Chapter Text
She finds him sitting coolly on the couch. His expression is grim and determined, like a man certain of all the answers, but she thinks if he were a cat, she would see his tail twitching in agitation.
“This wasn’t the plan, Allison.”
“My plan was better.” Five knows that she is referring to another plan as well.
“I know you miss Claire, but Vanya should be with her family. She belongs with them. With us.”
“Fuck lot of good that did her last time.”
“I see my swearing habits have rubbed off on you.”
“I followed most of your cryptic instructions,” she reminds him. “I’ve been waiting almost three years for you to show up, Five. Three years.”
“I was trying to protect you,” he says defensively, frustration leaking into his voice.
“And I’m protecting her. She’s not going back.”
He frowns at his unwavering sister as he rapidly weighs angles of attack. His tail would be swishing about, beating against the cushion. “You realize you’re depriving her of a relationship with her sister, Allison. Her Allison.”
“Does it matter? Does it really matter that she can cling to the handful of times we invited her out to Griddy’s if she never lives past thirty? Dad isolated her from us anyway, painfully so. And in whatever relationships we did have with her, we treated her like shit.”
“Not me. I was her best friend, remember? I’ve always cared about her.”
“Not enough,” she fires back.
Five flinches, but she does not care. He used Claire so casually and so cruelly against her in their argument. That pain sits in her chest, and she is self-aware enough to admit that she wants to hurt him just a little in return.
“Actually, you know what, you’re right,” Allison begins lightly. “Not you. All of us, but not you, her only friend. She loved you for it. Trusted you implicitly. And then you disappeared in a fit of arrogant indignation, leaving her to a year of compulsively sacrificing fluffernutter sandwiches and a lifetime of wondering why she wasn’t enough.” She adds caustically, “The final day really epitomized the significance of that affectionate, trustful friendship, don’t you think? I could really sense the depth of your bond when you were hellbent on killing her.
“So you want me to put her back in that place? So that you can have your exceptional friendship for a few years and then she can be left with only the pain of your loss to show for it?”
In the resounding silence, Allison can almost hear jaw bone fracture under clenched muscles. Five’s eyes are blazing their own light in the dim room, but he is so still. Allison has never seen a person so still.
The rage slowly dissipates, leaving only fatigue and bitterness over their collective failures. The thing about the Hargreeves siblings is they have always been so good at hurting each other.
When Five finally speaks, his voice is low and tightly controlled, each word enunciated. “This is not about what I want.”
“No, it’s about stopping the Apocalypse,” she responds quickly, before he can say more, trying but failing to filter the derision from her voice. “And this time, we’re doing it my way.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Allison,” he warns. “I take it that the others, including our younger selves, are still with Reginald. What a shitload of causal paradoxes.”
“I don’t care.”
“Clearly.” Five opens his mouth to speak again, but he freezes when a small mass darts across the room.
Not liking the way this stranger is talking to her mother, the small girl climbs into Allison’s lap and clings to her protectively. The room starts to quiver as she stares at Five, almost like a baby tiger trying to appear threatening, except this cub could in fact level a building.
“It’s okay, baby,” Allison soothes immediately. “He’s a friend.”
Vanya whimpers as she glances up at her mother, who nods reassuringly and rubs her back. Five swallows.
“He won’t hurt us.” The light shaking eases to a stop, though Vanya continues to watch Five warily. In the shadows of the room, Allison can see his furrowed brow.
“Hi Vanya,” he manages. “I’m your… uncle.”
When the woman confirms his words with another nod, Vanya tucks her face shyly against her mother’s chest and peers at him with wide, curious eyes.
“Do you want to say hi back?” The tiny oatmeal monster burrows her podgy face into Allison’s neck. “Okay, that’s okay. Go back to bed. I’ll come soon.” At Allison’s gentle urging, Vanya cautiously lowers her bare feet to the floor. Then, after one slow step, she scampers away.
“I’m sorry," Allison offers quietly. "She’s wary of strangers, especially men in suits. Give her a little time."
“That’s understandable.”
“The others… I rumored Dad to be kinder. I have no idea how effective it was.”
“Anything helps.”
“I should go check on her. There’s a second bedroom, if you want to follow me.”
While walking through the hallway, Five catches a glimpse of Vanya sitting cross-legged on the bed. Too stubborn to lie down, she is sleepily hugging a pillow to her chest, her chin buried in its soft form.
Allison tells Vanya that Uncle Five has just returned from a very long journey. She explains that sometimes even people who love each other very much have big fights and raise their voices, and that’s okay. They still love each other afterwards. The most important thing is that they use words to express their feelings.
After Vanya goes to sleep, Allison takes a fresh set of towels to Five’s room. When she finds him sitting on the edge of the bed with his head pressed in his hands and his elbows on his knees, she thinks sometimes there are no words.
He can find only three, “She’s so small.”
Allison can guess a few of the images flashing through Five’s mind. Vanya had been the first one they watched die, warmth draining from her as chunks of the Moon careened toward the Earth. Then began their convoluted game of cat and mouse with the Commission until Five and Allison were the only ones left.
Sometimes there are no words, so she covers his hunched back with her arms and draws his gangly young adult frame close.