"You left me stranded on 1941, Five," Y/N said, afraid to look into his eyes. She didn't want to face the fact that he might show remorse and it would completely destroy the demeanor that she built for all these years. That she nurtured enough to confront him about when she meets him.
"How? I didn't even-" he stopped as his face turned pale when he realized. "When...you called for me?"
"Yes, I followed you and I didn't know that you were going to travel at that exact moment. I just touched you to take you back home but..." she muttered and looked straight at him, trying her best to hold back her tears, "Do you know what it's like for a 13-year-old girl to walk in unknown streets, having nowhere to go?"
Five quietly sat down beside her and stared at her with an expression that she can only describe as...guilt. "Five, I still couldn't use illusions on more than three people. You never came to search for me. I had to live on the streets and look for jobs many of which were either fraudulent or opportunistic. I used my powers over and over until I couldn't anymore and had to hide in a tunnel."
"Then how did you get back?" he asked.
Ofcourse. That's what he's interested in. Alright, there's no need to lose temper. She was done having feelings for him anyway. Something he never hesitated to use on her. She knew he did it for fun but sometimes it just felt too much to take. "I got recruited by someone."
"The Handler?"
"No," she said, "Two people came for me. I was used to dealing with frauds so I didn't hesitate once to go along with them. Besides, I was...desperate. They made me work and I worked my ass off for years, never leaving a space of doubt for them. Until I reached a position where I was in charge of handling special cases that mess up the timeline. That's all I needed to keep an eye on you guys," she chuckled looking at her siblings, "I read your book Vanya, watched your movies Allison and although, in an illegal way, I was quite proud of your work, Diego. And...I kept an eye on you too, Five. Atleast for some time."
"You were good at your job," she said and stared at Five. She wanted to say it. Wanted to express how agonizing it was to watch him go through everything. "But anyway, I found out about the future and decided to come over finally."
Everyone kept silent. "What is this commission? Who is the handler? Can you be clear-" Allison started questioning out of confusion but Y/N interrupted.
"And no, I couldn't come earlier because I had no reason to come back," Y/N said and looked down at her fiddling fingers, "None of you stayed by the time I accomplished that."
Now that her explanation was over, an awkward silence spread in the room. She was done. The rest of the details about her job were too much of a hassle to talk about. Besides, it would take a long time to make them understand. She already was in a bad mood. No one in the room exactly had the guts to ask her about it again.
"Now what about you?" Luther asked turning to Five.
His words snapped him out of the daze he was in. He got up and brought the chopping board to the table. He stopped by his steps and observed the kitchen. "My word," he whispered, "You actually improved a lot."
Y/N got up sighing and left the kitchen, which was spotless. All the food that was thrown at him, the chair, and everything that made him travel from one spot in the room to another never actually happened. She put him under illusion the moment he entered the room. "You're welcome," she shouted from the hall outside.
"She's...fine right?" Vanya asked staring at the door.
"She lived on the streets since she was thirteen, Vanya. How do you think she's doing?" Diego snapped.
Five got up to prepare a sandwich for himself and asked, "What's the date? The exact date."
"The 24th?" Vanya answered.
"Of what?"
"March."
"Good," Five sighed taking out two slices of bread.
"So are we gonna talk about what happened with you?" Luther asked. Five remained silent, which irritated pretty much everyone to some extent. He came out of nowhere when they were already speculating something strange about their father's death. Y/N had a pretty good reason and didn't look that happy for all things considered but Five? His face didn't hold any kind of expression except for the one they all were used to...the know-it-all face. Luther got up from his chair out of rage and said, "It's been 17 years!"
"It's been a bit longer than that," Five scoffed.
"Where'd you go?" Diego asked.
"The future. It's shit, by the way."
"Called it," Klaus muttered and looked around at everyone's faces.
"I should've listened to the old man. You know, jumping through space is one thing and jumping through time is the toss of the dice."
[ TIME SKIP ]
Y/N quietly explored the halls and headed toward her room. Clearly, the clothes she's been wearing didn't fit her at all. She opened it and discovered it to be clean and everything was kept just like the way she left it. Ofcourse, her mother did it.
Walking to her wardrobe, she went through her clothes, trying to find something to fit into. But her 13-year-old body and 18-year-old body had a difference. She's grown taller. The shirt is tight but she could still fit into it, risking all the buttons though. Sighing, she flopped on her bed and rubbed her eyes. She couldn't actually believe that all of them were in fact, under the same roof after all these years.
She didn't know if the rest had left any kind of clothes behind, that would fit her. Groaning, she walked out of her room and walked toward Five's room reluctantly. Y/N knew she couldn't hold a grudge against him forever. Especially after the little expression he gave out while listening to her, without realizing.
She tapped on the door two times and waited for an answer.
"Well, well, well, aren't you the eager one?" Five smirked opening the door for her.
"Shut up," she said, "Do you have anything that'll fit me?"
"I do have some oversized ones," he said and sat on the bed, "You can take a look."
"It's temporary," Y/N said, "I'm gonna ask Vanya for some help. I'm not broke in case you're wondering."
For a moment there was nothing but the sound of clothes getting ruffled. "Did you go through all the training?" Five asked staring at her shoulder, which tensed up at the question. He knew that she was probably still mad at him but he had to ask her. What would she do anyway, right?
"Yes, but I didn't do any fieldwork. I'm number eight and that's a risk factor in itself. I guess they were scared that I will run away if I got a chance to come back here."
It felt like his chest was getting heavier listening to her. His tone turned soft when he spoke, "You know, I found your body too."
Y/N picked up a shirt that looked a bit longer than the rest and turned back at him, "I saw."
"I never thought you were stranded. I just knew you were back here with the rest."
"And I didn't know you would come back here for us," she said, "I guess I'm mad because it took you a long time. I was sent in 1963 to discuss the steps that were needed to stop you by the way."
"No way," he chuckled, "They wouldn't have known unless..."
Y/N had a smug smile plastered on her face. Something she unknowingly came to do at times after supervising him for so long. "I told you I was good at my job," she said, "I needed to do everything I can to prove that I worked the same way I did for all these years."
Keeping her clothes on her arm she muttered, "I missed you."
He brushed the back of his head and got up to leave. She watched him silently nod at her remark and walk out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
She didn't know why he still felt uncomfortable around her. Maybe it's the fact that he had no proper conversation with anybody during his work but it started to sting a little bit. During his childhood, he used to be the same, except he used to throw back some teasing statements at her to make the situation funny. Maybe all of his life experiences changed him.
Or maybe he finally learned how to accept emotions.