Word count: 3078

𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 gauze onto a shirtless Diego's stomach as the two rested on the couch, Valerie sitting on the couch opposite to them while Five paced behind their couch.

"So, what, you just let her go?" Diego questioned after Valerie and Five had finished recounting the day's events.

"Well, Vanya had a lot to process." Five shrugged, taking out the invitation that Valerie had found the night before from the inside of his blazer. He sighed and reassured them, "She'll come around. I know she will."

"What about the guys that went after her?" Diego asked as Elliott handed everyone mugs of coffee, him putting Five's mug on the coffee table.

"The Swedes?" Five clarified as he furrowed his eyebrows.

Diego nodded and shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, how do you know they won't go after her again?"

"We don't."

"Mm, any idea who sent them?" Lila asked as Five rounded the couch and went towards the coffee table.

"Oh" —Five gave her an irritated smile as he grabbed his mug— "I have my suspicions."

"But right now, our priority is finding Dad and getting answers," Valerie said with folded arms as Five sat down next to her, "'cause everything else depends on it."

"Which, for the record," Diego pointed out, "I found him already—"

"And then let him go," Five cut him off, "before we could have a meaningful conversation."

Diego stared at him for a moment, an incredulous expression on his face. "He stabbed me."

"I'm surprised he waited this long, Diego. We've all had the urge," Five said mockingly before taking a sip of his coffee.

Lila laughed. "Good one." She held her hand out for Five to high-five, but he ignored her as he put his cup down on the coffee table.

"Good thing we know where Dad's gonna be tonight," Valerie stated as she took the invitation from Five before handing it to Diego.

Diego sighed as he leaned back, his eyes analyzing the paper for a moment before he inquired, "Where'd you get this?"

"Found it at his office while he was busy stabbing you," Five remarked with a miffed smile.

Diego gave a sarcastic chuckle before reading out the invitation, Lila's head just next to his as she silently read it as well, "'Hoyt Hillenkoetter and the Consulate General of Mexico in Dallas cordially invite you to a gala.'"

"Whoa, wait," Elliott spoke up, his voice slightly shaky. "Hoyt Hillenkoetter? Are you serious?"

"Do you know him?" Valerie questioned as she turned to face him, her eyebrows furrowed.

Lila gasped, her eyes still on the invitation. "We should go. Says there's gonna be a seafood tower."

"No, Hillenkoetter is" —Elliott stepped towards them excitedly— "is one of the Majestic Twelve."

"The hell is the Majestic Twelve?" Diego asked, his nose wrinkled.

"It's a . . . a secret committee," Elliott explained as he put his mug down and rushed over to the desk behind them, rifling through stacks of paper. "Uh, scientists, military, uh, deep state. No one knows what they really do."

"Wait, so they're government?" Diego grunted as he sat up.

"Shadow government," Elliott corrected as he began to look through the cabinets. "Yeah, Kennedy was the first president to try to push 'em into the light, but these guys are not to be trifled with. Oh . . . Oh, here we go. Ah, right here." Elliott found what he had been looking for, and brought it over to them. He placed the photograph down in front of Five and Valerie, it being a black-and-white still of a group of serious-faced men. "This, uh . . . Oh, right here." He pointed to the man on the far left and told them, "That's Hoyt right there."

Valerie stared at the photo with furrowed eyebrows, doing a quick count of the men before pointing out, "There's only eleven."

"Well, that's because they've only identified eleven so far," Elliott clarified.

"Who's the twelfth?" Diego questioned.

Simultaneously, Valerie, Five, and Diego all realized what the answer was. They looked towards each other, their eyes widening.

Reginald.

"We've gotta go there," Diego instantly said, his eyes serious as they glanced between Five and Valerie.

"Agreed." Five nodded. "Although, you might want to change into something more" —his eyes roamed over Diego's bare chest and dirty pants— "fitting."

"Yeah, I expect your girlfriend and I will have to wear fancy, rich people dresses as well." Lila shrugged, looking over at Valerie and her uniform. "Which, speaking of your girlfriend, I have a question."

Five rolled his eyes as he nodded. "What?"

"Actually, two questions."

He gave an exasperated sigh. "What are they?"

"First" —Lila held one finger up— "you three are all brother and sister, correct?"

"Yeah," Diego confirmed with a quirked eyebrow, "and?"

"So then how come you two are dating?" she queried as she pointed to Valerie and Five, who gave each other glances of apprehension.

"It's . . . complicated," Five said reluctantly.

"Just sounds like incest to me." Lila shrugged, receiving three looks of disgust in return.

"Valerie didn't come to the family until she was eleven. And she, um . . . left when she was seventeen, so she's not really . . ." Diego frowned as he tried to explain the situation; it was quite difficult to explain how she was stuck out of the time-space continuum. "Anyway, it's not really like that. None of us are related anyway. She's just a bitch, we hate her."

"Diego!" Valerie exclaimed.

"Too much?" He grinned. "Sorry, Max Mercury."

"I never saw her as a sister," Five said dismissively. "Same way around for her."

"What, she never saw you as a sister?" Lila raised her eyebrows mockingly. "How come?"

"What's the other question?" Valerie asked as she felt Five tense next to her, and she quickly took his hand in hers in an attempt to reassure him.

Lila focused her attention on Valerie and questioned, "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Valerie asked in bafflement as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Deal with such an insufferable prick all the time?"

"Oh, trust me, it gets hard," Valerie sighed, leaning back on the couch.

"Hey!" Five exclaimed as she turned to her in offence.

"We don't have time for this, we have to get ready. There's only an hour until the thing starts," Diego said as he got up from his spot, wincing slightly from his injury.

Lila stood up as well and nodded. "Okay, well, I'm sure Diego can get a suit from that man, Elijah or whatever—"

"Elliott," Valerie corrected.

"Sure, Elbow, but where do we get dresses from?"

"Here, Lila," Valerie offered with a small smile, "why don't you go to your room and I'll get us the dresses?"

Lila stared at her for a moment before shrugging. "Okay."

As soon as Lila was out of sight, Valerie sprinted off into the nearest shop and grabbed the two nearest dresses. As soon as she got confirmation that they would fit, she ran back to Elliott's living room, ripping off the tags as soon as she came to a stop.

"Here." She handed a teal blue dress to Diego, who then held it out in front of him as he analyzed the short, puffy sleeves, and square neckline. "Diego, go ask Elliott for a suit, and also, please brush your hair. Five, you are way too short to fit, and anyway, your uniform should be good enough. Okay." Valerie clapped her hands together and sighed. "Be ready in less than an hour. Go."

As Diego hurried off to meet Lila in their room, Valerie went to hers, her dress in hand.

She was about to close the door when Five squeezed inside and she gave an exasperated sigh as he sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard.

"What did I do now?" Five questioned when he heard the sigh, his tone tentative.

"Nothing, but I was going to change," she told him as she rolled her eyes and opened the door.

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "So?"

"So, I can't change if you're in here," she pointed out, gesturing for him to leave the room.

"Why not?"

"Because" —Valerie thought for a moment— "because you're in here."

This didn't convince him any further. "And?"

"And I'm going to be taking my clothes off?"

"Okay, and?"

"And I will not be wearing clothes."

"Yeah, I understood that." Five rolled his eyes in amusement and shrugged. "But we're dating, we're adults, why does it matter?"

"Because" —she folded her arms— "because it does. I don't know."

"I'll close my eyes," he promised, already putting his hands over his eyes just to prove his point.

"Wha—okay, fine," she sighed before closing and locking the door.

Valerie walked over to the edge of the bed, opposite to where Five was sitting and placed the black dress she had on the edge of the mattress. She slipped her blazer off, which was soon followed by her plaid dress. 

She moved her necklace underneath her shirt to get it out of the way, making sure to be gentle. She unbuttoned her shirt, looking up as she finished unbuttoning the last button to see Five's eyes glimpsing through the space he created between his fingers.

She sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "I can see you peeking."

"I'm not."

"I can see your whole ass eyes."

"No, you can't."

"Yes, I can."

He then brought his hands down to his lap, his eyes narrowed as he looked towards her bare stomach. "Wait."

"What?" Valerie furrowed her eyebrows as she looked down.

Five slipped off of the bed and walked over to her, bending slightly once he had reached her. He brushed the shirt to the side, his fingers then grazing over the scarred skin where the bullet wound once was. "Shouldn't this be gone? I thought you had speed-healing."

"I do have speed-healing, or else I would've died a long time ago, idiot," she chuckled lightly as he continued to concernedly gaze at the scar. "Sometimes I get scars and they don't go away until a few days or a week or something. I don't know why."

"Hm." He frowned as he straightened up.

"Hey, don't worry," she chided, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine. This isn't as bad as when you got that shrapnel in your stomach."

"You got shot," he scoffed. "And then you still used your powers."

"Yeah, except I knew that I'd be fine because of my healing," she countered, her eyebrows raised. "Which is exactly why you don't need to worry. Besides, it's just a scar. Who cares?"

"Well, I just don't like being reminded of it," Five murmured, his eyes glancing down towards it once more.

"Then don't look at it," she giggled. "In fact, you should be closing your eyes anyway."

"I don't want to," he whined as he climbed back onto the bed.

"Close your eyes before I take your eyeballs out and throw them into the garbage disposal," she threatened.

"Romantic."

"Do it!"

"Fine, fine, doing it!" He raised his hands in defence before covering his eyes, letting out a small sigh.

"Thank you," Valerie exhaled as she slid the button-up shirt off of her and put it in the pile that held the rest of her uniform.

She picked up the dress, inspecting it for the first time after stealing it. It was a black, off-the-shoulder dress, with a heart-shaped neckline and sleeves that stopped mid-forearm. It had a flowy, circular skirt that reached a little past her knees, and the material was quite soft.

Deeming it to be much nicer than any dress she's worn before (which really only was the uniform dress), she slid it on, then cursing silently when she realized she wouldn't be able to zip the back up herself. She knew how Five was going to react.

With a small groan, she said, "Five?"

"Yeah?" he asked, keeping his hands over his eyes.

She walked over to him and sat in front of him as she asked, "Can you zip the back of my dress up?"

A smirk spread onto his face as he lowered his hands. "Oh, so now you want me to—"

"Just do it!"

"Okay, okay, jeez," he chuckled as he scooched closer to her.

She could feel his fingers brush against her skin as they clasped onto the zipper and pulled it up, closing the dress.

"Done."

"Thank you." She turned around and planted a kiss on his lips before standing up and straightening her skirt.

"Hey, turn around," Five chided. "Let me see."

Rolling her eyes in amusement, Valerie turned around to let Five see the dress that fit her body perfectly. His eyes widened as he took in the sight, and a smile grew on his face.

"You look beautiful, darling," he said softly, his eyes roaming over every inch of her body. It seemed as though he especially liked the neckline area, as revealing as it was. He then reached over and straightened her necklace so that the piano hung just above the dip of her neckline.

Valerie felt a blush approach her cheeks. "Thank you, and also, shut up, stop calling me that."

"Never, darling." Five winked.

She rolled her eyes in amusement before sighing and telling him, "We better go check on the other two, make sure they're not either fucking or murdering each other."

"Wouldn't be surprised if Lila's killed Diego by now," he said lightly as he got off of the bed, a scowl replacing the smile that was on his face.

"I really don't think Lila's all that bad." Valerie frowned. "She seems nice to me."

"That's because you only see the good in everyone or whatever." He rolled his eyes as the two of them went towards the door.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"It can be," Five said darkly as he opened the door. "Especially with what we're doing now."

"All I'm saying," Valerie spoke quietly to him, "is that you should have a little more faith in other people. It can be helpful. Like Elliott. Or Lila."

"I don't need faith in any more people, the ones I have faith in right now are enough," Five responded as they reached the empty living room.

"And who exactly are those people?" Valerie asked as she raised her eyebrows.

"Let me see," Five pondered as he sat down on the couch. "Diego's gone insane, Elliott's not that far on the crazy scale from Diego, Luther's being a little bitch, Vanya isn't cooperating with us, Allison and Klaus are who knows where doing who knows what . . . . so . . . you and me."

"And you think that's good enough?" she laughed bitterly. "Okay, Five. Anyway, I'll be right back."

She headed towards the guest room where Diego and Lila were staying and knocked on the closed door.

The door popped open, revealing Diego, who was wearing a spiffy suit that obviously belonged to Elliott. His hair was less wild than usual, now in sleek waves. As soon as she was in his sight, he inspected the dress she was wearing, and a small smile grew onto his face.

"You look good, Kid Flash."

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," she giggled. "Meet Five and me in the living room when you two are ready. You have only a couple minutes left."

And with that, she went back to the living room, sighing as she sat down next to Five.

"They ready or what?" he questioned as he rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the spot that she had just come from.

"Almost," Valerie reassured him. Noticing that the black tie underneath his sweater vest was lopsided, she leaned in front of him, fixing it.

"What are you—oh." He furrowed his eyebrows as her fingers lightly tugged the tie to one side before straightening out his sweater vest.

"Need to fix everything," she mumbled.

Valerie analyzed his uniform, brushing off the slight bits of dust and lint before deeming it acceptable enough. She then tidied up his hair, all while Five watched her do so.

"Okay, enough, enough," he chuckled lightly, pulling down her hands from his hair. He didn't let go of her hand as it lowered, instead just gripping the soft skin gently.

"You need to fit in as much as you can." Valerie frowned as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I mean, I feel like people will question why there's a seventeen-year-old there. Two of them."

"Eh, it'll be fine," he reassured her with the wave of a hand. "Don't worry about it."

"Of course, I have to worry about it," Valerie laughed. "If I don't, then no one will, and that could lead to a lot of bad things."

Five tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his hand resting on the side of her face. "I'm sure it'd be fine," he murmured, pulling her face closer to his.

"What if it's not?" she worried aloud, keeping her voice soft as Five rested his forehead against hers. "What if Dad gets suspicious? What if Lila accidentally says something that'll expose us? What if people question us?"

"None of that will happen," he reassured her with an amused smile.

"How do you know?" Valerie bit her lip, each troubled thought inviting a worse one to her mind. "What if someone asks us to leave? What if they realize we're not supposed to be there? What if they find out that we're from the future? What if they don't—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Five cut her off as he kissed her. His hands moved down from her cheeks to her hips, pulling her onto his lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The anxiety that had been swiftly building up in her chest slowly faded away as the familiar comfort of his lips reassured her. The kiss only grew more and more passionate until—

"Hey, children, stop making out so that we can go see if Dad is going to murder the president!"

Valerie drew away from Five, both of their cheeks tinged with red as they got up from their spots on the couch. She patted the skirt of her dress before sending a small glare to Diego, who only smirked in response.

"Ready to go?"