***

Seventeen years ago...

A little girl was looking up at the stars and terrified out of her mind of being a superhero.

She had retreated to a spot on the roof tucked between the chimneys—her favourite spot, hidden from the prying eyes of her father, her siblings and Pogo—knees to her chest and red hair tangled around her face from the wind. Dried tear tracks stained her cheeks, and her eyes were red and puffy. The wind bit at her, but the girl barely noticed its chill, too frightened of tomorrow to feel the cold.

"Thought I'd find you up here."

The girl turned, a fresh bolt of terror slamming into her, before relaxing at seeing who it was. "Oh, thank God."

Her sister smiled, holding up a bag. "Want some dessert?"

The redhead girl's grin was eager.

The other girl sat down next to her sister as she scooted out of the way, but even with the cleared space it was a tight fit. The tiles were warm from the chimneys as the girl opened the bag and pulled out the contraband treasure inside—a block of chocolate, enough to share between them. The red-haired girl's mouth salivated as her sister broke a square off and handed it to her, nibbling on her own as sweet goodness flooded her mouth.

"Thanks, Adie. You're the best," the redhead girl said around her mouthful of chocolate.

The dark-haired girl smiled. "No problem, Win. Anything for my sister."

Winona Hargreeves beamed, to which her sister, Adeline Hargreeves, returned it. Both sisters enjoyed saying each other's names, swore to themselves they would call each other by their names.

And not the numbers they were given.

Looking up at the stars, the sisters pressed themselves closer together, sharing body heat and chocolate. As they did, Adeline noticed the dried tears on her sister's face, her red puffy eyes, and concern shot through her.

"Hey, are you okay? Did Dad or Luther say anything to you?" Adeline asked, brow creased in concern.

Winona startled, before shaking her head as she rubbed at her face. "No. I'm... I'm just scared."

"Of what?"

"Of tomorrow. Of—of our mission."

And like that, Adeline understood.

She slung an arm around Winona's shoulders, soothing, "Hey, it's gonna be okay. This is what we've been training for, remember? We're gonna be superheroes."

Winona looked at her sister. "Aren't you scared, Adeline?"

"Of course I'm scared. But I'm also excited. We're gonna be superheroes tomorrow, Winnie. Officially. Isn't that exciting?"

Winona gave her sister a flat look. "Yeah, and that's what I'm terrified of. Of  being superheroes and what... we're gonna to have to use our powers for."

"To stop bad guys," Adeline replied, but she didn't sound so sure now. "I'll just scream some deaf and you'll trick them with your illusions, Winnie."

"What if we have to do more than that? Adie, what if we're not ready? What if the bad guys manage to hurt you or Five or Klaus or any of us? What if we can't save anyone? What if... Adie, what if we have to use our powers to kill? I don't... I don't think that's what superheroes do," Winona rambled, voice shaking as her eyes glistened with new tears, rubbing her eyes aggressively to get rid of them.

Adeline was silent. She had considered that, that their father was training them and the rest of their adoptive siblings to use their powers lethally. But he wouldn't actually want them to kill people, not even the worst criminals and villains. Only anti-heroes and the greyest of superheroes killed. It literally seemed the opposite of what a hero should do, if they just killed their enemies, the antithesis of who they were and what they stood for.

And yet, what wouldn't Reginald Hargreeves have his children do tomorrow with their powers, even if it meant killing the bad guys? In having the Umbrella Academy stop criminals and save people, no matter what?

But Adeline couldn't think about it. She had to console her sister, to assure her of something that might happen.

"Hey, Win, look at me," Adeline commanded, taking Winona's face so she could look at her. "That isn't gonna happen, okay? We're gonna save people, stop the bad guys and get out while Dad does a speech or something. Maybe we'll hurt the bad guys, but unless we have to, we won't kill anyone, okay?"

Winona frowned, but she believed her sister. She'd always believe Adeline, just as Adeline would always believe Winona.

Letting go of her sister's face, Adeline pulled her into a hug. Winona returned it with ferocity, mumbling, "Thanks, Adie."

"Don't mention it, Win. I'm always here for you, okay?" Adeline replied.

"Same here," Winona returned, hugging her sister tighter. Adeline hugged her back just as fiercely, knowing how true those words were slowly becoming.

In their family, where every day it felt more like a competition between each other than a true family, the sisters learned quickly they needed to stick together. No matter what.

When they let go at last, the sisters turned back to the stars, quiet for a few more minutes before Winona broke it.

"You ever wonder what it would be like to grow up in a normal family, to live a normal life?"

"Sometimes," Adeline admitted, resting her chin on her knee as she looked at the city beyond, the buildings lit up like fireflies, full of people living their lives so differently from hers and her siblings, filtering out all the noise like she'd been taught by her father and focusing on a singular sound. For tonight, it was the wind.

Winona chuckled. "Wanna hear something crazy? Sometimes I imagine running away from here and finding my biological parents. See if they want me, powers and all, and if they did, if I could go to school, make some friends. Just being a normal kid and leaving all of this behind. Maybe even see the world, if I'm older. Crazy, I know, right?"

"No, it doesn't sound crazy," Adeline murmured. Sometimes she wondered about her biological parents, about if they wanted her, especially with her sonic screams and her enhanced hearing, with how her mother hadn't even been pregnant before she gave birth to her, like all their mothers had been before giving birth to their super-powered children who were shortly adopted by their father. But she always chalked it up to a fantasy—after all, they gave her away and she had no idea of who they were or where they lived.

Still, it was a nice fantasy.

She looked at Winona. "Feel a bit better?"

"Yeah. Chocolate, venting and the hug helped a lot," Winona replied with a chuckle.

"That's what I'm here for. Chocolate, venting and hugs. It's my sisterly duty," Adeline snarked, grinning, and Winona laughed again.

"You're the worst, Adie," Winona complained with a grin.

"Nah, you love me," Adeline retorted, grinning back as she pulled her sister into a side-hug, Winona protesting but making no move to leave. Not like Five—he would have jumped out of Adeline's hug in a second.

Leaning against each other, Adeline murmured into her sister's hair, "Hey, we're not gonna be here forever. Someday, we're gonna leave and have our own lives, our own adventures. Maybe try to find our families, if they want us. Just the two of us."

"Just the two of us," Winona agreed. 

It wasn't an outright promise, but it felt something like that as Adeline and Winona Hargreeves looked at the stars one last time before heading inside unless they wanted one of their siblings, Pogo or their mother to find them on the roof and get them in trouble the night before their mission. It had been tempting, though. Maybe they would get bunked like Vanya would be and not have to use their powers. Ben would probably want to join in—he never wanted to do missions.

But the excitement of the mission, of being superheroes, of saving the world as a family, as the Umbrella Academy, spurred Adeline and Winona back into their bedrooms, ready for tomorrow, for the start of their superhero lives, to have all the training and all the blood, sweat and tears and pain be worth it.

Little did they know, it wouldn't be like anything they expected—and that near-promise of leaving and finding their families would one day come true.

But at the cost of leaving behind their brothers and sisters and never coming back for them.

***

Here we go, the prologue!!

Short and sweet, but it's only just to offer a brief glimpse into Winona and Adeline and their dynamic. They are the best sisters and I'm so excited to write them 

Yeah, both Adeline and Winona don't know if they're gonna use lethal force on criminals with their powers tomorrow or not, and Adeline, being a good sister, comforts Winona over that (but seriously, Reginald, why would you want KIDS kill people, powers or not??)

And yeah, not them thinking of their biological parents and wanting to run and find them and it's going to become true...

But next chapter should be the sisters in the present!! Also—I'm going to do the mission, the moment Five disappeared and when Ben died/when Adeline and Winona ran away and found Adeline's parents as flashbacks between the "present" chapters, as they're important moments in the sisters' past. Hope that helps clarify some things!!

Anyway, next chapter might be soon!! 

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!