𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄, five hargreeves

II

17 years ago...

the group of children ran down the hallway as soon as the lunch bell rang. but as soon as they arrived in the dining room they slowed down. if reginald had beat them there, they would have been yelled at for running in the house.

they stood at their seats, eight was opposite five and next to ben. finally, reginald walked in and took a seat at the opposite end to vanya, "sit!" he ordered. everyone rushed to sit down at their seat, most of them digging into their food which grace had made.

ben read a book, like he did every time they sat at the table. klaus was rolling a joint of course. luther and allison, well you could guess what they were doing. however, five hadn't touched his food. he was staring straight at reginald, seeing if he could gain his attention. obviously that didn't work, so five grabbed his knife and stabbed it into the table. everyone looked up from what they were doing in shock. "number five?"

"i have a question."

"knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules," reginald said, "no talking during mealtimes. you are interrupting herr carlson!" ignorant as always.

"i want to time travel," five answered back through gritted teeth. he did quickly send a quick glance towards eight though. five had discussed his plans prior to the day and she told him she wanted to go with him and if anything did go wrong (which he promised wouldn't happen) they'd have each other.

"no," reginald said sharply.

"but i'm ready!" he complained, "i've been practicing my spatial jumps, just like you said," five blipped from his seat and next to reginald, "see?"

"a spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel," he began explaining. eight could see where this was going to go, either five was running away or five wasn't going to see the light of day. "one is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn!"

"well, i don't get it," five sighed.

"hence the reason you're not ready!"

"i'm not afraid," he added.

"fear isn't the issue. the effects it might have on your body, even on your mind, are far too unpredictable!" reginald finally sent one glance towards five, "now, i forbid you to talk about this anymore!"

five looked down the table towards vanya and eight. vanya shook her head rapidly, but eight nodded her head, encouraging him. "i'll follow you, five. we'll do it together!" eight sent him a message telepathically. he smiled at her and nodded his head once, before turning around on his feet and sprinting out of the room.

"number five! you haven't been excused!" reginald yelled. after a few seconds, eight dropped her cutlery on her plate, jumped out of her chair and ran out the room as well. "number eight! you get back here!" she could hear reginalds distant yells and the mummers from the other six children.

as she opened the main doors, five was stood outside facing the door. his mouth upturned into a smirk when he saw eight burst through the doors. "took you long enough!" he sarcastically said. five grabbed onto eights arm and pulled her down the steps, dragging her along the street outside the academy.

five clenched his fists, gaining energy. when all of a sudden he pushed the two of them through a portal. it was summer? everyone was in shorts, or wearing dresses etc. "holy shit five!" eight laughed in disbelief.

he turned towards her, a smile on his face. "not ready my ass!" he pushed them through again, travelling to a new year. this time it was snowing, there were less people on the streets, and for the people who were out and about, they wore hats and coats.