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donnalawliet · 21 days

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Don't make promises you can't keep (Derek x Five oneshot)

Yet another fic in which Five gets together with Derek, his CIA colleague, instead of Lila. This takes place during Season 4. Together, Five and Derek investigate Sy Grossman and the Keepers. However, what they find out only caused pain and a tragedy that could have been avoided. (This starts as fluff, but ends with pure angst, no happy ending here.)

Warning: Character Death and Depictions of Violence.

——————————————

Whenever Five went out for a mission, Derek couldn’t help but worry a little bit. Sure, Five was experienced, hardened by years of surviving in an apocalypse and working as an assassin, not to mention passing the CIA training with flying colours. But despite all of that, the worry remained.

By no means did the younger man panic or pace in his office, that would have been pointless and stopped him from doing actual work while he waited for his partner to return. However, he found himself glancing at his watch more often, checking the clock on the wall to make sure it was accurate.

The Keepers case that Five had picked up didn’t seem that dangerous either. Just a support group that had the potential of turning into a cult, nothing new. The United States were full of people like them, though they all had different goals and intentions.

The organising principle made the Keepers interesting, hence why Five investigated them. Derek had oftentimes asked his boyfriend why he insisted on this case, especially because he could have almost any case he asked for. For quite a while, Five refused to answer that question, until one night.

——————————————

Derek had been laying on the couch, his head resting against his partner’s knee so he wouldn’t have to lay down flat. They had been watching Pride and Prejudice , though neither of them remembered the version.

“Why don’t you drop the Keepers case and go after something more interesting?“, he had asked him, half expecting Five to not bother with an answer. But surprisingly, Five sighed and leaned back, brushing his longer hair behind his ears. His eyes remained fixed on the screen.

“Because I have a gut feeling. There is something more, I know it. And I’m so close to finding out what. How about we don’t question each other’s gut, okay?“

His tone told Derek immediately that Five was serious. And he was right, almost every agent at the CIA knew that one shouldn’t question a gut feeling. Oftentimes, pure logic wasn’t the way to go during a mission and the first instinct shouldn’t be ignored. Even though Derek had often thought of his boyfriend as the pure logical type, he had been proven wrong before. Five had a deeply caring and empathetic side.

He just refused to show it openly, it only came out when he was around people he truly loved. At first, that had only been his family. But eventually, he had started to do the same with Derek.

It was quite endearing to him, listening to Five quote Shakespeare or Homer, in the original Greek of course, whenever he had trouble falling asleep. The oldest Hargreeves showed his affection by bringing him tea when he was working late, by threatening their co-workers that dared to disrespect him based of how he looked.

And so, Derek nodded slowly in agreement.

“Okay. I won’t question yours, you won’t question mine. We’ll trust each other on this“, Derek had replied with a smile and they had gone back to watching the movie. Ever since that day, that promise had persisted.

——————————————

Whenever Five prepared to leave for his undercover missions, Derek insisted on a goodbye kiss in the privacy of their shared office before he could leave the building. And even though Five shrugged it off as stupid at first, he eventually stopped questioning it. Instead, he actively looked forward to their goodbye ritual.

Never had he received an answer as to why Derek did it. Though the answer was quite simple: Just in case Five didn’t come back, Derek wanted their last interaction to be one of affection, not one of normalcy, overshadowed by the fear of not seeing the other alive ever again.

After hours of waiting for his partner to return, Derek could no longer feel the familiar warmth on his lips. He was stuck waiting and catching up on paperwork, reworking the report for the tenth time. It had a calming effect on him, to fill out documents and scratch off another point from his list. Finally, Derek got a text from Five, telling him that he was on his way.

And that was enough to send him into motion. Almost like clockwork, Derek closed the file that contained Five’s report on the Keepers, picking it up from his neatly organised desk. He had already set Five’s three piece suit to the side. While his undercover clothes fulfilled their purpose and Derek even liked the mustache…they couldn’t present their findings to Director Ribbons like that.

Once he had gathered everything, Derek quickly glanced in the mirror to readjust his tie and glasses. He didn’t want anyone to think that he was slacking off after all.

——————————————

Upon entering, Five spotted Derek almost immediately in the corner of his eye.

“You’re late“, his boyfriend reminded him, but his tone held no accusation. It was a simple statement and reminder. While he said that, Five extended his hand to take the offered suit. He couldn’t wait to change out of the Top Gun attire and get back into proper clothing that made him feel as though people took him seriously.

“I know“, Five sighed softly and under his breath, so quiet that only his partner could hear it, he mumbled two more words: “Thank you.“

Not a lot of people got to hear these words from him. Maybe as a result of his father rarely thanking anyone for their effort. But Five had tried recently to do it more, he didn’t want to end up like his old man after all.

As they walked next to each other, making their way towards the stairs together, Derek looked Five over with a soft smile. He was glad that he had made it back safe and that he could finally relax a bit more. The rest of the day was going to go along smoothly.

“Mustache“, he reminded him, unable to keep the slight amusement out of his voice. Even though he valued his professionalism, sometimes right after returning from a mission, he found it adorable how his partner could forget about small details.

“Right.“ A light blush appeared on Five’s face as he reached up, removing the fake mustache from his face and handing it over in exchange for the file in Derek’s hands. They had to hurry a bit more, they both knew that. There was no time for exchanging pleasantries.

“He’s waiting in his office“, Derek told him as they jogged up the stairs in unison. Neither of them liked their boss very much, yet they had to tolerate him. If he approved the case, it would give them further freedom for investigation.

During the talk with Director Ribbons, Derek was forced to keep his mouth shut. He wasn’t a big fan of it, he wanted to help his partner…but ultimately, Five was the one that had to do the report. There was no other way, so Derek had to simply sit there, smile and listen. He paid attention to what was being said, yet that was all he could do.

——————————————

“Why did he not listen?“, he asked once the meeting was over, leading Five back to their office, “You are making progress on this. You got an invitation to a bigger meeting, that has to count for something!“

Five snorted quietly and set his report down. He had half expected an answer like this, but that didn’t mean he would give up. Once he had bitten down, he was like a shark. He refused to let go and he knew that Derek was the same. One of the reasons why he loved him.

“It’s fine. I’ll still go to that meeting, figure out what’s going on“, he pulled on his coat and yawned a bit, “But for today, I’m done. I have to be a good uncle, attend my niece’s birthday and make sure she doesn’t forget me.“

After all, Five had taken the CIA job with the intent of keeping his family safe. The reward was small, but he wasn’t going to miss out on it.

Derek sighed heavily, then nodded. He hadn’t met Five’s family in person yet, but he knew of course how important they were to him.

“Very well. I’ll finish up my paperwork, go to my book club meeting…we’ll see each other later, okay?“ His voice turned a bit softer now that they were alone and Derek carefully extended his hand towards him.

A small chuckle made its way past Five’s lips, but he still obliged the silent request. He took his boyfriend’s hand and placed a gentle kiss on his knuckles.

“Okay. See you tonight. Or in the morning, depends how long this will take.“

——————————————

It ended up taking much longer than anticipated. By the time Derek had finished up his meetings, prepared dinner for himself and the dog, Five still hadn’t come back. But that was no surprise to him, Keeper meetings tended to take a bit longer. Plus, he wasn’t going to deprive his boyfriend of valuable family time.

“Looks like it’s just you and me tonight, huh?“, he asked the dog, but Mr.Pennycrumb was already dozing on the bed, half buried underneath the blanket.

Derek sighed heavily and made his way into the bathroom for his evening routine, taking off his glasses before he showered, followed by washing his face and brushing his teeth. Five called it extensive sometimes, but it helped him sleep. He had already done plenty of reading at the book club, so Derek only managed a few pages before he yawned.

“Goodnight“, Derek whispered mostly to himself, turning off the lights before he curled up on his side of the bed. Just before sleep could completely pull him under, he faintly detected the sound of a door opening, the scent of sake and someone laying down next to him.

——————————————

The next morning, Five got up early. He was feeling miserable, but he chalked it up to the alcohol he had consumed the night before. No matter what, he would keep going. Derek was still asleep by the time he got ready and he didn’t feel like waking him up when he had at least one hour of sleep left. For a few minutes, he looked down at his boyfriend, resisting the urge to trace his soft features and brush a strand of stray hair out of his face.

Please don’t let the world end again, he thought to himself, smiling at Derek and his dog before walking into the kitchen. Five kept his breakfast simple, grabbing a piece of paper while he devoured his peanutbutter and marshmallow sandwich.

Investigate Sy Grossman, he proceeded to write down for Derek, Complete screening for any criminal records or suspicious activities, top to bottom.

After a moment of hesitation, Five added three more words: I love you.

——————————————

Upon arriving at work, Five continued to get worse. He was sweating, his head was pounding and no matter how much coffee he consumed, it didn’t get better. Not to mention that he felt as though his guts kept rearranging themselves. And yet, he kept pushing forward. While Derek was busy with the background check, he looked through the files that they already had on him.

“Come on, there has gotta be something“, he mumbled and picked up his cup. The projected slides kept changing and it became more difficult for him to keep up.

Derek entered his office a few seconds later, holding a copy of Sy Grossman’s files in his arms. He had woken up without Five by his side and had immediately gotten to work after finding his note. And while he wasn’t angry by any means, he was a bit confused. Five hadn’t given him any additional explanation about why he wanted further information. However, with his Keeper’s meeting the previous evening, it wasn’t hard for Derek to guess a rough connection.

“Sy Grossman? He checks out. He’s a legit taxpayer“, Derek told him, a bit frustrated that he had found nothing. Not even the tiniest criminal record to speak of, which didn’t help them at all.

“Well, I’ll be damned“, Five mumbled and went to stand up just as Derek turned to leave. In the next second, something rather peculiar happened. One second Five was there, in the next he found himself in a strange subway…before suddenly getting transported back into his chair. That occurence was almost enough to give him whiplash. He was used to a lot of things, but never before had his stomach flipped so much. It was truly disorienting, to the point that he barely registered Derek was speaking to him.

“Five!“, Derek repeated, almost in a pleading way, “Are you feeling okay? What’s going on?“

Never before had he seen his boyfriend like this and it worried him. Five rarely got sick and even when he did, he never let it show or allowed anyone to take care of him. So when Five grunted in pain upon pushing himself up, Derek got close to calling a doctor.

“No…I don’t think I am okay“, Five mumbled and grabbed his coat, “Tell the director that I’m taking a sick day.“

Before he could leave though, a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him. They were usually around the same height, but with the strange sickness forcing him to hunch over, Derek seemed much taller all of the sudden.

“Tell me what’s going on with you.“

In all the years that they had known each other, Derek had rarely sounded commanding. It was generally not in his nature to do so. He worked in the background, did what was necessary while keeping a lot of his thoughts to himself until they became relevant. And Five liked that about him.

“I don’t know it either“, Five admitted and pulled himself out of his grip, attempting to straighten up, “But I need to talk to my family. Please, you have to let me do this. Do more research on the Keepers and Sy Grossman…I have a gut feeling.“

Derek bit his lip hard enough for it to almost start bleeding. He was unsure what he should do next. Attempting to stop Five could end quite badly. They had promised each other to not question a gut feeling.

“Please…promise me that you’ll come back and be okay“, Derek whispered, not stepping aside just yet. He was still blocking the exit so the other man couldn’t get out. Once Five nodded, he stepped aside though, letting him kiss his cheek before leaving again.

——————————————

For a few seconds, Derek stayed where he was, then took a deep breath.

“Screw it…I have a gut feeling too“, he mumbled to himself and opened the file. In his previous research, he had asked the corresponding department to do the background check on Sy Grossman. A normal agent rarely did all of the research himself, it would take far too long. But Derek couldn’t shake the thought that something about that man was…off. And not just because Five had asked him to look into it.

So he decided to start from square one, throwing himself into the work ahead. Despite looking like an innocent lamb most of the time, in moments like these, Derek acted like a wolf. He identified his prey, bit down and refused to let go until it gave him what he wanted.

It took him multiple hours, two broken pencils, six cups of tea and an entire notebook full of speculations, but eventually, Derek leaned back in triumph. Something was definitely off with Sy Grossman. A few weeks ago, he had gotten a tattoo at a parlor in Red Deer. Just before that, his dry cleaning shop had closed for a so called vacation.

But that was most definitely out of character, because Sy was a practicing muslim, belonging to a branch that openly condemned tattoos or other permanent body modification. It was a small detail, but enough for Derek’s alarm bells to start ringing. Just before he could call Five though, his phone rang.

“Yes, Derek Young here“, he answered, his tone neutral. Upon hearing the report though, his eyes widened underneath his glasses.

“Five found a farm where what happened?!“

——————————————

Normally, Derek was perfectly content with remaining in his office. But a massacre with tentacles…that was something he couldn’t miss out on.

“Thank God, you’re safe“, he let out a sigh of relief once he spotted his boyfriend, walking over towards him. The other Hargreeves siblings seemed to be busy elsewhere.

Five blinked slowly in surprise, then took his hands, squeezing them reassuringly, “Yeah, I’m safe, just like I promised. Derek, what are you doing here?“

He was still planning to talk to forensics, the director and some of his other colleagues, but that could wait. Something told him that Derek hadn’t just come over to check on him. And he ended up being right.

“Walk with me, Mr.Five“, Derek said firmly and lead him to the side of the crime scene, away from the CIA agents, “Listen. You were right. Something is fishy about Sy Grossman. I don’t know yet what. We have to check out his appartment, look for more clues. I have the feeling that this could be something truly big.“

He kept his voice low the entire time. Derek was excited, sure, but he couldn’t let it show just yet.

“And we can’t tell the Director, Five. I think there’s a reason the first background check came back clean. Someone up the ladder doesn’t want us to know about this.“

Five rubbed his eyes hard as he processed the given information. It was certainly quite a lot and he couldn’t help but be a bit proud of his partner. But at the same time, he was worried what would happen if they both ended up going.

“You’re absolutely right“, he whispered back, one hand holding onto Derek’s elbow, “We have to find out more. But I have the feeling the Director won’t allow me to go near this, he wants me to solve this case first. If he’s behind this, I’m probably already on his radar. You’re not. You should go, I’ll keep him distracted.“

Derek shifted, scanning their surroundings once more. It had been a while since he had done…leg work, as some would call it.

“Okay“, he finally sighed heavily, “But how do you plan to distract him?“

A small smirk began to form on Five’s face and he gently turned Derek’s face into the direction where Diego and Luther were standing.

“They will do the distracting for me, I’ll let the director babysit. While they do that, I will investigate this massacre and you will look into Sy Grossman“, he explained, then cursed as he realised his tie was crooked.

Derek laughed quietly and reached forward, meticulously redoing Five’s tie for him. There was genuine affection in his movements.

“Okay, I’ll do that. I’ll give you a call if I find something, please call me back“, he instructed him and readjusted his glasses once he was done.

Five nodded slowly and went to leave. But something deep down didn’t allow him to do so. Maybe his boyfriend had turned him soft, though he wouldn’t mind for once if he did. He took a deep breath, turning back around to face Derek.

“We’ll both return safely, okay? I promise, do you promise that too?“

Instead of answering, Derek leaned forward to kiss him. It didn’t last for long and was by no means deep, just a short touching of their lips. Yet it did the job of fulfilling their ritual for saying goodbye.

“I promise.“

——————————————

It had been a while since Derek had gone out on a mission with gun, badge and everything. He knew the protocoll of course, but it had been a long time nonetheless. Ever since he and Five started working together as partners to be exact. And yet, he couldn’t deny that the adrenaline provided a certain thrill.

Derek pulled up to the house next to Sy Grossman’s appartment, making sure he wasn’t there. No car, no lights on…it was now or never. Entering through the main entrance would be way too obvious, so he settled for entering through the alleyway window, which was thankfully unlocked. Derek grunted a bit as he climbed onto the trashcans, using that as leverage to pull himself through the window. It was by no means an elegant entry, but he would manage.

Upon entering, he noticed that the appartment seemed bare. As if no one had really been living inside of it for weeks. The food inside of the fridge was rotten and the goldfish inside of the large aquarium in Sy’s bedroom floated on the surface belly side up.

“Please don’t let this be a dead end“, Derek mumbled, but he felt as though he already knew the answer for that. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find any documents or condemning evidence. After about an hour of searching, he sighed heavily and jumped out of the window again. This time though, the bins didn’t support his weight and the lid flew off in the process.

“Damn it!“, he cursed just before he hit the ground, hard. Luckily for him, nothing seemed to be broken. Most likely, he would end up with a bruise. Derek groaned as he pushed himself up, dusting off his jacket and making sure his glasses hadn’t gotten damaged.

——————————————

Suddenly, a putrid smell reached his nostrils, along with the sound of flies buzzing. Slowly, he made his way over to the bins, which were now open after the rusty lock had flown off alongside the lid. Instead of apple peels and carton containers for pasta, Derek found rotten flesh.

Human organs, to be exact. Intestines, a heart, a kidney, what looked like a chunk of liver, a pair of lungs…If it hadn’t been for his training, he would have vomited from disgust right then and there. The smell along with the visuals was something that no slasher movie could ever recreate. It was the real deal. Derek went deadly pale, covering his mouth as he took a few steps back, reaching for his phone.

“Come on, Five, please, pick up“, he pleaded with his phone, almost crying out in frustration when the answering machine responded, “Okay, Five, listen. I’m at Sy Grossman’s appartment and I found evidence of a murder. The guy has literal organs in his trash. I’ll take them to forensics, see what they can find out. Please, as soon as you get this message, call me back! This is important.“

Derek would have said more, but the beep signalised that his time was over. With a groan of frustration, he deposited the phone in his pocket and pulled on gloves, along with a plastic bag. He didn’t know that the organs belonged to Sy Grossman, the very man he had been investigating.

“God, this is disgusting…“, he mumbled as he packaged the heart, “What the hell is wrong with-“

——————————————

He cut himself off suddenly. Not only did Derek have the faint feeling that he was being watched, he also heard footsteps and the sound of someone whistling a tune. So after taking a deep breath, he dropped the bag and pulled out his gun.

“Sy Grossman, you’re under arrest and in custody of the CIA for suspected manslaughter! Everything you will say will be used against you, you have the right to remain silent!“

The man in front of him didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest, looking him over from top to bottom like he was inspecting a car he intended to buy. He didn’t say anything at first, he just continued to whistle his tune as he took a step forward.

Derek’s grip on the gun tightened, but he refused to back off now. He was an agent, it was his job to deal with people like this. If Five could do it, so could he.

“I’m warning you! Not one step closer or I’ll shoot!“

Unlike in cop dramas though, he actually did shoot when the man stepped closer. It was by no means fatal, just above the clavicle. But it was enough to stop him in his tracks.

“This could have all been so simple“, the man remarked, seemingly only slightly inconvienced by the pain, “But CIA…you might still be of use.“

——————————————

Before he could shoot again or ask what Sy Grossman meant by that, everything happened very quickly. One second they stood there, the next second Derek felt as though his abdomen went up in flames and he gasped sharply. A barbed tentacle, belonging to the man in front of him, had embedded itself in his lower stomach, though the angle suggested that his upper organs had been hit as well.

The resulting pain was immense. Everything his mind seemed to register was pain, his veins seemed to transport agony, not blood. Derek tried to scream, but the wind had been knocked out of him. While he still attempted to struggle, the red patch on his sweater grew larger and larger. His glasses must have fallen down in the chaos, not that he had noticed. Blood had meanwhile made its way into his lungs and up his throat, coating his tongue.

“Five!“, Derek attempted to call out, but it was useless, “Five…!“

His partner wasn’t there and even if he was, his voice was far too quiet. No one would hear him, except for his killer. His knees had grown too weak to support his weight, buckling underneath Derek like they were made out of paper. And surprisingly, his murdered kneeled down with him, leading him down onto the ground so he could lay down. At that point, the pain had grown duller, his vision darkening with every second that passed.

He knew in that moment that he was going to die, he would never see his dog or Five ever again. Derek attempted to reach into his pocket, a futile attempt to call Five again, but Sy, or rather the thing that pretended to be him, grabbed his wrist, effectively stopping him. A tear slowly made its way down Derek’s cheek, falling down onto the cold concrete. His body was giving up and his mind responded by conjuring up a mental image of Five, smiling at him.

If he concentrated, which was starting to get tough, Derek could feel his lips against his own, their goodbye kiss. Deep down, he felt sorry for breaking his promise. He would not return safely to Five, he would not get to hug him or listen to his stories again. As much as he tried to focus on his good memories, the sting of regret and guilt remained.

At that point, Derek had stopped moving, his green eyes staring up at the cloudy sky. He was holding onto his life by a thread, which seemed enough for his killer though. The feeling of dying was similar to falling asleep, the moments before reminiscent of the short time period before sleep fully enveloped the mind and body. There was a vague sense of what was happening, but no way to know for sure or check.

In Derek’s case, he felt as though the creature, now with woman’s hands, ripped his body open. No pain, only the sensation of getting his insides removed. The last thing he saw before everything went dark were blue eyes, belonging to a woman’s face, looking down at him as cold as an icy morning in November.

——————————————

A few minutes later, Derek’s body stood up again. Effortlessly, as if he used no energy to do so. A sigh escaped his lips and he picked up his glasses, which had only gotten slightly cracked. Slowly, he put his glasses back on, straightening out and cracking his neck, in a manner Derek had done many times before.

“Back to work“, he seemingly tested out his voice, then reached into his pocket, dialing Five’s number again. Derek’s boyfriend was currently stuck in a subway with no reception, so he wouldn’t get the messages until much later.

“Hey Five, it’s me“, Derek’s voice spoke as he made his way back towards his car, “I found the body of Sy Grossman. Somebody seemingly got to him, I don’t know yet who it could be. Meet me at HQ, okay? Love you.“

The beep ended the one sided conversation once more. He sighed softly as he started the car, turning the mirror so he could make eye contact with himself.

“Now…let’s make sure Diego and Luther don’t cause too much damage“, his lips turned upwards into a smirk. After that, he could still deal with Gene and Jean.

One thing after another.

——————————————

I know this was sad, but I still hoped you liked it. For me, the scene in which Derek talks with Luther and reports him to his boss in S4 E5 just felt...off. So this is an explanation of sorts as to why he might be acting like that.

If you liked it, leave some likes or a comment. Every time you do, it really makes my day and fills me with energy to keep going.

Until next time,

-Donna Lawliet

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