GHOST - Five Hargreeves X Umbrella Academy

2:17

(Older Five will be in his mid forties and will look very different (a lot younger) to how he does in the show - this is my decision for the book, and to save any confusion!)

When Five left the bathroom in a hurry he almost tripped over Violet (who was in deep thought about the whole love thing) while she almost fell back onto the floor, the door she was leaning on suddenly ripped away. He blinked across the room while her hands shot back to stop herself, the both of them exchanging a bemused glance as he righted himself.

The plan had been put into place and Violet wasn't the only one reluctant.

Five was going to attempt to make a deal with his past, older, forty or so year-old self - who would be about to ensure the president was assassinated later that day - so that they could use his briefcase to get back to twenty nineteen and reset the doomsday about to wipe out the entire world.

But then he'd explained the ways in which it could go wrong; most of these outcomes relating in one way or another to a finicky thing called Paradox Psychosis.

For once Luther and Violet were on the same page.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" The big man asked, leaning over behind the shorter two as they eyed the doors of the pub anxiously.

Violet glanced at Five from her side, playing with the frays in her jeans as she watched him tap his foot and wipe his hands on his blazer periodically.

"It's a terrible ideal," he adjusted the collar of his shirt while she frowned at his uneasy behaviour, so strange to see on his usually composed self. "But we have very limited time and no other option."

Surprising them both, Violet was the first to enter the establishment. She peered inside, hair falling into her face, and let Luther hold the door after she stepped inside. Curiosity got the best of her and she scanned the place as they all tucked themselves behind a wooden pillar, avoiding the thrum of the celebrating public and their eyes.

A tap to her shoulder made her glance at Five and follow his stern line of sight.

Sat at a small table by himself was a stoic looking man in his forties, dressed in a dark grey suit and tie. He had the same face structure as her Five, the same dark eyebrows and scowl, but his skin was a little weathered, some lines at the corners of his eyes. His hair was mostly the same, neat and dark, but patches of grey came in at the sides of his temples.

She could not explain in words how strange it was to see the older version of the boy next to her, sitting across the room, knowing that there was a version of herself that had known this version through and through - and yet she stood here now with this cold feeling running through her. Because some peculiar part of her brain felt familiarity at the sight.

He looked like her Five, but he wasn't. But again, he sort of was.

"That's you?" Luther whispered incredulously, leaning in so his face was in between them.

Violet noticed he was drinking a dark liquor, fingers trailing the edge of the glass and eyes fixed on a point ahead no where in particular. There was a haunted, downward turn of his lips as he felt for something in his inner jacket pocket, as though checking whatever it was was still there.

Five next to her shuffled uneasily, a bead of sweat trickling down his forehead. "That's me."

"Why don't we just take the briefcase and run?"

"Luther, I would never let that happen," he snapped quietly back, making Violet take hold of his sleeve at their sides. "We're trained at the commission to guard those briefcases with our lives."