CLOUD TO GROUND ☂︎ FIVE HARGREEVES

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EUDAEMONIA
feedback loop

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Getting Five back to the Academy was no easy task, especially since he'd decided to collapse up two flights of stairs, but between the three of them they managed.

Hypatia held the door open for Diego and Allison, Five carried between them still limp but no longer unconscious.

"We should have taken him to the hospital." Allison said, a strain in her voice from carrying her brother for so long.

"A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise some questions." Five coughed out.

"Yeah, well, so does the murder shrine in Harold Jenkins' attic." Setting him down on the couch she took off her jacket. "He's still losing blood. What do we do?"

"We gotta get the shrapnel out." Diego quickly responded.

"Do either of you know where a first aid kit is?" Hypatia wondered, hesitantly applying pressure to the wound like she had the entire car ride over, careful not to push directly on the shrapnel.

Diego didn't answer her question, eyes locked on something across the room, slowly moving towards it.

"Diego where are you going?" Allison exclaimed in confusion, but he still showed no reaction, ambling out of the room after whatever he saw.

"Mom?"

A soft expression on his face he left their vision, the two doing their best to stem the bleeding until he returned, robot mother in tow.

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Luckily for them, Grace was well equipped to deal with injuries, quickly guiding them to a bedroom and expertly removing the embedded debris. A few stitches and a bandage later, Five was looking better.

Hypatia carried Delores in, having been left at the Academy when they'd gone to negotiate with Hazel and Cha Cha, figuring he'd be glad to see her when he woke. The other two stood in the doorway, watching over their brother.

"Anything?" Diego quietly asked.

Allison shook her head. "There's no answer at Vanya's place. And the receptionist at her music school said she was a no-show for her lessons today."

The two stepped out in the hall, speaking in hushed voices. Hypatia didn't mind, she was far more focused on the scene before her.

"He's going to be fine, right?" She asked Grace. Any other time she would have been marveling over the incredible technology standing before her in a flouncy dress and pincurls, but the pit of worry in her stomach was far too large.

Gently nodding, Grace began putting away the various medical instruments. "Oh yes, dear, just give him time to heal."

"Thank you."

Sighing, she set Delores down on a nearby chair. She wanted to stay, to be able to see that he was alright with her own two eyes. But she was old enough to know that her presence wouldn't change a thing. And so she settled her nerves, joining the two in the hall.

Their voices rose as they noticed her join them, no longer having a reason to keep their conversation private.

"There's no other addresses in the file, but there is another relation listed. Jenkins' grandmother. She lived near Jackpine Road." Diego quickly informed them.