IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please be aware there are mentions of self-harm and verbal abuse in this chapter. We will learn more details of some darker parts of Penny's childhood at the Academy. If you suffer or suffered from similar experiences, please be cautious as you read this chapter. I will leave an X where you should stop reading if you feel the need to, and then place another X where it is safe to continue reading.


Chapter 3: In Which All Hargreeves Siblings Suffer From A Broken Heart


"The world is going to end in eight days, and we have to stop it."

The air in the alleyway Penny and Five resided in at the current moment suddenly got colder. She considered that it was still early spring, and frigid breezes were common, but this was a whole other ordeal. She felt this chill to her bones.

"W-wait," she stammered, standing upright from her previous position of leaning against a wall. "So the apocalypse is happening…in eight days."

Five nodded, as if this was a perfectly average conversational topic. "Exactly eight."

She scoffed. "And what causes it? How do we put an end to this as soon as possible?"

"That's the problem," he sighed. "I have no idea."

Her jaw dropped, hands flying up in the air in in exasperation. "Five, this is insane."

"You don't believe me."

"Have some faith – of course I believe you. It's our siblings that will need convincing. They need to know. We have to fix this together."

To Penny's surprise, he smiled genuinely. "And that's why you're my favorite."

She found herself smiling slightly back. "Because I believe you?"

"Because you always turn a problem into a solution. You never dwell on the impossibilities."

This is why she knew it was a bad idea to be sticking with Five. Butterflies seemed to erupt in her stomach if he even slightly smirked at her. And compliments? She felt as if she was thirteen again and he was commending her on her sound logic and facts in their grand debates.

She shook it off.

"We need to get out of here and find somewhere safe," she told him urgently.

"I agree," he nodded. "But there's only one other person I can confide this information to at the moment."

"And who is that?"

"Vanya."

"No offense, Five, but Vanya isn't someone that our family exactly respects at the moment. If she's with us, Diego especially won't be willing to accept the fact that we will die in eight days if nothing is done."

"On the contrary."

"How so?"

"She's ordinary. She'll listen. She will believe us."

Penny begrudgingly obliged his suggestions. "Sure, you're right."

Five squinted at her. "You're still upset about what she wrote, aren't you?"

"I try not to be," she replied quietly. "I understand that it was her childhood – her perspective of the happenings around her. She wasn't officially a part of the Academy. Dad left her out of many family events that I know she deserved to attend. Things really went to shit when you left."

He sighed. "I didn't realize I was the metaphorical glue that held us all together."

"Neither did we – until you were gone," she said.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

"The doughnut shop," muttered Penny.

"We need to get to Vanya's," Five said. "Do you know her address?"

She nodded. "I do. It'd be easier if we had a car, though."

"I can sense your understated passive aggression, Penelope," Five griped as they began walking. "They know what the plate number is. We'd be a very bright, very visible target for them to fire on if we had driven away in that thing."

Penny's brow scrunched. "You still haven't told me who 'they' are."

"I promise I will. Let's just get to Vanya's apartment."

Five spacial jumped them both to the dark interior of their sister's living room.

The quick, intense feeling of cotton being shoved up her sinuses bolted through Penny's head, but left as rapidly as it came.

"I'll never get used to that headache," she murmured.

"It doesn't bother me anymore," Five told her. "I've been doing it for nearly fifty-eight years now."

"Lucky you. Where are the damn lights in here?" wondered Penny.

Five was fiddling with something by the blinds. "She keeps her windows unlocked. Why don't you sit for a moment? We had quite the scuffle in Griddy's."

"In pitch black?"

"I've found a lamp. Just wait a second, would you?"

Penny felt her way over to a sofa, knocking her knees on a coffee table in the process.

They both heard keys jangling and the click of a turning doorknob. A figure appeared in the open doorway.

Five suddenly tugged the strand, the lamp beside him flickering to life.

"Jesus!" exclaimed Vanya.

"Sorry," Penny apologized immediately, waving a hand from the sofa.

"You should have locks on your windows," stated Five.

Vanya reasoned with him. "I live on the second floor."

"Rapists can climb."

Penny's head snapped to him, sending him a scowl. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You're so weird," agreed Vanya, shutting her front door behind her.

Five shrugged nonchalantly.

She took a seat next to a Penny, mostly staring puzzled at Five. "Is that blood?"

Five and Penny answered in unison, but not with quite the same answer.

"Yes."

"It's nothing."

Vanya's gaze flickered between the two quickly as Penny sent him an exasperated expression. Five glared at her for a moment before turning back to their other sister.

"Yes it's blood, or yes it's nothing?" she corrected.

"Forget it," Five told her quickly.

Penny recalled the sight of him digging a tracking device out of his forearm with a knife.

"Van, do you have any medical supplies?" she asked politely.

"Yeah, I do – whoa. You've got a big bruise on your face…" Vanya realized. "You need ice."

Five agreed, attempting to pull the attention away from himself. "She does."

"Oh, no, you're not doing that today, Five," she shook her head at him. "Vanya, he's got a fairly deep cut on his arm that needs some medical attention."

Vanya glanced between them again, somehow finding their interaction strangely comforting. "There's ice in the freezer and towels in the drawer next to the oven. I'll get something for Five's wound."

The two women got up to fulfill their duties.

Penny sent Five an annoyed look on the way into the kitchen.

"I wasn't planning on saying anything about my arm," Five called out from the living room.

"I'm glad I said something or else that thing would have gotten infected," Penny called back. "One of our chimps once hid a fairly deep cut from us for a while and it was so badly infected, we had to call in a specialized veterinarian."

She heard him grumbling under his breath as she made an icepack for her cheekbone.

Vanya returned with gauze, medical tape, and hydrogen peroxide. She took a seat at the end of the sofa. Five reluctantly rolled back his blazer sleeve, revealing the poor wrap job Penny had done with a few napkins back at the doughnut shop.

Penny came out of the kitchen, holding the cooling pack to her cheek, and sat on the far end of the sofa, away from Vanya.

Number Seven looked hesitantly at Penny before questioning their brother.

"Why are you here?"

"I've decided you're the only one I can trust."

She pointed at Penny, as if questioning him.

"The only one I can trust besides Penny."

"Why me?"

"Because you're ordinary. Because you'll listen."

Vanya inhaled sharply for a moment as she continued to dab at Five's cut with the hydrogen-peroxide soaked gauze.

Penny had nothing to add so she stayed silent, letting the ice numb the bruise blossoming across her cheekbone.

"When I jumped forward and got stuck in the future, do you know what I found?"

Vanya shook her head. "No."

"Nothing," Five said quickly. "Absolutely nothing." His eyes glazed over a bit, as if caught in a memory as he spoke. "As far as I could tell, I was the last person left alive. I never figured out what killed the human race, but…I did find something else. The date it happens. The world ends in eight days, and I have no idea how to stop it."

Vanya froze – understandably so, in Penny's opinion. She couldn't see her sister's expression, but she knew that Vanya most likely believed him.

She uttered the words, "I'll put on a pot of coffee." And distractedly shoved the gauze into Penny's hand before stumbling off to her kitchen to do as she said she would.

Penny scoot over to Five, taking up the job of making sure the wound was clean enough to bandage.

"She didn't believe me," mumbled Five.

"Why don't you think so?" Penny whispered.

"She didn't look convinced."

"Give her some time to process. Lord knows I'm still processing."

"Your mind is different than hers, Penny," Five said firmly.

Penny frowned. "What does that mean?"

"You and I," Five told her confidently, "we fully trust one another. I knew you would believe me, which is why you were the first I confided in."

"Just give her a little time," Penny reassured him. "She'll come around."

She carefully bandaged the newly cleaned cut and made sure the gauze was solidly taped into place.

"Let me know when I need to change that dressing, okay?" she said.

Five waved her off. "Yeah, yeah."

"Don't get all huffy with me. I'm trying to help."

Five sighed, face softening when their eyes met. "I apologize. Thank you."

"Do you want any, Penny?" Vanya asked from the kitchen.

"No, thank you," she replied.

"Penny," Five said suddenly.

She turned back to her adopted sibling, puzzled. "What?"

"What you said earlier today, about the complications with feelings."

"What about it?"

"Would you say that's still the truth?"

She thought for a moment. "Yes."

He sighed deeply. "Alright."

"You're unhappy about it."

"I just need your help. That's all. I don't want you to feel emotionally compromised is all."

"Compromised?"

"I sense irritation in your tone."

"I didn't realize emotions made me compromised."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Coffee," Vanya announced awkwardly from the doorway. She held up a large mug, which Penny assumed was meant for Five. The two in the living room instantly dropped the subject.

"Thank you," he said gratefully, accepting the mug.

Vanya settled in next to Penny.

Five took a large sip. "What do you want to know?"

"What was it like…in the apocalypse?" wondered Vanya.

Penny leaned forward slightly; also curious about the way he lived for so long.

He leaned back in his chair, taking another long sip. He didn't meet their eyes as he relayed his experiences, downing his coffee quickly before speaking. "I assume I arrived merely hours after it happened. Everything was on fire, and what wasn't on fire was a pile of smoking rubble. I yelled for you – all of you. I was petrified to my core. I ran into what was left of the house, hoping to find someone alive. But there was nothing. I was the last person left alive in the world. The first few nights were the worst. I never thought I'd be thankful for the survival account records Dad used to play for us during mealtimes. I absorbed more information than I thought from those stupid narrations. They were what got me through it all."

Penny was reminded of how much she worried about him the first couple years after his disappearance. She never thought he'd have ended up where he did – living in solitary hell in the barren wastelands of the end of the world.

"What did you do?" Vanya inquired. "What did you eat?"

"I survived on scraps. Canned food, cockroaches, anything I could find." He chuckled darkly. "You know that rumor that Twinkies have an endless shelf life? Well, it's total bullshit."

Penny's eyebrows raised. She always thought Twinkies were gross anyways.

"I can't even imagine," Vanya said sympathetically.

"You do whatever it takes to survive, or you die. So we adapted."

Number Eight's eyebrows shot up even more. 'Us' most likely meant him and Delores, who she still hadn't met. In fact, she realized that Delores may not be human at all. Hadn't Five said he had assumed he was the last person on Earth alive? Maybe he had been mistaken at first, and then found this girl?

Vanya seemed confused at the plurality of the statement.

Five continued. "Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to overcome it."

"We?"

He held up his mug. "You got anything stronger?"

Vanya blinked. "Um, yeah, what do you want?"

"Whiskey? Bourbon? Vodka?" Five asked.

Penny sent him a warning look as Vanya went back to the kitchen to fetch what he requested.

"Penelope," Five told her, annoyed, "I'm legally old enough to have alcohol."

"Your body isn't," she countered quickly. "Your mind, maybe."

He shook his head at her. "You're not my mother."

"Excuse me for watching out for you," she retorted.

"Did you not just hear my explanation of time traveling to the apocalypse? The things I had to do to keep myself alive?"

"Listen, I know you're used to doing things on your own. I'm just trying to be helpful."

"Believe it or not, I can hold my liquor. You're doing the smothering thing again."

Penny sighed. This was a conversation they'd had before – not necessarily about alcohol, but about taking uncalculated risks. She was naturally cautious when it came to those she cared about most and could be very nurturing at times.

"I can't help worrying, Five," she told him determinedly. "It was torture waiting for you to come back. Vanya and I would leave the lights on every night, hoping you'd find us again. She even made your favorite sandwich and left it out just in case. I'm sorry if it seems that I'm trying to control you, but I can't stop myself from wanting to protect you. And yes, you're fifty-eight. I understand perfectly that you don't need protecting. But think about it from my point of view – the one person in the world that I felt saw me for who I was, gone. Poof. Just like that. I had no one left. You broke my heart. And now you've returned, but you're thirteen, and…"

Five swallowed. You broke my heart.

Vanya appeared in the doorway again, glancing between them awkwardly.

"I don't mean to keep interrupting," she said sheepishly.

Five shook his head. "You're fine." He marched over and grabbed the glass from her.

"Whiskey," she told him. She stared back at him as he took a sip.

Penny watched their interaction from the sofa, not able to see Five's expression.

"You think I'm crazy," he concluded.

"No, it-it's just…" stammered Vanya. "It's a lot to take in."

"Exactly what don't you understand?" demanded Five.

"Why did you just time travel back?"

He scoffed. "Gee, wish I'd thought of that. Time travel is a crapshoot. I went into the ice and never acorn-ed. You think I didn't try everything to get back to my family?"

Penny interjected. "Five, don't be mean. She's just trying to comprehend the situation."

Five glared at her over his shoulder. She threw up her hands, exasperated. He was such a dickhead at times.

Nevertheless, Vanya continued to ask questions. "If you grew old there, you know, in the apocalypse, how come you still look like a kid?"

"I told you already," griped Five, walking over to pour more whiskey into his glass. "I must have got the equations wrong."

"I mean Dad always used to say that…time travel could mess up your mind. Well, maybe that's what happened?"

Five shook his head, obviously frustrated with her. He slammed the cup onto the counter. "This was a mistake. You're too young…too naïve to understand."

"Five, wait," Penny said quickly, stopping him in his tracks as he went for the door.

He sent her an irritated look, raising his eyebrows as if questioning her. She gestured at Vanya. He rolled his eyes and spun on his heel.

"I haven't seen you in a long time," Vanya relayed somberly, "and I don't want to lose you again. That's all. And you know what, it's getting late, and I have lessons early, and I need to sleep, and I'm sure you do, too. You and Penny are welcome to stay. I'll sleep on the couch."

Penny shook her head. "No, Vanya, don't worry about it. I'll take the chair, Five can have the couch. Thank you."

Vanya nodded. Five still hadn't moved from his spot near the door.

"We'll talk in the morning again, okay? I promise. Night."

The two watched as Number Seven trudged into her bedroom, shutting the door with a soft click.

Five turned back to Penny, sighed, and sat next to her on the sofa.

Penny's heart pounded at their close proximity. She had to continually remind herself that this was not the same Five she fell in love with as a young woman. This was an older, more bitter Five with a mission.

They spoke in hushed tones, not wanting to bother Vanya in her room.

Five was quiet for a moment before meeting her eyes. His expression was one that Penny had never seen before – almost desperate, miserable even. "It broke my heart to not be able to get back to you, Penny."

"Five…" Her heart dropped.

He held up a hand. "I'm not done yet. This is the only time I will discuss this."

Penny nodded. "Continue then."

So he did. "It hurt to be away for so long. I was afraid to age without you. When I was younger, I always assumed you and I would grow old together, whether friends or…something more. You weren't there to say things I needed to hear – to make life brighter. You know me, I'm a rain cloud at times. I am pessimistic about things in general. That's why I invented Delores. That's why she's a part of me now. Because she's you."

Penny swallowed thickly, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She cast her gaze to the carpet as Five continued to speak.

"You were my crutch – which is what she evolved into. At this point, I'm not sure how to feel. Compartmentalization is essential for dealing with events such as the end of the world. I can't put my feelings first. Humanity is at stake. Our family's lives are at stake. Your life is at stake. It is impossible for me to process my feelings at this moment in time."

"I acknowledge and appreciate your truth," Penny told him quietly. "May I ask – and you don't have to answer if you feel uncomfortable – if you had come back as an adult, specifically what your proper age should be…hypothetically, what would happen?"

Five cracked a slight smile. It was warm, almost as if he was slightly embarrassed. He took her hand, just like when they were children, and tapped.

Penny inhaled sharply. The same pattern. The code. I love you.

She met his eyes, trying not to hyperventilate.

"If I had returned to my proper age?" he said. "Then this truth would have been acted upon."

Penny pulled her hand away from his instantly, standing and pacing.

"Us working together…I don't think I can do it," she told him.

His eyes fell. "I understand."

"I had someone I was seeing in San Diego," she said. "I thought I had moved on. But obviously…" She cleared her throat. "He's not even in my line of sights anymore, which I don't think is a good thing."

"I'm physically thirteen," nodded Five, understanding.

"Exactly," Penny agreed. "I don't want to sacrifice my emotional health for something that is totally and utterly out of reach and reality. I will not entertain hypotheticals any longer."

"I will promise you that once we solve the apocalypse, I'll work on possibly aging," Five said firmly.

Penny frowned. "You really want to do that?"

He nodded. "I believe I do. But like you said – it's not in the realm of possibility to entertain hypotheticals. I've got parts of this mystery to uncover."

He pulled a small object wrapped in cloth from the inside of his blazer pocket. "Take a look at this."

They were obviously done discussing feelings at that point.

She circled back around the coffee table to take a place next to Five, who carefully tipped the object into her palm. It was a smooth, cold sphere. She turned it around in her hand, frowning as she realized it was a glass eyeball.

"Why do you have this?" she questioned.

"I found it in the rubble. A corpse had a pretty tight grasp on it."

"Did…did you find a lot of people dead?"

Five sighed. "Yes, but that's not the point. The point is that whoever this eye belongs to, I believe, is the catalyst for the apocalypse."

Penny rolled it back over. The word Meritech and a serial number were etched onto the back.

"The manufacturer," she realized. "You need to find who this eye is registered to."

"Precisely. I got the address from the tow truck driver."

"I thought you only asked for the department store's address?"

"You must have not been listening well, because I got the address for this company from him, too."

"You do realize I could have looked it up on my phone?" she asked, slightly amused as she pulled her iPhone from her back pocket.

Five stared at it a moment, somewhat embarrassed. "I forgot those existed."

Penny chuckled as she gave the glass eye back to him. "To be fair, you did leave in the early 2000's. These were just a figment of Steve Job's imagination at that point in time."

Five nodded, silent again for a moment.

"You're going to leave, aren't you?" she asked softly.

He nodded. "I assume you won't be coming along?"

"I'll let you handle this one on your own. If you need something else, like directions, you can always find me and ask. I'll be here for tonight, but I'll head over to the house in the morning. I'll stay in town for a few more days just in case."

He sighed. "Time for us to part ways."

"I guess so."

He stood, starting towards the door.

"Five," she called suddenly.

He turned quickly.

"Please be careful," she told him.

He smirked. "I will be."

And with that, he left.

Penny kicked off her shoes and lay down on Vanya's sofa, spreading the soft blanket over her.

Tears pricked her eyes as she attempted to drift off to sleep.

If Five was back, why did still feel like a part of him was gone?


"Five? Penny?"

The woman in question blinked sleep out of her eyes, seeing her adopted sister standing, puzzled, at the other end of the sofa.

"Where's Five?" Vanya asked, confused.

Penny yawned. "He went back to the house."

"How come?"

"Trying to figure out how to stop the apocalypse, I guess," said Penny. She thought filling Vanya in on what Five had told her last night wasn't the best idea, especially after Vanya's worry about time-travel altering Five's memories and mental state.

"Oh," sighed Vanya.

"Let me buy you breakfast," Penny said. "It's the least I can do after you let me stay."

"No, no, I couldn't."

"Vanya, please. I want to. You can even pick the place."

Vanya smiled slightly. "Okay. We can go to this bagel place down the street. I know you probably need to get back to the house to change."

Penny looked down to see that she was still wearing the sweater and jeans from yesterday's funeral. She shrugged. "Yeah, that would probably be best."

The sisters awkwardly got ready, Vanya kindly letting Penny brush her wavy, chestnut brown hair into a ponytail and wash her face before they both shrugged on a coat, stuffed their feet into shoes, and went on their way to the bagel shop down the road.

As they made walked there, they made light conversation.

"I thought you had lessons," Penny realized.

"No, they both canceled," said Vanya. "Brother and sister. Something must have come up."

"You don't seem too disappointed about it," smiled Penny.

Vanya smiled back sheepishly. "I'll admit, I'm not. Because they canceled so late, I still get paid."

"That's actually nice."

"It's helpful for sure. I lose less money that way."

They fell silent as Vanya led Penny into the quiet café. They both ordered coffee and bagel breakfast sandwiches, which they took to go.

They ate as they walked to the house, commenting every so often on familiar landmarks from their childhood.

One spot in particular took Penny back to when they all were around ten or eleven.

"That used to be the Starboard Arcade," she pointed out.

"I remember that place," Vanya reminisced. "The owners were so kind. It shut down about eight years ago. Fewer and fewer people were interested in their games. They tried different business ventures – you know, free air hockey games if you purchased a certain amount of tokens, that kind of thing…but they were never able to recover."

"That's sad," Penny commented.

Vanya agreed.

Penny was reminded of several times when their father had allowed them to go on an education outing – to which they intentionally avoided and went to Starboard Arcade instead. Her favorite was always Whack-A-Mole, to which Allison had to consistently remind her to not use her density control on the hammer to hit the mechanical moles harder.

It also reminded her of a chapter in Vanya's book.

"I wonder if Five is here still," she said, cutting into Penny's memories.

Penny snapped back to attention as the two approached the manor gates. "Hm? Oh, probably. If not, he's out solving the end of the world issue."

Vanya studied her sister for a moment, eyes narrowed. "Are…are you okay, Penny? I know you and Five have always been…close and all, but something seemed off last night."

Penny stared back at her sister, who had always been alarmingly observant.

"There were just a few…things that had been left unsaid before he time traveled," she said quickly, hoping to avoid further discussion on the matter. She gestured to the house. "If Five is here, he's probably in the kitchen or his bedroom."

She left Vanya standing by the gates, seemingly convinced of Penny's extremely vague explanation. Number Seven, though, soon followed Penny into the house.

"Five?" bellowed Vanya. "Are you upstairs?"

The two women went to the children's wing where Vanya made a beeline for Five's bedroom.

"There you are," she said. "I was worried sick about you, even though Penny said you'd be fine."

Penny came to stand behind Vanya in the doorframe.

Five was standing at his window, staring at the concrete jungle below.

"Sorry I left without saying goodbye," he apologized. "Penny was right, though, I just came back here to do some research."

"No, look, I'm the one that should be sorry," Vanya told him, entering the room.

Penny leaned against the wall beside the wardrobe, arms crossed. She frowned, thinking she heard a creak come from within the piece of furniture as the two in front of her conversed.

"Yeah, I was dismissive, and…and I – I guess I didn't know how to process what you were saying. And I still can't, to be honest."

"Maybe you were right to be dismissive," Five replied.

Penny's frown deepened. He was lying.

"Maybe it wasn't real after all. It felt real. Well, like you said, the old man did say that time travel could contaminate the mind."

"Then maybe Penny and I aren't the right people for you to be talking to. Look, I used to see someone. A therapist. I could give you her information."

"Thanks, but I think I'm just going to get some rest. It's been a long time since I've had a good sleep."

Vanya sighed. "Okay." She turned to go and attempted to smile at Penny. "Thank you for breakfast. I appreciate it."

Penny uncrossed her arms. "Thank you again for letting me stay."

Vanya nodded, and then trod out of the room and down the hall.

Penny eyed Five as he checked how far their adopted sister had gone down the hall. "Well your acting skills have certainly improved."

Suddenly, a figure burst from within the wardrobe, causing quite the commotion. Several objects clattered to the floor as Klaus emerged.

"That's so…" he stomped on more things, "touching, all that stuff about Dad and time. Wow! Oh, hello, Penelope! Nice to see you again."

Penelope's eyebrows merely shot up as she realized he was still high and his shirt was absolutely atrocious. "Good morning, Klaus."

"Would you shut up? She'll hear you!" scolded Five.

"I'm moist," Klaus blurted.

"What?" questioned Penny instantly. Her nose scrunched.

"I told you to put on something professional," groaned Five.

Klaus seemed genuinely offended. "What? This is my nicest outfit."

"We'll raid the old man's closet," Five griped. "Penny can help us pick out something suitable. Fashion isn't exactly a strength of mine."

"Meritech Prosthetics patronized you, didn't they?" Penny assumed, smirking slightly. She found it amusing to see Five so riled up.

"It's quite the downside being fifty-eight in a child's body," he countered angrily. "They didn't want to listen to me, but someone who gives off the appearance of being an adult may change their minds about giving up confidential information."

"Just the appearance?" Klaus said. "Five, I'm insulted! I'm almost thirty."

"And you still behave like you're kindergarten."

"Hey, why can't you just have Ol' Penny here be your fake mom? She's much more 'adult' than I am," suggested Klaus, using air quotes.

"First of all, air quotes are not entertaining or comical, Klaus. Second of all, Penny has much better things to do than pretend to be my parental figure. She also has already been mistaken as my mother, and to be blatantly honest, it left a sour taste in both our mouths," Five relayed, aggravated.

"Sour taste?" giggled Klaus. "Don't tell me you sucked –,"

"Let me stop you right there before I spacial jump you to the garbage disposal," Five snapped.

Penny's eyes widened. "Oh my god, what is wrong with you?"

Klaus merely giggled again. "Oh well. I don't really care what I have to do as long as I get paid."

Five walked out of the room in disgust. "When the job is done."

Penny followed to two out of the bedroom.

"Okay, but just so we're clear on the finer details, I just gotta go into this place and pretend to be your dear old dad, correct?" wondered Klaus.

Five nodded. "Something like that."

"What's our cover story?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I mean, was I really young when I had you? Like, 16? Like young, and…terribly misguided?"

"Sure."

"Your mother, that slut."

Penny suppressed laughter as Klaus continued his elaborate backstory.

"Whoever she was. We met at…the disco. Okay? Remember that. Oh, my god the sex was amazing!"

Penny pressed her lips together, hoping that Five didn't notice her obvious amusement at their adopted brother's dramatic fake re-telling of his teenage years.

"What a disturbing look into that thing you call a brain," concluded Five, starting down the stairs.

"Don't make me put you in time-out," teased Klaus.

This time, Penny couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Penelope, don't encourage him," Five complained.

"I won't apologize for finding that funny," she retorted.

"Aw, see, this is why I missed you guys! Your little spats…like an old married couple! Except Five is actually old but looks like a kid and…"

Five was officially tired of Number Four's nonsense. "Klaus, you're annoying as shit."

"I was just commenting on how I find your strange dynamic almost comforting," Klaus defended. "And Penny, I appreciate your appreciation of my humor."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Let's just find an outfit that makes you look more like a professional and less like Helena Bonham Carter."

"Ooh, I look like Bellatrix Lestrange? Oh, fun! Thank you!"


As soon as Klaus was dressed appropriately, he and Five were on their way.

Penny, somewhat grateful to be left out of the plan, took the opportunity to shower and dress in fresh clothing – a striped turtleneck sweater, jeans, and white converse. She spent much of her time thinking of the past twenty four hours and its events. Chaotic was a word she didn't use often, but it was a good adjective for describing what had taken place.

As she folded up the clothes from the day before to stuff back into her suitcase, she spotted Vanya's book on the shelf.

How did that end up in here? She questioned.

While she had read the book in its entirety, it had been quite a few years since she had flipped through the pages.

Despite her better judgment, she grabbed it, opening to a random chapter. Unfortunately, or fortunately, or her, she had turned to a section about her own interactions with Vanya.

From my earliest memories up until I was sixteen, Penny and I were close. She was one of the only ones who would come hang out with me in my bedroom. She claimed to like to listen to me practice violin. Of course, once Five disappeared, her presence within my four walls of the house became more frequent. Losing Five was difficult for us all, but I know Penny suffered the most from his absence. The two were inseparable. Most of the time, one could not be found without the other. They were the strategic masterminds of all the Umbrella Academy missions.

The older we grew, the more responsibility Dad gave to the team. I usually stood in the wings, watching as Luther led the team to victory many times over. But Five…he seemed to be the true leader. Luther had the title, but Five had the authority. Once he was gone, much of that responsibility was passed to Penny. I saw how much stress Penny was under in the years that followed. She was criticized daily by our father, and was even harsher with herself.

From the ages of fifteen to sixteen, Penny slowly began to pull away. I was used to being left behind, but not by her.

When we were quite young, I specifically remember how often she told me she wished I could join them in the Umbrella Academy activities. It was a topic of conversation that was fairly common between us. As the years passed, she would say this less and less. I remember that the less she spoke to me of the subject, the more often she went to father's office. I don't know what they discussed, but it always ended with me getting punished in some way. She made excuse after excuse when I would ask her. "I was trying to convince him to let you join in on a few things," she would tell me confidently.

The day after our sixteenth birthday, I saw her exit Dad's study. She was clearly distraught, and after attempting to console her, she merely shook me off and walked away with no explanation.

I decided to finally question Dad about what Penny had been talking with him about. Instead of answering me, Dad furiously yelled at me to mind my own business, stop worrying, and focus on the violin, which, according to him, was the only thing I was somewhat capable of.

I was angry.

I decided to confront Penny, something I knew I was going to be very uncomfortable doing. But it had to be done. It was that day I saw her true colors.

It wasn't that I didn't see them before. They were muted, dulled even by the grandiose phrases she used to speak to me. Sometimes I felt patronized, belittled by her know-it-all nature. I don't know if she ever realized how she came across, but it was obvious to me that if she did know, she did not care.

She was particularly irritable at times after missions. She'd storm into her shared bedroom with our sister Allison, who was usually with Luther somewhere, and refuse to come out for hours. I'm not sure exactly what she did in there, but whatever it was didn't help her mental state.

It was a mistake to talk with her after such an interaction with Dad. Both our emotions ran high.

I entered without knocking.

Now, Penny is not a loud person. She never yelled. When she wanted to get her point across, she actually became quieter. This tone was used consistently with Diego, as they never saw eye to eye. But this was an entirely different scenario.

I barged through her door to find her kneeling on the floor, leaning over her arm, sobbing. I was ready to battle, but something stopped me. I didn't go any closer. I felt that I had interrupted something she had never wanted anyone to see.

And she screamed at me.

She said horrible things – things that I'd rather not repeat, even in writing.

We barely spoke after that. She stopped talking with father so much, which puzzled me. She became more and more reclusive. After several months, I attempted to apologize, but she didn't acknowledge me. Penny was never one to brush off an apology. In fact, she was usually the most forgiving of us all. She was also usually peaceful, well-mannered, and quiet. I never mistook her silence as compulsion, as she voiced her opinion very proudly when she felt necessary. But she now barely said few words at all to any of us.

Penny couldn't read any more.

She tossed the book carelessly back on the bookshelf, scoffing. Why had she decided to spend time reading that? Was that how Vanya had interpreted her as a teenager?

She gulped, remembering the night Vanya had written about in the autobiography.

She had gone to talk with Reginald about finally letting Vanya join the Umbrella Academy. She had done research on how people without powers could learn to fight. She wanted Vanya to be included in important life events. She wanted Vanya to feel included in general.

X

Of course, their father hadn't exactly agreed and had said some very nasty things to Penny. He'd lectured her for twenty minutes before letting her out of the study. Vanya had caught her, tried to speak with her, and Penny had walked away. She was upset and didn't want to talk with anyone.

She'd then indulged in a frequent activity she swore she'd never do again, using the scissor half to self-harm. She had done so a few times before, but this one incident led to a daily habit.

X

In fact, this was a habit that Penny practiced for a whole year until…Allison.

Penny huffed, wondering why on Earth she had let herself read through those words again.

Did Vanya still feel this way now that she had revealed her arms at the funeral?

She sighed, getting out her laptop and deferring her mind to work emails. She'd put off writing May back for several hours now, and the poor redhead would most likely be panicking for not receiving such a quick reply.


It was several hours later that Penny heard a soft knocking on her door.

She darted from her bed quickly, wondering if Five had returned with Klaus from Meritech with the name of the owner of the glass eye.

Instead, she found Pogo outside her door.

"Good evening, Miss Penny."

"Good evening, Pogo," she greeted warmly.

"Grace has prepared a light supper if you're interested. Or, if you'd like to follow me, I have a bit of a surprise for you," he told her kindly.

Penny grinned. "A surprise? Pogo, you know I'm not fond of surprises."

The old chimp chuckled. "This is not a drastic one, I assure you. Come with me."

He led her to a small room down the hall – one she'd somehow never entered before.

She gasped when she saw all the small screens and Allison settled in front of them.

"Allison," she said distractedly, wandering over to get a better look at the monitors.

"Hi, Penny," Allison replied.

"I'll let you two do some reminiscing," Pogo smiled, leaving the sisters together.

"What is this?" asked Penny. Then recognized her young self onscreen. "Are these…security tapes?"

"I was a little weirded out at first, too, but…it's like reliving the best parts of our childhood," Allison relayed fondly.

Penny smiled, settling into the chair next to her, as she gazed at a clip of herself and Five, racing each other down the stairs. Then, she saw Luther and Allison sitting at the table in the kitchens downstairs, sharing a laugh.

"We were all so cute," she chuckled.

Allison laughed, pointing to another figure at the bar. "Look at Klaus!"

"He always did have a certain fondness for bourbon," Penny said, laughing along with her.

She continued to look at the memories, smiling as she saw herself interacting with all their adopted siblings. The anger simmering just below the surface for hours seemed to melt away.

Allison had found another tape, which she promptly popped into one of the VCR players.

"What's that one?" wondered Penny.

Allison shrugged. "I'm not sure. There was no label on the spine."

The two relaxed in their chairs to watch the tape on the larger screen, curious as to what it contained.

But then the video played.

It was horrifying.

"Oh, god," whispered Allison.

"Dad…" gasped Penny. She reached out and stopped the tape from playing any longer.

The two sat in silent shock as they processed what had just played out before their eyes.

"Luther was right," Penny realized, eyes widening.

"What?" Allison burst. "He was right? Oh my god, he was right…"

"Is he still here?"

"I don't know!"

"We need to find him. Now."

The two then paraded about the house, searching every room for their largest adopted brother.

Penny had just barged into their father's study when she heard Allison's voice calling to her and the front door slam.

She rushed out the side door of the study, which opened onto top landing of the manor, just to see Allison and Luther marching towards the surveillance room. At the same time, heavy footsteps echoed from the staircase.

"Penny," said Luther.

Then, in a split second, Five appeared at the top of the steps, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Penny recognized a distinct red splatter on his collar. More blood? Her heart rate increased. What had happened? Was he okay?

"Five?" Allison stopped him. "What the hell happened to you?"

He merely stared at them all, locking eyes with Penny last.

She felt trapped.

There were many things Penny had never seen before. The first being the video footage of their father dying, the other being Five's apparent emotional state. She had never seem him look so lost and panicked before.

She meant to go over and usher him away from their other siblings when Luther decided to try and console him.

"Are you okay? Can we help?"

He reached out a hand to comfort Five, but the smaller boy reached out to stop his arm. Luther's face contorted into a very confused expression.

"There's nothing you can do," he hissed spitefully. "There's nothing any of you can do."

He threw Luther's arm down and stormed away, back to the children's wing.

Penny chased after him, forgetting what she and Allison had just witnessed on the surveillance tape.

"Five!" she called. "Five, wait!"

Just before she could enter his room, he slammed the door in her face.

She groaned, knocking his door. "Five, what happened at Meritech? Five? Five, you can't just not tell me!"

"I thought you didn't want to work with me, Penelope," he said, voice muffled from behind the door.

"That doesn't mean I don't want to know how your work is going so far," she reasoned.

She heard him sigh. "If you come in, you must promise not to fuss over my physical state."

Penny frowned. "What? What did you do?"

"Make the promise or you're not coming in," he demanded.

"Fine," she grumbled. "Just open the damn door."

The door swung open, and she quickly ran in, Five jamming it behind her and turning the lock. He stayed facing the door, his shoulders moving up and down slowly.

She stood there, waiting for an explanation.

"There's something else I never told you last night," he said, still not turned to look at her.

"You mean who 'they' are?"

"No, not that. But I will tell you that within the hour."

"What then? Why are you not looking at me?"

He slowly turned around. Blood spattered his jawline and collar. A dark stain seeping from underneath the sleeve of his blazer caught her attention next.

Her jaw dropped, anxiety coursing through her veins all at once.

"F-Five…"

"When I first arrived at the apocalypse, I didn't just find the eyeball lying around."

"Then where was it?"

"The corpse that was holding it…it wasn't just any random person."

"Who was it, Five?" Her tone was becoming more impatient.

He sighed. "It was Luther."

Her chest became tight. "Five, did you find all of us dead in the wreckage of the manor?"

He didn't meet her eyes. His voice became scratchy. "I found you last."

Penny inhaled sharply, the world suddenly turning sideways. She slumped onto his bed, holding the frame tightly with her right hand. A warm tingling crept quickly down her arm, threatening to embed itself into the furniture. She clenched her teeth, resisting the change in density.

"So…we tried to stop it."

"Key word tried," Five sighed again.

"You just told Luther there's nothing we can do."

"That's right."

"But we've got you now. That has to change something."

"What if it doesn't, huh?" Five argued. "What if me being here doesn't change the timeline at all?"

"I'm not letting that be an option."

"I wasn't aware your input on the end of the world was going to be so dramatic."

"What is wrong with you? Are you hurt? You're never this much of a dick to me unless you're injured."

"I went to get Delores, okay? That's why I'm all…messed up."

"You went to a department store. How would that make you bloody?"

"They found me!"

Penny was taken aback by his sudden volume. She made sure her tone was less annoyed and more receptive.

"Who are 'they?'"

"Hazel and Cha-Cha?"

Penny scoffed. "Five, I don't know if this is your attempt at humor, but –,"

"This isn't me making a joke, Penelope. Hazel and Cha-Cha are the most ruthless, skilled assassins in the Commission."

"What is the Commission, and why are there assassins after you?"

Five seemed tired. He sat down at his desk, leaning heavily against the back of his chair. His eyes met hers, a concerned look about them. Penny was not ready for what he relayed next.

"They're here to kill me because I'm trying to stop the apocalypse."


Holy crap, you guys.

This story is attracting so many new readers so fast! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of Bright Young Sun.

Thank you SO SO SO SO SO SO much for favoriting and following this story. And thanks so much to all who reviewed! You guys are so nice.

This is probably going to be one of the last frequent updates for a while. I'll be able to post sporadically, but again, I'm about to start a fairly intense, time-consuming job and I won't have a ton of time to write. I'll try to update at least one more time this next week, I promise!

If you do like this story, please review, follow, and favorite. I'm legit blown away by how many people read the story, so keep it coming! :) You are awesome!