𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏 around seven in the morning the next day. 

His words still a little slurred—whether from sleepiness or his hangover, Valerie wasn't sure—he explained to Luther the same thing he had told her only a few days before: the end of the world was coming. 

Valerie was sitting next to Five on the bed, picking at the strings of the blanket. His recount soon came to an end, and, as expected, it had left the larger man dumbfounded. 

Luther, sat in a chair that he had pulled up in front of the bed, stared at his brother for a moment. His hands clasped. 

"When's it supposed to happen? This . . . apocalypse."

"I can't give you the exact hour, but . . ." Five, his elbows rested on his knees, moved his lowered eyes up to the man. "From what I could gather, we have four days left."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"It wouldn't have mattered," answered Five with a sigh.

"Of course it would," Luther insisted angrily, his forehead creased. He shifted forward in his spot. "We could've banded together, and helped you try to stop this thing."

"For the record," Five said solemnly, "you already tried."

"What do you mean?" Luther's expression softened, a wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows.

Five was silent for a moment, his gaze lowered as he thought to himself. He chewed on his lower lip for a few seconds before he quietly admitted, "I found all of you . . . Your bodies."

Luther's voice was soft with shock, "We die?" 

Five gradually looked up at him, swallowing before giving a curt nod. "Horribly." His eyes moistened, and he paused for a moment before flicking his eyes over the room. "You were together, trying to stop whoever it was that ends the world."

Luther was about to say something when he suddenly paused, pressing his lips together. A look of confusion crossed his expression as he scrunched his nose. "Wait, how do you know that?"

Five pulled out the glass eyeball from the pocket of his blazer and tossed it to Luther, who caught it and began to examine it. "This was clutched in your dead hand when I found you. Must've ripped it out of their head right before you went down."

Luther studied the eye for a moment before turning his gaze to Five. "Whose head?"

"Like I said" —Five shrugged— "I don't know."

Luther turned the eyeball over, his eyes squinted as he read the printed number on the back of it. "Well, there's a serial number on the back. Think maybe you could try—"

"No, that's a dead-end," Valerie cut him off, letting out a small sigh as she shook her head. "That was the lead I was talking about before."

Five chuckled, though the laugh lacked humour. "It's just another hunk of glass."

Interrupting their conversation, the door flung open. Their attentions drew there to see Diego, who now had growing fury in every step as he stormed over to them, his eyes hardened as they set upon Five.

"Piece of shit," he muttered as he marched his way over to them. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"

He was about to charge towards Five when Luther stopped him, wrapping his arms around him and lifting him into the air.

Diego kicked at his legs and pulled his arms but remained unsuccessful as he wriggled and squirmed. Angrily, he shouted, "Let go of me, you ape!"

"Not until you calm down," Luther said rigidly, his grip around him only tightening with every kick and jab. "I could do this as long as I need to."

Diego halted his attacks, pressing his lips together as his forehead creased. After a moment, he conceded with a sigh, "Fine."

With a small nod, Luther brought Diego back to the ground and raised his eyebrows. "Now, wanna tell us what you're talkin' about?"

"Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back," Diego spat as he turned to face Five. "He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's, and then at Gimble Brothers, after the guys in masks attacked the Academy, looking for him."

"None of which is any of your concern," Five said simply as he crossed a leg over the other.

"It is now," Diego breathed out. "They just killed my friend."

Luther turned to the two that sat on the bed, his eyebrows furrowed. "Who are they, Five?"

Five was silent for a moment before he swallowed and shrugged. "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, fair game."

"And now they're my fair game." Diego turned and began to walk back towards the stairs, a murderous expression on his face. "And I'm gonna see to it they pay."

"That would be a mistake, Diego," Five called after him with furrowed eyebrows. "They've killed people far more dangerous than you."

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Diego scoffed as he walked out before slamming the door behind him.

"Former employer?" Luther turned to the two of them once Diego was gone, his eyebrows raised. "What's this really about? And don't give me any of this 'It's none of your business' crap, all right?"

Five shrugged. "Well, it's a long story."

Luther sat down, his eyes inviting Five to explain.

Five sighed before explaining to Luther about the Temps Committee. "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," he continued, "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. Save the world."

Luther rubbed his eyes as he took in yet another cluster of surprising information. "So . . . you were a hitman?"

Five gave him a nod of confirmation. "Yes."

"Uh . . . I mean, you had a code, right?" Luther questioned, uncomfortably shifting in his seat. "You didn't kill just anybody."

Five glanced over at Valerie, who had suddenly become interested in the hem of her skirt. She had a feeling she knew what the answer was, but she really was hoping that she was wrong. It seemed that he knew that she didn't like what he was going to say next as he chewed on his lower lip and frowned.

"No code. We took out anyone who messed with the timeline."

"What about innocent people?" Luther asked incredulously as he furrowed his eyebrows, just as shocked as Valerie was at his heartless answer.

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

Valerie's head immediately snapped up. "Even the innocent?"

"But that's murder," Luther uttered at the same time, though Five's gaze only remained on the girl. 

"Jesus, Valerie, grow up." Five straightened up, a scoff escaping his lips as he rolled his eyes. "We're not kids anymore. There's no such thing as good guys or bad guys. There's just people, goin' about their lives."

It seemed as though he immediately regretted his words as soon as they came out, his eyebrows scrunching together and his lips pressed tightly as he turned to her and sighed.

Ignoring his pleading gaze, Valerie got up from the bed, walking over to the other side of the room as she thought to herself.

What the hell happened to Five? Sure, he's always been a pretty harsh and slightly arrogant guy, but justifying murder? Not only that but the murder of the innocent?

Five got up and followed her, his eyes imploring as he tried to redeem himself. "Val, I didn't mean it like—"

Valerie ignored him and spoke quietly, "I'm going to go back to the Academy."

"Well, I'm coming," Five said firmly as he folded his arms. "Bring me."

"I'll stay here, wait for Diego to come back." Luther, who had been watching with concern, nodded.

Valerie stared at Five for a moment, before rolling her eyes and reluctantly placing her hands on his shoulders. She ran the two of them back to the Academy and stopped in the upstairs hallway.

They began to walk to their rooms before Five suddenly stopped and nudged Valerie.

"What?" she asked exasperatedly as she turned to face him. "I don't want to hear—"

"No, not that. Look," he whispered as he pointed to the bathroom, where the door was open. The white bathtub had bloodstains covering it, immediately worrying Valerie as she furrowed her eyebrows.

There was a sigh that came from next to them, and they turned to see Klaus in his room, his hair still wet from his bath.

Five knocked on the already open door, catching Klaus' attention as he put his arms through the armholes of a grey muscle tank. "You okay?"

Klaus froze upon hearing his voice, clearly not having expected any visitors. "Hey. Yeah, I just . . ." He let out a nervous chuckle, not looking at either of them. "Long night."

"More than one, from the looks of it," Five mused as he leaned against the door, his hands in his pockets as he watched Klaus.

"Yeah."

Five gestured towards the metal chains hanging off of Klaus' neck as he pulled his shirt on. "Don't remember the dog tags."

"Yeah, they belonged to a friend," Klaus grunted.

Five pointed to the dark skull tattoo on Klaus' arm, one Valerie had never seen before, and asked, "How about that new tattoo?"

"You know, I don't totally remember even getting it," Klaus dismissed as he waved his hand, gesturing for them to leave. "Like I said, it was a long night."

The two of them didn't budge. Five had an angry smile on his face as he stepped towards Klaus. "You did it, didn't you?"

"What are you talkin' about?" Klaus questioned innocently as he sat down on his bed.

Valerie remained in her spot, folding her arms and leaning against the doorframe as she watched Five walk over to Klaus.

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

Klaus raised his eyebrows as he innocently asked, "Symptoms of what?"

"The jet lag. Full body itch. Headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up into your nose and through your brain," Five listed, his voice growing more irritated by the second. "You gonna tell me about it?"

Klaus sighed, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before conceding, "Your pals, when they broke into the house and they couldn't find you, they took me hostage instead."

"And in return," Five chuckled bitterly as he began to pace around the room, "you stole their briefcase."

Five had told Valerie about the Committee's briefcases before. They were given to hitmen and could transport the user to wherever, whenever. And it seemed as though Klaus had gotten a taste of one.

"Yeah. I thought there was money in it, or I could pawn it, you know, whatever," Klaus sighed regretfully as he stared down at the ground. "And then I opened it."

"And the next thing you knew, you were . . . where?" Five stopped pacing, his eyes narrowing as he looked towards the man and tilted his head. "Or should I say when?"

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at Five and inquired, "What difference does it make?"

Five groaned as he started pacing again. "What diff . . . Uh . . ."

Valerie stepped towards the two before Five could blow up at Klaus, and put her hands on her hips. "How long were you gone?"

"Almost a year," Klaus responded, shrugging.

"A year?!" both Valerie and Five exclaimed at the same time.

"Do you know what this means?" Five questioned incredulously, walking closer to him.

Klaus grinned as he shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ten months older now."

"No, this isn't any sort of joke, Klaus," Five sighed, shaking his head. "Hazel and Cha-Cha will do whatever they can to get the briefcase."

Valerie shut her eyes for a moment before she asked, "Where is it now?"

"Gone. I destroyed it. Poof," Klaus told them before he mimicked an explosion with his hands.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Five's voice was nearing a shout at this point, his eyebrows knitting together tightly as he stepped towards the man.

"What do you care?" Klaus asked tiredly as he got up from his bed.

"What do I care?" Five repeated incredulously, his eyes widening. "I needed it, you moron, so I could get back. I could start over!"

"Just . . . Just . . ." Klaus raised a hand, obviously annoyed as he hobbled towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Five questioned.

"Interrogation's over, just" —Klaus looked back at them one more time as he exited— "leave."

Currently not wanting to be alone with Five after what he had said at Diego's place, Valerie turned on her heel and called over her shoulder, "I'm going to get food."

"Val-Valerie! C'mon," Five groaned as she left the room. "I need your help!"

Valerie went down to the kitchen, taking a large container of cooked rice and beginning to spoon it into her mouth with reluctance. Sure, she loved eating, but goddamn was it difficult to match the number of calories she was supposed to eat—which was an insane number.

About a half-hour later, Valerie trudged her way up to the third-floor, squinting slightly at the sunlight that poured through the window and directly into her eyes. She was about to head into her room when she heard muttering that came from the room next to it, and she sighed before allowing curiosity to get the best of her.

Valerie walked into Five's room, only to see his green walls covered in equations, diagrams, and arrows that he had scrawled down in white chalk.

Five was balanced on the edge of the far end of his bed, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he scribbled something down on the slanted wall in front of him.

"What . . . what are you doing?" Valerie questioned as she looked around the room, her mind quickly processing the information around her. "Are you making a probability map? Of what?"

Five, who had frozen at the sound of her voice, turned to face her. "Of whose death could save the world. I've narrowed it down to four." He gestured towards four names, which he had circled a bunch of times.

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows as she squinted her eyes towards the white letters. She sighed as she questioned, "Are you saying one of these four people . . . causes the apocalypse?"

"No, I'm saying that their death might prevent it." Five shook his head before turning back to his wall and continuing, "So all I have to do is find the people with the greatest probability of impacting the timeline, wherever they may be, and kill them." He jumped down from his bed and grabbed a notebook from his nightstand before he began to write everything down.

An unsettling feeling was making its way into Valerie's stomach. She sat down on the bed, leaning closer to the wall to read the names. "Milton Greene. So, who's he, a terrorist or something?"

Five squinted his eyes as he continued to write, giving her a small shrug as he answered, "I believe he is a . . . gardener."

It took a second for it to register in her head, and the moment it did, her eyes widened and she whipped around to face him. 

Her eyes widened even further as he pulled the case for a long gun from under his bed and placed it on top of the blanket. "Where'd you get that?"

"In Dad's room," Five answered as he opened the case and picked the gun up, examining it as he brought it up to his eyes. "I think he used it to shoot a rhinoceros. It's similar to the model I used at work. Nice shoulder fit and highly reliable."

"But you can't . . ." Valerie moved up the bed towards him, her eyebrows knit together tightly as she stared at him in shock. "Five, Milton is an innocent man."

"It's basic math." He looked up as he raised his eyebrows. "His death could potentially save the lives of billions. If I did nothing, he'd be dead in four days anyway. The apocalypse won't spare anyone."

"We don't do this kind of thing."

"We are not doing anything," he answered firmly. "I am."

Valerie stood up, folding her arms across her chest as a stern expression developed on her face. "I can't let you go and kill innocent people, Five. No matter how many lives you'll save."

"Well, good luck stopping me," Five scoffed as he began to walk towards the door, his gun clutched tightly in his hand.

She sped in front of him and pushed him back. "It won't be hard."

"Damn you and those goddamn speed powers," Five muttered under his breath, clearly annoyed. "Val, let me go."

"Five, these past few days, I have been doing whatever you needed me to do. I brought you almost everywhere, helped you steal a car, didn't question you about anything. I listened to you, without a doubt. And now I'm asking you to do the same for me," she said earnestly. "I've accepted that we don't share the same moral code, but killing people who've done nothing wrong? I can't let you do that, Five."

He sighed, "Val, you don't under—"

"There has got to be another way, Five," she pleaded, putting her hands on his shoulders. "There always is. Please."

Five gazed at her, his eyes unsure as they roamed her face.

"Besides," she continued with a small shrug, "I could literally run you all the way to Antarctica in less than a minute if I wanted to, so don't think I won't hesitate if you choose to go."

Five pondered for a moment with pursed lips. He then sighed before nodding slowly and confessing, "There is one way. But it's just about impossible."

Valerie smiled. "Nothing's impossible, Five. We'll be able to do whatever it is."

"Well . . ."

"Oh, come on," she laughed lightly. "It's us! Five and Valerie! We're so cool and strong and awesome and—okay, yeah, we're not," she admitted as Five gave her raised eyebrows of disbelief. "But whatever it is, I'm sure we can do it. It's not impossible."

Five smiled at her—a genuine one instead of a sarcastic one, for once. "I guess anything is possible when I'm with you,"  he murmured, his eyes wandering around her features as he seemed to be debating something in his head.

His eyes soon met hers, and they seemed to have a million conversations in the silence as they gazed at each other. Valerie's hands slowly drifted down from his shoulders to the sides of his arms as he began to lean in closer to her. Her heart began to race faster than usual as their faces inched closer, their lips only centimetres away. It was finally about to happen . . .

"Hey, guys, what are- Oh. Uh..." Luther walked in, freezing on the spot when he noticed the position that the two were in. "I'm uh... yeah, I'm just gonna go, I'll come later- Shit." Luther stumbled, tripping on a pencil on the way out. "I'll give you guys some privacy- Uh... door," he mumbled, closing the door behind him.

Five stepped away from her, clearing his throat. "Uh . . . the plan. Anyway, I, uh . . . I—I'll meet you in the kitchen." A flash of white light appeared as he spatial-jumped to the kitchen.

Valerie sighed. Goddammit, Luther.