"Ben dear could you go and wake your brother Five upstairs? His coffee is going to get cold."
Ben smiled, getting out of his chair "Yes Mom." Ben said as they all watch him leave the dining room.
Allison looked at them "Did Five stayed up late last night? It's unusual for him to still be sleeping…"
Klaus shrugged "Maybe Fivey is just now getting back all the sleep he is missing."
Vanya looked confused "If I remember correctly, Five left after eating his dinner. I haven't seen him since."
"Maybe Klaus is right." Luther said taking a bite out of his bread "I mean he does need to sleep more."
"I'm sure Five is fine, he has Mr. Pennycrumb with him." Diego said sipping his coffee.
They all went back to their breakfast while waiting for Ben. It's a relatively peaceful Saturday in which the siblings are free to do whatever they want for the day.
"Vanya, it's rare for you to not be at rehearsals…" Allison noted, all of them looked at Vanya.
"Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that the concert is moved next month because the organizers got the schedule all mixed up. It turns out the venue is already being prepared for another orchestra for this month so that's that…" Vanya said, "We will start again next week."
Allison smiled at her direction "Well make sure to tell us when it is okay? We wouldn't want to miss it."
Vanya suddenly looked embarrassed "If you are busy then it okay for all of you not to go…"
Diego snorted "We will be there, and since when did we miss one of your concerts?"
Vanya beamed at them, ever since they came back, all of them have been supportive with her concerts. Never missing it even though Diego and Allison had busy lives, they always make time for her. It's one of the reasons why Vanya is now starting to make a name for herself as a violin performer. Hell even Luther who doesn't go out much would be the one to remind all of them of her upcoming concert. "Thank you guys… this means a lot to me…"
Allison reached out to squeeze Vanya's hands, which Vanya finds comforting "Anything for you Vanya."
"I'm just glad that I get to hear little Vanya play again in the big stage! It's been a while!"
Vanya laughed "Don't worry Klaus, I'll make sure to get you the front seat you want."
Klaus smiled at her "And that's why I love you Vanya!" Klaus said "Speaking of which, this will be Ben's first ever concert of you in human form!"
All of their eyes widen in realization. "I'll make sure it will be extra special then." Vanya grinned.
As if hearing his name they could all hear Ben's footsteps, so as they turned to look at him, they noticed that Ben had a look of worry in his face. "Okay so… I did what Mom asked me to…"
All of them just raised their eyebrow at Ben's direction, Ben sighed "Don't panic okay? But I don't think Five is in his room. I tried opening it but… it's lock. And Mr. Pennycrumb must have sensed me from the other side of the door because he keeps on barking at me."
With that all of them stood up from the table, immediately heading upstairs. Ben was the last one to follow them out "I told you all not to panic…" Ben whispered but it seems like his siblings didn't heard him.
"Five!" Diego shouted as he banged in the door "Five are you in there?" Diego said, rattling the doorknob. True to Ben's word the door is locked.
They can all hear Mr. Pennycrumb barking on the other side of the door.
"Can't big guy Luther just take down the door?" Klaus asked
Luther shakes his head "I don't want to hurt Mr. Pennycrumb if I did."
Diego growled in frustration "I'm going to get my tools!" with that Diego promptly left.
"Do you think something happened to Five? He was fine yesterday night." Vanya said on the verge of panic
Allison frowned "Diego hurry up!" She shouted.
Diego returned with his tools as he begun picking the lock, and not even long, they heard the click of the lock indicating it's now open. Diego was the first one to open the door wide enough for his other siblings to look inside the room of their brother. All of them can feel their panic rise as they could only see Mr. Pennycrumb in the room and no sign of Five.
"Jesus…" Vanya whispered
Ben suddenly got in front of them, kneeling down to Mr. Pennycrumb as the dog looked at him "Hey Mr. Pennycrumb, do you know where Five is?" Ben asked.
Mr. Pennycrumb barked at him before running towards Five's closet. Mr. Pennycrumb then began to scratch at the closet. "Since when did Benny boy know how to talk to an animal? Are you secretly a Disney princess Ben?" Klaus's question sounds like a legitimate concern for him.
Suddenly it clicked for Diego. As Mr. Pennycrumb returned to Ben's side, Diego ripped the closet open before looking inside. "Shit!" he cursed loudly that all of them looked at him in surprised.
Diego looked at them, frustration evident in his face "The briefcase is missing." Was all he said but its more than enough to know what it means.
~o~oOo~o~
When Five landed on their dining room, he expected to see his brothers and sisters to be eating breakfast. He looked around in confusion as the only sight that greeted him was an empty room but a table full of left unfinished food. He went to the kitchen to look for anybody that might be there, he spotted his Mom doing the dishes.
"Hey Mom…." Five called out
Grace turned around "Oh Five dear! There you are!" their Mom said as she left the dishes to hug him which Five returned but the confusion he has only grew. "Your brothers and sisters are so worried about you, apparently they told me you went missing with the briefcase. They are in the living room now."
Five sighed, already dreading the conversation he would have to deal with this morning. "What time it is Mom?"
"It's 8:15 am dear."
Five smiled at her "I better get going then, I don't want them to worry more."
Grace smiled at him "Oh dear, you know they will always worry about you. That's how much your siblings care for you."
Five grinned "I know Mom…. I know."
~o~oOo~o~
Diego keeps on pacing around the room, "Shit! He could be anywhere! Or anytime at all!"
"Why would Five use the briefcase… did he tell anyone about this at all?" Luther asked also unable to keep his worry in bay.
Allison looked like she is getting a major headache because of what is happening "Jesus christ, where would he go?"
Vanya bit her lips in worry "I didn't even realize that he still has the briefcase…"
Ben looked like he is trying not to panic as he keeps on tapping his foot on the floor repeatedly, but they all know his mannerism by now "Okay… there must be a logical reason on why Five would time-travel again…" Ben said but even he looks unsure at his words
Klaus looked at them, worry in his face "Do you think he got stuck somewhere again?"
Before they could all spiral more into panic and worry a flash of blue appeared in front of them, revealing a tired looking but otherwise uninjured Five.
"Our baby bro Cinco!" Klaus was the first one to get up to hug Five. "We were so worried bout you little bro, thought you are never coming back to us again!"
Diego was the second one to go near to Five, inspecting his face then his body for any injury and when he found none he glared at Five "What the fuck Five? Where have you been?"
Allison stood up followed by Vanya looking relief yet at the same time tensed "Five you need to stop doing this, you can't jut disappear on us every time."
Ben looked so relief "Allison is right Five…"
Even though Luther stayed silent his firm gaze on Five is more than enough.
Five sighed "To be fair, I didn't think I would be gone this long in this time." Five said
Diego still looked disappointed at him "I'm confiscating the briefcase Five."
Five shrugged "I already returned it to the commission."
All of them look flabbergasted "You went to the commission?" Luther asked
Five nodded, gesturing for them to sit down. "I had to, I needed some of my important files back." Five said stretching his arms "I was there for two whole days, but it's only been 8 hours here." Five sighed in exhaustion "Also I should inform you all but the commission would no longer be bothering us. We had a deal."
Diego's face pinched in confusion "Isn't Herb and Dot the one managing the commission now?"
Five nodded "Yes, so any problems I had caused during the time I was employed in the commission is now null and void. Meaning I am now officially retired from the commission." Five suddenly grinned "They even gave me my pension. And all this time I thought the benefits are a joke."
"So how much is your pension Fivey? Are you swimming in dollars now?" Klaus asked
Five chuckled "I am officially now richer than Allison and Diego."
Allison looked betrayed but she is smiling "Hey I make millions in a year!"
Five looked at her in deadpanned "And I made the millions I now have in the decades that I worked, so I don't know why you looked so insulted."
"You make more money than me?" Diego asked
"I have more money than you, yes. But as of now, I don't make any more money." Five said patting Diego in the shoulder "I am actually thinking of investing it in a stock market, but I'm still not sure."
"I can't believe the first thought you have is to invest it rather than spend it Five." Ben chuckled
"Benjamin is right! If I were that rich, I would be buying everything I wanted online!" Klaus said "Ohhhh I want a swimming pool! Can we have a swimming pool?"
Luther sighed "And that's why I am the one handling the money left by Reginald." He muttered
Ben nudged Klaus "We will buy you a pool for the summer." Klaus beamed at Ben nodding excitedly.
"So the commission is now over?" Vanya asked trying to get the topic back in its original pace "And also why did you have to go to the commission in the first place?"
Five smiled, the way he does that promises bodily harm "If they even bother us anymore, I would be killing the whole board again. We made a deal, I will forget that the commission even existed in exchange they would return me all my files and I promised them that there will be no more blood spilled." Five shrugged "They are more than happy to accept my deal. That's why I don't have the briefcase anymore." Five looked at Diego "Herb will be the one to drop off my files and results, I think it will be finished today but I wasn't given a definite time period."
Diego smiled at him, his earlier frustration gone "Yeah no problem buddy, I'll take them from Herb."
"Thank you, Diego." Five said as he looked around "Where is Mr. Pennycrumb? I forgot that I have him in my room last night before I left."
"Oh Mr. Pennycrumb is in the kitchen, I left him there after leaving him food and water." Ben said
"I didn't saw him there when I went there…" Five muttered he turned towards Klaus and Ben "Could you look at him for today? Take him to the park? I haven't gotten a sleep in the commission while I was there."
Ben nodded "Of course Five, you better and go rest now." Ben hugged him before leaving the room to go and get Mr. Pennycrumb
"No problemo Fivey! We will make sure that Mr. P would have the best day with us!" Klaus said already following behind Ben.
Five then looked at his remaining siblings "Again I'm sorry for disappearing like that, it won't happen again." Five said
Allison and Vanya just smiled at him "We were just worried Five, we will always be." Vanya said.
Five turned his attention to Luther "Make sure you are prepared Luther, anytime now."
Luther nodded "Yeah, I'll be ready."
Diego frowned "This secret between the two of you has been going on for a month now… when are you going to tell us?"
Five chuckled "Once it's done, you will all know." Five said leaving no room for more argument. Five then suddenly yawned unable to hide his exhaustion for staying up for 2 days straight without any coffee.
Diego looked like he wanted to argue but stopped when he saw just how tired his brother is "Let's get you to bed Five."
"We will wake you up for late lunch though okay Five? You need to eat."
Five just nodded "Wake me up around 1 to eat." Was the only thing he said because Diego is already guiding Five out of the living room.
"Sleep well Five."
~o~oOo~o~
As they arrived in front of Five's room, Five was surprised to see that his door still standing. It looked like Diego was able to read his thoughts "Yeah we wanted to destroy your door but held back because of Mr. Pennycrumb."
Five just hummed as he climbed into his bed, fluffing his new pillow up before settling in. Diego smiled at the sight before covering Five with his blanket, tucking it in his chin.
After making sure that Five is comfortable Diego is heading towards the door, before turning again to face Five "If you need anything just call one of us okay?"
Five opened one of his eyes gazing at Diego "I want a salted caramel bar for lunch…"
Diego shakes his head, grinning at Five "That shit is expensive, and aren't you rich now? You can buy it for yourself."
Five chuckled before closing his eyes again, "Sure, as if you won't buy it for me…" Five hummed.
"You little shit…" Diego whispered, already know that Five has fallen asleep because of how steady his breathing is. Diego slowly closed the door, making sure it wasn't locked this time.
Diego run his hands over his face "Stop spoiling him Diego…" he muttered to himself before going downstairs. Immediately reaching the front door of their house, and before he could open the front door, Vanya stopped him
"Where are you going Diego?" She asked
Diego sighed in defeat "To the store…" he whispered; Vanya smiled at him tilting her head sideways. "Yeah, I'll buy you your cookies." He said.
Vanya hugged him before going back to their living room. As Diego got inside his car, he stared at the steering wheel "The things I do for my siblings…" he muttered as he drives away from their house. Maybe his co-workers are right about him and how he indulges in his siblings every request and whims.
~o~oOo~o~
When Diego returned home from the store, he was immediately bombarded by Klaus, Ben and Vanya, as all of them are expecting their snacks. "Diego the best brother ever!" Klaus said in glee as he hugged the grocery plastic in his chest. Diego smiled as he could feel just how happy his siblings are, this is the main reason he continues to indulge them with whatever they want. Diego just want to see his brothers and sisters happy.
"Where is Mr. Pennycrumb?" Diego asked
Ben is already halfway through his potato chips "Oh, he immediately wants to go to Five's room the moment we got home, so I let him in." Ben munched in his chips before continuing "Don't worry I told him to stay quiet because Five is still sleeping."
Satisfied with his brother's answer, Diego searched inside the grocery bag before finding a box of protein bars that he knows that Luther likes, he threw it at Luther's direction, as his brother easily caught it "For you." Diego simply said
Luther grinned at him "Thank you Diego."
Allison raised her eyebrows from the couch "I don't get any? What kind of a brother are you?"
Diego chuckled before taking out an oatmeal diet cookie that taste so bland but for some reason Allison likes it well enough to eat it during afternoons. He threw it at her with an impressive aim "As if I would forget about you sister."
Allison laughed "Nice aim Diego! And thanks!"
A month back in their present timeline, Allison bought a huge flat screen TV which supports all the known channels the cable company has to offer. It certainly racked up their bill but it's not like they would be poor anytime soon. The money Reginald left is more than enough for them, they couldn't even make a dent on it no matter how much they buy things that are needed for the house.
As they all huddled in the couch watching a mundane movie that Allison picked, they didn't even believe that they could be at this peace. Growing up they fought with each other, forced by their father to be better than any of them causing them to see each other's as rivals rather than a family member. But now that they are given a second chance to be a family, they are doing the best they could. And their hard work pays off because it's already been half a year since they came back and the major fight they all had is whether to get a centralized air-conditioning in the house or not, up until now they can't decide.
As the movie is about to finish, a sudden flash of blue appeared near the bar, causing all of them to get on their feet, alert at the sudden intrusion. They all looked at Herb and an unknown guy that they don't know, it was Herb who smiled at them waving cheerfully. "Oh god the whole family of Hargreeves is here!" he gushed.
Allison picked up the remote turning the TV off, as Herb and the guy walked towards them stopping a few feet away from them. Diego was the one who approached Herb "Long time no see Herb my man!" Diego grinned as the both of them did a handshake.
The other Hargreeves looked at them with confusion written on their faces, "You look good Diego!" Herb said grinning, his attention suddenly went to the guy beside him "Oh and this is Liam, our new recruit I was just showing him how the briefcase work so I bought him with me. Don't worry he is harmless."
Liam smiled at them "Pleasure to meet the Hargreeves family, your brother Number Five Hargreeves is like a superstar in our office! An inspiration to all of us! Almost half of us has a huge crush on him due to his works, a very phenomenal assassin your brother is."
For some reason none of them looked happy in the statement, Diego went towards Liam offering his hands which Liam took to shake "Five is our 13-year old brother, so there will be no problem with us if you tell your co-workers to leave our little brother Five alone okay?" Diego smiled dangerously "You wouldn't want the board to disappear in thin air again don't you? Cause it would really be a shame for the whole commission to be destroyed once don't you agree?"
Liam chuckled nervously as he could feel Diego's hands tighten around his own, while the other Hargreeves are glaring at him as if somehow, he offended them. Maybe he did. Herb was the one to separate them, still smiling despite the threat "Don't worry Diego, we won't be bothering your family anymore as per agreement with Number Five!"
Diego looked at Herb then back at Liam "Glad that's clear." He simply said.
"So uh, why are you here? If you are looking for Five he is in his room sleeping as of the moment." Luther said
Herb suddenly handed Diego a briefcase, not the same one they use to time travel, this time it's a normal silver briefcase. Diego wordlessly accepted it. Herb fixed his tie "That's all the files we have about Number Five as per his request. We also included some videos that the handler weirdly has. I don't know her what her motive was but when we searched her old office when she died there are tons of pictures of your brother Five which we found very disturbing." Herb cleared his throat "And for some reason, 3 videos are saved from the system of the infinite switch board."
Herb suddenly looked somber "On behalf of how the old commission handled things, I am very sorry for what Number Five has gone through. We are not aware of the illegal things that the handler has did to your brother. And with that I am truly sorry, but rest assured, the things she did to your brother would never happen again in this new commission."
All of them could feel their world shake, their thoughts racing to the worst possible scenario they could all think of. "I knew that fucking bitch is crazy!" Klaus said "The way she dressed is more than enough indication!"
"Herb what the fuck are you talking about? Illegal?" Diego growled, he should have killed the bitch
Herb suddenly looked unsure "It's not my place to say…" Herb said looking everywhere but them "It would be best to hear it from Number Five himself…"
Liam suddenly nudge Herb "We need to go, you still have an evening meeting with the rest of the board."
Herb looked at them "Tell Number Five that we are sorry, and if he needs more pension, the commission is more than willing to give it to him. The files he needed are in the red folder inside the briefcase." With that Herb waved them one final goodbye before disappearing in a flash of blue.
They all stared at the briefcase in Diego's hands.
"Now what?"
~o~oOo~o~
It's already lunch but somehow all of them are still in the living room, staring at the briefcase.
"Maybe we should just open it…?" Luther said breaking the silence
"And then what? Look through Five's files without his permission?" Ben said but he looked so conflicted
"Ben has a point; this would be like… prying on Five's private life…" Allison remarked although her eyes never left the briefcase.
"What do you think Herb meant with illegal things that the handler did to Five…?" Vanya looked so lost "Do you think… she forced Five into doing something Five doesn't want…?"
All of their breath hitched at the implication of her statement. "Fucking shit…" Klaus muttered.
Diego looked so anxious and frustrated "All of our worries would disappear if we open this briefcase…" he said
All of them looked at one another, "I know this isn't ideal especially we are Five's siblings but… this is going to haunt us we know that. We all just want one thing and that's to make sure Five is safe am I right?" Diego asked
"Okay yeah, let's do this." Allison said
Ben stopped her from "Wait let's vote this out, as a family yeah?" Ben asked as he got a collective nod from the family "Those in favor of opening this raise your hand." Allison, Diego, Luther and surprisingly Vanya raised their arms. They all looked at Klaus
Klaus shrugged "Hey I am curious too but I just really think Cinco would go ballistic if we invade his privacy behind his back."
All of them looked at Klaus, their decision flattering "Ah shit, this is hard. Klaus has a point…" Diego muttered.
"But what if… Five will never tell us this? Would we just let him handle the trauma he has? Alone?" Vanya asked suddenly having a burst of confidence to speak out "Klaus is right, he has a point but aren't we a family? What kind would we be if we would let one of us suffer in silence when we could help Five?"
"Yeah okay fuck it!" Allison said raising her hand in defeat, she wasted no time into getting the briefcase, putting her hands into the opening locks "You all ready?" She asked as they crowded behind her. They nodded; she took a deep breath before opening it.
The contents of the briefcase are surprisingly few. It contains a red folder, a single red USB, and a photo album that is quite thick in size. They stared at each other. "The photo album first…?" Vanya suggested.
Allison then got the photo album out of the briefcase, she looked hesitant into opening it.
"Wait!" Klaus suddenly called out, making them look at him
"What is it Klaus?" Ben asked
Klaus bit his lips "Isn't this like a… spoiler…?" All of them looked at Klaus in confusion, "I mean what if this photo album contains Five when he grows up? You know… how he looked like when he was at the same age as us?"
Luther shrugged "I have seen 58-year old Five, and the one thing I could tell you, he already hit his growth spurt."
All of them looked at Luther in surprised "When did that happen? And how come you already saw Five as an old man?" Diego asked unable to keep the accusation in his tone
"Back in the 1960's, we met the old him to negotiate for the briefcase."
"Is there anything else you want to tell us?" Allison asked, annoyed at the fact that this topic is only being brought up now.
Luther paused to think "Uh the fire extinguisher that Klaus threw to the portal hit me in the head causing me to get knocked out for a while, resulting in us failing to get the briefcase because old Five is a shit."
All of them looked at Klaus, "Oopps?"
Vanya sighed "We really need to bring that up sometimes in the family meeting." She said as the others agree with her.
Allison looked at the photo album, "Well here goes nothing…" she muttered as she finally opened it.
Just like what Herb said the photo album contained hundreds of pictures of different aged up Five. And it looked like it was arranged, because for the first 1-6 pages it was 13-year old Five in the apocalypse, the pictures are taken at different angles. It's like Five's growth is feezed and captured in every photo. After a while of browsing they finally got to Five as a 28-year old. They stared at the pictures longer than necessary.
"I knew it, little Cinco would grow all hot!" Klaus statement should have bothered all of them but he is not joking.
Even with smudges of dirty and ashes in his face 28-year old Five looked like a model out of an expensive magazine. His jawline more defined, his baby fat in his cheeks are gone.
"Oh wow, he kinda looks like Luther here!" Ben suddenly pointed at one picture that is showing Five sideways. Allison held the photo album near Luther's face as they stared at the picture and Luther back and forth.
"Holy shit, you two are really twins…" Diego muttered in amusement
Luther sighed, also not being able to rebut because even he could see the resemblance "That's what we've been telling you all for months now…" he said but their attention is already back to the photo album. It took them a while but they are able to look at all the pictures available. Up until they finally saw 58-year old Five.
After Allison closed the book, they needed a few minutes to recover.
"So… little Five is going to grow all hot." Klaus said breaking the silent
Vanya, surprisingly laughed, "Klaus why are you so fixated in Five being hot?"
Klaus shrugged "Hey I just called it. I'm not interested in my baby bro, Vanya, I'm just telling you, Little Fivey could be a model if he wanted to."
"Beside the point of Five being hot, that was his life in the apocalypse…? He was just 13, real 13 back then…" Ben slowly said, then it slowly started to sink into them "Five grew up alone for 45 years… he didn't have anything that time and yet he survived…" Ben finished, his tone grave.
"We… we can't change the past but… Five is given another chance to grow with us. We might not be able to erase what he experienced but now? We could give him everything he missed." Allison determinately said "We would make sure he gets the life he deserves; he is our brother after all right?"
All of them cheered up a little at the prospect of being able to have another second chance with their brother "Yeah, what the hell. Five is with us now, we are now a family. All of us deserves another chance at life." Diego said, looking at all of them making them smile.
"Awww big brother Diego making a speech!" Klaus said putting both of his hands in his heart "You're going to make me cry!"
All of them laughed, the mood immediately became light. As they all calmed down, they once again looked at the contents of the briefcase. Luther was the one who picked up the small red USB, "Do you think the illegal think that Herb is talking about is in this…?" Luther asked
"There is just one think to do to find it out…" Diego said already standing up to open the TV, Luther throwing Diego the USB as Diego easily catches it before plugging it in. Diego return to where he sat, while Allison already has the remote. As like what Herb has said earlier, there are 3 videos in one folder. It's just numbered to 1-3.
"Let's start with the first one…?" Ben said, as Allison nodded, and without any more delay she pressed the play button.
Their eyes widen when the video started playing. They could see 13-year old Five running away from home, time travelling as he did. Then suddenly it clicked for them, "This is the time where Five run away during breakfast time…" Vanya muttered her eyes glued to the screen. All of them just nodded, staring intently at the screen as Five did one final jump, then to their horror they saw him landing into the apocalypse.
It's the first time they could see Five looking so terrified, they could hear it in his tone as he called out Vanya, Ben and even their Dad's name. They watch in horror as Five continued to activate his powers to no avail before sinking down in his knees in front of the academy, tears trailing down his cheeks.
"I can't watch this jesus…" Klaus muttered; he closed his eyes as Five continued to cry. It was heart wrenching hearing their strongest brother cry like that.
Klaus forced his eyes to open when all they could hear is small broken hiccups from Five as they watch him stand up from the ground. They watch as Five angrily wiped the tears using his academy uniform. As Five stood up tears dried up in his cheeks, they could see him look around until it landed on a newspaper. As Five was finished reading it, they could see his eyes widen in horror.
"Lu-Luther…?"
They heard Five said, as the Five in the video slowly walked towards the rumbles. All of them gasped in horror including Luther as they could now clearly see Luther's dead body with his hands sticking out of the debris of rocks, in his hands is an eyeball they all know whom belongs to.
"Shit…" Luther whispered, feeling greatly disturbed seeing himself dead. Luther could clearly see how his siblings tensed up at his corpse.
"No no no… Luther… fuck!"
They all flinched at how Five sounded. They watch silently as Five kneeled down in front of Luther's corpse taking the eyeball out of his hand before crying a new set of tears. As they see Five mourned for Luther, Five's attention suddenly diverted to another figure that is crushed by a debris of a building, it was Diego.
"Fucking shit…" Diego whispered "This is fucking sick what the fuck…"
They continued to watch as Five basically dragged himself just so he could kneel in front of Diego, a total look of defeat in his face. They watched as Five placed his hands into Diego's face flinching as he felt it too cold. In the hands of Diego, he is holding one of his knife.
"I'm sorry Diego… I'm so sorry…"
They heard Five muttered brokenly, as they saw just how much carefully Five got the knife out of Diego's cold hands. They could see how Five grabbed Diego's hand trembling as he did, placing it near his cheeks as new tears rolled down in his eyes.
"I couldn't save you…"
Diego felt his heart twist in pain as Five seeked comfort in his cold body, maybe this is the main reason his little brother hated the cold so much. Because it reminds him so much of them being dead. It seems like his siblings also reached that same conclusion.
"That's why he hated the cold so much…" Ben muttered wiping a few tears that escaped his eyes.
They steeled themselves to continue to watch as Five said his goodbye to Diego as he walked, not long a few feet away from Diego is Allison's dead body.
"Allison…"
Never in her life that Allison would imagine his brother Five could call her name like that. Like a broken prayer that wasn't meant to be heard by anybody. She cried as Five kneeled down, brushing his fingers to remove her strands of hair that was covering her face.
"I'm… sorry…"
It seems like that was the only thing that Five could say as they watch how his energy drain away from his eyes, tears never stopping. A few meters away from Allison's body, they could now see Klaus's body, underneath debris of glass and rocks. His eyes open but dead to the world.
Five kneeled down in front of Klaus's body, with a great tremble from his hands, he gently closed Klaus's eyes.
"I'm so sorry Klaus…. You can rest now…."
They watch in helplessness as Five curled up in the ground hiding his face in his knees as he cried. Allison had to paused the video because it's too much to take. Vanya looked so guilty as she cried, Allison immediately hugged her.
"I… I caused this…. I killed all of you then… then…" She said as she started crying harder "I'm so sorry… I'm sorry…."
Diego went to hug her "Vanya no, it's no one's fault. You shouldn't blame yourself for this. No one will…" Diego firmly said
"Vanya it will never be your fault…" Ben said placing a comforting hand on top of her head "We don't want you to blame yourself for this…."
Klaus went in front of their crying sister "Vanya it's all in the past now, a past that didn't even happen. This is not your fault nor any of us."
Suddenly Luther was also kneeling in front of Vanya "Hey… you don't get to blame yourself for this okay Vanya?" Luther said "We are family, we share each other's burden. What happened to you, it's because of us. We are not at fault and so are you. Nobody is to be blamed."
Vanya hiccupped as she broke her hug with Allison to hug Luther who is surprised with the action. As gently as he could, he wrapped his arms around their little sister "We love you Vanya, we all do."
Vanya smiled despite the tears falling from her eyes "Thank you… and I'm so sorry…" she muttered. Allison soothingly rubbed her back.
They stayed like that for a while making sure that Vanya is feeling okay after the ordeal. Allison hesitantly grabbed the remote. She looked at them, they all nodded. As she pressed play once again, she made Vanya lean her head in her shoulders, comforting her as she slowly calmed down from the crying.
It looked like the video was cut then stitched with another one. Because now Five is back again at where Luther is, kneeling once again. Then Five slowly but surely started to pick up some heavy looking rocks before placing it into Luther's body. They all looked confused at what he was doing then after a while their confusion turned into horror as they realized that Five is burying them.
"Jesus… oh god no Five…." Diego hitched feeling the dread and pity for his brother. Diego couldn't even imagine digging a grave for any of his siblings and yet here they are watching as 13-year old Five does it to their dead bodies.
It took a lot of time, they even watch as Five cuts himself with sharper rocks, but it seems like Five's mind is so concentrated with the job that even though he is bleeding he doesn't even bat an eye to his injuries. The final one he buried is Klaus. Five looked so catatonic after the ordeal, he looked lifeless. They have never seen Five looked like that, and they never want to see that look ever again.
Then the screen blacked out, this time it showed Five in a library that is almost in the verge of collapsing. As he was digging, they could see his eyes widen picking up Vanya's book under the rubbles. They watch as he flipped through the pages, stopping at the chapter they know where Vanya told how Ben died. Five read slowly before closing the book, leaning his head into it.
"Ben…"
Was all he said but they knew how he feels anyway. Ben looked down, unable to see how broken Five looked.
Suddenly Five stood up, wiping his tears as he did. He placed the book into a wagon he got, then the video ended.
They needed a moment, what they watched is pure terror. Watching how Five discovered their bodies, and how he buried them. They have no words on how much they feel, all they wanted to do now is to go to their brother apologize for what he went through alone, and protect him from the world.
"I can't believe this…." Diego muttered a resigned look in his expression. "Five…"
They could all share his sentiments "I can't even imagine doing that…" Luther said, guilt in his face.
"And to think we didn't believe him at first about the apocalypse…" Klaus muttered feeling all the guilt weigh him down.
Allison sighed, wiping her tears "I want to hug Five so bad right now…" she said then she glanced at the screen "But…"
They all feel the same way, after the shit they just watched, all they wanted to do now is to just go and shower their little brother with the love he missed out. But the remaining two videos are taunting them, as if enticing them to continue watching. They all looked at one another then after a silent agreement, with a heavy heart, Allison once again hit the play button but this time, it's for the second video.
The setting of the second video is a place that is very familiar with Diego, Klaus and Luther. "Oh that's the time where we crashed Cha-cha and Hazel's van!" Klaus exclaimed.
As the video started, they could see that everything is frozen, like it was paused. Luther standing in a protective stance, Diego and Klaus inside the ice-cream truck, Hazel and Cha-cha shooting guns but now moving an inch. Then they all realized that the time is frozen.
"Neat trick isn't it Five? Only higherups from the commission, like me, could do this." The handler said clearly referring to the frozen time.
Five looked unimpressed at her, the handler chuckled "Nice get up by the way, really threw us off. We didn't expect you to be back to your younger version, in school boy short nevertheless."
Five still looked bored "Well I couldn't really take all the credit for this. I miscalculated and here I am."
They bristled in anger and disgust at the way the handler brushed her finger into their little brother's face "We should have killed her." Vanya said, nobody can touch Five like that, especially not as someone as creepy as the handler.
"Five, come back to us. Work for us again, we are willing to turn a blind eye to your betrayal, that's how important you are to us. We value you Five, your skills, your powers, especially your talents. You know you belong to us."
Five smiled, pointing a gun at her face, the handler raised her hand "What I want you to do is to put a stop to the apocalypse."
The handler chuckled "You know I can't do that Five, what's meant to happen is suppose to happen. You know that." Suddenly she came closer to Five "You can't truly be happy with this Five, the fantasy you have to save your family? To stop the apocalypse? Is nothing but a sweet fantasy of yours to save them. They are meant to die, but you Five? You are destined for bigger things. You have your whole future ahead of you, you can have everything you want in life and more. You can be happy."
Five scoffed, the gun still pointed at her face "I am not looking for happy." He firmly said "What I want is for my family to survive. I don't care what happens to me, I want them to live." He emphasized on every word he said
They watch as the handler looked at Luther, Diego and Klaus with an annoyed look at her face, before seemingly accepting that if she wanted Five back, she would have to agree with Five's ultimatum. They wordlessly watch as Five changed the course of the bullet, disarming cha-cha and Hazel before taking the deal with the handler.
"Right from the start… everything that Five did, he did it for us…"
They let Diego's word sink into them "And we've been nothing but dismissive about it…" Klaus muttered.
The video is still running, like the first one the video was cut then stitched with another one. This time it's shows Five in dispute with the handler.
"You're a first-class pragmatist why don't you just accept this Five?" The handler's frustration is evident in her voice "You belong here with me Five! You belong with us!"
Five snarled "I belong no where thanks to you! You made me a killer."
The handler unzips her skirt before pulling out a gun, pointing it towards Five "You've always been a killer Five, it's in your DNA. I just pointed you into the right direction. Do you honestly think your family would accept someone like you Five?"
They watched in pain as Five's face contorted into stiffness at the handler's words.
"The fuck is this bitch talking about?" Diego muttered angerly
"She is manipulating Five obviously…" Ben said "She knows Five's greatness weakness is us, so she is using it to her advantage." Ben looked so sour at his own words. He should have been the one to rip her to pieces.
Luther shakes his head "Five shouldn't even have heard those words… he would always belong to us."
The handler shot at Five's direction but he was able to teleport out just in time, he appeared behind the handler, smiling as he shows a grenade in his hands "A thank you gift." Was all Five said as he threw the grenade at her, seeking protection as it exploded.
The frightened look on the handler's face was so satisfying to watch that they are tempted to take a picture of it, but they all know that explosion didn't kill the handler. Suddenly the video was cut once again, this time it shows that they are in the 1960's.
They could see that the handler is once again offering Five a deal to eliminate the whole board of directors in exchange for a briefcase to get all of them home. They could see how hesitant Five is but then remembered that after the disaster with their Dad, Five had no choice but to agree. So they watch as Five break the vending machine in frustration, at how Five swipes his fingers on the cake and finally getting the axe.
They held their breath as Five confidently entered the room of where the board of directors are, axe in his hand. Then in a blink of an eye, he started slaughtering every single one of them with speed and efficiency that made them look in awe.
"She sent you, didn't she!?"
"Does it really matter now?"
"Whatever she paid you, I will double it! Tripled it!"
Five raised the axe, preparing to strike "I'm not doing this for the money."
They all held their breaths as one of the waitresses suddenly tackled Five to the ground angry because of the broken vending machine, they feared that Five would kill her but instead Five just knocked her out cold saying that he didn't want to kill her. They all smiled, proud that Five didn't involve an innocent life in the fray. They watch as the goldfish begged for his life, but Five didn't spare it. As the tank is now destroyed, Five kneeled down scooping the fish before putting it in a plastic with water.
"For my family… All of this is for them."
They heard Five muttered as he scoops out a cake with his bare hands, eating it, before teleporting to the alleyway. They watch in guilt as the handler looked so delighted at the sight of the fish, the, they even felt guiltier when Five admitted that he was done with the killing and all of this is, is for them. And finally, the video ended, leaving them speechless at just how much Five has done for them. Things that they didn't appreciate, things they overlooked, things that they didn't believe not until they watched it themselves.
"He killed… just to get us home…" Vanya muttered "Then all I cared about was Sissy…?" out of all of them Vanya felt the guiltiness
"I thought… he did it just because he was told… I didn't know it was to get us home…." Diego said shagging into the couch, feeling drained at the new information
"Five did a lot for us and yet…" and yet Luther almost shot him just because he felt that the old version of Five is making a lot more sense.
"We are shit to him…" Klaus murmured
"How… how could he still care about us after all this time…?"
"Because we are his family… for him, we are all he has left… right from the very start, Five was always the one looking after us…" Allison said coming into that conclusion after watching the two videos they have.
Regret, guilt, and somberness enveloped them. After all this time, they dismiss Five not knowing just how far he is willing to do for them. Deep down, maybe just maybe, they are the ones who doesn't deserve Five as their brother.
Without any prompt, the last video suddenly played, they all flinched by the sudden noise. They didn't even know if they have the proper strength to watch another one, even though it's the last one.
The video is different from the rest, because it looked like it was really videoed in a camera rather than the usual like the two videos. The could hear handler's voice behind the camera. Their eyes widen as they came in view of a tied up older Five, and it looks like he was drugged but still coherent.
"It was really hard to look for a suitable drug for you Number Five, but I could say this will be worth it after all." Suddenly the handler came into view with an injection that contains a white fluid inside.
58-year old Five glared at her as she stands beside him, "I'm going to kill you…" he growled
They watch in alarm as the handler suddenly jammed the injection into Five's neck, pushing the liquid inside of Five's body. Allison had to immediately lower the volume as Five screamed in pure pain and agony.
"The thing I injected to you my dearest Number Five is every single DNA of every dangerous killers throughout the time. Hitler, Jack the ripper, Ted Bundy, and many more, this will make you the perfect killing machine with a 100% success rate. You will be unstoppable Number Five. My perfect killer."
They all jumped in shock as a shattering of a mug broke their eyes away from the screen, their eyes went wide as they turned to inspect where the sound came from. And to their pure genuine horror, they could see Five standing in the corridor, a mug of coffee broken beside his feet. Five looked at them with eyes widen in shock and disbelief and he is trembling so bad.
The video ended.
~o~oOo~o~
When Five woke up, he was greeted by Mr. Pennycrumb licking his hand. Five smiled reaching out to him "Good afternoon Mr. Pennycrumb…" Five muttered, he frowned when he realized that it's already 1:15 and yet his siblings didn't woke him up.
He got out of the bed, slipping on his shoes before blinking in the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee before deciding to just walk to the living room as to not scare any of his siblings. As he neared to the living room, he suddenly halted just outside the living room. His breathing suddenly fasten, the beating of his heart he could hear loudly as he could hear himself scream. Then he heard it, loud and clear.
"-ou will be unstoppable Number Five. My perfect killer."
He dropped his mug, shattering it.
They knew… they all knew his secret.
They would hate me; they would be disgusted by me.
They will realize that I don't belong with them, just like what she said.
All those thoughts raced to his head as he started to back away, his mind going haywire his breathing becoming frantic, his vision slowly being blurry. Five didn't even realized that his siblings are already in front of him, as he tried to fight off the panic attack he is experiencing, he knows that they are talking to him but he can't hear them, he couldn't hear anything but his thoughts.
Then suddenly someone touched him, he recoiled. Slapping the hand away with all the strength he could muster.
"Stay the fuck away from me!" Five snarled, anger, betrayal, and hurt evident in his tone.
Without any warning, Five is suddenly gone in a flash of blue.
~o~oOo~o~
A/N: So yes this is me basically projecting my frustration on the Hargreeves siblings for what Five has done for them in season 2. I'm salty at how Five did every single thing he could only to fail because of them. He could not catch a break, poor Five.