Word count: 4810

𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

"𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒, 𝐆𝐎 𝐆𝐄𝐓 Mom and Dad!" Luther shouted as the group of students reached the doors of the infirmary.

"Going!"

Luther pushed the doors open, and Diego instantly brushed past him. He gently lay Elizabeth down onto the hospital bed as Ben flicked on the lights, and remained in the same spot, his hands trembling as they rested on her arm.

Five stopped next to her, pressed up as close to the bed as possible. He slipped his fingers through hers, not caring about the blood that then transferred onto his skin. He wasn't all too fond of the lack of warmth from her hand. 

His worried eyes gazed over her, shifting over her entire body and he swallowed; her skin was unusually pale, and her breathing was uneven. 

Five's nerves jumped exponentially as the minutes passed. He was growing more and more uneasy, and though a glance at the clock told him that it had only been a couple of minutes, he felt as though he had been standing there for an eternity. 

He scoffed, glancing back at the doors before muttering to himself, "How long does it fucking take to get someone?"

Everyone crowded around the bed, sniffles and soft sobs being let out, their masks all off by this point. What surprised Five the most, was that Diego and Luther were crying. He barely ever saw them cry. Hell, he himself never cried. Although, it was with more than good reason this time.

The doors burst open not long after, Grace coming in, followed by Klaus, Reginald, and Pogo. Grace brushed Diego away as she pulled on white latex gloves and began to inspect Elizabeth's wound.

A couple of minutes passed, with everyone restlessly watching as their mother pressed and poked at the wound.

Ben suddenly spoke, causing Allison to flinch, "Is she gonna be okay, Mom?"

Grace sighed as she straightened up, the white in her gloves almost completely erased by the red. "She was pierced in the liver."

"Liver? That's not that bad, right?" Klaus had a hopeful smile on his face as he gave an encouraging nod to the group. "I mean, who even needs a liver, anyway?"

"The liver holds blood in reserve and acts as a filter," Grace informed them, her expression portraying worry, which didn't give anyone any confidence. "Wounds to the liver are fatal if not immediately treated."

"Oh." Klaus gulped. "That's not good. Sorry, everyone, really, that's my bad."

"Klaus!" A weepy Allison slapped him in the arm.

"She's already lost too much blood, and is still losing more." Grace turned around, rummaging through a small plastic box. She turned back to face everyone, a sharp needle now in hand as she told them, "One of you needs to give blood."

"I will," everyone immediately said simultaneously.

Pogo shook his head. "Miss Elizabeth is type B-plus, only Master Diego and Master Klaus can donate."

"I-I will," Diego instantly volunteered, stepping forward.

"Oh, thank God," Klaus sighed in relief, holding a hand over his heart.

Luther elbowed him, causing him to stumble slightly to the side. "Klaus, you wouldn't be able to anyway."

Diego walked towards Grace, wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand. He got one good look at the long needle in her hand before letting out a small whimper and passing out.

"Use his blood." Reginald nodded towards Grace before looking down at the students and instructing, "Children, wait in the dining area. I would like to speak with you."

The five of them headed down to the dining room, forming a line as Reginald met them there. He stood in front of them, his hands clasped behind his back as his stern eyes observed their tear-stained faces.

"What happened?"

Sniffling, Luther opened his mouth to tell him before closing it once more. A perplexed look came over his expression, one that he soon shared with the others.

Five furrowed his eyebrows as he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. What had happened?

"None of us were there when she got hurt," Luther told him with a small sigh.

Allison furrowed her eyebrows, thinking for a moment before saying, "I think Diego was. He was the one that called for help."

"Hold on." Luther had a sudden realization after she said the name, his eyes widening. He thrust his hand into his pocket and fished out the bloody knife that had impaled Elizabeth. He held it out for everyone to see, light glinting off of the edge and blood tainted the edge. "This—this is . . . Diego's knife, isn't it?"

Ben's eyes widened as he whipped his head to face Luther. His eyes hurriedly changed between Luther's face and the knife. "Are you saying that Diego stabbed Elizabeth?"

"Come to think of it" —Allison closed her eyes to concentrate on her memories, sniffling— "he was saying 'I'm sorry' and 'I didn't mean to' over and over again."

"So, it's Diego's fault." Five clenched his jaw, his fingers curling up into a fist. "I'm going to kill him."

"Calm down, Five," Luther muttered to him. "I'm sure it was an accident."

"Okay" —Five shrugged— "so I'll accidentally kill him, then."

Reginald tutted loudly, grabbing everyone's attention as he shook his head. "I am very dissatisfied with the event that has taken place tonight. The blame is not to be pinned on Number Two. It is on all of you. You are a team. You let one of your team members down when she needed you most. Let her serve as a lesson as to what happens when everyone acts irresponsibly."

"A lesson?!" Five repeated incredulously, taking a step towards his father. "She is not a lesson!"

Luther pressed his hand against Five's chest and pushed him back. "Five."

Reginald stared at them for a couple of moments before turning his back on them. "Return to your studies until further notice."

"Our studies?" Allison echoed in shock as their father disappeared up the stairs, presumably heading back to the infirmary. She took a step forward and turned to face the others as she scoffed. "He thinks we can just go and read about how to dissect a pig while Elizabeth is dying?!"

"We have to go back and see her," Five said determinedly. "We have to make sure she's okay."

"No, Five." Luther grabbed his arm before he could go anywhere, gripping so tightly Five swore that his circulation was cut off. "Dad's there, and we'll get into a lot of shit if we go."

Five scowled but remained in his spot, knowing that Luther was right.

Giving up, the group headed back to Luther's room. They sat in a circle beside his bed, only silence between them as they tried to hold in their tears.

A couple of minutes later, the door creaked open, and Vanya appeared. "Hey, gu—what's wrong?" She noticed the red cheeks and swollen eyes as she looked around the group, her eyebrows furrowing as she inquired, "Where's Elizabeth?"

"Diego stabbed her," Five said ruthlessly, receiving a slight glare from Luther.

Vanya's eyes widened. "What?!"

"On accident," Ben defended. "Probably. We think."

Vanya's eyes soon became glassy, beginning to match the ones of the others as she softly asked, "Is she okay?"

"Mom said she was stabbed in the liver. And that . . . that it's fatal unless treated immediately," Klaus sighed, pulling his legs closer to him. "And it was not treated immediately."

"How did it even . . ." Vanya bit her lip, tears rolling down her cheeks. "How could a mistake like that even happen? How could Diego accidentally stab her?"

"Shut up, Vanya," Luther glowered. "You don't know what it's like."

"Luther . . ." Klaus frowned.

"No, seriously. Don't ask stupid fucking questions like that. It's not easy," Luther continued, his tone bitter. "Of course, you have no idea. How could you? You're nothing like us."

This only caused more tears in Vanya's eyes.

"Don't make it worse than it already is, Luther," Ben said reluctantly.

They spent the next couple of hours trying to keep their minds off of Elizabeth and her possible impending doom. However, Five found himself unable to think about anything but Elizabeth. How could he not?

He already missed her dearly. He missed everything about her. 

The small giggle she would let out whenever he told her a bad joke; the smile she would send him whenever they locked eyes; the way her face lit up whenever they went out onto the balcony and stared out at the sky; how she'd rest her head against his shoulder and snuggle in closer for warmth whenever it became too chilly outside . . .

She couldn't die. He wouldn't let her.

Five leaned back against Luther's bed, not paying attention as the others spoke about the upcoming evolution test. He rubbed his eyes, shaking his head as he let out a long sigh.

He loved his siblings, sure, but he would rather have had any of them meet the fate that Elizabeth had instead of her. Heartless, yes, but true.

He tried to concentrate on what the others were now talking about (Charles Darwin's theory of evolution) but still found his mind wandering to Elizabeth every other second.

He had no idea what to do. How could he help? He couldn't. He didn't have magical healing powers. He didn't have a genius brain that could come up with a solution. He couldn't do shit except get from one place to another.

For once in his life, Five felt powerless. He felt useless. 

He couldn't do shit.

The door opened, immediately silencing the room. Their gazes steadily moved. 

Pogo stood on the other side, a sombre look on his face as he gazed down at the students, who were all now staring at him with anxious expressions.

"Ah, I figured you would all be down here." He gave a small sigh before nodding his head towards the end of the hall. "Your father is allowing you to visit her once more before bed."

They instantly jumped to their feet and raced to the infirmary. 

They entered the room to see that Grace was cleaning her tools as Reginald stood in the corner and watched. 

A shaking Diego was sitting in a chair next to Elizabeth, his hands that had before been stained with her blood now clean. The sleeve of his left arm had been rolled up, and he had a bandaid on his forearm.

Elizabeth was still as pale as before, and it seemed that her breathing was just as short and unsteady as before. Grace had cut out a square of the suit where her injury was, exposing the skin which had been cleaned of blood. The area around the stab wound was bruised and was swelling slightly, which didn't make anyone feel too hopeful.

"How is she doing, Mom?" Allison asked apprehensively, her eyes stuck on the wound. "Will she be okay?"

Grace put away the last of the tools, the metal clattering around in the box. She faced the children, a grim look on her usually joyful face. "I'm not sure, darling."

Five stepped closer, swallowing as he inspected her skin.

No gold.

He turned to his father, his eyebrows furrowed as he questioned, "Why isn't she self-healing?"

Reginald sighed as he stroked the hairs on his chin, pensive for a moment. "There are various answers that could be of reason. Perhaps the wound is too great. Perhaps she has lost too much blood. Perhaps she used too much energy, and her body is still recovering."

Five sucked in a breath, then realizing. "She told me she was tired because of how much energy she used."

Their father gave a grave nod. "Then that must be it."

"Plus, I bet making a portal with a stab wound probably doesn't help," Klaus added, wrinkling his nose.

"Klaus!" Allison hissed, elbowing him.

"What?" Reginald exclaimed, his head whipping around to face the cowering boy. "She made a portal after the injury?"

"We didn't know," Luther explained quickly before their father could grow angrier. "She did it while . . . while we were doing something else. We told her it was a bad idea."

Reginald stared at him for a moment before he sighed. "Off to bed."

The siblings began to protest, "But, Dad—"

"Off to bed!"

Reluctantly, the seven of them headed toward their rooms. However, they hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Five stepped in front of Diego and pushed him backwards, causing all the siblings to halt.

"Diego, what the hell!"

Luther groaned before putting his hand on Five's shoulder. "Five, it's not his—"

"It is his fault!" Five insisted, shoving the hand off of him. "He's the reason she's dead!"

"She's not dead, Five," Ben said gently.

"She's as good as!" he exclaimed, feeling tears rising to his eyes again. "You heard Mom!"

"I didn't—I didn't m-mean to," Diego breathed out, his voice choked up as his eyes shone. "I di-didn't mean to. It was an acc-acci—accident."

"What even happened, Diego?" Allison questioned, folding her arms.

Diego took a deep breath before beginning, "I was chasing one o-of the guys, and h-he turned a-around the corner, but I guess Elizabeth w-was already there, and she kno-knocked him down. I was still in the o-other aisle, so I had th-thrown my knife, and it st-sta-st-stab-sta—"

"It's okay, Diego," Klaus interrupted as he patted Diego's shoulder in reassurance.

"No!" Five shouted, his voice cracking. "It's not okay!"

Luther warned, "Five. Stop."

Five ignored him and grabbed Diego by the collar, thrusting him firmly against the wall. "This is your fault! She's gone—she's gone because of you!"

"Five, she's not dead!" Vanya exclaimed tearfully. "Stop saying she is!"

"Do you really think she's going to make it? Didn't you see how much blood she had lost? Didn't you hear what Mom had said?" Tears were streaming down Five's face at this point, and the action was mirrored on Diego's face.

Klaus tried to reassure him, "She has self-heal—"

"It's not working!"

"Well, yelling and threatening Diego isn't going to do anything about it!" Luther exclaimed firmly.

"It'll teach him a lesson!" Five insisted, pushing a whimpering Diego more inward against the wall.

"A lesson on what?" Allison asked incredulously. "Not accidentally stabbing his siblings?"

"Exactly!" Five brought his face inches away from Diego, his eyes murderous. "Now, you listen here, you slimy little cockroach! Everything happened because of you and you are going to pay for—"

"That's it!" Luther yelled before he grabbed the back of Five's suit and dragged him away.

—☾—

It was a little past four in the morning when Five slipped out of his bed. Slowly, he crept out of his room, making sure to be as quiet as he could while making his way down to the second floor.

Once he arrived in front of the infirmary, he pressed his ear against the door. Hearing only silence, he carefully twisted the handle open and stepped in.

He gently shut the door behind him and flicked the light on, the cool lighting revealing Elizabeth, who was still unconscious. Grace had laid a light blue blanket over her for the night, and it was pulled up to her chin. 

Five walked up next to her, holding back the tears that were already making their way to his eyes. 

He brushed the side of the blanket away and threaded his fingers through her cold ones, squeezing her hand tightly in an attempt to warm her. 

His eyes gazed over her with some sort of sombreness. She was still breathing, but it felt as though she wasn't.

He used his other hand to brush away the hair that had fallen over her cheek, resting his hand on the side of her cheek.

"Wake up. Please," he whispered, knowing it would do absolutely nothing. "Elle, wake up."

He spent the next hour just standing there, his thumb gently stroking the side of her pale face as thoughts ran through his mind.

He should have gone with her to catch the last guy, maybe things would've turned out differently . . . Maybe she wouldn't be like this . . . Maybe then, he would've been in her room right now, and the two of them would be whispering bad jokes while she gave him that smile that made his heart skip a beat, rather than him worrying about whether she was about to die or not.

Suddenly, the sound of a door creaking open snapped him out of his thoughts. Someone was awake.

Quickly, Five bent down and gently kissed her cheek before murmuring, "Just . . . please be okay."

—☾—

𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes, blinking at the bright light. Looking around, she realized that she was in the infirmary, and soon enough, the memories of what had happened flooded back into her mind.

She turned her head to see that Grace was washing something at the sink on the other side of the room, her back turned to her. She was humming lightly, although the sweet melody could barely be heard over the running water.

"Mom?" Elizabeth croaked out.

Grace immediately turned around with a warm smile on her face. She dried her hands on the towel hanging on the wall next to her and walked over to the bed. 

"Elizabeth, dear, you're finally awake!" she exclaimed as she tenderly cupped her cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"My stomach hurts a little, but I'm fine otherwise." Elizabeth rubbed her hand over her stomach to find that it was now wrapped in a beige bandage. "What-what happened?"

"Your liver was punctured," Grace told her with a little frown. "But don't worry, darling, I've fixed you up just fine."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "You know medical stuff?"

"Of course!" Grace nodded quickly, tapping her on the tip of her nose. "Your father made me so that I'm both a caretaker and a protector."

"Protector?" Elizabeth echoed, confused.

"Well, I can intervene and help you when your life is in danger. Such as now," Grace explained sympathetically.

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes as she murmured, "How long has it been?"

"Two and a half days."

She nodded slowly, looking down at the bandage for a moment before her gaze was set back on her mother. "Where's everyone else?"

"In math class. Pogo is teaching them for me." Grace smiled warmly. "They've been visiting as much as they could over the past couple of days; your father had to yell at them many times to get to their studies."

Elizabeth slowly sat herself up with a helping hand from her mother. A shot of pain burst into her stomach, but she ignored it. "When can I go?"

"Well, your self-healing has been helping me mend you, so you're almost healed. If you want, you can go visit your siblings now, but it may be a little painful to walk." Grace offered, "I will accompany you, to make sure you're okay."

"Okay." Elizabeth nodded as she carefully slipped off of the bed. "Thanks, Mom."

"Of course, dear." Grace smiled. "Would you like to change back into your school uniform?"

After Elizabeth took off the hospital gown and changed back into her normal school uniform, Grace offered an arm to her, and she gladly took it.

They made their way over to the other side of the building, and towards the math classroom. They went up the stairs slowly, and Elizabeth gripped Grace a little tighter every time she felt a sharp pain.

"Do you know how long it'll take for it to finish healing?" she asked as they walked down the hall.

"I'd say perhaps another day?" Grace estimated with a small shrug. "Your powers didn't start healing you until ten hours ago."

"Oh." She nodded. "Okay."

They reached the math classroom after a few more minutes, and Grace lightly knocked on the door.

The door opened a couple of moments later, revealing Pogo. A look of relief appeared on his face as he saw Elizabeth, alive and well.

"Ah, Miss Elizabeth. I am happy to see that you are all right," he said as he gave her a kind smile. "I am sure that your siblings will be more than delighted to see you. Come in."

Elizabeth walked in to be immediately greeted by excited shouts of her name and her siblings barrelling towards her. They immediately engulfed her in a big group hug, sparking pain in her stomach.

"Guys, I love you, but please get off," Elizabeth groaned, her eyes squinted in pain. "Ow. Hurts."

They quickly let go of her with murmurs of apology, forming a small semi-circle around her.

"How are you—" Allison narrowed her eyes as she leaned forward. "Whoa, your eyes!"

"What about them?" Elizabeth questioned.

Klaus peered close to her, his nose scrunched as he analyzed her eyes. "They're glowing like they do when you use your powers."

"Yeah, my self-healing is working" —Elizabeth shrugged— "so that's why."

"Nevermind that, how are you feeling?" Vanya questioned worriedly, her eyes glancing down to her stomach. "Are you okay?"

"I'm pretty good." Elizabeth smiled in reassurance before wincing as another burst of pain came. "I think."

"We were so worried." Five swallowed, a small smile on his face as he gazed at Elizabeth. "We thought you were going to-to—"

"Don't worry, I'm very alive," Elizabeth comforted him and the others. "I think."

"Does it hurt a lot?" Luther asked tentatively, his eyes flickering down to the area of the injury, although it was covered by her uniform dress.

"It's not bad." Elizabeth shrugged. "Except when you guys hugged me; that hurt really bad. Please don't do it again."

"Got it." Ben grinned, giving her a small thumbs-up. "No hugs until after."

"Miss Elizabeth, would you like to join us for the rest of the math class?" Pogo offered. "Granted, the students are just finishing up a worksheet, but perhaps you could partner up?"

"Sounds good." Elizabeth smiled.

After the others gave her high-fives (to replace hugs) and headed back to their desks, Five came up to her. "Want to be my partner?"

She gave him a small smile as she shook her head and informed him, "I promised Diego I'd be his partner last time, sorry."

"Ugh." Five frowned. "Fine."

"Next time," she promised. She turned, about to go towards Diego when she felt Five put a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait," he said, causing her to turn to him with a questioning look. "Are you sure you're okay? Like, seriously?"

"Don't worry, Five." Elizabeth smiled reassuringly as she nodded and murmured, "I feel fine."

His concerned eyes searched her face for a moment before he sighed, "Okay. Go give Diego all the answers instead of me, then."

"I will." She winked before walking over to the empty desk next to Diego's. and sitting down. "Hey, Eggo, can I partner with you?"

He didn't look up from his worksheet as he quietly responded, "Go partner with Five."

"No" —Elizabeth frowned—"I want to partner with you."

His grip on his pencil tightened, his knuckles turning white. "You shouldn't."

"Why?" she questioned, leaning towards him.

He leaned away. "Just go with Five."

"No," Elizabeth refused as she shook her head.

"Go!" he insisted.

She folded her arms as she narrowed her eyes at him and questioned, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he answered flatly.

"What's wrong?"

"I said nothing is wrong!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to hurt you again!"

Elizabeth was silent for a moment before breathing out, "Oh, Diego, it was an accident. You were trying to hit the guy, and I just happened to knock him out right before the knife hit him."

"You almost died because of me," Diego mumbled, keeping his eyes focused on a particular question that he had already answered.

"But I didn't." Elizabeth placed a hand on his shoulder, peering at his face. His lips were pursed together tightly, and he was blinking rather quickly. "I'm right here, aren't I?"

"If you didn't have self-healing . . ."

"But I do!" Elizabeth exclaimed softly, giving him an encouraging nod. "Stab me as many times as you want, Eggo."

His eyes widened. "No!"

"Just kidding, obviously," she giggled. "But seriously, dude, don't worry."

Diego was quiet for a moment before he slowly turned his head to face her. "How do you not hate me?"

"Because I know you would never hurt me on purpose." Elizabeth smiled warmly towards the boy. "I trust you. I forgive you. That should be enough for you to forgive yourself."

Diego chewed on his lip, thinking. After a few moments, he straightened up, a serious look on his face. He clenched his jaw as he gazed towards her, but his face soon relaxed as he promised, "I swear, I'll never let you get hurt again."

—☾—

Later that night, Elizabeth was in the basement's kitchen, rifling through the cabinets. 

The wound in her stomach was hurting more than usual, and she desperately wanted to put a stop to it. 

She looked through every cabinet, pantry, and rack, but she couldn't find anything that could help.

"Hey, Queen Elizabeth." Klaus strolled into the kitchen, sitting on top of the dining table as he watched her continue her hunt. "Whatcha looking for?"

"Painkillers," she sighed as she turned around, leaning back on the counter. "I have a lot of pain, and I'd like to kill it."

"Pa-painkillers?" he repeated nervously, his fingers beginning to twist each other behind his back. "Like . . . the medicine?"

"I'm not aware of any other kind of painkillers." Elizabeth raised her eyebrows before awkwardly pointing out, "Except murder, I guess, but that's not really on the table."

"Mhm, yeah, no, murder's not good." Klaus nodded quickly, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "Heh."

She sighed before turning around and beginning to rummage through the cabinet in front of her once more. "Alli said that there should've been some left from when you broke your jaw a few years ago, but I can't find it."

"Well, um, here's the thing . . ." he spoke slowly, his eyes darting back and forth between her and the ground. "You . . . won't be able to find any."

Elizabeth tilted her head, her eyebrows knitting together as she asked, "Why?"

"They are" —Klaus clicked his tongue— "gone."

"Gone where?" She narrowed her eyes at him as she said, "I don't think they went on vacation or something."

"You never know, they could've gone to 'Pill'adelphia or something," he joked with a small grin on his face.

"Klaus."

"I took them," he confessed.

"What? Did you get hurt?" Elizabeth asked worriedly, folding her arms over her chest. "A massive headache that needed . . . like, three full bottles of painkillers?"

"Come," he sighed before patting the empty space next to him. She took it, sliding her hands under her legs as she looked at him for an answer.

"My powers—speaking to the dead—forces me to see all these spirits, just-just screaming at me. My whole life, I've had to deal with that. Dad would lock me in a mausoleum for hours on end to try to get me to be able to control it, but I—I never could," he sighed deeply. "So, when I broke my jaw and had to take those pills . . . they made the spirits go away. I kinda realized that if I wanted to get out of the distress I was constantly in, I had to turn to drugs and booze, so . . . I hid the pills and kept them. And now, I never hear those spirits screaming my name."

"But . . . how could I have not noticed that you were on . . . on drugs?" Elizabeth questioned, her eyebrows knit tightly together. "Surely, you would've had a personality change."

"That's because I broke my jaw when we were twelve, and you came here when we were fourteen," he chuckled lightly, running a hand through his dark hair. "High Klaus is the only Klaus you've ever known."

"Right. Come to think of it, I have noticed that you always smelled like alcohol . . . I just thought it was some strange cologne," she laughed lightly, receiving a small giggle from the boy next to her. "I mean, I can't tell you that I really approve of this, but . . . I'm happy that you don't have to deal with that anymore."

"Thanks, Queen Elizabeth." Klaus smiled, leaning towards her and spreading his arms wide.

"No hugs!"

"Right, right!" He immediately snapped back into his original position, nodding his head furiously. "Wait until your eyes stop glowing! Got it!"