You Better Bring an Umbrella, Vol. 1

Chapter 14: Blink and You'll Miss Him

 Five and I remained in a tense silence as I pulled the car up to the side of the road, parking and leaning back in the seat. He hadn't filled me in on all the details of his plan, which made me a little nervous, but he did assure me that if he suddenly wasn't there, he would be back soon. I made him promise me that, otherwise I was going to force him to come up with another plan.

I wrapped my arms around the briefcase, looking for some sort of comfort as we both sat there. I didn't have to say a word for both of us to know I was worried about all of this. Five, much like Diego, knew all my little expressions like the back of his hand, but that's mainly because he made most of the same ones. I guess that had been inherited, somehow. I watched the horizon intently, as though it suddenly would disappear if I didn't keep my eyes on it.

"You know, I never enjoyed it." I turned my head to Five, raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"The killing." I swallowed awkwardly. I thought maybe we were just gonna let that go, never mention it again. But I suppose there was some comfort in the fact he wanted to talk through it with me a little more. "I mean, I was... I was good at my work, and I... I took pride in it." I scoffed.

"Wow, Five. That's reassuring." He chose to ignore my comment, instead going on about his former employment.

"But it never gave me pleasure," he interjected, cutting me off before I could keep rambling and criticizing. "I think it was all those years alone. Solitude can do funny things to the mind."

I looked down at the briefcase, my mindset beginning to change. It was something to do, I suppose, even if it wasn't exactly the most morally correct. And, for the first time, I think he was acknowledging that Delores wasn't real. In truth, it broke my heart a little to think of my brother all on his own, wandering endlessly and dealing with the image of his dead siblings constantly playing through his head. He bought his time, trying to keep his mind off things.

"Yeah, well, you were gone for a long time." I sighed. "You know, being in the thick of my ballet studio... it feels like you're losing your mind sometimes. It's all my brain focuses on, and it's like everything else in the world suddenly becomes irrelevant. And when show season's over... well, it's like I don't know how to function." He raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm just trying to say that you're lucky... that you found Delores. I, uh..." I laughed a little, even though none of this was even close to funny. "I don't have anyone like that for me, even just a friend. That's... how I got like this. No one to turn to or talk to, I refused to see someone because how could they understand? I know this is the last thing you probably want to hear from your sister, because, you know, it's all mushy and shit..." Thankfully, that made him laugh as well. "But in a weird way, I'm kind of glad we all ended up together. I know we tear each other apart a lot, Diego and Luther can't even be in the same room without trying to kill each other, and everyone seems to hate Vanya for some reason, but you guys have always been the people I can turn to when something's wrong. It's a little easier for me to open up to you and Klaus, but the others are still there when I need them. Vanya said you and Ben were the only things bonding us together, but... I don't think that's true. It may not be obvious on the outside, but we all love each other."

"Some of us are just too proud to admit it," Five finished.

"Exactly." I titled my head toward him. "You'll always be my favorite, though."

"Thanks," he chuckled. "You'll always be my favorite sister."

"Oh, so he finally admits it," I taunted. My eyes flickered back down to the briefcase, the worry coming back to me. "You think they'll buy it?"