Lila came in grinning at Rachel, who just raised an eyebrow at her. The girl had come out of the back room eventually, only to stand and stare. Rachel was becoming sick of the almost constant amusement radiating from her.
"If you have questions or comments, ask them instead of smiling creepily at me," Rachel grumped.
The woman grinned at her.
"We should follow them."
Rachel crossed her arms at the suggestion. Tilting her head, she squinted at the dark-haired woman.
"Why?"
Lila scoffed at her and stood up.
"Oh, come on! You're dying to go after them to make sure your boyfriend is okay. I'm worried about Diego. I've learned he can be pretty bullheaded. So, it stands to reason, that we should follow them before it's hard to track them."
Rachel crossed her arms. Bullheaded was certainly one way to describe the vigilante wannabe. She bit the inside of her cheek as she examined Lila. She took in the shining brown eyes and the hair that looked like she'd taken scissors to them herself. She caught a rising affection for Diego swirling amongst the strange girl's constantly shifting emotions. If only the amusement shut off for just a little bit…
"You don't love him, but you like him enough to stalk him?"
"He's kind of stupid…but in an endearing way."
"Well, I can't say you don't know him, then."
Rachel moved over toward Lila and looked straight up at her.
"Let me make this clear. You do anything to get me or them in danger, you'll be surprised how quickly your dead body will be on the floor."
The girl braced herself as she felt a spike of affection from Lila. She easily dodged the hug that was flung at her by taking a step back and to the right.
"Oh, I like you. Feisty, fiery, yet in such a mature and subtle way."
Rolling her eyes, Rachel began moving toward the stairs. She knew Lila was coming quickly behind her.
"So, what's the deal with you and them anyway?" Lila asked to no response.
Stepping outside, Rachel recalled the map she had looked at with Five and Diego. She began marching off toward D.S. Umbrella. Lila chattered along in her wake.
"You can't have known them that long, right? You are like…what? Eleven?"
Rachel opened her eyes wider, insulted somehow, but willed herself back to a neutral space. She lost to herself.
"Eleven? This is a thirteen-year-old body," she muttered to the woman, turning down the next road.
"Alright, thirteen and yet you and cute shorts have an oddly mature relationship going for you. I'd almost be convinced the two of you have shaken the sheets by now, if you know what I mean."
Rachel had to squint every so often as they moved through the streets as it was dark now. The streetlights only helped them on some roads. The woman trapped in a teenage body begged for a car to swing around the corner and take out the chatterbox behind her. Lila jogged up next to Rachel making her curse under her breath.
"Hey, talk to me. Woman to woman. What's the story with you and the boys?"
With an annoyed sigh, Rachel glanced at Lila.
"I've known Diego and his siblings since I was five years old. I've been…with…Five…a while."
"Like since you were three or like ten? What do kids consider a while now? And for that while have you two been belly-bumping?"
Rachel blanched and looked up at the raven-haired girl. She regretted speaking up as soon as Lila's eyes twinkled in the streetlight they passed.
"Please don't ever let me hear that phrase come out of your mouth again."
"Oh, what do you prefer? Burying the weasel? Hiding the bishop? Schnoodlypooping? Baking the potato?"
Rachel wondered if the sickening feeling in her stomach was how all the siblings felt about Klaus. She realized she would rather be locked in a room with Luther, her least favorite of the Hargreeves, for a week than endure this woman. At least he would barely be able to make conversation.
"Baking the-? Do you just have an encyclopedia on you with euphemisms so you can irritate me to death?"
Rachel actually had to hold herself back from smacking Lila. The woman shrugged before laughing.
"Okay, okay. New question. Why do you call him Five? That can't be his name."
"You'd be surprised what a name can be. How about instead you tell me about how you met Diego?"
It was a relief to get Lila talking about her and Diego instead of asking questions Rachel was not sure she should answer. With Lila's special brand of conversational flare, she talked about how she and Diego met at the mental institute, got along well enough, and how she stuck to him like glue. She was still going by the time they arrived at their destination. They spotted the empty car just in front of the building. Rachel could sense that the two males had separated. Diego was already out of the building. She turned to Lila, looking at her seriously.
"Go into the yard to the left there, you should run into Diego. He's moving somewhat slowly out that way. Probably followed something. I'm going to head inside and find Five. And, please note, I can keep an eye on you without seeing you."
Lila looked at her funny.
"Right…That way. Got it. Good luck."
"Yeah."
The girl shook her head as she watched Lila run off. Rachel found the front door of the building open. Five's feelings moved slowly, centered on one side of the building. Probably checking one room at a time. The office was pitch dark and very dusty. Rachel switched on a light, only to watch it shut off after a second.
"That's disturbing," she said to herself.
Going through a door on the right, she moved to the nearest staircase. She was one floor down from Five when a wave of pain crashed into her. It was from Diego. She spun on the spot wondering if she should go find him. He felt like he was dying. All of his feelings were fading and focused on the pain.
"Shit…But Lila's got him…can I trust her?"
She paced the stairs she was on, going back and forth on who to go to. She felt Five lingering in one particular room with feelings of relief, concern, and happiness. She decided he would be fine. She had just made it down the flight of steps when she felt Five radiate with pain.
"Five!" she shouted, bounding up the staircase two at a time, Diego thrown to the back of her mind, "Five, its me!"
She burst into a hallway to find Five running out of a room toward her. He had a hand clutched over his neck.
"What the hell?" they both asked each other at the same time.
Rachel grabbed Five's arm and tried to check what was under his hand. He resisted, moving backwards away from her.
"Rachel, I told you to stay with Elliot and Lila."
"Yeah, well, we ladies needed some air. What happened to your neck?"
"Leave it, I'm fine! Where is Diego?"
"Dying, maybe? I can sense Lila's got him. She just started driving off with him."
Five cursed, grabbing Rachel's wrist with his free hand and began dragging her out of the building.
"No one and nothings here…now anyway. The building is a front. The place was full of fake doll families and…Pogo."
"Pogo?" Rachel asked in shock.
"A very young and aggressive Pogo. He scratched my neck."
Rachel did not say anything, but it was a blessing the chimp hadn't done worse. Five used his signature travel methods to get them back a good fifteen minutes after Lila and Diego.
When Five made them appear in Elliot's apartment, Lila was squatting over Diego with a tool she was using to cauterize his wound. It looked like she had undressed him and put a sheet over his lower half to work. Rachel frowned, wondering how the woman knew how to tend a wound like that.
"Knife or gun?" Rachel asked.
"Knife."
Rachel's frown deepened. Five sighed and moved forward.
"Oh. He isn't dead," he said casually, belying his relief.
Lila looked up at them.
"Disappointed?" she asked.
"Oh, to see you? Always."
Five grabbed some of the gauze Lila had out on the coffee table. He moved back to the kitchen's opening and leaned against the frame while holding the gauze to his neck. Rachel raided the table for rubbing alcohol and more gauze.
"So much hostility in such a tiny package," Lila noted," Did you cut yourself shaving? I could teach you to shave like a big boy."
Rachel could feel Five's dislike of the woman deepening, something that pleased her. They felt the same about her. He just sighed out through his nose with disgust instead of letting her bait him.
"No, I just ran into an old family friend."
As his partner came toward him, he removed the gauze and glanced back into the kitchen. Elliot was there, still gagged and tied up in his chair. He was completely asleep.
"You didn't untie him?" Five asked, looking between Lila and Rachel.
The females exchanged a look before staring back at him.
"Slipped my mind."
"Was I supposed to?"
Rachel put the items she had gathered on the kitchen table while she and Five both freed Elliot from his bindings. He stayed knocked out, so they just left him in the chair.
Rachel grabbed the medical supplies before urging Five to the spare room. Getting him to sit down, she began cleaning his neck. He cursed something fierce when she used the rubbing alcohol.
"That hurts worse than the scratch! I don't know why you're babying me so much."
"Because I can. You're lucky it isn't deep. It'll fade pretty quickly."
Five scanned Rachel's face as she worked on him. He noted the furrowed brown and the steely look in her eyes.
"You're mad at me."
It was an observation, not a question. The girl didn't say anything as she finished patching him up and put the supplies back out in the living room. Lila had somehow managed to relocate Diego to Elliot's bedroom. Getting back to where Five was, she found him waiting for her. He raised his eyebrows at her, signaling her to speak. Closing the door behind her, and locking it for good measure against Lila, she took off her shoes before sitting next to Five.
"Of course, I'm mad. One, you left me with that woman. Two, your father stabbed Diego."
"I told you why I left you here and, to be fair to Dad, we broke into his building and he doesn't know who we are."
"Sure, but that could have been you! When we worked for the Commission, I accepted we could die at any time. Unlikely, but possible. Now, I seem to have an entire life to live again and I'd rather not go through it without you. In fact, I can't go through it without you."
Five opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, he closed it and considered Rachel for a moment. Moving closer to her, he took her hand.
"This is my fault. If I'd just gotten the formula right-"
Rachel groaned and shook her head at him.
"I don't care about that, Five! Sure, it's obnoxious being mistaken for a kid constantly, I can't deny that. But getting to see you back with your siblings, getting to be with them again myself, and possibly having more time with you outside a world that has been destroyed. Having you to myself now…"
She squeezed his hand.
"I'd accept this body for all of that every time. But not…not if I have to do this alone."
There was a sharp intake of breath from her partner. Rachel was sharing it with him. The fear that gripped her at the thought of losing him. Five reached out, stroking her cheek.
"You know I feel the same way, right?" his eyes searched hers.
Her eyes drifted away from his and down toward her lap.
"Only since you let me use my powers…"
"Rachel, I've always felt that way, I swear. I'm sorry that I make you worry, but I leave you in places I feel are safe so that I don't have to feel like I might lose you. If I do almost everything that's dangerous, like how things were at the Commission, then I know you'll be there when I get back."
Five moved his head into her line of vision again, making her look at him. He gave her one of his genuine smiles, an awkward one due to its rarity.
"I can't promise I won't keep putting myself in situations that worry you. But I can promise I will do anything I have to so that I come back to you. Can we compromise with that?"
Rachel gave him a small smile.
"I guess that is the best we can do in our situation…being part of the Umbrella Academy and all."
She sensed Five's relief and pleasure. Her eyebrows shot up as Five pulled his hand from hers and swiftly slipped the arm around her waist. She had no time to question him as she was tugged toward him. Her hands met his chest as he kissed her. She melted into it, his feelings seeping into her. Pulling back, he broadly smiled at her.
"I love you, Rachel."
A thrill moved through her, her heart skipping a beat at his words. Never had her name been placed beside those words. Words caught in her throat as tried to fight the tears blurring her vision.
"I-I'm s-sorry," she told him, trying to rein in her emotions.
Five held her tighter, the hand that was on her cheek dropping to her neck.
"No, I'm sorry," he replied, kissing her forehead," I should have said it correctly. Far sooner than thirty-eight years. Rach, I love you."
He kissed her again, this time guiding her onto her back. She felt her sweater being tugged upwards. Rachel parted from Five to glance at the door.
"Lila's still awake in the other room and Elliot's-"
"Don't worry about them," Five told her between kisses down her neck," I want you to share your feelings with me completely. Willingly. Will you?"
She let her sweater be tugged off.
"Really? You'd want that?"
Five smiled at her as he felt her hands untucking his shirt from beneath his sweater vest.
"Absolutely. I won't hold back if you won't."
There was only a moments hesitation before Rachel allowed her feelings out like she never had before. She heard Five grunt quietly in surprise as they flooded him. His head lifted so his blue eyes met hers.
"We should have done this ages ago."
Rachel smirked before grabbing his tie and pulling him back down in a kiss. It was a long while before either got any sleep, but it was one of the most restful of their lives to date.