"Fine," Luther said after a moment of awkward silence. "Empty your pockets." Everyone began digging through their pockets, and you raised your eyebrows when you pulled a battery and spool of string out of one.
"Condom?" Luther asked as he held a few out in his open hand. "Put the knife away!"
"Can't exchange those for cash," Klaus informed him. "Why do I have a hairnet?"
"Oh!" Luther exclaimed, pulling off his watch. "All right. What does this get us?"
Chet took the small piece of jewelry, inspecting it with a magnifying glass.
"One room."
Your siblings groaned, but you dug around some more in your pockets, relieved to find a torn-up five-dollar-bill and handful of coins.
"Here," you said, dumping them on the counter. Chet counted them out quickly before walking over to a wall of shelves, taking something from one of them.
"Two rooms," he said as he handed you two keys, and Luther slapped you on the back happily, making you wince.
"Awesome," Klaus whispered giddily, grabbing the keys, as Chet said 'mazel tov'.
"All right," Allison said after a moment. "Well, let's Brady Bunch this bitch."
"Uh, meet back in the bar in two hours so we can make a plan," Five said as you walked down the lengthy hallway toward the rooms.
"I have a plan," Diego said, leaping up onto the stairs so that he could turn and face all of you. "We attack the Sparrows, and we take back the house, and then we punch Dad a bit until he admits that we're better and he loves us more! Boom! Done! We're wasting time!"
You paused to face Diego as everyone else walked into the next hallway.
"Oh, come on," you said, wiping more blood off of your nose. "Do we really care about them? We've got everyone here."
"They're going to hunt us down if we don't first," Diego insisted, his eyes trailing to your torn pants. "You're a wreck, kid."
"I'm not a kid," you muttered. Before you could shove past him, he grabbed your shoulder gently and pulled you back. You still winced, though, your back aching from slamming into the wall multiple times in the past few hours. His dark eyes fell to your cheek, and you turned your head to the side self-consciously.
"Eight," he said firmly. "I'm... listen. I'm sorry about when we were younger. I didn't mean it. You're not a... I mean..." He looked uncomfortable with having to apologize.
"Yeah, I get it," you said. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm over it."
"No, it does matter," he said, his voice turning agitated. "And you're not. I can tell."
You looked up at him, frowning.
"Since when are you Mr. Kindness and Love?" You walked past him after the others, but he jogged next to you.
"I can care about my little sister," he said. "I'm trying to watch out for you."
"Maybe I should be watching out for you," you replied tersely. "I'm the one with the shield power, remember?"
Everyone stepped into the elevator, and Five shot you a questioning look, but you shook your head. You felt bad for brushing Diego off - he was making an effort to make you feel better. He never did that.
"Hey," Five said softly as you were pushed into the far corner. "You all right?"
You nodded quickly, staring at the gash in his forehead again.
"You need to clean that up. Make sure it doesn't get infected."
Five smiled softly.
"I'll be all right. Do you want me to help you with... everything?" Although he swept his hand toward your slashed leg, his eyes strayed to your cheek, and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes. Why was this such a big deal? Scars healed. This would heal.
"I've got this," you promised, and he pressed his brows together, clearly worried.
"Oh, hush," Klaus said as the elevator began to rise. "Don't make it so obvious how happy you are, all right?"
Allison smiled, but her expression was concerned. She was fretting about Clare still.
"Shush, Klaus," Five said, running a hand through his messy hair to cover up his embarrassment.
When the elevator reached the top, you split ways, going with your two sisters while the boys went to another room.
Vanya cleared her throat as you stepped in, revealing an old-fashioned room with fancy wallpaper and carpeting.
"It's not too small," she said, looking around. "It's definitely ugly."
"I think it's nice," you said as you all flopped onto your own twin bed.
"That's because you're tired," Vanya pointed out, and you grinned as Allison sighed.
"Last night I was sleeping on my own bed next to my amazing husband," she said, and you turned to your left to look at her - your bed was in the middle.
"I kissed Sissy goodbye a few hours ago."
"I left Mark and Colleen alone," you added softly. "They were in trouble with the law, and I left them alone."
Nobody said anything for a moment as you all thought about your temporary families.
"It was just an hour or two ago," you whispered, and Vanya spoke without looking up.
"Give or take 50 years."
"I'm glad you finally found somebody that treated you right," Allison said softly. For a second, you thought she was just talking to Vanya, but then realized that her eyes were on you, too.
"She saw me for who I really am. I'm not ready to give that up."
"I feel the same about Ray," Allison admitted painfully. Your heart broke for both of them, and you gripped the bedsheets so hard your knuckles turned white. "We better not have left them just to die in some superhero turf war."
"You need to go home. Hug your daughter," Vanya suggested, and you nodded.
"I bet she misses you," you told her.
Allison sat up suddenly, changing the subject.
"What if Diego's right and the Sparrows attack?"
"We fought the entire Commission," Vanya said confidently. "I mean, we can handle, what, eight jerks in uniforms? They just caught us off guard."
"We were tired," you added. "Our powers weren't working properly." As though to prove it, (F/C) sparks flickered up and down your arms unevenly.
"Yeah," Allison said.
"You should go to the airport," you said finally. "To Clare."
"Get back to your real life," Vanya added. "I would if I could."
Allison stood up, opening her arms, and hugged the both of you.
"Thank you," she said softly as you tucked your head under their chins. "You're good sisters."
"I'm going to take a shower," you told Vanya after Allison left, and she nodded, smiling weakly.
"See you in a bit."
You walked out, heading toward the public bathrooms hastily. Before you stepped into the shower, you stared at yourself in the mirror for a long time. You traced your blood-crusted fingernails over the scar the Handler had given you - a crudely carved "DUD". Blood still leaked from the lines whenever you smiled or opened your mouth too wide.
More blood dribbled down your nose and over your lips from the earlier fight, but it had dried into flakes that you brushed off. Your eye had faint traces of a bruise - you weren't even sure where that had come from - and your face was still peppered with small pieces of glass which you dug out painfully. You drew your shirt up hesitantly, grimacing when you saw the wound Vanya had given you. It was healed for the most part, but it was red from the Handler kicking you in the stomach.
Finally, you allowed yourself to relax under the warm, soothing water of the shower. You washed your hair and your wounds, especially the one on your thigh and where the knife had stabbed you back in 1963 when fighting the Swedes. That one was mostly healed, but the scab was still there, and it certainly didn't look pleasant.
You were an absolute wreck.
After you finished, you bandaged your leg and changed into a fluffy white bathrobe, deciding to wear that until your current pair of clothes could be washed. They were caked in blood and dirt at this point, so you hastily ran them under warm water and scrubbed them with soap until they no longer looked like you had worn them in a pig pen. After that, you took them back to your room to dry before collapsing into the creaky bed and falling asleep immediately.
...
"Eight?"
You sat straight up, heart racing, and formed a shield around yourself.
"Whoa," Five said, raising his eyebrows and holding his hands up from where he stood in the doorway. "Just me. You alright?"
You let out a shaky breath, forcing yourself to laugh.
"Yeah, fine. Just... paranoid."
"I didn't mean to wake you," he said, beginning to back away.
"No, it's okay," you said quickly. "I should wake up anyway. It's been a few hours." You glanced at the clock accusatorially before getting out of bed and walking toward him.
When you remembered what you were wearing, your eyes widened, but Five just smiled lopsidedly.
"Guess we had the same idea," he said, waving a hand down at his robe. You stifled a laugh, and Five scoffed, looking away. "Let's go downstairs."
"You seem happier," you said when he took your hand and walked you toward the stairs. His lips tilted up in a smile, and he looked down at you.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked. "We don't have to fight anyone. I mean, nobody's actively chasing after us. And we're all together! We don't have to hunt anyone down, or help Vanya regain her memories... it's perfect."
"We still have the Sparrows to worry about," you reminded him, and he sighed.
"Perhaps if we leave them alone, they'll extend us the same nicety."
"Yeah, just one problem," you said, and he closed his eyes.
"Diego," you both said before walking into the breakfast area.
"By the way," Five said under his breath right before your reached the table your brothers sat at. "You look cute when you're asleep."
Your eyes widened, and you desperately tried not to look embarrassed as you and Five sat side by side.
"What's wrong?" Luther asked you as Diego narrowed his eyes at Five.
"You look happy."
"I am plenty happy," Five said, grinning when he caught sight of your flustered expression. "Had a nap and a Shvitz. What does a man need?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't use the 'man' term so casually," you muttered, and Klaus laughed, pointing at you as Five scowled,
"Missed your humor, lil sis," he said. "Never be serious again."
"Have I been?" you asked, frowning, and Klaus laughed again.
"See? I knew you weren't as stoic as you were pretending to be." You rolled your eyes as Five raised his eyebrows at Diego and Luther, who paused their chewing and looked at the three of you in surprise. Noodles hung halfway out of their mouths, and you mimed gagging.
"So, I've been thinking through our little timeline snafu, and I'm pleased to report that in my professional, expert opinion, we are totally in the clear," Five said as Klaus maneuvered chopsticks with noodles on them into your mouth.
"Awesome!" Luther exclaimed at the same time Diego grunted in acknowledgment. "Great. So everything's totally fine?"
"More or less. I mean, there is one... small thing," Five added, waving his hands in the air awkwardly. "It's nothing we can't manage."
After a moment of tense silence accompanied by noisy chewing, Diego spoke up with his mouth full.
"So spit it out, boomer!"
"Fine, Diego, it's like this. Dad didn't adopt us as babies, but those babies still existed here."
"Aww!" Klaus whined.
"We just grew up in different places with different people."
Your mind flashed to your family. They were out there somewhere - your first goal was to find them.
No. Your first goal was to find Mark and Colleen - make sure they were okay.
"Wait, so there's a 30-year-old Five out there?" you asked, a small smile growing on your face. You quickly pressed it back down when your scar began to sting.
"Theoretically," Five admitted. "Well, yes. But we won't be meeting him, or any of them. Odds are, we each have identical versions of ourselves walking around out there, living completely different lives."
Luther gasped, sitting up straighter, and you looked at him in surprise.
"Our doppelgängers!"
"That's a made-up word," Klaus said, like it was silly to even suggest.
"No, no! I learned all about this in Texas! Tell him about the paranoid psychosis, Five."
"Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Diego interrupted, staring at Five in disbelief. "I thought you said this wasn't a problem."
"Okay, yes, technically if you're near your doppel for long, you'll go insane," Five said casually, and you blinked at him.
"That's why you acted so crazy back in Texas?" you asked incredulously, and Five's eyebrows drew together.
"How much of... that... did you see?"
You wiggled your eyebrows at him.
"You're the daddy, huh?"
Diego choked on his noodles as Luther shook his head disapprovingly.
"Whoa there, lil sis," Klaus said, and Five squeezed his eyes shut in frustration.
"Okay, all right. It doesn't matter," he said, but his face was red.
"Payback," you whispered as he desperately tried to move on.
"If you ever see your other self, you know what to do," he said.
"Kill them," said Diego.
"Sleep with them," Klaus replied immediately.
"Team up with them," you suggested.
"Avoid them!" Five said loudly, looking around at all of you with a frown.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Luther asked, and Klaus threw his head back.
"Oh, come on. As if you wouldn't climb Luther mountain."
Luther blinked at Klaus in disgust.
"Wait. How are we supposed to guarantee we don't cross paths with ourselves?" Diego asked, interrupting the odd moment.
"Easy," Five said confidently. "We're the Benetton ad of superheroes, born all around the world until Dad brought us here, which he no longer did. Doppels probably aren't even in the same time zone as us."
"Yeah, sure," you muttered as everyone else voiced their agreements.
"I don't know," Klaus said after a moment. "Doesn't it seem kind of rude that Dad not adopting us doesn't change anything? I'm offended."
"Hold up," Diego said, slurping down his noodles and shoving the box into your hands. You shrugged and took them, scooping some into your mouth. You were definitely hungry. "I'll be right back."
You watched quizzically as Diego jogged off, tuning out Five and Klaus' conversation.
"The point is," Five said, elbowing you as you shoved more food into your mouth, "we did it. We saved the world. We stopped the apocalypse."
"Yeah, for real this time," you said, before swallowing quickly when Klaus raised his eyebrows at you.
"You're no better than him," he said, gesturing to Luther, and you frowned.
"We even made it home safe in time for dinner," Five continued. "So whatever dad changed, whatever timeline we're in now... we can handle it. We won." He raised his glass to clink against yours, but you paused, confused.
"Did anyone... feel that?" you asked. It had been like a breeze tugging at your hair. When everyone shook their heads, uninterested, you shrugged. "It was probably nothing."
You tipped back your head and drank your glass of water.