The sounds of the world slipped into the boiler room and the once drunken Five opened his eyes. They were blurred for a second but when they came into focus he was surprised at what he saw. There you were face to face with him, his arms wrapped around you. He had no clue how the two of you got into this position but he didn't need to find out. He was just happy to have you so close. You always looked so peaceful when you slept. He started looking around at his surroundings but when he looked up he saw Luther standing over him. Startled he exclaimed,
"Jeez Luther, why don't you try to look a little more like a serial killer, huh?"
"Good, you're up. Are you sobered up enough, we need to talk." Luther says
"About what?" Five questions
"Last night you mentioned the end of the world. When's it supposed to happen? This... apocalypse." Luther states sitting on a chair across from the bed
"Oh, that." Five reponds
Five lets go of you and siowly moves as to not wake you. Sitting up on the bed he looks at Luther. With his hands clapsed Five looks down at the floor for a second before looking back to his brother and quietly explaining,
"I can't give you the exact hour, but from what I could gather, we have four days left."
"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Luther questions
"It wouldn't have mattered." Five dismisses
"Of course it would. We could've banded together and helped you try to stop this thing." Luther retorts
"For the record, you already tried."
"What do you mean?" Luther says taken aback
"I found all of you. Your bodies." Five says bluntly
Five didn't want to talk about this. All the horror he had seen during his time in the apocalypse. It had haunted his mind since that day where he saw his family dead, but Luther had to know. There was no way Five could dance around the topic. Luther's eyes go wide as the worst thought pops into his mind. Leaning in, Luther quietly asks,
"We die?"
"Horribly." Five states "But at least you guys went quick, you were all gone by the time I arrived."
"What do you mean at least we went quick?"
Five looks back towards you still sleeping peacefully in the bed. Gently he starts to stroke your hair as he tries to explain,
"She was there too. You were all dead but I found her impaled on some rebar, barely clinging on to life."
"I thought she could phase through things?" Luther comments
"All our powers have limits Luther." Five responds looking at him
Five closes his eyes and the images of your lifeless body pop in his mind. For years he had seen those images. They tortured him, sent him into a panic. They reminded him why he was doing what he was doing but he hated to remember that day. Five could feel his heart rate increasing just through the thought of it, his breathing becoming erratic as he felt the need to run away. He could feel tears come to his eyes but he refused to let them fall in front of his brother.
"Five, what is it?" Luther asked
"I watched her die Luther. She took her last breath and then she was gone. I held her in my arms for so long. I though maybe if I held on tight enough she would come back but she didn't." Five chokes out
"Five, I'm sorry to hear that. I know what it's like to lose someone you love."
Five's blood boiled at those words. He knew Luther was trying to be sympathetic but he had no clue what Five had been through. Luther couldn't even begin to comprehend the miserable life Five was forced to live. Five's head whips towards his brother and he looks at him with an enraged fire in his eyes.
"No Luther, you don't!" Five snapped "You know nothing of loss. When you find the person you love most laying helpless, bleeding out and barely clinging on to life maybe then you'll know. When a matter of seconds could mean the difference between life and death then you'll know. You know nothing of what I went through."
Five feels the bedshift and looks at you to see if he had woken you from his outburst. Luckily, you had just rolled over and were still asleep. He turns back to Luther, looks him directly in the eyes and quietly says,
"I went through so many terrible days, so many terrible years and yet the day I watched her die is still the worst day of my life. I'm not going to let it happen again. I can't let it happen again."
"You want to stop the apocalypse for her, don't you?" Luther inquires
"Yes, wouldn't you do the same for Allison?" Five asks him
Without thinking Luther nods his head. He would do anything for Allison so hee knew where Five was coming from.
"Anyway it's what she would do, It's what she did. She was with you guys trying to stop whoever it was that ends the world."
"Wait, how do you know that we were stopping the person who causes this?"
"This was clutched in your dead hand when I found you. Must've ripped it out of their head right before you went down." Five says handing pulling something out of his pocket and handing it to Luther
Luther examines the object he was just given. It's a glass eye.
"Whose head?" Luther asks
"Like I said, I don't know."
Examining the eye closer Luther sees a serial number on the back of the eye. This could be a lead as to who it belonged to.
"Well, there's a serial number on the back. Think maybe you could try..." Luther starts to suggest but is cut off
"No, that's a dead end. It's just another hunk of glass." Five says with a scoff
The two of them sit there in silence for a second before the door swings open with a loud bang. The noise startles you and you jump as you are abruptly awoken from your sleep. You look at your surroundings and recognize that it's Diego's room at the boxing club but you don't remember how you got here. Looking to where the noise came from you look over and see Diego quickly making his way towards you and the other.
"Piece of shit. Do you have any idea what you just did?" He angrily yells
Before he can get any closer though Luther picks him up and holds him.
"Nope, let me...Get your ape hands off of me!" Diego complains struggling to get out of Luther's hold
"I can do this as long as it takes you to calm down." Luther states
"Fine." Diego replents
"Diego what is going on?" You ask sitting yourself on the bed next to Five
"Yeah, wanna tell us what you're talkin' about?" Luther questions
Luther stands in between Diego and where you and Five were. Looking Five directly in the eyes Diego explains,
"Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back. He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's, and then at Gimble Brothers, after the guys in masks attacked the Academy, looking for him."
The anger and vile in Diego's voice was evident. You wondered what could have set him off so much. Five looks at Diego and replies bluntly,
"None of which is any of your concern."
"It is now. They just killed my friend." Diego states
"Diego, which friend?" You ask him
Diego looks at you and his eyes soften. You could see the emotion in his eyes and with his voice filled with grief he says,
"Eudora."
"What? No." you say shocked
Another person who you cared about was gone. In the span of two days you had lost two people who were important to you to these maniacs. You looked over at Five and then once more at Diego.
"Who are they, Five?" Luther asks
"They work for my former employer. A woman called The Handler. She sent them to stop me. Then, soon as Diego's friend got in their way, well, fair game." Five replies bluntly
"And now they're my fair game. And I'm gonna see to it they pay." Diego states to him
"That would be a mistake, Diego. They've killed people far more dangerous than you." Five explains
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Diego retorts
Diego starts to walk away from the group and towards the door. You had no time to think but you knew you had to do something. You couldn't lose anymore people, you had already lost so much. Jumping up from the bed you call out,
"Diego, I'm coming with you."
Five stands up and grabs your wrist.
"(Y/N), they're dangerous. You shouldn't go."
You look to him. His voice might've been steady when he spoke but the grip on your wrist and the look in his eyes said otherwise. He was practically pleading for you to stay. You wanted to, you really did, but in the span of two days you had lost your mom and Eudora who was someone you admired. If Diego was going to try and fight these people you needed to go with him. Looking Five in the eyes you say,
"Five, I have lost so many people in my life. I lost mom, and now Eudora, who was a woman I looked up to. I'm not losing anymore people and especially not my brother. I'm going with him."
Hesitantly Five lets go of your wrist and watches as you walk towards Diego and out the door. He wanted to keep fighting you on this and trying to stop you but he knew it was useless. You were always willing to put yourself as risk for the wellbeing of others that you cared about. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop you no matter how much he tried. Once the door closed he let out a sigh and sat back down on the bed.
"Five, what's this really about? And don't give me any of this ''It's none of your business'' crap." Luther demands
"Well, it's a long story..."
Luther sits down in the chair he sat in before and listens as his brother details his life in the apocalypse and the day he was recruited by the commission.
"They turned me into the perfect instrument for rehabilitation of the time continuum. Or corrections as they called them. I wasn't the only one. There are others like me. Beings out of time, fractured, extracted from the lives that they knew. I don't know how they got there." Five describes "But I do know that none of them were as good as me. They didn't realize it, but I was biding my time, trying to figure out the right equation so I could get back. If I could just get back, I knew I could stop the apocalypse. Save the world."
"So...you were a hit man?" Luther confirms
"Yes."
"I mean, you had a code, right? You didn't kill just anybody." Luther questions concerned
"No code. We took out anyone who messed with the time line." Five responds bluntly
"What about innocent people?" Luther asks
"It was the only way I could get back here." Five states
"But that's murder." Luther remarks
"Jesus, Luther, grow up. We're not kids anymore. I mean you act like you didn't kill people during your time in the academy. We all did, hell even (Y/N) did at the bank on our first mission, none of us are innocent." Five retorts
"But we're the good guys..."
"There's no such thing as good guys or bad guys. There's just people, going about their lives. But when the world ends, all those people die, including our family." Five explains "Now I have an idea on how to figure out who causes the end of the world but I'll need to do some calculations."
"Maybe we head back to the house then. I don't think Diego will appreciate either of us being in his place for much longer." Luther comments
The two of them get up from their seats and start to walk towards the door of the bioler room but as they do Five notices a wall filled with pictures of (Y/N). He must've been too drunk last night to notice it. Five stops and looks at all the pictures of different events on the walls. He recognized some of them through the diary entries you wrote like your first day of school, your first boxing match, and your sweet sixteen. Looking at them all he wishes that he could've been there for those events. As his eyes dart around the picture filled wall he sees the picture of you from your prom night. Happily you stood between Diego and Grace, a smile dancing across your face. He remembers reading the entry you wrote about that night and the detailed description you wrote of your dress and look. He always pictured how amazing it must've looked on you in his mind but seeing the picture of it he finally saw how truly beautiful you looked in it. To think that, that moment was only a week ago. Maybe if he had showed up earlier he could've seen you wear it in person. Remebering that Luther was still there with him Five comments,
"Diego really cares for (Y/N)."
"Yeah, from what I can tell he loves his sister more than anything in this life. He would choose her happiness over his anytime." Luther replies
"I mean (Y/N) is the best thing in our lives, I'm trying to do the same for her at this very time," Five says "Anyway we should head to the house. I've got some math to do."
Luther nods his head and the two of them finally head out and start making their way back to the house. While Luther and Five had stayed inside the room talking, you and Diego had stayed in his car doing the same. Diego, although he didn't show it back in his room, was extremely broken over the loss of Eudora. Diego and Eudora had dated a while back when you were younger but at some point they split. Even if they weren't together anymore though they still had an immense amount of love and respect for each other. And it was because of that love that Diego was so affected by her death. A few tiny tear drops had fallen from his eyes as he tried to collect his emotions in the car. These past two days had been an emotional rollercoaster for th etwo of you. It was difficult to cope with so much loss and trauma at once but trauma had been a constant in both of your lives since you were young. You place a hand on your older brother's shoulder and said,
"We're going to get these fuckers and we're going to do it together."
Diego took a deep breath and looked at you.
"You're fucking right we are." Diego replies nodding his head "I need to stop at the house to get some stuff though."
"Alright but do me a favor and drive around first and clear your head. You to make rational decisions and not emotional impulses no matter how much it hurts." You mention
Diego nods once more as he starts up his car. The two of you sit in silence as he drives around the city blocks for a bit. You look at all the people on the sidewalk. You wonder what their life is like, who they went home to at the end of the day, what it was like to be so blissfully ignorant to the potential danger in the next couple of days. You were envious of the people who still had all their loved ones in their lives. People who for the most part never had to deal with the abrupt loss of someone you loved. You were grateful for those you still had but just like Diego you needed to clear your mind so you could stop the people who had taken from you from taking more lives. When you arrive at the house Diego heads upstairs and goes to the bedroom where he was hiding his stuff in while you head to your room. You look at Five's umbrella academy mask which you kept on your desk. You had never been one to do all this superhero stuff but apparently life said otherwise. Going into your closet you pull out a box filled with knives. Granted, with your powers you didn't need knives like Diego did but it always helped to have some on you.You're about to gear yourself up when you hear a knock at your door. Turning around you see Five standing there.
"If you're here to talk me out of going, it's not going to work." You state
"No, no. I know even attempting that is a futile endeavor." Five replies walking over to you "Nice knives."
"Thanks, Diego always said guns were for sissies so for my 14th birthday or I guess technically my 25th birthday, he got me my own set of knives to train with." You explain
"Yeah, I'm still sorry about that," Five comments "But with Diego as your teacher I'm sure you're highly profieicent with them."
"Well of course," You reply with a smile
As you're working on making sure you have all your knives to bring Five takes a step closer to you and grabs your hand. You stop what you're doing and look towards him. Five looks down at the floor before looking into your eyes. You can tell he wants to say something so you ask,
"Five what is it?"
"I know I can't stop you from going but I need you to know that I don't want you to. I know how these people are, how they were trained, they're dangerous beyond comprehension." He explains
"Five, these people have taken so much from me already, they're monsters."
"That's exactly why I don't want you to go. I worked with these people, they have no humanity."
"Five I can't just let Diego go in there alone. He acts out of emotion and he's not thinking clearly right now. I need to be there because I can't lose him nor anyone else these psychos might go after." You tell Five as you squeeze his hand a little tighter
"Just promise me that if the moment comes to do something, if you need to make a split second decision, that you won't hesitate." Five states
"I promise."
"(Y/N), let's go!" You hear Diego yell form downstairs
"That's my cue," You say to Five
You let go of his hand and walk around him taking your case of knives with you. As you start to leave your room Five calls out,
"(Y/N), I-"
He pauses for a second before finishing,
"Be safe."
You nod your head and make your way downstairs and out to the car. When you arrive you see Klaus there with you as well. You had no clue why but it was better than leaving him to his own devices. Diego, Klaus and you drive away from the house and off to find these killers you were looking for. Five watched from a window as Diego's car left with you in it. He was mentally kicking himself in the ass for not just coming out and saying what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell you he loved you because god forbid something happens he didn't want to lose the opportunity to tell you. But he didn't. He got nervous and told you to be safe instead. Five was pissed at himself but he didn't want to think about it anymore. Heading to his room he grabbed a piece of chalk and starting doing his calculations on who might be the cause of the apocalypse. It took him a bit and pretty much all of his wall space but he started getting close to having a finished probability map.
"You look like a mad scientist," Imaginary you comments
"This is no time for jokes (Y/N), there are only four days left, and I need to figure out who's death could prevent the apocalypse." Five says continuing his math work "And you should be worried too."
"45 years together and yet you still don't get how I'm in your head." Imaginary you sarcastically says
Five ignored what imaginary you said and replies with,
"Oh. Okay, I think I've got something. It's tenuous, but promising."
"We've got company," Imaginary you tells Five as Luther walks in
Luther enter's Five's room and looks around at the wall to wall writing covering every inch of space that was once there. He sees his brother standing on his bed continuing to write and asks
"What is all this?"
"It's a probability map." Five replies bluntly
"Probability of what?" Luther questions confused
"Of whose death could save the world. I've narrowed it down to four." Five states
"Are you saying one of these four people causes the apocalypse?"
"No, I'm saying that their death might prevent it."
"Oh...I'm not following." Luther replies confused
"Time is fickle, Luther. The slightest alteration in events can lead to massively different outcomes in the time continuum. The butterfly effect. So all I have to do is find the people with the greatest probability of impacting the time line, wherever they may be, and kill them."
Five steps off his bed and heads over to a chair with a notebook on it. Luther looks up at the four names written on the wall and asks Five,
"Milton Greene. So who's he, a terrorist or something?"
"I believe he is a gardener." Five replies writing notes down in the notebook he picked up
"You can't be serious. This is madness, Five." Luther says turning his attention to Five "You...Wh... Where'd you get that?"
On Five's bed was a gun. Luther watched as Five unzipped it's case, picked it up and started t examine it.
"In Dad's room. I think he used it to shoot a rhinoceros. It's similar to the model I used at work. Nice shoulder fit and highly reliable." Five explains
"But you can't...This guy Milton is just an innocent man." Luther retorts
"It's basic math. His death could potentially save the lives of billions. If I did nothing, he'd be dead in four days anyway. The apocalypse won't spare anyone." Five responds
"We don't do this kind of thing." Luther complains
"We are not doing anything. I am."
"I can't let you go and kill innocent people. No matter how many lives you'll save." Luther states
"Well, good luck stopping me." Five replies as he starts to walk out of the room
"You're not going anywhere."
Luther then grabs Dolores and holds her by the neck outside the window.
"Hey, uh Five." Imaginary you calls
Five whips around and looks at the sight before him. Quickly lifting the gun he aims it straight at his brother. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt you, not even his brother.
"Put... her... down." Five demands
"Put the gun down. You're not killing anyone. I know she's important to you, so don't make me do this." Luther states "It's either her or the gun. You decide."
Five doesn't lower the gun and keeps it aimed at Luther. If he just held firm a little longer maybe Luther would realize that he is not playing around. Luther holds steady as well but when he sees that Five won't drop his gun, he does what he has to do. Letting go of the mannequin he lets Dolores start to fall over the railing.
"Five!" Imaginary you yells to him
Quickly, Five drops the gun and spacial jumps over to the window. Catching you he brings you over to the bed and cradles you in his arms. Although all Luther saw was him gently looking at a mannequin, Five was really looking at you. Imaginary you, but you nonetheless. The though of you getting hurt scared him beyond belief. It reminded him of his heightened concern for the real version of you out there in the world right now attempting to take on Hazel and Cha-Cha.
"I can keep doin' this all day. I know you're still a good person, Five. Otherwise, you wouldn't have risked everything coming back here to save us all. But you're not on your own anymore."
"You sound like (Y/N), she told me practically the same thing before." Five remarks
"Well, she's a wise woman then. You should listen to her." Luther suggest before mumbling "...given recent events maybe we all should..."
"You found out dad called her number zero?" Five questions gently placing Dolores on her chair
"Yeah...wait how did you know about that?" Luther asks
"Before (Y/N) died she gave me her diary to read. She wrote about it in there." Five answers
Five pauses. There were so many moments he read about but missed out on. He wondered what they all could've been like if he was there. What would life in general be like if he had never left. Would any of this be happening if he hadn't run away? Five shakes the thoughts out of his head. He thinks of how he could possibly stop the apocalypse without having to kill people. There was one way but he was unsure of it. In a dismissive tone he says,
"Her diary isn't what's important though. There is one way to not have to kill random people to change the time continuum, but it's just about impossible."
"More impossible than what brought you back here?" Luther questions
Luther had a point. Five had done the impossible, traveling through time, to try stop the impossible, the apocalypse that wipes out the world. How crazy could this plan be?
"I've already set the plan in motion. It's just a matter of them responding properly." Five states
"Huh? What?" Luther inquires
"I have to grab something but I'll explain in the car. You're driving." Five says walking out of the room
Luther watches as Five leaves and looks around the room confused. He had no clue what was going on.
"Let's go Luther!" Five calls
Luther makes his way out of the room and heads downstairs. Grabbing the car keys he heads outside and hops in the drivers side of the car, and he sits and waits for Five. After a few minutes Five hops in the car with a briefcase. With a shut of the passenger side door the two of the are off.
_________________________
After leaving the house you had dropped off Klaus at a veteran's club. You were confused by why he went there but it was a good thing you stayed because without your intervention he would've gotten beat to a pulp by those veterans there. Diego nd you dragged him out of there as tears spilled from his eyes. You didn't know what had happened and why he was so troubled but soon enough you found out. While Diego was attempting to stop Klaus from continuing to put drugs in his body Klaus admitted that he had lost someone he loved more than himself and that he wanted to forget the pain of it all. The three of you sat in silence. Each one of you had lost someone you loved more than life. You all knew the pain, the gut-wrenching, soul-crushing pain of losing someone who was the world to you. No words were spoken, but you all acknowledged the shared trauma in the car. The moment the three of you shared though had ended when you started to follow the people who had attacked the house. You followed them back to the motel they were staying at. You mentally tried to prepare yourself for anyhthing you might have to do. You made a promise to Five after all. Parked outside Diego and you surveyed the area. When you saw the bright blue car they were driving in the parking lot the two of you made your way over to it. Taking one of your knives out of the case you kept watch as Diego laid next to the car. Looking underneath it he placed a tracking chip on the underside before getting up and turning on the tracking device. The two of you then made your way back to the car and sat inside trying your best not to look suspicious. As you watch from the cr you see as two people peek through window curtains. That was the room they were staying in and you two were going to get them.
"Bingo." Diego calls out
"You do know that killing these people is not gonna make you feel any better." Klaus comments taking another swig of the vodka bottle you had bought him
He made a good point. Eye for an eye only went so far. Sure you would feel a sense of justice getting back at the perpetrators but it would never heal the emotional would you felt because of the loss. Diego would never listen tot hat though, he was too stubborn and his hero complex was too large for him to think that way. You were honestly surprised that Klaus had said something so coherent and profound.
"Yeah, but when it's done I'm gonna sleep like a baby." Diego responds to Klaus
"Sure you will." Klaus remarked sarcastically
You agreed with Klaus once again but you kept your mouth shut. This was not the time to get into a dispute with your brother. As you continued to keep watch you saw as the male partner of the killer duo stepped outside his room with a motel ice bucket. You found it odd the way he paused before walking away but kept watching.
"Stay in the car Klaus," Diego commanded
"What are you talkin' about? This guy tortured me." Klaus exclaims "And why does she get to go she's just a kid!"
"I'm 18!" You exclaims back
"That's child years." Klaus retorts
"She gets to come along because she is my sister and killing these assholes is a family matter." Diego explains opening his door and stepping out of the car "(Y/N), let's go I have a plan."
"Family matter? I'm your brother!" Klaus yells
You step out of the car and follow Diego as you make your way to the steps of the motel leading up to their room. As you two quietly head up the stairs you hear the loud footsteps of a drunken fool behind you.
"So, what exactly is the plan here, big guy?" Klaus asks
"I told you to wait in the car." Diego snaps at him
"Yeah, but you also told me that licking a nine-volt battery would give me pubes." Klaus responds taking another drink of vodka
You turn to Klaus and give him a look of disgust an confusion.
"We were eight." Diego responds turning to look at him
You then turn to Diego and give him the same look of disgust an confusion. Jeez these kids were messed up even before you knew them. It was in times like these that you wondered if you could've followed your parents third rule better. Klaus then tries to walk up the stairs and towards the motel room door but before he can Diego puts an arm out blocking him. He then takes Klaus by the shoulder and escorts him to the bottom of the stairs. You follow behind Diego to act as a second barrier if Klaus tries to head up them again. Diego looks at Klaus and explains to him,
"For once, I need you to listen to me, okay? Now, go back to the car. If we don't come out in two minutes, that means we're probably dead. So if that happens, go get help. Okay?"
Klaus glances at you and you nod to him. Letting out a sigh Klaus replies,
"Yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay."
Diego makes sure that Klaus walks away back to the car before heading up the stairs.
"Get behind me (Y/N)." Diego commands as the two of you approach the door
You do as your told and watch as your brother kicks the door sending it flying open. You probably could've just went in there invisibly and scoped out the place or opened the door but Diego had his own ways of doing things. And if this was hope he was going to grieve then you might as well let him have it. Diego slowly stepped in first and looked around. Pulling out a knife you were about to enter the room when you heard the sound of an engine revving.
"Hey Diego, do you hear that?" You ask
Diego steps outside and walks over to the balcony where he hears tires screeching. The two of you stand there and see as the masked attackers quickly drive around the corner and start shooting their guns off at you two. You step back and use your power to make sure any bullets would go through you but Diego didn't step back quick enough and ended up having a bullet graze his left arm. With the help of Klaus pulling him back into the stairwell Diego did not get hit by any more shots.
"Oh, man. See? You used to think I was an idiot." Klaus says with a smile
"I still think you're an idiot." Diego replies
"They're getting away." You comment running down the stairs
The two of them follow behind you and when you make it back down to the parking lot you all watch as the car drives away.
"Shit. Get in the car." Diego says before noticing that all the tires are slashed
Klaus kicks one of the slashed tires before leaning on the ice cream truck in front of Diego's car.
"Was this all part of your master plan?" Klaus comments
"Shut up." Diego retorts
"We need to go after them!" You exclaim
"And how are we going to do that?" Klaus asks
"We're gonna hotwire that ice cream truck and use Diego's tracker." You state
Diego grabs your shoulders and looks you in the eyes.
"You are a little genius, I am so proud of you." Diego praises
Within a few minutes you had got the thing hot wired. You helped Diego in since he had a bad arm and Klaus climbed in after you. With Diego working the tracker and Klaus driving the truck the three of you started to make your way and speed after the masked criminals. Although you weren't fully sure if it was three in the van.
Ever since Klaus had started showing up around you so had a constant disturbance. You had trained to see and feel molecular disturbances but this one was odd. Typically a molecular disturbance took the shape of the object it accompanied like if someone dropped a vase the disturbance of the vase falling also took the shape of a vase. But this one was vaguely humanoid. It was also odd in the sense that you had a constant feeling of it. A flying bullet felt like someone had flicked you because it was quick and once the bullet stopped so did the disturbance. But this felt like a constant pressure, like some one had poked your arm but had not removed their finger yet. And the closer you were to the disturbance the stronger it felt. You had an idea in your mind of what it was but you also felt insane thinking that idea as it was out of the rhelm of rationality. So all you did was stare at the disturbance sitting on the truck dashboard in front of you. To the other two it just looked like you were squinting your eyes looking out the front window, but you knew what you were doing.
What you didn't know was that your crazy idea was right, and the vague molecular disturbance in front of you was Ben, Ben the ghost. Now you couldn't detect ghosts and you definitely couldn't see them as freely as Klaus could, but Ben was different. Klaus constantly kept Ben conjured and therefore by using his powers, Ben had a stronger physical presence. This is what led to you being about to feel his presence as view his molecular disturbance.
"Klaus, she's staring at me." Ben says
Klaus takes a look back at you squinting your eyes.
"She's just looking out the window buddy. I'm the only one who can see you." Klaus responds
Ben looks back over at you and sees you pointing in his direction with a confused look on your face.
"Klaus she's pointing at me. I think she can see me." Ben comments
"We both know that's not possible because I'm the only fancy pants ghost man here." Klaus explains "Now stop staring and bothering me I'm driving!"
Given the fact that you were the only on in the van staring and you had written off the existence of the disturbance being Ben, you thought Klaus was addressing you telling you not to stare.
"Oh, sorry." You quietly apologize
Instead of looking at the disturbance anymore you try to distract yourself as the ice cream truck chase continues.
_________________________
Luther and Five slowly pull up to the meeting spot that Five had set up. The car comes to a stop and the two brothers look out at the road in front of them. There is a silence in the car before Five speaks,
"You know, I never enjoyed it."
"What?" Luther questions
"The killing. I mean, I was...I was good at my work, and I took pride in it. But it never gave me pleasure." Five explains "I think it was all those years alone. Solitude can do funny things to the mind."
Luther sympathizes with Five. He knew what it was like to be alone as well and the toll it takes.
"Yeah, well, you were gone for such a long time. I only spent four years on the moon,
but that was more than enough. It's the being alone that breaks you." Luther states beofre looking at the briefcase and saying "You think they'll buy it?"
Five looks at the fake case that they had brought.
"Well, what I do know is that they're desperate. It's like a cop losing his gun. If the Commission finds out, they'll be in deep shit." Five replies "Oh, not to mention the fact that they'll be stuck here until they get it back."
"Well, I should hold onto it. In case they make a move on you." Luther suggests
:Okay, Luther, but be careful. I mean, I've...I've lived a long life, but you're still a young man. You got a whole life ahead of you. Don't waste it." Five responds
"Thank you for the sentiment but you're a young man again, and if I were you I'd try to make sure that I could keep these renewed years so I can spend them with the person that matters most." Luther remarks
"Luther what are you getting at?" Five inqires
"Five, you can't hide a known fact. Everyone knows you love (Y/N), you admitted it when we were younger and it's obvious you still do now. Take your own advice you're still a young man and you've got a whole life ahead of you. Don't waste it."
Five nods his head. Luther did have a point. He didn't mean to come back as an 18-year-old but doing so gave him a renewed chance at life with you that he might not have gotten if he had gotten the calculations correct. He loved you before he jumped time, he loved you when he was stuck alone in the apocalypse and even if he couldn't work up the courage to say it to you, he loved you now. Maybe if he managed to stop the apocalypse he really could take a bit of his own advice. Before Five could respond to Luther a car pulls up from down the road.
"Here we go." Five states
Him and Luther get out of the car and stand in the road. They watch as the car drives by for a bit before slowing and parking. Five looks over to Luther and says,
"I hope it doesn't but if this all goes sideways, do me a favor and tell (Y/N) I'm sorry."
Five then makes his way to the midpoint between the two cars while Luther stays behind with the briefcase. As he approaches Hazel and Cha-Cha he asks,
"The masks really necessary?"
"So where is it, kid?" Cha-Cha asks back throwing her mask to the side
"Wow, that's how you're gonna start. You know, we can get right back in our car and call it a day." Five states taking a step back
"You won't even make it halfway there." Cha-Cha replies pulling out a gun and pointing it at him
"Maybe. But as I'm sure you found out in your previous foray, my brother is not your average giant." Five explains
"He's right. You dropped a chandelier on him, got right back up." Hazel comments
"By the time you took him out, he'd smash your precious briefcase to a pulp." Five elaborates
"Probably us too, right? So, how do we help each other?" Hazel asks
"I need you to get in contact with your superior so I can have a chat with her. Face-to-face." Five demands
"About what?" Cha-Cha inquires
"Well, I don't believe that's any of your concern." Five states
"Just don't tell her about the briefcase." Cha-Cha says
"Fair enough." Five replies
Hazel and Cha-Cha walk over to the payphone on the side of the road while Five walks back over to Luther.
"What happens now?" Luther asks
"Now we wait." Five states
From behind them, Five and Luther hear the sound of music playing. Turning to look they see an ice cream truck appear over the horizon. Hazel and Cha-Cha look at the truck coming their way before looking at each other.
"Is that her?" Luther asks to Five
The world slows down as the truck starts to pass the two of them. From inside they can see Diego, Klaus and you. Klaus waves from the driver's seat as he passes by but when you see Five you transport yourself out the back of the van and onto the road. When you had transported yourself onto the road though you forgot to take the velocity of the truck into account and so you had accidentally thrown yourself onto the road.
"Go faster!" Diego tells Klaus from inside the truck
"Whee!" Ben exclaims as the truck goes faster
"It's a setup!" Cha-Cha yells from down the road as she pulls out her gun and starts shooting.
Luther jumps in front of Five as some of the gun fire heads their way. You get up off the ground and start to try and run over to Five reaching your arm towards him. Hazel and Cha-Cha start to go flying off the ground as they get hit by the corner of the ice cream truck. But all of that slows down and then comes to a stop as the world around freezes. Five takes a look out from behind Luther and then steps forward into the road. He looks around for a bit but then hears a voice behind him say,
"Neat trick, isn't it?"
Turning around he sees the handler standing there.
"Hello, Five. You look good, all things considered." She says
"It's good to see you again." He replies
"Feels like we met just yesterday. Course, you were a little bit older then. Congratulations on the age regression, by the way. Very clever. Threw us all off the scent." She states
"Ah, well, I wish I could take credit. I just miscalculated the time dilation projections, and...Well, you know. Here I am." Five responds gesturing to his 18-year-old form
"You realize your efforts are futile. So why don't you tell me what you really want?" The Handler asks
"I want you to put a stop to it." Five demands
"You realize what you're asking for is next to impossible, even for me. What's meant to be is meant to be. That's our raison d'être."
Five moves his jacket to the side and pulls a handgun from his waistband. Pointing it at the handler he comments,
"Yeah? Well how about survival as a raison?"
"I'll just be replaced. I'm but a small cog in a machine. This fantasy you've been nurturing about summoning up your family to stop the apocalypse is just that. A fantasy." The handler explains
She approaches Five but he keeps the gun steady on her.
"I must say, though, we're all quite impressed with your initiative, your stick-to-itiveness, really quite something. Which is why we want to offer you a new position back at the Commission, in management."
"Sorry, what's that now?" Five asks surprised
"Come back to work for us again. You know it's where you belong." The handler says
"Well, it didn't work out too well the last time." Five points out
"But you wouldn't be in the correction division any longer. I'm talking about the home office. You'd have the best health and pension, and an end to this ceaseless travel." The handler explains "You're a distinguished professional in schoolboy shorts. We have the technology to reverse the process. I mean, you...you can't be happy like this."
The handler slowly lowers Five's gun with her hand. Five looks over to where you are frozen and then back at the handler.
"I'm not looking for happy." He responds
He was lying but the handler had no right to know what he wanted. She glances over at your frozen figure and then turns her attention back to Five.
"We're all looking for happy." She says caressing his cheek "We can make that happen. We can make you, yourself again.
"And what about my family?" Five asks
"What about them?" The handler questions
"I want them to survive." Five states
The handler looks around at all the people there before turning back to Five and inquring
"All of them?"
"Yes, all of them." Five demands
"Including that pretty little thing in the road over there? I can tell you have a sweet spot for her." The handler says with a wink
"Yes. Her especially."
"Well...I'll see what I can do." The handler states extending her hand "Do we have a deal?"
"One thing."
Five then walks away from the handler and over towards Hazel and Cha-Cha he grabs the gun that was on the road and pulls the clip of bullets out of the gun. He throws them in opposite directions so they are on different sides of the road before walking over towards where Luther and you stood. As he walks he passes a bullet frozen in midair and re-adjusts it so that when time starts it will not hit anyone. He then walks over to the car he arrived in and pulls out a pen and a piece of paper. He quickly writes something down on it, places it in your hand and balls your hand up tightly so you don't lose it. He takes one more look at you before walking over to the handler. She sticks her hand out and in a flash the two of them disappear and time starts up again as normal. The midair bullet flies by Luther without hitting him, Hazel and Cha-Cha fall to the ground and the ice cream truck crashes into the blue car. Looking around you look for Five but he had disappeared.
"Five? Five!" You call out into the air
Luther holds up a briefcase in his hand before shouting,
"Come get it!"
He then throws the case away from him and into the dirt on the side of the road. One of the agents in suits goes and runs after it while the other looks for their gun. Luther runs over to the ice cream truck and helps Klaus to carry the injured Diego towards their car.
"Get in the car!" Luther shouts to you
Quickly you make your way into the backseat with Diego and Klaus following after. Luther immediately gets in the driver's seat and starts to rev the engine.
"Luther, go, go, go!" Klaus shouts
The tires on the car squeal as the four of you speed off and away from the two agents. As Luther drives you relax and unclench your body. When you open your hands a folded piece of paper falls out of one of them. Opening it up you read a note.
Que mon cœur reste avec toi jusqu'à mon retour, ma chérie.
- Five