NINE | ARE WE IN A DIEHARD MOVIE?

"You're telling me you haven't slept well because of me?" Five asked his wife as Tate's eyes wandered around the festival. "Tate?" Five asked when he noticed Tate wasn't paying attention, causing her to snap out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?" Tate responded, facing her husband. "I... love you," Five smiled, knowing the girl wasn't listening, causing Tate to smile. "I love you too," Tate responded before Five kissed her forehead.

"Blink..." Five muttered, reverting to his attempt to blink. "Don't..." Tate tried stopping her husband from draining his energy further. "Just... blink..." Five continued mumbling as he clenched his fists together.

"Okay, I'll get you food and one festive drink and we'll try again later, how about that?" Tate reassured, holding Five's fists in her hands. "Doing your Kegels in public now, are we?" Lila asked since she'd been watching the whole time Five was trying to blink.

"You know, just trying to stay limber. Not give myself deep vein thrombosis," Five answered as the couple turned around to face Lila. "Mmm, at your age, you gotta look out for that," Lila agreed, walking towards the couple.

"What do you want, Lila?" Tate asked, knowing the trio's relationship dynamic hadn't been the greatest. "I just wanted to say thank you," Lila answered, raising her coffee cup in defense. "For what?" Five asked as Tate wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"For not outing me in front of my idiot husband the other night," Lila said, turning to see if Diego was listening in. "Oh, well. It's standard operational procedure," Tate smiled, causing Lila to grin at her.

"I'm your girlfriend now?" Lila asked, causing Tate to roll her eyes. "I might hate you but I don't want to ruin your life with Diego, okay?" Tate said before Five spoke up. "Hey, so how worried do you think we have to be about this Cleanse thing?" Five asked before Lila's eyes landed on Tate.

"Does she know?" Lila pointed at Tate with her coffee cup before Tate nodded. "I yelled at him for going to a meeting with you just last night, I'm catching up," Tate faked a smile. "Hard to say. You know, I used to think the keepers were 90% batshit," Lila said before leaning forward.

"But since I've been roofied with dodgy marigold, and I'm shooting laser beams out of my eyes, I'll give 'em 50/50," Lila responded, causing Tate to sigh. "Right, well after this, we'll go back, find Jean and Gene," Five said before he noticed Diego was walking towards the trio.

"A pair of jeans, I like to call them," Tate smiled before Diego walked over to them. "What are you two talking about?" Diego asked, holding three stuffed reindeer under his arm. "Where's mine?" Tate asked, causing Diego to scoff. "I would've gotten you one too," Diego smiled before turning his attention to the three.

"Trying to decide what festive drink to partake in," Lila lied, staring at Five and Tate. "And?" Diego questioned before Five spoke up. "Well, mulled wine for myself, eggnog for the ladies," Five answered, going with the lie before Tate frowned.

"You hate eggnog," Diego reminded his wife while Tate frowned deeper. "I'm trying new things," Lila replied, causing Diego to stare at her. "I'm sure you are," Diego said, knowing something was up.

"Ah..." Five sighed before he noticed Tate's frown. "What's wrong?" Five asked, causing everyone to stare at her. "Just... I don't like eggnog that much..." Tate trailed off before Five rolled his eyes. "I forgot... I forgot, okay?" Five answered defensively.

"Then what will you drink, Tate?" Diego asked his sister. "A hot chocolate for me," Tate answered, causing Five to roll his eyes. "And then you're gonna be petty," Five muttered as Tate and he looked up to see an elf staring at them.

"A or B?" Tate turned back to her husband, causing Five to sigh in defeat. "Right on cue," Five muttered before randomly agreeing to one of the options. Tate turned back the elf and started waving flirtatiously at the elf. But the elf didn't respond as he continued staring at her with a frown.

"Creepy..." Tate muttered before Five spoke up. "That elf," Lila and Diego turned to look at the glaring elf. "He's staring right at us," Tate gasped softly before Five wrapped his arm around her waist protectively.

"Who?" Diego asked in a confused tone. "That elf over there," Five nodded to a man in green. "He's been staring at us," Five said before Tate spoke up. "Even after battling my eyelashes and doing the whole cutesy wave, nothing," Tate sighed at her failed attempt at flirting with stranger.

"How much wine have you had?" Diego asked his brother, not believing him. "Stop being weird," Diego added. "None because he was..." Tate trailed off as an uneasy feeling started settling in her stomach.

"Trust me, there's something up with this guy," Five insisted before Lila spoke up. "Maybe he likes you," Lila teased before Tate added. "That would explain why he didn't react to the wave,"

The trio watched as the group of strangers around them started pulling out weapons from their hidden spots. "Oh fuck..." Tate muttered before Five yelled. "We should go!" Five urged the four before they started running away from them.

"What's going on?" Diego asked as they lowered their heads to protect themselves from being shot at. "Gotta be Sy the dry cleaner, he screwed us!" Five yelled as Tate held onto Five's hand before Five teleported them to an abandoned place, causing Tate to almost trip.

"Diego?" Five yelled as he helped steady Tate. "Lila?" Tate yelled, noticing the disappearance of the married couple.

"Where the fuck..." Tate wondered as Five passed through the empty gate with ease. "Don't go there!" Tate yelled, causing Five to yell back at her. "I'm figuring out shit, Tate!" Tate sighed before following Five downstairs.

The eerie station with a glowing map was located at the side with abandoned benches and weird cryptic writings on the walls. "What are these..." Tate looked up at the odd symbols. Five walked towards the station while Tate followed slowly behind.

A warped voice rang through the station, it was speaking nonsense, almost speaking backward in a way. "Don't go too far," Tate reminded before Five turned around. "I got that!" Five snapped before she sighed heavily.

A subway train made its way through the station as Five and Tate looked at each other in disbelief. The train doors opened with the PA system informing the couple the train had arrived in a backward voice.

"It's like they're speaking backward," Tate muttered. Five stepped inside the subway train, causing Tate to freeze. "Are you fucking crazy? You don't go into a creepy subway station, you dumb bitch," Tate reminded her husband but he already gripped onto the subway pole inside.

"Get in!" Five yelled before Tate tried shaking off the anxious feeling inside her. Tate quickly ran inside the subway car before the door closed on her. Five pulling her tight to his chest. "We're at the start of a horror movie," Tate muttered before Five offered one of the many empty seats in the car.

The train started moving as Tate held onto Five's hand harder, fearful of what was to come to them, as the train passed through the tunnels, it was almost like recalculating the time they were going to.

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JUST A FYI I WILL OBVIOUSLY NOT BE WRITING THE LILA & FIVE ARC WHO THE FUCK MADE THIS WHEN IN THE LAST SEASON THEY WERE TRYING THEIR HARDEST NOT TO KILL EACH OTHER IN MY HEAD THEY WILL COME BACK AS FRIENDS WHO TOLERATE EACH OTHER AT MOST