Chapter Twenty Six:

Lotus woke with a jolt, sitting up instantly and scanning the room. She froze, staring down at her hand which was still in Five's.

So it wasn't some crazy dream. She thought, wondering if she should take it back. Her hand was starting to fall asleep, and the crisp air flowing through the open window hinted that it was early the next morning and she had fallen asleep. Five groaned opening his eyes, he tried to pull himself up, not letting go of her hand.

She shook her head and wiggled her hand free and helped him up, he now sat leaning against his headboard. She watched him blink away his tiredness before locking eyes with her, "Is there something on my face?"

"No. You just look so unlike yourself when you're asleep."

His brows scrunched, "What?"

"Nothing." She shrugged, "It doesn't matter. You're just a treat awake too."

"Yeah, whatever."

Lotus pulled herself off the chair and stretched, hearing a pop in her back. She sucked in a breath as her back cracked, letting her arms fall back to her side. A rumble sounded from Five and he clicked his tongue, slowly falling back down until he was laying down.

"Do you want something to eat?"

"I wouldn't mind a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich." He pulled his lips back into what she assumed was a smile, though when it wasn't relaxed she wasn't sure if he was planning a scheme or just trying to look creepy. "Please."

She rolled her eyes and lead herself towards the doorframe, "Don't get used to this." She turned the corner and made her way down the hall and down various stairs until she found herself in the kitchen.

A loaf of bread was sitting on the counter, next to the fridge. She grabbed it and carefully opened it, removing two pieces of bread and slapping it down into the surface. She packaged it back up and slid it aside, now searching for the peanut butter and marshmallows. Lotus dug threw various cabinets, stopping only when a women's voice made her jump.

"Did I scare you?"

Lotus turned to see Grace, a smile on her face as she walked over to her. "What are we trying to make?"

"I- uh..."

Grace's eyes landed on the bread sitting on the counter and she looked back at the girl, seemingly understanding her idea.

"Those sandwiches are not a good breakfast." The women said walking over across the room to a wall of cabinets, she opened it and pulled a pan from it before finding her way to the stove. She placed the pan on a burner and clicked it on, ushering Lotus out of the way.

"Let me make you two a good, real breakfast." Grace grabbed four eggs from the fridge and placed them next to the stove, she walked back and grabbed a package of bacon. "Something that won't keep you up all night sick."

Lotus watched as the women got to work, waiting for the pan to heat up before slapping four pieces of bacon down, it sizzling as it hit the hot surface.

"I can do it." Lotus said moving so she stood next to her, "If you'd like. I mean— I just want to help."

The women let out a laugh, "This is what I'm meant to do, Lotus." She smiled, "And I haven't been able to for a very long time."

Lotus pursed her lips, "What did you do when they all left?"

She flipped each piece of bacon, and Lotus watched as she carefully grabbed two plates and placed them on the counter. "I cleaned. I cooked for those who could eat and I did it again and again as those things must go on to unsure a happy family."

Lotus wanted to point out that there wasn't a family to make happy, but she kept quiet while Grace flopped two pieces of bacon onto each plate and went on to crack four eggs into the pan. Lotus pushed herself to move, feeling bad that she wasn't helping. She grabbed the two pieces of forgotten bread from where Grace had placed them and walked over to the toaster and popped them in, pressing the button down.

"Toast." Grace commented, "What a great idea."

Lotus rocked on her feet, waiting patiently for the bread to pop up. Within minutes it did, and Grace was sliding a tray of butter towards her, equipped with a knife. She gave the women a smile as she buttered the two pieces of toast, she placed the knife next to the tray and went to move it but Grace's hand shot up.

"I'll clean it up, don't worry." She grabbed the two pieces and added them to the plates. Each plate contained two eggs, two pieces of bacon and now one piece of toast. Grace carefully put them on a tray and placed a fork and knife next to each one, handing the tray over to Lotus. "You two should eat. Go on, now, while it's hot."

Lotus' feet couldn't seem to move as she watched Grace begin to clean up. She hummed to herself, eyes focused on what she was doing.

"Thank you." Lotus finally said, "I really appreciate it."

Grace beamed at her, eyes shining as bright as she'd ever see them. "That's what Mom's are for."

The girl nodded slowly, turning and rushing as fast as she could out of the kitchen and up the countless stairs until she stopped in the doorway of Five's bedroom. Miraculously, she didn't spill or drop anything.

Five was sitting up his headboard, he smiled as Lotus walked in and handed him the tray. "What happened to peanut butter and marshmallows?"

She rolled her eyes and watched as he picked up a fork and dug in, "Grace spotted me in the kitchen, she started making bacon and eggs."

"You made the toast?"

"Yup."

He nodded, letting out a soft laugh. He picked up the piece of buttered toast and took an unnaturally large bite. He must've noticed her staring because he froze, butter smudged on the corner of his lips. "What?"

She opened her mouth to say something but then closed it, opting to pick up her own fork and take a small bite of her eggs.

"You have no idea what I ate during the apocalypse" He took another bite of toast, "Expired twinkies, cockroaches." He trailed off, "A burnt squirrel, but let's not get into that."

Lotus coughed, choking on egg. She cleared her throat and locked eyes with him. "A burnt squirrel?"

He shrugged, "I was desperate. I had to be alive to get back, you know."

"Are you glad your back?"

He looked at her as if she was crazy, most likely wondering why she could ever ask that.

"Of course I am. There's people here, everywhere actually. The buildings aren't burnt, they aren't crumbled to the ground. The air isn't filled with smoke, well, at least not as much smoke." His mouth formed a straight line, "It was terrible, Lotus. I was going crazy, I was crazy. And then a women appeared out of nowhere and offered me a job, a chance to do something, a chance to escape what they refused to fix... and now they're here trying to kill me, and they've attacked my family."

Lotus frowned, "You don't have to get into it, I'm sure you never want to talk about it again."

"Nothing's ever been easy. Not for people us, and I'm sure you know that. We have a chance to make a difference, even if nobody will have any clue, but we will." His eyes lit up, he looked like a kid again, not just on the outside. They way his face looked, will all that hidden hope suddenly within him. Lotus wondered if this is what he was like when he was really a kid, shedding away his hard exterior of only sharp edges and mild anger. "We have two days now, not even. I should be out there, working, trying to find whoever owns that damn eye."

"Where is the eye?"

"In the nightstand." He told her, any hint of hope and excitement vanished as he pushed the tray away. Lotus grabbed it and placed it on the floor, shoving away hers as well. "Hopefully I'll only be stuck in here until tonight. Then we need to get a move on, and finish this once and for all."

"I think Diego and Allison are out there right now, or they're talking about where to go first."

"Have you seen Luther?" Five questioned, "Or Klaus?"

She shook her head, "Only Grace."

They fell into silence, Five shifted back so he was laying down again. He looked over at her and moved over, patting the space next to him.

"Excuse me?"

"C'mon." He shrugged, "That chair does not look comfortable."

Lotus pursed her lips, "This version of you is weirdly making me uncomfortable."

"What do you mean version?"

"I mean normal."

He scoffed, "Do you want comfort or not?"

"I can just leave, you realize."

"You wouldn't."

She didn't like how he was right, or why she actually didn't want to leave. The world was slowly ending around her, and they had no idea how or who causes it but despite all that, she'd rather stay with him for the rest of the day and talk about whatever they felt like.

"That looks like twin bed, I don't want to take up most of the space when you're still... Uh, healing."

He rolled his eyes, "Just lay down, Lotus."

Five grabbed the covers and threw them aside, she awkwardly made her way to that side of the bed and sat down. He watched her, biting back a laugh. She was acting so weird, and it was new for him to see her act so, so cautious. He finally let himself laugh when she decided it was alright to lay down, he grabbed the covers and placed them over her.

"Comfortable?"

"Not really."

"But it's memory foam." He pouted.

Lotus snorted, relaxing a little bit. "And?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean, Five?" She wondered, "I mean I've slept on sidewalks comfier than this."

"What?"

She never gave backstory to that statement, but changed the topic back to Five and his family. He instantly began retelling stories of them, back when they were a team. And eventually, he trailed off telling stories of what he thought his mother was like, leaving her to listen quietly and delve on the subject herself.