Chapter Text
Five had just been on a walk, he needed to get out the house for a bit. His insomnia wasn't helping his nightmare induced sleep so he decided blinking around the neighborhood would be a good energy waster.
And for the most part it was.
But now the silence of the city was nice, the whooshing of air and the soft rumble of cars. The cool breeze and little people on the street. The setting was far to nice for Five to give up. So he started walking.
Of course life loved to fuck with him. He couldn't get one ounce of peace. Always something had to happen.
He heard footsteps behind him. To give the assassin credit, they were trying , and if Five hadn't been hyperactive than maybe he wouldn't have noticed him. But the point was that he did , and the more he listened the less likely it became that it was just someone happening to walk the same way as him.
Ugh.
Five was making quick efficient turns, hopefully being able to get through this without any actual fighting.
His mind had been a bit everywhere. Yeah he may have been hyperactive but his mind was also sleep deprived and jumping between thoughts. He seemed to lose track of everything when he heard a whimper.
It wasn't some pathetic human being in pain whimper either. It was an animal.
Five stopped in his tracks, not even noticing if the ones following had done the same. He looked around on the floor for any sign of small pets. This led him into an alley after seeing the faint marks of muddy paw prints on the concrete. Thank goodness it rained a handful of minutes ago. If not then he wouldn't have been able to find the small puppy so fast.
He was a dirty blond color, probably reminiscent of the shade of a golden retriever if not for the dirt that covered his fur. Also, probably from the mud the rain created . There had been a blue collar, Five was a bit less hopeful, the dog belonged to someone… but upon reading not only the ridiculous name of Mr. Pennycrumb, turning it over revealed a scratched out number and written over it in blotchy black ink was, 'not wanted. No return.' the wording was probably choppy due to the little room but Five made due.
Some hope for the night.
He kneeled down. Being already short due to his pubescent body, it was easy to get to a good level for the dog without completely being on the mucky floor.
The pup was against the wall, cowering against an invisible enemy.
"Hey, it's okay, I'm actually happy to see you. Not gonna do anything, alright? Why are you crying? Are you hurt?" Five spoke softly, not exactly high pitch like most would do but leveling enough to be cute to any onlooker seeing this thirteen year old boy and a small dog.
The dog in question inched closer to the hand Five had placed out, sniffing it instinctively. Something going on through his doggy little brain had concluded Five was a trustworthy individual. Five knew this because two seconds later the dog was wagging it's tail and rubbing his head against the outstretched hand.
"Aww" Five cooed, not daring to move the hand away. He did use the other hand though to inspect the pet.
Other than dirt and bits of grass, the little angel seemed unhurt. The whimper was probably due to the loneliness, scardness, and possibly hunger. All of which Five could understand from experience … oh well, no time for those thoughts now.
He was about to pick Mr. Pennycrumb up when he felt a harsh kick to the side. It was only afterwards that he blinked away a few feet, out of where the person ended up punching the wall, clearly going for where he had previously been.
Usually Five would have tried to get answers but he was not in the mood. He wanted to bond with his new companion and sleep.
Due to his little patience he fought back. He landed a couple good hits, though so did the other. Another assassin, he concluded, recognizing those programmed fighting moves anywhere.
Maybe he was just biased considering not only was he taught the commission moves but he already had years worth of fighting experience from his life as a child.
He ended up with a busted lip, and a few bruises on the torso, nothing he hadn't handled before. What took him by surprise was the knife. One that had suddenly plunged itself into his side.
Unfair. He thought. As he didn't come prepared with weapons. It wasn't like he wasn't planning on snapping the others neck but he had to be still for that..
For a moment Five froze. Unable to move as the pain blossomed through his nervous system. Clearly the agent thought that was the end and was about to go but Five wasn't so easy.
He snapped the agent's neck.
Stumbling back a bit when the body hit the floor, that way he could rest against the wall to recuperate for a moment.
Mr. Pennycrumb bounded by his legs, walking and brushing himself against him and even ended up standing on its hind legs, balancing itself by leaning it's front two against his leg.
Five couldn't force down the smile as he removed his hand from his bleeding torso and picked the baby up. Blinking them both home and into one of the many bathrooms.
"I need you to be quiet. The others are sleeping okay?" Five wondered if he was going crazy from blood loss because he could have sworn he saw the thing nod .
He pulled out the knife, wincing at the action but not making a noise. He removed his top clothing and poured disinfectant down on it, not caring for the burn, he just wanted to hurry and stich it. His hands were steady while he worked, experience showing with each sewn cross. The knife had gone deep and the more Five worked on it the more he realized it was starting to hurt.
He was a bit scared that the new edition to the family would do something to mess him up. Whether that be run around, or make a sudden loud noise like barking. He kept glancing at the dog every now and then. It just stared in the meantime, ears casted down and head on in resting paws as he watched his new owner bleed out.
Poor little thing, Five couldn't believe how heartless people were sometimes. Throwing such a cute and obedient being like Mr. Pennycrumb out the house.
He finished his stitches and cleaned the remaining leftover blood off his stomach. He'd clean the mess, as well as the dog later, drowsiness was taking over and for once Five actually wanted to sleep.
He put on a solid color shirt that he'd brought with him and gathered the two layers of bloody clothing. (They had averted all apocalypses so Five no longer was wearing the uniform. He'd gotten new clothes last apocalypse because he thought they'd been safe and had time but now that it was for sure over Five had actually a pretty decent amount of clothes. Granted they were mature for someone his physical age and his outfits always consisted of layers. Unknown to his siblings, Five found comfort in layered clothing. It was like a hug to him. Made him a different kind of warm in the apocalypse. Results of being touch starved he supposed.)
He was planning for Mr. Pennycrumb to sleep on his shirt and jacket because both parties were dirty and it was only for now until Five could get him a bed and clean him to sleep in his own mattress.
Though it seemed neither of them would even get the chance of sleeping in his bed because Five passed out well on his way to his room.
Luckily , the clothes fell out of his hands so Mr. Pennycrumb was quick to make the clothes his own. Shuffling around in them1, rolling around on them making sure his smell was over the clothes.
That's how Klaus and Diego found him in the morning. Diego was going out on some patrol and Klaus hadn't been able to sleep any longer. His sleep schedule just as sporadic as Five's.
At first neither of them noticed the small body in the hall until they saw a dog run up to them, let out a small eager bark, and then before either could react it moved back to Five's form.
"Aww did Five bring you home little buddy?" Klaus cooed running his hands through the tangled fur, the dog was still wagging it's tail and Klaus read the name tag aloud. Diego paid attention to what Klaus was reading while gently kicking Five with his foot to wake him up.
Five shuffled in place for a moment, but then seemed to have realized where he last was and woke up, making quick work to stand.
Not the best idea with his condition in mind.
"So what, the owners just abandoned him? Aw poor little guy" Klaus said, neither of the other two were sure if the first question was rhetorical or not. It didn't matter because Diego interrogated him anyways.
"When did you find him? I know he hadn't been here last night" Was the first of many questions, Diego eyed the dog as though it offended him. Five sighed, and was about to answer but Diego decided he had more important questions to ask. To be fair, it was pretty important. "Wait- I still want an answer to that question but more importantly why's there blood? Is it hurt?" Diego of course noticed the blood and Klaus' brows furrowed looking for where. Until he finally spotted it.
Five patted the spot next to him and Mr. Pennycrumb quickly trotted over, ditching Klaus. Diego was right, there was blood behind it's ear and a bit on the scuffle of his neck but with further examination Five calmed. Shifting from examining to petting. He cradled him in his arms. "He's fine. It's not his blood" he said simply shrugging.
Klaus gave a look and Five elaborated, "to answer your last question" he looked to Diego, "and to explain what your probably thinking" he shifted to Klaus. "I went out last night because I couldn't sleep. Someone ended up following me but I'd been distracted by Mr. Pennycrumb and they ended up attacking first. Somewhere in the fight I got stabbed. I'm assuming the blood is mine considering I picked him up afterwards and he had been in the room with me when I was cleaning it. Oh and before you ask. The attacker was an commission I think, it doesn't matter. He's dead" was the explanation.
"Wow wait, you were stabbed? Are you alright? Why were you passed out on the floor?" Now it was Klaus who was asking the amount of questions. Five felt too lightheaded for this nonsense. "I'm fine. I passed out from blood loss or exhaustion. It didn't matter." Of course Luther decided to pass by when he said that, it was probably concerning out of context and Luther was a bit of a moron at times.
"Blood loss and exhaustion? Five, those are important things, you can't just hide that. Are you okay? Did something happen?" He asked, changing course and walking over to them. "Wait- why's there a dog?" He got sidetracked.
Diego explained how Five got stabbed trying to adopt the dog and passed out from presumably both blood loss and exhaustion.
"Let me see it" Diego didn't so much as asked than demanded .
"What…no. Diego I'm not a child. I can take care of my own wounds" Five retaliated, moving further from Diego to avoid getting caught in whatever he was planning. But surprisingly Klaus had grabbed him instead. "Traitor!" He accused and Klaus couldn't help but laugh a bit at that.
"Sorry Fivey, but Luther's right. You shouldn't hide injuries. Besides, fine for you means not dying , so not exactly comforting" Klaus quipped and Diego used this time to set Mr. Pennycrumb down from Five's grip and pull up his shirt. He hadn't needed to pull it up much before the red tinted wrap came into view. It was going to need to be changed anyways so Diego decided to undo it to get a look at the wound.
"Exactly, I'm not dying, meaning whatever it is isn't important" Five snarled, Klaus wondered if he'd end up getting rabies by being bitten by a rabid Five rather than the stranded dog. "I am genuinely concerned how you don't see how twisted that mindset is" Allison provided. Stepping out from her room which was close by to where this was all going down. She probably heard everything and therefore had context.
"Oh you stitched it." Diego said..for some reason. Five rolled his eyes "You think I would have just bled out?" He replied sarcastically. Honestly, how incapable did they think he was? Diego flicked him on the forehead, "Not that. I was just saying because these look fucking professional. I am just surprised you know how to stich that well" he concluded letting go of the shirt and crossing his arms.
Klaus nodded, having gotten a glance at the stiches, "He's also probably jealous because his stitching sucks" now it was Klaus' turn to get a flick to the forehead. This was apparently becoming Diego's new thing. This caused an argument between the two. One Allison broke by standing up from where she had been kneeling with the dog. "Where did you even learn how to stich? I don't think I remember that being one of the things dad taught us"
She was right. Reginald hadn't taught them that. They had Grace for any wounds they might have received. "Learned in the apocalypse…well y'know, the first one" he clarified, realizing that there'd been multiple now.
Perhaps it was the mention of the first apocalypse, they knew Five didn't like getting into what he did before coming back to them. Whether that be commission or apocalypse. But Five suddenly declared, "No more questions. I have things to do."
Viktor chose that time to walk by, realizing the rest of the family was there, he waved somewhat awkwardly. Just as it had done to the rest of them, the dog asked for attention from this new person too. "Oh..we got a dog?" He didn't know better than to ask, Five knew and avoided getting irritated.
Allison explained.
"Ah I see. Are you going shopping today for him? I can come with if you'd like" Viktor suggested and Five was genuinely taken aback. By 'plans' that had been exactly what he meant. He always favored Viktor. Well technically his all-time favorite sibling was Ben, like that guy could ask him to kill all their siblings then himself and Five would happily do it. Ben made Five weak in the knees, even before he died. But Viktor was a close second.
He smiled a bit, "Yeah I'd been planning on it. But you can come if you'd like" he said. Maybe it'd be nice not doing it alone.
Klaus perked up "Oh can I come!" But Five quickly gave a quick "no"
Klaus didn't take it personally, knowing Five well enough to know that he didn't show love but most of the time when he did it was very indirect and often shielded with insults. He gave puppy dog eyes and Five rolled his eyes while holding his side. The side that Diego and Klaus knew had the stiches.
"Fine..whatever" he said exhaling. Klaus once again didn't take it personally and cheered. Viktor laughed and so did Diego.
"Good someone needs to go with him to make sure he doesn't get himself killed" Diego said, all high and mighty like he wasn't about to go out looking for trouble. Five scoffed but didn't argue further because he knew it was an ending battle when it came to Diego's stubbornness.
"Okay that enough about me. I'm going to go bath him" And he blinked out. Into the bathroom he'd been in the night before that way he could also clean his mess. It did take him a while to find things for the dog like a towel and brush but Grace had some that she found for him.
He got the bath ready and made sure the temperature was warm but not scorching. He made sure the fur was soaked before adding the first layer of soap. As well behaved as Mr. Pennycrumb was, he was awfully rowdy when it came to the water. He didn't exactly fight it but rather splashed around in it. Jumping against the wall of the tub, effectively splashing Five.
Klaus chose that time to enter. Cooeing fondly at the sight of their physically thirteen year old brother.
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"Need any help?" Reluctantly Five had to accept.
Not that it did much because when the puppy was cleaned and finally dry Five came out of the bathroom mostly soaked and Klaus had soap suds on various parts of his clothes. The bathroom floor was left covered in towels.
"What happened?" Allison asked from where she was drinking her coffee with Viktor. Diego had gone out and Luther was…he wasn't sure what was going on with Luther but he was certain it was probably something just as stupid.
Klaus shook his head laughing softly. "Let's just say, washing a small dog is not as easy as expected" and Five wholeheartedly agreed. After everything he had done, surviving the apocalypse, being a trained assassin, equations for time traveling, washing Mr. Pennycrumb turned out to be one of the harder things he had to do.
He got cleaned up himself. Taking a much needed shower to get the smell of wet dog off him. When he was finished he got dressed into a new pair of clothes. More layers. Obviously.
Mr. Pennycrumb was such a fluffy dog now that he was clean, his fur soft and silky, his body was so small Five felt like he was holding a stuffed animal. And with how limp Mr. Pennycrumb got when Five picked him up, he might as well be.
Klaus went to shower next, though he hadn't been as soaked as Five had, the smell of wet dog was strong. And he wanted to be clean for when they go out.
Five wanted to just go without him but held back, his impatient self kept occupied by playing with the other.
Who knew having a pet could be so much fun?
They never were allowed pets when they were younger. Heck they barely were allowed freetime . Only getting such privilege for thirty minutes on Saturdays.
And maybe it was also due to the lack of comfort Five had received these days, but something about Mr. Pennycrumb had sparked something within Five.
Finally after what felt like forever , Klaus was done and dressed, Viktor was ready to go, so they drove to the only close pet shop. It was small, but would work. They allowed animals so Five was able to make sure Mr. Pennycrumb liked whatever they were going to get him.
"Alright. We need some necessities and some comfort things like toys and treats. I'll go buy the food. You guys can handle the other things?" Viktor took charge and the other two nodded. Five had been holding Mr. Pennycrumb due to the lack of leash and when they were sent off by themselves they started looking for collars and beds.
Five chose a bright blue leash and collar. It matched the color he had originally found the dog in but Five wanted a fresh one. After all, he was his new owner and didn't like the fact it said "not wanted" on the back of it. In the meantime Klaus was looking at dog beds, he pulled out a few to show Five who shook his head to most of them. 'Ew no' or 'it needs to be comfy' where the main two replies Klaus got but finally found one that satisfied both of them, as well as the little guy.
They moved on to toys. Five threw a small stuffed bear that made a wrinkle sound when played with, into the basket, as well as two different toothing rings, a squeaky toy, and another plushed animal, this time with a squeaker.
"Okay that's enough. You're going to buy him this whole aisle. Let's go" Klaus joked, taking the character shaped toy out of Five's hand and placing it back on the shelf. Five huffed but moved along. Mr. Pennycrumb easily followed at his feet, tail wagging.
Viktor met them in that aisle. Looking at the basket Five and Klaus held. He giggled at the sight, "Well, someone's going to be spoiled" he teased.
They had food, toys, bed, leash, all they needed were treats though at the they were going, Mr. Pennycrumb didn't need to be spoiled more. But it was probably best, besides they needed some way to bribe the dog into loving them. It had no problem getting attached to Five.
They moved onto the treats section. "Does it really matter what kind we get him?" Klaus asked looking at two different treats that were treats made for big dogs. "Of course it matters. Besides he's only probably a couple months old, he probably can't have really hard things" Five said showing the dog the treats. The dog sniffed eagerly at some but actually turned away from a few of them. Wow . Who knew their youngest (oldest) brother was good with dogs.
After like twenty minutes in the store. They checked out.
When they got back to the academy the first thing Five did was feed his darling child. Scoping a good portion of food for his size into a blue bowl with white bones and poured water into a purple bowl with the same white bones design.
He always hated being called a child, which made sense since he was fifty fucking eight, but they all had to internally agree that Five looked his age when sat down with the puppy.
"Does a dog really need this many toys?" Luther asked, inspecting the items Viktor took out from the bags.
Five looked away from the dog and eyed Luther as though he just deeply insulted him. He heard Diego laugh in the background, either from the amusement of how many toys or Fives reaction. He wasn't sure.
"Of course he does. He's still small and needs attention, what if he gets bored quickly?" Well…surprisingly he had a point. Allison didn't think she could argue with that logic. No matter how ridiculous it may have sounded.
Mr. Pennycrumb slept in Five's room. The small dog bed being out in the corner of the room along with a pile of toys. The toys were supposed to be in the living room but everytime they played with him, if he got protective over his things than he'd bring them to Five's room. Not like the boy minded but he did have a small thing about keeping things organized, especially his room, so it took a bit not to swipe the toys into a corner every time the pup left them somewhere.
Other than that. Everyone was enjoying having a dog around the house. Maybe that's what they all needed? Something they all could dot and bond over. (Though Mr. Pennycrumb was clearly biased towards Five).