RUN BOY RUN- reader x Five Hargreeves

Part Forty-Four

Five and I walked to the alley behind Elliot's. The adrenaline rush of the fight was still boiling down in my stomach. I looked at Five with his handsome and youthful appearance. I jumped to him so fast, crashing my lips onto his. He held my waist tight, smiling into our kiss. Five's smile caused me to push harder against his lips. Nothing could separate us in that moment. This was our future. A throat clearing caused us to pull away from each other. The handler stood there with an odd, almost jealous look on her face. "Ew, I hate this woman," I thought. "Hey," Five whispered to me. "Maybe you should head inside and change." I wanted to fight him, but his blazing eyes said no. I nodded and made my way to the stairs leading up to the apartment. I smelled the horrid stench of copper - blood. My heart pounded, praying it wasn't one of my siblings. We had just reunited. But horror struck me like a bolt of lightning as I glanced at Elliot's body lying motionless in the dentist chair he somehow got to get. He had been brutally tortured, his once vibrant form now a haunting shell of agony. Stab wounds marred his flesh, each one a cruel testament to the violence he had endured. Blood oozed from every pore, pooling around him in a crimson sea that glimmered ominously in the dim light, a stark reminder of the brutality that had unfolded. My heart raced, a mixture of disbelief and anguish crashing over me like a tidal wave. I let out a sob, raw and primal, echoing the pain that pierced through my chest. The sound morphed into a shriek, a desperate cry that reverberated in the silence of the room, filling the air with my anguish. It felt as though the world had come to a standstill, time freezing as I confronted the horrific scene before me. I stumbled back, my vision blurring as tears streamed down my face, each drop a silent tribute to the life that had been extinguished far too soon.

Luther and Diego rushed into the room, their faces etched with concern. Diego came straight to me, letting my almost lifeless body sink into his strong, protective arms. Tears streamed down my face as I continued to sob uncontrollably, the weight of what we had just done crashing down on me. Diego tenderly held me, rocking me gently back and forth, murmuring soothing words of comfort. I could feel his own grief and turmoil radiating through him, but he pushed it aside to be there for me in this moment. After a few minutes, he carefully lifted me and began transporting me to the back room of Elliot's apartment. The familiar surroundings provided a small measure of solace as Diego laid me down on the bed, placing a soft, warm blanket over me. I curled up on my side, pulling the comforting fabric tight around me, as if it could shield me from the horrors we had just witnessed. As I laid there in the quiet stillness of the room, my mind raced with a tumult of thoughts and emotions. I thought of the sights that were still seared into my memory - the lifeless body on the ground, the pool of blood, the look of utter devastation on Elliot's face as the light left his eyes. We had taken the life of someone who was figuratively innocent, someone's child, friend, father, mother. And for what? To leave a timeline that all of us had grown to love and fit into so seamlessly. Was it really worth it? What if I didn't want to go home anymore? The life I had built here, the family I had found - it all felt so much more real and fulfilling than the one I had left behind in 2019. 

And Five...how could he be so certain that the end of the world was actually happening? What if he had miscalculated and travelled to the wrong timeline? I had read about that possibility, how if you didn't calculate the jumps exactly right, you could end up in a completely different time period altogether. Maybe Hazel had brought Five to the right one after all. A gentle knock at the door interrupted my swirling thoughts. I didn't respond, too lost in my own inner turmoil to engage with anyone else right now. The door creaked open slowly, and the familiar scent of Five - a comforting blend of coffee and old books - wafted into the room. "I saw what happened to Elliot," Five said softly as he made his way to the bed, sitting down carefully next to me. "I am so sorry, darling. I know he meant a lot to you." I turned to face him, my eyes red-rimmed from crying. "How did you do it?" I whispered, my voice barely audible. "Do what?" Five asked, his brow furrowed with confusion. "Kill?" I clarified, the anger and anguish I felt bubbling to the surface. "You killed people for what, 20-something years, and not once did you ever stop to consider who you were killing?" The words came out in a rush, my many emotions causing a flash of anger to momentarily overtake my grief.

Five looked genuinely dismayed, his normally stoic expression crumbling as he was confronted with the weight of his actions. "I did it because the monster outside promised I would be reunited with the love of my life," he said, his gaze dropping to his hands. I turned away, unable to look at him as he spoke. Seeing his face drained of all its color was almost more than I could bear. "But she never actually let me go," he continued, his voice laced with guilt and regret. "I think about those lives that I took all the time. But I thought about you more. I never stopped loving you, Y/n." Slowly, I sat up and turned to face him, pulling my knees up to my chest. His gentle expression made my heart ache. "What did she say?" I asked, needing to know more. "We have 90 minutes to go get everyone," Five replied, "so I am going to go get Vanya. Are you going to be okay?" I nodded mutely, and he leaned in, placing a soft kiss on my forehead. "I love you," he whispered, and I managed a small smile in response. With one last lingering look, he stood and made his way to the door, pausing for a moment before stepping out and closing it behind him. Alone again, I sat on the bed, my mind racing. I didn't want to leave this place, this life I had built with my newfound family. The thought of going back to 2019, of having to start over, filled me with a sense of dread. I had found a sense of belonging and purpose here that I had never experienced before. I have to leave.