Chapter three! It's a little shorter than the rest, but hopefully it brings some insight into what's going on with Five. Let me know what you think!

Again, the landing was a lot softer than the Hargreeves family had anticipated. Several of them nearly inhaled mouthfuls of sand. Five let out several muttered curses, aimed both at himself and the voice in his head that just wouldn't shut up. Egypt was not a good place to be. The Sphinx was bound to be crawling with tourists, especially in the middle of the day. But as he looked around, he found that he couldn't actually see the Great Sphinx. Was it possible… no. But there it was. The tip of the largest pyramid. He couldn't see the Sphinx because it was buried. In the very same sand they were standing on. They were on top of the biggest statue ever made.

"Let me guess," Klaus exclaimed, "We're stuck in the middle of nowhere." The sun stood high in the sky, impossibly hot. They had no shelter and he was pretty sure they had no water. If they did, it wouldn't last very long. Even Klaus knew that they needed to find shelter, shade. Thankfully, Diego was still wearing Luther's huge coat. With some creativity, they could probably make a tent of some sort. He said as much, tugging the gray fabric off Diego's shoulders. But Five held up his hand.

"We don't actually have to stay out here," he said thoughtfully, "If we're in Giza, then there should be some chamber or something in the pyramids where we can hide."

"The Great Pyramid contains this chamber…"

Hands clenching into tight fists, Five tried to resist being baited. He couldn't. "No one asked for your input," he whispered harshly, "Leave." Shaking his head, he took a deep breath to regain control of his spiraling temper. His siblings were watching him warily, but he ignored them. There was no time for them to worry about him. "Let me just rest for a while," he continued, louder for them to hear, "I don't think I can take us through another vortex anytime soon, but I should be able to get us into the chamber."

"Do you actually know how to find the chamber," Vanya asked carefully, not wanting to offend him when he was already in a mood, "I mean, it hasn't even been discovered yet."

"I'll find it." He didn't know how, but he knew he'd get them there safely. The thought felt familiar, and though he couldn't remember being inside the Pyramid, he knew what it looked like. Maybe he'd seen a picture. Five dug through one of the bags, finding the bread they'd opened the day before in Peru. He grabbed two slices for himself and then handed it off to Allison, who divided it fairly among the others

Luther studied the tip of the Pyramid worriedly. "Are you sure we should go in there," he asked, "What if there are traps?"

"Or ghosts," Klaus supplied, "We got lucky with that Macky Picky place."

Five pinched the bridge of his nose, lying down in the sand. He was likely to get a severe sunburn. He didn't particularly care. "It'll be fine," he assured them, mostly to shut them up, "It's just until I can get the energy to get us out of here." He needed to figure out why the voice was taking him to places they couldn't stay for a longer period of time. Landmarks, places that in their time were tourist hot spots. What did it all mean?

"… it was the height of the Khmer empire…"

He groaned, momentarily contemplating just letting himself choke on the sand to shut up the voice. The distrust was growing palpable, and he wondered how much longer his family would trust him to take them to safety. The heat was suffocating and he longed for darkness to fall. It would get cold fast when it did, but by then he would be able to get them inside.

While the others discussed Five's all the more strange behavior, Diego noticed a figure lurking behind a nearby sand dune. Before he could get up to see what it was, Five turned his head toward them.

"There's something I should probably tell you."

The siblings exchanged glances. Five being willing to tell them something was almost as ominous as him not telling them things. There was no telling which direction it could take. Allison eyed her brother. He looked weary, tired. She'd seen him muttering to himself, speaking to someone only he could hear. How much damage had the apocalypse done? How much trouble were they in? She wished she could ask, but whenever she opened her mouth to say something, not a sound escaped. Allison missed her voice. She prided herself on being a fairly reasonable woman. And if Five was going through something, she wanted to be able to talk to him and help him.

"I have this… voice, in my head," he admitted, eyes closed, "It broke my focus, that's why we're here."

Klaus pouted. "I wish the voices in my head would take me places," he grumbled, arms crossed over his chest, "That'd be way more fun." He was met with incredulous stares from everyone and held his hands up in defense. Tough crowd. But what was he supposed to say? They were stuck in the desert, with no shelter and a brother who was practically passed out all the time because it took a lot of energy to get them where they weren't even supposed to go.

Luther ignored Klaus. "Is that what happened when you took us to Machu Picchu?" Five nodded tiredly. "But what does that mean?"

"If I knew that, Number One, do you really think we'd be here?"

Before a fight could break out, Allison and Vanya stepped between them. Five needed rest, Luther needed a better attitude. Did it suck that they were stuck in the desert? Yes. Was there anything they could do about it until Five was ready to take them away from there? No. Vanya sighed, watching Five. He lay back in the sand again, eyes closing once more. The voice in his head… who did it belong to? "Maybe we should do what it says," she suggested quietly, "Clearly, it's not about to stop."

"You're insane."

"Actually, that's Five."

"Shut up, Klaus."

Ignoring Klaus and Ben, Vanya shrugged. Both Allison and Luther looked at her as though she was indeed out of her mind. But what other options did they have? Someone or something was pulling them to different places around the world. Often in time to get them away from the Commission. She knew better than to ask what the worst thing that could happen was. But from where she was standing, or sitting, but that didn't matter, Five wouldn't be able to go anywhere of his own choosing until they figured out what the voice wanted.

While the others discussed what to make of Five's revelation, Diego rounded the dune, disappearing from sight. What he saw on the other side had him pulling a knife out. The woman was there. He grabbed her immediately, holding the sharp edge to her throat. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Jeez, are all the members of your family so… stabby?"

He was taken aback by her British accent, almost losing his hold on her. What in the holy fuck? "I won't ask again."

"I was really hoping you'd be the tiny one with all the hostility."

"Why?"

"I'm Lila," she said, feeling the edge of the blade press into her skin, "I work for…"

"The Commission, we know," Diego interrupted, "I'm not going to let you take Five."

Lila laughed nervously. "I don't actually want to take him," she explained, "There's something he needs to know and I—"

"I don't want to kill you," Diego grumbled, "Five won't care, so I politely suggest you leave before he finds out that you're here." He shoved her away from him, hard enough to put distance between them but not so hard that she became visible to the others. She opened her mouth to protest, only to snap it shut when he lifted the knife, ready to strike. With a grimace, she picked up her briefcase and disappeared.

Klaus groaned obnoxiously, stomping his foot. "How much longer do we have to stay out here," he asked impatiently, "Do you have any idea how bad all this sunshine is for my unblemished pallor?" He saw Diego coming toward them and furrowed his brow. "Where'd ya come from?"

"Had to take a leak."

Nose wrinkling, Klaus turned back to his uninterested audience. "As I was saying, we need to get out of the sun," he continued, spreading his arms wide, "I don't wanna die out here!"

"Oh for fuck's sake," Five growled, standing up, "Fine, hold on."

Allison eyed him uncertainly and Vanya nodded in agreement. "Are you sure," she asked, "We can wait." Silently, she couldn't help but agree with Klaus' sentiment. It was hot, none of them had sunscreen and they didn't have enough water to last in the heat for too long. But Five wasn't well and they could all see it. "Can you take us there without… you know?"

"Without the voice in my head taking us somewhere else?"

Vanya nodded.

"I don't know," Five spat, holding out his arms so they could grab on, "Let's find out."

It wasn't as dark inside the chamber as he'd expected. There was some sort of holes in the ceiling that allowed light to enter and shed some light on the room. It was still warm, but the lack of direct sunlight helped immensely. "We shouldn't stay here for more than a few hours," Luther whispered, "Five you should be able to… Five?" Squinting in the faint light, he could make out a form on the floor in the darkness similar in size and shape to his shortest brother. "Is he?"

"Sleeping," Klaus replied quietly, "Did he always sleep this much?"

Vanya shook her head. "No, but he hasn't always dragged all seven of us through time and space either," she defended, "He's done a lot for all of us, the least we can do is let him sleep when he needs to." Of all her siblings, she'd always felt closest to Five. He was stand-offish and rude and condescending, but he would stop at nothing to make sure that all of them were safe, as proven by his turning into an assassin to be able to get what he needed to rescue them from the apocalypse. Her apocalypse. Vanya hoped they'd be able to settle down soon, so she could work on controlling her powers. But while she wanted to gain control of herself, she didn't want to pressure Five. Or the others, for that matter, but Five in particular. Whatever the voice wanted, it was important enough to interrupt him mid-travel. After everything he'd done, she wanted to return the favor. If finding out where the voice had come from was the way to do that, so be it.

"What do you think he's dreaming about," Ben asked, lifting his eyes from Five to glance at the others, "His finger's twitching."

"Maybe he's killing us all for watching him sleep," Diego suggested sharply, "It's probably his trigger finger." As if stung, everyone moved over to the other side of the chamber, putting as much distance between them and Five as possible.

But he wasn't dreaming about killing them. No, his dream was bright and vivid, peaceful in a way none of his dreams had been in many years, if ever. He could hear a genuinely joyous laugh, could see the accompanying smile. It was so bright he swore it outshone the sun. And it was warm, warm and happy. Infectious, he thought, because it made him want to smile too. A different smile, one that he couldn't place, but a smile none the less. He was completely and utterly entranced.

"Back when Angkor Wat was built…"

"Holy shit." Klaus shared a glance with his siblings as Five opened a vortex. He wasn't even awake yet. What the fuck was going on? There wasn't much use in asking the question, of course, as there was no one available to answer. All they could do was grab hold of their brother and let him take them away to the next location, even though they had no idea where exactly that was.