#see I feel confident (have worked here for 11 months and everyone seems to like me) until I don’t (temp worker definitely applied)

[waspgrave]

Wakes up at a crisp 7 am with Anxiety about my job interview in 4 days. Getting it would change my life but genuine good things so rarely happen so I’m sweating

[dxdoha]

yaaaay, she's finally in! hi everyone, it's sera or sarah (whichever you prefer because i like both) and i'm here with my girl, bae doha - a tier c agent who mostly works in espionage, a girl can show many sides to her personality simultaneously which is probably considered crazy to most people but i swear it's not her fault. if any of your muses want to engage in some wild shenanigans, please do like to plot and i'll come over to u to plot and possibly share discords if you want that! i'll put a hopefully (?!) shortened little summary of her under the cut! if you want something more in depth, you can look at her profile here as well!

when i decided to write her, automatically i thought of spy x family as a tiny part of her backstory was inspired by it if you couldn't tell already!!

doha in a way, is trying to figure out the cause of her parents' deaths, as in who turned their house into a fire cockpit so she has been trying to get her hands on documents or sensitive information on any villain she can encounter on missions (if she feels as if they could be the cause of it).

by the way, she was about to die too in that house but her mom basically protected her til the very end and she did survive long enough to be saved.

from the orphanage she stayed at, that was when her abilities started to go out of control and she would manifest like multiple copies of herself so they'd have an extra two dohas running around. doha was just that one kid who stands in the corner, a lonely kid but with the ability to make clones of herself, people see her differently.

she got adopted at the age of 11 from super spy parents and you'd think that normal parents look for a child because they just want a normal little happy family, right? well it was like shopping to them when they decided to take doha home. her powers intrigued them and everything and they thought simply having a baby was too much work.

went into school fairly early, like a month after she got taken home from the orphanage. private school in korea pretty much, which had her parents pull some strings in order to get her into it but it worked, due to her mom's profession. went there until she was able to pass exams in order to enter the academy, which she ultimately joined once she was sixteen. finished in the top five basically, barely made it up there actually!

has been a tier c agent for not even a full six months? she's still pretty new. she has gotten better at espionage though due to her father's teachings in combat and her mom tries to help her temper her own emotions; got her charm from her.

you can be charming and be a loser at the same time, that's doha basically. the number of times she embarrasses herself during a mission was plenty but thankfully no one notices.

but anyone can definitely find other sides to her if they encounter any of her clones around doha's vicinity. just a warning that one may be meaner than the other or one much more confident and less embarrassing than the original. in the end, they are all still her. real doha is more empathetic at least.

all still her in terms of personality, ones that are buried i guess!

plot ideas anyone?

so many orphaned kids in this rp so maybe there was one that was in the same one as doha and witnessed her powers go out of control?

you dropped some sensitive information somewhere out in public that could make or break you on accident and now doha managed to find it?

met one of doha's clones out and about and then you meet doha herself and she seems completely differently from the one you met earlier? because that happens sometimes.

fellow spies apart of n.e.p.a, rise up!

not gonna lie, i am a big fan of romance whether it becomes something or not so like... maybe there is someone who just completely charms her by doing something cool and badass.

two terribly lonely souls drinking at a bar to have fun, or go to a cute bakery to have a perfectly crafted cake all to themselves.

frenemies? rivals? we love those! two people who love to compete with one another every chance they get or just one of them waiting for the other to fail / embarrass themselves so they can laugh? it's endless.

for a more serious plot... maybe you heard about that one family who became collateral damage to a villain attack and you suspect doha was apart of it in some way? as in she was effected by it? or you've been in the medical field and suspect something instantly? public isn't aware of it.

if nothing else, we can brainstorm! that's a-okay with me too!

[wilsons-striped-ties]

march tc challenge (days 1-31 oneshot)

original post here!

1. Has your TC ever helped you with any personal issues?

no but he knows of some of them now!

2. Have you ever embarrassed yourself in front of your TC?

ALL THE TIME UGH but not really HAHA just an awkward bumbling rambling blushing mess 24/7 365 oh but there was one time when i was still working in the canteen at high school and i accidentally served him the wrong coffee LMAOOO that was so embarrassing ugh

3. What was your most memorable moment with your TC?

when i gave him the cupcakes for his birthday? if not, when he always uses me for examples or when he made me get up in front of the class to plan an extra lesson during the holidays because no one was listening to him and so i got to suit the timing to myself HAHAH

4. Have you ever thought of getting over your TC?

mango yeah, passion fruit i don't see the point in getting over him anytime soon HHAHAHA

5. What song would you use to tell your TC about your feelings for him/her?

...secret love song? favourite by isabel larosa

6. What would be the perfect way your TC would admit his/her feelings for you?

ANY WAY IS OKAY

7. What would be the perfect way you would admit your feelings for your TC?

in a note probably, along with something baked so he can ignore it if he wants to

8. What is the one thing that made you fall for your TC?

he takes the time to know me and he remembers what we talk about and he always seems genuinely happy to see me around even though i literally used to come back every month or something and he's really thoughtful actually

9. Has your TC ever given you something as a gift?

a handwritten note to everyone in my class and a copy of the school's semester one magazine cause i asked for it

10. Is your TC in a relationship? If yes, have you met their girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/etc.?

married, haven't met his wife before but i've seen his youngest kid (he has three)

11. What quote best describes your feelings for your TC?

i have the perfect one:

"don't walk past me like a stranger," i say. and i laugh so he doesn't know that i'm begging, that i really mean /how am i supposed to live without you when i started living because of you/.

12. What type of man/woman is he/she?

he's an interesting man. most only know him surface level, scary, good teacher, goofy classes, but underneath he is the biggest softie ever, he's sweet and thoughtful and he has so random lore and he's interesting in general

13. Is your tc married/has children/has pets?

married with three kids

14. Cutest thing he/she told you.

"are you not gonna do the customary?" (he meant me taking a picture with him)

15. What would you do if your TC would be drunk and tell you that she/he loves you?

tell him he's drunk but maybe find a way to quietly confess too and go home and scream about it but hope he doesn't remember it

16. Has your TC ever said anything to you that hurt your feelings?

successfully, nope! he just sometimes leaves me on read and i'm like :<

17. Do you know anything about your TC other students don’t know?

I KNOW SO MUCH THEY ALL DONT KNOW MUAHAHAHAHA i know his favorite fruit his birthday some things that the printing lady in my school has said some things that the canteen auntie has said and generally quite a lot of things, probably the extent of his leg injury too

18. Have you and your TC grown closer since the beginning of your relationship?

FOR SUREEEE

19. If I was your TC, what would you say to me right now?

I DONT KNOW I'd say hi and maybe just chat with him a little?

20. Tell us three things you want to tell him about you.

my birthday, maybe my struggles and whatever he wants to know about me!

21. What is the nicest thing your TC has ever said to you?

he always says that he has full confidence in me and today he said college was a time for me to spread my wings and he's just so encouraging towards me OH and on teacher's day he said that whatever i bake is always nice HEHE

22. Have you ever told your TC anything you wish you hadn’t told them?

nope, i think?

23. What was your first impression of your TC?

the moment he walked in on the second lesson (cause first lesson i was doing orientation duty) i already knew history was going to be my favourite lesson because it was instantly goofy and interesting from the start

24. If you could date your TC without anyone knowing, would you?

I WOULDDDDDDDDD

25. Is there something your TC does that makes you smile every time he/she does that?

every time he initiates a picture with me, or when he waves to me with that shy smile of his and im like aflsdfjkdgbljkahfkjdshkd sir-

26. Does your TC have any cute/weird/funny habits?

he always uses this emoji 😊 and every time he will text 'lol' in all small letters but he's never said it out before and he always eats the same thing from the same stall and will make it a point to talk to the drinks stall and the stall i worked at before going home

27. What is your favourite moment with your TC so far?

maybe when i gave him cupcakes for his birthday, but also every moment is my favourite moment with him because it's always unique in a way despite the circumstances being the same some times hehe

28. Imagine you graduated and you���re in a relationship with your TC. You told your parents about your relationship but they don’t support you. What would you do?

too bad i guess????

29. Do any of your friends/family know that you have a TC?

yeah my sister publicly teases me about passion fruit until my mother knows and my father and grandma knows to a certain extent and everyone knows i favour him but my junior does ship me a little bit in a sarcastic way

30. How do you think your TC would react if they’d find your blog?

if i'm being VERY honest he'd probably be curious and maybe even confront me about it but he won't be too bothered by it i guess?

31. What is the weirdest dream you’ve had about your TC?

don't have one eh

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 97

Chapter 97: “The Future You Want”

Sending little praise towards the younger kids and how they could follow along with all the secrets that were stored inside the pen cap. It’s a lot of information to take in at once.

I kinda like how it seems her voice waivers a bit when she states she doesn’t want war. Though we know she’s so against Norman’s eventual annihilation plan in later arcs, you can sorta perceive the wavy speech bubble as if she’s uncertain about the idea at the moment and how she might be anxious to actually admit it to others here, since Emma seems much more confident in her stance by ch130.

Showcasing very similar feelings back to ch35 when she considered the four other houses at GF and wanted to help those other children out as well.

She has the biggest heart of gold I’ve seen. She could very well only focus on her family just like Yuugo and his Glory Bell family had during their time in the shelter, but she wants more than to simply survive. She wants to live and be free and she’ll work hard towards that kind of world not only for herself or her family, but for everyone.

Nat does have some valid concerns and he’s asking the right questions, but you’re usually pessimistic honey, more often than not.

I’ll take all those precious smiles as a big hell yeah! Damn, they’re so adorable and supportive of Emma no matter what. They would go to the ends of the earth for her simply because they love her so much.

I love seeing the GP and GF kids interact with one another, especially that head pat Violet gives to my boy Chris! Aww!

The GF kids supporting their older sister is one thing, but having everyone from GP willingly lend their assistance to Emma and her plan is so sweet considering Emma has only known them personally for a couple days (since she was in that coma for a good month) and yet they’re all so loyal and thankful to her already.

The only thing that’s necessary is someone slapping you in the face repetitively and I volunteer myself to do so.

Favorite panel/moment:

We totally needed to see more of the kids teasing Yuugo. Also, Thoma and Lani would look up to Gillian so much. The three of them could cause so much trouble.

End of volume 11.

[fizzingwizard]

A few months ago I was complaining to my mom that family restaurants and other cheaper food places here had gone all fat all the time. Everything is fried, everything is meat-based. Hard to find any vegetables at all on a lot of the most common menus.

The yen tanking and issues related to covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war really drove places to cut back, increase prices while offering less overall. But the absence of vegetables was stunning to me. Talk to anyone, in Japan or out, and they'll say oh, the Japanese diet is so healthy. And even though we're talking about eating out, which is considered special and you don't necessarily expect the same dishes you'd make at home, people would really be surprised, I think, by how hard it was just to find even veggie sides. (This is restricted to the cheaper places, especially chain restaurants that like to keep costs low - if you go out to eat at a real restaurant-y restaurant in Japan I feel confident that you'll never be disappointed.) Japanese food is about color and balance, and for a very long time that extended to youshoku as well. That's one reason why when you go out for something like tonkatsu, you always get cabbage, and probably miso soup and Japanese pickles as well.

A few years before covid, I feel, is when I started to see things change. Maybe the expectation of so many foreigner tastes arriving for the Olympics played a part too, idk. But I remember Yoshinoya, a fast food gyudon chain, used to have a delicious curry with carrots, onions, and potatos - cheap vegetables commonly found in Japanese curry. Then they got rid of it and have just the roux with meat now. And most places that do takeout curry are the same these days. One exception is Matsuya, which now has a "My Curry" off-shoot that lets you customize with veggie options. A while ago they were doing a veggie-heavy curry that I loved, but was only seasonal :( Probably because of the price of vegetables. But at least the usual onion/potato/carrot seems here to stay. But even curry-centric places like Cocoichi don't do much with veggies. Cocoichi's veggie curry is like a kid's curry, bits of carrot, potato, and green beans. There's a spinach option and an eggplant option too, but to me they're still just so uninspired. I don't really like Cocoichi curry though so that's probably part of it. It's a shame because curry is a GREAT way to get kids (and adults who've never developed a taste for veggies) not just to eat veggies, but to learn to like them. It worked for me - I definitely wish my parents knew about the magic of curry when I was little, because I don't really blame my younger self for getting sick of microwaved frozen cauliflower and baby carrots.

Anyway - all that to say, recently I've been noticing veggies making a comeback! Yoshinoya didn't bring back it's veggie curry, but it's got some salad options, including a gyudon that comes with veggies mixed in. (Which I might try tonight.) I've been noticing it other places too, especially convenience stores. Lawson and 7-11 have been boasting about their healthy options for years, but these past months I feel that I've begun to see variety and thought for nutrition that was pretty absent before. I wonder if prices for vegetables have gone down, or if restaurants just noticed that everyone was selling the same brown or beige food options with very little flavor differences. I'm happy, because it felt like a pretty important part of Japanese food culture was wasting away, and it's such a healthy and pretty to look at part. Yeah, it was just the chain restaurants, but the loss starts when major groups of people get priced out of values that used to be available to all. I hope Japanese food, whether it's traditional or Western, continues to value balance and color no matter how many people insist they really just want red meat and fried stuff.

[suck-my-tomato]

❝  did you come by for a reason or did you just want some company?  ❞ (post-modern c:)

@quiet-kunoichi

This was all planned out in his mind and there was absolutely no way it was about to go wrong. It was February 3rd, and valentine’s day was only 11 days away.. Sure, it was probably more typical to wait until the actual day to ask her to be his Valentine’s Day but Sasuke wanted more than just 1 day to treat her right (He had a lot of making up to do from their previous time dating in their youth that just 1 day couldn’t cover.) Sasuke and Cora had officially been done for a couple months now, Sasuke cut all ties with her and there was no way in hell he would be taking her back. Not after that long, and draining, conversation Sasuke had to have with Shikamaru when he brought this plan up during ‘guy’s night’ the other weekend. Everyone seemed so iffy about this, about Sasuke trying to get with Kimiko again.. And it was fair, the two of them never seemed to be able to be together without wanting to do something toxic or take something toxic. This time will be different, if Kimiko allowed it. 

Somehow between leaving his house with full confidence that his plan will work, and now sitting inside Kimiko’s home watching some comedy show with her.. His confidence is at an all time low. They have just made small talk between commercials and munching on popcorn, and the episode was at the end so eventually he was either going to have to say why he was here to make up some excuse to leave. ‘Why am I a grown ass adult having anxiety about asking her to be my Valentine’s day date?’ He couldn't help but to think to himself as he mindlessly chewed on some more popcorn. It is like the older and more sober he got, the stupider he got. 

“Did you come by for a reason or did you just want some company.” Kimiko broke through the sounds of popcorn crunching and recorded laughs. 

A quiet, embarrassed almost, laugh escaped from his lips and he went to rub at the back of his neck as a nervous tick but stopped himself just shy of reaching the spot. He didn’t want to seem nervous, he wasn’t really nervous.. But scared? Scared feels like the better term for this gut churning emotion happening inside of him right now. Scared of her saying no, scared of rejection. Scared of falling back into their old habits if she does say yes. “I had a reason..” He started out, readjusting himself on the couch so he was facing towards her with one leg pulled up on it with foot resting on his thigh, trying to seem like Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected when he was really Mr. Scared Shitless. 

“Valentine’s Day is coming up.. And I just wanted to see if you’d want to be my Valentine?” He asked but then quickly held up a finger for her to not speak just yet. “I know its early.. But my plan was to take you out a few days, or nights, each week to build up to an actual real nice date on the actual holiday… To try to make up for all the Valentine's Day dates we never got to have or the ones I didn’t do properly for you.” 

He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out one of the kiddy Valentine’s Day cards that kids passed out to each other in class. This one was a simple one with two black cats on it, their tails making a heart. “What do you say?”

[hotarutranslations]

With Hometown Performances

Evening

We got to have a concert in Miyagi,

As soone as it was over, It was over like, I'm too sleepy!, thats how I was but, One way or another,

I started watching the footage from yesterday🫣

(But that is something that happens after every performance lol)

It was like, the Ayumin calls made me happy--, It was like, thank you for the blue--, I realized, huh, they shot here too! Checking like, its unexpected but well, its a good face! Yesterday! I wanted to talk about the Dmaga but, I ended up forgetting!!!!! Mann, I left a memo like, I'lll talk about it next week..

When thinking about things like this,

Its fundamental but,

In particular, getting to have performances in my hometown, it really feels like that……

Since it was in my hometown, I have a place where I can say "I'm home", I'm thankful for that as well💫

Actually in my case, I left Miyagi at 14 years old, In a year I return 2 to 4 times, for a live, it really feels like, I'm home!

Ah? but,

As I've become part of the AraKashi family, and I've been helped out by Sendai Broadcast-san, I've come to return home once a month, The more I go the more things I want to introduce, and now its been 81 times🫣👏🏻

Thats right,

Therefore now its super feels like, Welcome!!

While writing this now, my thinking is going around and around while writing this,

During the lives MC, I should have said, I'll come back even bigger again!🤔💭

Yesterday I conveyed more of, I'm certain this is a space I'm proud of! Asking if they enjoyed it, Everyone seemed to be having fun and was shining, and dazzling, After Oda talked about how the fans are similar to Oshi's, Thats what she said (Oh)←

I was thinking about what the difference in how I felt was,

Welcome to Miyagi!!! I hope you enjoy it!!! With those feelings largely, With confidence,

It feels like I did that🌏🫶🏻

I'm sorry for talking about myself the whole time Well, its fine since its my blog

.✍🏻✍🏻

In any case, again,

Everyone, everyone, Thank you for welcoming me back, at the Miyagi live,

Thank you very much!!

Displayed at the entrance, AraKashi Museum💙👏🏻

I'm also happy this has become a specialty lol

Always? Well, yesterday, It seems there was a line forming to see it, (Manager-san took the photo) I thought, what a peaceful world!!!

If you'd like please share it with your friends😌🪽

The corner, and making of is here too↓

OX VIDEO STORE

Our tour finale on May 27th Nippon Budokan performance

The ticket SNS Advance Reception's ⚠️〆deadline is on the 23rd at 11:59PM

Special URL is Here🔍↲

Thank you very much for your hard work today too🌸

My Birthday Event DVD is on sale❤️

Applications Here →April 26th 11:59PM Deadline

DVD "Morning Musume '24 Ishida Ayumi Birthday Event DVD"

📺Hello Pro Dance Gakuen Season 11

April 18th 11:30PM~ A Learning From TSUKUSHI-san Adventure🕺

Sendai Broadcast "Ara Ara Kashiko" April 13th (Sat) at 10:25AM~ Ishida Ayumi Goes~!

I appear once a month as part of the AraKashi Family

The previous shows, and makings, are on OX VIDEO STORE!

Thank you for following.. Instagram💙🩵

💿

May 15th Release Morning Musume '23 Concert Tour Fall "Neverending Shine Show ~Seiki~" Fukumura Mizuki Graduation Special YokoAri's 2nd Day With Fukumura-san's Graduation Performance

May 15th Release Morning Musume '23 Concert Tour Fall "Neverending Shine Show" SPECIAL YokoAri's 1st Day With OG Performances

🪩Spring Tour Has Been Decided Morning Musume '24 Concert Tour Spring MOTTO MORNING MUSUME

🪩JAPAN JAM Morning Musume '24 will be performing on May 3rd!

⚾️《LIVE DAYS！～Exciting Big Exhibition Match～》 June 2nd(Sun), after the Hokkaido Ham Fighters vs. Yokohama DeNa Baystars match, Morning Musume '24 will be having a special mini live!

🪩The MusiQuest 2024 July 21st (Sun) PiaArena MM

We're challenging a new festival stage❤️‍🔥 Absolutely, Definitely, Thank you for your support❤️‍🔥

🍉Sanrio Character Grand Prix Thank you very much for supporting Gaokki🍉

📻Morning Musume '24 Morning Jogakuin ~Houkago Meeting~

Airs Every Saturday, On Radio Nihon at 12:00AM~

Past Broadcast Episodes Are Available →Program Details

Yamazaki Mei's Panda-san Daisuki!! ~Expressing Love Towards My Favorite Panda-san♡ ver.~ in Adventure World

Yamazaki Mei's Panda-san Daisuki!! Mei-chan's Holiday. Adventure World with Oda-san and Ishida-san

see you ayumin <3 https://ameblo.jp/morningmusume-10ki/entry-12849269619.html

[arpov-blog-blog]

..."As we sit here a good 11 months before the election, there has been widespread bed-wetting over the incumbent. Buckets of liberal tears have been shed. And it all seems, in my humble, liberal opinion, a bit ridiculous.

I will never, ever, ever again utter the words, “There’s no way Donald Trump becomes president.” Fool me once, and all that.

Trump could absolutely win the 2024 election. He has a sizable swath of the voting public so thoroughly brainwashed they’d follow him into an active volcano. And there are plenty of Republicans who claim they loathe him and talk a good game about protecting democracy but would still push the button for him in the privacy of a voting booth.

Democratic voters shouldn’t rest or feel confident for a second between now and the minute the polls close. There’s too much at stake. The threat of a second Trump term and the dictator-y nightmares it might bring are too great.

... but which candidate would you rather be right now?

That said, it’s absurd to look at the two candidates and think for a moment one doesn’t have the edge, and not just because Biden faces 91 fewer state and federal felony charges than Trump.

Consider these facts:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high Wednesday. The S&P 500 went up 8.9% in November, one of its best monthly jumps in decades.

In the most recent jobs report, unemployment dropped to 3.7% from 3.9%. In January and April, it hit a 54-year low of 3.4%.

Biden's accomplishments as president have been significant

But Biden is president, so Democrats, as they are wont to do, grouse and moan and fret and wonder if there’s a younger, more dynamic candidate out there.

While painted by the right as doddering and inept, Biden has enacted wide-ranging legislation, from a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to the Inflation Reduction Act. He appointed the first Black woman to ever sit on U.S. Supreme Court. He signed the Respect for Marriage Act protecting same-sex and interracial marriages. He united NATO over the war in Ukraine.

And last I checked, everyone is still allowed to say, “Merry Christmas.”

Now consider Biden's opponent, the guy who wants 'Muslim ban'

The man isn’t flawless by any stretch. His age shows. He has failed to tackle illegal immigration and the dire situation along the U.S.-Mexico border. And now some liberals are furious with him for his strong support of Israel in its war against Hamas.

But let’s examine the Republican fellow Biden will almost surely be running against. For starters, if you don’t like Biden’s handling of the Middle East, wait until you see what Trump would do. This is the man who created a Muslim travel ban and has said that he'd restart that immediately. He recently said that he'd send immigration officials to “pro-jihadist demonstrations” to arrest or deport “radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners.”

Liberals need to stop panicking about Biden and start working

I am not now nor have I ever been a passionate fan of Biden. Frankly, I’m not a fan of any politician.

But I can say objectively that if someone asked me who I’d rather be right now as a political candidate – Joe Biden or Donald Trump – it would be Biden, and it wouldn’t be even remotely close.

Perhaps my fellow liberals should stop panicking, change their bedsheets and just focus on putting in the work."

Rex Huppke, USA TODAY

[lgbtq-history-museum-cfl-intern]

The Final Count Down

Sunday 11/26/2023

Technically I’m supposed to be on vacation until tomorrow, but I have some time on my hands and thoughts on my mind.

This is the last day of classes and I’m working on some final assignments: The last touches on a research paper for the capstone course for my Interdisciplinary Studies major, a PowerPoint for the Hands-on History Internship Showcase on Friday, and a reflection on my service-learning hours with the LGBTQ History Museum of Central Florida – again, for capstone.

All I can think about is graduation! I’m so close, I can feel the end nearing!

My nerves are finally dissolving, leaving me with anxious anticipation, and a bit of “senioritis” as I chug through these final tasks.

Once the semester ends, this internship will fulfill the last course credits that I need – pending the History Department’s substitution – to complete my history minor.

Even though UCF has an Interdisciplinary Studies Master’s Program, I’m looking forward to turning in my application for the Public History Master’s Program by the priority deadline (January 15th). I aim to start my degree in the Fall of 2024 and, after learning about another student’s experience from Rollins’ Archival staff, I plan to take one seminar course at a time.

The only exception would be if I’m accepted into the Summer Research Program at UCF, allowing me to earn 6 credits the summer before.

This plan to take things slow is to hopefully avoid burnout and allow me to work with plenty of thought, care, and attention to my master’s degree. I’d also like to have time and energy to dedicate to internships and other forms of hands-on learning experiences like volunteering – maybe even a job that provides opportunities to expand skills that are relevant to public history professions.

Thursday 11/30/2023

Tomorrow is presentation day and I’m first up on the schedule (thank goodness! I’ll get to just sit and listen to everyone else’s experiences for the rest of the time!)

I’m literally functioning on meeting and due dates:

Tomorrow is the Hands-On History Showcase.

Sunday, all of my Capstone Assignments are due.

The following Friday, my final is due.

Then the Friday after that is graduation.

After that, I have about a month until the priority deadline for applications for the Public History Master’s Program at UCF.

That’s as far out as I can think right now.

I’m full of excitement and anxiety, but I’m also hopeful and optimistic!

Most of all, I am grateful, and I plan to spend some time throughout the following weeks communicating that to the mentors who positively impacted my undergraduate journey – pretty much all of them. (I was wondering if I was going to get sentimental leading up to graduation and, finally, here I am typing through calm tears as I reminisce on how lucky I am to have so many wonderful people to reach out to with gratitude.)

I’m glad this is how I chose to spend my final semester. Earlier this year, I was thrown off my path and I was heartbroken trying to piece together a new plan that accommodated my limited capacities as a student living with disabilities.

Now, two weeks from graduation, I stand firmer and more confident in my plans, goals, and desires.

Thank you to the wonderful faculty, staff, and peers who taught me so much along the way! Without their support, I would not have accomplished all that I have throughout my undergraduate career.

See you next Fall as a master’s student! (fingers-crossed)

Friday 12/01/2023

The showcase just ended and that just about wraps up the semester for me!

Everyone else had some incredibly enriching experiences and it was cool to see someone else who participated in the HerStory: Women in History Internship at the Orange County Regional History Center.

It seems the structure of it has come a long way, allowing her to accomplish so much more hands-on work than I had during my time there!

There was a lot of diversity in the projects everyone worked on, so I also learned other ways of being a public historian and doing public history work.

Hopefully, when I enter the Public History Master’s Program at UCF I’ll get to work alongside some of these wonderfully talented individuals!

Thanks for following my journey!

- Marena

[fiveisnumber1]

Timeless - Five Hargreeves X Reader

Main story parts:

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Hello! After a long bit of work the first chapter in the season 3 arc is finally here! This part of the story takes place right after the end of Pt 33 - Demolition Lovers so for clarity you may want to go back and just skim the ending of that but you don’t have to. I am so happy to be posting it and sharing it with you all and I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Very long chapter and pre-transition canon-specific deadnaming 

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Pt 34 - Welcome...Home?

"Oh hi (Y/N)! " Dot replied cheerfully

"Hey, can we talk?" You questioned

Dot furrowed her brows in confusion as she looked toward Herb. Shrugging his shoulders, Dot looked back at you questioning in an upbeat tone,

"Oh, sure. What about?"

You looked around to see where everyone was on the farm trying to make sure that no one was close enough to hear. Diego and Five were off in the distance arguing over what briefcase they should use to get home while the rest of the family was off by the house trying to relax after the events that had just occurred. Taking a step closer, you leaned in towards the two of them as you quietly asked,

"Are things going to be okay? Y'know, when we get back home?"

Dot and Herb looked at each other for a moment before turning their attention back toward you. Their faces reflected a mix of confusion and optimism, two emotions that you wouldn't really correlate with each other.

"I don't see why they wouldn't be." Herb replies "Time is complicated but I don't think there have been any catalyst incidents."

"And you're positive in that judgment?" You pressed

"As positive as you can be when it comes to the intricacies of time-space," Herb answered

You stayed silent for a moment as you looked at them processing Herb's words. They were nice, and you didn't feel like they were tricking you, but Herb himself said that he was JUST appointed to lead the commission. It's not that you didn't want to trust them but there was a part of you that sincerely subscribed to the butterfly effect and worried that your actions here in the 60s changed the future you would return to. But you had never worked for the commission and if they said it was okay then who were you to really question them? You took in a deep breath before nodding your head and accepting what Herb had told you. They seemed confident in their answer so you tried to push your skepticism aside and just be happy that it was all over. As you stood there quietly for a moment you could hear Diego shout from afar,

"Herbie! Come here real quick!"

"I'll be right back," Herb said to you and Dot as he walked away

You watched as Herb walked away for a moment before looking back to Dot. She stared at you with a nervous look on her face before her eyes began to shift back and forth to make sure no one was around, just like you had only a few months ago. Reaching into her pocket, you saw as she pulled out some type of pouch and secretly extended it towards you.

"What is this?" You asked quietly

"I trust my dear Herb with his calculations but this is in case things go sideways." She replies softly "It won't help everyone but I know it can help you."

"Okay, but what does it do?" You inquired

"I can't go into details now but there's instructions inside. Only open it when you feel desperate for someone to listen. Now hide it in your pocket before Herb gets back." Dot instructed

You were confused and highly caught off guard but you did as you were told and hid the pouch in your pocket. Right as you had managed to get it in there, Herb returned to Dot's side.

"Well it was good seeing you, but we've got to get back to work!" Herb stated excitedly

You nodded your head as you gave the two of them an awkward smile before watching as they flashed away. With the two of them gone, you pulled the pouch you were handed out of your pocket and took a look at it. You couldn't see through the fabric of the material but besides the folded-up paper, the rest of the items felt round and they made a plastic clicking noise when you shook the bag. You could feel your curiosity growing and part of you wanted to open it but Dot gave you clear instructions so you were going to follow them. Placing the pouch back in your pocket you slowly made your way back over to the house. Looking up at the sky, you were hopeful at the idea of going back home with the Hargreeves. Everyone that you cared about was alive or would be alive soon and nothing mattered more.

Remembering the duffle bag Charlie had given you was still in the car you decided to change directions to go grab it. Opening the passenger side door, you opened the bag before placing the little pouch you were given into it, surrounding it with the rest of your stuff for extra safety. Zipping the bag back up you threw it over your shoulder and brought it over towards the house since it seemed like Sissy and Harlan would be taking the car to get out of Dallas. Entering the house you saw as Klaus sitting on the floor in front of the couch staring at the dog tags he held in his hand. You didn't say anything as you saw the look on his face and knew whom they symbolized. It was the same look you would give the necklace around your neck on the days that Five was gone. A look of pain and yet at the same time so much love. As you continued to walk past him you caught your reflection in the fragments of what was once a decorative mirror in the living room. Dried blood and dirt covered your face and there was a small cut on your temple. Deciding that it would be best to clean that all up you placed your bag on the kitchen table and went into the bathroom to fix yourself.

After finding a decent briefcase within the field of dead agents, Five and Diego started to walk back towards the house and the rest of the group. Everyone was obviously tired and just wanted to go home but it seemed like most of the group was still processing. Deciding it would be best to let everyone somewhat recover before jumping back to the future, Five decided to go look for you. Not seeing you outside, Five entered the house. As he entered he saw Klaus sitting on the floor staring at his dog tags. Five didn't dare look at him too long or else he would start to remember when he was in his position. Noticing your duffle bag on the kitchen table, he walked towards it taking a look around for a moment before hearing the sound of humming coming down the hall from the bathroom. The door wasn't shut but deciding to knock anyway Five called,

"(Y/N)?"

Hearing the sound of your beloved's voice you finished putting the band-aid on your cut before calling back,

"Come in!"

Pushing open the door, Five stepped in before closing it behind him. Turning around you saw him standing there with his hands in his pockets, a curious look on his face as he inquired,

"What are you doing in here?"

"Cleaning up my face. Fixing some of the lesser injuries." You answered tapping the band-aid on your temple

Five nodded his head before walking over towards you. As he stood in front of you, you looked up at him with love in your eyes. All you wanted was to be with him and now maybe, just maybe, you two would get that chance. A burst of joyful energy came over you at the thought of getting to be a happy little couple as you wrapped your arms around his waist bringing him into a hug. But as you held him tighter and tighter you heard as he sucked in his breath. Quickly pulling back, you asked concerned,

"Are you okay?"

Five placed his hand over his side where he had gotten hit with shrapnel about a week ago. It mostly didn't bother him anymore and it was healed to the point where he could move around just fine. But when you held him tight it put a pressure on it that sent a quick jab of pain through him. The jab didn't even hurt that much it was more so just the shock of it that made him suck in his breath. He knew none of this mattered though as you already had a worried look on your face.

"It's just the shrapnel wound." Five tried to reassure "Don't worry, it's almost gone."

As much as he tried to reassure you, it did not matter. He had made a sound like he was injured and now that was all you could think about. Gently placing a hand over where you knew the wound to be, you looked up towards Five and asked,

"Can I check it real quick?"

Although Five knew that he was fine, he saw the concern in your eyes and knew that you wouldn't feel better until you made sure he was better. A small smile came to his face as he nodded his head yes, allowing you to get right to work. Carefully, you untucked the side of his shirt that covered the injury and lifted it up to see the bandages. You made a tiny grimace as you saw how gross they were. They were yellowed from sweat and dried blood. These wouldn't do at all. Grabbing the first aid kit from the bathroom cabinet you kneeled down in front of him, pulling some fresh bandages and hydrogen peroxide out of the kit you found.

As Five watched you kneel in front of him, he could feel the pace of his heart begin to rise. Your fingers brushed against his skin as you undid his old bandages, causing him to tense up. With the threat of the apocalypse finally behind him, it seemed as if his mind had been cleared enough to think of other things. But being so preoccupied with saving the world for so long he seemed to have forgotten the feelings he experienced and the thoughts he had the last time he was in a young adult body. Internally he begged his brain to stop changing the meaning of the situation at hand. This was nothing more than just helping to take care of his injuries. That was all. And yet, adrenaline still coursed through his blood and you were the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Looking at the ceiling, Five took slow, steady breaths trying to level himself out hoping that his blood would stay in the upper half of his body and you hadn't noticed the way he was acting.

After finishing the new bandages, you put the materials you used back before you stood up from the ground. Placing your hands on his cheeks you turned his head to look at you. As you did so, you felt the warmth of his flush on your hands. His cheeks were slightly red and his skin was burning up.

"Five, are you feeling okay? You look hot." You asked

Five looked at you shocked. Was he hearing you correctly? Did you think he was hot? Did you like him that much in the schoolboy uniform? He wasn't a fan of it but if you thought he looked that good in it he would keep wearing it. Trying to make sure he heard you correctly though Five asked flustered,

"I uh- I look what?"

"Hot. Warm. Flush." You responded, "Are you okay?"

Realizing what you had meant Five started to regain his composure. Readjusting his jacket and pushing his hair back over to the side he parts it on, Five stated,

"Oh. I- yeah. I'm fine."

As he continued to calm himself down and get back to his normal self Five noticed something on your neck. Pushing your hair away he saw the bruises on your neck. He had noticed them before in the barn but they had gotten slightly darker since then. Tilting his head to the side curiously he asked,

"What happened here?"

"Ah yeah, Lila tried to choke me." You explained

Five's eyes snapped towards yours. A mix of rage and concern built within him as he realized it was Lila who had done this to you. Granted, he wasn't surprised it was her but he wasn't happy that it happened either.

"She what?" Five asked harshly

"It's fine, I almost killed her." You tried to comfort

Your words didn't do much to comfort him but his concern was less about Lila and more so about you. Raising his hand he gently traced his fingers over the scattered bruises.

"Do they hurt?" He asked softly

"They're a little sensitive." You replied back

There wasn't any medicine or bandages that he had at his disposal to try and make the bruises go away but he could at least try to make them feel better. Leaning in towards you he quietly stated,

"Here, let me help."

Five placed his lips on your neck softly kissing each bruise one by one. Slowly he worked his way down your neck making sure that none of your bruises were left untouched. But between the sensitivity of your bruises and the feeling of his lips on your skin you unconsciously tilted your head giving him more access as you let out a blissful little hum.

Five stopped for a moment, his hot breath lingering on your neck as he noticed what you had just done. He could feel as his heart began to race again. The hormones he thought he had suppressed only a moment ago starting to make a return. He wondered if maybe there was a chance you were feeling the way he did too. Liking the way you had sounded, he wanted to hear you again. His lips trailed down your skin before finding the crook of your neck and pressing firmly against it.

You let out a more audible hum delighted by his loving action. You had come across depictions of a moment like this in fiction before. A moment so tender and sweet with two lovers finally getting a true moment alone together and yet none of those depictions could've accurately predicted the way you felt right now. Your skin felt hot and your stomach churned with anticipation of something more but then he stopped.

Pulling back, Five looked at you slightly nervous. He wanted to keep kissing you, keep hearing the way that sighed so sweetly for him, but he didn't want to move forward just because he wanted to, especially if all you thought he was doing was trying to make your bruises feel better. Carefully he asked,

"How do you feel?"

You looked towards him as Five's gaze met your own. Slowly you snaked your arms around his neck pulling him closer to you as you said,

"A little better but..."

You paused. Leaning in towards him you brought your lips up to his ear as you whispered,

"Can you help me again?"

A shiver ran down Five's spine as your words ran through his system. Pulling back to look at you he saw the toying smirk on your face and the way you batted your eyelashes so innocently at him. He knew this delicate little act was just a facade for the true intentions he could see in your eyes, intentions that lit a fire within him. You could feel as Five's hands slid down towards your waist and gripped onto them tighter. Taking a small step back you leaned your body against the bathroom counter as Five took a step forward pinning you between the counter and himself. You knew you had nowhere to go, but it didn't matter because you didn't want to be anywhere else. You slowly tilted your head to the side, exposing the bruised skin to him once more. But as he leaned back in ready to possibly leave a few bruises of his own on your neck, the door to the bathroom quickly swung open, causing both of your gazes to rush towards the door.

"Where's that-" The person questioned

From the doorway you could see Klaus standing there, his body frozen in place and his eyes growing wider by the second as he took in the slightly compromising situation the two of you had initiated.

"Oh shit." Klaus exclaimed, "Hey kids!"

"Klaus!" You shouted embarrassed as you used one of your hands to shield your reddening face

"Get! Out! GET! OUT!" Five yelled angrily

Five's blood began to boil as he stared his brother down. Stupid fucking Klaus. Always ruining everything. He didn't even knock on the door. Who doesn't knock on the door!? It's common courtesy to knock. Especially a bathroom door! How could he be so careless to just barge in? And more so, how come he had to barge in NOW? The world wasn't actively in peril and this was the first time Five had caught an actual break in the last 20 days. All he wanted to do was spend some time alone with you and Klaus had to come in and ruin it like the dumb lanky cockblock he is. Letting go of your waist Five turned around, keeping his eyes locked on Klaus. The anger on his face only displayed a fraction of the rage that coursed through his blood along with the surplus of adrenaline and testosterone.

"What are you still doing here!" Five demanded

"I didn't mean to inter-" Klaus starts to explain

"Get out!" Five emphasized once more

"Can I just grab-" Klaus tried to interject

"LEAVE!" Five shouted once more

Seeing that he was not going to be getting what he came in for Klaus put his hands up innocently before slowly backing out the bathroom door. Carefully he grabbed the doorknob and shut the door behind him leaving you and Five alone once more. Silence fell over the room as you both dealt with the embarrassment and annoyance from the interruption. Any feelings of intimacy that you were experiencing only moments ago had dissipated just as quickly as they came. Five looked at the now closed door

"God, can't get one moment away from my stupid siblings..." Five complained

Walking up to him, you wrapped your arms around his waist from behind, resting your head against his back. Five was still annoyed but your embrace was warm and your presence was comforting and he couldn't help but relax at your touch. With his tension melting away he looked over his shoulder back towards you.

"Do you think they're ever going to leave us alone?" He asked

"With this family? No way..." You answer

Pausing for a moment you let go of Five allowing him to turn around and face you. His arms find their way around your waist once more as you wrap your arms around his neck. Leaning his head down your noses gently brush against each other for a moment before you look into his eyes. A smile coming to your face as you look at him and further explain,

"But our home is the size of a block, has 42 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, multiple attic spaces, an extensive basement, an abandoned planetarium, plus some hidden rooms that I found. So I have a feeling we might be able to get away for a bit even if they won't leave us alone themselves."

"You are correct. The house does have all those options." Five remarked playfully

"It does." You reply "But if worst comes to worst, and we can't stay at the house then we go stay at a hotel."

"Well, maybe it's time to go home then?" Five suggests

You stopped for a second thinking about his statement. You didn't want to go home just yet. Once you returned you would be thrown back into the daily grind of life. School, activities, and social life, on top of readjusting back to life in the 21st century. You'd have to resume them all right after dealing with your second apocalypse, on top of about 4 years of trying to exist in a time that was not your own. You just wanted a moment to yourself. A moment to exist without expectation. Finally acknowledging your boyfriend's suggestion, you answered,

"No."

"No?" Five asked quizzically

"No," You restated "Now that we have it, can we just take some time to ourselves and do nothing for a bit?"

The corners of Five's lips turned up into a small smile as he heard your request. After going and going and going the thought of just doing nothing sounded nice. There was no rush to go home. No rush to move on to the next task. Everyone else on this abandoned farm was already taking time to themselves so why not do the same?

"Yeah. Let's do nothing." Five responded

Stepping out of the embrace, you took his hand in your own as you walked towards the side wall of the bathroom pulling him excitedly behind you. Before he could even say something about it you had already phased yourself through the wall using your abilities to phase him through too.

"That felt weird." He commented, rolling back his shoulders as if to shake off the feeling

"I could say the same about your powers." You remarked, "Now c'mon before someone sees us."

Pulling him behind you, you ran off towards the barn. With the handler's body having been cleared out by the commission, and the place a relative mess from all the stuff that happened with Harlan, it was unlikely anyone would come here to stay. Which made it the perfect place for you two to be. Taking a look about you made sure no one was around before walking in and heading over to one of the large piles of hay. Letting go of Five's hand you plopped yourself down into it. Five looked at you for a moment as you just laid in the hay but before he could move to sit down you were already encouraging him to, saying,

"Come on. You gonna do nothing with me or not?"

Without a word, Five sat down before laying in the hay with you. You moved towards him, your head resting on his right shoulder and your right hand finding a place over his heart. Five's right arm found its way around your waist pulling you closer as his left hand took hold of the one you had placed on his chest. Resting his head atop of yours, he took in the silence. It wasn't like the silence he was accustomed to. It was neither the deafening silence of the apocalypse nor the isolating silence of his life as a commission agent. This silence was peaceful. It was comforting. It was safe. And for a while, that was all either of you needed, peaceful nothingness and each other's embrace.

You didn't know how long it had been with you laying there but that didn't matter either. Moving your head to look up towards him you softly called,

"Five?"

"Yes, love?" He responded, looking back at you

"What do you want to do when we get back?" You asked

"Ah, that's easy. I want to retire, I want to buy a 1970s Corvette Stingray and I want to spend time with you." Five answered

You let out a small laugh at his response. There was nothing wrong with his answer, truly it made sense for him that those would be his choices but you found him explicitly stating he wanted to retire both funny and cute.

"What's so funny?" Five questions amused

"You saying you want to retire." You explain "Like I get it and you totally deserve it. Sometimes I just forget there's still an old man in here."

To him the thought of forgetting his actual age and how many years he lived sounded so nice. And yet it seemed so foreign. He could only dream of a day when he forgot the fact that his age was not equivalent to his appearance.

"Well, I hope one day I can get to the point where I forget that too." Five mused before asking "What do you want to do when we get back?"

"I want to finish out school with my friends, I want to go to college with them, and I want to spend time with you." You respond

"Hmm." Five hummed at your response

"What?" You inquired

"Going to college doesn't sound too bad." He stated, "You think I could go?"

"You already look like you should be getting into an argument in a philosophy class, so I'd say so." You joked

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." He replied flatly, although there was a smirk on his face

"It is funny. But being serious, I can help you with it. There's still time to get some applications in if we really work on it and then we could go together." You suggested

"I'd like that." He states

"Me too." You respond

The corners of your lips upturn into small smiles as you think about the plans you have for the future. And as you looked into each others' eyes you hoped that your life together would be just as bright as the images painted in your minds. After everything you deserved the life you always wanted together, both with the things you discussed and the life goals that you each wanted but wouldn't say at this time. Staying in that moment you could hear the sounds of crickets and when you looked up you saw fireflies dance above your head. Looking outside the sky had gone from a soft blue hue to a deep dark night. The stars outside shone above indicating that a significant amount of time had passed.

"Oh shit. How long did we lay here?" You exclaimed

"I don't know, I was too busy doing nothing to worry about time." Five remarked, "You think it's time to go home?"

"Yeah," You answered, "Let's go home."

Getting up from the stack of hay Five extended his hand out to you to help you up. Together you helped each other brush off the leftover hay strands that stuck to your clothes before heading towards the door that led out of the barn. Taking each other's hands you stepped out into the dark night and made your way toward your future together.

Returning to the house Five rounded everyone up while you grabbed the briefcase and your bag of stuff from inside the house. Throwing the strap of your bag over your shoulder you headed back outside, meeting the rest of the group on the porch, and handed the briefcase to Five. Together group walked off the porch, standing in a circle similar to how they all did when you all jumped together the first time. Finishing setting up the briefcase Five looks up and asks,

"Everyone ready?"

"Let's do it, yeah." Luther responds

With a nod of acknowledgment from Five, everyone wraps their arms around each other or holds hands with the person next to them. The night is quiet but as Five takes one last look around at the group Klaus shouts,

"Wait!"

Everyone looks at Klaus confused as he gives a sad pleading face before running back over towards the house and grabbing a cowboy hat that was left on the porch. Leaning over to Five, Diego whispers

"Fifty bucks if we leave him here."

But before Five can respond Klaus trotted back to his spot in the circle, the hat now on his head as he grabbed his siblings' hands once more. As you all held each other you watched in silence as Five clicked down the latches of the briefcase and the energy within it started to build. You could feel as the energy grew and grew until you all were consumed in a flash of blue. In a matter of seconds, the energy stopped as you all now stood around a table in the middle of the academy foyer. As you all caught your breath trying to regain your composure from time travel you looked about the place. The academy was standing in one piece, the sun was shining outside, and things were as you remembered them to be but you had seen the academy in the 60s. It was unchanged, filled with its outdated decor that you had grown up with your whole post-time-jump life.

"Oh, good God. Wh-what day is it?" Allison asked

"April 2, 2019. Day after the apocalypse." Five stated looking at a newspaper on the table

"Wait, so we stopped it?" Luther questioned

"My God, it's over? Did we...actually succeed at something? That's incredible!" Klaus exclaimed

You smiled at the fact that you all may have actually succeeded at something but as nice as it was to be back in the academy, this wasn't the building you needed to see right now. There was one right across the way that you hadn't stepped foot into since the day that you had arrived in the future the first time you time traveled. Whether it was the fact that just seconds ago you were exactly 50 years from being dropped into 2013 or the deja vu of traveling to the future again something in that moment was calling you home, even if you knew there was no home to be found there. Carefully you started to wander toward the front door while the rest of the group continued to celebrate behind you.

"I don't know about you guys, but I need a drink." Klaus exclaims

"Yes." Luther agrees

"In fact, I need several." Klaus adds

"I'm in. I'm in." Vanya replies

As most of the group starts to wander into the parlor, Allison looks towards the front door where you were standing aimlessly. She wanted to be with her siblings but her daughter was out there somewhere. Hopefully at home tucked safely in her bed. Feeling the need to get back to her Allison stated,

"I should go find Claire."

Luther however in a celebratory mood grabbed at Allison's wrist pulling her behind him as he requested,

"Oh, come on, one drink."

Letting him pull her along Allison made her way into the parlor with the rest of the group, except for one member that lingered behind.

"Ma chérie, you coming?" Five questioned

Almost as if you were pulled out of a trance you looked behind you and saw Five standing there. His hands were in his pockets as he leaned against one of the decorative columns that led into the parlor.

"Huh? Oh." You answered, "In a bit, I just need to go check something..."

Your eyes moved away from him to look back at the front doors and that's when he started to realize your intentions. You wanted to go back home, to your first home. Your true home. He didn't know your reasons for doing so but he didn't need to know. Whatever the reason, it was important to you to do so. Not wanting you to be alone though, he inquired,

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I need to do this alone." You replied looking back at him once more "I'll be back soon."

Without another word, Five gave you a nod and turned into the parlor. And with that, you walked out the doors and across the street. You stood at the bottom of your front steps looking up at the building. The curtains were closed but you could tell the rooms behind them were still dark. Taking a deep breath, you made your way up the few stairs leading to the front door as you checked around to see if anyone was looking at you. Seeing that no one was focusing on you, you let out your breath as you phased yourself through the door. Just as you expected the house was dark and from what you could make out the house was still completely empty. And although you knew there was no one here to respond you still quite stated,

"Mom, Dad...I'm home..."

As you began to explore the home you had left behind, so did Five and the others in the parlor. The group sauntered around the room looking at all the items and furniture that filled it. It was all just as it was. Except for one thing out of place.

"Why is there a painting of Ben over the mantelpiece?" Diego asked concerned

Quickly the rest of the group made their way over to Diego and saw the same portrait hanging where Five's should've been. Five's eyes went wide as a shot of nerves ran through him. That shouldn't be up there. The shitty portrait of him, the one you hated so much, should be what's there. Something was very wrong, but that thought only became worse as a familiar old voice said,

"I knew you'd show up eventually."

The group turned towards one side of the room, as from behind a chair someone stood up and turned to look at the group. Standing before them was their father, Reginald Hargreeves. Alive.

"Dad." Diego said quietly

"You're alive." Luther mentioned surprised

"Why shouldn't I be?" Reginald questioned

"Yeah, you're right. I'm...I'm just happy that we're home and...together again." Luther fumbled

"Home? This isn't your home." Reginald retorted

"What are you talking about? This is the Umbrella Academy." Allison replied

"Wrong again." Reginald stated, his eyes turning up towards the balcony above, "This is the Sparrow Academy."

The sound of footsteps could be heard behind the Umbrellas as they all turned to look towards the sound. On the balcony above stood five unfamiliar figures and a floating cube, all of which looked down at them with confusion. As the two groups looked at each other another figure approached from below the balcony. Standing in front of the Umbrellas with a nasty scowl on his face he demanded,

"Dad, who the hell are these assholes?"

Shock and disbelief washed over the faces of the Umbrellas as they tried to process what they were seeing because the person who stood before them all was their brother Ben. Also alive again. Not knowing any other way to react, the group stated simultaneously,

"Shit."

"Ben," Klaus called softly, a smile upon his face

Ben's attention turned to look towards Klaus as he looked at him with confusion and disgust. Who was this lanky wannabe cowboy intruder that seemed to know him already? The rest of the group continued to look at him with awe and bewilderment as Luther stepped towards the front of the group asking quietly,

"Is that really you?"

"And who are the weirdos on the balcony?" Diego shouted

"They are the Sparrows." Reginald answered "My children."

The eyes of the Umbrella Academy went wide as they looked between the Sparrows and their father. None of this was supposed to be happening when they got back. The world was in one piece but everything else was starting to feel like it was in shambles. The group looked back toward Reginald, Five taking the initiative to step forward as he frustratedly remarked,

"I'm sorry. What do you mean, your children? That's not possible, old man."

"Of course, it is! I think I'd know, wouldn't I?" Reginald replied

Coming down from the balcony the rest of the Sparrows stood in a structured formation opposite the Umbrellas in the parlor. They looked on quietly as the situation developed trying to understand what was going on. While most of the Umbrellas continued to look at their father, Klaus excitedly looked at Ben. Using both hands to point at him he asked,

"Everybody else can see Ben, right?"

"Cute hat, Sundance." Ben insulted

Klaus tipped his hat back in response as Reginald began to speak, explaining to the Sparrows who the intruders in their house were,

"They call themselves the Umbrella Academy, a group of scheming, perfidious malcontents who accosted me in the fall of 1963 when I was away on business in Dallas."

As everyone else focused on Reginald's word, five focused on the briefcase on the table in the foyer. If he could just get back to it then maybe they could try to find a solution to fix this. But he couldn't just flash away, the Sparrows seemed on edge and any movement could possibly lead to a larger issue than other people living in their house.

"Be warned, they claim to be my spawn." Reginald adds

"Claim? Look, Five, what the hell is going on?" Allison asks in an unamused tone

"I don't know yet, but it's concerning." Five replies

"Is he telling the truth?" What seemed to be the leader of the Sparrows asked

The Umbrellas looked back over at the Sparrows. All of them still rigidly standing there waiting for some type of answer or explanation.

"Not the part about us being perfidious." Vanya stated

"No, we're amateur-fidious, at best." Klaus chimes in

"But we are his children. This is our house." Vanya continued

"Yeah, yeah. We, uh... We grew up here." Luther adds

The Sparrows all look around at each other before the one who looked serious injured mocked,

"Yeah, we grew up here."

"I kind of think we would have noticed you." The one with the long brown hair commented

Luther looked over towards the one who had just made the comment and stared blankly for a second. It was as if his brain had to catch up upon seeing him. Snapping back to reality a smile appeared on Luther's face as he reached out his hand and greeted,

"Hi. I'm Luther."

The welcoming gesture did not last long though as Allison quickly stepped forward shouting,

"Okay. None of you belong here."

"Oh! Well, then. I guess we'll just pack our bags and move out." The one with glasses snapped back

The ominous glowing floating cube then started to make some garbled noises in which it seemed like the Sparrows could understand what they meant. When the cube finished "speaking" the Sparrows began to snicker at what was said as Ben loudly replied,

"You slay me, Chris."

Before any more comments could be made a familiar blonde woman walked into the room. The Umbrellas slowly turned to look at her as she stood there with a plate of cookies in her hands.

"I wasn't expecting company. This is the best I could do on shor-shor-short notice." The woman said, her voice and body glitching at the end of her statement

"Mom." Diego said softly

"Mom? She's a robot, you perv." The dark-haired girl remarked

The Umbrellas looked at her angrily. How dare she disrespect both their mother and their brother. The tension in the room started to build up as all the Hargreeves started speaking over each other. A cacophony of taunts, insults, and pleas to calm down filtered through the air.

"Hey, don't you call him that." Luther chastised

"Or what?" Ben pressed

"Come closer and find out." Luther firmly stated taking a step toward Ben

"Luther! Guys, chill!" Vanya tried to interject

"Think I'm afraid?" Ben questioned stepping toward Luther

"Stand down, Ben." The tall one in front commanded

"Look at that! She's got a voice!" Luther spat

"How about I hide that big Rubik's Cube up your ass?" Diego shouted

"Enough!" The tall one yelled

The room became quiet as all eyes turned to him. He stood there solidly, with his shoulders as straight as can be. He spoke with authority as he stated firmly,

"I don't know what circus you escaped from or how you got past our security, but we're done here. You got 30 seconds to get out of our house."

"And if we don't?" Allison shot back

"Then we'll have to settle this the old-fashioned way." He replied

Trying to get in between the brewing conflict before it boiled over into something worse Vanya stepped forward trying to calmly explain,

"Look, we just fought a literal army. Okay? This doesn't need to get ugly. Let's all just calm down, and let's talk."

The room quieted down for a moment as everyone settled. Perhaps there was no reason to fight. Maybe they could just it out. As everyone paused though Klaus continued to get excited. Ben was there and he was alive! He didn't have to be without his brother like he thought he would.

"Psst. Benerino." Klaus said grabbing his attention "You look so much better alive than you do dead. Am I right? Except that haircut."

"What the hell did you just say?" Ben shouted angrily

The rest of the Umbrellas watched cautiously as Klaus approached Ben from across the room babbling out whatever words his brain managed to form. Five could see as Luther reached out his hand to grab Klaus' shoulder as Klaus rambled on,

"Come on, come on. Stop with all the hostility, Mr. Grumpy Pants. Oh wow. Nice scar. Muy macho."

"Shut your mouth!" Ben demanded

"You shut your mouth and just hug your brother-" Klaus started to say, his arms raised high and wide for a hug

But that hug never came. Instead Ben swiftly punched him in the face sending him stumbling backward past the group and over a coffee table. The Umbrellas looked on with shock and anger at what had just occurred. Sure Klaus was well...Klaus...but that didn't mean he deserved to get punched in the face. Stepping in to defend Klaus, Luther approached Ben as he shouted,

"Hey! What the hell? You didn't have to do that!"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I did!" Ben shouted back

"That's right, he did!" The seriously injured one chimed in

"Luther, hey!" Vanya called trying to get Luther to step down

But it wasn't working as Luther stepped closer to Ben once more. Putting himself slightly between Luther and Ben the tallest of the Sparrows shouted,

"Back off!"

That threat, however, did nothing and as Luther pushed the tallest Sparrow away he was immediately pushed back. Pulling his hand back into a fist, Luther swung at him hoping to nail him in the jaw but before his fist could make contact the Sparrow had ducked down dodging the hit. Quickly, standing back up the Sparrow kicked Luther in the chest with immense force sending him flying back across the room. The Umbrellas attention snapped towards Luther as they watched almost in slow motion him slam into Klaus, who had just stood up from getting punched, and crash over the couch across the room.

"Bad touch, Luther! Bad touch!" Klaus groaned, hitting his brother's shoulder

"Sorry." Luther apologized as he got off of Klaus

Whatever hope for a lack of conflict went out the window at that moment though as the Sparrows started pursuing the Umbrellas. Trying to get the upper hand Five rushed towards Ben and began to fight him near the bar. Punch for punch they went back and forth with each other. Ben kicked Five in the shin but Five went back with a blow to Ben's face. Ben nailed Five in the jaw and when Five swung his arm back to hit Ben, he ducked down dodging the attack. Back and forth they blocked each other's next attacks but then Ben nailed a punch right to Ben's gut catching Five off guard and giving Ben the upper hand. Wrapping his arm around Five's neck Ben tried to choke him but before he could do any real damage Five had already blinked from his grasp. Reappearing, Five looked at Ben trying to start putting the pieces together in his head on how this was possible.

"You're alive. That's great. Or possibly horrible. I'm not really sure yet." Five commented

"Is that some kind of weird smack talk?" Ben remarked

"It's more of an existential problem, really, Ben." Five explained

"Awesome. Well, here's your next problem." Ben retorted

Immediately, a tentacle shot from Ben's chest and over towards Five. Before the tentacle could grab onto him though, Five had already flashed up to the balcony above the bar. With his hand in his pockets, he looked down at Ben who had spotted him on the balcony.

"You know, even though you're a total asshat now," Five started to say

The fact that he was speaking didn't matter though as two tentacles shot from Ben's chest once more in his direction. Doing what he had done before, Five jumped away. Appearing behind Ben he placed one hand on his shoulder turning him back towards him and punching him in the face knocking him down.

"It's nice to see you again, really." Five finishes

As Ben laid on the ground from being punched, Five turned around to see the cube, apparently called Chris, floating aggressively in the air as it had a stand-off with Diego. Five watched as Diego jumped on top of the cube. His eyes went wide with shock as Diego began to punch one of the cube's sides yelling,

"Who's your daddy? I'm your daddy! Who's... your... daddy?"

Five watched as the cube lifted Diego higher into the air, spinning him around at high speeds before throwing him off onto the balcony above. Five considered getting involved to help Diego but from where he stood he could see Allison fall to the ground and the extremely injured Sparrow about to stomp her. Flashing to her, he quickly grabbed her before flashing away once more. Arriving safely on the ground upstairs the two took a moment to get themselves up again.

"Thanks." Allison said

"No problem." Five replied

From behind the two of them, a voice called,

"Hey, short pants. What's up?"

Allison and Five stood there for a moment as the snarky dark-haired girl approached them. Five looked at the scene below him and seeing the chaos, and the fact that his siblings were not doing well in this fight, Five instructed,

"Go help the others. I'll handle this one."

"Okay." Allison replied as she made her way to the stairs

The dark-haired girl took a few steps closer before stopping. As Five and her stood opposite each other the dark-haired girl mockingly asked,

"What are you, their mascot?"

Five didn't say a word. Instead, a smirk came to his face as he jumped behind her. Turning to face him, Five punched her straight in the face causing her to fall to the ground and groan in pain.

"More like their ringer." Five mocked back

The dark-haired girl sat up on the ground and looked up at Five with anger in her eyes. Hissing at him she spat a black goo from her mouth and onto his face. Five's face filled with disgust as he touched the goo on his head before looking at it. Looking at the dark-haired girl he ridiculed,

"Ugh. Hey, gross, all right?"

But as he looked up from her something about the world changed. The lighting became softer, things became more peaceful and from down the balcony walkway, he saw a vision of perfection. There you stood, looking absolutely radiant. The world glowed around you as you held a bouquet of flowers in your hand and wore the most stunning white dress. Five looked at you in awe and as you started to walk towards him, a wide smile on your face, Five carefully moved towards you meeting you in the middle.

"Hi mon chéri." You greeted softly

"Wow. You look beautiful." Five complimented breathlessly before asking "Why are you wearing this?"

"Well, I think it would be odd not to wear a wedding dress to our wedding." You joked

Five's eyes went wide with wonder and his heart skipped a beat as he heard you say those words. He had always dreamed of being able to get married to you. He had spent countless times throughout his life thinking about how he would ask you to be his forever, what type of wedding you two would have if given the opportunity, and who would be there to share the celebration of your love for one another. The thought of marrying you was one of his greatest dreams. Not being able to fathom that this was actually happening Five asked tenderly,

"We're getting married?"

"Well that's why you asked isn't it?" You replied holding out your hand

Five looked and there on your hand was a stunning ring. He didn't remember getting it for you but it looked like the type he always imagined getting you. And with the smile on your face, it seemed to indicate you were happy with it as well. You were happy with him. A smile appeared on his face as he took the hand you had extended out to him in his. Looking up at you from the ring, he stated delicately,

"I never thought I'd get a chance to do this."

The smile on your face widened as your eyes filled with immense amounts of love. Five let out a peaceful sigh as he took all of this in. After his time in the apocalypse, he didn't want much but this? This he wanted more than anything.

"Well you have your chance now," You told him "So are you going kiss me and make me your wife or not?"

Five nodded his head before closing his eyes and slowly leaning into you. His one hand let go of yours as he placed it on your waist, the other of his stroking your hair as your lips pressed against each other. His heart felt like it was doing flips knowing that you were now his wife but as Five continued to kiss you something knocked into his head and the next thing he knew he was rolling down the main foyer staircase. Hitting the tile on the ground floor, he groaned in pain both at the physical pain of the injuries he probably sustained and the emotional pain of his dream being just that. A dream. As he forced himself to get up Five could see the Sparrows surrounding Luther, the tallest of them continuing to beat him bloody. Five tried to get up but after the fall down the staircase, it was difficult. As he tried to force himself to his feet he could hear the sound of Vanya yelling,

"Luther go, get out!"

Five got up on his hands and knees, his body aching with every move he made but he needed to keep going. As he continued to try and get to his feet he saw as Allison rushed down the foyer stairs and over to him. Extending a hand out to him she helped him up to his feet.

"Thanks," Five said

"No problem." Allison replied, "You okay?"

"I've been better." Five answered

The two of them took a moment to breathe but it didn't last long as the Sparrow with glasses began approaching. At this point it was evident their best chance at survival was to get out and leave. Quickly, Five and Allison ran down a side hall away from the Sparrow that was heading their way. As they ran down the hall, Five could see Luther up ahead crouched down over another Sparrow. Running past him Five shouted,

"Luther, we're leaving!"

Five took the lead running ahead of the two of them, and after a moment he could hear footsteps catching up behind. As the three of them ran together away from the squawking of birds that came from behind him, Five remembered that the briefcase was still on the table. Turning on his heel, he ran in the opposite direction past his siblings before spatial jumping downstairs to the foyer. Looking at the table he saw that it was nowhere to be found.

"Where's the briefcase? shit, it's gone!" He exclaimed

Looking up from the table he then saw Vanya laying on the broken remains of a table struggling to get up and groaning in pain. The Sparrows in the room stepped closer and closer beginning to surround Vanya.

"Vanya, get out of there!" He shouted

His statement didn't do much to help though and instead, he saw as Vanya began to glow. A resonating sound filled the air as Five realized what was going to happen next. With wide eyes, Five stepped away from the entrance to the parlor and jumped out of the house before anything worse could happen.

As the Hargreeves had been battling across the street you however were exploring your old home. Carefully you walked from empty room to empty room, memories coming back of a time long gone from the moment you were in now. There was the kitchen you would eat in with your family, there was the living room where you would run around and play, and there was the game room where your favorite game was just your dad lifting you up and spinning you around.

These rooms were easier to be in, the bittersweet nostalgia didn't hurt as bad as you made your way upstairs that feeling grew. You entered your parents' bedroom, the one you would run to when you had a nightmare and have your mother sing you back to sleep. The one where you and your parents would watch a movie together on their TV. The one where you would hide many times when playing hide and seek. You could feel the love and warmth of your memories but at the same time, there was a cold emptiness. Your past still haunted you like ghosts of a time gone by but you couldn't let it drag you down. You may not have learned to move on but as always you needed to keep moving forward and just take life as it came your way. For better or for worse.

Turning out of your parents' room you walked down the hall towards the room you dreaded the most. Your own. You knew that on the other side of this door was a room frozen in time. It would look the exact same way it did when you left it in 2002 and the exact same way you last saw it when you arrived on November 22, 2013. As you reached for the doorknob your hand shook slightly but you pushed past the nervousness you were feeling. Closing your eyes you grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it open. Placing your hand on the door you pushed it fully open and took a step inside. Taking a deep breath you readied yourself to open your eyes and when you let out your breath, you did. Your eyes opened, but immediately they went wide with shock. The room was...empty. This didn't make sense. The room should've been untouched. Filled with all the items from your childhood. Toys on the floor, books on the desk, posters on the wall, and your big fancy canopy bed over where it should've been. But none of it was there. The room looked as if it was never lived in. Your heart raced as you wondered what this meant but as that happened you could feel a familiar knot build in your stomach. Following the feeling, you rushed over to the window and actually looked across the street at the academy. Your wide-eyed look grew as you saw giant banners of many people who you had never seen and one face that you recognized instantly. And then above the banners on the roof, you saw one more sign that read Crime's The Problem. We're The Solution. Sparrow Academy. A sinking feeling settled within you as you said aloud,

"Shit."

As you continued to stare in disbelief at the signs before you that may or may not have signified that you had messed up the timeline, the feeling in your stomach grew but before you could react to it, a burst of energy came from across the street knocking you down. Your arms wrapped tightly around your waist as you cried out in pain. Whatever was happening over at the house was not good. You took steady breaths, trying to redirect the pain, and after a few minutes of doing so, both the disturbed energy and your pain had vanished. Carefully you got up from the floor but once you were standing steadily you immediately knew you had to get back across the street. Transporting your molecules from your old bedroom over to the foyer of the academy you looked into the parlor that everyone had entered when you left only to see the place in complete disarray. Slowly, you walked into the room looking down at all the broken wood and glass on the ground.

"Jesus...what happened here?" You asked yourself quietly

As you looked at the mess you heard an unfamiliar woman's voice snap sarcastically,

"Oh great, we've got another one."

Your head whipped over to see a group of six people and a floating cube looking at you angrily. The same group that you had seen advertised on the banners outside, The Sparrow Academy. You had no time to care nor fucks to spare for the people standing in front of you. In what can only be described as one of the most stressful days of your life, you time traveled to 1982, killed a bunch of people, time traveled back to the 1960s, got kidnapped, killed a bunch of other people, went back to the 60s AGAIN, had to keep your boyfriend from fighting and killing his past self, and then was attacked by a literal army on top of being in extreme pain every time a massive disturbance occurred. Straightening your shoulders back you demanded,

"Where are the people I came with?"

"We kicked their asses and sent them running home." The seriously injured one jabbed

"Well this is their home so either you're playing a really shitty game of hide and seek or you suck at comebacks." You retorted "My guess is the latter though."

"We're not here to play games. You either get out of our house or we will force you out." The tallest one commanded

If there was one thing you hated more than anything else, it was being told what to do. No one was going to tell you what to do and especially not in this house. The academy had always been your little rebel's playground. You consistently lived directly in spite of Reginald and his dumb academy structure and today was not the day that this was going to change.

"Okay well first of all, I lived here in the 60s so this was my house first." You remarked back "And second of all, you must have the wrong bitch because I don't take orders from anyone."

You watched as they geared themselves up ready for a fight. A fight you were willing to take on because unless one of them had powers similar to Vanya, you were obviously going to win. Slowly the group of them started approaching but you stood your ground. You watched as Ben stepped forward quickly, pushing his way in front of the rest of the group. There was a look of pure malice on his face, one that you had never seen on him before, but with that look, you instantly knew this was not the Ben you had known. This was someone completely different and you should treat him as such. Standing in front of everyone else he shouted cockily,

"I got this."

And just like that two tentacles flew out of his chest and towards you, but you didn't move. You didn't even flinch. Instead, you kept your eyes trained on Ben as his tentacles went swiftly through you. You watched his cocky expression turn into confused anger as his tentacles continued to swat at you to no avail. As the tentacles came back towards you, your hands shot up grabbing one in each hand and quickly burning the slimy flesh. Ben shouted in pain as he retracted his tentacles back inside himself. A vile smirk came to your face as you mocked,

"You missed Benjamin."

You watched his face contort into anger but you couldn't care. It was your turn now. Closing your eyes you ignored your actual sight and instead using your abilities you felt for all the shards of shattered glass in the room. Once you had found them all you began to raise them in the air so that they surrounded the Sparrows. Opening your eyes you looked dead at them all, their confidence and anger had now turned into a state of poorly hidden panic. Slowly and in a steady tone, you spoke your next words to them,

"But I won't."

And just like that, you flung the glass their way. You watched as they spread out running in different directions but you could still hear their shouts and cries of pain as glass sliced them. You winced though as what felt like a piece of glass sliced your cheek over your cheekbone. None of the glass should've hit you, you were directing it away. And then from across the room, you saw the seriously injured one holding his hand over a cut in the same place. Putting the pieces together you concluded that his power was injury replication. His pain was his attacker's pain.

"Well then." You said to yourself "Better avoid contact combat."

As you took a moment to yourself you could feel the energy of someone trying to sneak up behind you. As they rushed to sneak attack, you phased yourself through them and saw it was the largest member of the group. With his back still turned to you, you kicked him in the back of the leg making him collapse to his knees before roundhouse kicking his head and increasing the density of your foot on impact for extra damage. You watched as he fell forward to the ground but before he could get back up you placed a paperweight on his back and increased the density to the point that it was impossible for him to get up. You watched as he struggled to get off the ground to no avail. This was one of your easiest tricks, you were doing this before you turned double digits, and yet this big guy was effectively down for the count. Proud of your work you saw as a group of sparrows congregated together most likely trying to figure out their next plan of attack. Rolling your shoulders back a few times you turned yourself invisible before jumping over to them. You saw the way they frantically looked around for you.

"Where did she go?" Ben shouted

Without a word, you decided to answer him. Punching him in the gut, he doubled over allowing you to elbow him in the head and push him to the ground. The Sparrow with glasses and the one with long brown hair looked on with concern as their heads whipped around trying to find you. You watched as they wandered away for a moment before shouting,

"Colder."

Quickly they snapped back around towards the sound of your voice. As they slowly approached you continued to talk them through the game of hot and cold just waiting for them to get to you.

"Warm. Warmer. Hot. Hotter!" You instructed

It was when they were right in front of you that you revealed yourself and said,

"You two are on fire!"

The one with the glasses immediately went to grab you but before she could the other girl screamed,

"Oh my god, Fei! Look! Look!"

The one with glasses looked down at herself only to see that both she and the girl who had shouted at her were indeed on fire.

"I told you two you were on fire." You commented

The two of them began to panic as you refused to let the flames go out. The funny part was that you weren't actually burning them or their clothing, the flames just existed there as a distraction. Each girl tried to pat out their own flames and that of each other but nothing was working. This was too easy. These people thought they were going to kick your ass and force you out of the house? Yeah right. They were amateurs compared to you. Flashing up to the balcony above, you leaned against one of the columns, crossing your arms over your chest and taunting,

"C'mon is that really all you guys got? I assumed you'd at least be somewhat of a challenge."

You were unimpressed by them. These were supposed to be the Umbrellas replacements? Sure they were very good at presenting themselves as a united front, something the Umbrellas were...working on. But these guys hadn't even landed a hit on you yet. Granted, that was a difficult task to do, but even your friends back when you did your vigilante thing were able to get you sometimes. And they didn't even have powers. They were just skilled at working together. It wasn't surprising given their upbringing but it seemed like every Hargreeves was deeply rooted in the "everyone for themselves" mentality. As you stood there watching your minimal havoc cause its discord downstairs, a Sparrow with long dark hair began to approach you. You raised a curious eyebrow at her but didn't make any attempt to move from your current position. You watched as she pressed her tongue between her teeth, black veins popping up on her neck as she made a hissing sound before shooting some type of liquid from her mouth. Becoming permeable, the liquid flew right through you and landed on the column behind you. Turning to look at what was just spat at you, you saw a stain of black goop splattered on the column. Your face morphed into disgust as you looked back at the girl.

"Is that shit black? Gross." You grimaced "What's your power? Sucking off the tar monster from Scooby-Doo?"

You watched her face turn to anger as she repeated the process from earlier, spitting at you once more. Once again she missed as the liquid flew right past you. Finally deciding to move, you walked over and stood in front of her. With your eyes locked, you stated firmly,

"Keep your kinks to yourself you perv."

Before kicking her in the chest and sending her down the foyer stairs. You watched as she tumbled to the main floor hitting each step along the way before stopping completely at the bottom. Slowly, you walked down the stairs after her and looked down at the body at your feet. Tapping the girl in the side with your foot you could hear a small groan but didn't see any sign of movement. Oh well, it was one less Sparrow to worry about.

"This is pathetic. I need a drink." You said to yourself

Stepping over the body you headed back into the parlor, seeing your chaos. Glasses girl and long brown hair girl were still trying to stop themselves from being on fire. Still, neither of them realized that they weren't actually being burned even with the flames growing. Ben was still on the ground trying to recover and the first guy you attacked was yelling for assistance from the injury replication guy.

"Alphonso get this thing off of me!" He shouted

"I'm trying Marcus!" Alphonso replied trying his best to lift the paperweight

As you started to walk past the pair you commented nonchalantly,

"You're wasting your time y'know. It's not gonna budge."

Immediately, Alphonso turned on his heel to face you and you could see the extent of his injuries. It looked very bad. His body was covered with what appeared to be years of scar tissue that all piled up on each other. And for a moment you couldn't help but feel slightly sad for the guy. That went away though as he exclaimed,

"Hit me!"

You already knew that was a bad idea and were not going to be attempting any attacks that dealt with physical contact. It was only going to do damage to you. You however did have another idea.

"Yeah, no. I'm not gonna listen to the guy who looks like The Appetizer from Spongebob" you replied before saying in an upbeat tone "But I will piss your pants though!"

"You'll wha-"

Before he could even finish his statement though you rushed a bunch of water from his body into his bladder before continuing to use your abilities and compress it. You laughed as the guy, against his will, pissed his pants.

"Oh what the fuck!" He shouted

"As an added bonus how about you puke on him too." You added

Using your powers you turned Alphonso back around to face Marcus who still lay trapped on the floor under the paperweight. And without a moment to recover from pissing his pants, you compressed his stomach making him puke onto the back of Marcus' jacket. You could hear Marcus groan in disgust as Alphonso fell to his knees and started having a coughing fit. With a shrug of your shoulders, you moved on towards the bar. Stepping behind the bar you grabbed a glass and a bottle and started to pour the random liquor you chose in but you had not realized that your lack of care had lost your grip on the fake fire you had created. Before you could reach for your glass you heard the overwhelming sounds of dozens of birds squawking. Looking up you saw a swarm of birds appear out of the back of the one with glasses. High into the air, they flew like a dark storm above. They shrieked loudly as they circled but quickly their attention landed on you. In one giant mass, they flew directly towards you. Reacting on instinct you threw the bottle of alcohol that was still in your hand before summoning one of your knives to the other one. Setting it on fire you threw it after the bottle letting the two of them collide in the air, an explosion of flames and glass shot through the swarm of birds making them cry out in pain. The Sparrow who summoned them screamed as she placed her hands over her eyes and collapsed to the ground causing the other Sparrow you had set on fire to look in your direction. She raised her hand, blue energy starting to glow causing you to lift up from the ground but before you could get too far you lifted your own hand and made a swatting motion in the air sending her flying off to the side and into the bookcase.

Grabbing your glass you took a swig of your drink letting it go down smooth. After everything that had happened today, you deserved this. Walking out from behind the bar you stepped into the center of the room and looked at the bodies that were lying around. They weren't dead but they probably were starting to wish they were. But then from above, you saw as the floating cube appeared. It pulsed with angry red light as it insulted you through some garbled language.

"Easy there enderman. No need to get hostile." You retorted

The room was silent except for the groans of the defeated Sparrows as you and the cube stood off. Neither of you making a move, waiting for the other to take the initiative to attack. As you stared each other down, the rest of the Sparrows got up, stumbling over to surround you. You looked around at them, cuts, bruises, and blood littered their uniforms and bodies. You admired their resilience, the fact that even after all you had done so far they still would get up to fight was impressive. You could see the blade you had thrown earlier on the ground behind the cube and an idea came to mind. You knew the cube was a dense solid but if you made the blade phase into it then maybe it would do some damage. Carefully, you side-eyed the knife trying not to draw attention to it as you raised it in the air, but after a moment you flung it at the cube phasing it through its hard exterior and hitting the inside. You watched proudly as the cube wobbled a bit but before you could react a beam of red energy shot towards you hitting you in the head. You dropped to one knee as you cried out in pain. The energy wasn't like that of Vanya's, it wasn't a direct counter to your ability, but it flowed through you so rapidly it was difficult to think straight. With wicked grins on their faces, the Sparrows closed in and you knew you needed to do something or else you were screwed. You tried to fight against the energy that moved through you but it accomplished nothing. And that's when you heard Charlie's voice in your head.

Feel it, don't fight it.

You weren't going to stop this energy but maybe you could redirect it back. You moved your right hand in front of your head so that the energy beam hit there first and felt the way it coursed through you. Although your teeth were gritted, your breath became steady and as the Sparrows closed in on you, you raised your left hand up with two fingers pointed and completed the circuit. The energy that had rushed into you flowed out of you and connected with the blade you had lodged in the cube. You watched as it vibrated violently making a sound of what you could only assume was distress. Regaining your footing you stood up tall as you moved closer to the cube forcing more of its own energy into it. Quickly, the rest of the Sparrows moved towards you to make you stop, but before they could even get close you took in a slow deep breath taking in oxygen. Specifically the oxygen from the Sparrows' bodies. You watched as they grabbed at their necks all of them beginning to choke on nothing. Their faces turned blue as they tried to move forward to get to you but they couldn't. Blood began to drip from their noses and their eyes began to roll back into their head as you continued to suck every molecule of oxygen from their system. You could tell they were on their last breaths but before you could finish them off a familiar voice called from behind you,

"(Y/N)! Welcome home! I always knew you'd come back."

Hearing that voice you stopped what you were doing and turned right around. All the Sparrows collapsed to the ground, the cube going completely colorless and the humans gasping for the air they so desperately needed. You looked up towards the balcony and saw a man you were not expecting to see standing there. Reginald.

"What the fuck? Reggie? Why are you alive?" You shouted

"Why shouldn't I be?" He questioned back

"I don't know it's been like fifty fucking years." You argued before gesturing to the Sparrows behind you on the ground "And who are the 30-year-old losers I almost killed? Why do you have them?"

"These are my children, the Sparrow Academy. Just like the name you chose!" Reginald explained "And they are here because after the awful display those Umbrella malcontents put on at dinner in 1963 I decided to pick a different academy. A better one."

You let out a sigh of relief as you heard his explanation. It wasn't your fault that things had changed. You were still more put together than a Hargreeves. The only input into this timeline you truly caused was the name of the academy. You were in the clear.

"Are you impressed Number Zero?" Reginald inquired

"No. Of course not. I kicked their asses." You ridiculed "And don't call me that."

"Wait. You're Number Zero?" A voice behind you asked

You turned to look at the Sparrow Academy as they got up from the ground. Brushing themselves off they looked at you in shock waiting for some type of response.

"No. I'm (Y/N)." You reprimanded angrily "And if you disrespect me by calling me a number again I'm gonna turn your head into a fucking Pollock painting."

The tall one in the front, Marcus, put his hands up innocently as he apologized,

"I'm sorry I meant no disrespect."

"Whatever." You replied, "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

The Sparrow with the bird power stepped forward as she replied,

"It's just an honor to meet you."

"Yeah, we've been waiting on your return." Alphonso chimed in

You grimaced at them. Their responses were weird and unsettling. It was giving off cult-like vibes and you didn't like it one bit.

"That's not creepy at all." You remarked sarcastically

You had no clue what Reginald told them about you or your abilities. You looked back up towards the balcony for some type of explanation but he was nowhere to be found. You could only assume whatever he said was some type of warped truth. A positive light so grand that now they saw you as above them in some way. You knew though that Reginald wasn't to be trusted. He had a reason for everything, including shaping your image like this to them. It was a means to some type of end that you didn't know about. You watched as Marcus stepped forward, a sincere look on his face as he asked,

"Is there anything we can do for you?"

"First of all, you could stop treating me like some type of god. It's weird and makes me very uncomfortable." You explained "And second...I could use some medical attention, a shower, and some food so if that's not an issue that would be highly appreciated."

"Of course." He nodded "Sloane will take you to the medical room."

You watched as the girl with long brown hair stepped forward. A sweet smile on her face as she extended her hand out to shake yours.

"Hi, I'm Sloane." She greeted

Taking her hand in yours you gave it a polite shake as you replied,

"(Y/N)."

"Nice to meet you. Should we get going?" She asked

You nodded your head and with that, you followed her away from the rest of the Sparrows and towards the medical room. But as you settled in the house after a great victory, the Hargreeves however were forced to deal with their major loss in the middle of a park. The group hobbled their way over to various benches and tables that sat next to a small pond. Taking a seat on one of the benches in the shade Luther mumbled,

"Just gonna sit. I'm just gonna sit for a minute."

"That didn't go well." Diego commented as he leaned against the fence that blocked off the pond

"No, not our best work." Five replied sitting down at a picnic table

Five couldn't remember the last time he had gotten his ass kicked like that. He could barely think of an example. Really, he could barely think at all. His head was pounding like crazy, his vision was slightly blurry and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. He tried concentrating on remembering what it was he forgot, but the light of the sun hurt his head and the aching of his body was too great a distraction that he couldn't focus. All he knew at that moment was how much everything hurt. Five watched as Klaus walked over to the other picnic table and laid atop it. Twisting his spine, loud popping sounds could be heard as he tried to fix his joints.

"Oh, I'm cracking." He said

Looking across the way Five saw Allison and Luther sitting next to each other on separate benches. Allison's nose was bleeding and Luther's face was bloody and bruised. Neither of them looked good. No one here looked good.

"You all right?" Allison asked Luther

"I don't know yet. I've just never had my ass handed to me like that before. It's like...Here you go. It's your ass." Luther responded, his hands held out as if they were holding something

"Okay, I think Luther's concussed." Allison commented placing a hand on his shoulder

Climbing off the table Klaus sat down on the picnic table's bench and raised his hand towards Luther. Holding up what could've been three or four fingers Klaus asked,

"Luther, how many fingers?"

Before he could respond though Vanya came down the path they had taken to get to where they sat looking in as rough condition as everyone else.

"Oh. Thank God you're alive." Vanya called stumbling over to an open bench

"Apparently, so is Ben." Klaus commented

"Yeah. And he's a complete dickhead." Allison added

"They're all dickheads." Diego stated

"Dickheads who can fight." Luther remarked

Five's head continued to pound as he listened to his siblings say the word dickhead over and over again. It didn't make things better and detracted him from thinking about what might be going on. This was obviously not right and he needed to figure things out. Trying to get them to give him some quiet for just a few moments Five threatened,

"Okay, next person to say dickhead is getting a punch to the throat."

"Dickhead." Luther said

"Dickhead." Allison followed

"Dickhead." Klaus added

"Dickhead." Diego finished

Five rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly in disappointment. He still wanted to punch his siblings in the throat but that would take energy away from the ideas that were starting to form in his head.

"Hey, did Dad tell you why he was calling them his kids?" Diego asked

"He sure did! You ready?" Klaus laughed "Dad was so repulsed by us back in Texas, that he adopted an entirely different group of children just so that he didn't have to raise us."

"That's just peak Dad." Diego commented

"Isn't it?" Luther complained

"So he just didn't want us anymore?" Vanya asked

"Did he ever?" Allison responded

"See? I told you we shouldn't have asked him for help in '63." Luther added gesturing toward Five

Like a lightbulb finally getting electricity after a power outage, Five's brain began to work again. Slowly but surely the gears started turning as he thought about the situation at hand. If their dad decided against adopting them, then obviously, the Umbrella Academy never existed. And if the Umbrella Academy never existed it means their lives as they knew them were completely altered. The entire reality they were now in could be filled with alterations.

"I think you're all missing the big picture here." Five chimed in "If Dad didn't adopt us as kids, he changed the timeline. So who knows what else is different now."

"Shouldn't you know?" Allison questioned, attitude lacing her tone

Five knew that Allison was probably upset about getting kicked out of the Academy. Everyone was. That was their home and now most of the group had nowhere to go. And on top of it, she was antsy to go and get back to Claire, if she even existed in this timeline. With the fact that the Umbrella Academy was no longer around, there was a decent chance that neither was Claire. He wasn't going to bring that up though because he was already starting to get annoyed by her. Trying to get her to back off Five remarked,

"Sorry, Allison, but it might take me more than 20 minutes and a traumatic brain injury to figure this all out. Is that okay with you?"

"No, actually, it's not." Allison replied annoyed

"Guys, look, it's fine. We still have the Commission's briefcase, so worst case, we can just go back in time and fix it." Vanya interjected

That was not true though. There were two main problems with what was just said and Five knew he needed to address them before his siblings got out of hand with ideas that would not work. Standing up from his spot on the bench Five began to explain,

"Okay. There are two problems with that statement. First off--"

"Here we go." Klaus lamented

"Time travel is complicated, people." Five stated

"Yeah, we get it. Your job is so hard. Just...what?" Diego complained

"And secondly..." Five continued "I no longer have the briefcase."

Five saw as his siblings faces changed from their mildly disgruntled expressions to ones of shock and annoyance. At this point, Five was used to them reacting like this. He tried to do his best but it just never held up with them. Fortunately, most of them actually kept their mouths shut and just slouched in their seats rather than going on a tirade. Except for Allison, who stood up from her seat on the bench and aggressively asked,

"Five, where the hell is the briefcase?"

"Back at home most likely." Five answered

Home. The word echoed in his mind. There was something about it that felt so important to recall. And then it hit him. You went home. They left home. You didn't know that the academy was not your home. They left you behind. HE LEFT YOU BEHIND!

"Oh shit! (Y/N)!" Five shouted frantically "She doesn't know we left the house!"

"Where was she? We could've used some help from her in that fight." Luther remarked

Five hands started to shake, as he rapidly paced back and forth. He had to go back. They all needed to go back. They barely made it out alive but if it was you by yourself who knew what could happen? Trying to elaborate on the situation Five explained panicked,

"She left the academy to go look at her old house across the street. She doesn't know we left. We've gotta go back."

"What and get our asses kicked again?" Allison protested "No thanks. I'd like to live to see my daughter again."

With the realization that you could be in danger sinking in, Diego quickly walked over to Five. He had almost lost you once today, he wasn't going to let a chance for it to happen again occur. His worst fear was losing you, and he especially wasn't going to lose you to those Sparrows. Standing by Five's side he pulled out one of his knives as he stated,

"No he's right we have to go back for her."

"Yeah, (Y/N) is family. We can't just leave her behind." Klaus chimed in as he walked over towards the two of them

"(Y/N) can blow people up with her mind, I think she'll be okay." Allison retorted

Five's frustration grew as he stopped pacing and turned on his heel to face her. Just some time ago everyone was all "kumbaya" and "we're all family" on the farm and yet now, barely anytime later, Allison was just ready to leave you behind? Why? So she could go see her daughter? IF, Claire existed she was in California while you were only a few blocks away! Currently, you needed them all more than Claire needed Allison. Sure, she was right. You could blow people up with your mind but you had been through enough today. If you did fight them, you couldn't do it forever. They were powerful, capable, and dangerous.

"I am NOT leaving my girlfriend to deal with the Sparrows herself!" Five yelled at her "I know she's not defenseless but she is injured and it can get worse if we don't go back."

"Yeah, and I'm not letting my little girl get hurt by those psychos." Diego added "Let's go. Maybe if we're lucky she's still at her house."

the res of the siblings nodded their heads in agreement as they got up from their seats. You were family, and they weren't going to leave you behind. Allison watched as the rest of the family started to head back to the academy. Back to the academy where they had just gotten beaten to a pulp. Were they really just gonna barge back in there for round two? No. Absolutely not. There was no time for this. She had to get to her daughter. She couldn't just go back and attempt to deal with the Sparrows again just because you decided to take a little trip down memory lane. She needed to do something to get them to stay.

"Hey!" She called out

The rest of the Hargreeves stopped in their tracks as they all turned around to look at Allison. Without missing a beat, seeing as she had all their attention Allison spoke,

"I heard a rumor you all forgot about (Y/N) until dinner tonight."

Allison watched as the eyes of her siblings all went blank white for a moment, her rumor settling into their minds before their eyes returned to their normal colors. The Hargreeves blinked around in confusion, forgetting why they had all stood up.

"Where were we going?" Five asked

"Away from here." Allison stated firmly

The rest of the group looked at each other giving various shrugs and confused glances. But nevertheless, they started to walk off in the direction away from the academy. For the most part, the group walked down the park paths and sidewalks in silence. None of them really had anything to say and most of them were still trying to remember what their plan was. As they walked down the sidewalks the other park-goers stared at them with long judgmental glances as they passed by. It was an unusual situation all around.

"What are we doing?" Allison complained

"Ruminating." Five replied simply

"Why is everyone staring at us?" Klaus questioned

"Because we look like the damn Village People just lost a fight." Diego snapped as he took Klaus' hat from him

Jumping at Diego, Klaus tried to get his hat back while Diego continued to hold it away.

"Gimme that." Klaus shouted before getting elbowed in the ribs by Diego and saying "Hey. Ow!"

Allison couldn't deal with this. Her siblings didn't have the care or the urgency that she did. What needed to be done right now was that she needed to get to Claire as soon as possible and it seemed like everyone else was holding her back. Getting fed up, Allison started to walk away as she called back,

"You know what? I need to go find Claire. I will catch up with you guys later."

"Hey, Allison, no." Vanya called stopping Allison in her tracks "First, let's get somewhere safe, clean up those cuts, and then we'll go find her."

The rest of the group stopped in the tracks taking in the city skyline. Massive billboards of the Sparrow Academy hung off of buildings, their expressions serious and authoritative. The Umbrella Academy sure was mismanaged circus filled with a bunch of clowns compared to them.

"Well, what are we doing then? We can't stand here bleeding out in this park." Allison retorted

"I don't know, but we better gear up fast before they come for round two." Diego stated

"What makes you think they'll come after us?" Vanya questioned

"Because I would." Diego responded

"Yeah, we did break into their house." Klaus added

"Our house." Allison corrected

"...bust up all their nice antiques and shit." Klaus continued

"Yeah. I don't think the crime-fighting... super nerds are gonna let that go." Luther commented

Trying to get everyone to some type of safety Five suggested,

"Let's just think of someplace off the radar where we can lie low and not draw attention."

"What kind of a weird-ass place are we not gonna draw attention?" Diego replied

The group all looked at each other for a moment before their attention turned to Klaus. They watched as he spun in circles for a moment before stopping. Looking back at them he furrowed his eyebrows, trying very hard to think of a place where they could lie low and not draw attention to themselves. And then it hit him. He knew the perfect place they could go.

"I've got it! Follow me!" Klaus exclaimed as he started to walk off

The rest of the siblings looked at each other for a moment before deciding to follow Klaus. If anyone was going to know a place they could stay it was probably going to be him. And so off they went following their eccentric brother in hopes of being able to take care of themselves. You however already had your care underway.

Sloane had guided you through the house pointing out many things that were different from how you remember. There was an in-home movie theater, a dojo, a home gym connected to a full modern kitchen, plus many other things. But the thing that was most foreign to you was the woman standing in front of you taking care of your injuries. Your mom. Well, what should've been your mom. She had the same hair, face, mannerisms, and voice but this wasn't her. The love and care that you used to see in her eyes was replaced with an empty void. You watched as she hummed softly while she cleaned and fixed some of your minor injuries. With a cloth in her hand she reached up to clean off the fresh cut on your cheek and yet something about that action felt different. It was like the gentle touch of a concerned mother was gone, as if it never existed at all. You stared off at the wall in front of you as she continue her work. You had no clue how much time had passed when you felt a tap on your shoulder. Coming back into focus you saw Grace standing before you a basic smile on her face as she stated,

"All your wounds have been attended to and should heal relatively fast."

"Thanks, Mom." You responded

You didn't mean to say Mom. It was a force of habit given the woman she looked like, but as the word came out of your mouth there was part of you that hoped it would trigger something in her. A spark of recognition, even just a flash of the woman you once knew. Something to bandage the pain that was growing in your heart.

"Mom?" Grace questioned, "Why do people keep calling me that."

And with those words that tiny bit of hope you had gone away. As much as you wanted it to not be true, you knew that this wasn't your mom, nor was it even Grace. The woman you knew was lost to the past just like everyone else in your life that you loved. All you had left were the six Hargreeves you arrived with. Getting off the exam table you didn't let your eyes meet her own. If you looked at her face right now you were sure you would start crying from the fact that you had lost a parent again. Walking towards the curtain that separated the kitchen and the med room you quietly responded,

"I don't know. Sorry."

Taking a deep breath you put on a strong face before opening the curtain and walking out of the room. As you stepped out you saw all the Sparrows in workout gear, except for Marcus and Ben who were only in shorts and sneakers, approaching the treadmills in the gym that was on the other side of the kitchen. You stopped in your tracks and looked at them confused.

"(Y/N), glad to see you're doing better." Marcus states "Would you like to join us on our run? I'd be happy to lend you my treadmill."

"You guys run...together?" You asked confused

"We're a team." The one with bird powers said, "We do everything together."

You furrowed your eyebrows as you only became more confused. part of you wanted to ask how far the term everything went in terms of doing everything together, but something in you held you back from doing so. These people were so weird. Were there any Hargreeves that were normal?

"I think...I'm okay for now." You answered, "I've had a very long and physically intense day already so I'm just gonna go take a hot shower."

You turned away from the group and started to head out of the combination gym kitchen but before you could you heard Ben comment mockingly,

"Wow. A little run is too much for the amazing Number Zero."

Before he even fully finished his comment though a blade had already flung past his face leaving a cut similar to your own on his cheek. Slowly you looked over your shoulder, the eyes of all the Sparrows trained on you. Your eyes locked with Ben's as you stated in a slow, low tone,

"I told you not to call me that."

"Yeah dude what are you doing?" The spit girl questioned

"I just don't get how she outranks us and yet she can't be bothered to run a bit." Ben complains

"I told you. I've had a long and physically intense day." You explain steadily as you turned back around "In less than 24 hours, I traveled through time, killed a boardroom filled with extra-temporal corporate executives, was kidnapped, broke free, blew up part of a building, killed another 50 plus people, most of which by blowing them up and one of them-"

You paused for a moment and you flashed over towards Ben and phasing your hand through his chest and grabbing on to his heart tighter and tighter as you spoke,

"By wrapping my hand around his beating heart and pulling it out of his chest while watching the life drain from his eyes. I could go on about the fact that I fought a literal army, had my abilities try to rip me apart from the inside out and yet was still able to kick your ass, but I think this is enough."

"If you want to fight again then let's fight." Ben taunted

Rolling your eyes, you let go of his heart and pulled your hand from his chest. He obviously was a real piece of work in this timeline.

"Calm your man tits, Cuntacles. It's not much of a fight if I can kill you." You remarked, "Anyway, you're not worth much, let alone worth killing and you've got bigger problems to deal with."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Ben questioned

"Like the fact that your patchy gas station attendant mustache doesn't match with those sorority bitch booty shorts." You replied a smirk coming to your face "You should fix that."

You watched as Ben slowly reached up to touch his mustache while he looked down at the shorts he was wearing. Looking past him you could see the smiles and hear the snickers and stifled laughter coming from the other Sparrows. They obviously found your comments entertaining and maybe this was exactly the type of treatment this Ben needed. A good knock off that high horse he was riding. You stared at him blankly and waited for some type of snarky response but none came.

Ben's heart raced at the way you had threatened him and the way you spoke to him. All he could do was stare back at you unsure of what to do or how to respond. No one had ever threatened him in a way that mattered nor had anyone talked to him the way you just had. He had never met anyone before that put themselves on an equal footing to him. For everyone else, he was above them on his heroic pedestal, a god amongst other men. But you, it was as if you had just always been there on equal footing. He didn't like this feeling. You made his stomach feel uneasy by just being you. And with no snarky remark to come back with he let out an annoyed huff and turned off to walk towards his treadmill.

Seeing his retreat, a proud smile came to your face as you said,

"Alrighty then. Well, I'm off to take a shower. Enjoy your run y'all."

And with that, you turned off towards the bedroom hall of the house where the bathroom with the best water pressure was located. You felt a little bad for being so harsh towards Ben but just like with Grace, it wasn't the person you knew. He wasn't the boy you would read literature and write stories with, nor the ghost that was there to comfort you when you were all alone. You knew Ben could be snappy and rude with Klaus but from your view, he was never this level of such. But just because he looked like Ben didn't mean he was. This was an entirely different person you were going to treat him like a stranger because that's who he was to you, and you wouldn't let a stranger treat you the way he attempted to.

Making it to the bathroom, you stripped off your dirty clothes and threw them down the hamper shoot before hopping into the shower. You let the hot water run over you for a while taking in the feeling as you tried to push past the pain that came from seeing the faces of people you loved and knowing that they were gone. You couldn't tell if tears were falling from your eyes or if it was just the water rolling down your face but either way you could feel your chest clench from it all. You stood there silently for a while before reaching for the soap and finally washing off the dirt and dried blood that was left over from earlier events in the day. It was nice to feel clean, to wash all that stuff down the drain. All you had to do now was pick yourself up off the ground and try to start your life over again. For a third time.

Turning the water off, you stepped out of the shower and dried off before putting on a robe from the linen closet. It was at that point you realized the mistake you had made. You had thrown your dirty clothes down the laundry shoot out of habit and now you had no clothes to put on. Opening the bathroom door you looked out into the hall to see if anyone was there. Luckily enough you saw Sloane at the end of the hallway entering what you assumed to be her room. Trying to get her attention you called out to her,

"Sloane. Sloane!"

You watched as she turned around and looked towards you, a smile coming to her face as she approached the bathroom door.

"Hey (Y/N), what's up?" She asked politely

"Hey, so I threw my dirty clothes down the laundry shoot totally forgetting the fact that I did not bring any other clothes with me into the bathroom and I was just wondering if there were any clothes I could use." You asked

"Oh, yeah! You can just take from my closet." She responded cheerfully

"Are you sure?" You questioned

"Yeah! Come follow me." She said

You watched as she turned away and walked back towards her room and slowly but surely you followed her there. Entering the room, you saw posters and postcards of places around the world taped to the walls and multiple travel books littering her desk and dresser. You couldn't be sure but you were getting the feeling that she didn't want to be here. Walking over to the closet, Sloane opened it up and grabbed some things for herself before gesturing to all the clothes inside.

"Since you're done, I'm actually going to go take a shower now so don't worry about rushing to pick something. You have the full range of my closet and can take your time deciding!" She explained

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." You replied

And with that, Sloane gave you a quick nod and walked out of the room with some clothes in hand. Closing the door behind her, you walked over to her closet and started to look through what was available. Sifting through the options you saw a lot of florals, jeans, and deep V-cut long sleeve crop tops. Her closet was very light, romantic, and floaty and you could only assume that it was a reflection of who she was as a person. It took a few minutes to find pieces that you liked but you settled on one of her crop tops, a light blue one with a few pink flowers scattered over it that laced up in the front, and a pair of high-waisted jeans. Looking at yourself in the mirror you felt odd but in a good way. You felt more like yourself, like the person you were before heading to the 1960s. The 60s were alright but the modesty standards were annoying at best and infuriating at worst. No profanity, no "immodest" clothing, minimal affection. You hated it. It was nice to be back in the present day where the rules were laxer. You could speak your mind, dress how you wanted and kiss your boyfriend in public without it being a severe violation of the times. Unsure of what to do next given that your home wasn't really your home anymore, you decided to just chill out on your favorite spot, the ceiling. You had liked sitting on the ceiling ever since you figured out how to do so. It was calming and helped you think because no one could really get to you. Settling into your spot you heard the door to the room open and a voice say,

"Whoa. Didn't expect to see you up there."

Looking down at the door you saw Sloane standing there looking up at you surprised. She was in an outfit somewhat similar to yours but it made sense since you had picked from her closet.

"Oh sorry. I like sitting on the ceiling I feel like it gives me-" You started to explain yourself but were cut off

"A different view of the world?" Sloane questioned

You were taken back by her statement. She had pulled the words right out of your mouth. A small smile came to your face as you said quietly,

"Yeah."

You watched as slowly she raised herself up in the air before sitting on the ceiling across from you.

"Me too." She replied

Your small smile became wider as you looked at her impressed. This was so cool, you had never met anyone else who could do this as naturally as you could. And as much as you liked being on the ceiling to somewhat get away from people, there was something comforting about having someone else sit up there with you. It was like a camaraderie that you weren't expecting to find but nevertheless enjoyed.

"I've never met anyone else who could sit on the ceiling before." You commented

"Neither have I. I thought me and my gravity manipulation was the only way to do so until right now of course." Sloane stated, "How do you do it?"

"Oh, I just make myself light enough that I float to the ceiling and obviously it blocks me from going any higher so I just kind of sit there. Like a balloon." You explained

"Make yourself?" Sloane questioned

"Oh right. My power is also manipulation, but it's not gravitational. It's molecular. I can do a lot because I control the most basic part of existence." You elaborated

Sloane's eyes went wide with shock. Molecular manipulation? What a power! It sure explained how you were able to do so many things when they had fought you earlier and it proved everything that her dad said right. Although you hated being called so you truly were worthy of being in the spot that came before one.

"Oh my god, that's so cool. No wonder you have such versatile abilities." Sloane exclaimed, "How often did you have to train with your siblings to get to this level of control?"

Your head tilted to the side as you looked at her confused. What did she mean by train with your siblings? You were pretty sure that she had never met Dean and while Diego tended to ramble about you as his little sister that would only be one person not multiple.

"Um...I'm an only child." You corrected "I've trained alone for most of my life."

"Oh, you're not one of those Umbrellas?" She commented

Ah, that's what she had meant. She thought you were part of the Umbrella Academy. They all probably did but that wasn't entirely true. Trying to set the record straight you stated,

"I mean they're like family to me, but no. I was never part of the Umbrella Academy. I'm not a Hargreeves."

You looked off to the side for a moment as you thought about that statement. You weren't a Hargreeves but there was one way you could become one. A way that you would happily become one. A way in which you wanted to become one. Your thoughts caused a blush to rise to your face as you mumbled,

"Well not yet..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sloane asked

You turned your attention back to Sloane as you looked at her in shock and she looked at you with curiosity. You didn't realize you had spoken aloud but you didn't mind that she had heard them. There was something about Sloane that you liked. She seemed genuine and sweet and didn't make you feel weird like some of the other Sparrows did. Deciding to be honest you answered,

"Well one of them is my boyfriend."

"Which one?" Sloane inquired

Sloane had a guess at which one it was. Obviously, there was an option that made the most sense but she couldn't be sure. And for her own personal reasons she really wanted to be sure.

"The one who looks like he should be getting into an argument in a private school philosophy course." You joked

Sloane let out a quiet breath of relief as she heard your answer before laughing at your joke. She knew exactly which one you were referring to, which was the one she expected to be your boyfriend.

"Ah, the jumpy guy," Sloane stated jokingly

"Yeah, that's the one." You mused smiling "Five Hargreeves. Mon cœur, mon amour, ma raison d'être."

"I get it now. You're not a Hargreeves yet because you're not married to him." Sloane mentioned

"Yeah. But I'd like to be one day." You replied "He's my best friend. There's no one else I'd rather be with."

Sloane saw the smile on your face and the love in your eyes as you said those words. You seemed so happy, so smitten with your dear Five and she could only hope that she could find something similar. Sloane couldn't help that she was a hopeless romantic looking for her grand adventure in love but seeing you mention yours gave her a bit of hope.

"Aww. That's so romantic." Sloane cooed "What's he like?"

"He's sweet and caring and extremely protective of those he holds dear. He'd do anything for me and his family. He has done everything for us, and I absolutely love him." You gushed happily before adding "I just wish the rest of his siblings could recognize how much he loves them and how sweet he is."

Sloane furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. What did you mean by that? Trying to find the answer she asked,

"Why don't they?"

"Because they're stupid and don't listen. And when they don't listen, he gets frustrated, so they all think he's an asshole when all he's trying to do, all he's ever tried to do, is keep them safe." You complained

It sounded harsh but it was true. All Five ever wanted to do was to make sure that his family would live. He forced himself through 45 years of isolation knowing everyone he loved was dead, a shitty job working as an assassin for the commission as a means to get back to his family, and now twice he has tirelessly worked against fighting an apocalypse just to save them all. And yet even when he apologizes and asks for help they turn him away and make him out to be the bad guy. It frustrated you immensely because it seemed like you were the only one who realized this.

"That's unfortunate." Sloane mentioned "They can't all be bad though, right? The really tall one seemed kind of sweet..."

"Oh, Luther?" You asked

"Yeah..." Sloane said happily "Luther."

You could see the coy smile on her face and the blush that was rising to her cheeks. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she looked off to the side almost as if she was reminiscing. You were by no means an expert when it came to love, you couldn't even tell your best friend had feelings for you until he explicitly shouted it. But you had seen enough dumb teen crushes over your time in school that you were able to pinpoint them with ease. And by the looks of it, Sloane was just the next victim of Cupid's arrow.

"Sloane," You questioned, "Do you have a crush on Luther?"

Sloane's eyes went wide with shock as her head snapped back to look at you. How could you know? Could it even be qualified as a crush? She had only met him earlier today. They spoke like twice and yet he seemed so sweet and gentle after he had accidentally hit her. His eyes were sweet and his smile was bright and just the thought of him made her stomach do flips. But no. No she didn't have a crush. Did she? No. Trying to deny it, Sloane stuttered out,

"What no- I mean- what are you- you're crazy-"

You were unmoved though. You stared at Sloane, unimpressed by her attempt at denial, and instead gave her a look that said "Really? You're going to tell me I'm wrong? ". Sloane looked back at you biting her bottom lip nervously. She had no clue how you saw through her so well but it was obvious she wasn't hiding anything from you. Letting out a sigh, she asked,

"Is it that obvious?"

"Just a little." You replied

Letting out another sigh, Sloane tried to pull herself together. Her crush on Luther was something she could deal with later as another thought came to her head.

"Wait. I have a question. If you were never part of their academy then why are you even with them now?"

"Do you have time for a story?" You asked

She looked at you curiously before nodding her head yes. And with that confirmation, you started off on the long story that was your life and the winding road that led you to the current moment. Meeting Five, becoming his friend, meeting the rest of the Hargreeves and becoming their friend, accidentally time traveling, starting over, apocalypse one, purposely time traveling, starting over again, apocalypse two, purposely time traveling again, and now starting over AGAIN. You explained everything to her and watched as slowly throughout your story her jaw dropped more and more. The past nine years of your life were a mess of short bursts of the most traumatic things you had ever experienced mixed with long bouts of relative stability and god did you hope after fending off the 1963 apocalypse you would have a very very long time of stability. After finishing the tale of your life you waited for Sloane to say something but all she could manage to get out was,

"Wow. That's...a lot."

"Sure is." You remarked "Now let me ask you a question. You give me the feeling that you want to leave, so why do you stay?"

Sloane blinked a couple of times as she snapped out from the trance of hearing one of the most back-and-forth stories she ever heard. She didn't know whether to try and comfort you through all your loss and pain or commend you for being so strong and staying hopeful for a good life. But seeing as you asked her a question the answer to whether she should do something about that story right now was probably no. Taking a moment to think, she mulled over the question you had asked. It wasn't that hard of an answer, she already knew what it was but she had never vocalized it to anyone before and was nervous about doing so.

"It's safe here." Sloane explained, "I have a roof over my head, the people that I know best, enough money to get anything I want all in exchange for being a Sparrow."

"But do you want to be a Sparrow?" You followed up

"I don't really know..." Sloane replied in a low voice looking out her bedroom window "This is all I've ever known."

And for the first time that day, you truly felt bad for the Sparrows. These people, just like the Umbrellas, were traumatized by Reginald Hargreeves. Once again he had failed as a father and ruined even more children. Except this time, they didn't have a person like you to fight back against him. They didn't have people to show them love and that there was more to the world. Wherever Reginald Hargreeves went misery followed and the Sparrows were, unfortunately, a long-term target of that misery, so much so that their whole identities were wrapped up in this academy. It hurt to see Sloane suffering in silence, stifled by the expectation of the Sparrow Academy and feeling like she couldn't leave both because you found her to be nice and liked her and because it was like looking at what the Umbrellas could've become if you were never there. Sure they had their issues but seeing what you were seeing now, you realized it could've been a whole lot worse. Reaching out you placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder but as you did so you heard a voice yell down the hall,

"Food's ready!"

"Thanks, Jayme! Be there soon!" Sloane yelled back

The two of you quietly got down from the ceiling. Sloane gracefully flipped through the air and back onto the floor while you let yourself drop from the ceiling, landing in a hero's pose on the floor before standing back up straight. Heading towards the door you open and take a step out of the room before looking back at Sloane behind you.

"Y'know Sloane, if you're always following someone else, all you'll ever see is the back of their head. Sometimes you need to step out of line to truly see what the world has to offer you." You suggested, "You deserve more than this because you are more than just this."

With that, you walked back off towards the kitchen. And as Sloane watched you walk away she thought about all the times her Dad had talked you up, praised you for how amazing you were, to her and her siblings throughout their lives. You were the vision of perfection, the exact person that he wanted them to be and they would have to work hard as a team to even compare to you. It motivated all of them because not only did they want to make their dad proud but they wanted you to like their abilities. And yet finally meeting, you were nothing like the way her dad had described. You weren't this larger-than-life entity, you were as you put it, a person. A lovely person who treated her just the same. It wasn't her powers or her ability to work with the Sparrows that you cared about like her father said you would. You cared about her not what she could do. You were nothing like she was expected to believe you were, but it was like a breath of fresh air that she didn't know she needed. There was a world outside the wall of the academy and you were her first glimpse into that. You were right, you weren't Number Zero, you weren't a ranking that they should aspire to be. You were a person just like her and you were the friend that she never expected to have. And as Sloane exited her door following you to the kitchen, the Hargreeves had just arrived at the destination they followed Klaus too.

Towering before them was an old building only identified by the name on the awning and the sign atop the building as Hotel Obsidian. The group looked around outside as Klaus led the way to the revolving doors using his arms to gesture his siblings in. One by one, each Hargreeves filed into the revolving door. The same side of the revolving door. Squeezing in together rather than splitting up they thudded into the side walls as they tried to push their way forward into the building.

Oh. Okay. Honestly? Okay." Allison complained, "We don't all need to be squeezed-"

But before she could finish her statement, the door had finally moved far enough that they all could shuffle into the building.

"There were two entrances, by the way." Five commented

Five looked around at the interior of the hotel. It was old and outdated. The people that scattered the lobby, none of whom looked like they belonged here, all seemed to stare at him and his siblings. Five could feel that there was something off about this hotel but he couldn't place it at the moment.

"Oh, Hotel Obsidian. I missed you, you slutty old dame." Klaus greeted before turning towards his siblings and explaining "Absorb her. Absorb her into your bosom. You know, 'cause back in her heyday, she played host to world leaders. Roosevelt, Gandhi, Stalin, Gorbachev, Castro, King Olaf of Norway, one of the Kim Jongs, Tito, Dalai Lama, Elvis, and not one but two Kardashians, allegedly."

Unlike her siblings, who had all the time in the world to listen to Klaus ramble on about whatever, Allison was on a mission to get back to her daughter. Not wanting to wait around for Klaus to finish his speech Allison walked off past him.

"Wouldn't that-- Where you going?" Klaus asked

"I gotta make a call." Allison stated

Letter her walk off, Klaus turned his attention back to his siblings as he continued,

"Nowadays, she's just a flophouse, a party house for those of us not looking to be judged by society's rules and norms."

"You mean, a place to hide?" Luther asked

"Exactly! It's perfect! And the best part of it is, she's gonna look after us, no questions asked. Never ever. Right?" Klaus answered

The group took another look around the place. All of them got the feeling that there was more to this place than what they could see, but it was also their only option at the moment of a place to stay.

"Come on." Klaus called walking towards the check-in

The remaining siblings looked at each other for confirmation that this was what they were doing, and with multiple shrugs of the shoulders, they decided to follow behind. The siblings followed Klaus over to the check-in desk and watched as he rang the bell sitting upon it. From behind the desk a man showed up to attend to them. He was older, with gray hair that was formally slicked back and he wore a green Hotel Obsidian uniform.

"Chet! Mon frère! It's so great to see you. I'd like my usual suite, por favor." Klaus exclaimed

"I've never seen you before." Chet replied confused

"See? Told you. Discreet." Klaus reminded

"We need some rooms, please." Vanya stated

"Super. And how will we be paying today?" Chet questioned placing a Cash Up Front sign on the desk

Seeing the sign, the siblings all looked at each other as they tapped at their pockets. Did any of them have cash to pay for the rooms?

"Ah," Luther said aloud

"Oh," Klaus mumbled

"Fine. Empty your pockets." Luther directed

Reaching into all of their pockets the siblings pulled out the items they could find and presented them. What they held out before them were some crumbled-up candy wrappers, exactly three peppermints, a handful of condoms and a knife.

"Come on. Something. Cоndоms?" Luther said before pushing Diego's hand back scolding "Put the knife away!"

"Can't exchange those for cash." Klaus lamented

"Why do I have a hairnet?" Luther commented before frustratedly taking off his watch and asking "Oh. All right. What does this get us?"

Handing over the watch he was wearing on his wrist, Chet takes it before picking up a jeweler's loupe and examining the watch. Giving a small nod Chet places the watch and the loupe down behind the desk before turning around and walking to a walk of hooks. Picking up two keys Chet turns back towards the group and places the keys on the desk saying,

"Two rooms. Mazel tov."

Everyone watches as Klaus grabs one set of keys while Allison, who had just returned, stepped in and grabbed the other saying,

"All right. Well, let's Brady Bunch this bitch."

Together the group walked away from the desk and towards the elevator to head to their rooms. As they walked though, Five knew that they would need to discuss this new reality there were in. Something about it right now felt wrong. Like something was missing and they needed to figure out what it was. Wanting them to put their heads together on what this new reality meant Five suggested,

"Uh, meet back in the bar in two hours so we can make a plan."

"I have a plan." Diego exclaimed running up the stairs in front of everyone "We attack the Sparrows, and we take back our house, and then we punch Dad a bit until he admits that we're better and he loves us more. Boom! Done!"

One by one the rest of the siblings ignored his statement and filed into the elevator. Frustrated at their lack of response Diego turned towards them and exclaimed once more,

"We're wasting time!"

"Relax. Don't sweat it, man." Klaus said pulling Diego into the elevator "Those shit birds are staying put for a while. I bet they're as wiped as we are."

"Really?" Diego asked

"Yeah. I mean, kicking our asses looked exhausting." Klaus commented

Relenting, Diego stepped into the elevator as they all headed upstairs to their rooms. Stepping out of the elevator the group split up with Luther, Diego, Klaus, and Five heading towards one room and Allison and Vanya heading towards the other. Getting to their room, Klaus stuck the key in the lock unlocking the door before stepping inside.

"Oh! See? It's paradise. High ceilings, sense of space. Aromatic." Klaus praised

"What the hell? Where's the bathroom?" Diego complained

"Down the hall, or..." Klaus said opening the room's window "Nature's bathroom!"

"You're disgusting." Diego commented

"But consistent," Klaus remarked

As Klaus unzipped his pants to piss out the window, Five closed the door to the room and looked around. It was pretty awful, but it was better than some of the motels he stayed in and definitely better than the apocalypse so it was acceptable accommodations. There was a set of bunk beds, a couch, and an extra bed to sleep on. Trying to claim one of the decent beds before anyone else could, Five made his way over towards the bunks, taking his jacket off and hanging on one of the posts as he suggested,

"Let's unpack. Settle in."

"Unpack? Unpack what? We don't own anything anymore." Luther reminded

"Yes, Luther. Isn't that liberating?" Five remarked as he laid down on the bottom bunk

"What are you, a commie?" Diego complained "If I wanted bunk beds and group showers, I would've stayed in the Texas nuthouse. At least they had free Jell-O..and Lila."

"Jell-O!" Klaus exclaimed as he climbed to the top bunk

Luther and Klaus both vigorously bounced up and down on their beds, the sounds of squeaking mattresses filling the room. Five could feel as the entire bedframe for the bunk beds shook above him and he wondered how bad it would be if the top bunk came crashing down on top of him, killing him instantly. At least then he wouldn't have to deal with these three, but especially Diego with his complaints. Sitting back up, Five stared down at Diego as he explained,

"Hey, Diego. I just spent the past 20 straight days saving the world. Twice. Can I get five minutes to relax before figuring all the new kinks out? Please and thank you."

Five saw as Diego turned away from him and went over to a nearby wall to bang his head on. If it was someone else Five may have stopped them since it could damage their brain but with Diego, it didn't really matter since there wasn't a brain in there to damage.

"And Dad said I'd never go to summer camp." Luther chuckled laying back on his bed "This is great."

"All right, I'm bored. Cocktail, anyone? Five?" Klaus asked

"I'll take a scotch if you have one." Five answered

Five laid back down on his bed and closed his eyes. He could hear the sounds of Klaus climbing down the latter at the foot of the bed and heading over to the mini-bar that was in the room. Five tried his best to relax but something kept him from fully doing so. There was this nagging in his brain that something was missing. Something that he needed to feel completely at peace and yet no matter how hard he tried to think about what it was, no answer came to him.

"Here you go buddy," Klaus said

Opening his eyes, Five saw Klaus holding out a glass of a golden-colored liquid to him. Sitting up once more, Five took the glass from him and downed what was most definitely scotch. At least he knew Klaus was reliable when it came to alcohol. Setting the empty glass down on the ground next to him, Five laid back down and closed his eyes once more. With his nerves calmed and his body starting to actually relax he could feel himself drifting off to sleep. As he did so though he could see an image form in his mind of something. No. Someone. But before he could figure it out though he drifted off to sleep. But while Five took a very needed nap, you were about to eat a meal with the Sparrows.

Walking back into the kitchen you saw as all the Sparrows minus Sloane were all sitting at the table together already. No food was on their plates though as if they were waiting for something, or more so someone, and you had a strong guess that someone was you. You looked about the place wondering if you should sit down or not when the one with bird powers extended a hand out towards one of the empty seats encouraging,

"Please sit down, join us."

Nodding your head you walked over to the table taking a seat at it, with Sloane right behind taking the seat to your side. You looked around at everyone for a moment before starting to grab food and load up your plate. And with you initiating, everyone else started to pick up food as well.

"So," Marcus began breaking the silence

You looked up from your plate and across the table at him as he continued,

"Given the circumstances of our first meeting we never got properly introduced. I'm Marcus, Number One."

You nodded your head at him. The way you were first introduced to each other wasn't quite conducive to a normal introduction. The only reason you knew his name was Marcus was because Alphonso had yelled it when trying to get that paperweight off him.

"I'm Ben. Number Two." Ben stated

For a moment your eyes went wide with surprise. Last you had known, Ben was number six, not two. Diego was two. But this new placement made sense given his new attitude. Being up so high but not being in charge gave him this air of superiority and the need to act like he should be in charge. It was kind of similar to how Diego used to be especially in contrast to Luther. But also like Diego, you could tell Ben was hiding his insecurity of not being good enough behind this tough and argumentative exterior. He needed to feel useful, important, wanted. It was something that every Hargreeves seemed to do.

"Huh." You said aloud "Interesting."

"Why?" Ben asked annoyed

"Oh, it's just that back in my timeline you were Number Six" You explained " That and also realizing being number two leads to having both superiority and inferiority complex."

"What'd you say to me?!" Ben shouted jumping up from his seat and slamming his hands on the table

"Sit down." You replied using your powers to force him back into his seat "No need to get your Bentacles in a twist."

You could hear as he mumbled something under his breath but you didn't know exactly what he said nor did you care to respond to it. You hated the ranking system, but if he was going to continue to act above you then you were going to continue to humble him and put him in his place beneath you. Until he started treating you with respect you were going to give back the same energy he put out. Turning to look at the group you asked,

Now, what about the rest of you?"

"I'm Fei. Number Three." Fei greeted

"My name's Alphonso. I'm Numero Cuatro." Alphonso followed

"Well you know me already," Sloane added cheerfully "but I'm Sloane. Number Five."

A small smile came to your face at her introduction. Yes, you did already know Sloane and she was very fun to be around from your experience so far. What you hadn't known was she was number five in this group. How interesting it was that something always seemed to draw you to befriend the number fives. There must've been something about them that you just really liked.

"Jayme. Six." Jayme stated flatly

"And that's Christopher, our Number Seven." Marcus added

You looked up at the floating cube across the table and you had a lot of questions about him. Was he one of you guys just born out of nowhere or was he like an extraterrestrial type thing? If he was born out of nowhere did he start out as a person or was he always a cube? If he was a cube was he a baby cube or was he always this size? If he was part of the sparrow academy did he have specific fans? Wait.....Did people want to fuck the cube? So many questions ran through your mind as you stared at him in silence and as much as you tried to keep them all to yourself one intrusive question managed to slip out.

"If I forced you to watch me play Minecraft would you cry?"

The rest of the table looked at you with confusion and concern. What did you mean by that and why would it make Christopher potentially cry if he had to watch you play it? Looking for some clarity Alphonso asked,

"What's Minecraft?"

"Oh right, you guys are old and sheltered. It's a computer game where one of the main mechanics is forcefully breaking cubes." You explained bluntly before changing the subject "Anyway it's nice to meet you all. As you know I'm (Y/N), but I gotta be honest with you guys. I don't care about your numbers."

The Sparrows, minus Sloane who had already learned this truth about you, looked at each other, their confusion only growing. With wide eyes they looked at each other for some type of clarity, only finding bewildered looks back. What did you mean you didn't care about their numbers? Their dad had told them for years that you were Number Zero and they had to work hard to prove their worth to you only to find out you hate being called Zero and you could care less about their numbers. Maybe they were misunderstanding. They had to be. Right?

"I'm sorry, what do you mean you don't care about our numbers?" Fei inquired

"Oh yeah, I don't know what you've been told about me but it's most likely wrong. I don't care about your number or your ranking. I really only want to know you as people." You elaborated "Regular people not your superhero work to be specific."

Slack-jawed expressions littered the faces around the table. You were nothing like their dad said you would be. Besides your power level of course. When he explained how powerful you could be, he was right about that, but so far everything else was wrong. You just outright stated you didn't care for the academy structure, the rankings, or any of the work they did to get to where they were today. If you weren't like how their dad explained you to be, then who were you really? Trying to ease the shock her siblings were going through Sloane asked,

"(Y/N), why don't you tell everyone a little about yourself first before we discuss ourselves?"

"Sure, what do you guys want to know?" You replied looking at the group

"What's your power?" Alphonso questioned

"Molecular manipulation. I can see, feel and control the molecules of myself and other things in the world." You explained "I typically would give a demonstration but...I don't think it's necessary today."

"So you just control everything?" Alphonso inquired intrigued

"I mean with a few limitations but yeah." You responded

"Limitations?" Fei asked, "Like what?"

"If something is broken I can't put it back together to the way it originally was and larger molecular disturbances cause me to have reactions ranging from nausea to physical damage depending on their severity." You answered, "Besides that everything is free game."

The Sparrows nodded at your explanation as you all ate your meals together. No wonder your abilities were so strong and versatile, you could really do whatever you wanted with them. With your admission that you did not like the academy structure, convincing you to join them would be a challenge but perhaps if they could get you to train with them they could be even better as an academy. You had an association with the Umbrellas though, so making any attempt at bringing you to their side could be complicated. Trying to figure out where you stood with them, Marcus questioned,

"What is your relation to the Umbrella Academy?"

Looking up from your meal you finished chewing your food and swallowed before replying,

"They were my original childhood friends."

"They're not your siblings?" Marcus followed up

Ah. Once again a Sparrow thought that you were related to the Umbrellas. Obviously, Sloane didn't get a chance to tell the rest of them, she was with you the whole time. But still having to explain to them that you were not a part of an academy was annoying. You thought just from the way you acted and carried yourself that might've been obvious but apparently not.

"Nope, I was an only child who had very loving parents and a comfortable non-superhero life." You explained before adding "They are my boyfriend's siblings though. But I myself am not a Hargreeves."

"Not yet!" Sloane exclaimed happily

A smile came to your face and a blush rose to your cheeks at her statement. You appreciated her excitement over your relationship. It was nice to have someone actively rooting for you and Five even though she most likely didn't know him at all and had only gotten to know you a little while ago. Playfully shoving her arm, you remarked,

"Sloane, shush."

"Which one's your boyfriend?" Fei asked

"The little jumpy guy! His name is Five!" Sloane exulted

"Sloane, I can talk about him myself." you teased, jokingly rolling your eyes

"Sorry, I'm just excited." Sloane replied, "He makes you happy and that makes me happy."

It was true that she was excited. Sloane was a hopeless romantic. She loved the concept of love itself, and just the thought of how happy you are with him, even if she barely knew the two of you, was enough to make her giddy.

"Oh, so he's not a perv, he's just in love." Jayme commented

"Huh?" You commented looking towards her "What's that supposed to mean."

"My spit makes people hallucinate their dreams. When I was fighting him earlier I used my spit against him and he started kissing the air. I thought he was a perv turns out he just really loves you." Jayme explained, "I did kick him down the stairs mid-kiss though."

"He'll be okay, he's very resilient." You quipped "Anyway, I kicked you down the stairs so we'll call it even. Right?"

You saw as a smirk came to Jayme's face. She didn't seem the most expressive type but neither did most of the Sparrows. But to see that bit of a smile felt like an accomplishment to you. There were regular people underneath the staunch superhero figures and you were starting to bring them out.

"Right." Jayme quipped back

"I'm sorry." Ben interjected, "YOU have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, why?" You questioned before remarking sarcastically "Were you hoping I was single Benjamin?"

"No!" Ben shouted before stating "I just can't believe someone would actually want to date you with how bitchy you act."

"I could say the same thing about you." You taunted "I mean does your dick get hard from being a jackass or are you just this insufferable?"

The room was silent for a moment before the sound of laughter filled the air as all the Sparrows, besides Ben, reacted to your remark. Even Christopher emitted a garbled sound which you assumed to be a laugh. Ben's face scrunched up in anger and annoyance causing you to laugh at him like the rest of the Sparrows.

Ben could feel his hands shake in frustration and his heart picking up once more as he watched you laugh at him. How could you just mock him so easily? He didn't let his guard down around you so how come you pushed his buttons in a way no one else had? He hated it. But even so he kept his eyes locked on you. Maybe if he kept watching he could anticipate your next move towards him, right?

"Nice one." Alphonso praised sticking out his hand for a fist bump

Reaching back out you completed the fist bump, smirking at Ben as you took the obviously deserved praise. You received a scowl back which did nothing but make you laugh harder. He tried so hard to be this strong, intimidating individual when really he was kind of whiny. You didn't remember old Ben being like this but he did complain a lot about Five in his journal as a kid before the whole time travel incident happened, so maybe it was always in there. Either way, it was a little funny to subvert the image this Ben tried to paint of himself.

"Shut up!" Ben yelled at everyone

"Careful Benjamin, if you become too much of a prick you'll get too hard and your dick might explode." You commented

The Sparrows began to laugh harder as Ben angrily started shoving food down his throat, obviously unamused and frustrated by the way you were acting. It didn't matter how grumpy he was though since everyone else was having a good time. You knew that the Sparrows could be just like anyone else if you just gave them the chance. Like the Umbrellas, they were just a bunch of traumatized kids that just grew up in an even more rigid environment. Trying to get to know them more you asked,

"So what do you guys do for fun outside of all this Sparrow Academy stuff?"

"Working out mostly." Marcus answered

"I like trying new snacks and hanging out with Jayme." Alphonso responded

"Same as him." Jayme added

"I go rock climbing and bird watching a lot." Fei stated

So far everyone's interests seemed pretty normal and made sense for what you knew about them so far. Obviously, you weren't going to get to the bottom of their life stories and actually learn more about them over one dinner but bit by bit you would get past that trauma defense wall all Hargreeves seemed to build and help them to realize their dad sucked and there was more to life than this academy. Looking at the few who didn't answer your question, you waited for more responses. Ben turned his head away from you prompting Sloane to chime in

"I like to read about places around the world. Although occasionally I will sew myself some clothes."

"Well, you do an amazing job." You complimented "Your closet is gorgeous and I'm honored to be borrowing from it."

You then looked up towards Christopher who floated silently above the table, a soft blue light being emitted from inside of him, and asked,

"What about you Super Rubiks? Got any hobbies?"

You listened as Christopher spoke in his janky cube language telling you all about how he loves to go out to clubs and parties.

"Clubbing? Well, I'm sure you get all the ladies with your cubish appeal." You commented before adding "Y'know, I've been to a club once. Albeit illegally, but still."

The Sparrows stopped eating their meals as they looked towards you. What did you mean by that?

"Illegally? How?" Jayme asked

"I was underage." You explained, "I snuck me and my friends in for our one friend's 16th birthday two years ago."

"Wait. 16th? Two years ago?" Alphonso questioned, "How old are you?"

"Currently? Twenty-two, twenty-nine, and thirty-three. All at once." You answered

Once again you had confused them all greatly. How could you be three ages at once? And how did that factor into a 16th birthday celebration two years ago? Trying to get more clarity, Marcus inquired,

"Can you elaborate on that?"

"I sure can!" You exclaimed excitedly as you geared up to tell the tale of your life once more "Pack your plates with food now, cuz you're in for a hell of a ride."

And just like you had done with Sloane not too long ago, you ran the rest of the Sparrows through the story of the last decade of your life. The time travel, the people you lost, the people you gained, the people you loved, the apocalypses you fought, and of course every major event in between. You spared no expense to detail as you told them your life story and just like with Sloane their eyes became wider and their jaws slowly dropped more and more as you went on. What the fresh hell was your life? How were you in front of them so upbeat given everything you went through in the span of nine years? You were either the strongest person on this planet or there was something very wrong with you and given what they knew about you so far they could not decide which it was.

After they adjusted to the facts of your story though things moved on relatively well. Ben finished his plate and walked out of the room without a word to anyone while everyone else traded stories, chatting, laughing and having a good time. The Sparrows weren't that bad, at least to you. You knew the Hargreeves wouldn't feel the same. From what the Sparrows informed you they really kicked the Umbrellas' asses. They even showed you the video footage to prove it. And while you were not happy that they were beaten so intensely, it was understandable. While the Hagreeves loved each other deep down, getting them to work together was like trying to wrangle six toddlers in a McDonald's Play Place. So their defeat was not the biggest surprise. The past couldn't be changed now but maybe moving forward you could help all the daddy-issue-ridden Hargreeves children come together.  As you all sat together you saw as Marcus looked towards a clock on the wall before standing up and stating,

"This has been great but I need to get going."

"Where?" Fei questioned

"I just have some personal business to take care of." Marcus responded bluntly before quickly leaving the room

That was odd but looking at the time and how dark it was outside you knew that you needed to leave as well. While it was nice to be back in the academy, it wasn't quite the home you were accustomed to. You typically lived alone with only a few people to sparingly interact with so having to share a space with so many was not an adjustment you wanted to make right now. Also, Five must be manic at this point with how many hours you had been separated. You wondered why he nor the other Umbrellas came back for you but with the possibility of getting another ass beating from the Sparrows, you could maybe understand. Standing up from the table you added,

"Yeah, I should get going too."

"No! You should stay, this is your home." Sloane explained grabbing your wrist "Your room is available to use, no one ever went in there."

"We weren't allowed to." Jayme commented

"While I appreciate the offer, and I can guarantee I'll be back soon, I've been through a lot today and could use a night or two on my own to decompress." You responded calmly "Also my boyfriend is probably freaking out that he doesn't know where I am."

With a small nod of her head to show her understanding Sloane stood up and added,

"At least let us provide you some amenities before you go."

"Of course, I'd appreciate it. Thank you." You replied

Walking from the kitchen, you and the leftover Sparrows made your way to the foyer. Picking up the duffle bag of your stuff that you had dropped off at the beginning of the day. Turning around you gave Jayme and Alphonso fist bumps goodbye and Christopher and Fei polite farewells. As you did so Sloane came down the stairs with a small bag in her hand.

"Here's a few more days of clothes to borrow, some bathroom amenities you might need, and a good chunk of cash to get you by until you decide to come back." Sloane explained holding the bag out "I'll- we'll be here for you though if you need us."

"Thank you, Sloane," You responded taking the bag from her

You placed the bag she gave you in your duffle bag before hugging her. You could feel the strength of her hold around you and as you looked at the group standing behind her you could see on Alphonso and Jayme's faces that they really didn't want you to go. You felt a little bad leaving them, who knew the last time they had an interaction with someone who treated them like a person rather than a celebrity, but you knew you had to go. For now. Separating from the hug, Sloane looked at you as she said,

"Promise you'll come back soon."

"I will." You responded

As you looked up you saw Ben at the top of the stairs looking down at you. He made no attempt to come down the stairs towards you nor said anything. Your eyes stayed locked on each other only for a moment before he went and turned away. And with that, you said your final goodbyes to the Sparrows as you headed out of the academy and to the one place in town you knew you would already have a spot to stay, Hotel Obsidian. What you did not know was that the Hargreeves were already there and finally settled in after a long day.

After Five awoke from his nap he felt mentally refreshed, although his body still ached from the tumble he took down the main foyer's staircase. He couldn't recall what had caused him to get so distracted that he was able to be kicked down the stairs though. He could feel the reasoning in the back of his mind but he just couldn't get it to come forward. As he climbed out of his bed he saw that the room was empty, with none of his brothers to be found. Walking about the place he noticed a pamphlet of services provided by the hotel on the coffee table. Picking it up, he read it, seeing what they had to offer. Barber, tailor, dry cleaning, salon, sauna. Five stopped reading the pamphlet when he got to sauna. A little time spent in a sauna didn't sound too bad, it could probably get rid of the soreness he felt and maybe even clear his mind up enough to let him remember what he was forgetting.

Changing out of his academy uniform and into a robe he was about to head to the sauna when something caught his eye in a nearby mirror. Around his neck, he saw a gold heart-shaped locket. He knew it was his, he knew it was a birthday gift when he was younger, and he knew it was important to him but he couldn't place who had given it to him. Opening the locket, he looked inside and saw a photo in one of the two available locket slots but he didn't know who it was. As he continued to look at it he could feel a strong dissonance in his mind. It was like someone was pounding on the wall of his psyche, muffledly screaming on the other side. Not getting any answers, Five took the necklace off and placed it in his robe pocket. He didn't want to get burned by wearing it in the sauna but he wanted to keep it with him since he had never let it out of his sight. And with nothing else to do Five headed to the sauna and stayed in there for a while. Sitting there he thought about their latest time troubles and thought over every single possibility of if this timeline was viable for their existence, but after much contemplation and debate with himself, he felt it was safe enough for them not to worry about it. And by the time he was ready to get out the steam had loosened his muscles and eased his joints, but unfortunately, it did nothing to quell the nagging in his brain that he was forgetting something very important. But no matter how much it bothered him, he wasn't going to let it ruin the fact that he could finally rest after so much running around.

Heading out of the sauna, he pulled his locket out from his pocket and placed it back around his neck once more. The metal was warm from the heat but not hot enough to feel like it was burning. After readjusting the chain so the clasp was in the back he made his way back to the bar area where he had told his siblings he would meet them to discuss. With a content smile on his face, Five approached the area and saw his three brothers sitting at a high-top table chowing down on some Chinese takeout. As Five walked over to the table to take a seat, Luther looked up from his food and asked confused,

"What's wrong? You look happy."

"I am plenty happy. Had a nap and a shvitz. What else does a man need?" Five remarked back taking a seat

"Brothers who don't eat like barn animals?" Klaus commented annoyed

Five looked over at Luther and Diego, both of who were hunched over their boxes of takeout noodles hanging from their mouths as they looked at him. Electing to ignore the unfortunate eating habits of his brothers, Five took the opportunity to tell them the positive conclusion he had come to.

"So I've been thinking through our little timeline snafu, and I'm pleased to report that in my professional, expert opinion, we are totally in the clear." Five stated

"Awesome!" Klaus exclaimed

"Huh! Great. So everything's totally fine?" Luther questioned

"More or less. I mean, there is one...small thing. It's nothing we can't manage." Five added

The excited expressions on his siblings' faces dropped as disappointment and annoyance set in. What could it be this time? What new issue did they now have to deal with because of god knows what cause? Klaus, Luther, and Diego waited for Five to explain what the small issue was only to be met by him quietly opening his takeout food. Forcing him to explain, Diego demanded,

"So spit it out, Boomer!"

"Fine, Diego, it's like this." Five said placing down his chopsticks and explaining "Dad didn't adopt us as babies, but those babies still existed here. We just grew up in different places with different people."

"So? Diego asked, his mouth stuffed with noodles

"So where are they now?" Five asked rhetorically before answering his own question "Odds are, we each have identical versions of ourselves walking around out there, living completely different lives."

As he listened, Luther's eyes got wider and wider. The wheels turned in his head for a moment before Luther loudly gasped and exclaimed,

"Our doppelgängers!"

"That's a made-up word." Klaus remarked

"No, no! I learned all about this in Texas. Tell him about the paranoid psychosis, Five." Luther encouraged

"Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa! I thought you said this wasn't a problem." Diego complained

"Okay, yes, technically, if you're near your doppel for long, you'll go insane." Five elaborated "So if you see your other self-"

"Kill them." Diego cut off

"Sleep with them." Klaus added

Five looked at his idiot brothers with confusion, annoyance, and disappointment all mixed together on his face. He could barely take a bite out of his food without his siblings saying something stupid. Their critical thinking skills had to be in the negatives given the fact that he said you'll go insane if you're near your doppel and they still both came up with ideas that involved getting close to them. Trying to course correct, Five reprimanded,

"Avoid them."

"What is wrong with you?" Luther criticized

"Come on. As if you wouldn't climb Luther Mountain." Klaus suggested

"Wait. How are we supposed to guarantee we don't cross paths with ourselves?" Diego questioned

"Easy. We're the Benetton ad of superheroes, born all around the world until Dad brought us here, which he no longer did." Five replied, "Doppels probably aren't even in the same time zone as us."

"That's true," Luther stated

"I don't know. Doesn't it seem kind of rude that Dad un-adopting us didn't change anything? I'm offended." Klaus remarked

"I never said that, Klaus." Five corrected

"Hold up. I'll be right back." Diego said placing his food down

The three other brothers watched as Diego left the table running off before turning back to their own food. But as Diego ran past the front desk down a side hall, you had just arrived at the hotel. You took a look at the place from the outside and it sure looked like it hadn't changed since it opened in the 60s. When Charlie came up north from Texas to stay with you in the city he would typically get himself a room at the Hotel Obsidian. It was Reginald's hotel and because Charlie's dad worked with Reggie and you were his close friend Charlie typically got to stay in the hotel for free. You even had a room reserved just for you on the nights you wanted to sleep in the hotel rather than the academy. This hotel was one of the places you are Charlie used to hang out doing dumb shit like racing luggage carts down the halls, throwing eggs off the roof at people below, or sneaking alcohol from the bars because Reggie wouldn't let you drink. You even taught Charlie the lyrics to Hotel California by The Eagles so every time you arrived you two could sing it and replace Hotel California with Hotel Obsidian. But this time you were, unfortunately, going to have to sing it alone. As you walked up to the doors of the hotel you sang softly to yourself,

"Welcome to the Hotel Obsidian. What a lovely place, what a lovely face. Plenty of room at the Hotel Obsidian. Any time of year, you can find her here."

You continued to sing the lyrics to yourself but just as you were about to enter one of the revolving doors you felt a burst of unexpected energy rush through you. Stumbling to the side you leaned yourself against the wall in between the two doors as you tried to catch your breath.

"What the fuck was that." You asked yourself as you looked about the place for the cause

It felt like you had just been punched in the gut and had the wind knocked out of you but you couldn't see anything that might have caused it and the energy that was once there was now completely gone so you couldn't even try to use your powers to decipher where it came from. Was something wrong? No, there couldn't be anything wrong. It was April 2nd, the apocalypse had passed. You had taken a lot of major hits today, maybe your powers were overreacting from the damage. Yeah, that was probably it. You just needed to rest, that was all. Standing back up straight you took one more deep breath before finally entering the hotel. Looking around the inside you could confirm the fact that this place had not changed since it opened. It was the exact same except older and dingier. You just hoped that your room or whatever room you got was at least tolerable. Walking up to the front desk you rang the bell only to be met with a familiar yet older face.

"Chet?" You questioned

"Miss (Y/N)? Is that you?" He asked surprised

"It sure is." You responded, "Do you still have my room?"

You watched as his surprise faded away rather quickly as he nodded and turned around towards the rack of keys hanging behind him. Grabbing one of the keys you watched as he smacked and blew on them a bit causing what seemed to be decades of dust to fly off of them. Well, at least you knew no one else had stayed in your room for a while. Turning back around he brought the key to the room back to you and placed it on top of the check-in desk as he announced,

"Here is the key to your room. As always floor five, room twenty-nine."

Grabbing the key off of the desk, you started to turn away as you said,

"Thanks, Chet. Good to see you again."

"One more thing Miss (Y/N)," Chet called out

Turning back around you watched as Chet pulled out a key and unlocked a cabinet behind the desk, pulling out some type of package and placing it on top of the desk. Reading the label you saw it had no return address but it was addressed to you and your room here at the hotel.

"This was delivered about 3 years ago for you. I was hesitant to keep it but did just in case a day like this arrived." Chet explained

At first you were unsure if you even wanted to take the box but then you noticed something written on the side. Taking a closer look at it, you saw the words Open Privately written on the side of the box in very familiar handwriting. Charlie's handwriting. Carefully grabbing the box you opened up your duffle bag and with the little amount of space left you managed to fit it in there.

"Thanks." You replied quietly

Slowly you began to walk away from the front desk and at that exact same time, Five explained to the brothers that were still left at the table the situation they were in.

"The point is, we did it. We saved the world. We stopped the apocalypse. And made it home safe in time for dinner." Five stated "So whatever Dad changed, whatever timeline we're in now we can handle it. We won."

Luther looked towards Klaus slightly shocked but just the relief of knowing that they were finally okay was enough to bring his spirits up. Lifting his beer, Luther cheered,

"We won."

"Yeah, all right! Let's enjoy this victory dinner then!" Klaus exclaimed raising his drink

Along with his brother's Five lifted his glass and the three of them cheered to the fact that the world was theirs for the taking. But right as their glasses clinked something in their minds shifted. Immediately, the mental block that had been looming in Five's kind since the park came tumbling down as a billion thoughts of you rushed to the front of his mind. You were the thing that his mind had been trying to remember. This whole time his head was screaming for you but for some reason, he couldn't bring you to the front of his mind. It was as if your memory was locked away. Five's glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the table as he began to frantically look around for you.

"(Y/N)! Where's (Y/N)? Why am I here? I should be looking for her!" Five yelled panicked "We all were supposed to go looking for her."

"Why didn't we?" Klaus asked concerned

"Yeah, how the hell did get here without her?" Luther questioned, "You and Diego should've been yelling at us the whole time."

"I don't know! The last thing I remember about her was when I was arguing with Allison about going to find her and then just now I remember her again." Five ranted

"You don't think Allison-" Klaus began to suggest

"No, she wouldn't do that..." Luther stated before questioning "Would she?"

"I don't know but I have to go find (Y/N)." Five stated as he got up from his seat

Five couldn't believe he had forgotten about you. How could he do so? You were always at the front of his mind. He was always thinking about you and yet he forgot you even existed. Could Allison have rumored him to forget you? Could she have rumored everyone? And if she did, why in the world would she do so? No. He didn't have time for the hypotheticals he needed to leave to find you. You could be injured. You could be dead. Oh god, he really hoped you weren't dead. He'd never forgive himself if you were. Five was just about ready to blink away when Klaus grabbed onto his shoulder and pointed past the bar into the lobby, exclaiming,

"No need your girlfriend found us. Look!"

Five's eyes went wide as he saw you and his heart began to race. Klaus was right, there you were, alive and seemingly unscathed. Not knowing quite how else to react he called out to you yelling,

"(Y/N)!" Hearing your name be called you stopped in your tracks and turned around only to spot what looked like your boyfriend across the room. Making your way over you saw that it was him and with that confirmation, you sped over to him before carefully dropping your bag and wrapping your arms around him. Five wrapped his arms back around you as he held you tightly, he was so relieved to have you here with him rather than wondering where you could be. Pulling back to look at you he asked still slightly worried,

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." You responded

As Five quickly looked over you and saw that you were fine he started to calm down, but then he noticed the faint scar of a cut on your cheek. Bringing his hand up to cup your cheek he gently ran his thumb over it as he questioned,

"What happened here?"

"It's just a small cut from the fight I had earlier with the Sparrows." You answered, "It's not a big deal."

You tried your best to downplay the severity of what happened. Granted the answer was pretty much nothing and you were fine just as you said, but you knew Five's mind must be racing with the worst-case scenarios given his repeated experience with worst-case scenarios. And you would be right, as Five worried about what kind of fight you could've had with them. How bad was it? Did they gang up on you? Did hurt you more than just that cut? Trying to get some answers Five questioned concerned,

"You fought them? Yourself?"

"Yeah, I did. But don't worry I almost killed them all." You explained

Five breathed out a slight sigh of relief. Of course, he was going to be worried about bad things happening to you, he had already experienced the worst that could happen, but he also knew that you were very capable of taking care of yourself and he trusted you when you said that you almost killed them. Like Allison had mentioned, you blew up a person when you were 13 and just hours ago you had helped him kill the board of directors. Five tried to relax a bit more, forget the laundry list of bad thoughts and settle into the fact that you were here and you were okay. But while Five was taking comfort in the fact that you had almost killed the Sparrows a spike of anxiety coursed through Luther at the thought.

"But you didn't right? You didn't kill any of them?" Luther questioned slightly panicked

Five and Klaus looked at Luther confused. Why did he care so much if they were alive? You however already knew why he would ask about that. Just as Sloane liked Luther, Luther liked Sloane too.

"No Luther, I didn't kill any of the Sparrows." You replied trying to ease his worry before switching the subject and saying "I heard you had your asses handed to you though. Actually, they showed me the security of the footage of your fight."

"Why would they show you the footage of us losing that fight?" Klaus questioned

"Ah, because they really like me." You answered simply "They gave me a tour of the house, medical attention, shower, food, offered for me to live in the house and Sloane even let me borrow these clothes from her closet."

You gestured to the outfit you were wearing allowing everyone to take a look at the fashionable clothes you selected from Sloane's wardrobe. While Luther's mind seemed to become preoccupied when you mentioned Sloane's name, and Klaus took a quick lookover it, Five couldn't help but stare. He didn't notice it when you first arrived because he was so worried about you, but holy shit did you look good in that outfit. His jaw dropped slightly and his eyes glazed over as he took it all in. The way the tight jeans hugged your figure, the extra skin showing on your midriff, and the lower than usual cut on the top you wore. It wasn't your usual outfit but he sure as hell didn't mind it. In fact, he liked it. He liked it A LOT. And one of his two brothers at the table could tell how much he liked it.

"Well, the crop top looks great on you. The color, the low v-cut, the corset lacing in the front. You look fantastic." Klaus complimented before pointedly asking "Right Five?"

Five said nothing though as he looked at the heart of your locket, the bottom point guiding his eyes like an arrow downwards. Not following his line of sight and only concerning yourself with the fact that Five had zoned out you called,

"Five?"

Slightly snapping out of it, Five's eyes looked up towards you as you caught the direction of where they came from. You wouldn't say anything about it, because it was nice that your boyfriend found you so appealing, but a small smirk came to your face as you watched him attempt to respond.

"Yeah, uh...amazing." He stuttered out before changing the subject asking "So um- they just let you have all those things?"

"Yeah, they did. Honestly, I'm sure you'll disagree but they're not that bad actually. They're just another group of traumatized superhero kids in adult bodies who haven't taken the time to deal with their pain and adjust to normal society." You explained "They're all pretty good to be around except for Not-Our-Ben who is a major dickhead. Although making fun of him and pissing him off is very amusing to me."

"Yeah, new Ben sucks." Klaus chimed in

"Hey, if they offered for you to stay at the house why are you here then?" Luther asked

"Well for one, I never lived with that many people before and I wasn't ready to share a space. Two, I could have my own room here. And three, I was worried about my darling Five and wanted a place to drop off my stuff before I went looking for him." You responded

The three Hargreeves boys present nodded their heads understanding your reasoning and as much as you didn't want to leave the Hargreeves, especially your boyfriend, you did want to head to your room to drop off your bag and open the mystery box from Charlie. Perhaps you could get Five to come along with you so you could have your cake and eat it too.

"So...I was about to head to my room to settle in." You mentioned to Five, "You can come if you want."

"Oh, I'm sure he'd love to come," Klaus remarked

Hearing his comment, Five's head immediately snapped towards Klaus as he looked at him with murder in his eyes. He was still pissed at Klaus getting in the way earlier and now he was pissed at Klaus' inappropriate comment and interference. He couldn't just say things like that and even if they were true, which they obviously weren't, it still wasn't right. But as Five thought more about Klaus's comment a problem began to arise and an embarrassed blush rose slightly to Five's face as he tried to keep his composure. Putting his hands in the pockets of his robe he grabbed at the inside fabric of the pockets pulling the robe slightly away from his body and putting more space between him and the fabric. He needed to get out of this situation.

"Oh well, I um- I uh- I have something I need to check on in my room." Five stuttered out

"Our room. All the guys are bunking together." Luther commented excitedly, "Just like summer camp!"

While it seemed that Luther was very happy to be bunking with all of his brothers, it seemed like a less than ideal situation for Five having to share with them. You didn't know what he needed to check on but if he had to do so, then he had to do so and you weren't going to stop him.

"Oh. Well if you want to stop by at any point you can just blink on over. Okay?" You explained, "It's floor five room twenty-nine."

"Okay." Five said quickly

Picking up your bag from the ground, you threw it over your shoulder before taking Five's face in your hands and placing a soft kiss to his lips. Five adored the feeling of lips against his and he would never deny a kiss from you, but at the same time you were making some things a little hard right now. Pulling out of the kiss, you gave him a smile before commenting,

"Y'know it's nice to see you out of that school uniform. Hopefully I'll see you later."

And with that you began to walk away, your hand gently sliding off his cheek tilting his head to follow you as you left. Five's eyes trailed you as you walked away and when you were out of sight he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in. You were going to drive him insane. With no apocalypse to distract his mind, the hormones that he had kept at bay were starting to take over, had already taken over, and he needed to fix them.

Seeing his older brother face a young man's dilemma, Klaus couldn't help but smirk. After running around with back to back apocalypses, there was finally the time of day to notice his girlfriend and boy was it hilarious to see him notice. Seeing the way he continued to stare in your direction even though you had disappeared from sight Klaus decided to try to get a reaction out of him.

"Hey, Five. What color was (Y/N)'s shirt?" Klaus jokingly asked

Five looked back at Klaus. He didn't have time for his questions. Five was trying to get out of the bar area as quickly as possible. He closed his eyes for a moment trying to remember the color of your shirt but doing so proved less than helpful at the moment because different images came to his mind. Trying to get Klaus off his back, Five blurted out,

"Red."

"Blue." Klaus stated, a teasing smile on his face

Five's frustration began to build more and more at the situation. He didn't want to be here anymore. He couldn't be here anymore. He needed to go. Turning on his heel away from the table, Five stated firmly,

"I'm leaving. Don't follow me."

Quickly he walked away from his brothers, only stopping once as he made the rash decision of stealing a napkin dispenser of one of the nearby tables, before heading towards the elevator to go back to his room. Klaus let out a small laugh at the situation as he and Luther watched Five speed away.

"Aw man, he took that whole napkin dispenser with him." Luther commented, his mouth full of food "I can't believe you made him cry because he got the color of her shirt wrong."

Klaus looked over at his big dumb brother, with his wide eyes and noodles once again hanging from his mouth.

"Oh, Luther..." Klaus sighed patting his shoulder "Just eat your food, you barn animal."

____________________________________________________________________

Taglist: @xplrreylo @joebob15274 @insatiable-ivy @fruitsaladtree @angelpeachamber @academy-umbrella @lizziel1410 @ir3neeee @faith-quake @aliens-with-colas @sunsetcurve-1995 @lady-celeste25 @im-dead-and-hurting @nerdypinupcrystal @cherry-ki-d @anapocalypseinmymind @vicassa @2cuteforyourlies @taylorsmakingfuckingmacandcheese @n1ghtsh4d3-67 @cheshire-salvatore-mikaelson @shadowycreationcupcake @emily-hargreeves @metor-showers1994 @fivehargreevesforthewin @rinko-san @supernovavision @cicilisthebest @flickbix @hi-v-juice @magykal-777 @zosiaduda @thethirdwheelfriend @mysticracoon @isnt-it-loverly @officiallydarkgeek @lady1505 @always-the-very-worst @tinypandagirl @libidinexx @lemongrabbuns @itwasallred @deadandoverit @shlokage @keksi249 @theoriginalkat @we-stan-fiction @bi-idiot-fanfics @annnagennnie @izzyjojo4 @megasimpleplan4ever @flowertoty @grabthemoneyandletsgo @itsametaphorbriansblog @vanillacaramelhoney @satvaldiva @disaster-magician @margotsfandoms @emily-b-m @bluechildrenlickmytoes @soft-slytherin-sweetie @oceanspray5 @im-here-for-fanfics @thebloodrobin @freestarlight @starcurrent @lilacs-lavender @moatsnow @give-the-boy-a-hug @narikyuwu @whenyouregrungeaff @gabriella-aesthetic @xxtwizztedxx @instabull @emma-jopeth @justsomecreaturewandering

[earnestly-endlessly]

*flies in like magneto* can i get some exes to lovers™?

Do I have some exes to lovers fics for you? Yes I certainly do. It seems that the cherik fandom loves some exes to lovers cherik and I don't blame anyone because this ship really calls for all the angst. I hope you enjoy this list.

Exes to Lovers AU

Bound – FuryRed

Summary: Is there anything worse than someone else’s wedding? Well, perhaps your sister’s wedding- where the groom just has to invite his boss and that man just happens to be your ex-boyfriend; a person you had an extremely passionate and tumultuous relationship with that ended badly.

Charles hadn’t seen Erik for a year by the time Raven had told him about the wedding. He wasn’t looking forward to the occasion, particularly when Raven explained that they would be celebrating the event with a two-week extravaganza at a luxury hotel, meaning that Charles would be forced to spend a whole fortnight with the man who he’d given everything to; the man who had ultimately broken his heart…

Preheat to 350 (just for you remix) – ikeracity

Summary: Charles realizes he's in love with Erik. But there's one tiny little problem: he just broke up with Erik.

Thread Through a Needle – Black_Betty

Summary: Erik and Charles are broken up. Neither of them want to be.

Carry Me Anew (Frost & Darkholme Remix) – kianspo

Summary: While working as a model for Raven and Emma's clothing line, Erik experiences a strong attraction to his shoot partner. These things happen, except Erik has a boyfriend, who does not take this at all well.

Linger like a tattoo kiss – ikeracity

Summary: Six months apart gives Erik a lot of time to think about what he really wants.

(Erik's POV from Carry Me Anew (Frost & Darkholme Remix) by kianspo)

Symphysis – ikeracity

Summary: After Charles and Erik broke up four months ago, Charles convinced himself he'd never see Erik again. But life has a funny way of bringing people back together.

Call/Response – phalangine

Summary: Charles and Erik have a real conversation for the first time since breaking up. Charles is looking to avoid confrontation. Erik is not.

Regression Therapy – Fantine_Black

Summary: O, God, he’d made a terrible mistake. Whatever he’d expected to find here, Erik was still Erik, a man he’d moved continents to avoid. In retrospect, that felt like a rather good idea…

Four years after Charles walked away from Professor Lehnsherr, the two meet again for a drink.

Because things are better the second time round, aren't they?

Forever is Only a Drunk Dial Away – bettysofia

Summary: Charles is sad and drunk and stalking Erik's Instagram.

Shop Space – Caradee

Summary: Charles and Erik break up but still meet at their favorite coffee shop and manage a completely friendly relationship. The kids who work the coffee shop don't understand it, Charles' overprotective twin brother doesn't understand it, and even Charles doesn't understand it. Then, Erik shows up with a new date, someone who seems to be everything that Charles is not.

How will the Professor handle the surprising heartbreak that comes seeing Erik with someone else?

Mutant House at Dead Kings College – mabyn

Summary: When it comes to romance, Charles has terrible timing.

Can You Feel My Heart – FuryRed

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr hates Charles Xavier.

It’s as true as the words written on the wall in the bathroom at the university that Erik attends. Erik sees them one day- accompanied by a crude drawing of Erik and Charles glaring at each other- and recognises the truth of the sentence, and smiles.

He hates Charles.

Probably…

Believe (One More Time) – luninosity

Summary: For the prompt, Charles and Erik dated during college and had a bitter break-up right before graduation. It's five years later and they both meet again at their class's reunion for a weekend. Someone was even stupid enough to have them room with each other for the weekend...

Old Flame Burning – TurtleTotem

Summary: It's ridiculous for Charles to dread meeting the best man at his sister's wedding, just because he shares a name with Charles's ex. It's not as though it could possibly be the same Erik.

Don’t speak to the bartender – Wild_Imagination

Summary: Logan is a bartender, it's a gloomy evening, and in his bar there's someone with a broken heart. But this is not a movie.

Right?

Somewhere I’m Going & Have Never Been Before – Yahtzee

Summary: In late December 1984, Charles falls victim to the terrible pandemic sweeping across the globe. He's sick, probably dying, and utterly alone in an isolated cabin...until he's not.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland – TurtleTotem

Summary: Charles hasn't seen Erik since their devastating breakup ten years ago. He's certainly the last person he expects to run into at a Christmas lights display.

Lean On Me – SpiritsFlame

Summary: Ten years ago, Charles and Erik split up, dividing their six kids between them. None of them expect them to meet at summer camp. And no one could have predicted the results.

It was a yellow umbrella spring – ikeracity

Summary: Three years after Charles left for Oxford, Erik discovers that Charles is coming back to New York.

Second chances are wonderful things.

My heart above my head – annejumps

Summary: Emma thinks her coworker Erik and her friend and fellow telepath Charles should get together. No one expects things to get so intense so quickly.

The Edge of What Doesn’t End – populuxe

Summary: When a mysterious object appears on the moon, Moira MacTaggert calls in two experts with very specific mutations to investigate.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, after years of breaking up and getting back together again, those two experts have finally broken up for good—and they’re the last people in the world who should be stuck together on a spaceship.

Exit Wounds – LemonadeGarden

Summary: It's been eight months since Charles and Erik had a fight that broke apart their marriage. When a mutant rights protest goes awry and Charles begins to get sick, past memories and present obstacles begin to blur the lines of their ideological differences.

Alternatively: Charles and Erik learn how to fall in love again in troubled times.

Note: Unfinished

11 Days, 8 Hours and 12 Minutes (or Bruises, Stupidity and Anger Management) – ximeria

Summary: For six months, Erik and Charles have been the disgustingly happy couple of the school. Considering their pigheadedness and general communication skills (or lack thereof), things are bound to go boom at some point.

Moon Song – ikeracity

Summary: Werewolf AU. When Charles is captured by hunters, Erik and his pack go after him. It turns out there might be some room for redemption left for both of them after all.

I will Never Stop Loving You – swoopswoop

Summary: Erik and Charles split up three years ago but Erik never really got over it and then one day when the man who walked out of his life three years ago is walking down the street towards him, Erik sees an opportunity to mend fences.

Please leave your message after the tone – ikeracity

Summary: Spending his evening getting shitfaced and pining over Erik seems like a totally productive use of Charles's time. Luckily, it turns out to be a better idea than it sounds.

When the Spell Breaks – kianspo

Summary: Erik, a high-profile lawyer with a successful career, meets a 21-year-old grad student in a bar, and within a few short months marries him. He and Charles are blissfully happy, until Erik's boss runs a background check on Charles and discovers he's been cheating on Erik. Charles denies everything, as there was no affair, but Erik doesn't believe him and throws him out. As Charles tries to figure out how to survive and stay at school that he can no longer afford and makes a lot of bad if not plain dangerous choices, Erik has to fight his own battle of discovering the truth and winning Charles back.

We have not touched the stars, nor are we forgiven (the things you love don’t last remix) – hllfire

Summary: Charles hands Erik the signed divorce papers, but Erik has changed his mind. Too late, it seems. All he can do is go forward with the divorce.

A year later, Charles comes back, and Erik can't help but wanting to see him. The only problem is things don't go like Erik had planned.

Suddenly There’ll Be a Blizzard (Let it Snow Remix) – kianspo

Summary: Charles was never at his best while jetlagged, but locking himself out in a snowstorm while barely dressed might be a new low. The last thing he expected was to be rescued by his high school nemesis, the man he hadn't seen in over ten years, who might have broken his heart for good once upon a time.

Write this number down (you can call it anytime) – pocky_slash

Summary: When Erik upsets his children, they have a habit of running away from home--and straight to Charles' school for cookies and consolation. Charles doesn't mind the visitors, but as they appear more and more frequently, he realizes that sooner or later, he and Erik are going to have to talk about what happened on the beach and what it means for their future and the future of Erik's children.

All we do is break up (and make up) – Stuckyl0v3r

Summary: "So instead of making the most out of this next months, because you don't know where either of you is going to end up, you decided to stay away from each other to get used to the feeling?" Hank summed up, stopping in front of the class. Charles nodded his head confidently and beamed at him, but somehow his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Yes, something like that."

Well, that was the most idiotic plan Hank's ever heard.

Three wheels of cheese and a Great White – ximeria

Summary: Charles and Erik were friends with benefits in college.

They went their separate ways and 18 years later, they run into each other in New York.

The sex was never a problem back in college - and sex was all it had been. But now Erik is a divorced father and Charles has admitted to himself he needs more than just sex in a relationship. So in their usual round-about way they try to navigate becoming friends after so many years. The whole quest is aided by Raven, Edie, Wanda and Pietro (and a large number of shark jokes).

[rocorambles]

Mission: Seduce Kuroo Tetsurou

Pair: Kuroo x Reader

Genre: NSFW, Slight Angst, Fluff, Porn With Plot

Warnings: Degradation, Master/Pet Dynamics, Sex Toys, Overstimulation, Cum Play, Nipple Play

Prompt: "Guess I'll just have to cum inside you."

Summary: You really should have just spoken to Kuroo about your insecurities instead of letting everything spiral out of control. But that’s okay, your husband is more than happy to thoroughly remind you that you’re the only woman he’ll ever want.  

Author’s Note: This is my contribution for my HQ Discord Server’s NSFW collaboration. There are so many talented writers on the server and I highly encourage you to check out the collaboration masterlist here to see how everyone decided to run with this spicy prompt. (Masterlist goes live Monday 31st August 11:30pm U.K. time!) 

You stretch your arms over your head as a big yawn rumbles throughout your entire body. It’s too early for any sane person to be up, even the sun is barely creeping in through the windows of your apartment, but your husband has hardly been sane recently with the crazy amount of hours he’s been pouring into work. You’re lucky that you even woke up before he left and you smile as you hear your overgrown house cat rustle around your bathroom and bedroom, getting ready for the day. 

“Tetsurou, hurry up so you have time to eat at least a little breakfast before you head out! You’ve been skipping it too much recently. You wouldn’t want me to leave you for one of those pro-athletes you work so closely with when you become just stick and bones, would you?” 

You bite back a laugh when your husband’s messy bed hair peeks out from around the corner and hazel eyes narrow at you, but you’re not laughing when he finally saunters over to you in his suit and traps you against the kitchen counter between his long arms, leaning in so close your noses are brushing and just when you relax and close your eyes, waiting for him to kiss you, you rapidly blink your eyes open as he gives you a quick light peck before ambling off to pour himself a cup of the green tea you’d brewed. With a pout, you warm up the rice balls you’d bought last night and place them on the dining table, wrinkling your nose in displeasure at the smirk on Kuroo’s face, but it’s all forgotten as the two of you lightly chat over breakfast, Kuroo’s long legs spreading into your space across the table, your calves gently rubbing against each other as you laugh and eat. But all too soon it’s time for him to go and he gives you another loving peck before racing out the door and with a sigh, you wash the dishes before getting ready to leave for work yourself.

You love Kuroo with all your heart. Your feelings for him have only gotten stronger over the years and even after tying the knot with him, you can’t help the way your heart flutters and warmth fills your chest whenever the two of you lock eyes. But when your mind replays the teasing scene from this morning, your thighs clench and you bite your lips. Kuroo’s always been a tease and you love it as much as you hate it. No one knows how to rile you up like he does and he uses that to his advantage, rendering you a desperate, needy mess before finally making good on all his dirty promises. But lately, he hasn’t been following through. You can’t even remember the last time you’d done anything more than heatedly make out. 

At first, you had tried to be patient. You know far too well exactly why he hasn’t been in the mood recently. It’s so obvious to you. It’s obvious in the ever growing and darkening circles underneath his eyes. It’s obvious in the way he can barely stay awake when you do manage to spend some time together when he comes back home from work. It’s obvious in the way he immediately passes out as soon as his head hits the pillow. Hell, even his messy bed hair that usually defies gravity seems to slump more and more with every passing day. He’s exhausted. You’ve always loved how dedicated and hardworking Kuroo is. It’s one of the many reasons you’d fallen for him and you know how important his job is to him, but you wonder if it’s time to intervene as you watch your husband walk around your shared apartment like a zombie. Also, more selfishly, you have needs and it’s been months since you’ve been stuffed full by him and really, this is all Kuroo’s fault for training your body to constantly yearn for him after all the years he spent pleasuring you over and over again. With a determined glint in your eyes, you begin to scheme. Let Mission Seduce Kuroo Tetsurou begin.

You scan yourself in the mirror pleased with how you look in a strappy lingerie set you know drives Kuroo crazy. It’s a delicate and intricate creation of lace and ribbons that barely covers you, only accentuating the curves of your figure, but you know it’s the one strip of ribbon that travels in a single bold line between your breasts and leads up to a delicate lacy red collar wrapped around your neck that will specifically catch Kuroo’s eyes. Checking the time, you excitedly perch yourself on the bed, positioning yourself seductively, candles flickering and enhancing the mood as you wait for him, but a hour passes and you unwillingly succumb to sleep, ignorant of the way your phone buzzes with an apologetic text from Kuroo, letting you know he’d be home even later than usual. Blearily you open your eyes and wince as daylight sears your vision. Wait...daylight? You scramble to sit up and check your surroundings and your shoulders sag in frustration when you find yourself still in your lingerie set, but carefully tucked into bed, blankets wrapped around your body, Kuroo’s side of the bed empty and cold. You reach over to look at your phone, getting up to get dressed for work, when you see a new text from your husband. 

Sorry, kitten. You must have been waiting a long time for me last night. You looked absolutely beautiful. Look! I even took some pictures so I could remember. But maybe next time try not to fall asleep while the candles are still lit ^.^  

Your face heats up at the lewd pictures he’d taken of you while you were fast asleep and your heart warms at his compliment, but you stubbornly shake your head. There’s no time to be distracted. You’re still a woman on a mission. 

Attempt two takes place that weekend and you watch your husband from the shadows, lurking behind him before finally pouncing on him as he sits at his desk, answering a work phone call. You saucily wink at him as you saunter into his view and you smirk at the way he clears his throat and gulps at the sight of you dressed in nothing but his old Nekoma jersey and black thigh highs. And when you sink to your knees and arch your back just so, you almost snicker at the way he hisses when his jersey rides up and your bare ass is displayed. But he collects himself enough to firmly, but gently shove you away from him as you try to pull his boxers down and despite a few more attempts on your end, you instantly stop when he puts his phone on mute and sternly says your full name. 

But Kuroo’s always been weak against your puppy dog eyes and with a slight roll of his eyes, he beckons you to sit on his bare thigh and as he calmly and professionally continues his call, you heavily pant with your tongue lolling out, drool dripping from your mouth as you grind against his strong muscles like a bitch in heat, smearing your arousal everywhere until you’re almost sliding back and forth against the taut surface. And as he clenches his muscles and digs his leg further up into you, your body convulses and he barely has time to end the call before you loudly moan as you ride out your orgasm. He whispers filthy praises into your ear about what a good slut you are, what a desperate pet you are, what a mess you’ve made all over master’s leg, but when you finally exhaustedly slump onto his chest, he peppers butterfly kisses all over your face and holds you for a few minutes before carrying you to the bathroom and washing both of you off despite your protests that you still want to play more. 

He at least has the decency to apologetically kiss you for ending things so abruptly as he throws on slacks and a button-up before rushing off to work to take care of the emergency he had just been on a call about despite the fact that it’s a weekend, but you can’t help the growing insecurity that begins to eat at you as you spend the rest of that Saturday alone. Were you not as attractive as you used to be? Was Kuroo getting tired of you? Why does it feel like you’re trying so hard to get his attention? Does touching you feel like just a husbandly duty for him now? Thought after crippling thought sears through you and you have to hold back the tears that threaten to spill when Kuroo returns late that night and, thinking you’re already asleep, turns on his side with his back facing towards you and instantly falls asleep.        

You muster what little resolve you have left with the last few scraps of your self-confidence for a final attempt. Raking through your mind for memories of what would hopefully bring some passion back between the two of you, you perk up as your eyes scan a black box crammed underneath the bed. Kuroo hates it when you masturbate, when you touch yourself, when you make yourself cum without him being physically present or at least on a call with you to hear all the pretty sounds you make. Surely this would be enough to finally have him fuck you senseless like he always used to. But when you purposefully time everything so that Kuroo enters your bedroom and finds you stuffed full with your favorite dildo, a wand vibrator pressed against your clit, and your back arched as broken cries fill the room, he just gives you a tired smile and sits on the edge of the bed before helping you by thrusting the dildo in and out of your gushing cunt. And it feels so good, but when you see how dull and lifeless Kuroo’s sleep deprived eyes look despite the fact that you’re laid out in an erotic display of lust, you can’t stop the sobs you let out as you climax. 

Thinking you’re just crying from the overwhelming pleasure and too tired to dig further into it, Kuroo absentmindedly tosses the toys to the side and cradles you in his arms as he falls asleep, finding comfort in your familiar scent and figure, ignorant of the way your body continues to tremble as you cry yourself to sleep. And as you try to keep your sobs and sniffles as quiet as possible, you decide to abort this mission, deeming it a complete and utter failure and you struggle to fall asleep that night as self-deprecating thoughts claw at your insides. Of course Kuroo didn’t find you sexy anymore. Your body has changed a lot since your younger days. You should be grateful that you still have a loving husband, a husband who works tirelessly to help provide for the two of you, a husband who always takes care of you, a loyal and devoted husband. And despite the longing pang for something more, something primal, for your base desires to be filled, you tentatively turn in Kuroo’s arms until you're face to face and you nuzzle into his toned chest and finally find peace in the rhythmic rise and fall of his sleeping figure. 

Life goes on normally after that. At least for Kuroo. He's too distracted and exhausted to notice the way your smiles are a little more forced, the way you're more hesitant about touching him, the way you wear more clothes to cover your body as self-consciousness plagues your mind. So it's just business as usual for him to excitedly tell you about the Japan Volleyball Association's annual summer beach party, but he blinks in confusion when you don't return his enthusiasm, mumbling a feeble excuse about not having a swimsuit for the occasion. Brows furrowed, he digs through the drawers of your wardrobe and triumphantly holds up a black bikini set you still have, waving aside your worries that it won't fit and that it won't look good on you anymore and that's how you find yourself a few weeks later, exiting Kuroo's car and walking side by side with him in said bikini, feeling like an ugly troll next to your stunning husband whose lean and toned muscles are on full display with him just sporting a red pair of swim trunks. 

But your insecurities are pushed aside as a loud "hey, hey, hey" echoes even over the sound of the waves crashing on the beach and you can't help but grin as Bokuto runs over slapping Kuroo hard enough on the back to leave a red mark before picking you up and spinning you around as he hugs you. "Alright, that's enough, stop manhandling my wife, you big dumb owl!" Kuroo pretends to grumble at the two of you, but you can tell by the amused glint in his eyes as Bokuto finally lets you go and the reassuring hand he places on your lower back as the three of you mingle with everyone else that he doesn't really mind. But as soon as you reach the thickest part of the crowd, Kuroo quickly kisses your forehead before running off to network with some players and coworkers, leaving you alone with Bokuto. 

The two of you have fun. Bokuto has always been the life of the party and you laugh the hardest you've laughed in a long time. But many drinks later and unable to keep up with his crazy stamina, you excuse yourself and find a quiet corner, drinking a glass of cold water to cool down and sober up a bit. It's been hours and you still haven't seen Kuroo since he separated from you and you're so focused scanning the venue for him that you don't notice the person drawing near you until you feel movement right next to you. Surprised you turn around and are met with a vaguely familiar face. Blond dyed hair. An ever present smirk. You don't realize how long you've been staring, trying to remember where you recognize him from, until he snorts and waves a hand in your face. "I know I'm good looking, but don't you think it's a little rude to just stare at me silently?" 

You try to stutter out an apology as you finally come back to your senses, but he laughs it off and introduces himself. Atsumu. Yes, now you recognize him. Bokuto's teammate. You've seen tons of pictures of him on Bokuto's social media accounts. He's a little rough around the edges and you can feel your face heat up as he blatantly looks you up and down, eyes lingering a bit too long on the swell of your breasts, but you can feel your confidence growing, feeling truly desired for the first time in months. What's the harm in a little flirting? 

The two of you banter back and forth and maybe it's the heat of the sun mixed with the alcohol still running through your veins, but you don't notice the way Atsumu inches closer to you until your thighs are pressed tightly against each other or the way he rests one arm behind you, slyly pressing it against your upper back. And you definitely don't notice how he suddenly swoops in to crash his lips against yours and you move to shove him away from you only to be interrupted by a flurry of motions and you stare in shock at Atsumu sprawled out on the ground and your husband furiously glaring down at him, fists clenched so hard his knuckles are turning white. 

You react just in time to lunge at Kuroo and you tightly wrap your arms around his tense figure as he takes a step towards the blonde setter, holding him still as realization finally dawns on Atsumu when he spots your matching wedding bands and he scampers off with a rushed apology. But even when he’s long gone and nowhere in sight, you still clutch your husband, not letting go until you feel his muscles relax. You let him shake you off as he turns around to tower over you and you whimper at the fire burning in his eyes, hazel eyes almost glowing as they pin you down. You’re thankful for the loud music and lively atmosphere, ensuring no one’s paying any attention to the two of you as he tightly grips your chin and forces you to maintain eye contact. 

“Someone’s been a naughty kitten. I leave you alone for a few hours and you let some other man just place their dirty paws all over you? Let them taste your pretty little mouth? If I hadn’t stopped him, would you have let him fuck your tight cunt too? Mark you up inside and out?” 

You hate the way you grow wet at his words, trembling when Kuroo notices your growing arousal and narrows his eyes in disdain. But it’s the brief flicker of hurt in his eyes that finally has you digging your hands into his waist as denial and reassurances come pouring out of your mouth. 

“Tetsurou, I had no idea he was going to kiss me. It happened so fast. I’m so sorry. Of course I would have stopped him if you hadn’t stepped in! I love you. I only want you.” 

You stare intently into his eyes, trying to portray all your love for him through your gaze and you sigh in relief when his eyes soften at your words, but your breath catches in your throat when his eyes sharpen into a familiar gleam and a dark smirk curves onto his lips. He finally releases your chin and leans down until his hair brushes against the side of your face as he purrs into your ear. 

“Prove it to me.” 

Kuroo has a reputation to uphold and, not wanting to risk anyone seeing what’s about to happen, he grabs your hand and guides you through the dancing crowd, laughing and greeting a few tipsy faces he recognizes in passing, but not once does he stop leading you towards the exit and you’re quivering in anticipation by the time the two of you reach the parking lot and he roughly shoves you into the back of his car. The door has barely closed before he pulls your bottoms down, not even bothering to fully remove them as he also hastily shoves his boxers down just enough for his cock to swing out. And you almost moan at just the sight of what you’ve been lusting for all these months, a small part of you taking pride in the fact that he’s not as unaffected as he makes himself seem behind his angry facade as you unconsciously lick your lips at the sight of his already fully hard length. 

You attempt to sit up and move towards him, desperate for a taste of the pre-cum leaking out of his tip, but you yelp when you’re shoved back down by a hand on your chest and you whine, only for that to quickly turn into a wail as Kuroo slams two of his fingers inside of your throbbing cunt. He growls as he rapidly pistons his digits in and out of you and you should be embarrassed by the way your cries of ecstasy and the sound of your squelching wet pussy fill the car, but you can’t bring yourself to feel any shame as you lose yourself to the delirious pleasure of your husband’s long fingers filling you, stretching you, always sure to rub against that spongy spot inside of you that makes you see stars. But when your hand instinctively reaches down to rub your clit, you’re startled back to reality when it’s slapped away and his fingers are yanked out of you. 

He sneers down at you, a wicked smile twisting his face as he shoves his drenched fingers into your mouth and you obediently suck, making sure to clean every remaining drop of yourself that coats his skin. Satisfied, he finally removes his hand from your mouth and he quirks an eyebrow in amusement as you beg and plead for him to fuck you.

“Tetsurou, please. I need your cock inside of me. Please, I want it so badly. Please fuck me. Please please please. I miss it so much.” 

He mockingly coos down at you as desperate tears well in the corner of your eyes. “Aww is my little kitten crying for my cock? You’re such a fucking whore. You want my big fat cock inside of you so badly that you’d cry and beg for it like a desperate slut? You sure it’s my cock that you miss? I think you’d be happy with any cock fucking you. You’d let anyone stuff you full and moan like a whore, wouldn’t you?” 

And the tears finally fall as you sob and shake your head rapidly. “Only you, Tetsurou. Always only you. Please please please.” You’re still crying and incoherently babbling as he slams his entire shaft inside of you in one swift motion and Kuroo darkly smiles at the way your crying instantly turns to wanton moans at the sudden intrusion. But it’s been far too long since either of you have done this and both of you are so worked up that he knows he doesn’t have much time before you both reach your ends. And sure enough after just a few strokes he can feel your body begin to tighten and he grits his teeth at the sight of your eyes rolling into the back of your head, your head shaking back and forth, and your mouth wide open. But even as dazed as you are, when you feel the way your husband’s thrusts become uneven, you try to voice as much reason as you possibly can, fully aware of your husband’s tendency to paint your body with his fluids. 

“Tetsu-Tetsurou AH- Feels so good. Hngh D-don’t cum on me. Don’t have anything to- AHHH clean it up with and- OH we need to go back to the party.”

Kuroo grunts in displeasure at your words, but he knows you’re right and as much as he loves to see you covered in thick spurts of white, the thought of anyone else seeing that incites rage in him. You get ready for him to pull out and cum down your throat like you always do when you mess around in similarly inconvenient places, ready to swallow down any evidence of your sinful deeds, but you scream when his thrusts get even harder and faster. 

"Guess I'll just have to cum inside you."

And those words are the final shove you need to fall over the peak and Kuroo follows shortly after you as your pussy walls clench and milk his cock. He stays buried inside of you for a few more moments, wanting your tight walls to soak up as much of him as possible, but when he slides out of you, he quickly pulls your bottoms up, not letting a single drop escape, and you whimper as he purposefully tugs them up just a tad too tightly, teasingly wedging the fabric between your folds before finally having some mercy and letting you rearrange them. He opens the car door and steps out first, offering a hand down towards you and you grab it, gingerly standing up only to be pulled swiftly towards him and you stumble into his chest. But before you can fully find your balance, a large hand tugs your hair until you’re forced to stare up into cat-like eyes. 

“I want you to keep my cum inside of you for the rest of the party. I’m not anywhere near done with your punishment. I’ll be checking at home tonight to see if your pretty little pussy is still painted white.”       

The rest of the party is torturous. Kuroo doesn't let you step even a foot away from him as he continues mingling with the crowd and in any other scenario you'd love the attention he showers you with as he affectionately introduces you to countless faces, but not today. Not with your pussy desperately clenching in order not to spill a single drop of the white liquid coating your insides. Not with your touch starved body only yearning for more after getting a taste of what you've wanted all these months. And Kuroo only makes things worse with his subtle teasing. 

You know better than to think any of his touches are accidental or innocent and your body is so in tune with his that it reacts to every single bit of contact he dishes out. His arm grazes over your nipples as he reaches over to grab a drink. He leads you with a hand that just happens to slip from your lower back and land squarely on your ass. He wipes your mouth for you, claiming you have a piece of food on the corner of your mouth, but that doesn't really explain why his fingers briefly slip past your lips. But all hell breaks loose when he reapplies your sunscreen for you and his hands blatantly slip under your bikini set, teasingly close to where you want him most, but always just missing your clit and nipples and when he reaches your neck, a moan escapes you at the feeling of his hand subtly wrapping and tightening around your throat. 

"Tetsurou, stop teasing me! Can we go home? Please take me home. I need you inside of me again. I want you to ruin me." 

Kuroo's the one who's turned you into a needy slutty mess, but it's his turn to feel flushed at the sight of you lewdly begging him to do whatever he wants to you in broad daylight, in front of hundreds of people and finally losing his self-control, he brusquely grabs your hand and once again the two of you are leaving, but this time for good. The car ride is silent, the atmosphere thick and tense between the two of you as you clench your thighs together and Kuroo tries to ignore the growing bulge in his shorts. It's silent as both of you enter your apartment and Kuroo seats himself on your couch. But you break once you close and lock the front door and Kuroo impassively stares at you as you drop to your knees in front of him and beg him to fuck you again. You know you're barely making any sense, fueled only by your cock hungry thoughts, but you pause when Kuroo raises a hand to silence you. 

"Let's see if you were able to follow the one rule I gave you today, kitten." 

Eagerly you nod your head and you raise yourself on your knees, spreading your thighs apart before pulling your bikini bottom to the side and you think you could cum right there and then just from the way Kuroo unabashedly stares at the white trail dripping down your inner thigh as he pushes down his shorts enough to languidly stroke his cock. 

"Good girl. Did you like being my little cum bucket today? Did you like being filled by me? Bet if it were possible, you'd always want your little cunny to be drenched in my cum, right? Come sit on master's lap." 

Kuroo chuckles at the way you clumsily stumble in your haste to reach him as you blather affirmation after affirmation in response to his questions and he lowers his head to affectionately kiss you, lightly nipping your lower lip before he pulls back. He moves one hand to his cock to angle it as his other hand grabs your waist and urges you to move, but you hardly need any encouragement and you both groan as you sink down on his length until you're completely bottomed out and sitting in his lap once again. Immediately you try to bounce, but you whine when strong hands hold you still and you can feel tears of frustration forming as you pout at your husband's smirk. But any annoyance is forgotten when his hands fondle and pinch your nipples through the fabric of your top. 

"Look at you. I've barely done anything and you're already so worked up. Stop moving! Just sit there and take what I give you." You yelp when he roughly pinches your nipples and you cease your attempts to ride him, but you can't help the way your hips roll and grind as he continues. 

"Your nipples are already so hard, kitten. Look how obvious they are even beneath your swimsuit. Were they like this all day? Is that why Atsumu couldn't take his eyes off you? You think every player there saw how slutty your nipples are? Realized what a horny desperate whore you are? I bet they all wanted to get a taste." 

You wail when Kuroo shoves the fabric aside and latches a mouth onto one of your sensitive nubs, while experly flicking and rolling the other between his fingers. He alternates between the two sides and your frazzled mind can barely keep up with his actions as he switches up the motions of his fingers and mouth. He pulls off briefly and sharply tugs at your nipples. "Think you can cum just from your nipples?" You try to deny it, pleading for him to at least rub your clit, but your protests are ignored and you gasp when he dives back down and harshly sucks at one of your puffy nubs. Kuroo knows your body even better than you do and he continues to stimulate your nipples even when you topple over into an orgasm that takes you by surprise and you tightly clench around his cock as your back arches and only when you weakly paw at him to stop does he release your nipple with a lewd pop. 

You playfully smack him when he teases you about what a slut you must be to be able to get off from just your nipples and you hide your face in his neck as he shamelessly thinks out loud about all the nipple clamps, suctions, and vibrators he can use on you to train you even more. But you raise your head in alarm when you feel yourself being repositioned, Kuroo's erect cock still inside of you as he lays you on your back and hovers over you. 

"Tetsurou, st-stop NGH TOO SOON!"

"What did you say, kitten? Sorry, it's hard to understand you when you're moaning like a whore. Weren't you begging for this all day? Shouldn't you be thanking me?"

Kuroo thrusts sharply into you with every word and you can't think of anything other than how well he fills you, how perfectly he fits inside the cunt he's molded and shaped for himself after years of using it, how amazing the drag of his cock against your insides is. You babble thank you, thank you, thank you mindlessly over and over again, incapable of doing anything else as your breasts bounce and your body writhes underneath him. And when his hips finally stutter and he furiously rubs your clit as he adds to the mess inside of you, you break apart once again, your mind going blank as you feel the warmth of his cum sloshing inside of you.

But exhaustion slams into you as you come down from your climax, exhaustion from your third orgasm, exhaustion from being teased all day and all the barriers you’d put up finally come crashing down and Kuroo stares in horror as you sob, nothing like the pleasure filled sobs he usually wrings out of you. No, these are heartbreaking anguished cries for help and he immediately answers the call by tightly clutching you to his chest, your lower bodies still connected as he murmurs words of praise and love into your ear. 

“Hey, what’s wrong, sweetheart? I love you. You know that, right? I love you more than anything or anyone else in this entire world. I’m so lucky to be your husband. You’re so good to me, so loving, so supportive, so loyal, so beautiful.” 

The last word catches your attention and with a sniffle you hesitantly remove your head from his torso and look at him through watery lashes. 

“You think I’m beautiful?” 

Kuroo flounders for a second, disbelief choking the words in his throat, unable to understand how you could think otherwise. But when he sees the insecurity and doubt flooding your eyes he gently cradles your face in his calloused hands. 

“Of course I do. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, inside and out.” 

Your heart flutters at the sincerity you see in his eyes and that’s all it takes for you to break down in his arms, wrapping your arms around his neck as you tuck your head under his chin, and he silently listens as you reveal all the internal suffering you’d put yourself through over the past months as you let your anxiety and worry mix with your doubts and insecurities, letting them fester and ferment into a self-destructive time bomb. A slow-moving process he’d been too daft to notice, that you’d been too scared to talk to him about for his sake, not wanting to be a bother or another item he needed to check off his to-do list. And while you continue shyly speaking, tears stream down Kuroo’s face and his heart clenches at the thought of how long you’d quietly suffered, putting on a happy facade for him, taking care of his every want and need during the few hours of the week he was home and awake. 

Surprised to feel liquid drops plop down on your face, you quirk your head upwards and panic when you see your husband’s teary eyes and the two of you become a blubbering mess as you both try to wipe each other’s tears and soothe each other. It’s so silly to see two adults trying to out comfort each other that you accidentally snort at the strange image the two of you must make and there’s a slight pause, but then your laughter is joined by Kuroo’s trademark cackle and before you know it, the two of you are wrapped in each other’s arms, feeling the rumble of each other’s laughter through your connected bodies. 

Yes, there’ll be serious conversations later about being more open and transparent with each other when something’s troubling either one of you and discussions on how you can both work on your communication. You’ll jokingly complain that Kuroo is hovering over you too much for weeks after this breakdown as he practically scrutinizes you with those perceptive eyes of his, always making sure you’re really fine. And he’ll never give you any more opportunities to doubt how much he loves every part of you when you’re screaming his name on every surface of your home. But for now, feeling infinitely lighter with all your burdens finally shoved off your shoulders with the help of your husband, you’re content to close your eyes and relish in the warmth of the lean body pressed against you.     

[dayenurose]

Writer’s Month Prompts (written for @writersmonth )

Day 18 - Bridge (Ladybug/Chat Noir)

(So far this story has played out in four parts (with this one being number four). Find the rest of the parts here: Part One | Part Two | Part Three )

Marinette: meet me at the Ponts des Arts at 11:00, please.

A wave of relief for washed over Adrien as he read the text message for the hundredth time. Marinette wasn't mad at him. At least one part of his life was hopefully returning to normal.

To say things had been stressful over the past week would be an understatement of epic proportions. When Ladybug had fled from him after his accidental identity reveal, he had turned to other best friend. Marinette always knew how to make him feel better. Except this time, apparently Marinette was having a break down at the exact same moment he was. He tried to help, but she'd ignored all his texts and calls. When none of that worked and none of their other friends or her parents had heard from her, he showed up at her apartment door hoping to help. Once again, she didn't respond. At least by the sounds of movement within the apartment he knew she was alive.

When Alya returned from her trip, Marinette started speaking to her friends again. To everyone except him. No matter how hard he wracked his brain, he couldn't figure out what he'd done to cause Marinette to give him the silent treatment. It must have been awful. Despite Alya's reassurances that it had nothing to do with him, he was certain he deserved it. Not only had he lost Ladybug, it looked like he was going to lose Marinette as well.

Until today. Until her text message blipped onto his screen, inviting him to the bridge.

Adrien stood on the south side of the Seine. Pedestrians crossed the bridge on their way from one side of the city to the other. People gathered on the benches to talk or look out over the river. The bridge wasn't as crowded as it had been in the days couples marked their love by leaving a padlock along the grated railings. It was still a beautiful view of the river and the city, even if it was very different from his usual perspective along rooftops of Paris. He had a feeling that whatever Marinette wanted to tell him, it wouldn't be bad news. If she wanted to yell at him, she probably wouldn't have chosen such a public location.

Despite the crowd, Adrien immediately spotted Marinette. She walked along the side of the bridge. Her fingers trailed along the railing. Occasionally, she would pause at a lamp post when a particular lock caught her attention and she'd study the message etched into the surface.

About halfway across the bridge, Marinette stopped and turned towards the river. She no longer wore her hair bound in pigtails, instead she wore it loose with a pink headband holding it out of her eyes. The sun illuminated her at the right angle to cast a warm, honeyed glow over her. The wind picked up and caught the ends of her long hair causing them to obscure her face from his view. The whole effect lent her an ethereal beauty. He longed to capture the moment on film, but he'd left his camera at home.

Borrowing a bit of Chat Noir's confidence, Adrien started across the bridge. Apparently Marinette was so lost in thought she didn't notice his arrival until he stood next to her. “Hi.”

“Adrien! I didn't see you.” Though she took a startled step back, she didn't trip over her own feet. Instinctively, he reached out and touched her elbow to help restore her balance.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.”

“Oh no.” Her eyes widened and she shook her head. She looked ready to bolt or start jumbling her words. Instead she took a deep breath. “I was lost in thought.”

“Is it about what was bothering you over the weekend?” He rested his elbows along the railing and stared down into the water. Her fluster seemed to calm when he wasn't looking directly at her.

“Sort of. It was a lot to take in and I kind of panicked.” He wasn't certain when she'd moved. The sides of their arms touched and she rested her head against his shoulder. “I saw your messages and I'm sorry I didn't answer. I didn't mean to worry you, I just needed some time to think things through. It was a lot to take in.”

Adrien nodded along as though he knew what she was talking about, although he didn't have a clue. It almost felt like he was talking to Ladybug instead of Marinette. Which was ridiculous. Since their encounter at the conservatory, he hadn't talked to Ladybug either. He'd only seen her at a distance while they fought akuma. At least Marinette appeared to be feeling better after her week of contemplation. He wish he could say the same thing for himself.

“Adrien?”

Shaking off the malaise haunting him, he offered Marinette a comforting smile. “I'm glad you're doing better now.”

She started to speak, but stopped before uttering a word. Instead she stared out at the horizon and he joined her in the silent contemplation. Time ticked slowly, with the beating of the hearts and the rhythm of their breaths. He enjoyed spending quiet moments like this with her.

For a few minutes, he was able to silence the voice in the back of his head which insisted that the fact his world was falling apart was all his fault. He didn't want to go there. “Was that why you wanted to meet me here?”

“What? No.” Marinette scrambled upright. Her hand reflexively clutched around the strap of her purse. “I wanted to tell you something. And, it's something better to say in person. 'Cause you know. You're a person, I'm a person....people talk.”

“Breathe.” Adrien waited as she calmed down.

A half dozen deep breaths later, she could speak calmly again. “I have something for you.”

“Oh?” He hadn't expected that.

“I know we can’t….” With the a vague, encompassing wave of her hand, she gestured at the bridge.

Breathing slowly, Adrien tried to calm his thoughts. Why would Marinette even imply that? Their relationship wasn't the kind which anyone would consider leaving a lock at the Ponts des Arts as an appropriate gesture. Had he woken in an alternate dimension? Had he been hit on the head? An akuma attack? A dream?

Without skipping a beat, Marinette dipped her hand into her purse and withdrew an object small enough to hide in her clenched fist. Bridging the gap between them, she cupped both her hands around his. She pressed a small, metallic block against his palm and held it there while she continued. “But, I wanted you to have this. I wanted you to know.” She hesitated for only a moment before allowing a familiar confidence to settle over her. “Adrien, I feel the same way about you. “

With that, she let go of his hand, leaving the object behind in his grasp. In stunned silence, he watched as she proceeded across the bridge to the far side of the river. His brain whirred as he tried to grasp what she was saying. It sounded like she was responding to a love confession. But, he’d never confessed to her. Only Ladybug.

Slowly he uncurled his fingers one by one. In his palm laid a padlock. The metal had been stained red. Red with black spots

Red with black spots.

Like a Lucky Charm.

Ladybug's Lucky Charm.

Ladybug.

He’d confessed to…

“Marinette!” He called as he ran the rest of the way across the bridge.

Though she’d already reached the other side, she paused the moment he called her name. Panting, he reached her side, the lock now clenched in his fist. He looked into her eyes. Her blue eyes. Eyes twice familiar. The eyes that he loved.

“Do you mean it.”

“Yes, chaton,” she said softly, an endearment meant for his ears only. She cupped his cheek and he had to resist the urge to nuzzle her hand. “Je t’aime. I've always loved you. As her, and as myself, my feelings have always been the same. I just…I just didn’t see straight.”

“You're really you aren’t you?” He didn’t dare speak her alter ego’s name, but she knew exactly what he meant. She always knew.

“Yes. I am sorry I ran away from you. I was scared.”

“Are you still scared?” He took a step closer and rested his forehead against hers. His hands rested on her hips. “No. Not anymore.” She laced her hands around the back of his neck and drew her fave towards his. In the space of a breath, Marinette—his lady—kissed him.

[specialagentsergio]

baby kiss it better

summary: When D.C. implements a lockdown order, you and Spencer decide to quarantine together. There’s just one problem—he’s working from home, and his coworkers don’t know about you.

pairing: spencer reid x gn!reader

category: fluff

content warnings: a few swear words, but otherwise it’s just fluff

a/n: ahh, the secret partner trope. how i love it. this is set in 2020, but with the season 5 cast! i was feeling particularly self-indulgent, so i made reader a night shift worker. this is for you, fellow night owls. stay safe out there everyone, and wear a mask!

a/n 2: i don’t actually know what a doctor or physical therapist would recommend for spencer’s knee injury. this is just going on my basic understanding of anatomy (i took a class in it this fall!) and what i've seen on grey’s anatomy lol.

word count: 2.2k

masterlist

Spencer tries not to grimace as he shifts in his chair. Working from home during the lockdown had initially seemed like it came at a great time, starting just a month after his knee injury. Sure, he wasn’t thrilled about having to do almost everything digitally, but at least he wouldn’t have to worry about being mobile.

Unfortunately, that had turned out to be a downside. Tethered to his seat by headphones, he hasn’t been able to get up and stretch his leg properly, and as a result, is experiencing more pain.

It’s only 8:30, but he can already feel it flaring up. It’s been happening earlier every day, likely due to the existing irritation from the day before. Today is Thursday, and he’s miserable—he dreads to think of what tomorrow will be like.

He’s wondering if there’s some way he could get out of work tomorrow when he hears the sound of the front door being unlocked. He looks up to see you pushing the door open with your shoulder, carrying far too many grocery bags than is reasonable.

“Be careful!” he exclaims, watching as you teeter to the side a little. You just wave him off and close the door with your heel.

Working from home may not have been the positive he was expecting it to be, but you’ve more than made up for it. The two of you had decided to quarantine together, and he’s really loved having you around. Granted, you’ve only been here since Sunday, but he’s starting to think that this is going to end with him asking you to move in with him for good.

He hears a thunk as you dump all the groceries on the kitchen table. Then you’re back in the living room, taking off your mask as you walk by so you can blow him a kiss. He presses his knuckles to his mouth to hide his smile.

Usually you give him a proper cheek or forehead kiss when you get home, but the team doesn’t know about you yet. It’s not that he’s necessarily keeping you a secret, he just... likes having you to himself, and he doesn’t really want it to change just yet.

He’s also not looking forward to the pitch Garcia’s voice is going to hit when she finds out he’s been dating someone for over a year without telling her.

“Are you listening, Reid?” Hotch’s voice makes Spencer focus back in on the screen.

“Oh, y-yeah. Yeah, of course. Um, I was just thinking that this choice of rope to bind the victims is interesting.” He doles out a few facts about it, which seems to do an adequate job of convincing everyone that he’s paying attention.

They take a break when the main briefing is over—Jack needs something from Hotch and Sergio has apparently knocked something breakable off of Emily’s kitchen counter. He slides his headphones off and mutes his mic. Apparently that’s a cue you’ve been waiting for, because only a few moments later you’re placing a mug of tea on his desk.

“Green tea,” you say. “Might help reduce the inflammation in your knee.” Then you’re lifting his foot off the small stool it’s resting on and sliding another pillow under it so his leg is more elevated.

“Wh—“ he starts, but you’re already hurrying back into the kitchen. You come back with a baggie of ice wrapped in a dishtowel in your hands, which you place it gently on top of his knee.

“Twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off,” you say. “Then repeat with heat instead, like your physical therapist said. I’ll get the heating pad from the bedroom.”

“Hey, wait.” Spencer snags your wrists before you can walk away again. “How’d you know it was hurting?”

“Oh, I always know,” you reply. “You should have realized that by now.”

He thinks on that as you leave to get the heating pad, sipping his tea. You do always seem to just know, whether he’s in physical pain, a bad case is bothering him, or even if he’s just in a bad mood and doesn’t know why himself.

Not a day goes by where he doesn’t feel incredibly lucky to have you in his life.

“I’m leaving it by this outlet behind you. Have you been doing your stretches?”

He bites his lip, hesitating because he knows you won’t like the answer. But he doesn’t have to say it; you can tell from his expression.

“Spencer. You know you need to be doing them.”

“I know, I do,” he insists. “I just... can’t really get up and do them with these headphones.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Okay, so take them off. Your laptop has speakers.”

“But I don’t want to disturb you,” he protests. Since you work the night shift, you sleep during the day, usually heading to bed around 11 AM. He doesn’t want the noise from the Zoom calls to keep you up. Much like the bullpen in the FBI building, the calls can get rowdy.

“You won’t,” you assure. “I’ll just shut the bedroom door.”

“I guess that works,” he relents. “But I feel weird getting up and stretching in front of everyone. Like, wouldn’t that be disruptive?”

You sigh. “Spencer, I understand it’ll make you self-conscious, but you want full mobility in your knee again, right?”

“Yeah, I do, I get it,” he says sullenly, looking down into his mug. “I need to do the stretches if I want it to heal well.”

“Hey.” You take one of his hands and squeeze it. “I’m not trying to annoy you. I just want you to get better and be in less pain. I don’t like to see you hurting.”

“You’re not annoying me. I guess I’m just... not really used to being taken care of,” he admits quietly.

“Well, I’m gonna fix that.”

The confidence in your voice makes him unable to hold back a smile. “Alright.”

You smile back. “Is there anything else I can do?”

Spencer’s about to tell you that you’ve done plenty when an idea strikes him. He tilts his head to the side. “Well, there is something.”

“Yes?”

“There’s some research—nothing too substantial, but still some—that says kisses can help relieve pain,” he says.

You laugh, but it’s not unkind. “Oh, so you want me to kiss it better?”

“Yeah,” he murmurs, glancing away shyly.

“Okay, then.” You tuck his hair behind his ear and press a kiss to his forehead. “Better?” you ask softly.

He hums. “Better.”

“Good.” You stand back up and stretch. “Well, I’ll be awake for a few more hours, so let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.”

Spencer puts his headphones back on—he wants to wait to unplug them until you go to bed to spare you from hearing anything gruesome—and looks back at the screen to find Morgan, Emily, JJ, and Garcia staring him down. Rather hesitantly, he unmutes his mic and asks, “What?”

Emily is grinning—she looks the more awake than she has all morning. “Is there anything you wanna tell us?” she asks.

“Yeah, Spence,” JJ chimes in, “any new developments in your life?”

“I don’t—” he starts, then it hits him like a truck. He remembered to mute his mic, but the camera was still on. Clearly, they all saw you kiss his forehead. He barely stops himself from hitting his head against the table; he covers his face with his hands instead and groans.

“Isn’t the whole point of all this that we stay away from other people?” Morgan asks, and Spencer doesn’t have to look up to know that Derek has a shit-eating grin on his face.

“People outside of your household,” he corrects without thinking.

“Oh my god!” Garcia shrieks and he winces, pulling the headphones off out of instinct. He’s not the only one—JJ jumps and yanks her earbuds out, and Derek lifts one side of his headphones away from his ear. Spencer hesitantly copies him, putting one half of his headphones back on.

“Jesus, Pen, you scared the shit out of Sergio,” Emily’s saying.

“Sorry, I’m so sorry,” she says, then turns her attention completely to Spencer. “Boy wonder. You’re living with someone and I’m just now hearing about it?”

“I mean, you never asked,” he points out.

“Well, I didn’t think I’d have to!” she huffs. “You usually tell your friends if you’re seeing someone new, let alone living with them!”

“You do, maybe. Emily and I don’t,” he says.

Emily herself shrugs. “Good point. Fair enough, Reid.”

“Besides, we’re not living together,” he continues, “We’re quarantining together.”

“Right, because that’s such a big difference,” JJ teases. He glares at her in return.

Rossi returns to his desk before Penelope can start bombarding Spencer with questions. But there’s no reprieve for him—the man takes one look around and knows something’s up. “Okay, what’s going on?” he asks.

“We just found out pretty boy has a partner,” Morgan sing-songs before Spencer can say anything.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah.”

“And he didn’t tell any of us!” Garcia adds.

Spencer groans again and presses the heels of his hands into his eyes. “This is exactly why I didn’t say anything,” he mutters.

A knocking sound draws his attention away from the call. You’re standing in the bedroom doorway, your hand resting on the doorframe. “You okay?” you ask. “I just heard you groan.”

Spencer mutes his mic again and then leans over so he’s out of the camera’s frame. “They found out,” he sighs.

“Found out what?”

“Found out about... you.”

Realization crosses your face. “They saw me kissing you better?”

“Yeah. I forgot the camera was still on,” he says sheepishly.

“Well, it was bound to happen eventually.” You make your way over to him and take the ice off his knee. “It’s been twenty minutes, by the way.”

“Thanks. So, um...” He picks up the fidget toy you bought him when he was going stir-crazy in the hospital and starts messing with it. “What do you wanna do about this?”

“Whatever you’re most comfortable with,” you reply immediately.

“Okay, good answer,” he says. “But I actually want to know how you feel about this.”

“Well, I’m fine with meeting them, even if it’s just over Zoom. But if you’d rather wait, I’m fine with that, too. Really,” you add when he raises an eyebrow.

“Okay, well.” Spencer looks back at the screen. Hotch has returned now, and even though he can’t hear anything, it’s clear they’re all waiting on him. Best to just do this now, he thinks, otherwise I’ll be hearing about it all day. “How would you feel about meeting them right now?”

You blink. “Um, okay. So long as you don’t mind me looking like I was up all night, because, you know... I was.”

“You look fine,” he reassures. “Uh, just stay put for a second. Let me ask if this is okay.”

He readjusts to sit in his chair properly. He starts to put his headphones back on, but you unplug them so you can hear what’s happening.

“You ready to continue, Reid?” Hotch asks. It’s business as usual with him—if he was told what happened earlier, Spencer can’t tell.

“Well, actually,” he starts, and nervousness bubbles up in his chest. He glances up and you give him a reassuring smile. “Actually, I was wondering if I could introduce you guys to someone first?”

Garcia squeals. “Ooh, sir, please say yes!”

“Just keep it quick,” Hotch says. He didn’t even hesitate—they totally told him.

Spencer takes a deep breath, then gestures for you to come over. You seem a little nervous as well, but you handle it well, walking around the desk and into the frame. “Oh, we should have gotten you something to sit on,” he laments when you lean over the back of his chair.

“It’s fine.” You drape your arms around his shoulders and adjust so your head is on the same level as his. It’s silent for a moment, then you say, “Well, introduce me, silly.”

“Oh!” He clears his throat, trying to ignore the heat he feels in his cheeks. “Um, this is (Y/N). My... my partner.”

The call explodes with greetings, everyone talking over each other. “Slow down, slow down,” Spencer pleads. This is all overwhelming enough—he doesn’t need any excess stimuli.

Once it settles, everyone takes their turn introducing themselves (you already know who they all are, though, as he’s told you so much about them). Then you field a few questions—what you do for work, how you met, what your favorite food is (that was Rossi—Spencer suspects that he wants to know for the first dinner party he can hold after quarantine is over).

It’s going well. Everyone seems to like you, and you’re getting by just fine. Until Garcia asks her question, that is.

“So, (Y/N), how long has boy wonder been keeping you a secret from us?”

Both of you tense. “Uh, you know what, I’ll let him answer that,” you say quickly. “It’s just about time for me to go to bed.”

“Wha—no. No, it’s not. It’s just barley past nine,” Spencer protests.

“Yeah, I’m really tired. I’m gonna try and get some extra sleep today.” You give a little wave. “It was nice meeting you all.”

“Don’t leave me,” he whispers desperately. “Not with that question.”

You feign a yawn. “Sorry, I’m just too tired.”

He watches you go back to the bedroom with a pout.

“Well?” Garcia insists when he looks back at her.

Spencer cringes and preemptively lowers his computer volume.

---------------

tell me what you thought here!

[gucciwins]

it’s your birthday?

As luck would have it you once again find yourself in a breakout room with Harry

Word count: 3296

A/N: Hello friends, it’s a new semester and it felt only right to continue breakout room, a story that was well loved by you. The inspiration once again came to me during class and also because it’s Harry’s birthday. Thank you to the lovely @soullikestyles for reading this over. Here it is, enjoy!!!

I hope you love this, it is a continuation from Breakout Room 

Please shoot me a message of what you thought!!!!

i love you, take care xx 

_____

It's the start of a new semester. It's safe to say you did not make any friends last semester due to this ongoing pandemic, but what you did manage to get was a 3.9 G.P.A for the Fall semester. It was probably because you did not leave your apartment, and when you did, it was to go grocery shopping with your roommate, who would be dead without you because, as she liked to put it, you're the chef, and she's the taster. 

Well, you maybe did make one friend. 

Harry Styles.

He was the person to talk to you during a zoom breakout room in your women's gender studies course.

Sure, you were never in the same room again, but you might or might not have pinned his face during one of the professor's long ramblings that is no longer related to the course. 

He was pretty to look at; you would never deny that. 

No, with the floppy curls that he almost always seemed to run his hand through, then stopping when one of his rings got caught in a knotted ringlet. His camera would instantly turn off, and in thirty seconds, he was back as if nothing had happened. The glasses framed his face just right, making his eyes look soft and inviting. Also made his dimples stand out. He almost always wore a different colored cardigan. Your favorite from the semester was when he wore a multicolored cardigan. That looks like it was knitted; there was a hole by his heart. Honestly, you were hoping he had, would have made him even more endearing. 

Also, might one day ask him to make you one, or he could even teach you. You're a fast learner and have patience. 

He's got a great choice in clothing from what you was able to observe in such a short time—also a lovely personality. 

After his initial email, you decided to answer, thus creating a chain of messages back and forth. He was honestly funny, and that was just on paper. He had asked for her number and said no, and he respected that. It doesn't mean they never helped each other in the class; Harry asking for more help than Y/N. She sent him over her notes and explained the readings he found harder to grasp. 

As soon as finals week hit, she received her last email from him with the subject as Goodbye. It took you by surprise, and you erased the draft you had waiting for him that had your phone number wanting to keep talking to him. Still, clearly, he thought of them as just classmates for the semester, so without even opening his last email, you trashed it. 

You felt guilty about it, so you then transferred it to your archives, where it sits with other unwanted emails. 

_____

The holidays are over, and since you could not make the trip home, you celebrated with Amy, your roommate. You both help each other buy your family's presents, looking for the best discounts and adding extra items to get the free shipping. Together, well, mostly you as she handed you pieces of tape you wrapped present after present in brown wrapping paper. It was harder to tear and more comfortable to decorate in any way you wanted. On each box, it had everyone's name written in beautiful handwriting, courtesy of you. Then you would add snowflakes or stripes to make it stand out. 

It was a success from their looks when each gift was open through the zoom call. 

The month break flew by, and the next thing you knew, it was time to be back at your desk for hours of learning. It was fun until it wasn't sure there was a lot to look forward to, but you would miss sleeping all day and eating snacks in bed with no fear of forgetting to submit an assignment. 

This semester you had four major courses. Psychology of Personality and Psychology of Aging were the two courses you were most looking forward to. You decided on taking the women's gender studies class called Politics of Sexuality. You had gotten the recommendation from the department's head to take it and did so without a second thought. Yes, fifteen units was a lot, but you were close to graduating, and you knew you could handle it. 

The first week flew by because it was merely going over the syllabus. You had your camera on, but you did not bother to look at your other classmates. Sasha, a fellow person in your major, would be your study partner as she had been all semester. Sasha might not always be in the class section, but she did take the same professors and courses. It makes studying and taking notes easier. You know you won't always have Sasha, but having a study partner has ever made you do better. 

February 1st. The start of the second week of the semester. 

You woke up at seven, got the tea that Amy had ready for you, and were sitting at your desk by eight. Your professor droned on about the first chapter of the book. You felt confident knowing you understood the significant points. 

It's 11:30, and your second course of the day is going to start. You were not looking forward to the class simply because Dr. Rossi had warned you he would be putting you into breakout rooms of two. That person would be your partner for the semester. You had a project due at the end of the semester, and he wanted you to be acquainted with someone rather than having a person working alone. 

You sat there, Baby Yoda ceramic mug in hand, as you waited for your breakout room to load and to see who you were destined to work with for the next fourteen weeks. 

There was a knock on your door that distracted you from seeing the video of someone else load. 

"Sorry, I know you're in class, but I was wondering when lunch was to see how big of a snack I should have." Amy shoots you a small smile. 

"No worries, Ames, I'm out at 12:45 and will need half an hour to cook, so roughly 1:30. Is that okay?" You tell her feeling a little awful, making her wait. 

"It's perfect. Have a good class." Amy shuts the door.

As you hear the click, you turn back to your computer, and they're staring at you in a lavender cardigan with a white shirt underneath is the one and only Harry Styles.  

His curls are shorter, meaning he recently got a haircut, and they are just growing back. You wished he had let it grow out, wanting to see how much more ruly they would have gotten.

You feel your face heat up, remembering you did not do your hair, instead of letting it sit messily in a low ponytail, small hair framing your hair. You were sure the black sweatshirt you had one had a hummus stain but too afraid to look down to check. You weren't even aware he was in this class; it shows you should be paying attention more to your classmates. 

He shoots you a small smile, and you grimace, trying to force one out, but you're still a bit shocked. 

You see his microphone go white, meaning he was about to speak. You leaned forward in anticipation, a bit desperate to hear his smooth accent through your computer speakers. 

"Hello, it's been a while." Harry raises his glasses to hold back his hair. 

You reach forward and unmute yourself. "Hello, Harry. It has been a while. It's a new year and everything." You joke. 

He chuckles, scratching his chin. You aren't sure what to do; it was never this awkward the first time you chatted. 

"Guess we're partners, huh." 

"Apparently." You sigh, a bit loud, forgetting he can hear you. 

"Ouch, don't need to sound too excited." He tells you not at all hiding his frown. 

"No, I didn't." You stop not knowing how to go back from that. "Sorry, that was rude of me." 

He nods, not saying anything more, and you take it as a sign to continue. 

"I-i, well, after our last class ended, I figured that was that. You said goodbye in the last email, so I figured that was the end of our friendship, if you can even call it that." 

"I thought my email would give the opposite impression, but not everything can translate as smoothly when talking." He tells you, which causes you to pause. 

"Your email literally said goodbye," You blurt out before you can stop yourself.

He hides his smile, "My subject said goodbye, the content said quite the opposite. You did read it, right?" 

You duck your head, not allowing yourself to meet his eye even through a computer screen, too embarrassed to be caught. "Well, no, I didn't. Hurt my feelings, just seeing the goodbye." You look up and see his eyes soften, giving you just a bit more courage to continue. "I've always struggled to make friends, I have like three good friends, and it's hard putting myself out there, and I didn't actually if you considered me a friend or not." 

"Y/N" He breathes out your name.

You stop him before he can continue. "Do you mind if I read it now?" 

Harry shakes his head. 

You restore down the zoom and open up your Gmail on the split-screen. You find it reasonably quickly; you look up at him to see him patiently sitting back chipping at his nails. They are a pastel yellow; it makes you smile, knowing just yesterday you went from that color to a deep red. 

hstyles@gmail.com 

Subject: Goodbye 

Y/N, 

It's been enjoyable emailing back and forth. I honestly would not have passed this class without you. I think you are brilliant and if I had you in every course, I would finish with A's in them all. So, thank you for having the patience to teach me. 

Also, thank you for being my friend. I know we mostly talked about school work. Still, you did help me decide on what coat to buy for my sister, so I know that makes us friends, and I did help you get that switch for your little brother. (That was like trying to buy floor tickets for Lady Gaga.)

On another note, after emailing for twelve weeks, I was wondering if I could have your number. I would like the chance to give you a call and formally ask you on a date. I know we're in the middle of a pandemic, and dating is hard, but we can do zoom dates before we try in person. 

I understand if it's a no, but I am really grateful to have met you.

Your friend (although I do want to try to be more)

Harry Styles 

City Pointe Apt 32 (in case you want to send a care package, I would gladly return the favor)

"Oh, Harry," You inhale, "I'm so sorry." 

"No worries." He shrugs. 

You pause, thinking your next words. "I live in Rose Villa." Those were not the words you wanted to say, but you don't take it back. 

"That's across the street from my building." He gasps. "We could have run into each other." 

You nod. "Small world." 

Harry brings his focus back to something you skipped over. "I realize you didn't mention the part of asking you on a date." 

"Oh, I figured you over that now. It's been well over a month since I ignored your email." You grimace, starting to feel awful about it all over again. 

"I guess it was email abandonment this time." He jokes.

You laugh, and it gets Harry laughing as well. He was always good at that, making you laugh and not be so serious even if he didn't know it. 

"Y/N," Harry's voice was strong, no signs of laughter in his trace. You lock eyes as best you can through a computer screen. "I would still very much like to take you on a date."

A date with Harry. 

You want to say yes, but it's like you're frozen. 

"Can I say something else before you give me an answer?" You nod, waiting for him to go on. "Sarah Jones, do you know her?" 

Sarah Jones, you rack your brain trying to place her. 

The theater composer. She's written original tracks for the theatre department for the original plays they've done and remakes. She's won countless awards.

Sarah even won the talent show. Played a killer drum solo that no one else could ever think of topping. 

If you're honest, she's the definition of your girl crush. 

"We follow each other on social media. We met at a paint night; she was really easy to talk to." You tell him, remembering how sweet she was to you when she saw you walk in, and just as you were about to walk out, she introduced herself to you, asking to sit with you. 

He nods. "Sarah is my roommate's girlfriend. Mitch and Sarah practically live together; he's so in love with her it truly is the sweetest thing. Back to the point, she overheard me talking about you to Mitch and spoke how she knew you. Then I proceeded to stalk your Instagram on her account. I hope that's not weird." 

You laugh, and it causes Harry to calm down, "Not weird at all. I would have done the same thing, but as you can see, I rarely upload anything." 

"Well, the things you do have, I think, are wonderful." He rambles on explaining how your beach photo on a bike with a pretty pink basket was one of his favorites and how cute you look wearing sweaters. 

As endearing as Harry was being, you decided to put him out of his misery. "Harry," you interrupt. 

"Yes." 

"I'd love to go on a date with you." 

"You would?" He gasps in surprise. 

"Yes." 

"That's fantastic. I think this is the best birthday gift I could have received." He tells you, but you're stuck on the last thing he said. 

"It's your birthday?" 

Harry smiles sheepishly. "Yes." 

"Happy Birthday, Harry." You tell him softly, a big smile on your face.

A blush overtakes his face; you can tell he wishes to cover up his face with hands but holds back from doing so. "Thank you." 

"Do you have any plans?" 

"No, well. Mitch and Sarah are coming over for lunch in a bit. Then they are off to study at Sarah's for the week. Her roommates are gone for the week." 

You frown, not liking that he'll spend the rest of his birthday alone. 

"Would you-never mind" You stop yourself from being able to invite yourself over to celebrate with him?

"Hey, it's okay. Whatever you wanted to say, I wouldn't judge you, love." His voice was soft and reassuring. 

"Well, I'd love to come over and hang out with you if that's okay. I can make us dinner, I make delicious enchiladas. Also, my carrot cake is to die for." 

Harry is surprised at her offer but nods his head quickly. "That sounds wonderful, but you don't have to cook for me. We can order takeout."

She shakes her head. "Consider it my gift to you." 

"Well, okay. Is six okay for you?" He bites his lip, not believing this is happening.

"Perfect." 

You sit there smiling at each other. 

When a message pops up overhead, "You have five minutes left before we join back as a group."

Your eyes go wide, having forgotten you were in class. "We didn't even discuss the assignment." 

Harry shakes his head in laughter, a smile spreads over your face. He has an adorable laugh that just rings through your ears, and you can't wait to hear it in person. 

"We've got time, now that it seems we'll be getting to know each other better." 

You relax, settling a bit, you have weeks before the assignment is due.

"I'll email you my number, love. Easier to communicate for later."

"Sounds great." You respond. 

_____

It's five-fifty, and you're standing outside his door. You're more than a little nervous. You're wearing high waisted jeans paired with a black off the shoulder top with floral embroidered sleeves. You decided against a sweater knowing the short walk would keep you warm enough. Your mask is red, with three small hearts stitched on the lower right side. Perfect for February. 

You shift the items in your hand to the right and lift your hand up to knock. After three gentle knocks, you hear footsteps and take a step back. 

"Hi," Harry breathes out, a big smile on his face.

"Hello, Harry, happy birthday." 

"Thank you." He smiles wide, blessing you with his dimples. Definitely look better in person. "Please come in." He grabs some of the items from your hand and allows you to step in before locking the door behind you. 

"Your mask is lovely. Did you make it?" 

"I did!" You share excitedly. "My roommate, Amy, and I spent lots of our free time making a different kind. We took old shirts we no longer wanted and used for the material. It was a lot of trial and error, but we're pretty solid at it now. My embroidery could use some work, but I think it's lovely. 

"It really is. Would you make me one?" He asks, staring at you as you pocket your mask. No longer needing it in his home. 

"Yes, I'll send you pictures of the fabric I have, or you could come over, and I can teach you as well." You tell him, excited at the prospect. 

"Sounds like a wonderful date." You nod, feeling your body get warm at the word date because today could also classify as a date. 

Harry knocks you out of your head when calling your name. "Turned the oven on like you requested." He informs you. 

"Thank you, my mom showed me how to make them, but I learned about the melted cheese on my own. She wasn't a big fan of it, but everyone else I know loves it, so I hope you will as well." 

Harry grabs your hand and gives it a squeeze. "I'm sure it's wonderful." He bumps your shoulder gently. "Go finish up; I'll set the table." 

He pushes you into the kitchen, and you go in and place your stuff. Harry is whistling, settling down on the table two glasses and two forks when you turn back around towards him. 

Harry turns around just in time for you to wrap your hands around his waist. You fit perfectly in his arms, taking in his musky scent. "Happy birthday, Harry." You whisper against his chest.

He squeezes you tighter, leaning his head on top of yours. "Thank you, love." 

He pulls back, holding you by your shoulders. A big smile on his face, you reciprocate it feeling his happiness warm your heart. 

"Run along now; I'm starving." He jokes.

You walk backward, creating distance; as his left-hand trails down your right hand slowly until he's touching your fingertips, do you pull away. Although you, more than anything, wanted to hold his hand. You want to feel the weight of it in yours; you want to know if his hands are soft or calloused. How cool his rings will feel against your palm. All in due time. 

"I'm happy to be here." 

"Me too, love. Me too." 

It's safe to say you were more than luckily going to have yourself a valentine for the first time in a long time. 

[deanwasalwaysbi]

I've gotta say, I find the concept of Bedlund trying to Ben-Hur Jensen absolutely hysterical. I'm just imagining Jensen getting a script and being like "Ben?? What's this? Is this gay? This seems gay????" and Ben just soothing him like a frightened horse.

Hahaha - Look it wouldn't be the first time. What is this verb we're working with? Okay. Strap in everyone. The Multi-Oscar-winning 1959 movie 'Ben Hur' had a bunch of gay subtext. The writer, the director, and the second lead actor all knew that Charlton Heston's character, Ben Hur, was gay. However, one person didn't find out until the 1990s: Charlton Heston. The consensus on set was "Don’t tell Charlton, because he’ll freak out." and when Heston found out in the ninties, freak out was exactly what he did. (x) [the movie may have gotten a reference from Misha back in season 6 (x)]

Whether this happened with Jensen on SPN depends on two things.

Was the character of Dean intentionally written as Bi and, if so, at what point did that become true?

Did anyone tell Jensen? Did he figure it out? if so, when?

I personally DO believe at this point, I really do, that Bedlund - Ben Hur'd Jensen. I think it was part of the writers room but not all of it, until it was. (Which RN I believe finally happened under Dabb.) I think Jensen wasn't in on it, until he was. So for me? I think he really was in the dark at one point. But at what point that changed? Probably only he can answer that question. and RN? He ain't talking.

In the meantime we can only look at things Jensen has said on the subject - Like this unbearably ambiguous GIF set from @nikadd. Was this tongue in cheek? Legitimate ignorance? You're killing me, Jensen. That cheeky lil smile, Jensen. Nvm - I'm going to kill you instead. It's for my own survival. No hard feelings right? You understand.

UH OH HERE COMES A CUT TO HIDE A LONG DERANGED POST...

We can look at the text for number 1 - and I do that uh - a lot - see the blog name #Dean Was Always Bi

For number 2 we can look over some points when we got clues from what Jensen thought was going on [regardless of whether they make sense based on his jacting or directorial choices I guess] and get left wondering whether at any point he felt pressured to lie for his career, for self protection, or to protect the narrative from the network: 

2010 - 'We're missing the gay angel' (x) (Season 5 gag reel) (x) “Sorry man, not what the show’s about.” Jared: One of the good and bads about playing the straight [non-comedic] character on the show… Jensen: What wait? I’ve been playing him so wrong

2012 / S8 - Trenchcoat - Jensen talking about how sometimes they change the lines because they're way too gay. Calls Cas a third brother

2012 - "What's Destiel?" Ben Edlund: That’s some weird shit. Jensen: Is this something that you created, Ben? Ben: You don’t want any part of that.

“Don’t ruin it for everyone now” “I still don’t know what the question was. I’m going to pretend I don’t know what the question was.”

2013 @ JIB, re Dean’s reaction to Aaron’s flirting in the season 8 episode Everybody Hates Hitler,  (x)

“And the scene wasn’t written to be that kind of - I mean - It was written to be awkward.  Ben Edlund wrote the - my favorite line in that scene was ‘carry on . citizen’ that was - I almost couldn’t say that with a straight face I was laughing so hard.  But it was - you know - it was comedy. It was a comedic moment in the show and fortunately Dean gets a lot of the comedic moments in the show and it was just, you know, Ben was poking fun at the fact that - you know, how can we make this very kind of manly, heterosexual guy uncomfortable - uh -you know, or  or have him back on his heels and throw him off his game a little bit.”

The thing is - Bedlund and Phil Sgriccia made very clear on the commentary track that THEY saw this scene as a 'romantic comedy kind of fluster' "This potential for love in all places."

Ben Edlund calling the writer’s room a boy’s club in 2013 (x)

Misha Collins telling Destiel fans they aren’t Crazy in 2013 after some executives said they were (x).

2014 Jensen says he was glad there wasn’t much Dean and Cas in season 9  - HA Hah HAH (x)

“I think the whole Cas and Dean thing has gotten out of hand”  “I don’t think there’s anything secret to their relationship even though a lot of people wish there was” REMINDER - that season we got the nightstands acknowledgement and “play him like a jilted lover” and the “he dumped me James” cut and -

I certainly know that Misha and I don’t play that. SIGH. they Ben Hur'd Jensen.

2014 - the fan fiction joke - 10.05

“I didn’t have a positive reaction, The first time in I think 200 scripts I went and sat down in the showrunners office and said, ‘What in god’s name are you doing?! Why? I need to understand why this is happening.’” “[Carver] gave very eloquent answers and did a great job of explaining why we were doing what we were doing, I guess I had been aware of this ‘fan fiction’ for a while and I felt like maybe if I ignored it, it would eventually go away. When I read it in the script that is what I do for a living and is my work—I’m very protective of these characters and the story and I think we have a right to be—I wasn’t angry. I just wanted to understand why and what was the message we were ultimately sending with this script and story. By the end of it, I felt good and it gave me all the confidence I needed. It was better than I could have ever hoped.”

But then there's Jensen in 2015 talking about all of Dean’s bromances. (x)  [gifs at the top] Could go either way - starting to figure it out? or No?

What had changed if anything? the entire Crowely season 10 story line?  This was July 2015 - the same day as the SDCC 2015 panel where Misha talked about Destiel   (x @ 13) Carver and Dabb were there - 

By this time Jensen and Misha were nominated for a teen choice award for best chemistry against various tv couples (and one ensemble cast, but the award nomination did NOT include Jared) .... Misha and Jensen would go on to WIN this award one month after the panel.

At the Panel Rob and Rich ask the question: “You two have branded yourselves as TV’s greatest team since, ... idk who.... Ernie and Bert so.”  [Misha says to Jensen & Jared, half not on the microphone: “I really didn’t expect them to throw us under the bus.”] “are we going to see that continue? Is the Castiel Dean relationship still aflutter and still growing as we move into season 11?”  Jeremy Carver: “Ish.” [mocking from panel ensues] “Yes. Of course. I mean Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. There’s no doubt.”

Jensen Directs 11x03 and the choreo mimics Goodbye stranger (x)

2016 - Jensen: Dean could have a huntress, but you’d kill her.

Jan 2017 Con the infamous - no hedge - harsh - “Destiel doesn’t exist.” (x)

I would hope that if he knew he wouldn’t have been so harsh with it.  So by that point either he still didn’t know - OR - to him ‘Destiel’ was specifically about internet porn/sex and not like - the potential for feelings / a relationship.  It makes me think about something Misha had actually said, around 2013, “It’s called ‘Destiel’ and it’s about the romantic interludes between Dean and Castiel.” (x)

2017 - jib8 Jensen called Dean a lover of the ladies

May 2017 - After filming the end of season 12:

2018 - Misha confirms he and Jensen have talked about Destiel (x) - also 2018: The Bisexual Dean essay "? No." (Oh god was this really this recent?! I can't deal with this.)

Well. SOMETHING happened in 2019. cuz here it comes

2019 - "Dean has no taste, clearly." 2019 - 'So, tell us just a little bit about what you're most excited to tackle with your character this final season.' "Cas. Just like a full football form tackle."

Look at this face he gave Dean when Cas told him he loved him and tell me he wasn't playing into it here. You can't. (x)