TWENTY-ONE | TELL ME
THAT YOU'RE STILL MINE

Everyone gathered around Diego and Lila's living room. Tate laid down on Five's shoulder while Lila and Diego sat on the armchairs across from them.

"Hey, has anyone heard from Viktor?" Luther spoke up, breaking the silence. "Maybe he found Ben and Jennifer," Klaus assumed as Tate tried covering herself with a blanket.

"Surely, he would've called, left a message," Allison reminded, finding his disappearance odd. "So we all struck out?" Klaus asked, not believing Viktor would leave them to die.

"God, what a bunch of losers," Klaus stated as if they were going to survive. "Well, not entirely," Luther grinned before Diego fist-bumped him, proud of what they accomplished at the CIA.

"Deputy Director Ribbons is a Keeper, along with other agents at the CIA," Luther bragged about his discovery, leaning into Five and Tate's face.

"It's your boss, Five," Diego said with a proud smirk. "Yeah," Luther nodded to the two. "It turns out Gene and Jean also have a bigger movement than we thought," Tate informed her husband, as she tried hiding her bump.

"Yes, so we have to get to Ben and Jennifer before they do to stop the cleanse," Luther suggested before Allison spoke up. "Right, but we have to find them first," Allison reminded as Diego kissed Lila's cheek lovingly.

"Yeah, they might be anywhere," Klaus agreed. "We gotta find them," Tate urged before Five stared at her. "What's with you?" Tate and Luther asked in unison. "You've barely said a word, Five. When does that happen?" Luther asked, noticing Five's quiet state.

"It's called thinking, Luther. You should try it sometime," Five snapped before everyone scolded him for his unnecessary retort. "Uncalled for," Klaus said, his mouth still full of food.

"Hey..." Tate tried soothing him, interlocking with Five's hand. "Oh shut up," Five snapped at Klaus, causing Tate to stay silent.

"I do think, I think you're an asshole," Luther retorted before Klaus spoke up. "Grandpa's not had his nap," Tate and Allison agreed on something, "Can we not do this right now?" Tate pleaded while Allison asked firmly.

"No, you know what? Let's do it right now," Five let go of Tate's hand as he got up. "We all struck out, there's nothing better to do," Five said with irritation. "Five, it's gonna be okay," Tate reassured, urging him to sit back down.

"No, it's not gonna be okay," Five raised his voice in frustration. "Five..." Tate stared at him, knowing an argument was gonna happen between them.

"Don't do this," Tate warned, knowing they shouldn't argue in front of everyone, especially in front of Lila's family and Grace.

"You going to do something about it, fuckface?" Five challenged, causing Tate to scoff. "Whoa, language," Allison reminded as everyone started protesting at Five's attitude towards Tate.

"You're seriously gonna do this here?" Tate tried calming everyone down, not wanting to fight with Five.

"Spit it out, you're hiding something!" He raised his eyebrow at Tate, it annoyed him that he knew Tate was hiding from something.

"Five..." Tate pleaded while everyone stared in shock that Five would speak to Tate like that.

Five's gaze snapped back at Tate, his glare piercing into her eyes. "I..." Tate remembered this is how every fight started. Starting with Five berating her, Tate holding back tears before she would blow up to him moments later.

Five moved to stand in front of her, his hands slowly moving to her shoulders, gently holding them in place as he noticed Tate's avoidant glare.

"Five..." Tate pleaded again, Five's patience running thin at Tate's short pleading. "Stop stalling," Five demanded, his irritation rising, clearly starting to show.

His grip on her shoulders became tighter. "I'm not—" Tate lied before Five interrupted her. "Yes, you are," Five clenched his jaw as he tried to keep a level tone with her.

"You've been acting off the whole damn night and you're refusing to tell me what's going on in your head," Five demanded, causing Tate to stay silent. "I don't..." Tate tried holding back her anger towards him.

"Bullshit!" Five yelled suddenly, causing everyone to jump a little. "Stop hiding it from me, you know what happens when you hide things from me," Five's grip on her tightened again, though he was trying to refrain from hurting her.

"You go to work and sweep it under the rug?" Tate bit back, causing Five to pause for a moment. Her words stung him more than he wanted to admit but it only made him angrier.

Five let out a scoff and glared back at her before dropping one of my shoulders to grab her face forcefully.

"What's on your mind?" He repeated the words through gritted teeth, his heart pounding in his chest, holding her face in his hands. Tate remained silent as she stared at everyone for assistance.

Everyone glanced at each other nervously between the married couple. They were hesitant to get in the middle of the argument that had started.

They stayed silent, though they clearly were on Tate's side, pleading silently that someone would step in and help the two.

Five studied her expression as you stared around the room, clearly seeking someone's assistance. His frustration was growing further and his grip on her face remained firm, making sure she was looking directly at him.

"Focus on me," He said firmly, his gaze intense as he continued to study Tate. "I don't want to," Tate admitted, causing Five to scoff at the statement. "And why's that, mhm?" He asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

The fact that she was refusing to tell him was pissing him off beyond no end. He was trying so hard to keep his patience with her, but she were making it so damn difficult. "You afraid I'm gonna yell at you?" Five asked rhetorically as Tate nodded fearfully.

"Then you should've thought about it before you decided to hide something from me!" Five snapped at her with a huff. "Now tell me what the hell is on your mind..." Five's voice reverted to a softer tone.

"You also hide shit from me!" Tate blurted out, holding back tears. "I do it for a reason!" Five shouted in response, his chest was beating with rage now. He took a moment to breathe, and collect himself before continuing, his grip on her face loosening.

"I don't want to tell you!" Tate screamed, causing Five to sigh helplessly. He huffed out another scoff in annoyance, studying you for a moment. He knew there was no point in trying to force it out, she was too stubborn for that.

"Fine. Don't tell me," He grumbled out, finally releasing her chin and taking a small step back.

His expression hardened as she spoke and he could feel that familiar anger returning. He was so tired of hearing her say those things to him, because yes he has changed, but it wasn't his fault.

"What do you expect from me?!" He snapped again, taking a step closer to Tate again, his expression dark. "I'm not going to be the same person forever and I'm not going to be around all the time!"

"I want you to be here!" Tate screamed as she felt her tears escaping from her eyes. "I have a job to do, in case you've forgotten!" He yelled back at her, his expression dark. He clenched his jaw to try and refrain from shouting again.

"I can't be here 24/7, I can't always be around! That's just life.." He huffed out, running a rough hand through his hair in frustration.

He let out another scoff and looked away from Tate for a brief moment. He wanted to shout, he wanted to lose it at her and everyone else.

But instead, he clenched his jaw and swallowed back his anger and frustration, taking in a deep breath before looking back to her.

"Then why do you keep nagging at me?" Five asked as Tate tried wiping her tears. "Because... it's this endless cycle of chasing what we can't have! We fight, I end up crying on the ground, you end up going to work and we sweep it under the rug and it repeats!"

He went silent at her words, his expression becoming slightly softer as he realized just how much this was really affecting her.

His irritation was still there, but more so at himself now. He knew he was the cause of the same thing happening over and over, but he didn't know what to do about it.

"You don't think I'm tired of it too?" He eventually spoke out, his voice much softer than before. "Of course, I know you are! God, you make yourself so difficult to get through!" Tate yelled, letting out her anger at him.

"Because you've become a stubborn pain in my ass!" Five shouted, causing everyone to gasp at the sudden jab.

His expression hardened as he realized what he'd said. His words instantly made him regret opening his mouth. He let out a frustrated sigh, taking another step back from you as he silently cursed himself for letting the anger get the best of him like that.

He ran a hand through his hair and glanced around at everyone else, seeing the shocked and almost disappointed expressions on their faces.

"This is not how I wanna end things with the Cleanse coming..." Tate trailed off as her tears slowly made their way down to her cheek.

"Tate..." Five walked up to the girl, wiping her tears. Luther, Klaus, and Allison stared in shock at the couple, their eyes widened at the argument that had bubbled up.

"Hey, stupid grown-ups, check out the TV," Claire pointed to the TV after it changed from playing the Nutcracker to the News.

"Isn't that Uncle Ben?" Claire asked, causing everyone to turn to the television. "...is former convict named Ben Hargreeves," The reporter explained before Klaus pointed to the screen.

"Look! Look! Look! Look, Look!"

"...convicted in 2019 for a crypt Ponzi scheme, and served four years in Avalon Federal Correctional institution," The reporter continued as Tate quickly wiped her tears away, pushing Five away from her.

"Oh, we gotta go..." Luther watched the screen with a worried look. "Don't..." Tate walked further from Five, keeping a distance from him. "Tate..." Five sighed sharply, realizing the damaged relationship he created.

💌

there was so much more I wanted to write but I didn't want the angst scene to be too long but I counted how many scene I had left for season 4, around 7-8 scenes left until we are done and I can focus on season 3 and my other five fic 😭

also its ritu arya's birthday, happy birthday my underrated sweetheart <3