Number Five Imagines

Guess who's back

Five Hargreeves x Fem!reader

Summary: The Handler is Back, Five goes on a rampage and Y/n is the only one who can calm him down

A/N: This was a request from a nice Tumblr user.

Warnings: none

Five had been walking home from the café near his office — a rare luxury in his mostly unpredictable life. The sky was overcast, the wind nipping at his coat, and he had two things on his mind: the leftover curry Y/n promised to reheat, and the way she'd smiled when he left her apartment that morning, sleep still in her eyes.

It was a good day. Until it wasn't.

He heard the faint click of heels behind him.

"Hello, Five."

He froze.

That voice.

That sickly sweet, venom-laced voice.

He turned sharply — and there she stood.

The Handler.

Impossibly alive. Wearing a maddening purple dress, smug as ever, a velvet smile curling at her lips.

"You're supposed to be dead," he said coldly.

"Oh, Five," she sighed, waving a manicured hand. "You know better than anyone — death is just an intermission."

His fists clenched. "What do you want?"

She stepped forward, unbothered by the fury in his voice. "One last mission. A cleanup job. Small, elegant, messy if you make it that way."

"No."

"Don't be so hasty. You owe the Commission."

"I owe you nothing."

"You owe yourself." Her smile sharpened. "You still jump timelines in your sleep. You still calculate trajectories in the shower. You miss it."

Five said nothing, but his silence was louder than any protest.

She leaned in closer, whispering, "Come back, Five. Just one more time."

He turned his back to her — and teleported away.

The moment he reappeared in the Hargreeves mansion, he was already shouting.

"She's alive!"

Diego nearly dropped his knife. "Who—?"

"The Handler."

Viktor stood up from the couch. "That's not possible."

"She pulled me into an alley like it was a tea party invitation. She's alive. And she wants me back."

Allison crossed her arms. "What did you say?"

"I said no. And then I teleported out before I started strangling her!"

He was pacing now, pacing like the floor was on fire. He muttered under his breath, hands twitching.

Klaus sipped his drink, eyebrows raised. "Oooh. He's spiraling."

"Shut up," Five snapped.

Viktor tried to intervene. "Five, it's okay—"

"Don't patronize me," Five hissed. "You don't know what it's like. You don't know what she did to me."

"Then tell us!" Diego yelled back. "For once, tell us what's going on inside that damn head of yours instead of breaking the furniture!"

The room went silent.

Five's breathing was fast. Too fast.

"She manipulated me, used me as a weapon." he whispered. "And now she's back, and I—"

He stopped mid-sentence, trembling.

Allison looked at Viktor. Viktor looked at Klaus. And Klaus, casually, took out his phone.

"Calling Y/n."

Y/n got the call while she was in the middle of grading papers. She was at the mansion in under ten minutes.

She walked into the living room calmly, scanning the chaos.

There was a broken vase. A slice in the wall. The air smelled faintly of burnt ozone — Five had been teleporting angrily.

She found him in the study. Alone. Sitting on the floor, back against the bookshelf, staring at his hands.

"Hey," she said gently.

He didn't look up. "You shouldn't be here."

"Well, I am."

"I'm dangerous right now."

"You're dramatic right now."

He huffed — a low, bitter sound.

Y/n walked over, crouched beside him. "They said you saw her."

"She's alive."

Y/n's heart sank.

"And she wants you back," she said quietly.

He nodded, jaw clenched tight.

Y/n reached out, gently placing a hand on his.

"Do you want to go back?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Five finally looked at her. "No. God, no. But it's like she's a crack in the wall of my head. I can hear her voice echoing. I hate that I still know how to do what she wants. That part of me still wants to."

Y/n slid her hand up, cradling his cheek. "You're not that person anymore."

"I could be."

"You're not."

Silence.

"You think I'm broken?" he whispered.

Y/n smiled faintly. "Completely. But lovable. And brilliant. And annoying as hell. But not hers."

Five swallowed hard, leaning into her touch.

"She made me into a weapon."

Y/n kissed his forehead. "And now you're a boyfriend. A pain in the ass, but a boyfriend."

A tiny, reluctant smile tugged at his lips. "That's worse."

"Much worse."

They emerged from the study an hour later, Five's arm wrapped loosely around Y/n's waist, his hair disheveled, his expression calmer.

Klaus held up a wine glass. "Well, the crisis has passed. Someone pour me something celebratory."

Diego eyed Y/n. "What did you do to calm him down?"

Y/n smirked. "Talked. Listened. Cursed a little."

Five rolled his eyes. "She bullied me into breathing."

"Sounds about right," Allison said with a chuckle.

Five glanced around the room, then muttered under his breath, "Thanks."

Everyone froze.

Klaus blinked. "Did... did you just thank us?"

"Don't make me repeat it."

"Quick, someone write it down!" Viktor grinned.

But even with the jokes, the mood had shifted. The Handler was out there. Watching.

But now, Five wasn't facing her alone.

Not anymore.