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❛ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅs ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ᴄʀᴀsʜᴇʀs ꒱


❝ HELL YEAH, FAMILY MEETING ❞

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The Mexican Consulate was crowded with party-goers as the quartet crouched in front of a low brick wall just outside the building. People dressed in their best attire came and went through the front entrance which was guarded by security. Five watched the comings and goings carefully before he nodded. "We should move out now."

Together, they hurried over to one of the nearby parked cars and kept low, still surveying their surroundings. Lila was the first to speak: "so, what's the plan?"

"We infiltrate, we identify, we extract, double time," Diego answered quietly. Five understood immediately.

The two women weren't in the same boat as Lila gave the man a confused look. "What the hell's he talking about?" she asked.

Dolores followed up with: "something about super-fast."

"Find the old man and get out fast," Five translated, mostly for his wife's benefit.

The dark-haired man in front scoffed and turned to look at the remaining trio. "That's what I said," he told them condescendingly before he refocused. "On me."

He moved forward to leave the three of them behind. Lila gestured in the direction he went. "After you."

Neither Five nor Dolores moved. She gave them an innocent look and held out her hand. "What, I can't be polite?"

"Cut the crap, alright?" the boy asked sharply. "My dimwitted brother might buy your bullshit but we don't trust you for a second."

Lila looked amused. "O ye of little faith."

Five gave her a thin-lipped smile. "Stick it up your ass."

As the brunette followed Diego, Dolores leaned forward. The playful smirk returned to her lips as she murmured, "just how I like it," in her husband's ear. She passed him breezily without bothering to look back to see his reaction.

For his part, the boy gave a spluttering response and stared after her open-mouthed as his mind went haywire from her words. Squeezing his eyes shut, he ordered himself to focus, mentally cursing his stupid physical body before he followed the trio; the only evidence of his reception were his red ears.

They had waited for him at the steps of the Consulate and he pointedly ignored Dolores' smug expression as they climbed the stairs. Instead, he made a show of giving their filched invitation to the guard who eyed the group before he allowed them in.

Mariachi music filtered above the noise of the party-goers as they made their way further into the building. Waiters bearing drinks and samples of food walked by, offering their selections to the guests. Finding the nearest employee, Five took two glasses of champagne and quickly took a gulp of the bubbling liquid before he handed Dolores hers. Lila, noticing their acquired drinks, took one for herself as well.

"I don't see dad anywhere," Diego observed.

"Just keep an eye out for the Majestic Twelve," Five told him. "Dolly and I will take the upstairs."

As the boy took her hand, Dolores gave the man a pointed look. "Diego, try not to do anything too stupid, if you can manage that." She finished her own drink and set it down to allow Five to take her hand.

Lila gave an amused chuckle before Five pulled her away, weaving through the crowd of people. The brunette gave the now-distant dance floor a wistful look as she wished that they could be here for anything other than their current mission. The boy, noticing her longing gaze, sighed and gently squeezed her hand to bring her attention back to him. Dolores didn't miss the guilty look that flashed across his face as an apologetic one replaced it. "If there's time, we can dance after." Despite his dislike for the activity, he could stand to go a few rounds— it was the least he could do.

Dolores gave him an— understandably— hesitant smile since she knew that things might go terribly wrong before the night was over. "Come on, we have work to do."

Pulling him upstairs, they made their way through the empty corridor with their ears alert for misplaced sounds. The first clue to their target were murmured voices behind a seemingly unremarkable door. Five's hand tightened around the brunette's before they disappeared, only to reemerge in the room's coat closet.

Peering through the slats, their eyes focused on the man who was speaking: "the president is continuing to make inquiries into Roswell and other crash sites, gentlemen, and as you know, we cannot allow him to get his nose into our business. I've confirmed that the motorcade will indeed be turning left on Elm Street. We'll have out people in place."

Dolores' gaze went to the gray-haired man who had remained standing and her eyes caught the shine of metal in one of his hands. Her breath caught as she recognized Reginald Hargreeves immediately even before he replied. "Gentlemen, this plan of yours seems ill-timed."

"It's going to be a turkey shoot," another member responded.

Next to her, Five shifted at the recognition of the voice, causing the hangers behind them to clatter together. Reginald picked up on the sound and tensed. He turned his head towards the source. The boy let out a quiet breath. "Dad?"

"Shh," the man warned. He slowly leaned over to pull a poker from the tools that stood next to the fireplace.

The brunette's hand gripped her husband's more tightly as she tried to quiet her breathing. The man approached them calmly, his gaze predatorial as carefully made his way towards them. In response, the pair in the closet took instinctive steps backwards. Just as Reginald raised the poker, Five blinked them back into the hallway before it could make contact with either of them.

Before they could recover from the near-attack, they were face-to-face with the middle sibling of the Swedes. He titled his head curiously, his gaze focused on the couple.

"Shit," they said in unison just before the Swede went for Five, using his strength to slam him against the wall.

Dolores let out a startled yelp and scrambled away from the action. While she knew basic self-defense, a real fight would not go well for her— and especially when she was encumbered with skirts. Unfortunately, the Swede didn't take pity on her.

As soon as Five jumped away, he turned to the brunette and wasted no time. He leaped forward and used both hands to grab her arms and throw her against the wall. Dolores winced at the contact, making a strained effort to not let her head hit as well. Taking advantage of her disoriented state, the blond man's hand quickly wrapped around her throat to cut off her air.

Dolores' first instinct was to gasp and she immediately tried to quell it. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut and— despite her whirling mind from the rapid turn of events— tried to slow down her breathing. She wasn't sure if it would help in the long run but logic dictated that struggling would make her lose faster.

Suddenly, his grip was ripped away as Five slammed sideways into him, causing the man to stumble until he faced forward to gain his footing. The brunette took several deep, slightly painful breaths as she rubbed her neck. She watched as the boy kicked the man behind his legs, making him to drop to the ground. Five wasted no time in jumping on the man's back as he attempted to snap his neck.

The man collected himself quickly and used his arms to grab the boy and he flipped Five to the ground in front of him. As he aimed to punch his opponent, Five blinked away and reappeared behind him. The Swede stood to face the boy, who attempted to jump away. Blue light surrounded his hands but flickered out.

Five gave the man a wide-eyed look as the Swede made another fist. There was nothing he could do, so he only breathed, "oh, shit," before he went down.

Dolores' own eyes widened at the contact and she felt anger and desperation swell up inside of her. She knew she wasn't a superhero— she'd told herself that time and time again— and she knew any efforts to go on the offensive would be futile, but she couldn't just stand back and do nothing. Steeling her nerves, she did the only thing she could think of as Five's words rang in her head (stick it up your ass.) She ran up to the man and aimed a swift kick with the toe of her shoe at his hindquarters. "Hey!"

He spun around, his dark eyes narrowed and furious as she scrambled for her next move. Distract. It was all she could do, at least until Five had recovered. She had to hang on until then. The Swede approached her steadily, intent on finishing the job he'd started. The girl continued to back up as her eyes darted around for anything she could use in the empty corridor.

While she could let him get within reaching distance, she risked being choked again— and she might not be so lucky. Her best bet was to keep him occupied by out maneuvering him by tricking the man into corners while she ducked away, letting his turn around time be her recovery time. So, she let him get close.

Seconds before he could grasp her, the brunette ducked under his outstretched arm and went behind him. She used her low vantage point to push the back of his leg sharply, causing him to go down on one knee.

Sweeping her skirts safely out of his reach, Dolores backed up again as he rose to standing. She'd be dead if looks could kill. Her steps came to an abrupt halt as her back hit the wall since she'd reached the end of the corridor. Stupid.

The Swede's expression didn't change but she was certain his look took on a smug edge, having outsmarted an amateur— less than amateur— opponent. Luck was on her side, though, as Five had chosen this moment to make his recovery. He stood and his eyes landed on the Swede who was backing his wife into the corner. Before he could stop himself, the shout left his lips: "Dolly!"

The man immediately ignored the brunette and turned to face the boy. He took Five's moment of distraction to his advantage to yank the boy forward before he body-slammed him to the floor.

Five saved himself just in time as he moved his head, allowing the man's fist to miss his face. He made an effort to right himself only for the fist to return, this time to his stomach. The contact made him falter as he realized that this younger form was no match for a fully-grown man.

Diego made his appearance then. He took in the scene of a wide-eyed Dolores pressed against the far wall as his brother was getting easily pummeled by the blond-haired man. "Five? Dolores?"

He made a move to help them but the other brothers entered the fight and pulled him away. The smaller one used a belt to wrap around his neck while the other punched his stomach with brass knuckles.

Lila was the last of the party to enter the second floor. Her eyes quickly took in both events and her gaze lingered on Diego as she took a step towards him. Her mother's words echoed in her ears and she turned, painfully ignoring the man's cries for help. Instead, she briskly walked towards the other end of the hallway to grab one of Diego's knives that had embedded itself in the armoire. Tucking it away, she shook off her shoes and ran to fulfill her mission: protect Number Five.

Dolores stared helplessly as her efforts proved futile. Her gaze was wide and horrified as she watched her husband take a beating and she felt completely, utterly useless. The sound of another pair of footsteps caused her to shrink against the wall, only to relax as she saw the familiar blue of Lila's gown.

The woman used to her speed to easily jump on the nearby table before she gripped the chandelier which propelled her legs towards the man's face. Her thighs wrapped around his neck, choking him as she maintained her grip on the light fixture.

As soon as the boy was— mostly— out of harm's way, Dolores forced herself into action and raced towards him. She dropped onto her knees as she gave him a worried look. "Five, are you okay?" (Stupid.)

"I'll be fine," he answered, his own eyes watching her with concern. "Your neck. . ."

"I'm still breathing, it'll heal," she replied dismissively. She raised her hand to place it under his chin to look at the blood coming from his nose.

A crashing noise broke them apart as they turned to watch Lila. Her thighs were still wrapped around the man and she used her weight to throw them backwards, easily moving into a backbend as she brought the Swede with her. Noticing the two teens' stunned eyes, Lila gave them a smug look. "You're welcome."

Five saw the man behind her begin to stand and he leapt into action as he quickly shoved the Swede out the window. His gaze landed on a couple waiting on the sidewalk, the silhouette of the man markedly familiar. Turning back to his wife, the boy grabbed her hand before he blinked them outside. He pulled her with him as he stumbled to the edge of the grass and he called out the lines of The Odyssey in ancient Greek.

His voice caught Reginald's attention and the man looked back. His eyes landed on the brunette who stood with the boy. For a split second, Dolores made eye contact with him and she gave a short, sharp nod to say yes, this is who I was talking about. Then, he turned as if it had never happened and slid into the back seat of the waiting car.

"Was that him?" Diego asked as he rejoined the pair with Lila trailing after him.

"Yeah," Five answered, oblivious to the previous interaction. "You know, I'm starting to get the feeling dad's avoiding us."

"From what I've heard, that's his personality," Dolores remarked. She earned an agreeable huff from her husband.

"Hate to be the boring one, guys, but, uh, it's time we get the hell out of here," the woman announced, making to leave the premises.

"When you say 'we' who exactly are you referring to?" the boy asked in a sharp tone.

"Not a lot of ambiguity in that sentence."

"Listen, I don't know who you are or where you came from," he began, "but whatever it is, I'd advise you to return posthaste."

"She's right, Five," Diego agreed. "We gotta get out of here."

"I just saved your life, you kinder-shit," the woman snapped. "If I hadn't stepped in, all that would be left of you is a blazer and some bloody socks."

"That's not true!" Dolores protested, though even she wasn't foolish enough to think that she could've saved him. Her words went ignored.

"And that's the problem," Five told her. "You're. . . too good. You ask too many questions, you know too much, and you fight like you know what you're doing."

Realization dawned on the other Hargreeves' face. "He has a point," Diego admitted.

"So I know how to handle myself and that makes me the bad guy?"

"Whoever you are, you're in my way. If I see you again, I will kill you," Five warned her. His gaze was intense as his eyes met hers.

✧✧✧

The next morning, the four Hargreeves reconnected in the kitchen. Luther was busy over a very large serving of scrambled eggs that he was cooking up in a skillet. To say Dolores was displeased to see Luther Hargreeves again was an understatement, but she did her best to ignore his presence (as hard as that was) and instead chose to focus more on the conversation than the person. Five leaned against the doorway as Dolores took a chair and Diego opted to pace for the time being. "No, no, no. I don't understand. They keep following me."

"Wait, who?"

"Those Dutch sociopaths."

"They're Swedish, you idiot," Five corrected him. "Hired guns paid to eradicate us before we do any more damage to the timeline."

Diego stilled. "Yeah, but why now? I mean, I'm fine for three months until you showed up."

"Yeah, I was here for a year and nobody messed with me," Luther agreed.

The boy sent the brunette a questioning look, but the only response she gave was to press her lips together and shake her head. She still wasn't telling him.

"Even if it was my fault— which it isn't— we only have six days before the end of the world and the closest anyone's gotten to dad was that driveway at the consulate," Five informed them.

Dolores was debating on whether or not she should divulge that information when Luther spoke up: "yeah, that isn't exactly true."

"What do you mean?" the boy asked suspiciously.

His brother remained quiet for a moment before he answered, "I saw him." He transferred his eggs from the pan to a bowl and then sat in the empty third seat before he explained his story.

"That's pathetic," Diego observed as Five moved from the doorway to stand behind his wife. He placed his coffee mug down on the table before he settled his hands comfortably on her shoulders.

"Yeah, well, at least he didn't shank my ass."

"No, bro," the dark-haired man replied. "He shanked your heart."

Elliot joined the Hargreeves then and occupied Five's old spot as he studied the odd group. His eyes fell on the largest member. "Is that my bathrobe?"

"No," Luther said, though his fork froze in midair.

The man only nodded, ignoring the obvious lie as Five spoke again: "look, who cares what he shanked? He knows something about time travel."

"Um. . ." Elliot began nervously. "Wait, why don't you just do your thing and, uh, time travel out?"

"Anyone care to explain?" the boy asked as he reached over Dolores to pick up his mug. He went over to the coffee pot for a refill.

"First time he tried, he got lost in the apocalypse," Luther answered with his mouth full.

"Second time, he ended up without hair on his balls," Diego explained.

"And the last time he tried, he scattered everyone across the timeline in Dallas, Texas," Dolores finished.

"Possibly triggering doomsday," Five added his tone sarcastic as he gave the man a matching smile. "Any more questions, Elliot?"

He shook his head. "Uh, no."

"You're missing the big picture. Dad is the ringleader of a sinister cabal that's planning to kill the president," Diego insisted.

Dolores sighed as Luther gave him a curious look. "A cabal?"

"Ignore him," Five advised. "Look, the way I see it, we only have one option."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"It's time to get the Umbrella Academy back together."

"Hell yeah," the dark-haired man exclaimed. "Family meeting."