[✓] 𝑃𝑅𝐸𝐿𝑈𝐷𝐸 | 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑠

𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 reached the door of Vanya's apartment in a matter of seconds.

It wasn't too different from all the other doors in the hall: a plain white with a small, welcoming rug at the step. They rang the bell a few times but the wooden door remained closed as they stood in front of it and waited.

"Maybe we should just go outside and climb through one of her windows," Five suggested as he leaned back to see if there were any windows on the walls of the hallway.

"We're on the second floor," Valerie pointed out as she shook her head.

A scoff escaped his lips. "Well, do you got any better ideas?"

"Actually" —she gave him a miffed smile— "I do."

She grabbed onto the door handle and vibrated her hand as fast as she could. Within a few seconds, the door handle fell off, clattering to the ground.

She grinned as she pushed the door open and gestured inside. "Boom."

"Why do your powers have to be so goddamn useful all the time?" he muttered with annoyance as they walked into the room. "Just let us climb up some walls once in a while."

"Oh, shut up, Five. There's no way I'd let you climb anything with that arm," she tsked, earning a groan in reply. "Go sit down on the couch, I'm going to find some stuff to treat it."

She then headed down the hallway, glancing through the open doors until she found the bathroom to her left.

Her eyes quickly roamed over the dim room before she opened the cabinet and searched for the things she needed. She quickly grabbed them all and shut the cabinet with her elbow.

She went back into the living room to see that Five had heeded her order, and she sat down beside him on the couch.

After unscrewing the cap of the rubbing alcohol, she poured some of the liquid inside onto a cotton ball, making sure not to spill any of it onto the carpet.

Five winced slightly as she wiped the cotton over his wound, and she murmured a soft apology as she gave a final swipe.

She then grabbed the gauze and quickly cut a long strip before binding it around his arm, far too focused on the wrapping to notice how Five's eyes devotedly gazed at her face.

"I still don't understand," he murmured after a few moments. "Why don't you like killing people?"

Valerie glanced up at him, an amused smile tugging at her lips. "I want you to think about that sentence again, very slowly."

"You know what I mean."

"Well, unlike you guys, I grew up learning that murder was bad," she sighed, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration as she continued wrapping. "And then I came to the Academy a decade later, and all of a sudden I was expected to murder. We were just raised differently."

Five only gave a small hum in response.

As she tied the ends of the white fabric, they heard footsteps approaching.

They turned to the sort-of broken door to see Vanya walk in tentatively, her eyes wide as she glanced up from the door handle.

Vanya sighed in relief when she saw who the intruders were and muttered, "Jesus, guys, why did you break into my apartment?"

"Five made me do it," Valerie said immediately, pointing to him.

"Wha—hey!" Five exclaimed as he shot her a glare.

Vanya took her jacket off before folding it over her arm and gently placing it on the back of the couch. She walked around, then taking a seat on the couch next to Valerie. She hesitated for a moment, leaning back slightly as she analyzed the boy.