again, she wouldn’t know. She never even went on one mission.
Then she saw one bullet and it was as if it was in slow motion coming straight for Allison. Allison who she almost killed. Allison who was trying so hard to be a sister. She felt guilt. Swift and cutting. Without conscious thought she cut the bullet down. Then she went even further and swung the bow of her violin out in an arc and all of the gunmen that were standing went down instantly. She had used a little more power behind that blast. She was sure none of them had survived.
Then everything went quiet. Quiet to everyone else at least. She could still hear so much, but her heartbeat was the loudest. She focused on that and it calmed her. Now she was able to look up and met the surprised faces of her siblings. She blinked her eyes again and she felt the power inside of herself. Right there waiting for her call. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She was stronger than all of them.
They started coming towards the stage where she still stood. Questioning looks and some calculating ones. She decided she would start packing away her violin. It was a good tool, but she actually didn’t need it for her powers to work. She didn’t need to watch her siblings either to know where they were and what they were doing. She could feel the sound waves all around her. She started speaking before them.
“It’s a little funny.” She murmured to herself, but her siblings heard her.
“What is?” Luther of course was the one to speak up. She stood up slowly with her case in hand and turned to her family.
“The other day, when I went over to the academy and interrupted the family meeting that I knew nothing about.” She caught some winces on some of their faces and others were unaffected, “I was coming to invite you guys to this concert. You guys couldn’t give me the time of day. There were more important matters to attend to.” She smiled, but she knew it didn’t reach her eyes. “And yet here you all are now.” She could see the guilt on Allison’s and Klaus’ face. Even a little on Diego. Five looked unaffected and Luther was trying to act like it didn’t matter but she could see that he knew he had made a mistake. “All because I have powers now. I guess I’m important now. I can be a part of the family?”
“Well-” Luther started but Allison shoved him. It made Vanya’s lips twitch.
“We still have the apocalypse to think about.” Five spoke up and he had his hands in his pockets casually. He started strolling around like he didn’t have a care in the world. Vanya could see the tension in him though. Knew that he was ready to spring at any moment.
“Did you finally figure it out then? What causes the apocalypse?” She tilted her head as she asked him. She saw her siblings start to move in closer.
“It’s you.” That took her by surprise and she couldn’t help showing it, but then after a moment of thought she burst into laughter. It stopped her siblings in their tracks and she could tell the sound made them uneasy.
“Oh, my dear brothers and sister. Me? Little ol’ me? I bet that took you by surprise. Little, ordinary, not important, Vanya. I was in front of your nose the whole time.” She chuckled and shook her head. A part of her was still in shock. She didn’t think she had that much power, but then she felt inside of her and maybe she did. She just didn’t have it in her to cause the apocalypse though. She wasn’t after world destruction after all. More herself or her father.
“Must have made you feel really smart when you figured that out.” She decided it didn’t matter to her. She didn’t feel apocalyptic at the moment. Just pissed off at her siblings and their lack of care for her or her feelings. “Well, sorry to burst your bubble but I don’t plan on becoming apocalyptic any time soon.”
“Your mission is over. You can leave me alone now.” She shrugged and went to walk off of the stage from stage left.
“We can’t let you do that.” Luther spoke up. She raised an eyebrow at him.
“And you’re going to stop me?” She questioned. She could feel her power surge under her skin just waiting to be released. He was the one who locked her up. The one who took a hug of comfort and used it put her to sleep. “Please, I’d like to see you try.”
She raised her hand, almost gently into the air and he was pushed back several feet. It wasn’t even a strain on her at all. “If anybody is going to be causing this apocalypse, that would be you.” She felt a thrill at his surprise and disbelief. The others looked at him too in wariness and confusion.
“By pissing me off so much that I would lose control.” She said calmly and clearly.
“I told you!” Diego said fiercely at their brother. “We shouldn’t have locked her up. We should have been helping her!” She watched as all of her siblings shot glares and superior looks at their oldest brother. Five yelled too, since he hadn’t known that information.
“So much like father, number one.” She knew it would hurt the most. “He did the same thing. He would be so proud to know you followed in his footsteps.”
She saw that it cut him deep to be compared to their father like that.
“I was only trying to help. I wasn’t sure what you were capable of. Pogo said-” He seemed to recall something, “You killed Pogo! That had nothing to do with me!”
She noted his look of triumph and she had her siblings attention again, “I did.” She nodded unrepentant. “He knew everything dad was doing to me and did nothing. He knew how abusive he was and stood there watching. He practically handed him the controls to torture us. My powers reacted accordingly.”
She spared no sympathy for the man-ape. He had gotten what he deserved in her eyes. She could tell some of her siblings agreed and Luther saw that too. “You hurt Allison! You could have killed her.”
“I told you I didn’t mean to!” She could feel her temper and guilt rise at the accusation. The wind picked up in reaction to her emotions. She could still feel the blood on her hands and she was afraid to look down in case there was still some left. She looked at her sister with remorse. “I never meant to hurt you. I just heard you were going to rumor me and my powers reacted.” She could feel the tears in her eyes, but held them at bay. This was no time to cry. She took a calming breath. She could see the understanding in her sisters eyes and that relaxed her further.
“So you were defending yourself. And she didn’t kill Allison, she just cut her vocal chords. You know how precise you have to be for that to happen? Even her uncontrolled powers didn’t let her kill Allison.” Diego snapped at Luther. She was surprised at his defense. Diego always made her feel like she was a waste of space. Like she was in the way and a distraction.
“What happened with Karl Jenkins? We found him dead.” Five asked in a conversational tone. She could tell he was still sizing her up. Not sure whether she was a threat or not. Her anger came to the surface at his name.
“I found out he was using me. He just wanted me to tap into my powers to hurt all of you.” There was the surprise again at the new information, “so I took him out.”
“You were protecting us?” Klaus asked in shock. She shrugged again and for the first time felt uncomfortable with their attention. Probably because it was changing. It was no longer suspicious.
“I was finally able to.” She couldn’t meet their eyes. She looked up in time to see Allison and Klaus step closer to her. She stepped back. She didn’t want them near her. As controlled as she felt about her powers, she still didn’t want to hurt them. Plus, did they only care now because she had powers.
“Vanya-”
“Are we done? I promise I won’t cause the apocalypse, so you don’t have to chase me.” She started to walk away. She didn’t want to be there anymore.
“Wait!”
“You can’t leave.”
“Let us help you.”
“I don’t need or want your help. When I did, you didn’t care. Don’t act like you do now.” She spoke sharply and with spite. “Just because I have powers doesn’t mean you get to include me now. I’d rather be alone than with you guys. Remember, I’m not a part of the Umbrella Academy. Never was. I don’t have a brand that marks me as one of you. I’m just ordinary, so leave me alone.”
She turned and walked away. She didn’t need her siblings. She didn’t want them. They didn’t really care about her. Only wanted to control her. She stopped before she was completely backstage and out of sight. “And if you follow me, I’ll know.”
And she was gone. Ready to finally be free.