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SEVENTEEN YEARS EARLIER
THE HARGREEVES CHILDREN stood, bouncing on their toes at the bottom of the winding staircase, ready to complete their newest exercise presented by their father. Minerva was no different as she swallowed thickly, rolling her shoulders trying preparing herself for their supposed dead-sprint up the stairs. She'd never been the best at cardio and she did not want to face their father's repercussions for not meeting his expectations and she'd bet all the money in her small stash she'd gathered over the years, the others were thinking the exact same thing.
At the top, their father and Vanya were to wait until they finished the exercise.
Their sister blew the whistle and off they went.
They pushed and shoved each other to get to the top first. No surprise, Luther caught the lead by a long shot until Diego caught up a few seconds later. Meanwhile, Minerva stayed in the middle of the pack just behind Five and in front of Allison until the former took her hand and teleported them far ahead of the others.
"That's not fair, Five and Minerva cheated!" Diego shouted in frustration as the two took the lead.
"They adapted, teamwork is a vital part of working together to achieve the end goal," Reginald responded blandly.
Once they reached the top gasping for breath, Five and Minerva finishing first with the others close behind, Minerva smiled at Five, nudging him lightly with her shoulder. He glanced at her, seemingly unbothered. 'Thank you,' she mouthed to him as Reginald commented on their performances.
Five shrugged, brushing it off as nothing. "Don't think too much about it," he whispered back.
Being around her always made him feel off. He'd never had trouble with emotions until about a year ago when he'd started to notice how her eyes crinkled a little whenever she smiled or whenever she was nervous she'd fiddle with her long brown hair that would be tied in a braid. At first, he thought she was using her powers on him for kicks and giggles. His first solution was to avoid her like she was a sickness. He was obviously failing and it terrified him.
Emotions weren't something that he could solve an equation and fix. No, emotions were her fortè so how could he ask the problem for a solution? Simple, you didn't.
Five flexed his hands, brows furrowing at his thoughts. Why couldn't this be simple?
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A few weeks later they were all called downstairs by their father for something important. At first, Minerva was confused, they were supposed to be studying for another hour before they ate together.
