"Eight, I..." Five sighed, taking his hand off the wheel for a moment to rub his jaw. "I get that Klaus can be uncomfortably weird, all right? But that was him saying all that shit, not me-"
"That's not what I care about," you said with a humorless laugh. "You know, for being 44, you really don't seem to be that smart."
He licked his lips, brow furrowing.
"Then what's wrong?"
"Where are we going?" you asked, ignoring his question.
"Uh, no - where am I going. You're done following me around," he said, gripping the steering wheel tighter.
"All right..." you said, and Five raised his eyebrows.
"Wow. I didn't think you would actually agree," he said, frowning slightly.
"Oh, sure. I'll stop following you around - after today," you added, glaring at the scenery outside your window. "I want to meet this 'Delores'."
And you honestly did - you wanted to meet her, hear her voice, figure out what made Five like her so much.
"Eight, no. She's... a little... different. Also, I'm just going to the mall."
"Oh, goody," you said dryly. "I love malls."
He sighed, pressing on the gas.
When you arrived, the sky was dark, the moon shining like a giant, glowing lantern in the sky. You followed him to the doors.
"So, how are we getting in, genius?"
He smiled, flashing from the parking lot to the dark interior of the mall.
"Right," you mumbled. "Almost forgot you could do that."
You leaned against the double doors, impatiently waiting for him to emerge. You sat on the ground, yawning and closing your eyes to rest briefly. What couldn't have even been five minutes later, you heard gunshots from inside.
"Five?" you asked, slowly standing. "Five!" You shouted, pounding on the door and desperately trying to look inside. "Damn it, why can't I have stupid fucking powers?" You slammed your shoulder against the door, ignoring the shouts and gunfire from inside. "Five, please let me in!"
You hissed through your teeth, your shoulder throbbing. You were thrown backwards barely a moment later, falling on your butt in a parking lot for the second time in the past 24 hours.
You almost laughed as two people with cartoon face-masks charged past you, until you realized they had guns.
"Five," you breathed, struggling to your feet and lunging after them. "Get back here, shitheads!"
The one with the pink mask turned around, gum aimed at you, but you managed to find a stick lying on the concrete and smacked them in the stomach with it. It broke in half, but seemed to surprise them for a moment, allowing you to advance on them. You hefted the remaining half of the stick in your hands, preparing to hit them again, but then you heard a feminine voice - it was definitely a girl - hissing something to the other.
"Kill her, goddamn it!"
Her partner took the stick from your hands easily, bashing it against your head. You groaned, staggering backward, as they did it again. This time you fell, the hard concrete cracking against your skull.
"Shoot her, Hazel!"
You rolled away at the last second, screaming as an incredibly loud bang echoed in your ear. You felt the bullet graze your arm like a knife made of fire, before it ricocheted off of the ground and bounced away, sounding deceptively harmless.
"Shit, it's the police!"
"We have to go - leave her!"
You heard their footsteps retreating, but your spinning head amplified the sounds, tricking you into hearing what felt like thousands of feet marching toward you.
"Stop it," you groaned, bringing your hand to your throbbing head. "Stop it!"
Back at the Mall
Five flashed back into the parking lot, smiling down at the mannequin he called Delores.
"See? I told you I'd get you out of there safe. I guess it's time for you to meet my friend, Eight. If you can even call her that." He glanced up, looking around him casually. "Eight, come here!" He spun in a circle, his movements becoming more frantic when nobody responded. "Eight! EIGHT!"
He dropped Delores, placing his hands behind his head and breathing heavily as he searched.
"Stop it, it's not funny anymore!"
His eyes landed on a heap not very far from him, hidden in the shadow of a car.
"It can't be her," he breathed, shaking his head. "It can't be." He flashed over, leaning down and rolling her onto her back.
You took labored breaths, groaning as you felt someone roll you from your side to your back.
"(Y/N)!" Five shouted, dropping to his knees.
"You know, I miss when you used to call me that more," you slurred, smiling up at the blurry boy above you. "Hey, remember when you promised to tell me your real name? You said, 'I'll tell you once we make it out of here, once we go back in time.' And I was mad at you for soooo long about that, because you lied to me - twice. At least, about the name thing."
He swallowed hard, scooping you into his arms and struggling to his feet.
"I'm sorry, (Y/N). I've got you now, don't worry."
"Hey, did you get any of those guys with the masks?" you managed to mumble, moving your head so you could see his face. "Or were there only two to begin?"
"Two," Five grunted, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to spatial jump. "Dammit! What's the point of having a power if I can't use it when I need it?!"
Finally he gave up, running as fast as he could to the car and placing you gently in the passenger's seat before flashing into the driver's seat.
"It's not that bad, you know," you muttered, slumping further into the cushioned seat as you spoke. "He just hit my head, and I think something else. I'm just so..." You yawned, closing your eyes. "Tired."
"(Y/N), I need you to stay awake," he said urgently as the car squealed out of the parking lot. "Just until we get home. Promise me, ok?"
Your eyes fluttered back open, only to shut again.
"(Y/N)! Promise me!"
"I promise, I promise," you mumbled, trying to ignore the throbbing in your head and the fiery pain in your right arm, just below the shoulder.
"Hold on - we're almost there," Five said, gripping the steering wheel so tight his hands were as pale as a ghost.
"Five, I'm fine," you said, sitting up a bit. "I've been hurt worse."
A muscle in his jaw ticked.
"We'll see about that when we get home. The adrenaline might be numbing the pain right now." He paused, glancing over at you briefly to make sure your eyes were still open. "Hazel and Cha-Cha did this to you, didn't they?"
"If you mean the masked people, yeah," you said, suppressing another yawn. "I mean, it was kind of my fault. I thought they had hurt you, so I-"
"None of this is your fault!" Five said forcefully, speeding through a red light. "I knew I shouldn't have let you come with me. You just get hurt. You're a liability, Eight!"
You flinched, turning your head to face the window. The fact that he was back to using your number almost hurt as much as the comment itself.
"Oh."
"(Y/N)..." Five said as he pulled in front of the building, running a hand down his face before flashing over to your door, opening it and attempting to pick you up.
"No. I can stand," you interrupted, pushing him away and standing on shaky legs. "I don't want to be a liability anymore."
"(Y/N), stop it. I was just-"
"God, Eight. What happened you you?" Luther asked, running out of the house and catching you when the world tilted. "Shit. I'll get you to Grace."
When you entered the house in Luther's arms, he carried you to your room.
Five followed, and this time you let the darkness pull you into its welcoming arms.
After you fell asleep
Allison bumped into Luther in the hallway, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized who it was.
"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you!" she exclaimed.
"What are you doing here?" Luther asked, brows furrowed. "I thought you were gone."
"No, I was gonna go, and then Pogo showed me this... well, listen..."
"I was wrong about Dad's death," Luther said, cutting her off.
"What?"
"Yeah, I was wrong about Diego. You know, to accuse my own brother of that is just... No, I... I know, I get it... Seeing all of you and being back here..." Luther sighed, ducking his head. "I should be the one who's trying to bring us back together, not tear us apart."
"Would you shut up?" Allison finally burst, exasperated.
"What?"
"You were right... about Dad. Come on, I gotta show you something," she said, pulling a shocked Luther along behind her.
"Five?" she asked when she spotted him in front of her. "What the hell happened to you?"
A disheveled, slightly bloody Five looked away.
"Look, I know you're upset about Eight," Luther said, reaching his hand out as Allison glanced at him quizzically. "Are you okay? Can we help?"
Five grabbed his hand roughly before Luther could touch him, gritting his teeth.
"There's nothing you can do. There's nothing any of you can do."