Across Space and Time (Five Hargreeves)

Chapter 6

"I survived on scraps" Five explained to a stunned Vanya "canned food, cockroaches anything I could find. You know that rumour that Twinkies have an endless shelf life? Well, it's total bullshit."

"I can't even imagine," Vanya said, shaking her head.

"You do whatever it takes to survive or you die" Five shrugged "so we adapted. Whatever the world threw at us, we found a way to overcome it."

"We?" Vanya questioned.

"You got anything stronger?" Five asked shaking the cup in his hand. Vanya got up and quietly poured Five a glass of whisky. Five followed Vanya to the kitchen with Greta following close behind. She watched as Five drank the brown liquid and wondered if it tasted better than it smelt.

Five suddenly stopped and stared at Vanya before chuckling "you think I'm crazy."

"No" Vanya stammered "it's just... it's a lot to take in."

"Exactly what don't you understand?" Five asked sharply causing Greta to let out a soft whimper at the boy's sudden change of tone. Five looked at Greta's fearful expression and couldn't help but feel a pang of remorse. He knew this girl hadn't come from the best situation and his current state wasn't helping that but he couldn't stop himself.

"Why didn't you just time-travel back?" Vanya asked.

Five scoffed "gee, wished I thought of that. Time travel is a crapshoot. I went into the ice and never acorn-ed. You think I didn't try everything to get back to my family?"

It was at this moment that Greta found herself feeling sorry for Five. He clearly had also come from a bad situation like her and was trying to deal with everything. But at least he had somewhere, a home, to return to. Greta didn't belong anywhere. She was just a wandering nomad who had nowhere to call home an no one to call family.

"If you grew old there, you know, in the apocalypse, how come you still look like a kid?" Vanya questioned.

"I told you already" Five through gritted teeth, walking over to the kitchen counter to pour himself another glass of whisky "I must've gotten the equations wrong."

"I mean, dad always used to say that time travel could mess up your mind" Vanya recounted "I mean maybe that's what's happening?"

"This was a mistake," Five said, walking past Vanya and taking Greta's arm, gently pulling her towards the door "you're too young, too naive to understand." Greta was to busy trying to figure out why her heart was beating so fast to register that they were leaving.

"No. Five... Five, wait" Vanya called, causing both Five and Greta to stop and face Vanya " I haven't seen you in a long time, and I don't want to lose you again. That's all. And you know what, it's getting late and I have lessons early, and I need to sleep and I'm sure you do too."

Vanya walked over to the couch grabbed a nearby blanket and pillow creating a makeshift bed. "We'll talk in the morning again. Okay? I promise" Vanya said "Night." Vanya walked off into her bedroom as Five and Greta watched her do so. 

The pair took a seat on Vanya's couch. Greta tried to ignore her heavy eyelids. She watched Five reach into his blazer pocket and pulled out what seemed to be a human eye. Greta's eyes widened as she wondered why Five would have such an item. Five turned the eyeball around revealing a company name and serial number on the back. 

"What's that Five?" Greta asked gently.

"The only clue I have to save the world" he replied, "come on." Five got up, gently pulling Greta up with him.

"But Vanya said-" Greta began worried for poor Vanya who seemed to be having a hard time too.

"She'll be fine" Five stated, "we need to go." With that, the pair set off for the Umbrella Academy. Five teleported them both inside his room to avoid speaking to any of his siblings. A sensation that Greta was gradually getting more used to.

Greta shuffled into Five's room awkwardly, unsure of what to do. She watched as Five grabbed  a piece of chalk and began to scribble equations onto his wall. Greta let out a soft yawn causing Five to stop his manic scribbling. He inhaled deeply before walking towards her and taking off her blazer. 

He led her to his bed and laid her down gently before pulling the covers up and tucking her in. Greta was overwhelmed by this warm feeling and she wasn't sure if it was from Five or the bed. She hadn't felt this warm or comfortable in her entire life and was worried that if she fell asleep now she'd never wake up again.

"Get some sleep okay?" Five said making his way back to his equations.

"Five?" Greta said faintly. Five gave a soft hum in acknowledgement. "How do I know that this isn't a dream and that when I wake up I won't be back where I came from?"

Five felt his chest tighten at the girl's question. God, what was this girl doing to him! He made his way back over to her before kneeling next to the bed so that their faces were at the same level.

"I promise that won't happen," Five said tenderly, stroking Greta's head.

"How do you know?"

"Because I'll be here all night watching, making sure that nothing bad happens to you," he said.

"Promise?"

"Promise" Five replied sticking out his pinky finger. Greta wasn't sure what he was doing but she lifted her hand from the covers, sticking out her pinky too. Five reached forward and intertwined their two fingers before laying a gentle kiss on their newly formed bond. At that moment Greta thought that she was going to explode from excitement.

"Goodnight Greta," Five said.

"Goodnight Five" Greta responded before drifting into a deep sleep.

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A/N: Omigosh thank you for 100 reads. I honestly didn't think we'd get here this soon. Thank you guys for all the support, the amount of excitement I get when I open Wattpad and see that I've got a notification that someone has voted on a chapter or added the book to their reading list is genuinely concerning.

Well thanks once again.

Until the next one I hope you all have a wonderful day.

- Isabella :)