Here's the eleventh chapter! I really hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think! Next up is the epilogue!
November 1, 1961 (Luther)
"Can I ask you something?"
Pouring two cups of tea for each of them, Vienna nodded with a small smile. Five was off doing God knows what, Allison and Klaus were at work, and Ben was upstairs working on his new article for the society page. Diego kept disappearing at random intervals, though he'd only told Five knew what he was up to. Which left Luther and Vienna in relative peace, with the exception of the occasional evil cackle from Ben drifting through the ceiling. "Of course," Vienna replied, adding half a teaspoon of sugar to her cup, "I don't suppose this has anything to do with my relationship with your brother?"
"How… did you sense it?" Even after a year of living with her, most of the Hargreeves still startled whenever Vienna managed to just feel that something was going to happen. Once, Luther had dropped a piece from her precious tea set, only for it to land safely in the sink full of dishwater. Apparently, Vienna had just felt the need to do the dishes. But he still wasn't used to it.
Vienna chuckled. "Five left ten minutes ago and you've been sitting in silence since," she stated, daintily taking a seat, "It wasn't the most difficult of deductions." Taking a sip of her tea, she frowned and added another half teaspoon of sugar. She gave it a light stir, took another sip, and sighed contently. "Does this have anything to do with the pretty redhead from the club?" It was far more of a statement than a question. "Klaus saw you speaking with her."
"It's just… how can you be sure you love each other," he asked, Vienna's eyebrows shooting to her hairline, "Do you… fuck, I don't know, we never see you guys act like the couple we all know you are, and I don't know how you can tell what he feels if he doesn't show you, you know?" Because over the course of the year since they came back to Dallas, Luther could honestly say that he'd only seen barely existent glances once or twice between his brother and the Lacroix scion. It sometimes seemed as though they'd never even met, as though they were only strangers acknowledging each other's presence.
A deep sigh accompanied rolling eyes and the clink of teacup meeting saucer. "While it really isn't any of your business, Five shows me he loves me every day," she divulged carefully, unsure of how much she was willing to share as well as how much Luther would be able to hear, "Ours is a quiet courtship, conducted only between the two of us, in the form of subtle gestures."
"You're fourteen."
"True, but Five and I are familiar with one another," Vienna explained, "We agreed that while we wait for my acceptance of his proposal, we'd take it slow, reacquaint ourselves."
"While you wait for what?"
July 26, 1962 (Diego)
The world was a horrible place. Fate was a cruel creature. His brother's girlfriend would be the absolute death of him. The ire he felt, which was already fueled by the former three, was only enhanced when he stormed into the house he'd been sort of staying in for the past two years, figurative guns blazing. Because his aforementioned brother, and the bane of his existence, barely even looked up. As though he wasn't ready to just about murdered the petite brunette. No, they calmly kept going as though he wasn't even there. Five, with his paper opened on Ben's society article, and Vienna, with her daily crossword. "I swear to God, Five if you don't control your woman—"
"She is not my possession, Diego, it's not my job to watch every step she takes," Five replied drolly, "But if it'll make you feel better, we'll pretend I asked what happened."
Fuming, Diego pointed wildly at Vienna. "Little miss she-devil over there set me up on a blind date," he roared, enraged by his companions' disinterest in his state of emotional distress, because God damnit, it was all Vienna's fault, "Now, Lila won't talk to me, and I have no fucking clue how to find her and explain that I wasn't even aware that it was a date!"
A moment of silence. "Fuck." Five slapped ten dollars into Vienna's open hand. He glared at his brother, though there was no real malice in it. After all, his girlfriend's plan had worked as she'd said it would. More often than not, he bet against her just for the sake of seeing her satisfied smile when she was proven right.
"Well, I did tell you so," Vienna laughed, "Lila proved to be an excellent accomplice."
Both Five and Diego paused, slowly turning to face her. "I'm sorry," Diego said carefully, "I thought you said Lila was an accomplice."
"Well, duh." Shaking her head in exasperation, Vienna smirked at them both. "No girl likes being kept a secret for too long, Diego, darling." He looked as though he'd been struck by lightning or something, clearly stunned by the revelation that Lila had wanted him to tell his family that he was seeing her. Again, Vienna shook her head. Men. Honestly, did she have to spell it out to him? "Why don't you go ask her to marry you before she decides you're not worth the wait," she suggested idly, "Or is that ring you've been carrying around for someone else?"
Five finally put his paper down, eyebrows raised in surprise. Then he gazed lovingly at Vienna, who winked at him. God, if she wasn't his perfect match, who was?
Diego stood shakily. "I'll… I, uh, have something I need to do."
August 12, 1963 (Allison)
Hand in the crook of her husband's arm, Allison walked along the streets of Dallas, relishing in taking a break from the hectic salon. When she'd opened it up with Klaus six months earlier, it had been met with a lot of controversies. A salon open to black and white alike, where prices depended on what the customer came in for rather than the color of their skin, was something unprecedented. Because of the persuasive nature of Hurricane Vienna though… people started going there.
The girl was a marvel and Allison was so incredibly proud to call her a friend. Though Five rarely left Vienna's side, there were times when he left his girlfriend and sister alone. Allison felt honored in those moments, knowing it was a privilege on its own that he trusted her to take care of Vienna when he wasn't there. At first, she'd been unable to ignore the strange looks they would get walking together out in the open. Then she noticed how people started acting differently the moment Vienna opened her mouth.
For a long time, Allison had been bothered, thinking people only talked to her because Vienna was there. They seemed to notice that there was something special about her, as though they could smell that she was born into a prestigious family. But then they started stopping her when she went grocery shopping alone, asking how she was doing or if she'd like to get a cup of coffee someday.
As she walked with Ray, they greeted several white men and women pleasantly, receiving a pleasant greeting in return. Unfortunately, not all had adopted the same attitude as their peers.
"Did you hear?"
Allison glanced over her shoulder, spotting two elderly ladies sitting on a bench.
"What?"
"According to Molly at the bank, Miss Vienna's last name is Stein!"
"As in Samuel Stein, the technology mogul?"
"Yes!"
"I knew that girl was special, too bad she spends her time with negroes."
Turning on a dime to defend herself, and Vienna, Allison found that she wouldn't have to. A head of light brown locks was already behind the ladies. Five was leaning against a streetlight a few feet away, an air of careful disinterest about him, as though he wasn't watching every move the older women made.
"Forgive me, aren't you Agatha Turner," Vienna asked lightly, smiling even though there was something about her expression that made the women wary, "You're facing bankruptcy, aren't you?" She nodded, as though Agatha had replied to her question. "With your attitude, that's understandable, isn't it?" The woman looked so insulted that Vienna had to fight to stop from laughing. If they wouldn't be polite, at the very least, to Allison and other black men and women, they didn't deserve to be treated politely either. "You know, if you stopped believing in segregation and opened up your shop to people of all colors, your business would be booming."
The lady beside Agatha looked at her friend hesitantly. "You know, Aggie, anyone who is anyone supports the Civil Rights Movement," she said carefully, glancing at Vienna, "Miss Stein is entirely correct, your attitude is atrocious."
"My attitude?"
Vienna walked back to Five as the women started arguing with each other, taking his outstretched hand. Just before they turned the corner, she turned around and winked at Allison and Ray.
Ray shook his head. "Your brother's lady is something else, isn't she?"
"She is," Allison agreed, "While I'd like it if people stopped supporting segregation because it's the right thing to do rather than for profit, it's a start." But there was only so much even Vienna could do. As long as white folks around Dallas kept showing their support, for selfish reasons or not, times would keep changing. And while it was unfair that things needed to change at all, since all people of all skin tones should've been equal from the start, any change for the better was a change worth celebrating.
April 5, 1964 (Klaus and Ben)
Five set down the paper bags with lunch from Stadtler's Restaurant on the table where Klaus and Ben were waiting for him. He waved at Allison, who was still working in the salon. His brothers eagerly tore into the bag, practically fighting each other to get to the food first. He rolled his eyes. The world wasn't ending anymore. They had time. "Yeah, keep at it, you might choke and rid this world of your idiocy," he snarked, reaching out to grab a sandwich before they left him without food at all.
"What's got you in a mood," Ben asked, frowning as he slowed his bites, "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed today or something?"
Nudging him, Klaus pointed toward the corner store. "I think you've got your answer there."
All three brothers looked to where Vienna was smiling pleasantly, laughing as the flock of vultures, otherwise known as teenaged boys, pranced around her. It was obvious to everyone watching that they were trying their damndest to impress her, all of them simpering fools in the face of her enchanting smile.
Five turned back to his sandwich. "Vienna's her own woman," he stated, "I have no control over who she does or doesn't speak to." Absently, he wondered if his chicken sandwich would be better without mayonnaise the next time he ordered it. It wasn't that he didn't like mayo, it's just…
"You can't honestly say you're unaffected," Klaus scoffed, "I mean, even I'm jealous when another guy talks to Dave."
With a nod of his head, Ben put his fork down, temporarily ignoring his carbonara in favor of looking skeptically at Five. "If I had someone as great as Vienna, I'd be jealous."
"Klaus, you're only jealous because you and Dave aren't together yet," Five stated, "He doesn't even know you like him, which leaves him available to anyone who's interested." Scraping as much of the mayonnaise off as he could, he wondered if maybe the meatball sub would be a better choice after all. He knew Vienna preferred that one, and she'd never steered him wrong before, so he really should've— wait, where was he going with the conversation? Right! "I don't have that problem with Vienna," he continued, "At the end of the day, I'm the one kissing her goodnight."
As if on cue, Vienna broke free from the group of boys, heading over to the Hargreeves brothers. "Hi," she greeted, leaning down to press a quick kiss to Five's lips, "I have to go get the fabric samples from Madame Celine's, so I can't stay." After all, she'd been busy helping Lila with preparations for the wedding. That didn't mean she couldn't check in on her favorite people in the few moments she had to spare. "It's the last detail before she's completely satisfied, so once she picks them up I'll be all yours," she said, barely containing a smirk when Five's hand on her hip tightened almost imperceptibly, "Klaus, why don't you ask if Dave wants to come over for dinner tonight?"
He nodded dumbly, eyes wide as Vienna kissed his brother once again before she ran off.
October 9, 1965 (Vanya)
Until their arrival in Dallas, Vanya had never dared to consider a life where she would be free to go wherever she wanted. Her childhood had been spent in a figurative prison and the beginning of her adulthood had been restricted by pills she never needed. As a Dallas resident, she had a family who loved her, powers she could control.
The adventure they'd been through with Five almost five years prior, chasing his memories across the world, had led to her discovering that she wanted to travel. And with Ben working as a columnist, then reporter, for the local paper, Vanya had an in. So, funded by the paper, she traveled the world on her own. She'd write about the places she saw, and Ben would submit her articles to the editor.
Not that her life was the only one changed by the jump back in time, she thought as she looked around the dining room. Allison and Diego had gotten married. And though Ray still wasn't used to them all, Lila was an active member of the family, appearing at every birthday, well, all three of them. Klaus was in a tentative courtship with Dave, though he was nervous to introduce the man to the family. Even Luther was seeing someone, a pretty redhead he'd met working as a bouncer at the local gentlemen's club. Only Vanya herself and Ben remained single.
Then, of course, there was Five. He'd always been snappy with them, something she doubted would ever change. Since he'd left the Commission, stopped the apocalypse, and settled down with Vienna, he was calmer, more at ease. Just over a week earlier, he'd turned eighteen, while the rest of them turned thirty-four. Maybe. Time travel made it difficult to keep track of age. In three short weeks, it was Vienna's turn.
One would have to be blind to ignore how big of an impact she'd had on Five. Argumentative, asshole-y Five, the one Vanya had grown up with, was positively obedient when it came to the girl he treasured above all else. He'd smile, even laugh, more often than ever before.
Grabbing the bowl of potatoes as it was passed to her, Vanya felt content. She was proud. Not just of herself, but all of them. They'd come so far. In the original timeline, they'd been shattered, hating each other while grieving the brother who'd died and the one who'd gone missing. In their new one, their lives were simple. No more heroes, no more hatred. Just happiness.