Artemis Hargreeves-or rather Maxine Hopper, has finally returned home. Not to 2019 to the Umbrella Academy in New York, but to 1976 to Denver, Colorado where her brother Vance Hopper is. But the strange thing about Artemis's return is, she's 13 agai...
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It was Griffin Stagg who found her.
Artemis had landed with a groan on the ground, landing at the playground she had gone missing from when she was little. She laid on her side, completely out of breath, and she stared at her hands in shock.
What the hell just happened? How was she here?
She wasn't sure how long she laid there, but it must have been a while, because she heard footsteps after what seemed like an hour. She heard them come to a halt, and then they quickly approached her. She felt herself get rolled onto her back, and she whimpered. Artemis squinted, the sun in her eyes.
"Holy shit." The voice mumbled. "Max!"
She turned her head, and was finally able to see who was kneeling above her.
"Griffin?" She mumbled.
"Yeah, yeah, it's me." He rushed out. "Shit, what happened to you?"
Artemis didn't answer. How the hell did she explain something like that to Griffin. Instead, she stayed silent, and let Griffin help her up.
"Come on, let's get you up." He said. "Let's go to the police station."
Artemis didn't say anything, but hobbled along beside him. It didn't take long for them to reach the station, and when they did, she zoned out.
Was this real? Was she finally free from Five? After everything?
"Ms Hopper." The officer said. "You may take a seat."
Artemis numbly walked to one of the seats, Griffin coming to sit beside her. He grabbed her hand tightly, as if scared she would disappear again.
Not even five minutes later, the door to the police station slammed opened. In walked a brown haired girl, her brown eyes wide with tears and shock.
"Max?" She asked, her voice wavering with emotion.
Artemis tilted her head, not knowing who this was. It took her a moment, before her eyes widened and she stood up out of her chair. "'Mom?"
The brown haired woman ran towards her, scooping her up in a tight hug. She sobbed, clutching her as tightly as she could.
"Oh, my baby." She sobbed. "Oh, you're okay. You're back. You're okay."
As okay as you can be when you have to stop the end of the world multiple times in a row.
"Yeah," Artemis said instead. "Yeah, I'm okay."
Artemis backed up a bit, moving her hair out of her face. She could see her mothers face fall, and she tried to hug her again, but Artemis stumbled backwards, her hands coming out to stop her.
Her mother stopped, giving her a heartbroken stare. Artemis couldn't find it in herself to be sorry. She was going to hurt her. That was the only thing she could think. Too many times had she been hugged and they ended with someone tearing at her hair, or crushing her. She knew her mother wouldn't do that, but it was just too hard for her to think she would be fine.
"I'm—I'm sorry." She stumbled. "I'm sorry—I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay." Her mom said, her voice gentle. "It's okay. I understand."
The rest of the time was spent with Artemis curled up in a chair. When they left, Artemis curled up in the back seat of her moms car. When they arrived, Artemis was hesitant to get out of the car.
"It's okay," her mom said gently. "You can come out. It's okay. I know someone who will be happy to see you."
Artemis felt herself shaking. She wanted to say no, but every time she said no came to her mind. She curled further into herself, trying to fight back her fear.
"N-N-"
She couldn't even bring herself to say the word, terrified of what would happen if she said it. So she only shook her head. She heard her mother sigh, and she figured this was the part where she got drug out by her hair. But she was surprised when her mom walked into the house.
After a few minutes, a tall, curly blond boy walked out. He had on a jean jacket, that had the sleeves cut off, and spades on the top of the shoulders. He had a scowl settled on his face, as if he did nothing but that.
He walked to the car, kneeling in front of the open car door. He stared at her, his face hard, but his eyes soft.
"Hey," He whispered, his voice soft, but Artemis could hear the hardness under them. "it's okay, Max. You're home. You're not where ever the hell you were before."
Artemis wasn't sure if that was better, or worse. It was better because she was away from Five, but it had been so long since she had been home, what if they weren't as nice as her flashbacks made it out to be? What if they were as bad as Five?
"Max."
Artemis flinched, shrinking into herself even more. She was going to far into her head, and if she kept going, it would take a while for her to come back out of it.
But it was already too late, and Artemis was falling into everything she had been through the past few days, and the past year.
She let out a cry, burying her head into her knees.
She wanted everything to just go away. How hard would that be? She didn't want to remember anything. Everything was a painful reminder of what had happened to her, and she couldn't take it anymore.
"Max."
"No!" She yelled, her voice hoarse. "Leave me alone! Go away!"
"Max, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Yes, you are!" She argued, her eyes blurred with tears. "You're going to be just like him!"
"Just like who?"
Artemis couldn't find it in herself to say his name, so instead, she sat pressed against the car door, and cried.
The whole time she cried, the boy never left the door. Artemis wasn't too sure how long they had been out their, but by the time Artemis could feel herself calming down, the sun was starting to set.
"Max," the boy said gently. "Come inside. I need to make sure you're okay. I promise I'm not going to hurt you."
Slowly, Artemis nodded. She shuffled over to him, and had her hand in the air, but froze, unable to grab his. The boy saw this, and stepped back a bit, letting Artemis crawl out herself. When she stepped out, Artemis took a step backwards, as if she were going to run. The boy tensed a bit, and looked as if he were getting ready to chase after her.
Though, instead of running, Artemis slowly walked towards the house. When she reached inside, she froze when she saw more then one person in the living room.
