The taxi driver stared nervously at the girl behind him. It was his first day and he had been warned that the life of a cab driver was very strange but he had always thought they were joking. However when the young girl, who didn't appear to be any older than 13, appeared in the backseat of his cab out of thin air he was starting to take their caution very seriously.
She fumed, arms crossed in rage and from the look in her eyes he could feel her wrath. He drove cautiously, to where he was unsure since she had yet to give him an address and he was too scared to ask. The poor terrified man pulled up to the stop light and paused the car sending a scared glance at the girl as if him obeying traffic laws might upset her. However she didn't react just glancing up from the floor of the car.
He now saw the tears in her eyes. The ones she fought to keep at bay. His heart stopped a moment as the girl directed her gaze to him. He froze having been caught staring and mentally screamed for help. She turned away and the man noticed that the light had changed again. He continued to drive aimlessly and the suspense was eating away at him. He didnt know how much longer he could take it.
"Um...er where to, young lady?" He asked, gripping the wheel tighter. She looked up at him through the rearview mirror with a spiteful stare. "Call me 'young lady' again and I'll put your head through that windshield." She snarled. The man stared into her cold eyes and he could feel sweat began to drip down his forehead from her intensity.
"23rd street." The girl finally answered after a few agonizing moments. The man was shocked but complied, changing the direction of the car. He drove quickly, wanting to get her out of his car as soon as possible. 23rd was a nice neighborhood with many nice families. For some reason he didn't picture her coming from one of these families. There was something off about her. He pulled up to a free spot on the street and mustered up the courage to turn to the girl.
"Look. I don't know who hurt you or why. But I'm gonna take a guess and say it's a boy. I just wanted to say you seem like a fully capable young la-woman. I mean I'm a grown man and you scare the shit out of me. So give him hell." The man said putting on a kind smile for the girl. Y/n was very shocked by this statement and wondered why the man had so easily dismissed her rude behavior. Perhaps there were still good people in the world. She nodded slowly looking down. "Look-er-um-sir, I'm sorry for being so rude earlier, I know I have no excuse. You should never take out your frustration on people especially strangers. Um-how much was it for the ride I'll add some-" She began to explain reaching for her wallet in her coat. "Don't worry about it, sweetheart. I hope whatever that boy did he pays for it." He said kindly and Y/n smiled back before saying goodbye to the man.
She watched astonished as he pulled away. Shaking her head, she walked across the street towards the home she had spent half of her life in. She nervously made her way up the steps, anxiety starting to settle into her gut. After taking a deep breath she reached up and knocked on the door, remembering that the doorbell had been out. She had promised to fix it but in light of recent events, it had slipped to the back of her mind.
"Ma, there's someone at the door!" She heard her brother call down the hall to their mother. "That's probably your sister. Get the door will you?" She answered. The footsteps of her brother trekked down the hall towards the door and for a split second she felt like running. She felt like ducking into the bushes beside the steps and hiding before her brother could see her dramatic change in appearance.
However she stood her ground, not letting her fear take the best of her. As the door swung open she stood frozen with her eyes closed, not sure if she was ready to face whatever problem presented itself. What she did not expect was the large thud that met what she thought would be a gasp. She opened her eyes to see her brother laying upon the floor unconscious. "What was that!?" Their mother cried frantically as her hurried footsteps made their way to the hall. She made it about halfway before the scene before her made her freeze as well.
For a moment they stood there, both still with shock. Her mother covered her mouth, staring at her young daughter. Y/n knew she appeared to be a couple years younger than when her mother first met her and it must've added to the shock a bit so she gave her mother time and space, letting M/n come to her when she was ready. But her mother wasted no time stepping forwards and bringing her daughter into an embrace, petting her hair softly as she squeezed what little air Y/n had out of her lungs. "Y/n baby, what happened? You're so little, what happened?" Her mother cried and Y/n felt some of her tears land on her head.
"Mother. It's ok, I promise. I'm fine. It's a lot to explain. Let's get Jason off the floor and I'll explain after ok?" Y/n pleaded, ironically becoming the adult in the situation. Her mother nodded wiping her cheeks as she went to grab her sons arms. Y/n grabbed his legs and they slowly and with a little difficulty dragged Jason to the living room where they lifted him to the couch. Her mother cried after having finally gotten the situation under control and pulled Y/n into another hug, sobbing into her shoulder. Her poor mother was probably so overwhelmed between her daughter's age and her son's unconsciousness. "Mother. Mother. M/n!" Y/n cried making her mother look up.
"Hey calm down it's ok, alright? I'll explain everything, how about you go make some tea and I'll make sure Jason is ok." She said smoothly and her mother nodded hurrying to the kitchen. Y/n sighed turning to her brother. She knew her mother would react this way. She wasn't nearly as bad as when she first met Y/n but still theatrical as usual. She sighed brushing her brother's messy hair off his forehead and sitting on the couch opposite to him.
Her mother came back shortly, sipping on her tea with shaking hands. Y/n patted the empty seat next to her and her mother sat down, staring in disbelief at her daughter. "Ok I'll explain everything to you but you have to promise not to cry anymore ok?" Y/n giggled trying to make the situation lighter. Her mother nodded wiping her eyes hastily as she set her mug down.
"Well um. Da-Reginald died the other day so I went to his funeral." Y/n began to tell. "Wait you went to that house? What did those kids think?" M/n asked. "Mother they're not kids anymore. And their my siblings even if they aren't blood. Everyone was just tense that's all. Even before the funeral was eventful, I suppose."
"What happened?" M/n asked quietly. "Well...Five came back." Y/n mumbled. Her mother remained silent for a few moments. "That poor boy that disappeared?" She mumbled and Y/n nodded, biting her lip. "Yeah." Y/n breathed. "What was that like?" Her mother asked leaning forwards curiously. "It was...I can't explain it. I was so happy and sad and confused. It was overwhelming." She admitted. Her mother took her hand comfortingly. "I know much you love him, dear. It can't be easy seeing him after 17 years." Her mother said solemnly and Y/n nodded. "So how did you get like this?"
"We don't know. I have a theory though. When Five was around, we had a strong connection. I used his powers the most and when he left I was still connected to them in a way. It's sort of hard to understand so let me put it this way. You know how when you have a seizure, messages or commands aren't sent from your brain to your body right away, they're kind of just put on hold?" Y/n explained trying not to use terms her mother wouldn't understand. M/n nodded allowing Y/n to continue. "Well once the connection isn't disrupted those messages come back sometimes leaving the patient overstimulated or unable to control their body. I tried for years to use his powers and I think once he returned all of those commands came rushing back. I believe that's what made me so young again. It's just a theory however." Y/n finished with a shrug.
"That makes sense, I guess. But is it reversible? Don't get me wrong, it's every parent's dream for their kids to be little forever, but I don't think this is exactly what I meant." She chuckled. "I don't know. I don't even know exactly how this happened." Y/n sighed. They sat quietly for a few moments, both lost in their thoughts. "So where's Five?" Her mother suddenly asked, yanking Y/n out of her mind.
"What?" She questioned. "Where's Five? Why haven't you brought him home yet? Scared he'll run away?" Her mother joked. Y/n forced a laugh looking down. She didn't have the will to explain to her mother what had happened. She almost didn't want to believe it herself. "I promise to bring him later, mother." She replied painfully.
Eventually Jason awoke and the whole explanation process was repeated and surprisingly Jason got over his shock a lot faster than their mother had. While Jason happily set up his police scanner in his old bedroom, Y/n paced the hall feeling on-edge. She wasn't sure what they would find from the scanner and she didn't know what Five was doing or where he was. She was still very angry at him and she wanted to hit him but at the same time she couldn't help but worry for the love of her life. She sighed, infuriated by the fact that she couldn't hate Five.
"Hey uh Y/n?" Her brother called from his room. She stepped into the small room, letting her eyes trail over the walls that were caked in posters from various bands. "So I decided to tune into the radio that taxi drivers use just in case they heard something before the police and I heard them talking about you." Her brother explained. Her brother had always been a 'straight to the point' type of guy and it sometimes left her very shocked or confused with no time to process the information he had give her before he continued. "They're also talking about a boy too. Here listen I recorded it." He said pressing a button on his computer. Y/n leaned towards the speaker, very thrown off by what her brother was telling her.
"Hey, have you guys ever had someone just appear in the back of the cab?" Y/n quickly recognized the voice to be that of the taxi driver who had brought her to her mother's home. "Just appear? What like a magic trick?" Another man spoke over the radio. "Yeah like you didn't even stop the car?" The first man continued. "Yeah, yeah this boy just appeared in the back of my car. I didn't even stop, he was just there!" A new man entered the discussion. "How is that possible?" The second man asked. "Where did you drop them off?" The non-believer asked. "I dropped the girl off at 23rd. That nice neighborhood." Her cab driver answered and Y/n felt a little angry that he just gave her private information away like that. "I dropped the boy off at a store not far from there. You think their meeting up?" The second man said. "What store was it?" Her driver asked. "That department store, The Gimbel Brothers, I think."
"Jason I need you to drive me there." Y/n said turning away from the computer. "Wait what about the police scanners?" Jason called as she made her way out of the room. "It can wait!" She yelled.
She wasn't sure what she was going to do or why she needed to get to Five but either way Five was going to get slapped.