𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑 later, Five and Valerie were driving along the countryside, heading for the spot that Five had told Hazel and Cha-Cha to meet them at.
The entire car trip had been filled with nothing but silence, and, as they approached their destination, it seemed like that wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
They came to a stop at the side of the road, and the hum of the engine was turned off, then immersing them in complete quietness.
Five was quiet for the next few moments, with his gaze limited to the dull pavement in front of them and his lips pressed together so tightly that they were growing a little white.
Valerie allowed her eyes to roam over the dancing grass that was a little less than a meter away from where she sat, feeling as though she was being held captive by the silence between them; it put her on edge, and she worried about the next sentence that would escape his lips.
After about a minute, Five turned towards her and quietly admitted, "You know, I never enjoyed it."
"What?" Valerie asked, a little surprised by the sudden break in silence as she turned towards him with furrowed eyebrows.
"The killing," he clarified, causing her to give a short nod. "I mean, I was . . . I was good at my work, and I . . . I took pride in it. But it never gave me pleasure." He lowered his gaze as he gave a small sigh. "I think it was all those years alone. Solitude can do funny things to the mind."
"Yeah, well, you were gone for such a long time. I was stuck in time for . . . well, what felt like forever, and it was terrible," she said as she folded her arms, giving him a small smile. "It's the being alone that breaks you."
Her lips then settled into a frown as her eyes shifted to the thick briefcase that sat between them. It was the bait they were going to use to convince Hazel and Cha-Cha to help them; they were going to pretend as though this briefcase was one that belonged to the Commission.
Valerie ran a finger over the smooth, cold surface as she ran the plan through her head once more. "You think they'll buy it?"
"Well, what I do know is that they're desperate." Five gave a small nod as he looked down at the briefcase before looking back at her. "It's like a cop losing his gun. If the Commission finds out, they'll be in deep shit. Oh, not to mention the fact that they'll be stuck here until they get it back."
"Well" —she lifted the briefcase up and gently placed it on her lap— "I'll hold it."
His eyebrows furrowed. "Hm?"
"Just in case."
"Okay, Val, but be careful," he murmured as he gazed at her intently. He was about to say something else when he was interrupted by the rumble of an engine, and he instead turned forward and watched as a blue car drove their way. "Hm . . . here we go."
Valerie tightened her clutch on the briefcase before using her free hand to open her car door, and, slowly, she stepped out.
She leaned back against the car while Five rounded around the hood to stand next to her. Both of them watched as the blue car passed them and came to a stop a few metres ahead of them.
"Five," she said quietly as he straightened up, "please be careful."
He gave her a reassuring smile and nodded before heading towards the two people in suits that were walking towards them.
One of them had a pink dog mask that only had one floppy, black ear, and the other had a blue bear mask. Neither of them looked all too friendly.
"The masks really necessary?" Five questioned, his gaze going back and forth between the two colourful disguises.
The two of them took their masks off and threw them to the side, revealing a woman with a choppy haircut—Cha-Cha—and a man with a fuzzy beard—Hazel.
Cha-Cha seemed exasperated. "So where is it, kid?"
"Wow, that's how you're gonna start," Five mused as he slipped his hands into his pockets, his eyebrows raised mildly. "You know, we can get right back in our car and call it a day."
Valerie flinched as Cha-Cha pulled a silver gun from her pocket and pointed it straight at Five's face. "You won't even make it halfway there."
"I wouldn't count on that," Five chuckled unhumorously, giving a small shrug. "Valerie over there has super-speed. She could run you both to Antarctica before you could even put your finger on the trigger, and she wouldn't even break a sweat."
"He's right." Hazel turned to Cha-Cha, his eyes now wide. "I read that she ran a guy to Florida once, and just left him there. I really don't want to go to Florida. Have you seen the people there?"
"You could never catch her." A devious smile grew on Five's face as his eyes shifted between the two of them. "And by the time you take me out, she would've hidden your briefcase in a location far, far away."
"And bring us to Florida too?" Hazel shifted uncomfortably in his spot, his eyes nervously glancing over to Valerie, who gave him a nod of confirmation. His eyes widened slightly. "So, how do we help each other?"
"I need you to get in contact with your superior so I can have a chat with her," Five instructed with an air of confidence. "Face-to-face."
Cha-Cha narrowed her eyes at him, seeming a little uneasy as she slowly asked, "About what?"
"Well, I don't believe that's any of your concern," Five said airily, giving a small shrug.
She closed her eyes as she thought it over, an exasperated expression coming over her face. After a moment, she sighed in defeat. "Just don't tell her about the briefcase."
Five gave a small shrug. "Fair enough."
Five walked back to the car and gave a small nod to Valerie, who then smiled in return.
She watched as Cha-Cha took a few steps over to the payphone and dialled a number with the end of her gun that was clutched in one hand, lifting the receiver to her ear with the other.
"What happens now?" Valerie questioned as Five leaned against the hood of the car, turning to face him as she tightened her grip on the handle of the briefcase.
He sighed as his eyes flickered over to meet hers, and answered, "Now we wait."
Valerie nodded and shifted the briefcase from one hand to the other, trying to stay focused as her free fingers tapped against the side of her leg. They had filled the briefcase with metal so that it could replicate the same weight as the actual briefcase, so it was pretty heavy.
Suddenly, the high-pitched melody of Ride of the Valkyries filled the air, growing louder with every passing second.
In confusion, Valerie and Five turned around to see where the noise was coming from, and soon located the source to be an ice cream truck that was driving towards them.
Valerie squinted her eyes to get a better view of who was driving, and she let out a groan when she saw who were in the front seats.
Diego and Klaus.
"What the hell are they doing here?" Valerie let out an exasperated sigh as she looked over toward Five, who seemed to be just as irritated as she was.
Klaus waved to them merrily through the open window as he drove towards Cha-Cha and Hazel, his jolly smile causing them to grow more annoyed.
Diego screamed for him to go faster, his eyes fixated on the two hitmen as the truck accelerated.
Five rolled his eyes as he breathed out, "Aw, shit."
"It's a setup!" Cha-Cha shouted as the truck flew towards them, grabbing her gun from her pocket as Hazel did the same.
The two began to shoot toward the ice cream truck, the echo of the bullets ricocheting bursting through the air. They flew backwards as the truck passed them, groaning when suddenly—
Five's POV
Five, who had grasped onto Valerie's hand and pulled her towards the car to avoid the oncoming bullets, looked around in confusion.
Everything and everyone was frozen; Cha-Cha and Hazel were flying back in mid-air, the jingle of the truck had silenced, and a single bullet stood still in the air, the front of it faced towards where Valerie was.
Quickly, Five made sure that Valerie was all right, his eyes scanning over her and carefully examining her. Upon seeing no injury, he sighed in relief and gave a small nod. She was okay.
He released her hand and began to walk towards the ice cream truck, where Cha-Cha and Hazel were in the middle of getting thrown back.
Five inspected their faces with narrowed eyes. They looked stupid—so, pretty much the same.
What was going on? Why had time stopped for everyone and everything except him?
Suddenly, to answer his mental question, a woman's voice came from behind him:
"Neat trick, isn't it?"
With a silent groan, Five turned to see the tall woman who was dressed in all black, her white curls shining in the sunlight. She had a briefcase in her hand—one that he knew all too well.
He gave a sigh of exasperation.
Fucking great. The Handler. Great timing.
"Hello, Five," she greeted warmly as he walked over to her, his hands now slipped into his pockets. "You look good . . . all things considered."
"It's good to see you again." Five smiled, although the smile had no meaning of friendliness behind it.
"Feels like we met just yesterday. Course, you were a little bit older then," she noted as she analyzed his seventeen-year-old body and gave him a humoured smile. "Congratulations on the age regression, by the way. Very clever. Threw us all off the scent."
"Ah, well, I wish I could take credit." Five gave a smirk of amusement as he waved a dismissive hand in the air. "I just miscalculated the time dilation projections, and . . . Well, you know. Here I am."
"You realize your efforts are futile." The Handler put her hands behind her back, the briefcase slightly peeking out behind her skirt as she continued, "So why don't you tell me what you really want?"
Five copied her movement. "I want you to put a stop to it."
"You realize what you're asking for is next to impossible, even for me," she laughed lightly. "What's meant to be is meant to be. That's our raison d'être."
"Yeah?" Five swept his jacket aside as he reached for the gun that he had tucked into his pants. He pointed it towards her, quirking one eyebrow as he jeered, "Well how about survival as a raison?"
She glanced down nervously at the gun. "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," she said with a shrug. "A fantasy."
The Handler began to take small steps towards Five as his gun drew lower and lower.
"I must say, though, we're all quite impressed with your initiative, your . . . stick-to-itiveness, really quite . . . quite something. Which is why we want to offer you a new position back at the Commission—in management."
This took Five by surprise. They wanted him dead, and now they wanted him to work for them?
He chuckled in confusion as he shook his head and asked, "Sorry, what's that now?"
"Come back to work for us again. You know it's where you belong," she told him as she gave a small smile. "Well, it didn't work out too well the last time. 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. You're a distinguished professional in" —she looked down at his small pants, an amused glint in her eyes— "schoolboy shorts. We have the technology to reverse the process. I mean, you . . . you can't be happy like this."
Five stared at her. "I'm not looking for happy."
"We're all looking for happy," the Handler murmured as she gently pressed the back of her hand on Five's cheek. "We can make that happen. We can make you . . . yourself again."
He sighed as he pondered her words for a moment. His eyes flickered over to hers, and he asked, "And what about my family?"
"What about them?" she questioned with furrowed eyebrows.
"I want them to survive." He looked over at Valerie's frozen figure, a hint of sadness creeping up his stomach, knowing that he was going to leave her. Again. And this time, she wouldn't even know where he was.
The Handler sighed, looking to Valerie, and then Diego and Klaus, who were mid-scream in the truck. "All of them?"
"Yes, all of them," Five said incredulously.
"Well . . . I'll see what I can do." The Handler dug out her sunglasses from her pocket and put them on. She extended her black-gloved hand toward him and raised her eyebrows as she asked, "Do we have a deal?"
He looked down at the hand before saying, "One thing."
Five walked over to the gun that was laying in front of Hazel and took the magazine out, then threw it into the field, as far as he could. He knew Valerie would be able to help Klaus and Diego escape before the two hitmen could even blink, but . . . just in case.
With a nod, Five walked towards the Handler before realizing something.
He turned back around towards the bullet that was facing Valerie. He moved it up, and towards the side, making sure it would head anywhere else.
Five took a deep breath and began to walk toward Valerie.
"We don't have all day, you know," the Handler called out in irritation as he approached Valerie.
He ignored her, instead looking over at Valerie's face, inspecting it deeply and making a mental promise to come back to her again. He would. He had to.
He was so goddamn close to finally kissing her. And then Luther had to come in and ruin everything. Five knew that technically it wasn't Luther's fault, but it was still pretty annoying.
Five leaned forward and pressed a light kiss against Valerie's forehead, knowing that she would have absolutely no knowledge of him doing it whatsoever.
"I'll be back, I swear," he whispered to her, although, again, she would have no idea he said this.
He turned around and walked toward the woman, who gave him a welcoming smile. Five grabbed the Handler's hand and shook it, the deal immediately transporting them out of the road.
Valerie's POV
Hazel and Cha-Cha let out screams as their bodies hit the ground and their guns clattered out of their hands. From inside the truck, Klaus' yell could be heard.
"Good God!"
Valerie noticed the missing presence around her, and quickly spun on her heel, searching for the boy who had been there merely a second ago.
"Five?" Her eyes searched all over the area, but she just couldn't find any trace of him anywhere. Panic began to fill her as she desperately shouted, "Five!"
She then realized that Hazel and Cha-Cha were staring at the briefcase in her hands, and she sprinted over to the other side of the field, dropping it there before speeding back to the road.
"Go get it!" she taunted loudly, to which Cha-Cha heeded.
Hazel went to grab the gun in front of him, but nothing happened as he pulled the trigger, it only resulting in unsatisfying clicks.
Valerie ran over to the truck, grabbing Klaus with one hand, and Diego with the other, before running back to the car. She shoved Diego into the back seat, noticing his injured arm, and pushed Klaus into the driver's seat before getting herself into the passenger's seat.
Klaus sat there, dazed as he stared ahead of him. Valerie punched him in the arm, bringing him back to reality as she exclaimed, "Drive, you idiot!"
With a furious nod, he immediately pushed the gas pedal, and they sped off into the distance as Cha-Cha screamed profanities at their dust.