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❛ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅs ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐈𝐗 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀs ꒱


❝ I WORRY BECAUSE I LOVE YOU ❞

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When Dolores woke the next morning, she was relieved she hadn't been up during the night. With the state of mind she'd been in after the attack in her store, she would've certainly gone straight to homicidal rage if she'd encountered her younger self traipsing around the Academy. As it was, she got up and began to dress for the new day, trying not to feel too self-conscious about how avidly Five was watching her.

When she'd finally donned the last part of the uniform— her jacket— she turned to her husband, who had yet to get out of bed. She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, get up."

The boy slowly got out of bed, smirking slightly. "You know, I was hoping we could stay in bed a little longer."

"We have a world to save, or did you forget that?" she shot back, ducking her head to hide her pink face. "Besides, this uniform has way too many layers for me to take on and off again."

Five paused in dressing, only wearing his shorts and undershirt as he stepped towards the brunette. She could see the concern clearly on his face. "You were pretty shaken up last night, Dolly," he said quietly as he took her hands in his. "How are you feeling?"

The girl raised her head and sighed. "Better, now. I certainly wasn't expecting The Commission to find us so quickly, or at my store. I'll be fine," she finished firmly.

"Are you—" the boy started, wanting to make sure she would truly be alright.

Dolores interrupted him first and her eyes widened. "You're hurt!"

"It's—"

"Don't say it's nothing," she said, glaring at him slightly. "It's not nothing. Wait here, I'll help."

When she returned, she found him sitting his bed. She sat next to him and her brows furrowed as she concentrated on cleaning the wound. Five watched her bite her lip as she focused, his gaze never leaving her mouth until she turned to thread the needle for stitches.

"Don't look," the brunette said once she was finished.

"Dolly—"

"I know you're not afraid but it'll only make it hurt worse if you do," Dolores told him, feeling the guilt that she hadn't been able to protect him like she was supposed to.

Five sighed, knowing that she would be stubborn about this. "It's only psychology," he complained as he looked away.

"It makes me feel better," she answered, which halted any further objections.

"Hey," Five said, capturing the girl's attention for a moment. The brunette looked up at him, the guilt on her face, causing a painful twist in his chest. "I'm alright, Dol. Don't worry."

She gave him a fond smile. "Telling me not to worry is like telling the rain to stop falling, Fives—it's impossible. I worry because I love you."

They both knew she hated it when he got hurt— as much as he hated it when she got hurt— and he wished he could convince her it wasn't her fault. Instead, he leaned down, careful not to move his mostly-stitched arm, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Dolores relaxed slightly against him and some of the worry dissipated.

When he pulled away, he gave her a affectionate look. "I love you too, Dol."

✧✧✧

Once they'd finished dressing for the day, Five helped the brunette out of the window and they made their way down the fire escape where Klaus was shifting through trash in the dumpster. The boy had gone down the ladder first and as Dolores neared the bottom rung, he put one of his hands on her back and the other on her arm to help steady her as she jumped to the ground. When both feet were solidly planted on the cement, the hand on her back turned into an arm around her waist as he finally addressed his brother. "I'd ask what you're doing, Klaus, but then it occurred to me. I don't care."

"Hey, you know there are easier ways out of the house, Bonnie and Clyde?" Klaus asked, looking up from whatever he was searching for.

"This one involved the least amount of talking, or so I thought," Five said, rolling his eyes. "And never call us that again."

"Alright, Sonny and Cher," he answered with a grin. As the pair turned to walk away, he called after them: "hey, hey, hey, you two need any company? I could clear my schedule."

"Looks like you've got your hands full," the boy replied disdainfully.

"Oh, this? No, no. I can do this whenever. I'm just—" he stopped talking to fall backwards into the dumpster. "I just misplaced something, that's all." He lifted a half-eaten bagel from the pile. "Oh! Found it, thank god!" He took a bite out of it. "Delicious."

Dolores grimaced. While they'd eaten worse food in the apocalypse, it hadn't been done so willingly. "We're good, Klaus. Thanks." She made an effort to be nicer to him than Five was.

"Come on! You don't— maybe I just want to hang out with my brother and his wife!" Klaus called after them as the attempted to leave again. "Mi hermano! Mi hermana!"

The brunette tried not to feel too pleased with Klaus calling her "his sister." Instead she turned back around. "Sister-in-law!" she corrected him.

"I don't know how to say 'in-law' in Spanish!" he yelled back at her.

"Ignore him," Five muttered in her ear as he opened the passenger door of a nearby van for her.

"I love you!" Klaus said, not minding that they weren't paying attention to him, "even if you can't love yourself!"

Five climbed into the driver's side and started the engine.

✧✧✧

Silence filled the van as the couple sat in the two front seats with both of their gazes fixed on the building across from them. Without taking his eyes off the building, Five reached over and gently grasped the brunette's hand, intertwining their fingers together to give her a gentle squeeze. In return, Dolores gave her traditional three back to him.

They watched as the man— Dr. Biggs— walked up to his building to start his day of work. A part of Dolores was envious of his ignorance to the fast-approaching end of the world. She almost wished that neither she nor Five knew about it, though many things would be different if they were as oblivious as the rest of the population.

Sometimes she liked to think about what would've happened if Five had never time travelled and they didn't have an apocalypse to stop. She would've grown up a normal child and held a normal job. She probably would've had a normal boyfriend at some point and maybe even gotten married. Five would have been fifteen years older than her, the gap too large between them to even be anywhere close to friends. She probably would've never met him anyway with the fame he'd gain from being in the Academy. He probably would've gotten married to someone else (a thought that made her stomach turn) or he'd live by himself. Dolores had no idea what kind of job he'd have, though. Maybe something to do with physics.

Dolores was drawn out of her thoughts as she felt something shift in the air. It wasn't anything particularly noticeable but it made her freeze for a second to find the source of the change. As her gaze fell on the boy next to her, she realized how stiff he'd gotten. The hand holding hers was almost painfully tight and she could hear the his breath hitching slightly in the silence of the car. Immediately, she knew what was going on.

Back when they were in The Commission and adjusting to their new surroundings, they'd have flashbacks of being stuck in the apocalypse. Something— a noise, a motion, a smell— would trigger a part of their memory and either one of them would get sent back to the end of the world. They'd been lucky that neither of them had ever been affected at the same time, so they were always able to help each other. Five had gone back to the past more frequently than she had and usually in the form of a nightmare. They didn't really talk about what they saw when they went back but focused on pulling the other to the present.

"Fives?" Dolores asked softly as she squeezed his hand. She always tried to just use his name first. When there was no response, she said it again more forcefully. "Fives?"

When he continued to stare out at nothing, the brunette gently pried her hand free from his and pushed the armrest of her seat up. She then crawled carefully over the console to curl up in the boy's lap, her back pressed against the car door and her heels pushing into the side of the seat. Slowly— taking care not to move too fast and startle him— she cupped his face with her hands, gently brushing her thumbs over his cheeks. "Fives," she tried again. "I'm right here, it's okay. We're not there." She made sure to never use the word "apocalypse," especially in this situation. "Come back to the present."

There was still no reaction, though she thought his breathing was more even. Continuing to gently hold his face between her hands, she leaned forward and softly placed her lips on his. She didn't move them like she would in a normal kiss, but just allowed him to feel the warmth and pressure to bring him back to now.

While she kept her eyes closed, she felt the boy relax suddenly underneath her. His hands slid down to her waist and he began to kiss her back. The brunette knew he wanted to continue, but she pulled away before they could go any further. Giving the boy a concerned look, she opened her mouth to ask something along the lines of are you okay? (Which she knew was a stupid question but she didn't know how else to phrase it.)

Dolores was interrupted, however, by Luther knocking on the car door and calling: "Five! Five!"

She sighed, not wanting to deal with Five's idiot brother right now. She was far more worried about her husband and she knew he would never be truthful with how he was feeling when his siblings were around. Instead, she leaned her head against his shoulder and took his hand into her lap to play with his fingers as Luther forced the door open and squeezed himself inside. She was cheered slightly when a sound from the back of the van made her crane her head to see Klaus shoving cans out of the way. At least this idiot brother was also nice.

"You okay?" Luther asked, looking at the girl curled up on his brother's lap. Even he could see something wasn't right in his brother's face.

"You shouldn't be. . ." Five started before he asked, "how did you find me?"

"We've been searching for hours," Klaus exclaimed, dramatically throwing himself between the two seats. He grinned at the brunette. "Hey Mickey and Minnie."

Almost against her will, Dolores giggled. "Are you gonna call us every famous duo?"

"You bet I am!"

"You're gonna run out of names, Klaus," she told him.

"Then I'll make them up, Peanut Butter and Chocolate." His words were cut off as he screamed, ducking past the can that Five threw at him.

"Get out!" the boy exclaimed, "you can't be here! We're in the middle of something."

"Sorry, did we interrupt your make-out session?" Klaus teased them, "you could certainly use some loosening up, old man."

"Shut up Klaus," Five snapped while Dolores turned pink.

"What's he talking about?" Luther asked cluelessly.

"Does it matter? It's Klaus," the boy retorted, earning a gentle elbow in the stomach from his wife (she was more cautious because of his recent flashback.) He turned to his other brother. "What do you want, Luther?"

"Um," he said hesitantly, "Grace may have had something to do with Dad's death."

Dolores sighed and closed her eyes again as she rested her forehead against the curve of Five's neck. She really wasn't in the mood to be dealing with conspiracy theories when the end-of-the-world one turned out to be true.

"This is important. I need you to come back to the Academy," Luther said, looking directly at his brother.

"It's important." Five scoffed. "You have no concept of what's important." The supporting arm around his wife's waist tightened slightly.

"Hey!" Klaus interrupted them suddenly. "Did I ever tell you guys about the time I waxed my ass with chocolate pudding? It was so painful!" He beamed at the brunette, who couldn't hold back the single giggle that escaped her mouth. Klaus' randomness was really quite refreshing.

"What are you still doing here?" Luther asked him condescendingly, causing Dolores to frown at him.

"What? I need an excuse to hang out with my family?" His brother pressed a hand to his heart dramatically.

"We're trying to have a serious conversation."

"What, and I'm incapable of being serious? Is that what you're saying?"

"Luther's got a point," the boy agreed, "you should get out."

"Five—" Dolores started, her tone gently reprimanding despite what occurred just before his brothers arrived.

"See? Dolly wants me to stay!"

Immediately, Five twisted around and glared furiously at his brother. "Don't call her that," he snapped.

"Why not? You can call her that!"

"Exactly," Five said flatly, "only I can call her that. You can't, so get out."

Klaus pouted at the brunette, who sighed. "I'm sorry, Klaus. You know how he gets," she gestured to the boy.

"Fine," he huffed, slamming the door to the van shut.

Almost the instant he was gone, Five relaxed underneath her, his grip on her waist loosening. Dolores rolled her eyes at his protectiveness of her in front of his brothers.

"What the hell are you two up to?" Luther demanded.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me. Last I checked, I'm still the leader of this family and your little girlfriend isn't part of it."

"No, Five's right," Dolores argued before her husband could jump in at the "family" or "girlfriend" digs." Last I checked, my physical age is still greater than your IQ. You wouldn't understand."

There was a strange bark and for a second, Dolores thought there was a dog in the car. It was only when she turned to look in the back did she catch a glimpse of Five's face, which looked both amused and proud at her taunt and she realized he'd laughed. It had been a short, sharp sound but it made her straighten smugly in the boy's lap while Luther just looked confused. Five leaned forward and pressed a brief kiss to his wife's cheek, making a mental note to reward her for the insult later.

"And last I checked, we're still twenty-eight years older than you," he added.

"That still doesn't make your little girlfriend part of the family," his brother retorted, "you wanna know what your problem is?"

The boy let the "family" dig go for now, though he wouldn't easily forget it. "I'm really hoping you'll tell me," he said through clenched teeth. It helped that Dolores curled up more tightly against him, sensing his annoyance. He forced himself to relax.

"You think you're better than us," he said, "you always have, even when we were kids."

"That's because he is," Dolores said, causing Luther's eyes to flash with annoyance. Five squeezed her hand, appreciating the support but also knowing it would only make his brother stay longer.

"But the truth is," he continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "you're just as messed up as the rest of us. We're all you have and you know it."

"I don't think I'm better than you, Number One. I know I am," the boy shot back, "I've done unimaginable things, things you couldn't even comprehend, just to get back here and save you all. And Dolores isn't my girlfriend, she's my wife." Okay, maybe he couldn't ignore the insult after all.

Luther scoffed. "Don't you think fifteen is a little young to be married?"

The brunette rolled her eyes, not even wanting to bother correcting Five's idiot brother. Instead, she answered, "don't you think thirty is a little young to still be a virgin?"

There was a huff of amusement that came from her husband as Luther gave her another irritated look. "I've had just about enough—"

He was (thankfully) interrupted when his brother ran out of the nearby Mini Mart with his arms full of groceries. "Whoo!" he yelled, running down the street. A few of the bags fell out of his arms as he tried to get away.

A policeman ran after him. "Stop! Hey! Stop right now!"

Words wouldn't stop Klaus and he continued to run across the street. "Hey, bitches!" he called to them with a grin.

"You, get back here!"

As he crossed the road, a taxi cab drove towards him and tried to avoid him, though the man still managed to run into it. "Out of the way, asshole!" he exclaimed.

"Now I'm starting to wonder if coming back was the wisest decision," Five commented dryly as they watched the scene.

✧✧✧

Luther finally left them and took Klaus with him back to the Academy once he realized that Five wasn't going to come with him. The sun was almost setting when they spoke again. "Are you okay?" the boy asked, looking down at the brunette curled up in his lap.

Dolores tilted her head to meet his eyes, her gaze soft. "I should be the one asking you that," she countered quietly, "you—"

"I'm fine," the boy cut across her briskly. His eyes flicked away to look at the window and his muscles tightened as he tensed slightly. He looked down again, however, when he felt the girl's fingers gently trace over his jaw.

"Please don't shut me out," the brunette pleaded quietly. "I'm on your side. You know that, right?"

Five forced himself to relax. "Of course I know that," he told her firmly, making sure to meet her eyes. "I just don't like talking about it."

"I know," Dolores admitted, "just. . . promise me you'll tell me if it gets worse?"

The boy brought both of his hands into her lap so she could see that he wasn't crossing his fingers as he said, "I promise."

Appeased for now, the brunette leaned her head against his shoulder and turned to look out the window with him. Her fingers reached forward to fidget with his. "We're running out of time," she said worriedly, almost feeling the seconds they spent in the van slipping through her fingers.

"You know you don't have to tell me that." Five sighed. "I know there are only six days left."

"It— it just feels like we're wasting time," the brunette admitted, her gaze fixed on the dark, empty building.

"Well, you got a better idea while we wait to check the hospital?"

"No."

"Okay then." There was a pause before the boy straightened. "There's our guy."

They watched the doctor wait at the side of the curb before a car pulled up. He bent to open the door, seeming to pick something up. He then closed it again and the car drove off.

"What the hell is he up to?"

✧✧✧

Not too far away, the two assassins from The Commission held up a piece of paper with the symbol of a circle inscribed with an umbrella in the middle. A matching emblem was shown wrought in iron on the gates in front of a large building and on the doors that lead inside. At best, they expected nobody to be there, perhaps a maid or some other low-ranking worker. At worst, they expected their targets to have laid a series of traps for them to throw their pursuers off the mark. Most likely, it would be the latter.

What they weren't expecting, however, was to come face-to-face with a knife-wielding man. It certainly didn't help that they were caught by surprise a woman joined their opponent, or when a particularly large man sent Hazel flying halfway across the room.

"Who the hell are these guys?"

✧✧✧

To say Cha-Cha was in a terrible mood was an understatement. Her partner stopping to get a jelly doughnut certainly didn't improve matters and she wasn't afraid to take her temper out on him. "After everything we've been through?"

"Well, I needed some comfort food after that disaster," he answered mildly, still chewing.

"Well, tonight's a total loss," she sniped as her hand reached into the ice bucket to care for her wounds.

The bearded man turned his head lazily to look at her. "Oh, I'm not so sure about that."

Interest— and desperation— prompted them to walk out to the car immediately, Hazel taking immense pleasure in opening the trunk to show off his success. They both looked into the back of the car to see a man wearing a towel and handcuffed with duct tape curled up in the small space.

He wasn't all that was in there, though.