⚠️: mentions of nausea and almost v*miting in both flashbacks.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

- 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟬 -

The moon shone brightly over the city, the skyline of lights reaching for the sky twinkling with it like stars. The wind was cold and harsh but the seven siblings sit tucked away in the warmth of Griddy's Doughnuts. Their mother had bought them some time to sneak out. Their bellies were full of doughnuts and hot chocolate, the warm air around them bringing the smell of those very things.

A young Ben pulled his gaze away from the window, his eyes tired of chasing the dusting flakes of snow and refocused on his plate with a groan. He was suddenly reminded of the time Diego and Klaus tied rubber bands around a watermelon until it burst. That's what his stomach felt like; one delicious rubberband away from a very messy situation. Ben pushed his plate and his fourth, now half-eaten doughnut away.

Catching Viktor's eye from across from him, Ben gave him a curious look, offering the half-eaten food. Viktor smiled thankfully, but shook his head, leaning back in his chair and cradling his stomach. They both laughed a little at their full bellies and the waitress made her way to the table to collect the dishes.

Ben thought it best not to think about his stomach, and instead had found himself engrossed in the impossible-to-ignore argument growing at the other end of the table.

"-I didn' th'ay tha'!" Luther cried through a mouthful of doughnuts, crumbs flying from his lips as he leaned into the table to peer over Allison. The poor girl was cringing and shoving Luther off of her with her shoulder as she dusted off the crumbs he was getting everywhere, and Ben couldn't bring himself to blame her.

"-Y-Yes! Yes! You did! D-don't try that s-s-shit!" Diego threw back. "'Go right. G-go right.' That's what you s-said!"

"Oh, yeah? Oh-"

"-Uhh, yeah!"

The waitress slipped back into Ben's peripheral view with a tight-lipped smile, a tray of dishes teetering haphazardly in her arms. Both Ben and Viktor sent polite, thankful smiles up at the woman but she seemed to barely notice in her attempt to grab their plates with her already full arms. If Ben were to guess, it had been her first day on the job which struck him as odd considering he and his siblings had seen her working the late shift for as long as they'd been coming here. Maybe it was an off day for her, Ben thought, and those hotheads probably weren't helping.

"-yeah? Okay, my bad-"

"-yeah, y-your bad-"

"-Then tell me, th'omething then, 'iego. th'ince when doe'th righ' mean lef'? Huh? When did I mith'-"

The woman had finally gotten Viktor's plate to balance - and had declined their help - making a final reach for Ben's plate. Picking it up in her one free hand, it teetered in her grip right before Ben's nose, the smell hitting him in full and sending another wave of nausea over him.

"Sorry-" she muttered. "You done with this?"

Ben nodded, not daring to open his mouth and risk it. But he did catch something flash in her eyes, something he couldn't quite pinpoint. But too late - she was gone. She had disappeared behind the counter and around the corner before he could figure it out, leaving Ben and Viktor to scratch their heads and continue calming their stomachs.

"I wonder if she's okay," Viktor muttered.

Ben shrugged his shoulders, taking deep breaths to try and soothe his stomach, his mind no longer on the waitress. He just hoped he could make it home in time without making a mess. He also hoped the fighting would soon stop, but Ben knew not to hold his breath on that one.

"Not looking so hot, there, Ben," Five interjected, pulling himself away from his conversation with Klaus and Allison. "How many times do I gotta tell you?"

Ben swallowed thickly, surely turning green.

"Ration your food," Five says. "It'll last longer."

"And miss the pukefest?" Klaus cut in excitedly. "No way! Come on Ben, one more you can do it. You're a growing boy, hell you're eating for two! Or is it nine-? Guys, how many tentacles does Ben have?"

"Klaus," Viktor lectured, but nobody seemed to notice him.

Ben had hastily shot up from his seat, a hand flying to his mouth as he ran to the nearest exit.

"Wait! Ben-?" Viktor cried, watching too late as his brother disappeared around the corner.

Viktor sighed, sitting back down in his chair, realizing he had half risen in protest when Ben ran. Viktor's stomach was threatening to turn and he knew he needed to stay seated.

The squeak of the kitchen partition door cut through the air, barely noticeable to the rambunctious huddle of siblings. That was until the waitress returned to the table, looking her more chipper self.

Viktor looked up, half expecting a bill to be dropped at his side only to be taken aback by the same waitress with empty trays, frowning down at their equally empty tables.

"I'm sorry," Viktor said, having to clear his throat at how quiet his voice came out. "Is something wrong?"

Still frowning curiously, the waitress, Agnes, shook her head reluctantly and smiled, seeming to brush it off. "No, I don't... I suppose not. Please excuse me-- So, are you all finished here?"

It was Viktor's turn to frown, and by now Five had caught on as well. He had turned away, yet again from Klaus, and was now looking up at the woman with great curiosity.

-"Sorry?" Viktor asked.

-"Yep. Same as two minutes ago," Five says flatly, hooking an arm over the back of his chair. "You just cleared our plates, remember?"

"Sir," the woman says, beginning to lose her hospitality. "I haven't. I've been in the back restocking for the last five."

Viktor and Five share a nervous look, and by now, even the others had caught on.

If this was the waitress, who the hell did they just see?

•·················•·················•

Ben wiped at his sweaty brow with the back of his hand, wondering how in all hell he managed to keep down deserts. The cool air certainly helped, and so did the old car bench against the wall.

Ben thought about facing his siblings again. He knew he'd get an earful, but he supposed that was the better alternative. He had just reached for the door when he heard a rustle behind the dumpster and he froze.

Something inside him he couldn't quite consider instinct told him to ignore the noise and return to his siblings inside. But the odd trail of footprints in the snow begged otherwise. He found himself pulled away from the door in curiosity, his full stomach quickly forgotten as he shadowed the trail of footsteps leading behind the dumpster and around the corner with caution.

Ben was no detective, but he knew feet didn't get smaller. And what once looked like the imprints of heels, had gradually morphed into bare feet.

The noises also grew louder.

Loud enough to the point he could decipher them as frantic chewing and the warbling of dinner plates clinking together. Against his better judgment and suddenly thinking of every horror movie idiot he and his siblings had ever yelled at, he found himself calling out into the night.

"Hello?"

The sounds came to an abrupt stop as Ben came upon the corner. Utterly bewildered, and now only just on the other side of the brick from the source of the noise, Ben prepared himself for the unknown.

And what he got was most unexpected.

A kid-his age-hidden in the tightest corners of the brick wall and the second dumpster, seeking out what little body heat she was pumping out. Crumbs of Ben's unfinished doughnuts clung to the corners of her lips as she huddled in a blanket, faded blue winter coat three sizes too big, and darkened jeans dampened from kneeling in the snow. She looked embarrassed to have been caught but was promptly shoving her anger to the forefront.

"What?" Ben realized he hadn't said anything for a considerable amount of time when he processed her question. "What are you looking at?" She pressed.

"I was just..."

The girl bristled. "You were just what?"

Ben shrugged, at a loss for words. He didn't know what to say to her-what wouldn't upset her further. It was quiet between them as his eyes fell to the plates on the ground before her; he could see the sprinkled crumbs of his jelly doughnut and the unique smear he had left with his pinky on the edge of the plate that confirmed his suspicions. Beside it, Viktor's toffee glaze in pieces.

"...You want to come sit with us?"

- 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗗𝗔𝗬 -

Neither Y/n nor her boyfriend could believe the sight bustling around the kitchen before them; his younger body swimming in his oversized suit and tie as he hurriedly prepared for a quick meal. The hope of seeing Five Hargreeves in the flesh had died long ago, not unlike the couple at either end of the Hargreeves bunch, unseen by all but Number Four.

"Holy shit," Muttered Y/n, at Luther's side. "it's..."

"--it's really Five." Came the forlorn voice of Ben, standing at Viktor's as he looked at his brother in shock.

"What's the date?" The boy demands, pulling a loaf of white bread off the shelf and returning to the table. "The exact date?"

Viktor responded first. "The twenty-fourth,"

"Of what?"

"March,"

Ben and Y/n share an inquisitive glance at the thoughtful pause Five takes.

"...Good."

"So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?"

Y/n's eyes jump between Luther and Five. But the boy doesn't say anything, only laying out two slices of bread on the cutting board. She would have been more enthusiastic with Luther's point had he not risen from his seat and stepped right through her while making it.

"It's been seventeen years,"

"Ugh, dude," she winced under her breath, sidestepping the man and sending a warning glare to a smirking Ben.

"It's been a lot longer than that," seethed Five, blinking forward and reappearing at the counter.

"I haven't missed that," Luther grumbled.

"Where'd you go?" Diego's dark irises fixed on a spot on the floor.

"The future," Five grabbed more supplies off of a higher shelf and reappeared at the table. "It's shit by the way."

Klaus rose a hand in the air, his eyes darting between two specific spots in the room. "Called it!"

Ben gave a playful shrug to the one he loved and managed to pull another chuckle from her at his next words. "He did call it. I was there,"

"I should have listened to the old man," Five gave a yank on the refrigerator door and peered inside, and Y/n stepped yet again out of the way, leaning against the counter to the left. "Jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice,"

He looks up for the first time since making his sandwich to see Klaus perched cross-legged at the end of the dining table and gives an approving nod. "Nice dress,"

"Oh," he perks, giving one of the tassels a flattering twirl. "well, dänke,"

Still much too flabbergasted with the situation, Viktor can't help but blurt out, "Wait, how did you get back?"

"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time." He answers simply.

Ben cocks a brow at Y/n from over Viktor's shoulder. "Did you catch any of that?"

Her winded expression saying otherwise, she gives a teasing shrug. "You didn't?"

"That makes no sense," Says Diego, the first of the living to respond.

Without looking up from his sandwich, Five retorts, "Well, it would if you were smarter."

Y/n suppresses an amused smirk as she brings her gaze up from the ground, watching the scene unfold from hidden underneath her brow.

Diego launches himself up from his seat, but Luther was already there to stop him with his arm thrown out. "How long were you there?" Luther asks.

"Forty-five years," Five says, biting the bullet. "Give or take."

That was enough to wipe the smirk off her face. Her worry quickly matches that of Ben's, neither of them realizing just how long it had been since Five was lost to them. Or more accurately, how long they were lost to Five.

The truth is heavy enough to pull Diego and Luther back into the seats where they sat gaping at Five, like the rest of the academy. Five knew this would happen. He might not have seen his siblings in several decades but he still knew them well enough they'd have a hard time with the truth.

"So what are you saying?" Luther asked. "That you're fifty-eight?"

"No," Five remarks, sending his brother a bitter smirk. "my consciousness is fifty-eight."

He stacks the second slice of bread onto the pile of marshmallows and peanut butter, completing his lunch as he stalked off a few paces. Unknowingly to him and most of his siblings, this brought him right next to his old friend. The woman in question was still propped up against the counter, now studying him sadly as he continued his monologue.

"Apparently, my body is now thirteen again,"

"Wait," said Viktor, still struggling to wrap his mind around what his brother was saying. "how does that even work?"

"Delores kept saying the equations were off," Five smiles fondly at the memory of his love and shrugs, silently conceding this victory to her. "Hm,"

Y/n looks at him with a sort of gentle empathy; a color the academy didn't see on her often. Ben suspected a thing or two. He wondered if she might not be reminded of her years before the academy. All those years alone, fending for herself.

Five turns to his family, stalking back over with a mouthful of his sandwich. "Bet she's laughing now," he finishes.

"Delores?" Viktor asked.

"Hmm," he hummed. Doing his best to remove the peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth, he picked up the newspaper on the table and brushed off his brother's question.

Their father's mortality was something all of them had a hard time believing, and yet the sight of an urn in the corner and the headline in black in white: CITY SAYS GOODBYE TO REGINALD HARGREEVES didn't seem to make it any more real. And yet, Five shrugged, chucking the article and the printed face of his father's scowl back on the table with little interest.

"Guess I missed the funeral,"

"How'd you know about that?" He asked.

Ben looked slowly from the newspaper Five had just discarded back to Luther, dumbfounded. "...Really?"

Five sent Luther a funny look. "What part of the future do you not understand?" Luther swallows a response. "Heart failure, huh?"

-"Yeah,"

-"No,"

Luther and Diego's hardened eyes snap to one another in a momentary glare, and the others fight an eye roll. A flat look befalls Five's face, his jaw twitching to the side; a telltale sign of his agitation.

"Nice to see nothing's changed," he remarks, stalking off exasperated.

"Uh," Allison scoffs, turning to call after her brother. "that's it? That's all you have to say?"

"What else is there to say?" Comes his voice, retreating into the stairwell. "The circle of life."

And just as he had left that evening all those years ago, Number Five disappeared leaving his siblings where they sat at the table in a daze.

Ben stares after the entryway to have swallowed his brother and contemplates if any of what he heard was real. Hell, was any of it?

"Well," Luther looks across the table at a gaping Viktor who tries to pull an expression out of their shell-shocked siblings. "that was interesting."

"Welp, I was wrong," Y/n begins, pulling the attention of the two men who can see her. She releases a heavy, contemplative sigh, her cheeks bloated with air. "Apparently, this family can still surprise me,"

•·················•·················•

Though all the clouds had gathered together in the sky, the day was still bright and oddly beautiful. It was peaceful; the rumble of the gathering storm in the sky as the first sprinkles of rain left the clouds.

Ben finally pulled his eyes away from the window, his eyes already tired of searching the frosted glass for any signs of gathering dews of pattering rain. He looks around the confines of his childhood bedroom-it wasn't the roomiest, but it wasn't the smallest either. Aside from tidying his mother had kept up over the years since his untimely death, it remained relatively untouched. Even his copy of Anton Chekov's The Bet sat on the third shelf, bookmarked and peeking over the edge where he had left it in a hurry.

Klaus was in his own room just down the stairs, no doubt killing time until the funeral, just like him. He chuckled to himself when his eyes landed on Y/n, lounging on his bed, back against the wall with her eyes traced on her hand. The natural s/c hue of her skin rippled into glimmering fish scales. Then feathers. Then fur, something that resembled what Ben thought to be some sort of lizard, and then more scales. Just like Y/n, too, he thought.

She could sense his attention on her, and without taking her eyes off of her morphing arm, she wondered aloud with as much boredom as he sensed she had.

"Do you think if I tried hard enough, I could give myself functioning chainsaw arms?"

A breath escaped his nose in a weak laugh. Despite the lack of body, dread had been building in his insides, making him damn near sick. But the unprompted and oh-so genuine curiosity she displayed was enough to soothe that. Even for a moment.

The small traces of his smile lingered, and his eyes, however far away, fell to the floor in thought.

"Do you remember when we met?"

The sound of her shifting powers stopped, and it was