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❛ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅs ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ 𝟾 ᴅᴀʏs ᴜɴᴛɪʟ
ᴀᴘᴏᴄᴀʟʏᴘsᴇ ɪɪ ꒱


❝ SO, WHAT'S FIRST? ❞

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Someone was screaming as they fell through the portal.

Dolores shut her eyes tightly as she buried her face in the crook of her husband's neck in an effort to block out the sound. The action muffled it slightly though it continued until they met the ground with a jarring halt, causing the woman's mouth to snap shut at the impact. The screaming stopped though the world remained dark as she refused to lift her head to examine their new surroundings. Instead, she murmured, "d'you think we made it?"

Beneath her, Five opened his eyes to watch the portal snap shut above them, they sky dark and grey compared to the bright blue they'd left behind. His arms tightened around his wife's waist. "I think we did," he answered quietly.

A new voice brought them out of their travel daze: ". . . does anyone else see little Number Five and a random girl or is that just me?"

Girl? Little? The words made Dolores finally open her eyes and push herself off the. . . boy beneath her. She blinked in confusion as she stared at the brunet. It couldn't be Five, could it? He'd— they'd— both been old and white-haired the last time she'd opened her eyes, but now a fifteen-year-old boy stared up at her and she could see the ends of her own long, brown hair framing her face as she looked down at him.

The eyes, though. They were brilliant green and sharp, and she'd know them anywhere. She blinked several times to take in the boy's new features and felt her mouth go dry. Why did he have to be so. . . so attractive? She'd never been great at talking to good-looking people and always found herself stumbling over her words and becoming tongue-tied and now— 

"F-Five?" she stammered, unable to tear her gaze away from the boy's face, though she could feel her own heat up the longer she stared at him.

"Yeah? Wh—" His own eyes finally registered the girl above him. "Shit."

Dolores felt the weight of several stares prickle at her neck and she jolted, scrambling up and nearly tripping over her feet to distance herself from the dark-haired boy. Her gaze suddenly became fixated on her now too-big shoes as the effort to meet the boy's eyes became too much for her. She wasn't quite sure what happened next as the group that welcomed them adjusted to their unexpected guests. She hadn't gotten a good look at them, either, and found she couldn't lift her gaze from the ground long enough to do so. She'd always been painfully shy in front of large, unfamiliar groups and this was no different, even so many years later.

It felt strange being in her younger body again, especially as this was the one that had survived the apocalypse they were currently trying to stop. It was odd being able to see her brown hair after so many years of it being held back or white and her clothes— never very comfortable to begin with— shifted awkwardly on her now-small frame.

As they made their way inside the house from the courtyard, she risked a hesitant glance up at the boy in front of her. That was also something she'd have to get used to and, knowing Five, he was not pleased with this new development. Even with her current. . . communication difficulties though, she couldn't complain.

They stopped in the kitchen and the group— which she was slowly realizing were Five's siblings— arranged themselves on or around the table as the boy began to gather ingredients. Dolores stood off to the side in the shadows of the kitchen to (hopefully) avoid group interaction. As the boy reached for the bread, he asked, "what's the date? The exact date?"

"The twenty-fourth," the dark-haired woman answered as he opened the bag.

"Of what?"

"March."

"Good."

Eight days.

"So, are we gonna talk about what happened?" the largest of his brothers asked. The boy took out two slices of bread and laid them on the cutting board. Five didn't answer and continued to make the sandwich, prompting the same man to stand up authoritatively. "It's been seventeen years."

Five scoffed. "It's been a lot longer than that." He disappeared in a flash of blue and reappeared next to the counter to reach for the peanut butter.

"Where'd you go?" the man dressed in all black asked.

"The future. It's shit, by the way," Five added as he returned to his sandwich.

"Called it!"

"I should've listened to the old man. Y'know, jumping through space is one thing, time travel is just toss of the dice." His eyes rose to take in his siblings who were arranged before him. "Nice dress."

"Oh, well, danke."

"How did you get back?" the dark-haired woman asked.

"In the end I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time."

"That doesn't make any sense," the darkly-dressed man said. Behind her curtain of hair, Dolores rolled her eyes.

"Well, it would if you were smarter."

The dark-haired man stood up angrily but his larger brother put an arm out to stop him. "How long were you there?"

"Forty-five years, give or take."

He sat down heavily. "So, what, are you saying you're fifty-eight?"

Five gave him an irritated look. "No, my consciousness is fifty-eight. Apparently my body is fifteen again." He picked up his finished sandwich and turned away from them.

"How does that even work?" the same dark-haired woman asked.

"Dolores kept saying the equations were off. Bet you're laughing now," he added, glancing back at the dark-haired girl. He frowned at the lack of response. He turned back to his sandwich and cut it in half vertically.

"Dolores?"

"Guess I missed the funeral," Five said, ignoring the question.

"How'd you know about that?"

"What part of the future do you not understand?" Five snapped, before saying, "heart failure, huh?"

"Yeah," came the response at the same time the large man said, "no."

"It's nice to see nothing's changed," the now-boy commented as he turned to leave. He stepped towards the brunette and held out half of his sandwich, which she accepted with uncharacteristic tentativeness.

"That's it, that's all you're going to say?" his other sister spoke for the first time.

He grasped the girl's free arm and began to gently tug her out of the room. "What else is there to say, it's the circle of life!"

✧✧✧

As they walked up the stairs, he glanced back at the girl with a frown as he took in the untouched sandwich that was clutched in her fingers. "You should eat, Dolly," he told her, his tone taking a one-eighty from how he'd spoken to his siblings.

"Not hungry," she mumbled in response as they reached the second floor. She still refused to meet his eyes, something that didn't go unnoticed.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about the equations, okay?" he said, "now will you stop being mad at me? We have bigger fish to fry."

"Not mad," was the girl's only response, causing the boy to roll his eyes.

"What are you, a caveman? Use your words, Dol. Lord knows you've never held back before."

Dolores could only bite her lip as her gaze stayed focused on the spot where the boy's hand was gently grasping her arm. The area where he touched her felt unnaturally— pleasantly— warm. How were they supposed to save the world like this? She supposed she was going to have to get over herself somehow. Eventually.

"I'm fine," she finally managed to get out after a moment of silence.

He gave her a disbelieving look before he sighed and gently tugged her forward until they stopped in front of one of the many doors that lined the hallway. "You don't seriously think I'm going to believe that, do you? You're clearly not fine— you haven't even looked at me since we arrived. If you're not mad about the equations then what is it?"

Thankfully, he released her arm so she could focus and she hugged herself as she tried to come up with a reasonable answer without revealing the truth. The intensity of his gaze completely on her made it hard to concentrate and the only thing she could blurt out was: "you're really hot, okay?"

Immediately, she felt her cheeks flame red and she buried her face in her hands, dropping the sandwich she'd been holding as the boy gave her a slightly puzzled, slightly irritated look. "I'm perfectly comfortable. I asked about you, you know."

The girl peeked through the dark strands of hair that hung in her face as she forced out: "you're— you're— attractive."

He only continued to look confused. "So? You've already seen me, Dol. It shouldn't be this much of a shock."

The brunet shook her head. "I only saw your face for the first time at eighteen, Five. Besides, you already had a beard so it didn't count. I never— never saw you like this. And— and your siblings—"

"What about my siblings?" The question came out sharper than he intended. A part of him felt defensive of the people he'd grown up around but the larger part was concerned that they'd done or said something that had put off the brunette.

"I— well, I'm finally putting faces to names and I'm— I'm just realizing that they all have these important powers and you do, too, and I'm just— I'm just nobody. I'm not special—"

"Dol."

"I'm completely ordinary," she continued as if she hadn't heard him, her voice sounding upset, "I'm unremarkable—"

"Dolores," Five said again, this time in a sharper tone.

"I don't— I don't measure up. I can't, not when I don't have anything special—"

Her words finally stopped tumbling out of her mouth as Five's hands came up to tug her own down. He gently cupped her face, effectively cutting off all thought process as he tilted her head up so that she would finally look at him. If this had been any other situation, he'd have lovingly made fun of how tomato-red her face was, but his expression was completely serious (if not a little miffed) as he looked down at her. "You are special," he told her firmly, "and you're more of an idiot than I thought you were if you think otherwise. You don't need powers to stand out, you do that perfectly fine on your own. Besides, you wouldn't be my wife if I thought you were boring."

Her frown only became more prominent at his words and the boy sighed. Even after all these years he still hadn't gotten this role right.

"Am I, though?" she asked quietly.

"Are you what? Boring?"

She shook her head between his cupped hands. "Your wife."

His blood chilled as he froze at her words. "Wh-why— why would you ask that?" he said, his voice coming out quiet and pained. "Of course you are—"

"We're fifteen again," she interrupted him, gesturing between their younger bodies. "Not exactly marrying age. If we stop this thing we'd have another chance—"

"I don't want another chance." This time, he interrupted her and his tone was fiercer than before. "You are my wife, Dolly, as long as you'll have me. Space and time can't change that. My body may be to young to show what you are to me but my heart and mind know it. Surely that's enough?"

Dolores felt her eyes prickle with tears and she suddenly surged forward to wrap her arms around the boy— man— she loved. She clung to him tightly. "I love you," she whispered against the slightly rough, familiar feel of his suit jacket. "You will always be enough. I just thought that— that I might not be—"

The boy hugged her back and lowered his head to press his face into her dark hair. "I love you, too," he murmured back, cutting off the rest of her sentence. "And since you won't let me talk badly about myself, did you really think I was going to let you get away with it?" 

The girl gave a weak laugh as she continued to clutch at his jacket and the boy ran his fingers soothingly through her long hair. "You know," he mused aloud, "you're quite cute when you're flustered. I might have to make you embarrassed more often."

The brunette felt her face flame again and she pinched his side in response. "Don't you dare," she warned as she finally let go of him. It was still hard for her to look directly at him so she focused on a point somewhere around his nose, which helped (but jeezus, how did everything fit his face so well?) She felt more than saw his finger gently tuck some of the long strands behind her ear and she risked a glance upward to see him watching her with amusement. "For the record," he continued, "I find you quite attractive as well."

"Yeah, well, you better." She huffed as he lifted his arm to let his fingertips gently touch her forehead.

"Your bangs are back," he observed, pleased.

Dolores rolled her eyes. "I don't know why you like them so much. Growing them out was a pain."

He shrugged. "They fit your face."

She gave him a mock-concerned look. "Are you feeling alright? You're laying it on quite thick, you know."

His lips quirked slightly. "I'm just trying to butter you up so you won't give me such a hard time about not listening to you."

The brunette grinned. "Good luck with that. Once I get over myself you'll never hear the end of it."

She was feeling better now. The shock had worn off and they'd fallen back into their familiar patterns, even in unfamiliar ground. They weren't in front of a large group anymore which also made her confidence recover and it helped that she still hadn't really made eye contact with the boy. She straightened and looked down at their baggy clothes. "We better change before we get started."

"Why do you think we're here?" He pushed open the door to what she discovered was a bedroom— his childhood bedroom, to be exact. He headed straight for the old wardrobe that stood in the corner of his room and opened the doors, shifting through the clothes for a minute before he sighed. "Shit."

Dolores came over to stand behind him as she peered into the dark recesses. "What?"

The boy pulled out a navy-blue uniform. "I don't have any other clothes," he explained as he showed her the outfit. "You probably won't have much luck with my sisters, either," he held up the uniform to compare it to her frame and added, "you'll probably fit Allison's best."

"Allison?" she repeated the name as she tried to recall which sibling it went to.

"Number Three," Five answered, tossing the uniform on the bed before he shrugged out of his jacket. "The Rumor. She was wearing the blue shirt."

"Oh!" The brunette nodded once she'd put the information together. "Uh, where's her room? I can meet you back here."

"At the end of the hall on the left," the boy answered as he dropped his too-large shirt on the bed. "Though you're welcome to stay, if you'd like." He sent her a mischievous look as he kicked off his shoes.

The brunette's face flushed and she quickly backed up towards the door. "M-maybe later," she forced out, ignoring the boy's laughter as she hightailed it out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her. Once on the other side, she placed a hand to her chest to try and calm her racing heart as she closed her eyes to steady her breathing. How was she supposed to survive eight days like this? Scratch that, the rest of her life after they stopped the apocalypse? Granted, it would get easier once they turned eighteen (again) and got on familiar ground, but that was three years away.

Dolores followed Five's instructions and found herself in a rather girly bedroom filled with— predictably— fashion magazines and other things normal fifteen-year-old girls liked. She closed the door behind her and made her way to Allison's copy of Five's wardrobe and found the girl's version of The Umbrella Academy uniforms. She changed quickly, buttoning up the starched, white collared shirt and pulled on the navy blue knee-socks. A plaid dress went over the white shirt and she hesitated at wearing the jacket. A part of her thought it was wrong to wear something that symbolized a family she wasn't part of but she decided to put it on for practical reasons. March was a not month that one would consider warm, so a short-sleeved shirt would get chilly quickly.

She studied herself in Allison's mirror after that to take in her long, chocolate-brown hair that fell past her elbows and the bangs that ended just above her blue eyes. She'd always thought her nose was a little too small for her face but otherwise she was quite content with her appearance. Studying the items on Allison's desk, she picked up a silver chain with a locket on it with the letters A + L. Unhooking the clasp, she slid the locket off and set it carefully in a visible place so the woman wouldn't lose it. She slipped the chain through her ring instead. It had never truly fit her properly— she'd refused to let The Commission resize it— but now it wouldn't even stay on her finger, so to prevent it from being lost, she clasped the necklace around her neck to keep the ring close.

The final item she borrowed from Allison's room was a length of black ribbon, which she tied around her hair to keep it out of her face. Satisfied that she had done all she could, she reentered Five's room after making sure to knock on the door. The boy had seemingly been pacing back and forth as he waited for her to be done and she claimed his attention as soon as she stepped through the door. "Finally!" he exclaimed, turning to (probably) berate her for how long she took. "We've only got— oh."

She blinked in surprise as he interrupted himself, which was something he'd never done before unless it was to follow a tangent. He now stared at her speechlessly with his green eyes wider than she'd ever seen them and his mouth open slightly as he stared at her. The girl shifted awkwardly under his gaze and made to tuck her hair behind her ear self-consciously only to remember she'd pulled it back. Her hand dropped to her side. "Is— is it bad?" she asked nervously as she tugged on the jacket sleeve. "I wasn't sure about the jacket, seeing as I wasn't a part of the Academy, but—"

"No!— no," he repeated more softly. "It's good." He cleared his throat. "Uh, really good."

A smile tugged at her lips as he crossed the room. In a smooth movement, he gave the ribbon holding her hair back a gentle pull and let the strands fall around her face again. "Except for that. You won't be needing it."

"Five!"

The boy kept it out of reach as she tried to grab it and the girl eventually gave up with a sigh. "Fine, but if my hair gets pulled for some reason, it's your fault."

"I'll take that chance," he said easily as he reached down to grasp her hand in his. He startled when he realized that it felt different (and not just because of the size). He lifted their clasped hands and studied hers before— "your ring."

She winced at the disappointment in his tone. "It didn't exactly fit on my fingers, Fives," she reminded him gently, using her free hand to lift the necklace from her collar. (And she felt guilty again as he visibly relaxed.)

"Oh, good. Uh," he pulled out his own ring from his pocket.

"Do you want me to hold on to it?" she offered, "there's space for two."

The boy's hand immediately closed around the cool metal. "No!" he exclaimed quickly before he added, "I should keep it. Uh—"

"The ribbon," Dolores pointed out, taking it from his hand and looping it through the circle of metal. She then grasped his hand and tugged back his sleeve to tie it around his wrist like a bracelet.

"Good thinking," he said once she was done, returning his hand to hers before he lead her out of the room.

"So, what's first?" the brunette asked as they headed downstairs.

A/n: do I reuse lines and jokes from my other stories? Yes, yes I do. 

Remember: it's not plagiarism if you're copying off yourself!