Wonder • Five Hargreeves

40

The day That Was

——
June 7th, A year before Five fell through time.

"Winnie? Did you fall asleep?"

On a rocky beach in the middle of Greece, a young girl with platinum blonde hair blinked open her eyes to a sunny day. She was laid out on a towel and was soaking in the sunshine when she had apparently dozed off.

"Mmmm." She said instead of a real response.

She was too sleepy for the use of words and was already dozing off again. Her companion knew that. Didn't mean he approved of it.

Five Hargreeves chuckled and dropped himself heavily on top of her. He was soaking wet from swimming in the ocean and Winnie squealed as his cold body covered her sun-warmed one. Droplets of salty water raised her skin with goosebumps.

"Oh that's mean!" Winnie fought to push him off. Five barely moved. He just slid down lower so he could lay his head on her bare stomach.

Five had always been a grumpy old man at heart- that much had been apparent since he was practically a baby. He was smart and mature and always vaguely annoyed by the world around him. That actually wasn't surprising. That is kind-of what happens when you are clever; mentally, if you are leaps and bounds above your normal age group, you just feel older. You act older.

But... there was something about Winnie that made Five feel like a teen again. There was something about her that made him want to tease her, be playful with her, even if he was still grumpy and old at his core.

"You're so cold!" She laughed and whined at him.

"And you are nice and warm." Five said back with an easy smile. He closed his eyes and sank more into her body.

Her hands snaked into his wet hair and she lightly tugged at the dark locks. He didnt so much as open an eye. Winnie laughed at his stubbornness but didn't make another move to throw him off.

"So you saw me all nice and peaceful-" She began.

"And I thought; she looks..lovely." Five finished with a relaxed tone. Winnie felt the corners of her lips tug up. "Lying all alone in the sun- and I just couldn't help myself."

Flirt, She thought, but was too pleased by it to argue with him. She was usually the one keeping him on his toes- but he did always know how to handle her. She lightly pinched his cool cheek.

"Is Diego still under water?" Winnie asked and looked over at the shoreline.

Their father and the rest of the Umbrella Academy were at the beach for training purposes. Winnie had apparently painted a chaotic scene of an underwater research center being blown up. This, of course, meant many hours of water training to ensure the UA was combat compatible.

Diego had proven himself quite the swimmer, and could seemingly hold his breath indefinitely. Him and Ben were the ones getting the worst of the training. That left the other children to relax on the beach until they finished.

Luther was doing sit-ups on some rocks (he deplored not being the most valuable on the mission and was compensating) Allison and Klaus were getting chatted up by some local Greek teens. And lastly, Five and Winnie laid together on a towel in the sun.