CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE: BE BACK SOON

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"I don't understand" Lila said as you were all in the living room again.

"What? You just let him go?" Lila looked at Luther "Well, how was I supposed to know Ben was infected with this...whatever this thins is?" Luther asked as he was stress eating again.

"Great work, Luther. Really great" Five said sarcastically.

"The rash on his arm. What did it look like?" Abigail asked "I dunno. It was just kind of...You know, it kind of looked like that thing that Klaus caught when he came home from Ibiza" Luther said and the siblings all groan.

"Are you a doctor? Or do you just play one at bachelorette parties?" Diego asked "Hey!" Luther snapped at him "I am a professional dancer" he pointed at himself.

"Luther, was there anything unusual about this rash?" Abigail asked "No. It was just, you know, red. And glowing" Luther took a bit of a muffin.

"And pulsating" he said with his mouth full "You didn't think maybe that was worth bringing up?" Five asked "I just thought it had to do with our powers coming back. I mean, we've all been having issues. I know I have" Luther said.

"He is not wrong. I mean, I do have laser eyes" Lila said. 

"I've heard enough" Reginald turned around before he grab something just around the corner and the sound of distant clattering was heard.

You and the others widened your eyes when you saw Reginald with a rifle.

"Woah! What are you doing?" Lila asked which made Luther get up "It's time to go hunt" Reginald said "He's gonna kill Ben all over again" Viktor said "One of the hosts must be eliminated before the reaction is complete" Reginald said.

"Reaction?" Allison asked and Reginald looked at her "You do realized that you're talking about human being and not lab rats, correct?" she asked "Reggie, please listen to your children. You can't just murder him" Abigail said "You can't just murder someone in cold blood" you said.

"They're right. There has to be another way" Luther said "I understand. You've grown attached to your brother. But you don't seem to appreciate what's at stake here" Reginald said while Allison grab a small bowl from the fireplace.

"We must act before it's too late" Reginald said before he turned around.

But then Allison let out a grunt as he threw the bowl and it hit Reginald in the back of his head causing him to let out a grunt as he fell to the floor.

"How about you shut your mouth?" Allison said "How dare you!" Reginald turned to look at him "I think it's high time you realize you're not running the show here anymore, old man" Allison said.

Reginald turned to grab his rifle "Don't even think about it!" Viktor said as he used his powers to push the rifle away from Reginald. Orange light was shining around Viktor as he was staring at Reginald.

Reginald let out a gasp while he struggled to get up but Viktor was holding him down with his powers.

"Do you think these childish theatrics will stop me?" Reginald asked "Okay, well. I can step it up a notch if you like" Viktor said as more orange light started appeared around him as he used more of his powers on Reginald which cause him to exclaims as Viktor was pushing him more against the floor causing it to crack a bit.

"Viktor, please don't hurt him!" Abigail said "Why not?" Viktor glanced at her "Why should I?" Viktor asked as he looked back at Reginald "All he does it hurt everybody else. Ben, Jennifer, me. All of us" Viktor said "Spare me the waterworks. One life isn't more important than the entire planet" Reginald said.

Five recalled that he had once thought like Reginald, and that made him feel sick to his stomach. He recalled having prepared to sacrifice a helpless probably innocent gardener in order to stop the first apocalypse and save the entire world.

"Oh, but your wife's is" Viktor said.

"You stuck your nose in where it didn't belong, and you allowed Jennifer to escape. This is your fault!" Reginald pointed at them "Oh no, no, no! This is your fault!" Viktor pointed at Reginald while Viktor use his powers and push Reginald more against the floor.

"My whole life, all I wanted was for you to see me, to make me part of the team. Instead, you treated me like I was broken. And I believed you" Viktor pointed at Reginald "I thought you knew me better than I knew myself but I know you don't know shit!" Viktor snapped at Reginald as he was pressing him more against the floor.

"You're the failure! You're the reason this happened!" Viktor pointed at Reginald "And we're not gonna let you kill Ben! Not now, not ever!" he snapped.

Abigail walked over before putting a hand on Viktor's shoulder.

"Viktor" she said and he powered down making the light around him to disappear "That's enough" Viktor looked at her "That's enough" she said.

Viktor started breathing raggedly as he calm down.

"You and your father. Both so headstrong" Abigail said as Reginald got up.

Reginald exhales sharply as he got to his feet.

Then a guard walked over to Reginald "You took your sweet time. What it is?" Reginald asked him and the guard whispered something in Reginald's ear.

"Oh" Reginald said "What?" Viktor asked "It seems we may have found your brother" Reginald said.

"Where?" Diego asked "On a farm" Reginald said "Let's go" Diego said and you all rush out of the building.

---

Sirens was wailing in the distance as you and the others had arrive at a farm to see bodies and body parts laying all around the area.

"Okay. Ben is an asshole. I'll give you that. But a mass murderer?" Allison asked as you looked around all the bodies. Some of them slide in half and was losing a limp. It was a massacre.

"One person did all of this" you looked around at all the dead bodies.

"So Ben did all of this" Viktor looked around "This is gross" you made a face in disgust as you looked at all the dead bodies.

"Turned everyone into haggis" Lila walked over to a mutilated body before she lifted up the cut off hand and turned it around so they could see the upside down umbrella tattooed on the wrist.

"And they have terrible taste in tattoos" she said "Some next-level psycho shit" Diego said and Lila drop the arm "This could have been a rescue mission" Viktor said "More likely a massacre by two individuals who are growing increasingly violent by the minute" Reginald said "You don't know that" Viktor said as Five approached them after taken to some of his colleague from CIA.

"Why would Ben even do this?" you asked "I don't know" Viktor said.

"All right, so my guys tell me that this whole farm actually belongs to those two lunatics who ambushed us at New Grumpson. Gene and Jean Thibedeau" Five said.

"Well, maybe Ben killed them too" Luther said as you poked to a body with a stick "Well forensics found fresh tracks leading out of the barn. So my guess is they escaped" Five said "They couldn't have gotten far. Based on the signs of rigor, I'd say times of death was six, maybe seven hours ago" Allison said "How do you know that?" Diego put his hands on cross as he looked at Allison.

"Wichita, PD. Thursday nights at 9/8 Central" Allison responded.

"Ready the car" Reginald said before he walked away "I gotta make a call" Allison said before her and Viktor walked away and Five walked away too.

Lila glanced at Diego before following after Five "You think what I'm thinking?" she hooked her arm with his "Rarely" Five replied as he got his arm out of her grip.

"There might be a way to stop all this" Lila said "The answer is no, Lila" he said, knowing what she was talking about.

"Hey, you didn't even let me ask the question" she said as they both stopped "'Cause I know I'm gonna hate it. So why wast the oxygen?" he asked "Why don't we use that little time choo-choo of yours, go back in time and stop the coming Armageddon?" she asked "How would that work?" he asked "Well, we travel back to the original Jennifer incident. Stop your Ben from ever touching that Jen" she smiled and he took a deep breath.

"Lila, if you recall, we almost got our heads blown off. And I would like to marry Y/n, be there when our child is born, watch it grow up, and spend the rest of my life with Y/n, if that is alright with you" he said "Mmm" she nodded "All right?" he asked.

"Plus, it would never work without a briefcase" he said "Stop being such a baby. It's worth a short. Clearly the rules are different this time. Maybe we don't even need a briefcase" she said and he looked to the side.

"You must have those powers for a reason, right? Let's use it" she smiled "All right, fine. I'm doing this because you are my sister-in-law, and you owe me one, big time. And first sign of trouble, we're coming back. And I have to tell Y/n" he said and she nodded.

"You do have one problem though" she glanced to the left and Five glanced the same way too to see Diego walking towards them.

"I don't supposed we can explain any of this to him" he said "He's like a sponge that can take no more water" she said "It's a shame. But that's your problem to deal with" he said.

"Wish he was as easy to talk to as Y/N. How are you guys doing it?" she asked "Communication" he said as Diego approached them. 

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Diego looked at Lila before he looked at Five "Do you mind?" he asked "Yeah" Five nodded before walking away.

"That thing you said earlier about needing a break. You don't love me anymore?" he asked "Of course I still love you, but you make this so hard, Diego" she said "What? How? What---" he said "Every day, me and the kids have to watch you moping around the house, complaining about your life, your job, your in-laws, your fat belly" she said "You're just as bored as I am. Remember, you're the one that snuck out to those Keeper meetings" he said.

"Look, I took my big bag of shit out of the house so no one else has to deal with it. This is our life, my love. If you're not in it, then what's the point?" she looked at him before walking away.

"Sir?" Five asked as he approached his boss "Mr. Five. I though you said you had this situation under control" Lance said "Well the situation is proving more kinetic than anticipated" Five said "No shit. We have the Texas Tentacle Massacre out here" Lance said as he glanced around before stopping "Okay, I need to know who's responsible for this bloodbath" he said "Well, sir, I do have a few leads but I need a favor before I can follow up" Five said "I'm listening" Lance said and Five turned around "Okay, you see these two idiots over there?" Five pointed at Luther and Diego "Those are my brothers. Now, they're kind of stepping all over the crime scene, asking dumb questions, getting in my way" Five looked back at his boss.

"Do you mind taken 'em back to HQ?" he asked and Lance lifted an eyebrow as he looked back at Five "You know, show 'em around. Maybe let them hold some guns" he said and Lance let out a disgruntled sigh "You're asking me to babysit?" he asked "You want this case solved, don't you?" Five asked "You owe me, Five" Lance said and Five turned around "DIEGO! LUTHER!" he called out "Come over here. I want introduce you to my boss" he said before he looked back at his boss "Deputy Director Lance Ribbons" Five said before walking away.

"It's an honor to meet you, sir" Diego shook Lance's hand "Hello, Lance" Luther also shook Lance's hand.

"I understand you gentleman have a keen interest in the CIA. I'd love to give you an insider's look, if you're interested" Lance said "Not, not really--" but Diego put a hand on his brother's chest "Are you kidding?" he asked "We're in" he said "Good" Lance said before pulling out a small business card from his inner pocket "Meet met at the office" he gave it to Diego before walking away.

Luther then gave Diego a small punch at the shoulder "What?" Diego asked "Why do I have to go?" Luther asked "'Cause he wants both of us" Diego said and Luther sighed "Come on, Luther. I really need this right now, man. Life sucks" Diego said "All right, fine" Luther said "Yes!" Diego smiled "We're gonna need suits" he said "Suits?" Luther looked at him "Yeah, man" Diego put on some sunglasses "Gotta look the part, playboy" he said "Did you steal those from a dead guy?" Luther asked.

---

"So what is your plan?" he asked as he walked over to you  "Well" you looked at him "Maybe we should go home and spend some time together" you said "As much as I would love that, I can" he said "Why not?" you asked.

"I think I might have a way to fix this" he said "How?" she asked "Lila suggest that her and I blink to that subway, take the train, travel back to the original timeline and stop Ben from ever touching Jennifer" he said "So change the past?" he nodded

"But didn't you say that it was dangerous" you said "It is. But Lila and I will fix this" he said "But isn't it dangerous being in different timeline? I mean the three of us almost last time" you said "Listen, it is the only way" he said "Then I'm going with you" you said "No" he put his left hand on your right cheek "It's too dangerous and I want you to stay here, remember that you are protecting for two now" he put his hand on your belly.

"If anything happens to you and our baby I don't know what I would do with myself. You and our child is the only things that is keeping me going, you two are my purpose in life, therefore I want you two stay safe, okay" he said "I'm not comfortable that you are doing this" you said "It's the only way for this to work without anyone dying. I will be fine" he storke his hand down your cheek.

"Okay, I trust that you can handle it" you said as you looked at each other. 

"Promise me that you will come back to me" you said and he put your face in his hands "I promise you that I will come back to you" he said "I know you will. 'Cause we always seems to find our way back to each other" she said "And I promise you that no matter what, I will come back to you. I promise you that. I will find my way back to you" he said "I know you will, 'cause no matter what we always seem to find our way back to each other" you said.

"All of this will be over in no time, we will defeat this Cleanse and the world will be the same again, and when all of this is done, and the world is safe again, then the two of us are going to get that nursery done" he said "Promise?" you asked "promise" he smiled before you connection your lips.

No matter what they say
My love for you is greater than their powers
And their armies from above

You pulled away before resting your foreheads against each other "I love you" you said "I love you and I will be back before you know it" he said before hugging you, it was like you and Five were not going to see each other for years.

You give me strength
I'm with you either way
If I die, if I stay
Give me strength
I'm with you either way
Nothing's lost, no more pain
Just give me strength

"Are we going or what?" Lila asked as she approached the two of you and the couple pulled away.

"Watch out and take care of him Lila. If he comes back with a scratch, I will hurt you" she said "Don't worry, I will baby that little shit" Lila said and Five rolled his eyes before he looked back at his fiancé. 

"How are you going to get home?" he asked "I will get cap, but I think I will go to Lila's and Diego's, I will meet you there" you said and Five nodded "Be back soon" he said and you nodded before kissing him again.

"Come on, we're losing daylight" Lila said and Five pulled away "I will be back later" he said "Be careful" you said "I will. Be careful too" he said and you nodded "Both of you" he put his hand on your belly "Be nice to mommy little one, daddy will be back soon" he said before he looked back at you and pressed his lips against yours.

"Be back soon" you said "I will, see you later at Diego's and Lila's place" he said and you nodded. 

 The two of you pulled away but you still had your forehead rested against each other as your eyes were closed.

Five took some steps back but your hands were still connected like you both didn't wanted to let go.

But as Five walked further away it made your hands to slip from each other.

You both lowered your hands as Five walked over to Lila and grab her hand before those blink away and you let out a sigh when you watch your fiancé disappear in a purple light.

---

Both Five and Lila appeared in the underground subway. "Okay" he said before they started walking forward "Do exactly what we did last time. Just ride one stop eastbound. Go up to the apocalypse timeline. Avoid getting killed, and wrap back to 2006. If the station is part of my new power, it must include some way to change the system so we can travel between time and ot timelines. We search for that way. Stop Ben from ever going on the Moldovan mission. Got that?" Five looked at Lila.

"Relax. It's a rookie time travel mission, Five. We've done this a thousand times" she said and he sighed as they walked down the stairs.

"But time travel-wise, I don't get the whole subway thing, right?" she asked as the train arrived "I'm much more of a DeLorean kind of person, yeah?" she asked as the warped voice speaking backwards over PA was heard and Lila noticed a map laying on a bench so she grab it. Thinking it might be useful.

She turned to see Five looking at her "Just in case..." she said and the subway alert chimes as the train stopped and the door opened.

"After you" Lila said and Five walked into the train with Lila right behind him.

The door closed and the warped voice speaking backwards over PA was heard before the train started moving

"By the way, what did you tell Y/n?" she asked "The truth" he replied and she looked at him "The truth about what?" she asked "About what you and I have to do" he said "And how did she take it?" she asked "As you noticed really well" he said "I don't get how you two can keep doing it" you said "Maybe you and Diego can learn something from Y/n and I" he said and she rolled her eyes.

---

The sound of subway alert chimes as the warped voice started speaking backward over PA as the train door opened and Five and Lila step out.

"Okay. Broken vending machine. Australia" Five said as he looked around the station "Three burnt-out light bulbs" he said "See? Your poetry book came in handy" Lila said and he pointed towards the stairs.

"All right" he sighed as the two walked towards the stairs "Knowing me, I probably set a trap, so be careful" he said before they walked up the stairs to the apocalypse.

Five pulled up the binoculars before looking around, trying to see if he could spot his other self by looking over at the camp but he couldn't see anything.

"All right" he lowered the binoculars "There's no sign of him" he put the binoculars into his inner pocket again.

"Okay. Well, let's get going before you start farting" she turned to him "Yeah" he said "Ready? 2006, here we come" she said as they put one hand on each other's back before they blink away.

They both appeared inside the academy "Did it work?" she asked and Five walked over to a small table where some papers was laying "Are we here?" she asked as she looked around while Five looked at the papers "I don't know" she said.

"October 14, 2006" Five pulled up a newspaper and she walked over to him "Great. Okay" she said and Five put the newspaper down "So we go in, we snuff Ben out, we get back on the tube, we're back before bath time" she said as they walked down the hallway.

"We're not here to kill him, Lila" he put a hand on her back as they looked to the right down a hallway, making sure that they didn't get spotted.

"We're just diverting him. Making sure he doesn't go on the Moldova mission" he said "Mmm" she nodded "Now a guy I haven't seen in like, five years so he might be a little jumpy. Just play it cool" he said "Like polar bear nipples" she said.

Then the klaxon started blaring "Oh shit!" Five grab Lila before the two quickly hide behind a corner.

"Step lively, children. We have a mission to do. Number One, round up the children!" Reginald called out and Luther step out of his bedroom. His uniform was red instead of blue.

"Let's go" he clapped his hands "Get your asses in gear" he looked at Diego "My man, Diego" he patted his shoulder "My ass is always in gear" Diego said "Come on, guys" Luther said and Klaus started giggling "Are you kidding me? You just got out of rehab" a boy voice said "I'm California sober, Alphonso" Klaus said.

"Alphonso?" Lila looked at Five while Klaus giggled as him and Alphonso stepped out of the bathroom.

"Umbrellas" Lila whispered.

Then a young Fei walked out of her bedroom "Sparrows" Lila whispered.

"Who is that?" she asked as she spotted a young boy that either her and Five recognize.

"We're in the wrong timeline. We need to go" he whispered.

"Hey!" the strange boy whose name was Phil said as they spotted Five and Lila "Who the hell are you?" he asked as Five got out of cover to stand in front of them "Rude" Lila got up and stood next to Five.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing" she said and Fei scoff "We're the Phoenix Academy" she said.

A fire ball appeared on Phil's hand "And we're about to fuck you up" he said before he threw the fireball at Five and Lila.

Five grab Lila and blink them both away before they were hit by the fire ball.

---

Lila let out a laugh as her and Five walked back down to the underground train station.

"Okay, slight hiccup" she said "You think?" he asked "Okay. Well, look. We're in the wrong timeline, but clearly, we're in the neighborhood" she said "Neighborhood of what?" he asked as he stopped "Christ, I never should have listened to you, if I hadn't. I would be home right now, with my beloved fiancé, who is pregnant by the way, have some lovely time with her, being there if something went wrong, but I had to listen to you" he said.

"Chill out, Five! Is not like Y/n will give birth in a few hours, beside she is only two months pregnant, seven more to go" she stopped before she turned to look at him.

"We'll figure out, okay? You know why?" she asked and he put his hands in his pocket "Because someone brought a map" she pulled up a map as he approached her.

"Hmm" he just responded and she laughed "All right" she sat down on the bench.

Meanwhile Five was feeling the anxious energy buzzing inside him as he sat down next to her while she folded out the map to look at it.

Lila's eyes were scanning the map with determination.

"Look, we're here" she put the map on her lap "Take this train three stops to this squiggly line. Transfer at the division symbol" she said.

Five's impatience got the better of him and he stood up again, pacing slighty as he waited for the train to arrive.

Lila squinted at the map, her brow furrowed in concentration but she was struggling to decipher its cryptic sympols and lines.

"Oh fuck!" Lila said as she looked at the map "Oh no, wait!" she tried to read it.

Five sighed, relief flooding him when the train finally came into view.

"We're here. Two stops on the ampersand" she said as the train stopped "No more winging it" he said "Is that an umlaut or an ablaut?" she asked "Let's get back to where we came from" Five pointed at the train as the door opened.

"Lila!" Five called out as he turnedto her "No more winging it, let's gi back to where we came for" he said.

The warped voice started speaking backwards over PA as Five entered the train.

His irritation flared when he noticed that she was still sitting on the bench, her eyes darting over the map without making any progress.

"Now!" he shouted, making her snap out of her thoughts and she looked at him.

"Hey!" she got up "What?" he asked as she rushed over to the train "Do you wanna miss the train?" he asked "Well, who made you in charge?" she asked as she entered the train and the door closed.

"Jesus! You were gonna leave without me" she said "I will if I grow more tired of you, so zip it" he said.

---

Five and Lila was still inside the train as it was driving through the tunnel.

It came to a station but didn't stop as it kept driving and that cause a confuse face to appear on Five since that was the station they were going to get off.

"That was our stop" Five looked through the door's windows.

Then the PA system started chimes and a warped voice started again speaking backwards over PA which cause Lila and Five to turned to look up at the PA to hear better what it said.

"...the express"

"Bollocks" Lila said "Shit" Five said as they both knew what it means. They were going to travel to another timeline.

The sound og harsh, grating audio distortion was heard as the train travel to another portal before the sound of shimmering, warped tones distort was heard as the tunnel glow green.

"I'm sorry Y/n, I don't think I can be home anytime soon. But I will find my way back to you, no matter what, I promise. No matter how long it takes, even if I have to go through million of timelines...I promise I'll find my way back to you, I'll be with you again, please be careful while I'm away" Five said.

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