"SORRY I LEFT without saying goodbye." Five said as he turned to Vanya.
"No, look, I'm the one that should be sorry." Number Seven said back guiltily. "Yeah, I was dismissive, and.." Five walked over to her as she continued, "I-I guess I didn't know how to process what you were saying."
"And I still can't, to be honest."
The boy looked at her sadly, but glanced at the wardrobe where his brother was, "Maybe you were right to be dismissive." He scoffed as he turned away, "Maybe it wasn't real after all." He glumly remarked.
"It felt real. Well.. like you said, the old man did say that time travel could contaminate the mind." He smiled sadly. Although it was all fake, Vanya still believed that he was giving up.
"Then maybe I'm not the right person you should be talking to." She said, "Look, I used to see someone. A therapist. I could give you her information. Or maybe Y/N can help you deal with it since you told her about it too?"
Five suddenly frowned genuinely from hearing Number Eight's name. After that night, all he wanted to do was have a rational conversation with her. But that seemed impossible after she saw him hiding Klaus in his wardrobe.
"Thanks, but.. I think I'm just gonna rest. It's been a long time since I've had a good sleep. And if you can't see it, Y/N and I aren't in good terms at this point." The boy responded with a sigh.
Vanya wanted to ask why, but she figured it was personal. "Okay." She sighed and exited the room.
When she did, Five watched her disappear from the door. Until he heard his wardrobe opening and his things were clattered on the floor. "That's so.." Klaus exclaimed as he struggled to get out, ".. touching, all that stuff about family and Dad and time and Y/N. Wow! But what happened between you and Y/N?" Klaus wondered. But gasped when he had a theory, "Did you two hook up?!" He asked in exclamation.
Five snapped at him, "Would you shut up? She'll hear you."
"Who? Y/N?" Klaus asked playfully.
The boy would be lying if he wasn't internally flustered. "Wha- No! Vanya." He corrected, "And nothing is happening between me and Y/N. Understand?"
"I'm moist." Klaus blabbered. Five looked at his brother from head to toe.
"I told you to put something professional." The boy scolded.
"What? This is my nicest outfit." Number Four whined as he motioned for his clothes that he was wearing.
Five sighed, "We'll raid the old man's closet."
"Whatever, as long as I get paid." Klaus said as they get out of Number Five's room.
"When the job is done."
"Okay, but just so we're clear about the finer details," Number Four continued, "I just gotta go into this place and pretend to be your dear old dad, correct?" He recalled.
"Yeah. Something like that." Five answered.
"What's our cover story?"
Five frowned, "What? What are you talking about?" He was dumbfounded.
"I mean, was I really young when I had you? Like, 16? Like young, and.. terribly misguided?" Klaus emphasized.
Five tried tolerating with it, "Sure."
"Your mother, that slut." Klaus spat, "Whoever she was. We met at.." he paused to think for a moment and grinned, ".. the disco." He chuckled. "Okay? Remember that. Oh, my God, the sex was ama~zing." He exclaimed.
Five was ridiculed. He wished that he didn't have him do it. But he had no choice at all. "What a disturbing glimpse into that thing you called a brain." He snarled as he continued walking towards their Dad's room.
"Don't make me put you in time out."
****
It was the afternoon. Y/N was invisible as she watched Allison rebuke at Vanya. She was supposed to be using the phone to call the station to let them know that she'll be wanting her last salary from them.
But then she heard Allison taking all her frustration and anger out of Vanya. It was all fine for when it was about her daughter, until..
"You separate yourself from everyone and everything. You always have." Until she heard Allison blaming her with everything.
"Because Dad made me." Vanya replied. Which is true. Their father couldn't even bother to include her in the family portrait. "Did Dad make you write that book about us, too?"
"Well, no," Y/N chimed in as she made herself visible. "It was her choice to do it. And you're hurt and angry about it because you know it's all true." The girl explained.
"What Vanya said was true. Dad made her separate herself from us. And you just went along with it. So don't be saying that she willingly separated herself from us, because it was all our fault that we didn't have the decency to include her in every way." Y/N sneered at Allison.
Number Three stayed silent. She didn't know what to say. Number Eight sighed, "Look, I know you've been longing to have your daughter in your arms. But please don't take your frustration out on her."
With that, she patted Vanya's back in a comforting way before she left. But her skirt had a lint that caught on a nail, causing her to come to a halt and tried pulling her skirt out of it.
When she did, it caused a rip on the side. She groaned as she continued walking away. Reminder: she thought, Take a new outfit from Gimbel brothers later.
And by take, she meant take.
****
"Like I said to your son earlier, any information about the prosthetics we build is strictly confidential. Without the client's consent, I simply can't help you." The doctor- who goes by the name Lance- explained to Klaus and Five.
They were in Doctor Lance's office, sitting in front of him. Demanding for the information about the glass eye. "Well we can't get consent if you don't give us a name." Five elaborated as he leaned on the table.
"Well, that's not my problem." The man simply replied, "Sorry. There's really nothing more I can do so-"
"And what about my consent?" Klaus chimed in. He started acting like a crazy father. Both Lance and Five gave him a look.
"Excuse me?" The doctor asked in bewilderment.
"Who gave you permission.." Klaus continued with his voice trembling, ".. to lay your hands on my son." He pointed out.
"What?" Lance and Five were both confused. The boy didn't know where this was going.
"You heard me."
"I didn't touch your son." The man in front of them defended.
"Oh really?" Klaus propped himself in his seat, "Well, then how did he get that swollen lip, then?" He stood up.
"He doesn't have a swollen-" Lance was cut off by Five's grunt when Klaus punched him square on the lip. The doctor gasped at the sudden act.
"I want it. Name, please. Now." Klaus demanded with a tone of threat as he leaned over on the desk. "You're crazy." Lance pointed out.
Number Four chuckled, "You got no idea." He looked down to see a snow globe that said 'Peace on Earth' and picked it up. "'Peace on Earth'. That's so sweet." He complimented and smashed it on his head out of blue.
"God, that hurt!" He groaned.
The doctor had enough if this, so Lance reached for the telephone beside him, "I'm gonna call secur-" but Klaus snatched the phone from him. "What are you doing?!"
Klaus started talking through the phone, "There's been an assault.." he whimpered, "in Mr. Big's office, and we need security, now. Schnell!" After that, he clattered the receiver on the desk carelessly and looked at Lance.
"Now here's what's gonna happen, Grant." Klaus began.
"It's... Lance." The doctor corrected.
Klaus continued, "In about 60 seconds, two security guards are gonna burst through that door, and they're gonna see a whole lot of blood," He told him, "and their gonna wonder, “What the hell happened?” And we're gonna tell them that you.. beat the shit out of us." He fake-cried the last bit as a threat and sobbed dramatically.
Five stood there, smirking in victory and ignoring the throbbing pain on his bottom lip. "You're gonna do great in prison, Grant. Trust me, I've been there. Little piece of chicken like you." Klaus remarked, "Oh, my God, you're gonna get passed around like a..." He paused and moved his hips in circles like a maniac, "You're just-- You're gonna do great. That's all I'm saying."
"Jesus, you are a real sick bastard." Lance spat.
Number Four took it as a compliment, "Thank you." He replied as he spat the shard of glass in his mouth.
With that, he led them to where the files were. Lance shakily opened the folder up from the file drawer and looked for the information Five needed. His face contorted into a frown after he did, "Oh, that's strange."
"What?" Five interrogated impatiently.
"Uh, the eye. It hasn't been purchased by a client yet." He answered. Klaus hopped over to the other side where Lance was, "What? What do you mean?" He asked as he circled around the doctor like a lion.
"Well, uh, our logs say that the eye with that serial number..." Doctor Lance looked at the folder again, "This can't be right. It hasn't even been manufactured yet. Where did you get that eye?"
Five sighed in disbelief. That's all he could do. All his thoughts landed into one word:
Shit.
****
The next thing they knew, they were walking out of the industry. "Well, this is not good." The boy stated.
"I was pretty good though, right? 'Yeah. What about my consent, bitch?'" Klaus chuckled proudly from what he did. But Five didn't have the same mood as his brother.
"Klaus, it doesn't matter." Five glowered.
"What? What? What's the big deal with this eye, anyway?" Klaus questioned ignorantly.
"There is someone out there who's going to lose an eye in the next seven days." The boy continued, "They're gonna bring about the end of life on this Earth as we know it." He finished as he turned away from his brother.
Klaus thought he was only being dramatic, "Yeah, can I get that 20 bucks, like, now, or what?"
Five glared at him, "Your 20 bucks?"
"Yeah, my 20 bucks." Klaus replied blankly.
"The apocalypse is coming, and all you think about is getting high?" Five snapped.
"Well, I'm also quite hungry. Tummy's a-rumblin'." Klaus mimicked the growling of a stomach when it's engulfed by hunger. Number Five's brows furrowed and frowned, "You're useless. You're all useless!" He exclaimed in frustration. With that, he sat himself down on a step on the stairs in front of Meritech's entrance.
Klaus followed, "Oh, come on. You need to lighten up, old man." Until he had one of the most ridiculous ideas run up to his head.
"Hey, you know, I've just now realized why you're so uptight. You must be horny as hell!" He laughed as he sat beside the boy. "All those years by yourself. It's gotta screw your head, being alone. You should have Y/N help you with that!" He teased.
"What is it with you trying to play matchmaker with me and her? And I wasn't alone during that time."
Klaus looked at him, "Oh? Pray tell."
Five stared at the view in front of him and explained, "Her name was Delores. We were together for over 30 years."
"Thirty years? Oh, wow!" Klaus chuckled in disbelief. "The longest I've been with someone was... I don't know, three weeks?" Number Four then started blabbering about looking for a place to sleep. But does Five care? No.
So he decided to spatial jump without him noticing. Klaus kept talking as if he was still there. Until he turned to look at the spot where Five was. "Five?"
Speaking of, Five appeared at the backseat of a taxi, which made the driver gasp and the boy noticed it. "Don't stop. Just keep going." He ordered. The driver obliged. When Klaus saw him, the boy saluted a 'so long' to him.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, what about my money?!" Klaus shouted as the driver kept going.
****
The rumbling of thunder can be heard where Five was standing. He was in front of Gimbel Brothers entrance, looking through the darkness in the other side of the glass door. It took him a moment to jump into the store since he still savoured the moment.
When he was in, he walked over towards a rack and picked up a flashlight. It illuminated as he switched it on. He pointed it everywhere as if he was looking for something.
Suddenly, he heard the hangers shuffle from his right. He pointed the flashlight to the direction where he heard it, but nobody was there. The boy was suspicious, but he continued looking around.
Little did he know the girl was there, too.
Y/N was there, finding herself a pair of jeans her size after she finished taking a pair of black old school Vans and a plaid shirt that was a little oversized. She really didn't have a problem of getting caught. She was using her invisibility power. And everything she touches, turns invisible with her if she wanted them to.
When she found a pair, she changed into it and folded her uniform properly. The question is, where was she going to put them?
Suddenly, a light was shone on the mannequin in front of her. For a moment, she got scared. Until she remembered that she was still invisible.
"Delores." She heard the voice of... Five?
What in the world is he doing here? Y/N questioned. Intrigued, she began watching the scene in front of her. She went closer in the process.
"It's good to see you." Five exclaimed. The girl looked at him and traced the direction where he was looking at. Y/N gave a questioning look. He's talking to a mannequin?
"I've missed you.. obviously" She heard him mumble. It was new to her to see him love and care for something.. or someone, in his perspective. Somehow, it softened her. She didn't know why, it just did.
"Well, I... It's been a rough couple of days." He said to Delores.
Suddenly, Five saw two people wearing goober masks holding a gun. Y/N didn't see them, but she heard the gun being cocked. "No!" Five shouted as they started shooting.
Here we go again.. The girl thought.
Five ducked and hid behind one of the racks. Both of the shooters were shooting mannequins nonstop. Y/N was fast enough to catch the upper body of Delores. She took it with her and hid on the other side across where Five was hiding.
"Oh shit, it's them." She heard Five exclaim.
"Five!" She called out. The boy turned to the direction where he heard her voice as she made herself visible. The girl motioned for him to come to her.
He took the chance to go when they were barely shooting. Y/N gave him Delores as they ran behind another group of mannequins to hide. Five looked at Delores for a moment, "I'll be right back for you."
The girl rolled her eyes, "Alright enough with the chit chat for a while. We have to get outta here." She shouted from all the noise in the background as she pulled Five along with her. The boy used his spatial jump ability with Y/N.
The armed people once again started shooting when they felt movement. Five and Y/N landed on the other side of the department store. The both of them parted ways as they ran and dodge the bullets.
These idiots are simply trashing this whole place by wasting their bullets. Y/N thought to herself as she made herself invisible when she was behind them. They were busy trying to shoot Five that it felt sudden to they when she clashed their heads together.
"Hey, watch it!" One of them exclaimed.
"Me? You're the one who clashed into me!" The other one argued.
"None of you did," The girl cut in as she stood in front of them. "The both if you are just plain idiots."
With that, they started shooting at her. Though it was too late when she turned herself invisible again. "That must be Y/N. The one who the Handler keeps on talking about. Take care of her and I take care of the other. Shoot anything that moves." One of them– who Y/N figured is a woman– ordered to her partner.
When the girl heard their plan, she looked at the mannequins that were still standing and used her telekinesis to make them fall. The one with the blue mask started shooting but she was nowhere to be seen.
She figured the man can be easily distracted. So she motioned for an item to the guy with her mind. The guy saw it and took it, "'Elastic Wrist Splint'. Yes!" He exclaimed.
Five, on the other hand, grabbed a gardening tool and jumped beside the one with the pink mask. He slashed the tool on her shoulder, causing the woman to bleed and fall down.
The blue-masked guy started shooting at his direction. Until the girl gave him a calf kick. The guy groaned as he felt the painful, sudden pressure on his calf. He was still shooting randomly, but he could barely stand straight.
Soon, Number Eight and Number Five met up in the middle of the store. He grabbed her hand and jumped. They landed where Delores was nearby. The armed people saw movement from them and started shooting once more.
They never stopped running until they were back to where they hid in the first place. Five grabbed a bag and put the mannequin in there whilst Y/N kept look out. Once he zipped the bag, he took Y/N's hand once again and ran along when they weren't shooting. The girl got out of balance and sprained her ankle, but she didn't care. All she cared about was getting out of the place, alive.
The guy with the blue mask started shooting when he saw them running. The two of them were like a couple of mice being chased by a cat.
Five was supposed to jump when they turned left. But he couldn't. Literally. "Shit! Come on!" They had no choice but to run.
But they were already cornered. The one with the pink mask pointed her light that was attached to her gun on the boy and the girl. "Got 'em!" She exclaimed.
She didn't took her eyes off of them until they heard sirens. When the woman looked back, they were gone. "The bastard jumped with her again." The guy stated in defeat.
"Come on, let's go."
What they didn't know, was that they were only hiding in the counter and all of the cops outside were only illusions that were made by Y/N. They panted like dogs as they waited for them to leave. Five held Delores like there was no tomorrow for comfort.
Their hands were intertwined together, but they were too tired to acknowledge that.
The girl sneaked a peek, "I think they're– AH!" She was cut off by her own yelp as she tried to stand up but she crouched back down again. She forgot about her sprained ankle.
"You alright?" Five asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. It's just a sprain. Could you please grab me an ice pack and an elastic bandage if they have any?"
Five obliged, "Sure, I'll be right back." He stood up, but not fully. That's when he noticed his hand was entwined with hers. "Uh.. Y/N?" The girl looked at him obliviously and hummed in response. The boy awkwardly glanced at his hand Y/N was holding as a gesture for her to let go.
When she saw them tangled together, her eyes widened in embarrassment as she let go of it immediately, "I'm sorry."
****
The boy returned with the supplies Y/N requested and handed them to her. "Thanks." She said as she wrapped the ice pack around with a piece of cloth near her and placed it on the sprain.
Silence took over the whole place as they waited. The girl decided it was the right time to talk about that night. "Listen, I.." Five's attention turned from looking out for Delores to Y/N as she began.
"I'm sorry about last night. You were just trying to save the world from the apocalypse and I said no when you asked for help. I've been selfish, I'm sorry for that." She finished.
Five smiled weakly, "I'm the one that should be sorry. I shouldn't have said that you don't belong with us then. I was too caught up with that desire, I didn't think about your feelings. I've been selfish, too."
"Guess we're even, then?" Y/N replied with a smile. With that, she held up her fist for him, "Truce?"
"Truce." Five responded as he bumped his own fist to hers. She was glad things got along smoothly as she hoped for.
"So, what do we do about this apocalypse?" The girl asked as she wrapped her ankle with the bandage. The boy frowned, thinking about what happened a while ago with Klaus.
"Well, I tried figuring out who or what caused it." Five said. He took the glass eye out of his pocket and showed it to Y/N. "I found this when I was in the future, it was in Luther's grasp when all of you... you know what I mean." Five emphasized. Y/N wasn't surprised when he said they were all dead and he was still standing. It was the apocalypse after all and Five just travelled through time.
"I went to Meritech to get some information about the eye a moment ago. But it all went downhill when I found out it hasn't even been manufactured yet." He explained.
The girl nodded in understanding. It was actually relieving for Five that she actually understood what he was saying. But he still thinks no one could do anything to help.
After seeing what the future was ahead of them, he felt hopeless about them. Like the world relies on him and him only.
Of course, Y/N couldn't help but read his mind. "Five.."
"You know what, let's get ourselves back home. It's been a long day." Five muttered as he stood up. He knew she read his mind when she began. Y/N just agreed silently even though she didn't get to talk about what was in his mind.
****
They just got up to the upper floor in the academy, tired and stressed. Five carried his mannequin in the bag as he headed for his room. Y/N was limping like she had a rock in her shoe, trying not put too much pressure on her sprain. Their sweat dried out on their skin and both of their hair's a mess.
"Five?" They heard Allison call out.
"Y/N?" Luther followed as they both see the two of them looking like they were ambushed. Because they were.
"What the hell happened to you two?" Allison questioned like a mother. Y/N would've answered that, but not tonight. Five looked at them in sorrow.
"Are you okay? Can we help?" Luther asked as he reached out for the strap of Five's bag. But the boy stopped him with a hard grip on Number One's wrist. "There's nothing you can do." Five quietly said.
"There's nothing any of you can do."