Diego burst into his room where Five and Luther sat. "Piece of shit." He stalked over to the bed and lunged at Five. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" Luther held him back as Diego screamed. "No, get your ape hands off of me!"
"I can do this as long as it takes you to calm down," Luther replied calmly.
"Fine," Diego gritted out. Luther let him go, "Now, wanna tell us what you're talking about?"
Diego stared at Five in anger, "Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back. He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's, and then at Gimble Brothers after the masks attacked the academy, looking for him." Diego spat.
"None of which is any of your concern," Five drawled.
"It is now. They almost killed my friend." Diego said, purposely omitting Thea's name knowing he wouldn't get answers if he mentioned her. Luther looked back at Five in question. Five sighed, "They work for my former employer. A woman called the Handler, she sent them to stop me. Then, soon as Diego's friend got in their way, well, fair game." Five replied unsympathetically.
Diego glared at his brother. "Yeah, well, you might change your tone when you hear that my friend didn't die because somebody managed to stop the shooter for a few seconds before they shot. Taking the bullet for her." He narrowed his eyes at five, "Sound like someone we know? Hm? Maybe like a missing sister nobody's seen since yesterday?" he asked sarcastically.
Five's eyes widened in horror. Thea was shot? He stood up and gripped Diego's shirt. "Where is she now? Is she okay?" he asked frantically.
Diego chuckled bitterly. "Oh, so now you care? What happened to 'fair game', huh?"
Five clenched his teeth at Diego's tone, "Where. Is. She."
Diego scoffed and turned away. "I took her back to the house. She was bleeding out from her stomach. She'd passed out from the pain before I even got her there."
Luther's voice shook with concern as he asked, "Is she okay?"
Diego turned to look at the two and nodded. "Pogo fixed her up in time. She'll be resting for a few days, but she'll be fine." Five let out a breath at knowing she'd be okay. "I'm going back to the house to check on her." He declared. Luther just nodded his head, knowing he couldn't stop Five.
"Yeah, okay. I'll meet you back there. Then you can tell me more about this apocalypse stuff." Luther said, his tone indicating Five had no choice in the matter. Five nodded sharply before spatial jumping away.
Thea was sick of waking up and not knowing where she was or what was happening. Her head felt groggy and her body ached. The feeling started coming back into her limbs and she noticed her hand was cradled in someone else's. Blinking open her eyes, she recognised the Academy's walls and let out a sigh of relief. She was home.
She turned to her left and saw Five sat beside her, his upper body leaning against her bed as he slept. She looked down at her hand that was wrapped in his smaller one. She smiled and rubbed her thumb across his knuckles. Thea leaned over as much as her stomach allowed to brush Five's hair out of his eyes. His brows furrowed in his sleep and Thea let out a giggle at the cute expression. She smoothed the crease from between his brows and looked at his peaceful sleeping face. Her actions must have woken him as Five's eyes opened and he blinked back at her.
Thea smiled fondly at the boy, "Hi. Sleep well?"
Five shot up, startling Thea, and he wrapped his arms around her neck. Thea was shocked at his actions, knowing her brother wasn't the touchiest of people. She could hear his muffled voice against her neck. "You're okay. You're alive. You're okay." he kept repeating the same words over and over.
She moved him back to where she could see him and cupped his face between her hands, her thumb rubbing soothing motions on his jaw. "Hey, hey. I'm okay, I'm here and I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere, you can't get rid of me that easily," she smiled at him cheekily.
Five felt like the weight of the world had left his shoulders when Thea began joking like her normal self. When Diego had come storming in telling him Thea had been shot Five had felt like he'd stopped breathing. His chest had gone tight and his stomach felt like lead. He'd gotten here as soon as possible, running into the room as Pogo was cleaning up the operating equipment. He'd given Five a nod before leaving him alone with Thea. Five hadn't left her side since and had been sat for a few hours by her side, holding her cold hand in his. He'd wanted to be there when she woke up. He needed to.
Five looked up at Thea and her loving smile. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried for you." She said. Five gave her an incredulous look. She was worried about him? She had been kidnapped and shot and she was worried about him?
"Whoever took us was looking for you and when they started hurting me Klaus couldn't help but tell them all about your eye activity and the stuff about the apocalypse. I tried stopping him, but I couldn't concentrate from the pain, so he told them." She rubbed his cheeks with her thumbs, "don't blame Klaus, he was just doing what he thought was right. But I was so scared they'd find you. I'm so glad you're safe," she whispered.
Five stared back in part horror and part heartbreak. Thea had been tortured, because of him, and while she and Klaus had been through hell, he'd been getting drunk and falling asleep in a library. Five had never felt worse than he did at that moment.
"You're such an idiot, Z." he said bluntly.
Thea's mouth dropped open at the perceived insult. "Excuse me?"
Five moved out of her hold and sat back on the chair beside the bed. "You're an idiot. Why are you worried about me when I'm the reason you got taken in the first place?"
Thea looked at him like he was a child that didn't understand. He clenched his jaw. "Five. It wasn't your fault that those two people took me and Klaus. Yes, they were looking for you, but you didn't send them after us. You weren't even here when it happened. I fully trust that if you had of been, you'd have done anything to have stopped it from happening."
Five opened his mouth to retort but she cut him off, "and don't go on one of your rants about how 'I should have been there' or 'done more to find you'. It's over now. Let's move on from it, okay? Besides, you know how stubborn I am. I can argue about this all day, old man." She smirked at his affronted expression.
"Fine. But they'll pay for what they did to you." He declared. He hadn't been bothered at the thought of Diego's friend being shot, but his sister was too far. He wouldn't let this go unpunished.
Thea smiled at him fondly and patted his hand. "I'm sure you will." She looked around the room, "Now, there is something you can do for me. Where's Klaus? Did he get back okay? He escaped before I got shot and I don't know where he went or if he even knows."
Five shook his head. "I'm not sure, I only heard about you from Diego. We can try looking in your room?" he suggested. Thea nodded gratefully and dragged herself out of the bed. Five took her arm and helped her walk across the room. She could stand, but her stomach felt tight and when she turned it pulled horribly.
They slowly made their way upstairs and towards her shared room. Five walked in first as Thea stood leaning against the door. Her side was burning from all the movement.
"Are you okay?" Five asked Klaus, who was putting on a shirt. Klaus turned to the two and his eyes widened when he saw Thea. She smiled back at him and limped her way over to give him a hug.
"I'm so glad you made it out okay, Klausy." She said into his stomach.
Klaus was frozen at the sight of Thea. His mind flashed to what had happened before he travelled, and he jumped when he remembered how they'd both been kidnapped, and Thea had told him to escape first. He looked down at his sister, eyes filled with regret and sadness.
"W-what happened?" his voice was croaky. Thea looked up in concern but shrugged in response. "I got shot."
Shot? Klaus immediately held her at arm's length to check her over for injuries. Thea patted his arm and lifted her shirt up, showing her bandaged stomach. A small patch of blood had stained the dressing. Klaus' mind went blank at the sight of the wound. She'd been shot. My own twin had been shot and I'd almost forgotten what even happened. He felt guilt settle in his stomach like lead and tried forming words in his mouth.
"I-I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I-I, I mean, what happened after I left?" even admitting he'd gone, left a bad taste in his mouth. Thea had told him to go first but why hadn't he persisted and made her go first instead? None of this would have happened if he'd just put her first.
"The woman somehow managed to get from the bathroom to the front door and pulled a gun on the detective that came to save us. I couldn't just leave her after she'd come after us, so I stopped the woman from shooting for a few seconds, so I could push the detective out of the way," Thea replied. "I ended up getting shot and the detective hit her head after I pushed her. The masks left when they realised they'd lost a briefcase or something. I don't know, I was kind of out of it."
"Briefcase?" Five asked from where he'd been stood at the doorway. He'd let them have their moment but knew he needed to bring up the issue at hand now Thea had just confirmed his suspicions.
Thea nodded at Five's question. "Yeah, I think it was in the vent or something because when they realised Klaus escaped they panicked and left."
Five's gaze narrowed at Klaus, who was looking at Thea she'd disappear at any moment. "You did it, didn't you?"
Thea looked at him in confusion as Klaus asked, "What are you talking about?"
"You know, I can recognise the symptoms, Klaus." Five stated walking closer.
"Symptoms of what?" Thea asked.
Five continued to stare at Klaus, "The jet lag. Full body itch. Headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up into your nose and through your brain. You gonna tell me about it?"
Klaus sighed and sat on his bed. Thea followed him. Her side was burning something fierce and she felt slightly lightheaded.
"Your pals, when they broke into the house and they couldn't find you, they took us hostage instead." He said, gesturing to Thea beside him.
"And in return, you stole their briefcase." Five chuckled.
"Yeah, I-I got outside and was going to call for help whilst I waited for Thea – who I thought was right behind me – when I opened it." Klaus sighed.
Five was pacing across the room whilst Thea sat confused at their conversation.
"And the next thing you knew, you were...where? Or should I say when? How long have you been gone?" Five asked annoyed.
Thea frowned at Klaus, "Gone? What do you mean gone? Did you go somewhere after you got out?" she asked.
Klaus didn't look at either of them. He was still grieving over Dave and he felt too guilty to look at Thea at the moment. "Almost a year."
"Five, what does he mean? What are you both talking about?" she had a lost expression on her face. Five saw and softened his tone. "The briefcase that Klaus took belonged to the people who work for my former boss. It's a device that allows them to time-travel. Klaus opened it and somehow managed to be gone a whole year before coming back." Thea looked at Klaus for confirmation, but he wouldn't look her way.
"Hazel and Cha Cha will do whatever they can to get the briefcase back. Where is it now?" Five asked.
"Gone," Klaus muttered. "I destroyed it. Poof."
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"What do you care?"
"What do I care? I needed it, you moron, so I could get back. I could start over." Five told him angrily.
Klaus stood up and shook his head. "Where are you going?" Five asked. Klaus kept walking, "Interrogation's over, just...leave." Thea went to grab his arm, but he shook her off. Her expression crumbled at his dismissal and Klaus only felt the well of guilt and despair grow deeper.
I'll make it up to her later. I can't be the kind of brother she deserves right now.