It had been hours since both Luther and Diego went looking for Cassie and Five. Since the girl left the academy after it getting attacked they were worried something might have happened to either of the two children. Sure they knew that both Cassie and Five were able to take care of themselves, but they still wanted to make sure.
Number One thought that Five might still be at the van where he left him only a day ago, but he wasn't. Luther and Diego got inside the van trying to find any leads on their sibling and Cassie's whereabouts, but knowing how unpredictable Five was they knew it wasn't going to be easy. The other option was that the people who were looking for them somehow abducted the two.
They really hoped that wasn't the case, but just in case they started to look for any sort of ransom letter or just any clue. The two brothers started going through documents and papers that were laying inside the van, hoping to find any sort of clue.
Suddenly, Diego found a copy of Vanya's book laying around the van so he picked it noticing how it was all scribbled up with different mathematical equations. He went straight to the first page and saw how the book had a stamp from the public library.
Diego whistled getting Luther's attention as he realized that Five could be at the library. "I know where to find Five," Diego said looking at Luther who was at the front of the van and showed him the book.
"How are you so sure?" Luther asked questioned how possible it was for Diego to be right. After all, it wasn't concrete proof.
"Unless you have any other idea don't question me, Number One," Diego said as he opened the door of the van. "So are you coming or what?" He said turning to look at Luther who was still in the front seats of the van.
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When Luther and Diego arrived at the library they entered the building and decided to split up so they could find either of the two children. They weren't sure if they were going to find them together, there was still a chance they wouldn't, but they would think about it once they found at least one of them.
The two scouted the library floor by floor but none of them were able to find either Cassie or Five. Suddenly, the two adults meet up on the last floor and looked at each other instantly noticing how neither of them has had any luck on their search.
Luther shook his head at Diego and turned around not wanting to give up just yet so he turned around and started walking away when suddenly Diego started talking to him.
"You wanna know why I left?" Diego said all of a sudden to his brother. The same brother he always tried to compete against to gain his Father's praise but never got it as a kid.
"What? What are you talking about?" Luther asked as he turned around and began walking towards Diego.
"Why I left the Academy," Diego repeated as he turned around to look face Luther.
"Yeah, 'cause you couldn't handle me being Number One," Luther replied convinced that his statement was the reason Diego left. He knew Diego was always under his shadow, a consequence of being Number Two. This frustrated Diego to no end as a chile because he longed for his father's acceptance. He used to be convinced that by becoming the leader Reginald would give him special treatment, unfortunately, that really wasn't the case.
"No. Because that's what you do when you're 17. You move out, become your own person, grow up." Diego said denying Luther's statement. The truth was that it was a little of both.
"Oh, yeah. You're a real grown-up." Luther said sarcastically.
"At least I make my own decisions," Diego said staring at Luther knowing he was hitting a nerve with his words. "You've never had to hold down a job. Pay bills." He said making a very valid point. "You ever even been with a girl?" Diego asked genuinely curious. He already knew the answer to that, he just wanted to make sure.
"I..." Luther cleared his throat nervously and Diego just chuckled to himself. "I don't know what you're talking about," Luther said completely avoiding Diego's questions.
"Look, you wanna blame me, blame us for leaving... that's okay. But maybe you're asking yourself the wrong question. Maybe it's not about why we left. Maybe it's about why you stayed." Diego said simply knowing he was right.
Everyone in the Academy left at the age of 17. After the very traumatic death of Ben. At the time they had already lost Five and Cassie due to Five's stunt with time travel. So when Ben died and their father put the blame on the whole group that was the last straw.
"I stayed because the world needed me." Luther defended his actions to Diego.
"You stayed because you couldn't let go of the way things used to be. The Academy. Dad. With Allison." Diego said leaving Luther completely speechless. "Dad's dead. Mom too, now. We're orphans again, dude. And things are never gonna go back to the way they used to be." Diego kept going starting to get on Luther's nerves.
"Do you ever stop talking?" Luther said getting irritated by how much truth Diego was telling him.
Diego shut up and glared at Luther knowing he was refusing the truth. At least now he couldn't say that he didn't try, but Luther was still too blinded and thought their father could do no wrong.
Suddenly a group of women began laughing in the distance. This caught the attention of both brothers who turned in the direction the laughs were coming from.
"Where are their parents." One of the women said and they both realized they could be talking about the two children they had been looking for.
"Well, that was easy," Luther said and followed Diego around.
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Diego walked around when he suddenly saw a woman walk around the corner complaining about how she was going to call security. He walked closer to where she had come from and began to hear very faint snores.
The two brothers looked down and saw Number Five sitting on the ground with his arms wrapped around Cassie. The two were asleep and surrounding them there were lots of books, notes, 2 empty bottles of alcohol, and the very same mannequin that Five had inside the van. Neither of them would have ever thought that Five would be the type to hug someone in his sleep.
"Are they, um..." Luther said. Not exactly sure if the two were sleeping because they were tired or because they were drunk.
"Drunk as a skunk," Diego said confirming Luther's theory.
"We need to get them out of here," Luther said as he started collecting the things that were laying on the floor.
"No shit. Really?" Diego said sarcastically as he walked over to Five and tried getting Cassie out of his arms so he could pick her up.
Number Five felt that someone was trying to take Cassie away from him he woke up and smacked Diego's arm. "Mine." Five said half asleep as he kept holding Cassie in his arms not wanting to let go of her.
Diego backed away as Five just refused to let him pick up Cassie. "Did he just smacked me?" Diego said as he turned to look at Luther in complete shock of the boy's reaction.
"Switch the mannequin with her. He is probably not even going to notice." Luther suggested.
Diego nodded and grabbed Delores beginning to loosen Five's grip on Cassie once again. When he finally got him to let go he grabbed the girl and switched her with the mannequin that was next to the two children.
Once Diego was carrying the girl in his arms Luther picked Five and the mannequin up effortlessly as well as their things and began heading out of the library. People inside were giving them weird looks but no one really said anything about it.
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By the time Luther and Diego made their way outside it was already night time. The two were carrying each of the children and walking down the street.
For Diego, it wasn't much of a problem to be carrying Cassie, after all, she was completely passed out. But for Luther, it was a whole different story since Five was beginning to wake up, but the effects of the alcohol where still inside his body.
Five opened his eyes and saw Luther who was carrying him around the streets, Delores was in his arms but he had no idea where Cassie was. "Where is Cassie? She was with me." The boy said with a drunk tone and began acting all sad.
"She is with Diego," Luther replied not giving much detail.
"And where is Diego?" Five said tilting his head back.
"Here," Diego responded as he was walking ahead of Luther.
Five looked over to Diego and then turned back to Luther. He wasn't very fond of the idea of his brother carrying him around the whole city. Problem was that he wasn't fully aware of how drunk he was at the moment.
"Put me down. I know how to walk by myself, I am not a little kid." Five said wanting Luther to put him down.
"You can't even keep your head up," Luther replied not listening to Five. It was very ironic how he was complaining about not being a little kid when in fact he looked like a kid.
"I said put me down!" Five said beginning to move in Luther's arms wanting him to stop carrying him around.
"Put him down. Just so he realizes how shit-faced he is." Diego said turning around just wanting to see how the boy was going to handle being on his feet.
"If you say so," Luther said and put Five down still holding Delores for him.
"See, I am fine!" Five said as he stood by himself with his legs barely being able to hold him up. The boy tried taking a step forward and instantly fell to the ground. "On my defense, the floor moved." Five complained as he laid on the floor not wanting to get up.
Diego let a laugh out a small laugh as he watched the whole thing finding it extremely amusing.
Luther shook his head and picked Five up once more and handed him Delores. The boy stopped complaining as he held Delores in his arms and snuggled the mannequin as if it was some sort of teddy bear.
"Well, we cant go back to the house. It's not secure. Those psychopaths could come back at any moment." Luther said as he and Diego kept walking not sure of where to go.
"My place is closer," Diego said as kept walking in front of Luther just guiding the way. "No one will look for them there." He said.
Suddenly Five burped on Luther's arms and he looked down at the boy letting out a sigh. "If you vomit on me..." Luther began to say but Five just ignored him completely and began to talk.
"You know what's funny?" Five said as he moved his head back taking a deep breath. "I'm going through puberty." The boy said looking at his brother. "Huh, twice." The boy scoffed. "And I... I drank the whole bottle, didn't I?" The boy asked. The question was mostly directed to himself, but that was beside the point. "That's what you do when the world you love goes bye-bye. Poof, it's gone." He said as if it was nothing. "What are you guys talking about?" Five asked his two siblings.
Diego sighed and shook his head as he thought what Five was saying just made no sense to him. Well, for now, it didn't make sense.
"Two masked intruders attacked the academy last night," Luther explained to the intoxicated boy.
"They came looking for you two," Diego said loud enough for Five to listen. "Cassie didn't tell you already? Or you two were too busy cuddling each other at the library?" Diego questioned. He knew the girl was there that night so it made sense that she might have told Five about what happened.
"Ah! Yes! She did tell me about it." Five said remembering what Cassie had told him the same night it happened. He completely ignored Diego's second question, his brain wasn't exactly at optimal conditions to answer more than one question at a time.
"Well, I need you to focus. What do they want?" Diego asked wanting to know about the people who almost got them killed.
"Hazel and Cha-Cha." Five replied giving out the names of the two attackers.
"Who?" Diego said turning his head back for a second trying to figure out what the boy meant by those words.
"You know, I hate code names." Luther said to the boy also not understanding what he meant by 'Hazel and Cha-Cha'.
"Ah, the best of the best. Except for Cass and I, of course." Five said trying to explain who Hazel and Cha-Cha were. He was truly doing an awful job at it.
"The best of what?" Luther asked getting pissed off by the way Five was answering everything to vaguely.
"You know, Delores always said she hated when I drink. She said it made me surly—" Five laughed as he got completely distracted from the conversation he was having. It was surprising how he was even awake considering the amount of alcohol he had consumed in his tiny body.
"Hey!" Diego yelled attempting to get the boy's attention once again.
"Hm? Yeah?" Five replied distantly. He wasn't making that much effort to pay attention to his siblings. Everything around him just felt funny so it was hard for him to stay serious.
"I need you to focus. What do this Hazel and Cha-Cha want?" Diego said as he stopped walking and turned to look at Number Five.
The boy just stared back at Diego with a smugly smile on his face, he didn't even process his question he just found funny how he had the audacity to raise his voice at him.
"We just want to protect both of you," Diego said in a more serious tone. His hero complex beginning to kick in as he felt the need to protect both children.
"Protect us?" Five chuckled. "We don't need your protection, Diego. Do you have any idea how many people we've killed?" The boy said to his brother knowing very well they were underestimating both him and Cassie.
"No." Diego looked back at Five and then at the girl. He was having a very hard time imagining the two of them killing people, especially Cassie.
"I'm the Four frickin' Horsemen." Five said all of a sudden. He sounded very convinced of his statement. "The apocalypse is coming. Five whispered closer to Diego. Only seconds later he turned his head and vomited right next to Luther.
Diego and Luther shared confused and disgusted looks but decided to not question him for now. It was very clear that Five wasn't willing to cooperate at the moment, and well, Cassie was still unresponsive. They will have to question both of them probably tomorrow once the effects of the alcohol had worn off.
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Once at Diego's place, both Luther and Diego placed the two children on Diego's best so the could rest. It had been a long day for both Cassie and Five so they needed it.
The two laid side by side unconsciously snuggling with each other. Cassie moved closer to Five resting her head on the boy's chest and Five just wrapped his arms around her protectively.
The two brothers stood there for a few seconds watching the two sleepy children. Considering the last thing Luther and Diego remembered about both Cassie and Five's relationship was that they despised each other, it was weird watching them be that close now. But they just assumed that since they had spent so much time with each other while being trapped in the future they were now friends or whatever.
"Funny," Diego said as he stared at the pair. "If I didn't know he was such a prick, I'd say he looks almost adorable in his sleep," Diego said referring to Five and how much of a pain he had been lately. "Also the same goes for Cass, her looks are deceiving." He now spoke for the girl who he had manages to pick random arguments within the past few days since she got back.
"Well, don't worry about Five. He'll sober up eventually. Be back to his normal, unpleasant self." Luther said talking about Five. He really couldn't say anything bad about the girl.
"Yeah, I can't wait that long. I need to find out what their connections are with these lunatics before someone else dies." Diego said as he walked away from the bed. He knew none of this was normal. Crime did happen every day in a big city like the one they lived in, but the things that had been happening recently were just too much of a coincidence.
"All that stuff he was saying before... What do you think he meant by that?" Luther said as he turned around to look at Diego.
Suddenly the two of them began to hear footsteps and considering what they just went through a day before they were extremely paranoid. Diego took out one of his knives and walked towards the entrance of his room getting ready to throw his knife at any moment.
"You throw another one of those goddamn knives at me, I'm pressing charges." Diego's landlord, Al, said. Both Luther and Diego relaxed once they realized it wasn't anyone trying to kill them or the two kids.
"What do you want, Al?" Diego asked the man who was in the hallway.
"I ain't your secretary," Al said as he entered Diego's room.
"Yeah," Diego replied rolling his eyes.
"Some lady called for you, said she needed your help." The man said to Diego just letting him know about the message this woman left on the phone for him.
"What lady?" Diego asked confused. Not many people called in and left messages for him, so he thought it was just weird.
"I dunno. Some, uh, detective. I think she said her name was, uh, Blotch, or something." Al said just wanting to get the message across.
"Patch?" Diego asked. She was the only detective lady that knew his number."She needs my help." He muttered to himself realizing it is probably important.
"She needs you to meet her at this motel, a dump on Calhoun," Al said giving him the location.
"When?" Diego asked.
"About half an hour ago. Uh, she said she found your brother." Al replied and exit Diego's room since he had nothing else to tell him.
"Well, that didn't make sense," Diego said as he looked over to Five who was laying on his bed.
Diego and Luther put more thought into it trying to decipher what that could mean. Suddenly it all clicked together for both of them.
"Klaus." They both said looking at each other at the same time.
"Go. I'll wait here with..." Luther said as Diego ran out of the room and shut the door behind him not listening to him. He had all the reasons to be in such a rush. "them." Luther said and sighed as he looked at both Cassie and Five laying on the bed sleeping peacefully.
If only they knew how much both Luther and Diego had to get out of their ways to be able to find them. To, later on, realized that they weren't the ones who needed to be found.
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A/N: How foolish of me to think this was going to be another short chapter and then end up writing around 3.3k words 😅. Anyways I hope you enjoy and don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT! 💖
I finished writing this at 3 am so I haven't doubled checked everything, so I am sorry for that. I might check that tomorrow or when I finish whole story and edit it. Who knows? Depends on the mood. 😶