Word count: 3886

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆, Elizabeth woke up, feeling someone nudging her arm. 

She had fallen asleep on the bed, having been sitting and leaning against the wall. Her back was in tremendous pain.

She looked over to see the cause of her awakening: Five had woken up and was now sitting next to her, his eyes anxiously watching her as she yawned drowsily. 

His hair was ruffled and askew from its normal neatness (although, Elizabeth found it rather adorable). His face was still a little sleepy, and his cheeks were a tad puffy from the alcohol the night before. She expected that he was already quite used to the hangover it gave him.

It was early morning, from what Elizabeth could gather. Cool daylight glowed from the high windows, and Luther was still asleep on the ground, his knees tucked into his chest. 

Elizabeth couldn't see a clock anywhere near, figuring that perhaps Tough Man Diego used his 'senses' (a watch) to know what time it was.

"Hey," Five whispered, seeing that she had fully awakened.

She looked over at him, letting out a small sigh. "Hi."

"Are you . . ." He swallowed nervously. "Are you still mad?"

She tried to keep her face straight as she responded, "No."

"You are," he sighed, looking down at his lap. "Shit. Elle, I—"

"You know what, Five? It doesn't matter. We have bigger problems," Elizabeth cut him off as she ran her fingers through her tangled hair in an attempt to groom it.

"It does matter, Elle." Five frowned. "And I—"

"Five. Where the hell were you?"

Luther was now awake. He got up from the floor and pulled up a chair, sitting on it as he expectantly waited for Five to give him an answer.

"It's none of your business," Five responded shrewdly.

"You're my brother. Your business is my business," Luther said sternly, his eyes hardening. "Where were you?"

"I . . ." Five sighed. He glanced at Elizabeth, who shrugged, before admitting, "Okay, fine. I guess I'll tell you about it."

"Good." Luther nodded. He furrowed his brows. "Wait, what? What's 'it'?"

"Listen, Luther," Five exhaled slowly as he moved to the edge of the bed, resting his elbows on his knees. "When I went to the future . . . all I found was destruction."

"So " —Luther's eyebrows furrowed— "what are you saying?"

"There's going to be an apocalypse," Five said blatantly. "The end of the world as we know it. Armageddon. Decimation. Cataclysm. Whatever you want to call it. Elizabeth and I've been trying to stop it ever since we came back."

"When's it supposed to happen?" Luther questioned, his eyebrows knit together tightly. "This . . . apocalypse."

"I can't give you the exact hour, but . . ." Five was silent for a moment as he looked down to his hands before continuing, "from what I could gather, we have four days left."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Luther inquired, a hint of anger in his voice.

"It wouldn't have mattered."

"Of course it would," Luther insisted immediately. "We could've banded together and helped you try to stop this thing."

Five's eyes flicked up to Luther, his voice low as he replied, "For the record, you already tried."

Luther straightened up, his eyes questioning as they stared at the other boy. "What do you mean?"

Five looked down at his hands once more, silent. His voice cracked slightly as he looked back up to his brother. "I found all of you. Your bodies."

A look of realization came over Luther's face as he raised his eyebrows. "We die?"

Five hesitated before answering, his green eyes now glassy, "Horribly. You were together, trying to stop whoever it was that ends the world."

Luther clenched his jaw for a moment as he processed the words, looking off towards the side. His head suddenly turned to face Five, confused. "Wait, how do you know that?"

Five reached into his pocket and pulled out the black cloth, beginning to unwrap it to reveal the glass eyeball. "This was clutched in your dead hand when I found you." He held it up for Luther to see before tossing it towards him. "Must've ripped it out of their head right before you went down."

"Whose head?"

"Like I said, I don't know," Five sighed as Luther held up the eyeball and examined it.

He turned the eyeball onto its back, his eyes narrowing as he saw the information printed. "Well, there's a serial number on the back. Think maybe you could try . . ."

"No, that's a dead end," Five interrupted. He chuckled unhumorously, "It's just another hunk of glass."

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows as she looked towards Five. What had happened with the eye?

Luther gave one last look to the brown eye before handing it back to Five.

All of a sudden, the door slammed open, causing Elizabeth to jump in her spot. If she wasn't awake before, she definitely was now.

Diego marched in, a look of fury painted across his face as sweat gleamed at the top of his forehead. 

"Piece of shit," he glowered as he made his way down the stairs, his glare fixated on Five. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"

Elizabeth quickly got to her feet, stepping in front of Diego before he could attempt to murder his brother. She put a hand on his chest, stopping him. "Diego, stop."

"No, I need to—" Diego groaned. "Get out of the way."

She used the hand on his chest to send a small shock blast, forcing him to jump in his spot.

"Ah! Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed, rubbing his shoulders.

"Want me to make it worse?" Elizabeth pressed her hand harder onto his chest. "Or do you want to tell us what the hell you're so mad about?"

Diego stared at her. "Our brother has been pretty busy since he got back. He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's, and then at Gimble Brothers, after the guys in masks attacked the Academy" —Diego jabbed his finger towards Five— "looking for him."

"I mean . . . I was there too," Elizabeth mumbled, but it seemed like no one had heard her as Five responded coolly to Diego:

"None of which is any of your concern."

"It is now." Diego panted, his face tightening as he tried to hold back tears. "They just killed my friend."

Luther turned around to look at the boy who rested on the bed. "Who are they, Five?"

Five looked towards the ground before looking back up and answering, "They work for my former employer. A woman called The Handler. She sent them . . . to stop me. Then, soon as Diego's friend got in their way, well" —he shrugged lightly— "fair game."

"And now they're my fair game. And I'm gonna see to it they pay," Diego said lowly, his voice gruff. He turned around, the footsteps loud with each step.

"That would be a mistake, Diego," Five called after Diego as he walked towards the open door. "They've killed people far more dangerous than you."

"Yeah, we'll see about that," said Diego loudly as he left.

Elizabeth sighed as the door slammed shut. Diego was so stubborn. And an idiot.

"Former employer? What's this really about?" Luther questioned as Elizabeth sat back down next to Five. "And don't give me any of this 'It's none of your business' crap, all right?"

Five glimpsed over as Elizabeth folded her arms before telling Luther, "Well, it's a long story."

Luther sat back down in his chair, his eyes stuck on Five as they told him to elaborate.

Five exhaled before starting, "They turned me into the perfect instrument for the rehabilitation of the time continuum. Or 'corrections,' as they called them. I wasn't the only one. There are others like me. Beings out of time, fractured, extracted from the lives that they knew. I don't know how they got there. But I do know that none of them were as good as me. They didn't realize it, but I was biding my time, trying to figure out the right equation so I could get back. If I could just get back, I knew I could stop the apocalypse." He paused. "Save the world. So I broke my contract."

"So" —Luther stared at him— "you were a hitman?"

"Yes."

"Uh . . . I mean, you had a code, right?" Luther asked nervously. "You didn't kill just anybody."

Five shook his head. "No code. We took out anyone who messed with the timeline."

"What about innocent people?"

"It was the only way I could get back here."

Luther's expression showed outrage as he breathed out, "But that's murder."

"Jesus, Luther, grow up," Five scoffed. "We're not kids anymore. There's no such thing as good guys or bad guys. There's just people, goin' about their lives. But when the world ends, all those people die, including our family." He sighed, "Time changes everything."

—☾—

About an hour later, Elizabeth and Five headed back to the Academy, leaving Luther to deal with Diego once he would return. They walked through the hall of the second floor, where Elizabeth was deliberately disregarding Five as he pleaded with her to talk to him.

"Elle, come on, I want to talk to you."

"Are you sure I'm smart enough for you to talk to?" she questioned mockingly, folding her arms.

"I seriously didn't mean it."

"Sounded like you did."

"No, I was just feeling . . ." He stopped before his sentence could finish, beginning to chew on his lower lip.

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows. "Feeling what?"

"No, nothing."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "All right."

"But actually, I wasn't—"

"Hold on." Elizabeth's eyes widened as they passed the bathroom, seeing the dark stain of blood on the white bathtub, along with the trudges of blood along the floor leading to the room on the other side of them.

Five didn't realize what she had seen, and continued pleading, "Elle, please—"

"No, no" —she lightly elbowed his side and nodded towards the blood— "look."

Five peered past her to see what she had, his brows immediately furrowing. His eyes followed the trail of blood that went into Klaus's room, where the half-opened door revealed a shirtless Klaus, who was about to put a t-shirt on.

"Klaus," he breathed out.

Five knocked on the door with the back of his knuckles, drawing Klaus's attention as his hands slipped through the armholes of his shirt.

"You okay?"

Klaus, whose hair was still damp from the bath and sticking to his forehead, froze in his spot. He looked over at them, and he sounded exhausted as he responded, "Hey. Yeah, I just . . . Long night."

Five chuckled as he took a step in, "More than one, from the looks of it."

"Yeah." Klaus itched his sides before he slowly pulled the shirt over his head, stretching his back as he did so. An unfamiliar dog tag hanging from a thin chain hung around his neck, glimmering off of the light.

"Don't remember the dog tags," Five commented.

"Yeah" —Klaus looked down at it, his fingers softly grasping around the end as he pulled it towards his face— "they belonged to a friend."

"How about that new tattoo?" Five put his hands in his pocket and leaned against the door as he nodded towards a skull tattoo that was imprinted on Klaus's left bicep.

"You know, I don't totally remember even getting it," Klaus breathed out, a small smile on his face. "Like I said, it was a long night."

An acrimonious smile grew onto Five's face as he watched Klaus sit down on the edge of his bed. "You did it, didn't you?"

Klaus rested his hands on his knees, staring down at the ground. "What are you talkin' about?"

"You know, I can recognize the symptoms, Klaus."

"Symptoms of what?"

"The jet lag," Five stated just as the other boy began to rub his eyes. "Full body itch. Headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up into your nose and through your brain. You gonna tell us about it?"

"Sorry, tell us about what exactly?" Elizabeth questioned, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked between either boy.

Klaus ignored her and looked up to Five, his eyes wide. "Your pals, when they broke into the house and they couldn't find you . . . they took me hostage instead."

"And in return, you stole their briefcase." Five's bitter smile only grew wider.

"Briefcase?" Elizabeth echoed, but yet again, no one paid her any attention.

"Yeah. I thought there was money in it, or I could pawn it, you know, whatever." Klaus sighed as he looked down at his fingers. "And then I opened it."

Five had begun to pace around in the small area he was standing in. "And the next thing you knew, you were . . . where?" He paused before falling into a worried pace once more. "Or should I say when?"

"I'm so confused," Elizabeth mumbled to herself, concernedly watching as Five ran his hand through his hair.

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows. "What difference does it make?"

Five stopped pacing. "What diff . . . Uh . . . Okay, how long were you gone?"

Klaus stared straight ahead of him, shaking his head slightly. "Almost a year."

"A year?" Five breathed out incredulously. He stepped closer to Klaus. "Do you know what this means?"

"Yeah, I'm ten months older now." A small smile spread onto Klaus's face.

"Hold on," Elizabeth interrupted, everything now clicking in her brain. "Are you saying that Klaus time-travelled?"

"Yes, get with the fucking program, Elizabeth!" Five exclaimed, his voice exasperated as he turned to her. "Jesus Christ, I thought you were smart enough to catch on yourself, but apparently not!"

There it was again. The familiar pang of emotional pain struck her square in the chest.

His expression immediately became regretful as he breathed out, "No, no, Elle, no, I didn't—"

"See you later, Klaus."

"Bye, Queen Elizabeth." Klaus waved as Elizabeth quickly headed out, obviously not noticing what had just happened right in front of him.

Tears welled in her eyes as she made her way up to the third floor. Couldn't this boy ever think before he spoke? He had literally just made the same mistake the day before! It seemed as though those apologies he was constantly uttering meant nothing; he made the same mistakes over and over.

She plopped down onto her bed, finding comfort in the fluffy blankets. Laying down on her back, she stared at the ceiling, reminiscing the wonderful moments before time travel had interrupted (and wrecked) their lives.

The night that felt as if it had been both only yesterday and decades before . . . where she had laid in this very spot, with Five next to her. When he had whispered for her to meet him on the balcony, and when he had confessed that he, in fact, felt the same way she had all those years.

Oh, how happy she had felt. The amazing, heart-string pulling Five, loved her. And she couldn't love him more. Everything he did only made her fall deeper and deeper in love. Whenever he'd tease her playfully; whenever he'd give her compliments and then bashfully say that he was kidding (which he obviously wasn't); whenever he'd give her that smile that he gave no one else . . .

It felt like that Five was long gone.

She wished he hadn't been so stupid the day right after that night. Perhaps, they could've been living much better off by now. But then again, they wouldn't have a single chance at stopping the apocalypse.

Even so, it felt as though her own world would be ending anyway. With every insult Five reused from their father, and with every out-of-character, violent act he performed, each little structure of her own universe crumbled away. Soon enough, there would be nothing left.

Five was different than before. Sure, he had already been a sarcastic, competitive, ridiculing kid before, but now he was much more than that. In a bad way. He was resentful. Vengeful. Violent. And yes, he had a pretty sizable ego back then, but boy, did he have an enormous one now.

Although, Elizabeth blamed most of that change on the many years of solitude. He had grown up by himself, with no one but a plastic mannequin(!) who was now 'dead.' Still, she had gone through something quite similar, and at least she showed some compassion to the others. Couldn't he even try to do the same?

Elizabeth sighed as she turned onto her side, her hand resting under her warm cheek as she stared at the empty spot Five had occupied many times before.

She missed him. He had been so focused on finding the owner of the eyeball, and with this apocalypse, and they never really got to sit down and talk without something happening or getting attacked. 

Granted, it was the fucking apocalypse. But still, he didn't have ten minutes to spare? It seemed like he had more than enough time, judging by the state they had found him in the day before.

As if he had heard her thoughts, Elizabeth's ears perked up as the sound of knocking cut her thoughts off. The hard raps clearly sounded against the wall next to her.

Knock, pause, knock, knock, knock.

She thought for a moment before realizing: Five wanted to meet her on the balcony.

With a sigh, she sat up, flattening down the back of her hair with one hand as she responded with another. Knock, pause, knock, knock, pause, knock.

Out of habit, Elizabeth made her way to lock the door but soon paused. She didn't have to do that anymore. Her father wasn't there to yell at her for having 'fun' at times other than noon on Saturdays.

Instead of making a portal, she just walked to the attic, which was only a few metres away down the hall from her own room. She entered the dimly lit room, feeling quite strange with the unfamiliar route as she quietly shut the door behind her.

Elizabeth could see Five's back as he sat out on the ledge that she had longed to sit on for years. The warm sunlight streamed in past him, exposing every speck of dust that drifted through the room.

Quietly, she sat down on the other end of the ledge, leaving a bit of space in between them. She didn't bother to look at him as she looked up at the clouds that edged the sun, which blocked some of the light that attempted to shine down on the city.

There was only silence between them for a few minutes. Then, she turned her head towards him and spoke:

"What do you want, Five?"

"To talk," he answered softly, his eyebrows furrowed as he gazed towards her.

"Well" —Elizabeth turned her head back to the sky— "I don't really feel like talking to you right now."

"Elle." Five moved closer to her, the stone ledge between them soon disappearing. "I'm sorry. Honestly."

"That's what you said this morning," she pointed out as she folded her arms over her chest.

"I know. But I didn't mean it. Both times. It was just . . ." he sighed, bringing a hand to his face and rubbing his eyes. "I was just frustrated, that's all."

"I've been frustrated too, Five, but you don't see me saying everything Dad has yelled at you."

"It was . . ." A troubled look came over his face. "There's just been something on my mind, and it's just been bothering me."

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows as she tilted her head. "What is it?"

"I . . ." He swallowed before he shook his head. "That's not important."

"Why not?" Her eyebrows only knit closer together, his words now concerning her. "What is it, Five?"

"Don't worry about it." Five gave her a small smile that didn't reassure her in the least. "But anyway, I'm sorry, Elle. I know how much you hated hearing Dad tell you that, and I'm sorry that I couldn't wipe your tears away from it this time." He sighed, shifting a few inches closer to her. "I promise, I will never say those words again."

Elizabeth remained silent for a moment, processing his words. She knew she wouldn't stay mad at him forever. She wasn't sure if that was even possible. And with the looming apocalypse, it seemed like there wasn't much time left anyway. . . .

"I will kick your ass if you do."

A relieved grin spread onto his face as he registered that she had forgiven him. "What's the percentage now?"

She looked up at the sky, thinking for a second. "Ninety-two."

"For who?" Five raised an eyebrow in challenge.

She scoffed, "Who do you think?"

"Well, no one's ass will get kicked." He smiled. "I swear."

Elizabeth rested her head on his shoulder, sensing the rush of feelings bursting back into her as his familiar warmth embraced her. 

Looking out at the bustling city in front of her, she mumbled quietly, "Thanks, Five."

Her eyes staring in front of her, she didn't see the affectionate smile that grew onto Five's face as he looked down towards her.

Elizabeth suddenly lifted her head, her eyebrows furrowed. "Hey . . ."

Five looked towards her, a questioning look on his face. "Hm?"

"What happened yesterday?"

Five gave a deep sigh as he looked down at his lap. He closed his eyes as he explained, "I found Biggs, and he confessed that all the clients he sells the prosthetic shit to are fake. Apparently, he bills the insurance companies for them and then sells them on the black market."

Her eyes widened as she realized what that meant. "So, you mean that the eyeball you have—"

"Could've already been sold," he finished her sentence for her, nodding slightly. "Yeah."

"So, what happened?" Elizabeth questioned, her forehead creased with worry. "He didn't want to give you the name?"

"No, we were going back to the building to get the list, but . . ." He rubbed his eyes in annoyance. "Somehow, it burned down."

"It burned down?" she repeated in horror, her eyes widening.

"Yeah. Don't know how." Five shrugged. "But that list was the only copy, so any lead we had with this eye . . . ," he sighed, "is gone."

Elizabeth frowned. "I'm sorry, Five."

He looked up toward her, his voice softening. "It's not your fault."

"Still." She gave him a small smile. "So, what do we do now?"

He straightened up, thinking for a second. "Well, I had an idea."

"Which is?"

"I'll explain later" —Five got up from the ledge and stepped inside back inside the attic— "but I do need you and your big math brain for it."

"Wow, using me for math answers again?" she joked as she followed him inside, closing the window after she stood.

"It's not homework this time," he chuckled as he reassured her, rolling his eyes in amusement.

Elizabeth smiled. "What do you need me to do?"