Always ~Five Hargreeves~ (In Editing)

Run Boy Run: Part One

16 years, 4 months, and 16 days ago

The children's robotic mother, Grace, walks over to a record player. Within seconds, the sound of an older man talking fills the silence. The 80's styled woman walks towards the dining hall entrance, a small, silver bell in hand. With delicate fingers softly gripping the smooth handle, Grace rings the bell signaling breakfast for the family.

As the loud, shrill sound rings through the air, it's soon drowned out as eight pairs of feet rush from their room's, excited for the upcoming meal. Within seconds the feet approach the dining hall and the eight adopted children of Sir Reginald Hargreeves calmly walk into the hall, taking a stance behind their assigned chairs. Sir Reginald briskly walks into the room, standing behind his chair at the head of the table.

"Sit." The older man commands and the children follow the order quickly. The background noise was quickly drowned out as the family begins to eat. Closest to the father sat Allison and Luther, who sat across from each other, smiling and glancing at each other in secret.

Next to Luther sits Diego, who was carving something into the arm of his wooden chair with one of his many knives. Next to Allison sits Klaus, who was 'secretly' rolling a joint underneath the table. Next to Klaus sat Ben, who was reading a book as he ate his meal. Next to Diego sat Five, who was practically glaring daggers at Sir Reginald. Vanya and Emily sat next to each other at the other side of the table, directly across from Sir Reginald. Vanya was blissfully eating her food while Emily was watching Five worriedly.

A loud clang resonates around the dining hall as everyone's attention is turned to Number Five. Emily's eyes were wide with shock and fear, her right hand very close to the butter knife that was now embedded into the wooden table. Sir Reginald's head shoots up from his plate, a glare gracing his features.

"Number Five?" Sir Reginald speaks, his voice low and rough.

"I have a question." Five seethed, his hands clasping together as he stares intently at Sir Reginald.

"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules. No talking during meal times. You are interrupting Herr Carlson." Sir Reginald responds referring to the playing record. A gentle, unnoticeable, breeze knocks the needle off of the record, causing it to screech before stopping all together. A subtle fist bump is exchanged between Five and Emily.

"I want to time travel." Five practically snarls as he pushes his uneaten plate away from himself. A sharp kick is delivered to his shin as Emily's eyes widen. She was unaware of the topic when she stopped the record and was now regretting it.

"No." Sir Reginald dismisses Five, turning back to his food.

"But I'm ready!" Five argues. "I've been practicing my spatial jumps. Just like you said." Five jumps to the space between Sir Reginald and Allison as if to prove his point. "See?" The seven other children had taken to watching the interaction before turning back to their meals, all except Emily who feared Five would do something rash.

"A spatial jump is trivial when compared to the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding on the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn." Sir Reginald explains cryptically. Five shakes his head and looks down in confusion.

"Well, I don't get it." Sir Reginald scoffs with the ghost of a smile.

"Hence the reason you are not ready." Five glances towards the opposite end of the table where both Vanya and Emily shook their heads, desperately trying to get him to drop the subject, but Five was to stubborn. With a roll of his eyes, earning a hurt look from Emily, Five turns back to his adoptive father.

"I'm not afraid." Five insists.

"Fear is not the issue." Sir Reginald turns to Five, frustrated and annoyed. "The effects it might have on your body, your mind even, are far to unpredictable." Sir Reginald turns to look at Five. "Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore." With a frustrated sigh, Five turns and storms from the house, Emily quickly following suit. "Number Five! You haven't been excused! Number Eight!" The calls grew silent as Emily rushes from the academy.

"Five." Emily calls, but she was to late. Five had made the jump. Emily stands on the steps, blankly staring out at the street. Unbeknownst to her, Five stood in front of a destroyed academy, 17 years into the future. And if they had been in the same time, Five and Emily would have been standing right in front of each other, face to face.

Present Time

"I survived on scraps, canned foods, cockroaches, anything I could find. You know the rumor that Twinkies have an endless shelf life?" Five scoffs as if remembering something and a frown crosses my facial features. "Well, it's total bullshit." I had figured things were tough, but I didn't expect it to be that bad.

"I can't even imagine." Vanya replies softly, a look of sympathy making it's way onto her usual emotionless face. I cringed as Five downs his cup of coffee before glancing up at Vanya.

"Got anything stronger?" Vanya nods and walks towards her kitchen in search of any form of alcohol. Five watches her intensely as if calculating her movements.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Five questions as he, to, stands and walks towards Vanya's kitchen. Vanya's gaze snaps to Five, a subtle hint of fear flashing in her eyes.

"No, no! I don't really understand." Vanya admits as I watch the interaction. "It's a lot to take in." Five shoots Vanya a glare.

"Exactly wat don't you understand?" Five questions, his voice filled with anger.

"Why didn't you just travel back?" Vanya replies, uncertainty filling her voice. I set a hand on Five's shoulder as he lets out a groan. He needs to calm down before something happens that he'll regret.

"Gee, I wish I'd thought of that!" Five scoffs. "Time travel is crapshoot, I went into the ice and never acorn-ed. You don't think I tried everything in my power to get back to my family? To Emily?" Five's glare intensifies with every word. My hand quickly shifts from his shoulder to his hand, clutching it tightly as a warning to calm down. My focus was set on Five as Vanya continued asking questions. Finally Five lets out a groan. "This was a mistake! Your to young to understand! Come on Emily." Five's grip on my hand tightens as he starts to pull me away from Vanya.

"Wait!" V calls after us and I pull Five to a stop so I could listen. "Look, I haven't see you in a very long time and I don't want to loose you again. Why don't you stay the night? We'll talk about this in the morning. I promise." I notice Five glance towards me and I smile at Vanya.

"Thanks V. We'll stay." I respond to Vanya who smiles softly and grabs two blankets for us and sets them on the couch.

"Goodnight." Vanya whispers and I repeat it back as she walks to her room. A rustling behind me turns my attention back to Five. I turn to face him only to see him sitting on the couch, staring at the glass eye in his hand.

"We aren't staying, are we?" I question as Five looks up at me with a smirk.

"You know me so well." Five stands and grips my hand before spatial jumping us to a medical building. My gaze drifts towards the sky and I tap Five's shoulder. "What?"

"Five it's the middle of the night. The building is closed." Five freezes for a moment before jumping us back to Vanya's. "Idiot" Five rolls his eyes at me.

"Whatever."

Little shorter then I intended, but I figured it best to put both trips to Meritech in the same chapter.