The Ninth

Five's meaner than I thought he'd be

Chapter Two : We only see each other at weddings and funerals

Cleo bursts through the already opened door into the courtyard, broom firmly in her hands and ready to strike at a moment's notice. Slotting in behind her preoccupied siblings, she blinks at the unmissable, glowing, blue orb that's suspended midair. 

"Either that or a miniature blackhole one. One of the two", Luther's shouts.

Looking around, Cleo waits for someone to offer some information. No one does. "What the fuck?".

"Pretty big difference there, Paul Bunyan" Diego's shouting back, as Klaus rushes out through the door bowling over Cleo, down to the ground, in the process. 

"Out of the way!".

From her spot with the leaves on the floor, Cleo watches, with curiosity, as Klaus, 'heroically' sprays the fire extinguisher into the blue mist. To nobody's surprise, nothing happens. Cleo lets out a snort as he gives up and throws the whole extinguisher away.

"What's that gonna do!?" Allison shouts. 

"I don't know. Do you have a better idea?".

"To be fair, I don't see you doing much" Cleo mutters, propping herself up on her elbows. 

Allison ignores her as Klaus joins her at the back of the crowd, yelling, "I vote for running, c'mon!".

Finally, someone has a decent idea. Cleo goes to grab his extended hand but stops short when an old man appears amongst the mist. Everyone watches as the strange man begins to charge at them, mouth open as though he's screaming, arms pushing him forwards.

Before their eyes, the old face twists and pulls, morphing into a young one. Watching with a frown across her face Cleo mutters, "ew".

The young boy materializes, tumbling from the eye of the sudden storm and hitting the ground hard. Around them the clouds disappear as the sun beats down on them, once again. Cleo watches her siblings, as they cautiously step forward, choosing to let them deal with the new guest. That is, until she recognizes the kid in front of them. "No fucking way". 

"Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is it just me?" Klaus asks glancing around for reassurance.

"No, I see him too".

Five looks around at his adult siblings, not noticing the teenage girl behind them, and then down at himself, "shit".

***

The six siblings watch in silence as a Five walks about the kitchen, slamming a chopping board aggressively down on the table, causing Cleo to flinch. 

"What's the date? The exact date?" he says, grabbing a loaf of bread.

"The 24th" Vanya offers.

"Of what?" he snaps as he lays out two slices.

"March".

Five pauses for a moment before giving a little nod, "good".

Klaus looks at Cleo in confusion, who just shrugs, equally confused.

"So are we going to talk about what just happened?", Five outright ignores Luther, who continues, "it's been 17 years".

"It's been a lot longer than that" Five disappears showing up again by a cabinet.

"It has?" Cleo asks, wondering if she'd mistaken the date of Five's disappearance. No one answers her. 

"I haven't missed that", Luther says glaring at Five.