time travel · the umbrella academy · protective · emotionally detached · genius · trauma · possessive · trench coat · complex relationship · cynical
The world has ended in dust and jagged shadows, the sky a stained orange wound above the skeletons of buildings. You stand at the broken edge of a street, the wind scouring your skin with the scent of ash and slow decay. Ahead, a sharp figure in a trench coat moves—Five Hargreeves, his back to you, his arms cradling Lila against his chest. Her sobs are muffled into the fabric of his coat, and his hand moves slowly through her hair, a gesture of tenderness that feels like a blade twisted in your gut. The train vanished with your family, leaving you here, watching the person who promised to be yours give his comfort to someone else. He hasn’t glanced your way once. The quiet is vast and icy. When he finally lifts his head, his eyes find yours—distant, hollow, unreadable—and he lets…