6
It's Complicated
Allison couldn't believe what she was looking at. Yes it was a diner but a diner that was outdated probably around forty years ago, let alone seventeen. The winds were tinted in a layer of thin grime that Klaus ran his fingers through and drew a smiley face that looked so out of place that Allison wanted to laugh. The diner itself was as Five said located out of the city tucked in between a junkyard, where a foul smell emanated from it, and an abandoned car factory. The pieces of the cars looked like dark towers under the grey sky. It was backed onto an alleyway that Allison assumed Klaus had been talking about. This was no place to bring a child let alone anyone.
The diner's parking lot had two cars in it, including theirs and a few abandoned shopping carts upturned, the wheels occasionally turning with a squeak as the wind passed over them. The building was very reminiscent of the sixties, it reminded Allison of the sits in and the man who had poured coffee over her. She shook her head, trying to ignore that the shaky memories that wanted to overwhelm her.
She looked over to Five, he was staring at the diner with either a look of guilt or remorse.
"It's a," He began looking at the door that was crooked and looked like it was about to break off its hinges. The diner, despite having large windows was hard to see into because of the grime and let alone the dim lighting that emanated from inside.
"A shithole." Diego finished scuffing his steel cap boot into the ground.
"Maybe we could go somewhere else?" Luther suggested as he shut Hermes's door. The car looked out of place, just like them. Allison had never really known where she belonged. With Claire? With Ray? Or even with her family? She had hoped it would have been all three but that was a far cry from reality. She could only really have one of them at a time. She did plan to work on getting to see Claire, but it was hard when her ex-husband was trying to do everything in his power to stop her.
"No we came all this way for Five. It might be better inside." Vanya said heading towards the door.
"Yeah I hope." Five said rubbing his neck.
It turned out that it was not in fact better inside. It was dim and Allison could hardly see five feet in front of her. The upholstery was basic, leathered seats with fraying holes and stained plastic tables. There was light jazz music playing, coming from some speakers hung above the entranceway. There were two people inside, a man who was slumped over a table, various glasses surrounded him. One or two were knocked over, the liquid, probably beer, seeping into the floor creating a small puddle by his feet.
The other person was a woman standing near the entrance. She looked up when she heard the bell ring and saw the six of them. She was in her late forties with blond hair that flounced when she walked. Her apron had a printed logo of a waffle holding a spatula and frying something on a stove that Allison couldn't make out.
"Well we don't get a lot of customers here," She said to them. Her smile was all teeth. "Especially a large group like yours, do you guys want a table?"
"Yes, a booth maybe?" Allison asked before any of the others could.
The woman looked at her for a second and then shook her head muttering, "Can't be." Under her breath.
She let them near the bar to a booth which could easily sit the six of them. They all piled in and she ended up sitting in the middle next to Vanya and Five. Diego, Luther and Klaus sat on the opposite side. Luther and Diego didn't look very pleased that they were sat next to each other.
"I'll go and get some menus." She said and disappeared towards the back.
Allison looked over to Luther as he picked up the cutlery, his hands dwarfing the knife and fork. Klaus laughed as he picked up a napkin and began to fold the edges over.
"You sure know how to pick places. Five." Klaus said looking as he carried on folding the edges over.
"It didn't look like this 17 years ago." Five muttered.
"I know, I don't remember it looking like this either." Klaus agreed with him.
The woman returned and handed out the menus, Five had now buried his head into it.
She looked at her's and grimaced. There was a grease stain obscuring several of the foods. In the end she choose a burger and fries, not knowing if anything would taste any good. One by one, each of the siblings ordered and the woman wrote it down in her notepad, her pen working like clockwork. The only who hadn't ordered yet was Five, his eyes constantly scouring over the words.
"Hurry up Five! Or do you want a coffee?" Klaus said as he finished crafting his origami bird and placed it into the middle of the table.
Five looked over at him.
"Why on earth would I want coffee?" He muttered.
"If you're struggling to order sweetie, I got something special that Dave can cook up. It's been a long time since we had someone your age, that okay?"
Allison watched how Klaus tense at the name but her gaze turned back to Five, his face processing the woman's words like they were a mathematical equation.
"Fine, as long as you don't poison me." He said with a shrug.
The woman laughed at his blatant rudeness.
"Don't worry, Dave's the best chef. If he wanted to kill you, he wouldn't do it through his food." She said with a very morbid laugh, grabbing the menus and disappearing again. Allison didn't really want to find out what crimes Dave had committed.
Five scowled and leaned back into his seat looking very much like the moody teenager he was at the eyes drifted over to the bird and Allison felt like she was being judged as she stared at it.
"Klaus what's with the damn bird?" Diego asked, pointing at it.
"It's a gift for Five." Klaus said with a wave. "I've been getting into origami to distract myself from the drugs. It's done wonders for my concentration-,"
Allison tuned him out. She could see out of the corner of eye how much Diego and Luther were really enjoying Klaus's rambling.
"I don't want the bird." She heard Five mutter to himself.
The bird stayed on the table, a silent companion watching them.
"Five. Are you sure you don't want to change your mind, we don't know what the chef's giving you?" Vanya shooting Five a strained smile.
The boy shrugged. "It's food. I didn't really have a choice about food in the apocalypse."
"Oh Five, I'm sorry," Vanya said. A wave of familiarity washed over Allison, she sounded like the old Vanya it was almost scary.
"You don't need to apologise Vanya, you've done enough of that." Five said with a smile that he would never have had on his face if he was his older self.
Allison had often wondered if Five would ever talk about his time in the apocalypse, he had never really been one for talking but even now it was quite clear that the subject made him uncomfortable. However she could see how it had shaped him, she supposed one week would have been enough to affect anyone, let alone four months of forty-five years.
He needed some help to get through it and that was difficult because Five was the sort of person who thought he could could do everything by himself. Maybe she would talk to him when they were alone again and suggest therapy, but if he was his older self tomorrow would he even want that? The short answer was no but the longer answer more complicated, and complex. When they had first come back from the sixties to find the mansion standing, Five had reached for the newspaper and found the date sitting at the top, closely and like an old friend. 2nd April 2019, that date had been like a song that washed through them, liberating them.
They had spent the night playing music through the house from Luther's record player. There had been laughter and dancing, and alcohol or else Five would have probably stayed in his room. He had stayed watching them with a strained smile on his face, occasionally sipping his wine looking at them. None of them had asked or brought him to dance or else they would risk losing a finger and that was something neither of them had wanted.
However he had disappeared at the point where the music had become louder thumping through the house. Allison had needed to go the bathroom and headed upstairs to find him crouched over the stairs, his head clutched into his hands. She had tried to touch him but he had growled, and blinked away with a simple 'Don't touch me.' There were many moments like that over the next coming and before Allison had rumoured him she remembered the most recent.
She had a tough day, dealing with a phone call of Patrick because of course she had, it was late and she was heading to bed when Five had blinked in front of her. He hadn't noticed her in the dark, frantically searching for something. She couldn't remember what he had said but she was sure it was under the lines of 'where's the food?'. Allison hadn't touched him but he had reached out for a second on to her sweater. It was then that he had seemed to snap out of the trance, frowned down at where his hand was and then disappear again.
If she could help him anyway she could, she was sure her family would do the same. It was hard to admit but looking at him chatting with Vanya. It made her happy. The only person was missing was Claire and then she would feel complete.
Their food arrived around half an hour after an argument between Luther and Diego. They had quickly stopped when Five had been staring at them.
Much to her relief's Allison burger and fries looked relatively normal, well probably normal at a fast food restaurant. She had been expecting the fries to be all crusty. However the taste would be a different story.
As the woman handed out the rest of the dishes from her plate, Five's was the last. It was a gigantic pizza, the cheese oozing off the plate. As she placed it in front of the boy, Allison could see that his face had turned green.
They had never been allowed pizza as children, it always had to be healthy and nutritious meals. On the rare occasion that they had been allowed sugary snacks or drinks they had snuck out and bought themselves. Their Father had often believed that food with sugary snacks would often lead to ill behaved children. It was this belief that Allison would have thought that Five would be ecstatic with the idea of pizza, something he must not have ever had in recent memory. It was something that every child dreamed off, the gooey richness running down their throat. Five on the other hand, was looking even queasier.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" The woman joked in front of him.
Five tried to swallow but only stared at the looming pizza in front of him.
"You're a growing boy! Enjoy the pizza! I'll be back to check on you all later." The woman said and left them to their meals.
Allison looked at her brother, could this be to do with the apocalypse? His relationship with food wasn't very good? Her inner mother in her was telling her to help him eat, but how could she do that without interfering too much.
"It's massive." Five mumbled staring at the pizza as if he was going to disappear in front of him.
"You don't have to eat it all, even I've got to admit that's way too much food." Vanya said taking a bite out of her pasta dish.
Allison looked down at her fries and began to pick them up one by one. They tasted fine, but not something that screamed five star quality. The burger was the same as she took delicate bites from it, trying not to drop the inner fillings onto her plate. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Five had reached across with the pizza cutter and was beginning to pick up a piece. He held it in his hands unsure whether to take a bite from it. She placed the remainder of her burger onto the plate.
"It's not going to hurt you Five, try a small bite." She said offering a smile to her brother.
Five didn't reply but took the smallest bite out of the piece, it left barely a mark in the food. He began to chew slowly and his eyes lit up in delight, like it was the best thing he had ever tasted in his life. Which to be honest was probably true.
"It's good." He whispered more to himself than to anyone else. He took a few more bites chewing them so slowly as if his pizza was going to be taken away from any second.
"You can eat quicker Five." Vanya suggested.
Five looked at her and then at the pizza before shaking his head. "But then it won't last."
The truth of his words settled over in Allison in a firm thud. The apocalypse, food would have been scarce to come by. No wonder Five wanted to preserve what he had.
He was still eating his pizza as the rest of the siblings finished theirs. Five had made it through two slices and was now on third, taking his small bites. They weren't going too rush him and if he didn't want to eat any more well they weren't going to force them. Allison thought it might have been the first time either of his siblings had actually seen him eat something that wasn't coffee.
He gulped down his last bite than put the slice back down onto the plate.
"I don't think I can eat anymore." He mumbled looking across at Allison.
She wished he would eat more, but she wasn't going to force him.
"We can ask for take-out, I'm sure she won't mind." Allison suggested.
Five nodded and he looked a little happier that he didn't have to eat the massive pizza that was in front of them. Allison began to clear the plates up and placed them in the middle for the woman to pick up when they heard shouting come from the other end of the restaurant. The drunken man was awake and was pointing a finger at Five from across the room.
The shouting got louder as the man started to approach the table. Five stared at him scowling at him. What on earth did this man want? He looked at him. He was wearing a black suit with a checkered pin and was clutching a briefcase to his thigh, tightly like it was the only thing between life and death. Five noticed how all of his siblings seemed to tense up and looked at the man. He smiled down at Five, looking like a predator that wanted to eat him. Five only looked at him with another scowl. Who on earth did this man think he was?
"Why are the commission here?" Diego asked looking at the man with a grimace.
The commission? The place had he had worked at, was this someone who had worked with him? He stayed silent looking at the man. The man carried on grinning at him.
"I didn't think the rumours were true. The great Number Five turned into a kid!" He rubbed his face as he began to laugh. "Man if the others could see you now," His face froze for a second. "Well there aren't any others, your little friends made things sure of that didn't they?" He laughed again.
"Who are you?" Five asked. This man was crazy, but there were questions rising on his throat. What had happened between his siblings and the commission? He knew his siblings wouldn't probably tell him but he needed to know and this crazy man had the right answer.
The man cocked his head to the side looking at Five and smiled again. "You've forgotten me? Fiveee, I was your partner for months. Surely you can't forget my face," He pouted looking down at the boy. Five stared at him, wishing he had the memories of his older self but no recognition showed up his memory. This man was a stranger and there was nothing there.
The smile wiped of the man's face. "Well when they said you were a heartless bastard I thought that wasn't true. Looks like they were." He spat at Five.
It happened so quickly, there was a flash of silver and Diego had launched himself towards the man. His knife was pushed up against his throat and he pressed it into the skin. The man let out a laugh that bubbled through his mouth.
"He's just a kid, don't you dare." Diego growled. He pressed the knife even closer and a thin line of blood began to seep out from the man's neck.
"A kid? We all know you don't believe that," His words came out garbled like he was underwater. His blood dripped onto Diego's knife, staining the silver red before it oozed onto the floor. "He's killed thousands of people. He's a monster. Why do you think he was the most dangerous assassin of all time?"
Five's stomach twirled. He felt sick. He had killed people? Is that what the commission had been, killing people? Innocent people who had done nothing. He was a murderer. That knowledge settled within and he felt like he was going to be sick. He needed to leave. Five didn't think about his powers or even his family. He pushed past Vanya stumbling onto the floor. He didn't look back but heard his name being called from behind him, the man's laughter echoing from behind him. He needed to leave, he was a monster, a killer. Was that how he had gotten home? By killing thousands of people? Why would he do something like that?
He managed to stumble out of the diner and landed onto his knees in the parking lot. He clutched at his shirt and vest, feeling his heart beat louder and louder. He felt the grit on the car park on his hands and tried to remember what Vanya had said about breathing. He tried not to think about anything only staring at the ground on the floor. He wanted to clear his hand, so he could think but all he could think of the fact that he was a murderer.
He and his siblings had killed people before sure but they had been simple missions. They had been bad guys but this was different. He had killed innocent people and he didn't know who they were. He wondered if his older self recalled who they were, if he spent his time counting how many lives had been taken for the sake of him getting home. It almost made him wonder if that sacrifice had been worth it, if the apocalypse should have happened. He clutched at his head tighter and curled into a ball. He wanted to know who he had killed, but the thought scared him. To know that he would have been the last thing they had saw. His face staring down at them, knowing they were being murdered by a cold blooded killer.
Sobs racked through his frame and he began to rock on the floor. He didn't want to be a murderer. That wasn't him, but it was him! Nothing made sense again. As he rocked some more and tears appeared on his cheeks he felt a hold touch his shoulder. It was gentle, like a mother's. He looked up to see Allison above him. She sat next to him but kept her hand on his shoulder. He wanted to take it out but her touch felt comforting which was something he would never tell her.
"Why would I kill people?" He asked, his voice so small.
"You were an assassin who preserved timelines, I think. I don't know too much about it." Allison admitted with a sigh.
"To get home, I killed people? Allison I'm a murder—I-I don't deserve to live." Five said finally saying the truth that was winding up through his whole body. He should leave, once Allison rumoured him back. He would find a way to repent his sins one way or another.
Much to his surprise, Allison's head snapped up and she took hold of him by both shoulders and stared at him in the eyes. He remembered the younger version of Allison being like this, always positive and determined in their missions. It made him miss the other version of his siblings. The ones he had grown up with but now they were different and so was he. They could never go back to being who they were.
"Five Hargreeves, you time travelled your way back to this family. You had to do it, or else you would never get back. Yes you killed people, but it was an necessary evil. You're a hero. You helped us stop the apocalypse, you helped Vanya and because of you I met the most wonderful man I've ever known. So don't you dare say you don't deserve to live when you fought so much to stay alive." Her grip tightened and it was like she wanted to shake him to think about what he had said. He wanted to agree with, of course he did but the feelings were there.
"But I still killed them-," He said looking at her with a shake of his head.
"I know but Five all that matters now is you're here. I know we should have told you but I wasn't expecting to run into a commission agent I thought they were all dead." Allison muttered more to himself than Five.
"He mentioned that there was a fight, what happened?" Five asked.
Allison then took a moment to briefly explain what exactly had happened on that night. Five was sure she was leaving some details out but from what he understood, the agents had been out to kill him. He wanted to ask her for more but she was currently staring at the diner with a frown.
"We need to get back inside, the woman came out and saw Diego threatening the man. I left because we were afraid you were going to leave again." Allison said standing up and dusting her pants.
Five stood up with her. He wasn't going to leave, he was home and no matter what had happened he wouldn't leave. He had made that promise to himself.
"That man won't hurt Diego will he?" Five said as they began to walk back to the diner.
"No I think Diego might hurt him, his neck was bleeding quite badly. So come on kiddo." Allison patted his back.
Five wiped his tears and as they entered back into the diner. He looked up to see his pizza toppled on the floor. The other siblings watching as Diego and the strange man were fighting, the sound of knives and thuds coming from the two men. Five eyes widened and then in the distance, loud and thunderous police sirens began to fill the air.