#cuts her fucking throat and almost kills her for it. But allison rumors him to cut his shit out for FIVE MINUTES and suddenly the fandom

[mynumberfivethings]

I Heard A Rumor...

They land back in 2019, which is a relief, of course, until it’s not. 

“What the fuck even is the Sparrow Academy?” Diego grouses. “Lame ass bird fucks.” he chucks one of his knives across the cramped motel room they’re currently occupying and watches it get lodged firmly into the tacky wallpaper. 

Allison grabs the second knife Diego’s about to fling out of his hand and glares  daggers at her brother. “We’re staying here for free, because I rumored the motel staff into not noticing we exist, so maybe don’t wreck the place?” 

Luther nods in agreement. “Allison’s right, we need to be as inconspicuous as possible right now.” 

Diego rolls his eyes. “Whatever. So Five, now what?” the siblings all go to turn to Five for the answers they’re so desperately seeking, only to be met with the sight of the pseudo thirteen year old laid curled up on one of the beds, sound asleep. 

Luther frowns. “How in the hell can he seriously sleep at a time like this?” 

Allison leans over Fives still form and not so gently shakes his shoulder, jarring him awake. She feels a little guilt upon seeing the initially panicked look on his face as he comes to awareness once again, but damn it, she just wants to see her kid again, is that too much to ask? 

“We need to figure out a way to get back to our timeline.” she tells him, arms folded over her chest.

Five scratches the sleep from his eyes, unaware he’d even passed out in the first place, wincing as he sits up fully on the mattress. “This is our timeline.” he informs all of them, his voice coming out scratchy and thin. God, he’s exhausted. And practically everything aches. 

“What do you mean?” Klaus shakes his head. “In our timeline Ben is very much dead-not some weird emo douche who flocks with a crew of birds-so please do explain how the actual hell this makes any sense.” 

Five sighs, “We changed the linear time of events and the order in which they were supposed to originally occur when we were in the sixties and now this is, for all intents and purposes, our timeline.” 

“Screw that. We need to reestablish our actual timeline.” Allison counters. “I’m not staying in this weird alternate bullshit dimension any longer than we have to-we still have the suitcase, right? Let’s go back to the sixties and fix what we broke. Easy.” 

Five looks at her like she’s lost her mind. Which, she very well may have, he thinks briefly. “Look, I know you want to see Claire again, but you need to consider-”

“No.” Allison interrupts angrily, tears starting to fill her eyes. “You don’t understand at all. How the hell could you? You haven’t had anyone for years, but me? I’ve had people, people I care about-which might be a foreign concept to someone like you, but-” 

“Right,” Five cuts her off in turn, unwilling to linger on the sting her words have caused. “I just need time to-” 

“Time? Haven’t you had enough of that, already?” Suddenly the room is engulfed in complete and utter darkness and the Hargreeves go into high alert, trying to figure out where the hell that voice is coming from. 

Could it be one of the Sparrow Academy heroes? Could they have followed them to the outskirts of town? 

“Show yourself, you coward!” Diego shouts, knives at the ready to attack their intruder. 

A flash of thunder illuminates the room for only a split second before the lights come back on and the Hargreeves find themselves frozen in place, unable to move even a muscle, try as they might. 

Save for one: Five. 

“What the hell...” he mutters, as he watches his siblings struggle to try and move from their positions. 

“Now, Allison.” that same disturbing voice commands. 

Allisons eyes go wide as her mouth begins to move without her permission and out come the words, “I heard a rumor you killed your brothers and sisters.” 

They watch with dawning horror as Fives eyes roll to the back of his head and turn an off shade of blue before he seamlessly plucks Diegos knife from where it was embedded in the wall earlier and faces his family, where they stand, helpless. 

“Shit!” Diego curses, trying in vain to move even a single digit. 

Vanya tries to conjure her own powers but finds that she can’t for some reason. “Five...” she calls out, knowing it’s futile. 

Five blinks over to Klaus first, who yelps in surprise, he barely has time to beg Five to reconsider when Five brings the knife down-

There’s boisterous screaming and panicked yelling and general chaos and Klaus is so sure this is it, that Five has plunged the knife straight into his heart and done away with him, until he opens his eyes and realizes nothing is protruding out of him...

Instead, Five has thrust the knife into his own leg. He’s breathing hard, his trembling fingers still hovering over the hilt of the weapon. 

The disembodied voice booms, “Allison!” 

And Allison curses, but she can’t stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth. “I heard a rumor you stabbed me in the jugular.” 

Fives eyes go pale blue for a second time and without even flinching he takes the knife out of his upper thigh and blinks so that he’s facing Allison this time. 

They can all see him struggling, perspiring, fighting against the rumor as he brandishes the knife in one hand, raising it up above his head slowly. 

Allison tries to let out another rumor, a contradicting rumor, perhaps, the way she had done when Five had been in front of Klaus, but again, the words get stuck in her throat. 

Whatever being is in the room is in total control of her powers... 

Allison feels something collide with her neck but it’s not the sharp sting of a knife she’s expecting. It’s Five’s forearm against her, protecting her from his own attack as he shoves the knife directly into his flesh. He’s panting now, with the force that it’s taken him not to obey her mind control. 

“Kill them.” the voice demands angrily. 

“Fuck you.” Five bites out through clenched teeth. 

As if those were the magic words, the voice departs and the Hargreeves can feel their limbs and move about once again, the tense atmosphere dissipating. 

“Holy shit!” Klaus gasps out, “What the fuck, Jesus!” 

Five grunts as he removes the knife from his forearm and wields it threateningly. “Allison,” he practically begs, his voice strained. “Unrumor me. Now.” 

Allison is more than happy to comply, hurriedly saying, “I heard a rumor you didn’t want us dead.” 

The knife clatters as it hits the floor and Five collapses next to it a second later, exhausted and hurting something awful. 

“Shit,” Diego grabs a bunch of hand towels from the bathroom and kneels down. “We gotta stop the bleeding.” He presses two towels against the stab wound on Fives forearm and Vanya grabs the rest to press against the one on his thigh. 

Five tenses up beneath them, his face scrunching up in pain. “Fuck!” 

“I saw a first aid kit in the lobby by the front desk, I’ll go get it!” Allison calls out, already halfway out the door in her haste. 

“Should we move him to the bed?” Luther asks, hovering over his siblings, concern and anxiety eating away at him. 

Diego curses. The hand towels are drenched in blood already. They need to stop the bleeding and soon, or else. “Elevate his leg.” he orders, letting Luther help Vanya try to stem the bleeding there. “Klaus, go get more towels from one of the maids if you can.” Klaus scurries to obey while the others continue to put pressure on Fives multiple injuries. 

Klaus and Allison arrive back at the motel room almost simultaneously, one with a stack of clean towels in their arms and the other with a giant red box in hand. 

With the extra towels and the supplies from the medical kit, they’re somehow able to stop the bleeding long enough to move Five up to the bed. Luther’s extremely gentle as he transfers him from one spot to the other. 

When it’s time to stitch him up, Vanya and Klaus volunteer to do it. Five is too exhausted, both mentally and physically to pretend to be stoic about any of this. He throws his good arm across his face, shielding his eyes from the light. 

“What do you guys think that was?” Luther asks the room at large, when the silence stretches on too long. 

Klaus doesn’t look up from where he’s threading his needle on Fives thigh, replying dryly. “Yet another person place or thing that wants us dead?” 

Diego scoffs. “It’s gotta be one of those Sparrow fuckheads. Who the hell else? I bet it was that goddamn cube-I still can’t believe dad adopted a fucking cube-Christ.” 

“Whatever it was, it was in control of my powers.” Allison frowns deeply. “When I tried to unrumor Five nothing came out-even when I tried rumoring one of you into being able to move again, so that at least we would stand a fighting chance against our little serial killer over here, nothing.” 

Vanya nods, “Same here. I tried to use my powers but it was like there was some kind of a block or something? Like when I was still taking those prescription pills.” She looks at Fives pale face-what she can see of it, from underneath his forearm-and risks the question, “Five, how did you manage not to....you know...?” As someone who’s had first hand experience being unwillingly rumored by their sister, she knows it’s not something one can easily brush off. 

Quite frankly, it’s a miracle they’re all still breathing... 

“Yeah, I thought for sure we were dead.” Diego walks over and playfully ruffles the top of Fives messy hair. “Good job not making yourself an only child.” he jokes, freezing entirely when in response to his teasing Five lets out what can only be described as a faint whimper. 

“Five?” 

“I almost killed everyone.” Five struggles to get the full sentence out, his breath hitching. “Fuck.” he curses, unable to stifle a sob. It’s a pathetically sad little noise, but it brings the rest of his siblings to his side immediately. 

“Hey,” Allison kneels down beside the bed and places a careful hand on his knee. She feels him flinch underneath her. “You resisted my rumor-twice. Do you know how rare that is? You saved us.” 

Five scrubs his face with the sleeve of his white button up shirt and finally uncovers his eyes. They’re red and puffy from crying, eyelashes wet with his tears. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.” he admits brokenly. “I can’t lose you guys again.” 

“Shit Five,” Diego leans down and briefly touches their foreheads together, the palm of his hand cupping Fives head. “You’re not alone, we’re right here. Not going anywhere.” 

Vanya nods determinedly. “That’s right. You’re stuck with us.” 

Luther towers over the group with a faint but genuine smile. “You know, I always figured you loved us, but I guess I didn’t realize the extent until today.” 

Five sniffles, wiping away more tears he can’t seem to stop from coming. “I would trade you all up for a decent cup of coffee.” he lies, feeling more exposed than he has in literal years. 

Klaus smirks. “Nuh uh, no take backs, Fivey. You loooooove us.” 

Five rolls his eyes but it doesn’t have quite the same effect it normally would, considering the fact that he is still very much crying. 

Allison clears her throat, squeezes his knee again, this time to get his attention, and says, “And we love you. I’d ask if you know that, but honestly I think the answer would make me too sad.” she sighs. “Five, I’m really sorry about what I said before-I was taking all my frustrations out on you and I spoke carelessly, without thinking.” 

Five shakes his head, overwhelmed. “It’s ok.” 

“It’s not.” Allison insists. “Five, I don’t know if anyone’s said this yet, but I think it’s long overdue. I’m so happy to see you again. I missed you, you know. A ton.” 

Five didn’t think he was childish enough to still need to hear such silly sentimental things. He’s not the type, he’s tried to convince himself. It’s not as though he was expecting some big tearful family reunion upon his arrival, after all. So he wasn’t crushed or anything when his return was met with little more than perhaps confused contemptment. He had things to do, apocalypses to stop and all that jazz. 

That’s what he told himself, of course. 

But it doesn’t ring very true now, not when he can’t help but let out another sob. 

He’s too old for this, he thinks, as Diego pulls him gently to his side and Allison grabs hold of his hand. 

He doesn’t need them to love him back, he thinks, as Klaus finishes taping up his wound with a tenderness only reserved for those he loves, as Vanya wraps gauze around his forearm with care. 

He’s been fine all this time, he thinks, even as Luther says, “Good to have you back, Five.” 

It’s good to be back, he thinks, turning his head so that it’s buried against Diego’s shoulder when he lets out another sob. 

.

[diego-badbitch-hargreeves]

Diego had been the first to notice the intruders in the academy, though how they had gotten in he wasn’t quite sure. The shots ringing out made his ears ring even as he jumped on the taller, stronger of the pair and slammed his head into what he had thought was a silicone mask. The bridge of his nose split open, blood pouring down his face making him chuckle as he slid back, pressing his back against the bar to wait for an opening, for them to walk by. For anything. They were clearly skilled fighters on one mission, that mission being to kill his family for god knows what reason. His heart raced and he nodded when he finally caught sight of Allison, giving her a nod as she grabbed herself a weapon.

“You wanna rumor this bitch?”

“Nah. She just pissed me off.” He chuckled at his sister, watching the two fight until Allison handed him a knife. He threw it quickly, barely seeing her heading out at Luthers cry of pain. He gritted his teeth, starting towards where the one in the pink mask had managed to limp to before a sharp pain hit the back of his head. He groaned, vision growing blurry as he dropped down to his knees, his legs giving out from under him. He didn’t understand, until the one in the blue mask hit him once more with the crowbar, knocking Diego fully unconscious. For a faint second before he hit the floor he felt a trill of fear running through him. They had lost, he had lost. He didn’t know if his family would make it out or not but he hoped they were okay.

Hazel easily lifted him up, putting Diego over his shoulder while Cha-Cha was distracting the others. They had someone Five was close with now, someone that would know where he was or at the very least someone who would be a good lure for the kid. It was a win in his book. Quickly, he taped Diegos hands, wrists and mouth shut before he dumped him into the truck and began the long drive towards the Motel the two assassins were sheltering at for the mission.

Diego woke a little while after the car was already stopped and parked, his eyes narrowing and blinking furiously as he tried to adjust to the darkness. Where was he? He didn’t remember much outside of being shot at, he didn’t remember being knocked out or even fighting with Allison. He groaned and shifted around, already able to feel the tape pulling on his skin. He kicked out, hissing in pain as his foot thumped against the side of the car without doing much damage. It was an older model he was stuck in, made of hard steel and near impossible to break down from the inside. He tried again, kicking over and over until he felt a section give, a smirk playing across his lips as he knew he had found where the tail light was. One more kick before it was off and he was free to search for the other one, punching until his knuckles were bloody from the search. He let out a shaky breath, blinking a few times as he tried to push down the heavy feeling that was starting to sink into him. The darkness, the inability to move… It made him want to scream. He needed to break the other light, at least to be able to see outside, to get a breath of fresh air… Anything was better then just laying there in the darkness.

He didn’t get a chance to break it before the trunk was opened, two faces he didn’t recognize staring down at him. One was eating a doughnut, the other looking mildly impressed and amazed at the same time. He let out an angry yell which was muffled by the tape of course before he was punched. The wound on his nose reopened, his eyes rolling up once more. He wasn’t quite unconscious again, but he was dazed enough to the point where he couldn’t fight anymore as they lifted him and carried him up the stairs to their room on the third floor. He was put into a chair and tied down, his head falling back while the two took his harness and shirt from him.

The assassins dropped his things, taking each knife from its spot on the harness while they checked his arm. Sure enough, he had the same tattoo as Five. It was proof enough that they could use him. That he would be helpful, willingly or not. Cha-cha slapped Diego to wake him, making him groan and spit up a mouthful of blood at her. She side stepped easily, eyes narrowed into a glare towards him. He chuckled softly, head tilting to follow her movement.

“Where is he? Where’s Number 5?” She demanded, making Diego shrug.

“No idea. I ain’t his babysitter.” He growled softly, pulling on the rope testingly. It was strong, well knotted.. He would need a bit of time to undo it. Time he didn’t think he had. He hissed as his knife came down across his collar bone, a thick line of red appearing almost instantly. He spat at them once more, eyes shining in defiance. It went on for hours, the cuts. The punches. And then they switched it up, they wrapped a wire around his neck and cut off his oxygen. It almost made him laugh as he sat there, completely still aside from the slight pained sounds that escaped each time the wire was shifted. He already felt the warm blood mixing with the already dried. His throat would be fucked when he tried to talk again. He only laughed when they pulled it away, they clearly hadn’t done any research on his family. Soon, the two decided to take a break. They pushed his chair to a corner, a heavy bag placed over his head. He didn’t struggle even as his heart began to race again, that sense of heaviness growing once more in his chest. He dropped his head, trying to listen as the two spoke but unable to make out any words. Instead, he focused on keeping his breathing even, just like mom had taught them. This wasn’t the time to panic, he would never get out if he started to panic now. They were at a hotel, that much he could pick up, not a very good one. No one had come running for his yelling yet so he assumed no one would no matter how loud he was. He was in trouble and he knew it, he knew it was a slim chance he would make it out of there alive.. A slim chance he would see his family again. He hated that idea, he had so much he wanted to tell them that he hadn’t even thought about before.. They had spent so long apart, so much bad shit had happened to each and every one of them and now.. Now if Five was right they were about to waltz into an apocalypse? It would have been a great time to get closer with them again, or die trying.

He let his mind race, unsure how much time had passed as he sat there. It felt like hours, like maybe they had just left him there but he knew that wasn’t the case. Even if they were done for the night they wouldn’t just leave him out in the open like this. Not when they still needed him around. He groaned softly, head falling back once more. He was exhausted, wanting nothing more then to rest for even a few minutes. Sadly for him, that wasn’t what they would let happen. The bag was pulled off his head, making him squint as the light hit them painfully.

“Fuck…” He hissed softly, feeling the harsh slap that crossed over his cheek. He could already feel the bruise welling up, like in so many other spots. “I fucking told you already, I don’t know where he is. He don’t tell anyone shit about what he does.” He growled, his hair being yanked back. They didn’t know how to break him, but they couldn’t let him off the hook that easy. And they needed him alive when Five came, they knew he would. He had broken his contract to come and try to save his siblings.

“Tell us everything you know about him then.” Hazel said simply while Cha-Cha grabbed another knife, most of them already being covered in blood. He closed his eyes, feeling sick just from the sight of it. It was amazing how fast the sight of those knives had gone from being comforting to being a sick reminder of the danger he was in. He bit back a whimper when he felt it piecing his flesh, the blade sliding down from the nape of his neck to his belly button. He regretted keeping them as sharp as he did, it was an easy drag. Skin cutting like butter as the blood flowed freely, he blinked a few times to push back the tears that were gathering in his eyes. He had been in bad spots before, but nothing like this. Nothing that had dragged out this long. He wanted to be home in his shitty apartment, curled up on the small cot he used for a bed. He blacked out after almost two hours of the torment, not noticing as he was dragged to the closet of the room. He screamed when he heard the house keeping running the vaccum, eyes shooting open quickly. She could help him, she could get him out of there. He screamed as loud as he could around the gag until eventually he heard her footsteps fading out of the room, his eyes dark as he slammed his head into the door. A sob tore its way from his throat, this reminded him of when he was kidnapped as a child. The days he had spent with that gang before the team finally came to get him… Before he was taken from one hell and put in another. Reginald hadn’t been happy he had been stupid enough to get himself caught, and he put Diego through vigorous training for the few days after, each day ending with him getting healed up by Grace.

The next day came far too quickly and he was dragged out again. The tear stains on his cheeks were noticeable, clearing a way through the blood on his cheeks. He shook his head, snarling at them as the chair was once more put in the center of the room. He didn’t miss the relieved looks on their faces, they had messed up. They were lucky he was still there, that the cleaning lady had been so daft as to not notice he was there… He had been so close to getting away from them. From getting home free and he had missed the chance.

Instead of going for his knives this time, they grabbed a simple wash cloth. It confused Diego until his head was forced backwards, the cloth placed over his mouth and nose. His eyes widened, the faintest pang of panic crossing his face as his heart began to race. He couldn’t help it when the water began to pour on top, he screamed and breathed in a lungful of the water. It reminded him too much of the tank, the water that would fill the space while he banged on the lid, begging to be let out. How it would slowly go over his mouth until he had no choice but to stop breathing or let the water fill his lungs until he passed out. He thrashed, tearing at the ropes until his wrists were bleeding, managing to land a hit. He coughed violently when the rag was pulled away, doubling over as much as he could as he struggled to breath, to calm himself down. It went on, and on, and on until they got bored of it. Until they realized he wouldn’t give them anything. He was sobbing openly when they finished before doubling over to throw up.

They left at that, slapping him once more before they went to talk. To try and figure out the best way to put themselves on Fives radar to bring him there. Diego scooted his chair towards the door quietly, listening until he heard footsteps. He hesitated, glancing back before starting to yell, to hit his head against the table. He froze when the door opened, Klaus was standing there with a worried glint to his eyes. When he cut Diego free and got the tape off his mouth Diego warned him about the two, telling Klaus to get out as quickly as possible before he was caught. That he would catch up to him. He dropped down, opening the vent with shaky hands and getting the case out. He knocked both Hazel and Cha-Cha out before tying them up for the cops, quickly hurrying out to klaus. He panted softly, shoving his hand over his face before pulling the other in for a tight hug.

“Fuck man….. You saved my life.” Diego pulled him down the stairs quickly, wincing with every step until Klaus pulled him to a stop.

“What’s in the case?...”

“No idea. But they’re taking a nap up there, what say you we find out?” Diego laughed, his eyes wild before he set the case down. He waited until Klaus was close before flicking it open, though there was only a bright flash. He didn’t know where he was when he opened his eyes again, only glancing back at where Klaus had landed on his ass. He flinched when he heard the first bomb drop, his eyes wide and confused as every person around them seemed to get up, all moving in tandem in a panicked race to get dressed.

The war was two years long for them, two years that Diego had spent trying to convince Klaus that it was time to go home but unable to ever force him to. He saw how happy his brother was with a fellow troop, a good man named Dave. As much as Diego hated fighting there, he wouldn’t steal that happiness from Klaus. He kept an eye on them, made sure no one messed with them for their relationship.. It was good seeing his brother happy for what seemed like the first time in their entire life. He didn’t talk much, only when he needed to, only when he was screaming for medics or driving a blade through the enemies skull. Klaus had learned to not try to talk to him pretty quickly, that Diego had lost his voice and had yet to regain it. He kept to himself, the other troops trusted him with their lives but he wasn’t any of their friends. He was there at this point for one reason and one reason only and that was to make sure Klaus was happy and that nothing took it away from him, he deserved it.

They were in the barracks, shots ringing out all around them when he saw it. One of the enemy had gotten on their side, or at least someone he didn’t recognize. They were in his squadrons colors, leaving any less observant person none the wiser. He kept his eye on them until he saw them raise the rifle, following it until he realized.

“Dave!” He screamed out, lunging and shoving the other down. He had to keep him safe for Klaus sake. He was the reason Klaus was here, it was the least he could do. The piercing pain that shot up his side made him yelp out. He crashed down with a thud, the two quickly rolling him over. He felt the blood, he knew that the bullet was lodged in there. He couldn’t speak, when he tried blood bubbled over his lip.

“Diego! No no no, Diego c’mon. Medic! We need a medic!”

He felt both sets of hands on him, Daves trying to keep pressure on the wound. Trying to keep him there until the medics came and Klaus on his face, trying to keep him awake. Trying to reassure him that it would be okay. Diegos eyes were already hazy, he was losing blood far too quickly.

“It’s okay..” He managed to whisper, squeezing Klaus’ hand. “I love you.” It was probably the first time he had ever said that to Klaus, he loved all of his siblings. He would never see them again though. He would never get the chance to tell them.

Everything grew dark. His body slumped and the shouts of the others died out.

When his eyes opened again, he saw his own body and quickly glanced away. He froze though, at the familiar face giving him a warm yet sad smile. “B-b-b-b-ben?”