Chapter One: I Know Your Secrets

A/N: Welcome to a spontaneous new idea! I figured while watching the show - if the Umbrella Academy were the heroes, who were the villains? Thus Tori Cain and her twisted relationship with Diego Hargreeves was born. There will be some flashbacks throughout the story to flesh out more of Tori's background, and of course what's happened between her and Diego. Who doesn't love a hero x villain romance, right?

I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think! Reviews are always welcome.

Tori Cain had never much been a stickler for rituals, but Friday morning coffees at Spill The Beans with Jillian Thomas were non-negotiable. There was something satisfying about the routine – the same table by the window, watching the cars and buses whizz by. The same medium mocha with one sugar, the ceramic mug warm beneath the tips of her fingers.

Today's session, like most, began with Jill's disastrous latest Tinder date. Although Jill and Tori were roommates as well as best friends, renting out an apartment owned by Jill's wealthy uncle, Jill tactfully avoided bringing men home. It was less to do with how she thought Tori would react to them, and more to do with home they might react to Tori.

"…and all he did was talk about rugby. Like, do I look like I care about rugby?" Jill placed her cappuccino down with a huff.

She definitely didn't. Jill and Tori were polar opposites in almost every way, including in appearance – Jill was a tall and willowy brunette, while Tori was a petite blonde. No one would really look twice at Tori when Jill was in the room, and that was honestly the way she liked it. Looking closely meant someone might discover her secret.

Tori Cain had been born on October 1, 1989, to one of the 43 women who'd not been pregnant at the beginning of the day. Needless to say, 22-year-old Bella Cain had been absolutely stunned when she had given birth to Tori. Unlike the famed Umbrella Academy, Tori had not been adopted by Reginald Hargreeves. She'd lived with her mum and Bella's boyfriend, Fabrizio Martelli, until they split when Tori had been eight years old.

One would have thought Bella would've taken Tori with her, but she was a bit over being a parent by that point, and Fabrizio saw potential in Tori that her mum never did. It was only later that Tori would discover what a dangerous man her stepfather was, and by that point, she was already in too deep.

"So you won't be going for a second date?" Tori asked, arching her eyebrows innocently and taking a sip of her mocha.

Over the three years she'd been living with Jill, she'd perfected the art of tuning in and out of her best friend's monologues at the correct moment.

"Definitely not." Jill tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulder, examining her nails. "He was just boring, and the sex wasn't even good."

"At least you're getting laid," Tori teased, a half-smile playing about her lips. She always lamented her lack of a love life to Jill, but the truth was a lot more complicated. Yet another secret she couldn't disclose to her best friend.

"That guy is staring at you," Jill pointed out, looking at someone over Tori's shoulder.

Tori followed the line of Jill's gaze to a dark-haired man at the counter ordering a takeaway latte. He turned and winked at her, and Tori's blood boiled as recognition dawned upon her. Her eyes narrowed, before she turned to Jill and stumbled over a pathetic excuse to leave the café.

"Shit, you know what? I just remembered that my boss needed my help on this new project…"

"Oh!" Jill's eyes widened. "Okay. I'll see you at home later, then."

Tori finished the last of her mocha and headed out of the café. The bell tinkled behind her, and she looked back to see that the dark-haired man was indeed following her. Tori headed into the alleyway that stretched around behind the café, where she'd seen a few of the employees go to smoke in their break.

"You left your friend real quick." The mocking voice of Diego Hargreeves made Tori's anger simmer. She would know him anywhere – that insufferable smirk, the stride. He had almost a foot on her measly 5'2", and she jutted her chin upwards to glower at him as he stopped in front of her.

"What do you want?" Tori demanded, planting her hands on her hips. "Turning up at my favourite coffee shop…are you stalking me now?"

Diego and Tori had been rivals for over a decade. While Diego had been playing the hero in the Umbrella Academy, Tori had been on the opposite end of the spectrum. As a member of the Italian mafia, Fabrizio had quickly introduced Tori to a life of crime – and thus the supervillain Toxin was born.

Did all kids who were mysteriously born that day in 1989 from previously non-existent pregnancies have abilities? Tori certainly did. As Toxin, she'd introduced the world to her pheromone manipulation and poison generation. She'd been Fabrizio's greatest asset – until she had turned her back on him and on that life five years ago.

Diego hadn't changed a bit. He might be running solo now, but he was still the masked hero delivering justice. Whereas Tori was trying to be normal, it seemed like Diego was trying to be anything but.

Unfortunately, Tori and Diego's rivalry was surpassed by an overwhelming amount of sexual tension. She'd first encountered the Umbrella Academy as a teenager. She was curious about the youngsters who were born the same day as her, under the same circumstances. Fabrizio had urged caution, but that hadn't stopped Tori from sleeping with Diego when they were 19. And many times after that. More times than Tori was proud of.

"Don't flatter yourself," Diego scoffed, "You think I just use my free time to follow you around?"

"Evidently," Tori snapped.

Her pheromone manipulation had different impacts on different people. In some, it could heighten their anger, it could send some to sleep. It all depended on the person, how they felt about Tori, and what they were feeling at the time. In Diego, her ability usually seemed to strengthen his lust for her – which was probably why they went from hissing threats to tearing each other's clothes off in moments.

"I thought you might want to hear it from me." Diego's demeanour shifted into something that Tori rarely saw from him – solemn. "About Fabrizio."

"What?" Tori's stomach lurched. She hadn't contacted her step-dad in years – and she hadn't wanted to. She'd left the mafia for her own reasons, but those reasons had been because of Fabrizio. After what he'd done, she hadn't been able to find forgiveness, and so she had walked away. From him, from Toxin.

"He was arrested a little while ago." Diego shrugged his shoulders, and Tori braced herself for what followed. "He just got convicted, for the murder of Celine Brant."

Five years ago

"Don't you ever think about leaving?" Celine's voice was soft as she and Tori lay sprawled in the back of Tori's ute, surrounded by pillows and blankets. It had been her idea to go star-gazing, and Tori had had no reason to suspect an ulterior motive. Her boyfriend, Giulian Russo, had attempted to persuade her to stay home. Yet Tori was filled with a growing sense of unease, and only Celine would listen.

"I do, often." Tori heaved a sigh, unable to get comfortable amongst the pillows. "But leaving to what? This is what I've got. Fabrizio might not be my blood father, but he's my dad in every way that counts. Giulian and I…"

"Would it be the same if you weren't a villain?" Celine's voice sharpened as she rolled onto her side to examine Tori. "If you weren't Toxin? Do you think they'd still love you then?"

"How can you even ask that?" Tori demanded, although she suspected that her tone was more hurt than angry. It was something she'd thought about herself. She was Fabrizio's secret weapon, and Giulian always liked talking up his girlfriend. Although not officially initiated into the mafia yet, Giulian was one of Fabrizio's favourites, and dating Tori was a big step in the right direction.

Celine held up her hands defensively. "I'm just giving some perspective."

She was the only person outside of the mafia who knew the truth about Tori – well, aside from the Umbrella Academy. Tori had crossed paths with them more times than she could count, not that it mattered. For the most part, they had disbanded. She still saw Diego around, playing the vigilante, but for Giulian's sake she had distanced herself from whatever complicated connection they had.

"If I left, who would I be then?" Tori's voice was small, the back of her throat prickling as tears stung at her eyes. "Toxin is who I am, Celine. I may not even like that part of me sometimes, but it's what I've got."

"It's never too late to change." Celine shrugged her shoulders. "If it's not what you want, you can become whoever you like."

She made it sound so easy. Settling herself back against the blankets, Tori knew it was far more complex than that. Celine was an outsider, and Fabrizio had stated time and again that she couldn't be trusted. She was ordinary, just a high school friend of Tori's. Fabrizio always said she couldn't afford to form attachments to people outside of the mafia, but Celine had always been different.

Part of the problem with having an alter ego was that anyone who knew Tori as Toxin couldn't see her as the changed woman she was now. Fabrizio hadn't been willing to believe she could change. She and Diego still tended to fall into playing the hero and villain around each other, an old habit, a pattern. It was familiar.

After Celine's murder, Tori hadn't believed that anyone would see justice because of it. She had never expected that a man as powerful and with as many connections as Fabrizio would ever see the inside of a jail cell for it – especially as he wasn't the person who'd actually murdered Celine.

Once Diego had mentioned Celine's name, Tori had turned and walked away. She didn't want to hear that name coming out of his mouth. It had taken all of her strength not to punch him, or use a paralytic toxin on him. Hell, she'd done both many times before. Sometimes it was hard to shake her old ways.

Celine's death had been what had finally driven Tori from the mafia. After years of doubts, years of playing cat and mouse with Diego – a game she'd turned her back on when she and Giulian became official – it had been the murder of a civilian that had caused Tori to turn her back on a life of crime.

It hadn't been easy. She'd thrown herself into work, the real kind. She'd obtained a job working at the local council as a receptionist, and worked her way up into the role of customer service officer. It wasn't her dream job, and it didn't pay a fortune, but it covered the rent and bills, which was enough for Tori.

Her mind drifted back to Diego. When would he realise he was still living in a fantasy? She remembered the first time they'd met off the battleground, when he'd first kissed her. They'd done more than kiss. It had been something born of hate, of spite, but also of a loneliness and a desperation to become something more than the creatures they'd been crafted into.

He wasn't the only member of the Umbrella Academy that Tori had seen since she'd left the mafia. None of them were what she would consider friends – she thought too much water was under the bridge for that to ever happen. Yet they were civil. Klaus more so than most – they attended the same alcoholics anonymous meetings, at least when Klaus bothered to show up, and he was usually either drunk or high at that point anyway.

It would still be an hour before Jill was home from work. Tori flicked on the TV and started working on a pasta carbonara as the news started up.

"In shocking news, eccentric billionaire Reginald Hargreeves has passed away…"

Tori's head jerked up. She'd always heard from Diego that the man was an absolute dick, but he was still Diego's adoptive father. The idea that his scowling presence was permanently gone was a chilling one. Had Diego already known when he'd met her today? Was that really why he was telling her about Fabrizio's arrest, trying to make her connect some dots?

Reginald Hargreeves was dead, Fabrizio Martelli had just been sentenced…was it just a strange coincidence? A thrill of horror ran down Tori's spine at the idea that her step-dad might have been responsible for Reginald's death. Although the news sources stated that he died of natural causes, she wasn't so sure. The idea that Fabrizio might have used the venom samples he'd gained from her, over the years she'd served so loyally…

Fabrizio, what have you done?