Bonus

Reginald Hargreeves did not have friends. In fact, he considered them to be weaknesses. Distractions.

In Reginald's eyes, there was no point for such trivial relationships that rarely amounted to anything substantial. Not to mention, it was an effective safeguard for his vast wealth, something that many were all too eager to seize through false niceties. The closest that he could possibly consider as companions were Grace and Pogo but even then, there were clear boundaries. He did not care to show any affection towards his children either, and however disappointed they always were after failing to seek it, he considered it to be necessary.

Speaking of the children...

"What do you want with Delores?"

He was sorely tempted to simply ignore the impertinent question, just one of many that Number Five had asked over the years, but the amount of anger and...fierce protectiveness in the young boy's voice surprised even him.

Reginald set down his pen and turned in the swivel chair, looking at Number Five calmly over his monocle. The boy had nerve, he had to give him that. Not many of his children would dare interrupt him during his research in the surveillance room.

The boy stood in the doorway and stared right back, a hard look in his eyes. Reginald was almost amused. He arched an eyebrow. Number Five was perhaps the most mature of his children, and yet oddly enough, he could also be so blindly naïve at times.

Seeing that Reginald was no closer to divulging the information he wanted, the boy tried a different approach.

"You will not turn her into one of us." It wasn't a request. The amount of force in the boy's voice made it clear that he was commanding it. Reginald was quietly amused. What a fiery little brat.

He contemplated just letting the boy stew in silence but decided otherwise.

"She's far too old to undergo the process you and your siblings underwent." Reginald noted the way Number Five's shoulders slumped in poorly concealed relief. "I am merely studying her blood."

Five's brows furrowed in confusion. "Her blood?"

"Indeed." Reginald leaned back and steepled his fingers. "So much can be unlocked from the potential medicinal properties of her blood. Think about it...the girl can alter the fundamental biology of her body-"

"Her name is Delores."

Reginald fell silent at that and gave Number Five an appraising look. The boy himself never seemed to give much notice to his own name. He was the only one out of the seven who had not taken on another name from Grace. Curious that he would pay so much attention to what Reginald called her.

"There is much to learn from her."

Number Five's stare was prying and distrusting.

And at that particular moment, Reginald couldn't help but think that the boy was much like him in many aspects.

It was clear that he would say no more on the matter and so the boy spoke cautiously, as though he knew he was treading on thin ice. Reginald's surprise grew. It was rare of Number Five to show restraint. "Whatever you're doing...just don't hurt her."

Now, Reginald was a stoic man. He had to be. But when the boy uttered those words, he felt just the tiniest bit of disappointment. Did the boy think so little of him?

"...Please." Number Five's face was rather pinched, as though he loathed uttering the very word to him.

Reginald turned back around to face his monitors, jotting down a few notes from the one of Number Seven's room. He heard Number Five shift behind him, clearly waiting impatiently for a response.

"She will not be in any danger." He turned the page and continued writing. "You have my word."

A pause. And then Number Five muttered a quiet thank you before Reginald felt a flutter of wind and the boy's presence vanished. He set his pen down again and leaned back, letting out a deep sigh. They were all growing up. Far faster than he had ever anticipated. Sometimes, when left alone with his thoughts, he wondered if all his decisions, the way he had chosen to raise the seven...if they had been the right ones. His jaw tightened and he cursed himself for the doubts. Impossible. They had to be correct. He would settle for nothing less of perfection.

Reginald's gaze shifted, rising from Number Seven's monitor to a different one.

There was the girl, Delores, sitting on Number Five's bed, amusing herself with the sketchpad he never saw her without. She bit her lip in concentration, doodling away as she waited.

Ah, such childish innocence.

It was a pity he hadn't been able to get his hands on her in the beginning. The girl was rather powerful, after all.

Number Five appeared in his bedroom in a flash of blue light and the girl looked up, a beam replacing the focused look that had been there moments before. Reginald arched an eyebrow. He could never fathom why the girl was always so excited to see Number Five who after all, in Reginald's opinion, was the most unapproachable of his children.

He watched as Number Five smoothly swung himself onto the bed and pushed the sketchpad off the girl's lap, replacing it with his head as he laid down on his back. The girl looked irritated at first, but then Reginald watched with no small amount of interest as a fond smile replaced the expression. She tangled her hands in the boy's hair, stroking the top of his head again and again until his eyes closed.

Reginald swore that he saw a flicker of a smile dance on Number Five's lips before it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

Reginald leaned back in his seat. All seven of his children had extraordinary abilities, abilities that most could not even conjure up in their wildest imaginations. And yet, in all his travels and experiences, it was this little pairing that was perhaps the strangest to him.

Reginald rose from his seat and began to walk towards the exit, turning to cast one last glance at the monitor displaying Number Five's room.

No, Reginald Hargreeves did not have friends. They were useless to him. But he could not help but feel a strange...relief at the normalcy the girl seemed to offer Number Five.

Good.

Reginald switched off the light to the room and turned away, clasping his hands behind his back as he began to put distance between him and the lingering doubts and thoughts.

He will need her.