l i t t l e l i o n m a n | t h e u m b r e l l a a c a d e m y

1 . 6

a light supper

✩ ° . * . ° ✩

the next morning luther, vanya, diego and sebastian gathered in elliott's living room. allison was home, klaus was with his cult, and five was who knows where.

the three siblings had each received a letter from their father, inviting them to a 'light supper'. luther wasn't impressed.

"diego, this is a setup," he mumbled around a mouthful of food.

"maybe," diego conceded. "but we should go anyway."

"says the guy who's already been stabbed once this week."

"oh, don't worry, me and him are gonna have words."

sebastian sat uncomfortably on the couch, trying to eat toast as quietly as possible. he didn't feel like he should be there for this conversation.

"would you tell him that he's nuts?" luther asked vanya.

"i think we should go," she admitted sheepishly.

diego smirked. "see?"

"vanya, of all people, you should hate dad the most."

she shrugged. "come on, can he really be that bad?"

"okay, well, let's see." luther pretended to think. "he isolated you from the rest of the family."

"kept you hopped up on pills," diego added.

"and he brainwashed you into thinking you had no powers."

"jesus, this guy..." she mumbled, looking at sebastian with wide eyes.

he made a 'it is what it is' face and got up.

"i mean, come on, i have to meet him."

luther glared at diego, who's smirk was only growing. "you already know how this is gonna go. dad's gonna play his little mind games on us, get into our heads, and he's gonna turn us all against each other. you watch."

"luther, we're not twelve anymore," diego said. his smile was gone. "we're grown-ass men. and women," he added, glancing at vanya.

he bent over to look at luther. "hey. we can handle him. wanna know what's different this time?"

"...what's that?" he grumbled.

"you got me."

he stared up at him blankly.

"we go in there as a united front," diego pressed on. "no more 'number one', 'number two' bullshit. from now on it's...team zero."

"team zero?" luther repeated.

diego nodded slowly and looked at them. "team zero- where do you think you're going?"

sebastian, who had been inching towards the doorway, froze.

i figured this was a family matter, he shrugged. i was going to give you all some privacy.