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[n5]

1- We're canceling the apocalypse

The world ended.

Twice.

And both times, that wasn't quite right with Five Hargreeves. So he got back in time to change it, taking his family with him. They were, after all, the ones to blame for the long list of mistakes that culminated in their sister blowing up the moon. If Vanya was the bomb and Harold Jenkins was the fuse, Reginald Hargreaves was without a doubt the maker of the explosive. They had to do better this time and they had to do it together.

Time traveling was a messy business, more so when you were doing it in a rush and without the proper calculations. But they made it back in time to the morning of their father's funeral, in one piece against all odds, and after some trouble, their brother Ben was back with them.

His family was alive, hurt but whole.

Five gave a small smile before his eyes rolled back into his head and he promptly passed out from the effort, nose bleeding.



2 - (You Give Me) Fever, In the morning child, Fever all through the night

A few days later, the pain in his body had yet to subside and Five wondered if it could be a permanent effect of time traveling. You could only gamble with time so much until it started getting pissed off at you. His family was still dealing with the last week's events, either mourning, keeping to themselves or thinking about the future, but everything was relatively stress-free.

For the past 40 years, Five has never lived a single day that wasn't pressure-packed. And now, his body has decided that ey, this would be the perfect moment to crash. Bright lights made his eyes burn and increased his headaches, his throat hurt so much that he had stopped eating, his cheeks were constantly flushed and he felt hot a minute and freezing the next.

But the worse of all was that he sneezed.

Actually, the worst of all was that the sneezing made him space jump without intent or control. So far he had accidentally teleported himself to the basement, atop the kitchen's fridge, to the bar -knocking several bottles in the process-, to their mother's lap while she was sitting in front of the paintings, and into the bathtub.

The alarmed and frustrated shriek that Five gave out could be heard all around the house after a sneeze had teleported him to the chandelier, leaving him holding onto it for dear life several feet above the ground.



3- Another One Bites The Dust

When tiredness got too much or he had accidentally teleported himself somewhere, Five gave up and slept. Never in his room, if he could avoid it. He hadn't used it for decades and it was a reminder of the life he had lost, filled with books and toys and memories of a lost innocence that felt unpleasant.

Vanya's room was spartan and clean in all ways Klaus' wasn't but both reflected their owners and brought Five a sense of comfort, familiarity. Allison's bed was the comfiest, a soft mattress and softer pillows, while Luther had the biggest one. Five liked to curl into a ball in the middle of it and let himself feel small for once.

Diego and Ben's rooms hadn't been used in some time but Grace made sure to keep them both clean and they had signs of his sibling's personalities all over the place. A peaceful sleep still didn't come easy, though, with the fever only making his usual nightmares worse.


4- Wildcard

[ Do you want Five anywhere? Feel free to write your own starter, I'll adapt! ]

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[n5]

Good people died but if time traveling has a positive side, it is that these same people are still alive now. If Diego finds the time to call his friend Detective Eudora Patch, he will probably find her with little issue. Annoyed, most likely, but alive nonetheless.

Hitting his head did Five no favors but at least he's out of it when it happens. The extra pain only registers when someone starts to try slapping him awake and Five lets out a low, pained groan. He doesn't bother opening his eyes, they hurt too much.

"S...stop that."

[throwsknives]

Diego lets out a small breath of relief, but he doesn't actually get any gentler when it comes to handling his brother. He grabs him by the shoulders.

"You okay?" The answer to that is pretty obvious to all of them, and Luther makes a move to step in to pick him up, but Diego elbows a massive arm out of the way. "I got him."

He bends down and scoops up Five. He's a hell of a lot heavier than he looks, but he'll be damned if he lets Luther see that. He starts carrying him towards their home which has been miraculously restored in all this time travel shit, taking him to the room that had been his so many years ago.

"You throw up on me and you'll regret it."

[n5]

'No, there's a dumbass manhandling me.' Five thinks but finally decides to keep it to himself. Both because he doesn't have the energy to even complain and because he thought Diego hated his guts. Hearing him this concerned actually shuts Five's annoyance off and he attempts a reply. "Drained...Time travel's messy..."

He blinks a few times, trying to get the world back to focus, and the lights alone hurt so badly that he's screwing his eyes shut a moment later. Diego and Luther arguing sounds distant, he's too exhausted too pay much attention to it, which is why Five let's out a startled squeak when he's suddenly lifted from the ground. One of his arms latches onto Diego's chest, fingers curling on the fabric, and his other hands goes to his nose to try and keep the bleeding at bay.

"Can't promise anything." It's hard but Five actually smiles at Diego, head resting on the man's shoulder.

Diego and he weren't exactly in the best of terms, too different in personality most of the time, but that doesn't mean Five cares for him any less than his other siblings. It was just a lot harder to show it. He sounds out of breath and possibly about to pass out again but he gives Diego's chest a little bump. "Mom...she should be okay."

[throwsknives]

Diego's mouth curves upwards the tiniest bit at Five's smart ass remark. He used to irritate the shit out of him when he was younger and he still does, but he's got to hand it to him. He's one tough son-of-a-bitch.

"You really gotta stop fainting. You're embarrassing yourself." Nevermind the first time had been due to a gunshot wound he hadn't bothered telling anyone about. Or that the second time was because he'd somehow managed to pull a miracle out of his ass at the last minute and save all of them.

Five's words are barely audible, but Diego hears them all the same. He glances down at him, his expression softening for a split second before he looks up at the window he'd last seen her. It's empty, but it's whole. And he has to hope that she is inside as well. He shoulders the door open and starts heading downstairs.

"What do you need?" He knows this isn't five's first time travelling trip. It's not even the first time he's come back looking bad, but not this bad.

[n5]

"So sorry that my brushes with death are inconveniencing you." There's no venom to his words since he sounds too drowsy, but Five, being Five, had to say something. By the looks of it, he might fall sleep on Diego at any moment, his arms are surprisingly comfy.

"I ..uh..." What were they talking about again? It's so hard to focus that he even misses his brother softer look. "...S...something caloric. To raise my sugar level."

When he first came back, Five had made himself a peanut butter marshmallow sandwich both because he had missed it and because Five had needed the extra boost. It always has been his type of comfort food, Vanya knew it well. The bloody nose is a bit concerning and it makes Five frowns when he ends with his hand covered in red.

[throwsknives]

Diego moves down the hallway, but makes a detour towards the kitchen first. He sets Five down in the first available chair and grabs a hand towel, shoving it into his hands. "Put your head back and pinch your nose at the top."

He may not have ever busted his nose time traveling, but he's busted it plenty of times getting punched in the face. He moves to the sink and starts washing his hands. He can smell the coppery residue of Five's blood on his shirt. He moves a move for the bread, spotting the peanut butter and marshmallows where they'd last been left. He starts throwing a sandwich together.

"Still bleeding?""

[n5]

Five was ready to cross his arms on the table and rest his face on them to sleep, a nosebleed is hardly the worse injury he ever got. His body is tired and achy, when a towel is left in his hands it takes the boy some long seconds before he does as Diego said.

"It's not so bad..." But he's still bleeding with is a little worrisome, and pressing the towel to his nose makes his voice sounds funny. Time travelling and the pain it caused isn't new to Five, he will deal, but he had no idea how it affected their brothers. "H...how do you feel? You all looked like kids for a few, I was trying to go back further but...I...it was too much."

[throwsknives]

"Like shit," Diego says, slapping the bread together so that the peanut butter and marshmallows will stick. He grabs a plate and sets it in front of Five before getting to work making a peanut butter one of his own. He glances over his shoulder. "But nothing worse than a bad hangover."

At least he hadn't passed out. "Should you have changed back to your real age?"

[n5]

"It should past in a few hours. Sugar and coffee help." His voice is no less tired than before but Five does sound somewhat more coherent. Sighing, he leans forward, elbow on the table and left hand supporting his head. He gives a small 'thanks' once the sandwich is within reach and after checking that the nosebleed has almost stopped, he grabs it to take a bit before answering.

"No, it's different with me. The first time I traveled back in time s...something went wrong. My calculations weren't accurate enough, I don't know for sure what failed. Time is a complicated science." It changes too much and too quickly, little things affect variables to an immense degree, which is why he's always working on improving his Quantum mechanics skills.

[throwsknives]

"So what? You're stuck like this? For how long?" Diego takes a large bite, studying the thirteen year old version of his brother, forever memorialized in the oil painting at the front of the house.

He tries to think what he'd do if he had to go through puberty again. If all people saw when they looked at him was some kid. He shakes his head. "There's got to be something we can do."

[n5]

"I don't know." He tries to glare at Diego but it's not very effective given that he looks like he needs to sleep for 15 hours. "Maybe until my body grows old, who can tell?"

What part of 'Time is a complicated science.' did Diego not understand? If Five could reverse this, he would have done it already. It isn't as if he enjoys having to walk around in shorts because nothing else fits. "I wish. This body really is annoying. And so short."

[throwsknives]

His glare mainly just comes off looking exhausted and Diego doesn't do much to react to it except to narrow his eyes as if in thought. "So you could live for another fifty years." He purses his lips. "You'd be nearly immortal."

He's joking, mostly. He knows Five has always thought he was an idiot. He can clearly see that Five's in no mood for this kind of a discussion right now. He still pretty much looks like he could fall over any minute now. He nods towards the sandwich in front of Five. "Eat up."

He takes another big bite of his sandwich and starts looking in drawers for a bottle of aspirin. It probably won't do much for Five, but maybe it'll help him shake his splitting headache.

[n5]

"Without you all?" It's out of his mouth before he can think better of it, voice awfully vulnerable. He really is drained if he goes and admits these things so easily.

The idea of being immortal might have been a tempting some for people but to Five sounded like a curse. Stay alive while the rest of his family grew old and died, being alone again without nothing to keep him on. He wouldn't be able to handle it a second time, Five'd rather end himself.

His attention goes back to the food after Diego chides him as if he's a kid, as if he really is the age he looks like. His brother could be such a mom sometimes, it brings a brief smile to Five's lips. He goes back to munching on the sandwich without protest, telling himself it's because he needs it and not because Diego has asked him to do so.

[throwsknives]

Diego's hand pauses as he paws through a drawer at the sound of that raw vulnerability. Logically he knows that Five is an old man, but at that moment he sounds like a scared thirteen year old. Diego swallows thickly, reaching for the bottle of aspirin shoved at the back of the drawer.

"What do I know?" he says, giving Five a shrug as if to say he doesn't know much at all. "I'm not that smart, remember?" He opens the bottle and shakes out two for him, swallowing them dry. He sets two more pills in front of Five's plate.