CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT: THE VOTE

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Five enter your suite to find you sitting on the couch, reading your favorite book.

He didn't say anything as he could see you back in the apocalypse in the same position. Just you sitting down while he was watching you intently. Of course now you were much older and smarter than he was, also wiser.

This moment right here took him back to all those times you gave each other silence treatment after you have just had a fight.    

"Please talk to me. We used to do this when we were in the apocalypse and at the Commission when we would fight, and I hate it even now" he said as he put his hands into his pockets.

"I thought we agreed not to keep secrets anymore" he said "This is bigger than us Five" you said "I know, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop fighting for us" Five looked down at his shoes, then back up at his wife. He walked farther into the suite. Your eyes followed him as he sat down on another couch across from you.

"Are you going to vote for going to the other side?" you asked "Are you?" he looked up at you, your eyes met.

"I want to stay" he replied and you nodded.

"What about you?" he asked "I'm going. Reginald promised me that everything would be how it is supposed to be" you answered and Five looked at you.

"'Supposed to be'. And you're going along with his bullshit plan because of it. You actually believe him?" he asked and you nodded "My dad is a manipulated lier and a psychopath" he said. "I can't pass it up. Not if it might have a chance to see Sam and Kayla again" you said.

Five's expression fell for a moment. He exhaled sharply and shook his head again "Why would you tell him about Sam?" he asked "I didn't. Somehow he just knew. Don't ask me how because I'm still wondering the same" you said "You shouldn't trust him. He is manipulating with you. He's going to kill us all" he said a little loud "We're going to die anyway and if we go and then die, we will die knowing that we tried" you raise your voice as you got up.

"I miss our kids. I would sure hope their dad does too" you said "Don't do that. That's is not fair. That's fucked Y/n" he got up too.

"You know how much I miss them and how I wish they were here. But the universe is literally crumbling and you want to fight while we have a few more hours of air. On top of that, you bring up our dead son and daughter" he said "I want my family back" you said "I do too Darling. I want our kids back too. And I would do anything for that to happen. But not like this, because is it not going to work" he said "So you don't want our family back?" you asked "I do, more than anything, but that requires having two people in this marriage. Right now there's one and it's me" he pointed on himself.

"I've tried to make peace with you. I've tried to apologize to you for all the time I wasn't there when you needed me, those times I let you down and that time I left you. I've tried to make up for all the times I was a shitty husband. I have giving you so many apologizes, showing and proven to you how sorry I am and how much I reject it. All I'm asking is for it to be enough for you" he said before taking a deep breath.

"I want to spend our last moments together. Can we have a few hours of peace at least to make up for the shitty things in our past?" he asked "If you wanted peace, you wouldn've stayed in the apocalypse. You wouldn't have come knocking on my door, begging for help twice. But we know know the quiet life was never your thing" you hissed.

Five nodded "You know, I really miss that loving look you use to send me. And I get it, you know I haven't been worth of that look from you in a long time, but Y/n, I just...I miss that" he said "You had all that, Five, but you threw it all way in seconds" you said.  

Five let out a sigh as he watch you walk out of the suite. The moment of hope that you had given Five was broken. He had no choice but to get you to spend your last moments together.

"Y/n, stop. This isn't fair, and you know it!" Five called after you as he follow after you "I'm staying behind. I would love it if you stayed with me" he said "We can have our life the way it should've been, on the other side. No apocalypse, no Commission" you said "I have a feeling that isn't guaranteed" he said "And you won't even take a chance on it?" you asked.

"I'm done Y/n, I've spent my whole life trying to beat the apocalypse and no matter what I did to beat it, the outcome never changed and I always end up on the same path. I'm tired. I have being running in circles and ending up back at square one again for years. Now I just want it to be over, I'm exhausted from all the stress that had weighed me down. I'm done from trying to save the world, I can't go through it again, I'm tired. And even if it means that we only have few hours left. I'd rather spend those hours with you peaceful, than fighting for our lives, afraid that I might lose you" he said and you looked at him "So you're really done this time?" you asked and he nodded "It's time we accept your fate" he said "So if half your family goes, you'll stay here?" you asked "That's the plan" he said with a nod.

"I can't go through it again. I can't watch the people I love die again. I just can't my angel, I'm sorry" he said and you stopped before you turned to look at him.

"This plan is gonna save us all" you said "IT'S NOT GONNA SAVE US!" he said out loud "But it wouldn't hurt!" you said out loud "Yeah it will!" he said out loud and you let out a scoff as you put your arm on cross in front of your chest while you looked at each other.

"Y/n, you have to be truthful to me" he said "You want me to be truthful. Fine, you broke my heart so I wanted to kill Viktor for keeping the truth from us, that is how much you have control over me" you said "And I'm still here, I'm protecting you, having your back, choosing you over my own family, standing up to you against my own family, that's how much control you have over me! Because I still love you" he said out loud "THEN STOP LOVING ME FIVE' you shouted "I CAN'T!" he took a deep breath.

You and Five were at war against each other again and Five hate that. He didn't want to spend what may be his last hours alive, fighting with his wife and the mother of his dead kids. He wanted to spend his last hours having some lovely moments with you.

Five had voted stay but you knew that no matter what you vote, he wouldn't change his mind. He was staying and you didn't want to tell him that one of the big reason you wanted to go was because you were pregnant again with his child and because of the deal you made with Reginald that Sam and Kayla would come back, you don't want to force him.

You didn't knew if it would change his mind but you wouldn't force him to change his mind just because you were carrying his child, so you didn't want to try to convince him. He was stubborn just like you. And just like you when he have made a decision, he stick to it, and it's almost impossible to talk him out of it.

"Even so I have tried I just can't. And I know you still love me too" he said "You're wrong" you said "Am I?" he took a step closer to you.

"We have a chance to get our kids back and have that life we were suppose to have, and I'm not ready to give that up, even if you are" with that you turned around.

"Y/n" Five said "Leave me alone" you hissed.

"Something changed in you, your distant. But I will leave you alone for now, if that's what you want. Do you know why I will leave you alone?" he asked and you looked at him "'Cause I care about your feelings more than mine, I always have" he said before he took some steps back, turned around which caused you to let out a sigh before you also turned around and walked away leaving Five alone and he let out a sigh. Hoping that you would have stay with him.

Five have hope that Kayla would be reason that you and him got together again, but now with Kayla gone, it was like you and Five drifted away from each other again. It was like the two of you were back in the Commission not long after Sam died and the lost of your second child. 

He have lost you again and he was in doubt if he had enough time get the two of you on good terms again.  

---

"'Lila should stay back' Since when do you make decisions for me?" Lila asked Diego "I was just trying to make sure--" "Is this about the baby?" Lila asked, cutting him of "Of course it's about the baby, all right? I go in there, I may die. But if we go in there, succeed, and things go back to normal, I want you here with our baby" Diego said "I'm better in a fight then you are" she said "First of all, no, you're not. And...this isn't a contest, okay? We barely made it out last time, right? I thank God that I was able to shut that door. Can you imagine being trapped on the other side with him?" he asked "I don't have to imagine. I was there" she said "Good. So you'll stay" he said "Not a change. I'm going" she said "Why can't I be right? Just...Just...Just once?" he asked and she sighed "Look, Diego, you said you choose me, right? Well, this is who I am. I'm a fighter. Just like you" she said "I only said that because I thought you'd be nice to me" he said "If you wanted nice you'd be with someone else" she said.

---

You walked into a room to see Luther and Sloane sitting on the bed "Hey" you said and they looked at you "Hey" they smiled.

"I just came to say something to you Luther" you said and Luther looked at you waiting for you to continue as you kick your feet, looking at the floor awkwardly before you cleaned your throat and looked at Luther.

"I was always a burden to you guys, since day one. But still thank you for putting up with me. I know we were never close, but I'm sorry for my behavior towards you" you said "It's okay, Y/n" Luther said "No is not, I threatened to kill you, I punched you, many times. I threw a knife at you, so I'm the one that--" "No, no" he said as he shook his head "You did all of that cause of the Trauma and the past you have being through, so is okay. You have no reason to apologies. You have always being helping us. You almost died saving our life, you saved my life ones, so thank you for that" he said with a smile "But even so, I accept your apology" he said "Thanks! Guess you're not a sad pathetic stupid loser after all" you said "And you're not some coldhearted killing bitch" he said and you both smiled to each other "I'll see you in another life" you said "Goodbye, Y/n" Sloane and Luther said while Sloane hugged you.

"I love you. You have being the closest thing I have ever had to a mom, so thank you so much" she said "I love you too" you smiled.

---

"Viktor, wait" Allison said to Viktor who was walking away from her and he stopped "For what? So you can hand me my ass again?" he asked as he turned around to look at her "Look, I was really drunk last night" she said "You don't have to make excuses. I get it. I am your least favorite sibling. I ruined your life..." "Okay. No that's not" she said, cutting him off before she sighed "Will you just stop and listen, please" she said and he nodded "Last night you were right. Claire and Ray are gone. But...hating you won't bring them back. And my pain...doesn't give me permission to hurt you. But it's real. And it's something that I have to carry. Which is why if I don't...If I don't do something, if I don't...if I don't act now...it's just another thing that slips into nothingness. If we stay here, we die. But if we go through the portal, we could...we could save the universe. We could save...everybody. So can we just put our past behind us and move forward together? Can you give me that?" she asked and Viktor nodded "I love you" she said "I love you too" he said and she hugged him.

---

Luther was sitting in his room on the bed looking out the window when Five entered the room "Hey" he said "Hey, how long do we have left?" Luther asked "A couple hours. Could be more, could be less" Five answered as he walked farther into the room "Where is Y/n?" Luther asked "Her and I had a small fight" he said "Jesus, what happen to you two? You use to be the power couple. True love" Luther said "I don't know if we are that anymore" Five said "But you still love her, right?" Luther asked "Of course I still love her. I will go back to her in a heartbeat" Five replied "Then I think you should sort things out before it's too late" Luther said "Yeah" Five mumbled before he took a deep breath.

"Where's Sloane?" he asked "Raiding the wine cellar for our end of the world party" Luther said "So I guess you guys know which way you're voting" Five said as he put his hands in his pockets "You are more than welcome to join us" Luther said "I'm still on the fence on that one" Five said as he started to walk around like he always do when he was thinking and talking at the same time. You used to tease him about it.

"I saw something last night that I was not supposed to see" Five said "Diego and Lila. Yeah, they do it on the stairs sometimes" Luther said "Y/n and I have done it weirder places" Five said which caused Luther to look at him.

"Well anyway I saw Dad. He was in his room with someone. He was making some kind of deal. Before you ask, I don't know what the deal was or who it was with. Everything is a blur" he said as he was walking around the room.

"Wasn't me or Sloane. We were, uh, busy doing other things last night" Luther said with a smile "Yeah, I get it Luther, thank you. Everyone was boning everyone last night" Five said.

"Wait did you and Y/n--" "Don't be ridiculous. She was nowhere to be found after we all sat down outside, so no" Five said "You can't hide it Five, I know that you and Y/n hook up last night" Luther said which caused Five to snap his head at his brother.

"How do you know?" he asked "Sloane and I heard it on our way to our room. You two were really on fire, way to rock her world" Luther said which cause Five's face to turn red in embarrassed.   

"Well then I guess everyone was boning everyone last night" Five said "Wait, Ben hooked up with someone?" Luther asked "Focus, please" Five said as he stepped closer to him.

"The story about the Bells? There's something Dad's not telling us. Think about it. When has the old man ever been straight with us?" he asked "I don't know. He was pretty ruthless in out performance reviews" Luther said "He always gave me five stars" Five said "Really" Luther asked.

"Look, I'm old enough to trust my instinct and it's telling me this is a trap. The old man have got into my wife's head somehow, he is manipulating with her, he have strike when she was at her lowest and he have now brainwashed her into thinking it will save us all and solve our problems" Five said.

"And that's why you're on the fence?" Luther asked and Five nodded "Yeah. She seems to believe she'll see our son and daughter again if everything goes through the way it's supposed to. That is what Reginald have told her, making her believe it. But I don't believe it. Sam has been dead for years and Kayla is gone" he said "But don't you want to see your kids again?" Luther asked "I do. More than anything. But nobody can bring someone back from the dead, nobody can bring someone back to life, no matter how powerful they are. Reginald have manipulated my wife, brainwash her into believing that he can do that, that he can bring our kids back and everything will be back to normal. He have twisted his way into her head and I'm losing her, more than I did at the start. Reginald want her on his side because he know that Y/n is the only one that can actually persuade me, but I'm not letting him do that. I'm not letting him win" Five said.

"You really don't want to get your hopes up?" Luther asked "Exactly, no false hope. So food for thought" Five said "So what will you be doing in those few hours we have left?" Luther asked "Trying to get on good terms with my wife. Hoping to spend some loving moments with her. While also trying to figure out a way to get my wife out of dad's brainwash, and I'm not going to stop even if it is the last thing I will do. Therefore I hope I can get her on my side, get her away from my dad, 'cause the longer time she is with my dad, the more he will poison her mind, therefore I have to save my wife from him, get her away from dad" Five said before walking out of the room.

---

"I think you can all guess which way I'll be voting" Allison said as she was standing in the middle of you all where you have gather up in the main entrance.

Ben and Reginald was standing in front of everyone with Diego and Klaus on one side, Klaus was leaning against a pillar while Diego was standing right by the stairs next to Lila.

Luther and Sloane was sitting on the stairs. Sloane was sitting one step below him right between his legs while Viktor and Lila was also on the stairs. Viktor was sitting down while Lila was standing.

Five were standing on the opposite side to Klaus, leaning against a pillar while you were standing across from Five, leaning against a pillar.

"We've all been though a lot. We've all lost people" Allison said before she glanced at you and Five "Kids" she said and you both looked at her.

"But their deaths have to mean something. Which is why I'll be voting to go with Dad" Allison said.

Lila walked down the stairs before she looked at Diego "What she said" she said to him before she walked over to stand next to Reginald "Let's go save the bloody universe!" she said "Woo-hoo!" Klaus said.

"Same here" you said and Five looked at you "Everyone we lost will have died in vain if we don't at least try" you said and you could see the sadness on Five's face.

We were jet-set, Bonnie and Clyde (oh-oh)

Your and Five's eyes stayed on each other as you walked over to Reginald.

Until I switched to the other side, to the other side

Five let out a sigh as he saw you standing on the opposite side..

It's no surprise I turned you in (oh-oh)
'Cause us traitors never win

"All right, well, since she said yes, I vote stay" Diego said and walked over to stand by the stairs as Lila let out a small laugh "How's that for nice?" he asked her.

"You're not being serious" she said "It's his vote, Lila" Allison said before she turned to Klaus "Klaus?" she asked.

"I am with Father" Klaus said as he pointed on Reginald and Reginald looked at Ben who nodded, meaning that he had not changed his mind, he was still on the vote to go "Okay, that's five to one" Allison said before she looked at Viktor.

"Viktor?" she asked and he sighed "Look, I wanna believe, okay? I really do. I just can't shake the feeling we don't know what we're getting ourselves into" he said "No, but we know what we've got if we don't" Allison said as she put her arms on crossed "We have to go into this together" she said as she glanced at the others before she looked back at Viktor "Viktor. A family" she said.

"You can't just keep throwing the word 'family' around. It isn't enough. I vote stay" Viktor said and you could see on Allison's face that she was not happy.

"Luther?" she asked as she looked over at Luther who looked down at Sloane who sat on a step below him "Um...Sloane and I talked, and, well, we're out. Look, we wanna spend whatever time we have left together, and not fighting some guy with a sword and ringing bells and stuff. So..." he said "Well, dead even. Five in, four out" Viktor said.

"That leave you, Number Five" Reginald said as he looked at Five.

"I saw the future, and it told me to sit this one out. I vote stay" Five said as he glanced at Reginald "It's time we accept our fate" he said.

"So that's five in and five out, it's tie, so what does that mean?" Viktor asked "It mean that none of us are going" Diego said and thunder was rumbling as silence filled the room.

"You're all pathetic" Allison said before walking away "Why can't we go in there, just the five of us?" Ben asked Reginald "That would mean certain failure. It must be seven of us" Reginald replied before he took a step forward "Children, I can't say I'm happy with this. But I see now the blame fall on me. I failed you when you were young, and I have failed you now. And in doing so, I have doomed the entire universe. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the courtyard...awaiting the end" Reginald said before walking away.

"Idiots" Ben hissed be he walked away Was that a real apology?" Viktor asked "The man's never apologized for anything in his life" Luther said "I actually feel bad for him" Diego said "Don't worry. It'll pass" Five said as Klaus and Lila walked away.

You looked at Five "You're a coward. The man I fell in love with is no longer there, you have changed" you said "I'm not the only one that have changed" Five said as he raise a brow and you scoff. 

"You lost again" you said "For all those times I spend losing. I was actually trying to do something good. To make up for all the pain and suffering we cost. Try to be more than just a train killer" he said and you scoff.

"You are fooling yourself, 'cause pain and suffering is every day and we are both trained killers. Except I'm not the one on the cover of magazines. I'm not the person who little kids called their hero" you said and Five scoff as you walked away.

"So now what?" Sloane asked "We wait for the end" Five said before he started walking away "See you around. It's been interesting" he said as he left while the sound of thunderclap was heard.

---

You were sitting in your suite when you heard the door opened and you saw Klaus enter "There you are" he smiled "Did you follow me?" you asked "Maybe. I just wanted to talk to you before we all die" he said and you nodded.

"Why can't the others see that the universe is ending and there's a way out" you let out a sigh "But now we are all going to die" you said "Well, death can be a dark place to live in. But death isn't always all dark and sad all the time. It can be happy too. I learned that from Ben, our umbrella Ben" Klaus said "I wish I could have met him" you said with a smile "You would have love him. Everyone did. I also learned that lesson from Dad. He took me out to test my abilities. After that death didn't seem so bad after a few times" he said "Thank you Klaus" you smiled.

"You should talk to Five again" Klaus said "He's not listening to me" you said "No, not about Dad's mission. To sort things out before we all die" Klaus said "I wish it was that simple" you said "Well, why can't it be simple?" he asked and you looked at him.

"I mean none of this shit matters anyway" he said "I don't know what to say to him" you said "That's okay. It's Five. He's not looking for anything like super deep. I mean you probably know him better than any of us do. It's weird that you also have know him longer" he said with a chuckled.

"I know. It's supposed to be the other way around" you said "Exactly. You know Five better than any of us. You know what to say to him" he said and you looked at him" he said.

"It's too late" you sighed "It's never too late. You two should be together, even so if it is just for a few minutes, you should go down together, you both deserve it" you looked at him.

"You and Five still love each other. You're both just too stubborn to see it. He definitely still love you. And crazy or not. That love you and Five have for each other never dies, you two deserve to be together, to the end" he smiled "You don't understand how hard love is" you said "I actually do" you looked at him "Love isn't a always perfect. It isn't a fairytale or a storybook. And it doesn't always come easy. Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together, holding on and never letting go. It is a short word, easy to spell, difficult to define and impossible to live without. Love is work but most of all, love is realizing that every hour, every minute and every second was worth it because you did it together" he said before tilting his head.   

"You can't just give up because it gets hard. Real love is about staying even when it is not perfect, great relationship aren't great because they are free from problems, but because both people care enough to fight through the problems, to stay when it's easier to walk away. There will be days when things feel heavy, misunderstanding pill up, and every word turns into an argument, that's not a sign to give up. It's a test to see how much you're willing to fight for each other, anyone can be there when things are easy and it feel right, but thre real magic, the real beauty of love is choosing each other, even in the storm. When you're both tired or frustrated, when the distance feels too far, but you still come back to each other, it's not meant to be perfect, it's about choosing to the good and saying 'we'll figure this out together" you looked at him.    

"Sometimes two people need to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together, it's not about fixing something that's broken but starting over and creating something that's better" he said and you looked at him again "The two of you deserve to be together when this ends and the universe is gone, you two deserve to at least go down together" he said.

"Did you see where he went?" you asked "No, but I think he went away from anyone else. You know how of a lone wolf he is" he said "Thank you Klaus. I wish we could have been closer friend earlier" you said "Me too" he said before you hugged each other.

"Now go get your guy" he said and you nodded before leaving the room. 

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