The Hidden Number (008) | F. Hargreeves

Dad is Dead

Heyo! New story for people cause I've been obsessed with TUA and for some reason, shipping Five with male OC's, specifically those played by Finn, appeals greatly to me. Eh.   ¯\_("- )_/¯  Anyways, I hope you enjoy and here's chapter one!

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𝑾𝒆 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒆𝒆 𝑬𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑶𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑭𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒔

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Max Hargreeves is sitting on the couch of his apartment eating chips when the tv informs him of his father's death.

And to say that he lacks in proper remorse is a painful understatement.

In fact, the only response the news elicits from him is a roll of his eyes and a mumbled "about damn time," under his breath; and that may seem heartless, yes—okay, it's pretty heartless. But in Max's defence, that dude had been old. Father or not, his time has been long since coming in his opinion.

Plus, he'd been a shitty dad; so there's that too.

Max sighs, reaching over to turn the television off. Looks like he'll have to go visit the dreaded place he's been avoiding like the plague for the past ten years of his life. Although he isn't looking forward to it too much, he knows that he has to. Reginald had been his father after all—and while the man was a terrible human being he had given Max a home for most of his life; for the wrong reasons, sure, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

Plus, it isn't like Max is planning on going for the right reasons either. He isn't going for his dad, because honestly, he couldn't give a shit about the man; he'd actually detested the man for a while before he stopped caring about most things at all (which had been the predominant reason for his moving out), so there aren't many tears for him to shed for Reginald Hargreeves—because while Max doesn't hate the man (anymore), he certainly isn't gonna miss him.

No, the only reason Max is going is to be there for his siblings—yes, the ones whom he hasn't spoken to in years, those siblings—because even though none of them had been too fond of Reginald, he knows they'll all be there; each of them are most likely remorseful (even Diego) in their own way, even if only a little. He knows it'll be especially hard for Luther to swallow, who's always been their father's blind puppet and is the only one (other than Klaus; but he's—complicated...) to have never grown out of his childish mindset, despite Max being the one that hasn't physically aged in 16 years; not since that day.

Aka, the worst day of Max's life (and additionally the reason for why he'd hated his dad for so long):

The day Five Hargreeves had left the academy.

And just never came back.

Max feels his heart ache at the thought of the boy and groans. Ugh; feelings. He hates those—why can't they just be void of him like they usually are?!

But the thought of Five made him nostalgic. Five had been his best friend—his closest friend—actually the closest person he'd ever been to. Interaction had been slim in the academy since Reginald had wanted them to focus strictly on training and missions, the uptight bastard—but it was worse for Max and Vanya especially; Vanya because of her (apparent) lack of power, and Max because of his power.

Max has the unique ability to shift; he can turn things, including himself, into different things with merely a single touch (or look, if he really tries hard—but that usually results in Max getting nosebleeds so he's not too fond of doing that). There are few limitations to his ability; for example, he cannot change an object into a living thing, but he can change a living thing into an object (and yes, he speaks from experience); also, he has to touch a person in order to shift them, as the looking thing only really works on objects (again, speaking from—reluctant—experience), but he doesn't have to touch himself or different parts of himself in order to shift his body—the shift can also be anything too; all he has to do is see it, and BOOM! The object is saved in the shifting database in his brain.

Reginald had found his ability to be the perfect tool for stealth ops, and subsequently, an opportunity of having at least one of the kid's identities completely hidden from society. So, Max became 008: the Hidden Number; he'd go on missions with the rest of them but shift into different people or even everyday objects to keep a lookout or help where he could.

But since Reginald wanted to make sure his identity could not be discovered whatsoever, he kept him somewhat isolated from the rest of his siblings, even from inside the walls of the academy; he had separate training (usually strictly stealth and agility techniques) and his room was not in the same hall as everyone else—it also had no windows (Reginald had been very, very thorough with his plan of keeping Max's identity a secret). He was even kept from Vanya.

So yeah—Max hadn't been allowed much interaction with his siblings; and everyone abided to it.

Well, except for Five; Five had kind of spat on that rule and stomped on it with his shoe.

Five had always had somewhat of a rebellious nature, and Max has always been one not to care about the rules (or anything to be truthful); so really it'd been a match made in heaven.

Him and Five had been close; really close; possibly even closer than Luther and Allison were. The two pairs had similar situations really—because to each other, they weren't like siblings. It was so much more than that.

Except Max and Five weren't romantically interested in each other like Allison and Luther were (or, at least Five hadn't been—Max hadn't been either for until he'd lost him, which spiked up a few sentiments that he refuses to acknowledge to this day); but they did have a special bond—one that went deeper than friendship; deeper than brotherhood; an indescribable bond that's strength had been unrivalled.

They'd been soulmates, in a way.

Two pieces of a whole.

And then Five disappeared one day after a fight he'd had with their father during a meal. He'd stormed out of the house in anger and then never returned home. Max had originally sought to follow him—god, he should've followed him—

Instead, he just waited for Five to come back.

He waited days.

Weeks.

Months.

Years—you get the picture, okay? He waited a shit ton of time, but his other half had never showed up.

Reginald showed no remorse—no guilt, nor regards;

And Max hated him for it.

And when the man had the nerve to say that was simply just a "waste of potential" Max had packed up and forced himself to leave the house before he killed him.

He'd been 18 then—he's 29 now:

And he still looks like a goddamn 14 year old.

After Five had left, Max just didn't age—well, he had aged mentally but his physical form remained in its 14 year old stature. Max had known exactly what he'd look like at each year of his life, just like he does now, and is able to shift into those bodies of he ever wants to (not that he does—because he really couldn't care less); but the aging just doesn't come naturally.

He doesn't know why—no one does to be honest. They never figured it out. Max doesn't mind though—like most things, he really doesn't care at all about his current situation. After Five disappeared, he'd abstained from missions and retreated into himself, with a heavy air of indifference to things around him, including his family; when Five left, he'd taken Max's ability to care with him.

16 years later this callous nature hasn't changed in the slightest.

But now he's starting to feel again; he's starting to feel something other than dry amusement, annoyance, or indifference. Because Max knows that he minute he steps into that fucking place, the memories of Five will come flooding back.

And then so will the emotions.

Max groans heavily, rubbing his face with his sleeved-hand. "Fuck this shit," he mumbles bitterly and forces himself to get up from the couch. He better still have some of that Bacardi in the fridge.

So there's the first part, and a little bit about Max. I hope you guy's liked it! More to come soon!