THROUGH TIME & SPACE ★ FIVE HARGREEVES X READER

CH. VIII

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WE ONLY SEE EACH OTHER AT WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS

"but acting like grown-ups,
like we are in the present"

2002

"NIETZCHE ONCE SAID, 'MAN IS as a rope. Stretched between the animal and a superhuman. A rope over an abyss... It is a dangerous crossing, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.'"

All seven of (Y/N) and her siblings were crowded around the bottom of the many flights of stairs, all excluding Vanya, who was standing at the top with her father. Suddenly, a piercing scream of a whistle blew and the children started to make their way up the stairs.

"'As much as you must strive for individual greatness..." the old man went on. "And strive you must, for it won't come to you of its own accord...'"

By the tenth flight of stairs, young Luther was in first with Diego and Allison hot on his trail. Diego overtook Luther out of spite, well knowing that he would soon fall back in no time, but went along with it anyways. He found pleasure in watching Luther's face turn into a sour look of defeat.

"'You must also remember that there is no individual stronger than a collective.'"

Five, who had been running right beside (Y/N) near the back, disappeared in a zap of blue and spatial jumped in front of everyone else, including Diego.

"That's not fair, Five's cheating!" The boy yelled out to their father. They were competitive, sure, but they would play by the rules until someone had the courage to break them.

Earning inspiration from Five's powers, (Y/N) decided to use her own. She searched between all the possible outcomes that could've happened and her eyes fell upon one of them. Following exactly what she had seen in that timeline, she gathered enough momentum and ran up against the wall and jumping over the rails of the staircase and climbing up just in front of Diego.

"Hey! Who said you could climb?!" Luther panted as he caught up to her from behind.

"They adapted," their father stated simply from above.

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"THE TIES THAT BIND YOU together make you stronger than you are alone."

Klaus held Allison as they both wiped away the tears streaming down their cheeks. Diego had been sitting in the tattoo chair, getting his own mark etched into his skin as he gripped tightly onto the armrest of the leather chair.

Their father, Reginald, stood by the side of the room watching his children with an emotionless stare.

"They will make you impervious to the pain and hardship the world will thrust upon you. And believe me when I tell you, life will be hard."

Luther crossed his arms over his chest in anxiousness as he was the next one to receive his tattoo. Ben, who was sitting next to him, wore a twisted and terrified look on his face, not ready to get his own.

(Y/N) took a seat beside her best friend and wrapped her fingers around his to comfort him. She was the least afraid of needles, out of all her siblings, but she knew how much it would hurt to feel it piercing into her skin. Nevertheless, she focused on reassuring Five that it would be alright to put off her own attention from Diego squirming in his seat.

"It will be painful."

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"WE CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING IF we accept responsibility together. This is what creates trust."

Reginald stared down at Five's bed, seeing the two of his children tangled up together in the sheets. Of course, they hadn't done anything but lie in the same bed, as Reginald had assumed, but he felt a tinge of disgust towards (Y/N) for having such a close relationship with one of her adoptive siblings. To be so vulnerable in the hands of another person? He would never do such a thing.

He didn't know what stopped him from shaking the girl to wake up and yelling at her to get back to her room. He knew what the consequences were if the two children paired up together and combined their powers. One who could manipulate time and space while the other multi-dimensional breaks?

Together, they had the power to be able to either save or ruin the world as we know it.

But he didn't wake her up.

"Together, you will stand against the rein of evil."

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