His Only Fear - Five Hargreeves x |Fem| Reader

I Don't Need Help

"Shit," Vanya finally muttered when they both sat down with their mugs of coffee. Vanya was in an armchair, and Five sat at the end of the couch again.

"I survived on scraps. Canned food, cockroaches, anything I could find." Five chuckled, but you were angry - angry at Allison for putting you to sleep and making him go through that alone, angry at yourself for agreeing to go with him in the first place. Maybe if you hadn't, he would have stayed, and grown to become normal like the rest of your siblings... if that's what you could call them. "You know that rumor that twinkies have an endless shelf life? Well, it's total bullshit."

"I can't even imagine," Vanya whispered, her eyes turning concerned.

Why does everything have to be so blurry, you thought angrily as you continued to watch the conversation through slit eyes.

"You do whatever it takes to survive, or you die." He took a deep breath. "So we adapted. We took whatever the world threw at us, and we found a way to overcome it."

"'We'?" Vanya asked, speaking your thoughts out loud.

"You got anything stronger?" Five asked, ignoring the question. When Vanya sat silently staring at him, he snorted and looked away. "You think I'm crazy."

I believe you. I saw the look in your eyes when you spoke about being alone - haunted. Honestly, I would be too, you thought.

"No, I- I, it's - it's just... it's a lot to take in," Vanya finally managed.

"Exactly what don't you understand?" Five asked, his tone turning irritated.

"Why didn't you just time travel back?" Vanya said immediately.

Five scoffed, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Gee, wish I'd thought of that," he said after a moment, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Time travel is a crapshoot. I went into the ice and never acorn-ed. Do you think I didn't try everything to get back to my family?" 

You felt a pang of sympathy run through you when his voice broke slightly at the end of his sentence. I'm sorry I wasn't with you, Five.

"If you grew old there, you know, in the apocalypse, how come you look like a kid?" Vanya asked, and you realized you were wondering the same thing.

Five scoffed.

"I told you already. I must have gotten the equations wrong." He sighed, shifting slightly to reveal blood soaking through his shirt.

He needs to bandage that.

"I mean, Dad always used to say that time travel could mess up your mind," Vanya said, and you heard some sort of liquid pouring into a cup. "Well, maybe that's what happened?"

A muscle ticked in Five's jaw, and he stood up, shaking his head.

"This was a mistake. You're too young - too naive to understand."

"No, Five... Five, wait!" Vanya called after him as he began to walk away. "I haven't seen you in a long time, and I don't want to lose you again. That's all. And you know what, it's getting late, and I have lessons early. I need to sleep, and I'm sure you do, too."

Five nodded slowly, his eyes looking anywhere but Vanya.

"We'll talk in the morning, okay? I promise. Here," she added, cranking a lever on the side of the chair that added a footrest and flattened it out slightly. "Since Eight took the couch."

"Why is she here, by the way?" Five asked.

"She said that... she needed out of the house. I'm sure she's sick of being stuck in there," Vanya said softly.

Five nodded again, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"Night."

"Night."

After Vanya left, Five approached you quietly. You shut your eyes quickly, afraid he would realize you were awake, and a few moments later you felt a gentle breath run across your forehead.

He's right in front of me, you thought, heart racing. He was probably crouched, watching you, looking at you. Gosh, why am I so nervous?

"I'm sorry I have to leave you, Eight," he whispered, his breath tickling your nose. "I promise I'll see you tomorrow, all right? I have to save the world, for our family. For you." Five sighed, suddenly sounding very tired. "I also have to meet with someone soon. She... stayed with me through the apocalypse."

And just like that, your heart was no longer racing - in fact, you felt pretty damn sure that it wasn't beating at all.

Of course Five had someone else - he had met someone, a girl, during the apocalypse. But instead of feeling angry, or jealous, you just felt like a piece of your heart had been chiseled away. Ok, and maybe you were a little bit jealous.

This is why you don't get your hopes up, (Y/N).

"You get that little wrinkle in between your brows even when you're sleeping, huh?" he asked, chuckling softly. You felt his finger brush that spot, and you had to remind yourself that he had another girl as you suppressed a shiver. "I'll see you soon," he promised quietly, his voice becoming farther away as he stood, drawing the covers up to your chin. "Sleep well."

Yeah, that won't be happening, you thought angrily. In fact, I won't be sleeping at all. But nice attempt at trying to save the world without me.

As soon as his back was turned, you quietly slid off the couch, reaching forward at the last second and grabbing the collar of his uniform as he flashed away.

"Hey!" Five hissed as you both sprawled onto the parking lot outside Vanya's house. He scrambled to his feet. "What the hell, Eight?"

You couldn't help but let a delirious giggle slip out.

"What? I woke up to see you walking away, and I couldn't let you leave all by yourself, without my protection." You laughed when he ran a hand through his hair frustratedly. "What? I just want to help you."

"I don't need help," he said immediately, walking over and bending down so his face was hovering above yours. "Or protection. What I need is for you to stay out of my way." With that, he tried to flash away again, but this time you grabbed his shoe.

"I'm not letting you do this alone," you said as he groaned, realizing you were in the car with him. "I don't care if you think I'm weak - I want to be by your side."

He looked over at you, working his jaw.

"Fine - but just for tonight, and only because all I'm doing is sitting in a car."

"Why is that?" you asked, suddenly looking forward to the whole ordeal a lot less.

"Well, you see this eye?" He handed you a glass eye with a brown iris, and you grimaced as it touched your hand.

"Please tell me this thing hasn't been inside someone's eye socket," you grumbled, shoving it back into the piece of cloth he held it in as he started the car.

"Unfortunately, it has - it was held in Luther's dead hand when I found him, 8 days from today."

You feigned surprise. 

"Well, guess I should've known Luther would be the first to go," you said, nudging him with your elbow and grinning.

He sighed, keeping his eyes on the road.

"This is serious. The world ends in eight days, Eight."

"Hey, it matches my name!" you couldn't help but say, your smile fading when he shot you a tired look. "Okay, I'll play. Tell me more."

By the time you reached your destination, the hospital, of all places, you were falling over in your seat.

"Hey, whoa-" Five said as you tipped to the left, your head falling onto his shoulder. "Um, Eight, wake up!" 

You grumbled incoherently, too tired to do anything more, and he relaxed slightly, his tense shoulders loosening.

Right before you fell asleep, you felt a hand awkwardly pat the top of your head, and couldn't help but smile to yourself.