THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
fractured || five hargreeves x reader

CHAPTER NINETEEN: DON'T PLAY DUMB

Written By: peachyhxlland

°•.☆.•°

"No, stop! I don't want to!"

"This is for your own good, Number Eight."

"Get away from me! STOP! STOP! IT HURTS!"

Five snapped his eyes open and looked around after he was awakened by Diego and Lila talking. He was still perplexed about what the true meaning of those dreams was. Had they been visions? Reminiscences from an alternate timeline? Five still couldn't quite figure it out yet.

After the van was repaired, Five and the others got back in it and decided to return to the city, splitting up the tasks. While Viktor, Allison, and Luther made the decision to meet with Sir Reginald Hargreeves because the town was full of his contracted gunmen, Five, Diego, and Lila teamed up to further investigate Gene and Jean's office in an attempt to find out where they are and what their next moves are. Ben, on the other hand, makes an impulsive decision to search for Jennifer on his own.

Five considered going with Ben to find you and Jennifer, given that he was reluctant to go with Lila and Diego. However, he knew Ben's plan was irresponsible and would not get him anywhere, so he might not find you and Jennifer in time without any assistance. To track down Gene and Jean's hiding place, Five decided to stay and search for clues.

Five, drowsy, glanced around and noticed Diego and Lila having a conversation. When Lila eventually revealed why Jean called her Nancy, he realized what they were talking about.

"I already know." Diego told Lila.

Lila furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Know what?"

Diego sighed deeply. "I followed you," He said to Lila. "The other night."

"You what?" Lila questioned in surprise. "What, so you're spying on me now?"

"I saw you." Diego didn't answer Lila's questions and carried on talking to her. "You were in the café with... with him."

"With who?"

"Don't play dumb. The little Greek guy with the mustache."

After giving it some thought, Lila let out a big laugh while Five rolled his eyes. After a few seconds, Lila started laughing even more, and Diego caught on. "Is that funny to you?" He questioned in annoyance.

Lila nodded while still laughing. "Yeah, trust me. That is absolutely hilarious!"

"Our kids are gonna grow up in a broken home, and you're laughing." Lila was still laughing so hard she was practically out of breath that Diego scowled.

"Diego," Lila called out as her laughter slowly died down. "The... the little guy, the little Greek guy, is Five." Diego blinked his eyes and was silent as he struggled to take in what Lila had explained to him. He gave Lila one more look. Lila nodded. "Yeah, we've been undercover investigating the Keepers. (Y/n) also came along with us. You didn't see her with us in the café?"

"You've been lying?" Diego questioned, ignoring Lila's question once more. "A-And you're working undercover w-with the CIA?"

Lila sighed. "See, this is why I didn't tell you because I knew you'd have some sort of bizarre reaction."

Diego shook his head quickly to refute that claim. "I'm not having a bizarre reaction." He exclaimed.

"You're acting like I had an affair."

"No, it's worse."

"Okay, as much as I would love to unpack whatever this is, we have much more important things to talk about."

Diego shook his head after giving it some thought while keeping his eyes on the road ahead. "It's because he's in the CIA, huh? And I'm just a dumb delivery driver."

Lila furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "No, Diego."

"Then why?"

"Because I needed something for myself, okay?" Eventually, Five let out a soft sigh of relief when Lila responded truthfully. The lack of proper conversation between the two of them was getting on his nerves. Lila kept talking, and Five listened. "Something other than changing diapers and wine moms and ballet class. At least you get to get outside the house every day. I'm just trapped in this unending suburban hellscape."

"I mean, that's good to know." Diego replied. "That the life we built is so bad."

Lila became quiet as she stared at Diego. "That's not what I meant."

"You think I like delivering packages day in and day out? Busting my ass?" Diego shook his head. "Oh, trust me. I'd rather be out there cracking skulls, but, I mean, somebody's gotta show up for this marriage, because... it sure as hell ain't you."

The two became silent again until, in a fit of frustration, Diego pushed the radio back on, enabling Baby Shark to start playing. The others woke up as the music started playing loudly again while Five had just finished arranging his seat.

°•○●○•°

Jennifer was unaware that her arm was glowing red when she woke up. She realized that her attire had been changed when she looked in the mirror. Jennifer got off the bed and wandered around the strange room she was placed in. "Where am I?" She whispered to herself. Jennifer walked towards a window nearby and saw a llama, the same llama that greeted you, bleating at her. Jennifer took a step back in surprise.

Then all of a sudden the door opened, and she turned to see Jean and Gene walking into the room with her neatly folded clothes and a tray of cups with a warm pitcher of milk on it. "Knock, knock!" Jean chirped.

"How about some fresh clothes hot from the dryer?" Gene said as he showed Jennifer her clothes.

Jennifer only stared at the two of them, her expression baffled. "Who... who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Jean, with a J." Jean introduced.

"And I'm Dr. Gene, with a G." Gene introduced next.

"We'll let you decide which is the dominant Jean..." Jean smirked.

"And which is recessive." Gene finished Jean's sentence. Jean giggled as she and her husband waited to see Jennifer's reaction. She just gave them a perplexed expression, much to their shame and disappointment.

"What the hell is going on?" Jennifer asked. "Am I a prisoner?"

"No!" Jean exclaimed.

"No, of course—of course not. You're our guest." Gene reassured her as he placed the folded clothing next to a nearby table while Jean set the tray down by the bedside drawer.

"We have been looking for you for a very long time," Jean explained. "We have so many questions about the Cleanse." She chuckled.

Jennifer furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"The Cle... uh..." Jean stared at Jennifer before sighing. "Oh, I get it, I get it. It's okay. You have just been through a very traumatic experience." She pouted sympathetically for Jennifer.

"That gang of miscreants, they were trying to kidnap you." Gene told Jennifer as he sat down on a chair.

Jennifer shook her head in defense. "No, no. They... they were... uh... they were..." She became unsure of what to tell the couple.

"They were what, hon?" Jean asked. When she saw Jennifer being lost for words, Jean placed her hands on her hips. "Well, thank goodness we got you when we did. Who knows what might've happened to you." Jean went on to make the bed that Jennifer slept on, including tucking in the linens.

"Is there anyone we can call for you?" Gene asked Jennifer. "Mom? Dad? Maybe a friend?"

Jennifer's breathing became shallow as she recalled the small town where she was raised, and eventually, it turned out to be nothing but a facade. She couldn't even recall if she had any relatives or parents. "I-I don't know..." She whispered. "My whole life. It was all a lie. Am I just part of someone's sick joke?"

Jean cautiously approached Jennifer. "It's okay, hon." She reassured. "You're safe now."

Jennifer shook her head. "No, uh, I gotta go." She turned to go, but as she did, a searing pain shot through her head, and she began to see glimpses of Ben's face and both of their hands meeting together in the van crash.

Jean came to rescue and sat Jennifer down on the bed. "Hush now, darling." She rubbed her hands on the young woman's arms. "You just let Jean and Gene take care of you, hm?"

Gene nodded. "That's right."

"Here." Jean poured some warm milk into a cup and gave it to Jennifer. "This will make you feel better. Go on."

Though she was hesitant to drink it, mainly because she thought the milk might contain poison, Jennifer took a sip. Jean glanced at her husband with a sly smile. "Not bad, right?" But since Jennifer didn't like the overall taste of the milk, she didn't swallow it. Jean continued to talk. "You know, not everybody likes alpaca milk right away. Notoriously hard to milk."

"Small teats." Gene commented.

"Just like..." Jean made an attempt to mimic some of the movements used to milk an alpaca. Jennifer observed them both, but she continued to keep the milk in her mouth. Grinning, Jean gave Jennifer a pat. "We'll be right back, okay? Call us if you need anything."

Gene got out of his chair and walked over to join Jean as they got ready to head out. They opened the door slightly, just enough so that Jennifer could see a familiar face outside. Her eyes grew wide as she caught a glimpse of you seated in a chair. However, Gene and Jean had already shut the door behind them before she had time to react. Spitting out the milk fast, Jennifer fixed her gaze on the door. "Is that...?"

Gene and Jean spotted you seated on a chair with your right leg resting on top of your left as they walked out of Jennifer's room. "I'm assuming she never told you two about it." You smirked.

"She said it before." Jean frowned. "She must be holding the details first after the accident. She'll reveal it soon."

You tilted your head as you took your cup of coffee. "I'll be waiting."

"Why don't you just tell us what you know about the Cleanse?" Gene asked you.

You grinned and set the cup down after taking a sip of your coffee. "Because I want to know if she actually knows something about the Cleanse. I need to know if what I know is true or not. I ain't giving you both details if I'm not sure about it."

Jean crossed her arms and stared at you in wonder. "You haven't told us what you're getting after this. You never told us why you're helping us."

"Helping you?" You questioned before chuckling. "Honey, sure, I helped out, but I'm not just a provider of the artifacts." You conjured another artifact out of thin air with a wave of your own fingertips. "We both have the same plans, but we have opposite motivations as to why we want the Cleanse to happen."

After you handed the artifact to Gene and Jean, they took it and studied it for about a minute. Gene turned to face you. "What is this?"

"A baseball cap." You answered blankly.

"From another timeline?" Jean asked in excitement.

"From a timeline where a certain someone I know exists," You replied as you stood up. "Now hurry up and think of a plan to make the girl start talking."

While you were looking around their lodge, Gene and Jean thought for a little while. You got to see photos of them as well as some of the items you provided for them. Jean had an idea when you were walking around the room. "I may have an idea."

-•-°-•-°-☆

Surprise update? Hehe. Sorry for the short chapter!