☂ 𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝑩𝑲. 𝟐 ☂

24. THE CALM

"Yeah, they headhunted me, offered me a job. Full-time with benefits, which I turned down," he stated with a tinge.

"They headhunted you," Five chuckled with an amused smile. "The village idiot,"

"What, am I not allowed to be headhunted?" offendedly asked Diego. "Only the almighty Five needs to be in demand?" he asked, making everyone roll their eyes.

"Diego, you're not Commission material, alright?" said Five. "Got an obstinate nature to ya,"

"Who do you think it was that figured out Vanya was the one that causes doomsday and stopped it? Me."

"Hey!" exclaimed Klaus, clearly wanting his credit included.

"That's who," ignored Diego. "I figured it all out on the Infinite Switchboard," said Diego, leaning down to look Five in the eyes.

"You were on the Infinite Switchboard?" asked Five in disbelief.

"Hell, yeah. I made that machine mah bitch!" exclaimed a zealous Diego. "Y'all need to recognize I got shit going on y'all don't even know about,"

Elaina outstretched her legs as she leaned back against the step. "What's an Infinite Switchboard?" asked the girl, looking up in amusement at Diego.

Diego turned his head towards her. "It's--!" he started but cut himself off as he looked at her and shut his mouth tightly. "I'll tell you later," he said quickly as he looked away from her, making her crease her brow.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Allison. "You've got things going on?" she asked tauntingly.

"This isn't helpful, it really isn't," muttered Luther as he paced.

It soon broke out into an all-out argument among the siblings as they bickered about doomsday and their next course of action. Elaina watched on, rolling her eyes, before she felt a pressure push against the back of them, making her furrow her brows. She squeezed her eyes shut, her hand reached up to grab the top of the railing as she lifted herself up.

Five turned and saw the uncomfortable look on Elaina's face as he stepped up to her, resting a hand on her waist to help balance her.

"Laney, are you okay?" he asked quietly with a concerned look on his face.

Elaina grunted as pressed her palm against her forehead. "Yeah, it's just my head again... I think I just need to splash some water in my face," she said, giving him a weak smile. "I'll just head up to the bathroom really quick, okay?" said the girl as she gently got out of his grasp.

Five's expression didn't change. "You sure? This headache has been persistent."

Elaina nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. Thankfully, they don't seem to last very long -- might be a sinus infection or something. But, I'll be back," she assured, giving him a peck on the cheek before climbing up the stairs with squinted eyes.

Five only watched on as she went up, his forehead creased in worry as his stomach knotted up. He felt like something was wrong.

Elaina felt a sharp stab at her temple as she reached the top, making her grab her head painfully as she grunted. It felt like tiny soldiers were fighting in the inside of her head as her vision flashed to a bright white, a humming echoing throughout her head.

"Jesus, what the fuh..." she sighed, lifting her head up with her eyes closed, taking in a deep breath and exhaling it.

"Elaina?"

The girl opened her eyes and looked up to see Vanya, the phone in her hand as she looked at her sister with a concerned expression.

"Hey, Vanya," Elaina smiled weakly, desperately trying to get the smile to reach her eyes. "When did you come up?"