hi hi, ik it's only chapter 2 but this chapter
has mentions of somewhat internalized homophobia (?). if that topic may be triggering and/or upsetting to you, i suggest you don't read ahead.

stay safe and ily <3

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Klaus led the group downtown to a hotel. They all shoved into one slot of the revolving doors, thudding against the panels as the seven of them were crammed in.

"We did not have to be squeezed in like that." Allison sighed as the door reached the inside of the hotel.

"There were two entrances, by the way." Five grimaced as he stepped out.

"Oh, Hotel Obsidian. I missed you, you slutty old dame." Klaus put his arms out, speaking to the group, "Absorb her. Absorb her into your bosom. You know, back in her heyday, she played host to world leaders. Roosevelt, Gandhi, Stalin, Gorbachev, Castro, King Olaf of Norway, one of the Kim Jongs, Tito, Dalai Lama, Elvis, and not one, but two Kardashians, allegedly."

Allison rolled her eyes and walked off, "I gotta make a call."

"Well, nowadays, she's just a flophouse, a party house, for those of us not looking to be judged by society's rules and norms."

"You mean a place to hide?" Y/n sighed, crossing her arms.

"Exactly! It's perfect! And the best part is, she's gonna look after us, no questions asked."

They all glanced around the lobby to see people looking at them, judging almost. Klaus finally led them up to the front desk, ringing the bell as the receptionist turned to them. There was a dog bed with a pug sitting in it that Y/n approached to pet. The dog leaned its face along her right hand that produced her fire.

Klaus gasped, "Chet! Mon frère! It's so great to see you. I'd like my usual suite, por favor."

"I've never seen you here before." He deadpanned.

"See? Told you. Discreet."

"Please stop scaring my dog." He told Y/n and Diego and they took slow steps back from the desk.

"We need some rooms please." Vanya spoke up from the back.

"Super. How will you be paying today?"

"... Fine. Empty your pockets." Luther sighed.

Eight pulled out a nearly emptied pack of gum, some lose coins, and a plastic spoon.

"This is all I have." She shrugged as everyone else held their items out.

"A plastic spoon?" Vanya inquired, some mints in her hand.

"I really don't know how that got in my pockets."

"Put the knife away!" Luther whispered harshly while shoving Diego's hand down.

"Can't exchange these for cash." Klaus whispered, holding a stack of condoms.

"Why do I have a hairnet?" Luther questioned, looking at his wrist. "Oh, what does this get us?"

The receptionist took Luther's watch he had handed him. He inspected it up close and turned around to grab two sets of room keys.

"Two rooms."

"Well," Allison snatched a set of keys up, "Let's Brady Bunch this bitch."

They all took glanced around the building while walking to the rooms. There was a bar to the left with some food and a library to the right with some books that collected dust.

"Uh, meet back in the bar in two hours so we can make a plan." Five spoke up.

"I have a plan." Diego ran up to the front, rushing up the steps and speaking as every walked past him. "We attack the Sparrows, and we take back our house, and then we punch Dad a bit until he admits that we're better and he loves us more! We're wasting time!"

"Relax. Don't sweat it, man." Klaus clapped his shoulder, "Those shit birds are staying put for a while. I bet they're as wiped as we are."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, kicking our asses looked exhausting."

Diego stepped in the elevator with a shrug.

Y/n sniffled, breaking the silence, "I figured while we're all here I should mention I wasn't adopted, even in our timeline."

"What?" Allison spun to face her as Five sighed.

"It's an assumption." He corrected as everyone threw questions at the two.

"It's a fact." She corrected, "You never found my adoption papers in the apocalypse. Ergo; I wasn't adopted."

"No, that doesn't mean anything." Diego shook his head, "Your papers could've been burned."

"No, I found all seven of our papers in a safe that didn't have a scratch on it and all of the papers and settlements were perfectly intact." Five shrugged, "... It's likely she just wasn't adopted."

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

"See? It's paradise." Klaus gasped, holding his arms out while entering the room. "High ceilings, sense of space. Aromatic."

There was a leaf design to the wallpaper, two sets of creaky bunk beds, some chairs sat in front of a dresser with an old tv on top, and a dimmed lamp in the corner. Y/n immediately claimed the bottom bunk on the left of the room, shutting her eyes from all the harsh lights. The room was fairly dim, but her head was reeling from any lights or sound at this point.

"Where's the bathroom?" Diego inquired after tapping on the tv.

"Down the hall, or..." Klaus opened a window, "Natures bathroom."

"You're disgusting."

"But consistent."

"Well, let's unpack. Settle in." Five shrugged, taking his blazer off and hanging it on the frame of the bunk bed.

"Unpack?" Luther repeated, "Unpack what? We don't own anything anymore."

"Yes, Luther. Isn't that liberating?"

"What are you, a commie?" Diego scoffed while facing Five as he laid down next to you, "No, if I wanted bunk beds and group showers, I would've stayed in the Texas nuthouse. At least they had free Jell-O... and Lila."

Luther sat on the other lower bunk bed, springs screeching as he repeatedly moved them. At the same time, Klaus sat on the bunk above Y/n and Fives, the springs also creaking as he shook the bed frame. She turned to face the wall, eyes shut until Five nudged her shoulder.

"What's wrong with you?" He questioned as she turned half way to face him.

"Migraine, I guess. I thought it was just a headache." She muttered, turning back to the wall.

He hummed, "Well, Diego. I just spent the past 20 straight days saving the world. Twice. Can I get five minutes to relax before figuring all the new kinks out? Please and thank you."

"And Dad said I'd never go to summer camp." Luther laughed, the springs on his bunk creaking as he laid down, "This is great."

"All right, I'm bored." Klaus sighed, "Cocktail anyone? Five? Eight?"

"I'll take a scotch if you have one."

"Just anything strong works." She mumbled as Five gave her a some what pitiful look, rubbing circles into her back.

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Eight took a seat on the blanket under the tree, somewhat avoiding Anne's soft gaze as she felt her blue eyes boring into her.

"So... explain how you're here." Y/n started, "I've been trying to wrap my head around it, but I just can't."

Anne sighed, "Can't we just have a normal conversation first?"

"I have to get back to my family soon. Just— make it quick, okay?"

She sighed, "Okay, you ended things so... abruptly in the 60's. So when I saw that you guys hadn't left after you had said goodbye to me, I was a little confused, and hurt, of course. There was this advertisement in the paper of this farm that had been wrecked and I knew that it probably had to do with your family."

"You got one of the briefcases then."

"Yeah, there was thousands of them. So I opened one up and... here I am."

"Okay... where's the briefcase now?"

"I'm not sure." She shook her head, "I had it in my room, but last week it started steaming, so I just threw it out of my window."

"Steaming?"

"Yeah, like it was malfunctioning. It was odd." She shook her head, "Anyways, I just landed in the living room of the academy and Reginald just assumed I had powers."

"But you don't." Y/n laughed a little, "Right?"

"Well, I've been here since January and it's April right now. I woke up about... 3 weeks ago? Yeah, 3 weeks ago."

"Woke up from what?"

"It's a long story and I don't really understand it, but they knocked me out a week after I got here, last I remembered. When I woke up they had injected a serum into me, I guess, and that's how I was able to stay."

"And this serum..." Y/n spoke slowly, almost nervous of Anne's response as the redhead smiled, "What did it do to you?"

"It gave me powers." She shrugged so nonchalantly, "Fire powers to be specific."

"Oh my god." Y/n sighed.

"What? This is a good thing." Anne took one of her hands, "I can leave the Sparrow Academy and stay with you, so we can be together. I can protect myself now. Plus, it's not the 60's anymore, people are more accepting now, right?"

Y/n gazed at Anne with a forlorn look in her eyes, "It's definitely better, don't get me wrong. We could get married if we were older and wanted to, but there's still a lot of people who aren't accepting."

Anne's eyes softened, her smile fading, "Oh, well, who cares? As long as we're happy, right?"

"Look, I just can't, okay?" Y/n pulled her hand back, wiping a few tears away, "I haven't even told my family."

"Your family wouldn't understand then?" She tried as Eight sighed, pent up frustration coursing her veins.

"They would understand and they'd be more supportive than I could ask for. I'm just... not ready."

"Oh," Anne moved back a bit, "Well, we only live once, Y/n."

"I know, and one day, I'll tell them. But for now, I can't."

Anne took her hand again, wiping a few of her tears away, "It's fine. I understand."

She nodded and took a deep breath. It felt like someone had wrapped a bunch of bandages all around her head, the pressure way too tight.

"Thank you, by the way. But I should probably go now."

Anne nodded, giving her a soft smile, "Good luck, Y/n."

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Y/n sniffled as she approached the hotel again. Her head was pounding and her whole body felt achingly warm as she slowly pushed through the the revolving door. She cleared the last few tears from her face and entered the lobby. Five spotted her walking in. His hair was damp and he wore a white robe as he approached her.

"Where were you? I said to meet back in two hours."

She winced at how loud his voice translated to her mind, "Sorry. I went to get some fresh air."

He paused, "... Are you feeling okay?"

She nodded, "Just a migraine. It'll go away soon."

He nodded, but gave her a look that told Y/n he probably didn't believe a word that flew out of her mouth. Nonetheless, he dragged her over to the high-top table Diego, Luther, and Klaus were eating some takeout at.

Five dished some food out for her, handing her the bowl with a sarcastic smile, "It might help with your 'migraine'." He put it in quotation marks.

Still, she grabbed the bowl and ate with everyone else.

"You should try chewing." Klaus told Diego and Luther, "You might actually taste the food."

"I haven't eaten in days." Luther defended himself and asked Five, "What's wrong? You seem... kind of happy."

"I'm plenty happy." He shrugged, "I had a nap and a shvitz. What else does one need?"

"Brothers who don't eat like barn animals?"

"... So I've been thinking through our little timeline snafu, and I'm please to report that in my profession, expert opinion, we are totally in the clear."

"Awesome."

"So everything's totally fine?" Y/n checked.

"More or less. I mean, there is one... small thing. It's nothing we can't manage."

The four looked at him expectantly as he got some food for himself.

"So spit it out!" Diego shouted.

"Fine, Diego, it's like this. Dad didn't adopt or..." He glanced to Eight, "Kidnap Y/n, but those babies still existed here. We just grew up in different places with different people."

"So?"

"So where are they now? Odds are, we each have identical versions of ourselves walking around out there, living completely different lives."

Luther gasped, "Our doppelgängers!"

"That's a made up word." Klaus scoffed.

"No, no! I leaned all about this in Texas. Tell him about the paranoid psychosis, Five."

"Whoa, whoa!" Diego shouted, Y/n's head reeling at the volume, "I thought you said this wasn't a problem."

"Okay, yes, technically, if you're near your doppel for long, you'll go insane. So, if you see your other self—"

"Kill them."

"Sleep with them."

"Avoid them." Five corrected.

"What is wrong with you?" Luther questioned.

"Come on," Klaus scoffed, "As if you wouldn't climb Luther mountain."

"Wait." Diego paused, "How are we supposed to guarantee we don't cross paths with ourselves?"

"We were born all around the world until we were brought here. Our doppels probably aren't even in the same time zone as us." Y/n shrugged, "Mines probably in France still."

The four looked at her and shared awkward glances until she spoke, "You guys didn't know I was born in France?"

"You don't look French." Klaus shrugged.

"I'm fluent in the language!"

"I thought you just learned for fun, honestly." Diego shrugged as well.

"I hate all of you." She scoffed as a knife was chucked into the back of Diego's chair.

"Doesn't it seem kind of rude that Dad un-adopting us didn't change anything?" Klaus inquired, "I'm offended."

"I never said that, Klaus." Five shook his head.

"Hold up." Diego set his food down, "I'll be right back."

"How are we gonna know what it changed, is all I'm saying."

"The point is, we did it. We saved the world. We stopped the apocalypse and made it home safe in time for dinner. So whatever Dad changed, whatever timeline were in now... we can handle it. We won."

"We won." Y/n nodded and stood up from the table, fainting the moment her feet hit the ground.

･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

authors note ;
obviously, whatever your race/ethnicity
may be, is what y/n is. her nationality for
this was france just so i had smth to work
with for the next chapter ;)

i hope that makes sense!