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"No! No! (Y/n)!"
Darkness.
"I can't just leave her!"
There was just darkness.
"You killed (Y/n)..."
'Wait... who was the one screaming again?'
That's all she could see. Pure darkness. The moment her eyes opened, there was nothing just a complete void of nothingness and darkness for miles as it seemed.
'Am I... Am I dead?' She thought.
She took a few steps forward, her body somehow moving on the flat surface of blackness. She reached out her hand to grab onto anything, to see if there was at least something she could feel.
And there was.
Something cold and hard like metal met her hand. Feeling around even more, she could feel that her hand had wrapped around the object, as it was large enough to fit her hand width. A doorknob. Seeing this, she decided to move the knob.
The moment she turned the metal knob, a screeching sound pierced her ears as a large, rectangular gap opened within the void. The light blinded her for a moment, her face scrunched up and eyes squinted due to the brightness. But once she was used to it, she instinctively began to walk forword into the light.
-
October 1, 2016
The ride to New Jersey felt long and painful. Although the excitement she felt never ceased, only gradually increasing with every minute she drove closer to the address plastered on the sheet inside the folder.
She drove for about an hour, not taking one break or stop in the middle of it. She wanted to get to the location as fast as she could.
'What do I say? What do I start with? Maybe... "Hey Mom! I'm your daughter that you gave away twenty-seven years ago. Nice to meet you,"?' (Y/n) almost wanted to physically cringe at the words in her head.
'Just don't fuck it up.'
Finally, she took one last turn on the street and slowed down upon seeing the abundance of apartments that looked identical to each other. Across the street was another collection of apartments conjoined together. The amount of them seemed to go on for another block.
She took another glance to the numbers in the folder and then looked back up, checking each apartment number to see which matched.
A soft white painted apartment stared back at her through the car window, the matching address in the folder in close to completely rusted gold numbers nailed next to their front door. This was it, this was her mother's home.
Taking one deep breath, (Y/n) exited the car, making sure to take the creme colored folder with her as well. She made her way to the cement stairs that would lead her up to the front door, her heart and thoughts racing. With each step, one thing was always repeating in her mind.
'I'm really gonna meet my mom... I'm gonna meet my mom!'
When she finally found herself standing in front of the door, she smoothed out her outfit to make herself look presentable. And gathering up all the courage she had, (Y/n) rang the old doorbell, a muffled sound heard throughout the apartment.
A smile was spread across her face as footsteps could be heard from outside the home. They felt heavy and slow, but she paid no mind to it.
However, the second the door opened, (Y/n) half expected to see a middle aged woman with similar features to her. But the person staring back at her wasn't her mom, it was a man. His tired blue eyes had bags underneath them, his dirty blond hair was ruffled and looked like it hadn't been washed in days, and his clothes (mainly his shirt) had stains on them. But they didn't look like food stains at all, the color of the shirt was darkened. The stains were from tears. Obviously, this made the girl confused.
But the man seemed almost alarmed for a moment, surprised to see the girl in front of him. His eyes widened and he audibly gasped.
"M-Marcy?" He stuttered.
(Y/n) recognized that name. It was her mother's nickname.
In the folder, a woman by the name of Marceline Hallow, mainly known as Marcy, gave birth in her small apartment precisely at noon on October 1st to a baby girl. After giving away her baby to Reginald Hargreeves, her family did not keep in contact with Hargreeves and the last known whereabouts of Marceline Hallow was in New Jersey.
"N-No. I'm sorry, I'm not Marcy but I am looking for her. Do you happen to know where she is? This was her last known home location." (Y/n) replied, and the man sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Who are you?" He questioned, completely ignoring what she had just said before.
"My name is (Y/n) Hargreeves, but my real mother's last name was Hallow. Marcy Hallow was my mother."
Hearing her words, he stepped back, staring back at the girl in slight shock. "You're my Marcy's daughter?"
The (h/c) haired girl nodded. "She uh... gave me away to a man twenty-seven years ago. Reginald Hargreeves."
"Wait, twenty-seven years ago? But you're like twelve."
(Y/n) sighed. "I promise you that I'm actually twenty-seven. It's-It's a long story."
The man nodded in response.
"So... is she here?"
There was silence for a moment, then the man gestured for her to come inside.
"Come on in."
-
"Marcy and I were married for barely a year when she got pregnant out of nowhere. We couldn't get her to the hospital since she was literally just about to give birth. So she had to give birth to you in her bedroom with the help of her mom."
Staring at the photo frame given to her, (Y/n) listened to the story that the man, Xander, had started to tell her.
The photo showed two people, a man and a woman sitting together at a table. She recognized the man as a younger looking Xander in a black suit, the other being a young woman with (h/c) hair in a white wedding dress. The color matching (Y/n)'s own. The woman's eyes and skin color paralleled hers directly. She looked so beautiful, (Y/n) could only imagine what she would look like now.
"She was so kind and friendly, not a soul could hate her. Even when we were going through a tough time with money, she managed to show me true happiness and joy. And even though we didn't know how she all of a sudden became pregnant, she loved you the moment she held you in her arms. Half the block came to see her when she went into labor, looked almost like a party with everyone showing up at our door." He let out a watery laugh.
Tears were building up in Xander's eyes and he quickly wiped them away with his shirt, creating more stains on it. The whole time, (Y/n) stayed silent and looking down at the photo in her hands until she turned her eyes back up to Xander.
"If she loved me... why did she give me up?" She asked him.
"Money was tight. We knew we couldn't raise a child in our situation. So when that guy, Hargreeves or whatever, showed up and offered us a lot of money for you a couple days later, we knew we had to make the tough choice. We didn't want to, but we needed to. We wouldn't have lasted another week if it weren't for him."
(Y/n) couldn't help but nod in understanding. In a way, she wanted to yell, she wanted to scream at him for giving her up so easily. She wanted to let out all the anger and sadness she had built up over the years, but she couldn't. While she didn't know what they had to go through since she grew up in a more rich household, she understood that things can't always be fair for everyone.
"So then what happened to her?" She asked quietly.
The brown-blond man fidgeted with his hands. "She had breast cancer. One of the reasons we struggled with money was for her treatments. Marcy was in a lot of pain and it only worsened after she gave birth to you. She... she passed in 2014."
(Y/n)'s bottom lip couldn't help but quiver as tears weld up in her eyes, quickly falling down her cheeks. She sniffled and went to wipe her tears.
"I-I'm... I'm so sorry." She sobbed.
Her fingers were tightly gripping the frame of the wedding photo, and she immediately set it down on the table so she wouldn't break it.
You killed her.
You killed your mom.
She died because of you.
You were the reason she got worse.
You killed your own mother.
(Y/n)'s hands clenched into fists as voices repeated those sentences in her head, over and over again. She was dying to come here and now all she wanted to do now was go home.
"Thank you for having me over. I-I... I'm sorry but I need to go home. It's late."
(Y/n) sat up from her seat, holding the folder close to her as she made her way to the door.
"She wouldn't blame you. For her death, I mean. And I don't blame you either." Xander told her.
Her hand was just brushing against the doorknob as he spoke, and his words echoed through her mind.
"It was nice meeting you, Xander. I hope I see you again soon."
No one would know about this. She didn't want anyone to know that she killed her own mother. It almost didn't matter that Xander didn't blame her. Because for the rest of her life, (Y/n) would blame herself.
-
"One day at a time." Is what Klaus had said to him. A large part of Five felt infuriated and annoyed with his adoptive brother, how dare he compare the two of them? They were both very different people with very different lives, nothing about them was the same. And yet, that small, nagging voice in the back of his head told him differently.
Five lived most of his life in the apocalypse, he grew up alone, sad and scared. He remembers a time where he had a food shortage at some point in his late 20s, and he wandered for days in search for any type of food. He was on the brink of starvation within six days, and he remembers very clearly if it would be better to just die right there and then. He could finally see his dead family, he would be free of this apocalyptic world, and most of all, he would finally have a chance to see her again.
And just when he was about to give up entirely, it felt like something in his head was screaming at him to keep going. If the place where he was in was quiet enough, Five swore he could hear the familiar voice of (Y/n) yelling at him inside his mind. It was almost like even after years of him finding her dead body under the rubble, she was still with him. Sometimes she haunted him, sometimes she soothed him. And even when he held Delores, her plastic body could never replace the warmth that (Y/n) could bring him. She was the one who saved him many times without even knowing.
Walking up the stairs, Five breathed heavily after his little temper tantrum in front of Klaus.
"One day at a time."
The apocalypse was over, it wasn't coming anymore. They could finally rest at last... but how could he?
Five, himself, felt that there was something holding him back. There was something that prevented him from moving on, preventing him from trying to live out his new life with the girl he loved. Was it that she was still in a hospital bed in a coma? No, maybe not that. Her killer was dead, by whom they didn't know but hey, he was dead.
But then if it wasn't that... then what was it?
Five stopped by his room first. Part of his shirt had gotten dirty with dried blood from when he had inserted the glass eye into Jenkin's socket and so he wanted to change it before heading to the infirmary.
He let out a sigh as he unbuttoned his vest and polo then changed into a brand new one from his closet. Just as he walked past his bed, he catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye; the top half of a bald mannequin was laying on his desk chair, staring at him.
"Shit, Delores." He cursed, heading over to the doll and cradling her in his arms.
"I'm sorry I was gone for so long, a lot of shit happened over the past few days."
She stared back at him with her empty, painted eyes. You were hurt.
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but I'm fine now. Mom fixed up my wound and is probably right now tending to... (Y/n)."
She was hurt?
"Yeah. Harold Jenkins, the one who was supposed to set off the apocalypse, he almost killed her. But good news is that he's dead now! Means the apocalypse is over. (Y/n) is just um, healing. Resting."
Then you can tell her. He imagined her saying.
"Tell her what exactly?" Her dull face stared back at him, almost like it was mocking him and he huffed. "You really know how to be blunt, huh?"
Only when I need to be.
Five sighed and set her down upright on the chair to face him as he paced back and forth.
"Yeah, well, it doesn't really help, Delores."
To him, Delores let out her own sigh. She needs you now, more than ever, Five.
In reality, her words were his more of his own. He knew what Delores meant, but a part of him refused to deal with anything part of it. Still, the mannequin nagged on.
It's time to let go and start a new.
"Let go of what exactly? Everyone keeps saying that, but I don't even know what to let go of!" Five snapped, rubbing a hand over his face.
There was silence in the room for a moment until it finally hit him. He slowly turned towards the lifeless doll on his chair.
"No..."
Yes.
"I can't... I can't just let go of you!" He rejected, flailing his arms in the air.
Why not?
"Because...!" Five trailed off.
Because I'm the only thing to remind you of your past? Of your addiction to the apocalypse?
"I'm not an addict! It's just... maybe you do remind me of my past." Five took a seat on the edge of his bed. "You remind me of how much I survived and how you were the only contact I had left. You were the only thing I had and I know you're just a plastic mannequin... but you're just that one sweet reminder of how my past made me who I am."
Well, She started to say. Now you have someone to remind you of your upcoming future.
At that, Five couldn't help the small smile at her words.
"Yeah... yeah, I do."
And your future starts with letting go of me.
And so, Five gathered up some of his things in a duffle bag, held Delores in his arms as he walked out his bedroom door. But first, he needed to make a quit stop.
He found himself walking up to the entrance of the infirmary, his shoes clicking against the hardwood floors which caught the attention of Luther and Allison, the two of them standing at in the doorway.
"When did you guys get back?" The large blond man asked. Allison stayed quiet.
"A while ago but that's not important. How is she?" Five said, changing the subject.
"She's still asleep. Her wound is healing, though."
The dark haired boy sighed. He figured she would still be asleep but he maybe it would be a bit easier to do what he was going to do with her unconscious. He set Delores down onto a nearby chair, not trusting Luther to hold her after the last time.
"Is Mom or Pogo still in the room?"
"No, they left a bit after they finished patching her up but we're just waiting for her to wake up." Replied Luther.
Five nodded and entered the room, not bothering to give any other words to the two. Just as he was told, neither the chimp or his robotic mother was in the room. Only the sleeping body of (Y/n) was present. Slowly stepping towards the bed, Five could see a large, white cotton bandage was now covering her neck wound. Her chest was, thankfully, going up and down from her breathing and her hands rested on top of her stomach.
Five took one of her hands in his own and began to speak.
"So uh... he's dead, the guy who tried to kill you, Harold Jenkins. Means theres no more apocalypse, great huh?...Do you really think we did it? Think we actually stopped the apocalypse?" He asked in a soft voice.
"Only thing left to think is... now what? After all this time of trying to save you all from doomsday, I never once thought about the after. I thought I knew what I was going to do but... I don't know. To be honest, I'm open to any suggestions but really, all I want, at this very moment... is for you to wake up. I know that the moment I actually tell you that the apocalypse is over, you're gonna be telling me about all the shit that I've missed. You're most likely gonna actually force me to watch that one show based off of you. What was it? The Last Airbender or something? Honestly, I'm okay with anything you'll show me... as long as I'm with you.
"I don't know what's going to happen after this, but all I know is that I know I want to spend the rest of my days with you, just as I always pictured it. I'm gonna watch those shows and movies you're begging me to see, I'm gonna do the dumbest things with you so we can break out of jail togther for fun. I don't think I'll grow old anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm stuck like this forever but I don't think it'll be so bad with you by my side."
There was no physical response from the girl lying on the bed. Gripping her hand a bit tighter, Five reached over to grab a medical chair and brought it over to sit on it. He laid his other arm on the edge of her bed as he brought her hand close to his face, as if she was laying her hand on his left face cheek.
"Fuck, I wish you were awake just so I could finally tell you that I'm in love with you." Blunt, he knew, but it was probably one of the only ways he could just say it right there, right now.
"How long, probably since we were kids. Why was I a dumbass and didn't just tell you earlier? I really don't know. I guess a part of me was still holding onto the past. I was still holding onto that thought that I wouldn't be able to have a future with you. But now... I'm not afraid anymore. I know what I can do now, I know what I need to let go of. And the moment you wake up... I hope I can just stay by your side forever."
Kissing the palm of her hand ever so gently, Five felt a small tear fall down the side of his face.
"There's just one more thing I need to do, though. I promise I'll be right back. Just... wake up."
He stood up from his chair, took once last longing glance at her from the doorway and walked out into the hallway. Both Luther and Allison were standing a few feet away from the door, acting as if they hadn't been just listening to the one sided conversation.
"You heard all of that, didn't you?" Five glared.
"No..." Luther denied.
"Maybe." Allison shrugged. The boy couldn't stay mad for long, as this was the first time in hours that Allison had spokento him and he was glad to see she was getting better.
Five stepped past them to retrieve the sitting Delores on the chair and began to make his way down the hall.
"Where are you going now?" Luther questioned.
"Somewhere." Five stated.
"For what exactly?" Allison perked.
"To let go."
That was the end of the conversation as he stomped down the stairwell to the bottom floor. Just when Five had gotten to the front door and opened it, he was met face first with a black pistol. The man holding it being one of two people who had just tried to kill him only a few days prior.
"Hey, old-timer." Hazel greeted.
Five sighed. "Do you have my sister? If not, wanna have a quick drink?"
The man contemplated for a moment and didn't reply.
"Come on." Five said, turning back around and he just followed the teen as they made their way into the main living room, shutting the door behind him.
"You're here to kill me?" Asked Five, setting down the mannequin on top of the bar and taking a seat, facing Hazel.
By now, the older man realized that he had pulled out his gun on instinct.
"Oh. Shit. Sorry. Old habits." He apologized, putting it away.
Five took out three round glasses then grabbed a scotch whiskey bottle from inside the bar, pouring a glass for him, Hazel, and Delores.
"I can understand why you might feel that way, you know..."
"Well, you attacked our house, tried to kill (Y/n) and my family, and kidnapped my brother." Five reminded him, taking a short sip of his drink.
"Well, there's not much I can do about the past. I'm not the only killer in this room. You got your own bloody history, pal. Speaking of which, that job you did in Calhoun, that shit's legendary. Can't believe I'm actually sittin' here, talkin' to you, after all--" Hazel was interrupted by an impatient Five.
"Hazel, why are you here?"
"Well, I'm, you know--"
All of a sudden, the man was kicked to the ground from behind by an angry looking Diego.
"Diego, stop!" Five tried to say but he didn't listen, just continuing to unleash all of his fury onto the groaning man on the floor.
"Get up!" He commanded.
Diego flipped over Hazel and kicked him right in the face, then round house kicking him to make him fall to the floor once more. Five, meanwhile, just rolled his eyes as he watched.
"You know, before you kill him, you might wanna hear what he has to say."
Diego ignored his adoptive brother's words and went for a punch in the face but Hazel managed to punch his stomach, making him fall back. It didn't wind him much as he just got up and stared at the taller male with pure hatred.
"I'm gonna kill you for what you did to Patch." Diego growled, taking out a knife.
Hazel frantically turned to Five to say something but had to dodge a knife swing from the other man.
"Or don't. See how that goes."
"Are you gonna--" Hazel grunted out as he tried to swerve all the swings from Diego. "Come on!"
With his fist stopped by him, Diego flipped the knife in his other hand and jammed it right into Hazel's thigh, causing him to cry out in pain. Five griminced at the action but still kept watching as he sipped on his whiskey. "That's gotta hurt."
The bearded man threw a hard punch to Diego in order to get him to let go and yanked the knife out. The shorter man came back to throw even more punches and kicks. The fight went on for a bit more, much to Five's annoyance and a little bit of amusement. It wasn't until he saw that Diego bit down hard onto Hazel's ear when he knew it had gone a bit too far. Setting down his cup, blipping away and appeared back behind Diego, throwing a glass vase on top of his head. The force being enough to knock the angry man out.
"I draw the line at biting."
Hazel groaned at his aching ear as he shook off the excess glass off of him and Five went back to his seat.
"Hazel, whatever you came here to say, I suggest you make it quick," The boy glanced down at his unconscious brother. "Before he comes round."
"I left my partner, quit the commission, and came to volunteer."
"For what?"
"To help stop the apocalypse."
Five let out a chuckle as he took another sip of his drink.
"What on earth could be so funny to you right now?" Snapped Hazel.
"Before I answer that, why do you wanna help us?" He curiously wondered.
"Let's just say I have a vested interest in a doughnut shop." Responded the man.
"Well, I hate to break it to you, pal. But you're a day late and a dollar short. The fact that you're here right now means, without a shadow of a doubt, that he apocalypse is over." Five curtly smiled.
"Really? How do you know?"
"The mark is dead. Found him this morning. You were the last known unknown left in the equation."
Realizing what Five had explained to him, Hazel didn't stop the grin from forming on his face.
"Shit. Really?" He laughed.
Five hummed in reply. "And if you're out, then Hellrider ain't riding."
Joyously, Hazel let out a deep breath and fist bumped the air with both his hands. He laughed again, very happy and excited to find out the recent news. Deciding to take a seat next to the teen, he grabbed his own poured whiskey and took a long gulp. After setting the now empty glass on the table, the two of them sat together in a comfortable silence for a few moments.
"So now what?" He asked.
"You know, at first, I didn't know. I've been chasing this thing for so long, I... I never really thought about the day after. But... I think I do know now. I'm just waiting on the one person I wanna spend it with to wake up." Five gazed off, thinking about the girl in his mind.
Hazel smiled, "It's that girl, isn't it? The one you were always so protective of and that one girl who's like a real life Avatar?"
"How does apparently everyone know about that show other than me?" He shook his head. "But, yes. The girl, (Y/n)."
"Then why don't you?"
"Like I said, I'm waiting for her to wake up. The mark, he hurt her badly. She's... in a coma at the moment. So until she wakes up, I'm gonna wait for her. But there is one more thing I need to do before that, hence why I was just about to leave when you got here."
"Shit, man. I'm sorry about that. She's really strong, though. Powerful, too. I'm sure she'll wake up soon." Hazel comforted.
"Yeah... anyway, what about you?"
"I'm done with all this madness. Time to start over. I'm guessing you're doing the same?"
The dark haired boy nodded. "Yup. But it's easier said than done."
"It doesn't have to be hard. I mean, think about it like this. If you never time traveled, you never got caught up with the Handler, what would have happened?"
Looking back at his still unmoving brother on the ground, Five pursed his lips. "I guess I would have grown up to be an emotionally stunted man-child like everybody else around here. But, I guess maybe I would have grown the balls to at least tell (Y/n) I had feelings for her. Perhaps we would have gotten married? Maybe even have our own family... I don't know."
"Well, there you go. Now you can grow up. You can grow up with (Y/n)." Hazel chuckled softly. "Good luck."
Patting him on the shoulder, the older man left his chair and went to leave before being stopped by Five one last time.
"Hazel. One more thing before you go."
"Shoot."
"Which one of you was the trigger man for Detective Patch?" He pondered.
"Trigger woman." Hazel corrected.
"Huh. That's too bad. That gun would have cleared my brother's name."
Hazel began to search for something in the back of his suit pants. "Well, today's your lucky, amigo. Take 'em both."
He pulled out two pistols, one being his own black one and the other being a shiny silver one then set them down onto the counter next to Five.
"I'm done with this life."
The two men exchanged small smiles before Hazel made his exit, feeling happy about being able to leave behind the last of his past. Now, he could finally spend his time with the woman he loved.
The teenage boy sat in complete silence at the bar, thinking about the conversation he just had with his ex-enemy. With his mind filled with different thoughts, Five took one final sip of his cup and took Delores off the counter, getting ready to go fulfill his final task of letting go.
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A/N: So...how have you guys been?? It's been a while, loves. I missed you :)) I just got back from a trip back to my old state for a wedding so this chapter was delayed for a bit. Not to mention, this episode is split into three parts because it's an episode I'm trying to get almost every scene in. PLUS I FINALLY TOLD THE BACKSTORY OF THE READER'S REAL PARENTSSS. I know some of you guys were wondering when that was coming in so it's finally here! Also??
Over 60K reads?? That's pretty poggers, thank you gys sm!! Updates are probably gonna come out a bit faster now since we're so close to being done with season one AND school is almost over for me! I mean I still gotta take summer school but that won't be for like, another month hahah. I don't really have any other announcements so yeah.
But also,,,anyone get the dream smp reference?? I might make a book about it but idk.
EDIT: My dumbass accidentally put the wrong date for the reader's mother's death so I fixed it!
If any of you guys have some tips on writing or how I can improve, please comment or even separately DM me. Anyway, please vote and comment! Stay safe, wear your masks, get vaccinated and wash your hands!