Word count: 2327

𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄, 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐀, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 an invisible Valerie walked inside the boxing arena. 

Surrounding the boxing ring in the middle of the room was a cheering crowd, shoving each other and waving cash in the air. The air reeked of sweat and alcohol, immediately causing Valerie to scrunch her face and pinch her nose. 

Straining her neck, she peered through the small spaces between the shouting men to see the two fighters in the ring. Her eyes widened as she quickly recognized the larger one. 

Luther, his animal skin clearly visible against his white muscle shirt, was fighting a man of similar size, who had dark hair and a growl comparable to a lion's.

The three of them managed their way to the front. They peered from underneath the metal railings to watch as Luther and the other man exchanged punches, grunting loudly as they did so.

Valerie glanced over her shoulder to see that not too far from them was Jack Ruby, egging Luther on with clenched fists.

Luther gave a hefty punch to the other man, throwing him backwards and causing him to pause for a quick recovery.

Before he could continue on towards a victory, a distraught look came over Luther's eyes as he swayed in his spot, his eyebrows furrowed.

The other man charged toward him and quickly swung at him, and Luther made no effort to stop him. Even after getting hit, Luther expressed no want to fight back.

The crowd shouted words of frustration and distress as Luther allowed each blow to hit him. Jack Ruby was most definitely not too happy, and he let Luther know through discontented shouts.

Valerie grasped Five's arm with worry, her eyes wide as she watched and exclaimed, "He's pummeling him!"

Luther looked up at the man, his words barely audible over the roaring audience. "Hit me again."

The man grabbed either side of Luther's head and threw him to the side that the three of them were on, Luther hitting the wall right under them.

"Oh my God, Luther," Vanya breathed out, her eyes fixated on the man who remained limp.

"Why isn't he fighting back?" Five asked anxiously as the man seized Luther by the head and dragged him to his feet.

He began to repeatedly punch Luther in the gut. Blow after blow, Luther did nothing but let out loud grunts, his face scrunched up in pain as he took each hit.

Luther, now drenched in sweat and littered in bruises, breathed heavily. "Hit me again."

Another strike, but the ape of a man still wasn't satisfied.

"Again! Hit me!"

Five peeked his head through the wide metal bars of the railing, shouting, "Luther, are you crazy? Just hit him!"

"Hit me. I wanna feel pain," Luther begged the other man. "I wanna feel all the pain."

What the fuck was wrong with him?

"Give me everything you've got!"

The man growled.

Valerie's grip on Five's arm tightened in fear as the man sent a punch so severe that it sent Luther flying through the air. It seemed as though he was going in slow motion as the crowd grew louder, and he soon hit the hay-covered ground, barely conscious. His face was covered in blood, and it seemed as though his mind wasn't processing the boos as he slowly blinked towards the ceiling.

"Shit," Five breathed out as the three of them stared at him. "Luther."

Vanya's eyes were wide as she questioned, "Why didn't he fight back?"

—♫—

Valerie and Five waited outside of the building where Luther lived—the Plano Street Rooming House for Solitary Men—as Vanya went to Luther's room in an attempt to talk to him.

Now that they were outside, Valerie had returned back to her normal state, visible to anyone.

A chill breeze would pass them every now and again, though the uniform blazer was enough to keep her warm. The sun did help a lot, too, and with it only being a little after noon, it was high in the sky. 

"Here," Five murmured as he reached into his pocket, digging out another bar and handing it to her.

"Do you have an infinite supply or something?" she questioned with a sigh as she took it, already gagging by the mere thought of consuming it.

"I have enough," he answered as he leaned back on the side of Vanya's car, folding his arms. "Which reminds me, I have to tell Elliott to make more of these."

"I feel bad, he's already spending so much time of his time on us." She frowned as she leaned on her side next to him, facing him while chewing slowly on the bar. "And now on top of that, he has to bake for me?"

"I don't care about him, I'm not watching you get hurt again," he said firmly as he looked towards her. "It's already happened too many times."

"Once." She scoffed after she swallowed. "Only when I passed out that one time."

"You also got shot."

"Okay, twice," she corrected herself with a shrug. "Not that big of a deal. You also got hurt, and you didn't tell anyone, like an idiot."

Five gave her an incredulous look as he threw his hands into the air. "You didn't tell anyone either!"

"I told them when I got shot," she mumbled before pausing. "Well, they saw it and asked, and then I denied, but still, they knew, so in the end, I'm right."

He scrunched his face and shook his head. "What?"

"I don't know," she sighed, her fingers twisting the pendant on her neck. "Everything's confusing my brain nowadays. It doesn't work anymore."

Five was silent for a moment, watching as she looked down at the glittering piano with furrowed eyebrows and a frown. He suddenly spoke, his voice now soft, "You miss playing piano?"

A sad smile landed on her face. Oh, how she missed the soft melodies that reached her ears and the reassuring feel of the keys . . .

"Yeah, I mean, I barely even got to play when I came back from that void," she sighed, her eyes wandering over the glittering keys in her fingers. "Out of all the junk Elliott has . . . He still doesn't have one. Which is crazy. He has fifteen boxes of Q-Tips, but no form of piano?"

"We could always steal one," Five offered with a small grin, though his tone told her that he was serious.

She laughed as she looked up at him and shook her head. "I think you know what my answer to that would be."

"Yes?"

"Hard no."

"Your loss," he said as he shrugged lightly. "I'm great at stealing things."

"Oh, I know," Valerie scoffed as she lifted the pendant for him to see. "You stole this necklace. I remember."

"And look!" he exclaimed as he gestured towards it. "You love it!"

Valerie shook her head, an amused smile on her face. "You suck."

"Mhm, that's what you think?" Five raised an eyebrow, inching himself closer to her.

She nodded. "I do."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm more than sure," Valerie insisted. "You're terrible."

"I'm terrible?" he repeated, his eyebrows raised high.

"Absolutely terrible."

"Well, if I'm so terrible" —he leaned closer to her and planted a kiss on her lips— "why would you let me kiss you?"

"First of all, I didn't let you, you just did it by yourself," she pointed out, although she had a small grin on her face. "Second, attractiveness doesn't equal not being terrible."

"Oh, so you think I'm attractive?" 

She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm dating you because I think you're a foul monstrosity of a human being." 

Five held a hand over his heart, pretending as if he'd been struck. "Ouch."

She gave him a small shrug. "It's true."

"Okay, then, you're a . . ." He looked up, trying to come up with something but clearly struggling to. "A . . ."

"Mhm, tell me, what am I?" she encouraged, knowing that he'd never call her something beyond 'idiot.'

"An idiot."

Valerie scoffed, "Haven't heard that one before."

He wrinkled his nose as he stared at her, his eyes narrowed. "You know what? I strongly dislike you."

"Well, you know what?" she replied quickly, the corners of her lips tugging upwards before she kissed him lightly. "I love you."

Five remained silent, his eyes still narrowed at her.

"Oh, okay. Wow," she sighed as she turned around and shook her head. "You don't love me back? This is . . . I'm leaving."

He grabbed her arm and turned her around, pulling her closer to him. Although a little reluctant to lose on their playful banter, he murmured, "I love you too."

"Mhm," she giggled, "that's what I thought."

He rolled his eyes before kissing her, his hand pressed against her back. He pulled away after only a minute, his eyes squinting up towards the building.

"Damn, what's taking Vanya so long?"

"Can't handle being alone with me for more than ten minutes?" Valerie raised her eyebrows as she wiggled out of his grip and leaned against the car once more.

"Oh, trust me, I can handle it," he scoffed as he folded his arms again. "I've been handling it."

Just then, a noise that sounded similar to an explosion erupted as a hole was formed in the brick wall. Broken bricks and dust rained down to the ground below, and through the hole, Luther was visible, staring down at them.

Five gave an amused scoff, glancing at Valerie with an annoyed smile.

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Valerie muttered as the dust cleared away.

It wasn't long until Vanya came out of the building, and Five and Valerie approached her as she marched back towards the car.

"Well, that clearly went well," Five commented slyly, his hands in his pockets. "You ready to go?"

"I'm going back to the farm," Vanya said firmly as she rushed past them, not bothering to give them a glance.

Five and Valerie exchanged incredulous looks before rushing to her side before she could reach the car.

"No, Vanya, we need to stick together," Valerie tried to reason, but to no avail.

"Oh, why, so I don't end the world again?" she questioned mockingly before turning and opening the car door.

Five scoffed, turning towards the hole Luther made and muttering, "Stupid . . . "

Her hand now on the opened door, Vanya whipped around towards them angrily and questioned, "Were you even going to tell me?"

Valerie sighed, pressing a hand against Five's chest as he took a step towards Vanya. Whatever he was planning on saying, it wasn't going to be helpful.

"Listen, Vanya." Valerie shot Five a look that told him to stay quiet, to which he rolled his eyes, but nodded. "No. We weren't. But in our defence . . . I mean, when you get mad, stuff . . . doesn't go great. Shit blows up."

"Great," Vanya said humourlessly. "Are there any other family secrets you failed to mention?" she questioned venomously as she got into the car, slamming the door shut.

Five broke the silent promise he had made to Valerie and began to argue, "A boatload, Vanya, which we don't have the luxury of sharing them with the—" He stopped himself, an irritated look on his face as he gave a restrained knock on the window.

Vanya rolled down the window, though she kept her eyes looking straight ahead.

Five continued, "The clock is ticking on doomsday." He paused and let out a sigh. His voice became quieter as he poked his head in further through the window. "Just tell me that when I need you, you'll be ready."

Vanya stared at them, her hands on the steering wheel. "I can't help you. I don't even know who I am."

"You're my sister,"  Five said incredulously as she started the engine. "And a member of the Umbrella Academy. Like it or not, that's who you are."

"No, that's who I was," Vanya corrected as she readjusted her grip on the steering wheel before facing the front. "New timeline, new me."

"No, that's not how it work—"

Five was cut off as she drove away. He threw his hands up in the air, exasperated as they watched her drive away. "You've got to be kidding me."

Valerie rubbed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Let's just go back to Elliott's. Diego should be awake by now, and I want to make sure he's okay."

"Yeah" —a grim look came over Five's face as they began to walk along the sidewalk, heading to a more discreet place to disappear— "I don't trust him being by himself with Lila."

She shrugged. "I mean, Elliott's there too."

Five raised his eyebrows, letting out a scoff as he glanced around at the people on the street. "What's Elliott going to do?"

"You never know." She shrugged again. "Also, what's wrong with Lila?"

"I don't trust her," he said darkly, rubbing his wrist with one hand.

"But" —she furrowed her eyebrows, just as confused as before— "why?"

"There's something . . . There's something off about her."

Valerie laughed as they passed a few people, "You say that about everyone."

"No, but for real this time." He shook his head and sighed. "I'm serious."

She frowned. "All right. . . ."

Five stopped in his tracks and stared at her, his eyebrows raised incredulously. "You don't believe me?"

She folded her arms and scoffed. "When did I say that?"

"I can tell."

Her eyebrows knit together tightly. "How?"

"I just know what you're like," Five insisted. "And I know that you don't believe me right now."

"I mean, what evidence do you have?" she protested with a shrug. "Plus, she saved Diego! Twice now!"

"Nuh-uh, there's something." He shook his head before his pleading gaze met her eyes. "Believe me, Val. I know."

"All right, I'll just trust you on that one." She grabbed his hand and pulled him so that they could continue their search of a dark alley. "I did spend twelve years by myself, maybe my people-reading skills have gotten bad."

Five narrowed his eyes, and she waited as his gaze flickered over her straight expression. 

"Can you see that I believe you now, or what?" she asked with raised eyebrows as she found a hidden, empty lane between two shops.

"Yeah," he decided with a curt nod before threading his fingers through hers. "Okay, let's go."