Word count: 2732
𝐔𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘, 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 about a million different thoughts in her head at the same time, due to her super speed. However, when Valerie woke up the next morning, there was only one thing on her mind: Five.
She felt as though what had happened the night before had been a part of a dream, and she prayed that it had actually happened. The rush of fiery heat had never left her body since the night before, and it only intensified at the thought of him.
After changing into a fresh uniform and brushing her teeth, she went over to Five's room and knocked on the door.
It opened not too long after, revealing Five, whose hair made it seem as though he had just woken up. He had changed into the light blue pyjamas, which had an umbrella stitched on the breast pocket.
"Go lay on the bed," she ordered as she nodded towards the unmade bed and went over to the first aid kit at the desk, which she had left opened the night before.
He heeded as she grabbed some gauze and the roll of tape before walking over towards him.
Valerie was beginning to lift his shirt up when he mumbled, "Trying to take my clothes off now, are ya? We're moving pretty fast."
"Oh, shut up, Five." She rolled her eyes in amusement, ignoring his playful teases as she gently peeled the tape off, then removing the gauze.
She felt a wave of relief wash over her as she inspected the wound; it was looking much better than the night before—it had stopped bleeding at least. It was beginning to heal but still needed to be treated delicately, and she made sure to be careful.
Valerie replaced the gauze with a new one, feeling Five's sleepy eyes on her as she taped it onto his skin firmly. She looked back up at him with a small sigh and nodded. "There. Now, don't move too much, or else it'll hurt. A lot."
He sat up, swinging his legs over the side as he asked, "Can I still—"
"Do your jumping stuff? You should be able to." She shrugged as she sat down next to him on the bed. "If it hurts the first time, don't do it again though."
"Okay." He frowned as he turned his head towards her. "Did Diego and Allison find anything after?"
"I don't know, neither of them came back home last night," she told him with a sigh as she shook her head. "I don't think they did, at least."
"Maybe they went to find Harold Jenkins," he said, though his tone wasn't too enthusiastic. "I hope not."
"Why not? You're worried they'll get hurt or something?"
Five laughed in amusement as he shook his head. "No. I want to kill him myself."
"Oh, come on, Five," she tutted, the corners of her lips turning downwards.
He folded his arms. "What, you think we shouldn't kill him? The guy who's manipulating Vanya, is a convicted killer, and, oh, yeah, is the cause of the end of the world?"
"No, I know we have to kill him, but you don't have to be so . . . excited about it."
"I'm not excited."
"Five."
"Well, I mean, this is what I've been waiting to do for the past twenty-one years!" Five gave in, shrugging as he threw his hands into the air. "You think I'm going to be sad about it?"
"You're still murdering a man," Valerie sighed as she rested her head against Five's shoulder. She frowned as she threaded her fingers through his, the warmth of his hand seeping into hers. "A really, really, terrible, horrible man who deserves nothing but bad things. Like, the absolute worst of mankind. Rock bottom. But still a man. You don't feel a tiny ounce of guilt?"
He sighed. "I mean . . ."
"Oh, God." Valerie lifted her head to stare at him, her eyes widened as she whispered, "Are you a psychopath?"
"I wouldn't say that I'm a psychopath," he scoffed, giving a small shake of his head. "Just a little . . . insane, maybe."
"Yeah, that's great to hear." She gave him a sarcastic smile that could rival his own, rolling her eyes.
"You know what else is great to hear?" He quirked an eyebrow, a smirk growing on his face as he leaned toward her.
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What?"
"Silence," he whispered.
Valerie stared at him for a moment, her eyes still narrowed. "If that's your way of telling me to shut up, you can shove it right up your—"
Five cut her off by pressing his lips against hers, instantly silencing her. He settled his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him while she wrapped her arms around his neck.
The kiss was gentle at first but grew more passionate as he slipped his tongue inside her mouth and began to explore. She let out a small hum of satisfaction as his hands tightened their grip around her waist, and she tilted her head.
"Five!" The door suddenly burst open, Klaus' hand on the doorknob as a goofy grin appeared on his face. "Oh, perfect, both of you are—holy shit!"
The two of them immediately broke away from each other, their cheeks furiously red as they settled back into their original spots.
"Klaus, what the hell! Ever heard of knocking, dumbass?" Five exclaimed, his eyes glaring daggers at the man who had begun to laugh giddily.
"Oh, dude, finally! I feel like I've been waiting for that to happen forever," Klaus giggled girlishly. "Okay, well, when you two are done making out, we're having an emergency meeting in the kitchen."
He then shut the door with a slam, leaving the other two to be embarrassed by themselves.
"Jesus Christ," Five muttered as he ruffled his hair with one hand. He looked up to her with the big, sarcastic smile she was used to. "Anyway, I was going to say that that was the kind of silence I like, but Klaus was a dipshit, as usual."
"Well, it's a silence I definitely can get used to," Valerie giggled before leaning forward and kissing him once more. She stood up afterwards, smoothing out the bottom of her dress as she raised her eyebrows. "Should we head to the kitchen now?"
"Wanna race?" Five quirked an eyebrow, his lips twisting into a challenging smile.
A grin grew onto her face as she reminded him, "You know I always win."
"Well . . . I think things have changed, I am nine years older than you now," he pointed out with a shrug.
"Age has nothing to do with it," Valerie countered as she put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "If anything, it would mean that you're slower."
"No, it means I have more experience than you do," he cut in with raised eyebrows, and a grin grew onto his face. "Which means I'm better than you."
"We'll see about that." She smirked as she turned towards the door. She glanced back at him as he stood up, and quickly counted down, "Three . . . two . . . one!"
Valerie didn't even bother to open the door, instead just phasing through it before dashing down the stairs and reaching one of the chairs in the kitchen in less than five seconds. Klaus, who was on the other side of the table, screeched, almost spilling the coffee he had in his hand.
Five appeared in the seat next to her just a moment later, causing Klaus' scream to grow louder, him jumping back and almost hitting the kitchenware behind him. "Jesus—fucking—Christ! Don't do that!"
"Sorry, Klaus," Valerie giggled before looking over at Five, who was cursing quietly to himself at his loss. "You'll never beat me, loser."
A smirk grew on his face. "We'll see about that."
"Never." She grinned before nodding towards his stomach and asking, "By the way, does it hurt at all?"
He shook his head, giving her a small smile as he reassured her, "All good."
"Great." She smiled before turning back to Klaus, who had begun taking deep breaths in order to try and calm himself down.
"Aw, so cute," Klaus cooed once his breathing had returned to normal. "Little Valerie and Five, kissing and dating and stuff."
"Klaus," Five warned.
"You guys are so adorable together. I mean, ever since you guys met when we were all eleven? Instant chemistry." Klaus grinned, obviously enjoying how red the two faces were becoming as he continued, "I didn't think it'd have to take years of time travel and an oncoming apocalypse for you two lovebirds to get together, but here we are."
"Klaus," Five's warned, his glare becoming more murderous by the second.
"When did you guys first kiss?" He suddenly gasped, "Wait, have you guys had s—"
"Klaus!" Five reached over the table and slapped him before he could finish the word.
Valerie tried to change the subject before things could get either worse for them, or worse for Klaus. "Where's Luther?"
"Oh, I just called him down. He did . . . you know, the dirty with a girl," Klaus giggled girlishly, sending them a wink as he shimmied his shoulders. "One from a rave."
"Seriously?" Valerie's eyes widened in disbelief as she leaned forward, her hands resting on the dining table. "That doesn't sound like Luther. At all."
"Yeah, he was pretty drunk." Klaus nodded with a shrug. "And also high."
Her eyes widened even further. "Okay, that doesn't sound like Luther either."
"Jesus, Klaus, what did you do to him?" Five questioned with furrowed eyebrows, tilting his head as he stared at the man with confusion.
"Nothing!" Klaus raised his hands in defence, his voice becoming high as he defended himself. "I was the sober one in the situation! Can you believe that? Me?"
Just then, Luther came blundering in, the hood of his grey sweater shielding his face and his hand pressed against his temple. It was more than obvious that he was battling a bad headache as he let out a small groan and rubbed his forehead.
Valerie couldn't stand looking at him without giggling as he sat down on the other side of her; she still could hardly believe what Klaus had told her just a few moments before.
"What?" Luther stared at her, his eyes squinted as though the morning light was too bright for him to take.
"Have fun last night?" she asked lightly as she raised her eyebrows, an entertained smile on her face.
"Wha—Klaus!" Luther immediately looked towards Klaus, who then turned in the other direction to hide his face. "Why'd you tell them? They're kids!"
"I'm the same age as you!" Valerie exclaimed.
"I'm nine years older than you!" Five groaned at the same time.
"Yeah, sure, but you look" —Luther gestured toward their bodies with narrowed eyes— "like that."
"Thanks," Valerie scoffed as she rolled her eyes in amusement.
Klaus had begun to pour coffee from the French press into delicate, white-and-blue cups, measuring the brew carefully. He squinted his eyes, making sure that the coffee didn't overflow before nodding to himself.
"Here we go. This'll fix ya." Klaus picked up one of the cups and made to hand it to Luther before Five grabbed it from him.
Five took a sip of it, his face instantly scrunching up in disgust as soon as the brew had hit his tongue. "Jesus. Who do I gotta kill to get a decent cup of coffee?"
"Klaus," Valerie muttered to him. "Please kill him. I know I have the whole code thing, but I'll make an exception."
A malicious smile grew onto Five's face as he put the cup onto the table and asked, "Have I begun to influence you?"
"No," she said sternly, to which he gave a shrug of skepticism.
Klaus offered Valerie a cup before she shook her head. "I only drink decaf. You know—don't need any more jitters than I already have."
"God, forgot about how you consume everything except for coffee. Weirdo." Klaus stuck his tongue out at her before he turned to Luther, handing him the cup instead.
"Can we get started?" Luther asked impatiently as he took the cup from Klaus.
"Anyone seen any of the others? Diego? Allison? No?" Klaus questioned, getting no response of confirmation from anyone. "All right, then, this is the closest thing to a quorum" —he picked up a spatula and banged it against the table— "that we're gonna get. Now, listening up. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spit it out."
He then stared down at the table as he gave a long sigh, his mind clearly drifting away. They all watched him for a minute, their eyebrows furrowed as he didn't say anything.
Luther rubbed the side of his head and muttered, "Klaus."
"I conjured Dad last night," Klaus responded immediately, tapping the spatula against his hand anxiously.
Valerie exchanged a skeptical look with Five as Luther pointed out, "You said you haven't been able to conjure anyone in years."
"Ah, yes, I know, but I'm sober. Ta-da!" Klaus exclaimed as he did jazz hands and shifted his eyes over them. "I got clean, yesterday, to talk to someone special, and then ended up having this . . . conversation with dear old Daddy himself."
"Has anyone got some aspirin?" Luther groaned, about to get up from his chair.
"Top shelf, next to the crackers," Five replied instantly, taking a sip of the coffee that he had just picked up.
Luther was about to get out of his seat when Klaus waved him down. "Hey, hey, hey! This is serious, guys, all right?" He gave them a pleading gaze as he insisted, "This really happened, I swear."
"Okay, fine. I'll play," Five sighed after taking another sip of his coffee. He gave Klaus a sarcastic smile as he leaned forward and questioned, "What did the old man have to say?"
"Well, he gave me the usual lecture about my appearance and my failures in life. Yada yada yada," Klaus said dismissively as he waved the spatula in the air. "No surprise there. Even the afterlife couldn't soften a hardass like Dad, right? But he did mention something about his murder, or lack thereof, because" —he gave a dramatic sigh, looking down at the table— "he killed himself."
Luther let the hand that was rubbing his temples fall to the table. He got up, taking his hood off as he grumbled, "I don't have time for your games, Klaus."
"I'm telling you the truth, Luther." Klaus raised his hands, nodding quickly in an attempt to convince him further. "I'm telling you the truth."
Valerie wasn't sure whether she believed Klaus or not. He seemed sincere, but then again, it was Klaus. "Why'd he do it, then?"
"He said it was the only way to get us all home again," Klaus answered with a shrug.
"No," Luther refused, shaking his head furiously as a small scoff escaped his lips. "Dad wouldn't just kill himself."
"Ah, you said it yourself. He was depressed," Five pointed out airily as he looked up at Luther. "Holed up in his office and room all day and night."
"No. There weren't any signs," Luther reasoned as he shifted his gaze down towards him. "Suicidal people exhibit certain tendencies, strange behaviours—"
"Like sending someone to the Moon for no reason?" Klaus interrupted, his eyebrows raised.
Luther's jaw clenched as he shook his head. "I swear to God, Klaus, if you're lying . . ."
"I'm not!" Klaus exclaimed, raising his hands up in defence. "I'm not."
A voice suddenly came from behind them. "Master Klaus is correct."
They turned around to see Pogo, his usual walking cane in hand as he came to a stop. His eyes gazed over each of their faces, filled with sorrow as he gave a grave nod.
"Regretfully," he continued with a sigh, "I helped Master Hargreeves enact his plan."