[✓] 𝑃𝑅𝐸𝐿𝑈𝐷𝐸 | 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆, Valerie dragged herself out of bed with a small groan. 

She knew she had limited time until Five would come whining at her to get a move on, so she hurried to the kitchen and began to eat as fast as she could. She went through about six different containers of food, and she hoped that no one was relying on them for lunch. 

She sped back to the bathroom on the third floor and took the time to brush both her teeth and hair. She had tossed and turned a bit in bed during her slumber, and so she had to work vigorously to fight through the tangles with her hairbrush. 

She knocked on the door and waited patiently for Five to open it. Upon getting no response, she knocked once more with a little more force in hopes to catch the boy's attention.

"One second," Five's voice floated through the door, seeming rushed and restrained. "I'm just uh . . . cooking?"

Valerie scoffed. He was such a horrible liar. 

Trusting that there really wasn't a skillet in his hand (though she had no clue why he'd hide it), Valerie grabbed the door handle and opened the door. 

"I swear to God, Five, if you're taking out—what the hell?"

Five whipped around to face her as soon as she had opened the door, his eyes a little wide and his mouth slightly agape.

It was then that Valerie saw what he had been trying to so desperately hide: a bullet wound. 

He was pinching a needle between his fingers, which had a dark thread that was looped through. He was wearing a white muscle tank, exposing the top of his right arm, which he was stitching up. 

"Nothing. It's nothing," he said quickly, seeing her incredulous expression and shaking his head. "Don't worry, Val."

"Five, you absolute idiot!" Valerie exclaimed as she hurried towards him. "Is that from last night?"

"No—ugh," Five grunted softly as he finished his last stitch. 

He grabbed a children's bandaid, which had cartoon trucks plastered all over it, and stuck it over the stitched-up wound before offering her a short smile she didn't believe. 

He looked up at her as he slid his button-up shirt on and immediately reassured her, "I'm fine. Anyway, let's go."

"Go?" she repeated in confusion, her eyebrows furrowing. "Go where?" 

"The guy from Meritech. He's up to something," Five informed her as he slid his uniform jacket on, the crest of the Umbrella Academy gleaming in the light. "We have to find out what it is."

Valerie sighed. "Fine. Let me change and then we can go."

"No time," Five refused as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the window.

"Wha—these are Alli's clothes! And they're too big for me!" Valerie groaned as he slid the window up with his free hand, letting a cool breeze into the bedroom.

Five glanced over at her, shaking his head. "Don't worry, you look cu—Fine. You look okay. Let's go."

Valerie shook her head. She was absolutely not going to wear pyjamas outside. 

Quickly, she pointed out the window and exclaimed, "Hey, look at that!"

"What?" 

Five's grip loosened as he turned towards what she had pointed out, his eyes narrowing, and she grinned. 

Valerie sped into her room, tossing Allison's clothes onto her bed and changing into another uniform. 

She really wished she could just borrow Allison's clothes, but, man, that girl was tall. She also had an adult's body, something Valerie had to wait a little longer for, thanks to time travel.