You and Five followed Klaus out of the towering building.
"Shouldn't we check on Luther?" you asked worriedly, and Klaus waved his hand flippantly.
"He's probably out showing off to the townspeople."
"Okay..."
"Hey, wait, where are you going?" Viktor called as the three of you walked past, and you smiled apologetically at him.
"Sorry," you called. "Retirement plans."
Twenty minutes later, you were driving along the sunny highway, with you in between both Five and Klaus in the tiny middle seat as Klaus drove. You and Five slurped on grape juice you had gotten at a fast food stop, and his arm was slung around your shoulder. You leaned your head on his shoulder, closing your eyes and smiling.
"This actually isn't so terrible," Five commented, pressing a kiss to your temple.
"See? Told you."
"Come to think of it, my whole life I've been under the gun," Five continued as you listened sleepily. "Missions for Dad, working for the Commission, trying to survive the apocalypse. I was always looking around every corner, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's nice to just breathe."
"Good for you, man. Retirement is suiting you."
"You are much more relaxed," you mumbled without opening your eyes, and you felt his rumbling chuckle. "I could get used to this."
"Oh!" Five exclaimed after a moment of comfortable silence, pulling out a map from his pocket. "Uh... all right! So, I've circled all the roadside attractions along the way."
"I'm not sure we're gonna have time..." Klaus began haltingly as you grinned, resting your chin on his shoulder to watch him trace his steady fingers over the paper.
"We have the Brownsville Big Nickel," Five said happily. "Oh, Ricky's Bakery has award-winning pies."
"Ooh, I like that one," you said, and Five underlined it.
"Well, if you just let me explain-"
"Or there's this Cow Henge." He looked at Klaus, smiling. "That's it, don't-"
"Listen to me. Just shut up for two seconds, okay?" Klaus finally exploded, and Five's grin faded. "Just two seconds, all right?"
"Okay," Five said in an annoyed tone, folding up the paper and turning to face him. "I'm all ears." A fake smile stretched across his face.
"We," Klaus finally said without looking at either of you, "are going to Pennsylvania to find... my birth mother. Yayyy!!!"
"Excuse me?!" you and Five both said, eyes wide.
"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. I just needed some people to come with me for emotional support."
"Oh, emotional support, like a Schnauzer?"
"Might as well have brought Chet's dog," you said, rolling your eyes.
"Hey, bad topic, lil sis," Klaus said, taking his hand off the wheel to wag his finger at you. "He's missing. Anyway, I knew you guys wouldn't have come if I told you - at least, Five wouldn't, and you two don't go anywhere without the other these days! What was I supposed to do?"
"You're goddamn right we wouldn't have come, Klaus! You know why?" Five asked, pointing to himself and clenching his jaw. "Because I am supposed to be retired, and Eight is trying to take her mind off of things!"
"I know, I know," Klaus said regretfully.
"This was supposed to be a carefree road trip."
"Well it still can be, babes," Klaus said quickly.
"I don't mind coming," you said quietly, and Klaus raised his eyebrows at you quizzically. "You should get to meet your mother. I want to as well, soon."
Klaus' expression turned awkward and remorseful, and you frowned, confused. "Uh, about that-"
"Ball of Twine," Five said, gripping your hand eagerly as his eyes landed on a road sign. "Klaus, turn! Ball of Twine! Turn!"
He reached over you to grab the wheel as Klaus shouted in confusion, and you gripped the seat and laughed as the car spun to the side as the two wrestled for control of the vehicle.
"It's one of the best ones! Come on!"
"Five, we're gonna die!"
"Whoo!" you shouted, sliding to the side.
"I don't care! Let go! Hey, you know what?! No twine, no birth mother!"
Finally, Klaus pushed Five off of him and spun the wheel to avoid being hit by a car. Five's arm moved over your stomach so that you didn't slam into the windshield, his eyes wild.
"That's what I thought," he muttered as Klaus grudgingly drove toward the tourist attraction.
When you finally stepped out of the car, the tension seemed to have faded, and you let Five twine his fingers with yours and lead you toward the biggest ball of twine in the world. It stretched above your head, but was somehow... unimpressive.
"Okay," Klaus said slowly as he strode over behind you and Five. "I don't know why, but I thought it'd be a lot bigger."
"Seems pretty big to me," Five said defensively, simply staring up at the ball, his free hand in his pocket. His posture was slightly slouched.
"That's because you're tiny," you said, and he scoffed.
"So are you. We're both 15 again, you know."
"I know."
"Here's the real question," Five said without turning around. "How do you know your birth mother is in Pennsylvania?"
"Well, because I was on the ass end of a two week bender, and I can't tell you the exact date because we were boofing Xanax and the whole business." By this point he was in front of you and Five, waving his hands around dramatically as he spoke. "But Amy Winehouse was at the top of the charts. So that puts us somewhere, where? In the mid to late aughts?"
"What is going on?" you asked quietly, and Five shook shook his head, annoyed.
"Get to the point, Klaus."
"I helped myself into Dad's office, looking for the key to his safe 'cause he had Pogo lock up all the stealables. But instead, I found a treasure trove of our family history told in expired check stubs. I was too messed up to, uh, do anything about it, too scared to look her up. But always in the back of my mind, I wondered why she sold me off for three grand. I mean, come on. She couldn't have held out for five? Six?"
You stood rooted in place, shock filtering through you. Your father kept records of your mothers, your family - maybe you could find yours again.
"You see anything about my mother?" Five asked, not looking at either of you and trying to appear nonchalant.
"No," Klaus said quietly. "Sorry. Eight, on the other hand..."
"Really?" you asked eagerly, and then frowned. "But... my parents didn't sell me. Dad stole me, remember? Allison gave you your memories back, right?"
When Five shook his head, your eyebrows drew together in confusion.
"But... I... my mother had no choice. Her, and my dad, and my little sibling... they had no choice. Allison showed me."
Klaus pressed his lips together, frowning.
You looked away, clenching your jaw.
"How much?"
"1 grand."
The three of you stood in silence for a moment or two, but then Five shook his head.
"This doesn't make sense. If your family..." He trailed off suddenly, his expression surprised. "Oh. Right."
"What?" you asked, stepping forward. "What is it, Five?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know for sure, but... Allison could have given you fake memories." He bit the inside of his lip as your eyes widened. "So that you didn't feel bad. Shit." He watched your face intensely but didn't move to comfort you, and you tried not to be hurt by that. Unless you were physically injured, Five generally didn't know what to do or how to react, and was fairly awkward. Otherwise, his automatic response was violence.
"Oh," you whispered, tears building behind your eyes. "I... see."
"Sorry, lil sis," Klaus muttered, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and resting his head on yours reassuringly. "I probably shouldn't have said anything."
"No, it's... it's whatever." You cleared your throat, trying to shake off the hateful thoughts filtering through your mind. Allison had lied - again. "Can we just move on, please?" Your voice shook, and Five winced, looking away. "Klaus, um... why did you only decide to track down your mother now?"
"Well," Klaus began slowly, the atmosphere still heavy, "Dad disowns us. Grace isn't Grace. Ben's gone. Now just felt like as good a time as any to find out who I could've been if I didn't grow up in this stupid family."
"Well, can you really call what we had a family?" Five asked, squinting up at the sky.
"No, it was more like a-"
"Institute for snarky delinquents," Five interrupted him, and everyone laughed humorlessly. "And you know, not a good one at that! As we just proved, everyone still lies to each other, we can't get along... the works."
"But what is family?" you asked softly. "What is it?" It certainly wasn't the three people Allison had planted in your head.
"I think it's like some kind of giant... ball of twine," Klaus explained, holding his hands up to demonstrate, "that can never be untangled."
"A giant ball of obligation I've been pushing uphill my entire life," Five said, the three of you staring up at the ball of twine.
"And the older you get, the bigger it gets," Klaus continued. "And the more you try to untangle it..."
"You watch it roll back down the hill..."
"It gets harder and harder to control," you added, frowning.
"And what's the point?" all three of you said at the same time, and you looked at each other quizzically.
"Hey," Klaus said suddenly. "I'm glad you two came along. You're... a good brother, Five. And you're a good sister, Eight."
He stared down at you and Five, the cicadas filling the awkward silence.
"All right, all right, you say nice things about me now," Klaus said expectantly. When nobody said anything again, you being caught up in your thoughts, Five turned toward the car again.
"Let's go find your stupid mother," Five said, patting him on the shoulder before walking over to the road.
"Love you too, tiny dancer!" he shouted, chasing after him and laughing.
Before you could hop in the car, you elbowed Klaus lightly.
"You're a good brother, too," you said, and he smiled down at you hopefully.
"Don't ever change, (Y/N)."
You laughed softly.
"It's weird hearing you say my real name."
"You told him your name?" Five had gotten out of the car, one hand on the handle still. His eyes were wide and unsure. "Like... your real name?"
"It's about time I did," you said, shrugging awkwardly. "I think I'll tell Allison next. I mean... I'm not so sure anymore." Your mouth twisted in a grimace at the thought of her planting fake memories in your mind.
"Wait... so this is going to be a, an everyone thing?"
"Yeah," you said after a moment, nodding. "Yeah. Now let's go. We've got a birth mother to reunite with."
The three of you got in the car again, Five still shocked.
"Klaus," you began once he had started driving. "Did you... see the location of my mother?"
He shook his head sorrowfully.
"Nope. Just the cash. I still can't believe Dad kept those check stubs."
"Shit," Five repeated.
You all sat on pensive silence as the car wound through green hills, the cheery music starkly contrasting the heavy mood. Finally, you drove onto a gravel road, leisurely gliding past a wooden fence containing grazing cows.
"Well, this certainly looks old-fashioned," you said haltingly as you looked around. "Like... very old-fashioned."
Klaus parked, and as you stepped out, a group of children all dressed the same went running past, laughing.
"Son of a bitch," Five said, his voice hinting at humor. "Klaus is Amish."
"Wouldn't have guessed that," you said, and Klaus elbowed you, glancing around with a grin.
"This explains everything," he said, bringing you to snort.
"How does this explain anything?"
"Because look!" Klaus said, waving his arms around. "Look at this place! This was everything my childhood was missing."
"What, no cellular service and a bunch of farm animals?" you asked, raising your eyebrows at the cows.
"Yes! Exactly!"
"Hey, uh, Klaus," Five called as he began walking toward the people.
"Yeah?"
"Wait up a minute." He took your hand, pulling you toward your annoyed brother. "Doppelgänger check. You feel anything strange? Uh, itching, sweats, anything like that?"
You noticed that he was holding Klaus' wrist tightly with his free hand and smiled.
"No," Klaus said calmly, looking down at his hand and causing Five to remove it immediately, sticking it in his pocket with an awkward frown. "No, no, I feel great. Apart from the old rash on the tackle, but what can you do?"
Five made a face at him as he turned to continue on his way once more.
"All right. Good luck."
"Have fun, Klaus," you added, raising your eyebrows when he turned around, shocked.
"What? Wait, you guys aren't coming with?"
"This one you gotta do alone," Five said, and you nodded.
"Trust us. It'll be better without your weird adoptive siblings there," you said, and he sighed dramatically.
"Alone?" He paused. "Yeah, okay. Yeah, I can do that. For sure."
He cast one final nervous look at you before walking off slowly, as if he still expected you to join him.
You shook your head with a small smile, looking after him.
"He's like a little kid. I feel kinda bad, making him go by himself."
"He'll be fine," Five assured you, wrapping his arm around your shoulder. "Plus, this way we can plan our next stop, right?"
You grinned up at him.
"The pie place is still at the top of my list," you said, and he rolled his eyes, but his mouth tilted up nonetheless.