TWENTY SIX | AS THE WORLD CAVES IN

Tate and Five stayed silent on the train ride home. The silence was slowly eating away at the couple, none of them said a word since the revelation of Tate's pregnancy. "I... I was thinking about Betty or Alexis..." Tate spoke up as she fidgeted with her ring.

"I like those names," Five sent his wife a soft smile before it quickly faded. "What?" Tate asked, noticing the subtle change in his smile. "Will Ben make it..." Five mumbled before Tate joined him on the sliver seat.

"You don't know that, Five," Tate protested as she tried holding back tears. "We didn't know him long enough to watch him go..." Tate sniffled before Five pulled her into a hug. "He's gonna make it..." Five tried reassuring, finding comfort in the hug.

"You can't avoid this forever, you know?" Five mumbled into Tate's shoulder before she pulled away. "I know..." Tate nodded as Five reached out to hold her hand.

"You know I'm at least partly responsible for getting you pregnant, right?" Five stared into Tate's blue eyes for any hesitation. "I think I understand how sex works, Five," Tate answered with a sarcastic remark, causing Five to roll his eyes.

"I know you do, smart-ass," Five said before his eyes traveled down to her stomach. "I'm scared..." Tate admitted before Five nodded in agreement. "We're still kids!" Five exclaimed as he started panicking.

"I'm 24! You're 27!" Tate corrected as she noticed the fear in his eyes. "We don't act like our age! You were frozen in time for 17 years! You were stuck in Dallas for 2 years! I got lost in time for 45 years! I lost another 5 years to Lila and this stupid subway!" Five ranted, causing Tate to laugh at him.

"Don't laugh!" Five scolded before Tate covered her mouth. "This isn't some fun little thing we can joke about! Having a baby isn't easy--" Five continued ranting on before Tate interrupted. "I know, Five. But come on..." Tate's laugh lowered to a small chuckle, allowing Five to continue.

"Thank you," Five thanked his wife for choosing to listen to him. "We're close to dying for the fourth time! It's not gonna be easy," Five ended before Tate leaned back on the metal seat. "Don't... remind me," Tate sighed before Five went quiet for a moment.

"Look... I want to promise that I'll be here more, take care of you during and after this. I'm not going back to work no matter how much you make me," Five's expression softened before he gently placed a hand on Tate's shoulder, squeezing it in a comforting way.

"I'll hold you to that, Clyde," Tate chuckled before the train arrived at their timeline stop.

"Hey! Great timing, great timing," Klaus called out as Tate and Five teleported into the abandoned academy again, their hands latched together tightly. "Hey," Five greeted as the two walked inside the living room.

"Tate," Lila turned to the married couple. "Five," Diego said as Tate tried wiping her sweat. "Fate!" Klaus called out to the couple with their nickname. "Why did you two come back here? Things are pretty bleak," Luther asked, reminding Tate of her reckless decision of running off.

"Trust me, I wasn't planning on it," Five admitted before Tate spoke up. "It wasn't his fault, I wanted to run and he ran with me," Tate confessed, staring at her family with a guilty look.

"Fortunately, we had, uh a long and eye-opening with myself," Five informed before Klaus stared at him in confusion. "What?" Klaus asked before Tate sighed. "We are the reason that this is happening," Tate explained as Allison looked over to the couple.

"You care to elaborate?" Diego asked, staring at his siblings. "The marigold that infected ur mothers, bringing forth our births... had an unexpected side effect," Five said before Tate cradled the small stone in her hand as it glowed a blue color.

"Blue like... Five's spacial jumps..." Tate gasped softly as she noticed the similar hue.

"It shattered the timeline, and it broke into an infinite number of alternate timelines," Five said, unaware of Tate's attention being focused on the rock. "The timelines are bleeding into each other, that's how the Keepers were able to find those artifacts," Five explained before Lila spoke up.

"Holy shit, Gene and Jean were right," Lila nodded at the explanation. "Their dreams of other timelines were real," Lila shook her head at the sudden revelation. "So we need to go back to the original timeline before the other ones were created," Five added.

"Am I the only one who's very, very, very confused," Klaus asked everyone as he tried to process the new information. "Nope," Luther answered as he massaged his temples. "That's what Ben was trying to show me..." Viktor trailed off, recalling a peaceful scene when he grabbed Ben's arm.

Allison and Tate turned over to their brother. "What does Ben have to do with this?" Luther asked, looking over at Viktor. "Back at the department store, when I was trying to pull the Durango from his body, I had a vision," Viktor explained.

"I think he was trying to show me the original timeline," Viktor said before Allison spoke up. "He tried to kill you," Allison reminded. "But he didn't, he pushed me away to save me," Viktor defended Ben.

"I think he was trying to tell me something," Viktor tried guessing the reasoning behind Ben's push. "That the Cleanse isn't a bad thing," Viktor said before Luther spoke up. "You're saying that thing that destroys everything it comes into contact with is good?" Luther scoffed.

"I think so? I..." Vikor rubbed the back of his neck in hesitation. "We need to let the marigold in our bodies merge with the durango inside the cleanse," Five said before Tate spoke up. "They should cancel each other out..."

"Okay, then what happens to us?" Diego asked, turning to his sister. "We cease to exist," Five muttered before Tate stared at him in shock. "Hell no! There's gotta be another way," Tate protested as she kept the rock close to her chest.

Klaus started spluttering, in disbelief at the idea. "Old Klaus might have been down for some recreational hara-kiri, but it turns out that I'm really not into killing myself, so, uh, count me out," Klaus opposed in a lighthearted manner.

"Actually, it's not killing ourselves, it's worse than that maybe..." Tate spoke up, causing everyone to turn to her. "We'll be erased from history," Five sighed before Tate spoke up. "Or we'll forget everything... lose all memories of what happened between us as a group,"

"What are you on about?" Five turned to Tate. "Five gave me this rock and it's been glowing blue like your old time-traveling powers as I wanna try something," Tate suggested shakily before Five stared at her, disapprovingly.

"We gotta try, we could lose our memories at most here," Tate argued before Diego spoke up. "What about the other timelines?" Diego asked. "They will never have existed, none of them will," Tate said as she held out the rock.

"No one will have any memory of this... or us," Tate tried estimating as the rock glowed brighter. "Does anyone else not like this plan?" Luther asked as his eyes began to well up with tears. Klaus raised his hand in agreement.

"Come on, everyone will be alive," Tate reminded. "But losing our memory?" Diego questioned, searching for any signs of hesitation between Tate and Five. "It's better than getting skinned alive by the demogorgan outside!" Tate exclaimed before Diego spoke up.

"But if we don't remember anything, how does our family cease to exist?" Diego asked before Tate shook her head. "I'm not sure..." Tate shook her head before Lila spoke up. "Wait... I don't like where this is going, Tate,"

"Come on, Tate. There has to be another way," Allison tried sitting up from the couch. "There isn't," Tate stated as she tried walking over to her. "Take it easy, all right?" Klaus said, placing a hand on Allison's shoulder, comforting her.

"Lila, why don't you take the family to that crazy subway of yours?" Diego suggested as she turned to her husband. "Save them... save yourself," Tate nodded in agreement. "No, she can't do that," Five reminded before Tate glared at him.

"I'm not talking to you, Five," Tate snapped before Five returned the glare. "All the marigold needs to be destroyed, Tate," Five tried explaining. "If Lila isn't here when the cleanse comes, it just restarts," Five reminded before Diego spoke in a low tone.

"Yeah, well good thing it's her decision, is it?" Diego asked before Five stared between Lila and Tate. "Yeah," Five accepted. "I'm staying with my Mom," Claire walked into the room before rushing over to Allison.

"Claire Bear..." Klaus said as she kneeled to Allison. "No," Allison denied. "Mom, I'm staying," Claire pleaded before Allison grabbed her shoulders. "No, you have to go with Lila, okay?" Allison requested.

"No. I'd rather die here with you than not remember you," Claire pleaded as Allison reached out to her daughter's face, cupping her cheeks. "No, Claire. I need you to live, okay?" Allison asked as Claire nodded.

"I need you to live and experience all of the amazing things that this world has to offer you, okay?" Allison tried holding back tears, wiping Claire's. "I'll forget you, Mom," Claire said. "We don't know that," Allison smiled as her fingers brushed Claire's cheek.

"Okay? We don't know that," Allison repeated. "But what I do know is you have to go with Lila," Allison stated, trying to protect her daughter. "No, I can't," Claire shook her head as Klaus joined the mother-daughter duo on the floor.

"Hey, listen to Mom, Claire Bear. Every time I do, things turn out okay," Klaus reassured, patting her back. "Hey, look at me," Allison tried to get Claire's attention again. "Look at me," Allison turned Claire's face to her.

"I will always be a part of you," Allison reminded. "Always," Allison said while tears streamed down her cheeks. "Even if you don't remember me," Allison promised. "You'll always be my beautiful, smart girl," Allison smiled softly at her.

"Okay?" Allison asked before engulfing her in a hug. Claire turned to Klaus, "Come here, I love you," Klaus said shakily before Claire hugged her. "Love you too," Claire said muffled through tears.

"Okay," Klaus quickly pulled away from her. "You have to go," Allison instructed as Claire protested. "Baby, you have to go," Allison requested as Lila pulled Claire to her feet. "Let's go, get the family together, okay?" Lila requested.

"Lila, Lila, wait," Luther called out to her. "Look, I don't wanna sound like an asshole here, but if Five is right, you leaving is not a good thing," Luther agreed with Five. "Luther... let her be," Tate turned to her brother.

"He's right, you can't go," Viktor tried pleading. Lila's eyes wandered around the family. Diego and Tate sent her a reassuring smile, Klaus was trying to calm Allison down as she let out sniffled breaths.

"Watch me," Lila said emotionlessly before Klaus called out her. "Lila!" Klaus pleaded before Lila gathered her family. "Okay, come on, everyone," Lila said. "Stand around me, okay?" Lila requested as her family held onto her.

"Lila, don't do this," Tate stepped forward despite allowing her to leave the family without her. "I'm not entirely sure if this will work..." Tate trailed off, second-guessing herself.

"Hold onto me," Lila ignored Tate's final plead before mimicking Five's power, blinking away to the subway. "Diego... please..." Tate stared at her brother helplessly before Five grabbed onto Diego's and Tate's hands and teleported away to the subway.

💌

btw five + tate = fate which is why Klaus called them that like together, I guess.

I rlly wanna find a way to write the actual ending scene because it is genuinely a beautiful scene, it's so sweet but maybe it could be like [redacted] stuff for the final chapter. Also I'm making two different endings.

but this season they did managed to actually focus deeper on the stakeholders other than the strangers like Claire, Lila's family and her kids which was rlly nice.

I'm not spoiling the ending or giving away anything until maybe the one or two final chapters. 😃

also long ass chapter today