His Only Fear - Five Hargreeves x |Fem| Reader

We've Been Lying

You made your way back to your room, deciding to catch up on sleep. After about an hour, you stumbled back downstairs, yawning and rubbing your eyes, only to discover Diego speaking to...

"Mom?" you breathed, eyes wide.

"How are you... walking around?" Diego asked slowly, taking her wrist and staring at the stitches lining it as you hurried over.

"One foot in front of the other," your robot mother said with a soft laugh. "Why, how do you do it?"

You held back the urge to hug her as Diego spoke again, settling for just staring at her.

I'm so glad she's back.

"Mom, I... what's the last thing you remember?" Diego asked.

"Oh! Let's see... March 21st. Sunset was 7:33 pm. Moon was waxing crescent. Dinner was Cornish hen, wild rice, and carrots."

"That was over a week ago," you said before Diego could, stepping closer to her. "Are you all right?"

"Do you remember anything else?" Diego asked, stepping in front of you, to your annoyance.

Grace hesitated, glancing behind you.

"No," she admitted after a moment, chuckling. You turned to see what she had been looking at, but saw nothing. "I suppose that's odd. I wonder what the weather is like today. It would be nice to go to the park." She cast a meaningful look toward the two of you, and your eyes widened slightly.

"Dad never let you off the grounds," Diego said quietly, and Grace smiled brightly at him before taking both of your hands, surprising you.

"Your father isn't here anymore."

"You can do whatever you want, Mom," Diego said after a moment, and the two of you exchanged a glance, nodding slightly before following your mother to the door.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

"Dad was wrong for keeping you locked up all those years," Diego told your mother as you strode through the park together. You realized with a grin that you were a very unlikely trio. "I should have said something."

"We all should have," you said quickly, waiting until he met your eye. "It wasn't just your fault. She was our mom too."

"There's something else that needs to be said, children," Grace said softly. "Pogo and I... we've been lying to you."

Grace ushered you and Diego over to a bench, patting both sides of it so you would sit next to her. You did so, and she turned to you, a solemn look on her face.

"Eight, while you were asleep all those years, your father experimented on you." 

You sucked in a sharp breath, the brisk air no longer refreshing. Your mother was never one to stall - you were glad, at least, for that.

"I - uh - what?" Your eyes searched her face, crickets chirping soothingly in the background. Her eyes found your temples, and she pressed two cool fingers against one.

"Right here. Your father discovered that while in your current state, it was fairly simple for him to mutate the mind." You shuddered at the word 'mutate' - it made you sound like some kind of beast. Which... if what she said was true, maybe you were. "He discovered, after some trial and error, that you could track people down with your mind, and reveal where they were, who was around them, what they were saying. He required much assistance from my part, and I am almost positive there is much more about this power that you do not know. Your father often used you to check in on your siblings - do you ever remember odd occurrences happening in those 16 years?"