Word count: 4046

𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒 later, Elizabeth found Diego in the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets. 

She winced as he knocked over a glass container that held a few cinnamon sticks, and then rolled her eyes when he ignored it and carried on with his search.

"What are you looking for?" she questioned as she picked up the container and gently placed it back in its original spot.

He glanced back at her with surprise for a moment before returning his attention to the cabinet and shoving aside a few spices. "Painkillers. Beef man's got one hell of a punch."

"I'd imagine," she chuckled as she crossed the room and hopped onto the counter. "I'm not so sure you'd find any painkillers here though."

"What? Why?" he asked as he shut the cabinet and turned to her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Well, twelve years ago, I was looking for them because my stomach was hurting, and Klaus said he used them all. Y'know, to get high," she answered as she shrugged lightly. "So I assume that if we had any painkillers here, they would most definitely be gone by now since Klaus got here a couple of hours ago."

"What, you're wussy enough to need painkillers for a stomachache?" he joked as he leaned back against the cabinets, his arms folded.

"It wasn't exactly a . . . stomachache, per se." She scrunched her nose, the tip of her fingers now grazing against the area where the wound had once been. "It was when you, you know . . ."

Diego's eyes widened as he realized what she was talking about, his eyes now trained on her hand that was pressed against the upper right of her stomach. "When I hurt you."

". . . Yeah," she reluctantly confirmed with a nod. "That."

"You know, Goldie, there hasn't been a day that's passed where I haven't thought about that time," he sighed, his eyes drifting towards the ground as he chewed on his lower lip. "It was bad enough just after, but once you had disappeared . . . I was so mad that that was one of my last memories with you."

"I mean, we made plenty more memories after. Like when we danced, that was fun, right?" Elizabeth pointed out with a smile. "Plus, I'm here now. We can make lots more memories."

Unless the world ended, that is. Though she decided against mentioning that. 

"Yeah." Diego nodded, rubbing the side of his head.

"By the way, thanks for keeping my room the same. Though, I kinda wish you let Mom clean up a little, I've been sneezing non-stop in there," she giggled, slightly swinging her legs.

"Your room was the only thing I had left of you. I didn't want it to change," he chuckled. He gazed at her for a moment, the corners of his lips slowly turning upwards. "I'm really happy you're back, Goldie."

"Me too. It sucked in there," she sighed. "Anyway . . . did you get a new knife? Well, I can see . . ." Her eyes narrowed at the multiple knives that were slung across his utility gear, examining the handle of each one. "Let me rephrase: Do you have a new favourite knife?"

Diego gave an awkward nod, glancing downward at his array before looking back up at her. "Yeah."

"Let me see," she demanded as she held her hand out expectantly, her eyebrows raised.

"Uh . . ."

Her eyes narrowed. "Hand it over."

Reluctantly, he pulled a shiny, silver knife from his pocket and hesitated before he gave it to her. Her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed the stain of blood on its edge, and she looked back up at him with suspicious eyes.

"Whose blood is this?"

Diego mumbled the name, but it was too quiet for her to hear.

"Whose?"

He made his voice a little louder. "Luther's."

"Oh, Diego . . ." Elizabeth handed it back to him, shaking her head as she remarked, "Nothing's changed, huh?"

"Things have changed. They changed after you and Five disappeared. After Ben died." Diego's voice cracked as he continued, "Just . . . not for the better. Everything became so . . . so much worse."

She stared at Diego with a frown for a few moments before she opened her arms. "Hug."

"What?"

"Hug," she repeated. "Now."

With a small scoff of amusement, he leaned in and embraced her tightly. Elizabeth buried her head into his shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent that comforted her deeply. Diego seemed to be doing the same thing, his clutch on her only growing stronger.

She felt a few tears slip their way down her face as she finally took in that she was back home. She wrapped her arms around him more tightly, never wanting to let go of what she had been missing for so long.

"What are you guys doing?" 

Elizabeth glanced back to see that Five had entered the kitchen, and his eyebrow was quirked as he stared at them. 

"We're talking." Diego rolled his eyes as he pulled away from her. He noticed the few tears on her cheeks and wiped them away with his thumb, giving her a small smile.

"Weird way of talking," Five remarked, his jaw clenching as his eyes fixated on the man's hand that was now resting on her cheek. "Move," he ordered Diego, who heeded with another roll of the eyes.

"Still so annoying," Diego muttered under his breath. He planted a small kiss on her forehead. "Talk to you later, Goldie."

"See ya." She smiled as he headed towards the staircase.

"Still calls you that? 'Goldie'?" Five questioned with a slight scoff as he opened the fridge, narrowing his eyes as he leaned forward and examined the contents within.

"You still call me 'Elle,'" she pointed out with raised eyebrows.

"That's different." He closed the refrigerator door moved onto the cabinets, his eyes searching between the plates and bowls.

She scrunched her nose. "How?"

Five paused for a moment before stubbornly answering, "It just is."

"All right." She shrugged. "What are you looking for?"

"Coffee," he answered, now rifling through the drawers.

"Dad hated coffee," she pointed out before her eyebrows furrowed. "Besides, since when did you drink coffee?" 

He turned to her. "Since I got stuck in the apocalypse."

"Right." She nodded as he turned back to the kitchenware, her lips now formed into a small frown.

"Hey, guys," Klaus greeted as he drifted in, an electric guitar in hand. "How's it hanging?"

"Hi, Klaus." Elizabeth waved, a grin growing onto her face as he approached.

"Oh, my little Queen Elizabeth, I missed you so much," Klaus sighed happily as he leaned the guitar against the table and embraced her in a tight hug. He turned his head to look at Five, who was now looking through the pantry. "You . . . I guess I also missed you."

"Thanks for the sentiment." Five rolled his eyes as Klaus grabbed his guitar and sat down on the chair at the head of the table.

"So" —Klaus took his shoes off and then placed his bare feet on the table— "you guys still banging or what?"

"Pardon?" Elizabeth's eyes widened as she whipped her head around to face Klaus.

"I asked if you guys were still having—"

"No, we understand that, idiot," Five cut him off, his cheeks tinged red. "How did you know that we—well, I mean, we didn't do that, but . . ."

"Ben saw you guys kissing the morning you disappeared, and he told me." Klaus shrugged as he lightly plucked at the strings of his guitar. "Should've closed the door."

Elizabeth folded her arms, suspiciously staring at Klaus as Five turned to a metal rack and sorted through all the spices in there. "And did you tell everyone else?"

"No, because you two literally disappeared off the face of the Earth ten minutes after," Klaus answered as he shook his head, causing her to give a small sigh of relief. "But anyway, to reiterate my first question: You guys still bangin'?"

Before they could answer, however, Allison entered the room, dropping her coat onto a chair before walking towards the table and asking, "Where's Vanya?"

"Oh, she's gone," Klaus answered airily, holding the guitar close to him.

"That's unfortunate." Elizabeth frowned as Five approached the table, an empty French press in his hands.

"An entire square block. Forty-two bedrooms, nineteen bathrooms" —Five placed the French press on the table rather firmly— "but no, not a single drop of coffee."

Allison raised her eyebrows as she pointed out, "Dad hated caffeine."

"That's what I said," Elizabeth mumbled.

"Well, he hated children, too, and he had plenty of us," Klaus giggled for a moment before his face turned grave, all while wiggling his toes.

"I'm taking the car," Five declared as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Klaus straightened up, taking his feet off of the table as his alarmed eyes shifted to the boy. "Where are you going?"

"To get a decent cup of coffee," Five answered snidely, rolling his eyes.

"Do you even know how to drive?" Allison questioned in disbelief.

Five leaned forward, his voice low as he reassured her, "I know how to do everything."

"No, I'll come with you." Elizabeth slid off the table and pushed a hand out, making a portal. "Here. Let's go."

"If we get stuck—"

"We're not going to get stuck, idiot. Come on." She grabbed his shoulder and pushed him through, before stepping through herself.

Elizabeth and Five stepped out to the dark night, where the only brightness that greeted them came from the neon sign of the diner.

A car was parked outside of the door, but it seemed as though the owner of that car was just leaving the place, holding the door open for the two of them as they walked in.

The diner looked exactly the same as when Elizabeth had last seen it, the only different thing being the fresh batch of doughnuts that lined the metal trays. The room was empty, of both customers and workers.

"You think Trinity's still workin' here?" Five questioned as they sat down near the corner of the counter.

"I mean . . . she was pretty old . . ." Elizabeth frowned as she looked around the room, enjoying the sight of such a familiar place. "I doubt it."

"Yeah, I guess. Shame." He gave a small chuckle. "I liked her."

"Mhm." 

Elizabeth began rubbing her right thumb against the tattoo on her left forearm as she stared down at the counter.

She wanted to talk to Five about their feelings more than ever, but she was too afraid of what his response would be. 

What if he no longer felt the same? That would be real awkward. But at the same time, what if he still did? Even then, how much could even happen? The end of the world was coming, for Christ's sake! But isn't that only more reason to find out? Wouldn't it be better to—

"Something on your mind, Elle?" Five asked quietly, drawing her out of her trance.

"Hm?" She looked towards him and shook her head as she quickly answered, "No."

"There is. You're doing that thing you always do when you're bothered," he pointed out, his eyes now narrowed at her as he shifted in his seat.

Elizabeth crinkled her nose. "What thing?"

"Rubbing your tattoo," he replied, nodding towards her wrist.

She froze. "No, I'm not."

"Your thumb is still on your tattoo," he scoffed, a half-amused smile on his face. "C'mon, what is it?"

Elizabeth looked up at him, chewing on her lower lip. Should she tell him?

Might as well. It really was now or never.

After steadying her breathing, she tentatively asked, "Can I ask you something?"

He nodded. "Anything."

She sighed, closing her eyes. She spoke before she could change her mind, "Do . . . Do you still—"

There was the chiming of bells as a man entered, interrupting her before she could finish her sentence. She stopped, not wanting to have this discussion while another person was there.

The man, who looked to be in his forties or fifties, exhaled as he sat in the seat a couple away from Five. He took off his trucker hat, revealing an almost-bald head as he placed the hat onto the counter. He took out a newspaper from the inside of his vest, as well as a pen, beginning to do the daily crossword puzzle.

Five raised his eyebrows as he turned back towards her. "Still what?"

Elizabeth shook her head, glancing over to the man as she muttered, "Never mind."

The clatter of dishes and utensils sounded before an older lady appeared from the back, wearing the usual pink uniform. 

This lady, however, was not Trinity. She was Agnes, according to the cursive stitching on the right of her uniform.

"Sorry, sink was clogged," Agnes chuckled lightly as she took out a small notepad from the breast pocket of her uniform. She looked up expectantly at the man, her pen poised at the top of the paper as she asked, "So, what'll it be?"

"Uh, give me a chocolate éclair," the man decided.

"Mhm. Sure." Agnes smiled. She scribbled his order down into her notepad, giving a small nod once it was written. She glanced over at Elizabeth and Five before looking back towards the man. "Can I get the kids a glass of milk or something?"

Five gave a small scoff, an irritated smile on his face. "The kids want coffee. Black."

"Cute kid," Agnes chuckled, only receiving a blank stare from the man. "Okay," she muttered softly before putting the notepad back into her pocket and starting on their order.

"Don't remember this place being such a shithole," Five sighed, turning his head towards the man next to him. "We used to come here as kids. Used to sneak out with our brothers and sisters and eat doughnuts till we puked. Simpler times, huh?"

"Eh." The man looked quite irked at Five's choice of words as he gave a slight shrug. "I suppose."

Agnes was soon finished with their order and handed them each their food and drink, a gentle smile on her face. "Here."

Five took his mug, and Elizabeth noticed Agnes glance down at his tattoo, her eyebrows furrowing. Quickly, she reached over and pulled Five's sleeve down so that it covered the tattoo, making sure hers was covered as well. He gave her a questioning look, but she only shook her head in response.

The man pulled his wallet out, taking out a couple of bills and handing them to Agnes. "I got theirs."

"Thanks." Five nodded as the man smiled and stuffed his wallet back into his back pocket. Five looked towards the logo on the man's vest, which showed that he worked for a towing service. "You must know your way around the city."

"I hope so." The man gave a small chuckle. "I've been driving it for twenty years."

"Good." Five put his mug onto the counter, carefully inspecting the man's face. "I need an address."

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but didn't question him as he asked for the address of a department store. Perhaps it was connected to the apocalypse? Or perhaps, Five wanted something to wear other than the measly uniform?

It wasn't long until the man finished his éclair and bid goodnight to the two. With another chime of the door, he left, leaving Elizabeth and Five alone in the diner with only the sound of Agnes washing the dishes to fill the silence.

"So"—Five turned back to Elizabeth after a moment— "what was it? "

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Hm?"

"From before," he reminded her. "Do I still what?"

"Nothing." Elizabeth sighed as she shook her head. She had lost any courage she had had before.

"What is it?" he asked softly, leaning forward. "Tell me."

"No, it doesn't matter," she insisted.

He let out a small groan before he tried again, "Tell me."

"No."

"Come on, Elle, what is it?" he pleaded, nudging her with his elbow as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Five, seriously," Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head.

He rolled his eyes as he said, "Just tell me, it's not that hard."

"It kinda is," she muttered.

"Why?" Five's eyebrows knit tightly together, and he leaned forward as his voice hushed, "Is it something bad?"

"No." She paused for a moment and squinted her eyes. "Yes? If anything, it's bad for me. Don't worry."

"Well," he scoffed, his eyebrows raising, "now, I'm worried."

"No, don't—this is—it's not—" Elizabeth spluttered before halting and letting out a small exhale. "Shut up."

"Elizabeth."

"Five," she returned in the same tone.

He was silent for a moment before giving a slow nod. "I think I know what it is."

Fear began to creep up her chest as she blinked and stammered, "You . . . You do?"

"Yeah," Five said seriously. He took his left hand off of the side of his mug and ran it through his hair. "You were going to ask how I still look this sexy after so many years."

She laughed as a feeling of relief rushed through her body, shaking her head, "Definitely not."

"Oh, I think—"

Five was interrupted by the chime of the bell as the door opened. 

Their heads turned to see six men dressed in black, all of whom had heavy guns in hand. 

"Shit," he sighed as he turned back to face the front. "Elle, get out. Wait for me behind the diner."

"What? No!" she whispered, her eyes darting between the approaching men and Five. "Who are these people?"

Five ignored her as he exhaled once more. The men formed a semi-circle, while the dark-skinned man—who seemed to be the leader of the bunch—aimed his gun towards Five.

"Hmm. That was fast," Five remarked lightly to the men, not bothering to look at any of them. "I thought I'd have more time before they found me."

"Who?" Elizabeth whispered once more, completely baffled.

"Okay," the man spoke, his voice low. "So let's all be professional about this, yeah? On your feet and come with us. They want to talk."

"Who the fuck is 'they'?" Elizabeth whispered, now more to herself, seeing that everyone was ignoring her and her confusion.

As she expected, Five ignored her as he shrugged and looked down at his coffee. "I've got nothing to say."

"It doesn't have to go this way," the man warned as he readjusted his grip on his gun. "You think I want to shoot two kids? Go home with that on my conscience?"

"Well, I wouldn't worry about that." Five slowly turned to the man, a smile creeping upon his face. "You won't be going home."

Elizabeth sighed quietly, though she was sure no one noticed.

Wonderful. Now they had to murder them. This wasn't what she imagined the night going like.

Five grasped his fingers around the butterknife in front of him before sending a quick nod to Elizabeth. He teleported behind the man and stabbed him in the back of his right shoulder, causing him to open fire.

Elizabeth ducked out of the way, the bullets then passing through another man who had been standing behind her.

One of the bullets hit the light behind the second man as he fell to the ground, bright sparks flying through the air.

Five teleported onto the counter, lying across it as he called to the four remaining men, "Hey, assholes!"

Elizabeth quickly pressed her hand out to the side and leapt through a portal as the four men fired towards the counter. 

She came out of a portal just outside the diner, seeing that Five had teleported just next to the door.

"Hey, idiot," Elizabeth exclaimed quietly, "mind telling me what the fuck is happening?"

"I'll explain after we kill them." Five nodded, leaving Elizabeth to groan in exasperation.

He knocked on the glass door. The man nearest looked back at them, but just as he took a shot, Five teleported, and the bullet shattered the glass. 

"Goddammit," Elizabeth muttered before creating a portal and jumping back inside the diner.

Just as the men began to fire at her, she raised her hands and created a shield, watching as the bullets hit it and dropped to the ground. 

Five appeared just beside her, causing the men to turn their attention to him, and with the knife from before, he stabbed the closest man. 

The man nearest to Elizabeth turned to him, but before he could even direct his gun towards her direction, she pushed her hands, feeling the energy flow through her palms before sending out a scattershot blast. The gold energy quickly separated into tiny fragments as it flew through the air before impaling themselves through the man's chest. As his clothes stained with red, he fell back and lay motionless. 

Five grabbed a pencil from the counter and stabbed one of the men in an area that wasn't too pleasant, before stabbing the same pencil into his eye. Blood spurted out, and Five soon teleported to the next man.

As he worked on him, the one man left standing turned to Elizabeth and immediately opened fire. She quickly countered it with a shield with one hand as the other hand quickly assembled a spear. Once she had a good grip on the weapon, she threw it towards him, sending him flying backwards with the spear pierced in the middle of his chest.

She turned to Five just as he snapped his victim's neck, and the man was rendered lifeless. 

Elizabeth looked around at the bloody mess, letting out a deep breath as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Now, do you mind telling me who these people are?" she questioned as she looked up towards Five. "Or . . . were, I guess?"

"Not now." Five bent down and took off the man's tie before slipping it on and tightening it. He tucked it under his sweater vest as he walked over to her and firmly said, "We have to go."

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows as her eyes landed on a device that lay next to one of the men beside her. She picked it up, narrowing her eyes as she turned it over in her hands and inspected it. It was a thick, black, rectangular tracking device with a green screen at the top that had a blinking red dot right in the middle.

She raised it for Five to see, facing the green screen towards him as she asked, "This how they found you?"

He stared at it for a moment before he groaned, "Dammit".

He walked around the counter and grabbed a sharp knife, then taking a seat back in his original spot as he rolled up the sleeve of his right arm.

Elizabeth put the tracker down and quickly came to his side, her eyes widening as she watched him. "Whoa, Five, you shouldn't just—"

He ignored her and sliced a deep cut the length of a thumb into his arm, softly groaning in agony as he did so. Blood seeped out over his forearm and onto the counter as he carefully inserted his fingers into the cut and he pulled out a tiny, pill-like device that had a flashing green light.

"We've gotta go before the cops come," Five murmured to her as he got up from his spot. He grabbed an unused napkin that rested on the counter and quickly wrapped it around his injury, although it didn't seem to be too helpful as the blood soaked through.

"Okay," Elizabeth sighed as they began walking to the door.

They left the diner, entering the quiet night which was surely about to be interrupted by police sirens. Five threw the small device into a puddle as they crossed through the parking lot, and the blinking light soon diminished.

"Home?" Elizabeth asked.

"No. Vanya's," Five answered curtly. "We should tell her about the apocalypse. She'll listen."