The next day, Shaw had been faced with a difficult dilemma. Five had walked in for his morning coffee like usual, but there was nothing 'usual' about it. This had to be a dream! Maybe she had fallen asleep on the bus to work, but there was no way this was real. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, but they were working fine. Five had someone with him and... it was Klaus.

How did these two know each other!? They were so different, she would have never expected them to be in the same circle. What was she going to do? It's not like Klaus would recognize her, but what happened when Five wanted to introduce them.

She began panicking and trying to calm herself as best she could. Meditation. Meditation always worked to relieve stress. Alright. Deep breaths, in and out... in and out. There was an anxious feeling that was creeping up her spine the closer they got, yet she still couldn't hide the smile that came to her when she saw both of their faces. Her blush had to be noticeable as he and Klaus got to the front of the line, because Five seemed to be blushing as well.

"So, I see you have a friend today." she noted.

"Oh, yes. Where are my manners?" Five said, "Shaw, I would like to introduce you to my brother, Klaus. Klaus, this is the girl I had previously mentioned... Shaw."

"Oh. I've been 'mentioned', have I?" she asked, teasingly, to Five.

Wow, brothers? She never would have guessed in a million years that these two could be related. Maybe she would have to look up that Umbrella thing that Five had mentioned before. Klaus clearly had to have been there too and maybe that could help her in getting to know these two a little better.

"Well, brother dear, you didn't mention her being so beautiful. Enchanté, mademoiselle." Klaus said, grabbing her hand to kiss it, gently, "You know, I have to say, it's strange that that is your name."

"It can't be worse than Klaus." Five said.

"Uhh, rude!" Klaus exclaimed, "Besides, you don't even have a name, Number Five."

"Sorry, but I have to ask... why is it so weird that I go by my last name?" she asked him.

"Oh, it's just because the guy that I met a few days ago goes by Shaw too. I think that's his last name. I don't know for sure, though."

"It might have been my brother." she replied. "He's been acting happier the last couple of days. It's been kind of creeping me out."

Five looked confused, asking, "You have a brother? You didn't mention that."

"Yeah, well, neither did you." she replied, "I have a twin brother, actually. But we don't really look too much alike. He's Paul. I'm... Pauline."

"Ooh, I can see why you hate your name. That's pretty bad." Five said, jokingly.

"Shut up!" she replied, blushing with embarrassment.

"Don't let him tease you. His ex-girlfriend's name was Delores." Klaus said, with laughter.

"Yeah, well, at least I got their names first." Five replied.

Shaw decided then to move things along, seeing as she was hearing some exasperated sighs coming from the people waiting behind them, "Well, what will you have, my dear Klaus? I already know what he drinks."

She told them she'd meet up with them during her break as soon as the line was gone and began working on their order. She was surprised that she had come up with the twin brother twist on the fly like that. She had thought that it could maybe help explain things later on... possibly. Okay, she really had no idea, but it was something more than she had before. An old friend had told her once that a bad plan was better than no plan at all. Now she'd have to test the theory.

Her anxiety grew as she joined them. She knew she was going to have to lie a lot and she didn't really want to do that to either of them. But at the same time, she didn't want to scare either of them away with the truth just yet. Even taking the romantic feelings for both of them out of the equation, this was the closest she'd come to having normal friendships in a long, long time. And, let's face it, she was lonely. If these two could fix that, somehow, she wanted to at least try.

"Ah, there is our lovely lady." Klaus said, standing up as she approached the table, and he pulled her seat out for her. He turned to his brother, before jokingly telling him, "Geez, I thought you were the one who liked her, Five. I've probably charmed her more than you have. Step it up."

"Actually, nimrod, I have a date with her on Saturday." Five stated, which, honestly, was news to Shaw. She wasn't aware that it was an official date. "So, go ahead, Klaus. You're just an incessant flirt, anyway."

"Definitely guilty of that one." he chuckled, "So, a date, huh? That's lovely. And what are we going to do on this 'date'?"

"It's a surprise. Mind your own business." Five replied.

"You know what? Maybe I should. I'll go find my 'business' and ask him why he never told me about his hot twin sister." Klaus said, jokingly, standing from the table like he was about to head for the door. At least she hoped he was joking. Because if he was serious, she was in serious trouble. Shaw couldn't be doing his laps around the lake if she was here working.

She grabbed Klaus' hand and pulled him back to the table, and said, "Hey. I should be mad that Five never told me about his devilishly charming and handsome brother."

Klaus smiled and sat back down, "Well, I guess that's true."

It was somewhat of a reassurance to her that she could sit there comfortably with both of them. She silently wished this could be a preview of things to come, but she knew that was a far-fetched fantasy. She felt selfish wanting both of them, knowing even one of them sticking around after finding out was unlikely, but... maybe it was time for her to be selfish. Maybe she should fight for both.

Klaus had gotten up and excused himself to the bathroom, so Shaw decided to jump on the opportunity to ask, "So, Saturday is a date now? Were you planning on telling me that?"

Five blushed, "It doesn't have to be, if you don't want it to. I just needed him to shut his trap for a second. He's been on his little high horse ever since he met that guy. You know, I wonder if it is your brother. Wouldn't that be weird?"

"I don't know. I've heard some weirder ones." she said, "But, this date of ours... now that you've put the label on it, we can't back out now. Then Klaus wins. We don't want that."

He smiled, and reached across the table, placing his hand over hers, and rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. "Good, then it's a date."


That night when she had gotten home, her cell began ringing. It was a number she didn't recognize, but she was still expecting calls from both Hargreeves brothers, so she decided to answer. Knowing her luck, though, it would be the wrong brother... and she was right; It was Klaus.

She panicked, but soon responded, "Oh hey, stranger! What's going on?"

"Shaw?" Klaus asked, happily, "So, it is your brother! Freaky, isn't it?"

"I guess so." she replied, "Listen, I just walked in the door and I think I hear the shower running. Can I have him call you back when he's done?"

"Yeah, yeah. No problem. Sorry to bother, my dear."

"You are never a bother, sweetie." she replied, before hanging up.

Shit. She was going to have to switch and quick. Honestly, she hated masturbation. Not that it didn't feel amazing, she just didn't like the after effects, that's all. But lack of masturbation usually led to wet dreams or doing it while she was passed out. It wasn't sleep-walking, per se; she called it 'sleep-wanking'. So, in order to avoid that, she would have to participate in the activity occasionally, but she had to admit, it was more difficult to reach orgasm as a female than a male.

She went to her room, ripping her work shirt off and unzipping her pants. She laid out on her bed, and began thinking about Klaus. His beautiful eyes, so full of emotion, and that deliciously gorgeous smile... the way his skin felt against his lips when Shaw kissed his shoulder. But she found her mind travelling to Five, somehow. His eyes, the way they seemed to pierce right through her. The rare smiles that she earned and how they felt like a hidden treasure she had discovered. He was small in stature, but well-compact. She had grabbed his forearm once, and felt how solid the muscle was. She let her mind wander and pictured her hands on those arms, gripping them tightly while sitting in his lap, and kissing him, roughly.

Her hand then began inching up her torso, cupping her breast lightly and her thumb began flicking against her nipple. She pictured his tongue there, circling around it and his lips closing down, sucking on it gently. Her other hand made its way inside her panties, opening her legs wider as her finger began playing with her clitoris, gently. She was aching for it to be his fingers, getting her pulse racing, her breathing to quicken its pace. She was dying to feel his lips on her lips, on her skin. She worked that finger inside of her, and soon added another, picturing Five's calloused, calculating hands working her efficiently.

Then suddenly, she was thinking about Klaus again... his fingers inside of her, his lips on her skin... or, should it be, his skin? She wasn't sure. She kept picturing herself swapping genders, back and forth, man then woman, Klaus then Five. God, these two were even making this confusing.

She tried to clear her mind of it all, but she couldn't. Her pace quickened and now she was seeing the both of them. She pictured herself on her hands and knees, Five was behind her and Klaus in front. Five was pounding into her, hard and fast, as her mouth worked its way along Klaus' shaft. Her tongue played around the tip before taking him back in as far as she could, moaning around him as Five changed his position slightly.

That little bit was enough to send her over the edge, mumbling curse words into her pillow as she rode out the waves of pleasure. That's when it happened, as soon as those waves stopped. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. When he opened his eyes again, he knew it had worked.

He ran to the phone and called Klaus, who answered on the first ring. That small tidbit made him picture that Klaus had been waiting by the phone, but he knew that was most likely a fallacy.

"Sorry it took me so long to respond. My sister decided to give me the third degree about you."

"I hope you said nothing but good things about me." Klaus said.

"Of course!" he replied, "So her and your brother, huh?"

"Yep, and me and her brother. There's something so wrong, but so hot about all of this. Don't you think?"

Shaw laughed, not sure if he was being serious, but replied, "I don't really know. Honestly, I'm still trying to process it. This is all a little too weird for me."

"Not too weird, like 'you're going to hang up and never speak to me again' weird, though... right?" Klaus asked.

"Of course not, babe." he answered, "I think about you way too much to cut you off over something this stupid."

"Oh, you do, do you? And what do you think about, when thinking of me?"

"It's way too soon to reveal those kind of things to you, dear sir." he replied, and Klaus laughed.

They talked and flirted on for about another hour or so. They talked about movies, music, food, love, anything that came to mind, really. It was nice, having someone to be so comfortable with and Shaw could finally feel like he could say anything to him. Well... almost anything.

But then, out of the blue, Klaus revealed, "I miss you. I want to see you. Right now."

"It's kind of late."

"Well, why don't you come by the coffee shop in the morning? Five and I can meet up with you and your sister." he said.

Crap. Well, he couldn't have that. He would have to think of something else. Anything. Shaw wasn't ready to confess everything to them yet. For some reason, he couldn't stop thinking of the phrase 'you can't be in two places at once'. But this was even worse. This was 'you can't be two people in one place'.

Before he knew what was happening, Shaw asked, "How about you come by my apartment and I can show you a real cup of coffee... right now?"

Wow, where the hell did that come from? He knew that sounded like more of an invitation for a hook up, and that just made things so much more complicated. It would have been easier to explain why he or she wouldn't be meeting them at the coffee house, depending on how Shaw woke up that morning. Now, he would have to explain why he couldn't make the relationship physical yet, and he didn't want to upset Klaus or seem like a 'tease' in any way. Or... god, what if he said something wrong, and make Klaus think he had some kind of disease?

Klaus then replied, "I wish I could, but now I'm pretty sure that I hear my sister coming home. I think fate is trying to tell us something. I'll have to see you later."

"The sooner, the better." Shaw replied.


Holly looked at Shaw with a teasing smile when he showed up for his shift in the morning. She had asked him over and over about Five before, but he never thought anything of it. He thought she was just being an annoying aunt. But now she was pestering him about both Five and Klaus and how he knew them. Yet she had never seen Klaus before, so how did she know his name?

That's when she filled him in on what the Umbrella Academy really was and he had never expected that. Apparently, they fought bad guys and had superpowers! Klaus, a.k.a. Number Four, could speak to the dead, and Number Five could time travel. There were comic books, action figures, even a short lived cartoon series about all of them. How the heck had he never heard about them before?

Maybe that was it. Obviously, they weren't used to normalities of any kind. It wasn't exactly a super power, but maybe they could understand his problem. He just knew that he should probably find that out before his date with Five tomorrow.