Archive of Our Own ^beta

Five would deny having a dog. Pet’s hadn’t been explicitly forbidden but it was pretty implied. Reginald barely liked kids, he wouldn’t tolerate a pet. No one dared to ask and for the most part no one really cared enough to want one. They were much too busy with training and studies and trying to get approval to want a dog. They were already resigned to the fact that they wouldn’t experience things like normal child, so no one thought much about a pet. They were too busy, a pet would probably have a better life in a shelter than around Reginald's cold presence. They were too busy to properly love one too. Pets and Hargreeves just wouldn’t work.

It wouldn’t normally work. But Five was different and smarter than his siblings.

He’d still deny that the dog was his, even if he kidnapped him from the store.

It was during a mission that Five made eye contact with the puppy. It didn’t look like a baby, it was old enough to be separated from its mother. It was definitely still a puppy though. Reginald wasn’t with them, he had long since stopped going with them on missions. He watched from afar but when it was completed he became busy writing things down. He knew this because Vanya reported as much after he asked for her to see if there was a pattern. He knew a time like this would come eventually, where he’d want to do something but would need to know if their father was watching.

The rest of the team was finishing up with photos and such when FIve saw the dog. Allison was by him but they weren’t paying much attention to each other, the dog was leaning against the glass, wagging its tail at him. Five couldn’t leave without him. He knew he also couldn’t technically leave with.

He blinked in and out of the store quickly, the dog was in his arms when he blinked out, a couple of feet away from the store in case anyone saw him.

“You’re one cute puppy” he said softly, placing him down. Should he have thought it through more before kidnapping the dog? Yeah, probably. But he was always thinking things through, he deserved a break. The dog didn’t seem to have any side effects from being teleported so Five did it once again and shoved him in Klaus’ arms. “Hold him for me” was the only explanation Klaus got before he was gone again.

Ben, who was with him, wondered if he was hallucinating. Was he imagining cute puppies to counteract the death he just caused? He had a feeling he was going to lose it one day. It seemed like a much more logical explanation than Five handing Klaus a puppy. Klaus was also confused, somehow Ben wasn’t crazy, but he completed his task. Five would probably be upset if he let the wiggling dog go. It barked happily, Klaus assumed it was happily. Ben gave him headpats to try and calm him down.

Five returned with a quick thanks, the dog was taken in the same instance. He once again was gone in a flash.

“Do you think we should be concerned?” Klaus asked casually, it was very uncharacteristic of Five.

“I don’t know. He just seems focused, it’s the look he gets when he’s doing something.”

Unbeknownst to them, FIve had been getting proper dog supplies. A short blue leash and collar and two dog bowls and food. He had already set it up in a shady part of the park, it was a short distance from the academy so he’d be able to go back and forth without his power draining too much. He couldn’t help but want to keep the dog, he was so cute and behaved. Five felt bad having to leave him so soon but he had a nice area and children would most likely give him attention during the day. Maybe eventually he could buy him a toy.

He arrived back to the others before anyone could get suspicious. He felt guilty but he always forgot how quick it felt for others compared to him. He felt like he spent too long getting the dog but no one noticed he was gone really.

“You okay? You look more tired than usual” Luther observed on their way back. Five looked more drained, the kind he looked when he used his powers too much. He didn’t remember the mission being that hard but he wasn’t one to criticize, his powers didn’t have a limit.

“It’s nothing” Five brushed off. The mission was a good excuse if anyone else asked, he really was exhausted from using his powers too much, just not for the same reason as they thought.

The day went by like normal. They debriefed and Reginald told them everything they could’ve done better from what he observed. Everyone but Luther listened with disinterest, FIve wasn’t taking criticism from him, with his old age he didn’t know how he could even see anything. He was sure most of what he complained about was assumptions. He didn’t let the dog take up all his thoughts, he’d rather stay off the radar so he could sneak off easier later. He got his opportunity before dinner. They had time and everyone had gone off to do their own thing. Usually Five would spend this time reading or with Vanya but he had a living thing to tend to. Hypothetically he wouldn’t have to visit him daily. Children at the parks would do enough and if he left plenty of food and water in the bowls then there’d be an endless supply of food.

He couldn’t just be referred to as a dog though, he’d think of a time tonight.

He went to his room before he blinked. Thankfully after training he was allowed a snack so his powers were plenty rejuvenated.

The dog greeted him as soon as he was in sight, he couldn’t go far due to the leash but FIve closed the distance for him. The dog was very affectionate, barking, licking, and bouncing around as soon as Five was around him. He couldn’t say he was deterred, even by the dog slobber.

“Good boy, you’re so behaved” he cooed, petting him affectionately. He got the food bag opened with one hand. He unfortunately had to pull away to actually fill the bowls. The food bowl was beyond overfull, the bag rested next to it, hopefully whoever visited the park would have the common sense to fill it if it’s empty. He did the same with the water, filling it to the brim with the jug next to it. The dog immediately went to the bowls. Five just sat criss cross as he ate. He hadn’t actually seen a dog eat, he’d never even been this close to a dog before today. He read a lot though, when he was younger and could afford more childish books, he chose a lot of them with dogs. As useless as Reginald used to say they were, it came in handy now.

Now fed and hydrated Five cautiously let him off the leash,

“Don’t run off, okay?” the puppy barked as if it was actually replying, Five laughed.

Pennycrumb was very behaved. For a dog from a pet shop, he was practically perfectly house trained. He didn’t run far from Five and he didn’t chase after people that passed. He was a perfect pet. He was bummed he had to be an outdoor dog but he knew better than to think he could go in the house. It was probably better this way too, Grace and Pogo had their own tasks to do, they couldn’t take care of the dog in his place. Besides, the house was a bit dangerous for a small creature with how much they all ran around the house.

Mr. Pennycrumb was a successful secret. No one knew about him sneaking out and as far as he could tell no one suspected anything. It eventually got to the point where he felt fine taking Vanya with him.

She seemed sad lately, and while normally he wouldn’t care if any of them were upset, Vanya was different. She was already more left out than others and he was usually the one that was happy to include her, for being ‘ordinary’ like their father was so keen on reminding, she was one of the only other sane one’s aside from himself and Ben, sometimes Klaus too but he was more of an honorable mention when it came to people he tolerated. So, Five didn’t mind spending time with her. Ben was always roped up with Klaus anyways so it worked out.

“Can you blink with other people?” A valid question really, one Five couldn’t give a reassuring answer too.

“I’ve done it twice before, I’m sure it’ll be fine” and that was enough for both ten year olds. Vanya had the idea of carrying a sweet snack just in case though. She didn’t fully know how all their powers worked but she could only assume if blinking himself took energy then multiple people would be even more. “Try not to be sick” was the only warning she got before she felt her head spin.

Sure enough, she almost threw up when they landed. She didn’t, she ended up falling onto the grass they landed but was greeted with puppy licks.

“Where were you guys?” Diego asked, he caught them both coming back in a blink. It was suspicious, it’d be normal if it had just been Five but there was no reason for him to bring Vanya along.

“None of your business, Diego”

“I think it could be plenty of dad’s business. I don’t think you guys were in the house.” They both stared each other down, Vanya felt like she stood out in this situation, not being at all threatening like they were. “I swear, if this ends up an Allison and-” Five genuinely cringed.

“Ew, what’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you with mom or something?”

“Were you looking for us?” Vanya asked,

“Yeah, mom made cookies and told me to tell everyone. It’s been a couple of minutes thought ‘cause I had to look everywhere for you guys”

“Sorry, thank you” Vanya said, Diego just nodded in reply, looking at them both a bit skeptically. FIve rolled his eyes.

They promised not to talk about ‘him’ before they left to get some cookies as a treat. They rarely got treated to sweets before bed. Reginald must’ve been more pleased with their work then he let on.

Tension was high in the household. Reginald had been able to put each other against the other in means of bettering both themselves and others. Five thought it was dumb, but then again he was bickery with everyone. Klaus claimed it was the way he showed his affection but Five genuinely wondered if he just hated them all (most).

He was always snappy and sarcastic so nothing was new there. And while Reginald should’ve known what he was doing. It didn’t have the exact outcome that he expected. He hadn’t meant for them all to genuinely argue, or at least he thought the group of ten year olds were mature enough to not let it get in the way of their work.

The training had failed because of it. Reginald was unimpressed and demanded an answer as to why they were so out of sync.

“You all are lucky it wasn’t a real emergency, your theatrics would have made The Umbrella Academy look like a circus that didn’t know their routines. This behavior is extremely unacceptable. I want an explanation now.”

No one really had one.

“Luther’s been staying up in the attic at night” Diego blurted, the silence needed to be broken and technically it was relevant. Sleep deprivation from Number One could bring poor leadership. Luther made a noise though,

“And Klaus has been huffing paint” Luther redirected.

“Woah” Klaus held his hands up defensively, but since the damage was already done.. “Five has a dog” Five was eating his peanut butter-marshmallow sandwich, right before the group session he had done a training punishment for ‘attitude towards Number One’ so he was exhausted and not equipped to deal with the families dysfunctional-ness.

“He’s not mine. He’s a stray, hardly a stray even. He’s clean and polite, he’s mostly likely just lost”

“Quiet” Reginald snapped towards all of them. “Number FIve, explain.” It wasn’t anything new for Klaus and he wasn’t sure he believed the claim about Luther. FIve admitted to a dog though.

“There’s nothing against petting a stray. He just comes up to me when we go out on missions. It’s not like he’s my dog” Five shrugged, playing it casual. It wasn’t entirely a lie. Mr. Pennycrumb did go up to him and technically, he wasn’t his dog, he was still the centers. They had all his info after all, record wise the dog wasn’t anyone’s.

Reginald dismissed them, telling them to reflect and get ready for school work. He would be harder to deal with upcoming days but hopefully they’d be able to do something to fix it. Luther felt a bit bad about hoping for a mission, it meant people’s lives were in danger but they’d be able to prove themselves.

“When did FIve have a dog?” Allison asked when their father was well out of hearing.

“Like I said, he’s not mine,”

“You just named and feed it” Ben said unconvinced, Five wanted to know how he figured that out. Vanya snitching was not an option.

“It’s the proper thing to do” Five retorted, less annoyed than he would because it was Ben. “And why are we questioning me? What was Luther doing up all night?” It became a mutual agreement to drop everything mentioned. No one wanted to explain their secrets. Though some were less secretive than others.

“What are you doing with those?” Ben asked, Five had snuck dog treats out of the laundry room, he knew no one would go there except Grace, who would leave the treats alone without mentioning it to anyone. Five didn’t think treats were a good thing for dogs to get all the time so he didn’t trust people to leave it there without overfeeding the puppy with it. He could only stash it in the laundry room, Ben must’ve suspected something though to follow him down here. They both knew Ben probably knew.

“What are you doing with them?” Five asked, it took a moment but he realized Five was holding a familiar book. Looking down revealed it was in fact his book, he himself was now holding the treats. Object teleportation wasn’t something he used often, Ben usually forgot he had it. They traded items and Five held onto his wrist, before he could question it, he was somewhere sunny and bright. It took a few seconds for his vision to adjust to the sudden change.

He was outside now.

“Meet Mr. Pennycrumb, he's very friendly with people. This also makes you an accomplice now.” Ben laughed, the brown dog ran up to him as far as the leash would allow. Five took it off him since he knew by now that Mr. Pennycrumb had an interesting understanding about the situation and who his owners were.

Eventually the whole family met the dog. He was the most skeptical about Luther because he could be quite the snitch if he thought Reginald wanted it from him, but Allison made him promise not to say anything.

They were in the attic, Reginald wouldn't bother them until dinner and it was the only safe spot that he wouldn't check and that should the dog bark, wouldn't immediately be heard.

“That’s a dumb name” Diego commented,

“You're dumb” it wasn't as clever as Five's comebacks usually were but he couldn't go after Diego's name, Grace had come up with it and admittedly it worked. He was too distracted by the puppy running around to really conjure something mean up. Everyone was being greeted by licks. Despite hating on the name, Diego couldn't say he hated the dog itself.

Everyone felt their age in the attic, cooing over an excited puppy and speaking softly to get his attention. They didn't have any toys yet but Mr. Pennycrumb didn't seem to mind. It was nice to have a non-dysfunctional member of the family.