"Number Five"
"You know... I never took joy in it."
Five, Winnie, and Luther sat in a classic black car on the side of an old, dusty road. Luther's massive form was hunched into the drivers seat with Five beside him. Both men were particularly alert and focused on their surroundings, acting as the true professionals they were raised to be.
Winnie, on the other hand, was sprawled across Fives lap; legs propped up on the medium, uniform skirt hitched high, and a pair of headphones blasting a good song. She was painting the length of her leg with vibrant chaotic colors as she hummed along to the music.
"The killing I mean," Five continued, his eyes flicking over to Winnies hands. "I was very good at my job, but I never took pleasure in it."
Luther's eyes didn't leave the road, but they both knew he was listening. Their interaction at the house had left a bad taste in both of their mouths. Five just wanted to clear the air; Strictly speaking he was a murderer, he didn't want to be seen as that cold and uncaring.
"I think it was the years alone.... Solitude does funny things to the mind." Five explained softly.
"Well you were gone for such a long time." Luther frowned, "I was only on the moon for 4 years and that was enough... Its the being alone that breaks you. Changes you."
"We certainly have changed since we were kids." Five conceded ironically.
Winnie shuffled around for a moment after that, holding a paint brush between in her humming lips as she aggressively touched up the corner of her leg with her fingers. She was utterly unaware to the world then, oblivious to everything outside of the painting at her fingertips. Five smiled fondly.
"Not her though, eh?" Luther sighed dryly. He caught Fives soft expression as he turned to watch Winnie paint as well.
"She hasn't changed a bit."
Five chuckled and looked up at the man, smiling slyly, like he knew a juicy little secret. "You think so?"
Luther pinched his brow, but didn't ask. Certainly, there are some things in life Luther would rather leave a mystery. Not a lot... but some, and whatever it was that made little Winnie Hargreeves tick- sat snugly within that category.
He cleared his throat and nodded at the suitcase next to Winnie, "You really think this will work?"
"Well... I know that they are desperate." Five said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Its like a cop losing his gun. If the commission finds out, they'd be in deep shit."
He then tipped his head and shrugged, "Not to mention they'll be stuck here until they get it back."
"Well then I should hold onto it." Luther said.
Five looked up at him in confusion, "Hm?"
"I should hold onto it... in case they make a move on you or try to harm Winnie." Luther said, squaring his shoulders surely, as if affirming his intent.
"Ok Luther...But be careful. I mean... Ive lived a long time, but you're still a young man. You have your whole life ahead of you." Five spoke with the wisdom of his long, experienced life....but without a proper 'long, experienced' body to make it seem sensical.
Luther looked away awkwardly and Five held Winnie closer to him- dutifully content that he was able to give some proper advice to his 'younger' brother.
"Ahaa." Winnie said, finally joined the world of the living, and peeling her headphones off her head with paint splattered fingers. "So tell me... does this little slice of bedlam mean anything to you?"
Five hummed thoughtfully, casually slipping his hand down her thigh, and tucking her skirt a little higher on the side of her hip. Winnie giggled under her breath and Fives eyes flashed dangerously over to Luthers. The man quickly turned his face to the ceiling.
"Hmm. Bedlam is actually a pretty apt description, dearest . It seems like an explosion... theres a typewriter... pieces of a clock... Ahh- and a high heel. Looks like we will be meeting the Handler."
Fives coy smirk never dropped from his dimpled face as he delicately ran his fingers over the meaningful elements of Winnies painting, feeling her breath in slightly each time. Winnie herself, was suppressing a candied grin as she trained her eyes on the boy holding her.
"You... uh.. know by a high heel?" Luther cut in meekly, keeping his eyes locked away from the two.
"I spent 50 years with a woman with no legs." Fives lip quirked as his thumb circled just near the hem of Winnies skirt, "It just happened to be the first thing I noticed about the woman."
Naughty boy, Winnie thought with a giddy feeling tugging the sides of her lips up. Her eyes, however, soon danced over to poor Luther who was just so horribly uncomfortable in the seat beside them.
Five, the grumpy old touch-starved man that he was, honestly couldn't care less about PDA- and neither did Winnie for that matter- but she had just recently become aware of Luthers 30 year running unpopped cherry. It felt a little mean spirited.
"Ah, well... that leaves the wiggle room of wether the upcoming situation will end favorably. Explosions tend to have a mixed message for us." Winnies own fingers laced with Fives, effectively ending his fun early.
Five rolled his eyes at the irony of her stopping him in front of people. The amount of times he had to leave a room because of her...
"Anyway- as negotiations go, I think this one should be pretty simple... Luth-" Winnie kicked him and he hesitantly looked back at her. "Remember that time when we were 16 and Klaus and I tried to teach you poker?"
Luther nodded and Winnie flashed a mischievous smile. "Good. Same premise. Keep your poker face hard and straight, because our cards are trash and all we've got is a bluff."
A rumble of rocks and tires sounded far ahead from their car, and all three's heads shot up. It seems like the guests of honor have finally arrived.
"Here we go." Five said, his face falling back into its usual look of displeasure.
Winnie and he exited from the side door with Luther following suit, holding tightly to the very important fake suitcase. He joined them at their side, dwarfing their younger figures, and standing like an immovable mountain as they all waited for the events to unfold.
Before letting any nerves about the meeting get to her, Winnie made a point to turn her back towards the speeding car and face Five once more. She decidedly loosened the boys tie for the umpteenth time, and then took the time to smooth out her own uniform.
"And how do I look?" Winnie asked with her usual goofy grin.
Five cocked a half-smile and flicked a strand of messy platinum hair from her eyes. With a chaotically painted leg, a tailored uniform already dotted with color, and a charming twinkle to her eyes, Five told her his exact thoughts.
"Stunning, my dearest." Five confirmed. He folded his hands back into his pockets as Winnie joined him at his side, arms at the crook of his elbow.
"Ah, Good. I haven't been this anxious since I heard our zodiacs might not be compatible." The young girl huffed as she watched the car draw closer.
"We were all born on the same day." Luther shook his head as the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. "Our zodiacs are all Libras."
Five and Winnie looked up at the ape-like man with differing levels of the same emotion. They couldn't exactly tell if he was serious and Luther was refusing to look at them in the eyes again.
"She was joking." Five quipped after a prolonged moment.
"Im surprised you knew our zodiac Luth! I only just recently heard about it." Winnie added on, not missing Luthers ears turn a bright shade of pink.
"I-I lived on the moon! Astrology was... important." Luther scoffed, not daring to mention he had learned it for Allison when they were younger. "And it doesnt matter- look. They've arrived."
Fortunately for him, Luther was correct. An old blue car rumbled past the trio and came to a stop about 20 yards away. Out from the car appeared a man and a woman, sporting the colorful mascot heads (though decidedly more burnt and rugged) from the shoot out at Dolores's store.
Five confidently walked to meet them halfway, Winnie still at his arm, while Luther stayed back with the "goods".
"Are the masks really necessary?" Five sighed. The two time agents glanced at each other, before pulling off the heads and tossing them away.
"So where is it kids?" The woman, Cha-cha, asked.
"Oh is that how it's going to be?" Winnie gave a big pout, batting her eyes before turning to Five. "And we were being so nice Five!"
"Of course Dear. We can always get right back in our car... call it a day?" Five's voice was threateningly calm as he played along with Winnie.
"How cute- but you wont even make it half way there." Cha-cha hissed, yanking her gun out from her waist band.
"Maybe." Winnie said sweetly, never even flinching. Five flashed a dimpled grin, cocking his head back to meet the woman's gaze.
"But as Im sure you found out in your previous foray- my brother is not your average giant." Five said, gesturing to the hulking mass of man behind them.
"He's right." Hazel, the man, said in agreement, letting his gun fall to his side. "You dropped a chandelier on him, and he got right back up."
"By the time you took him out.. Id say your precious suitcase would be smashed to a pulp." Winnie shrugged unapologetically, nodding along as though she had just thought of that possibility.
"Probably us too right?" Hazel guessed. "So how do we help each other?"
"I need you to get in contact with your superior. Arrange a meeting so I can have a chat with her. Face-to-face." Five laid out.
"About what?" Cha-cha asked.
Winnie smiled and tilted her head. "I don't actually think thats any of your concern, is it."
Five fought a laugh and turned his head away from them. He knew Winnie wasn't going to play nice, not when those two had upset Diego so terribly, but it was still amusing to witness. She was masterful in the art of innocent gibes.
Cha-cha grit her teeth but nodded all the same. "Just... don't tell her about the suitcase."
"Fair enough." Five agreed easily.
Hazel and Cha-cha glanced at each other one more time before they stepped away to make the call. Five and Winnie went the opposite direction out of courtesy, walking back to their car.
Winnie hopped up onto the back trunk and pulled Five's back toward her, tossing her arms over his shoulders. Luther came up to the couple silently.
"So? What happens now?" He asked.
"Now?" Five said, tilting his head back and to the side to look at Winnie, "Now we wait."
——
From the personal notes of Sir Reginald Hargreeves, a.k.a The Monocle
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00.01: Appreciably enhanced physical strength and resilience. Excels at everything he tries- particularly [redacted]- and knows it. Dedication boarding inhuman. Ruthless leadership abilities. My favorite.
00.02: An insolent brat. Ability to [redacted] is of dubious if any use. Not bad with a knife- as illustrated by the amount of gashes in the Caravaggio. Predictably reckless.
00.03: Insufferable, narcissistic creature, but extremely useful. Prevaricates with appalling ease.
00.04: Development of psychic abilities stunted by fretful, morbid temperament. Inexplicable resemblance to an Ingmar Bergman extra.
00.05: Disappeared several days ago. No great loss.
00.06: Gruesome, but fascinating. Easily manipulated due to enthusiastic if naive behavior. Must learn to suppress my nausea in order to study further.
00.07: No discernible talents. Some enthusiasm for music, but mediocre skill- can hardly even hobble through a Paganini caprice. Utterly useless.
00.08: Passable skill with a brush, while [redacted] continues unexplored. A horrific lack of all moral and ethical codes parallels her manic devotion towards myself and the other children. Though the most obedient- handle with caution.
——