Timeless - Five Hargreeves x Reader
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Pt 29 - Sir Reginald and the Kids of the Round Table
You watched as Five disappeared and Luther walked out of the building with Diego trailing behind. You continued to face towards the downstairs area as you mumbled,
"Great."
From behind you, you can hear Allison question curiously,
"Number Zero, huh?" Allison
You turn around to look at her, annoyance written all over your face. You didn't want to deal with the conversation like this, let alone at all.
"It wasn't my choice. You think I wanted to be reduced to a number? I didn't care in the slightest that zero came before one." You replied, "I'm a person with a name, not an experiment and I made sure he followed that."
"So you are dear old daddy's favorite. Y'know I always kind of figured so. Never understood why though since you're the exact opposite of what he wanted his children to be." Klaus says with a drunken laugh
"Hell if I know. Our relationship has always been...complex." You state as you cross your arms over your chest
You couldn't quite grasp if they were just curious about the revelation or if they were actually upset by finding out their dad had called you number zero. Even if Luther was done with his dad, he still seemed to care a lot about it and unfortunately, they all still had their issues with their father so you had no clue how they might feel. You hoped it was just curiosity because you had never wanted to be zero and you really couldn't think of a circumstance in which you would accept such a name. It would have to be the only option left to agree to such a thing but Five and you all were going to stop the apocalypse so it wouldn't be a worry. You stand around awkwardly as a silence looms in the air over those of you who were still in the apartment. Wondering if and when the rest of them would come back, you all waited for a bit. After a few moments though Klaus broke the silence and said,
"This had been nice but you know, I could really go for some tacos right now. Allison?"
"Tacos? Shouldn't we wait?" Allison questioned
"You know those guys. I mean, it could take forever for them to bro it out. Vanya, tacos?" Klaus replies
"Is there any way that tacos are gonna cause the end of the world?" Vanya asks
"I mean, there's only one way to find out, right?" Klaus remarks
"Sure is." Allison chimes
"Let's go!" Klaus exclaims
"Where are you guys going? We need to figure out how to stop the...apocalypse" You tried to exclaim but it was no use
You stood at the top of the balcony as you watched them leave. You were starting to understand how Five felt dealing with his siblings. From behind you, you hear a voice say,
"I've missed you all...so much."
Ben.
"If it means anything, I missed you too." You state as you turn back around looking in Ben's direction
He turns his head to face you and replies,
"It does."
He looked at you and you cocked your head to the side slightly, intrigued at the sight before you. You realized what had felt off about him earlier. You hadn't quite noticed it because when he sat on the TV stand he was so far away but with him up close you realized, you could see him. Clearly. Before when you saw him he was more so just a giant blob of moving particles. Sometimes you could make out a head or arms but it was like static on a TV, no picture was clearly there. But now everything was so defined. It was as if the static had cleared and now you could see him in high definition. You could see his hair, his face, actual appendages like hands and fingers, and...ghost clothes? The point was he looked more like a person. He was still just a bunch of disturbed molecules but now he looked real. All that visualization practice with Charlie finally paid off. Slowly, you approached the seat he was sitting in and leaned down so you were face to face with him. Ben looked back at you confused. You were so close and he didn't know what was going on.
"Are you okay?" Ben asks concerned
You pull back and stand up straight.
"Stand up, Ben." You command
"What?" Ben questions
"Stand up."
Ben hesitantly stands up. You had never been so demanding with him before and he was highly confused about why you were so adamant about him stand up. He looks at you silently as you tell him,
"Lift your arms up, like this." You demonstrate to Ben
"T-pose!" Charlie exclaims
"Correct, but not in this instance." You say turning your attention to Charlie before turning back to Ben "Just trust me."
Ben looked at you and although he was confused there was a genuine look in your eyes. Unlike his siblings, you were trustworthy, you had never done him wrong. Slowly, Ben raised his arms like you had instructed before he got his arms up fully you wrapped your arms around his torso. You were hugging him. It wasn't a perfect hug because he wasn't solid, and if you held him too tight your arms would go through him, but you could feel the barrier of molecules where his back was and tried to balance your arms there. It took a second for Ben to register what was going on but once he did he carefully wrapped his arms back around you. This was the first hug he had gotten in years. He couldn't remember the last time someone held him but at this moment he forgot that he was a ghost and for the first time in years he felt like a person. Ben leaned more into the hug as he took in every second of it. He had wanted this for so long. He tried to wrap his arms around you tighter to bring you, the only other person who could see him, closer. But as he did so his arms went through you and he remembered a glaring fact.
He was still dead.
Although he was disappointed by the reality of his existence and the façade of normalcy he felt a moment ago, he held on anyway. With the way things were going he didn't know if he'd get this ever again. After a bit, you pulled away and shot him a smile. You wondered if Klaus was kind to his brother with no real autonomy but you also hoped that Ben was kind to his evidently struggling sibling. You looked around the place and saw that no one had returned as of yet.
"Hmm. Five would've been back by now." You comment
"Unless he ran off to do something," Charlie retorts
"Good point. I'm going to go take a look around outside real quick." You state before turning to Charlie "Charlie talk to Ben while I'm gone."
"Where is he? I can't see him like you can." Charlie asks
You use your arms to gesture to the space before you where Ben was standing. Charlie approaches albeit confused but tries his best to stand in front of him. With that, you start to walk away to head outside to look for Five but as you do Charlie calls out,
"Wait! He can't reply. What do I talk about?"
"I don't know, Russian Literature?" You shoot back
"That's a big no-no in my house. Y'know with my dad working for the government and all."
"Right. 1960s anti-Russian sentiment. Uh, just talk about something he can relate to then." You reply as you walk away
Charlie turns to Ben and the last thing you can hear is him asking,
"Do you want to hear about my shitty dad?"
With that, you walk out to try and find Five but he would be nowhere to be found. After seeing Lila on the roof he immediately started to chase after her. One, because he absolutely despised her and wanted her dead but also because he didn't want her anywhere near you or his family. If he played along with her little chase game he could get her further from you and his siblings. Five follows close behind as Lila continues to run, leading him away from the main part of town towards the industrial sector. Five keeps his distance as he follows her to what looks like an abandoned paint warehouse. He hides behind a wall as he sees her grab a small plank of wood and smash open the window of a door, letting herself into the building. Cautiously, he trails behind her. Looking into the building he makes sure the coast is clear before spatial jumping behind Lila. Lila turns on her heel to look at Five. He shoves his hands into his pockets and with a sarcastic smirk on his face he questions,
"What's your game, crazy lady?"
"Who cares? You said if you saw me again, you'd kill me." Lila comments
"Oh, I remember." Five states
"Well, come on, big talker. Let's get this done." Lila taunts
"All right." Five replies
Spatial jumping Five attempts to attack her from behind but somehow Lila anticipates his movement and roundhouse kicks him in the jaw knocking him backward. Five grabs his jaw and attempts to get up while Lila runs away. Five chases her down a corridor of the abandoned warehouse, spatial jumping in front of her stopping her in her tracks. He then rushes her, jumping into the air to kick her but she leans back and dodges his attack. Landing on his feet Five immediately spins backward to kick her and lands a hit on her jaw. The two of them go blow of blow landing some hits on each other and missing others. Taking a few steps back Lila jumps over a large piece of concrete and Five follows. Looking towards where she should be Five finds nothing. He stops in his tracks but then hears,
"I'm waiting."
Five looks over to where the voice came from and there across the room stood Lila. He looked at her confused. How did she get over there so quickly? That didn't matter. Five jumped over to where she would be but once again she was nowhere to be found.
"Fed up yet, Five?" Lila mocks
Five turned to where the voice came from and there she was standing across the room again. Five stopped for longer and stared in her direction. The confusion and frustration of this situation built up inside of him. Looking around Five finds a pipe on the ground. Picking it up he spatial jumps over to where Lila was standing but instead of hitting her, he hits an electrical box. Turning around he sees her behind him and as she lifts one of her legs up to kick him he sweeps the other one out from under her making her fall to her back on the ground. Five then step on her neck keeping her in place. Through a choked voice Lila comments,
"You're better than I thought."
"And you are entirely average." Five belittles before calling "You can come out now."
Five can hear the familiar clacking of heels on the floor behind him. The Handler.
"Well done. You figured it out." The Handler says
"Well, it wasn't very hard. She fights like every one of you Commission drones." Five retorts, his focus still on keeping Lila down
"Hmm. No matter, here we are. Together again. I've gotta ask...did you miss me, you little shit?" The Handler questions
Five looks at her. His expression filled with subdued anger. There's a silence in the room except for the distorted laughter of Lila from the floor.
"You've got a good nose." The Handler comments
"You know, planting her in a psych ward, taking advantage of my simpleton brother, that was smart." Five replies sarcastically as he presses his foot down harder on Lila's throat causing her to struggle
"Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." The Handler states as she looks down at Lila
Five's head whips towards the Handler.
"She's your..." Five starts to question
"Daughter. Yes. And she's my only one, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't crush her windpipe." The Handler answers
Lila continues to struggle but Five reluctantly lifts his foot off her throat letting her go free. She gasps for air as she stands up and makes her way to her mother's side. She then slowly approaches Five getting in his face and states,
"I am so going to enjoy killing you someday."
"Lila, darling, would you give us a minute, please?" The Handler requests
"Yes, the grown-ups need to talk." Five adds with a cocky smile
Lila looks to her mother in hopes that she changes her mind but to no avail. Lila rolls her eyes and walks away to the other side of the room annoyed, angrily flipping a piece of metal so that it clatters to the ground. When Lila is far enough away Five takes a step closer to the Handler and in a low voice asks,
"What is it you want?"
"Do you like jazz, Five?" The Handler asks back
"I'd rather lick a cheese grater." Five retorts
"Aww. Jazz is like a beautiful woman. Complex, emotional, hard to please. She doesn't just give it to you...she makes you work for it." The Handler explains as she walks around the room
Five places his hands in his pockets and turns on his heel to face her. Keeping his distance he replies,
"I have no experience with the type of woman you're talking about so I'm really hoping that
you're going somewhere with this analogy."
The Handler walks back over to him and with a smile adds,
"Under my leadership, the Commission would sound more like...jazz."
"And what about the board of directors?" Five questions critically getting up in her face
"Well, that's where you come in." The Handler replies tapping his nose with her pointer finger
Five takes a step back away from her and cocks his head to the side. In a firm tone, he states,
"Nope. No, it isn't."
The Handler walks around Five to the space behind him and elaborates,
"In exchange for the assassination of the board, I'm willing to get you, your family, and that girlfriend you love so dearly out of this timeline and back to 2019 where you belong."
"And what about World War III that's due to kick off in just a few days?" Five inquires turning to look at her
"Once you, your girlfriend, and your siblings are gone, that goes away."
"And the apocalypse when we get back to 2019?"
"That too."
Five leans in looking at her critically. The cynic in him was screaming about the nonchalant nature of her statements. This was a woman who would do anything for power so Five knew there was some type of plan she had in her head. In a lowered voice Five angrily criticizes,
"I distinctly remember you telling me that that apocalypse had to happen, that it was supposed to happen."
The Handler walks around Five once more so she is directly behind him. As she walks she explains,
"Back then I was toeing the company line, but once I'm in charge..."
The Handler then presses herself up against Five's back leans in closer to his ear. Five didn't like how close she was and tensed up as he felt her against him.
We can riff." The Handler whispered in his ear
Five took a step forward putting a small amount of distance between the two as he stated,
"Jazz."
"Exactly." The Handler replies as she walks in front of him again
Five turns and walks away from her scratching the back of his neck. Taking a breath he turns back around to face her, a sizable distance now between them. Looking at the Handler, Five questions,
"What about the board of directors, hmm? I mean, nobody knows who they are."
"Correct. But once every fiscal quarter, they get together for a board meeting."
"Where?" Five asks looking at her curiously
"The question is when. They meet somewhere in the timeline but never in the same place twice. The exact location and date of these board meetings is the most closely-guarded secret in the Commission."
Five looks around, an unsurprised smirk appearing across his face. He turns away for a second as he comments,
"But you know where it's gonna be, don't you?"
"Would I be any good at what I do if I didn't? Listen Five, don't think about it as killing the board for me, think about it as getting to live out the rest of your newfound life with (Y/N)."
With the sound of your name leaving her mouth and hitting his ears he quickly turns on his heel to face her. A wave of adrenaline and anger coursed through his veins as he flashed closer to her. He stared her down with malicious intent as he demanded,
"How do you know her name."
"Oh calm down Five. I work for the commission how could I not? Truly, your love story is one for the ages, don't you think?" The Handler remarks in a cheery yet malevolent tone
She walks towards him that facade of kindness and charity not fooling him in the slightest. As she walks around him she details in that false-kind tone,
"Two best friends fall in love at a young age before being separated for years on end. You witness her death and swear to go back and prevent it with only some book and a necklace to remember her by. How sweet."
As she comes back to stand directly in front of him she comments,
"I bet you're wearing that necklace right now, aren't you?"
Indeed he was. Hiding under the shirt his academy uniform was the locket you had given him all those years ago. Unconsciously, when she mentioned it he brought his hand up to cover where it rested as if trying to protect it from her. Trying to protect you from her. Five lets out an angered huff before commanding firmly,
"You leave her out of this. Whatever game you're trying to play is between you and me."
"Fine. But remember, doomsday's right around the corner, and the way things are going, I'm your only option to save her."
Five takes a step towards her and looks her dead in the eyes.
"Not yet you aren't."
And without another word, he flashes away. He was going to get you and his family out of here and he was going to do it without her help.
You on the other hand had gone outside to look for him but he was nowhere to be found. As you turned and walked back towards Elliott's place you mumbled to yourself,
"Hopefully it doesn't take him four years to get back."
Teleporting yourself inside the building you can hear Charlie say,
"And then when I was ten my mom died and my dad hired a nanny to take care of me instead of you know doing it himself. Because he sucks."
"I wish you could hear me because you are so right!" You can hear Ben yell back
You smirk a little at two of your friends hanging out and bonding over shitty dads. You still couldn't relate but it was funny to hear them so passionate about it. Transporting yourself upstairs you tell the two of them,
"Can't find him."
"Well, the good news is he's like a boomerang. He always comes back." Charlie replies cheerfully before adding "I don't blame him though. That family meeting was shit."
"He has a point. It was so bad." Ben comments
You plop down on the couch across from the two of them and ask aloud,
"When was the last time we actually had a good family gathering?"
"Our 13th birthday party," Ben answers just a little too fast
He wasn't wrong though. Granted, you had never been to a family gathering again until Reginald's funeral but from that experience, you were sure that there were probably plenty of awful gatherings before as well.
"I guess it was better than it could've gone though. It was mainly a lot of arguing and only one murder attempt this time." You comment
"You base how well a gathering goes on how many attempted murders there are?" Charlie questions
"Partially," you answer
"I say this with the utmost respect but y'all are fucked up." Charlie states
"Yeah. I know." You reply nodding your head
You kick your feet up on the coffee table trying to find some type of relaxation after all of the mess that had occurred. It had felt like a week's worth of activities was shoved into less than 24 hours. If only you could put a stop to this whole apocalypse mess. You lean back more on the couch and as you do so Ben asks,
"So you've been living with my dad in this time?"
"Yup. I didn't choose it though, it was more of just a domino effect of events. Dropped in the alley, found by mom, who was an actual person in the '60s surprisingly, we met your dad, human mom adopted me, human mom started dating your dad, and then we just permanently moved in with him." You explain "But it's alright, I typically just hang out with Charlie and we avoid people most of the time so it's been fine. Right, Charlie?"
"It's decent," Charlie says with a shit-eating grin
Ben gets a laugh from Charlie's impersonal response and you roll your eyes.
"Okay, wow." you respond sarcastically before turning to Ben and asking "What have you been up to Ben?"
"Reluctantly following Klaus and his cult around for the past 3 years because I had nowhere else to go."
"You know I'm both surprised and not surprised that Klaus started a cult." You respond
"From what you told me it seems pretty on-brand for him (Y/N)," Charlie says
"Well, he rolled the highest charisma stat of the family." You responded
"Huh?" Ben questions
"Don't worry about it. It's not important. Just an old D&D reference that my friends would get." You reply to him, your voice dropping off
You missed your friends. You missed a lot of things from 2019 but the experiences and memories with them are what you missed most of all. You loved being with Charlie and you wouldn't trade his friendship for anything but it was the little things like weekly D&D or going out and wrecking criminals or Wii Just Dance competitions that you wished you had back. You had to get out of this timeline at some point so you hoped you'd see them again.
"So where have you been staying now since you've been back in Dallas, Ben?" Charlie questions somehow forgetting he can't hear the response
"The cult has a sprawling estate in the more affluential part of Dallas. It's been pretty abandoned but we're all back now." Ben answers also forgetting that Charlie can't hear him
Charlie and Ben stare at each other in silence waiting for someone to say something. You snap out of your thoughts and burst out laughing realize what was going on. It was even funnier because while you could see Ben looking back you knew anyone else viewing this would see Charlie just staring off in the distance. Through your laughs, you chime in,
"Charlie, you can't hear him, remember?"
"Oh right," Charlie replies with a small chuckle
"Anyway, he's living in the abandoned estate near our houses. I guess it's not so abandoned anymore though since the whole cult is back."
"Oh, so that's whose cult lived by us. Small world I guess." Charlie says
"It must be interesting living with a cult." You remark
"It's a mess," Ben replies
"A mess? It can't be that bad can it?" You question
"You should stop by and visit tomorrow. See it for yourself." Ben suggests
"Well, we'll have to see where the day goes tomorrow given the...everything." You explain gesturing vaguely
You were about to say more when you suddenly felt a quick flash of disturbance. It was a familiar feeling and knew exactly what it correlated to. Turning your attention towards the downstairs portion of the building you called out,
"Five, is that you?"
After an unfortunate encounter with the Handler, Five was in a poor mood, to say the least. But there was just something about the sound of you calling his name that made him feel a bit better. A small smile came to his face and he spatial jumped once more up to the top part of Elliott's building. He saw you sitting on the couch and asked,
"How did you know I was back?"
"I can feel the disturbance of your spatial jumps. Feels like the back of my neck got flicked."
"Ah, I see." He replies
He then walks over to the couch you were on and sits right down next to you. Wrapping one arm around your shoulders he pulls you closer and places a soft kiss on your temple making you blush.
"Where did you go, Five?" Charlie questions
"Unfortunately, I had a run-in with Diego's crazy girlfriend and found out her mom is my former boss." Five explains
"So she wasn't just some random girl. She was a plant." You comment
"Yes. She was trying to get to me the whole time." Five adds
"Of course Diego would be the type to fall for a plant," Ben said sarcastically
You rolled your eyes but he had a point. You loved your brother dearly and in many cases, he was very tactile and smart but when it came to women and his emotions he had some room for improvement. As you all sat there you could hear the phone ring from the other room. Charlie promptly gets up and goes to answer it.
"Hello? Oh hi. Yes, I can put her on the phone." Charlie says before calling a bit louder "(Y/N) it's for you."
You were curious as to who could be calling you so you got up from the couch and headed into the kitchen with Five following along behind you. Taking the phone from Charlie you place it to your ear and say,
"Hello?"
"Oh, (Y/N) sweetie it's so good to hear your voice! Charlie had called last night but said that you had gone to bed already. I was so worried about you. Are you doing alright?" Your mom asked
"Yes mom, I'm doing alright," you responded
"Oh thank goodness. Listen, Charlie's dad said it's safe for the two of you to come back home." Your mom added
"Oh, okay. I'll let him know. We'll be back soon." You reply
"Okay, sweetie! I love you!"
"Love you too Mom."
You hang up the phone and turn around to look at the group of people behind you. Focusing your attention on Charlie you tell him,
"Your dad said it's safe for us to go back home."
"Oh." Charlie says "That's unfortunate."
"Very." You reply with a sigh
Everything was moving so fast. You had just gotten your boyfriend and you barely got to spend any time with him. Sure you two had a few sweet moments together but with the looming threat of the apocalypse again you didn't know how many more you'd get and when. Your poor mother though. She probably stayed up all night worried about you. You didn't want to prolong that worry because it wasn't something she deserved. You turn your attention to Five and place a hand on his cheek.
"I swear we never get enough time together," you say as you look into his eyes
Five wrap his arms lightly around your waist and looks at you with love in his eyes.
"No time is ever enough time with you, ma chérie."
"Perhaps you're right," you comment
"I know I am." He jokes
You roll your eyes at him. Even in the most chaotic of times he always managed to make your heart skip a beat.
"Well, I better head out then." You state
Five leans down and places a kiss on the top of your head, holding you closer in the process. Oh, how you loved this boy. Tilting your head up you placed a peck to his cheek before slowly leaving his embrace. Gently, you pull your hand back from his cheek and see how he leans into your touch. You smile at him,
"I'll see you soon my love."
"As soon as can be." He replies
You and Charlie then started to make your way out of the building with Five following the two of you until you reached the door. You looked back at him one more time before finally exiting and making your way to Charlie's car. The two of you get in the car and Charlie drives the way back to your house. When you arrive, you both exit the car and head inside. You had barely stepped through the door when your mom threw her arms around you pulling you into a tight hug in the same manner as when you came home after your car being shot up only a few days before. Your poor mother having to deal with so much stress about your safety in only a few days' time. You wouldn't wish this on anyone.
"I'm so glad you're okay, sweetie." Your mom exclaims
"Me too, mom." You reply
From the corner of your eye, you can see Reginald approaching you all. You let go of your mother and turn to face him along with Charlie and your mom.
"I see that you managed to bring her back safely," Reginald says to Charlie
"Yes. Not a scratch on her, sir." Charlie states
"Very well. It's pleasant to have you back at the manor (Y/N)." Reginald states
"Thank you." You reply flatly
You all stood there for a second but you didn't want to be there much longer. Trying to make a quick getaway you start to walk towards the stairs but look back at the others saying,
"I think I'm going to change out of this gala dress and into something more comfortable so I can relax after such a day of tension. How about you go home and do the same Charlie and then we can all have dinner together."
"Sure, that sounds like a good idea. I'll be back." He says before leaving the manor and heading to his car
You continue to walk while looking towards your mom and Reginald and accidentally bump into Marie causing her to drop a piece of paper on the ground. Bending over you pick up the paper as she profusely apologizes to you. Quickly, you skim over the paper and see what it reads.
From the Office of Sir Reginald Hargreeves
To My Pursuers:
I, Reginald Hargreeves, request the pleasure of your company for a light supper on the 20th of November, 1963, at half-past seven o'clock.
1624 Magnolia Street Dallas, Texas
You knew that location and you had a strong hunch of who those pursuers that were being addressed were. Looks like you knew what you were doing at 7:30 pm tomorrow. You hand the letter back to Marie and accept her apologies saying that you were not paying attention to where you were going before heading upstairs to your room. The rest of the night went on without a hitch and as usual, Charlie slept over for the night. The two of you stayed up late as you discussed the events that had occurred in prior days and how the dots were starting to connect together. You also detailed the letter you had read and your plans for the following day.
That was not a smart decision though as it led to both of you sleeping in significantly late. By the time you two woke up, it was already the afternoon. Trying to make sure you were able to do everything you wanted to do, you both quickly got ready ate a small meal, and sped off down the road towards Klaus' cult estate. Both of you had wanted to see it in person and wondered what went on behind the closed doors. And you were already invited by Ben to see the chaos of cult life so why would you turn such an invitation down. As you approached the driveway to the estate Charlie slowed the car down. Turning into the driveway Charlie carefully approached the building. Once you were close enough to it you stepped out of the car and walked the short distance to the entrance as you did so a woman in loose blue clothing and a flower crown noticed the two of you and smiles.
"Hello, friends! Are you here to meet the prophet?" She asks in a kind voice
"Why yes, we are." Charlie states
"A spirit of your prophet invited us to come today." You add
"How lovely! Please follow me." She instructs
The two of you look at each other before following the woman inside the house and down a corridor. As you follow her you see lines of people kneeling on opposite sides of a door. Some are playing tambourines while others hold baskets in their hands. Suddenly, the doors to a room open and you watch as Klaus walks out of the room in only his underwear. That was not a sight you ever thought you would have to see and yet, you did. The followers who held baskets in their hands threw flower petals at Klaus. Whatever was going on had barely even started but you could see why Ben had called it a mess. You and Charlie approach a little closer and see a large room filled with people in blue clothing sitting on the floor. You and Charlie give each other a side-eye glance before looking back at the scene before you;
"Okay, thank you. Sit down. My name is Klaus, and I am an alcoho...Sorry, that's the wrong meeting." Klaus starts
Klaus lets out a nervous laugh but the group is unfazed. You watch as the followers look on with eager eyes as they listen to every word he says. Realizing he needs to say something Klaus continues,
"Uh, in my walkabout, I did a lot of thinking, searching, ruminating, and there's something that I'd like to share with all of you. I'm a fraud. Yeah, I- I've been lying to all of you from- from the start, and, uh...I'm a complete and total fraud."
You can see Klaus look over to Ben after finishing his statement and Ben giving him back an acceptable nod. The crowd murmurs to themselves but not long after one man stands up from the crowd and looks around at the others.
"Me too. I- I'm a fraud too." The man says
"What is going on?" Charlie whispers to you
"I don't know." you reply quietly
The man approaches Klaus and knees before him continuing,
"I'm the worst kind of fraud. I- I am a fraud to myself. But your scriptures say, As long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive."
"He used the song I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor as his "scripture" to these people. I bet he did, I bet he stole it." You comment quietly to Charlie
Right after you finish your statement to Charlie, Klaus replies to the man,
"But that's not scripture. Okay? That's a song lyric by disco diva Gloria Gaynor, and I stole it!"
"Called it." You state
The crowd murmurs the name Gloria Gaynor to each other in confusion as they wait for Klaus to speak more. Klaus didn't know what to say though and you could see him cracking under the pressure of trying to admit his falseness to the group.
"Look, eh, you guys don't wanna follow me. I can't lead you anywhere. I'm not a guru, I'm not a messiah, I'm...I'm a...fraud! And I don't know what I'm doing up here. I- I don't. I'm just, you know...making it up as we...You- You people should all just...go back to your families." Klaus rambles
The man who had kneeled in front of Klaus before could be heard crying. Letting out a sigh Klaus approaches the man, places his hands on the back of his neck so he will look at him, and in a hushed tone states,
"Keechie...Stop, stop, stop, stop. Look, look, look at me in the face, okay? It's okay. It's okay, though. Listen. Everything is gonna be okay. Okay?"
"I understand." The man replies
"Good," Klaus says
"When we admit our own fraudulence, only then can we experience true humility." The man continues
"No, no, no, no, no, no! That's not what I meant. It's not what I meant." Klaus exclaims turning to the group
All the members one by one stand up exclaiming aloud how they are a fraud. You look across the hall and see Ben there standing with a shocked face. As Klaus climbs up the few stairs to stand in the archway again the lady who had brought you into the house approaches Klaus and says,
"Prophet, two visitors have come to see you."
Klaus takes a look in your direction and sees you and Charlie standing there. Opening his arms wide he exclaims with a smile on his face,
"(Y/N)! Come here!"
Reluctantly, you approach him and bring him into a hug. It was quite awkward given the fact he was only in his underwear but yet it was kind of sweet. Even with all the stuff he had done and was currently doing he was still the same Klaus you knew as a kid. You could hear as the crowd of followers went from exclaiming their fraudulence to quiet whispers.
"What brings you and your friend here (Y/N)?" Klaus asks
"We were invited by a spirit of yours," you answer
Klaus takes a look over towards Ben before replying,
"Must've been the pushy and annoying spirit that dragged you here."
"Prophet, who is this (Y/N)?" Keechie asks
"Ah. (Y/N) is my...soul sister..." Klaus lies "We have walked similar paths in life, seen similar things, and although we were physically separated as children our souls are intertwined."
There are oohs and ahhs that come from the crowd of people in the room before you and from behind you, you can hear Charlie trying to stifle laughter. Turning to look at him you shoot him a death glare. This was not entertaining.
"Oh soul sister to the prophet, do you have wisdom of your own that you can bless upon us?" Keechie asks as he kneels before you
"Oh jeez..." You mumble pinching the bridge of your nose "what did I get myself into?"
"Klaus, don't put (Y/N) through this." Ben comments from the sidelines
"Uh..." Klaus says "Hey soul sister, do you have anything for them?"
"Oh my god, Klaus," Ben complains
From behind you, you can hear Charlie start a slow chant,
"Knowledge. Knowledge. Knowledge."
You whip towards him and exclaim,
"Charlie!"
He does not stop though, instead, he just continues to chant and encourages the followers until all of them are chanting,
"Knowledge! Knowledge! Knowledge!"
"Fine!" You exclaim
All the people in the room quiet down and look at you intently. Taking a deep breath you wrack your brain for something to tell them. Completely bullshitting this whole ordeal you take a page out of Klaus' playbook and start to quote a song lyric,
"If you're lost...you can look, and you will find me. Time after time. If you fall...I will catch you. I'll be waiting. Time after time."
You then turn to Klaus and simultaneously you both repeat,
"Time after time."
When the two of you finish there is an uproar of cheers. People excitedly repeat the "knowledge" that you had blessed them with to themselves and to each other. These people were so brainwashed, it was ridiculous.
"What the fuck..." You say to yourself
"Yeah, I know." Klaus responds "How about I go put on some clothes and give the two of you a tour?"
"Why not? I guess..." You reply confused
Klaus goes and puts clothes on but as he does so many of the members of his cult come up and bow before you or touch you. it was odd, to say the least, and you definitely wanted it to stop. When Klaus came back out with his clothes he told the members to disperse as he took you by one arm and Charlie by the other showing you around. the estate was nice, but every time you ran into a member they'd look at you and Klaus in odd reverence. After what felt like forever you and Charlie decided that it was time to leave and never come back. You said goodbye to Klaus and waved goodbye to Ben, although you were sure that you would see them quite soon. Making your way back to Charlie's car you saw another person walking up towards the estate building. You can see Charlie's expression change from neutral to surprised.
"Hey, Dave." Charlie greets slightly confused
"Oh hey, Charlie. How are ya?" Dave asks
"Doing pretty well. How about you? The hardware business treating you well?" Charlie replies
"It's going well. I'm actually joining the army. Shipping off in about a week." Dave answers "But who's this Charlie? Your girlfriend?"
"Oh no she has a boyfriend already. This is my close friend (Y/N). (Y/N) this is Dave, we went to high school together but he was a grade above me. He was one of the only people who was nice to me." Charlie says
You extend your hand out to shake his and he grabs your hand shaking back.
"I haven't seen you around before are you new to the area?" Dave asks
"Oh, I dropped into Dallas about four years ago. I live with my mom and her partner down the road." You explain
"Well, it's very nice to meet you (Y/N). It's unfortunate we didn't get to meet sooner, but hopefully when I get back you, Charlie, and I can all talk and get some floats down at the diner." Dave says in a cheerful tone
This poor boy. He's so sweet and innocent. You just met him and you wished you could stop him from going off to war. Especially since he was probably head to Vietnam. It was an unnecessary war. All of the proxy wars were bullshit but you couldn't do much about it. You put on a smile as best as you can.
"That sounds lovely. I look forward to it." you comment "But we must get going, I have a family dinner to attend to, and I really don't want to be late."
"Alright, well it was nice to see you Charlie, and nice to meet you (Y/N). Hope you have a nice dinner." Dave says
"Thank you." You respond
"Thanks, Dave," Charlie adds
With that Dave heads off towards the mansion and you and Charlie head towards the car. When the two of you get into the car Charlie comments sarcastically,
"Oh, I dropped into Dallas about four years ago. Real clever."
"Shut up and drive." you retort
Charlie rolls his eyes with a smirk on his face and pulls out of the driveway heading towards the hotel where the dinner would be taking place.
While you were headed towards the Southland Life hotel, Five had already arrived. He looked down at his invitation to make sure he was at the right place but once he had done so he headed towards the entrance and inside the building. Making his way up an ornate staircase he looked around a bit before finding the elevator. Calling the elevator, the doors opened and Five stepped inside. He looked at the panel of floor buttons before pressing one of them and waited for the doors to close. None of his siblings had shown up. He was going to have to deal with the old man alone. He was prepared to do so...somewhat. But still he had hoped for him and his siblings to go together to confront him. Five stared off as the elevators started to close trying to build up thr confidence to face his father after all these years. He wished you could've been there by his side, but you had no reason to be invited, you weren't a "pursuer". Right as the door were about to shut and hand comes in to bring the doors back open.
"Wait up." Diego says entering the elevator
"Hold it." Allison adds
"Hey, everyone." Klaus greets drunkenly
Vanya enters the elevator silently as Luther follows quietly saying,
"Excuse me."
Five looks around at his siblings. They all came. Five faces forward and a small smile appears.
"Good. We're all here." He says
Five's face returns to a neutral expression as the elevator doors finally close and they head up the floors to where they would be meeting their father. As they do an awful smell starts to spread within the elevator.
"Oh..." Allison says
"Oof." Five complains as he pinches his nose closed
"Luther!" Klaus exclaims
"Oh, my God." Vanya comments
"Sorry, I'm nervous." Luther apologizes
When the doors open to the floor everyone rushes out trying to get away from the toxic environment inside the elevator. Walking into the tiki bar where they were meeting the siblings catch their breath and take in some clean air. As they all make their way around the table in the center of the room Five turns to his siblings and says,
"All right, when Dad gets here, I'll do the talking, okay?"
"Got a few questions for him myself." Diego responds
"Hey, we don't wanna scare him off. He might be able to help us stop doomsday, get us home." Five retorts annoyed
"No, we need to figure out why he's planning to kill the president."
It was ridiculous that he was still continuing on with this whole "Dad is going to kill Kennedy" thing. Could he not give it up for a day? For an hour? Of course not. That would require some form of critical thinking, of which he had none.
"This is a matter of life and death, you imbecile." Five chastises
"Okay, yeah, maybe we should take turns talking. Yeah?" Vanya suggests picking up something from a nearby table "Here, whoever has got this conch shell gets to talk."
"Vanya, we don't have time for a debate, okay?" Five replies already frustrated at the group
"Maybe I should lead. We all know I'm a better public speaker than the rest." Allison suggests grabbing the conch from Vanya
"Okay, Daddy's girl." Diego comments sarcastically
"Oh, jealous, Number Two?" Allison retorts
"Hey, no more numbers. No more bullshit." Diego demands as he approaches Allison
"Uh, Diego. You don't have the conch." Luther mentions politely
Diego gives Luther a smile before grabbing the conch from Allison's hand. Once he fully has it though he quickly proceeds to throw it at a wall smashing it to pieces.
"Classic." Allison comments, rolling her eyes
As the siblings argued upstairs you had just arrived at the building. Charlie had parked around the back so you wouldn't been seen by anybody who may have arrived for this meeting. Before you got out of the car Charlie questions,
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"I should be there. Whatever is happening is important and I should know about it." You reply
"This is going to be a family gathering but with Reginald. I can only assume it will go worse than the events of yesterday. Do you really want to deal with that?" Charlie asks confused
"No. But I feel I need to be there. This an issue for all eight of us."
"Okay but how are you going to get in unnoticed? You weren't invited after all." Charlie inquires
You step out of the car but lean down so you can look at him through the window.
"I'll just go in invisible. I'll only reveal myself if necessary."
"Alright. I'm going to go park a block away on North Griffin Street. Come find me after." Charlie says before adding "Good luck."
"Thanks. I'll need it." you respond
You stand up and watch Charlie drive away for a bit before turning to face the building. You take a breath before turning invisible and making your way inside. Taking the back entrance you head up towards the lobby and press the button to call the private elevator. You had been here plenty of times before for various meetings and parties that Reginald had to attend so you knew your way around pretty easily. Any regular person would take the main one but in a side hallway there was a special one used for grand entrances. Thinking that everyone must already be up there you knew that you could get in relatively unnoticed by using this elevator. When the doors open you stepped in and turned around, but as you were about press the close door button Reginald walked in to the elevator.
Shit.
You sucked in your breath quickly and covered your mouth trying to be as quiet as possible. You couldn't be found out. Not like this at least. Quietly you moved to the left of the elevator and tried to stay out of the way. Reginald reached for the button to the tiki bar floor and soon enough the doors closed and the elevator start to rise. When the elevator doors open Reginald quickly storms out of the elevator pushing through the private entrance doors. Still invisible you slip out of the elevator and through the door. As you enter the tiki bar you can see the shocked faces of all the Hargreeves children present. It had been a long time since any of them had actually interacted with their father. You head over to a seat near the table as you watch the scene unfold before you. Reginald approaches the table that the rest of them were surrounding and takes a seat. Once most of the Hargreeves had sat down as well he criticizes,
"Not only have you burglarized my lab, set my chimp loose, conned your way into the Mexican consulate, repeatedly stalked and attacked me, but you have, on numerous occasions, called me..."
He is cut off by Klaus though who sits down with a drink and greets,
"Hey, Pop. How's it hangin'?"
Reginald looks over at Klaus annoyed before finishing his statement,
"Dad."
He looks back to the group and continues,
"My reconnaissance tells me you're not CIA, not KGB, certainly not MI5, so who are you?"
There are a lot of deep breaths and looks off to the side. Saying they were his kids was probably a more difficult task than it looked from the outside. You could see your boyfriend shifting nervously in his chair as you then realized this was the first time he was face to face with Reginald since he ran away. Quietly, you approach him and place a gentle hand on his shoulder. You can feel him jump slightly as he turns his head back to see what was there. He looks confused for a second as he sees nothing but you squeeze his shoulder reassuringly and he realizes that it's you there with him. You just couldn't be seen. As no one continues to answer Five turns back to face his father and speaks up for the rest of the group,
"We're your children. We're from the future. In 1989, you adopted us all and trained us to fight against the end of the world. Called us the Umbrella Academy."
You notice as Klaus drunkenly raises his martini glass after Five mentions the academy. What an odd thing to cheers. Then again you went and saw the cult that Klaus ran and compared to that it wasn't as odd.
"Why on earth would I adopt six-" Reginald starts to question but is cut off by Allison
"Seven." Allison corrects "One of us isn't here."
"Dead. One of us is dead." Diego solemnly adds
Five reaches up and places his hand on top of your invisible one. To others it just looked like he was touching his shoulder but really he was reaching to you. He was glad that he had you there with him. From not too far away you can see Ben sitting at a table behind Klaus.
"Dead, yes, but I'm here. Klaus!" Ben exclaims to him
Klaus turns to what looks like empty space but is really where Ben is and says,
"Yeah, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba."
"Tell them I'm here!" Ben demands
"Enough of that now." Klaus retorts
Reginald and the rest of the Hargreeves look on at Klaus' unexplained behavior. When Klaus turns back around Reginald looks at the group once more and harshly asks,
"Regardless, what would possess me to adopt seven ill-mannered malcontents?"
"We all have special abilities." Five elaborates
"Special? In what sense?" Reginald inquires
"In the superpower sense." Luther adds
Reginald sits up straight, a stern look on his face as he critically remarks,
"Called me old-fashioned, but I'm a stickler for a pesky little thing called evidence. Show me."
"Everybody wants to see powers all of a sudden..." Allison complains taking a sip from her drink
"We're not circus animals, okay? We're not gonna bounce balls on our noses and clap our hands like seals for your amusement." Luther retorts
Immediately, Diego pulls out one of his knives and throws it forward redirecting it so it just barely passes Reginald and lands in a wooden post across the room. You could tell by the look on Diego's face that he was frustrated. Reginald looks down at the notebook he had brought with him and starts to jot down notes. All of the Hargreeves lean in to try and see what was being written down.
"What are you writing?" Diego asks
"You are zero for two, young man." Reginald taunts
Quickly, Diego stands up and tries to make his way over to but Five flashes in front of him. Putting his hands up to hold Diego back he whispers to him,
"Stop!"
"Now that is interesting," Reginald states as he looks on surprised
Diego sits himself back down and you decide to go sit at the bar. From the way things were going you felt it could get messy and you didn't want to be a part of that.
"All right, uh, quick rundown. Luther: super strength. Klaus can commune with the dead. Allison can rumor anyone to do anything." Five starts to explain as he heads back to his seat
"Except she never uses it." Diego jabs
Allison turns angrily to Diego and rumors,
"I heard a rumor you punched yourself in the face."
As the rumor said Diego punched himself in the face.
"Aah! Damn it!" He cried out
Allison slurps on her drink and gives him a pointed look even if he wasn't looking back. Five uses his hand to gesture to Reginald his point about Allison's power. Reginald then turns to Vanya and questions,
"And you?"
"Uh, maybe we don't take Vanya for a test run," Luther interjects
"Oh, yeah, that's probably not a good idea," Klaus adds
"It's fine. I can handle it." Vanya replies
"Handle it? Last time you handled it, you definitely blew up the moon." Allison states
Vanya doesn't listen though and instead picks up a spoon from the table and brings it back. Her siblings watch on as she brings it forward to hit it against her cup.
"No, Vanya, don't!" Five exclaims
Vanya does not stop though and hits the cup causing a soundwave to ring out. Focusing the sound energy on the plate of fruit in front of her she causes it to explode. The fruit splatters onto everyone, except you since you had walked away. But although you didn't get hit with the fruit you did get hit with the soundwave. Doubling over from the pain of the disturbance the soundwave had created bite your tongue not trying to make any immediate sounds to alert the others to your presence. You would only become visible if it was necessary. Taking some quiet breaths, you sit on the bar top and are able to get back to normal and focus again.
"Oops," Vanya says softly as everyone wipes the fruit off of them
"That was impressive." Luther comments
"Look, we know that you're involved in a plot to assassinate the president," Diego explains getting up from his chair
"You were recently hospitalized, isn't that correct? You still appear to be suffering from delusions of grandeur and acute paranoia." Reginald rebukes
"Am I? Explain this." Diego retorts as he pulls out a photo of Reginald and shows it to him "That's you. That's two days from now on the grassy knoll at the exact spot the president's gonna get shot."
Reginald takes a glance at the photo before looking back up at Diego and commenting,
"Well, I suppose you've solved it. You've single-handedly unearthed my nefarious plot."
You can see a slight glimpse of hope in Diego's eyes but it's cut short as Reginald ridicules,
"Is that what you want to hear? You fancy yourself a do-gooder? The last good man who will save us from our descent into corruption and conspiracy? This is a fantastic delusion. The sad reality is that you're a desperate man, tragically unaware of his own insignificance, desperately clinging to his own ineffectual reasoning. More succinctly, a man in over his head."
From the bar, you watch as the light in Diego's eyes slowly starts to fade and is overtaken by sadness and disappointment. Slowly he sits down more and more as Reginald's words cut deeper. You had seen them look on his face many times before, it was the same expression he would take as a child after Reginald harshly criticized him. Anger began to rise in you as you saw the trauma of his time in the academy and the feeling of not being good enough take over him. When Diego sits back in his seat he looks directly at Reginald and stutters out sadly,
"You're wr-wrong."
Reginald ignores this though and starts to continue,
"Furthermore-"
You were done with this man and his mistreatment of your brother. Nobody talked to him like that. Not on your watch. Quickly, you whip out a knife and throw it in the direction of Reginald having it land in the spot on the table in front of him. The group all looks at the knife in shock.
"Enough." You yelled
They all turn to look at you. Jumping down from where you were sitting on the bar you slowly walk over towards the table.
"That was a warning, so I'd choose your next words carefully. I have nine more of those on my person and if you recall my 20th birthday" You firmly state "I don't miss."
Everyone was shocked to see you there, but most of all was Reginald.
"What are you doing here? You weren't invited to this affair." He demands
"Oh Reggie, I think it's highly important for me to be here." You say in a sarcastic tone
"How did you even get in here?" He questions
"I took the elevator with you." You explain "And then I sat around here for a while."
"Impossible. I didn't see you." He retorts
"You know Reggie, for someone who touts his intelligence you really can't put two and two together can you?" You sneer
"Whatever do you mean?"
"I really have to spell it out for you, huh?" You say as you take steps closer to him "I'm. One. Of them."
"Oh really? So what can you do then?" Reginald asks in an insulting tone
"I can do a lot of things."
"Well go on then." He requests
You then start to explain your powers to Reginald. He didn't deserve an explanation but you did want to shove your abilities in his face.
"Well, there's a plethora of things I can do. You already know I can go invisible." You say as you make yourself disappear
"I can jump from place to place on a whim." You continue as you hop to different spots around the room
I can go through things and things can go through me." You add as you walk through the tables and walls around the room
"I can make things denser or lighter. Luther catch." You say as you throw him a glass
He catches it but is immediately pinned down to the ground and can't get up. You walk over to him and pick up the glass before turning back to Reginald.
"I can change the state of matter of an object." You explain as you turn the glass into a liquid and smoke before turning it back to normal and placing it on an adjacent table
"Hell, I can make things blow up by just thinking about it enough." You add with a smile as the glass blows up behind you
"I can create fire and water and smoke out of practically nothing. And I can see and feel disturbances in the world. I can do just about anything and you know why?" You ask rhetorically
"Why?" Reginald asks as he vigorously writes down notes
"Because I can control the things that make up this entire world. Molecules." you finish before adding "Was my demonstration to your satisfaction, sir?"
"Perhaps. Though, I am appalled that you were living under my roof for years and said nothing of your abilities."
"Why would I tell you about my abilities? You work with government. I wasn't about to be sent away to the MK Ultra project or used as a weapon of war. Now, let me get a drink before we really jump into things." You state walking over to the bar
"Absolutely not. What have I told you about drinking?" Reginald calls
"Yeah yeah, your mind is like a gold statue alcohol will only dull the brilliance, yadda yadda yadda." You mock "I'm still getting a drink."
"No." He demands firmly
The Hargreeves look back and forth between you and their father. The conversation between the two of you was contentious and yet there was something off about the way Reginald talked to you.
"And why not Sir Buzzkill?" You retort
"Because I'm your father and you'll respect my wishes." He states
And there it was. Reginald saw you as his kid. The way he was talking to you was odd because he was talking to you...like a parent. All the real Hargreeves children look on in shock. Their eyes wide and their jaws dropped at what he has said. There's a lull of silence before you burst out laughing.
"HA! You're not my dad. I have a dad. He's dead, but I have one." You say in an amused tone
You then head towards the bar and start looking through the drinks as you complain,
"Just because I live with you or you're dating my mom doesn't make me your kid. You tried to do this before, numbered your kids one through seven based on how much you liked them pretty much, and then were like you're number zero because it comes before one. No. I'm not a number. I'm not your favorite kid. I'm not your kid at all. I'm (Y/N)."
When you finally find something good, you grab a glass and start to pour it as you continue,
"Furthermore, If I were your child, I would've turned out like those sitting before you. The closest you'll probably ever get is the unfortunate title of father-in-law."
There's silence once more as everyone takes what you said in. You take a sip of your drink as Reginald looks on taken aback.
"You..." he inquires confused "are partnered with one of them?"
Grabbing your drink you walk over towards the table as you say,
"Yes I am and I don't appreciate that comparison type tone you used when saying that."
You continue to walk and go stand behind Five, placing a hand on his shoulder once more. You take a sip of your drink before adding,
"Honestly I'm surprised you're not happier. A woman of my stature coupled with one of your sons? And might I add, he's the most competent of your sons.”
"Hey!" Diego exclaims
"When you decide to leave JFK alone I will reconsider." You reply
"Look, forget about the president. We have a catastrophic war coming in five days. We need to figure out how to stop it." Five interjects
"War? Men will always be at war with each other." Reginald replies
"No, this isn't just some war. I'm talking about a doomsday. The end of the world." Five elaborates
"Well, you're the special ones, aren't you? Why don't you band together and do something about it?" Reginald suggests
You all stare at Reginald but as you do you solely hear Ben yell out,
"All right. Screw it."
Ben then runs and jumps into Klaus' body causing his arms to go up in the air and his body to start shaking. He was possessing him. You had no words for the given situation but the others did.
"Is he having a seizure?" Allison wonders
"Overdosing probably," Diego suggests
"Should we do something?" Luther questions
"Klaus! Now is not the time. What are you doing?" Five questions
Klaus, or rather Klaus' body turns towards Reginald. It looked like a struggle though.
"I'm..." Klaus' voice says
"Out with it, boy." Reginald commands
"...Ben!" His voice forces out
Immediately after he falls to the ground and starts gasping for air. You can see Ben's passed-out figure next to him. Reginald looks on disgusted before stacking his papers and commenting,
"Well...thank you for coming. I've seen about enough."
Reginald then gets up and starts to walk away from the table but Luther slams his hands down, stands up, and rips his shirt open exclaiming,
"Look at what you did to me. Look at it!”
"Oh, shit. Why?" Five complains as slouches back in his chair
How did his siblings manage to completely mess up everything again, like it was the only thing they knew how to do. Downing more of your drink to deal with the progressively awkward nature of the situation you stood next to your boyfriend's side. Five reached up and took your hand in his. If none of his siblings were going to support him at least he knew he had you. Reginald looks at the scene before him before turning to Five and asking,
"You in the culottes. A word, in private?"
He then walks away from the table and goes to sit over at the bar. You and Five look at each other as the rest of his siblings make their way to the elevator to leave. As Diego passes you let go of Five's hand and grave Diego's wrist stopping him in his tracks. He turns towards you and you can tell he was still upset from what transpired earlier. Without saying another word you bring him into a hug. No matter how upset you were at his actions you weren't going to place that above your love for your brother. Diego held you tightly, you were the only one who stood up for him when his father was beating him down. You were the best sister he could've asked for. From the elevator, Luther can be heard calling,
"Diego let's go.”
Diego pulls back from the hug and looks at you once more before silently turning and leaving. You hear the sound of the elevator door close and all that is left is you, Five, and Reginald. You turn to Five who is getting up to head over to talk at the bar and he turns to you.
"Just give us a moment." Five states
"Are you sure? I can pretend to leave and stay." You suggest
"No, darling. I need to do this myself." Five replies
You look at him softly and bring a hand up to his cheek. He places his hand on top of yours holding it in place as he gives a kiss to your palm. He then closes your hand up into a ball before gently holding it on the space above his heart.
"I'll meet you down in the lobby." Five says quietly
"Okay." You whisper back
Five lets go of your hand and the two of you split, him walking over to Reginald at the bar and you walking toward the main elevator. As you press the button to call the elevator up you hear Reginald call out behind you,
"(Y/N) I expect you home promptly.”
You let out a huff as you turn to face him.
"Fine...just don't get mom involved in this. She's already gone through so much with me." you softly ask of him
"I will not get your mother involved. Not even I want to place that stress on her." Reginald responds
"Good." You say nodding your head, a far-off look in your eyes "...good”
The doors to the elevator open and you reluctantly enter it. You press the button to the lobby floor and as the doors close the last thing you see is Five taking his seat next to Reginald. You hoped he would be okay being in front of him without you.
"You seem to be the sensible one, or as described, the most competent of the bunch." Reginald comments
"That's because I'm the oldest. You know, technically, I'm older than you right now."
Reginald looks at him slightly confused but when a bartender appears and places a bottle of brandy on the counter he offers,
"Cognac?"
"Just a smidge." Five says with a half-smile
"The other night you quoted Homer at me. Why?" Reginald questions
"You forced us all to learn it as kids. In the original Greek, no less."
"You know, your dear companion called my coworker and ignorant ass in ancient greek the first time I encountered her." Reginald states
"Sounds about right. She has a sharp tongue and an independent mind, I admire it." Five explains, an amused smirk rising to his face as he thought of you.
Reginald slides him a glass of cognac and the two of them give silent cheers before taking a sip. Five places his glass down and his tone changes to a more serious one,
"This world ends in five days if we don't get out of the timeline."
"Worlds end. Paleozoic, Jurassic, and so on."
"We can do something about this one." Five states
"Man's greatest flaw: the illusion of control." Reginald retorts
"I need your help. All right? You're my last sane option. Otherwise, I gotta make a deal that I really don't wanna make. What do you know about time travel?"
"In theory?" Reginald asks
"In practice."
"I know it's akin to descending blindly into the depths of freezing waters and reappearing-" Reginald starts
"As an acorn. Yeah." Five finishes unenthused
"What transpired when you tried traveling before?"
"I botched it. Big time." Five complains
"How?"
"I jumped too far forward in time. Accidentally brought (Y/N) with me and she got stuck 11 years in the future. Then I jumped without her and got stuck in an apocalypse for 45 years. Then I jumped too far backward, except this time I brought everyone with me."
"Maybe your appetite is disproportionate to the size of your abilities. Start small. Seconds, not decades." Reginald suggests
"Seconds? Look, no offense, but I need a bit more time for what I'm trying to accomplish." Five remarks
"So much can change in a matter of seconds. One could overthrow an empire." Reginald starts before pausing for a second "One could fall in love. An acorn doesn't become an oak overnight."
"I was really hoping you had more than that." Five admits
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help." Reginald apologizes
"I'm sorry, too. I gave you such a hard time as a kid. I didn't know any better."
Reginald looks over at Five before raising his glass and saying,
"No skin off my teeth, old man."
The two of them sit in silence and when Five finishes his drink he gets up and leaves. Taking the elevator down he finds you in the lobby. When the doors open you quickly make your way over to him and wrap your arms around his neck pulling him into a hug. Five holds you close but pulls back to look at you. Something was off about him.
"Did everything go okay?" You asked
Five looks away from you and off in the distance.
"Yes but..."
"But what?" you inquire softly
Five lets out a sigh and looks back at you. This was not the situation he wanted to be in at all. In a solemn tone, he answers,
"If I'm going to get us out of this timeline I need to go make deal with the devil."
"Well then, you lead the way and I'll follow you out." you reply "Just promise me something.”
"Anything."
"Don't turn around until you're sure we're all in the clear." you respond
Five pressed his forehead against yours as he held you close.
"Of course my love." he whispered
You tilted your head up towards his and place a soft peck on his lips before stepping away.
"I'll see you soon," you said
Five quietly nodded his head in response and with that he flashed away to go play some jazz with the devil in hell.
________________________________
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