I wrapped my hand around one of the columns in the hallway and used it to swing myself around, meeting up with Five, Klaus, and Diego following our house-wide search for Vanya. I'd let things go for now, more focused on trying to find Vanya and make sure she was safe above all else.
"No sign of Vanya," Five sighed.
"She's not in any of the rooms."
"She's not downstairs, either." Diego reached out and pat Klaus' shoulder.
"Well, I'm out." The three of us whipped around to watch him as he started to make his way down the stairs.
"Wait. Wait, wait..."
"Where are you going?" I demanded. "Vanya's still out there, so are Hazel and Cha-Cha."
If it came to it, one of those silks of mine was right below us. I could just swing down and take him out so he couldn't leave. It wouldn't be the first time I'd done that to one of our siblings, but last time, it was Luther, and now Dad wasn't here to yell at me because it 'was not part of our training to attack each other'.
I felt no guilt that day.
"I know. I'm gonna get my things and then I'm outta here." I sighed, crossing my arms. Diego couldn't bail now, we needed everyone we could get in case things went wrong. "I got some unfinished business with those fools."
"Should I go after him?" I muttered, leaning down so only Five could hear me.
"Leave him. He's not worth the fight."
Klaus sighed and leaned against the railing protecting us from falling. A moment later, I joined him, resting a hand on the crook of his elbow. He offered me a smile and reached up, squeezing my hand for a second before releasing it. We both understood the intensity in the other's brain at the moment, and how hard we were fighting just to stand here without any sort of help.
"Hey, did Dad say anything about the apocalypse when you spoke to him?" Five asked, limping a little closer to his brother. I tried my best to cover my scoff up. The apocalypse part of all this seemed over and done with. Harold Jenkins, the person who causes the apocalypse, was dead. Was it a completely sure and secure plan? No. But it was all we had for now. "Any clues as to how it happened?"
"No. No clues. Truly terrific shave. But no clues." I shook my head. Even in the most serious moments, the strangest things came out of Klaus' mouth.
"Jeez."
As Five started to storm away, I reached over the railing and unfurled the silk suspended from it, allowing it to delicately flutter to the ground. Five and Klaus continued to run down as I wrapped my hands around the soft fabric and prepared myself to jump off and slide down.
"You know, come to think of it, he did mention something about my potential, and how I've barely even scratched the surface of my-"
"How did he know about the apocalypse?"
"I don't know, but listen. This whole 'jumping through time' thing of yours, how did..." I made my way down the silk, landing softly on the floor and causing Five to jump and glare at me before shaking his head and brushing past. "How did you know how to do that?"
"I didn't," Five snapped. "You'd realize that if you were actually sober."
"Hey, I am sober. I've been sober for two- almost two days now."
"Yeah, two days."
"It feels like 45 years..." Klaus muttered, running a hand through his hair.
"Who are you kidding, Klaus? I've seen you fidgeting all day."
"Five," I warned. He snapped around quick to glare at me, and I tried my best not to move.
"You're a whole other problem," he growled.
"Excuse you?"
"You say you're done, but then you try to go back and do what's hurting you two seconds later. At least Klaus has the balls to stick with his attempts at getting clean. All you do is relapse and make excuses!" I resisted the urge to reach out and shove him to the ground, instead clenching my arms by my sides.
"You don't know the half of it, Five."
"She's making a lot more progress than you might think," Klaus defended. "She's eating, and in case you haven't noticed, she hasn't done any sort of dancing in, like, four days."
"She tried to yesterday," Five shot back.
"Trust me, Five. If I was really going to, my mind would have been dead set on it, and I would have gotten around you somehow." I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself from yelling. "I fully understand how long healing is going to take, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to try it, but there are going to be relapse moments."
"Well, I guess we're all fighting our addictions, then," Klaus taunted, making sure his gaze was pointed straight at Five.
"I'm not an addict," he argued.
"Yeah, you are. You're addicted to a drug called 'the apocalypse'."
"You're wrong." I heard Five's voice waver a little. He knew Klaus was right, but his overwhelming pride would never let him admit it.
"First sign. Denial." Five jumped as Klaus turned around, getting up in his face and pointing a finger at his chest. "You and I, we're not the same."
"I've seen that look in the eye of someone who doesn't know who they are without their high anymore. Trust me. You gotta just let it go."
I yelped and jumped back as Five suddenly chucked the eye against the wall, causing it to shatter into hundreds of little pieces. With wide eyes, I slowly moved my gaze to my brother, unsure of how to register any of this. Before I could say anything, he stormed into the drawing room, refusing to be around Klaus or myself any longer.
"Figuratively, but yeah, that works, too." The moment Five was out of earshot, I fell against the wall, letting out a defeated sigh. In the background, I could hear the blender going, but that wasn't my biggest concern at the moment. "Hey, Mina..."
Without saying anything else, he reached down and pulled me into a tight hug, offering me comfort and reassurance in a moment when I needed it most. Klaus always understood, ever since we were kids, that I didn't need words to feel better. That was one leg up he had on Five. I'd always appreciated his compassion; it was something that always seemed to come natural to him. Our other siblings seemed to overlook all his better qualities just because of the drugs.
Slowly, I managed to make my way off of the floor and followed my brother into the drawing room. I found him sitting at the bar, sipping a bright green margarita from a glass and rambling to Delores. With any other family, this would have been grounds for calling an asylum, but around here, this was just another Monday.
I took a seat next to him, looking ahead out the cloudy window for a long while. We sat there in an uncomfortable silence, acknowledging each other's presence but not acting on it. We were still trying to cope with the aftermath of an explosion, one more catastrophic than any of the ones we'd had as children. My eyes kept moving between my brother, the drink in front of him, and the mannequin he leaned so heavily on. Even though he was back with his family, these two things were all he thought he had left at this point.
I had just reached my hand out to touch his shoulder, when a knock on the front door roused him from the stool he sat on. I grunted and leaned my cheek against my fist, unable to listen in on the muffled conversation coming from the foyer. It wasn't until he came limping in with a certain hit man in a blue suit that I snapped out of my daze. Immediately, I shot up out of my seat and lunged for Hazel, wrapping my legs around his neck and throwing him to the ground. He hadn't even gotten a chance to breathe before I pinned his arm behind his back.
"Ballsy of you to come back here," I snarled, getting in closer to his face. "I don't care how much of a dick he's being. You can't have my brother."
"Mina!" I snapped my head up.
"What?"
"I'm not here to kill your brother," Hazel wheezed out. "I swear." Despite my lingering skepticism, I got off the man and moved back to stand next to Five, just in case.
"What's with the gun then?" I demanded. He looked down at the weapon, then gently put it in his blazer, careful not to set it off.
"Oh. Shit. Sorry. Old habits." Five resumed drinking his margarita, much to my concern. This boy relied a little too much on alcohol for his age. He could use whatever 'mental age' bullshit excuse he wanted, his body was still 13. "Well, I can understand why you might feel that way, you know..."
"Well, you attacked our house, tried to kill my family, and kidnapped my brother," Five listed off casually.
"Well, there's not much I can do about the past. I'm not the only killer in this room. You got your own bloody history, pal. Speaking of which, that job you did in Calhoun, that shit's legendary. Can't believe I'm actually sittin' here, talking to you-" My eyebrows flew up as I moved my gaze to Five.
"Oh, so you're a famous killer." He continued to glare at me.
"You knew this already, quit acting so surprised."
"Well, it certainly doesn't put me at ease the more I hear it." Flustered, Five focused his attention back on the man in front of us.
"Hazel, why are you here?" Hazel stopped floundering, looking up at the two of us with slight shock on his face.
"Well, I'm, you know-"
Before he could finish, Diego suddenly came sprinting in and kicked Hazel's back, catching him off guard and causing him to tumble to the ground. Five and I spared a glance at each other, unsure of what to do. On one hand, it seemed like Hazel was here to make his peace, and we should give him that chance... but, on the other hand, this fight could be really entertaining.
"Diego, stop!" For once, Five wasn't as okay with the chaos as I was. Diego flipped over Hazel and delivered a few kicks to his face. "You know, before you kill him, you might wanna hear what he has to say." Instead, Hazel managed to strike Diego's chest and make him fall onto the rug.
"You know, I feel like we should stop them, but... I also just kind of want to see what happens." Five looked surprised as I laughed a little. He'd never seen this side of me before.
"I'm gonna kill you for what you did to Patch," Diego growled as he removed one of his knives from his belt. Hazel managed to catch Diego's arm the first time, but our brother just threw the knife and curved it perfectly into his other hand, then quickly stabbed Hazel's thigh, causing Five and I to both inhale sharply.
"That's gotta hurt..."
Hazel managed to pull the knife from his leg, but the moment of hesitation gave Diego the chance to kick and punch him again before flipping back and leaving his arms vulnerable. Hazel caught him and twisted his arms down, using the open second to headbutt Diego and pick him up. Diego continued to thrash for a moment, before biting down on Hazel's ear, causing him to cry out in pain. Five quickly shot up from his seat and jumped closer to the pair, grabbing an empty vase from a nearby table and smashing it over his brother's head. Diego's grip immediately released as he fell unconscious, landing on the wood floor with a loud 'thud'.
"I draw the line at biting." With that taken care of, Five limped back toward the bar, shaking off the few stray shards of glass that managed to get on him. "Hazel, whatever you came here to say, I suggest you make it quick, before he comes 'round."
"I left my partner, quit the Commission, came to volunteer." My mouth fell slightly agape as I stared at the large man.
"For what?"
"To help stop the apocalypse."
"Hm." Five took another sip of his electric green drink, surprisingly unphased by Hazel's sudden change of heart. I guess he knew he always had it in him.
"What on Earth could be so funny to you right now?" he sighed.
"Before I answer that, why do you wanna help us?" Hazel paused for a moment, nodding his head a bit.
"Let's just say I have a vested interest in a doughnut shop." I leaned down closer to my brother.
"Griddy's?" I whispered. We both shrugged, but took the answer. That place was associated with so many good memories, sunbeams that cut through the overwhelming dark clouds.
"Well, I hate to break it to you, pal, but you're a day late and a dollar short. The fact that you're here right now means, without a shadow of a doubt, that the apocalypse is over." I was a little shocked at just how certain Five was. Sure, Harold Jenkins was dead and Hazel was making no efforts to keep the timeline in order, but there was always that shadow of a doubt that could seep in.
"Really? How do you know?"
"The mark is dead. Found him this morning. You were the last unknown left in the equation." Hazel chuckled, relief flooding over his face.
"Shit. Really?"
"Mm-hmm. And if you're out, then Hellrider ain't riding."
"Oh." He inhaled deeply, smiling and throwing his arms up a bit. "All right. Oh!" I turned and faced the bar again as he made his way over and took a seat next to Five. My face crinkled in disgust as he reached over and drank straight out of the blender, without even a second thought. "So now what?"
"You know, to be honest, I don't know," Five admitted. "I've been chasing this thing for so long, I... I never really thought about the day after. I don't know. What about you?"
"I'm done with all this madness. Time to start over. You should do the same."
"That's easier said than done."
"It doesn't have to be hard. I mean, think about it like this. If you never time traveled, you never got caught up with The Handler, what would have happened?" Five's eyes bounced from Diego to myself, and strangely enough, when he finally met my eyes, he broke out into a smile.
"Guess I would have grown up to be an emotionally stunted man-child like everybody else around here." My jaw dropped a little as I pretended to be offended by his statement. In truth, we all knew we were screwed up.
"Hey!" I slapped his arm. "At least now you can grow up."
"I'd assume this one of the emotionally stunted?" Hazel smiled at me as he extended a hand out for me to shake.
"Ah, yes. Hazel, this is my twin sister, Mina." His eyes widened a little bit.
"Yeah, it still seems weird to me, too," I admitted as he shook his head.
"No, no, not that- although, that is weird. You're Mina. It's nice to finally put a face to the name." I glanced down at Five again.
"So does the entire Commission know about me, or...?"
"Talking about family passed the time," Five sighed.
"It's nice to finally meet you," Hazel gushed. "From the way Five talked about you... well, I wish I had a sister like you growing up." My sentiment turned to a bit of snark.
"Oh, he actually complimented me?"
"Come on, Mina." Five almost sounded... sad. I backed off slightly, suddenly feeling sorry for my sarcasm.
"Well, as I'm sure you know, Hazel, Five can be a bit arrogant and mean at times. He's always been my harshest critic." Five's head dropped a little. "But... there isn't anyone else in this house, or in the world, I'd rather say is my brother." Thankfully, that lifted his spirits. He looked back at me again and smiled, the sort without all that shit-eating confidence. "Siblings just fight sometimes. It happens." I reached over and slung an arm around Five's shoulders, pulling him closer against me as he wrapped his arms around my torso. Poor thing had been on his own for so long, and even then, he'd just thought about us. I would have thought he wanted nothing more than to get away from all of us, but these past few days put it all into perspective.
"You're lucky to have your family. Good luck to you guys." Hazel got up and started to walk out, when Five turned around and called out to him.
"Hazel." The man stopped and looked to us again. "One more thing before you go."
"Shoot."
"Which one of you was the trigger man for Detective Patch?" I exhaled through pursed lips, glancing between Diego and Hazel warily.
"Trigger woman." Well, at least it wasn't him.
"Huh. That's too bad. That gun could have cleared my brother's name." Hazel brushed his jacket aside and reached into his pockets, removing one black gun and one of shimmering steel.
"Well, today's your lucky day, amigo. Take 'em both." I flinched as Hazel set the weapons down right beside me. "I'm done with this life."
We both watched him as he went, waiting for him to completely leave the building before Five spoke again.
"I know we're talking in circles at this point."
"Yep. We keep coming back to the same apologies," I sighed, leaning against my hand, "and the same clarifications. So what do we do now?" Five chuckled to himself as he took another sip. "For starters, let's cut down the drinking, okay? No matter what age you are, drinking the amount that you do is terrible for your health." His face soured, but he didn't complain.
"Can we try to do normal sibling things?" he muttered. There was a childishness behind his words, as though he retreated into his formerly 13-year-old self again.
"What do you qualify as 'normal'?" He shrugged as I reached over and removed the glass from his possession, then reached around and grabbed the one he'd placed in front of Delores.
"Whatever doesn't involve the end of humanity, I guess." I smiled as an idea came to mind.
"Tell you what: Vanya has a concert is tonight. Assuming we find her and she's okay, why don't we get as many of us together as possible and go? I'm sure she'd love to see us supporting her."
Five didn't get the chance to respond, but based on the look on his face, I knew he was in. Before he could speak, Diego groaned from his place on the floor, slowly coming to. He managed to sit up, clutching the spot on his head where Five had smashed the vase.
"Good, you're up. Ready for a drink now?" I sighed, shaking my head.
"What did I say about the drinking?"
"This is for him, not me." As we went back and forth, Diego's eyes widened, suddenly remembered what he had been doing before he ended up on the ground.
"Where is he?" he asked as he looked around, as though Hazel would just be hiding around some corner.
"I let him go." I straightened a little as Diego got closer, knowing full well what he'd do if Five set him off.
"Now that the apocalypse is over, it's time for the fighting to stop." Diego almost looked as though he were about to cry as he whipped around and snatched his discarded knife off the floor. "Hey, he didn't kill Patch. His partner Cha-Cha did."
"So what?" I glared up at him, shaking my head a little to warn him to back off. "They were both there that night."
"This half of the partnership gave me both their guns. Which will clear you because the ballistics will match Patch's crime scene. Hazel came here looking for a way out. He wanted a fresh start. And he happened to have in his possession the one thing that could do our family a little good. So it's time to move on."
"Not a chance." I scoffed.
"Suit yourself." Five reached around behind him and grabbed Delores off the counter, securing her tightly in his grip. "I am curious. Your girlfriend, Patch. What did you like about her?" Five stopped moving toward the exit, staring at his brother and waiting for some sort of substantial answer.
"A lot of things. Cute butt. Nice legs."
"Anything a little more profound than that?" He hesitated, looking at Five and I with raised brows.
"She believed in people. No matter how much shit and filth she saw on the streets. She always saw the good inside." I nodded a little, impressed. I never expected something so poetic to come out of Diego's mouth, much less about someone he just said had a 'cute butt' and 'nice legs'.
"Well, I'm sure she'll be proud to know that you're killing Hazel and Cha-Cha as a way to honor her memory."
I smirked at Diego, watching his face change as my brother's words sank in, then turned on my heel and followed him out. Five started to stumble a little, Delores slipping from his grip slightly, so I rushed over and picked the mannequin up.
"Can you drive me somewhere?" he asked, his voice slurring a little.
"Now the alcohol hits you," I sighed. "You go and take a nap, let yourself come back to, and then we'll go wherever you want and get some dinner before Vanya's show. Sound good?"
"Sure."
I helped my brother up the stairs and onto his bed, carefully tucking Delores back under his arm as he drifted off to sleep. I almost considered heading down the stairs and grabbing a book or something, but the pull of sleep became too strong for me to resist. I laid down on top of the blankets, careful not to hit Delores, and closed my eyes, drifting off.