recklessthings | ᶾ allison hargreeves

... Oh.

Allison will do that, turning to face the doorway, while her eyes drift up to the ceiling. She also is amused at the idea that Luther and Diego are just going to step down and let Five lead.

"You'll have to take that up with Luther and Diego and see if they can stop measuring their dicks long enough to make that happen."

But she'll do her best to stay in Five's corner.

He's grateful that she doesn't make a fuss and does what he asks. More than his modesty, with her back turned she doesn't have to see how carefully he shrugs off the shirt to keep from aggravating the wound on his side and bleeding right through the fresh bandage. He considers what she says while he discards the soiled shirt and pulls on the new one. Already feeling better for it.

"Actually, that sounds like a good argument to only tell them what they need to know." He doesn't mean to say that he really wants to do everything himself. In fact, there's nothing he'd like more than having them all come together as a team to stop the apocalypse. He'd just prefer that they have their best chance... and aside from that, maybe leave dealing with the Commission to him.

"I didn't expect everyone to get so set in their ways at age thirteen." Luther and Diego still arguing the same as they did the day he left the first time, like they never figured out it was all a part of dad's mind games. It'd feel nostalgic if the stakes weren't so high. "I guess they just got taller."

"Dad didn't really give us a lot of room to grow."

He wanted robots he could program, not children who were trying to become their own people. In a lot of ways, the fact that they managed to form personalities at even that age is a feat that's likely attributed to the fact that Grace was there to provide something softer.

"Luther kept trying to prove his worth and Diego was determined to prove that he could do it better."

That only gets a huff of a sigh. They won't catch him defending dad, no matter what he thinks about Luther and Diego's perpetual childish rivalry. He can't tell if it makes him feel any better that he hasn't missed that much. At least he knows what to expect out of them.

For the most part.

It occurs to him that Allison is still hanging around after they'd come to their agreement. Still telling him things about their family when she could have slipped out when he'd given her an opening. He thinks about that as he finishes getting dressed and starts fiddling with getting the tie back around his neck.

"You can turn around." He's decent. Or at least, improved upon, since he hasn't taken a look in the mirror to see if he missed anything telling. He'll wash up properly later. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. They're not going to grown into functional adults in a few days time, I just need them not to kill each other until then."

He finally pulls the tie tight and adjusts his jacket, preparing to get back to what he was doing before he took this little detour. But instead he stands there, debating as he turns his focus back on Allison. His curiosity will bother him later if he doesn't ask.

"Why are you still here?" He knows he's not that great of company. "Something else you need to tell me, or are you just sore you didn't get to tell the old man off before he kicked it?"

She shrugs. She could go to talk to Luther, with all their baggage, or fight with Diego or Vanya or get high with Klaus. As much as Five might not be the greatest company, he's the sibling she happens to have the least baggage with at the moment.

And part of her still doesn't believe it's real. He was her brother and he was gone, but now he's back. But is it really that easy? Nothing for them ever is.

"I guess in a weird way, I missed you." Maybe part of her is worried that if she takes her eyes off him, he'll disappear again, stuck in another part of the time stream with no way to find his way home this time.

Somehow he didn't expect that to come out. In a weird way. He gets stuck on the phrasing, at a loss for how to interpret it. On the one hand, he never gave her time to say anything before when he suddenly appeared. Taking advantage of their shock so they would listen to what he had to tell them. On the other, he spent a lifetime trying to find a way back to his family. He had nothing else. Nobody except Dolores to keep him company. The rest of his family is a different story. They grew distant from themselves, let alone the brother who went missing when they were kids.

After an uncomfortable stretch of silence, he decides he can't be hurt by her sincerity. So what if she didn't rush to embrace him? It's not so bad of a thing to be surprised that she cares.

"I missed you too." He says it quietly. Unsure of how to express himself, but compelled to get something on the record. While he doesn't regret the words, it twists at something painful in him, and he can only repeat them in a careful monotone. "I missed all of you."

She nods with a small smile, because it makes sense. Even with all the trouble and grief they've brought each other over the years, they're still family. If Reginald Hargreeves did nothing else for them, he gave them each other.

"Well, you have us back now. You just have to make sure the world doesn't end."

If anything, he's grateful that she doesn't question it. Most siblings might have said it before now, or assumed they didn't have to. He figures Allison can go ahead and let the others know, because he doesn't have the time. Yes, he has them back, but it's all temporary unless he changes history. He's the anomaly in the timeline. It's all on him.

"At least one of you can stay on task." Even when that task is 'don't get into trouble and wait patiently for him to tell them what to do.' It sounds simple, but with his family, it's obviously extremely difficult.

Still. He's glad he had a moment with Allison. He does better at handling them one at a time, he decides. Easier to be understood, even if they can't really. His gaze travels to the window. He's already exhausted, but he can rest when all this is over with. Permanently or otherwise.

"You should get some sleep." It's more of a goodbye than he usually offers. Maybe he's just buying himself a few extra seconds. "One of us should."

Allison nods, before moving to step out of the room. She knows an I want to be alone when she hears one. But one last time, before she goes for now:

"You should too. At least ... try."

It'll help him heal, if nothing else. But with that, she'll head back to her room and do her best to get a few hours.

ᶾ allison hargreeves | the umbrella academy

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