THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
fractured || five hargreeves x reader

CHAPTER SIX: LOOK WHO'S BACK!

Written By: peachyhxlland

°•.☆.•°

As you strolled across the city, you took in your surroundings. You observed that everything was altered from both the Sparrow timeline and the original timeline. More advanced technology and modern cars were present. Interestingly enough, though, there were none of the modern cellphones.

You kept going and soon came to a recognizable structure in the area. You halted in your tracks, removed your hood, and fixed your gaze on the for-sale, now-abandoned building. In the previous timeline, the abandoned building served as your apartment building, where you and Jeanie shared a room. You grinned solemnly, remembering the times you two had spent in that place.

You remembered living a normal life without the need to use any of your powers. How you wish you can have that normal life again.

Sighing, you turned to go and made a decision to stop by a pet store nearby. There were fish, event bugs, hamsters, dogs, cats, and birds when you walked into the store. Seeking to make at least a meeting with Mr. Pennycrumb in this timeline, you looked around. You had been to the site of the former Hotel Obsidian before you could even explore this street, but regrettably, it had been demolished and left with only a statue of Reginald's head. That is to say, neither Chet nor Mr. Pennycrumb were able to be found.

A golden retriever puppy rose to his feet and tilted his head in your direction as you leaned over to a kennel and began to wave your finger at him. You gave the dog a warm smile. "You can be Mr. Pennycrumb in another life."

You got up and searched for cats in the other section. A familiar Persian cat appeared, her eyes were a bright blue color, and you froze where you were. You've seen this cat before.

"Ms. Snowpeach?"

"Hi!" You flinched and turned around to see the store cashier smiling widely at you. "I'm Danielle! I saw you at the counter, and I wanted to ask if you're interested in buying anything."

You glanced at Danielle, still taking in the fact that you had been acknowledged. You haven't spoken to anyone in such a long time, and the only people that you have ever spoken to in this timeline are Reginald and Abigail. "I-I'd like to buy this cat."

Danielle gasped. "You're in luck! That Persian cat over there is free."

Your eyes widened. "Free? Free Persian cat?"

"Oh, for sure!" Danielle exclaimed with high enthusiasm. "We're actually holding a "Get Your One Free Pet" promo until the end of the month. You're our fifth customer to claim your first free pet."

The Persian cat purred as she tapped her paws against her cage, indicating that she wanted to be with you as you glanced back down at her. Danielle gave the cat a smile. "I saw a connection between you two. She really likes you, and you already gave her a name before I approached you."

You smiled and looked at Danielle. "Okay, I'm taking her."

"Great! Please come by the counter so you can sign some papers." You were shown to the cashier by Danielle, who then handed you the forms that were required. After taking out a pen, you started filling out certain information. Danielle passed her eyes over your name. "(Y/n)? What a pretty name."

You glanced back at Danielle and smiled. "Thanks."

"I think you and I are gonna be pretty good friends, (Y/n)."

°•○●○•°

The building referred to as Lil' Monkeys was the location where you and Danielle arrived. Upon entering with Danielle, you noticed something bright inside and felt a tinge of excitement. There were children and their parents, other adults you presumed to be members of family, and a few more close friends all occupying the large playground that was decked out with Christmas lights, balloons, neon lights, slides, and ball pits.

You were so busy admiring the place that you didn't notice Danielle greeting the celebrant's mother. "Dani! You came just on time!"

Danielle chuckled. "I wouldn't miss it!"

The mother chuckled as well. "You deserve a raise for handling my three children. I'm gonna talk about that with my husband."

"Oh, I also brought a plus one. Is that okay?"

"A date, huh? Finally asked her out?"

Danielle nervously laughed and shook her head. "Um, no. I just invited her as a friend." With Little Grace's parents, particularly the mother, Danielle felt at ease enough to freely share some of her personal information. "I'll introduce her to you!"

You felt a gentle tap from Danielle, causing you to turn around. "Come on, Little Grace's mother wants to say hi."

You were standing next to Danielle when you realized who the mother was, and your face fell. Upon seeing an all-too-familiar face, you truly felt as though your soul had left your body. A face you recognize but haven't seen in a very long time.

"Ms. Lila, this is—" Danielle enthusiastically beamed as she attempted to introduce you to her employer, but the mother cut her off right away.

"Oh, my God... (Y/n)!" Directing her gaze at you in disbelief, Lila let out a loud gasp. Incredulous, Danielle clamped her mouth shut and turned to face you and Lila. "Wait, you two know each other?" Danielle asked.

You didn't answer Danielle, as you were too stunned. 'This must be one of my hallucinations... right?' But before you could finish contemplating, Lila ran over and gave you a big hug. Your eyes slightly widened even more. 'No, this is... real...'

"You're alive!" Lila exclaimed in joy. "I knew you were bloody alive!" She withdrew from the hug, but not before grabbing your arms and giving you a thorough examination. "We missed you, you little witch!"

'We?' You just stood there, not knowing what to say or how to respond. Lila giggled, reached out to grab your wrist, and pulled you with her. Danielle was left on her own, but she followed Lila and you nevertheless, determined to find out what was happening. Lila kept pulling you along while you glanced at her fingers encircling your wrist. 'She's real...'

"Everyone!" Lila yelled, causing you to look at her. "Look who's back!"

Upon catching sight of numerous recognizable faces, your eyes set on the scene before you, and you experienced a sudden sense of disorientation. You knew it was them, even though they looked different from when you last saw them. Lila was with you when the others turned to face you, and even though tears were welling up in your eyes, they never actually dropped. 'They're... alive.'

The party was too loud and packed to allow silence to soak into the whole room, but it nearly did. Nevertheless, there was an overwhelming feeling in the air. Lila moved to put her hand over yours and hold it firmly to soothe you when she saw that you were still unable to say anything. "They're alive, (Y/n). We all are. You're okay. We're real."

You attempted to speak when you opened your mouth, only to be cut off. "(Y/n)! Oh, my God!" It was Luther who acted first, coming over to you quite immediately. You gazed up at Luther as Lila eventually released your grip and took Grace's present from your hand so you could better interact with the others. With a broad smile, Luther lifted you up and gave you a tight hug. "You're here! You're actually here! You're alive!"

You laid your cheek against Luther's shoulder and gave him a gentle return embrace. You tightened your grip on Luther's shirt, curling your fingers into fists to check whether he was real.'Real...' You almost failed to realize that Luther has regained his old body back. 'And he's alive...'

Luther set you down and gave you a playful ruffle in your hair. "We missed our little sister, y'know."

'Little... sister...' You turned back to face everyone and noticed that Klaus was wearing surgical gloves and a party hat. Even though Klaus was reluctant to come over to you, he did so anyway. He got rid of his party hat as he stood in front of you. "Baby sis..."

You looked at him, not sure if you should touch him. Klaus was hesitant too, having developed such a severe case of germaphobia that he refused to allow anyone to come near him. Klaus shook his head and started to cry a little. "Oh, what the hell!" He disregarded his fear and lunged at you with a firm embrace. "I've missed you too much to not hug you, baby sis!"

You gave him a tighter hug as a tear started to fall from your eye.'He's also real...' You briefly closed your eyes, savoring the hug.

Danielle was taken aback by what was happening as she stood next to Lila. "This is not what I expected when I told her to socialize more..."

Lila smiled at Danielle. "Confused? Long story short, (Y/n) has finally reunited with her family.""

Danielle and Lila continued to watch as you and Klaus pulled away. Klaus caresses your cheeks with his gloved hands but you didn't mind. His eyes darted down at the dog tag necklace you were wearing. "Aww, you sweet soul, you kept my necklace!"

"Move." Klaus stood aside as soon as he heard Diego getting closer to you. Diego didn't take long to put an arm around your shoulders and take you with him, almost like Lila. "Man, we missed you, princesa! You're an aunt now to four kids."

The sight of three children and one teenager almost frightened you. Diego grinned while he introduced them to you. "This is my daughter and the birthday girl, Grace." Little Grace waved at you and gave you a sweet smile, which you returned. "These two are my twins and this is Claire, y'know, Allison's daughter."

You stared at Claire, who was smiling widely at you. "Hi, Aunt (Y/n)!" The girl greeted. "I heard a lot of good stuff about you from my mom."

You almost dropped your smile. "Really?"

"Yeah! She's actually..." Claire looked around to find her mother. "I think she's getting us some drinks."

You were taken by Diego away from the children and positioned in front of Ben. "And lookie here. Here's our newly released Ben from prison!"

You blinked in confusion as you stared at Ben. Ben scoffed. "Does she really need to know that information?"

"She's family; of course she needs to know."

Ben rolled his eyes at Diego before looking at you again. Ben and you were given some alone time, so Diego stepped aside. The only thing Ben did was stand there awkwardly in front of you. "If you're hoping for a hug, get lost."

Ben looked around and saw that Luther, Diego, Klaus, and Lila were giving him angry looks, but you couldn't see them since they were behind you. Ben winced to see that even the children were staring at him with anger. With a sigh, Ben held out his arm for a hug. "Fine."

You inspected Ben's arm for a moment before making a decision. Ben noticed your hesitation, so he opted to provide the hug instead of waiting for you to give it to him. He placed his head on top of yours and gave you a one-arm embrace. "I'm giving you this hug only because you're the only one in this goddamn family that Sloane really liked except for Luther."

You hugged Ben back and smiled. "Sloane is not here?"

"She also disappeared, just like you did." Despite having a lot of questions, you decided to ask them later. Ben pulled away and brought his arm back to his pocket.

You turned around and saw the face of your lover, about whom you'd been thinking nonstop even when you were in a coma. He maintained his attire of a black suit, but you could see he had changed his hairdo. He was awfully quiet during your reunion with each of his siblings. Like you, he was unsure of how to respond or what to do.

He just happened to see you in a case file yesterday. That was the first time in this timeline that he had ever seen proof of your existence. And suddenly, now, here you are standing in front of him. He gripped tightly on his beer bottle, trying to decide what to do. The siblings and the kids were waiting to see what would happen between you and him. Danielle, on the other hand, slowly realized who the young man was.

"Five..." You broke the silence between you two as tears started streaming down your face. Five's shoulders began to loosen up, and he immediately relaxed his firm hold on the bottle, letting it smash to pieces on the floor. The sound startled you, but you turned to see Five racing toward you. There was nothing that could have prepared you for what came next.

Five grasped a hold of your face, leaning forward to lock his lips with yours. Your eyes widened in utter shock, but you closed your eyes, kissing him back and hugging him.

Klaus shielded the children's eyes right away, but the other siblings just grinned quietly. They were sensible enough not to cause any more disruption because you and Five were deserving to some alone time. But as Danielle saw what was happening, she grabbed her gift for Grace a little too tightly. 'So, that's guy she couldn't let go after all of these years...'

Five pulled away and stared affectionately into your eyes. You stared back at him, but your attention was drawn more to his touch against your face. He was holding your face in such a firm yet delicate way that it felt like you were a porcelain doll that would break at any moment. You were reassured enough by his touch to know that he was real.

You were finally back into your lover's arms.

"I..." You began to cry, and Five quickly used his thumbs to wipe away your tears. Five leaned his head up and gave you a soft kiss on top of your head. "Shh... I know," He whispered. "I missed you so much too..."

You broke down into tears and hugged him tightly, almost as if you were clinging to him. Five gave you a firm embrace in return and gestured to the others to occupy the other guests so that they wouldn't see you at your most vulnerable.

Luther nodded at Five. "Come on, everybody." The others left to keep the guests busy and Klaus took care of the kids.

Danielle stayed awhile, wanting to give you a hug as you sobbed. Danielle glanced at Five, who turned to face her. Five was staring at Danielle when he saw her expression, which was one of mild jealousy. Danielle averted her gaze and walked out to assist Klaus with the kids.