𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves¹

4│LOOK WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN

As she turned to leave, the first notes of I Think We're Alone Now filtered through the house, causing a small smile to form on her lips. Luther really is a big sap, she thought fondly, even if he is an idiot and sometimes a jerk. This had been the Academy's song when they discovered it one night during their secret escapades and they'd loved it ever since. Rolling her eyes in amusement, she began to sway with the music. 

All of a sudden, there was a loud crack! of thunder that was accompanied by a flash of blue lightning. She didn't even notice that the music had stopped as she ducked to avoid flying pieces of metal that were in Five's room. Metal? she thought, and then, magnetic force. Those two thoughts together combined in the answer: temporal anomaly!

Rushing out of the room, she joined her siblings heading out to the courtyard. The doors flew open as they rushed outside. Alexa ran out with them and stopped to stare at the moving blue light which was emitting loud crackling sounds.

"What is it?" Vanya asked over the noise.

"Don't get to close!" Allison cried as she reached out to stop Luther.

"Yeah, no shit!" Diego exclaimed.

"It looks like some sort of temporal anomaly. Either that or a miniature black hole. One of the two!" Luther said.

"There's a pretty big difference, Paul Bunyan," Diego snarked.

"It's a temporal anomaly!" Alexa confirmed over the wind. Hope surged in her chest; there was only one person she knew who had the potential to create something like this.

Luther glanced back at her but didn't reply. Klaus pushed them aside as he yelled, "out of the way!"

He held up a fire extinguisher and sprayed it at the blue light before he threw it in when that proved useless.

"What's that going to do?" Allison yelled.

"I don't know! Do you have a better idea?" Klaus called as he stumbled back towards them.

"Everyone get behind me!" Luther commanded. Alexa didn't have a problem with that— before she realized what an idiot she was. I'm getting as bad as Luther! While she had a hunch that the anomaly wouldn't hurt them, it was better safe than sorry, so she reached inside herself for the power she hadn't used in seventeen years. When she opened her eyes, a brief flicker of pride flared in her at the thin blue film that surrounded them and it grew a deeper blue as time passed. The wind died down in the bubble and the noise around them became quieter as the shield flared with life. Inside, her siblings were protected from whatever would come out while outside, they could still see what was going on.

"Why don't we run?" Klaus suggested, which was almost unnecessary because of Alexa's protective dome around them.

She turned her now-intense blue eyes on him and replied snarkily, "thanks. It's good to know that you appreciate what I'm doing."

The light outside of the bubble died until it disappeared completely and the sun came out again. Alexa allowed the safety shield to disintegrate as well, leaving her winded and tired because of the sudden exertion. Placing her hands on her thighs, she bent over to recover her breath while her siblings surged forward (only Klaus threw her a concerned look as he followed them.) As he looked at the body of the young boy in front of him, Klaus asked, "does anyone else see little Number Five. . . or is that just me?"

At his words, Alexa stood up and stared fixedly at the back of her brother's head. He's joking. He's got to be. Even with there being only one possibility— that could still be wrong, right? She stumbled forward in an effort to get to the front when she heard a voice that was definitely younger than her siblings say, "shit!" 

☂☂☂

Alexa couldn't believe her eyes as she watched the boy move towards the kitchen. He was really back! But the joy she was supposed to feel wasn't there and instead a cold pit formed in her stomach as she took in his shortened figure. Where had he been? she wondered or, more accurately— when?

There was a sort of odd detachment about him as he moved around the kitchen. Her siblings watched his motions as they sat around or on top of the kitchen table. As he reached for the bread, Five asked, "what is the date? The exact date?"

"The 24th," Vanya answered.

"Of what?"

"Of March," Alexa supplied, trying to get his attention, but he was too focused on the sandwich was that he was making.

"Good," was all he said.

"Are we going to talk about what just happened?" Luther asked.

There was silence as he separated the bread slices and Alexa looked at the ingredients he'd laid out on the table before she figured out exactly what he was making. Some things never change, she thought fondly.

Luther stood up when there was no answer— probably to look more intimidating (but failing.) "It's been seventeen years."

"It's been a lot longer than that," Five returned. He disappeared for a moment before he reappeared in front of the cabinets.

When she thought about it, Alexa could believe it had been. After all the time travel movies she'd watched, there was a common agreement that time moved differently in the present than it did in the future.

"Where'd you go?" Diego asked.

"The future. It's shit by the way." He returned to his sandwich.

"Called it!" Klaus exclaimed excitedly.

"I should've listened to the old man. Y'know, jumping through space is one thing. Time travel is just toss of the dice." He then looked up at his assembled siblings and his eyes met Alexa's for a split second before they darted away to Klaus. "Nice dress."

"Oh. Well, danke."

"How did you get back?" Vanya asked.

"In the end I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time."

"That doesn't make any sense," Diego said.

"Yes it does," Alexa countered as her mind sorted out the big words. "You can't—"

But Five cut her off, "well, it would if you were smarter."

Diego stood up angrily but Luther put an arm out to stop him. "How long were you there?"

"Forty-five years, give or take."

Luther sat down heavily. "So what are you saying? You're fifty-eight?"

Five gave him an irritated look. "No, my consciousness is fifty-eight. Apparently my body is fifteen again," he picked up his finished sandwich and turned away from them.

"How does that even work?" Vanya asked.

"Dolores kept saying the equations were off. Bet she's laughing now."

"Dolores?" Alexa questioned him.

"Guess I missed the funeral," Five commented. He ignored her question.

"How'd you know about that?"

"What part of the future do you not understand?" Five snapped before he added, "heart failure, huh?"

"Yeah," Diego agreed at the same time Luther said, "no."

"It's nice to see nothing's changed," the now-boy said as he turned to leave. 

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?" Allison tried to stop him.

"What else is there to say? It's the circle of life!" he called back as he walked out of the room.