#klaus hargreeves fluff

[ur-fav-inactive-writer]

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮

Klaus Hargreeves x Sister!Reader

Summary; Most people hate their siblings. This is not the case for two of the Hargreeves. A big brother, his baby sister, and a whole load of chaos.

CW: cringy tries at inserting lyrics, swearing, a bit angsty, mention of drugs, bad writing ig, not proofread

WC: 1908

On an early Saturday morning, the Hargreeves' children were awoken by Pogo. They were all fourteen at this point and were used to being awoken early in the morning to do training. They reached for their training gear, but Pogo stopped them.

"Ah, actually, today your father needs to discuss and announce something, so training is delayed for the hour" All the Hargreeves children were confused, but dressed themselves and lined up in the living area. Their father came into the room and, to their surprise, was holding a small infant. They gasped in surprise, staring at the child. "Children, this is number 8. They, like you, have powers. They have the ability of water manipulation, and I will be raising them alongside you."

They all stared at the child, taking in their features and their peaceful expression. Klaus stared at them; he felt a strange connection to this kid. Reginald placed the child into a bassinet and left the room, and ordered the siblings to get back to training. They all wanted to stay for a moment and process what was going on, but Grace shooed them out of the room. Klaus stepped outside so his mother would get off his back but went back into the living area once she'd left. With shaking hands, he reached for the baby. He gently picked up the child, and her eyes fluttered open and stared at Klaus. Her expression changed to one of confusion, and Klaus panicked, thinking she would begin to cry. Much to Klaus' surprise, the baby began to giggle. At that moment, Klaus just knew he'd have a special bond with that little girl.

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*4 Years Later*

Klaus really did love her. He did. But not even his love for her could make him stand the thought of spending a second longer in that house with his cruel father. He felt terrible. Most of the Hargreeves' children had left home already, moving out and pursuing a new life. Klaus had held off on this for a while, wanting to stay for (Y/N). But he just couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to stay and protect her, she still had at least twelve more years here, and God knows what their father would do with her once none of her siblings could defend her. After the fight Klaus had with his father, though, he couldn't stand the thought of staying in that house anymore. He felt horrible, he couldn't leave without a goodbye, but you were nowhere to be found at that point, likely somewhere with Grace. He sighed, collecting a few of his things that he didn't mind leaving in your possession. He grabbed a photo of the two of you from his nightstand. The photograph captured one of you and Klaus' many good memories. In the photo, you were on Klaus' bed. Klaus was tickling you, and you were laying on the bed, shrieking, giggling, and kicking. You had a bright grin, and Klaus was looking up at you with pure adoration in his eyes. He felt tears swell in his eyes, reminiscing on that precious moment, but he blinked them away. He grabbed your favourite glittery gel pen and began to write on the back of the photo.

Dear (Y/N/N), I'm sorry, but I have to go. You need to know that I still love you, though. You're the most amazing little sister in the world, and I'm gonna miss you. I'm sorry for leaving you but I can't stay any longer. I'll see you soon, sunshine. I'm gonna miss you so much.

- Klausy"

He felt horrible for leaving the poor girl behind; she was so small and vulnerable. He'd come back for her someday. He put his things into a pile and left the photo and note on her bed. A tear rolled down his cheek as he went to leave your room. Just before he left, he grabbed one of your stuffed animals. You and Klaus always played with it when you were little. He shoved into his bag and walked out of your room. He shut the door, climbed out his window, and didn't return to the Hargreeves' mansion for years.

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*12 years later*

You were 16 by now. It had been a long time since you'd seen any of your siblings, and you missed them dearly. You hadn't seen or heard from Klaus since he left that note on your bed. It broke your heart when he left, he was your best friend. You still had all your brothers belongings that he left in your room and kept whatever he left in his bedroom. You were 4 when he left and had grown a ton since he had left. It had been 4 years since you had seen any of your siblings. The last one of your siblings you saw was Luther before he went to the moon, even then, he didn't ever talk to you much. You liked watching the news or movies to see your sister, Allison, or your brother, Viktor, or even your other brother, Diego. Your father had recently passed away, and you were devastated. He was a cruel, cruel man, but he was still your father. However, this meant a funeral would be held.

You prayed that Klaus would come to it, wanting nothing more than to see your favourite brother again. It was finally the day of the funeral. You changed into your black dress, with tights and your black converse. You got dressed and applied your makeup before heading downstairs. There was a knock on the door, and you ran down the stairs to answer it. Your eyes blew wide to see it was Klaus. You went to leap on him, but he stopped you. His eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed out of it. You quickly realised that he was on drugs and likely didn't recognise you, considering how much you had grown up since he last saw you.

"Klausy?" You said quietly, in shock. He stared at you, perplexed, until he remembered that nickname. "Oh (Y/N/N)!" He shrieked and hugged you tightly. "Oh, how I missed you, sunshine!" You smiled happily and hugged your brother back tightly. It was weird to see him now, he looked so different. But it had been 12 years of no contact, and you also looked drastically different, so you couldn't say much.

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*a few hours later*

You had spent your last few hours greeting your other siblings and doing other random things but spent the majority of it bonding with Klaus. He was amazed at how grown up you now were and felt a pang of guilt, knowing he missed all of your childhood. You both went over what you had been up to for those past few years and Klaus listened intently to every word you said.

It was nearly time for the funeral when you heard something outside. Everyone rushed outside, and you saw something that looked like a bright blue portal. You stared in confusion, hidden behind your brothers. Much to your surprise, a boy (who looked a couple years younger than you) fell from the portal. All your siblings seemed shocked to see him, as if they knew him, but didn't expect him to be there. He looked somewhat familiar, but you couldn't put your finger on it.

"Does anyone else see little number Five? Or is that just me..?" Klaus said, unsure if the drugs were causing him to see things.

The boy looked around, staring at the faces of his siblings. "Shit."

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You had now properly introduced yourself to Five and realised where you recognised him from. He was in the painting over the mantel. He knew of your existence from Viktor's book but was somewhat glad to formally meet you. It was now time for the funeral... it didn't exactly go down well. Diego made some ballsy remark, and it all kicked off. Him and Luther began to shove each other. You watched, eyes blown wide. You were stood with Klaus underneath his pink umbrella. Klaus watched as they fought, pushing you behind him and putting his arm out in front of you. Your breath hitched, you were scared at the sight. Klaus encouraged the fight until he saw your reaction. He covered your eyes, "Oh cmon, not in front of the kid!" As the words fell from his mouth, they crashed into Ben's statue. You heard the crash and Allison bluntly say 'Well, there goes Ben's statue.' Klaus did enjoy watching fights but wanted you away from the scene.

You sat down on the sofa, shaken by the scene. You knew Diego was violent and ballsy but you never expected him to do such things. You were staring into space, paying no attention to your surroundings until you felt the sofa dip beside you. You turned your head to see Klaus. "Hey sunshine, so much for a funeral, huh?" He laughed breathily, taking a puff of his cigarette. You looked down, Klaus noticing your dejected state. He put an arm around her. "Cmon, sunshine, no need to get down about it, they're just moody old men. They'll be fine." You smiled softly up at your brother and he grinned at you.

"There's that smile, huh." He said, attempting to make your smile even wider by tickling you. You began to shriek and giggle as he poked at your ribs. He laughed softly, remembering the picture he had left on your bed all those years ago. The memory was bittersweet, he loved it but couldn't help but associate it with abandoning you all.those years ago. He vowed to never leave you like that ever again.

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*dallas, texas, 1963*

It had been a while since you ended up in Dallas, after going through that portal. Luckily for you, you landed with your big sister, Allison. She took you under her wing, allowing you to live with her. She told Ray that you were 16 and just looked a bit old for your age and that she had you when she was in her teens. Ray loved her and believed it, he accepted you as his own daughter. But nothing made you stop missing your big brother. Allison sent you to school in order to not arouse suspicion. You weren't the biggest fan, but it helped you to keep your cover. One day, you'd had a pretty shitty day and stormed into the house. You hoped to collapse onto the sofa and just lay there. As you slammed the front door you heard a man's voice as well as Allison's. You peeked into the living room, seeing Klaus. "Klaus?!" He looked up at you, "Oh, sunshine! Just the girl I wanted to see!" He leapt up from the sofa, taking you into his embrace. Allison smiled, opting to leave you two to have a moment. He pulled away, wanting to see how much you'd grown since you last saw each other but noticed your tear-stained cheeks and red eyes. "Whoa, whoa, woah, what happened to you sunshine?"

"N-nothing, it's fine." You sniffled, averting your gaze to the floor. "Talk to me, what's going on?" With this, your eyes teared up again, and you broke down crying, explaining what had happened. Klaus held you, stroking your hair and consoling you. "It's gonna be okay sunshine, you should know I'll be there for you." You smiled up at him weakly, and he dried one of your tears. "If we have each other, we'll both be fine." He said with a soft smile.

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A/N: I'm aware this is a bit shit but im js tryna get back into writing so i tried this out :) hope you like reading it <3

TAGLIST: @book-place @shefollowedthestars

[mcntsee]

The real barbie is Y/n.

Y/n’s a doctor, a cop, a scientist, an agent, vet, hero, villain, astronaut, lawyer, spy, criminal, artist, chef, engineer, psychologist, architect, journalist, firefighter, event planner, mechanic, photographer, musician, actor, interior designer, bartender, fashion designer, barista, florist, forensic scientist, flight attendant, profiler, tour guide, translator, etc.

[stiingrayyyy]

Dating Headcanons F.H

What it’s Like to Date Five Hargreeves

Pairings — Five Hargreeves x Reader (pronouns not specified)

Summary — My headcanons for if you were Five’s lover.

Warnings — opinions, no plot, it’s all over the place, last one is semi-NSFW.

A/N — i try to avoid nsfw with five because yk.. in the show, he’s physically thirteen but this one was too funny not to add. let’s all just pretend there was a happy ending okay 😭😭. i wrote this before season four came out so let’s pretend it ended happily.

— if you want another version where it’s just headcanons of you and five in the apocalypse i’m down for that.

— I see headcanons where Five is straight up mean, manipulative, and where he’s just using you.

— To me, that’s not Five being in love with you. Have you seen how he treats Delores? HE’S SO SWEET TO HER.

— So if you’re his lover, he will give you princess treatment like no other, holy shit.

—He’ll prepare breakfast so it’s ready to be eaten when you wake up.

— He thinks breakfast in bed is a recipe for disaster so he never does that.

— If you take a while to wake up he’ll wake you up.

— “My love, breakfast is ready.” He’ll whisper into your ear before pressing a kiss onto your temple, then one on your forehead, then your nose… then finally a chaste kiss on your lips.

— He’ll tuck you in bed at night and make sure you’re all snug before leaving. If you can’t sleep he’ll read to you.

— With him around, you genuinely never have to open a door. In addition to paying for every meal, he always walks on the outside of the sidewalk. He also pulls the chair out for you when you sit and showers you with praise.

— Sometimes the praise is simple whispers in your ear because he isn’t much into PDA.

— There was never an official wedding, he stole two matching rings and gave one to you.

— He’d like to have an official wedding.

— If he has to worry about the apocalypse he’ll probably neglect you only because he thinks the fate of the world is in his hands.

— He loves going on simple dates, whether it’s at Griddy’s Doughnuts, a simple stroll in the park, or a little painting place.

— He’s fancy but he doesn’t see the point in expensive restaurants. He likes the little things.

— He loves to make and paint pottery with you, it’s his favourite thing to do.

— When he can’t sleep he’ll come over to your place and sit on the roof with you.

— If you fall asleep he’ll Blink into your room and tuck you in, and he’ll even leave a note for you to read when you wake up.

— It usually goes along the lines of..

“You fell asleep, don’t worry I made sure you got back in your room and I picked up all your stuffies from the floor and put them on the bed with you.”

— He struggles with insomnia.

— He’ll write you love letters even though it’s more convenient to send a text. He loves you and he’s willing to put effort in love notes.

— His primary love languages are quality time and acts of service.

— He doesn’t show much affection in public.

— He doesn’t mind holding your hand though.

— Five won’t be afraid to hold your hand, wrap an arm around your shoulders or waist while he’s with his siblings.

— Kisses and hugs are private though.

— Despite being private, he doesn’t hide the fact he’s dating you.

— If anyone tries anything on you, Five will glare daggers. If that’s not enough, he’ll threaten them, and if they keep pushing he’ll make them bleed (but not too severe 🥰)

— He’s hella protective.

— You make midnight munchies together.

— He’ll refuse to dance with you in the kitchen at 2am but he’ll reluctantly say yes and end up actually enjoying it.

— Same goes for dancing in the rain. He pretends to hate it but he loves it and you know he does.

— You always make pasta or noodles for midnight munchies.

— One time you made cookies and accidentally woke up Klaus who ate the cookie dough before you got to put it in the oven.

— When you guys had sex for the first time Klaus congratulated you and Five with a cake that said ‘virgin’ in the middle of a 🚫 and woke you up the next day with confetti.

— sorry, i know i said i’d have a part three to my ben hargreeves fic but i wrote it and didn’t edit it.. and it didn’t seem entertaining enough to post, i’m sorry.

— if you want headcanons with the apocalypse involved, let me know <3

[redroses07]

The Umbrella Academy Season 4 Fix It Fic // Five Hargreeves x Reader Edition

WC: 3.1k

CW: Canon accurate violence, swearing, kissing, use of Y/N, Y/N is a bad ass, domestic fluff, angsty af.

Summary: A Five x Fem!Reader rewrite for the end of season four because I absolutely hated the ending. Five and Lila are not a thing in this fic, because that made me literally gag.

A/N: Hey luvs! I worked my ass off writing this fic because I needed to have a better ending for season four. In my mind this fic is canon. I hope y'all like it because I truly love how it turned out! Have an amazing day and enjoy! - Claire ♡

Five sat on the empty train, riding round in aimless circles. He had no intention of ever stopping. Perhaps he would die here, if death was even possible in this endless void. There was no reason for him to continue, they were out of options.

All he wanted to do was save his family, save you, but he couldn't even do that. At least this way he could escape having to witness the end of their lives.

He couldn't help but feel as if this was all his fault, if only he had listened to Reginald when he told him never to time travel. So much pain, so many lost lives, it never would have happened.

Five looked out the window, he didn't know what exactly for. Everything looked the same. Round and Round again, each identical station feels more hopeless than the last.

After an immeasurable amount of time, days? years? who knows. Something caught Five's eye.

He jumped up from his seat, following the dark figure out into the station.

Was that? No.

"Hey, wait!" Five shouted, chasing him down a staircase.

He rounded a corner, seeing a dimly lit cafe filled with all too familiar faces. The place was filled with several alternate versions of Five himself. It was an odd feeling for him to see himself this way.

Nonetheless, he took a seat across from the Five he had followed.

No more than ten seconds later, another Five served up two pastrami sandwiches. Five number two began to complain about the amount of sauerkraut on his sandwich, staring intently at the meal.

"What is this place?" Five asked, reaching for the cup of hot coffee next to him.

"It's a gas station. What the hell does it look like? It's a Deli." He could see that the alternate Five share his love of sarcasm.

He went on to explain how this was a place where all of the Five's from alternate timelines end up while trying to fix the "broken timeline" issue.

"Okay, so what shattered the original timeline?" Five asked.

"Not what. Who? I'll give you three guesses." Alternate Five held up three fingers.

"We did!" Another Five yelled.

Five wasn't surprised, everything always seemed to be caused by him.

"By we, do you mean my siblings?" Five asked.

"Yep, the morons."

Five rolled his eyes.

"When we come into existence, the timeline is shattered, and then we're stuck trying to save the world. How many times was it again?"

"145,412."

The number seemed almost impossible to fathom, but the more alternate realities, the more opportunity for the world to end. Alternate Five pointed at the wall, which was filled with every possible way the world had ended. Viktor's attempt at blowing up the moon was front and center. Seeing it gave Five an unpleasant sense of nostalgia.

Five came to realize that the commission was created by an alternate Five in an attempt to fix the timeline, but it was never successful since the Hargreeves siblings were the root of the problem.

"I have to get back." Five turned, rushing out the door. He heard the alternate versions of himself begin to speak, but his overwhelming thoughts drowned it out.

Five ran as fast as he could, getting back on the train and returning to his rightful place. With his family.

As Five entered the abandoned shell of his former home, the room's occupants turned to look at him.

The first person he noticed was you. You watched him with sad eyes, eyes he thought he would never have to gaze into again. Yet here he was, and undeniably, he had a plan.

You watched Five scan the room. Dark hair hung in front of his eyes, his chest heaved from running, or perhaps from anxiety.

"I didn't think you'd be back." You purse your lips, giving him a sour look. '

Facing your bitterness was the hardest part of all this for Five. Of course you had every right to feel that way, he had just up and left you. Although, in his mind that was better than having to watch you die.

"Yeah, neither did I." Five muttered.

Everyone looked at him, obviously awaiting an explanation.

"We caused this." Five began.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Alison sighed.

You stared at Five intently, wondering what had changed since he decided to ditch you and everyone else.

"The marigold that infected our mothers bringing forth our births had a side effect, it fractured the timeline, bringing forth the end of the world."

Five looked from person to person, attempting to read everyone's emotions. They were unreadable.

"Extracting the marigold from our bodies is the only way to stop the cleanse, and in short, fix the timeline."

Silence settled over the room. You weren't born with marigold as the Hargreeves were, but due to Ben's antics, this now concerns you too.

"Okay, but how exactly do we do that?" Diego asked.

Five looked over to Viktor.

"Viktor, you can use your powers to extract the Marigold from our bodies. Unfortunately Ben and Jennifer are too far gone to be saved, but their sacrifice will have been for the greater good."

Viktor let out an elongated sigh, and with little to no hesitation, he agreed.

"Okay, let's get moving before it's too late." Viktor said, speeding out of the room.

You followed closely behind, trying your hardest to avoid Five's gaze.

"Y/N, I-" You cut him off, this was not the time to be talking about all the mistakes he had made. Even if those mistakes led to the answer for all your troubles, they were still mistakes.

"We can talk about this later, if there is one."

Five sighed and watched you exit the room, not even bothering to look his way. He had fucked up big time.

You watched Viktor head towards the monster that was Ben and Jennifer. The creature growled, as it hurdled towards your group.

You turned back as you felt someone grab your arm, Five was standing behind you. You saw something in him that you had only seen a few times before, fear.

"Please. If we don't make it through this I want to make sure we're okay." Five begged for your forgiveness.

In any other circumstance you would not have given in this easily, but the dire situation has just begun to settle in. This could be it.

Neither of you wanted to leave this world with so many words unsaid.

Your gaze softened, and you followed Five away from the other Hargreeve's.

"I know what I did was wrong. With every bone in my body I feel that it was wrong."

He spoke loudly enough to drown out the oncoming chaos, but softly enough to omit any sort of aggression.

Five reached for your hands, and you reluctantly let him take them.

Five paused for a moment, trying to find the words that would mean the most, considering he was dealing with limited time.

"My worst fear is to see you suffer, and at the time, running away seemed like my only escape. I feel like I've already caused so much hardship in your life, and the thought of any more terrified me." His eyes stayed glued to you.

Five was the whole reason you had joined The Commission to begin with. He helped you to believe in a cause that you otherwise wouldn't have, and the two of you hadn't left each other's side since.

You didn't regret it per say, but you couldn't deny that you often wished for a different life. You would never blame any of your circumstances on Five though, and you hated how he always chose to blame himself.

"Nothing that has happened to me, or to anyone, is your fault. I think all of us share some responsibility, but blaming yourself is just wrong." You squeezed Five's clammy hands.

Five let out a sigh of relief as he was able to recognize forgiveness in your eyes.

"I love you." He said, fighting the tears that began to form in the corners of his eyes. The phrase was reserved only for you, as it is a concept that has always been hard for five.

Growing up with Reginald as a father, and a family that could win an Olympic gold medal in dysfunctionality, Five didn't exactly have a positive outlook on love.

"I love you too. We've been through worse, we'll get through this too."

Five pulled you into a tight hug, breathing you in as if it was the last chance he would ever get to hold you. The two of you were versed in the end of the world, this was not the first final hug you had shared. Five placed a soft kiss on the top of your head, and he didn't miss the small cry that escaped your lips.

You rarely cried, and when you did it was always around Five. He was the only person you felt comfortable enough with to show vulnerability. It was the perfect moment, and the past few days had worn down your patience. You reluctantly let a few tears slip loose.

"Get your asses over here love birds, Ben is here." Diego called from the other side of the room.

You and Five exchanged a look before running over to the center of the room and rejoining your family.

Ben growled ferociously, the red goo that dripped from his body falling around the room.

"Just so you guys know, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. So if we all die, I apologize in advance." Viktor said, clenching his fists on either side.

His newly improved orange power began to swirl around his body. He squeezed his eyes shut, clearly focusing on the task at hand.

You reached for Five's hand, interlocking your fingers with his. If these were to be your last moments, you wanted to make sure he was with you.

Five gripped your hand with everything he had in him, every bit of strength was to remind you of his presence.

With each moment that passed, the colorful plume of Viktor's powers grew, encasing not only Ben and Jennifer, but all of you.

You and Five watched as the all too familiar gold marigold specks began to float through the air. It felt odd, it didn't hurt, but it wasn't a particularly pleasant feeling. It was like your whole body was being poked by a prickly cactus.

The air turned cold, and all other sounds were overcome by the rumbling of Viktor's power.

An unbearable wave of exhaustion washed over you, and it became hard for you to keep your eyes open.

You looked over at Five, making eye contact with him one last time. He gave you his signature smirk, funny how in spite of everything he could still be himself.

The last thing you saw was Ben falling to the floor, the marigold protruding from him filling the whole room with a deep yellow glow.

And just like that, the world turned black.

· · ─────── ·☂· ─────── · ☂ · ─────── ·☂· ─────── · ·

Five opened his eyes, the bright light of day overwhelming his vision. The ground beneath him was soft, the tall grass tickling his fingertips.

Five sat up slowly, his eyes adjusting to the sun. He looked over next to him, and there you were. Just as you had always been, right by his side. Your chest rose slowly, a thankful sign that you were still alive.

Five looked beyond you, to see his siblings all scattered around the lawn. They were all exactly where they had been before the blackout. The empty patch of grass, of course, was where the Hargreeve's mansion used to stand.

Without the existence of their powers, The Umbrella Academy was never formed. It was strange, to know that what Five remembered, no one else did. It was like waking up from a strange dream.

However, one thing was missing, Ben. And of course Jennifer. Five wasn't surprised that they hadn't made it, considering how their bodies were overtaken.

Five watched as his siblings slowly began to rise from their temporary comas, their eyes heavy and glazed over.

Five nudged you slightly. Unable to wait for you to wake, wanting to share this beautiful moment with you.

You opened your eyes and felt as if you had awoken from a decades long slumber. The first thing you saw was Five next to you, a genuine smile on his face. That was something you had missed.

"Are we in heaven?" Klaus mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Well if this was heaven, I'd be awfully disappointed." Lila replied.

You laughed to yourself, and stood up on wobbly legs.

You all had done it.

"Viktor. I think you might have just saved the world." Luther announced.

Viktor smiled and looked down, maybe eventually he'd let himself take the credit.

You began to take in your surroundings. The sound of traffic in the distance, the wind stinging your cheek, the smell of spring air. It was all so normal.

"Guys, where's Ben?" Klaus asked, and your heart dropped.

"Klaus...we all knew he probably wouldn't make it.." Alison said sadly.

Just then, something caught your eye. Something yellow that stuck out in the patch of green.

"Guys, look!" You pointed at the unique plant.

"Marigolds." Five said softly, and you felt his hand close around yours.

Two beautiful yellow flowers sprouted from the earth, a reminder of what was sacrificed. A reminder of what had to happen for all of this to exist, and a symbol of hope.

~~ Two Years Later ~~

You awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside your window, a song that was often your wake-up call. You rolled over to see Five sleeping peacefully next to you. You weren't surprised. He always slept late, after all, he was an old man at heart.

It had been two years of living freely in the new timeline. You and Five now share an apartment next to Lila and Diego and their three kids.

Life wasn't without its challenges, but compared to everything else the two of you had been through this was paradise.

Viktor had started his own Cafe, a small shop on a street corner that had quickly become a local favorite.

Alison had landed a big movie role not long after everything returned to normal. Ever since it hit the big screen, she had no problem with job offers. She didn't even miss her power of persuasion.

Klaus still lives with Alison. He doesn't really do anything specific, he often refers to himself as 'self-employed'. But he was happy, and that was all that really mattered.

Luther had somehow reconnected with Sloane, who had re-appeared after the timeline was fixed. Of course she didn't remember anything, but it must've been fate because they got to fall in love all over again.

Diego decided to put his skills acquired from his power to use and now taught axe throwing classes.

Lila had decided to help people who had ended up in a mental hospital, similar to how she had. She was working on getting her degree in psychology.

As for you and Five. Five kept his CIA job, and you decided to join him in his career. As the two of you had always done everything together, why not this too?

You felt Five stir next to you, letting out a series of groans. He slowly opened his eyes, a smile spreading across his face the moment he saw you.

"Good morning, beautiful." His morning voice is thick and deep.

"I love you." You whispered, pushing his messy hair out of his eyes.

Five leaned up to kiss you but you counteracted it by jumping out of bed. You pulled the blanket off of him and he whined in protest.

"Time to get up, Gramps, Lila wants us to drive the kids to school today."

Five rolled his eyes at the nickname. You snickered and kissed him on the cheek before heading to the bathroom to get ready.

After the two of you grabbed breakfast, you met Lila outside, Grace and the twins behind her.

"Thank you again for helping us out with this, I don't know how I'd ever get to work on time without you." Lila gave you a quick hug.

"Of course, whatever you need." You ushered her away, signaling that you could take it from here.

You were used to driving the kids places, and they always said you were their favorite aunt. Five however, could not surpass Klaus for favorite uncle.

"Alright guys, who's ready for school?" You said as you jumped in the driver's seat.

There was a chorus of enthusiastic cheers from the back, and you laughed.

"I was never that excited about school when I was your age." The kids had no idea how long ago that actually was for you.

You made sure to put on some kid friendly music, anything but Baby Shark. You dropped the kids off and made sure they all got inside safely.

"Anything else on the schedule for today?" Five asked you.

"Nope, we're both off today so I think the rest of our day is free."

"Great, we should do absolutely nothing." Five's eyes lit up with excitement.

You nodded in agreement and drove towards your home.

Once you arrived, the both of you threw on pajamas and cuddled up in bed. Five flung his arms around you and rested his head on your shoulder, simultaneously letting out a big sigh.

"I love you." He mumbled in your ear.

Even after all these years he still made you blush every time he said those three little words.

"I love you more." You pressed a kiss to Five's nose and he scrunched it up before responding with a chaste kiss to your lips.

After breaking apart you and Five settled into each other's arms, excited to spend a calm day together.

He reached for the remote and flicked on the TV. The small kiss he placed on your forehead didn't go unnoticed.

As Five settled into this new life, he found it hard not to expect a new life altering crisis to pop up at any moment. But it never did.

As the day dragged on, nothing out of the ordinary happened; and you could almost say that it was an ordinary day.

Taglist: @xreader-writing @dorkyfangirl24 @dinorawrss @anne-oop @ladynaviamin @i-amtrash @patchesofdreams @sarbear33 @marinalor

[shadowbriar]

Diego Hargreeves - Patches

Pairing : Diego Hargreeves x (she/her) Reader Word Count : 1.2k Warning : None. Notes : This might be the introduction of a story I'm working on. I cannot guarantee that I'll have the commitment to continue until it's end so don't have too much hope for this. I am open if you have any The Umbrella Academy requests at the moment, so do hit me up! If you like this story and would like to support me, please visit my kofi page and perhaps get me a coffee?☕

He got eight of them.

For the longest time in her life, she’s never understood the silly yet cruel joke life cursed upon her. To be able to heal everyone but herself, no matter the wound or injury one might have, she’ll cure it in no time, so long as it wasn’t inflicted on her.

Once, it wasn’t this pathetic nor lonely. She had her brothers and sisters to weather to storm through. There were Pogo and Mum to share cookies and stories with. It’s been years since she felt such comfort and to have to drag her feet back to the house that had turned itself from a warm home into a prison before the last days of her departure is surely weighing on her heart.

“Welcome home, dear.”

Her heart was filled with warmth once the familiar motherly voice greets her. The corners of her lips curved into a big smile as she dropped her bags, running to the dearly missed figure, “Mum.”

It took the bot a couple seconds to return the embrace. No doubt that she’s been lacking a lot of upgrades ever since she left. When the two broke the hug, she stared at the ageless caregiver with fulfilled eyes as it stared back at her with its bright smile, blank and not blinking. This might have been the most home she could feel while she’s here.

“You’re not supposed to come,” another voice echoes from the stairs.

“Diego, that’s not very nice.” Mum scolded lightly “Your sister has returned to us.”

The boy showed a thin smile to the bot, patting her lightly on the shoulder, “I think Pogo was looking for you, Mum.”

With a slight nod, the android excused herself out of the room.

Now if Grace’s presence lightened her heart, the sight of this black suited man certainly plummets it.

“You look awful,” She greets, noticing the scars that litter his face “Surely couldn’t find a better nurse than me now, can you?”

“Please,” Diego snorted “You’re more of a deadweight than a nurse, if ever.”

Ouch.

She lets out an exasperated exhale, folding her hands in front of her chest in defence, “Well, I’m not here for you and I don’t take joy either on coming back to this circus, so if you could just get yourself off that non-existent high horse—”

Before she could finish her words, Diego had already walked away as if she wasn’t there to begin with. His back becomes the abundant evidence that whatever bad blood they had years ago is still staining his skin.

It wasn’t always like this, him and her. In fact, they were the inseparable two growing up. If Luther had Allison, Diego had her. The many times she healed his wounds had led them to grow closer as the years went by. He was the one with the most injury to heal, after all. The most careless in battle out of the eight, never backing down from a close combat. Though he would always come out triumphant, a little cut here and there would be something he never escaped from.

“Don���t mind him, he’s giving us all the sour comments,” Allison said as she linked her arms to her “I’m glad to see you.”

She smiles at her sister, squeezing her hand slightly in reassurance, “As I am to see you.”

—-

“You should really learn how to dodge a punch, Diego,” She says as she runs her thumb through his bruise “One of these days you’re going to go home and I may not be able to heal you.”

“Is that a loss on your part or my part?”

Her eyebrow rose, purposely pressing on his bruise without healing it that he winces a little, “Or maybe I just won’t heal you, that’s definitely a loss on your part.”

“As if you’ll ever do that.”

“Is that a challenge?”

Diego tries his best to bite the grin but it proved to be an even harder task than to back out of a fight. He stares at her fondly, finding the jitters in his stomach to amplify the longer he stares yet it feels impossible for him to break the contact. Perhaps she casts a little of her magic everytime she heals him.

“Don’t stare at me like that.”

“Like what?” He asks.

“Like Klaus stares at a bottle of gin,” She says, now examining his other cuts “Like I stare at Mum’s cookies.”

Diego smiles.

“Like Luther stares at Allison.”

“Would it be so bad if I stare that way?”

The wake from the unintended nap hurts her head. Her bed is much smaller than she last remembered with her feet slightly dangling on the edge and how the pillows have certainly lost their fluffiness. Everything in her room stays the same yet at the same time, everything has changed.

—-

Diego defeatedly threw himself to the sofa. He sighs, his knuckles cracking as he tries to ball his fists. The tidal wave of emotions were beating him black and blue in silence. It feels as if he was swallowed by a giant blackhole with no light nor guidance to get out of.

There was no need for him to be rude to her, he knew that. He didn’t want to do it, but seeing her back in their house, hugging and talking to Grace, hurts. It took him years to try and ignore the ghost of her. She was the one force that would fuel his mornings and ease him to sleep at night. She was the one soul that he would always go to seek refuge. She was the one that he would lay his life on the line for without a second of doubt.

But he had to lose it all after one stupid night.

A night that he would never be able to grow out of, both from the horror and the guilt. Diego shut himself out for days following that terrifying night, locking his doors and skipping meals as he tries to think of all the what-if scenarios.

What if he stayed home that night?

What if he forced her to stay home that night?

What if he saved her before she saved him?

What if?

Mindlessly, he reaches for a knife on his left chest. It was a stranger to the rest of his knives collection. Compared to the polished lightweight knives he tucked in his suit, this one butter knife was rather dull. It would serve no harm to anyone, yet he kept it closest to his heart as if it was his most prized possession.

Diego stared at the knife. His brows knitted, examining the item as if it held the answer to all of his questions. Or perhaps some guidance. Anything to help him keep his sanity and not lose the plot now that she’s back in his life. Was she staying or was she leaving for the night? He wasn’t sure. But even if she is leaving, the hours he’d have to spend with her would suffocate nonetheless.

His thumb traces the engraving on the knife’s handle. A little trace of an infinite loop that had somehow become his stress outlet: the number eight.

[n1ght0wl-0]

Klaus Hargreeves x gn!reader

Relationships: Klaus x GN!Reader

Notes: Fluff

Summary: Klaus hates doing the dishes and desperately tries to distract you.

"We could make out instead," Klaus suggests, wiggling his eyebrows at you. With a fond roll of your eyes and a tiny smile, you shake your head.

"Mhm, that's a good idea. We can do that after the dishes."

Klaus groans loudly and sits on the counter next to the sink as you fill it with water, adding some soap.

"Why don't we have a dishwasher?" Klaus grumbles, throwing his head back while crossing his arms. He's wearing his infamous leather pants and one of your shirts he found somewhere. It doesn’t really match, but it still looks... adorable.

"Because it’s expensive, and it doesn’t make sense to buy a whole machine for two people with little money," you reason, turning off the water and starting to place the plates in the sink. "Do you want to wash them or dry them?"

Klaus scrunches up his face in displeasure and snatches the dish towel off your shoulder, bunching it up in his hands. With a fond shake of your head, you start washing the plates. But before you can hand him the first one, he wraps the towel around the back of your neck and pulls you close.

The plate drops back into the water with a splash, and you place your hands on either side of him.

"Klaus," you say sternly, but your resolve weakens as he pulls you closer and presses his lips to yours.

Slowly, your hands wrap around his hips, pulling him closer to the edge. His lips are soft, his stubble brushing against your face. It’s nice, it’s familiar.

Especially when his needy hands wrap around your neck, threading through your hair and gripping you even tighter.

When you hear the dish towel drop to the ground, you slowly start to pull away. Reaching out, you frame his face with your hands.

"Mhm, you’re a real brat, you know that?" you tease, grinning as he tries to pull you back to his lips, that familiar look in his eyes.

The look he always has when he’s about to throw himself at you.

But you dodge, instead kissing his cheek lightly. You hear his displeased grunt.

"What was that, honeybun?" he asks, poking your chest.

"That was your motivation to do the dishes, darling," you say, laughing. "First the dishes, then the kisses."

You pull away with a small grin, turning back to the sink despite Klaus’s betrayed expression.

"But I really need my kisses now!" he whines. You raise a brow and hand him a plate. After a long, annoyed stare, he grabs it out of your hand with a grumble.

And surprisingly, Klaus actually hurries up. Maybe you should give him some motivation more often.

[ballerinarina]

LOVE ON SUBWAYS AND TAGETES

FIVE HARGREEVES X Fem!OC

Synopsis: On Christmas, Five and Lila manage to return to their timeline after seven years of living together, lost. Izabela notices that something is strange, but it is only when Diego and Five engage in a discussion with confessions that she realizes that she has been betrayed. While everyone heads to the van to prevent the end of the world, Izabela asks for a few minutes alone with Five to settle things, dot the i's and cross the t's; Word Count: 3.2k Tags: spoilers, angst, cheating, fluff, slightly canon divergence (but Lila x Five/end of S4 still happened)

Note: It's been years since I tried to write something (and I never tried to do it in English before), but I hope it worked out! You can listen to the FANFIC PLAYLIST HERE and here you can read about my OC, but it's perfectly enjoyable to read it knowing nothing about her, or imagining youself in her place! I wrote thinking that they both look ± 20 years old. Please enjoy and tell me what you think! ♡

CLICK TO PORTUGUESE VERSION

Something was off, Izabela could tell as soon as her eyes fell on Five. The boy had never been the really outgoing, smiling or affectionate type, but at that moment he didn't even seem present in Diego's living room. His unstable and lost look, the worried wrinkle on his forehead and a tense and insincere return of affection when Izabela welcomed him into the kitchen with a hug put her on alert.

It had always been easy for her to read him, but a hint of confusion seemed to be beeping in her mind now. Keeping her distance and giving him space — at least until he could organize his own thoughts —Izabela was sitting on the arm of the sofa next to her husband, without touching him, just with her senses attentive and worried as she observed him like an enigma.

A tired sigh escapes her mouth as she foresees that Five's anxious restlessness combined with Luther's comments about the apocalypse could only result in nothing good. It was Christmas Day and, from the bottom of her heart, as unlikely as it was, Izabela was wishing that the end-of-the-world problems had magically resolved themselves — or at least been paused, as the previous moments of tranquility seemed to suggest. Not unexpectedly, they were not, so sure enough: as soon as she gets up and heads to the kitchen, mentally using the excuse of taking the Brazilian mayonnaise salad out of the fridge to get away from the depressing subject, she hears Five's stressed voice picking a fight with his brothers.

Escaping the realization of the apocalypse as an existence in her mind (for the fourth time) was her goal as she grabbed the tray and the dishes, trying to distract herself from Diego and Five's argument. With the kitchen right in the next room, the attempt was naive and failed: Izabela could feel the anxiety rising up her spine. She had never seen her husband so hopeless, but not even for a second found this behavior strange among the others. She herself couldn't take it anymore and, good heavens, she hated loud noises, hated missing Christmas, hated her brothers fighting — even though she wasn't much less temperamental than them —, hated not understanding what was happening to Five, and, most of all, hated the end of the world.

She opened and closed the drawers of that house that wasn't hers on impulse, more as an outlet than really interested in finding cutlery to serve the mayonnaise, when she felt her body freeze at the sound of Diego's voice cutting through the air.

“Is something going on between you two?”

Below her, the sought-after steel spoons and forks gleamed, reflecting her pale face and no longer showed interest in any meal.

“Diego…”

“Holy shit!”

In her ears, Five's silence pierces more than any of those sharp knives could. Refusal is the modus operandi that Izabela's mind immediately activates, only retaining strength amidst the shock to slightly shake her head in denial to herself. She thinks she must have misunderstood, sharpens her ears, holds back her despair. But no.

Five and Lila were having an affair.

To Izabela's anguish, Diego and his wife's voices were the last things she wanted to hear, but they were the ones talking, talking, talking amidst the suffocating silence that settled over the house like a funeral, squeezing her chest and leaving her breathless. Five and Lila were together.

Why? Was that why Five was acting strange? How had she not noticed before? When had she lost her husband? At what point had Five stopped being the person she trusted most in the world? In what world had she stopped being the person he trusted most? Why hadn’t he told her himself? Had she done something wrong?

“Yeah. You think I’m gonna buy that bullshit?”

Not even noticing when it began a state of near hyperventilation, Izabela's breathing only catches when Five's voice finally silences her thoughts:

“She’s telling the truth, all right? We got lost. We couldn’t find our way back.”

“We were searching for seven years, Diego…”

A gasp. No. No, no, no — it is horror what gradually fills every cell of Izabela's body, like blood spreading across a carpet.

Seven years. The pieces fit together almost in slow motion in her head, with her mouth half open, wanting to cry, but unable to emit even a single sob. It is towards the open door that her body turns without even needing an order, but it is her own steps that seem to weigh a thousand tons, and it is on the threshold that she stops once again. Leaning on the doorpost, without the courage to step outside and face her husband. Her husband, from whom she had lost seven whole years.

“We were chased, attacked, shot at…”

Each of Lila's words of explanation numbs her from afar as they settle into her diaphragm like stones. As if 45 years without Five hadn't been enough. As if the imminent end of times wasn't enough. It all sets up a scenario so desperate that it turns all sadness into apathetic disgust on her tongue.

Claire’s interruption comes like a ghost that straightens her posture and wipes away the moisture that escaped as it pooled in her eyes. Pursing the lips in bitterness, the information of Ben’s location is an almost physical reminder to Izabela that, whether she likes it or not, she will have to be part of the Umbrella Academy once again, so repressing all this futile conflict is her only option at the moment.

Swallowing the feelings, however, doesn't take away the agony in her heart and, with a shaky sigh trying to regain her composure, she fails to maintain the cool when her eyes meet the back of Five's figure as she enters the room. More than ever, Izabela wants to be practical, to go prevent the end of the world once and for all while stifling any thoughts about this terrifying situation playing with her head, but she knows she would never be able to win any fight like that. In a mirror of her unconscious distress, she exchanges glances with Klaus, the only one on the couch who noticed her in the corner of the room. "I just need a few minutes. Please." he doesn't need words to understand and, with a certain pity, he doesn't hesitate to stand up and encourage the rest of the family towards the van, distracting them with some Klaus-style comment that Izabela honestly can't process.

Feeling her presence as he had for so many years in his past, Five turns around, meeting Izabela's gaze, who mentally catalogues the worst nausea she has ever been condemned to feel when looking at her husband and wondering if she finds a stranger there. The eyes trying not to run over every detail of that face only now notice how much sadder and tired it seems compared to the last time she outlined his features. The silence traps them in a trance in which she finds herself unable to think of anything to say, until she hears the living room door slam, looking away at it and noticing that it was closed. The boy sighs and purses his lips; they were alone.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Is it true? Everything Lila said?” going back to stare at him, the words slip through her mouth, almost like an escape “Did I miss seven years of you?”

“All this time I tried to come back, Izabela…”

A quick shake of her head, Izabela crosses her arms in a tic. What he tries to justify, with such a cautious voice, had never been the question for her.

“I believe you.” pause “And… even if it’s not true, Five. It’s been seven years.”

“Yeah.”

That wasn't the tightness in her chest. She knows Five well, she knows her brother and husband well, and knows how he had spent decades trying to return to his family before. Even if, at any time in these seven years, he had hesitated, Izabela would never have the arrogance to judge his willpower in the face of emptiness. No, her cholera is another. Trying to keep her voice serious, she feels that what she wants is not to fight, that unlike her brother Diego, her anger is not against Five but against everything in essence. She finds herself unable to rid herself of a deep desire to slit her throat, she bites her lip.

“Do you love her?”

“Bela…”

“Please.”

After so many years of the tradition of emotional constipation that has branched out in the family with half-truths and poorly spoken subjects, when Five holds his wife's gaze, he already knows that she would not accept him doing the same thing that Lila did to Diego. Avoiding the subject is the easiest thing to do, but Izabela, so emotional, has also always been the most logical Hargreeves in dealing with emotion, so he knows very well that she, while staring at his green irises so dejected and hesitant, prays for an honest answer.

“I do. I love her a lot, Bela.”

It is no less painful to hear what she already imagined she would hear: the mind seems to be in standby mode, slowly assimilating what so quickly pierced her heart. Trying hard to accept the new reality rationally, the only disturbance on her face is her eyebrows furrowing for just a second, struggling to suppress the urge to cry that rises in her throat, her gaze scanning the wall in the background and then turning back down.

“So you don’t love me anymore?”

Five perceives more of a statement than a question. He opens his mouth to try to answer, but then closes it, his face saddened and his voice not found before himself. It is when she does not hear a response that the so-called new reality hits Izabela, surrounding her in fear, making her look at him with a neutral voice and expression contrasting with her trembling pupils.

“Five… you don’t love me anymore?”

“That’s not fair to you…”

“No… Look.” her voice is dually firm, but by a thread, shivering him “Don't lie, but don't let me die without having that answer.”

If before the tension between the two could be described as funereal, it becomes even more so. The prospect of an imminent death coming out of Izabela's mouth is so strange to Five's ears that it hurts as if he were the one who lost seven years of his wife. Even in the midst of all the daily hopelessness in her life, when finding herself facing the end of times Izabela used to at least pretend to have faith. The lack of such works as a disillusionment for him. Despite having lost his own a few years ago, he only embodies this in himself when he realizes that not even Izabela thinks it is worth believing that she will have another chance to say what was not said.

“I couldn't.” the answer simply comes out of him due to the disturbance of perception “I couldn't stop loving you, even if it were a centenary, Bella. I've never stopped thinking about you, not for a single minute of these seven years.” Five shakes his head, lowering it, scared to finally verbalize anything at all about the subject, especially to the person he was most afraid of doing. He barely feels room to hate how he stutters, lost like just a boy. How he hesitates. “But… when…. when my heart started loving Lila… I had so much fear of coming back to you, precisely because not even for a moment I stopped loving you too.” his cheeks begin to get wet with the tears that throughout his life he has always repressed, but that only ever escaped in the presence of the girl in front of him “Coming back to you meant concretize it, and that's not fair to you, you... you know I'd rather rip my heart out with my own hands than hurt you. But I couldn't help myself…”

His greenish eyes, now so moist, return to Izabela and are surprised to notice what Five identifies as tenderness amidst the restrained and painful crying that accompanied his. Not that his wife wasn't towards him the most tender human being he had ever had the fortune to live with, but precisely because he had failed her so much, he knew he deserved her anger. What he receives, however, is the anguish in his chest intensifying when Izabela approaches and puts her forehead to his, cupping Five's cheeks in her hands and sighing a lament:

“Please. Tell me you still wanna stay with me.”

Silence, he gasps in agony.

“I don’t mind, Five.” Izabela feels as if she is short of breath, so much she longs for confirmation of her request. Any attempted neutrality was lost when the words of the husband, who's always so strong, made it clear how exhausted he seemed in the face of his own feelings. Five had been her weak point for as long as she could remember, and, knowing every comma of what once shaped his pain, being able to see it now makes her desperate, above all and any problem. “I lost seven years of you, Five, I… I almost lost you forever… Please. Maybe the world will end today, but if it doesn’t… Stay with me.

It shouldn’t be Izabela the one asking for anything in this scenario. But if Five still loves her — and, God, she can see that he does —, she finds herself willing to fight the feeling of humiliation tingling in every part of her body. More than anyone, she knows how much the boy believes in his core that he doesn’t deserve any mercy or love as payment for his countless past sins. Izabela sees his affliction before her and, as she has done all her life, she could never give up on her husband like that. He gasps with his brows furrowed, trying to hold back his tears, when a sudden flash illuminates the girl’s mind, that finally sees the edge of the inevitable abyss in which she finds herself.

“Even if… even if you stay with her too… Just… don’t leave me…”

Such insensate words being uttered set up the exact moment when Five breaks, nodding his head in despair and wrapping Izabela's waist in a frightening fragility — which she herself would never have expected to witness in him on a day and in a mood like the one they were experiencing —, marking the beginning of a salty, bereft and hasty kiss, with neither having any idea on who did it.

The bodies of each spouse, once accustomed to kissing for hours on end, this time witnessed an emotional suffocation that soon left them short of breath. Five finds his reason trapped in Izabela's incongruity, who even facing a scenario like the apocalypse and the most logical devastation of what she should feel for him, still thinks and utters such an altruistic and utopian possibility. It is uncomfortable. Hiding his wet face in the girl's shoulder, he hugs her tightly and she immediately clings to him, wrapping her arms around his nape and trying to find in the fingers that intertwine in his locks any physical difference that would mark the years that have passed in him.

“I shouldn't do this to you.”

“No. No. Five.”

“Izabela, it's not fair” he tries to repeat it for the third time, but she interrupts him and repeats herself too:

“And I don’t mind. Damn, Five... You survived. You came back to me. And if loving her kept you alive... That’s… that’s okay with me.” If Izabela is honest with herself, she admits how every word she utters never fails to sound absurd to her. Jealous since she was a child, she deeply hates finding herself in this scenario and, yes, she wants to at least scream in rage. The truth, however, is still intrinsic to every sentence she is saying, no matter how strange it may sound to herself. Faced with this situation, greater than all the rage she feels is the memory of her husband alone for 45 years with the only trace of what he believed to be love coming from deliriums about a broken mannequin — this is what makes her sicker than any unusual situation of infidelity. The realization that Five saw himself once again in front of the horror that has endured his entire life fades any absurdity in the impulsive words she has been speaking, because it is replaced with the relief that at least this time he was not alone. He, in reflex, hugs her tighter, fearing this being a lie. It is with the man she loves most so fragile in her arms that she reaches the certainty that, if in order to survive in the midst of despondment, Five needed to find love — human, real —, her love for him can indeed overcome any other feeling she may feel in the face of it. Izabela pulls away from the hug, connecting her eyes with his and guiding her hand from his hair to his cheek, in a sweet caress accompanied by the melancholy of a weak smile. “When we save the world… Tell me about her. Tell me about you both.” in immediate reaction he frowns, a slight protest as if he assumes that this would only hurt her, but she continues “Five, I love your heart. And this… is part of it now… Let me know. We'll find a way.”

Five hesitates. Izabela is very good to him, always has been. He sees in the affectionate look she gives him the pain his wife is feeling, but he also sees how genuine she is in everything she says. The suffocating dilemma makes him want to die, hating to cause such displeasure to someone he loves so much, but it also makes him wonder if he has gone mad and is just trapped in a dream, so Kafkaesque was the dread he has felt of this moment for the last few years. He kisses her, briefly, leaning in with a sigh and praying in gratitude before joining their foreheads, nodding in agreement, agonized.

“Fuck, I missed you so much…”

“Good to have you back, Five.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Like the misfortune of flowers burning in a fire, Izabela, however, never gets to have Five lying with his head on her lap in a moment of affection, reciting about how much he loved her even from a distance. She also doesn't hear her husband's cautious voice telling her about the dangers that left his life hanging by a thread countless times during those years away, or about the unplanned feelings he experienced. She never had to get used to how their marriage would adapt when he sorted out his pending love with Lila, because such plans never came to fruition, just like the ones to sort out with his brother Diego.

The existence of this love, — of these loves — intertwined by the knots that constituted its universe, was eternally erased in two marigolds that, I like to believe, only survived the rebirth, the wind and the storm due to the hope and lull watered shortly before the end on the vestige of cherish that fought in the hearts of the two lovers.

Five and Izabela Hargreeves.

N/A: What do you think? I'd love to read your opinion!

[hihomeghere]

Meet The Family: Part of the Tesoro Series

Five Hargreeves / F!Reader

Word Count : 3k Summary : Five finds a way to return to 2019, you both break your contract with the commission and you meet your in-laws for the first time. Aged up!Five, reader has the ability to shapeshift. Fluff with a lil bit of angst if you squint. ( I do not own the umbrella academy or any of it's characters ) Warnings : Cursing, drinking, allusions to sex, talking about death

“Do you trust me?” Five asked, both of you standing on the grassy knoll. You nodded, staring into his eyes.

“Of course I do.” He wet his lips nervously, looking around. 

“Okay,” he said, wiping his hands off on his pants. You grabbed his hand squeezing it.

“Hey,” he turned to look at you, “whatever happens we face it together, okay?” You squeezed his hand again, giving him a small smile. He nodded, returning the smile. Although his didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Hold onto me, okay?” He said holding your eye contact. You nodded, grabbing his bicep, gripping his gray coat sleeve. It definitely was a struggle, but slowly the blue portal opened. The wind whipped your hair in front of your face, Five’s yells grew louder. Suddenly his hands passed through the blue, with you following behind him. You felt your body warp as you pushed through. It was similar to changing, but your body wasn’t changing outwards, it felt like it was being turned in on yourself.

And then you were falling, fortunately for you, and unfortunately for Five, he broke your fall. You both groaned as you rolled off of him onto the wet pavement. You took in deep gasps of air, your hand coming to your chest as you closed your eyes. Tiny pebbles rubbed against your hands, getting stuck under your fingernails. You heard Five shuffle next to you, his feet scraping on the pavement as he stood up.

“Shit,” you snapped your eyes open, why did he sound so different? You gasped as your eyes fell on your husband. He was young, younger than when you had first met him. Early 20s, maybe? 

“Does anyone else see Number Five and some girl or is that just me?” A man’s voice said. You looked up staring at a group of people you quickly deciphered as Five’s siblings. You looked down at yourself, your hands were still scarred, but they looked fresh. Like they had looked when you first escaped the lab, you shook your head. If Five was younger, then that meant you must be too. You felt your face, the wrinkles around your eyes were gone. You were young again. 

“What’s the date? The exact date?” Five said walking around the kitchen. You felt yourself shrink under his siblings' gaze. Mainly Klaus who seemed enamored by you. You had already caught his gaze once and he had given you a strange little wave while criss crossed on the table. If he moved his knee the wrong way you were sure you would get to see a bit more than you wanted to of your new in-laws. 

“The 24th.” Vanya said, still in disbelief.

“Of what?” Five asked exasperated.

“Of March?” She said her eyes never leaving Five.

“Good.” He continued making his peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. 

“So are we gonna talk about what just happened?” Luther spoke up, eyeing you warily, “And who the hell is this?” He whispered, leaning closer to Five. Five continued making his sandwich, refusing to meet Luther’s eyes.

“This is Y/n, my wife.” He said as though it was an obvious observation.

“Your wife?” Alison said, her head snapping to look at you.

“How’d you land her? Did you kidnap her?” Klaus snorted looking between you and Five. You smiled, looking down at your lap.

“We have bigger problems than Five’s girlfriend at the moment. It’s been 17 years!” Luther said standing up, Five scoffed turning to face him.

“It’s been a lot longer than that.” He said before he blinked behind him. “And she’s my wife, you’ll treat her as such, got it?” He said over his shoulder. 

“I haven’t missed that.” Luther sighed, staring forward where Five once was. You looked at all the siblings. Vanya was the closest to you, she seemed timid. Alison was next, standing up with her arms crossed. Then Klaus, and Diego, who was staring daggers at you at the moment before he turned his gaze to Five.

“Where’d you go?” Diego asked, his eyes returning to you. You gulped, returning your gaze to your hands. 

“The future. It’s shit by the way.” Five said grabbing marshmallows and blinking back to the table.

“Called it!” Klaus said, raising a finger.

“I should have listened to the old man.” Five sighed moving around the kitchen like he hadn’t been gone for more than a day. “You know jumping around space is one thing.” He opened the fridge door looking inside, “jumping through time is a toss of the dice.” He stood at the head of the table. “Nice dress.” He said, looking Klaus over.

“Oh, well danke!” Klaus smiled before Vanya cut him off.

“Wait, how did you get back?” She asked, putting her hands up, unable to comprehend Five’s nonchalant attitude.

“In the end I had to project my consciousness forward into a quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time.”

“That makes no sense.” Diego mumbled looking at the tile floor, “how did she get through.” His eyes flicked up toward you. You felt your face heat up, and you turned to look at Five.

“I opened the portal allowing her to follow, and it would make sense if you were smarter.” Diego jumped up, only being held back by Luther.

“How long were you there?” Luther asked.

“Forty five years. Give or take. Including my time spent at our old job.” The commission. You felt your blood run cold, how could you have forgotten? Did they already have a team out looking for you? Working long enough for the Handler you knew the workings of her mind. She could never get over the fact that you and Five were together. Call it jealousy, or call it the inability to completely control someone. You weren’t stupid, you saw how she looked at Five, it made your blood boil. She wouldn’t kill him, he was too valuable to her, you on the other hand were good as dead. 

“So what are you saying? You’re 58?” Luther asked, all his siblings having the same confused expression on their face.

“No, my consciousness is 58.” He said before putting a slice of bread over his sandwich monstrosity. “Apparently my body is now 20 again.”

“Wait, how does that even work?” Vanya asked, shaking her head. Five took a bite of his sandwich before turning back to you. He picked up the newspaper sitting on top of the table.

“Guess we missed the funeral.” He said, no discernible tone in his voice.

“How’d you know about that?” Luther asked his eyes never leaving Five.

“What part of the future do you not understand?” Five said furrowing his brows. You looked up, Alison was looking at you this time. She offered you a small smile which you returned. Although it felt more like a grimace.

“Heart failure, huh?”

“Yeah.” Diego said before being cut off by Luther.

“No.” Five clicked his tongue walking over to you.

“Nice to see nothings changed.” He said before turning to you. His cold fingers brushed against your arm, his brows furrowed seemingly deep in thought. He grabbed your hand leading you out of the kitchen.

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” Alison asked, throwing her hands up in the air. As Five pulled you after him.

“What else is there to say? The circle of life.” He said looking over his shoulder.

-

“Five come to bed.” You said leaning on the spare bedroom door. You pulled your robe tighter around your body crossing your arms. Five stood in front of his whiteboard, equation after equation covering the board. He hadn’t even changed out of his work clothes yet. His tie hung loosely around his neck, you could just imagine how he had been pulling at it. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his top two buttons were unbuttoned.

“In a minute, dearest.” He waved at you, his face never leaving the board. You sighed walking up behind him, wrapping your arms around him. You laid your head against his back, moving with him every time he leaned forward to change something. The only sound in the room was his heart against your ear and the squeak of the pen. 

“Five,” you whined. He sighed, setting his pen down. He held your hands against his stomach.

“Yes tesoro?” He turned, moving you so you were standing in front of him. 

“I’m tired.”

“Then go to bed.” He said as though talking to a small child. You rolled your eyes, giving him a look. He smiled before kissing your head. His mustache bristled against your forehead.

“Not without you.” If he wanted to treat you like a child, fine. You stared up at him through your eyelashes, your lower lip jutting out. 

“Now that’s not fair.” He scolded, a smile on his face. You laughed breaking your pout, you took his hands leading him out of the room.

“Come on Mr. Hargreeves,” you cooed a smirk on your lips. He tried to glare at you, but slowly a smile crept on his face. 

“What will you give me, Mrs. Hargreeves?” He teased his hands finding the tie to your robe.

“Guess you’ll have to find out.” You leaned forward whispering against the shell of his ear. He chuckled lowly, letting you pull him into your shared bedroom

-

He blinked you both up into his old bedroom. You sat on his bed staring at your hands. He opened up his closet, muttering under his breath.

“Well, the first meeting with the in-laws wasn’t too bad.” You said watching his back.

“Mm.” He grumbled, rifling through the closet.

“Are you okay?” You asked, sliding off his bed to your feet.

“No!” He snapped, turning to look at you, “We’re stuck in these bodies! The world is about to end and I have no idea what to do!” He yelled, running a hand through his hair.

“Hey, it’s okay, we’ll figure it out, we always do.” You soothed approaching him like a cornered animal.

“Yeah, how'd that work the last time?” He scoffed a sarcastic smile on his face. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You asked, crossing your arms.

“It was the decimal! If I had had time to look over my equations I would have seen it.” He seethed, you recoiled.

“Are you saying this is my fault?” You furrowed your brows.

“Yes!” He threw his hands up, “If you wouldn’t have bothered me, we wouldn’t be in this situation!” He snarled his finger in your face. You grit your teeth, trying to keep your cool. 

“Obviously you need some time by yourself.” You said coolly, walking away from him.

“Fucking finally.” He scoffed, shaking his head as you slammed the door behind you.

-

You flew down the stairs, all but running into Vanya.

“Oh,” you said as you bumped into her, almost losing your balance, “sorry.” 

“It’s ok.” She says, “Are you ok?” She asks. You bite your lip, looking behind you.

“No.” You answer honestly, crossing your arms, “Your stupid brother is the biggest asshole I know.” You huffed.

“Yeah,” She smiled, chuckling slightly, “he can be a real pain the the ass.” You smiled looking back at her. You fell into an uncomfortable silence, before she said. “But he seems to really love you.” She gives you a smile.

“Well he’s got a funny way of showing it.” You shake your head.

“Five has never been the most emotionally mature person,” she chuckles, crossing her arms, “but none of us are, you saw that earlier.” You admired her honesty. 

“I appreciate it, Vanya.” You smiled, touching her arm.

“Listen, if you want to take the edge off, dads liquor cabinet is that way.” She points towards a room off the atrium.

“Thank you, I might take you up on that offer.” You nod heading that way, “see you around.” 

She smiles and nods as you walk into the living room. 

You groan, immediately face to face with a large oil painting of your husband.

“Yeah I feel that way about my siblings more often than not.” Klaus says stretching on the couch. You jump, your hand coming to your heart. “Oh woah!” He sits up looking at you. “Your hair! How did you do that!” He smirks pointing to his own head.

You smile softly, changing your hair back to your normal color.

“I was genetically altered as a kid.” You say looking back at the smug smile of your husband.

“Dang, heavy stuff.” He says leaning back on the plush couch. “Want to get drunk?” He asks with a grin spreading across his face.

“Hell yes.” You laugh, turning to look at him. He jumps up clapping his hands together.

“Great! I was looking for an excuse to get into the old man’s alcohol.” He moves to the bar, every movement he makes is extremely fluid. Like he’s floating everywhere. You walk up to the bar, sitting on one of the stools. “Now hang on, missy,” he says, holding out a finger towards you, “are you old enough to drink? Let me see your ID.” You laugh, shaking your head.

“Technically I’m 45,” you say a grin working its way onto your face, “and I don’t have an ID.”

“No way.” Klaus says leaning forward on the bar, his hands clasped together. “You, 45? What’s your secret?”

You giggle, shaking your head, “A time traveling husband helps.” You shrug.

“Hmm, guess I need to find me one of those,” he muses as he hands you a glass. You study the glass in your hands, watching the golden liquid swirl inside.

“So how long have you been with Five?” He asks, swirling the alcohol in his glass before downing it.

“Um,” you hum looking up, “about 25 years, we’ve been married for 21.” You sip the alcohol, it’s good, maybe a brandy?

“Jeez, you stuck with that old geezer for 21 years? More than any of us.” He says, chuckling to himself. You nod, your lips forming a tight line.

“Yep.” You tense your jaw, downing whatever is left in your glass. Grimacing as the alcohol burns your throat.

“Enough about Five.” Klaus says, “Tell me about you, Mrs. Hargreeves, I mean I would be an awful brother-in-law if I didn’t know anything about my new sister.” He grins walking around the bar to sit next to you on a stool.

“I’m really not that special,” you chuckle, setting your glass down on the bar top.

“Mrs. I change my hair color when I’m surprised, isn't special?” He asks tilting his head, “What, did Five tell you that?” His brows furrowed as he recoiled.

“No, no he would never say that.” You wave him off. 

“Well what else can you do missy?” He asked, leaning forward, a smirk pulling at his lips.

“Well, I can change my appearance to look like anyone I want. As long as I know what they look like.” You shrugged.

“Ooh! Do me! Do me!” He says, patting your arm excitedly. You smile before turning to face him.

He tried to stay still but his leg continues to bounce. You look him over once before you feel your body stretch. Your hair changes to a short curly brown, tattoos adorn your skin. Klaus’s grin grows by the minute.

“Holy smokes!” He exclaims looking at you, “Am I really that good looking?” You burst out laughing, maybe it was the brandy, maybe you were just having fun for the first time in a long time. 

You change back into yourself, wincing as your head throbs slightly. 

“Can I ask you a personal question?” He leans forward lowering his voice slightly.

“Klaus, I think every question you’ve asked me so far has been personal.”

“Have you ever,” he wiggles his eyebrows, “you know, changed in the bedroom?” You pull a grin on your face.

“Klaus!” You blush, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“Well? Have you?” He pushes his voice higher than before.

“No! Never!” You say waving him off.

“Oh come on! You don’t have to lie to me!” He pleads his hand resting on your arm.

“And I’m telling you Klaus, I’ve never changed during sex!” You whisper covering his hand with your own.

“Fine! Fine.” He says pulling away, “but if I find out you’re lying there will be hell to pay young lady!” He scolds half heartedly, you shake your head, a smile on your face.

“Yes sir.” 

“Y/n?” Five stands in the doorway, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Klaus groans, throwing his head back.

“What do you want?” He asks glaring at him.

FIve ignores his brother, he adjusts his jacket looking up at you.

“Can we talk?” He pleads, walking toward you. You let out a sigh and nod. 

“Yeah I’m going, I’m going.” Klaus says waving to the air, as if someone only he could see was pestering him. Once he’s past Five he turns flipping him off. You snicker, looking down at your feet. Five sits next to you at the bar, he reaches for you, taking your hand. You don’t pull away which he takes as a good sign.

You wait for him to talk, feeling his warm hand in yours. If you were anything, you were patient. Especially when Five came crawling to you on his knees.

“I’m an asshole.” 

“Yep.” You say nonchalantly.

“I shouldn't have snapped at you, I just-“ he sighed, shaking his head, “I just screwed this whole thing up. I missed the decimal and changed our bodies forever.” He looked at your glass, avoiding your gaze.

“Hey,” you said, reaching out and turning his head to look at you, “I’m not mad at you for what happened. This-,” you motioned to yourself “I took this risk, and I’d do it all over again.” You reached up holding his face in your hands.. He leaned into your touch, his own hand coming up to caress yours.

“What did I do to deserve you?” He asked, shaking his head. 

“Beats me.” You laughed, he rolled his eyes lightly shoving you. You smirked, pulling him closer, kissing him. He hummed smiling into the kiss, his hand wrapped around your waist. You cupped his cheek, rubbing your thumb over his jaw. You weren’t lying when you said it didn’t matter what happened, as long as you had Five next to you, you would be just fine.

[d1ana-m0nd]

╭─► ❝The Servant: Umbrella Academy's Servant❞

Five Hargreeves × Female! Reader || Written by Diana (d1ana-m0nd)

➢ Description : It's a well known fact that Sir. Reginald Hargreeves adopted 7 children to save the world from it's impending doom. Though, the number of children will change from 7 to 8 once a close friend of his, Rita Rossweisse was on her death bed and requested him to take in her child, who fortunately was born on October 1st 1989.

➢ Word Count : 11,660

➢ Links : Masterlist && Character Profile

➢ Content Warning : In this chapter, triggering content are present: self harm (bitting yourself), panic attack, and gore, skip the triggering parts if necessary. Please read this chapter at your own discretion.

Chapter 5: Number 5

When the boy in school shorts finally woke up, Luther cornered him into spitting out the truth: why he was running around the city like a headless chicken, evading the other numbers, and why he had caused so much destruction ever since he arrived from the future. Five reluctantly admitted to Luther that the end of the world was nearing.

“When's it supposed to happen? This... apocalypse.” Luther asked — the first person in the family who showed concern for the apocalypse.

The young male looked down as he fidgeted with his fingers, “I can't give you the exact hour, but... from what I could gather, we have four days left.”

“Why didn't you say something sooner?”

“It wouldn't have mattered.” Five replied; his tone sounded like he had lost hope.

The way he acted… It concerned you, but you didn't want to butt in. You couldn't help but wonder, were you the one to blame for his state? If you hadn't stopped him or had used your intuition beforehand, you could have helped him avoid the worst-case scenario.

The larger male furrowed his brows and interjected, “Of course it would! We could've banded together and helped you try to stop this thing.”

“For the record, you already tried.” Five corrected his brother, which took Luther by surprise. “What do you mean?”

“I found all of you. Your bodies.” The brunette kept his gaze downward. You found this state of his rather unusual. He always had his chin up, and he always looked people in the eye, regardless of the size difference. Right now… he looked so small and meek compared to the front he usually puts up.

“We die?” The dirty blonde was in disbelief, refusing to believe what he just heard.

For a brief moment, Five was taken back to the time he discovered their bodies. The day he never thought he would witness; the way their lifeless bodies were lying on the ground, unmoving, and either hidden underneath the rubble or stabbed by a reinforcing bar. The hazel-eyed boy glanced at you for a brief moment, but you didn't catch his gaze.

“Horribly. You were together, trying to stop whoever it was that ended the world.” He added, not having the strength to look at his brother's devastated expression.

Number One asked, “Wait, how do you know that?”

Five took out a cloth and revealed the glass eyeball to his brother, “This was clutched in your dead hand when I found you. Must've ripped it out of their head right before you went down,” He then passed it over to Spaceboy, silently hoping that he would recognize the glass eyeball.

“Whose head?”

The boy sighed, disappointed but not surprised that this was the result. His brother knew nothing about the eye. “Like I said, I don't know.”

“Well, there's a serial number on the back. Think maybe you could try…” The dirty blonde tried to suggest that, only for Five to interrupt him. “No, that's a dead end. It's just another hunk of glass.” He glances at you, making you flinch at your spot, then looks away immediately, which raises suspicion in Luther's eyes.

Luther then returned the eyeball to Five.

Just in time, the man in black-clad arrived and then slammed the door open to the boiler room. He marched towards where Five sat with an angry expression etched onto his facial features, as bloodlust and rage seeped through his aura.

“Piece of shit! Do you have any idea what you just did?” Number Two shouted, marching right over to his ‘little’ brother.

Spaceboy stands up, alarmed by Diego's hostility. The same could be said about the boy, though he seems calm. You drew your staff and made Diego trip, causing Luther to catch him and then lift him to prevent him from touching a hair on Five's head. It seemed like Diego had no way out, but you decided to keep your staff in hand just in case things got too out of hand.

The Latino grunted as he tried to fight back against the larger man's hold on him, “Let me... Get your ape hands off of me!”

“I can do this as long as it takes you to calm down.”

Reluctantly, the male being held up inhaled deeply, and then exhaled. Once he stopped resisting his brother, he was released from air jail. “Fine.”

“Now, wanna tell us what you're talkin' about?”

Number Two scoffed, “Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back. He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's, and then at Gimble Brothers, after the guys in masks attacked the academy, looking for him.” He said whilst jabbing a finger at Five's direction, as though telling him everything was his fault.

“None of which is any of your concern.” The younger male hissed.

In Five's mind, he couldn't help but agree with his brother’s statement. This was precisely why he didn't want to get anyone involved, but seeing as Cha-cha and Hazel plan to get their whole family involved… He had no choice but to work with them.

“It is now,” Diego declared as he panted, "They just killed my friend.”

“As for you, Rossweisse.” The knife-wielding vigilante glared at you, making you gulp, "Why didn't you say anything about Five running amuck the city?”

You were about to say something, but your lips shifted into a straight line. You didn't want to say something out of impulsivity. The last thing you wanted to do was mess up, so you had to think of a reasonable lie…

"Because I told her too.” Five lied on your behalf, "I didn't want you all to get involved.”

You were shocked that he lied on your behalf, though you were internally grateful. However, you were too shocked to process what you just witnessed. You were warned not to interfere with him, yet he was now trying to help you? If that was the case, the world was truly ending.

Everyone went silent due to the ‘younger’ male's words, though they didn't seem to doubt it; they were just shocked over the fact that he stood up for you. Luther then turned to Five and asked, “Who are they, Five?”

“They work for my former employer. A woman called The Handler. She sent them... to stop me. Then, as soon as Diego's friend got in their way, well, fair game.”

The Latino scoffed, “And now they're my fair game. And I'm gonna see to it they pay,” Then he headed out of the boiler room with a huff, bloodlust still seething through his body.

“That would be a mistake, Diego. They've killed people far more dangerous than you.” The younger brunette tried to discourage him.

“Yeah, we'll see about that.” Diego slammed the door closed on the way out.

Luther turned to Five with a confused look, “Former employer? What's this really about, Five? And don't give me any of this ‘It's none of your business’ crap, all right?"

"Well, it's a long story.”

The small brunette paused and looked up at Luther, silently asking him if he wanted to hear the whole thing. The larger male sat down and gestured for his ‘younger’ brother to continue with his story.

The boy started with a sigh and briefly explained what he went through with “The Commission” and what he went through as he worked for them: The Commission ensured the preservation of the time continuum by manipulating events and eliminating threats. The Handler arrived in the future to recruit Five as a hitman for the Commission, though she was unaware that Five was brewing up a plan to return to the past and prevent an impending apocalypse while biding his time.

The two of the numbers remaining in the boiler room listened to Five's story and explanation of the commission. As he spoke, you began to slightly understand why Five was avoiding getting the others involved because they would get involved in his mess. Ultimately, his efforts were in vain due to how the whole academy was now involved.

“Hopefully, Vanya was not roped into this. ” You silently pleaded. Though you kind of doubted it considering how she has stopped coming by the academy, since the intruders barged into their house and her siblings hurt her feelings.

As he explained, you got up and grabbed a glass of water for the boy while Spaceboy gave him some aspirin from Diego's cabinet. Once finished, the loyal duo sat down in their respective seats.

“So... you were a hitman?”

“Yes.”

Luther's eyes widened, “Uh... I mean, you had a code, right? You didn't kill just anybody.”

“No code. We took out anyone who messed with the timeline.” Five answered briefly, his tone was monotone, but you could tell he didn't particularly enjoy the thrill of the job.

“What about innocent people?” The larger man shot back.

“It was the only way I could get back here.”

Luther was appalled by his ‘little’ brother's response. How could he treat death so lightly? “But that's murder.”

The brunette looked away, then let out a ‘tsk’ till he looked Luther in the eye again, irritation laced his gaze. “Jesus, Luther, grow up. We're not kids anymore. There's no such thing as good guys or bad guys. There's just people, goin' about their lives. But when the world ends, all those people die, including our family.”

Everyone in the room went silent. It was true, after all. People are driven by desires - as others would say, selfishness. It's rare to find people who do things out of compassion. This statement can be applied to the individualistic society they lived in; Everyone wanted to stand out in their own way, and it was rare for someone in this day and age to do things out of compassion without something in return. Nowadays, people grow up looking out for themselves just to live their lives.

As the silence reigned, Five sighed and remarked, “Time changes everything.”

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

Klaus just returned from the past. Not only was he more brittle than he already was, but he was bloody, as his clothes were torn up, barely holding onto his body as he had just crawled out of hell. His brain was an orchestra playing an insane melody, making his head pound and his heart weigh heavier. With a heavy heart, he returned to the place he called ‘home', the Umbrella Academy.

Number Four rushed, but instead, he made a slow beeline to the bathroom. He undressed and slowly prepared himself to take a bath. Despite the eeriness of the room, he let himself indulge in the atmosphere; The darkness mirroring the absence of light in his heart. It felt oddly homely to him. It made him reminisce about the nights he'd shared his love, with his beloved Dave in each other’s embrace. He closed his eyes and wept, feeling the overwhelming sorrow and grief of losing his lover wash over him.

Although the brown-haired male was sluggish, he started himself a bath. Once the tub was filled, he sat at the bottom and let the water run. Even though the tub was overflowing with water and bubbles, it was nothing compared to his emotional state.

The seance sighed, then wore a pair of headphones to distract himself, his way of escaping his hell. However, the more he indulged in his escapism, the more the music in his ears was swelling and distorting per second as the sounds of the past were added into the mix, bringing him back to the day he dreaded the most.

Sounds of a helicopter whirring and gunshots overlapping as he shook Dave’s torso. “Dave!”

“Dave!”

“Dave!” In an attempt to keep his lover alive, Klaus kept screaming his lover's name over and over again in anguish and desperation. However, he failed as he slowly felt his significant other's pulse fade.

That was enough to sober Klaus from his immersion. He sat up straight and wiped away the bubbles from his face in an attempt to wake himself up. As he washed away the soap suds, neither his mind nor his heart wouldn’t stop reminding him of his loss. As he scrubbed away the dirt and blood, he couldn’t help but wonder why he had to be the one who survived.

Would Dave be in the same state as he was if he lost Klaus in war?

Would he just pretend not to be in pain and forever hide his true self from the world to protect himself from their judgment?

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

Once Five finished filling in the missing pieces for you and Luther, you three quickly returned to the academy to do what you needed to do. However, as you were about to return to your room to digest the information you had just received from Five, you saw bloodied footprints that led to Klaus' room. Worried for the seance, you headed to his room and lightly knocked on the door that he didn’t bother to close.

“Master Klaus?"

“Oh… thank God, it was just you, Rosey…” A sense of relief washed over him, which was odd coming for him. He was usually the relaxed one, so why was he so tense?

"Is everything-” You hold back your tongue, recalling that Klaus was not fond of opening up. Instead, you chose different words, “- Do you need anything? It seems like you had a rough night."

Number Four chuckles, “Sure. I know Pogo probably told you not to get me any more alcohol, but can you get me some?"

You nod and leave him to his devices as another set of footsteps approaches his doorway. Unbeknownst to you and Klaus, someone else saw the trail of blood leading to his room and followed the trail to the seance's room. The lanky man was scratching his back as he picked up a random shirt and threw it on.

Feeling a familiar sharp gaze on his figure, the curly-haired male muttered, “Oh, boy…” Klaus sighed to himself. He did not want to deal with Five right now, though he knew he would have to face the little guy. He was persistent when it came to something he needed.

The boy in school shorts knocked on the door, “You okay?”

“Hey.” Klaus turned to the small brunette and paused, "Yeah, I just... long night."

“More than one, from the looks of it.” His eyes narrowed, most likely looking for any details that pertain to Klaus’ rough shape.

“Yeah.” The jittery man nodded along as he fixed his appearance.

The boy noticed his jittering and silently took note of it, then pointed at the jiggling accessories that danced along Klaus’ neck as he moved, “Don't remember the dog tags.”

The lanky man grunted and then looked down at his chest, “Yeah, they belonged to a friend.” He tried his best to keep his lips in a straight line, whilst the dog tags jingled again as he reexamined them.

You grabbed some random alcohol from the bar and then headed back to Klaus' room. On the way there, you saw a familiar small brunette male in the hallway; instead of proceeding further, you chose to keep your distance from him and listened in on the two siblings' conversation. The servant leaned against the nearest wall and hid your presence as best as you could.

“How about that new tattoo?” Five gestured to the inked drawing engraved onto his adoptive brother's body.

The taller male stiffened then tried to shrug it off by acting nonchalantly, “You know, I don't totally remember even getting it. Like I said, it was a long night.”

“You did it, didn't you?” Five smiled as he saw that hope was finally within his reach.

Although the younger brunette didn't mean to come off weird, Klaus felt unnerved that someone like Five was smiling. “What are you talkin' about?”

“You know, I can recognize the symptoms, Klaus.”

“Symptoms of what?”

“The jet lag. Full body itch.”

The seance ended up sighing in defeat. He hated how Five practically knew everything and became more of an asshole than he remembered. Weirdly enough, it felt comforting to him that Five never changed; He was still the same person he knew, despite the shit he went through.

“The headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up into your nose and through your brain. You gonna tell me about it?” The younger male smirked as he slowly approached his rarely sober brother. With each step, his eyes glinted with a hint of hope that he could finally prevent the apocalypse.

The lanky male finally gave in, “Your pals, when they broke into the house and they couldn't find you, they took me hostage instead.”

“And in return, you stole their briefcase.” Five added as he paced around the room, tapping his chin as he began mentally laying down a plan.

“Yeah.” The Seance confirmed, his thoughts swirling from recalling the night. He seemed fine but he couldn't stop thinking about it. Even if he wore a smile and carelessly taunted his kidnappers, he was still scared. However, the loss of Dave hurt more than the physical torture he went through. “I thought there was money in it, or I could pawn it, you know, whatever.”

Number Four sighed, "And then I opened it."

“And the next thing you knew, you were... where? Or should I say when?” The Boy turned his head to Klaus, his eyes glinting as he felt that he was nearing what he was looking for, the very thing that would serve as the salvation of mankind, the briefcase.

“What difference does it make?”

“What diff-” Five stopped walking, his shoulder slumped at his brothers. He was caught off guard by his pessimism but he continued anyway. “Okay, how long were you gone?”

The curly-haired male breathed out a breezy yet tired reply, “Almost a year.”

“A year? Do you know what this means?”

“Yeah, I'm ten months older now.”

The younger male quickly interrupted, “No, this isn't any sort of joke, Klaus. Hazel and Cha-Cha will do whatever they can to get the briefcase. Where is it now?” He turned his head and began looking for the briefcase, eager that he finally had something to work with, though it quickly dissipated.

“Gone. I destroyed it. Poof.” He mockingly imitated the explosion with his hand.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“What do you care?”

“What do I care? I needed it, you moron! So I could get back, I could start over-” The smaller brunette angrily rambled, then paused as Number Four began standing up. “Just... Just... Where are you going?”

“Interrogation is over, just... leave.” The Seance said, but he is the one who ended up leaving the room instead of Five.

Number Five was left by himself to ponder about his situation, the mess was unbearably stressful, putting him under a lot of pressure. He ended up sitting on his adoptive brother’s bed as he fidgeted with his fingers or played with his hair to help calm himself down. Comically, the room he - unwarrantedly - chose to settle himself in reflected his mental condition, the same could be said for the whole family, even Rossweisse herself. It was an unspoken mess that everyone became used to and chose to accept, thus causing them to end up the people they are now.

You noticed Klaus leave his bedroom, and you left your hiding spot as you hurriedly ran up to his side with the alcohol in hand, ready to give it to him. The ‘physically’ younger brother noticed your figure ran past him and called out to you, “Oi, Y/N gimme that bottle.”

At first, the servant was caught off guard but nodded, and gave the bottle of alcohol to Five. After doing so, she hurried to Klaus' side to try and make sure he was doing alright, not wanting his - seemingly - deteriorating state to get worse than it already was. Inaudible words were whispered under the young man's breath when he was left alone. The boy then began scribbling down something on the memo pad, and once Five finished, he harshly ripped it.

The curly-haired male headed downstairs with you in tow. The once shell-shocked man began gaining awareness of his surroundings. The whole academy was a mess, he just caught a glimpse of Pogo fixing Grace, whilst the chandelier from the center of the house became a centerpiece for the floor instead.

He stopped his tracks, as he examined the aftermath of what he missed out on. “What happened here?”

“A lot happened while you were gone…” You replied as you anxiously tapped on your arm, “In short, it's those masked people's fault.” The seance nodded along as he observed the damage that was left by the intruders.

“You look like shit.” A fully equipped Diego pointed out as he walked past his brother.

The lanky male mindlessly nodded, used to his siblings' assholery, “Why, thank you.”

“Where are you going, Master Diego?” You quipped, making Diego jump a little since he didn’t notice you were in the same room.

“Can I-?” The Latino cut in before Klaus finished his question. "Nope."

“What?”

“I'm not giving you a ride.”

“Oh, come on, man. You know I can't drive.” Klaus whined and slightly shook his brother’s shoulders in a weak attempt to convince him.

The Kraken tried to dismiss it but, as his stutters took over, “I don't c…”

“Okay, great.” The Seance pats Diego's back while the Latino groans. “I'll just get my things. Two minutes.”

"You're stuck babysitting him this time, aren't you?" The clad in black groaned and threw the ‘younger’ girl a questioning look.

"I wouldn't say I'm babysitting him.” She shook her head, dismissing Diego’s statement, “No one's ordered me to look after Klaus. I'm doing this out of concern, he's been acting odd since he returned.”

Number Two shook his head in acknowledgment, but he didn’t buy it. You have always been the honest type, but ever since a certain old man’s death, you have been acting weird, and not the usual weird that he was used to.

Amidst the discussion of his father’s funeral, you were the only one who was on guard and taking Luther’s words seriously. Albeit, he understands why Luther would pin you as the suspect. He knows you are more likely to kill the old geezer since you were the only number left behind, and the only number who stayed by their father’s side like the loyal dog you were. However, the Latino believed you didn’t kill their old man, but you had to know something about his death at most; Diego believed you didn’t have a motive unless you were ordered to do so. For now, he will keep you within arm's length.

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

Throughout the car ride, Klaus was unusually silent, which worried Number Two and Number Zero. He was downing the alcohol he swiped from home, quicker than the drugs he purchased. Diego glanced at his brother to check on him, as he silently gestured for you to talk for Klaus.

“Master Klaus, are you alright?” You tilted her head, hoping for a response, but Klaus took a swig of his drink, refusing to let out a word about his sorrows.

“Wow.” The Latino let out an empty laugh, “This is a first, my brother Klaus is silent. Last time you were this quiet, we were 12; Ran down the stairs wearing Grace's heels, tripped over, and broke your jaw.”

The lanky man kept drinking, which prompted Diego to play dumb as he shot a question. “How long was it wired shut again?”

“Eight weeks.” The servant replied.

Diego wore a pleased smile and nodded along, “Eight glorious weeks of bliss.”

“Hey, just... just drop me off here.” The curly-haired man sat up straight and gestured at a veteran bar that was close by.

His brother glanced at the bar and furrowed his brows. Despite the number of questions that were going through his head, he pulled up causing the car to screech, “You sure you okay, man?”

Unfortunately for Diego, Klaus didn’t reply because he was quick to sigh and exit the car with the drink in hand. You were about to follow him into the bar but, the man clad in black stopped you from taking another step.

“Don’t, they won’t let you in because of your powers.” You silently nodded, understanding your own powers' drawbacks.

The servant anxiously waited for her masters to return; You did your best to keep yourself distracted but, even with every distraction you did. You could not help but let your eyes drift to the veteran bar out of concern. When they came out of the bar with bruises littered across their skin, she wore a relieved smile and let out a grateful sigh. For the duration of the car ride, you did your best to pick up the pieces from Klaus and Diego’s conversation to fill in what you had missed.

“You got a big mouth, you know that?” The Kraken grunted, side-eyeing his brother.

The curly-haired brunette was chuckling to himself, “Oh, wow. What a truly shocking revelation, Diego.”

“Everything's a big joke to you, right?”

The lanky man did his best to quickly take out the drug from its packaging, despite his sluggish state. An angry brother glared at him and yanked the drug from his brother's hands. “Would you stop it? Why are you putting this shit in your body?”

You silently agreed with Diego but didn't express your thoughts about it. Everyone has always known Klaus was the type to use something to escape rather than live life as it is; he can’t bring to help himself, no matter how many times he has been sent to a drug rehabilitation center or arrested for his shenanigans. It became tiresome, but the best they could do was put a house over his roof and not enable him till he decided it was time to stop.

Though, now that you thought about it… was it a good idea to bring alcohol to Klaus earlier? Or did Five see your mistake and decide to take away the bottle to help Klaus?

Begrudgingly, Number Four looked away and blew a raspberry.

“Check this out. Hm?” The Latino proudly showed off his well-built torso, “My body is a temple. All that shit you do, it's just weakness.”

“Oh. Well, weakness feels so good.” The seance took out another drug he was hiding and tried to consume it but, his brother hit the back of his head. “What's goin' on with you? Huh?”

“Don't hit me, asshоlе!”

Diego angrily ruffled his hair, then jabbed a finger in Klaus’ direction, “Don't tell me everything's alright! Because I saw you in there, you were crying like a baby!”

“Because I lost someone!”

You and the man dressed in black were taken aback, seeing this side of Klaus was not a normal occurrence since he usually hid his emotions through escapism. Even at Ben’s funeral, he didn’t grieve as hard as he was right now… He cried, yes, but he didn’t look like the death of his brother impacted him as much as the lover he lost.

“I lost someone. The only…” He paused, then looked away, sorrow glazing his orbs. “The only person I've ever truly loved more than myself.”

“When did Klaus settle down with someone? ” You asked yourself, trying to recall when that happened.

The curly-haired man dug through his pockets and took out another stash he hid, “Cheers.” then swallowed it this time without any interruptions from Diego.

“Well, you're luckier than most. When you lose someone, at least you can... see them whenever you want.”

Number Two adjusted the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of a familiar figure, “That's our man.”

You perked up, followed Diego’s gaze, and saw a familiar man who wore the same suit that caused the fire at the prosthetics building. Klaus glanced at the side mirror out of curiosity as his eyes widened, “Hey, I know that guy…”

“How could you possibly know that-”

“He and a really angry lady tortured me. I barely got out with my life.”

The well-dressed man went into his car and started the engine. Once the hitman began driving away, Diego immediately started the car to tail him. Fueled by his anger in his veins; He did his best to maintain both his wits and his anger, to give Detective Patch’s murderers the taste of their own medicine. Whilst you and Klaus were just there for the ride.

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

In Five’s bedroom, fast chalk tapping against the wall could be heard, reminiscent of a teacher jotting down important points against the chalkboard. At the moment, the boy was in his bedroom, busy scribbling down equations and solving them at his own pace. Unknowingly, this led to him vandalizing his whole room. He was standing on his knees on top of his bed whilst he was busy solving his final equation. Delores sat on a nearby chair, sometimes chipping in if needed.

“Oh, I think I’ve got something Delores. It's tenuous, but promising.” The small brunette turned to Delores.

If the mannequin could move, it would have shaken her head and wore a concerned gaze. “No offense dear, but do you think this’ll just… work?”

“It won’t ‘just work’, it has to work. This is the only solution I have that doesn’t involve the others getting endangered.”

“Well, it seems that I have to remind you then.” The mannequin’s vacant look is replaced by a (non-existent) smug expression, “You messed up your time travel, twice, thus resulting in you going too far into the future and messing up your body.” She gestured to Five’s fifteenth-year-old body.

He clicked his tongue and averted his gaze as the color red and embarrassment took over his cheeks. “Numbers have never failed me.”

“They did fail you once, which ended up with you getting this body and little time to stop the apocalypse. You sure you want to mess up - possibly - your second and last chance to fix things?”

This time, the young man was struck with reality once again. Delores was right yet again, and he hated it, this was his last chance and he couldn’t mess up. He wanted to face it head-on, which made him forget he needed time to stop and think, or things could fall apart based on one mistake. Out of instinct, he clicked his tongue with an irritated look thrown in Delores’ direction, making the imaginary woman laugh.

An uninvited guest walked into the room, taking in the mess of numbers and letters all over the room, thus making the bedroom look like scratch paper. “Who you talkin' to? What is all this?”

“It's a probability map.”

“Probability of what?”

“Of whose death could save the world.” Number Five turned to the dirty blond-haired brother and added, “I've narrowed it down to four.”

Luther approached the list of names and gestured to it. “Are you saying one of these four people caused the apocalypse?”

“No, I'm saying that their death might prevent it.”

“Oh.” Spaceboy stared at the equations littering the room with amazement, though it seemed like he was not registering what Five explained. The sound of chalk scratching on walls continued till Luther disrupted it, “I'm not following.”

“Time is fickle, Luther. The slightest alteration in events can lead to massively different outcomes in the time continuum. The butterfly effect. So all I have to do is find the people with the greatest probability of impacting the timeline, wherever they may be, and kill them.” Five explained as the gears in Luther’s head spun. Once he was able to digest the information, his eyebrows shot up as he finally understood what Five meant.

“Oh, yeah... “

The dirty blond-haired man read one of the names and asked loudly, “Milton Greene. So who's he, a terrorist or something?”

“I believe he is a gardener.” In haste, the Five got off the bed and jotted down the names on a copy of Vanya’s autobiography.

Number One whips his attention to Five, “You can't be serious. Wait, this is madness, Five!”

The boy in schoolboy shorts brought out a sniper case under the bed and opened it to reveal a sniper. Catching Luther by surprise, “You... Wh... Where'd you get that?”

“In Dad's room. I think he used it to shoot a rhinoceros.” He took out the sniper from the case and carefully examined the weapon’s build, “It's similar to the model I used at work. Nice shoulder fit and highly reliable.”

“But you can't... This guy Milton is just an innocent man.” The ape hybrid man argued.

The small brunette furrowed his brows, “It's basic math. His death could potentially save the lives of billions. If I did nothing, he'd be dead in four days anyway. The apocalypse won't spare anyone.”

“We don't do this kind of thing.”

“We are not doing anything. I am.” Five corrected.

Which prompted the dirty blond man to be more assertive. “I can't let you go kill innocent people. No matter how many lives you'll save.”

“Well, good luck stopping me.” The boy turned his back and was about to walk away.

“You're not going anywhere.” Luther grabbed Delores and provoked Five more by hanging the top half of the mannequin outside the window. Five’s eyes widened and he immediately swerved as he positioned himself and pointed the sniper at Luther.

“Put… her... down.” He used the tip of his gun to gesture to Luther to place the mannequin down.

“Put the gun down. You're not killing anyone today. I know she's important to you, so don't make me do this.” The large man insisted, gesturing to his brother to lower the weapon down. Though Five scoffed at his words, his actions were betraying him as his hands were trembling from the thought of hurting his brother or losing his ‘lover’.

“It's either her or the gun. You decide.”

Seeing his brother’s silence and hesitation, Number One quickly took the window of opportunity - literally - and threw the mannequin out the window. Five reacted swiftly and teleported to Delores’ side to save her. Meanwhile, Luther ran to the sniper and pointed it downward to avoid shooting anyone by accident.

The young man cradled his imaginary lover in his arms and double-checked if she had gotten hurt. “Phew.”

“I can keep doin' this all day.” Luther looked down at the weapon and then at Five, “I know you're still a good person, Five. Otherwise, you wouldn't have risked everything coming back here to save us all. But you're not on your own anymore.”

The young brunette sighed, then turned to his brother, “There is one way. But it's just impossible.”

“More impossible than what brought you back here?”

Five sighed as he held onto Delores tighter and looked into the matte eyes that looked back into his hazel orbs, a smile - that he was imagining - present on Delores’ face. The conversation he had with his ‘wife’ earlier rang throughout his head as he couldn’t stop second-guessing himself and his choices. He won’t say it out loud, but he was just as lost as the others; he knew what he wanted but he was not sure what he was supposed to do. With every plan he created, he felt like he was straying farther from his goal, and he didn’t want things to get worse or get his family involved, and now that they were.

He couldn’t help but question if this was a fruitless endeavor. But then again, he can’t just stand around and do nothing.

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

A short-haired woman in a dark navy suit walked into the motel they just checked into then walked away. As for the man who wore a matching uniform, he stared down at the room in contempt as he irritatedly breathed through his nose.

“Singles instead of doubles. What's next, futons on the floor?” He whined as he lazily placed the donuts that he purchased from Agnes’ donut shop on a nearby round table.

Cha-cha sat on the edge of the TV stand, “What difference does it make? We're only here another night.”

“Well, that's easy for you to say. I've been in every pawn shop all over town, lookin' for our briefcase.” Hazel picked a bed and gently put down his suit jacket on the bedside cabinet then turned on the lamp attached above the bed. “You've been relaxing in the library.”

“Well, at least we know somethin' on the family that can help.” The woman held up Vanya's autobiography that she had borrowed to show to her partner, “It's like a Hargreeves family handbook.”

“Let me tell you, they're a real freakin' mess.”

Meanwhile, the Latino parked outside the inn. You and Klaus watched Diego do his thing. He lowered himself as he attached something at the bottom of the hitmen’s car then connected the device to the object he attached to the car. You weren’t sure what he attached to the car but, you assumed it was a tracking device.

“I’m surprised Diego has a tracking device but can’t purchase his place.” You silently giggle, though you presume he didn’t buy it but swiped it from the academy and brought it along for this mission.

“Number Five can time travel without a briefcase, but not that well. The big oaf lived on the moon for a few years. The little girl you fought with is a 31-year-old but she stopped growing up when she turned 15; while her blood can accelerate the recovery process of injuries. The junkie can conjure the dead, which explains why he knew about the dead Russian yesterday. And the idiot in the mask can curve anything he throws, usually knives.”

Whilst Cha-cha was summarizing the information she gathered from her intel gathering, Hazel found himself zoning out. He walked towards the window to peek in case someone was listening in to their conversation or someone was having a stake out nearby. Fortunately for him, he did discover that someone did tail them, so he can stop listening to Cha-cha ramble. Unfortunately for him, Cha-cha was going to scold him later for not being careful and they would be forced to move to a different motel now.

“Well, he's the one we need to worry about right now.”

“Why?”

The hitman gestured to the window with his head tilting in the same direction, “Cause he's in the parking lot, hiding behind an ice cream truck.”

Hurriedly, the hitwoman hurried to the window to check if her partner was telling the truth. Her brown gaze noticed a green car and a slightly banged-up car. She narrowed her eyes a little to try and figure out if the person sitting in the driver's seat was someone from the academy then, they made eye contact with Diego.

“Bingo.” The one clothed in black smirked when he made eye contact with the ones he was tailing and mentally took note of the room they stayed in. When the well-dressed woman took notice of his smirk, she took the curtains from Hazel’s hold and hastily closed the curtains.

Number Four chimed in before he took a short sip of his alcohol, “You do know that killing these people is not gonna make you feel any better.”

“Yeah, but when it's done…” The Latino turned to his brother, with a small smile as Klaus was chugging his drink, “...I'm gonna sleep like a baby.”

“Sure you will.” The drunk man’s lips curled up a little, his tone doubtful.

“I feel like Diego is just here to look for a punching bag.” You internally commented knowing that neither of your masters asked for you to speak nor for your opinion.

On the temps commission side, they were preparing themselves for their getaway just in case another mess occurred. Cha-cha was double-checking her handgun: if her magazine still had bullets, and if she lubricated her gun well. Whilst Hazel sat on his bed ready to open up the donuts he purchased, someone knocked on the door catching both hitmen’s attention. They both stealthy neared the door while Hazel peeked who was at the door through the window.

“Motel clerk.” The man said in a low volume, not wanting to be overheard by the clerk.

Cha-cha opened the door a little and took the note from the motel clerk then read the note. “It's from Five.”

“How'd he find us?”

“Well, he was us. He knows all the protocols. He says he has the briefcase. He wants to set up a meeting. Come on, we're late already.”

“What about our friends outside?” Hazel gestured to the window, “Last thing we need's a tail. Manila, 1902.”

Cha-cha pointed at the ice bucket, “Let's just go with the ice bucket.”

The hitman let out a reluctant groan. Nonetheless, he grabbed the ice bucket and robotically made his way out of their motel room and went to ‘grab’ more ice then left the room. Diego was intently observing the other hitman then quickly prepared himself before heading out to the motel room the hitmen were staying at.

He eyed you and his brother, “You two stay in the car.”

“What are you talkin' about? This guy tortured me.”

“I have a plan.” The knife wielder asserted and left the car in you and Klaus’ care, as he made his way to the cartoon-masked hitmen’s room.

The lanky man spoke with a drunken smile that did not make you feel reassured, “Rosie, stay here, ‘kay?”

“Master Klaus you should really listen to Master Diego-” You tried to discourage Klaus but got shot down, “I’ll do fine.”

“Master Klaus you said it yourself, they tortured you and you aren’t in the right state of mind. We wouldn’t want you to endanger yourself in another crossfire.”

“I’m fine Y/N, trust me but, you can come along with me if you want to keep me in check?” The servant reluctantly sighed and tagged along with Klaus… again.

Number Four and Number Zero followed the direction Diego went. They saw a familiar physique at the top of the stairs ready to tackle the door down. Well, he was planning on tackling it down, till you and Klaus walked up to him.

“So, what exactly is the plan here, big guy?”

“I told you both to wait in the car.” The Kraken glared at you and Klaus, though it felt like the glare was mostly directed at you since he did expect you to keep Klaus in check.

The curly-haired male drank his alcohol and then pointed out, “Yeah, but you also told me that licking a nine-volt battery would give me pubes.”

Number Two looked mildly amused but the look was quickly wiped off as he donned a serious one then whispered. “We were eight.”

“Sorry, Master Klaus insisted we come along. I didn’t want to leave him in your care while you fight, so I decided to come along.” You said shamefully as you looked at your feet, and pushed your thumbs against the other anxiously.

As expected of the drunk man, he brazenly took a step forward ready to charge forward but you and Diego grabbed onto him before he could do anything brash.

“Uh-uh, uh-uh…” The man dressed in black grabbed his brother’s arm and dragged him back to the bottom of the stairs and pushed him in the direction of the car, as you followed their trail like a lost puppy following its owners.

“What? Come on.”

“For once in your life, I need you to listen to me, okay? Now, go back to the car. If I don't come out in two minutes, that means I'm probably dead.” The Latino placed his calloused hands on Klaus’ shoulders, despite the rough texture of his hands the gesture was gentle and warm. “So... That happens, go get help. Okay?”

The seance let out his breath hesitantly but, weakly shook his head in agreement, as he placed his hand on Diego’s forearm. “Yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay. Okay.”

One last time, Diego patted his brother’s shoulders and then headed upstairs. As for you and Klaus, this time you took the lead and guided him back to the car. The anger that was building up within Diego was nearing its explosive stage. With every step he took he couldn’t help but recall his ex-girlfriend’s smile and seeing her lifeless expression as she laid on the floor. Once he came face to face with the door, he didn’t hold back and took out all his anger on the door, wanting this whole thing to end as swiftly as possible, not caring whether he would die in the process or not.

As his foot made contact with the door, it was surprisingly easy to open. Diego looked around the room that the hitmen checked in and it was empty, the hitwoman was not there. He scanned the room and noticed that neither of their belongings were present, only the sound of horse neighing, the sound of gunfire, and the sound of a crowd screaming on television occupied their room.

Out of nowhere, he heard an engine revving from the outside. The knife wielder lowered his guard a little as he was curious as to the source of the sound, and then he approached the railing. The vehicle that the masked hitmen used ran past the motel and shot up the place. The bullets flew out from different directions hitting everything they came across, one of the stray bullets was in the course to hit Diego, till you showed up and used yourself as a shield.

Adrenaline rushed through your veins as you stood in front of your master, willing to die in his stead. The fear of pain and the fear of death were quickly discarded as the life of the pupils of Umbrella Academy mattered more than yours, that’s what the patriarch of the household reminded you every day, so you would remember your purpose. The bullet went through your shoulder, the crimson liquid trickled down your shoulder blade as the color red bloomed onto your clothes and the searing pain followed.

For a brief moment, the pain was sharp and severe but the pain dulled down as the adrenaline took over you, making the servant dismiss the injury. However, every time you moved you couldn’t prevent your body from wincing as the sensation of the foreign object was poking in your shoulder. While Klaus came in clutch and grabbed his brother and you out of the way. The gunshots eventually died down, allowing the three to relax as you leaned against Diego’s side for support.

“Oh, man. See? You used to think I was an idiot.” Klaus giggled to himself, which prompted a small smile on your face. You were glad he lightened up a little.

Diego rolled his eyes, “I still think you're an idiot.”

The sound of tires screeching alerted Diego to the car speeding up to leave the three Numbers behind. The Latino straightened himself and placed his knives back into their rightful place as he ran down the stairs. “They're getting away!”

“You're welcome by the way!” The lanky man carefully cradled you in his arms and carried you downstairs as fast as he could without hurting your injured side.

The man clad in black groaned as he did his best to run up to the car, “Shit! Get in the car.”

The curly-haired man did his best to catch up but when he saw the flat tire he slowed down. “Oh…” You and Klaus said in unison.

Out of frustration, the Kraken kicked the wheel and groaned in frustration. He began pacing back and forth as he fidgeted with his knife by throwing it in the air and spinning it before repeating the pattern.

“Was this all part of your master plan? Hm?” His drunk brother cheekily asked, even though the look on his face said that he knew what the answer was to his question.

The frustrated male shot him a glare as warmth crept up his cheeks, “Shut up.”

The servant and the seance laughed together as the other man turned his attention to you, “For now, we need to apply first aid on Rosie, okay? She took a bullet for you.”

Diego silently agreed and went to get his first aid kit in his trunk. As he was preparing the required materials, he couldn’t help but question himself for his initial suspicion regarding Number Zero. He always knew you were loyal to the academy, though he didn’t understand if you could do things on your own accord or have to follow orders. Earlier, you protected him even though their father didn’t order you, nor did he tell you to protect him. Don’t get him wrong, he is thankful that you stepped in but, he still didn’t understand what prompted you to do that.

However, if their father had something to do with how you could easily throw away your life, then all he can say is that his ‘father’ deserved his death.

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

Spaceboy drove one of their father’s cars into an isolated place. While Five sat in the passenger seat with the ‘time travel machine’ briefcase seated on his lap. Luther stopped the car in the middle of the barren area. It was the perfect meeting place; The location was isolated from society, and there were more electric posts compared to the number of buildings, trees, and civilians. Through this they could avoid getting more people hurt, so Five chose a fairly good spot.

The small brunette looked out the window, an indescribable look that Luther was familiar with, yet something he couldn’t decipher so quickly. Said boy sighed then finally spoke, “You know, I never enjoyed it.”

“What?” The larger male turned to the young man.

“The killing.” Five clarified in a hushed tone, his gaze on the road. “I mean, I was... I was good at my work, and I... I took pride in it. But it never gave me pleasure.” He let out an irritated sigh, “I think it was all those years alone. Solitude can do funny things to the mind.”

“Yeah, well, you were gone for such a long time.” Luther agreed with a slight nod as his fingers drummed on the steering wheel. “I only spent four years on the moon, but that was more than enough. It's the being alone that breaks you.”

In spite of the one-sided rivalry, they put it aside to agree on one thing they shared in common. Isolation drives people insane. Wanting to change the subject, the dirty blond-haired male eyes the fake time machine. “You think they'll buy it?”

The young man shrugged and tried to sit comfortably, “Well, what I do know is that they're desperate. It's like a cop losing his gun. If the Commission finds out, they'll be in deep shit. Oh, not to mention the fact that they'll be stuck here until they get it back.”

“Well, I should hold onto it.” The ape hybrid man suggested to which Five raised an eyebrow, “Hm?”

“In case they make a move on you.”

“Okay, Luther, but be careful. I mean, I've... I've lived a long life, but... you're still a young man. You got your whole life ahead of you. Don't waste it.”

Number One wore an expression that was akin to confusion and gratitude. He did appreciate receiving advice from an elder, someone like Five who cared for him… who showed it weirdly. However, his younger brother- er- brother’s appearance does not match the wisdom he withholds. It felt and looked contradicting in his eyes, even his heart and mind did not know how to take in the advice, nor disassociate Five’s appearance from the wisdom he accumulated over the years.

In the distance, a light blue car was approaching the meeting spot. Both Numbers came out of the car and stood by each other’s side. Said car stopped a few feet away from the other car, the familiar masked hitmen came out of the car with their guns, then they slowly approached the middle of the road with Five meeting them there halfway.

The hitman carried a handgun that was pointed at Five though, the boy seemed bothered by something else. Since he merely raised a brow at the guns and gestured to the masks that the two wore. “Are the masks really necessary?”

The duo quickly discarded the masks but Hazel still kept his gun pointed at Five. Then Cha-cha finally spoke, “So, where is it, kid?”

“Wow, that's how you're gonna start.” The small brunette feigned an amused expression, he clicked his tongue then, turned to the car that Luther stood by. “You know, we can get right back in our car and call it a day.”

The well-dressed man lightly pressed his finger on the trigger, an obvious threat that anyone could pick up on. “You won't even make it halfway there.”

“Maybe.” The boy in school shorts gestured to his stronger brother, “But as I'm sure you found out in your previous foray, my brother is not your average giant.”

“He's right. You dropped a chandelier on him, got right back up.”

“By the time you took him out, he'd smash your precious briefcase to a pulp.”

Hazel quipped, “Probably us too, right?”

Discovering that they were at a stalemate, Cha-cha raised a question with a displeased look on her face. “So, how do we help each other?”

“I need you to get in contact with your superior so I can have a chat with her. Face-to-face.”

“About what?” She narrowed her eyes at the boy, suspicious of his proposition.

“Well, I don't believe that's any of your concern.”

The woman was hesitant to trust the ‘traitor’ of the commission but she shrugged it off. “Just don't tell her about the briefcase.”

“Fair enough.” Number Five nodded as he backed away slowly and returned to Luther’s side.

The woman in a bob cut headed to the nearest phone booth and began dialing down their superior’s number, while the larger brunette still had his gun directed at Five as he slowly walked backward and to his partner’s side. From time to time, the dark-skinned woman would look over her shoulder to check if Five or Luther were doing anything dubious.

“What happens now?” Number One asked.

The boy stuffed his hands in his pockets, “Now we wait.”

Only the sound of the wind whistling was heard, till an inaudible chime at the distance could be heard thus catching four people’s attention. Even if they had different goals, they all had the same question, “What the fuck is that? ”; They all kept their eyes on a bright vehicle that was heading in their direction with the music at full blast, it was playing the orchestra tune of ‘Ride of the Valkyries’.

“Is that her?” The dirty blond-haired male asked but, the brunette didn’t have an answer to his brother’s question because he was just as confused as he was.

As the ice cream truck passed by the Boy and Spaceboy, they incidentally caught a glimpse of the culprits: Y/N, Diego, and Klaus. The curly-haired man waved at his brothers as he was carelessly steering the wheel, while Diego and you were holding on for your dear lives. Ironically, the one who looked like he was the most scared - Diego - is the same person who was screaming at Klaus to go faster, and the only sane one - you - was discouraging your masters from becoming more reckless. At this point, Five and Luther were not surprised, just confused at the abrupt appearance.

The short brown-haired boy thought aloud, “What the hell are they doing here?”

Diego shouted as he closed his eyes and held onto his seat, “Go faster!”

“With pleasure!” The seance laughed maniacally as he stomped on the gas pedal resulting in the ice cream truck accelerating.

“I beg of you Master Klaus please don’t!” You pleaded as you finally understood why his driver’s license was taken away.

“It's a setup!” The hitmen began shooting up the ice cream truck and the defenseless numbers, the sound of their bullets echoing as they landed a hit on the truck. Swiftly, Luther used himself as a shield for Five as his brother hid behind him.

The colorful truck hit the assassins, they were supposed to be thrown backward and then rolled on the floor, yet they were frozen in mid-air the truck collided with their torsos but the after-effect never happened. The other stray bullets that were headed to both the ice cream truck and the two numbers were slowing down and then stopped altogether. Confused, Five came out of his hiding spot, whilst you were busy trying to process why everything froze, you tried to shake Klaus and Diego’s sides but neither of them responded. You were about to go outside the ice cream truck and check out what was going on when a new voice spoke up.

“Neat trick, isn't it?” Before Five there stood a tall sophisticated woman with silver hair: She wore a dark coat, sunglasses, and a small hat with a small veil attached to it, while carrying a briefcase in her other hand. With her free hand, she removed her veil and glasses to reveal her devilish expression that neither the sunglasses nor the veil could hide.

You froze up in your spot, your hand withdrawing from the car door. Even though you have never fought with villains by the Umbrella Academy’s side, this woman gave off the same air as the villains that the other Numbers spoke about as children.

“Hello, Five. You look good, all things considered.”

“It's good to see you again.”

You peeked from the car window, trying to hide your presence from both of them. You couldn’t help but be in awe of the small brunette. He stood before the mystery woman with his hands in his pocket, as though she was not a big threat. Though, knowing him, he was probably holding a weapon hidden in his pockets ready to charge at the woman when the opportunity came.

“Feels like we met just yesterday. Course, you were a little bit older then.” She joked then added. “Congratulations on the age regression, by the way. Very clever. Threw us all off the scent.”

The former assassin of the Commission merely rolled his eyes. “Ah, well, I wish I could take credit. I just miscalculated the time dilation projections, and... Well, you know. Here I am.”

“You realize your efforts are futile.” Five’s former superior faux a smile, “So why don't you tell me what you really want?”

The young man said, “I want you to put a stop to it.”

You felt a drop of sweat drip down your forehead as your face shifted into a look of disappointment; you expected more from Five, and that’s why you didn’t think he would resort to this. Though, you suppose you couldn’t blame him since at this point a lot of people were getting involved: the academy, Diego’s ex-girlfriend, and civilians. He probably assumed compromising with the enemy is the best solution for now.

“You realize what you're asking for is next to impossible, even for me. What's meant to be is meant to be. That's our raison d'être.”

The boy pulled out a gun and angled it to Handler’s head, “Yeah? Well, how about survival as a raison? ”

“I'll just be replaced.” The tall woman shrugged, her fake smile not faltering. “I'm but a... small cog in a machine. This fantasy you've been nurturing about summoning up your family to stop the apocalypse... is just that. A fantasy.”

Her heels clicked as she took steps to close in the distance between her and Five “I must say, though, we're all quite impressed with your initiative, your... stick-to-itiveness, really quite… quite something. Which is why we want to offer you a new position back at the Commission, in management.”

“Sorry, what's that now?” He chuckled in disbelief as he lowered his gun a little, obviously intrigued by the proposition.

“Why would they offer a job after his betrayal? ” You asked yourself, your brows furrowed at the mysterious woman.

“Come back to work for us again. You know it's where you belong.”

“Well, it didn't work out too well the last time.”

The silver-haired woman shook her head as she corrected him, “But you wouldn't be in the correction division any longer. I'm talking about... the home office. You'd have the best health and pension, and an end to this ceaseless travel.”

“You're a distinguished professional in-” The Handler looks down at Five’s uniform with a strained smile that was tempted to chuckle, “-schoolboy shorts. We have the technology to reverse the process. If Rossweisse came along with you, her blood could be of use to speed up the reversal process, and I heard she’s a good fighter, yes? She could be of use to the correctional division.”

The servant’s eyes widened as you straightened up a little, you were tempted to speak up and accept the offer so you could finally redeem yourself. But, Five’s words brought you back to reality.

The angry boy replied, venom seething through his words. “I’m the one you are offering the deal to, not her so leave her name out of your mouth.”

You slouched in your hiding spot and averted your gaze to your master. This was confusing… Why didn’t he just accept the offer? This way you could redeem yourself for your past mistakes and he would return to his proper age. It was practically killing two birds with one stone yet, he chose to discard a tempting offer. However, now that you think about it, there is a chance the commission would use that offer to their advantage but, if this was about not getting others involved anymore, it’s kinda pointless now… They need as much help as they can get to arise victorious from this apocalypse.

“I mean, you... you can't be happy like this.” The woman pointed out in a soft tone as she casually pushed the gun down.

Number Five insisted, his grip on the gun tight but the weapon was pointed downwards. “I'm not looking for happy.”

“Master Five please don’t lower your guard! ” You silently cried as you readied your retractable staff ready to intervene. Though, you were hesitating because every time you tried to help or obey an order it seemed like you always messed things up. The thought of not being of any use to the academy but, being the cause of chaos resulted in a tear running down your cheeks then another.

Tears began streaming down your eyes followed by your nose sniffling uncontrollably, you did your best to wipe your tears away with your sleeves. The irrational fear of the Monocle or the other Numbers seeing you like this was at the back of your head, you didn’t want to get caught- No, you can’t get caught. Not right now. The familiar wave of panic washed over you, more irrational thoughts flooding your mind as your rationality and sense of reality slipped. Your breaths came in short, desperate gasps that you struggled to quiet down but, it only grew louder. The feeling of your head pounding and your head spinning overwhelmed your senses that you couldn’t process what was going on anymore in the outside world; The only thing you could think of was that you had to stop, you were a mess. This is not how a servant should be acting, this is not what the patriarch of the household expected from you. Out of desperation, you dug your fingers into your skin to wake you up from your despair, whilst you used your free hand to bite on to muffle your cries.

Whilst you were spiraling in your misery, the high-ranking commission individual and the traitor were busy conversing.

“We're all looking for happy.” The cheeky woman’s smirk widened slightly, noticing that her target was faltering, and then she caressed Five’s cheek. “We can make that happen. We can make you... yourself again.”

The small brunette sighed and gestured to his siblings who were frozen in time, “And what about my family?”

“What about them?”

“I want them to survive.”

The silver-haired woman turned her head to check on Five’s siblings, “All of them?”

“Yes, all of them.” He confirmed with a firm tone.

“Even Y/N Rossweisse?” The woman wore a Cheshire grin as she tilted her head a little as though she was recalling something. “From what I recall in Vanya Hargreeves’ autobiography, she’s deemed like a servant and an outsider of the family. And the book even states you dislike her, you sure you don’t want to use the opportunity to get rid of her?”

The boy clicked his tongue, “Dislike is different from hate.”

“She may not be a Hargreeves but there are people out there who will cry for her. Heck, the others might get mad at me if they find out I abandoned her. ” He internally remarked.

Five may act like he does not care about anyone but, he is observant. He knows how close Diego is with you for your shared fear of needles, how close you were with Vanya because you always followed her around, how you always did your best to stop Klaus from causing any more trouble for himself and others, and probably Allison since she grew a soft spot for children ever since she became a mother.

“Well…” The Handler retrieved her glasses from her coat pocket and equipped them again, “I'll see what I can do.” She brought out her hand to Five, “Do we have a deal?”

“One thing.”

While time was still frozen, the brown-haired boy hurriedly grabbed the gun that Hazel dropped and removed the magazine then threw both of them in different directions. He then turned his attention to the bullet heading towards Luther’s direction then adjusted its course. Once he was satisfied with his work, he finally shook the Handler’s hand. For a brief moment there was a bright light and the sound of electricity zapping, when they disappeared time took its course.

You were so busy trying to calm yourself down that you didn’t notice that everything went back to normal. The orchestra tune of ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ continued its chime and the ice cream truck continued moving forward then, the truck collided with the assassins’ torsos, thus they were thrown a few feet away whilst groaning in pain. The stray bullets that were shot earlier finally penetrated the truck and missed Luther. The colorful truck kept moving till it crashed against the masked men’s car, resulting in Klaus and Diego being thrown back in their seats but, due to your position you were thrown forward consequently your head crashed against the dashboard which led you to pass out.

“Good God, Rosie!” Klaus hurried to your side. He carefully examined your state. You were bleeding, a large gash on your forehead as brittles of glass were lodged onto your skin with remnants of tears still present across your skin.

Panicked, Luther looked around because one of his siblings who had common sense just vanished. “Five?”

“Oh! Ow!” The man dressed in black cried out in pain.

Spaceboy frantically screamed, “Five!”

The dirty blond-haired man kept looking around for Five but, when he saw the hitmen began shakily gathering themselves despite being recently run over and getting hit in the torso. He turned his gaze to his family who were still in the ice cream truck, he noticed that they had not left the vehicle yet. They probably needed a distraction.

Luther shook the briefcase to catch the enemy’s attention, “Come get it!” Then he quickly threw it as far as he could.

The ape-man hybrid ran for the ice cream truck to assist his siblings, while Cha-cha ran for the briefcase and Hazel ran for the discarded gun. Once he arrived, he quickly scooped up your passed-out form in his arms as Klaus aided Diego to the other car. Oddly enough, they managed to assist the injured ones, while they were screaming their lungs at each other as they retreated to the car.

“No!” Hazel got a hold of the gun and tried shooting at them but there was no magazine, “Shit!” he grunted and threw away the gun out of frustration.

“Get in the car,” Luther ordered as he placed the knocked-out H/C maid in Klaus’ arms and Diego hurriedly scooted over to give you and Klaus more space.

The larger male went to the driver’s seat and hastily started the car, as his brother anxiously screamed. “Luther, go! Go! Let's go!”

When Number One finally managed to get the car working, the engines revved its excitement for their escape. When he pressed the gas pedal the tires began screeching and they finally left their perpetrators in the dust. From the back of the car, Klaus flipped off the hitman with two middle fingers, “Woo!”

“Damn it!” The man approached Cha-cha’s side to check on the briefcase but all they saw was random junk in the briefcase. The woman threw the decoy and kicked a random junk as she screamed, “Shit!”

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[emthephantom]

☆Unexpected Thoughts-Klaus Hargreeves☆

Klaus x Gn!Reader You read Klaus' thoughts and discover something... Warnings: None Words: 497 A/N: Back on the Klaus grid as he's constantly in my head. Posts may be less often as I go back to college tomorrow :( As always, enjoy :)

Being a telepath wasn't for the faint-hearted. Hearing everyone's thoughts was a bit much at times, even when they were thinking nicely of you.

'Their shirt is nice' 'Why are they walking like that?' 'I wonder what to have for lunch.'

You let out a little chuckle at the last one, not realising you missed your destination. Five blinked in front of you, annoyance upon his face. 'Y/N, what are you doing? Get in here' He grasped your arm and jumped you to the academy.

Working at the commission together brought forward a bond. Five trusted you, that's why you were important for his new plan. See, he was the only one who knew about your power- your marigold. The commission abused your talents until Five helped you.

You had gotten fairly acquainted with his family; although they assumed you were Five's beloved partner at first. You regularly dined out with Allison, trained with Diego and- admired Klaus (It was no surprise you fell for the handsome man)

Snapping out of your thoughts, you turned your attention back to Five, who was blabbering on about the new enemy after him. You spoke up 'Okay, so why do you need me?'

'So you can read their minds and tell me their plan.' his voice boomed in your mind. To avoid suspicion he responded aloud, 'You're good at combat, that's useful.'

You sent him a nod, affirming that you understood your true task. Five continued, explaining everyone's role. You leaned your head against the wall, closing your eyes. Klaus noticed your tired frame and whisper shouted at you, beckoning you to sit next to him.

You eagerly, casually sat beside him, leaning your head on his shoulder. You could feel Klaus' warm gaze lingering on you, his thoughts becoming louder as he turned back to Five.

'I wonder what makes you think I'm not in love with you.'

Your eyes widen as you lift your head to look at him. As if Klaus could feel your stare he turned and sent you a flirtatious wink; an action he often did, only this time it erupted a swarm of butterflies in your stomach. Channeling your power, you managed to get into Klaus' head. Your sweet voice echoed in his mind,

'I wonder when you'll realise I love you the same way'

Klaus' eyes widened in surprise, 'Heavens to Betsy! How did you do that!' he shouted.

'I'm a telepath you idiot.' you giggled.

'You never told us?'

'Only Five knew, I didn't want to make you guys uncomfortable knowing I could go into your minds.'

'No, that's awesome,' Klaus spoke, 'I like that.'

'Wanna get waffles?' his thoughts asked.

You chuckled once more, nodding your head. Klaus grabbed your hand and helped you up, 'We'll be right back!' he shouted down the hall, not caring what Five had to say. He threw his arm around your shoulders, wanting to be closer to you.

'So, my little mind-reader, are you paying?'

[waitingandwishing]

you know a fic is good when ur voice sounds like mickey mous

[itstheghostofmypast]

Simp For You

Five x (f)Reader

Genre: Angst + Fluff

Requested by: @imherefortea (birthday request)

Summary: Perhaps she had read one too many novels and classics, while romance was not part of the agenda, a hero was, one that would bring her a bouquet every morning, sing to her every night and love her for eternity. Emotions and love were mere signs of weakness, or at least qualities upheld by fools- Five Hargeeves was no fool, both logic and rationality were his tools, yet, for her, neither functioned properly. Yet, neither were willing to let up their beliefs nor were the two willing to let up on one another.

Word Count: 6k+

The thing with feelings and emotional representation were not attributes Five was against, but he felt the need not to express them to or for anyone. Especially since he had decided to travel back in time to proceed with saving the world- the only addition to his plan was Y/N, someone he had met back at the commission.

Although their first encounter was not when he had noticed her, in fact, he pretty much ignored her- not intentionally, but because she was part of the insignificant, someone who was just supposed to correct the timeline and hand him the files- do all his paperwork.

On the other hand, Y/N was unable to 'ignore' him, for the encounter that he considered as their first meeting was not their first meeting for her actually. In fact, before him being introduced to Y/N by the Handler, the girl had been saved by him a few days back, as such;

Today had been a shitty day at the commission, more paperwork, more mistakes to correct, more bad coffee- ew just ew, her entire day was ew. Not the best choice of adjectives but it was true, to top it all off, as she was walking to her residence -a cozy little apartment a few miles away from the Commission building- it began to rain. No, mother nature had perhaps tipped a bucket load of ice-cold water on her. Maybe it was the screams of the falling droplets or her blurred vision, but she was unable to hear the blaring horns of the bus driving right at her as she crossed the street. Much like every animal, she remembers freezing and staring at the bright white lights waiting for the angel of death to pull out her soul before the immense pain could hit her system. Fortunately for her, a second before she made contact with the metallic giant a flash of blue blinded her, after which she felt like she was being spun at unimaginable speed. 

"You okay?" Her eyes snapped open at the stranger's -good-looking stranger's- voice. She could sense an undertone of concern in his question, though his expressions showed more anger than concern of any kind. Perhaps because she was still in his arms and had shown no signs of moving.

"I- Uh-"

"I don't have time for this." he sighed before setting her down, patting his coat and looking around, "Try to look both ways while crossing the road, and oh- the pavement is used by pedestrians, not the damn road." with that and a flash of blue he was gone, leaving an everlasting impression on her. This was technically how they had met, not that he remembered, she believed he just needed her to remind him, he was a clever man after all. 

Unfortunately, even after THREE YEARS of working with the dunce he had not even batted an eyelash at her, let alone have a whole ass conversation. No hint, no comment, no compliment, nothing had made him even glance up at her from the paperwork she handed him before every mission. By the end of the third year, she had practically given up, he was no knight in shining armor sent to pull her away from her mundane life, he was not her Zorro or Hercules- three years of simping after a man who probably doesn't know her name gone down the drain, what a waste.

Perhaps that was what fate was waiting for all along, for her to stop trying. 31st December, New Year's Eve, a night where everyone gathers around, parties hard, does questionable things in the name of celebration, and often wakes up hungover the next day- starting the new year right. Y/N however, was never made for such loud parties or rowdy crowds because they were annoying and just stupid and she had no one to share her new year's kiss with- there it's been said, and honestly as pathetic as it may sound, it was the truth, the haunting thought that would linger at the back of her mind, but on occasions like these, it would come prancing forward to knock on her door every few hours. 

Metaphorically speaking, or so she thought because when there was an actual knock on the door, she glanced at the clock, 10.59 PM- she wondered if she had attracted a murderer to her apartment. Placing the bowl of raw cookie dough on the coffee table and pausing a rerun of her favorite sitcom she pulled on her cardigan, shivering at the cold air that her blanket had been protecting her from for the past few hours.

Opening the door she came face to face with what an author could describe as the most 'annoyed' face in the world. Five Hargreeves in the flesh, standing there in all his suit-cladded glory, frowning at her, eyes boring a form of annoyance that could scare off just about anyone, but she wasn't just anyone. She was his filer, his desk worker, his partner- which was exactly why when he found a mistake in the file she had left at her desk for him, he decided to go ask the slacker if she would prefer to quit herself or have him report her to the Handler.

"Mind explaining this?" he slams the file in her chest, as she caught with an uff, "Thought you were better than the rest of the slackers," huffing he stuffed his hands in his pockets, before looking around at the apartment's door frame then the corridor then peaking over her head as she read the file, into her apartment- simpleton. He thought to himself before glancing back at her, watching her mumble to herself as she read each line, her eyebrows knitted together as she licked her bottom lip, a habit of hers, something she'd do when she was concentrating. The first time he had noticed it, he had thought she was flirting with him, much like the many other desk freaks did, which led him to turn even colder to her, only to realize after a while that this was a habit, rather than an antic to get into his pants. Nonetheless, he was still irritated by her carelessness-

"Umm...Mr.Hargreeves."

"What?" 

"Where did you get this file from?" She asked, totally confused.

"From your desk. You left it for me there-"

"No...I didn't, you had no missions for today and...I took an off today, did you not...notice?" she trailed off at the end with a defeated sigh, handing the file back to him, and giving him a tight-lipped smile.

"Why would I notice that- who put it on your desk then?"

"Probably the person who wrote it." sighing, arms crossed she leaned against the doorframe.

"What-"

"Not that you noticed the change in writing style either, this was written by Beatrice." She motioned towards the file, "It's in a faded beige file and it's typed in black ink. I type in blue ink and use black files or envelopes unless we're sending it to you through the pipes. My guess is she had a date with her field agent, considering he does know she exists and thought of putting it on my desk, knowing you'd probably pick it up and the train engineer is supposed to have a heart attack before the express mail train slams into the other upcoming one, he doesn't fall asleep. If I'm correct you or well Brian- Beatrice's field agent was supposed to induce a heart attack, enabling the tragedy of Ogden, Utah to occur." 

"Oh." was all he could manage to say.

"Indeed, Oh." with that she straightened up and nodded at him, "Happy New Year, Mr.Hargreeves." before closing the door, only to be stopped by his hand as he pushed it open. 

"Wait, but what about- you need to come to the Commission and file this correctly."

"What? No, are you kidding me?"

"Clearly, I am not, the timeline is important-"

"Not really, time is irrelevant here." She shrugged, "And anyway, it's her file, her fault, just slap it back on her desk and-"

"I'm not asking, I'm telling ya!" He snapped at her, causing her to flinch, biting her lip to hold back the rush of emotions, she had never imagined him using such a tone with her, let alone yelling at her. She took a small step back, shaking her head slightly, staring at the floor, the angelic, god-like image of him shattering in her mind. Not only did he not recognize her work, but also thought she'd make such a mistake, and he had the nerve to come up to her apartment and yell at her.

"What is the matter with you?" he groaned, checking his wrist watch, "We don't have much time-"

"What's my name?" she muttered, catching him off guard.

"What?"

"I said, do you know my name?" she asked, tears threatening to fall at any given moment as she glared at him through glassy eyes.

"What is the point of that question, of course, I know your name, it's -" he paused, thinking to himself before shaking his head at something and blinking away with a flash. 

Sighing in defeat she finally closed the door and went back to her couch, wrapping herself in the warm, heavy blanket. Three years of working together, of writing his reports for and after the mission, adding a small 'tips' section and sometimes maps of areas he could rest or eat at just because she thought that's what a good partner would do- three years of time wasted on a partner who didn't even bother learning her name.

Jolting awake at the sound of something falling followed by a hiss she fought off the blanket that had somehow put her in a chokehold. Finally managing to push it off she gasped for air, only to lock eyes with forest green hues, emitting a, "WHAT THE F***"

"Happy New Year to you too."

"WHY ARE YOU HERE- DID YOU EAT ALL THE COOKIE DOUGH?"

"Well, I came to tell you I had to file the report myself, no thanks to your stubborn ass and complained about Barbra or whatever."

"What-"

"Also, Y/N, what kind of fool do you take me for?" He asked, sitting crossed as he side-eyed her while watching TV.

Frowning at his question she scooted further into the corner of the couch, "So ya read my name of the file-"

"No you desk worm. I've known your name since day one." He sighed, turning to look at her cocooned form, feeling somewhat guilty as trailed off, "Just didn't realize how useful those tips were."

Her ears perked up at that little compliment, instantly threw off the blankets, and stood on the cold floor, hands resting on her hips as she let out a smug huff, "Well then, guess we learned something today, didn't we?"

"That you're a lonely worm? I already knew that though." 

"You can be mean sometimes Mr.Hargreeves," she muttered looking at the screen and then at the clock, it was an hour past midnight, what a way to start the new year.

"Anyway." Getting up he patted the invisible dirt of his clothes, "I'll see you at work tomorrow, and I prefer if you call Five. Mr.Hargreeves makes you sound like a gold digger." Before she could react he blinked away, sowing the seed of a relationship that was soon going to blossom into a full-blown field.

The best thing to come out of that weird night was that much to everyone's amazement, Five had begun to warm up to his  'desk worm'. More importantly, he would sit at her desk after missions, as she wrote the report. Usually, he'd be drinking his coffee, watching her type, pitching in a few details from time to time, and earning a comment from her. Many, including the Handler, had tried to eavesdrop on their conversations, for getting Five Hargreeves to say or talk in any decent manner was next to impossible.

Herb had forgotten his wallet at work, so decided to head back to the Commission. Naturally, he had expected the place to be empty, minus the security guards, but was amazed to enter the workplace to find Y/N laughing at a Five who seemed to have been glaring at her, face flushed. So, like any nosy little office worker, he hid behind the wall to listen to them.

"I did not save you."

"Yes! You did! I can't believe you didn't remember me!"

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

"It's embarrassing."

"Well, they do say never meet your heroes."

"They're right, I thought I was miserable. No, Five Hargreeves has it worse."

"Welp, that's the last time I will converse with you."

Herb heard a chair screech followed by her laughter, causing him to panic.

"Wait! A gentleman is supposed to drop the fine lady home!" She said grabbing her purse and linking her arm with the taller man, looking up at him with those shiny expectant eyes, earning an eye roll from him, though he didn't pull away.

 The two walked out of the office, passing by SMALL GUY who was hiding behind a file cabinet, bickering about tomorrow's mission and other useless topics one could think of.

Y/N didn't care how long it was taking to peel off each layer or break down every wall he had built around him, she was just glad that he was letting her to do it. Five on the other hand was extremely conflicted, on one hand, he had his own plan and on the other his heart had begun to slowly blossom every time he was near her or thought of her. When he joined the Commission he had planned on going solo for the long run, no friends meant no liabilities and no lover meant no weakness- or so he thought.

If it wasn't her obnoxious laughter that would get his heart racing, it was the unasked-for, but somewhat welcomed, touches. From the way her fingers would brush against his while handing him a file to the night she held his hand to comfort him when he had 'accidentally' ended up telling her about how much he missed his family. That cursed night at her apartment had his brain ready to fight his heart-forcing him to spend the entire night awake in the guestroom. 

Regardless, he had always been a firm believer in "You may not be able to control your emotions, but you can control your actions." That is until she turned 29, well, technically it wasn't her age that had affected his policy but her simple invitation to a bar for some "birthday drinks", sure did a number on his rationality. All he remembered from the merry little event was the low-cut dress that she had chosen to adorn that night and that they may have had a drink too many, cause after she purred out his name, he blacked out. The next morning he woke up with a massive headache and her next to him. 

Not the way he had ever assumed he'd start a relationship this way, but then again he had never thought he'd be in one in the first place.

The first thing he had to learn while being with her was that they were very different. He was blunt, rude, and straight-up obnoxious (words of other people, not his), she was polite, considerate, and to some extent a bit too nice. Another thing about her that he had to embrace was the difference in love languages; he would consider small gestures, like making her coffee or arranging her files at her desk- barely anything physical. Y/N on the other hand loved physical affection, from cuddling to holding hands to just sitting next to him, close enough for their shoulders to touch. At first, it would bother him, the lack of human contact for all those years had him irritated by the thought of love. To some extent he had assumed that this was a tactic to assert dominance, a routine conducted by the Handler- but over time he had realized how her actions were genuine and filled with love. 

Love, she loved him, and to his surprise when the first time the words 'I love you', had been uttered to him, he had instantly responded with 'But I can't love you.' leaving them both standing there in the middle of her apartment, staring at each other.

"Oh-"

"Wait, I - Y/N it's not like that, I-"

"It's okay Five- I mean it's not okay okay but I- " she paused, vision turning blurry before sniffing to hold back her emotions. 

He reached out to touch her only for her to take a step back, "Y-you can go if you want, I'll clean up myself-"

"That's not what I meant." His voice held a certain edge to it as he watched her clean up the place where they had been watching a movie- the movie now forgotten. He was pissed, more at himself than her, it's not like he had asked her out, she did and he had other plans too and- all his thoughts came to a halt when he heard glad shatter followed by a yelp. 

Blinking into the kitchen he saw her standing next to what appeared to be a broken glass, holding onto her other hand that was bleeding.

"Shit."

"It's fine, just go." 

Blinking in front of her, he gripped her wrist, staring at her. Glaring up at him she was about to retort but when their eyes meant. Now, as sappy as it could sound, she could literally see an internal argument swirling within his forest hues- she knew that look. The look he'd give when he would be trying to outdo his heart in a battle with his 'logic'.

"Five."

"Wait. I'm thinking."

"About."

"You know what."

"You don't have to force yourself to love me-"

"I'm forcing myself not to."

That was all it took for the two to realize how he had confessed back to her, admitting he had felt the same way about her. 

"Why?"

"No, you'll be in danger and become a liability and I have other plans and-"

"You'll be happy for once?"

He doesn't remember the last time he had ever let his heart win against his mind, but perhaps the reason for the argument siding with his heart made it easier for him to rule it out, allowing him to break free from the restraints that had held him down ever since he had time traveled. 

Although they were ready to move onto a stronger and more important change in their relationship, he had been ever so kind to set ground rules;

"Rule number one, you will do as I ask if we're in danger, your life matters more than anything."

"Rule number two, you will STAY PUT, and I mean it, none of that hero shit."

"And most importantly, if I ever disappear or am no longer here, you will move on."

Simple right? 

Not really.

For at that very moment, the Hargreevs were staring at their 13-year-old brother arguing with another teenager, who had fallen out of the portal behind him, in the kitchen.

"Umm...number Five-"

Not now Luther. I have bigger fish to deal with-"

"Why are you mad?!"

"WHY AM - OH MY - GOD YOU - "Everyone in the room could see the boy malfunction until he paused, taking a deep breath he exhaled and looked at his siblings, "What's the date?"

"Five I-"

"Not. A.Word," he growled, not even sparing her a glance.

"But-"

He shushed her by placing a finger on his lips then pointing with that same finger with his brows raised, seething out a "Silence from you."

That was the first time the siblings had seen their brother in a long time, and it horrified them how he had turned into a worse nutjob than they had imagined.

...

After the little kitchen fiasco, Y/N was instructed by Five to stay in his room.

"WHY ARE YOU LOCKING THE DOOR!"

"Clearly because you can't be trusted. Nor can the idiots outside, so make yourself comfortable or something." He yelled from over the door and stomped back down the stairs to get a cup of coffee.

"What're you looking for?@ Klaus asked, feet perched up on the table, "Scratch that, who's that wee lass locked up in your dungeon of a room?"

Clicking his tongue he threw another empty can away, "My wife- well, that's it, gonna get myself a cup of coffee"

"Excuse me? Your what?" Allison spat, arms crossed as she looked at him with raised brows, causing him to turn around and glare at her, "What part of that statement was unclear to you?"

"I mean I'm just amazed someone would even go out of their way to spend more than an hour with you, let alone marry you." She snorted, glancing at Diego who entered the room.

"Heard you got divorced by the way." Smirking at her scowl he blinked away. Initially, he was going to go get coffee but then the thought of locking her upstairs was bothering him even more, which is why he blinked into his room, only to find her tying up his bed sheets. 

"What are you doing?"

"Redecorating."

Cue him dragging her to the doughnut shop with him, grumbling his way there as she swung their hands back and forth, "You never listen, I mean I told you- we've been married for so long and-"

"Oh look we're here."

The argument did erupt until the two were actually sitting and waiting for their coffee. 

"Rule number three..." Five glanced up from the map the man had made for him on the napkin, noticing how his wife was just staring ahead as she began speaking (never a good sign), "What about it?" he muttered casually.

"Did you always plan on leaving me behind?" 

"I-" he paused, causing her to look up from her doughnut, was he really going to not answer her again, if she hadn't jumped into the portal behind him, he would've just left her, wouldn't he?

It amazed her how well he could still easily shut her out, even after being married for so long, sometimes she would feel as if she was completely bare in front of him, while he stood there, layer upon layer, gazing at her with an air of mockery. 

"Five I-" she was cut off by the sound of the bell, pausing when she felt him grab her hand and give it a little squeeze. She could hardly react before she was blinked out into the back of the shop. 

"Wait-" he grabbed her face and looked at her, trying to console the pain in her eyes, "I'll be back, don't move." before blinking away.

That was the first time she had experienced the adrenaline, the fear, and the anxiety that came with the job, being a desk worker had protected her from all these things, he had protected her from all these things, but now that she was here, she had begun to understand why he wanted to leave her behind. To some extent she had wanted to apologize to him, beg him to leave her behind so he could carry out his task, but on the other hand, she knew she couldn't survive without him, she needed him to be able to live on. 

"What do you mean to leave you?" he asked, as he stared at her, the two were making it back to the house. He was holding onto her hand, pulling her closer ever so often.

"I mean, I understand if you want to leave me behind, " her words stung him more than she could ever imagine, but she could see that as soon she glanced at his furrowed brows, eyes sharp as he stared ahead. 

"You say that so casually, yet, you're the one who made me believe in love," he whispers to himself, entering the quiet Hargreeves mansion, hopeful that everyone was asleep.

"I- no, Five, what I mean is, I now understand what you meant when you said I'd become a liability." she pulled on his hand, only for him to slip it out of her grasp and go to the mini bar, grabbing a bottle and glass. He was in no mood for this conversation,  no mood for her insecurities, no mood for her selfless nature. For once he was glad that she had decided to be selfish, to follow him here, sure, he wasn't happy about her being put in danger, but feeling her next to him, knowing she was with him, especially after the commission sent people for him, made him realize how even if he had left her behind, they would’ve gotten to her- doing God knows what to extract information out of her.

"Five, please talk to me." 

Klaus slowly peaked up from behind the couch, a lover's quarrel was more entertaining than listening to Ben yells at him.

"What do you want me to say Y/N?" he sighed, pouring himself a glass, "Please enlighten me, what happened for you to follow me here but then" He took a swig f his glass, gulping it down in one go before slamming it on the counter, smacking his lips as he glared at her.

She flinched at his tone, he had never used that tone with her, let alone yell at her. "I-" words caught in her throat she looked at the ground, gripping the ends of her coat's sleeves, "I just...thought...maybe- I mean I." her words dying out as the rush of emotions finally started taking over, one of the many things that made the two different.  While he was a being more composed than the statue of Buddha, she was a whirlwind of emotions, moments away from breaking loose. The only thing the two did have in common was their ability to bottle up their feelings. 

"Aw no, little girl, don't give up." Klaus whispered, earning  a "shush" from Ben who was standing next to Y/N then looking at Five, "Klaus, defuse this situation, say something so they stop arguing."

Shaking his head in response he leaned back down on the couch, he wanted to see the drama, not a part of it. 

Sighing in defeat she looked at her shoes, he was right, why did she follow him, why did she decide to put him in more danger than he was already in, why was she making it more difficult for the man who had saved her numerous times - at this point, she was sure it was the raging teenage hormones, because the moment he called out her name again, with that sweet, calming tone, she broke down, sinking to her knees.

Five watched her struggle with her words, he knew he was pushing it too far, not once in the time of being with her had he done this. Usually, because she was the more upfront one out of the two, saying what was on her mind, asking for what she needed, doing what she felt was right, like how she'd throw away the file he'd be reading after coming from work, "prepping for the next mission"

"Woman! I was reading that-"

"Come to bed, it’s a simple mission, we've gone through worse."

We, that's what was bothering him, since when did they go from "We" to "i", "me" or "you". Singular pronouns were barely part of her vocabulary, so what had happened for her to suddenly say this? Was he scared? Of course, he was afraid, he had been with her for so long, relying on her for so long that the thought of her leaving midway may have bud some form of separation anxiety. Yes, he had wanted to leave her behind, but perhaps those three seconds he spent staring at the portal, back in the 60s were him waiting to see if she would follow, or at least come looking for him. Hypocritical, it was, but he had never claimed to be some saint, he was a walking canister of red flags. It was her, she was the pure one, the proof of innocence and humility, if anyone out there deserved true, ultimate happiness, it was only her and if the world was not always at war with him, he would've spent time trying to give it all to her.

He looked at her, wanting to continue but froze when he saw her crumble before him, instantly blinking next to her as he held her close, whispering nonstop apologies. Kissing the top of her head,  heart squeezing when he felt her grip on his jacket, mumbling how much she loved him but was afraid. 

"I know you are. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, my love." 

That very night- when Klaus was knocked out Ben saw a different side of Five, one that he had not seen even when he was alive, the way Five was holding onto her, assuring her of how much he loved her but would also keep her safe, how sorry he was that he dragged her into this. Ben had never known Five to be one to give value to emotions, let alone use any words of comfort. 

It was safe to say, over the next couple of days, Ben had developed a certain bond with the girl, not that she knew he existed, but he felt like he owed it to Five- or rather he felt like Five deserved to have that ounce of security and happiness kept safe and alive. Sometimes Klaus couldn't find him, he'd call him but he wouldn't show up, he'd look for him, call him out had him thinking his powers were losing their effect. In actuality, Ben would be following her around, while she would make little trips to the library to find books for Five or sometimes the doughnut shop to get something. He knew she wouldn't know about him, perhaps he wanted to befriend her, someone who was not a Hargreeves, someone who was not a freak. So, he was content, watching over her like a guardian angel, even if she didn't know he existed

Or that's what he had thought.

"It's all right, I'm fine, I feel safe with you," she said buckling up in the truck, the one they had just stolen, and fixing her attire, the first thing she had done after coming to the sixties, got a pair of pants, after following Klaus catfish old rich women, and create a cult- technically that wasn't how hippie culture had come to being, her inner 'desk worker' kept on reminding her, but since their arrival had already messed up the time, might as well lets these people do whatever they want.

"Why thank you, that brings me great joy" Klaus chided, as he stepped on the gas, the beads on his weird beard jiggling.

"Not you, Ben." She said simply, flipping onto the page she had bookmarked in her book, the only activity that would remind her of her husband.

"I- who?" Klaus squeaked, Ben, who was sitting in between the two gasped, turning to face her, "Yo, did she just-"

"No, I can not see him, but I know he's here, I read about all of you, from the diary your father wrote- snagged it off Leonard, so, I figured out, the mysterious feeling of being watched came was not me losing my mind, but that your brother never crossed over." She mumbled, turning to another page, "Thank you, Ben, I'm sure Five would appreciate it."

"You sure are something, doll," Klaus muttered as he saw Ben smiling like a five-year-old child who got that very special toy he wanted.

It was after this confession that she wanted to see Ben and get to know him better, Five had told her about his siblings but had mentioned how Ben was one of the most innocent ones. That's why she wanted to meet him, something she told Five, a few minutes before they were going to go back to their usual timeline.

"You know, I saw you die." He whispered, sitting next to her on the stairs of the porch, looking at the bodies, "I almost broke my promise."

"Almost" she smiled, reaching for his hand, gently placing her head on his shoulder, playing with his fingers, "I knew you'd save me, oh, by the way, did I tell you, Ben has been my guardian angel all this time."

"I had a feeling," he whispered, bringing her hand to his lips, pressing them against the back of her hand, "Glad you figured it out, my clever little desk worm."

"When did you figure it out?" She asked, pulling him up to his feet as she stood up too, going to where everyone was not standing in a circle, "When you told me about the book floating above your head, you would've loved him if you met him."

WRONG

"Five!" she gasped, ducking when a tentacle almost hit her, missing her but almost hitting Five who had blinked away. 

"Nice to see you too Ben" he yelled, sitting on the top of the railing, "Mind not aiming at my wife, she's not like us."

For a split second, Ben stopped, glancing at her before nodding towards the exit, "Scram kid, and get a new boyfriend."

.

"So, that was Ben?" she asked, pressing a napkin against Five's bleeding forehead.

"An asshole, yes." Klaus groaned, staring up at the sky, "Is it me or were they better than us."

"Who were you kissing by the way," she asked, both lost in their own little world, "You" he responded simply, ignoring the headache and the way Allison was screaming at him to figure this out.

"Hey, love birds, what do we do now?" Diego asked as the lot walked out of the park, pausing to look up at the billboard of the Sparrow Academy. 

"Find a place to rest and think?" She said, tugging on Five's hand who was focused on something else, "Hmm? yeah, sure."

.

"What are you, a commie?" Diego groaned, as Five flopped on the bed, ignoring him before mumbling something and knocking out, knowing Y/N was in the same room as Vanya and Allison.

Y/N had left the sisters alone, they seemed to be having a moment, and she did not want to be part of it. She had decided to take a shower, changing into some sweats she had bought with a card she had swiped off someone on the streets, pickpocketing was one of the only few tricks Five had taught her- never how to hold a gun though, said she was too pure for it.

Making her way down to Five's room, she heard the boys shuffling and arguing inside,

"Fuck- KLAUS, I said chocolate!"

"It is chocolate my bro- only with a dash of-"

"Hey Five, where do you want the presents?"

"By the table you big ape."

"Klaus, please get a decent cake."

Cake? Opening the door, which as per expectations was unlocked, she met with 4 pairs of panicked eyes, a pair belonging to her husband in a bathing gown, squeaky clean. She could see some balloons on the ground around a table, on top of which was a reddish cake, poorly wrapped boxes on the other end.

"Surprise~" Klaus sang weakly as Five face palmed, Diego hiding the gift he was holding in his hand behind him, Luther just standing there frozen. "What are you - what is happening?" she asked, entering the room, before looking around.

"Its- I thought you were asleep." he muttered going over to her as he held her hands, "Happy birthday my love." he smiled, kissing her forehead, "I'm sorry I didn't remember earlier, I don't know how it slipped my mind." he muttered, "I didn't get you anything special but-" he paused when he felt her envelope him in a hug, almost crushing the air out of him as she let out a small sob.

"Aw, don't cry" Klaus clapped from behind them as Five pulled her away, wiping her face with his sleeve. "We're here." Victor declared as they entered the room, Allison behind him, "I brought the pastries, which weren't cheap by the way- are we late?" She asked, eying Y/N who was busy unwrapping a gift.

"No, Mrs.Five Hargeeves was early," Diego said as he took the box of treats from her, and placed them on the couch. 

She gasped at the mini journal, flipping through the empty pages, ready for her to fill. Caressing the blue leather, she didn't know what she'd fill it with, but she knew by the end of the year it'd be filled to the brim. Honestly, she was surprised about how he remembered this, their little tradition, admist this chaos, he'd get her a journal each year, for her birthday, telling her that even if he was not there anymore, their memories would be engraved in letters, ones she could go through whenever she missed him. She didn't know when she had begun crying, only realized it when she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up to see Five, smile at her, not his usual cheeky confident self, but a smile of reassurance, one he gave her when he had rejected her confession, when the two had realized a child could never be part of their marriage when they had lost their little turtle.

"I'm sorry." he whispered, only for her to shake her head, "Please don't be, I'm just glad I'm with you."

"So am I."

None of them really knew what was going to happen to anyone, what was going to happen next, if there was ever a moment for them to find their own happy ending, but at the end of it, she knew that Five would find a way. She believed in that blindly, after all, he was her savior, he was her knight in shining armor sent to pull her away from her mundane life, he was her Zorro or Hercules- her idiot husband. Her one true love.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A/N: Thank you @imherefortea for requesting this and an EXTREMELY BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I am so sorry for how long this took- it's a shit load of, I lost motivation, and I thought since I missed the deadline I'd write something longer to my laptop stabbing me in the back like Brutus. EITHER WAY- I hope you like it and thank you so so so so very much for being this patient with me.

TUA Taglist: @imaginesfire

@placidpluto  , 

@achingwoundforaheart

 ,  @esmaada

 @samyourneighbor

 , @xuenihao

 @whoreofscience

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 @yuuki4646

@simpformoonkight

 @crowleysqueenofhell

@anapotatowriter

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thank you, you lovely people for choosing to be part of my taglist ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊˚)- if you'd like to part of my TUA taglist, feel free to drop a message <3

[ar3-y0u-l0st]

》 🅃🄷🄴 🅄🄼🄱🅁🄴🄻🄻🄰 🄰🄲🄰🄳🄴🄼🅈

Requests: Open / Closed

"There's no such thing as good guys and bad guys, there's just people"

> Five Hargreeves

- LUTHER HARGREEVES

- DIEGO HARGREEVES

- ALLISON HARGREEVES

- KLAUS HARGREEVES

- FIVE HARGREEVES

You're my favourite drug

- BEN HARGREEVES

- VANYA/VIKTOR HARGREEVES

---------------------------------------------------

(*) Will not, under any circumstances, write smut

(**) If you're into them then I won't deprive you ig

[ur-fav-inactive-writer]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

Uncle!Klaus x Niece!Reader | Recommended by: @popfishjr

WC: 688

It was a dark Saturday evening, your father, Diego, was out doing... whatever Diego does on a dark Saturday evening. So, you decided, what better to do than hang out with your favourite uncle, Uncle Klaus. You rolled out of bed and reached for the phone. Klaus was never busy on a Saturday, usually he would spend his Saturdays with you, so you called him and told him to come pick you up. He agreed, excitedly talking about what he had planned.

"Oh my, dear, dear (Y/N/N), you will LOVE what I have planned today!"

Intrigued, you questioned what he meant however he refused to tell you. Excited to find out what he meant, you rushed to get ready and waited to hear the honk of the horn to tell you that Klaus was there and ready to collect you.

~*~*~*~*~

As you finished doing your hair, you heard the HONK and rushed to put your shoes on and get out of the house. As you shut and locked the door, you turned around to be greeted with the sight of your uncle sat in his car with a child-like smile on his face. Quickly, you walked up to the car, pulled the door open, and sat down next to your uncle.

"Will you tell me what we're doing now?"

"Nope, no chance, you'll find out soon enough!"

As you drove further into the city, you were greeted with bright, fun-coloured lights and you felt the car slow down. Finally, you realised what Klaus had planned. He was taking you to a carnival. You grinned happily, and looked over to Klaus. As you pulled into the parking lot, you got hit with memories from years back when you went to the carnival with Klaus and your dad.

You got out of the car and Klaus grabbed you by the sleeve and dragged you to some of the rides. You screamed from the thrill and held onto your uncle on the rides. Laughs and shrieks of happiness were all that emanated from you and your uncle. Dizzy from the rides, you stumbled over to the cotton candy stands, you giggled as you shared it with your uncle. He reached into his pockets and realised quickly he didn't have enough money to keep paying for all the fun things the both of you wanted.

"Hey, (Y/N/N)? Don't tell your Dad about what I'm about to do."

You looked at him, perplexed, as he stood from the bench and walked over to a wealthy-looking man. You sat there, staring at him, unknowing to what he was about to do. Sneakily, he reached into the mans pockets and pickpocketed some money. You gasped but as Klaus held a finger to his lips playfully you couldn't help but let out a small laugh. You knew Klaus shouldn't be doing that but you were used to a lot of his illegal shenanigans.

Before he could get too far from the man, the victim of the theft realised what had happened and turned around to see Klaus with his money. You heard the man shout and he began to chase Klaus and you. You shot up from the bench, hearing a string of 'Shit!' fall from Klaus' mouth. You ran as fast as you could with your uncle, you ran through some attractions, hoping to lose the man. The man hadn't lost you and Klaus but he had been significantly slowed down so there was now quite a bit of distance between you and the man. You managed to make it to the car and threw yourselves in and sped off before the man could reach you.

As you slowed down, realising the man couldn't get to you anymore, the panic wore off and you and Klaus began to laugh hysterically. You laughed about the incident all the way back to your house. After a long day, you both stumbled into the living room. Too tired to change or even go up to your room, you and klaus collapsed onto the couch and fell asleep quickly.

As chaotic as it was, you deemed it a pretty successful day.

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Really hate this but hope you enjoyed reading!!! <3

Taglist: @shefollowedthestars @book-place

[eternal-armin]

'CAUSE HE THINKS he's made of candy.

i think this is the longest thing i've ever written here, around 6.7k words and i had to revise it a lot because it took up too much space ;;; the title is a reference to candy by robbie williams because that song slaps hard

pairing : five hargreeves x male/transmasc reader. [he/him pronouns]

─────

where : after surviving the apocalypse together and saving the world, things finally return to normal, in good ways and in bad ways.

─────

warnings : mentions of trauma, some light mentions of gore, reader has a congenital insensitivity to pain and find getting injured amusing, so... a lot of that kind of trouble. i totally wanna do another part or so because klaus and diego being father figures gives me life

you walked through the half-dark house, making your way to five's room like you had many times, skateboard in one hand and phone in the other. making sure you hadn't waken anybody up, you opened the door, greeted by the expected sight of a dark bedroom and the sound of gentle snoring. "five, wake up~," you whispered, half singing, shaking his arm, steadily waking him up. he looked annoyed, his brow already furrowed and a frown already tugging at his lips, but he wasn't angry. he was rather used to it by now, in all honesty. "your favorite person ever in the entire world is here!" you hummed. five could basically smell the grin you wore.

"and i wish he would go away," he grumbled in response, trying to turn back over and go back to sleep, only for you to flick on the light and blind him. "jesus christ, a fucking―a warning next time, please?"

"shove your warnings up your ass, five, you can miss out on your middle schooler sleep schedule for a night."

"many nights, actually," he hissed distastefully, giving a mourning glance to the cozy pillow before he sat up, now disappointingly awake. "what do you want this time?" the grogginess was now leaving his voice, but not really his eyes. five almost looked nice when sleepy, even if he looked pissed as hell at being woken up. at least your face was a little more pleasant to look at now that you were back to your teenage self.

"let's go shopping."

five looked at you like you were utterly insane, then slowly looked over at his clock. he cocked his head at you. "it's almost midnight."

"mm, did i stutter?"

"i wish you did. i'm not going shopping with you at midnight. no place is even open." five tried to put his foot down. he was a steel wall to anyone else. but to you―perhaps for you, he was simply a clay plot, one easy to crack the more water you filled it with. it was nice to spend time with you without the entire world desolate and destroyed around you, at least.

"who said the place had to be open?" you shot back with a cheeky grin. five wished that he could be surprised with your blatant delinquency. at some points it had done you both well and your affinity for breaking rules, laws, and regulations gave you a peculiar resourcefulness, but now that you were both safe and home, well... you'd become a mischievous troublemaker. just how you used to be.

"... how the hell did we ever become friends." his voice was utterly flat and his expression exhausted and peeved and yet he still stood up, shrugging the blankets off of himself, heading to his closet because he would be damned if you were going to get hurt and he wouldn't be there to laugh at you.

well, you didn't really get hurt, did you?

"i dunno, but i'm sure you regret your decision." five didn't respond to that. "i will satiate your worries, though, old man, it's an abandoned mall this time."

"wow. character development. didn't expect that from you." with the newfound information he searched for something decent to wear. something that allowed him to move and remain covered by shadows should any unsavory things come to pass.

"hey, hey, i went from crying when i stepped on an ant to killing people, and even if that's negative character development, it's still character development, okay? stop underselling me." you leaned against the wall next to his door, skateboard lounging beside you, picking at your nails. he finally took a full glance at you now that sleep was totally gone from his mind and his body, narrowing his eyes. you were wearing jean shorts, an old nirvana t-shirt, and a hawaiian button-down completely unbuttoned. at least you were wearing knee-pads this time around, but that was all the praise he could give you. five still found himself stunned that you so brazenly didn't care about how visible your scars were; scars from broken bones, scrapes, cuts, gashes, burns, stabs, bullets, shrapnel. you paraded them about like they were boy scout badges which was almost hilarious because you never learned anything from the incidents which now lined your body. even though five would never do it himself, and in fact found it incredibly weird, he kind of respected it. admired it, even. but just that one thing, nothing else. never.

"what, see something you like, old man?" you mused, going from fidgeting with your fingers to looking him in the eye, your own glinting with a bit of cheekiness. not the worst thing to be woken up to in the middle of the night.

five scoffed. "never in my life." you rolled your eyes at that sarcastic response and your grin did not fade. "you're―you're seriously wearing that?"

"hey, i dress my age, mr. retired-man-with-dementia-who-only-remembers-how-to-play-bingo, alright? leave me be." neither of you were bothered by bickering whilst five changed from pajamas to day clothes. he wasn't getting totally naked, so neither of you really gave a shit.

"'dress your age'..." he muttered. "you dress like a blind tween."

"thanks, hot stuff."

"that wasn't a compliment."

"i literally could not care less," you shot back, then winked at him, adding, "lovingly."

five faked a chuckle in some sort of hum sound, shooting you a falsified grin before returning to what he was doing. "i don't want your love. i'm good."

you frowned a bit yourself, which was totally and utterly unnerving and made five, somehow, regret what he said a little bit. "ouch, dude, tell me how you really feel."

"you couldn't comprehend even the most elementary of my emotions, so i'll spare you the headache." he glanced at you a few times, more so at that lingering twinge of unhappiness that so brazenly took over your expression. those words were typically the closest you would ever get to verbal reassurance or comfort from five, not just because he was completely incapable of voicing his own emotions properly, but because physicality did more for you than talking ever did; so, with a comfortable, neutral flannel now hiding his previously exposed torso, he placed a hand on your shoulder. he was always gentle with you, which completely didn't make sense because if anyone in the world needed to be treated gently it would certainly not be you.

a little smile found its way back on your lips. now reassured that not everything was wrong with the world, five pulled on a dark sweater and paperboy cap. you looked him over. "you really look like a retiree now," you mused, but it wasn't an insult. he looked nice like this, out of that hellish uniform, and never could you imagine him in anything else. "do you wanna hit the golf course too, gramps? i'm sure they got some mocktails for you since you wanna keep the drinking to a minimum tonight."

"shut it before i make you." he spoke through gritted teeth, jabbing a finger at you, only succeeding in making you grin.

"is that a threat or a promise?" you clicked your tongue, picking up your skateboard and heading for the door before he could say anything else. "the old tree is, like, a twenty-five-minute walk."

"i'll just blink us, i'm not spending another thirty minutes with you on a skateboard on rough sidewalks, i don't even wanna think about what would happen this time."

"it was so cool, though! i never thought a compound fracture could look like that!"

"[y/n], you only think it's cool because you couldn't feel the pain."

"uh, yeah," you said back, raising a brow at him while he shut off the light to his room and closed the door behind you two. "but it was still cool." you had your bubbly little grin again and five rolled his eyes. despite all that trouble, all that excessive worry he would never admit to feeling, five still looked back somewhat fondly on those times. back when you were ten, still learning how to skateboard, and your parents didn't even give you a helmet or joint pads, when you broke your ankle and didn't even know something had happened until five pointed it out.

after taking one hell of a tumble, hearing the board crack a bit beneath you, you let out a breathless huff, allowing yourself a moment to absorb the sudden shift in, well, everything. five perked up at the sound, surprised you weren't crying or something after falling like that. you stood up and brushed yourself off like nothing was wrong, peering strangely down at the board, which had no damage. you pushed it back and forth once or twice with one foot and it seemed undamaged. that was weird. you'd heard it break, right? five came up to your side, glancing you over once or twice, before his eyes settled down at your feet. "you've got a little something on, uh―" five cut himself off, eyes wide, and you knew that shit was bad when he looked at you like that. he looked about as shocked as one could be, and that unnerved you to no end.

"what? what, did i..." you looked down at your shirt to make sure you hadn't torn it up or anything or were totally exposed, somehow completely not noticing the broken ankle on which you were unsteadily standing, chalking it up to you still half-standing on your skateboard. "what, i don't see what's wrong this picture. stop being cryptic with me, man, you know i'm dumb as shit."

"well―i mean, you aren't wrong about that 'dumb as shit' thing, but i think you just fully busted your ankle." his curtness was plain and simple, and you had already known back then that it would be a constant in his attitude. you looked down, then back up, your eyes wide and mouth twisted as you poorly suppressed a grin and a very annoying giggle. "don't look at me like that! how―how are you not feeling it? that would hurt like hell!" he kept gesturing down at your ankle, at the protrusion of bone and reddening, swelling skin.

"i dunno, i just can't feel it," you mumbled. he pursed his lips, simultaneously in disbelief at what you were saying and knowing that you were too shit at lying to pull this kind of thing off. all of a sudden, his mind was screeching like a fork in a garbage disposal. not being able to feel pain was kind of a bad thing.

he had actually been right, to no one's surprise, when you were diagnosed with congenital analgesia. that incident had marked the day where five silently vowed to be there to protect you, because you were alone except for him. and, to a certain extent, he was alone except for you.

"god really was fucked up when he made you, wasn't he," he muttered.

you both headed downstairs and the clock, by now, was probably around twelve. klaus waited at the bottom of the staircase with the cheekiest of smirks on his face, hands clasped together and his cheek leaning against them. you let out an exhausted groan, thinking you'd missed this tonight.

"something tells me he's super weird-dad tonight."

"why are you surprised, he's klaus, and he's basically your dad."

klaus let out some weird giggle. "i mean, i prefer the thought of being the really cool uncle who teaches you how to smuggle alcohol and how to juke rehab therapists, but i don't mind being a dad." he stepped in front of you two, hands now extended, and that dopey uber-proud dad smile back. "oh, just look at you two!"

"i thought you were sober," five said flatly.

"come on, you two are perfect together! your over-the-top chaos," he gestured to you, "and your sterile literalism!" and he gestured to five. "i'm just waiting for you two to make it official, i mean, two guys don't just survive fifty years in the apocalypse together only from a platonic bond." you and five shared a wide-eyed glance. "don't worry, if my cupid abilities don't get you two together, hormones will. i can't imagine going through puberty twice, let alone the sexual tension between two guys who can't admit their love for one another―"

you put your face in your hands, utterly embarrassed, whilst five was utterly unsurprised. a similar conversation had gone down before, and he just hated reliving it. "okay! that's enough. okay, okay, uh, we're gonna go! if you contact me within the next seven days, i will call child protection services and the police." of course, the threat was empty, but hyperbole was the best way to get your point across. klaus raised his hands in surrender and stepped out of your way. he did enjoy the picture of you two, though; the two extremes on opposite sides of the social attitudes spectrum, one extroverted to the point of it being a flaw and the other antisocial to hell; the opposite sides of the fashion spectrum, one being well-put together mature vintage, and the other being power-clashing at its finest. the multicolored shoelaces were also an appreciated detail.

"i love you too, my little schneke."

"... stop calling me a snail, i'm―i'm not slow."

"maybe not physically," five said quietly to you, and in response you jabbed him in the side with a quiet 'fuck you.' on that cheerful note, you two went about your way. the front door clicked closed behind you, and in a flash of blue-tinted light, you were gone, and the house was mostly silent. klaus was soon joined by allison, quietly making her way downstairs, the only remaining light sleeper of the family.

"you really are just laying on that matchmaker thing, aren't you." she sounded drowsy and awake at the same time. klaus greeted her with a simple smile and a single nod.

"i mean, aren't they just the perfect couple?"

"they certainly were standing next to each other," allison mumbled.

seeing five frustrated was worrying. staring down at his clenched fists, blue light barely rippling out like ice spreading over a metal surface. and so when you passed him, even when he did not notice you, you touched his shoulder, finding yourself in another time. "h-hey, uh, five―" you managed, feeling nauseated as yet again he travelled to some time else.

"get off of me, [y/n], you shouldn't be here!" he looked at you with anger, more like fury, but it was a weird cocktail because it was mixed with a very weird concern. suddenly the world around you two zipped away and was replaced with one of fire, ruined buildings, complete and utter desolation of what was once a world, once compiled with many lives and now every single one was snuffed out because a different roaring fire took everything with it. both of you stood in shock for a few seconds but your cool nature was the first to crack.

"five?! five, where are we?" your voice cracked and your chest tightened, whipping your head around because you thought if you turned fast enough you would be back home.

"like hell if i know, [y/n]! why didn't you let go of me?!"

"i wouldn't have been home anyway, five! i would be just as stranded, i―we―someone needs to be alive, right? someone?" both of you seemed to have the same idea click into your minds, stumbling into weak runs to find the umbrella academy. the building had once stood grand and tall and foreboding and now it was down to the foundations. your friends, his siblings, were gone. he fell to his knees and you turned around, horrified at the world but at least free from the stinging pain of heat and dust whipping into your skin. you felt as cold as ice in a world of fire and heat because, buried amongst the broken homes, were the only family you both had. just older, and... dead. in very painful, excruciating ways.

for all those years, you thought it had been you that stranded you in the apocalypse together; you had distracted him, you had ruined it all, and you never forgave yourself. you hid it well. but five never came out with the same thought process because he didn't believe it in the slightest. he'd already been struggling to transport himself to the time he wanted. maybe you'd exasperated things just a little, but it wasn't entirely your fault. never.

you both allowed yourselves time for the mental breakdown you so dearly deserved, but the time was coming to man up and start trying to find ways to survive. joined at the hip didn't really cover how close you were over those decades, how you couldn't sleep unless you were besides each other, how you protected five because you wouldn't feel the pain and how he always patched you up while cursing you out and still kissing the wound better because it always properly calmed you down, at least more than any words could. you took the brunt of the pain, weaponizing your congenital analgesia and using it as a defensive plan. it worked. even when the handler came around, especially when the handler came around, no defense quite matched yours.

"i should've left you back near the academy building," five muttered, wrapping makeshift bandages around your... well, your practically crushed arm. his voice was gruff now, and not just from the unpleasant living situation, but you were both nearing your thirtieth birthdays. you'd both filled out. you kept gazing at him whenever he patched you up, and even though his words were sour, his touch was sweet.

"what're you looking at, dipshit."

"nothing much."

"fuck you."

"you first."

five grinned a bit. some things never changed.

"wow. this place really didn't age well." the old liberty tree spanned out in front of you with basically no windows left intact, and beyond them a black void without any electricity in the circuits. the outdoor walls were crawling with ivy, the grounds fuzzy from overgrown plants on unkempt laws, and the concrete of the structure looked about ready to crumble. you'd come here a few times in your pre-apocalyptic childhood. it had been coming down for a long time after a few bigger malls came into the picture, carrying more stores, more variety, more fast food restaurants in the food court. now its charms drew only you in as 'how sick would it be to die crushed under the ceiling of an abandoned mall?'

"it's super cool, right?" you giggled, giddy as all hell. your attitude toward liminal spaces had stayed remarkably the same over the years. always, when passing by some tired old house, you nagged five to just take a peek.

"i don't think so, no."

"well, you're friends with me, so i don't think you really have good taste, so i'm gonna ignore that comment and think you said yes." try as he might, and he desperately did, five couldn't bring himself to hate that glint in your eyes when you looked at him. pure, raw curiosity with an undertone of excitement and glee that you were exploring some boring, abandoned place with him of all people. you set down your board and took your place standing on top of it and before five could scold you for skating on very uneven ground, you took off, ducking and pulling a small ollie to get through the shattered pane of the glass main door. five sighed through his nose and followed you in, eventually greeted by the sound of your bluetooth speaker blasting something he couldn't make out by its echo.

"how could you possibly find this fun?" he almost had to shout to be heard. you were approaching again after going around the empty lobby for a few turns, just going faster and faster, losing more caution every time.

"because it's mindless and mostly not illegal!" you responded brightly. suddenly you got the fantastic idea to jump off your board and let it go flying and you followed the instinct, landing wrong on your foot and immediately heading straight for the ground. you would've landed hard, getting at least a deep bruise, if five hadn't caught you by your waist before you could break yet another bone, scoffing at your terrible decisions.

"there are millions of words in the english but none of them could ever describe just how incredible it is that you aren't dead yet," he said curtly, helping you stand back up. you were giggling.

the music was still playing and so you wrapped your arms around his neck, starting to sway and hum along to the eerily-echoing tune. he looked at you with confused horror, eyes narrowed slightly, not moving with you.

"don't give me that, shortstack!"

"i'm taller than you."

"i'm going to ignore that!" you chirped. "we're alive and out of hell, and we have been for, like, weeks now, it wouldn't kill you to dance a little bit!" your hair, bouncy from its messiness, danced almost more than you did as you moved it back and forth, singing whole-heartedly along to saint motel, keeping it a bit dialed back so that five wouldn't have his ears fully blown out by the volume. "who do you think'll see your shitty dance moves other than me? and we both know that i would be a total hypocrite if i insulted you for them."

"i don't dance."

"yeah, and i don't care. your hip won't give out if you use it for fun, fivey."

"don't... don't say that, actually." the cracks were staring to show, just as they always did with his clay pot attitude. you sputtered at the accidental innuendo.

"aw, c'mon, please? just this once?" it was no wonder that klaus was dead-set on his precious, unofficially-adopted son being in love with five, and also no wonder that diego was dead-set on keeping that same unofficially-adopted son as far away from five as possible. your puppy dog eyes were totally nauseating and deeply troubling and so he gave in, solely for the sake of his own sanity. he shut his eyes for a second, mumbling something along the lines of 'i should've killed you decades ago.' but he hugged your waist a little more purposefully and begrudgingly swayed a bit to the tune. the look of utter happiness on your face was, admittedly, kind of worth the wake-up call and following exhaustion.

"i cannot believe that you guilt-tripped me into dancing."

the happy music saw you getting a bit more creative, making up the moves as you went, whatever felt right. five let go of a little control to do the same, and found himself mildly enjoying it. would he do it again? not on his own accord. would you probably make him do it again? without a doubt. it was, however, nice to watch you enjoy yourself. he kind of wanted to dip you, but he didn't.

"you're a natural, though." clasping his hands and intertwining your fingers, you leaned back, and he found himself doing the same, both of you held upright by your grasps on the others' hands, and you started to move in a circle. for the sake of both your safety, five went about it too. walking turned into sideways jogging and you started giggling. the world around you both blurred. for five, it was just you now, just you, like it had always been. it had been a while since you'd held hands for so long but eventually it ended, much to five's dismay, and you went stumbling backward a few steps, falling hard on your ass whilst he quickly remained his balance. you were breathless for a moment after falling so suddenly, but eventually you just started laughing. five wiped his hands on his shirt, peering at you strangely.

"you didn't hear anything crack or whatever? nothing feels weird?" he spoke with no emotion in his voice and yet the words and underlying tone were careful and concerned. nobody else could hear it, but after so long, you could read his every move.

"no, nothing." you shook your head a bit, finding yourself dizzy. "nice to see you're still concerned."

he offered his hand out to you and you took it, and in a strong move, he pulled you up. "i wouldn't call it concern."

"well, then, what would you call it?"

good question.

you were sniffling and crying while trying not to sound it at all. of course, it wasn't from the pain, but from the total stress. sometimes it all just collapsed on you again and you were a hyperventilating, shaking kid again, too scared to turn off the light because the shadows freaked you out. five sat down beside you, leaning against the least-crumbling wall of the small shack you'd both been calling home.

"you're not really a crier," he began. "did something happen?"

"i-i almost got crushed and i saw my life fucking―flash before my eyes and i hated all of it. every single second. i wish i'd killed my parents, i wish i'd killed that landlord, i wish i'd killed my uncle―"

"wish all you want but that's not gonna happen, [y/n]." his voice softened. five was essentially the same as he had been when he was thirteen, just sprouted into someone who would've been one hell of a college freshman. "i wish i killed a lot of people too, but we're here, and we're here together, and―for what it's worth―i'm glad that you're alive." he settled a bit closer to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulder, pulling you, still sniveling, against him. "hating your childhood is pretty common where i'm from," he joked, successfully getting a wheezy chuckle from you, "and it's still possible to lead a decently okay life. i'm trapped in a terrible apocalypse, and it's not just external, but... it's a little better because i have someone else who's more insane to remind me that i'm right."

you chuckled yet again, snuggling against him. his warmth was better than the world's. "i think i only moved because i heard you call."

"seriously?"

"i-i mean, yeah." it was kind of hard to forget the feeling of stumbling away from a ton of hard reinforced concrete that would've left you as a reddish smear on an orange world. five's curt and somewhat annoyed call was the only thing that grounded you, and you both knew just how quick that faded.

"you really would be dead without me." his voice was quiet and deeply peeved but he didn't shy away from you, his hand remaining idly just against your hair.

"no shit, dumbass―trust me, i am well aware." you snorted to yourself and five sprouted a small amused smile on his own. eventually your smile dimmed a bit, and were reminded of the world in which you lived in, and the world from which you had come from. "why did you stick around?" your disheartened soul was reflected in those words, lined with a pure confusion. five furrowed his brow. apparently it was completely out of the realm of possibility to you for him to just care.

"... there was a lot of―"

"answer the question. please. j-just this once." five quieted a bit when he heard that. usually he was quite skilled at deflecting questions but you melted his resolve so easily. you asking a genuine question in a hauntingly low voice left five silent with no idea how to respond, even after all these years of dealing with your rollercoaster mannerisms.

"wrong place at the wrong time, i suppose." right place at the right time was better to describe it, maybe. "after you broke your ankle when we were ten, i guess i took it upon myself to make sure you didn't do any dumb shit that would end up in a gnarly death. whether you can feel it or not." so he'd appointed himself to be your protector?

"why? it wouldn't do you any good. well... it hasn't done you any good."

"do you really think i only do things if they'll give me an advantage?" five paused, not looking down to see the squinted eyes you stared at him with. "don't answer that question, actually. don't answer. it hasn't done me any good but i don't regret anything i did. not terribly, anyway."

your grin would make the cheshire cat blush.

five immediately regretted saying that. "don't let that go to your head, [y/n]."

"already there, bud."

his brow furrowed again, the corners of his lips twitching down in another frown. "alright. maybe it's partially concern. but fracturing your pelvis would be a very stupid way to die, and not worth laughing at, so i didn't want to miss out on a show." maybe there was some form of truth in that desire for a fun death, but you had that desire too, so small potatoes. it was silence between you two for a few seconds as you patted concrete dust off of your clothes and the backs of your thighs. "let me help," he said, and it was a demand and not an ill-cadenced suggestion. he stepped behind you and swiped away the strips you couldn't reach with a heavy hand. while he did so he carefully looked you over, even going to far as lifting your arms to check for any injuries. you were quite used to it by now.

"thanks," you mumbled. "still waiting for that broken leg."

"well, your plan wouldn't work anyway, because i can see your legs."

"yeah... i like my legs. i don't want one to go janky from a broken bone."

"it would be unfortunate."

"mmhm, so you agree."

five narrowed his eyes slightly, not getting what you meant for a second or two, before scoffing. "i don't think that your legs are nice."

"really?" you turned to look at him, and the teasing grin on your face was reassuring in how amused it was. you were just playing with him, but that was always the way you got him to inadvertently expel whatever he was thinking. you tilted your head, crossing your arms.

"don't give me that, [y/n], or i'll blink away and leave you here."

"there's ceiling access."

he pursed his lips. "alright, then leaving you alone here is completely out of the question, but i will find some way to make this miserable for you."

"what, why? why d'you wanna misery me?"

"you're dreadfully annoying, for one. i hate how you're always smiling, it gives you really bad wrinkles. you have the heart of a child because you're so immature and i don't know why the universe thought it would be funny to shove us two together, because god knows it would never happen normally, but here we are, much to my chagrin." five paused. you were accustomed to his rants by now. "your weird uncle-dad keeps trying to rush something which shouldn't be rushed, and i don't even know what level of weird that is but i hate being a part of it."

"rush something which shouldn't be rushed―what does that mean?" it was like you had selective hearing for the smallest freudian slips known to man. "what, do you need sixty more years to admit you've had some sort of big emotion or something?" it was mostly a jab, something meant to be funny, which was met with a stolid seriousness. you let out a near-silent 'oh' as the moment continued.

"yeah. turns out the crazy alcoholic was onto something, for the first time in his life." you snorted at the quip, nodding in agreement. both of you knew, dearly knew, that words wouldn't be the vessel of the confession, but both of you knew, dearly knew, that it was coming pretty fast. you'd just never think it would come this fast. klaus was really good at sniffing out a love arc, apparently. five felt like steel when he took your hands back into his, not because his biting sharp edges hurt you, no, and they never would, but he'd never done something in a manner such as this. with a few unspoken words the entire atmosphere of your relationship had been turned upside down and that was the scary part; he had no clue where to go from here.

"the worst part will be telling klaus he was right," you joked, swinging your arms in and out on socially-awkward instinct.

"you're telling me. he's gonna tout it around for the rest of time."

"we'll never live it down."

"i doubt you'll need to worry about that, i'll be surprised if you make it to your 16th birthday."

"you give me three years? seriously? you really think that my 58-year-old-13-year-old self can only survive three more years?"

"absolutely correct." you found yourself laughing and he found himself grinning, just slightly. the sound was pleasant, admittedly. he was more open with that now. well, barely, but it still counted. the silence that did follow this time around was almost pleasant. you were too nervous to maintain eye contact very long, so you glanced away from him and your gaze lingered on the random spot which it landed. plants had somehow found their way into the internal cracks of the floor, green shards glinting out in the pale light from the grimy sunroof.

"i never thought i'd see the day where you couldn't look me in the eyes. it's weird and i don't like it. look at me." your cheeks felt warm but you did as you were told. he smiled a little bit, and it didn't even hint at a snarky grin or smug smirk. you leaned forward and rested your forehead against his.

"i'm totally not telling klaus about this."

"neither am i, are you kidding?"

"never in my life," you giggled to yourself, graduating from holding his hands to wrapping your arms back about his neck, where it felt like they belonged. suddenly it was like he was new to embraces because his arms felt stiff when he hugged back, but he hugged back, tight. never before had you encountered something so gentle and so suffocating at the same time; gentle because he might break you, suffocating because he might lose you. neither of those would happen on his watch, of course. somehow, even with your wild self, your flaws and lack of capability to abide by laws and rules, you'd managed to charm the most level-headed, logic-addicted, cynical douchebag the world had ever seen. maybe there was some truth behind that old 'opposites attract' thing.

"do you wanna stick around this dingy place for a while longer like the psychopath you are or get food before you go to sleep so you don"t whine about being hungry?"

"am i really that predi—"

"yes."

"wow, you muttered, furrowing your brow. "i really am predictable."

"yes."

with just the will to prove him wrong you stood straighter and gave him a quick, albeit strong, kiss, and then you were right back on your feet. you caught him off-guard, that's for sure, because he looked like an android in the middle of uploading information; eyes slightly wide, brows slightly raised, pure subtlety. "how about that?"

it still took him a few seconds to respond after that, trying to regain his smug and blunt composure while also trying not to dampen the mood in any way. "you're terrible at convincing. give it another shot."

[princesssmars]

one last night

a five hargreeves x reader

its the end of the world. might as well make the most of it.

wc: 2.001

contains: fluff, angst, and swearing bc theyre all gonna die. five being a lovable grumpy shit. in my head five is physically the same age as aidan bc look at that mf and tell me hes 13 PLEASE.

a/n: the new season broke me so im writing this and reading fics to cope. i wrote it confusingly but the hand grab dance scene is based on that scene from the end of bridgerton season 2 bc kates eyes...i need to bring a man down with doe eyes like that fr. anyway hope yall enjoy.

.

well. this is it. the end of the world. the last days of your life. not how you imagined you'd go out, to be honest. you put the chances of dying during a commission assignment at about 98%. frankly a little low.

but you’d always been a little optimistic, so the remaining 2% went to your own personal fantasy. that maybe, one day, you'd retire from the commission. maybe use a briefcase to settle down somewhere of your choosing and live out the rest of your days in peace. and maybe, you would live out those days with your best friend. and, maybe, if you really wanted to push it, he'd turn from best friend to something more.

but that dream doesn't matter anymore, does it? you, along with your partner and his family had made the fuck up of a lifetime and created a kugelblitz - the end all of everything. its almost funny. how you'd given up most of your life to "fixing the timeline" just to end up ruining all of them.

hilarious.

so, here you are. in a shittily-lit hotel room getting dressed for a quickly put-together wedding at the end of the world.

god, how your life has changed.

you hear a knock at the door, saying a silent “come in.” to whoever stands behind it.

a soft smile graces your face when you see five enter the room. he stops a few steps from the doorway as he observes you, likely noticing how you'd dressed up more than usual. "you sure clean up nice, hargreeves." you tease, smiling as he does.

"well, you don't look half bad yourself." he takes in more of your outfit, looking you up and down. you feel your face heat up.

"a genuine compliment from the five hargreeves himself? it truly is the end of the world."

"im a man who tells the truth, you know this better than anyone." he keeps walking until he stands next to you, automatically raising his head so you can fix his tie.

"even when people don't want to hear it." you give him a knowing look as you do his tie for him. he knows how, but likes how you do it better. he likes to pretend you don't know.

"especially then."

when you finish fixing the tie, you smooth it over and run your hands over his vest. you look him in the eyes to see him already looking at you with an emotion in his that you can't quite place.

you want to ask him how he feels. about what happened when you went to the commission and saw everything you'd ever known just gone. about never getting longer than a day to just rest. about your impending doom.

about you.

he opens his mouth to speak but you both startle as a sharp knock sounds from the door.

you look over to see a slightly awkwardly standing viktor, who moves his hands to his pockets after gesturing to the hallway.

"hey, uh.. its time for us all to head down, the ceremony is about to start."

both of your lips purse into awkward smiles as he stands in the doorway for a few more seconds before exiting quietly.

its silent for a few more seconds as the two of you stand there. the moment has passed. yet again reminded of your fate.

he looks at you again with a soft yet slightly sad smile. "well, my dear, are you ready to face our imminent doom while getting stupidly drunk with my family?"

you laugh slightly at his dry delivery and grasp his hand in yours.

"ready as i'll ever be."

.

.

.

the ceremony is sickly sweet, perfect for the match-up that is luther and sloane. the way they look at each other during their vows pulls on your heartstrings. but you have to remind yourself that you're happy for them. there's no point in being jealous or sad now.

after the ceremony, you and your merry band of heroes make it to the dance floor, with you and allison heading straight to the drinks table. you watched her as she downed her glass in a few seconds, feeling bad at the state of the woman who you've come to know as a close friend. but if you were in her position you would have gone off the rails long ago. a voice in the back of your head tells you you have.

the reception is lovely, and the bride and groom very much in love despite the weirdness of it all. and the fact that they choose to prioritize and focus on their love rather than the apocalyptic events happening just outside…it gives you a sense of hope.

when reginald gives his speech it's safe to say everyone in the room is stunned. you've barely gotten to know three variations of the hargreeves patriarch but you know that he's far from a pleasant person. during late nights doing paperwork at the commission you and five would share stories about your respective childhoods, with his being as dark as you expected from the stand-offish man. but it felt nice to know that he trusted you so deeply.

after the initial reception, there's some downtime for everyone to indulge in the surprisingly above-average food from the hotel's bar and restaurant. you get yourself a plate before sitting at a table near the back of the room, silently eating and drinking and observing the family around you.

you're interrupted by lila pulling out and sitting in the chair next to yours, sitting sideways to look you dead on.

“would you please stop with the puppy dog eyes and make a move on that little turd? seeing the two of you dance around each other has made me sick for years.”

your voice sputters as you try to come up with an excuse, having not expected the girl to call you out so brazenly. she raises her eyebrows as she knows she got you stuck and you let out a sigh.

“it wouldn't matter if i did. even if he felt the same we’re all going to die in a day's time. and id rather not spend this last day with him awkwardly.”

“so you're going to die wondering? never knowing if he liked you back? and i thought i was dumber when it came to relationships.”

“that's still debatable.”

“hey!” she lightly punches you in the shoulder, laughing at your slight wince. “you know im right. not to get sappy but… it's much better when they know how much you care.

as she speaks her gaze wanders over to diego and you have to hold yourself back from rolling your eyes at the sight of their barely hidden lovesickness.

you were close to brushing off her comments again when her arm quickly juts out to knock into yours, lifting her chin slightly to the left. you turn your head and none other than five stands beside you, his hands stuffed into his jacket pockets before one comes out to lay flat in front of you.

“would you care for a dance, y/n?”

with his abnormally soft smile (and lila’s not-so-subtle jab to your other arm), you accept his offer and gently place your hand in his so he can lead you to the dance floor. you can’t help but notice how there's a slow song playing and the only other couple on the dance floor are the newlyweds.

he turns from leading you to standing right in front of you, the closeness taking you by surprise. he smiles at you, moving your hands to wrap around his arms as his go around your waist and shoulder.

“a waltz? seriously? you always seemed to hate those at the company dances.” you tease.

“probably because gertrude wallhaven would always try to dance with me.”

“she just had a little crush on you. lots of the women did. you were the five hargreeves, after all.”

five smiles at your words, starting the slow dance that you know by heart. “is that a bit of jealousy i hear?”

you scoff and roll your eyes. five always was a tease when he drank. “you’d like it to be, wouldn't you? ever the conceited one.”

he huffs a short laugh, swinging you around quickly so you do the same. “well, that is one reason.”

“and what may be the other one, if you would be so kind as to inform me.” you smile up at him, the alcohol starting to take an effect on you and cause you to become more open than usual.

“that I'm deeply in love with you and its been driving me crazy-ow!”

your mind is completely blank for a few seconds before you realize that not only have you stopped dancing but you that you also just crushed five’s foot with your own.

“oh my god, five, im so sorry,” you quickly trying to apologize and help your struggling partner. he stands up as straight as he can, slightly bent on his right side as he waves your worries off.

“peter donahue always did say you had a killer stomp on the dance floor. now i can see why he kept going to the infirmary.” five gives you a strained smile, taking your hands in his again.

“just another one of my many talents.”

you both restart your dance, this time with no words shared. five occasionally tries to hold eye contact with you, and you make sure to avoid it every time. you don't know what to make of his confession. if it was heartfelt or a spur-of-the-moment confession that was given since you would all be dead within a day. you knew as soon as you looked into his bright eyes you would crumble.

but five knew that like he knew everything about you. he took your hand and grasped your fingers together before bringing your arms above your heads and bringing them down between you, and you cant help but stare into his eyes as he does the same.

“please tell me you meant it. because if you didn't then i don't know what i’d do.” you plead, grasping his hand to your chest.

“do you remember that mission in bali, where we had to terminate that guy who found a cure for cystic fibrosis? we there for maybe two hours and you kept complaining about the heat.”

“it was a steady 80 degrees and we were wearing commission suits, of course i was miserable.”

“im aware. it was when we finally killed the guy and you took some of his cash to get some better clothes and you somehow managed to convince me to come down with you to the beach. we were sitting in the sand and it was annoying as all hell but you seemed so happy that i couldn't even complain. and i just knew.”

your chest tightens. “knew what?”

“that i loved you. that i still do. and that i’m an idiot for waiting so long to tell you. guess our impending doom and the cheap liquor finally gave me the courage to say something.” he finishes, holding you close as you stand in the middle of the dance floor. you know some of his siblings are bound to be staring because of the close display but you can find it in you to care. all that matters is that you finally have the love of your life in your arms, even if just for a short while.

“not to be pushy but i haven't heard an “i love you” back so im getting pretty worried over here.” five jokes, staring at you with love but worry in his eyes

you laugh at five’s joke, bringing your lips to his cheek to give him a short but sweet kiss. “i love you too, partner.”

“good. now, what do you say we get drunk off our asses and have the best night of our lives with my dysfunctional family?

you smile. “i couldn't ask for anything better.”

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