His Only Fear - Five Hargreeves x |Fem| Reader

I Should've Helped You

"He's losing too much blood," you said as Diego pulled his shirt back.

"What do we do?" Allison asked.

"We have to get the shrapnel out," Diego said, and you looked away from the injury. He suddenly became distracted, walking off while you were busy wiping away some of the blood with a clean piece of cloth.

"Diego, where are you going?" Allison called, but you ignored them when Five groaned again. Allison left to find Diego.

"It isn't that bad. I'll be fine," Five murmured, but you pushed him back into the couch when he tried to sit up.

"Uh-uh, mister. You're not going anywhere - I'm so mad at you right now." The words didn't seem as convincing as they might have, though, because your voice wobbled on the last part. His eyes traced your face, and you swallowed hard. "You scared me, all right?"

He smiled softly, his hand reaching up and brushing a thumb against your cheek gently from where you kneeled beside the couch.

"Nice to see that you care."

"Of course I care, idiot," you sniffled, taking his hand and holding it tightly. "Of course I care."

"Out of the way," Diego instructed, shoving you roughly aside. You almost snapped at him, but were too relieved to care when you realized that Grace was there. You didn't even have time to be shocked that she was alive - you were just grateful that she could help Five.

You followed everyone to Five's room, waiting anxiously for Grace's verdict once she removed the shrapnel. You sat on the bed next to the sleeping Five, your knees drawn up to your chest, while your mother placed bandages over his wound. Finally, she stood up, walking past Diego and Allison on her way out.

"He'll be all better in no time," she promised you with a smile. "He just needs rest."

You nodded, laying on your side and watching Five's eyelashes flutter slightly in his sleep.

"Thanks, Mom."

Diego and Allison's Conversation

"It's just surreal seeing her," Diego told Allison as Grace walked past. "I just wanna tell her that I'm s-" He cut off sharply, looking away, and Allison sighed.

"Look at them." Diego followed his sister's gaze, to where Eight lay staring at Five, her eyelids slowly drifting shut as she held his hand close to her. "They have to be the closest out of all of our siblings. They look so young, sometimes I..." Allison hesitated, sighing. "Sometimes I underestimate them, think I should be protecting them. But they keep each other safe. They really care. Sometimes I wonder if the rest of us don't care enough."

They watched in silence as Eight began braiding a strand of Five's hair, whispering something to him that only he could hear.

"I know I'm hard on all of you," Diego admitted finally. "Especially Eight. But you remember how we didn't get along when we were younger. Especially after... the fight." Allison nodded. "But I do care. I... love her, and all of you." He clenched his jaw, as though the conversation disgusted him. "We don't have enough time for this. We gotta go."

"I don't know, Diego," Allison said, stopping him from leaving by grabbing his elbow. "Five is laying there, unconscious. We need him. And there's no way we can ask Eight to leave his side."

"We can do this ourselves. Five only uses his powers to help himself, and Eight doesn't have any."

"That shouldn't measure her worth," Allison said, growing annoyed. "She can fight. I know you know that. And we've tried fighting without him before, remember? We all ended up dead." Diego turned his head away, and Allison sighed. "I don't know, I'm just... I'm thinking I should go and see Claire before-"

"You can't run away from this, Allison. That's what started this whole mess in the first place." They both glanced back at the peaceful Five and droopy-eyed Eight. "Luther was right," he admitted with some difficulty."

Allison turned to him slowly, scoffing.

"I didn't think I would ever hear you say those words."

"Yeah, well... we gotta stick together."

"Where do we start?" Allison asked, crossing her arms.

"You guys aren't going anywhere without me," you announced from the doorway, and they both spun to face you.

"Eight..."

"No, Diego, I'm coming with. Five almost died today, and I'm not about to let that happen again." You took a steadying breath. "I want to help you guys, even if it means being stuck with him." You jerked your head at Diego, who rolled his eyes.

"Fine, little brat. There's no other addresses in the file, but there is another relation listed," he continued, and you smiled. You hadn't expected that to actually work. "Jenkins' grandmother. She lived near Jackpine Road."

"You think he took her there?" Allison asked, and the two began to walk off. You walked into the room one last time, biting your lip and gently pressing a kiss to Five's forehead before running out. A small smile spread across his face once you left the room.