𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves³

14│IF YOU MET MY FAMILY, YOU'D UNDERSTAND

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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘ. ᴘᴀɴ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴇᴛ ᴍʏ
ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ, ʏᴏᴜ'ᴅ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅ ꒱


❝ I COULD HAVE TAKEN EVERY
ONE OF YOUR ORGANS ❞

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"And when Five and I went to the Commission, everything just felt wrong," Alexa was explaining almost an hour later. At first, it had been hard to talk to the man she'd called her father but as time went on, she pretended like she was just talking to Klaus and it became easier.

The two Hargreeves siblings were sitting on the antique couch; the blonde had taken a seat at the opposite end (as far away from Reginald as possible.) She leaned her elbow on the armrest and fiddled with her fingers in her lap as she spoke. Klaus had stretched out on the cushions as he ignored his sister's complaining about having his dirty feet in her lap. Their father was sitting adjacent to the pair in a wingback armchair. He sketched in a notebook as he listened to the girl with half an ear.

"I tried to explain it to him— Five, I mean— that it was like someone had peeled off my skin only to put it back on the wrong way. I don't know, I've just never sensed an. . . echo of my power before. My powers have been acting weird ever since we landed in this timeline after the Sparrow's Number Eight broke my dome." She forced herself to look over at the older man, though he barely even noticed. His gaze stayed on the yellowed page in front of him. "Are you even listening?" she demanded.

"I'm hanging on to every word." He finally looked up, causing her eyes to fall to her lap again. "This is fascinating. Both of your experiences are. Ever since I've been off those damned pills everything has been fascinating."

He stood from his chair and walked across the room to where a box sat on a cluttered table. "I'd like to return the favor." Reginald turned around to face the siblings. "Help you to understand who you really are and to understand the inner workings of your powers. Would you like that?"

Klaus swung his feet to the floor to stand from the couch. "There's nothing I'd like more— other than a probiotic yogurt that doesn't make me fart."

Alexa eyed her father warily as the ever-present tingling under her skin intensified. The older man extended his arms exuberantly. "Then get over here, boy!"

Her brother grinned widely and let out a joyful giggle. "Okay." He closed the distance to wrap his arms around the other man.

The blonde's eyes widened as Reginald returned the gesture, but not quite in the way that Klaus had been expecting. One of his hands disappeared underneath his pale aqua jacket to attach the sticker of an electrode to his back. He faced the machine again to turn it on and— as usual— Alexa was too late. She was always too late.

Just as she opened her mouth to warn her brother, Reginald turned the machine on full blast. The electricity ripped through the long-haired man's skinny limbs, causing him to exclaim in pain. He suddenly went silent as he collapsed.

The girl sprang off the couch to kneel next to him. "Klaus!"

Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest, causing her to gasp for air. Her hands shook as she reached out to feel for a pulse against his neck. She could hardly concentrate long enough to count the beats, but her efforts were futile: there weren't any to be found. Tears pricked at her eyes as Ben's death came to the forefront of her mind.

Why did she keep failing the people that she was supposed to protect? She was two for two on dead brothers and both were her fault; she'd sensed that Klaus was walking into a trap but had been too afraid to speak up, just like what had happened with Ben.