power lines / five hargreeves x gn!reader

Celebratory Closure

Luther and Sloane were engaged. It was the first thing Y/n discovered upon heading down the stairs, reality matter removed (for now).

The pair were sat happily together on the sofa. They'd greeted them happily with the news and Y/n had smiled and congratulated them before asking on the whereabouts of everyone else. Ben had gone up to his room apparently. Fei and Christopher had followed him- up to their own or to talk with him, Sloane wasn't sure. Allison was sitting in the painting gallery. Five and Viktor were in Reginald's office and Diego and Lila were at the bar across the room. Nine was in the courtyard getting some air.

Y/n went over to the bar to fix a drink before making their way to the courtyard where they did indeed find themself.

"Hey." Y/n said as they moved over to sit next to Nine on the little half-wall.

Nine looked over at them, "Hi. You doing okay?"

"Yeah." They nodded, "I'll be honest, I feel a little awkward being here. Ghost convinced me to come down."

They raised their eyebrows, "Ghost's here?"

"Yeah. Incompatible things or whatever." They gave a small half-hearted chuckle.

Nine nodded, "Yeah." They paused for a moment, "Y'know, it kinda spooks me, you being Incompatible. Makes me worry it'll happen to me, too."

"It won't." Y/n said, "I think I'm just unlucky."

"It's kind of weird not knowing what's going on." Nine admitted after a moment of silence, "I don't... I know the things that happen in a different timeline but I don't know how things will fall into place here."

Y/n let out a soft laugh, "Yeah, I struggled with that too. Still do, really. But I'm... trying to embrace not knowing."

"Yeah, well you've got bigger things to worry about." They teased, nudging them slightly.

"This is true." They nodded slightly, "So, Luther and Sloane said you went to get some fresh air."

Nine nodded, "Yeah. I just wanted a moment to breathe. There's... so much happening."

"Yeah." They nodded, "Kinda glad you did. I feel a little... out of place. Gives me a good excuse to be just by myself." They grinned a little at their own joke.

They let out a small laugh too, "Yeah." They paused, "Stage three, right?"

Y/n hummed, "So I'm being told."

"I assume by Ghost, mainly."

"Yeah, and they make a good point. It is a symptom. But hey, I think we're a little past caring about symptoms at this point." They chuckled lightly.

Nine was quiet for a moment, "You probably should. Fourth stage is next."

"Oh." Y/n responded, after a full minute of silence. They hadn't considered that. They had almost completely forgotten what would inevitably follow.

Nine pushed themself off of the wall, "I'll, uh, let you be properly alone. I'm probably gonna head back to the hotel and settle in." They gave Y/n a small smile, "Good luck with the Reality Incompatibility."

"Thanks." Y/n said, taking a sip of their drink. They stayed there, drinking for a few moments and leaning against the half-wall, watching the grass move in the gentle April breeze.

It was a few moments of this silence in the courtyard before Viktor came out, smiling gently at them and settled on the half-wall next to them, "Hey."

"Hey." They responded, looking over at him.

He looked away, "So, uh, how are you doing?"

"I'm alright." Y/n responded, "I'll be honest, half the time I forget I'm Incompatible. But, y'know, managing."

Viktor looked back at them, a frown playing on his face, "Is that true?"

They were quiet for a moment, "I'm a little scared, to be honest. I'm progressing too quickly. And I know what comes next. " They let out a small, bitter laugh, "And I'll be honest, this really fucking sucks."

Viktor nodded, silently, looking towards them to invite them to speak more. He did his best to not show the mild discomfort he felt watching their face distort slightly at random.

Y/n paused, "Considering everything, I'm definitely going to, uh, disappear into another reality again. I think that's the worst. I don't know how long I'll be gone. I don't know if I'll ever come back from it. I don't know if I'll ever see any of you again."

"I can see why that's terrifying." Viktor remarked, voice soft, "I'm sorry."

Y/n shrugged a little and took another sip of their drink, "It's... yeah. I just hope I can say a good enough goodbye to you all."

"It won't be goodbye forever." Viktor said firmly, "You'll come back. And when you do, we'll be here waiting for you."

They felt tears prick at their eyes, "I hope so." Their voice cracked slightly. They took another sip of their drink.

Viktor was silent for a moment, "I'm sorry if this is... the wrong time to ask but... Harlan isn't going to get sick too, is he? With your powers in him?"

"No." Y/n shook their head, "He won't. If you talk to Nine, they can probably take the powers back if Harlan wants that."

"Why... why did you do that, back in the 60's?" He paused, "Do you... remember?"

"I've got my memories back, yeah." They gave him a small smile, "I needed to make sure all of your powers were removed. I, um, saw something in another reality. An alternate timeline where you weren't able to remove all of your powers from Harlan. It... caused a universe-swallowing apocalypse." They pressed their lips together and were silent for a moment to let Viktor process that, "I used my powers to make sure every trace of yours was gone. I didn't... realise it would leave some of mine there."

Viktor blinked, "What?"

"Yeah." Y/n nodded, "So, yay, no universe-swallowing apocalypse." They gave a small laugh, "But... yeah. Talk to Nine and I'm sure they'll be happy to take our powers back from him."

Viktor nodded.

Y/n gave a small smile, "Hey, I guess that, at least, if I'm gone... Nine will be there. It won't... be the same since they don't have any relationship with you guys but... they're basically me. We're basically the same. So it's... not really like I'm leaving."

"You're right, it won't be the same." Viktor said firmly.

Y/n gave him a smile, "Thanks."

He pushed himself off the half-wall, "I'm gonna go see Nine before we head back to the hotel. I'll see you later, Y/n." He smiled at them and raised a hand in goodbye.

"See you later, Viktor." Y/n smiled back, and tried to push down the lump in their throat and ignore the tears pricking at their eyes. They were going to see him again, anyway. Before they left. But everything seemed to feel like a goodbye now.