The light from the morning sun shined through the window's blinds, shining down on the two sheet covered bodies of Five and Elaina. Five laid on his side, facing towards Elaina, as he snored silently. The girl, on the other hand, was wide awake. She laid on her side as well, supporting her cheek on her hand as she supported that on her elbow. She watched Five quietly with a small smile on her face, happy to see him peaceful after a few frustrating days. Elaina felt thankful that she could at least give Five a small escape from all the bullshit he stressed over constantly.
Elaina hummed quietly, her free hand reaching out and moving aside a stray strand of hair that covered his face.
"I can feel you looking at me," Five stated, his eyes still closed, making Elaina chuckle.
"What, I can't admire what's mine?" she said in a joking tone, making the boy crack an eye open to look at her. "I'm enjoying the view,"
"Apparently," said Five, both eyes opened as he gave her a tired smile. "How long have you been up?"
Elaina shrugged. "I don't know, maybe thirty minutes? I wasn't really keeping track,"
"Hm," said Five as he rolled over to look at the clock on the night table beside him. "We still have some time," muttered Five before he rolled back over.
Elaina's free hand found its way to Five's collarbone as a suggestive finger slowly trailed down his chest. "Now, how do we spend that time?"
The boy's breath shook as he felt the pleasant tingles of her finger trailing his chest. "You're dangerous," he breathed out, shaking his head as his hand covered hers, stopping her finger. "No, we can't," sighed Five. "I'll be tempted to never leave this bed, we can't afford that,"
This made Elaina pout. "Pooh," she said as she turned and laid flat on her back. "I guess you're right," Elaina ran her hand through her hair as she stared up at the ceiling. "There's still a world to save," she sighed.
"Exactly," said Five, his arm reaching to grip Elaina's waist as he pulled her into him. "Now, after the world is saved..." he trailed off, her back pressing against his chest, the tone of his voice lowered to a whisper against her ear. "We could stay in bed for days," he said, bringing his lip down to her neck, giving it a sweet kiss.
Elaina giggled as she held onto the arm that wrapped around her. "Sounds like a plan," she responded, turning her head to face him as best as she could in their current position, kissing his cheek. "Glad to see you're in a better mood,"
"Well, that's all thanks to you," said Five, speaking into her skin. "You knew just what I needed,"
"Trust me, we both needed it," smiled Elaina, relishing in the feeling. "I love you,"
"I love you too," he said, planting another kiss on her neck.
Elaina pulled back and looked at him, giving him the same loving stare she gave him earlier in the morning. Five lifted his head up and looked back at her.
"What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.
Elaina just shrugged, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I don't know, sometimes it's just surreal that you came back," she admits, adjusting herself as she remained within his hold, but was now face-to-face with him. "You were gone for so long, and it's just wild that you're really here, alive, and in bed with me," she chuckled, making Five's corner lip pull into a small smile at the noise. "I still get scared that I'm just gonna wake up in my apartment and this was all a dream," she said, propping her head up slightly on her elbow to look at him better.
"I understand what you mean," replied Five. "Sometimes in the apocalypse, I'd have these dreams about all the 'what ifs' I missed out on," he explained, his fingers tracing invisible circles on her hip.
Elaina furrowed her brows in curiosity. "What kind of 'what if's?"
Five stared at her softly. "Well, I didn't realize that I loved you until shortly before I jumped, so I was still processing that when I made it to the apocalypse," Five brought his hand up from her hip and caressed Elaina's cheek. "What if I never jumped? What if I actually listened to the old man?" he sighed, staring into her eyes. "What if I told you how I felt before I left? What if you returned my feelings? What if we actually had a future together?" he said, repeating the questions he'd ask himself over the decades. "Elaina, you became my biggest 'what if'."
Elaina could visualize the 16-year-old Five, all alone in the apocalypse, playing back the moments he felt he missed out on. The thought broke her heart.
"And you became mine too," she confessed, laying her arm flat as she laid her head on top of it. "I wasn't lying when I told you I didn't handle your disappearance well. I dwelled on those 'what ifs' and they nearly destroyed me. I honestly owe a lot to Klaus, because if it weren't for him I probably would've lost it years ago," admitted Elaina with a sad smile, making Five frown slightly. "But enough about that, it's in the past, we're in the present now and we do have a future together," she assured him as she brought her hands up and cupped his face. "We're getting that goddamn briefcase, you hear me?"
Five cracked a smile at her. "I hear you,"
"Good," she nodded, letting go of his face.
"You know, this may sound embarrassing," started off Five, making Elaina look at him with raised brows. "But when we were kids, I wasn't sure if you even looked at me in that light since you and Klaus were always so... friendly with each other growing up."
"Klaus?" questioned Elaina with an entertained smile. "He was always more like a sister to me, even before he came out as pansexual," giggled Elaina. "I mean, there was that one time when we were seventeen..." reminisced the girl, making Five look at her with narrowed eyes."It was just a quick peck! We got high on the rooftop of the academy after Ben died, I was emotional and wasn't thinking straight. It was traumatizing for us both so he refuses to bring it up," she quickly explained. "If it wasn't obvious, Klaus prefers the male side of the spectrum,"
Five looked at her with his narrowed eyes and hummed. "Klaus has been at the center of a lot of your spontaneous actions while I was gone, huh?"
Elaina gave him a sheepish smile. "Would it be Klaus if he wasn't?"
"No, I guess it wouldn't," sighed Five, his hand resting on her waist. "Well, thank you for telling me. I could always rely on you, to be honest with me," he said, leaning in and kissing her forehead.
Elaina's sheepish smile dropped. "Honest..." she repeated, her mind shifting to a similar unwanted memory. The girl sighed, she had to tell him. "Five, there's something I have to... ah!" Elaina started off before a throbbing pain suddenly shot through her head as her hands flew to grip the sides of it.
"Elaina?" asked Five, propping himself up on his elbow as he tried to comfort her by rubbing her back.
She felt like there was a piece of her mind that was being blocked off, preventing her from accessing a memory as deja vu coursed through her. Elaina's mind flashed to white as a high pitch sound removed lingering doubts in her mind. "Ah, shit..." she groaned at the noise, turning her face into the bed.
"Another headache?" asked Five, bringing his hand up caress her head in comfort.
"Yeah, I think so," moaned Elaina, her voice muffled as she rubbed her face into the sheets, feeling the noise start to dull. The intense white light she felt began to disappear. "It's going away..." she confirmed as she turned her head to look at Five to give him a weak smile. "I'm okay,"
Five gave her a wary look. "You sure?"
Elaina nodded. "Yeah, it's just been a few stressful days, is all." shrugged the girl.
"Okay..." he said skeptically, eyeing her as she shut her eyes tightly. "Now, you were saying?"
"Hm?" she questioned, opening her eyes in confusion.
"It sounded like there was something you wanted to tell me just now," he informed her.
Elaina looked off to the side in thought before gradually shaking her head. "Huh, I can't recall it," she said, wincing slightly the more she tried to remember. "No, sorry. But I'll tell you when it comes back to me,"
Five nodded as he brought his hand up and itched his neck nonchalantly. Five scratched a few times before stopping himself, realizing the action, as he turned back over to look at the night table clock.
"What is it?" asked Elaina.
"Shit," he hissed, seeing the time. "I just came,"
"A few times actually," reminded Elaina casually, her fingers rubbing her temples.
"No, not like that. I meant my future self," explained Five, turning slightly a shade of pink as he said it. "My other self just arrived in Dallas with the briefcase we need to get back to our time,"
"Oh. Of course, that's what you meant," said Elaina, looking at Five sheepishly as she sat up. "We should probably get dressed," she said, holding the sheet over her chest as she looked forward, slightly embarrassed.
Five sat up as well, grabbing Elaina by the chin as he gave her a quick peck on the lip. "We should," he confirmed with a nod.
She smiled at him as the two turned away from each other, hopping off the bed.
"Wait," gasped Elaina as she froze just as she was about to pick up her shirt from off of the ground, the sheet still wrapped around her. "Do you think Luther is still out there?" she asked, looking towards the door.
Five shrugged, pulling up his shorts. "Possibly. I doubt he has anywhere else to go," he responded nonchalantly, his fingers quickly scratching at his neck.
Elaina made a face. "Why is it always him we're traumatizing?"
Five caught himself again and stopped, turning to look at Elaina. "Why does he always want to interrupt us when we're in the middle of something?" rhetorically questioned Five as he found Elaina's bag of clothes and handed it to her. "We'll worry about his psyche later. Now, find something to put on, quick. We need to hurry up," he said, feeling his mouth starting to dry up. "Remember those consequences I mentioned yesterday?" he asked, Elaina nodded tentatively. "They're starting to kicking in,"
~.~
Five and Elaina changed into their outfits -- Five in his Umbrella uniform with the exception of his blazer, which Elaina held for him, folded over her arm. Elaina decided to keep it simple and wear a black short-sleeve turtleneck shirt with some black pants. As soon as they were dressed, Five practically ran out of the room and beelined towards the kitchen. Elaina followed with a quirked brow as she saw the boy ravage the fridge for the modest-sized water cup and proceed to chug it desperately.
"Should I be concerned?" questioned Elaina, as Five's eyes drifted to her as he continued to down his H2O.
"Five? Elaina?" Luther's voice came from the den before he appeared in the kitchen's archway. "Guys, what...?" he started and stopped at the sight of Five slurping down the water. He looked over to Elaina. "Is he okay?"
Elaina scrunched up her eyes as her head tilted in thought. "Define 'okay'..."
Five finally took a gasp of air as he finished getting his fill of water. "I'm gonna need to be hydrated," he explained with a sigh, putting the cup back in the fridge.
"Hydrated?" questioned Luther.
Five walked up to Elaina. "Baby powder?"
He asked her as she suspiciously handed it to him. Five asked her a bit earlier to locate it for him with no explanation. The boy then began to pour the powder down the sleeves of his polo.
Luther eyed Five questionably. "What's with the baby powder?" he asked, before shifting his sights to Elaina as he leaned in. "Is this, like, a sex thing?" he awkwardly whispered to her.
This made her nearly choke on her spit. "Jesus, Luther, no!" exclaimed Elaina in both horror and slight amusement. "We're both in the same boat, he hasn't told me what's going on with him,"
"It'll help with the itching," explained Five as he poured the baby powder down his shirt.
"What itching? There's itching?" asked Elaina as she watched him.
"What the hell is going on here?" questioned Luther as Five began to pour the baby powder down his pants. The man's eyes widened as he realized something. "You do have a plan,"
Five began to bounce in place to make sure the powder settled before looking over to Luther and Elaina's direction. "Well, it's a desperation move, but since our brain-dead siblings are incapable of meeting a simple deadline, I got no choice," he said, grabbing the blazer from Elaina as he led her over to the den while Luther stayed at the archway.
"No choice about what?" asked Luther.
"I have to find myself," vaguely stated Five, throwing the blazer over his shoulder as he pulled out the synchronized watch from his pocket. "I just arrived in Dallas 15 minutes ago."
"Should I be worried about you?" question Luther warily.
"Luther, remember in Diego's boiler room, Five told us he was sent to 1963 on a Commission job to make sure JFK was assassinated, right?" said Elaina as Five threw on his blazer and began to stretch.
Luther's eyes lit up."Oh! So, wait, Five's old self is out there," understood the ape-man.
"Precisely," confirmed Five as he stood straight with an exhale.
"What, just walking around Dallas?"
"Walking around Dallas with a briefcase that can get us home," emphasized Elaina with a smile.
"Oh, my God. You guys are geniuses," exclaimed Luther as he clapped his hands together.
"He's the genius with the plan, I'm just relaying the parts I know," stated Elaina as she placed a kiss on Five's cheek.
"Thanks, hon," said Five as he smiled down at her. "However, we're entering the realm of those consequences," he said, looking over to Luther. "There are two significant problems with this plan. Problem number one: I am a trained assassin, arguably the most dangerous assassin in the space-time continuum. If I know me, I'm not going to react kindly to bumping into myself," he explained, beginning to pace as he spoke. "Problem number two, and this is the real fly in the ointment here: you're not supposed to exist in close proximity to yourself in the same timeline. The side effects can be disastrous,"
"Side effects? What sort of side effects?" asked Luther.
"Here we go," Elaina sighed.
"Well, according to Commission Handbook Chapter 27, subsection 3b, the seven stages in paradox psychosis are..." he stood before them and held his hand up. "Stage one: denial, two: itching, three: extreme thirst and urination, four: excessive gas, five: acute paranoia, six: uncontrolled perspiration and seven..." he continued to add a finger for each stage, however at his one, he dropped his hand, a guilty expression crossing his face. "Homicidal rage,"
"Homicidal rage?" question Luther with his hand to his chin, his eyes wide.
"Yeah," confirmed Five.
Elaina's eyes widened as well. "Babe, you're homicidal rage is already pretty up there. Are you saying it gets worse?" she asked, the boy simply nodded. "Oof," she said, running her hand through her hair.
"Jeez, I don't know," said Luther. "This maybe isn't such a good idea,"
"It's a Hail Mary," exclaimed Five his arms outstretched as he continued to pace. "But what choice do we got, Luther?"
"I don't know, you already seem a bit squirrelly there," informed Elaina with an uncertain expression.
Five walked over to her and grabbed her hands in his. "Look, Elaina, I'm gonna need you to help me through this, alright?" he asked with begging eyes. "I need you to be my spotter,"
"Spotter?" she asked.
"Yes. In case the paradox psychosis gets too severe, I need you to help me stay on task, alright? So, whatever happens, whatever I say, we need to get that briefcase,"
Elaina smiled and nodded. "Of course I'll be your spotter, however, I vote on bringing Luther along for added muscle," she said, nudging her head in the big man's direction. "You know, in case of stage seven gets too severe with there being two of you,"
Five nodded his head once. "You got a point," he said, looking over to Luther. "You good with that?"
"Yeah," agreed Luther. "Okay,"
"Okay," repeated Five as he let go of Elaina's hands and rushed off towards the stairs while Luther and Elaina remained at the archway.
"Paradox psychosis," said Elaina quietly, a nervous glint reflected in her eyes.
"Yup," nodded Luther, a similar glint reflected in his eyes too.
"Homicidal rage?" she reconfirmed.
Luther hesitated but nodded his head. "Yup,"
"Lord help us,"
"Elaina, Luther, come on," shouted Five from the top of the staircase.
"Coming!" exclaimed Elaina as her Luther quickly followed.
~.~
The three made their way to the Irish pub Five remember being at two weeks ago, it was lively with Irish and American flags hanging on the walls and an Irish jive playing over the speakers. The pub was obviously very proud of the Irish president's arrival to Dallas. The trio looked around for the older Five as they entered the doors.
"Well, there I am," pointed Five as he spotted himself at the bar.
They all leaned over and took a look at the man. The older Five was wearing the same gray suit Five first arrived in on the day of their father's funeral, along with a matching hat and the briefcase by his feet. He sat at the bar's counter with a glass of Guinness, writing something with a golden pen.
"Aren't you adorable?" teased Elaina as she looked at the old man. "Though I'll admit, I pictured you looking slightly different in my head,"
"Better looking?" he questioned.
Elaina tilted her head. "I don't know, more angular? It's fine though,"
"Why don't we just grab the briefcase and run?" asked Luther with his finger pointed in the older Five's direction.
"Luther, I would never let that happen," stated Five. "We're trained to guard these briefcases with our lives,"
"Right," nodded Luther.
"Plus, it's the inherent paradox where this gets tricky," said Five. "I'm endangering my existence just being in the room with myself,"
"Huh-- What do you mean?" asked Luther.
Elaina rolled her eyes. "Keep up, big guy," she said. "If this Five doesn't travel back to 2019 like he's supposed to, the whole thing unravels itself and then my Five," she said, placing her hands on the younger Five's shoulders. "Ceases to exist, got it?"
"I get you," replied Luther, though Elaina wasn't a hundred percent sure he truly got it.
"So, our best chance is to talk with him, to reason with him," included Five. "He'll understand. Trust me. I know myself better than, uh..." he began stretching the back of his neck. "Better than I know myself."
Luther's eyes widened as he pointed to Five's neck. "You just itched your neck," he exclaimed. "That's stage two of paradox psychosis,"
"No, I didn't," argued Five. "I didn't itch my neck,"
Elaina scrunched up her face. "Denial is stage one,"
"I am fine, okay?" snapped Five. "Let's stay on task, shall we?" he said as he started to walk away.
Elaina grabbed him by the arm. "Hold it,"
"What?"
Elaina looked over to the older Five and shrugged. "Maybe I should go first,"
Five gave her a confused look. "Why?"
"Come on, Five. Do you really think you're going to react well to bumping into your own tiny doppelganger? Older you will lose his shit," argued Elaina.
"And you don't think you'll get the same reaction?" countered Five with a scoff. "Seeing you, looking how you do, you might give me a heart attack,"
Elaina opened her mouth to speak but cut herself short. "Is that really a possibility?" she asked worriedly.
Luther intervened. "I'll do it," said the man as he looked between the two. "Just let me break the ice,"
Five and Elaina shared a look before giving in and nodding.
"Okay," agreed Five as Luther nodded back and made his way towards the older version of his brother.
Elaina led Five to a nearby pillar as they stood behind it, close enough to keep an eye on Luther on the older Five, but just enough distance that the latter wouldn't be able to see them.
Elaina brought her hand up to Five's forehead. "How are you holding up there?" she asked him.
"I'm alright, really," Five practically rolled his eyes as he answered.
The girl gave him an unconvinced look. "Yeah, the sweat really screams 'I'm doing amazing'," sarcastically stated Elaina as she peered over the side of the pillar to look at Luther's progress. "Well, so far so good,"
"What's going on?" he asked her, his back leaning against the wood.
Elaina leaned in a little closer, not really able to hear the conversation, but by the way the older Five dropped his pen and looked at Luther, it was safe to say their brother introduced himself.
"Well, you look like you're in shock," she observed the two men but felt her eyes widened once she noticed the older Five's hand slowly reaching for the briefcase. "You're trying to make a break for it," Elaina quickly whispered.
"What?" asked a perplexed Five.
"You're reaching for the briefcase, we're losing you," she anxiously reported as she started bouncing in place. "Shit, we can't have you leave," she said before swiftly leaving her hiding spot.
"Elaina, wait!" harshly whispered Five as he tried to grab her, but missed. "Damn,"
"Five, please don't!" exclaimed Elaina, her hands held up as she approached Luther and the older Five.
The old man froze when he saw her, his grip on the briefcase non-existent as he let go at the sight of her. "El-Elaina?" his voice wavered.
Elaina looked over to Luther, his expression was borderline exasperated at her premature arrival, but nonetheless, he motioned for her to continue.
She looked back over to the older Five and dropped her hands immediately, folding them in front of her as a meek smile grazed her face. "Yeah, it's me," she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's been a long time, huh?"
The older Five just kept his eyes trained on her, unblinking, almost like he was afraid that if he did she'd disappear. "You have no idea..."
"I sort of do," she said, making the old man's brows furrow in a familiar manner. "Now, Five, I need you to promise you're not going to freak out at what you're about to see,"
"More than what I'm seeing now?" he asked skeptically.
She nodded with a nervous chuckle. "Oh, yeah," she turned back towards the pillar as she walked over to her Five and held out her hand to him. "I think he's ready,"
Five nodded as he took a deep breath, taking her hand in his as he slowly came out from behind the pillar.
With their hands still interlocked, Five faced his older self. "Hey there, stranger," he greeted himself.
The older Five eyes widened at the sight of his younger self. His eyes drifted to the teen Five and Elaina's hands and lingered there for a moment in stunned awe before looking back over at the girl. Elaina offered a small smile to the old man as he stared at her. The younger Five felt a gnawing sensation in his stomach as he looked between the two, letting go of Elaina's hand and grabbing her waist instead, bringing her closer to him.
Elaina felt awkward as she could feel both Fives eyeing her, so she looked over to Luther with pleading eyes.
Luther caught on and clapped his hands together. "I'll find us a table,"
~.~
Guysssss! You have nooo idea how long this chapter took to edit. I wrote and deleted about 8 pages, so definitely lmk if there are any errors.
I still feel kind of ehh on how this chapter turned out tbh. I pictured it a little differently in my head, but we'll see.
What are your thoughts on the chapter? How about the little sneak peek at older and younger Five's interaction together?
The next chapter is going to be fun and hopefully will be up sooner rather than later.
Hoped you enjoyed it!