Ruins (Five Hargreeves)

Twenty-Three - Addictions and Blood

KLAUS WAS RIGHT, Luther really did pick a great time to drop off the grid. Two days till the world ends, Allison single-handedly going off to face a murderer, and they had to waste hours looking for fucking Luther of all people. The one time Five would've appreciated some golden-child Number One bullshit, Luther decided he'd moved on from it. Fucking perfect.

And of all the places they could've found him, of all the things he could've been doing, he was sulking over a pint of beer in the dingiest bar Five had ever seen. Fucking Luther.

"Look!" Klaus pointed at him.

"Finally." Jay sighed as they all made their way over.

"Trying a little hair of the dog are we?" Klaus said as they all crowded around.

"Leave me alone." Luther muttered.

Diego sunk into a chair beside him, waving the others away. "Give us a minute."

"Okay." Klaus said. "Come on, maybe they'll brood each other to death."

"Here's to hopin'." Jay muttered, snatching Luther's drink as they walked away.

Five didn't give enough shits to listen to whatever his brothers said. He leant against a table, gripping a chair tightly and glaring at Jay.

"You're an alcoholic." He told her, watching her sip Luther's pint. She didn't even like beer.

"And you're one strong gust of wind away from keeling over." She told him, glaring back. She handed him the beer and shoved him back onto the table. "Sit. You're look like a bloody cripple."

"I nearly died last night." Five said, shuffling back onto the table. He didn't let the relief show on his face, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. He sipped the beer.

"That's your own fault." Jay shrugged, taking the beer back. She drank. "You're welcome, by the way. Asshole."

He was never gonna understand that woman, Five was certain.

Across the bar, Luther hit the table. "You should have led with that!"

"Well that worked." Jay said, watching Luther sprint out the bar, yanking the door clean off its hinges as he left. Everyone followed, and the next thing Five knew he was driving everyone down a woodland road as the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon. Jay was sat beside him, cigarette in hand and dull expression on her face.

Luther, for the fifth time, stuck his head between the front seats and asked: "Can you go any faster?"

"Ask me again and I'll burn you with the cigarette lighter."

On cue, Jay picked up the cigarette lighter and used it to light her cigarette. She popped it back into place, leaning against her door and taking a long drag. Holding the cigarette with two fingers, she took it from her mouth and exhaled a long puff of smoke. The window was open, wind whipping at the few strands of hair that had come loose and smoke drifing out instantly.

The cabin was small, nice, next to a large lake, secluded. The perfect place to hide a body, Five noticed. Jay must've noticed it too, because as soon as they were out she had a gun in her hand.  

Allison's car was in the drive. Her body was on the living room floor. Her blood was everywhere, pooled around her, dribbling from the slice along her throat. 

Then Luther was on his knees at her side. "Allison! No!"

Five just stared. All he did was stare, it seemed. Whenever his family needed him, really needed him, all he could do was watch. Watch them bleed and die and slowly rot to nothing but bones. He'd watched in the apocalypse, and now he was watching again. His sister was dead and Five could picture the rest of them so easily, bloody and dirty and dead.