Charade | Five Hargreeves

1 | Where is she?

With a heavy sigh, he sat lazily on his office chair as he put his third cup of coffee on the desk for the day. It was a constant struggle pretending to be fine and happy, even though you were utterly damaged and tired on the inside. Where is she? What does she know? Was that all? Why did Reginald kill her? Different kinds of questions ran through his mind like a mad scientist finding a solution to his problem. Or perhaps he is mad. Because there was no home he could go to. There was no person to welcome him after a tiring day at work.

"Long day?" his Korean colleague, Joon Kim, asked with a slight grin while peeking at his cubicle. Despite all his colleagues, Joon was the only acceptable colleague by his standards. Very smart, neat, and organized- and also very focused. Joon clicked his tongue and shifted his seat to him, "You know, Five. Sometimes it's alright to ask for help sometimes." he advised, making him sigh and look at his friend.

"As if they have the patience to deal with me." he scoffed, "I just need more proof that this timeline is something else... It's bizarre and so full of questions." he further explained as his friend nodded. "I may have someone that can help you..." Joon recommended "Thanks, man. But like I said, I don't need anyone. It'll only slow the process." he objected, "Trust me, she's different. Very smart and focused." Joon continued, "Just give it a chance. If you don't like it, then I'll leave you be."

He thought for a moment and sighed heavily, "Fine. Just send me the place where I can meet this person." he said, making his friend smile, "Wonderful. I'll give her a call."

☂

After a long tiring day of work, he finally got back to his apartment and tossed his shoes, keys, and briefcase aside before lying on the sofa. He put his arm on his forehead while staring at the ceiling, slowly closing his eyes but finding it impossible to sleep. His thoughts kept drifting back to his wife, whom he terribly missed.

Every day he longed for her, every day he wished things could have been different. He had never felt so lonely in his entire life as he realized that he was still a shitty husband, still the same as his older version before. The silence of the house wasn't helping either, adding another thick layer of loneliness to his life. The picture of his dead wife's body lying on the marbled ground never stopped haunting him for life as if it was a punishment condemned to him from above.

His siblings lived in their own lives once again, as if nothing had happened. Luther is some kind of a dance in a local bar somewhere, Allison continues her acting career along with Klaus who experienced a major shift in his life ever since that night. It wasn't the high and extroverted Klause they knew, it was someone different like he was possessed by some germphobia monster. Viktor got his own bar and was living in contentment, while Diego and Lila became parents of three children while living with Lila's extended family- which was the foremost normal thing they accomplished.

And him? Let's just say he still looked like the thirteen-year-old boy being paranoid about the apocalypse but in a different way. A lot of things happened in their lives but his mind and heart were left with her. God, he was a mess that even Lila noticed but he dismissed it, saying that it was just stress from work. His siblings avoided saying her name for the sake of their brother. They all saw his annoyed and broken expression when Klaus accidentally mentioned her when they were having a drink at Viktor's bar.

His eyes slowly fell after a few moments as he finally drifted to sleep. Alone and a mess, hoping he can spend another time with her in his dreams. It was the only thing that could keep him happy.