That Hedonist Poet

[hedonistpoet06]

Crawling Back To You - Part Two:

2007! Leo x Female OC

Synopsis: Evangeline Blackwell, or Evie as she preferred to be called, always knew that New York City held an abundance of secrets which she was itching to uncover, hence why she decided to move there for college. However, she didn’t consider that one of the cities' secrets was the existence of a particular blue clad mutant turtle and his crime fighting brothers. Evie thought her biggest obstacle in her first year of college was going to be getting good grades, making new friends and getting used to dorm life. But alas, she now has to worry about a new crime organisation called ‘The Foot Clan’ working under The Shredder, the arch nemesis of the turtle and his family who she was beginning to grow very attached to. However, after too many close calls, Splinter soon realises that perhaps the turtles were not as strong as a team as he believed them to be, and thus Leo was not experienced enough to lead them. So what better fix is there than a year long trip to South America?

Authors Note: This work is also available on my AO3 'heartofthehedonistpoet06' if you wish to read it there!

Word Count: 4916

Song: Fallingforyou - The 1975

☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆

“You’re telling me you do that all the time?!” Evie gasped as she clung onto the cold metal of the fire escape which was attached to the side of her dorm building.

“Yeah, it's my way of getting around. Can’t exactly walk the streets freely looking the way that I do.” Leo chuckled at the stunned expression that painted Evie’s face.

“And you actually enjoy it?” she questioned, still winded from the turbulent parkour she had just endured whilst being on the turtle's back.

“It definitely helps that I'm not afraid of heights, unlike someone else.” Leo teased as he held himself up on the exterior side of the fire escapes railing, which looked more like a small metal balcony as most of them do in New York.

Evie had been living on campus for less than three months and she had absolutely no idea how to identify her dorm window to Leo as it stood amongst the rest in endless, parallel rows of rectangles. All she knew is that she lived on the third floor and somewhere towards the right side of the building, not like that was any help whatsoever.

Although, only a few hours prior, Evie had forgotten to turn her bedside lamp off before she went to work. This minor mistake had worked in her favour however as a distinct pink light filled her bedroom window, making it easy to distinguish from the rest. She thought that it was about time she had some good luck today after whatever tonight's fiasco was in the alleyway.

Leo had of course made a sly remark about the bright light and Evie countered his commentary by stating that it was the same lamp she kept from her childhood bedroom and she didn’t have the heart to throw it away.

“You asked me if I get motion sickness, not if I was afraid of heights.” she retorted, pointing a finger towards him playfully.

Leo watched as Evie stood on the other side of the railing, her arms folded over her chest as she challenged his teasing. The turtle had been so immersed in their conversation he had almost forgotten how wet Evie still was from the rain, and suddenly Leo remembered how sensitive humans were to extreme temperatures.

“You raise a fair point.” his gaze trailed to the window that was situated behind Evie, a reminder that he had done his job and should be returning to his nightly patrol.

“Well, you better get inside before you freeze to death.” Leo cleared his throat.

He didn’t particularly want Evie to leave, to watch her retreat back to the safety of her dormitory which was illuminated a bright pink from what he now knew was a lamp from her youth.

“Leo?” she asked softly.

“Yes?” he responded almost instantly.

“Would you like to come in for some tea or something?” Evie explained, fidgeting with the silver rings that adorned her fingers, “I just feel like I owe you something since you kinda saved my ass back there, just to say thank you, you know?”

Leo’s heart tugged at the offer. Almost every interaction he had with a human had ended badly, often clouded by panic in response to his abnormal physicality, but this was different. Evie was different. From the moment she saw his appearance, Leo never detected an ounce of fear or disgust in her eyes which he had become almost accustomed to over the years.

“You know you don’t owe me anything, Evie. I helped you because it’s what I do.” Leo stated, knowing that he probably shouldn’t indulge any further than he already had.

“Oh come on, please?” she pleaded.

Leo thought for a moment, genuinely contemplating whether he should accept her offer.

He had already shown Evie his mutant form in its entirety, what was the harm in stealing a few more minutes with this human girl who didn’t scream in pure terror at the sight of him?

“You know, I'm going to feel guilty for the rest of my life if you don’t let me.” Leo blinked in surprise as he watched Evie step closer to him, the only thing separating the two of them being the metal railing.

Even though Leo had this girl on his back a few moments prior, he felt an awful lot closer to her right now. But the rainy drizzle of New York seemed so unappealing for the turtle, he was sure that the city would be fine without him for a bit longer.

“I suppose, if that’s alright with you that is.” he shrugged softly.

“Duh, I wouldn’t have offered it if it wasn’t.” she chuckled, then turned on her feet to walk towards the window.

Evie released the latch to her dorm room window, stepping inside from the fire escape rather ungracefully. Leo followed in shortly after his new human acquaintance, however his landing was a lot more elegant thanks to his years of training.

Leo couldn’t help but inspect the inside of her dorm room, his eyes trailed across the space in front of him. It quickly dawned on Leo that he had never been inside of a human's room, not even Casey or April’s, and the whole ordeal suddenly felt deeply personal to him.

It was as if he was looking at a reflection of this total stranger's mind, Leo felt like he had stepped into a gallery or a museum perhaps which was specifically exhibiting everything this girl had ever loved or held dear.

He knew that the bedrooms in the lair which himself and his brother’s occupied also reflected their personal interests, hobbies and characters, however everything they accumulated was either found in the sewers or fixed by Donnie.

“Now I apologise in advance for the lack of space, I was just lucky enough to get a single dorm and not have to share like most freshmen.” Evie spoke, freeing Leo from his train of thought.

The dormitory itself was small, Leo didn’t expect it to be luxurious by any means unlike some of the portrayals he had seen in mainstream movies. It had just enough room to fit a bed, desk and a wardrobe, all the basic necessities which a college student required. Fairy lights were strung across the ceiling line which casted a warm glow throughout the room and it complemented the infamous pink lamp which Leo could now see placed on her bedside table.

Piles of books covered her bedside table and there were even a few stacks on the floor which led Leo to believe she was an avid reader.

Photo frames, small potted plants of greenery and even a record player rested on the shelves which were bolted to the wall. The desk itself was covered with evidence of her college work, loose sheets of paper and plastic folders were scattered everywhere whilst her laptop screen was open and turned on, a faint blue light illuminated the oak surface. The majority of the walls were filled with posters, prints and a calendar which had been thoroughly scribbled on already in red ink, visual proof of her busy schedule.

Leo was so used to the messy and chaotic living space of the sewers which he shared with his brothers and father but there was something almost comforting about Evie’s room. It too was also somewhat chaotic due to the lack of floor space evident by the covered walls and the clothes that were almost spilling out of her wardrobe.

“It’s definitely got character, I’ll give you that.” Leo said.

“Thanks, I tried to make it as homely as possible.”

“I like it.”

Evie smiled softly over her shoulder in appreciation.

“I'll put the kettle on in a minute but do you mind if I step out to get changed for a moment? I'm dying to get out of these clothes.” Evie spoke as she unzipped her drenched rain jacket, hanging it on a hook on the back of her door to air.

As Leo watched Evie remove herself from her jacket he couldn’t help but notice how the rain had soaked through to her work shirt which read ‘Urban Greens & Goods’ on the sleeve and he immediately recognised it as the small grocery store on the corner of a familiar street he had passed on patrol many times before.

Leo was still standing by the window, not daring to adventure further into the girls room just yet, after all this was foreign territory to him.

He had met humans before, after all he and his brothers had built a close friendship with April and Casey but he viewed them as an extension of his family, the bond they shared was similar to that of siblings. But Leo couldn’t recall feeling this surprised or perhaps tense when he first met them, it wasn’t that Evie was hostile, it was quite the opposite rather.

“Yeah, go get changed, I won’t go anywhere.” Leo said, awkwardly resting his hands on his hips whilst Evie left the room with a spare pair of clothes in hand.

Once the turtle heard the door click shut, his eyes began to fixate upon the many photo frames which Evie had scattered around the space. He adventurously moved from his spot by the windowsill, just stepping a fraction further into Evie’s dormitory to examine the pictures.

There were photos captured with who Leo assumed was her family which consisted of a small bunch of siblings alongside her mom and dad, he also saw smiling moments with friends taken at various ages, he even smirked at the sight of Evie’s braces during what he assumed must have been her middle school years.

A small wave of nostalgia came over Leo as he thought back to the very few photos he had of his own childhood, all of which were taken with a battered polaroid Splinter had found and repaired in the lair. He had a few snapshots of both himself and his brothers, but nowhere near as many as what Evie had littered all around her room.

His eyes scanned through the images, his eyes landing on a particular photo of what he assumed was her high school graduation. Evie looked different from the previous childish snapshots, this must have been a fairly recent photo as her braces were removed, she was dressed in a cap and gown whilst her parents stood next to her, looking teary eyed and extremely proud.

Leo was well aware of how much personal appearance mattered to humans which was just one of the reasons why he avoided showing himself to them at all. Yet when he first laid eyes on the human, he didn’t believe Evie to be unpleasant looking considering she was drenched from the rain and dirtied from the alley floor.

However, Leo couldn’t excuse the fact that Evie looked absolutely radiant in this photograph. Perhaps it was the warmth embedded in her smile or maybe it was the way her hair fell from her graduation cap and framed her face perfectly.

“That’s better.” Evie sighed with relief as she stepped through the door, and despite Leo's heightened ninja senses, her sudden entrance had startled the turtle.

He noticed that she had changed into a grey hoodie that read ‘NYU’ in bold purple writing and a pair of black sweatpants, however what stood out the most was the fuzzy pink bed socks that adorned her feet. And Leo found those socks slightly endearing.

“Feeling nice and dry yet?” Leo cleared his throat and leaned back against Evie’s desk.

Evie however had begun shaking her wet hair out, holding her hair tie in between her lips as she gave an exaggerated nod to Leo's question.

“Sorry, I forgot to ask, are you…” Evie paused, thinking carefully about what she was going to say next, “warm enough?”

“You weren't joking about not being a zoologist.” Leo laughed dryly, “Turtles love water, that includes the rain.”

“Right.” Evie grimaced in embarrassment and Leo thought he could spot the slightest tinge of red starting to bloom across her face.

“Sorry, that was such a stupid question.” she laughed, dragging her hand against her forehead in embarrassment.

“No it’s not.” Leo said almost apologetically, knowing that she was only trying to be polite and attentive.

“Do you still want tea?” Evie asked, obviously trying to change the topic of conversation.

“Yes, please.” Leo chuckled softly but immediately stiffened against the desk when he saw Evie walk closer towards him.

The turtle suddenly felt cornered in the confined space, as if there wasn’t enough room in her dormitory already.

“Sorry, I just gotta squeeze past you.” Evie said as she reached an arm out to open the cabinet door which sat on the wall above her desk where Leo just so happened to be leaning against.

The turtle mustered a few awkward apologies as he shuffled over, suddenly very aware of how close Evie's arm was to the side of his face.

“Sorry, we’re technically not to keep any appliances in the dorms for safety reasons but what damage is a little kettle going to do?” Evie explained as she plugged the electric kettle into an outlet under her desk.

“So you’re a rule breaker?” Leo asked teasingly.

“No.” she replied, suddenly feeling like she had done something wrong under the weight of Leo’s gaze, “I just don’t let anything come between me and my tea.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

“Can I ask you something, Evie?”

“What’s up?” she replied, rummaging through her bedside drawer for the boxes of tea she kept stashed away.

“How old are you exactly?”

“Eighteen.”

“Really?” Leo said, sounding surprised.

“Why?” Evie asked cautiously, “is this the part where you tell me you’re secretly like a century old or something?”

Leo laughed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“No, I am not that old.” he sighed in amusement, “I’m only eighteen myself.”

“Eighteen too huh?” Evie asked.

“Do you have any preferences on tea?”

“You wouldn’t happen to have anything herbal would you?”

“Oh Leonardo please…” Evie paused as she reached her arm into the drawer and finally pulled out a jar which held an abundance of colourful tea bags, “I am the connoisseur of herbal tea.”

Leo stifled a small laugh from escaping, his hand quickly covered his lips as he tried to soften the extent of his laughter. The extensive assortment was almost comical to the blue clad turtle and he thought that her tea collection could rival that of his fathers.

“Well what do you have?”

“I've got chamomile, jasmine, green, lavender and I think a couple of other rogue ones in there.” she replied as she held the jar closer to her eyes, shaking the contents gently to read all the tables of the tea bags.

“I’ll take the lavender.”

“Good choice.”

“My mom was always a massive tea drinker growing up and when I moved out I swear she gave me enough tea bags to last me all of freshman year.” Evie explained as the kettle boiled.

“You and your mom, are you close?” Leo asked, a small surge of confidence overcame him as he stepped closer to Evie.

He thought back to the pictures he had studied only a few minutes ago. Leo thought Evie looked like a combination of both her parents' features, but he could certainly see more of her mothers appearance as he examined her face in more detail.

“Yeah we are, I’m close with my whole family actually. It’s definitely been quite the adjustment living alone.” Evie reached for two ceramic mugs she had hidden away in the same cabinet where the kettle was kept.

“And how long have you been living alone for?”

“Well I'm almost three months into my freshman year, so about that.” Evie then started to carefully pour the boiling water into the mugs.

“And do you miss them, your family?” Leo subconsciously thought about what it would be like to be in Evie's situation, all he knew was his brothers and father. He couldn’t possibly fathom the idea of being away from them especially for such an extended period of time.

“Oh more than anything, but Connecticut isn’t actually that far when you think about it so I can always go home and visit if I feel really homesick.”

“Connecticut huh?” Leo asked, curiosity overtaking him.

“Born and raised.”

“What made you want to move to the city?”

“I think the real question is what didn’t make me want to move here?” Evie said before disposing of the used tea bags and offered one mug to Leo, who thanked her softly.

He wrapped his hands around firmly, feeling the warmth from the cup spread through his palms. Leo felt a strange sense of comfort emanate from Evie’s bedroom, the combination of the tea and the warm glow of the lights made him feel at ease, almost tranquil.

“I mean Connecticut is great, especially if you like small towns and coastlines, but there was always something so magical about New York.” Evie walked over to her bed, sitting cross legged at the end of it as she gently blew the steam from her mug.

She reached her hand out, gesturing for Leo to sit on her desk chair, which he did cautiously, paranoid of it not being stable enough to hold his weight.

“I wouldn’t say it’s magical.” he chuckled, looking at Evie who was sitting only a few feet across from him.

Leonardo adored the city more than anything, he felt an immense responsibility for maintaining crime and keeping all its inhabitants safe after all. But he also knew far too well about the bad and the ugly which the city purposefully kept hidden, like what had happened to Evie that night.

“Well, have you lived here your entire life?”

“Born and raised.” he smirked, repeating her words from earlier which earned an unamused eye roll from the girl in question.

“Point proven.” Evie said, taking a sip of her tea, “People always tend to find things more fascinating or appealing when they haven’t experienced or seen it before. It makes it feel all the more special.”

Leo paused, taken aback by the ambiguity of her words, was she still talking about the city?

“I visited the city for the first time with my family when I was in the first grade and ever since then I always knew that I was going to live here at one point in my life.”

“Is that right?” Leo asked and Evie nodded softly, “and has it met all your expectations so far?”

“It’s gone above and beyond. Tonight was probably the only bad thing that’s happened since I've moved here.” he felt a small fraction of relief knowing that her idyllic perspective had not yet been tainted.

“Well I hope it didn’t tarnish any of your childhood dreams.”

“Definitely not…” Evie trailed off, “You saved me after all.”

She gently nudged the turtle's upper arm with her elbow and Leo suddenly felt his grip tighten on the ceramic mug which looked comically small in his grasp.

“Like I told you, it’s what I do.” he replied, purposefully avoiding Evie's gaze.

Leo believed this dorm had to have some ridiculously advanced heating system because his whole body began to feel warm rather quickly.

“Do you like it? the tea?” she spoke up.

“It’s nice. It seems your mother has good taste.” Leo replied truthfully, and for a moment he wondered if the brew could rival Splinters.

“I'm glad, i'm sure my mother would be elated knowing her tea is being put to good use.”

Leo agreed with Evie as he took another sip.

“So, Leo...” she broke the silence, this grabbed the turtle's attention as he was forced to look up and meet Evie’s eyes, “what about you?” she asked.

“What about me?”

“Well aren’t you going to tell me about yourself, seems only fair.”

“Well… I know you told me you're a turtle but.. how? I mean not that I don't believe you, I just have never seen anyone like you before.”

“Well, it would be a long story…” Leo sighed, thinking about how he would even begin to explain how he became the way he was.

“I got time.” Evie said confidently as she patted a spot on her bed next to her.

Leo looked at her, as if to silently ask if she was sure in which she nodded in response.

A small part of Leo told him not to, to stay put on the chair and keep himself on the other side of the room. But there was some other part of him that spoke even louder than that responsible voice inside Leo’s head and told him to accept Evie’s offer instead.

And suddenly Leo felt himself rise to his feet and walk over to the bed, and as he sat down against the mass of plush bedding and blankets he couldn’t help but notice how pretty Evie looked up close.

He paid particularly close attention to her hair that had started to dry, it was a particular shade of mousey blonde which Leo only saw on certain movie actresses. He thought it suited her. Soft bangs had started to become loose from her ponytail and fell perfectly across her stormy eyes. Leo could even see a few sets of small freckles that painted her cheeks, evidence of summers spent in the Connecticut heat.

Maybe he could just blame it on the way the lamp casted a warm, pink glow across her face that made her smile seem even brighter than it had been before.

And so, whilst trying not to obviously stare at Evie’s features for too long, Leo began to tell her everything. Every detail from start to finish, how his adoptive father who was once human had moved from Japan to start a new life in New York, she told her of the day he had adopted four baby turtles and how they all mutated after a terrible accident with some freak substance that forever altered their physiology. He recalled how his father was forced to hide in the sewers, knowing very well he’d be rejected by society for his rat-like form and thus had to raise four infant turtles on his own.

Evie listened intently as Leo spoke of how himself and his three other brothers learned martial arts from their father, how the brothers trained as ninjas, but as they grew older the brothers had begun to look for a bigger purpose, and why they started protecting the city.

She knew that everything Leo told her would seem absurd or surreal to anyone else, but to Evie, she believed every word he said, there was no room for interrogation, only genuine curiosity.

“A ninja huh? I guess this explains this, then.” Evie leaned closer to the turtle and gently ran her fingers down the tails of his blue mask, catching the worn fabric between her index and middle finger.

Leo’s breath hitched at the sudden contact as he felt the warmth of her fingertips softly graze against the side of his neck. He flinched slightly, surprised by the forwardness of her movement which sent a shiver down his spine.

He felt embarrassed at how reactive he was to her slightest touch, maybe he could blame the tea for making him feel especially warm and flushed.

“Shit! Sorry! I just kinda let my intrusive thoughts take over then.” Evie exclaimed as she noticed Leo’s tense and rigid demeanour.

“No… it’s fine!” he tried to reassure her but saw how quickly she had retracted her hand, “my mask it's just very personal to me, and my brothers too.”

“Of course, no hero is complete without their mask, right?” Leo felt his chest tighten at Evie’s words, he was flattered that she had endowed such a title to him.

The two of them continued to talk, ignoring how time seemed to melt away as the pair got lost in each other’s company. Evie had quickly learnt so much about Leo as they continued to speak and the turtle thought the same for herself.

“I wish I knew how to fight like that, just for self defence you know?” Evie said as Leo recalled a particularly intense story where he and his brothers stopped an arm robbery at a rather expensive jeweller.

“I could teach you.” Leo said quickly, the thought popping into his mind practically as soon as he opened his mouth.

“What?” Evie, who laid her back against the bed had practically jolted upright in shock at Leo’s offer.

“It's important to learn how to protect yourself, you know just in case something like tonight could happen again.” Leo started, trying to justify himself, “I’d be more than happy to teach you some basic self defence moves if you’d like?”

“What’s the catch?”

“Nothing I swear-” he started, but was quickly cut off.

“Because the only thing that I can offer you is more tea from my mom’s collection.” Evie said playfully and Leo smirked at her proposal, it was tempting.

“Alright, maybe we can make that work out. This tea is pretty good.” he gestured to the mugs which have since been abandoned on Evie’s desk.

“Let’s do it then.”

“Here, give me your arm.” Evie quickly stood up and retrieved a marker from her desk.

“What are you doing?” Leo asked, meanwhile Evie’s adorable bed socks padded softly against the floor while she walked closer to Leo.

She cleared her throat and outstretched her hand as if she was waiting for Leo to give her something, the turtle gave her a confused expression.

“Don't you want my number? how else are we going to organise our self defence rendezvous?” she explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Oh, right, of course.” Leo felt slightly flustered at his cluelessness, obviously not thinking about the logistics of this arrangement.

“You do have a phone, right?” Evie asked wearily, realising now she should have probably checked before scribbling her number on the turtle's green skin.

After all, this wasn’t exactly the circumstances Evie thought she’d find herself in when she gave her number out to a boy for the first time during college.

Leo just chuckled at her question and nodded.

“There you go. I’ll be looking forward to our first lesson.” Evie smirked and closed the cap of the marker.

“Thanks…” Leo muttered softly, his eyes were busy fixating themselves upon the bold numbers written on the inside of his forearm.

A girl had just given him his number, a very good looking, endearing and funny human girl who made him laugh and saw past his unusual appearance, but it didn’t mean anything, right?

Leo had to remind himself that he was just doing her a favour to prevent tonight from ever happening again, it was his sworn duty to protect the city.

Although, not all of his nightly patrols ended in him sharing a cup of tea with a girl in her dorm room.

But he wasn’t able to ignore that small voice in his head which urged him to see this girl again. Leo knew this couldn’t be the last time he saw her.

“Evie?”

“Yes, Leo?”

“Don’t tell anyone but this, about me or my family. In case you couldn’t tell, we prefer to go around the city unnoticed.”

As much as Leo felt drawn to the human girl, he couldn’t let himself forget the severity of showing his identity to a citizen. Although the few humans he and his brothers had encountered would try to report their existence to the media, they were always shrugged off as typical deranged alien believers. But tonight, Leo had willingly stepped foot into a human's bedroom, anyone could have opened her door and seen a mutant, humanoid turtle sitting on her bed.

And for some reason, Leo couldn't shake his father's warning tone from his mind, emphasising the need to protect himself and their family.

It was a good thing Evie wasn’t expecting any visitors that night and her neighbours must have been fast asleep because they didn’t knock the wall three times, which was morse code for ‘be quiet’ in dormitory living.

“Of course, I wouldn’t tell anyone. Promise.” Evie said, voice soft yet serious.

And Leo believed her wholeheartedly.

“Thank you.”

It was getting late, Leo could tell from the small yawns that left Evie’s mouth even though she tried her hardest to cover them up. He thanked her for the tea and her hospitality, and he made sure to repeat the fact that Evie didn’t owe him anything, but she argued with him anyway.

Leo found that stubbornness of hers strangely sweet.

Evie walked with him over to the window and admired his effortless manoeuvre out of her dorm, he certainly did have the agility of a ninja after all.

“Hey Leo.” she called as she stuck her head out the window.

Evie looked down before her and locked eyes with the mutant turtle who was ready to scale down her fire escape.

“Call me about that training, I'll make sure to have the tea brewed and ready for you.” Evie said before closing the window and retreating back to the warmth of her dormitory.

Leo swore the journey back home to the lair had never gone by so quickly.

However, maybe it was the warmth that began to bloom in his chest which served as a good distraction for the blue clad turtle.

[hedonistpoet06]

Crawling Back To You - Part One:

2007! Leo x Female OC

Synopsis: Evangeline Blackwell, or Evie as she preferred to be called, always knew that New York City held an abundance of secrets which she was itching to uncover, hence why she decided to move there for college. However, she didn’t consider that one of the cities' secrets was the existence of a particular blue clad mutant turtle and his crime fighting brothers. Evie thought her biggest obstacle in her first year of college was going to be getting good grades, making new friends and getting used to dorm life. But alas, she now has to worry about a new crime organisation called ‘The Foot Clan’ working under The Shredder, the arch nemesis of the turtle and his family who she was beginning to grow very attached to. However, after too many close calls, Splinter soon realises that perhaps the turtles were not as strong as a team as he believed them to be, and thus Leo was not experienced enough to lead them. So what better fix is there than a year long trip to South America?

Authors Note: This work is also available on my AO3 'heartofthehedonistpoet06' if you wish to read it there!

Word Count: 3,651

Song: The Night We Met - Lord Huron, Phoebe Bridgers

☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆

It wasn’t uncommon for it to rain in New York City, it was more just an inconvenience.

It was especially inconvenient for Evie who had been rostered on the closing shift that night at ‘Urban Greens & Goods’ which was really just an overpriced supermarket with half decent pay.

It wasn’t that she hated the rain, quite the opposite actually. Evie wanted nothing more than to be cuddled up in her king single dorm bed with a cup of herbal tea in hand rewatching ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ for the millionth time. Oh how she missed that particularly firm dormitory mattress right now, it would be much more comfortable than how her feet felt after standing on them all night.

But instead, the young college student was going blind from the artificial fluorescent lights in the grocer whilst the store's radio blasted the same overplayed top ten hits for the week. And as the rain poured against the pavement outside, all Evie could think about was how she had to journey back to her dorm room in the pouring rain.

She cursed herself for not reading the weather forecast earlier that day.

The store closed its doors at 10:00pm, however, after counting the cash float, mopping the floors and covering all the remaining fruit and vegetables for the night, Evie didn’t leave until an hour later.

“You gonna be alright heading home in this weather?” her coworker asked as he locked the staff door.

“Yeah, I'll just take the bus. It drops me right outside of campus.” Evie replied, zipping up her waterproof jacket which she silently thanked herself for bringing.

“Alright, well I could always drop you home.” he offered.

The gesture was thoughtful, and Evie appreciated it, but she hadn’t known the boy long enough to feel comfortable sitting in his car and making him drive her home.

Besides, she always caught the bus.

“That’s very thoughtful, but I’ll be fine. Thank you.”

“Okay, just get home safe.”

“I will!” she called out, waving goodbye to her coworker.

The bus stop was only a bit further up the street, meaning Evie could take shelter from the rain and hide under the storefronts while she waited for her ride. She prayed the bus driver had the heating turned on because she was beginning to freeze from the cold air which nipped at her fingers and cheeks as the rain continued to pummel against the road.

A few minutes passed, then it became twenty, soon it turned into thirty.

Something wasn’t right, Evie knew this particular bus came rather frequently. She quickly opened the app on her phone which gave her live updates on New York City transport and traffic. It was a life saver in the first few weeks of living here.

Her cold fingers typed in the route of her usual route and almost immediately she was notified of how the bus was cancelled because of flooding on certain roads from the downpour.

“Shit.” Evie groaned, tossing her head back as she examined the downpour.

There was no way she was forking out a ridiculous amount of money for a taxi and it was right about now she started to regret not taking that lift from her coworker.

So, with no other option available, she decided to walk. It was about a twenty five minute walk back to campus, twenty with how fast Evie could walk when she was determined enough. She flicked up the hood of her rain jacket and rummaged in her bag for her earphones, if she was going to walk this long and in this much rain she had to listen to something to make the time go faster.

She threaded the wires under her jacket and shirt, protecting them from the rain and shoved her phone into an interior pocket of her jacket. Evie sighed as the tempo of her playlist started to reverberate in her ears, she reminded herself of how she would have to snatch one of the good clothes dryers in the dorm laundry when she got home and pray nobody dumped out her stuff, which would often result in a few missing socks.

The rain was heavy, Evie felt the weight of it almost blur her vision, making it difficult to even see the rain soaked pavement in front of her. However, she knew the route well enough, so seeing in front of her wasn’t the problem.

It was the fact that she couldn’t see what was behind her which was concerning.

The blaring music from her earphones combined with the intensity of the rain made it difficult for Evie to hear the sound of footsteps following her.

Evie immediately screamed in shock when she felt a firm pair of hands grab her arms, forcibly pulling her backwards.

Her earphones fell out of her ears from her sudden thrashing against whoever had decided to grab her, she screamed, yelled and cursed as she felt herself being dragged out of view from the bright streetlights and pulled towards the darkness of a back alley.

“Let go of me!” Evie screamed, still jolting her body erratically in an attempt to free herself from her attacker's grip.

However, this only angered him as a slimy hand slithered its way up to Evie's mouth, covering it. She gagged at the smell of dirt, grease and liquor filling her nose.

“Shuddup ya bitch” a deep voice slurred, signs of intoxication evident in his speech.

Evie's blood ran cold as he spoke into her ear, she couldn’t see his face but she could imagine what he had looked like. Vile and oleaginous. This was exactly the type of situation her parents had warned her about when she said she wanted to move to New York for college. She felt incredibly guilty for calling them paranoid when they gave her pepper spray during her move in day.

Evie also felt furious at herself for not accepting that lift, she would take an eternity of an awkward car ride over whatever was going to unfold in this dimly lit back alley.

She tried to do all those self defence tricks she had heard about, screaming, scratching, thrashing, although nothing seemed to pull her away from her attacker. His frame was significantly bigger and stronger than her, anything she tried was futile.

Suddenly, one last idea appeared in Evie's mind as she lunged herself forward, digging her teeth into the filthy flesh of the man who restrained her. She tried to ignore the foul, bitter taste of his skin as it filled her mouth, making her feel even more nauseous.

She heard him scream and curse at the sudden bite, however, even as his grip loosened slightly, it wasn’t enough for Evie to escape.

He quickly and roughly grabbed her by the back of the neck, forcing her body to collide with the wet concrete beneath her. Evies chest was pinned to the ground, making it increasingly difficult to breathe alongside the adrenaline and anxiety which coursed through her.

The man held one arm across her back whilst he used his free arm to pick up her tote bag which had slipped off her shoulder in the process.

“Whaddya have?” he said, talking to himself mostly as Evie couldn’t find it in herself to form words.

As he rummaged through her bag there was a small pathetic part of her which thought that maybe if she cooperated with him, he would let her go.

“Whaddis this shit?” he slurred, growing frustrated as he dumped out the contents of Evie's bag.

She didn’t bring a whole lot to work, just her dorm key, bus pass, her name tag, a water bottle and a few other random items worth next to nothing. The most valuable thing on her was her phone, and that was tucked away in her jacket, which she hoped her attacker wouldn’t realise.

A sob escaped Evies lips as she felt his anger grow. Unaware of what he would try to do next now that she didn’t have anything he wanted.

What made her all the more terrified was the fact she couldn’t see her attacker's face, not only was she facing away from him the rain had continued to pour, making seeing almost impossible.

Evie begged for the man to let her go, insisting that she didn’t have anything, as she continued to plead and she suddenly no longer felt the weight pinning her down.

But then something cut through the air, something that wasn’t Evie's cries for help or the man's cursing, it was a voice, somebody's voice.

“Let her go.” the voice said.

It was a masculine voice, only it didn’t sound as disgusting as her attackers. Whoever it was, his voice was deep yet pleasant, calm but firm and that reassured Evie immensely.

The air quickly became filled with a few confused words from the man and shortly after, the sound of punches and groans echoed in the alleyway.

Evie, who had previously buried her head into her arm in a protective manner, tried to peer over her shoulder and see who had saved her from this god awful situation. But the rain and the darkness made it so all the girl could see was shadows, fast moving shadows.

It wasn’t until the sound of a heavy body colliding with what Evie assumed was a brick wall that she knew it was all over. The alleyway became silent except for the rainfall and the few deep breaths of Evies saviour, whilst her attacker was most likely out cold, or worse. With shaky arms, Evie pulled herself up off the ground, her body still absorbing the adrenaline from the events that had just unfolded.

As she stood up she turned around, expecting to meet the face of her saviour, only she couldn’t. Evie could see what looked like the outline of someone, she struggled to identify any discernible features but she could tell someone was standing there, a few feet away.

She looked to her left, just barely making out the figure of her attacker slumped against the alley wall, knocked out unconscious.

“Are you alright?” the voice said gently through the darkness, making Evie's heart accelerate slightly, only this time it wasn’t out of pure fear.

“Yeah I’m fine…” she said, her unsteady voice obviously betraying her “just a bit shaken up that's all.”

“That's understandable.” he replied “looks like you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, just a homeless drunk wanting anything of yours that's of value.”

“Well, he chose the wrong girl. It’s not like he was going to find anything.” Evie said, deflecting the tension of the situation with humour as if she wasn’t pinned to the ground by a man twice her size just a moment ago.

He chuckled slightly at her response, not expecting for the girl to respond with such wit after a traumatic experience.

“Were you on your way home?” he asked.

“Yeah. I was just on my way home from work, I only had about two more blocks to go until well... you know.” Evie trailed off, gesturing to the man's unresponsive figure.

He chuckled softly once again and Evie swore she felt her chest tighten as the sound filled her ears.

“You know I actually saw you for a while already walking on the street. You shouldn't walk alone in this weather, let alone at night. It's dangerous."

“Wait…” Evie started, realising what he had just said “So you were watching me?”

“I was minding my business on the rooftop when I saw you walking alone, and thank god I kept my eye on you.”

“Hallelujah huh?” she replied “but what exactly were you doing up on the rooftop, mysterious white knight?”

She couldn't see his face but Evie swore that he rolled his eyes at her nickname for him.

“Well if I must answer your question, it's kind of what I do. I watch out for trouble, save people like you from harm.”

“So you’re like a vigilante.”

“Something like that.” he said through a breathy laugh, “although i’d like to think of myself as more of a protector.”

“A protector?”

Curiosity gnawing at her, Evie decided to step forward to hopefully bridge the distance between herself and the one who saved her. Although she noticed how he quickly retracted himself backwards, further into the shadows almost as if he didn’t want her to see him.

“Don't.” he said firmly.

“What?” she asked innocently.

“Don’t come any closer to me…” he spoke up again, his voice softer now but still serious.

“I just want to see the face of who saved me, so I know who to thank.”

“I prefer to stay in the shadows, hidden.”

“Please, I promise I won't tell a soul who you are.”

“Just…” he started, genuinely contemplating this “just know that it was your choice to see my face.”

“I’m aware.” Evie replied.

“And just promise not to freak out, okay?” he asked and Evie was surprised at how cautious he sounded for someone who so confidently beat up her attacker.

“Considering how calm I am after just getting mugged, I'd like to say I'm pretty good at not freaking out.”

“Okay just stay calm, please?”

And with his last plea, he stepped out of the comfort of the shadows, exposing himself to the dim light of the alleyway.

Evie’s breath hitched in surprise as his figure came into view, her breath getting caught in her throat leaving her speechless as she absorbed every detail of her savior’s appearance.

He was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

He stood at least six feet, his entire frame was covered in green skin that looked almost reptilian or maybe more amphibian, Evie just knew he wasn’t human, but it didn’t scare her. If anything, she was intrigued at his appearance.

As her eyes began to wander further she noticed the anatomy of his chest that closely resembled a plastron. His body was adorned with straps of leather, pads for his knees and elbows which was obviously used for protection in combat and upon his back Evie swore she could see the outline of a shell with the handles of two long katanas sticking out either side.

His green skin almost appeared luminous to Evie as the rain dripped down his body, he didn’t seem phased by it all, it was as if it was natural to him. Like he was in his element.

Evie could tell his body was defined by muscle and the discolouration of small scars which littered his arms and legs, most likely evidence of the fights he had endured.

But what surprised Evie most of all was his face, which was green like the rest of him, but it was his piercing blue eyes and matching blue mask he wore across them.

Evie could understand why he had explicitly warned her not to freak out, it was unusual for sure, he looked almost otherworldly, but she wasn’t scared. Perhaps it was the certain softness that resided behind his eyes which made the girl believe he wouldn’t hurt her, besides, he did save her from that disgusting man.

He tilted his head slightly upon seeing Evie's reaction, confused by the silence that consumed them. The turtle was anticipating a terrified scream, but instead, the girl in front of him looked as if she was in awe of his appearance and not completely terrified.

“Are you… alright?” he asked, sounding confused.

“Sorry… I just,” Evie stammered, slightly flustered by her lack of response, “wow.” was all she could say.

He let out a small laugh, taken aback by her reaction as he crossed his arms over his plastron.

“Can I just ask something?”

“Sure.”

“Are you a frog?”

“Pardon?” he scoffed humorously.

Evie felt her face grow hot as a small smile graced the corners of his mouth, obviously not expecting her to ask such a question.

“You know I just thought with the three fingers-” she started.

“Frogs have four fingers.” he replied matter of factly and despite the cold rain, Evie could tell her cheeks were most likely flushed red from humiliation.

“Forgive me, I'm not a zoologist.” she said, holding her hands up defensively.

She watched intently as his gaze shifted downwards and he began to shake his head in amusement.

“No you are certainly not.” he laughed.

“So are you going to tell me your name?” she asked, diverting the topic of conversation quickly to hide her embarrassment.

“It’s Leonardo, but my family calls me Leo.” Leo answered and Evie swore a name had never matched someone so perfectly.

“Leonardo huh? like the artist?”

“Yeah, let's just say my father is a big fan of the renaissance.”

“I don't blame him, it’s a pretty revolutionary art movement.” Evie smirked, tucking a piece of wet hair behind her ear, only just now realising she probably looked like a disheveled mess after just being held against the ground.

“I like it, it suits you.” she continued.

“Thank you.” he said softly, unfamiliar with the genuineness of her words.

“Sorry, um what is your name?” Leo grew slightly flustered himself as he felt rude for not asking sooner, he rarely met new people so his social skills were somewhat limited.

“It’s Evangeline, but please just call me Evie! I hate when people use my full name!”

“Why?”

“Because it’s what my parents call me when they’re mad at me about something.”

“I know the feeling.” Leo replied. “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Evie.”

“Likewise Leo.”

“And just so you know, I'm a turtle.”

“That definitely checks out.” Evie nodded, mentally cursing herself for not figuring it out earlier as if the shell and green skin weren’t clear indicators.

“Can I ask you something now?” Leo asked, purposefully repeating Evies own words from earlier which caused the girl to chuckle in amusement.

“Yes, you can.” she rolled her eyes playfully.

“Why aren’t you freaking out or running away?” Evie noticed the seriousness in his voice, and she couldn’t help but feel a wave of sympathy wash over her.

Were people really that terrified of him?

“Why would I be scared of someone who helped me when I needed it?” Evie crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged.

Sure, she was shocked by his appearance but if Leo really wanted to hurt her, he would have done it by now already, so why was there any need to be scared?

Something in Leo's eyes softened at Evie's words, like he wasn’t quite used to getting that reaction.

“Most people tend to be afraid of the unknown. It's usually a natural reaction. I mean, look at me. I'm not exactly subtle.” Leo explained, taking a bold step closer towards Evie, feeling more comfortable somehow.

“I never liked subtle anyway.” Evie tilted her head playfully, her gaze still fixed on Leos.

Leo swore he could feel his heart just about ready to beat out of his chest. Was this girl flirting with him? Or was she just being overly friendly.

Whatever it was, this kindness was a reaction that Leo found foreign and unusual, and yet he couldn’t find it in himself to stop talking to her.

However, Leo noticed a small shiver that went through her body, most likely a natural reaction to the rain which had somewhat eased but was still present.

“You’re cold, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I don't think this rain jacket is doing much anymore.” Evie replied, holding out her arms to display the drenched fabric which was not so water resistant now.

"You can't walk home like this. You're freezing to death. Come on, I'll take you home.” Leo said as he knelt down to pick up Evie's bag and belongings which were long forgotten now.

“Oh, thank you.” Leo simply smiled as he handed her the tote bag which looked almost comically small in his grip.

“Are you sure you want to? I already caused a bit of a scene earlier and I know there's probably other people who need your help.” Evie started, feeling guilty for having played the damsel in distress card once already.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I want to.” he said through a small smirk, “Besides, it's in the middle of the night and you're soaked to the bone. No chance I'm letting you walk on your own.”

“Well, I guess chivalry isn’t dead after all.” Evie replied, knowing it was futile to argue with the turtle.

She had only just met him but his stubbornness was evident enough.

Leo tilted his head, a boyish expression painted his face which made Evie wonder what he was plotting.

“I have another question. Do you get motion sickness?”

“I don't think so, why?” Evie raised an eyebrow, suddenly cautious of what Leo's words meant.

“Because we’re going to travel a different way.”

“What?”

“I hope you like piggy backs.” Evie finally pieced together what Leo meant and she couldn’t quite believe what he was proposing.

“Are you sure?” she asked, but before Leo could answer, he had turned around and picked her up, placing her on his shell as if she weighed nothing.

Evie’s breath hitched in surprise at the sudden movement, but she was impressed nonetheless by his graceful manoeuvre.

“Now I hope this isn’t too forward of me, but what’s your address?” Leo asked as she rested her arms around his neck, careful of the katanas which were strapped to his shell.

“No, not too forward at all white knight.” she replied and Leo chuckled at the mention of the nickname again, “do you know where the college campus is?”

“I do.”

“Well I live there, in the dorms.”

“Well, we’ll get there in no time” Leo said as he adjusted his grip on Evie, making sure she was alright, “Hold on tight, Evie.”

[hedonistpoet06]

What If The Storm Ends? - Part 3 Five Hargreeves x Female OC

'What if Five's time during that first apocalypse was slightly different, what if he wasn't alone for all those years?'

Chapter synopsis: Five is plagued by the downfall of his own hubris which got him stuck in the mess of the apocalypse in the first place. Meanwhile, Octavia learns that the strange boy she stumbled across has kept some odd company in the shape of a plastic mannequin. Octavia soon realises that Five's attachment to Delores is no laughing matter, and now Five has to deal with two women living under his roof.

Author's Note: I've started making fic edits on my tik tok 'hed0nistpoet06' so feel free to check it out! <3

Word Count: 3367

☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆

iii. Octavia, meet Delores

Five successfully time travelled for the first time on the 11th of November, 2002.

The boy’s abrupt departure was charged by the dispute he had shared with his adoptive father, eccentric billionaire and certified asshole, Reginald Hagreeves. As Five opened the obnoxiously grand wooden doors of the academy that he had called home he felt relieved at how easy it was to leave.

For 13 years Five and his siblings had endured the abuse regimented training implemented by their father and during that time simply leaving had never felt like an option to himself or the others. Where would he go? His name and face was plastered all over cheap merchandise throughout the city so if he did hypothetically leave it wouldn’t be long until some recognised him. Then he would have to deal with the repercussions of his father and he knew the man didn’t believe in the concept of mercy.

Five recalled the painful memories that plagued his childhood, all of which shared a common denominator, his father. Reginald trained them to the bone, they were more like working dogs than children to him. Both Five and his siblings had all been conditioned with the same purpose, to save the world. Five thought about the hours they spent being unethically disciplined into becoming the perfect superhuman team.

He thought about it all, the way his lungs would burn from over exertion, the metallic stench of blood which filled his mouth and the suffocating silence of his siblings after they returned home from a mission unsuccessful, terrified of their fathers wrath which was guaranteed.

But Five was finally free.

He had made the choice to ignore Reginalds dismissal of his desire to time travel, after all Five remembered that he was the one who obtained the ability to spatial jump, not his father, so what could the old man possibly know?

However, he was surprised by the fact that neither his father nor any of his siblings had made an attempt to chase after him. His father had called his numerical title from his position at the head of their dining table but made no effort to stop him from leaving. The only one of his siblings that showed any intrigue in his departure was his sister, Vanya, who softly shook her head as he proposed time travel to his father.

He tolerated her the most out of their siblings most likely due to the fact that she was powerless and therefore wasn’t driven by their ego unlike Luther who took his position as Number One within the family extremely seriously.

As Five strode through the street front he had walked down many times before he became elated at this new sense of freedom which consumed him. Because physically leaving was so easy he also grew slightly enraged that he hadn’t thought of fleeing the bounds of this time earlier.

He was ready to time travel, he knew it.

Five had dedicated an obscene amount of blood, sweat and tears into perfecting his spatial jumps, ensuring that his calculations were just right. And when the boy had conquered travelling through space effectively, he yearned to travel through time.

Five focused his energy into performing a spatial jump but instead of fixating on the distance he would cross, he focused on projecting himself forward in time.

He needed to start small, months first, then years.

Then he was suddenly absorbed in that familiar blue light and when he opened his eyes he was thrilled to see and feel the seasonal shift in the atmosphere. From the bright colours that people wore, the humidity of the city air which melted through his academy blazer and the sound of amiable chit chat, Five knew that it was summer.

“Not ready, my ass.” He mumbled under his breath, cursing his fathers previous sentiment.

He had proved him wrong and Five swore he had never felt so content with himself before, and that was saying something.

Feeling adventurous and intoxicated from his own adrenaline high, Five decided to jump again.

The success of his second attempt was confirmed when he found himself on the same street front, only it was surrounded by snow. Five recognised the winter chill amongst the gentle falling of snow and the absence of people.

One more time, Five wanted to jump one more time. Then he would be completely satisfied with himself.

Oh how Five desperately wished he could have stopped himself there. To tell himself that he did not need to make that third, fatal jump. He could practically hear his fathers voice taunting him as the old man recited the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus once.

“Must I remind you, Number Five of the tragedy of Icarus. The boy did not heed his father’s warning regarding the fragility of their feather and wax wings. Driven by his own self perpetuated ego, the boy flew too high. Thus, the sun melted his wings and he plunged into the sea.” Reginald had explained this the first time Five had questioned the legitimacy of time travel to him.

Five did not agree with his father but he did wish that he had acknowledged the man's wisdom instead of feeding his own hubris.

When Five jumped he was met with nothing but death and destruction. The silence that surrounded him was harrowing. The only noise that filled his ears was that of burning debris and the reverberation of his own heartbeat.

Everything was destroyed. The buildings which Five had known his whole life had been obliterated into rubble, leaving the street unrecognisable to the boy.

Five panicked as he ran through the remains of the street. Ash was falling from the sky like snow and it filled his nose and mouth, he could taste the annihilation on his tongue but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. His thoughts were consumed by one thing, finding his family.

He sprinted and hurled himself over chunks of concrete until he reached the academy, or at least what used to be left of the academy.

What stood in front of Five was now a mere skeleton of the building he used to call home. Despite all the painful memories that inhabited those four walls, Five never wished for it to be completely eradicated.

“Vanya!” She was the first to appear in his mind as he called out into the empty space before him. He heard nothing in response except for the small flickering of flames that consumed some parts of the house’s remains.

“Ben!” Five then thought about his brother who he renowned as the least idiotic of the siblings, second to himself of course. But not even Ben could outwit the grim reality of this current situation Five had found himself in.

“Dad!” He finally called out for his father, his voice breaking slightly. He expected his father to miraculously appear before him and give him some grand ‘I told you so’ lecture and then return home for him to receive his punishment for disobeying him.

He would gladly take the fury of his father over the desolate scene he was witnessing.

“Anyone!” He turned to the street and called out, silently hoping that a lone survivor or two would call for help from under the wreckage.

Once again, Five was met with silence. His own voice appeared to get lost in the endless void of grey industrial butchering.

Five tried to compose himself enough to conjure his energy into his palms and focus on shifting himself back in time. Even if he couldn’t get back to the exact point in which he left, Five wouldn’t care, he just needed to get the hell out of there.

He needed to hear the bickering of his siblings, the god awful jokes that Klaus made, Ben's cynical commentary or the sweet harmonies of Vanya’s violin which embedded itself into every corner of their house.

As Five’s hands were encapsulated by that familiar blue light his hope quickly died when he was met with physical resistance.

An invisible force was lodging itself against Five when he tried to use his power and no matter how he tried or how deeply he concentrated, he couldn’t jump. He felt like two brick walls were closing in on himself, he was suffocating. Five found the simple act of breathing difficult which only hindered his concentration.

His academy uniform was excruciatingly warm compared to his blazing surroundings and ash had wedged itself into the back of his oesophagus, only contributing to his laboured breathing.

Any attempt of using his powers to propel himself backwards proved to be futile. There was absolutely no way of rewinding his actions and erasing this decrepit, lifeless landscape from his mind.

As Five turned to face the remains of the academy once again he was met with the gut wrenching realisation that he was completely and utterly alone in this very moment.

Five crumbled to his knees, ignoring the way the concrete scalded and grazed his skin. The ash then began to rain down even heavier than before, it stuck to his hair, his hands and his skin. It was like he was being absorbed by the end of the world itself.

And at that very moment, Five Hargreeves began to cry.

— -- —

Octavia had left her base with Five the following morning to start their newly forged companionship.

She packed the few belongings that she had into her backpack, Five had so generously offered to carry some too. Octavia didn’t need to take much, mostly clothes, the few knives and other objects she had collected over the two years alone. Nothing really obtained any sentimental value to her anymore, everything which she did own was what she had found out of necessity for survival.

The only tangible object that had remained consistent throughout her time in the apocalypse was a dainty silver necklace her parents had gifted her on her 12th birthday. It wasn't incredibly fancy or expensive, just a simple silver chain and a matching heart shaped pendant and on the back her initials 'OM' had been engraved in italic writing. It may have sounded pathetic but the small piece of jewellery was her last connection to home, to her parents and physical proof that she lived a life before the world had caved in on itself.

Sometimes she found herself running the pad of her thumb over the backside of the pendant just to feel the grooves of the engraving. The silver itself was scratched due to natural apocalypse related wear and tear but she could still clearly feel and trace over the two letters which constituted her initials.

She was honestly impressed the dainty thing had lasted this long.

Despite being somewhat relieved to leave the concrete shack she called home, Octavia couldn’t help but feel a slight heaviness overcome her when she turned around to say one last goodbye to her shelter for the past two years. It kept her safe, protected and somewhat warm during the time she inhabited it and ultimately helped to sustain her survival.

However as she looked towards the boy who was already a few steps ahead of her she felt a twinge of relief knowing that she would no longer be alone.

The walk to Five’s base took the two of them half of the day to complete.

It turned out that Five resided on the complete opposite side of the city. Octavia vocalised her annoyance as the two of them hiked through the rubble of the city, the spring warmth was particularly intense that day. Five rolled his eyes and told her to suck it up and reminded her that there were far worse conditions to be in.

However, Octavia caught him complaining under his breath about why he had agreed to this deal. She didn’t take his remark too seriously, she knew well enough that he wanted this just as much as she did. Their two years of respective solitude was gruelling and unforgiving. A small intrinsic part of Octavia was almost excited to be in the presence of someone else's company for the foreseeable future, especially since Five was just about her age and easy on the eyes, although she wouldn't admit that out loud.

After what felt like an eternity of walking in the spring heat the two finally made it to Five’s base. Upon their arrival, Octavia finally understood what Five meant when he said that his place was more developed than her own. Five had sought refuge in the remains of an old library. Octavia deciphered the battered metal sign that read ‘Argyle Public Library’. The building itself consisted of a circular concrete structure that had somehow withstood the end of the world. Although some of its brick walls crumbled down, leaving it exposed to the elements, Octavia could see where Five had so evidently tried to patch it up and make it liveable. However, half of the ceiling was open, meaning there was still some exposure to the elements.

Octavia stood still in awe of the building, it was almost metaphorical how this cylindrical structure had combatted the apocalypse and somewhat succeeded. The circular architecture reminded her of something from antiquity, like one of those marble temples you’d see in ancient Greece. Only this place was made out of concrete and brick and not elegant marble. It stood proudly amongst the rubble of the city and she was slightly surprised that she hadn’t come across the building before in any of her travels throughout the city.

“Wow.. Five. It’s incredible.” She said, processing it's shockingly decent state.

“It’s not awful. It was the only building I could find that was somewhat standing.” Five walked towards what Octavia presumed was once the doorway, now replaced with a piece of fabric that acted as a curtain.

“It’s impressive.” She followed shortly behind him as he drew back the sheet but stopped abruptly.

Five shifted his weight and turned to look at Octavia. A serious expression painted his face as Octavia shot him a questioning look.

“Before you come in there is something I need to tell you.” He said sternly.

“What is it?” Octavia folded her arms over her chest, eager to hear what the boy was about to reveal.

“I’m afraid I haven’t been completely honest with you.” Five confessed. Truthfully, the whole walk home he had been mentally debating with himself how he was going to approach this situation.

“Five, you’re being weird.” Octavia knew that being weird wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for Five but something about his sudden shift in behaviour had irked her immensely.

“I haven’t exactly been alone all this time.” Five stated and Octavia felt her face flush with rage. She recalled their conversation only two days ago now when the two of them shared their experiences about being alone for two entire years, only to discover that the boy had lied to her.

Octavia secretly hoped that Five was hiding some stray dog and that was what he considered company. Her anger would dissipate if that were the case, Octavia loved animals, she had been surrounded by them every summer she spent on her grandparents farm. There were the usual chickens, pigs, cows but the lambs were her favourite. She especially when the lambs had just been born, no older than a few days and her grandfather allowed her to nurse them a bottle of milk and run her fingers through the soft tufts of wool.

“What the hell do you mean?” Octavia spoke up as she pulled herself out of her own memory which began to cloud her mind.

Five didn't respond. He instead drew back the curtain and gestured for her to step inside. Octavia, although weary, quickly followed suit.

She had almost forgotten about his peculiar revelation when her eyes landed on the interior of his base. It was so incredibly fitting to Five’s character that she almost had to hold a small giggle back.

The base consisted of one large, open circular room. His mattress planted in the upper portion of the room, surrounded by stacks of books. The remaining walls that weren’t completely blown out were covered in equations, the very equations Five had told her about the previous day. Octavia tried to decipher some of the formulas but this level of mathematics was beyond intelligible, it could have resembled scribble to the untrained eye. On the opposite end of the room there were two more guns leaning up against the wall, much like the rifle he wore on his back when the two of them first met. Across every inch of the room were towers of books, some in better condition than others but there was an abundance of them. Octavia almost wanted to cry tears of pure joy when she saw them sitting just a few mere feet away from her. In the centre of the space was a table, she presumed it was once some grand wooden dining table but it had obviously been destroyed. She silently chuckled at the idea of Five trying to fix it, opting for a piece of metal to substitute one of the missing table legs.

Octavia noticed that on top of the table's surface sat a mannequin. She only had the upper half of her body intact and she was missing an arm. Despite her absent appendages she was in somewhat decent condition, only a few scratches and dirt covered her bald head and she was dressed in a black and white polka dot blouse. Octavia shifted her weight between her feet as she waited for Five to say something, to maybe make a joke or laugh it off, instead he stared at its plastic beady eyes with an almost longing look in his eyes. It was honestly the softest, most unguarded expression that she had seen in the two days that she had known him.

“I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long dear, I know you hate it when I take off like that.” Five dropped his bag and rifle by the doorway and strode over to the table. He gently reached out a hand and began to rub the mannequin's plastic cheek.

Octavia quickly realised that it was neither a dog or another human person Five was referring to it was a plastic mannequin. She could only describe her as the type of mannequin you'd see in those cheap department stores with the uncanny faces that make you uncomfortable if you stare at them for too long.

“I know. I know. I didn’t mean to worry you.” He mumbled to the mannequin and Octavia was dumbfounded at his sudden shift in behaviour.

The tender and almost affectionate tone of his voice was completely foreign and seemingly out of character. She cleared her throat awkwardly, feeling as if she was interrupting a deeply intimate moment between Five and the mannequin.

Five looked back at Octavia before he gestured a hand to her direction.

“Octavia meet Delores, Delores this is Octavia. Our new roommate.” Octavia couldn't believe that the boy was introducing her to a non sentient piece of plastic.

“Are you telling me you’ve been shagging a mannequin for the past two years?” Octavia had concluded that this wasn't just an act Five was performing to get a rise out of her, he was being entirely serious.

“Don’t talk about Delores like that!” Five quipped back. His voice dramatically shifted from its previously affectionate tone to that of defensiveness.

Five found Delores during his first few weeks into the apocalypse. He considered Delores a real person, she was the closest thing to real which he could find in the debris. Her face was still mostly intact aside from a few scratches and Five was relieved to see something that mildly resembled another human being.

At first he just spoke to her in an attempt to keep himself sane, then he started to wheel her along in his metal trolley which he used on supply runs. Soon, Five wasn't exactly sure when but somewhere along the way she became Delores, it was like the name had just miraculously came to him and it suited her.

Octavia put her hands up in defeat, “Jesus, I guess you really did lose your mind.”

“Don’t listen to her, love. She doesn’t mean it.” Five said softly and Octavia rubbed her forehead in thought. Perhaps this was one quirk she would have to ignore in the name of survival.

“I swear to god Five if I have to hear you two getting it on.” She smirked at the livid reaction that spread across Five's face.

[hedonistpoet06]

What If The Storm Ends? - Part 2 Five Hargreeves x Female OC

'What if Five's time during that first apocalypse was slightly different, what if he wasn't alone for all those years?'

Chapter synopsis: Still slightly stunned by the presence of another human being in the apocalypse, Octavia decides to mediate the tension by offering Five food back at her base. Despite both obtaining superhuman abilities, Five couldn't be more different from this bubbly stranger he happened to stumble across. Five finds himself in a complicated predicament as he naturally gravitates towards Octavia's warmth but he cannot forget his most important priority, getting back to his family. The two decide to strike up a deal beneficial for their survival, after all, strength is in numbers, right?

Authors Note: I don't know if this work is showing up on any of the tags i've listed it under. Is this a common problem for anyone else? I've never posted on tumblr before so I'm still trying to figure out the ropes ;w;. Let me know if this is appearing under any tags for you guys.

Nevertheless, enjoy this chapter!

Word Count: 7197

☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆

ii. 𝐀𝐧 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫

After almost an hour of walking, Octavia had guided Five to where she had been staying for the past two years. The walk was pleasant but mostly silent. Octavia would try to ignite some form of small talk whilst Five kicked a rock along the ground to keep himself entertained.

In reality, Five was still processing the fact that he was no longer the last man on earth after the destruction of the apocalypse, a notion which he believed to be true for almost two entire years. Yet here Octavia was, another superhuman survivor. She wasn't just an apparition of his malnourished delirium, she was real and warm to the touch as Five had evidently felt earlier that day when he took her hand in his.

The pair had finally reached what Five had presumed was her dwelling. It was located amongst the outskirts of the city and consisted of the remains of a decent sized concrete building with the roof intact, it had to have been no larger than a small street front store.

"Welcome to my humble abode. It's not much but it does the job." Octavia pulled back a large sheet of metal which acted as her front door. Five followed her inside and was met with the insides of her shelter.

It wasn't gloriously spacious by any means but it was just big enough to fit a mattress, a few milk crates where she kept her belongings in and a small wooden desk, like those you'd find in a classroom.

"This is where you've been living this whole time?" Five noticed the scarcity of her settlement and although his own was far from luxurious, he felt somewhat uneasy at the bareness of her space.

Five couldn't find it in himself to judge however, especially if it had helped her survive against the past two bitter winters.

"Yeah. I think it used to be some storage shed for a high school. It survived the impact well enough... it gets kinda cold during the winter but it gets the job done." Octavia explained and Five agreed, it had most of its four walls and a roof which was rare considering the demolished state of the city.

"It's practical. I like it." Five complimented and Octavia smiled proudly before walking over to one of the plastic milk crates. She knelt in front of it and began to rummage for the tinned goodness she had promised Five.

"Why thank you." Five regretted inflating her pride any further but remembered that she was the one who offered him food so he bit his tongue.

"Here, catch." Octavia retrieved a small metal tin of baked beans from the crate before standing up again and tossing the can to Five.

Octavia was secretly impressed by his abnormally sharp reflexes as he retracted a gloved hand from one of his pockets and caught the can without fumbling.

"Thanks." He said curtly but the boy couldn't ignore the intense rumbling that erupted in his stomach as he saw the dusty label that read "Original Baked Beans In Rich Tomato".

Five hadn't eaten anything since the previous morning when he mistakenly decided to test the myth of Twinkies lasting forever, turns out it was just in fact a myth and they too have an expiry date like most edible things.

"I only have one fork and a mildly bent spoon so take your pick." Octavia walked over to where Five was standing in the middle of the room and gestured to the two utensils she had clasped in her hand.

"I'll take the spoon." Five said although he really could not find it in himself to care as his hunger started to overwhelm him.

Five watched as Octavia made herself comfy on her bed, which was really just two old mattresses put together with a pile of some tattered blankets on top. She pressed her back up against the concrete wall and began to open the metal tab on the can.

She then looked up at Five, who was staring back at her awkwardly with a can of beans in one hand and a disfigured spoon in the other.

"You can sit down, you know? I don't bite." Octavia chuckled and patted a spot on her makeshift bed.

"I'll take your word for it." Five decided that he would rather sit comfortably then make a spectacle of himself eating whilst standing up. He sunk down on the old mattress but ensured that he still kept some distance between him and Octavia, who was still a stranger to him.

"Bon appetit, Five." She said as Five opened his own can eagerly. His mouth salivated at the sight of the beans drenched in sauce and immediately began to shovel the food into his mouth.

Five was never a fan of baked beans, his mother often prepared it as a side dish at breakfast time but he always refused it. Now, Five was going on more than 24 hours without food and he did not care about his usual disdain towards the food.

He was forced to put that picky part of himself to bed a long time ago when survival became his top priority.

"Damn. Someone's hungry." Octavia stifled a smile that began to grow on her face as she watched the boy next to her chow down on the canned food in an almost feral way.

"And you're not?" Five replied, he then brought the sleeve of his jacket up to his lips and wiped the leftover residue away.

"Oh, I am. I just haven't lost my table manners two years into the apocalypse, that's all." Octavia let out a small giggle at her own remark. Five paused his eating to glance over at the girl next to him, he noticed the calm and poised manner in which she held her fork. Now Five just felt embarrassed.

He cursed himself for growing flustered so quickly, after all why should he find it in himself to care? It was the apocalypse and the table manners which his adoptive father incessantly drilled into him had completely left his mind.

"How are you so... perky?" Five asked, he was genuinely intrigued how someone who had survived as long as he had managed to be so giggly. It was borderline infuriating and slightly unexpected for Five.

He always was a cynical person, even before the apocalypse. Five knew he was smarter than his own siblings and often gloated about it. He had a natural inclination towards mathematics and physics thanks to the nature of his powers but his intellect only heightened his ego.

"What do you mean?" Octavia lowered her fork, taken aback by his question. She knew that her lively attitude did not correlate to their situation; however she found it completely futile to adopt a pessimistic mindset when everything else outside was crumbling.

"I mean you. You're so bubbly for someone in our predicament." Five explained and watched as Octavia's brows furrowed at his words. He felt his cheeks turn warm, he hated how he sounded like one of his siblings who would often imbue humour with their respective powers. "That pun wasn't intentional." He insisted and Octavia gave him an unconvincing look.

"Well, I guess I kind of always have been. Don't get me wrong, I certainly wasn't jumping for joy when the whole world ended but I guess I quickly realised that there was no good just wallowing in my own despair. I just had to keep going..." Octavia explained as she picked away at the remains of the cans label.

Five watched her nimble fingers scratch away the adhesive sticker and started to dwell on what she had said. Despite the morbid context, Five secretly admired how her bright attitude had remained continuous.

"Just had to keep going, huh?" He asked. The ambiguity of her words had reminded him too much of himself.

"Yeah, I always did kind of hold out hope that I'd see something or someone and that would reassure me that I wasn't completely alone out here." Octavia looked over to where Five was situated on the other end of the mattress.

"And yet when you did you thought it would be a good idea to trap me in your bubble?" Five teased.

"You had a gun! And besides, stranger danger still applies in the apocalypse." Octavia exclaimed and threw her hand towards the direct of Five's rifle which he had propped up against the wall.

"I mean, I'm technically still a stranger to you." He stated truthfully.

Although Five had only met Octavia that day he concluded that they gravitated towards each other so comfortably because of their mutual connection through their powers.

"As am I." Octavia retorted confidently and Five softly rolled his eyes, a smirk tugged on the corner of his lips as he continued to eat his beans less feverishly now.

"How old were you when your powers first manifested?" Five spoke up.

The surrealness of the day had begun to catch up on him and the boy had to remind himself that he was in the company of not only just another living person, but a person with superhuman abilities much like himself. Only Octavia wasn't like himself or his adoptive siblings or even the other mysterious children who he shared a birthday with, she was an entirely different entity. She existed outside of his world and time and Five found himself increasingly fascinated.

"I was four." She admitted.

"And how did it happen?" Five pried further.

"You're asking a lot of questions." Octavia smirked, giving the boy a taste of his own medicine.

"You're the first person I've seen in two whole years and you expect me to not ask questions?" Five declared and this caused Octavia to chuckle softly again.

"No, you're allowed to be curious. But does this mean I get to interrogate you next?" She abandoned her now empty can of beans to the floor. She then crossed her legs in an attempt to get comfortable and shifted to face Five.

"Depends on if I'm feeling nice enough." Five said vaguely, keeping the aloofness present in his voice. The truth was he didn't know what to tell her, his situation wasn't exactly the easiest to explain.

Five was positive that Octavia would recognize his affiliation with the academy if they both lived in the same city despite the years between them.

"Well if you must know, I made my first forcefield because I didn't want to take a bath." Octavia revealed.

"Pardon?" Five had choked on the last bite of food which he had mistakenly put in his mouth.

He was caught off guard by the unserious nature of Octavia's statement. He was not expecting that. Five watched out of the corner of his eye as Octavia tried to hold back a smile from forming at his simultaneous struggle of choking and chuckling. She thought the humorous sight before her was almost endearing.

"Let me elaborate, when I was younger I used to run circles around the living room hiding from my Mom because she would chase me to take my nightly bath. I wasn't a dirty or unhygienic child, believe me." She started and Five found himself grinning at her words.

"Sure." He quipped back, eyeing the state of her dirtied jacket. In all fairness, he was not exactly the pinnacle of hygiene at the moment.

"Watch it." Octavia said menacingly before she continued to speak, "I just didn't like bath time because I knew that bedtime would be straight after and I didn't want the day to be over yet. One night, my Mom was chasing me and I turned my head to look back at her. I could see the horror on her face as I ran straight towards the dining table. I should have split my head open on the corner of the table but I didn't. I braced for the impact but I never felt any pain. And when I was brave enough to finally open my eyes, I was surrounded by a soft purple sphere of light." Octavia's eyes softened as she narrated the memory, a mixture of both nostalgia and melancholy lacd her voice.

Five listened attentively to the recollection of her memory as he compared it to his own and that of his siblings.

"So it sounds like they first materialised as a natural consequence of self defence." Five assumed based on the information she had provided.

"I mean, I guess? That's a very fancy way to put it." Octavia tilted her head, shrugging her shoulders as she looked at him. She had never really thought about it in that regard. Her powers were always a part of her, like her cells and DNA, her power was hardwired into her very being and she knew it was what made her different.

"What did your parents do, when they found out that is?" Five asked.

"Panic probably. But after they got over the initial shock that they had a super human baby, they tried their hardest to keep everything discreet and give me a somewhat normal childhood. My mom was an elementary school teacher so she left her job to homeschool me during those years when I couldn't quite keep my power under control. They were always scared that I'd accidentally slip up and show my power off at school and then the government would hunt me down and do research on me like some kind of lab rat." Octavia explained and she felt a complicated smile grace her face as she remembered her youth.

Octavia knew that her powers had to be kept a secret, but she was never kept a secret herself. She knew that her parents loved her an immense amount and they proved that through their actions.

"Seems like they made quite the sacrifice to keep you safe." Five replied, his voice slightly solemn which surprised Octavia.

Five couldn't deny the familiar feeling of jealousy that washed over him at Octavia's description. It was the same bitterness he felt when he'd walk past a park and see children playing or when his siblings and himself would go on missions and reunite hostages with their families. He was resentful of the way the parents would weep and hold their child as if they were never going to feel them in their embrace ever again.

"They did. I'm eternally grateful for how much they gave up for my benefit. But don't get me wrong, they didn't deprive me of a normal childhood. I wasn't on house arrest my whole life because of what I could do, my parents were just cautious. Cautious of who came to the house, cautious of how my temperament affected my powers and such. But other than that I had a pretty normal childhood." Five tried to subdue the envy that coursed through his being as Octavia spoke.

"Is that so?" Five asked, curious by what she meant exactly. He knew that being home schooled wasn't a part of the typical American nuclear family checklist, Five wondered to himself if Octavia had also felt the same isolation which he had.

"Well, every summer when dad could take time off work we'd drive out of the city to my grandparents farm up north. We'd spend every summer there with my cousins and I could just let loose and be a kid." Octavia watched as Five nodded softly at her response, he was absorbing every detail that she gave him and tried to picture it in his mind.

Five tried his hardest to imagine what her childhood would have looked like in stark contrast to his own, the rural nature of the farm and the company of her family sounded almost heavenly to him.

Although Octavia felt slightly embarrassed at her mindless rambling at this point, she was also appreciative of how he let her speak so freely, how he listened so diligently. His snarky demeanour that she had gotten well acquainted with since they met only hours ago was gone and was replaced by something almost curious.

"Sounds like you had a good life before all this." Five forced himself to bury his jealousy deep within some dark cavern of his chest and tried to conjure a genuine response.

"I really did," She said, her voice mellow as she began to reminisce on the nostalgic details of her youth,"My cousins were all older than me and they knew about my powers. It was our big family secret. Although, there was only one strict rule enforced which was absolutely no force fields allowed on the farm." Octavia chuckled at her recollection of her grandmother's authoritative voice.

"I don't blame them, they're not exactly pleasant to be trapped in." Five huffed in amusement and Octavia shot him a playful glare before continuing.

"My family used to have this joke that I'm our great-something-grandma reincarnated from the Salem witch trials and I'm here to enact my revenge." Five chuckled as she tried her hardest to sound wicked.

"A witch reincarnated, huh?" Five had to admit he found the inside joke slightly comical.

"I wish. As cool as it would be to be related to a witch, I think I'm just the anomaly in the family." Octavia sighed and Five was painfully reminded again of how different their separate lives were before the apocalypse started.

"I wish I could relate to that sentiment." His voice was barely above a whisper but Octavia managed to hear it clearly.

"What part, being the witch or the anomaly in the family?" She asked and Five instantly regretted opening his mouth to respond.

"The latter." He silently prayed that his dry tone would encourage Octavia to not poke any further, unfortunately it had the opposite effect.

"You have a big family?" She questioned, eager to know what the boy meant.

"We aren't talking about me here." Five dismissed her quickly.

"You said you'd tell me about yourself once I opened up." Octavia recalled their agreement they had made only moments ago.

"If I was feeling nice enough." Five replied quickly, making a heavy vocal emphasis on the 'if' at the start of his sentence.

"And are you?" She queried.

"I'll decide once I finish eating, bubbles." Five smiled at himself for the genius nickname he endowed on her and grinned even harder when he saw her jaw clench in annoyance.

"Hey! Don't call me that!" The blonde girl exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well don't call me Cinco!" Octavia let out a melodramatic groan and rolled her head back against the wall in defeat. Five let out a small huff of irritation at her childish behaviour however his smirk was still plastered on his face and didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"You are vexing, you know that?" Her head was still resting against the wall however she tilted it slightly to look over at Five.

"I'm surprised you know what that word means." Five hurled back.

"Dickhead." Octavia mumbled but Five didn't take her profanity to heart, "You know when you're homeschooled it only takes about two to three hours maximum to complete the assigned work." She stated and Five tried not to scoff again at the irony of her words. He was no stranger to the concept of homeschooling.

"I'm aware." Five for once was being truthful. Although the academies teaching regions were mostly tailored towards their superpowers he also had to complete traditional academics.

"Well then you should know that with that abundance of spare time that I had the opportunity to indulge in literature, meaning I have developed an extensive lexicon." Octavia proclaimed and Five chuckled at her confidence.

"And you called me the nerd?" He mocked Octavia's earlier sentiment when he was attempting to explain his power in a sophisticated way.

Octavia's face flushed at Five's remark, however she quickly mumbled some curse word under her breath before changing the subject.

"What about you?" She asked, obviously deflecting Five's previous taunting.

"Hm?" He pressed his lips into a thin line, not exactly sure of what she meant by her question.

"How old were you when you found out you had powers?" Octavia elaborated and Five shrugged his shoulders in a casual manner.

"Not entirely sure, our powers have been ingrained into me and my siblings' lives since before I could even remember-" Five began to speak but he was quickly interrupted by Octavia's exclamation.

"Ah hah! So you do have siblings!" Five let out an irritated sigh and rubbed his eyes.

"Shit." How had he let that slip so easily? Especially after all his effort trying to shift their earlier conversation away from his past.

"I knew I could make you crack." Octavia laughed and Five was absolutely furious with himself. His hands tensed around the empty can of beans in an attempt to conceal his annoyance at both himself and at her.

He wasn't directly annoyed at Octavia exactly. He was enraged rather by the fact that she had so subtly maneuvered the conversation to make him open up which he so desperately tried not to do.

"Damn it! Fine! I have a family, six other siblings if you're dying for specifics." Five said, the defeat evident in his voice.

"Wow, that's a whole village. And you all have powers too?" Octavia asked, attempting to put some of the pieces of information together herself.

"The majority of us do, I guess you could say it runs in the family." He answered.

"What are they?" Octavia knew her chances at prying any more information out of the boy was slim but she still wished to try.

"That's all you're getting." Five had pulled the plug in this conversation.

"Five, please!" Octavia insisted and Five noticed how she shuffled her body to face him. In doing so, she had effectively moved a few inches closer to Five, something which he was now incredibly aware of.

"No." Eventually, after half an hour of annoying Five she finally gave up.

Their empty cans of beans were long forgotten on the floor. The rigid yet fresh tension that surrounded the pair since they first met had started to melt away as they talked. It was a bizarre predicament that neither of them expected to happen when the day started. Both Octavia and Five had woken that morning believing that they were each most likely the last person on earth, only now to find themselves amongst each other's company.

Octavia was still bewildered by the fact that she had met this boy only a few hours prior and here she was in her own base, sharing a meal with him and letting him sit on her bed and talk to her.

Of course she didn't want to believe the terrifying prospect that she really was alone, but the possibility of someone else being out there felt inconceivable.

The pair talked about a myriad of things, mostly apocalypse related but some not.

Five told her the story of how he was forced to eat cockroaches for a week during the winter because he was so short on food. Octavia gagged at his vivid narration of the memory but she had to admit that she had also done her fair share of disgusting acts in the name of survival. Octavia relaxed as Five spoke, resting her head against her hand as she laid across against the worn mattress. Five was still stiff and alert however, sitting upright on the mattress with his back up against the wall, but his arms were loosely crossed over his chest which Octavia had interpreted as being his attempt at relaxing.

Their conversations were still filled with some witty remarks but their topics of discussion flowed very naturally. Octavia didn't expect it to be so alleviating to talk to another person after two years of solitude, it was like a boulder-sized weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

A small girlish part of Octavia had forgotten about the current obliterated state of the world outside. For a slight fraction of a moment, she had discarded the reality of the apocalypse. She imagined what this conversation between us would have been like if the two of them didn't meet this way. Octavia couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if they had met at school, maybe they two of them would be be academic rivals turned unlikely friends, and she would invite Five over to her place to work on a project, only that the pair would find themselves on Octavia's bedroom floor, talking rather intimately, much like how they are now.

However, Octavia was brought back to their unfortunate reality by Five asking what time it was. She quickly stood up and walked over to the sheet of metal that substituted a front door.

"Oh shit. I lost track of time, it's completely dark out." She cursed as she was met with the lack of light outside.

"Damn it. You're right." Five stood up and walked over to where she stood, examining the dark landscape from over her shoulder. He let out a small sigh at the sight.

Five should have known better than to lose track of time and Octavia felt incredibly guilty for forgetting the desolate wasteland outside.

"You can't just teleport back home?" She asked and although it was a valid question, Five's abilities didn't exactly work like that.

"I told you I don't teleport! Besides, my powers are more effective when jumping smaller distances." It was true, the reliability of Five's spatial jumps began to dwindle when he tried to cross farther distances.

Then there was an awkward silence between the two of them and Octavia's mind began to race as she tried to find an appropriate way to articulate her solution.

"Five." She spoke up.

"Yes?" He looked at the girl who was only a few feet in front of him. He admired the way some of her hair had become loose from their braids as they spoke, it made her look like a little kid who was ready to succumb to the comfort of sleep.

"Do you wanna maybe spend the night? I don't want you walking back to your base in the dark. I have enough bedding and I can set it up if you'd like?" She proposed her idea and Five felt his brain effectively shut off in that very moment.

Did she mean what he thought she meant?

"Uh..." Five had been rendered speechless for the first time in the whole six or so hours that Octavia has known him.

"We're not sharing a bed you weirdo! I've got a spare mattress you can take and even a blanket. " Octavia exclaimed and rubbed her temple in dismay.

"I wasn't insinuating that!" Five's face reddened for what was probably the tenth time that day.

"Get your mind out of the gutter." She replied with a small smirk as she walked past him, bumping his shoulder,"Or do you want to risk getting killed by god knows what while walking home in the dark?"

Five's stomach tightened as he felt her shoulder brush his with enough pressure to be forceful but also playful.

"Oh shut up," Five muttered, his tone unfortunately betrayed him and revealed his slight embarrassment and frustration. He grumbled for another moment before he spoke again. "Fine. I'll stay the night."

"See, you didn't have to make it weird." Octavia called out teasingly as she began to look for the spare bedding that she kept in one the milk crates. Five huffed again, and even though Octavia wasn't looking at him she could feel the agitation emanating from his body. She then dragged the secondary mattress she used to elevate her bed across the floor and to the opposite side of the room.

"There you go, now you won't get cooties." She said jokingly as she looked back at Five. His hands were shoved into his pockets and his face was softly illuminated by the oil lamp she kept on the nearby milk crate.

Octavia felt her snarky remark fall back into her throat as she admired his sharp yet ethereal features for the millionth time that day. She just had to remind herself that this was probably just a combination of her isolation and the start of her pubescent hormones. He was just a boy. A boy who was sleeping in her home, only a few meters away. But he was also the only boy Octavia had seen in two entire years.

"Thanks." He said softly, "For this and dinner." Five gestured to the cans that were abandoned on the floor.

"No worries," She said and began to unlace her shoes in preparation for bed, "Goodnight Five. Thanks for not murdering me." She smiled and Five did as well.

"Anytime Octavia... 'night..." Five began to strip his shoes and jacket off and tried to make himself comfortable in the makeshift bed Octavia had provided for him.

It took Octavia a little longer than usual to fall asleep that night.

She was suddenly hyper aware of the boy's presence who was sleeping only a few feet away from herself. Perhaps it was just the fact that she wasn't used to coexisting with another living, breathing person in two whole years. Or maybe she had truly become accustomed to the silence after all her time in solitude.

She found that her ears were extra sensitive to the sound of his tossing and turning against the bedding, he was obviously struggling to sleep as well.

Octavia woke that morning to the sound of Five's feet pattering against the concrete floor of her base, as if he was pacing around softly.

"Good morning, sunshine." Octavia said sarcastically as she sat up. She reached her arms up in an attempt to stretch out yesterday's stiffness from her back.

"Morning," He responded, his voice slightly softer than normal, his voice still laced with the residue of sleep.

"How'd you sleep?" She asked as she got out of bed. She noticed Five was already dressed in his jacket and his boots were fully laced. Octavia began to question if he was just extremely eager to get out of there and away from herself.

"Fine, until you started snoring." Five teased. Octavia didn't actually snore at all that night, the sound of her breathing made it hard for Five to drift to sleep but he simply wanted to provoke her.

"I do not snore!" She exclaimed, sounded very offended and Five mentally celebrated his little victory.

"Oh really? And who has told you otherwise?" Five enjoyed how riled up Octavia was getting over this, it was extremely amusing to him.

"Who's to say that you don't snore?" Octavia began to gather some clothing that was folded in a nearby crate.

"Well, did I?" Five asked as he watched her turn her back to him.

"Take a guess." She called out and Five rolled his eyes at the aloofness of her words, "Now can you do me a favour and step out while I change. Or are you going to get weird about that too?" Five groaned at her successful shift in their banter.

"How are you so good at pissing me off?" Five asked, more so to himself than to her directly.

"You're very easy to piss off." She answered him anyway, "Besides, I grew up as the youngest of my cousins, my word is my best weapon." Five could somewhat relate to her explanation even though he would never verbally agree with her.

"Very amusing." He said dryly and stepped out to give Octavia some privacy to change into whatever spare pair of clothes she had the fortune of having.

When Octavia gave him the all clear to come back into the concrete shack, Five was surprised to see her packing a backpack.

"Are you gonna help me scavenge for breakfast or are you just gonna huff and puff in here all day?" She asked as she shoved a water bottle into the bag.

"Alright, fine. Let's get breakfast," He said firmly, his tone slightly reluctant as he tried to brush off her previous teasing.

— -- —

The pair had returned to Octavia's after a successful food run and Five immediately got to work taking out the cans of food and setting them on the dusty floor. He eyed each of them silently before he began to mutter about how much protein was approximately in each can and how the two of them could stretch them out to last them as long as possible.

"Rationing there, are we?" Octavia questioned as she removed her backpack, leaving it by the door.

"We have to, smartass," He said matter-of-factly, "Rationing is how we get the most out of the food we have, to make it last longer. Christ, how have you survived this long?" Octavia grimaced unpleasantly at the comment, feeling as if it was completely unnecessary.

"I know that, Five. I'm just pointing out the fact that I did only ask you to stay the night yesterday and now you're speaking as if you intend to stay for longer than I anticipated." She crossed her arms and looked down to where Five was situated on the floor.

Five's heart dropped at the gravity of her words. He couldn't believe that he had taken it upon himself and assumed that this wasn't just a temporary thing. It wasn't everyday that you meet a fellow survivor in the apocalypse, Five only thought it was a smart decision to stay together.

"That's not what I meant-" Five shot up quickly and started to defend himself.

"Hey, it's fine. I was gonna bring it up earlier anyway but you were in such a foul mood before breakfast." Five quickly forgot about his previous embarrassment and quickly became defensive at Octavia's accusation.

"I was not in a foul mood." He stated.

"Yeah and the sky is purple." Octavia taunted, crossing her arms.

"Oh shut up." He grumbled.

"What I was trying to say is that... what if we don't part ways, what if you don't go back to your base and I don't stay at mine. I mean strength in numbers right? We've gone these past two years alone and thinking that we were the only people left on the planet... it feels counterproductive to split up, no?" Octavia tried to formulate her words in a cohesive manner and Five was stunned that she too had the same idea as him.

Five didn't respond. He was consumed by his own thoughts which for the first time in his life, felt illogical.

"I mean if I really do annoy you so much that you would prefer to choose a life of isolation then be my guest. But I want you to know that I'm thinking about survival for both of us." Octavia insisted.

"No, no, it's not that-" He started but was quickly cut off.

"Then what is it?" Octavia asked. She didn't know whether to feel offended at the boy's hesitancy or dismiss it as his lone wolf ideology he had adopted after two years of solitude.

Five couldn't exactly label this unwelcome feeling that gnawed at his bones, and his lack of knowing only contributed to his irritation. His answer was so obviously yes, he didn't want to leave her, not when he had spent this long being alone. And yet he couldn't find the right words to say.

"If you don't want to, that's fine, after all its double the worry, double the supplies and double the effort, but I thought for both of our sakes and sanity, survival in numbers is always safer, you know like you see in those apocalypse movies." Octavia continued, substituting Five's silence with her rambling.

"That is a horrible and inaccurate comparison to make." He rubbed his temple at her passing mention of those cheesy apocalypse movies which were over sensationalised and not at all a reliable source of information.

"You know what I mean." She shrugged, obviously defeated.

"Fine, let's stay together." Five agreed, although he didn't actually need much convincing unlike what Octavia thought.

It's not that Five didn't want to stay with her, he was taken aback by how badly he did want to stay with her. But Five couldn't ignore what he had been working so tirelessly at ever since the apocalypse started, finding a way to get back to his family.

Five was scared that involving Octavia in this hypothetical equation would only further complicate things. However, the benefits of her company seemed to outweigh the minor hiccup which was that Five technically belonged to the past.

"Really?" Octavia was almost startled at how quickly the boy had agreed to her proposition.

"But we're not staying here." Five added as he looked at the small structure of the building Octavia had called home.

"Thanks." She said bluntly, offended at his choice of words.

"No offence. My place is a lot more developed, there's more space and resources. I think we'll both be a lot more comfortable there." Five justified.

"If you say so." Octavia saw no reason to argue.Her place wasn't exactly the pinnacle of comfort and she could only assume how the lack of space would be inconvenient and uncomfortable.

"So I guess we're going to have to lay some ground rules." Octavia declared and Five raised a brow, curiosity forming in response to her statement.

"Ground rules, what are we? Roommates?" Five was only teasing at first however the reality of the situation had just occurred to him, they would indeed be sharing the same space and living alongside each other.

"Well, kind of. It's just like you said earlier, we only ever had to think for ourselves until now. We have to learn to coexist with another person and keep enough supplies going to last between the two of us." Five watched and smirked as she spoke with her hands.

"Right, what were you thinking?" He stepped forward and brought himself closer to Octavia.

"Well, the first thing that comes to mind is food. Obviously we need to make it last. Do you want to scavenge for our own food or scavenge together and share what we have." She counted on her index finger before looking back up at Five.

"Share." He said swiftly, not thinking twice about it.

"That's surprisingly generous of you." Octavia was caught off guard by his response.

"I don't need any potential arguments to start because of a lack of food." There was the traditional survival logic that seemed to justify all of Five's decisions.

"Fair point." Octavia clicked her tongue, agreeing with him.

"So food will be a team effort. And as far as living at yours, do you have enough bedding? Or are you expecting me to carry my mattress across the city?" The question was a genuine concern but Five chuckled softly at the image he conjured in his mind of forcing the girl to drag her mattress across the miles of debris and rubble.

"I have more than enough at mine. You'll be fine." Five confirmed and he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Anything else you want to lay on the table?" Octavia asked.

"Yes actually. I'm curious about how we're going to coexist with each other." Five had been thinking an awful lot about their pleasant conversation from last night.

Although their conversation was mostly free from bickering and teasing, Five found that he could speak to Octavia in a way that he couldn't with anyone else, not even his siblings. He had strangely enjoyed talking to her for such an elongated period of time and seemingly forgot about the world outside.

"What do you mean?" Octavia wanted to know more about what Five had meant. She was worried for a moment that the boy believed her stranger danger paranoia might get the best of her when he least expected it.

"As appreciative as I am of human company during the end of the world, I still require some degree of privacy." Five thought about the old library which he now inhabited and the equations that were painted across the remaining walls.

Just because he knew he wasn't alone anymore didn't mean he was ready to give up. He needed to get back to his family.

"Come again?" She asked and Five had to think carefully about how he was going to phrase his next few words.

"To put it bluntly. I'm working on something to do with my powers. An equation of some sort." So far, so true.

"Why?" And there was the very response he had anticipated.

"I believe that not only do I have the ability to jump between tangible spaces... I can also jump through time." Now that was a blatant lie. Five knew for a fact that he could jump through time, it was the very reason he got stuck here in the first place.

Five had tried to tell himself that it wasn't a complete lie, he was simply obscuring the truth. After all, if Octavia was going to live with him she was bound to have questions about what he was doing and why. He was simply just feeding her a watered down version of the truth to keep her from asking anymore questions.

"It's a hypothesis. If I get the numbers right, I believe I could time travel back to before the apocalypse even started. Maybe change one small link in the fabric of time to prevent it from ever happening at all." This was probably the most truthful thing he had said yet.

"Are you fucking serious?" Octavia's jaw dropped slightly. She couldn't believe the words that had left his mouth.

Even though Octavia was no stranger to superhuman abilities the very concept of time travel seemed incredibly far fetched and next to impossible. Yet here this boy was, standing in front of her and insisting that it was possible. She didn't know the technicalities of how it all worked but the very prospect of being able to go back in time before any of this had happened lit a warmth within Octavia which she hadn't felt for a very long time.

"I haven't stopped trying since the moment the apocalypse started." Five said, averting his gaze from Octavia, who was very much still gawking in disbelief.

"So, what does this have to do with us? If you don't mind me asking." She fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke and looked at the boy in front of her.

"All I ask is that I require my privacy whilst I'm working on my equations." Five stated. The hard part for him was over.

"Sure, I've been alone for this long. I'm sure I'll fill in the time doing something." Octavia complied, not wishing to disrespect the boy's boundaries.

"You'll be pleased to know I've settled down in the remains of an old library. And surprisingly, plenty of books are still intact." Five remembered the piles of books which he had collected in his own dwelling and smiled when he saw Octavia's face light up instantly.

"I'm sold." She blurted.

"It doesn't mean I don't want you to talk to me. All I ask is that you understand my request, it's been a long time since either of us have had to live with anyone else." Five continued, he didn't want Octavia to think that her presence was going to be an inconvenience for him. There were just some things that were safer for her to not know.

"Well, how about this? During the day we can do our separate things but every night after dinner we have our designated 'us time'. Time when we can interact and socialise and not think about apocalypse or survival shit, like what we're going to eat tomorrow or if we're going to freeze to death. We can talk about anything or not even talk at all. We just need to keep our socialisation up without stepping on each other's toes. And also to help us from going completely insane of course." Octavia had come up with her second great proposition of the day.

Five didn't find it in himself to argue with her, he didn't want to. Her very idea sounded somewhat actually pleasant to him.

"I can work with that." Five said softly.

"Sounds like quite the beneficial agreement." Octavia concluded and he nodded his head in agreement.

all images above were sourced from pinterest!

[hedonistpoet06]

What If The Storm Ends? - Part 1 Five Hargreeves x Female OC

'What if Five's time during that first apocalypse was slightly different, what if he wasn't alone for all those years?'

Synopsis: On April 1st 2019, the world ended. Icarus had indeed flown too close to the sun when Five Hargreeves pushed the limits of his power. The boy desperately yearned to use his powers to time travel and when he succeeded, he found himself trapped in the future apocalypse. Octavia Maddenfield had spent her whole life hiding her ability to shield and protect, only for it to save her when an asteroid collided into the earth, effectively wiping out all of humanity. The two teenagers are ecstatic to find that they are no longer alone in the apocalypse, however they must learn to navigate their newfound dynamic as Five tries to time travel back to the past and stop the end of the world from ever happening. Octavia is intrigued by the boy's sarcastic demeanour but also incredibly frustrated by his secretive nature, especially towards his past. And Five despises how easy Octavia can make him vulnerable, he tells himself that he cannot become invested in their obvious connection but something about her is so undeniably captivating.

Authors Note: This work is also available on my Wattpad under the users 'hedonistpoet04' and AO3 'heartofthehedonistpoet06' if you wish to read it there!

Word Count: 5099

☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆.。.:・°☆

𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐈 - 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫̶𝐨̶𝐦̶𝐜̶𝐨̶𝐦̶ 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐩𝐬𝐞

i. 𝐁𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

Octavia Maddenfield met Five Hargreeves during the second spring of the apocalypse.

The young girl had surprised herself with how long she had kept herself alive during the end of the world before she found him. During those first two years Octavia tried to tally the days but it was often difficult to keep track of the passing of time.

It was just before midday and Octavia had left the safety of her base to scavenge the city for anything resourceful, mostly food since that was of the utmost importance for her survival. She climbed the endless wreckage of concrete, metal and broken glass for what felt like hours. Octavia had explored most of the outskirts of the city but this was the deepest she had ever searched into it. She hoisted herself up onto a particularly large piece of concrete until her movement was suddenly paused by the foreign sound of something moving, something alive.

Octavia immediately froze at the reverberation of the sound throughout the otherwise lifeless landscape. She then quickly hid behind a particularly large piece of debrief, shielding her silhouette before turning her head to pinpoint the source of the noise. Her heart thudded painfully in the cavern of her chest, she could practically hear its pounding resonance deep within her eardrums. Octavia found herself polarised by the sudden prospect of seeing another person, another human being who was alive and made of flesh and bone. Her heart's incessant beating stopped abruptly when she identified the clear figure of a boy who had to be no older than herself. His back was turned and his face was hidden but she was able to extract some of his key features.

The boy had dark brown hair which looked somewhat overgrown and a slender physique, both were probably attributed to the apocalypse. Octavia felt slightly at ease by the knowledge that the first human she had seen in two whole years was most likely around her own age, however, she was also terrified. She stiffened when she saw the large hunting rifle he had strapped to his back as he continued to burrow through the wreckage like a hungry marsupial.

Octavia couldn't help but grow jealous at how fortunate this stranger must have been to have come across a gun in this desolate wasteland, as she was forced to make do with the few knives she could find that weren't completely rusted.

He was muttering to himself whilst digging through the debris, as if he was intently looking for something. Octavia peeked her head out a bit further out to try and hear what he was saying only for the attempt to be futile. She felt an overwhelming surge of curiosity and adrenaline coursing through her body, encouraging the girl to get closer and decipher what exactly this boy was doing. Careful to not disrupt him, she slowly started to crawl on all fours until she reached a fallen pillar. Octavia decided that this was close enough and inched her head out to get a clearer look. The boy in question was still oblivious to her presence, he continued to mumble to himself and she noticed his demeanour grew irritable. He swore under his breath before throwing a chunk of rubble into the distance, as if that was going to alleviate his frustration.

Octavia flinched at his sudden action and instinctively sought refuge behind the pillar. Unfortunately the sound of her quick movement had caught his attention. She froze and clasped a hand over her mouth to muffle the small surprised gasp that was about to leave her lips. It was too late, the boy knew that she was here or he was at least aware that somebody was watching him. Octavia was painfully aware of the large, lethal rifle strapped to his back as she heard him load and cock it, preparing to shoot.

She was stuck in a rather complicated situation, she couldn't run in case he decided to shoot her and if she tried to jump out and defend her honour he'd probably also shoot her. She was trapped with nowhere to go, so Octavia did what she told herself was a last and final resort. She used her powers on him.

She swiftly emerged from her hiding spot behind the pillar and met the eyes of the boy in front of her. Although he was still a good few strides away from her, Octavia could see the bewilderment in his eyes at her appearance. However, the barrel of the gun was still pointed in her direction and this made her panic. Octavia quickly outstretched her hands and focused all of her energy on manifesting her powers. She drew all of her focus into conjuring a forcefield big enough to encase the boy in front of her. Soon, the familiar lilac light of Octavia's ability had erupted around him, encasing him in a small but sturdy forcefield. She watched as he lowered the gun and darted his head to examine the newly formed forcefield, obviously taken aback by the abrupt manifestation of her power.

"Don't you dare move!" Octavia called out. She tried her hardest not to sound intimidating, after all she did have the upper hand in this situation. Although, the girl's voice slightly faltered, intimidation bleeding through her attempt at assertion. The boy took a step back in his new confinement, as if he was analysing the sphere around him. His eyes then darted from the forcefield to her.

"I wasn't going to attack you!" He snapped back, although the pitch and the youth present in his voice made it sound rather half hearted.

A complicated pang resonated in Octavia's chest at the realisation that this was the first person she had seen in two entire years. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond to the situation at hand, should she laugh? Cry? Or maybe just focus on making it out of here alive without a bullet between her eyes.

"You were pointing a gun at me!" Octavia retorted, gesturing to the rifle.

"You snuck up on me!" He bickered back and she quickly became aware of just how young they both sounded, like true teenagers quarrelling with each other.

"You have a gun!" She reiterated.

"You trapped me in a bubble!" The boy exclaimed before he demanded to be let go "get me out of this thing!"

"It's not a bubble!" Octavia countered, slightly offended at his belittling choice of words, "Besides, how do I know you're not going to hurt me?" she interrogated him further, eyeing the rifle in his hands.

"Okay, no gun. See? I'm not going to shoot you." He quickly shuffled the weapon to its original spot on his back and put his hands up as if he were surrendering.

"Not now you certainly aren't." She said, clearly referring to the forcefield around him. "Struggling is pointless by the way." Octavia tried her hardest to sound cocky.

The boy's eyes shot Octavia a withering glare, he saw straight through the facade of her confidence. "Yeah, obviously," he muttered back, trying to tug against the force field only to no avail.

He gives one more useless tug before he stops, scoffing. "Can you get this thing off of me?" The boy huffed, his irritation only growing.

Octavia had actually considered letting him out, a part of her youthful naivety believed that he was harmless enough but she was brought back to reality by the weapon that he carried and the fact that he was a total stranger.

"Only if you can promise me two things." She finally said, lowering her hands slightly but kept the forcefield maintained. She watched as the boy raised a brow at the bargain, clearly somewhat puzzled. He looks her up and down again, still eyeing her warily and Octavia suddenly felt extremely self conscious, like he was trying to dissect her with his eyes, which he was.

Five was still slightly disorientated by the purple light which surrounded him. A small part of him was impressed at the supernatural ability this girl obtained, the other part of him was pissed that he couldn't use his own to spatial jump out of her stupid bubble.

"And what exactly is that?" His voice was filled with dry amusement as she noticed him slowly but smugly cross his arms behind the lilac force field.

"Firstly, you'll tell me who you are..." Octavia started to speak as she looked him up and down again, examining to see if he had any other hidden weapons on him "and secondly, you have to promise not to kill me." Her cheeks slightly flush in annoyance as she sees him let out a chuckle at the girl's request, as if he found it humorous.

"Five," He announced matter of factly. "My name's Five," he glanced up at the force field again. "And I promise not to kill you," he responded with a bit of a scoff, in disbelief at the absurdity of his own words.

"Like the number?" Octavia raised her brow in surprise as she was genuinely taken aback by the absurdity of his name. The numerical nature of the boy's name was certainly not what she was expecting.

The boy, now renowned as Five exhaled a frustrated breath before pinching the skin between his brows. "Yes, like the number," he responds with a monotonous voice, like he's answered that question one too many times before.

"You only promised me two questions for my freedom, so let me out!" He said, growing increasingly more infuriated. Although Octavia had an abundance of questions regarding the peculiar name she subdued her curiosity into the back of her mind as she remembered their bargain.

"Right, sorry." She quickly muttered an apology and focused her energy on levitating the boy through the forcefield, hovering him just above the ground and moving him closer to where she stood. A perk of Octavia's unique ability was being able to control the contents inside her forcefields, including making them float. She watched in amusement as Five looked absolutely perplexed at his sudden levitation, his eyes flickered between his feet and back up at Octavia.

"What the hell—" he muttered, startled at the lack of ground underneath him. Octavia closed her eyes and focused her effort into deactivating the force field, slowly but surely the lilac light began to melt away. She watched as Five fell to the ground in a not so graceful manner, his sense of balance obviously disrupted by the sudden air trip.

"Crap! Sorry-" Octavia grimaced at the sound and started to move towards him to help him back to his feet but she held herself back. He's stunned, trying to re-ground himself for a moment before shooting an annoyed look up at her and she can't help but feel slightly guilty.

"Could've tried to make that a bit more graceful." Five huffed out, somewhat breathless from the abrupt descent to the ground.

Octavia watched as he stood up and dusted off his oversized black jacket. Five was now only a few feet away from her and this granted Octavia the opportunity to get a good look at his appearance. As much as Octavia was reluctant to admit it to herself, he was undoubtedly the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. Even when all things at the end of the world were considered, he was most certainly not that unfortunate looking. Five was definitely not in the cleanest state, neither was Octavia as their personal appearances were the last of their concerns when it came to their respective survival.

Octavia never considered boys her age to be cute or even somewhat appealing, her only understanding of what made a boy attractive were the boy band posters on the wall of her childhood bedroom. But something about Five was so endearing to her, from his slender cheekbones, to his green eyes or the way his messy, outgrown hair slightly covered his eyes. Maybe it was the fact that he was the first boy she had seen in two years or perhaps it was just the subconscious desperation from being alone for so long. As Five stood a few steps away from Octavia she was able to discern that he was hardly taller than herself, maybe a few inches give or take.

Five had never taken a particular interest in girls, especially before the events of the apocalypse. He respected them of course, he had two sisters after all, Allison and Vanya. Despite the fact that they could often get on his nerves, he admired his sisters, although not to the same degree as Luther who habitually made heart eyes at Allison across the dinner table. Five didn't understand the appeal of them as he watched Luther practically drool like a puppy over his adopted sister. Perhaps the boy's mind was too preoccupied with other more important things such as mastering his ability to time travel through his spatial jumps.

But when Five's eyes first laid themselves on Octavia up close he felt an unfamiliar sense of intrigue consume him. The boy was quick to disregard it as natural curiosity in response to seeing another human being after the considerable amount of time he spent alone.

Octavia didn't look like any girl Five had known before. She looked like what you'd expect from someone who had survived the apocalypse this long. Her skin and clothes were dirtied. A slightly beaten, oversized green cargo jacket covered most of her young yet malnourished physique. Her ashy blonde hair was pulled back into two braids that hung next to her neck and effectively kept it out of her face.

What surprised Five the most about her however, was the way her lips had suddenly curled into a laugh, a bubbly girlish laugh which was unlike anything Five had ever heard before.

"I really am sorry!" She spoke between a gentle laugh which made Five's ears flush under the aviator helmet he wore.

"I haven't exactly mastered the whole 'levitating your captors' trick yet." She continued.

"Yeah, I'd say you don't quite have it down yet," Five responds with a scoff, raising a brow as he looks at her hands which she was unknowingly flexing and contracting. This was a common mannerism of Octavia's which occurred after she manifested her powers, it was a way to release the built up energy that resided in her palms once she conjured a forcefield.

"How did you do that...?" Five asked, his voice more docile now. There was no residue of impertinence, his question was sincere.

"The 'bubble' thing?" Octavia replied playfully, recycling his little insult from earlier.

"Yeah." He said dryly.

"I've always been able to do it, ever since I can remember." She replied honestly.

"When's your birthday?" Five asked suddenly, the question puzzled Octavia immensely as she tried to determine the relevance of his question. Five however was stunned by the occurrence of finding someone else with a supernatural ability outside of his siblings. As the boy eyed her appearance he realised that she had to be no older that himself, unless she had coincidentally time travelled to the future, which he highly doubted, this girl must have been born years after October 1st, 1989. "Why? Do you want to know my star sign?" Octavia teased, she tried to find the humour in his abrupt and seemingly random question.

"Answer me damn it, when were you born?!" His voice was stern and Octavia was even more confused by his bizarre infatuation with her birthday.

"Jesus fine! It's June 20th 2007." She caved just to shut him up.

"Shit..." Five muttered to himself, almost in disbelief. There was no conceivable way that Octavia could have been one of the forty three supernatural children which Five himself was a part of. She was technically born eighteen years before him, so the chance of meeting someone who also had supernatural abilities was next to impossible, or so he believed.

"So you were... you were young when this all happened, huh?" He spoke up, trying to swiftly redirect the conversation.

"Yeah. I was twelve." Octavia confirmed and Five is painfully quiet, his eyes still examining her with an intense precision like that of a scientist, "What about you?" she asked softly.

"Thirteen." He admitted.

"Only a year older, huh?" Octavia concluded, and Five mentally winced at the complicated situation. Hypothetically yes, he was only one year older than the girl in front of him, however, he was also born almost two decades before her. This was such a mind fuck for Five.

"I guess you could say that." Five shrugged, trying to deflect the possibility of this conversation going any further.

"So you're fifteen?" Clearly his attempt didn't work.

"Correct. Which makes you fourteen now?" Five indulged her.

"Also correct." Octavia shot back and Five had to bite back a small smirk at her sharpness.

"You know, you interrogated me about my name so I think it's only fair that I ask yours." Five figured that he might as-well be polite and ask the name of the bubble conjuring girl who both mildly irritated and intrigued him.

"Octavia." She declared and Five felt his stomach tighten at each syllable that left her mouth. It was an uncommon name, Five certainly couldn't talk when it cam to abstract names but something about Octavia sounded so eloquent, almost old fashioned even. Although he didn't see much of the future as he jumped forward in time he assumed that it was defiantly not a common baby name for someone born in 2007.

"I would say it's a pleasure to meet you Octavia, but these aren't exactly the most pleasurable of circumstances." He said, the formality and authenticity of his voice made Octavia avert her gaze from his own, almost shyly.

"It certainly isn't..." She agreed.

There was a prominent silence between them until Octavia spoke up.

"Sorry for trapping you by the way. I should have known you weren't a fan of bubbles." Five was caught off guard by her genuine apology.

He then replayed the past few minutes in an attempt to put it into perspective, and in all fairness, he was the one with the hunting rifle strapped to him.

However, as Five thought to himself a mischievous idea weaved its way into his mind. He was ready to even the playing field between them.

"It's fine, those were just your flight or fight instincts. Like how mine would be something like this if you didn't trap me first..." ​​Before Octavia could even respond to Five's cryptic response, he suddenly erupted into blue light before her.

He shifts in a split second. Instead of being several feet in front of her he was now only mere inches away. Five looked rather satisfied with himself, a cheshire grin dripping from his face as he watched Octavia's face morph from shock to that of confusion.

"Holy shit!" The girl jumped back in sudden surprise at his sudden manifestation. She stumbled backwards onto her rear, she hit the rubble covered ground and watched as Five let out a small but genuine laugh at her reaction. The boy had missed the dramatic reactions of surprise which he gained from people whenever he used his power. He took a small step closer as he stands over her, looking down with a dry smirk.

"Not feeling so intimidating now, are you?" Octavia watched in disbelief as he extended a hand out to help her up off of her ass. She takes it gratefully although she should have been mad at his little prank, she was fascinated by his own supernatural ability. Five lifted her back to her feet and was slightly stunned at the feeling of another humans skin gracing his own.

Although Five wore a battered pair of fingerless gloves he could feel Octavia's skin against his own, she was warm to his touch. He noticed the way her fingers clasped around his as he helped her to her feet. He admired the callouses which she had evidently earned from surviving this long by herself.

"So you're like me?" She asked and Five retracted his hand, the lingering feeling of her skin on his was plaguing him still despite the loss of contact.

"More or less." He said bluntly, not wishing to elaborate more.

"Wow, sorry." Octavia said shakily, still trying to process everything. "I'm just a little shocked, my whole life my parents told me that I wasn't like other kids and that nobody could know about my ability. But here you are..."

"Alive and breathing," Five said smugly.

"Wait. if you can teleport... Why didn't you just teleport out of my force field?" She asked, smirking slightly as she watched Five roll his eyes.

"You didn't think I tried that, smart ass? It seems you have complete control of the energy in your little bubble, including that of your captors, meaning I was rendered powerless." he retorted "and I don't teleport, that's such an amateur word for something so technical! I prefer to call it spatial jumps, it's the precise manipulation and calculation of spatiotemporal boundaries which I can manoeuvre to get from point A to B-"

"Wow. Nerd alert." Octavia can't help but scoff in amusement at his scientific explanation of his powers. She then proceeded to laugh even harder at the way his eyes squinted in irritation at her reaction.

"You little shit..." He replied at her display of immaturity.

"So, Five, how have you made it this far?" Octavia felt his anger brewing and quickly changed the topic of conversation and gestured to him, referring to his well equipped getup.

He crossed his arms over his chest and gave a small shrug, turning his gaze back to her.

"I just... did," He responds, unbothered with providing anything more.

"I just did." Octavia mocked his ambiguous response, changing the pitch of her voice to sound more serious and stoic, like Five. She felt his eyes glare daggers at hers in response to the childlike mimicry.

He stepped forward now, looking even more annoyed than before. Nobody had tested Five like this, not since his youth when his siblings were still around.

"Watch it." He warned in his typical dry tone which Octavia was starting to grow acquainted with the more he spoke.

As Five stepped forward Octavia quickly manifested her power again, a rectangular shield emerged just in front of the boy as he began to walk towards her.

"Or what?" She said as he walked straight into the shield. The scene before her had reminded Octavia of those embarrassing moments when you would accidentally walk straight into a glass sliding door.

"Oof-" Five grunted as he walked face-first into the force field, nearly toppling backward at the unexpected collision. He stumbled backwards several steps, rubbing the centre of his face where he just collided right into her shield. He looked back at Octavia, a somewhat annoyed but less menacing glare was painted in his green eyes.

"That wasn't funny." He mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Oh come on, that was pretty funny to me." Octavia deactivated the forcefield and she held her stomach as a deep genuine laugh left her lips. It was probably the hardest Octavia had ever laughed during her whole two years of being stuck in the apocalypse alone.

She didn't notice it then but Five's expression had softened for a fraction of a second as she laughed, the reverberation of her voice had filled the otherwise barren space.

And there it was again, that disgustingly unrecognisable feeling that consumed the deepest pits of Five's stomach.

Her laughter had stood out the most to Five, stunning him slightly although he would never admit it in that moment. Octavia's voice was bright and melodic, it didn't irritate him in the same way that Klaus's laughter had when he stole from Allisons wardrobe and proceeded to be chased by her through the mansion, taunting Allison with her favourite skirt. But now, the apocalypse for himself had been characterised by the sound of despair, from the burning debris to the deafening silence.

Octavia's laughter juxtaposed everything else desolate and decrepit which he had become accustomed to hearing after all this time. It was so full of life.

Five then understood why people often referred to others' laughs as being infectious. Octavia's laughter had ignited something, this unfamiliar warmth and queasiness started in his abdomen and soon expanded out into his bones and through to his skin. He felt it everywhere and he hated it. Was this just a symptom of the adrenaline? it had to be.

Five quickly broke away from his thoughts and returned to his traditional, irritated demeanor.

"Oh, you think this is funny?" He asked, taking another step towards her again. A small part of him knew he'd probably walk into another force field again, but he was a little too mad to care right now.

"Hey, give me a break. You're the first person I've seen in how long... like what... two years?" Octavia asked, her laughter subsiding and Five finally felt like he could somewhat relax.

"Have you been by yourself for two years?" Five was curious at her revelation, eager to know if she too had spent the last two years in solitude.

"Yeah. Since day one." Octavia explained. Five noticed a distant look which painted her eyes as if she was recalling the first day she had realised she was alone in this concrete hells-cape.

"And you've made it this far?" Five asked softly and he mentally cringed at how patronising he sounded, he didn't mean for his question to sound that why. The truth was Five was incredibly impressed that she had endured two whole years by herself, finding enough food, water, shelter and even fighting off sickness.

Surviving an apocalypse was no easy feat, Five knew that all too well.

"What? Do you not think that me and my bubbles could have lasted this long?" Five was silent for a moment. Of course he didn't think that, in actuality her power would be incredibly resourceful for the conditions the both of them found themselves in. Five struggled to articulate a defensive statement to her teasing but Octavia spoke up again before he could formulate anything worth saying.

"Do you have a group or something?" She asked and Five subconsciously thanked her for changing the topic.

"No. I'm alone." He admitted.

"Well, I guess that makes two of us." Octavia crossed her arms over her chest before she spoke again, "Your powers.. Are they the reason you survived the initial impact too?"

"Yes." Five looked down at the ground as he answered. He wasn't technically lying, he had survived the destructive impact of whatever ended the world because he had spatial jumped too far into the future. That could theoretically be interpreted as him using his powers to survive the mass extinction of all of humanity, right?

He just simply twisted the truth, that's all. Besides, there was no way Octavia would know if he was lying or not.

"You're a boy of few words, Cinco." She retorted and Five shot his gaze back up towards her.

"God- please don't call me that." Five groaned. The nickname not only irritated him but it was the very title his brother, Diego used to call him and hearing it fall from Octavia's lips was painfully nostalgic.

"Can you blame me?" Octavia shrugged and Five clicked his tongue.

"So... what were you doing out here?" She asked, gesturing to the mountain of concrete behind him.

"Looking for food, what else?" Five explained, his voice straightforward and apathetic.

"Fair enough, we all have to eat. Although I don't think you're gonna find much in that pile of concrete." Octavia wasn't judging the boy for his attempt at searching for resources, more so where he was looking. The landscape before them was nothing but grey desolate rubble.

"Well, I can't exactly afford to be picky, can I?" Five rationalised.

"Touché." She said in an approving tone.

Five didn't exactly know how he should continue the conversation as an elongated silence is exchanged between the two of them. Octavia tried to look anywhere but Five's piercing green gaze as the absence of noise consumed them. Although Octavia had been weary to the boy as a potential threat, she couldn't find it in herself to depart from him so quickly. As for Five, he couldn't extract or define the unknown inquisitiveness that overwhelmed his thoughts. He was standing before another living, breathing human and he couldn't quite believe it, these weren't the rotting bodies he had found buried under the remnants of the city.

Five did not want to depart from her presence so quickly, and he hated it.

"Hey.. I have some baked beans I found not too long ago, you're more than welcome to have some. If you want, that is?" Octavia offered and Five had to replay her voice in his head to ensure what he was hearing was correct.

"You're seriously willing to share your food with me during the apocalypse?" He pointed to himself, his head tilted in disbelief. Was this girl actually offering her own food to him despite trapping him in a bubble only mere moments ago?

"Look, do you want food or not?" Five panicked at her question, like she was threatening to take away the prospect of food so quickly.

"Yes." He said sharply, not caring how desperate he sounded in that second. However, Five felt his face begin to grow warm again when Octavia let out a small giggle at his eagerness.

He despised how easily she could get under his skin.

"Okay, just promise not to murder me on our walk back to mine?" She began to adjust the backpack she had resting on her shoulders and Five took that as the cue that they were leaving.

"If I wanted you to, you would be dead already." Five said proudly. Although his words were grim they carried a weight of truth to them, he probably could have killed Octavia instantly once she freed him from her bubble, but why would he want to do that? Not when he had been alone for so long already.

Even if Octavia was incredibly infuriating there was something about her wit and charm that Five found slightly familiar, somewhat comforting even.

"That's reassuring." She said sarcastically.

"I promise I won't try anything. Cross my heart" Five said, sounding so sincere that it was almost jarring to Octavia.

"Hope to die?" She asked warningly. Five raised a brow at her childish question that he believed to only exist on the school yard.

"You're hilarious. But yeah, cross my heart, I won't kill you. I promise." He shoved his hands in his pockets as they began to walk with Octavia leading the way.

"Watch out, I might just have to bubble you again if you try anything." Octavia held out her hands playfully mimicking how she would manifest her powers. Five rolled his eyes and subdued a small smirk that formed on his face.

"Hey, I always keep my word!" He was almost offended at her skepticism, however he didn't blame her, they were still strangers.

"I'm holding you to it, Five." She replied, looking back to face Five, throwing him a small smile.