Diego followed Kat as she stormed into the foyer.
"He's got a lot of nerve coming in here and accusing us of shit." She fumed.
Diego sighed and wrapped her in a tight embrace. "I know, Kat. I'm pissed too. But let's just try to get through this stupid funeral, and then you and me can disappear again." He said, placing a kiss on the crown of her head.
She relaxed into his hold, sighing deeply. "Fine. But I'm still pissed off at Luther." She grumbled, causing Diego to chuckle.
"Fine by me, baby girl."
Vanya walked in, her steps faltering when she saw the couple. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize..." she trailed off.
Kat's jaw clenched as Vanya spoke.
"We're just leaving. C'mon, Kat." Diego said in a clipped tone before pulling Katherine along with him.
The entered the now empty living area and Diego flopped onto the couch, pulling Kat down as well. She laughed as she landed on top of him, one hand over his heart and the other on his cheek.
She leaned in close, her lips ghosting over his with the slightest of touches before something caught her attention. From upstairs, muffled but still audible, she could hear a familiar song playing.
"Running just as fast as we can Holdin' on to one another's hand." She sang along with a huge grin. Katherine Hargreeves quickly stood up and held out a hand to the man on the couch in front of her.
He took and stood, then walked away towards the doors. She frowned at the action- he had never denied dancing with her before.
He stopped, looking around to make sure no one was around to interrupt, then closed the doors. He turned around to face her and smiled in pure joy as he approached her.
The music echoed through the house, allowing them to get lost in the lyrics and the beat. "There doesn't seem to be anyone around I think we're alone now The beating of our hearts Is the only sound."
Diego and Katherine twirled and danced like crazy people, laughing all the while. For a few moments, it was as if nothing could touch them. Not Luthers accusations, not Vanya's harsh and cruel words, not even neing in the house that bore so many unpleasant memories. For a few moments they were truly happy.
But as we know, all good things must come to an end, however abrupt that ending may be.
Thunder rumbled loudly, causing the music to stop, glass to shatter, and Kat to grab Diego's arm fearfully.
"Come on. You're safe with me. We need to see what the hell that was." He assured her, taking her hand and pulling her along.
They made it outside to see a huge blue light of some sort just floating in the courtyard.
"Holy shit." Katherine yelled from behind Diego.
"Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly. Either that or a miniature black hole. One of the two." Luther yelled over the roar.
"Pretty big difference there, Paul Bunyan." Diego replied.
"Out of the way!" Klaus yelled, running throughwith a fire extinguisherin his hands. He tried to deploy it, and when that didn't work he threw it into the anomoly.
"What are you -" Luther started in confusion.
"What is that gonna do?" Allison cried out.
"I don't know. Do you have a better idea?" Klaus countered.
Electricity crackled, and Luther didnt hesitate to push Klaus behind him to stand beside Kat. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Everybody get behind me."
"Yeah, get behind us." Diego agreed, keeping a hand laced with one of Kat's.
"I vote for running, c'mon!" Klaus yelled, taking Kat's other hand.
Electricity crackled again, eliciting screams from over half of the siblings. The thunder faded, the blue light disappeared, and in it's place was a young boy no older than fifteen. He was wearing a suit that was far too big for him and he was a bit dirty from the landing, but there was no denying the boy's identity.
"Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?" Klaus asked.
"Shit." Five said simply.
Katherine pushed her way to the front of her siblings, a look of shock plastered on her face. Her jaw was ever so slightly dropped and she had tears welling in her eyes. Five met her gaze and she gasped quietly. His eyes had changed. He may have looked the same physically, but his eyes held the pain and knowledge of a man who had seen things the average person could never even comprehend.
"Five?" She asked, hoping to confirm that she was not in fact hallucinating.
"Hey, K." He said, his voice cracking with emotion.
The damn broke and Katherine fell to her knees in front him. He didn't allow himself to cry. Instead he sank to his knees in front of her and hugged her tightly. "It's really me, K. I'm back. I made it back to you. Just like I promised." He whispered to her.
She sobbed harder, clutching to his too-big jacket like he might disappear again any second.
The other siblings decided that the moment was far too personal and intimate for them to intrude, so they migrated to the kitchen, waiting silently for the pair to join them.
It was a full three minutes before Katherine had collected herself enough to speak coherently. "Where were you?"
"I think that's something that I should discuss with everyone at once. But I promise that you and I will talk about everything. Soon." He assured her.
He allowed her to calm down for another few minutes before pulling her to her feet and looking up at her. It was funny, not only did he look up to her, but now he had to look up at her. He held out a gentlemanly arm for her to take, giving her a smile that, for the first time in years, actually reached his eyes. She wiped her face of any remaining tears and took his arm.
"Fair warning, nothing has changed since you left. Well, maybe it's gotten a little worse. But you catch my drift." She said with a frown.
Five simply chuckled and soldiered forward. "Trust me, I'm prepared for anything."
As soon as they entered the kitchen, all eyes were on them. Klaus was sitting on the table cross-legged, and the others sat in the chairs around him. Kat detached herself and made a beeline for Diego, who awaited her with open arms. She stood beside his seat, her arm around his shoulders, his around her waist.
Five sighed, looking at his siblings before grabbing the bread from the counter. "What's the date? The exact date."
"The 24th." Vanya said quietly.
"Of what?"
"March."
"Good."
"So, are we gonna talk about what just happened? It's been 17 years."Luther demanded, blocking Five's path to the pantry.
The boy simply scoffed before spatial jumping around him. "It's been a lot longer than that."
"I haven't missed that."
"Where'd you go?" Kat reiterated her earlier question.
"The future. And it's shit, by the way." Five informed them boredly.
"Called it!" Klaus exclaimed.
"I should've listened to the old man. You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice." Five said to no one in particular. Klaus's attire seemed to catch his attention, and he gave a look of approval. "Nice dress."
"Oh, well, danke!" Klaus said with a smile.
"Wait, how did you get back?" Luther drew the attention back to their previous conversation.
"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time." Five explained as if it was the simplest thing ever.
"That makes no sense." Diego said in confusion.
"Well, it would if you were smarter."
Diego stood, ready to fight, and Kat placed her hand on his abdomen to hold him back. "Sit your ass down." She whispered firmly before giving Five a hard look that had him quietly apologizing in seconds. "How long were you there?" She finally asked.
"Forty-five years. Give or take."
Every jaw in the room dropped and Luther sat down in shock. That explained why he seemed so much older. Why he held himself so differently.
"So what are you saying? That you're 58?" Luther attempted to process.
"No, my consciousness is 58. Apparently, my body is now 13 again."
"Wait, how does that even work?"
"Delores kept saying the equations were off. Eh. Bet she's laughing now."
"Delores?" Kat and Vanya asked at the same time. They exchanged an awkward look, and bristled uncomfortably.
"Hmm. Guess I missed the funeral." Five said, dismissing the question as he picked up a newspaper from the table.
"How'd you know about that?" Luther said, causing Kat and Five to roll their eyes.
"Jesus H." She muttered under her breath causing Diego to snicker.
"What part of the future do you not understand?" Five said as if Luther was an idiot. He scanned the paper and took a bite of his sandwich. "Heart failure, huh?"
"Yeah." Diego said at the same time as Luther contradicted with, "No".
Five looked at Kat, who simply shrugged as if to say 'I told you so'. "Hmm. You were right. Nice to see nothing's changed." He said, walking out of the room.
"Uh, that's it? That's all you have to say?"
"What else is there to say? The circle of life."
A moment of silence passed between the Hargreeves family as they looked at eachother awkwardly. Klaus stood on the table and nodded.
"Right then."