Warning: Read at your own risk
13 years ago
Four-year-old Number Five was in his bed patiently counting all the lamps and lights inside their house in his mind. It was his personal trick to make sure he wouldn't fall asleep. Even if the nanny suggested they try to count sheep if they had trouble sleeping, Number Five found it silly. What sheep? There were no sheep around. Should he have imagined a flock of sheep and counted them? It sounded stupid.
So he counted lamps making a personal game out of to see how many he would get knowing there were 78 in total. Counting came easy to him, but then again how could it not, when his own name was a number as well?
He was by the number forty when he heard the soft tap on his door.
Excited the little boy smiled at rushed out of bed only to find Number Seven and Number Six behind it with a wide smile before she whispered, 'Let's play.'
They did this almost every night. All of the sneaked out of their rooms and went to play hide and seek taking turns who was seeking based on their numbers.
He liked the game. It was fun, to try and find a new place to hide or find the others in time. They usually played until one of them was too tired to continue and started from the next number. They started with Number Four tonight and after he failed to find him and Number Six before the large clock in the main hallway showed their time was up, it was his turn.
Number Five found all of the other numbers in time like always. Sometimes that made One and Three upset but tonight they didn't complain. When Five came to their hallway with number Two the last he had found, they quietly talked with their shoulders pressed next to each other.
Two skipped ahead of him and sat down next to Four and Six.
'Where's Seven?'
'She said she heard something downstairs,' said Six and shrugged his shoulders, 'Are we playing another game?'
Klaus nodded, 'Okay.'
'I will find her,' said Five and went down the stairs wondering why she went downstairs in the first place. It could have been Pogo or Nanny or worse Father. If they were caught they would be in trouble. In four-year-old Five's opinion, she should be heading away from noises in the dark not toward them if they wanted to continue with their games.
He got down the stairs when he heard someone talking.
Fear crept in.
If Seven was caught she would be in trouble, but maybe if he went upstairs and told the others to go to beds they wouldn't be.
But if she really was caught she would get punished. He couldn't just leave her alone.
He looked up the stairs for a moment before he marched to the direction of the sound.
He couldn't just leave her alone. She was his wife. Four said it's a big deal when he was doing the ceremony, but then again. Four always acted like everything was a big deal, but he made it fun. They all laughed until the Nanny came asking what was going on and told them to stop with the nonsense.
Five didn't understand why she was so upset. She was the one who read them those fairytales about princes and princesses getting married and living happily ever after. Maybe she was just also afraid of father's wrath.
There was a clicking sound now, and he noticed that someone was running on and off the light on one of the lamps.
'Seven,' he whispered into the room. He could see someone was inside, but the person looked too small to be their father or the nanny.
Pogo?
The light goes on again, and Five finds some boy standing next to Seven all dirty.
He frowned at the boy. He didn't recognize him. He was wearing a uniform as they used to during the day, but he didn't know him.
He looked at Seven who smiled at him and then looked at the stranger still smiling. He didn't like him.
'That's Five, we're married and we're playing hide and seek but don't tell the nanny,' she explained to the strange boy. Five was confused and upset. He didn't know the boy and the nanny said they weren't allowed to talk to the strangers outside of the house or inside unless they were allowed.
'M-married?' asked the boy sounding strange. The same way Six sometimes sounded before he started to cry.
Five still wouldn't stop frowning at him. He didn't like him standing so close to Seven. Why was he standing so close to her and why was she smiling at him?
'Yes, she's my wife,' he said before he started to walk toward her. He took Seven's hand and tried to make her step away from the stranger he didn't trust or like.
'Who're you?' he asked and felt Seven pull at his hand as if telling him he should be nicer.
'James,' said the strange boy.
'What do you want?' he asked knowing it was rude, but he didn't care. He was annoyed by the boy. Why was he here and talking to her all alone? They weren't allowed to talk to strangers. He would get Seven in trouble. He didn't like the way he was looking at her and the way she was smiling at the boy.
Seven pulled at his hand, 'Don't be mean.'
He looked at her feeling a bit hurt that she was protecting the boy as if she was taking his side in whatever this was.
She patted his shoulder lightly to smooth his frown when the boy motioned for them to come closer.
He didn't want to, but Seven pulled his hand, and he couldn't deny her. They came close. The boy looked different up close. He was dirty all covered in dust and there was a bruise on his face. It looked nasty making Five grimaced. It looked ugly. He remembered how he fell down the stairs with Four when he wasn't paying attention. His knee had a bruise like that. It hurt a lot too. He felt a bit of compassion for the boy.
When he suddenly put his hands on each of their shoulders, Five blinked the anger leaving him.
The boy looked a bit sad now that he thought about it. Very sad.
'Take care of each other, okay?' he asked and got up. Of course, they would take care of each other. They always did.
Such a strange boy.
'Where are you going?' he found himself asking.
'To the future,' replied the boy with a sudden smirk before he disappeared in a flash of light causing both him and Seven to gasp.
'He's gone,' said Seven in awe and let go of his hand to look behind the couch.
He really was gone.
'What a strange boy,' said Five before he remembered the game and he and Seven returned upstairs. Surprisingly Six managed to find them all, but Five was a bit uninterested in the game now.
As he walked back to his room Seven followed him, 'Do you think he will come back?'
Five frowned and shrugged his shoulder feeling again upset that Seven was so interested in the boy. Once he was in his bed though he couldn't help but think about him.
'To the future.'
Four-year-old Five didn't understand what it meant to go to the future yet, or what the future meant at all. But the moment he closed his eyes and sleep took him away, he dreamed of disappearing in a flash of blue light and meeting the strange boy again.
When he woke up he didn't remember much, but he had a feeling that the place the boy disappeared was nice. It made him curious if he would go to that place one day as well.
Now
Five was coming back from the shower after the practice. Today was surprisingly not so bad if he dared to say it was light. Really light. He didn't understand what was up with the old man, and he didn't like it. Throughout the last few weeks, there was something like tension inside him which he couldn't shake. It was like something was approaching and Number Five couldn't do anything but stand by and wait for it to happen.
Unfortunately, Five was not a patient person. Not one bit. He was even worse at not knowing something even if he had to grow a bit used to it by now. Not knowing what happened in his past, not knowing where was the damn notebook, not knowing how to fully help Vanya train and all which she was capable of, not knowing if he could trust the Fixer, and not knowing if they would make it this time. There were many things he didn't know and it ate him up little by little every day.
Even after a year since the Fixer applied the serum which was supposed to help him remember, he couldn't. Five tried to give it time, and he tried even harder to trigger it, but with nothing to go by it seemed like it just didn't work altogether.
Still, sometimes, when Five was alone in the bathroom and he caught the sight of the scar on his side. The scar which he couldn't remember how he got, he couldn't help, but feel something. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but sometimes it almost felt like he was inside a room, and he could hear noises and voices from behind a red door, but no matter how much he tried he could never unlock and open it.
For someone like Five, it was agonizingly frustrating bringing him closer every to the bridge of madness.
Five teleported to his room only to find Vanya already there sitting on his desk and looking over at his equations he had been working on before.
Luckily for him, there was always something that pulled him back safely to sanity.
Once Vanya heard him she looked up and smiled, 'Hi.'
He immediately was between her legs pulling her by her waists closer for a kiss.
She let out a lovely sound in delight before he broke the kiss. He might be suicidal from his frustration, but one look or touch from and he was the happiest person on earth. Funny how that worked.
'Gosh, I missed you.'
She giggled, 'It was two hours. Even less.'
'Still too long,' he said and kissed her lips again lingering a bit longer on the wonderful sensation.
Her arms found their way around his neck and they moved closer to one another as they kissed. Five enough the make out just fine, but the fact that he was between her legs with her center-right against his because of the table was proving to be too much.
He smirked against the last kiss which caused it to break.
Vanya brushed his hair, 'What?'
'Nothing, I'm just wondering if I could convince you to skip dinner with me today,' he said and shrugged his shoulders.
She rolled her eyes, 'And do what exactly?'
He leaned to her ear and whispered, 'Me.'
She giggled again and he lightly kissed her neck on the spot which made her always shiver, 'Or maybe I could you. I'm not picky.'
'Of course not,' she said the smile visible in her voice.
He kissed her again, his hands moving over her back lower until he places his hands under her ass and squeeze.
She undid his tie before he could even protest or stop her. Not that he wanted to. He even followed her suit and unbuttoned her shirt while she did his.
Both of them smirking at each other while their fingers worked feverishly before he captured her lips against pulling her as close as possible getting lost in the sensation of her lips and their bodies pressed together like this. It was easy to get lost in her. Her kisses were insane. They could start as soft and delicate as flower petals and then heated up to the point it was impossible for him to breath or control himself. By the way, she was returning his kisses almost biting at his lips as sucked them with her teeth it was obvious he wasn't the only one.
Five pushed her against his desk a bit moving his lips through her throat all the way to her chest above her bra. He started to cover it with open-mouthed kisses while Vanya let her fingers tug ever so slightly against his hair. He loved it when she did it.
They were both breathing a bit hard when all of a sudden Vanya pushed him away, 'Klaus is coming over.'
He blinked, 'Huh?'
Vanya already started to button up her shirt, 'Klaus!'
Five groaned and stepped away quickly trying to fix his tie, shirt, and jacket as well.
This house was so overcrowded sometimes. It was a fucking mansion with 43 bedrooms how could it be that there was always someone interrupting them?
'Jesus Christ, Geisterfrau, just leave me the hell alone!' heard Vanya and Five from the other side of the door.
'Klaus,' sighed Five and Vanya nodded just as the door opened and their mentioned brother stormed in, 'Fuck, you guys seen Ben?'
They shook their heads.
Five would have been perfectly fine if their brother just went his merry way, but Vanya always being the more caring sibling asked, 'What's wrong? Another ghost won't leave you alone?'
'Meine Geisterfrau,' he sighed in German. From an early age, they were forced to learn languages like French, Russian, Mandarin. After they learned a bit of German Klaus started to use words in conversations from time to time. He claimed he was accepting his heritage although Five was never certain he was from Germany anyway.
'Ghost?' asked Vanya. She was never allowed to learn but after every lesson, Five gave her his book and offered her a short briefing on what they learned.
Klaus nodded, 'A female ghost really keeps on stalking me like some madman telling me something bad is going to happen to Ben. She fucking won't shut up about it.'
Five and Vanya shared a quick worried look, 'Why would she say that?'
'No idea. Ghosts usually just want to tell me about their deaths or shit, but this woman just walks around and watches usually. But now she's like possessed or something. Ben is in danger. Ben is in danger. Don't let him go to Astrotech. The hell is Astrotech?'
Five blinked knowing this one, 'It's a technical facility downtown. They create equipment for NASA.' Oddly enough it was just a week ago that he first stumbled over the company while he was researching his new theory on how to time travel safely.
He didn't admit to that. He didn't tell Vanya that ever since the Fixer he started to look into time-traveling again. He wasn't planning to actually try it any time soon, but the Commission had their way of safe time traveling so it was possible. He just had to figure it out.
Instead, he said, 'The Company is rather small only seventy employees but they landed a huge contract last year and earned a good name in the business industry.'
That caused Klaus to pause before he glared at the woman, 'Geisterfrau, I swear to god shut the fuck up!'
'Can't you tell her to leave?' asked Five raising an eyebrow, 'I know you managed to make ghost leave you alone a few times over the last practices.'
Klaus looked at him the anger replaced with something else for a moment before he looked away, 'Right...well this one is a bit more annoying today. Anyway, it's fine. I will just find Ben so she knows he's cool, and she'll settle down like always.'
'Oh, so she's here a lot then?' asked Vanya interested.
Klaus shrugged his shoulders before he offered them both his cattish smile, 'Well, I won't hold you two any longer. Enjoy whatever it is that you were doing before.'
Five rolled his eyes as their brother left the room before he turned to Vanya who looked a bit embarrassed.
'Don't worry he's just teasing,' said Five and waved his head.
She smiled a bit before she let her finger reach for his tie and pull it a bit. The knot was all wrong. That was what must have given it away.
He sighed and pressed his forehead against hers as she worked on his tie. She was good with knots, 'Just a year maybe less if the old man pisses me off like that again.'
'He was just being himself. You're more stressed lately.'
Five nodded against her forehead before he leaned away, 'He's doing it on purpose. The missions are coming up surprisingly during the time which was supposed to be scheduled as our time off.'
Vanya went to his bed and sat down, 'Do you think he's doing it on purpose? Making sure we have no free time left? What could he gain from that?'
Five crossed his arms. It had been on his mind for a while lately, 'I think he suspects that you're using your powers.'
The way Vanya shivered was exactly the reason why Five had been hesitating to tell her about his suspicion in the first place. He didn't want to freak her out.
She looked down at her hands. Over the last year, they managed to pretty much create and perfect practice seasons for Vanya to train. They started slow, one pill and then half a pill to no pill one day before they would go to train on their days off which Five blackmailed Hargreeves for them. Since now the old man seemed to be even less interested in them than before he even made Vanya in charge of her pills again which surprised her and made Five more than worried he knew what they were doing.
To say that the beginnings were hard would be an understatement. Even though she was only using her powers in small doses during training since immediately after the training day she took a new pill, it was obvious her powers were capable of an apocalypse.
The old abandon warehouse the Fixer left them was perfect to contain them whenever she lost control, but it still got Five worried it would be too much for the building at times.
'You think he knows we're training my powers in the free time? That's why he gave me back the pills?' asked Vanya and Five nodded, 'I think that maybe since he sees progress and that you keep in check he doesn't want to lock you up.'
The yet was implied.
He saw how she hugged her own arms and rushed toward her kneeling in front of her, 'I won't let him. You know I won't.'
She offered him a sad smile. He could tell that she trusted him. He felt it with the way she looked at him when he suggested something new for her training, some improvement. She had all the trust and faith she could muster in him. But he also knew that she feared Hargreeves more than anything. That fear was in constant conflict with her faith in him. It wasn't the first time that he wondered if it wouldn't be better for all of them just to leave. Pack up now and get the hell out while they still could, while they were still alive before Hargreeves would figure out a way to break their ankles and keep them in the house forever.
He placed his hands gently on her knees, hiding them with his palms while keeping his gaze steady on her brown eyes, 'I would rather die than let someone hurt you. You know that.'
Her eyes widened before she put her own hands over his on her knees, 'Don't say that. Don't ever say that.'
Apparently, he wasn't always good at calming her down. So much for that.
'I wouldn't,' she started to say shaking her head, 'Five, I wouldn't survive if something happen…,' she was breathing a bit faster clearly shaken.
'Hey, come on, breath, alright?'
She took his face in her hands looking down at him with such intensity it was almost too much, 'Don't…don't die on me ever, understood?'
'That might be hard to keep what if I get kille-'
'Five!'
'Okay, sorry, I was trying to lighten it up,' he sighed enjoying the feeling of her hands on his face, 'I would never leave you behind. Is that enough?'
'No,' she said, and he had half the mind to tell her that she was being greedy and unreasonable before he sighed and said instead, 'I won't die on you. I will find a way to survive it.'
Vanya was looking into his eyes for quite some time probably making sure if he was telling the truth or just saying it to ease her mind. He knew she was aware he couldn't actually make a promise like that. Not really. No one could, but if she needed him to lie to her on the spot to comfort her, he would do it gladly.
She leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips before she leaned away some of the tension fading away with the kiss because she gave him one of her bossy looks, 'I will hold you up to that. God help you if you die on me.'
He couldn't help a small smirk, 'Yes, ma'am.'
She chuckled, and he kissed her again savoring the feeling of her lips and pushing her against the bed lightly. They slowly started to continue where they left off until they heard Grace's melodic voice reminding them of dinner.
Five groaned.
'Seriously. We need to get our own place for once,' he said as he broke the kiss and glared at the door. Not that he had anything against Grace but right now she really pushed his buttons.
Vanya giggled and brushed his hair a bit again, 'Maybe we could think up something for tomorrow.'
Five blinked, 'For tomorrow?'
It was clear she wanted to smile. It was pushing pretty hard at her lips but she held it back and tried to sound casual as she said, 'Well, you know.'
He felt her wrap a few of his hair against her fingers, 'If my professor for uncontrollable powers wouldn't be too opposed maybe we could take a break for a bit and do something else on our next training season. If my professor wouldn't mind too much that is.' It was true. He was taking it all pretty seriously when they were training. Never giving her or himself a break which limited their moments together only when they were in the house.
She looked away from his hair back to his face waiting.
He smirked and leaned closer, 'I think he wouldn't mind at all.'
He kissed her cheek while his hand ran all the way through her chest painfully slow and teasingly, 'I think you trained very hard, and I think you deserve a break the next time.'
Vanya let out a started noises when his hand ended up on her inner thigh all of the sudden slowly moving higher right under her skirt.
'Would you like that?' he asked knowing he had her until he felt her wrap a leg around him pulling him closer with a bit of a spark of mischief in her eyes. Now he was the one breathing a bit faster than normal as he felt her under him.
Before they could continue, however, Vanya once again sighed, 'Luther is coming over.'
'Motherfucker, this house is a nightmare,' said Five and jumped away from her just as Luther opened the door to find an upset Five with his back to him and a slightly looking annoyed Vanya with her arms crossed over her chest looking at him.
The hostile energy in the room must have surprised Number One because it took him a moment to finally say what he came to, 'Dinner is ready, you two. Dad's eating with us today.'
That caused them to share a quick look before they started to head to the door.
13 years ago
Five woke up to the soft tapping on his door. He was asleep tonight. It had been a while since they last played hide and seek. Dad found out about it, and he got upset. They weren't allowed to play anymore. They tried to sneak out a couple of times, but Pogo or the Nanny always caught them and made them go back to bed.
The door then opened and Seven came inside. She looked a bit sad, 'Can I sleep here?'
'What about Pogo?'
'I heard him leave. Please, I promise I will be quiet.'
He nodded, and she hurried to his bed under the covers.
'Do you hear what the Nanny is doing?' he asked after a moment of silence. It was like Number Seven always heard everyone in the house. No matter how far they were, she could always hear them. It was why she was the best in hide and seeks before they were told they couldn't play anymore.
'She's asleep. She was praying earlier again. She does that a lot,' mumbled Seven into the dark.
'Is anyone else up?' he asked.
Seven was quiet for a moment probably listening before she said, 'Dad is up.'
'What's he doing?'
'I don't know…just writing I think,' she said but it didn't sound convinced before she yawned loudly.
'Let's go to sleep,' he told her and she nuzzled closer to him. It caused him to feel warm with her next to him, but it wasn't unpleased. It felt nice.
However the next moment she let out a displeased sigh, 'Pogo went to my room.'
She sat up and waited until the door to Five's room opened and sure enough Pogo was standing in the doorway.
'Number Seven. Again?' he asked in a hushed voice sounding a bit tired.
She shrugged her shoulder and climbed down from the bed and whispered back at him, 'I just thought Five was having bad dreams.'
'You always say that, when I find you here. Come now,' he said and motioned for her.
Seven turned to Five and lightly brushed his hair.
'Careful, or you will wake him up, Number Seven.'
She jumped out of the bed and walked toward him taking his hand.
Five didn't move through the whole scene and waited until the door shut again. He wondered if Seven did this often then. Came to his room while he was asleep and lied next to him so he wouldn't have bad dreams. Strange. He didn't think he had bad dreams.
Now
The scene by the table wasn't any different today as it was every time their father decided to join their meals. Everyone was pretty much consumed by their own thing. Unless they were somehow interrupting the dinner, the old man didn't care.
Five was finishing his food with the thought of what he and Vanya might do tomorrow already running wild in his mind. One would think that with the time they spent together and all those kisses and touches they shared so far he would somehow have gotten used to them, but it was the other way around really. It was as if with every single day he was growing more obsessed and addicted to her presence and touch. He would like to think they had a pretty solid relationship even before. He wasn't ashamed to admit she was his best friend. She understood him on a level no one else had or tried to and brought so much happiness and comfort into his life in this fucking house it was hard to imagine, how dreadful it would have been if she wasn't here with him. Or with him at all. Because it wouldn't matter if he was living somewhere else a nice good life if she wasn't with him. He didn't want to imagine any of that anyway.
Everything was going pretty ordinary before there was a sound of something hitting a glass cup causing an echo through the room.
Five immediately caught the way Vanya jerked next to him.
Five looked over at her. She swallowed a bit and pushed her hair in front of her ear. Since she started neglecting the dosage of her pills and she only took half of a pill today she was pretty open to hearing almost everything in a 5 km radius if she concentrated enough. It was one of the handy aspects of her powers because she easily pointed out of someone was coming. It was unreliable how many close calls they had. Their siblings had zero boundaries.
Five waited until she offered him a small nod that she was fine. It didn't last long because suddenly there was another sound the same as before ringing through the room.
Both of them looked around the table only to find Hargreeves looking back at them. Five frowned at him, but when he lowered his gaze he realized, he wasn't the one making the sound.
Another sound of something hitting the glass cup and Five's eyes shifted over to the direction it was coming from.
Luther
The boy wasn't looking at any of them. He had his eyes fixed on the glass with the small spoon in his hand waving it a bit in the air before he once again hit the glass causing Vanya to jerk next to him.
Five looked back at her only to see her having to shut her eyes painfully while crushing her own spoon in her hand.
He reached out and touched her knee hoping to offer her some comfort before he looked back at Hargreeves and Luther. The old man showed nothing, but Five doubted he would. Luther was purposely looking at the glass so Five had no idea if he realized what he was doing or not and if Hargreeves asked him to do it or not.
Another ring and Vanya stood up so quickly she threw over the chair behind her.
Everyone looked over at her now including Luther. Five noted he looked confused more than anything.
'May I be excused?' asked Vanya. Her face was hot with embarrassment.
'What is the reason for that, Number Seven?' asked the old man, and Vanya hesitated before she admitted, 'I don't feel very well.'
Hargreeves watched her for a moment. The others started to share looks no one sure what was going to happen before he spoke, 'Sit down, Number Seven.'
She looked over at Five who shook his head before he turned to his father, 'She's not feeling well. Let her leave.'
The old man picked up his fork and continued to eat ignoring him completely. Five felt like cursing.
Vanya looked at Five again not sure what to do before she picked up her chair from the ground and sit down on it again.
A moment had passed, and it looked to be alright before once again that sound rang through the room causing Vanya jerk only this time some of the glasses on the table shook when she did so.
'Sorry,' mumbled Ben suddenly and everyone looked over at him, 'I got startled and kicked the table.'
Five blinked suspiciously for a moment before Luther hit the glass again with his spoon, and he heard Diego curse, 'Will you stop with that noise already? No wonder Vanya feels sick I'm getting a damn headache over here.'
The whole table went silent, but Diego didn't look at anyone just kept frowning at his plate.
Finally, Luther put the spoon down, and Five could feel the relief which rushed through Vanya's body next to his.
He looked over at the old man, but he wasn't looking at any of them instead of his gaze had shifted to Number Six for some reason. Five was almost sure he was going to ask him something, but then Hargreeves unceremonially stood up which forced all of them to do the same before he left the table.
Five couldn't help but watch him leave feeling like something dreadful was about to come their way from that man. Something they couldn't prepare for no matter how hard they would try.
Close to bedtime, Five caught Luther alone and in the bathroom brushing his teeth, 'Did dad ask you to do that thing today at dinner?'
Luther stopped brushed and looked at him before he looked away, 'I don't know what you mean.'
'I mean the symphony form hell you were producing with your spoon, Luther. What the hell was that? Did dad ask you?' he asked his brother who wouldn't look at him just kept his eyes on the mirror.
Five frowned not being happy about being ignored twice today and moved in front of Luther and the mirror.
'The hell Five-'
'Did dad tell you-'
'Yes, alright? Yeah, he told me to do it at dinner,' said Luther and rolled his eyes before he went to clean his face since Five was still blocking the sink.
'Why? Because of Vanya?'
Luther blinked now looking confused at him, 'Vanya? No, at least I don't think so. I thought he was mostly looking at Ben.'
Five took the piece of information in. Sure Luther was an idiot, but he was observant enough. They all had to be. So it wasn't just him who noticed he was looking at Ben afterward. The question was why did he want to annoy Ben with sound?
Once he teleported to Vanya's room later that night, he immediately asked, 'Was it you today at the dinner?'
Vanya was already dressed. Shame.
She sighed, 'I don't know. It was just so loud and annoying. I couldn't help it. I almost wanted to break Luther's glass just to make it stop. I think I could have. It seemed easier since the noise was so loud.'
This was something which they figured out during the earlier stages of her training. The louder sound something was producing the easier it was for Vanya to concentrate on it and break it.
'But I knew that would be opposite of what we're trying to do,' she said, and he nodded before he looked unsure again.
'Still, why would Ben take the fall?' asked Five thinking out loud. It was good to think out loud with Vanya, it helped him get to a conclusion. He also found her observation the most valid from their siblings helping him construct theories.
Vanya shrugged, 'It was hard to stay still. I could feel that power inside me it was gathering like before, so maybe I accidentally let a little bit out. Or maybe it was Ben who just kicked against the table.'
'Hargreeves looked suspicious of us when Luther started but at the end, he wouldn't stop looking at Ben,' said Five and brushed his hair a bit thinking about it all. Something was there. They just didn't see it.
Vanya stepped closer to him, 'What do you think it means?'
'I don't know yet,' said Five, 'Did you notice if Ben was acting different lately?'
She looked to the side thinking about something, 'Maybe. Well not different, but he looked down a couple of days ago. I tried to ask him, but it was like a few moments passed before he said he was fine just tired. I don't know. He looked a bit more tired lately. Maybe he wasn't sleeping too well.'
Her forehead wrinkled with worry, 'Do you think something's wrong with him?'
'I don't know,' he confessed, 'Maybe it's just Klaus's crazy ghost getting to me.'
'That got me worried too. Why would some random ghost worry about Ben of all people? Do you think maybe she was somehow haunting him? Maybe that was why he was acting so strange. He couldn't see her, but feel her around?'
'Klaus said people don't feel the presence of ghosts. Not really at least. That's why all oracles and such are a con-artist.'
Vanya was silent for a moment, 'Well, that's a sad thought. You just die and walk around without being able to communicate with anyone or show them you are there unless you by some luck stumble upon our Klaus.'
He put his hands on her back brushing her there a bit, 'What keeps bringing this up?'
'I don't know. I read Poe the other day.'
'Stick to something happier next time like Austen?'
'If you think Austen is happier you're reading it wrong,' said Vanya immediately, and he could sense the offensive mode she was putting herself into.
'It has a happy ending every time,' argued Five.
She smiled a bit and gently stroke his face, 'Let's not get into that again. I doubt father will fix my window again.'
'It was your own fault. You threw a book at me,' he reminded her.
Vanya gave him a look and stepped away, 'I threw the book to you.'
'Yeah, with speed and while I wasn't looking,' clarified Five, and she rolled her eyes, 'You could have caught it.'
'Caught it?' he asked almost offended, 'Woman, I barely managed to dodged it. Caught it she said,' he shook his head and at her before the both of them smiled again.
'Maybe, we need a day off, a real day off. No training or worrying and scheming about the Commission and the Fixer just a day off.'
He took the hand on his face and kissed her palm, 'I can't wait already.'
By that time Vanya had 57 dreams. They still came and went without her being able to actually know when they would appear. Sometimes it happened after a long conversation about the Commission and the events Five couldn't recall other times it was absolutely random.
When Five felt her jerk in his arms her body all tense and sweaty, he went into autopilot. Most of the dreams were dull just random activities. Others were worse. So much worse.
With time he learned what to do whenever she would get a bad dream and not be ready to wake up yet.
He easily rolled her so her back was against his chest and cuddled her from behind making sure he kept from trashing too much, but also giving her enough room to breath and see that she was in her room if she opened her eyes.
'It's okay, it's me. I'm here, Vanya,' he lowered his voice enough for her to hear him, and he continued to repeat calming words to her.
She was breathing hard, but after a while, he heard her nod her head against the pillow. Since he figured out how to handle it, it never has taken too long for her to calm down.
'Can I let you go?' he asked, and she nodded.
He sat up and opened the window for her, moving her so she would sit up as well and looked outside.
Five teleported to her door and turned on the lights which momentarily blinded the both of them before he jumped to the kitchen for a glass of water and a wet cloth before he was back in her room his left hand brushing her back while he set everything on the window frame.
'You with me?' he asked her then.
She nodded and pressed her back along with the entire weight of her body against his chest. He didn't mind. He wanted to help her as much as he could. She was also very light so her whole body weight was nothing.
After a while, Vanya took the glass and drank it whole.
'Easy.'
She set it back down and took the cloth, 'I knocked over the books.'
Five looked at her little bookshelf and realized she was right. There were books all over the ground. He didn't even hear that.
'No one is outside, so no one heard it,' he assured her, and Vanya nodded, 'Good.'
There was a moment of silence before Five spoke.
'Will you tell me?'
Vanya reached out for his hand, and he quickly gave it to her.
'Ben died.'
Five froze a bit at that.
Her voice shook as she spoke, 'Ben died. He…there was a mission. In Astrotech. I don't know what happened, I wasn't allowed to know. I was in my room the whole time, and then the others returned and Klaus was crying so much I couldn't hear what he was saying, and I kept asking and asking and Diego told me to shut the hell up. Then dad came and he said…he said Ben died during a mission.'
She turned around to look at him, 'Five. I think Klaus's ghost is right. Ben died. I don't know how but everyone was so sad and they kept on blaming each other, and it was horrible.'
He brushed her sweaty hair, 'Calm down, okay. Just breath a bit.'
She nodded before she spoke, 'I noticed it before. I noticed that in my dreams after a while I didn't see Ben. Sometimes I met with Luther or Klaus. I called with Allison from time to time, and even saw Diego on the street once or twice, but not Ben. Never Ben.'
The realization sunk into both of them.
Five looked out of the window, 'Do you know anything? About the mission? You said the others blame each other?'
Vanya shook her head, 'It was like always an alarm went off. Everyone went to get ready. It was the morning I think. I remember we had pancakes, and we were eating in the kitchen. '
Five nodded urging her to continue.
'The alarm went off everyone went to get ready. Ben…I think it took Ben a while to get out of the table.'
'Why?'
'I don't know. Dad snapped at him if he was deaf. He looked lost in thoughts. He left afterward,' she continued, 'I finished eating and went upstairs. Time went past by but it was almost none and the others were not back yet. Then they showed up. Luther and Diego had to help Klaus walk. He was in bad shape.'
'High?'
Vanya nodded, 'Yeah, worse than I ever saw him. I don't know if that happened before the mission or after. But at breakfast, he looked fine.'
'Okay, what's next?'
'Klaus and Allison were crying. Klaus said…,' she looked away, 'He asked where were you? Like I was supposed to be there. I don't know. I kept on asking what happened and where was Ben and Diego told me to shut up and then Luther told him not to talk to me like that and that what good would it do if I was there? Diego then said that it was all Luther's fault that if he didn't push him so hard. Then Diego let go of Klaus who fell to the ground because he full-on charged at Luther shoving him and asking him if it was worth. Allison tried to rumor them, but-but,' tears started to fall down Vanya's cheeks, 'But she couldn't stop crying and finish the command.'
Five pulled her into his arms maybe to hide his own tears which he for a moment felt like he might have before he forced himself to be strong for her, 'Take your time.'
She nodded against his chest her hands gripping his pajamas and pulling him closer. It took her a few deep breaths but she managed to continue, 'Then dad came he ordered everyone to their rooms that they would be asked for a report one by one. He locked us in so we couldn't get out. Mom brought dinner later to my room.'
Five kissed the top of her head taking it all in. Could it be connected to the ghost telling Klaus that Ben was in danger and Vanya dreaming about his death that never happened?
'We have to tell Ben,' she said suddenly and pushed away from Five to look at him.
'I won't take any chances. Maybe we could talk to Klaus about the ghost?'
Five nodded, 'Alright although he might not be too happy with us waking him up.'
Vanya shook her head, 'He's not home. I can't hear him.'
'You can recognize his breathing now?' he asked skeptically.
'More like his snoring. It's getting worse. He might want to try not sleeping on his back,' as unlikely as it seemed Five chuckled at that before he pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, 'Alright, do you want to go see Ben? Would that make you feel better?'
She nodded and after a while, they got out of the bed. Slowly walking to Ben's room.
Five knocked lightly on the door, but there was no answer.
'I think…he's asleep,' said Vanya hesitating.
Five blinked, 'Something wrong?'
'His breathing is a bit different…I don't know,' she shook her head, 'Maybe I'm just tired from…the nightmare.'
Five didn't look convince and neither was she, 'Don't let anyone see you.'
He teleported into Ben's room pausing a bit as the cold hit his body. His window was opened.
'Ben?' he whispered in case he really was asleep.
'Hey, Ben?' he asked again, but there was no sound or movement coming from his bed. He was asleep after all.
Five went to the window and closed it. It was too cold to be sleeping with an opened one anyway.
He teleported back to the hallways and he and Vanya returned to her room, if for the briefest moment, Five thought he heard Ben's window crack open, he blamed it on his imagination.
The next morning they tried to get a hold of Ben, but he managed to avoid them successfully until breakfast.
'What do you think?' asked Vanya now worried just as much as Five felt. Could it be that something was wrong with their brother, and they didn't notice before? That may be only Klaus's ghost did? If so how long has it been going on?
They needed to get him and talk to him as soon as possible.
'God, damn it, just leave me alone already!' snapped Klaus all of a sudden his fist colliding with the table startling half of them.
'The hell man?' asked Diego annoyed as Klaus pointed at something or maybe someone and shouted, 'I fucking wish for you to leave me alone already!'
There was absolute silence after that before Klaus stormed out from the table and rushed away from the kitchen upstairs.
'Is everything alright?' asked Grace with her calm look. She wasn't smiling, but it still looked too happy about the situation.
'Everything's fine, Mom. He's just being dramatic,' said Allison and continued to eat.
Five quickly leaned over to Vanya, 'Maybe go try to talk to Klaus now. I will try to talk to Ben.'
She nodded and got up.
'Thank you for the breakfast, Mom,' called Vanya as head rushed upstairs.
Five's gaze returned back to Ben who blinked confused and turned to Klaus's spot. He was already plotting how to get him to talk with him when the alarm went off signaling a new mission.
Five cursed. He guessed it would have to wait. They all got from the table no one noticing Grace put more pancakes on the table.
Five's fingers nervously drummed against his knee. He was looking at Ben as they drove in the car to the location of their new mission. They had a very short briefing about someone robbing a company in town with the hostages inside. The police couldn't get involved so they were sending in the Academy. They were all told what to do so it shouldn't be too much of a problem if they stick to it.
He turned his face to Ben who was sitting by the window, 'Are you alright?'
There was a very long pause before he saw Ben nod ever so slightly.
Five clenched his jaw in frustration. He wasn't alright.
'Listen, is something wrong? You've been acting weird.'
He noticed Allison turned toward them probably catching on to what he was saying.
Ben didn't answer.
Screw it!
Five went to grab a hold of his shoulder to yank him to face him at least when Ben all of the sudden caught his wrist before it would make contact with it, 'Don't touch me.'
'Then tell me what's wrong?' asked Five pulling his wrist free from the hold and frowning at his brother.
'Nothing,' mumbled Ben quietly and distantly his eyes almost empty.
'Don't lie. You haven't been yourself lately. Were you really asleep yesterday?' demanded Five.
Ben turned to him with a frown, 'Did Klaus put you up to this?'
Five blinked, 'Klaus?'
'Tell him and his ghost girlfriend to leave me alone. I'm fine.'
'What's going on?' asked Luther clearly upset that there was something he didn't know about as the leader. Luckily or unluckily the car stopped at their destination, and all five of them got out of it.
Just then a second car stopped and Five recognized Klaus and to his shock Vanya sitting in the backseat.
He rushed toward it, 'What the-?'
'Number Five have you forgotten the goal of your mission? To free the hostages and stop the robbers? Or do you need me to draw you a full-on picture in sequences to know what to do?' asked Hargreeves through an open window while Vanya was holding onto Klaus who was clearly high out of his mind. So much for him being any use today.
'No,' he said a bit annoyed that he talked to him like this in public when he caught the intense stare Vanya was throwing at him.
She then pointed somewhere behind him. Five´s gaze followed where she was pointing at and he froze in place at the large sign on top of one of the buildings. Mainly the one which was surrounded by police officers.
Astrotech
He turned back to Vanya with a quick look knowing he didn't have much time.
'Stay in the car!' he called at her hoping she would listen.
Five teleported toward the others who were already on their way inside as they planned before.
'Where's Ben and Luther?' he asked looking at his other two siblings.
'They went ahead,' said Diego and Five cursed under his breath trying to hurry.
'Stop!' he teleported in front of Ben blocking his way, 'You can't go there.'
'The hell has gotten into you Five?' asked Luther trying to push him away from Ben.
Five glared at him, 'No, I'm serious. Something bad will happen-'
'What?' asked Luther confused.
'Klaus's ghost friend kept on saying something bad will happen to him if he goes there,' he said breaking free from Luther's hold.
Allison and Diego managed to reach them pausing at why they were standing there. They were all inside the building now.
'The hell?' asked Diego confused and upset about being left out.
'Vanya had a dream, alright?' admitted Five knowing this would leave to possible more problems in the future, but he didn't care. They needed to protect Ben, and they were losing them.
'What?' asked Allison annoyed, 'You said her dreams were just dreams.'
Five groaned, 'They are…we don't know really.'
Allison let out groaned before she stepped closer toward him. All her frustration finally getting the better of her with him and Vanya, 'I heard a rumor you told us what's going on right now.'
Five felt the command run through him before found himself saying, 'Vanya had a dream about Ben dying last night in Astrotech. Her dreams appear to be somehow linked to the old timeline which was erased or didn't happen yet because I time-traveled to the future and came back.'
His sister blinked confused, 'That makes even less sense than before.'
'Ben will die how?' asked Allison worried.
'She didn't see that. No one told her. Just that you all came from the mission late and you,' he looked back at Luther, 'and Diego got into a fight about how you pushed Ben too far. Did you say anything to him?' he asked noting immediately how Luther's face went pale.
'What did you say?' asked Diego taking a step closer his voice with a dangerous edge.
Luther kept on opening and closing his mouth for a moment before he admitted trying to appear less guilty, 'He said he wanted to go home like he always did, and I said that if we finished quickly we could go home faster. That's all I swear.'
'Yeah, right. Like less time you pressured Klaus into going up that stupid ladder,' said Diego pointing at him accusingly.
'He would have been fine if he wasn't playing on it like on a monkey bar-'
'Enough!' snapped Allison just they heard people screaming and running their way.
Luther grabbed one of the men in a white coat as a dozen of hostages ran around them to the main exit, 'What happened?'
'The boy with the octopus started to fight the robbers,' said the man panic clear from his eyes.
Five looked around noting that Ben was gone.
'Shit.'
He teleported closer and started to run to the direction the hostages came from crashing into one of the robbers before he got him down in the process. Just as he got him to the ground another one open fired at him, and he barely teleported in time.
This might take a while. The rest joined quickly taking down a few of the men who came from the other hallway.
'They're in lab 6a,' shouted Allison while she kicked down one of the men.
Five quickly checked the plan of the building on the wall before he rushed to lab 6 having to fight his way through several robbers. They appeared to be highly trained and with decent guns. Not your average bank robbers. These people knew what they were after and they played dirty to get it.
It seemed that there was an endless amount of them, and as Five finally teleported back to the lab he realized he was using too much of his powers. He wouldn't have enough teleportations left now.
'Ben!' he called at his brother as he watched him grab the nearby attacker and throw him somewhere behind one of the working tables.
'Behind you!' called Diego before a man fell down from behind Five with a knife to his back.
'You're welcome,' said the boy, but Five ignored it looking at Ben as the others got into the lab as well immediately fighting off the robbers there. How many exactly were there?
He dodged another guy sending him to the ground when he heard to his absolute horror someone call his name, 'Five! FIVE!'
Vanya
Five groaned at her when he saw her there running from the broken glass door of the lab toward him, 'I told you to stay in the car! What the hell are you doing?!'
He put his hands on her shoulder and turned around to make sure no one got close to them. He wanted to get her out now.
She shook her head, 'Five, Klaus said-'
'Get back in the car!' he snapped at her pushing her back toward the door the heat of the fight and danger of the situation getting to him.
'But Klaus-'
'VANYA!' he snapped at her and shoved her back to the door looking behind himself to make sure they weren't in the line of a shot of anyone.
'BEN WILL LOSE CONTROL OVER HIS POWERS!' she shouted, and Five finally turned back to her confused and shocked, 'What did you just say?'
In the next second, they heard Diego call Ben's name and then there was a shot fired.
Five pressed his entire body against Vanya's protecting her in case the shot was at her, but also turned back to the others only to find one of Ben's tentacles crushing a man while Ben fell to his knees his ear bleeding out.
'He got shot,' said Vanya in Five's arms trying to break free clearly in shock.
He pulled her closer for a moment before he let go, 'Get out of here.'
'No!'
'Go!' He snapped at her but she shook her head.
He cursed and grabbed her again, 'This isn't a joke.'
'I'm not leaving we have to help him.'
'I will!'
'Five.'
Damn it she was impossible sometimes.
He crashed his lips against hers in the heat of the moment before he shoved her away from him, 'GO!'
It was a matter of seconds Ben's eyes suddenly went golden white and all hell broke loss.
Five wanted to teleport Vanya outside but in a second even faster than he was the tentacles spread to every direction separating the two of them and throwing Five to the ground.
It knocked the air out of him for a few seconds, but he found his way back up hearing the distinguished sound of a broken pipe letting out steam like a whistle in the lab. That couldn't be good.
He groaned and got up noticing Vanya lying on her stomach almost by one of the pillars all across the room. He tried to get up feeling his ribs cracking under the movement. They were broken for sure.
His first instinct was to teleport toward her, but it was at that moment that he realized that he had one teleportation left before he would have to take his several hours' break. Everything inside his body and soul screamed at him to go get her out of there, and he almost listened. Almost. He would have done the first and then last for her, but he couldn't leave the others, and he couldn't leave Ben like that. She would be the first one to tell him as much.
He looked over at Ben who had his eyes still glowing and the tentacles which were moving around hitting pipes and pillars breaking them in the process.
Luther and Diego tried to get close, but the tentacles either knocked them out or they were forced to retreat. It was too dangerous for them to get close.
They wouldn't get close. Not on their own. Not with the tentacles defending themselves.
He looked back at Vanya.
Please be okay.
In the next moment, Five teleported in front of Ben the tentacle spread so it didn't catch him, but he felt the rush of air from the way it was coming back to get him.
Five didn't waste time and punched Ben into the face with all his force.
It worked and Five saw the tentacles retreating to their original place under Ben's mission suit, and Ben's eyes shut again. He was about to fall so Five went to grab him and protect his head from the fall, but in the next moment the large explosion blew up the roof causing all of it to fall down them like a punishment of gods.
It felt weird.
It felt like he sort of lost touch in his fingers like if he was holding onto a bar too long and his fingers got numb, only he felt it all over his body. It was weird. He felt so strange like he was empty all around himself. Shallow. His body felt strange. He felt strange.
Five blinked and looked around. It was dusty all around him. He couldn't see anything only distantly some police cars and maybe sirens. What was it?
Then it hit him.
The building collapsed!
He went to move but found himself standing in place. He couldn't move or maybe he could. His legs didn't seem to move even if he found himself making a step. He felt like he got somehow detached from his legs and his fingers, and his arms and maybe his whole body too.
It collapsed on top of me...
He remembered now. He used up all his jumps and Vanya and Ben...
Vanya and Ben!
His heart...was silent.
Five blinked and looked down at his chest. His heart wasn't beating fast now...In fact, it wasn't beating at all.
That didn't matter now. He needed to find Vanya. She was on the ground unconscious when the roof fell. She could have been crushed. He needed to find her now!
He felt something, but it wasn't his usual level of panic whenever he thought she was in danger. It felt strange without a beating heart but he tried not to dwell on it. He needed to find her. He needed to find his Vanya.
Please be safe. Please be alive. Please, Vanya…
'Five, what did you do?' he heard a soft female voice to his side and looked over there.
There was a short woman with brown hair looking at him with such sadness it caused him to look away from her brown eyes and focus on some other part of her.
He blinked noticing the blood in her hair and the wound on the side of her head. She was hurt. She was also dusty so she must have been inside when the building collapsed, but how? The only ones around were the Umbrella Academy and the robbers. The staff was evacuated. She didn't look like a criminal. Maybe one of the workers got left behind.
It was then that Five had a thought...no, not a thought, a memory, or a flash of a memory.
He saw the woman in front of him but instead of this tragic look which was enough to break his heart on her face, in the memory, she was smiling and her eyes shining with a spark of happiness. Her whole posture spoke hopeful and relieved. It suited her more. She should always look happy like that. His brain got swallowed by the memory of her standing in front of him like that in some darkish room.
'So you would wait eight years?'
Oh, she was teasing. He could hear it inside her voice. She was teasing him shamelessly and playfully and he loved every second of it when she did that.
Number Five suddenly felt something like a massive wave coming his way in his mind. A wave full of memories and emotions he must have been surprising for years ready to knock him out completely with those first words.
'I would wait forever for you.'
Then every single memory he lost when he first time-traveled to the destroyed 2019 came rushing back. If his heart was still beating it would have stop and then break apart from remembering all the painful things until the very last. From the survival in the post-apocalypse world all on his own, to the almost de-humanizing him in the Commission until he heard that gunshot which broke him completely in every way.
'Vanya…,' he said the woman's name, now remembering everything. Every painful mistake he ever made up until this one. Most likely his last one ever.
He closed his eyes before he fell down to his knees.
'What have we done?' he asked the dead woman who gave him a painful look before she was on her knees in front of him her hand on his face, but he couldn't feel her. He couldn't' feel her touch. Apparently, not even death was peaceful. Afterlife could be cruel as well. He felt his last pieces of sanity sleep away. He almost started to laugh like a maniac as his fingers found his hair. He wanted to pull it all out.
He lost it. He finally lost all there was. He lost everything he had.
'A tragedy, Five. Just like we always do.'
Maybe in another universe, we could be happy.
But not in this one.
No, not in this one.
A.N: One person wrote to me last week that they fell in love with the ship because they found this story after they watched TAU and that's like the biggest praise in my life so I was very excited and doubtful about this chapter.
Feel free to hate me. Thank you for reading if you like and are not too shocked you can leave a comment. Thank you for reading and support of the story and Fiveya in general.