CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
put a ring on it
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
THE STORIES TURNED out to be right. The world, when it ended, did indeed go down with a bang.
It was circular, Nadine supposed. The universe sprung into existence with the Big Bang; it was only fitting that it would be taken out in the same way. A perfect cycle of nothing to nothing. As if there was never existence in the first place. As if there was ever only oblivion.
Well, almost oblivion.
Against all odds, the Hotel Obsidian remained standing. No, not just standing—in perfect condition. While every other skyscraper in what remained of the city (which was really just a floating hunk of rock, now) was crumbled and burning, everyone within dead or swallowed up, the Hotel Obsidian wasn't even scratched. There was something... cosmic that kept it upright, even as everything else fell. Not just half the world, this time. All of the world... except a few stubborn assholes in a hotel.
Nadine should've been dead. Really, properly dead this time, not like she'd thought before. In a twisted replica of the first apocalypse, the Sparrow Academy had crumbled around her. Chunks of the wall flaking off and then disappearing, ceiling tiles crashing down on her head, explosions shaking the foundation... that should've been it. The kugelblitz had burst free, it was eating everything, and would leave nothing behind in its wake. The Umbrella Academy and the Sparrow Academy had truly, properly failed. Now, there was nothing they could do.
Yet, somehow, with the world quite literally on fire around them, nine bruised, battered individuals managed to make their escape.
Of course, Fei and Christopher hadn't been so lucky.
And neither had Kadence, really. Nadine had known something was wrong the moment the woman began to scream, convulsing on the floor, her eyes rolling back in her head. She'd immediately panicked, because she may not have liked Kadence but didn't want her to die right here, on the cold bathroom floor. But then she'd wondered if this was a symptom of the kugelblitz, and that, of course, had been the moment explosions began to wrack the house.
She'd had no choice. Even with her side beginning to ache again, she had to hoist Kadence into her arms and pull her away.
What proceeded was frenzied, showing up in Nadine's memories only in patches. She remembered running downstairs, but not bursting out the front door. She remembered coughing madly at the thick haze of smoke in the air, but not how she'd started breathing again. She remembered Kadence suddenly in Luther's arms, but not passing her over.
Then, the Hotel Obsidian. Which somehow managed to remain exactly the same.
Of course, everything else had changed, now.
Fei and Christopher were dead—consumed by the kugelblitz. Kadence was dying; not there yet, as a grief-stricken Sloane had first screamed, but close. Everyone else was red-eyed and battered and covered in dust. Nadine was preparing for the inevitable, even though a part of her wondered why it hadn't come already.
Seriously: how the fuck was she still alive?
Logically, Allison had the same question.
They'd all gathered in the Games Room an hour after they'd escaped the kugelblitz's bite, sinking down onto whatever mildly comfortable surface—whether that was the pool table, a sofa, or even the floor—they could find and attempting to catch their breath. Nadine held onto Viktor as tight as she could, terrified to let go of him for a second. Sloane alternated between weeping and going completely numb. Ben seemed more angry than anything else.
Kadence lay on two chairs pulled together; Luther's jacket draped over her lax form. Her chest was rising and falling, proving to everyone she was alive, but there was no way that was going to last. The kugelblitz affected her in a way that didn't affect anyone else, and as it grew larger, she seemed to grow weaker. At this point, it wasn't a question of if she'd die—it was a question of whether she was going to be eaten by the kugelblitz first.
So, that was the scene before Nadine. Desolate, weary, surrendering. There was no way they could do anything now. There was no way they'd survive the next twenty-four hours. They were all going to die, and that was no longer a fear—it was a fact.
That was when Allison decided to speak up. "So, how is it that we're still here, but the whole of the universe is going down the cosmic shitter?"
"Maybe we're just the last to get flushed," Viktor suggested. He and Nadine were sharing one chair; Viktor was practically in her lap. The fact that nobody had commented on this proved how dire these current circumstances were.
"Wasn't talking to you," Allison snapped. Nadine glared at her.
"Don't you talk to him like that, you piece of—"
"Hey, has anyone seen Klaus?" Luther interrupted.
Nadine's heart twisted. No. No, she hadn't. He had to be dead by now—dead, or vanished from existence. The man who was like a brother to her, when she really thought about it. Gone. Forever.
"Or Dad?" Sloane added. She'd stopped crying again, but it was a close thing. The waterworks would definitely break open soon.
"They'll be here," Diego insisted.
"Really?" Ben asked. "Did they... hit traffic? Look, people, we're alive because we're special, right? We're the only ones who can save the universe."
Hm. Apparently at least one of them was still holding onto a measly thread of hope.
Allison raised her hand. "Uh, question."
"Yes."
"Didn't we just try that and fail miserably?"
"Yeah, well it's because his plan was stupid," Diego said.
"Mm."
"I got a better one."
"'Course you do," Ben muttered.
"We go with the large hard-on particle accelerator. You guys do some science, and..." he clicked his tongue. "...we launch the kugelblitz into space."
Nadine blinked. "What?"
"Didn't think I knew that, did ya?" Diego continued. "It's in Switzerland."
"It's 'hadron'," Ben corrected, "not 'hard-on', ya moron!"
"Oi!" Lila said. "At least he's trying, you shitty little squid. What have you contributed?"
"Actually, he did blow up half his family," said Diego.
Nadine's mouth fell open. Whoa. Whoa. Had he seriously just gone there?
Ben, somehow, was unfazed. Perhaps he hadn't internalized it yet. "Oh, you wanna talk about family problems? You know what should have blown up is your face on that neck!"
"I wish I had a cake to hit you with it in your face!"
Ben promptly lapsed into Korean, angrily getting into Diego's face, and Diego fired back with some rapid Spanish. Nadine buried her face in her hands. "Oh, mon dieu."
"Hey!" Five yelled, cutting them all off. "You guys done? The universe is disappearing outside. So you can keep rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic if it makes you feel better. But the fact remains that we are too late."
Diego and Ben both scoffed, moving in separate directions. Luther sat up.
"Five, come on."
"It's over, Luther. We failed."
"Come on," Viktor said. "It can't be over over."
Okay, so maybe there were a whole lot of optimists in the room.
"Yeah, come on, Five," Diego added. "We gotta figure this out, man."
"What is there to figure out?" Nadine asked quietly. "There is literally nothing we can do now. Even if we somehow managed to stop the kugelblitz—which we did so well on last time—we can't just... bring everyone back. They're all gone." She looked down at her clenched fists. "We're all that's left."
"Nadine..." Viktor turned to her. "You're giving up?"
"Of course I am, Viktor." Tears filled Nadine's eyes. "This is it."
"Nadine's right," Five said. "How about we take a step back? Look at the big picture here. Most of us have spent the last twenty-eight days trying to stop the world from ending. What exactly have we accomplished?"
There was silence at that. Then Luther piped up, "Well, we made some friends along the way."
"Incorrect! You know what we've done? Nothing. We made things worse every single time."
"Amen to that," Allison muttered.
Five sighed. "Look, when I went to the Commission, I had a conversation with my hundred-year-old self. And my last words were, 'Don't save the world'."
"Wait, what?" Nadine asked, wiping her eyes. "You met another version of you?"
"Yes, but that's not the point."
"'Don't save the world'?" Viktor repeated.
"'Don't save the world'," said Five.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," said Diego.
"Is it?" Luther asked. "Well, whatever we're doing's not working. All we ever do is save the world for a day, pat ourselves on the back, and then everything goes to shit again."
"Yeah, maybe we're the problem," Viktor said.
"Oh, yeah. Us," Allison drawled. Nadine gritted her teeth. She didn't like the emphasis on that word.
"So, wait," Lila said. "Your big plan is... no plan?"
"Exactly," said Five. "Conscientious objection. Why the hell not? We've tried everything else. Look, maybe this is just what the universe needs. I say, embrace the apocalypse. See what's on the other side."
"What if it's... nothing?" Sloane asked.
Five clicked his tongue. "Then it's been nice knowing you all."
"It is nothing," Nadine said quietly. "It's not going to be death."
"Nadine..." Viktor said again. Nadine closed her eyes.
"Whatever's on your bucket list, I recommend you do that now," said Five.
Ben took out a flask.
Luther and Sloane exchanged a look. A tentative, hopeful smile came to Sloane's face, taking over her tear-stained cheeks. Luther glanced back at the group.
"Well, on that... super happy note, we've, um... oh, what the hell."
Their hands linked, Sloane and Luther stood up.
"We've, uh, got a little announcement to make," Luther continued. Then, in unison with Sloane: "We're engaged!"
Nadine's eyes almost popped out of her skull. What?
"Kill me, Jesus," Ben murmured.
"Idiots," added Five.
"Now?" Allison asked.
"Yeah. Look, we realize the timing is less than ideal," said Luther. "But, obviously it's now or never. Am I right, Five?"
"Don't drag me into this, please."
"What... whatever time we have left, we wanna spend it with all of you," said Sloane. Her eyes briefly flickered over to Kadence, and her jaw tightened. "So we're super pumped if you would join us in the banquet hall at six pm for a celebration of our love, and the official union of what's left of our two great families."
Okay. Okay. Sure. Sure.
"Dress code is creative black tie," Luther added.
Oh, fuck it. Nadine would go. It wasn't like she had anything else to do.
Well, except for one thing. But that... that could come later.
For now... well, apparently, it was time for a wedding at the end of the world.
EVEN THOUGH THEIR marriage seemed to come out of nowhere, Sloane and Luther were surprisingly prepared for the wedding events. They had a whole itinerary planned, turning the day—perhaps the last day any of them would ever exist—into one function after another. They'd even made gifts for all of the guests—little Mason jars full of soap, candy, and tea. Nadine didn't even know where they'd gotten their hands on all of that. It wasn't like there were many stores open nowadays.
She screwed back on the lid of her own Mason jar, listening to Lila rave about the details. "Wow! And you did all of this yourself?"
"Luther helped too," said Sloane. "We stayed up all night."
"Amazing."
"Right after we narrowly escaped the kugelblitz with our lives?" Nadine asked.
"It wasn't like we could sleep, anyway," Sloane, said, chewing on her lip. Again, her eyes flickered over to Kadence.
Oh. Yeah.
"I'm sorry," she said. "About Fei and Christopher. And Kadence, too. I tried to help her, I really did—"
"I know," Sloane replied. Her smile was sad. "It's not your fault, Nadine."
Nadine blew out a heavy exhale. Somehow, it still felt like it was.
Before she could refute Sloane, though, the surprise of a lifetime stumbled their way into the room. Klaus Hargreeves, trailing tightly behind his father, took in the scene of his siblings with tired eyes but a delighted grin. Reginald himself was as posh as ever, seemingly unbothered by the simultaneous unhinging of multiple jaws.
"Dad?" Ben asked.
"Klaus," breathed Allison.
"Hey," Klaus greeted.
"Oh, thank God," said Viktor. Nadine leaped to her feet.
"What the fuck, Klaus! I thought you were fucking—you bastard!"
She bounded into Klaus's arms, holding her friend as tightly as she could. Jesus Christ. She'd thought he was gone. He should have been gone, along with the rest of the world. And yet, somehow, here he was, still flesh and blood, wheezing slightly at her bone-breaking hold.
"Nadine! Need to... can't breathe..."
Nadine loosened her hold, but only a little. Embarrassingly, tears began to fill her eyes, dripping onto Klaus's shoulder as she took him in. He smelled like smoke, just like everyone did, and the faintest hint of blood. That was a little concerning, as well as the brown stains on his clothes. Still, he seemed to be uninjured, so Nadine didn't question it. Yet.
"Never do that again," she said. "Fuck. Fuck."
Ironically, now that he was back, she was realizing how much she'd missed him. Like any relationship Nadine had with the Umbrella Academy, theirs had gotten off to a weird start, but once they were friends, they were bandaging each other's wounds and giving each other therapy sessions in the wee hours of the morning. Nadine was glad to have Viktor, but she'd be nothing without Klaus.
God, she was so glad he was alive.
And maybe he didn't realize he'd nearly given her a heart attack—he had a tendency to disappear off on little side quests, after all—but vanishing when the world was literally ending wasn't exactly prime timing. Bastard.
"I missed you too, Chosen One," Klaus gasped. "Really."
"Gather 'round, children," Reginald interrupted. Nadine broke Klaus's hold, suddenly reminded that the man was there. What the hell did he want? And why had Klaus been with him, anyway? "Quickly now!"
"The hell have you been?" Diego asked.
"Oh, Reg and I," Klaus said. "We got all tangled up in a whole father-son end-of-the-world road trip kinda thing. You know?"
Nadine blinked at him. "Excuse me?"
"You two are hanging now?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, we laughed, we cried, we played in traffic, and long story short, I'm immortal now." He flexed his muscles, grunting dramatically.
"What?" Nadine asked.
"Whoa, wait. You're what now?" Luther added.
"Klaus, have you gotten into the bath salts again?" Allison asked.
"I think the more pertinent question is, why are you all sitting around playing with jars?" said Reginald.
"They're invitations," Sloane said.
"Nobody's playing," said Luther.
Sloane extended a jar to her father. He took it, his weathered brow crinkling as he examined the fine calligraphy on the tag. "Luther and I are getting married."
"All of space and time is collapsing, and you lot are planning a wedding?" Reginald asked.
"Yeah, and, uh, the thing is, um, space is limited," said Luther, getting to his feet. "So it's kind of a per-plate situation, so, you know." He took the jar back. Nadine grinned at him.
"Fuck yeah, dude. Uninvite that sonofabitch."
She may not have fully appreciated the first time Luther had stood up to his father, but now, she was tempted to give him a high-five. After use of compliance, Luther finally making his own way was certainly something to be celebrated. Even if it did come at the end of the world.
"Is this how I raised you?" Reginald snapped. "To fiddle while Rome burns?"
"Remember what we talked about, Reg," Klaus warned. "Remember to breathe." Nadine stared. What the hell was going on?
"Quiet. I'm on a roll."
"Dad, have you been taking your pills?" Sloane asked.
"As a matter of fact, I haven't. And I can confirm that I've never felt better in my life. You thought you could dope me up and slow me down, take control of my affairs and squander my fortune. Well, Klaus here was good enough to wean me off that wretched poison. And now that the fog is lifting, I can see all your dastardly designs with a bracing clarity."
"Oh, my God," Nadine muttered. "Klaus, what did you do?"
"You took him off his meds?" Sloane asked. "What were you thinking?"
"Clearly, he's the only one doing any thinking at all," said Reginald. "All of you can learn a thing or two from this impressive young man."
Diego immediately burst into laughter. "The world really is ending! Oh my God."
"As for the rest of you, your training is to resume post-haste. We're running out of time. And we still have a mission to complete."
"I'm ready," Ben blurted. "Let's do this."
"Let me guess," Five said. "Project Oblivion?"
Reginald paused. "How do you know about that?"
"I heard all about it from Pogo."
"Now, there's a name I haven't heard in some time."
So, Pogo does exist here, Nadine thought. Or he did.
"And he confirmed what I've always suspected about you," Five continued.
"Which is?" Reginald asked.
"That you're a sadistic lunatic who's planning on gambling all of our lives in another pointless mission."
"I could've told you that," Nadine said.
Reginald bristled. "And you'd take the word of a disgruntled chimp over that of your own father?"
Five vanished, then reappeared only inches away from Reginald. "Every damn day."
"Nobody wants you here, Dad," Luther said. "You should leave."
"Hey, you don't speak for all of us, big guy," Ben piped up.
Luther turned. "Feel free to join him."
"I see," Reginald said. "So this is what it's come to. Insurrection."
Klaus shushed everyone. "That's not the kind of erection we're driving for here, all right? Everybody just needs to be cool. Clearly, you guys are on a different chakra frequency right now. Hey, Pops, let's go have a nice cup of tea in the suite." He seized Reginald by the arm.
"What are you doing?" Reginald asked. "Let go of my arm."
"Luther, Sloane. Oh, my God. I'm beyond thrilled. You guys are gorgeous. Amazing. Send me your registry!"
And with that, he dragged Reginald off.
Nadine rubbed her eyes. "Am I fucking dreaming right now?"
"Yeah, I have no idea what's happening," said Viktor.
Diego pulled away from the group, heading down the hallway. After a moment, Lila followed him.
Nadine sat back down beside Viktor—though she chose the now vacated chair. It had been fine to snuggle in with him before, when everywhere else was filled up, but now that people were gone, she couldn't just plop herself back into his lap. Not without everyone in the room knowing what she truly felt.
Once again, her hands found the charm bracelet on her wrist. It had survived the end of the world with her, and though it was now a little tarnished, it still shone. A reminder of Molly. A reminder of the woman she'd had to leave behind.
"Hey, Viktor." Without prompting, Luther slid into the seat on Viktor's other side. "Um, I got a question. Well, really, it's more a request, um... it's totally last minute, and... I mean, the whole thing is last minute, but I—"
"What is it?" Viktor asked.
"Will you be my best man?"
Viktor blinked, trying to absorb this. Nadine couldn't help but smile, even though everything in the world was awful right now. She looked down at her Mason jar, trying to give them a little space.
"You don't have to do much," Luther continued. "You know, you just have to stand next to me and make sure I don't act like an idiot. You know."
"I would love to," Viktor said. And Nadine couldn't help but look up again. He was beaming, his eyes wet with grateful tears. He was beautiful.
God, he was so beautiful.
"Okay." Luther chuckled. "Great. Um, okay, so we're on a tight schedule. Uh, the bachelor party is in fifteen minutes, and, uh, not everyone is invited—"
"What was that?" Ben asked.
"So—" Luther stopped mid-word, suddenly looking as if he'd rather be anywhere but here. Then, after an awkward moment of silence, "Nothing, man. Nothing."
Ben, thankfully, didn't push it. He just headed out of the room, following in the others' footsteps.
"Okay," Luther said. Then he turned to Nadine, giving her an apologetic smile. "Sloane didn't plan a bachelorette party. She didn't think—" his eyes went to Kadence. "Well, you know."
Nadine shook her head. "No, fuck that. I'm throwing Sloane a bach. I'll have to get Lila, and, ehm..." she trailed off, not wanting to say Allison's name. Okay, so maybe it was going to be a little awkward. At this point, the men definitely outnumbered the women, and out of the women, there was only one Nadine was on decent terms with. Fuck, she was probably going to have to get her baggage with Lila out of the way. "Yeah. I'll make it nice."
"She'd like that," Luther said. Nadine shrugged.
"It's not like I've got anything better to do."
He got to his feet "Well, I've got to go set up. Uh, see you soon, Viktor."
"See you," Viktor said. He was still smiling.
Nadine nudged him. "Best man, huh?"
Viktor turned to her. "I can't believe he chose me."
"Why wouldn't he? You're kind of the best, Viktor."
Warm pink coloured his cheeks. "Thanks, Nadine. You're... you're not so bad yourself."
"That's all?" Nadine raised her eyebrows. He laughed and hit her on the shoulder.
"You know that's not all. God, Nadine... I can't tell you how glad I am you're here. You mean... so much to me. I hope you know that. I hope you know that I—" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "You're just great. That's all I'm saying."
Nadine reached out and squeezed his hand. If only there were more time. If only they weren't constantly running out. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but the grains of sand inside the hourglass were falling, and there wasn't long until there was nothing left.
She could fill up a novel with it all.
"I'm glad you're here, too," is what she said instead. "I'm glad it's you, Viktor. I'd want no one else."
WITH AN HONESTLY LOGICAL level of trepidation, Nadine went searching through the Hotel Obsidian's halls for Lila. Despite the fact that she seemed to be on their side now—though perhaps a part of that was simply because you'd be stupid to go against the people trying to keep everything from disappearing—Nadine still hadn't forgotten everything that had gone down in 1963. Lila's betrayal and the revelation that The Handler was her mother hadn't exactly been easy to swallow, even if Nadine sympathized with her plight. Even though Lila herself seemed to want to start anew.
But it was the end of the fucking universe, and Nadine should probably stop holding grudges (against Lila, at least. Given that Allison hadn't even apologized for... literally anything, Nadine was inclined to still give her the cold shoulder). She'd truly wanted to help Lila back in the barn, and a part of her had been disappointed when she'd seized the briefcase and disappeared in a flash of blue. So, this was her chance to find the closure she'd been hoping for. And maybe, just maybe, get back the delightfully strange friend she'd made.
Well, if that version of Lila was even real.
Given how large the hotel was, Nadine expected to spend at least an hour poking through empty rooms. But it seemed that fortune was on her side, because just as she turned down her second hallway, she nearly ran into the woman of the hour.
Lila's bleached hair was mussed, her clothes were rumpled, and Nadine swore her lips were a little bruised. It was immediately clear what she'd just been doing—and even more so when Nadine heard Diego's footsteps at the other end of the hall. It seemed that the two of them had made up, and done so in the way they knew best.
When Lila spotted Nadine, she stopped, a grin spreading to her face. "Hey!" she chirped, unabashed by her appearance (not that Nadine cared. But if, say, Luther had been here, he'd probably stumble away with a million apologies and a face as red as a tomato. It was a little ironic, considering he and Sloane were definitely fucking, but he was definitely the most chaste of them all). "Nadine! I've been looking for you."
"Hello, Lila," Nadine said cautiously.
"How's it going, my old friend?" Lila bounced on the balls of her feet and slung an arm around Nadine's shoulder. "God, I feel like we've barely spoken since I've gotten here. Though I suppose it's been a busy week. You know, with the apocalypse and everything."
"Yeah." Well, it seemed that Lila thought they were back to how they were. She probably believed everything she'd said about being 'sisters in spirit' a few days ago was enough. Unfortunately, Nadine couldn't exactly say the same. "Ehm..."
"So, how've you been? How's the family? Have you finally garnered up your courage and told Viktor how you feel?"
Nadine nearly choked on her own spit. "What?"
"Oh. Hm. I'm gonna guess that's a no."
"What did you—I'm not—what?"
Lila tilted her head. "You're funny. I knew there was a reason I liked you."
Nadine shoved her off. "Viktor and I aren't... well, that."
"Why not? You two clearly like each other. Jesus. When I get that horny, I just go right to pound town. What're you toiling around for? It's the end of the bloody world, for God's sake!"
Stupidly, this made Nadine's heart increase in pace, like she was fucking thirteen again. You two clearly like each other. Was Lila seriously implying that Viktor liked her back? Why would she say that? It couldn't be true. Viktor had proven that he was still hung up on Sissy—and for good reason. He'd only just lost her, like Nadine had just lost Molly. Neither of them should even be thinking about anyone else.
Even if Nadine's treacherous, stupid heart disagreed.
The worst part was that Molly would've probably encouraged her to go for it. I don't want you to feel like you can't move on just because I'm no longer here, Nads, she'd say. You should put yourself out there again. And I know how much you care for him, anyway. It's as clear as day.
It hasn't been that long! Nadine would reply, crossing her arms. I still love you, Molls. I always will. I can't just—I don't want to leave you behind.
You're not leaving me behind. I know you still love me, Nads. But it's okay to love someone else, too. Viktor wouldn't be replacing me. I'd still always be here for you. All you gotta do to remind yourself of that is to look up at the Moon.
God, why did Molly—imaginary and real—have to be so goddamn perfect?
Nadine missed her so much.
"I'm not here to talk about Viktor," she finally said, looking into Lila's expectant eyes. "That's not—there's nothing to talk about. I just... I wanted to talk about us."
Lila raised a brow. "Us?" she asked.
Nadine nodded. "I'm just... you know, a little confused about how our relationship stands. Which I kind of think is fair, given the huge battle we had like a week ago. And I tried to help you, but then you disappeared, but then you come back saying that we're good, so... I don't know. I'd just like to get a little caught up."
"Oh, yeah." Lila swallowed heavily. "I suppose I should actually talk to you about that." She sank down onto the floor, crossing her legs into an elaborate pretzel pattern. Then she patted the patch of carpet next to her. "Come. Sit."
Nadine sat.
"Did Five ever end up telling you about... about the other timeline?" Lila asked cautiously, once they were both settled.
"What other timeline?" Nadine asked. "Are you talking about the apocalypse?"
"So he didn't. Figures." Lila blew her bangs out of her eyes. "So. Back in the barn, we're in the middle of our super intense conversation, then Five comes out of nowhere and attacks my mother? Even though none of us had noticed her? At the time it just seemed like he got lucky, or maybe he spotted her out of the corner of his eye. But the truth is... it's a lot more complicated than that."
Nadine's heart began to pound. "What do you mean?"
"That's not how it really happened. There was another timeline, Nadine. One where my mother came in and... and killed you all."
"Wait, what?"
"I saw it happen. Or, at least, my other self did. She... she shot all of you. You were dead in moments. Diego... he was, too."
"I don't..." Nadine took in a deep breath. "I don't understand."
"It was Five, Nadine. He got shot, too, but he didn't die right away. He managed to survive just long enough to go back in time and intercept my—my mother before she killed anyone. That's why he was there at just the right time. Because he knew it was going to happen."
"Oh," Nadine whispered. "Oh, fuck."
Why hadn't Five told her this? Why would he have kept it from her? He'd at least had the courtesy to let her know when she'd died in all the other timelines. Why hadn't he brought this one up?
"Yeah. Um, sorry if that's a lot to take in. But that's not even the point of the story. The point is that you guys weren't the only ones who my mum killed. She killed me, too."
Nadine looked into Lila's eyes, which were rapidly filling with tears. It was that, more than anything, that told her she was telling the truth.
"You were right about her," Lila said, looking away. "And I just—I'm sorry. I didn't—I never expected something like this. But I should've. I should've known that she was just playing me. I should never have turned on you. On any of you."
"Hey," Nadine said. Her mouth had suddenly become very dry, but she knew she had to get these words out. "It's not your fault, Lila. You were just a child when she took you in. And she manipulated you for your entire life. That's not something that's easy to get over—I would know."
"I know," said Lila. "I do. I just... I'm sorry. I really liked being your friend, Nadine. I wasn't just... pretending, even though I thought you'd betrayed me. You're a lot of fun. I really never wanted anything bad to happen to you."
Despite the current of emotions currently surging through her, Nadine gave Lila a small smile. Even if this hadn't been what she'd expected, she was glad for the closure. And glad that she'd been right about Lila. She really wasn't a bad person.
"I'm glad to hear it," she said. "So... are we friends again?"
Lila shrugged. "I'm kind of shit at friends. I never really had any, back at the Commission. Or... anywhere else."
"That's okay." Full of relief, Nadine set a hand on her shoulder. "We can learn together."
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