westwhere | closed. families are complicated

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closed. families are complicated

WHO: Lila Pitts and Five Hargreeves
WHEN: After Lila's return from Ellethia
WHERE: Mouse House kitchen
WHAT: Information sharing
WARNINGS: Cursing, Five's paranoia, will add for more that pop up

Lila has sent out the fishing line, caught herself the fish, and now here he comes. Even knowing that the Commission's most accomplished assassin is on his way over, she only has a sandwich in hand to greet him and no items within reach to use as a weapon. Not everything about her is relaxed, preferring to be on her feet when Five enters the space. She's half-expecting him to just jump in, almost hoping for it because there is a severe lack of superpowers around here, and it would be nice to make sure her own ability is mostly intact.

Leaned up against a counter, she picked at her sandwich while the rest of her senses are honed for his arrival. Chances are that he still doesn't trust her, not the way they had been getting along during the Kugelblitz. As loathed as Lila may be to do it, she may have to drop some big information to gain a little more. They may never get to total trust and that's fine with her, as part of it would be on her end. Getting along with her parents' killer is already hard enough sometimes, regardless of who gave him that order.

"The Merchant has miniature teleportation devices," she said in lieu of a greeting when Five appeared. No need for such niceties between them. "It's how we got to Ellethia and back."

Have some red string for the board of conspiracies, Five. On the island counter, there's a white uniform that indeed matches what the guy in white was wearing during the Unwinding. Her gift to him so the old man can see it for himself rather than rely on her or Constantine's word.

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To say Five has been on edge since Lila suddenly came back into the mix isn't really accurate. He's been clinging desperately to his last fraying nerve of sanity since before they even got to the city. However, Lila arriving on the heels of his brother disappearing and the Unwinding is exactly the kind of timing he's come to expect out of her. If she wasn't the direct cause, it's hard to believe she hadn't chosen this exact moment to appear.

When he needs help and can't refuse what she has to offer.

He knows her skillset is why the Merchant asked her, and it bothers him just a little bit that she not only has the future to lord over him, but she's been here five minutes and she's already discovering more about this world that he doesn't know. And here he is, jumping at the chance to work with her like she's already part of the family. The less is said about it, the better.

"I wondered." His tone is more neutral than it should be, given what she just said. The Merchant lent them a teleportation device. The man who forced them to take the most dangerous path he could find every time they travel east could have gotten them here in an instant.

He never quite turns his back to Lila as he enters the kitchen and makes his way over to the counter where the uniform sits. Just like the one the man they saw. And the man in the mirror. For some reason, the Merchant wanted them all to know where he came from.

"Did he tell you anything else about Ellethia, or did he just say that he needed a favor and left you to sort it out?"

Once he's in the room, and sure there aren't any possible weapons within her reach, Lila hopped up onto the counter much the way she had in that destroyed farmhouse. She shoved part of the sandwich into her mouth in the most attractive manner possible - which is not attractive at all - as he absorbed the scraps of information that had been freely handed out.

Even this much must put him so off-kilter, waiting for the other shoe to drop. What more can she possibly say that would both simultaneously fix his balance while also blowing him over at the same time? A lot, really.

Though, it's really strange that he believed Lila would ever wait to show up on purpose when Diego isn't here. Even if she had wanted to taunt Five, it would have been one time and done. Or Lila would make him wait at least a little longer than however long it was between the Unwinding and finishing the mission for the Merchant. The uniform is all his to pick apart, she'd done her job, and they'd collected a few just in case.

"Must be new or he just doesn't like sharing his toys." Having a teleportation device would make things so much easier than taking the slow path. She doesn't know its limitations yet, or how many he had. Only that it had taken them a few scant seconds to get from this location all the way to Ellethia - however far away that was.

"Not really. Asked us to pick up a uniform and come back. After we'd brought it back, he wanted us to contact the group to confirm if the 'man in white' during the Unwinding was wearing a similar one. Which Constantine technically did." He also just asked some other people first.

"Have you been there? Ellethia?" Lila wanted to compare notes on his time there to her own, to see what the changes might be.

The most surprising thing is there's not more of them questioning how they got there after they announced that the Merchant was involved. Five doubts it's because they're smart enough not to speak against their benefactor where he can hear them. At least Lila sees the issue enough to mention it. And bring it to him right away. It's strange to adjust to her being so helpful. He doesn't entirely trust it, but he can admit that he prefers this to how they left things in the 60s.

Probably something he needs to thank his future-self for. Lila is useful when she wants to be.

"I have." He examines the uniform and frowns, almost ending the story with that. But maybe he's come to the same conclusion. It doesn't hurt to compare notes, so long as he doesn't let his guard down. "The Merchant sent us there to get some perspective on where he comes from. We repaid him by killing some of the last known survivors of his people."

So maybe it isn't so shocking that he'd ask two people who weren't around during that time to run his errand.

"Up in the lighthouse, there were several of them dressed like this, who had been in a coma for god knows how long. Some of us thought they were being tortured in their dreams and decided to put them out of their misery. I wasn't involved," he adds, to be clear. He'd been... occupied at the time. He turns back towards her and leans against the counter. "You know how it goes; guilty by association. As much as he claims to be neutral, I've always suspected he's holding a grudge."

Hence purposely making their lives harder. Sending them to places he has a vested interest in, regardless of the danger. Five could easily be convinced that he's had a teleportation device all along and purposely didn't mention it.

It's fine for those who are worried about speaking out against their benefactor, Lila's curious enough to question him directly. She might be new around here, but this is the sort of thing people should be asking about. Not feeling cowed by all the good The Merchant has done for them. Individuals more polite than her could be asking in a nicer way.

As for bringing it to Five, telling him upfront will ease his little distrustful inner voice. Things are better between them after a week of Kugelblitz, not great but certainly better.

Lila will eat her sandwich while Five explains his own trip to the lighthouse and what took place there. After what happened with the remains of the Merchant's people, it is very possible that he's holding a grudge against everyone who went. Could be why he picked two brand new people to go on the newest mission.

"You see a locked door in the lighthouse that's only opened by a wish when you were there? Inside is where we found the uniforms." A small gesture to the white piece of fabric. The rest of the place had been devoid of what they were looking for, but that one room hadn't been picked clean.

What he tells her is only a fraction of what happened there, but Five is more comfortable saying how other people screwed up. There's another reason the man in white is so hard for him to forget. Unexplainable magic that compels the mind and traps him with his own powers is really not his favorite topic.

But he does know what she's talking about. They were there for weeks while they waited for a ship to arrive, it's pretty hard to miss a wishing door.

"I heard about it. I had enough sense not to try it myself." Not the reason he didn't, but he still managed to avoid that particular trap. Although knowing she used it is concerning in a way he can't totally cover. He turns to face her and looks at her more critically, like he'll be able to tell. "Did you make one?"

With how long Five has been here, anything he tells her would only be a fraction of what's happened. He doesn't go into any detail about how people thought the coma individuals were being tortured in their dreams, or if there was any information about how they got like that, or who might have been running the place.

Or even what he was doing while others were making the decision to pull the plug on those poor bastards. Lila doesn't ask, either. He might not trust her with that information yet.

"Constantine wasn't about to make a wish, so yeah, I did." Was it suspicious as hell and is she waiting for something terrible to happen? Absolutely. "Think it'll backfire on me?"

She doesn't tell him what the wish is yet, just interested in hearing his thoughts on the matter first.

Of course Constantine let her do it. The guy didn't give off any sort of self-sacrificing vibes during their brief conversation. He can already tell he's going to be a problem. If there's anything that can drive a wedge between him and Lila, like pointing out that he selfishly put her in danger, he's all for it.

"No idea. Most of them had some kind of catch." He has to think back to what they were, which is all a bit hazy. He lost several days to that mirror-spell he fell under, unrelated to the door. "From what I remember, there wasn't any permanent damage. One guy wished for super powers like everyone else and spent the next day rotating between the people he came in contact with. Like you but without any control."

And if he thinks more about it, that guy disappeared not long after that, never to be heard from again. Probably something he should have looked into at the time. He keeps that in mind as he watches Lila, pausing just long enough to gauge her reaction, before he continues.

"The lighthouse was the home of a lot of experimental magic. Mostly involving mirrors. It's just as well you didn't find anything else, it probably would have been cursed."

Even when making the wish Lila had her doubts about it, but it's been clear from the start that this place is dangerous. If it could actually grant her wish, then she'd make it as many times as she possibly could. Maybe it was stupid and reckless, but so far nothing has happened.

Lila is quiet while listening to Five describe this other guy and how his wish went. Considering just how her wish could go wrong, and whether she should actually tell Diego's siblings the news. Even though she told Constantine not to tell anyone, the fact that someone here knows doesn't sit right with her. This information is leverage that could be used against her, and she doesn't fully trust Constantine to keep the secret.

As much as she might try to tightly guard her feelings, Five was always an expert on seeing through her. There's no hiding the small worried furrow of her brows or her hesitation by worrying at her bottom lip with her teeth. Her resolve steels just for a moment and out comes Lila's biggest secret before it dissolves.

"I'm pregnant. That's the reason I ended up with your rag-tag family again." Well, that and Diego were enough to have her playing nice with Five and the rest. It's not how Lila wanted to tell the rest of the Hargreeves, without Diego here beside her, but at least that's one down. "The wish was about making sure our kid survives this hellhole."

No one is more aware than Lila that this puts more weight on Five's shoulders, but she wouldn't trust anyone else to help her look into whatever this wish may have done. Unless Diego himself were here.

Of all the secrets she was keeping from him, Five finds himself wholly unprepared for what comes out next. Surprisingly, he believes her, and it seems to fit in with what he's noticed since she reappeared. He leans more heavily on the counter as he lets it settle over him. Lila's pregnant. Diego is obviously the father. ...The Handler's daughter is pregnant with his brother's kid... Somehow that last bit is easier to swallow now that she's dead, but it's almost a shame he couldn't twist that spiteful knife in her back.

"Oh." That's all he can manage for a long time after. He's going to be an uncle again. "And Diego..."

She would have told him, he's assuming, but his brother is an idiot. He has no idea how he would have reacted to that news. Although it goes a long way in explaining Lila's sudden change in attitude. It's been days and she hasn't tried to kill him once. As nice as that is, this changes things. She'd have to know that he'll do anything he can to protect his family, and this is the last place a pregnant woman should be.

His posture shifts, and he ruminates on that door and what it could mean for her now that he knows. None of the wishes were exactly what the wisher intended. They all came true, but he didn't hear about any case where they hadn't regretting making one.

"Did you notice anything after you made the wish?" As innocent as hers might have sounded, she can see from his expression that he thinks she might have put their unborn baby at risk. "How did you phrase it, exactly?"

As far as the other Hargreeves' knew, Lila and Diego already had a twelve-year old kid named Stanley. They had taken that fairly well and seemed to have accepted him. That was different from openly admitting that Lila was still pregnant with their kid and had borrowed some other kid to test their brother. Something to bring up at a much later time, when Five isn't dealing with a shit ton of other problems. As for Lila's adoptive mother, that would have been one hell of a knife.

"He knew, at least he did last time I saw him." So the Diego that had been here, that had been from the same moment in time as Five and Allison hadn't known at all.

Lila is aware that Allison has a daughter and Viktor basically adopted Harlan back in Texas, so this is hardly the first kid being brought into the Hargreeves fold. Maybe putting Five in the know will make him see that she is at least partially genuine in trying to survive this bullshit, even though it means working with the guy who killed her parents. Killing him now won't do her or her kid any good, so he won't need to watch his back so much now that she's around.

It might have been stupidly reckless to make that wish, but she had also jumped into a hotel with crazy strong guardians on the potential chances of surviving the end of the universe. Worked with Papa Hargreeves even after all the shit he had done to the Umbrellas in their timeline and older man Five had warned them not to do anything.

"The door opened, so I'm guessing the wish took. Nothing else, though." If only he knew what Lila's options truly were, both here and back home. Her own expression is clear that she's debating throwing something at him just to wipe that look off his face, but the loss of her sandwich isn't worth it. "'I wish for our baby to be safe through all this crazy shit.'"

It doesn't escape him that this means Constantine knows about her pregnancy. Lila took that risk, knowing that it could be used against her, because she's worried about her unborn baby. Already, Five knows that he's going to have to follow up on that and make sure he isn't inclined to take advantage of that knowledge. To protect Lila. Of all people.

(And yet, even knowing about her long con in the mental hospital, he doesn't think she's lying about this. Maybe because she knows what he'll do if she is.)

Five tries to move past the absurdity of it all to focus on her exact wish. Magic isn't his forte, so he doesn't know how a door operates on wishes. All he's sure of, is that wording matters. If there's a way for it to twist what she said, history shows that's exactly what would happen.

There's also the problem of a distinct lack of modern medicine around here. They can't exactly do an ultrasound to see if the baby is going to come out covered in armor or if it's turned into something more formidable to fight off whatever they come across. All of those things are a possibility, but he doesn't really want to tell her. Stress is bad for babies, right? Not to mention whatever is going on back home that she's hinted at.

"We'll have to keep an eye on it." That's all he can think to say. He doesn't think he has to mention that he's not going to let anything happen to his brother's kid, no matter how much of an adjustment it's going to be on all fronts. "Does anyone else know?"

One of the biggest reasons she is telling Five is due to Constantine knowing. Even if she got sent on a mission to pick up some laundry, it doesn't mean Lila trusts the guy. He could have used it against her after finding out there were people she knew here, which would have driven her a little bit crazy. Crazier. So she's getting ahead of that while she can.

(Lila has pulled a lot of bullshit, even springing the Stanley test on the entire family. But even she can see that Five is one manipulative plot from losing his shit, especially from her. Only because that would also involve Diego and the little gremlin is protective of his family.)

They could probably find someone around here with some sort of magical ability or technology to check on the state of this kid, but Lila hardly knows anyone like that. Even the guy calling himself the Doctor seemed more of a librarian than a guy who studied actual medicine for unborn life.

Let's be honest, Lila would probably laugh her arse off if her kid came out with a suit of armor. Plus, weird children with superpowers aren't a new thing to either of them and something that wouldn't actually be that much of a surprise. The only worry would be if it turned into something else entirely.

"No shit, detective." This may also be another reason that she's telling Five. If something happens to her and she's out of it, he can have someone check on the kid. "You're the second person I've told, third person that knows, since Constantine was in earshot when I made the wish. Diego was the first."

There's no way Lila can judge who else might know from the people in the Commission, and anyone here that might have more information about them than they let on.

Five runs a hand through his hair as more and more issues occur to him. He's been here too long, much longer than nine months, and there's a very real possibility that it'll take him more than that before he finally cracks the code to get them back to their timeline. Even if only the three of them know now, that's only until she starts showing. All things considered, Lila had a pretty good reason to make a wish and hope for the best.

"That buys us time," he says without a lot of optimism. Because it buys them time for what? Five never trusted the beacons to get them back, so he planned on relying on his own solution, but that was after he found his siblings. He can't just abandon them to get her back.

It's never just one problem. This should be good news. Five wanted his siblings to have a future, get to live their lives, and here it is. So he takes several deep breaths and tries to get his thoughts to stop crashing into each other. He'll save his meltdown for when Lila isn't watching him.

"How'd Diego take it?"

As much as she doesn't want to be stuck in this place, Lila is very aware that it's a real possibility that six months will roll by, and she'll still be here with a huge belly ready to pop. Only three months have gone by for her since the barn, and things have been much more dangerous than a mother would like for her kid. A normal mother, anyway.

"Sure does," in a more hopeful tone than Five's. One of them has to have some optimism and it looks like it's going to be her. Whether a briefcase can jump worlds... they may have to find out if they aren't going to rely on the beacons.

She has a sneaking suspicion that ancient Five is the one who created the briefcases in the first place - being the Founder of the Commission and all. There could be plenty more to his abilities that he simply hasn't unlocked yet. Something to bring to his attention when they aren't in this city with all that's been happening.

Shame she'll miss that meltdown, but there's always the next one, and all the ones after that. This likely isn't going to be the only one he has while they're in this world. Lila swings a leg at that question, contemplating just how much to say on that.

"Shock, disbelief, and then shifted into dad mode. Handling it a lot better than I am. He wanted to tell the rest of you." Taking a look at who raised her would give plenty of insight into why Lila would have worries and doubts.

Five allows himself a moment to imagine that. It makes some sense that Diego might jump at the chance to be a dad. Give his kid a better childhood than they had. Which puts a lot of responsibility on Five to make sure that happens. Fortunately, he's friends with a powerful demon that knows to look after his family. He can tip him off without mentioning the pregnancy while he continues his search for his brother.

It's hard to miss the impact it's had on Lila. To even tell him that she hasn't been handling it well shows just how much it's changed her. And her relationship with him. Is he the one she confides in, in the future? Only three people know. Does that make it the first or second time she's told him?

Whatever happened, he doesn't have a choice but to roll with it.

"...You should tell Allison. She'd want to know." Five will let her be the one to do it, but he's open to being present if she asks. He knows it makes her seem more legitimate if it looks like he believes her. "Then we can figure out a place for you to stay."

She will leave out the part about tricking him with a kid that wasn't theirs, and basically all of the other shit that happened. Though, Lila knows without a doubt that Diego makes a damn good dad, and it's all her hang-ups about being responsible for this tiny life. Not just bringing it into the world, but actually raising it to be better than her.

After realizing someone else knew, someone who wasn't Five's family, she may have a small panic. Trust doesn't come easily to her, and it would have eaten away at her that somehow Five would have found out through someone else. At least this way, he knows pretty much up front.

"It's hard enough having you know, pipsqueak. I'm not ready to have the whole family in on this information yet." When Diego found out, it had been an accident, and Lila doesn't want to explain that Allison being in on the kid situation might do more harm than good in the future. When they reach the point of having that Talk, Lila will bring it up then.

That's interesting. Five is so distracted by his thoughts that he doesn't even react to her casual insult. Not only is she telling him, but she's choosing to keep it a secret from the rest of the family. Lila didn't even consider that he'd let it slip to Allison. — Which he won't unless he has no other choice, but still, it goes some way to prove his suspicions. Even if it's partially because she knows he would have figured it out before long, it feels like unfamiliar territory for them.

He nearly questions it, but he's not prepared for what her answer might be.

"Fair enough." He seems to understand, in as much as he knows his siblings and how they might treat her after finding out. Although they all seemed ready to accept her as family the minute Diego invited her into it in the barn, even if she had been trying to kill him minutes before.

"But if you're going to make me your confidant, I need to know when the Merchant decides to send you on some secret errand." Lila has already adopted one trait they all seem to have in common. He's tied of chasing after everyone, and he's not going to lose his brother's unborn kid. "I've been here longer, I've seen what's out there. You were lucky a magic door was the only thing you ran into."

From the way she sees it, Five is always the one trying to carry all of the family burdens and he's willing to do it all by himself. Whether that's because he's just gotten used to working alone, doesn't want his family to end up dead (again), or because he's a little shit that just thinks he can do it all on his own - in this case, it's just because Lila has knowledge of future events and knowing who she'd rather know this secret.

Lila is putting this fact in Five's hands over someone who knows what it's like to be a parent, a mother. That should bring up so many questions in anyone's mind. Of course, if Diego was still here, he'd be the one she was telling instead of Five, but here they are.

If there's one thing she's learned about this family, it's that they're more hurt by all the little lies and secrets over the physical violence done to them. Lila had been ready to go through all of the Hargreeves to get to Five on that farm, but they'd hardly blinked when she rejoined them in the new timeline.

"Fine. I'll let you know if I get picked for a special assignment." No hesitation to agree to more than just accepting errands from the Merchant. She doesn't know if anyone else would give her secret tasks, but might as well include them too if they're going to make this deal. Having as much information as possible before stepping into trouble would only benefit her. "Just don't expect me to sit out everything because it's dangerous."

She might be pregnant, but Lila is also a trained assassin and would only rebel harder if Five (or anyone) decides to treat her like a fragile piece of glass. If he can respect that, then she can accept when he tells her to stay out of certain things.

He's not sure if he anticipated that to be more of a fight, but he's had to do a lot of catching up about how their relationship evolves in the future. Not that he's unhappy about it. Necessarily. Lila's easy acceptance of his request seems to fall in line with how she's acted ever since she showed up fresh out of the Unwinding.

Lila likely weighed the risks of telling him ahead of time. No matter what she blames him for, she's well aware of what he'll do for family. At the moment, he's her best bet to survive, so in that way it makes perfect sense that he'd be the one she came to.

"That isn't really an option." They're in a world where the undead might outnumber the living, where magic and curses are rampant, and mind control is a real problem. Everywhere they go is dangerous. He's got no idea how to plan for the months ahead, but he doubts he can keep her in a locked room until the baby comes. The second he got close she'd just mimic his powers and turn this into a bigger headache.

Hell of a way to form a truce.

"I've done the same thing you did. When I first got here, the Merchant asked me for a favor, and I did it in hopes of learning something." He hesitates in saying more, because he's been cursed ever since. "There's always something he leaves out."

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closed. families are complicated

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