flawless. five hargreeves

21

AND THERE'S NOTHIN' I, NOTHIN' I, I CAN DO
I'M STUCK WITH YOU, STUCK WITH YOU, STUCK WITH YOU

Stuck with U - Ariana Grande

The scene was straight out of a horror movie—a farm that had become a grotesque display of chaos and death. Blood pooled around severed limbs, the bodies of unlucky souls scattered haphazardly across the ground. It was a massacre, and the realization that my brother, Ben, had been the one responsible twisted my stomach into knots. We stood there, all of us, staring at the carnage in stunned silence.

Five, ever the unflappable detective, broke the silence as he walked over, hands in his pockets, his expression annoyingly calm. "Alright," he began, "so my guys tell me this whole farm actually belongs to those two lunatics who ambushed us in New Grumpson."

"Gene and Jean Thibedau?" I asked, vaguely recalling the deranged couple who had given us more trouble than they were worth.

"That's the pair," Five confirmed with a nod.

"Maybe Ben killed them as well?" Luther suggested, his voice a mix of hope and worry.

Five shook his head, his tone as clinical as ever. "Forensics found fresh tracks leading out of the barn, so my guess is they escaped."

Of course, Five had to be right, because God forbid anything ever go smoothly around here. The guy was like an encyclopedia of bad news, and every time he spoke, it was like nails on a chalkboard to me.

Allison knelt beside one of the bodies, studying it with a precision that made me wonder if she was secretly moonlighting as a crime scene investigator. "They couldn't have gotten far," she mused. "Based on the rigor, the time of death was maybe six to seven hours ago."

Diego, always suspicious of how much everyone else seemed to know, raised an eyebrow at her. "How do you know that?"

Without missing a beat, Allison replied, "Wichita PD. Thursday nights at 9/8 central."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that, the absurdity of it all almost too much to handle. But then Dad decided to pipe up, his commanding voice cutting through the moment like a knife. "Ready the car," he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.

And just like that, my amusement evaporated. I rolled my eyes, more out of reflex than anything else, because every time Dad opened his mouth, it was like a trigger that set off my irritation. I tried to distance myself from Five, needing space from his all-knowing aura, but as I went to walk toward Diego, my foot caught on something solid—someone's severed arm.

Before I could register what was happening, I tripped, my balance slipping out from under me. In a desperate attempt to steady myself, I reached out for anything I could grab onto. My fingers latched onto something firm, and I realized, too late, that it was Five's arm and hand.

The world tilted on its axis, and suddenly, everything shifted. The farm, the bodies, the blood—it all vanished in an instant. Instead, I found myself standing in that godforsaken subway, the one that had haunted my nightmares ever since the first time I'd been dragged into it. The air was thick with the scent of damp concrete and decay, the dim lights flickering ominously overhead.

And if the situation wasn't bad enough, I wasn't alone. Five was standing beside me, his presence an unwelcome reminder that I had somehow, inexplicably, dragged him into this mess with me.

"Great," I muttered under my breath, my voice laced with sarcasm. "Just what I needed—the creepy subway, and you."

Five glanced around, taking in the surroundings with that infuriatingly calm demeanor of his. "You really know how to pick our vacation spots, don't you?" he quipped, his tone dry.

I shot him a glare, trying to keep my frustration from boiling over. "Well, excuse me for not planning this little detour. Maybe next time, you can book the tickets."

Five smirked, clearly not fazed by my attitude. "Just try not to trip over any more body parts next time. Or is that how you get out of awkward situations?"

"Oh, bite me," I snapped, the urge to punch him right in his smug face growing stronger by the second. "I didn't ask for a guided tour of Hell's basement."

Five chuckled, that low, infuriating sound that made my blood pressure spike. "Look on the bright side. At least now you've got company."

I rolled my eyes again, more for show than anything else, but deep down, I couldn't deny the unsettling feeling creeping up my spine. Being in this place again was bad enough, but being here with Five? That was a whole new level of weird.

"Yeah, because hanging out in a creepy, abandoned subway with you is exactly how I wanted to spend my day," I grumbled, half to myself. "What's next, a trip to a haunted asylum? Maybe a nice picnic in a graveyard?"

Five gave me a look, half-amused, half-serious. "Let's just get back."

He took my arm, not my hand, but my arm and I blinked a few times to process it "I don't understand." He furrowed his brows "I can't teleport us back."

I groaned, trying to wrap my head around the absurdity of the situation. Here we were, stuck in a creepy subway with the guy who could usually snap his fingers and get us out of any mess. Except now, apparently, he was as powerless as I felt. "What do you mean you can't teleport us back?" I shot him an incredulous look, my irritation rising. "You could last time!"

Five sighed, his patience wearing thin. "I don't know, Y/N. Maybe the universe just enjoys messing with us." He gave my arm a small, frustrated squeeze, like that would somehow kick-start his powers.

"Not working? Great," I muttered, throwing my hands up. "So we're just stuck here? Should I start looking for a nice cardboard box? Maybe we can start a subway condo. I hear they're all the rage in New York."

Five shot me a glare, his annoyance palpable. "You think I'm enjoying this? Something's blocking my powers. It's not just me being stubborn."

I rolled my eyes, more out of habit than anything. "You? Stubborn? Never."

"Could you be serious for two seconds?" he snapped, though there was a flicker of something else in his eyes—worry, maybe? "We need to figure out why my powers aren't working."

Five shot me a look that was part annoyance, part exasperation. "You try," he snapped, his irritation matching mine. "You're the one who dragged us here in the first place."

I huffed, my temper flaring. "I can't teleport, It hasn't come back yet!"

Five ran a hand through his hair, clearly annoyed and thinking hard. "We'll have to find whatever's causing this interference. Something in this subway is messing with my abilities, and until we get rid of it, we're stuck."

I sighed, sliding down the wall to sit on the dirty floor. "Perfect. Just what I wanted—a field trip through an abandoned subway with the world's grumpiest time traveler."

Five gave me a look, half exasperated, half amused. "You know, you could try being a little less sarcastic. It might help."

I couldn't help the grin that tugged at my lips. "Oh, where's the fun in that? Besides, you love it."

"Yeah, like I love getting punched in the face," he shot back, but there was a hint of a smile in his eyes now.

"Hey, if the shoe fits," I quipped, trying to shake off the lingering unease.

"Let's just focus on getting out of here," Five said, offering me a hand to pull me up.

I took it, trying not to think too much about how his grip felt. "Fine, but if we end up in some horror movie scenario, I'm totally blaming you."

"Wouldn't expect anything less," he replied, leading the way further down the tunnel.

This was gonna be a long day.

-

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