They landed with far more force than expected, and all of them fell to the dirt.

Bile rose in his throat and Diego vomited. And then again, hurling onto the ground of the great unknown. He wiped his mouth and coughed.

"Every damn time," he groaned finally, rolling onto his back. Stars shone above him and the world around was dark, lit only by what looked like a lone porch light some distance away. He sighed. Twice he had been catapulted into somewhere he didn't know, and this wasn't a 'third time's the charm' situation. He would place a bet on this being the worst of the lot, only nothing had tried to kill them yet.

An echo of retching to his right had him turning his head. Klaus was crouched on his hands and knees, lips and eyes both tightly squeezed, cowboy hat on the ground next to him. Diego frowned. Klaus' stomach was legendary; if he was feeling the squeeze then everyone would be. But it hadn't been Klaus that had been making that sound, so who …

Through Klaus' arms, Diego could see Allison hovering above a bundle of rags on the ground.

No. Not a bundle of rags.

Diego scrambled to his feet.

"Shit, Five! Is he alive?"

Allison looked up as Diego fell to his knees beside her, beside the bundle. He rolled the bundle over and Five's head rolled limply to one side, eyes closed. Diego felt for a pulse.

"Is he …" Allison did not finish.

Diego pressed Five's neck deeper. The ground under them started to shake. The porchlight glass shattered. Darkness pressed in.

A beat. Another beat. Diego let out a breath.

"He's alive," he said, feeling relief sweep through his veins like cool water, "he's alive, he's okay." Diego dipped his head to his chest. He allowed himself a moment, just a moment, to be grateful that Five was alive, before the urgency of the situation kicked in. "We gotta move, we gotta get him some help."

"Where are we?" came a weak voice by their feet. Gravel crunched and light footsteps approached. A sharp intake of breath. "Oh my god, Five."

"He's alive, Vanya," said Allison quickly, and Diego frowned at the underlying sharpness of her tone. "Just … bleeding a lot."

"We gotta get some help." Diego shuffled Five somewhat into a sitting position so he could check the strips around his middle. They were soaked through with red. Diego pulled off his shirt, leaving only his undershirt to protect him from the cool night air, and added it to the impromptu bandages. Allison made an aborted motion with her hands before tucking them together in her lap.

"Where are we?" asked Vanya again.

"Yeah mister I've-been-to-the-moon," they heard from behind them, "where'd you take us?" They turned to see Klaus crouching beside a mound of clothing and poking it with a finger.

"Luther!" Allison got to her feet and moved to Luther's side.

Diego turned back to Five, hooking an arm under the boy's knees and shoulders and climbing to his feet. His knees cracked in protest. Five might not eat enough to feed even a small bird but he wasn't feather-light.

"He's unconscious," announced Allison after a cursory check of Luther's vitals.

"Just a stab in the dark here but I'd say it was the time jump," said Klaus, shrugging philosophically. "I guess we should just be lucky he didn't take us to the moon. I'm not sure I'd fit one of those spacesuits, and grey really washes me out." He huffed out a big breath and blew out his cheeks, eyeing Vanya who gave a weak chuckle in response.

"All we need to know is he's out." Diego was not letting them side-track him. He could feel warmth trickling down his arms from Five's side and swallowed. It wasn't me, it wasn't me. Five would very quickly get too heavy to carry, but somehow the idea of his blood leaking into the ground instead of Diego's shirt made him uneasy. He would carry his brother until he couldn't. His mind mulled over the idea of floating Five to the house using his new powers - Vanya's powers - but the sound of the glass coffee table echoed in his mind. "Someone's gonna have to carry Luther."

They turned their gaze to Allison one by one.

"I'm carrying Five," she said quickly.

"I'm carrying Five," said Diego. "You're the only one who'll manage Luther."

"He needs to cut down on the protein," huffed Klaus, pulling Luther into a sitting position. He had one hand on the big man's head and was trying to keep it steady as he slapped Luther's face in some vague attempt to wake him up. The slaps got progressively harder.

"Klaus, leave him alone," said Vanya.

"We could steal a car then." Allison was still fixed on the idea of not carrying Luther.

"There aren't any," replied Diego shortly. "We're in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. So just pick up your ex-boyfriend and move. We'll stay up there."

"So we're just gonna walk up to that tiny little house," said Klaus, gratefully handing Luther off to Allison, who did not even buckle under the weight as she pulled Luther onto her back in a piggy-back, "knock on the door, ask if maybe the owners could go on vacation for a couple of days and enjoy the weather during this very cold second or third day of April, hope that the farmer's wife doesn't fall madly in love with Vanya – sorry Vanya – and then house-sit and hope they have medical supplies to fix up a serious knife wound?"

Scepticism was not what Diego wanted, and certainly not from Klaus of all people.

"It'll be fine," he snapped, turning to the house in anticipation. "Now let's move."

"Yes Number One," came a murmur from behind him and he did not need to turn around to know who it was.

They left Luther leaning up against the outside of the house on a porch bench that thankfully did not swing, and Diego tried to decide what to do with Five. He could carry Five into the house after they had neutralised the threat inside and removed the occupants. But he also had a sister who never learned to fight, a sister whose sudden increase in strength made her as much a danger to them as anyone who opposed them, an unconscious four-hundred pound brother, and Klaus.

He ground his teeth. Might as well take out two issues in one.

"Klaus, hold him."

Klaus, suddenly confronted with a five-foot teenager, staggered, hands scrambling for purchase, finally managing to hold the oldest-youngest Hargreeves somewhat like an overly large sack of flour. Five whimpered as a hand bumped the knife wound.

Diego did not miss the sudden flash of guilt in Klaus' face - it wasn't me - before it was covered by the quiet humming of a lullaby that Mom had used to sing, and the slight bouncing that one would do for a crying child.

"Klaus? He's not a baby."

"But he looks so cute when he's sleeping! It's just a pity that he'll have to wake up and return to being the grumpy, anal-retentive Five that we know and love." Klaus pouted. "If only we could keep this sweet, non-threatening, unconscious Five forever."

"Do not shake him." Diego pointed a stern finger and Klaus rolled his eyes and huffed before making a show of standing dead still. "Vanya, let's go."

Vanya followed him to the door, Allison trailing behind.

Diego parked himself with his back against the house to the left of the front door, knife at the ready. He might not be able to throw it with the accuracy he had previously had, but that did not mean the months of training in hand-fighting and knife-fighting, and even the afternoons spent throwing knives at targets while blindfolded on the instructions of their child-hating father, were in vain.

He knocked.

"I'm not ready," hissed Vanya, eyes wide, taking a step backwards that almost sent her off the porch.

"Then get ready," replied Diego. Allison stretched out a hand to Vanya's back before retreating without touching her. Diego watched her face harden as footsteps came from inside the house.

The door opened.

A man peered out, having to look down significantly to see Vanya. Diego tightened his grip on the knife. The man looked elderly, but then Five looked young and he'd managed to rip the throats out of a great many people if his stories were to be believed.

"What y'all want?"

"Um," said Vanya. She glanced back at Allison.

"Tell him to leave."

"I heard a rumour you left."

"What?" The man peered at her. Diego could hear the suspicion growing in his voice, even if he couldn't see it himself. The man was Texan, no doubt about it, and given that fact, Diego had his own healthy suspicion that the man was holding some sort of gun behind the half-open door.

"I, um, I heard a rumour …"

"You need to put more power behind it," said Allison. She was obviously trying to be patient but the steel in her voice was beginning to leak through.

"I'm trying," hissed Vanya in response. "I heard a rumour you left the house and didn't ask why and you gave us your house keys."

"Too specific," said Allison, but the man was already reaching behind the door to grab and hand over his keys. He nodded to each of them as he walked down the path, and he left a large shotgun by the gate. Klaus nodded back serenely from where he was bouncing Five again.

"I heard a rumour you forgot about us," called Vanya after him, "and you forgot this was your house."

The man kept walking.

Diego spun into the open doorway and moved through the house like a river. Each room he checked was clear, and he made special efforts to check for any sort of loft space, head full of visions of creepy burnt figurines - Five falling to the ground - but there was none.

Still. Diego couldn't shake the feeling that the house was familiar - if not the outside as much then definitely the inside. Antique but recognisable furniture, peeling wallpaper, the occasional bright spot on the wall as if someone had taken down a photo frame. As if it had come from the 60s and stayed there.

He shoved the idea aside.

"Klaus, bring him in here!" Diego swept the bedding to the floor. "Put him on the bed."

"Coming through, coming through," came Klaus' voice from the hall, and Diego looked up in time to see Five's feet hit the doorway as Klaus barrelled through.

"Klaus, watch - hey!" Diego dived and grabbed Five as he threatened to slip from Klaus' arms. "What the hell are you doing?"

"He was getting heavy," said Klaus, holding his hands up defensively and relinquishing any grip on Five whatsoever. Diego growled.

"Just - help."

Together they manoeuvred Five to the bare bed and as soon as he was settled, Diego froze.

Five had become some distorted version of the table cloth they had passed in the kitchen; paler than the white, a darker maroon than the red. And so, so still. It wasn't me, it wasn't me, it wasn't me.

"Is he-"

"Diego, no, no no no," said Klaus quickly, "he's alive, our baby geriatric is still kicking. Well. Not kicking, obviously, but you know." He gestured to the motionless figure. "Breathing." He gave a high pitched laugh. "Not that I would know if he became a ghost or anything right now."

Before Diego could comment, Vanya ran into the room followed by Allison. Both of their eyes widened and they stopped short of the bed.

"Is he…" asked Vanya, unknowingly repeating the same question Diego had asked.

"He's alive," said Diego shortly, shaking himself, "and he'll s-stay that way if he knows what's good for him." It wasn't me.

Diego grabbed the sheet from the floor, balled it up, and pressed it against Five's side. He could not see any blood leaking through their impromptu bandages, but that was only because Five's side was soaked already.

Allison threw a large plastic crate down beside the bed, opened it, and began ferreting through it.

"We found the first aid kit under the sink along with a lot of ammunition," she said, handing over sterilising wipes and gloves, "but the good thing is it looks like whoever lived here prepared for not only killing people during an apocalypse, but also helping them."

Bandages. Thread. Alcohol. Syringes.

"I, uh," said Diego.

The window shattered outwards. They all jumped. Allison broke two small glass vials where she was lifting them out of the box in surprise, and immediately tried to cover it up. Klaus wrung his hands, looking everywhere but at Five.

Vanya threw up her arms.

"Can we all just put our issues to one side for five minutes?! Our brother is dying!"

"I don't-"

"I heard a rumour you were no longer afraid of needles," said Vanya, pointing at Diego. "Now help."

They got to work and within minutes, the wound was cleaned, stitched, bandaged, and Five was attached to an IV with a watchful Diego sitting at his side, one hand wrapped around Five's wrist, and sulkily thanking every deity that the house they ended up at during Luther's haphazard jump was the home of a paranoid doomsday prepper.

Actually, it only just occurred to Diego to ask. Klaus had disappeared somewhere during the procedure while Diego had not been watching, and Allison had left to get changed. Diego turned to Vanya, who was the only one that seemed to be settling into the late vigil.

"Where is Luther anyway?"

"We left him outside propping up the house. Allison said he'll be fine."

"As long as he doesn't spatial jump in his sleep." They both looked over as Allison entered the room, closing the door behind her. She wore farm clothing, a size too big width-wise but about the same height enough that the trousers weren't dragging on the ground. "Though his snoring shouldn't make it too difficult to find him again." She slid down the wall to sit and tip her head back against it, eyes on the bed. "How's Five?"

"Cold," said Diego, where he still had his hand wrapped around Five's wrist. His fingers had gone numb some time ago, though his grip wasn't tight enough to do anything more than feel Five's pulse thrumming across his fingers.

"And neither of you thought to get him a blanket?" said Allison, eyes narrowed. Diego looked away. Allison sighed, stood, grabbed the blankets at the base of the bed where they had been shoved off in such haste, and shook them out over Five. "Someone should get in the bed with him, he can't warm up without outside heat."

But she did not look enthusiastic about the idea. Instead, Allison stared at the nails on her left hand, still with blood under the edges and now a little blanket fluff. Diego looked at the bed grimly, and then at his bloody clothes. His hand tightened on Five's wrist.

"I'll do it," said Vanya into the answering silence. She toed off her shoes. "We haven't just patched him up for either of you to squash him in his sleep." She crawled onto the bare mattress next to Five, curling around him somewhat.

He was usually as tall as Vanya, Diego mused absently. Would probably end up one of the tallest. If he lived that long.

Vanya grabbed a blanket from the base of the bed and tucked it around both her and Five.

"He's like an icicle."

"This is when we need Klaus and his many overheating limbs," said Diego with something of a pout. "Where is he anyway?" Allison shrugged.

"I saw him disappearing out to the barn with a bottle and a torch."

"Trying to see if he could see Ben?"

"Trying not to see anything at all, I think," she said grimly.

"At least we know he can hold his breath," said Diego somewhat bitterly.

"Diego!"

He hadn't felt such affinity for his powers since he had first beat Luther in a swimming race, but here he was like a lost puppy looking for its buried bone. And the bitterness was only enhanced by the chanting in his mind, it wasn't him, it wasn't him - but it was someone.

"Someone should go find him," said Vanya before any arguments evolved.

Allison deliberately sat down beside the bed and closed her eyes. Vanya burrowed into the blanket.

"I'm helping him get warm," she said.

"It's not that cold out there."

"Colder than in here. And Five needs me."

"Five needs me too!"

Vanya just looked at him.

"Five will be fine, Diego," said Allison, eyes still closed. "Your absolutely essential role of holding Five's hand can wait a while." Diego scowled but did not let go of Five. Besides, it was his wrist, not his hand. If he had been holding the little gremlin's hand, Five probably would've woken up by now and bitten it off out of pure spite. "Go take a break. Find our wayward brother. Keep him from getting alcohol poisoning or burning down the barn."

"I don't think Klaus can actually die," said Diego, not looking at her, nor addressing the point. He did not want to bring up the fact that he was pretty sure if he let go of Five and stopped feeling that rhythmic heartbeat, the windows would start to smash around them.

"Vanya, just rumour him."

"I heard a rumour," began Vanya, and there was a quiet sigh from Allison.

"No – don't. Fine, it's fine, I'll go." And he removed his hand, finger by finger, from Five, not wanting to let go. It wasn't me. His legs were numb as he stood and he rolled his neck trying to get the cricks out. It must be nice, he thought looking at Five, to have a body that didn't seem to ache literally all the time.

As he left, turning on the hallway light outside the bedroom, he heard Vanya's quiet voice pipe up, muffled by the blanket.

"Allison?" said Vanya softly.

"Yeah?"

"I … think I know where we are."

Diego closed the door behind him. It seemed Vanya had the same weird feeling as he did. Something was lurking in the corner of his mind, making a hole in some fabric he didn't realise stretched across his vision.

But, practical needs must. Five needed to recover, Allison needed to get a life, and Klaus needed to be found before he drank himself stupid.

Only when he stepped into the lounge, he found himself with two options of possible doors. He could've sworn they took the smaller one, closer to the lounge. Only now?

Wait. Wait, no, no he knew this house.

"Guys?" he called over his shoulder. "You need to see this."

And he opened the door they had not come through.