𝙖𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙡 𝟮𝙣𝙙,𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟵
JULIETTE WANDERED AROUND A PARK, UNSURE OF WHAT TO MAKE OF THE SITUATION SHE WAS JUST IN. She walked as one normally would, trying to not capture attention. The park that she had entered was similar to the one she had visited when she was a child. She smiled as she noticed the trees and the pile of flowers growing still looked the same as before. Some similarity of her life before her tragic life made her feel like some things could go back to normal.
Of course it will never be normal, but she hoped it would.
Just looking at her, she looked like a regular fifteen, maybe sixteen, year old girl who was taking a walk around the park. She knew she didn't look like anything special, not even beforehand in 2005, before she disappeared. However, she did notice how some people stopped to look at her with wide eyes and in shock. It was almost like they wanted to speak to her, but decided against it. It wasn't simply once or twice, but over ten times did someone almost try to speak to her.
She thought she heard a camera shutter but when she turned around, no one was there. She was getting paranoid already. She couldn't help but shiver at the thought of the possibility of having paradox psychosis, but she didn't feel the itching or the flatulence or any of the other signs. She was just paranoid in general.
Thankfully, down the path was where she finally was met with the eyes of her husband, who was sitting down on a bench, a gash visible on his head. He blinked towards her the moment he registered her appearance. He held her face in his hands, looking all over her while her eyes only stayed on his'.
"What'd they do to you?"
She grabbed his hand with both of hers, leaving one on her face, "Nothing. They did nothing."
"What do you mean nothing?" Diego asked. "They handed our asses to us, just like Luther said. Although I did my best compared to you all." Everyone rolled their eyes at him.
"They let me go. One of the girls, Sloane, even took me down to the basement and showed me a secret way out in order to avoid cameras." The last part sounded like a question. She turned back to Five, "You need to sit down. You may be concussed."
"I don't think I'm the only one." He ran a finger through a strand of her hair before grabbing her hand and sitting her down next to him. She laid her head in the crook of his neck, taking in large breaths to calm her heart. Five put an arm around her shoulder and held her tightly.
"Oh, thank God, you're alive!" A voice came from next to Juliette and that was when she noticed Vanya coming down from the same path way she did.
"You okay?" Allison asked warily.
"Apparently, so is Ben." Klaus muttered bitterly.
"Yeah." Allison scoffed. "And he's a complete dickhead."
"They're all dickheads." Diego grumbled.
Luther added, "Dickheads who can fight."
"Okay," Five sighed in annoyance. His head pounding didn't make it any worse. "The next person to say 'dickhead' is getting punched in the throat."
Everyone, including Juliette, repeated the word dickhead. Five shook his head at his siblings and his wife, but continued to stroke her hair as if she had said nothing wrong. The siblings noticed this and smirked, knowing that Five was "soft" for someone.
"Hey," Diego turned to Klaus, remembering he found Klaus with Reginald, "did Dad tell you why he was calling them his kids?"
Klaus laughed, "He sure did! You ready? Apparently, Dad was so repulsed by us back in Texas, that he adopted an entirely different group of children just so that he didn't have to raise us." Klaus picked a piece of paper on the ground and crumbled it in his hands. Juliette didn't know if it was because of anger or shame.
"That's just peak, Dad." Diego sat on the picnic table.
"But he kept gesturing to Ella." Allison pointed to Juliette. "It's like he knew her."
"Yeah!" Klaus nodded. "He mentioned how Ella was the sensible of the bunch and he appreciated her company. Said you always came to visit and he "didn't appreciate us miscreants intercepting her at the door." What is that?" Klaus mimicked his father's British accent.
"Juliette." Five said.
"What?"
"It's Juliette. My real name." Juliette said and everyone turned to each other in confusion. "Ella Hills was a name given to me by the facility where I was for two years. In reality, my name is Juliette Hargreeves and I married your brother in the apocalypse. Legally, that is. So nice to meet you all formally." Everyone just nodded, knowing they would ask questions later. "And I do agree with Allison. Everyone in that house treated me differently than all of you, especially your father. I think he may know me...in this timeline."
"You married him?" Allison questioned, disregarding her final comment. "You married Five?"
"Last person alive." Juliette shrugged and Five looked offended. "Hey, it's not like I had anyone to compare you to, okay?" Lie, she heard her thoughts, but she didn't let herself falter. "Plus, don't act like you had any other choice either. I specifically remember when I stabbed you by accident" she stretched out her words, "and you still asked me to marry you like two months later."
"Love is a complex thing, dear." He smiled sarcastically, which Juliette returned.
"Going back to the thing before you two had your little lover's spat," Diego received a glare from the couple, "what do you mean he knows you in this timeline?"
"Okay, so it sounds weird but you heard him say that I was supposed to be in a meeting with him, but I was early. Then the Sparrows didn't even look twice at me when you were all ganging up on each other and they even introduced themselves to me. I met Alphonso, Jayme, and Sloane. Fei was the one Allison was fighting. I met another one after, scared the crap out of me, and his name was Marcus. He was the man that was beating on Luther." She sighed and Luther shuttered. "I don't know how, but I think another version of me exists here and that's very very bad."
Five ran a hand through his hair, a migraine pounding in his head already. He continued to run his other hand through Juliette's hair, understanding her frustration and worry. If she truly had another version of herself in 2019 and they met, he did not want to know Juliette with paradox psychosis. Most of all, he didn't want her in pain.
"Wait, so he was able to keep in contact with you," Vanya pointed out. "But he just didn't want us anymore?" Vanya asked both Klaus and Juliette – Klaus nodded while she shrugged, laying her head back on Five's shoulder.
"Did he ever?" Allison questioned.
"See? I told you we shouldn't have asked him for help in '63." Luther pointed at Five.
"Considering he saved all your lives with the advice I received, yeah, I think it was a little worth it." Juliette muttered, feeling herself get more tired with every word.
Five sighed for like the fifth time and even she could feel the weight of the world on his shoulders, "I think you're all missing the big picture. If Dad didn't adopt us as kids, he changed the timeline. We already know that he knows this timeline's Juliette, which didn't originally happen. So who knows what else is different now."
"Shouldn't you know?" Allison asked Five and in all honesty, Juliette didn't like her tone.
"Sorry, Allison, but it might take more than twenty minutes and a traumatic brain injury," he gestured to the gash on his head, "-to figure this all out. Is that okay with you?"
"No, actually, it's not." She sneered and when Juliette glared at her, she at least had the shame to back down.
"Guys, look, it's fine. We still have the Commission's briefcase." Juliette's heart stopped. "So worst case, we can just go back in time and fix it."
Five glanced at Juliette, noticing her skin pale, but marking it off as tiredness, "Okay, there is one problem with that." He sounded like he was reciting something for the 100th time, probably was, "Time travel is a complicated thing, people. The briefcase can only do so much."
"Yeah, we get it. Your job is so hard."
"Also..." Juliette lifted her head up from Five's shoulder and looked at her hands, "I lost it."
"You what?" Allison stood up. "I told you not to let go of the case. And you let go of the case?"
"Okay, calm down, Allison, please." Juliette put her hand out in front of Allison, who was inching towards her. "It was an accident. I must have left it at some point between when we left and when Sloane took me to the exit. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them took it from me when I was caught off guard by Marcus." She explained. "And don't look at me like you haven't had accidents before, okay? Because I'm not magically powered like any of you who can just appear out of thin air or get whatever I want by calling out a rumor." She put a hand on her forehead. "I will get the case back. Somehow."
"That's not happening." Five argued.
"Why are you always the one to stop me?"
"Because it's dangerous and it also means that the case is still in the house. Maybe they didn't attack you then, but they could." He defended himself.
"Sit down, Allison. It was an accident." Diego nodded. Maybe he was pissed himself that they got their asses kicked, but he couldn't be mad at Juliette because she was right. She had no line of defense.
"Until then, we have to lay low and find some place to hide." Juliette reasoned.
The group agreed and they all went to leave the park. However, it didn't help that they all looked like people on Halloween, bloody and dirty, walking around in a group while Juliette seemed like the only sane person there. Allison waved at a man as he passed them, giving them a similar confused look – just as many others did – as they walked across the park.
"What are we doing?" Allison asked, dropping her arms, defeated.
"Ruminating." Five responded and Allison rolled her eyes.
Juliette kept on walking as the siblings argued. She kept feeling like someone was watching her, but found no one. She was walking next to Five, down the path with the others, when she noticed something on a streetlight. It was a flier with colors she distinctly remembered and a symbol of a hand leaving a fire lit rose. She neared the flier, leaving the siblings to argue about village people – she had no clue – and stared at it. She snatched up a flier on it and her eyes widened at it.
Oh my gosh...
"We need to go." Juliette rushed up to the group and stopped in front of them. "We need to go somewhere where we can camp out."
"What's this about?" Diego asked.
"I was just about to suggest the same thing." Five muttered.
"I just saw something and it's bad. Well, for me, at least. And unless we want the Sparrows to know our exact location, either we all need to go somewhere where no one can find us or I need to leave."
"What are yo–"
She cut Five off, "No questions. Just doing. When have I ever been wrong?"
Five closed his mouth, stuffed his hands in his pockets before nodding, "Okay."
"That's a good idea." Klaus nodded. "Because we did break into their house" Allison muttered 'our house' and he continued, "and busted up all their nice antiques and shit."
"Yeah. I don't think the crime-fighting...super nerds are gonna let that go." Luther pointed at the billboards.
"Let's just think of some place off the radar where we can lie low and not draw attention." Five said as he reached out for Juliette, who didn't seem to be listening, just looking around. She shook him off her.
"Not now. I know what I'm talking about." She muttered, staring off.
Five's mind instantly went into panic mode and turned to Klaus just as everyone else did. Juliette thought back to her home back in 2005 – it probably didn't even exist anymore and even then if it did, it'd probably belonged to her. Klaus' face lit up and he mentioned a place where he used to go.
Juliette knew the place he was talking about and told them she'd take a different route to the place. Five instantly shot down the idea and she came up with the solution that he would blink them all there. He hesitantly agreed and blinked them to Hotel Obsidian. It was a rickety building and looked as if, at one point, was a beautiful building. While the siblings went through the spinning door, Juliette went through the doors.
"There's doors, by the way." Juliette said, standing in the lobby as the others, including Five, came into the room. She began to notice, like snapping her fingers, how the guests of the hotel were wearing peculiar clothing. Somehow, they weren't the peculiar ones anymore.
"I can see that, dear." Five said.
"Then why didn't you walk through them?" She picked at him, something bubbling underneath her. Anger. For some reason.
Five didn't get a chance to respond as Klaus began his dramatics, "Oh, Hotel Obsidian. I missed you, you slutty old dame. Absorb her." He waved his arms and Juliette chuckled. "Absorb her into your bosom. You know, cause back in her heyday, she played host to world leaders. Roosevelt, Gandi, Stalin, Gorbachev, Castro, King Olag of Norway, one of the Kim Jongs, Tito, Dalai Lama, Elvis and not one but two Kardashians, allegedly."
Allison excused herself to "make a call" and left the rest of them.
"Nowadays," Klaus sighed, "she's just a flophouse, a part house for those of us not looking to be judged by society's rules and norms."
"You mean a place to hide?" Luther asked.
"Exactly." Klaus clapped his hands. "It's perfect. And the best part of it is, she's gonna look after us, no questions asked. Never ever. Right? Come on."
Five noticed Juliette picking at her hair, tugging it slightly as she walked.
Five put his hand on Juliette's arm, "You gonna tell me what's wrong?"
"I promise I will tell you once we're alone." She whispered to him. "Not now." He nodded.
There was a puppy, a pug to be specific, in front of the front desk. Juliette smiled at the dog and it appeared to smile back. She'd always wanted a dog. She wanted a red cocker spaniel and wanted to name it Lady – she got the idea when she was six and first watched The Lady and The Tramp. She still wanted a Lady. Maybe she could now.
Klaus rang the bell and smiled at the man in front of him, "Chet! Mon frere! It is so great to see you. I'd like my usual suite, por favor."
Chet stopped the bell from ringing with his finger, "I've never seen you before."
"See? Told you. Discreet." Klaus whispered with intensity.
"Please stop scaring my dog." Luther and Diego stopped whatever they were doing.
"We need some rooms, please." Vanya said. Juliette tapped her shoulder and put up three fingers, "Three, actually."
"Super." Chet nodded. "And how will we be paying today?" A card was sat on the desk and it said cash up front.
Everyone began to mumble and Luther told them to empty out their pockets. Juliette went up to Chet while they did that.
"Hello, Sir. Do you have any other method of p–"
"Oh my goodness." Chet blinked in surprise before smiling. "You're Juliette Valendur. I can't believe it's really you." He truly was happy to see her, "You do look very young. I thought it was just the cameras they used in Hollywood."
Good grief this is going to happen everywhere, "I get that alot. So um about the rooms for me and my friend–"
"No, no. Don't even worry about payment." Chet nodded cheerfully and this caught the attention of the siblings and her husband behind her. "It is an honor to be able to house the Juliette Valendur in this esteemed hotel." He turned around and grabbed three keys. "Our best rooms, my dear."
"What the fu–" Diego was cut off by Five's hand smacking his chest.
"Thank you, Chet. I appreciate it." She smiled.
"Actually." Chet pulled out a notebook and a pen, "Would you mind? It's been a while since I've gotten an autograph. The last I've had was from Elvis and Drew Barrymore."
Juliette nodded her head and took the pen. She recalled how she used to sign and replicated it. She handed the notebook back to Chet with a smile, signed in the guest book with only her initials, and grabbed the keys. She handed one key to Vanya and the other to Luther. She kept the last one for herself. She gestured with her head to the elevators on the other side of the room. As they walked, she felt the weight of their questions near her. She thought she started sweating already.
"What the hell was that? The Juliette Valendur?" Diego asked. "Chet gave us three free rooms because of you?"
"Yeah, you're right." Luther nodded before directing his next sentence to Juliette, "They do know you. But how?"
"No clue." She lied and Five saw right through it. "But a free room is a free room and I got three. You're welcome."
"Thank you, dear." Klaus playfully hugged her. "I can't believe we're that special to you. Using your people skills to lock us some rooms"
Allison rounded the corner, "Well, let's Brady Bunch this bitch."
"Okay, meet back in the bar in two hours so we can make a plan." Five pointed to the bar that they were passing by.
Diego ran in front of them, "I have a plan. We attack the Sparrows and we take back our house, and then we punch Dad a bit until he admits that we're better and he loves us more." They ignored Diego and entered the elevator. "Boom! Done! We're wasting time!"
They were waiting for him, only deadpanning at him.
"Relax. Don't sweat it, man." Klaus said. "Those shit birds are staying put for a while. I bet they're as wiped as we are."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, kicking out asses looked exhausting."
Diego hesitated and Juliette rolled her eyes, "Diego, I am on the verge of passing out and by the looks of it, you are too. Get in. We could all use some sleep."
The rooms ended up being on the fifth floor and the siblings split up to their appropriate rooms. Juliette was practically sprinting to the room and barreled through the door. Five only walked behind her and watched in time as Juliette collapsed on the king sized bed. He looked around the room to see that it truly was lavish.
The walls had some weird wallpaper on them, but it was large enough to have its own bar. The bed looked soft and the furniture looked nearly brand new. It was luxurious beyond comparison.
Juliette sighed into the bed and closed her eyes. She'd finally be able to get some sleep.
"Juliette?" Five asked, standing in front of the bed. With no response, he sat on the bed and his tone turned sweet. "Dear, we have to talk."
She turned her head, her hair flowing all over her, "What about, Genius?"
"Well," He pushed her hair out of her face, "although I talked to Ella about our last interaction at the Commission together, I didn't get to speak to you about it."
"Ella was me. Just without any memories. I forgave you, no?" He nodded. "Then I forgave you. There's nothing more to speak about."
"There is still much more to unpack about it." He sighed. "Why didn't you tell me you were filing for divorce?" His voice held the kind of wound only someone with deep knowledge of him could cause.
Juliette sat up and faced him, "Five. You're exhausted. We can talk about this la-"
"But what if there is no later?" He asked. "I thought the same thing when you left the room. Later. We never know if we have it."
Juliette sighed and looked at him, "Okay." She paused, "Five, I was alone for months on end. I had no one because keeping a low profile was what you wanted me to do. I became obsessed with finding Lila at the time with no one on my side because I was trying to fill my time that I would have with you. You were keeping secrets from me. The Handler hardly even let me contact you outside of work. You hardly looked at me when you came back. I had no one with me. I didn't feel married. I was alone." She grabbed his hands with hers. "Our argument was my last straw. I tried to get you to open up, but you didn't. I was tired. But..."He didn't realize he was looking down at her hands until he looked up into her eyes, " being away from you for those two years? Five, that broke me like nothing else."
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm sorry."
"Five." She said his name like it was the last thing she ever wanted to say. "I do not hold anything against you. You hear me? I don't think I would have even gone through with the divorce if I made it back from finding Lila. I was just tired at that point." She took his face into her hands, forcing his eyes on her, "But I understand why you did it. I do. And like before, I wouldn't trade what we have for anything else. What happened was an accident, but it was something we corrected." She smiled.
"I...I don't know if you want to be with me. If you can be with me happily." He leaned into her hands. "I never want to get in the way of your happiness."
"Five Hargreeves." She chuckled, "In any reality, universe or timeline, I am with you and when you are not, I am truly not alive." She pressed her forehead against his', "To be with you is the greatest happiness I have ever received in my life. You never have to doubt that." Her hand stroked his cheek, "I love you. In any world, in any time, in any way."
Five pressed his lips against Juliette's in a sweet kiss, dragging it out even with his lips left hers. Juliette knew what he was saying without having said it, I love you. Juliette captured his lips again with even more fevor. Five hands came up and one grabbed her waist, pulling her into him while the other ran through her hair. How I've missed you. Her hand trailed from his face to his tie, pulling it towards her. It's been so long...
Five broke the kiss, both breathing heavily as the heat of being alone together again began to burn inside of them. He hadn't noticed until now, but Juliette's shirt was halfway off of her and her hair had been messed up by his own hand. His own tie was loose and his blazer was already on the ground. Juliette's lips were swollen and red and she had a look in her eyes that ignited the fire in him even more.
"We have time." She smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, "We can talk and argue about whatever happened to me later and what's going on in this timeline after we sleep? Okay?" The unsaid and other stuff hung in the air.
Five only nodded, feeling sleep falling on him. He would never admit it, but being around Juliette always made him sleepy. She was like a drug that helped him peacefully sleep every time. Five and Juliette laid down, Five spooning Juliette, and they both closed their eyes. Five just listening to her melodic breathing and the smell of lavender coming off of her. The eternal lavender haze he was sent into.
It wasn't long before the blissful peace of sleep came over them, both believing in the eternity of being together for the rest of their lives.
SHE WOKE UP FROM A STRANGE DREAM. Her head hurt and she held it tight against her palms. She huffed and tried to stop the panging in heer head. Dreams weren't uncommon to her, but this one she couldn't exactly remember and instead it left its imprint on her like a bad cold after standing in the rain.
"Are you okay?" A male voice next to her. His hand brushed the hair on her shoulder.
"Hmmm." She hummed. The headache began to dim, but was still potent. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."
"Julie." The man said. He turned her head with his hand on her chin. "You alright?"
She turned to see his beautiful eyes, such a nice shade of blue, "Never better."
He turned around and she itched her neck.
novaspeaks: the old couple in them is just...i cant explain how much i was smiling just reading between these two. the tension after not being with each other for so long is just peak! im so happy that these two are reconciling and truly being happy married. of course there are other stuff that needs to be unpack, but these two are timeless (taylor's version) love you all lots and i cannot wait for you to find out what's happening <333
𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 - 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚