five and me ↴ the umbrella academy

chapter one ↴ then, i'm busting outta this bitch

DALLAS, TEXAS

July 31st, 1962

"poor dear!"

"oh I do hope she'll recover, Barbra! god knows what she's endured!"

"we'll pray for her this Sunday at Church, Linda."

the first thing Mackenzie May registered, even before she opened her eyes, was an unnatural cleanliness. then, it was the sunlight caressing her face, all warm and comforting.

"ouch . . ." Kenzie moaned, shifting a bit. where the hell was she? and where the hell were the Hargreeves and Five? holy shit- Five!

the young girl shot up, eyes snapping open to reveal a pretty forest green. a hospital, Kenzie realised with a lurch. she was in a hospital. oh fuck.

her bare feet hit the linoleum as Kenzie surveyed her surroundings in horror. where the actual fuck was she?! No-

when was she?

the hospital room had a cleanliness only such places could attain, and Kenzie abhorred it. hospitals only reminded her of Angelica. before the bitterness could grip her heart, two women burst into the room.

at the back of her mind, Kenzie registered that she'd been around Five and his crazy family for way to long. her fingers closed around the sharpest thing she could find almost instinctively: a pen.

it was something, she supposed.

"hello dear," a red headed woman greeted slowly, like she was talking to a six year old. "my name is nurse Barbra."

Kenzie clenched her jaw, managing to spit out, "where am I?" the other lady, a blonde with terrible eyebrows (in her opinion), took a few tentative steps forwards. "my name is nurse Linda. you're at the hospital, sweetie. do you remember your name?"

no. absolutely not.

this was like some shitty, fucked up time travel movie and Kenzie was not playing around! fuck that!

her eyes scanned the room, looking for an exit. the two nurses were blocking the door, but hey, the sunshine had to come from somewhere right?

Kenzie had never been a stellar actor, but she could pass as a scared terrified girl looking at her surroundings right?

quickly, she glanced around the room. her eyes zeroed in on a window almost immediately, proving that yes, she had been spending way too much time with Five.

then again, he was her boyfriend.

"how did I get here?" Kenzie demanded croakily, dodging the previous question. nurse Barbra sighed softly. "dear, do you remember your name?"

quick! think of an old timey name!

"Josephine!" Kenzie blurted out, eyes blinking rapidly. "Josephine Smith."

whoops. was that old timey enough?, she wondered silently.

to her relief, the nurse seemed to accept her answer with a grateful smile. "well how lovely to put a name to the face, Miss Josephine! why don't you sit down and we can tell you what happened, see if we can track down any family."