|Doppelgänger| Five Hargreeves

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟗

 First person pov

After a few minutes of driving with the directions Five gave Luther, we arrived at where "old Five" was. It was an Irish themed bar, with lively music playing, and not that many people were drinking there, which was great, considering anything could happen.

I got inside after Five, being the last one to enter the place, and the boy immediately started looking around for "himself". He tensed up when his eyes found something.

_"Well, there I am."-Five breathed out, and I looked over his shoulder to see an old man sitting on the bar, writing something on a paper. At his feet, a black briefcase was put closely to him. That was what we were looking for.

_"It's so weird to see 'old you' after getting used to the baby face."-I pointed out casually, analyzing the grown Five. It was strange to think that's how Five was supposed to look like.

_"Imagine how I feel."-The boy breathed out, and I chuckled lightly at him.

_"Why don't we just grab the briefcase and run?"-Luther asked, and I rolled my eyes. Pretty sure he could deduce the answer to that question on his own after the explanation Five gave us back at Elliot's apartment.

_"Luther, I would never let that happen. We're trained to guard these briefcases with our lives."

_"Right."

_"Plus, it's the inherent paradox where this gets tricky. I'm endangering my own existence just being in the room with myself."

_"Huh? What do you mean?"

_"Luther, try to keep up. If old me doesn't travel back to 2019 like he's supposed to, the whole thing unravels itself. I cease to exist."

_"And a temporal loop is created."-I added as I processed the information. Five looked at me and nodded.

_"And you all die. You got it?"

_"...I get it."-Luther said, but he didn't seem really confident.

_"So our best chance is to talk with him, to reason with him. He'll understand. Trust me. I know myself better than, uh...better than I know myself."-Five also didn't seem that confident, not to mention he scratched his neck.

_"You just itched your neck! That's stage two of paradox psychosis."-Luther pointed out, whisper-shouting at the boy.

_"No, I didn't. I didn't itch my neck."

_"You did."-I crossed my arms while raising a brow at the boy. Did he think we were blind or something?

_"Y/n, I did not."

_"You definitely did."

_"Not."

_"Denial is stage one."-Luther said, and I smirked.

_"I am fine, okay? Let's stay on task, shall we?"-Five started walking towards himself, and I was ready to join him when Luther stopped us both.

_"Wait!"

_"What?"

_"Maybe I should go first."

_"Why?"

_"Well, you'll freak him out. Bumping into you own tiny doppelganger? He will lose his shit."

_"Oh. I lost my title, I guess."-I whispered to myself, but Five rolled his eyes at me anyways.

_"Just let me break the ice, okay?"-Luther continued, not hearing my remark.

_"Wait, should I go, then? Won't he react weirdly to meeting his brother, too?"-I asked before Five could agree to Luther's plan.