To Nightfall

Chapter 12: The Truth of the Matter

A/N: Awe, man... My last Harlan chapter :(

Warnings: character death (RIP Harlan), mentions of death

Word Count: 2452

"It was a kamikaze mission." Pogo explained to Five, who was sipping from a drink he was given. "He was preparing the Sparrow children with the expectation they might never return. That's why I gave the children those pills, to keep them safe from him."

(Y/N) lowered her glass from her lips and sat up beside Tammy. "Wait. The pills they force him to take with his meals?"

"Precisely." Pogo nodded at her.

"Well," Five sighed. "Our druggie brother just got him sober. Go figure."

"Then Project Oblivion is starting again," He pointed between the two teens. "And you are all in danger."

Five threw back the rest of his drink with a cringe before standing from his seat. "Then I should probably get that ink. Complete the loop."

(Y/N) stood as well. "Are you sure, Five? I-It's what your older self did. I thought you were trying not to be like him."

"It's destiny, Starlight." He slipped off his suit jacket. "I don't think it cares whether I'm sure or not."

"Bitch is cruel, ain't she?" Tammy grabbed Pogo's equipment, standing from the sofa and handing it off to him. Five took a seat in her place and reached up to his tie, but (Y/N) stood before him to loosen it herself.

"Well then, let's get started."

Five looked up at his love, who was already staring at him as she slipped his tie off him and unbuttoned his suit vest. He knew the look she was giving him. She was worried out of her mind, not because of the tattoo, but because of what the tattoo would lead to. He told her about the condition his older self was in before he died and it struck her to her core. The thought of Five dying alone in the Commission, the same place he tried to escape for so long, was terrifying to her. If he got that ink in his skin now, when would he lose the arm? When will he flee to the Commission, and when will his body start failing him?

The questions running through her mind were halted when Five gently grasped her wrist in his hand, gently rubbing her skin with his thumb. He was trying to communicate with his own eyes that even if he didn't entirely know what he was doing, he wanted her there with him. So, (Y/N) nodded and backed away, allowing him to lay across the sofa. She sat down beside his head and gently ran her finger along his cheekbone without much thought.

Pogo laid his equipment out and smiled at the young girl as Five opened his shirt. "It's nice to see you again, (Y/N)." He gently spoke, earning a small smile in return. "Really nice."

And with that, he set the needle onto Five's skin.

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At the drive-in, Harlan was leading Viktor away from the snack shop and a few feet from the two cars. "You're still using the sounds that you can hear, like the rain or the wind or the sound of your own breathing." He explained. "You have to learn to use sounds that you can't."

"Yeah, how am I supposed to do that?" Viktor sighed.

"When you left, I realized I had this... thing inside me. This... power. I hoped I could use it for something good. Something... beautiful. I didn't know what it was. I... I called it marigold."

"Like the flower?"

Harlan nodded. "You know how bees find pollen?" At the shake of Viktor's head, he continued. "Bees have a positive charge, flowers have a negative one. The bees use the hairs on their body to detect the interaction between the fields. They can hear the pollen."