"𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐈𝐒 gonna—eight—but—huh?" 

Valerie stared at Five for a moment and briefly wondered whether or not he had gone insane. He had been in isolation for so many years, after all. 

But, then again, so had she. And she wasn't crazy. Probably.

Did she believe him? Yes. Did she want to believe him? No, she'd rather he be batshit crazy. But something about his fluttering eyes and pleading expression told her that he was being honest. 

Five chewed on his lower lip, nodding slowly before suddenly standing up. He tapped her shoulder to tell her to do the same as he murmured, "We have to go."

"What? Why?" she questioned, her eyebrows furrowing as she turned her head to face the closed door at the end of the hall. "What about Vanya?"

"Vanya—she doesn't believe me. She thinks time-travelling made me go insane."

"I mean, can you blame her?" She shrugged. "I'm having a hard time believing this, too. But I do," she quickly added on as he raised his eyebrows. "I believe you."

"Which is why I need your help," he replied. "We need to go back to the Academy, sleep a couple of hours, change into clothes that don't have blood on them, and then I need you to bring me somewhere."

Her eyebrows knit tightly together from the ambiguity of his last point. "Where?"

"Questions later." He craned his neck towards the hallway to make sure Vanya hadn't woken up. "Now, bring us to the Academy!"

"God, what am I, your personal chauffeur?" Valerie scoffed as she stood up.

Rolling her eyes at his nod of agreement, she grabbed a hold of his shoulders and sped them back to the place she loved most: home.

When they had reached the main foyer of the Academy, the lights had already been dimmed, and only silence greeted them. The pale moonlight that shone through the frosted windows illuminated the foyer just enough so that they could make out the outline of the staircase.

Holding onto the railing for extra support, the two of them quickly headed up the few sets of stairs until they reached the third floor. They bid each other a mumbled goodnight before separating and heading into their own room.

She could barely keep her eyes open as she changed into pyjamas and washed her face, but she managed to fully prepare for bed before slipping in. 

Valerie could hardly sleep—hell, she could hardly appreciate the fact that for the first time in twelve years, she had an actual mattress, blanket, and pillow to sleep with.

Five's words bounced through her mind as she tossed and turned in bed, and she found herself somehow more tired when Five knocked on her door about four hours later.

With a small groan, Valerie got up from her bed and opened the door rather reluctantly. "I can't sleep for, like, thirty more minutes?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, it's not like the fate of the world is in our hands," he deadpanned before the amused smile on his face then dropped. "Oh, wait. It is."

"Oh, shut up," she muttered as she playfully slapped his arm. "Okay, where am I—" She paused as she noticed a small, circular object in his hand that he was toying between his fingers. "What is that?"

"Oh, this?" he questioned as he raised the object for her to see.

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to make out the object with her exhausted eyes. She thought she was somehow seeing wrong, but after a moment, she realized it was what she thought it was: a glass eyeball.

"It could be the key to saving the world," Five told her seriously.

"Okay, whatever," she sighed, too drained to even question why an eyeball would be the key to stopping an apocalypse. "So, where am I bringing us?"

He glanced back down at the eyeball as he wrapped it with a black cloth before telling her, "Meritech Prosthetics."

"I don't know where that is. Do you have an address?"

"Can't you just run around the entire city until you find it?" He raised an eyebrow, shoving the cloth-wrapped ball into his pocket. "It wouldn't take long, I imagine."

She closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh. "Fuck you."

Five smirked. "You wish."

Oh, but she did wish.

Valerie stared at him for a moment before shrugging. "Fine, I won't bring you anywh—"

"Oh, I'm kidding, come on, Val," he pressed, rolling his eyes as he lightly pushed on her shoulder.

"Okay, okay, let me change and eat something first," she sighed before speeding down to the kitchen and opening the fridge.

She sped her way through three meals worth of food, and quickly went back to her room. She changed into a fresh uniform and took her sweet time brushing her teeth and hair. 

And despite the fact that she was about to embark on a journey that she was sure wouldn't be anything near fun, she couldn't help but enjoy her early morning. 

Sure, the impending doom of the apocalypse was approaching, but why focus on that when she could focus on how soft blankets and pillows were? Or how refreshing it was to splash water onto her face after a night of sleep? Or how absolutely delightful it was to bask in the sunlight that bathed her room?

Ignoring the grumbling about how it took her too long, Valerie grabbed onto Five and then sped through the city, checking every sign and building for the name of the company he so desperately wanted to visit. 

She found it after a few minutes—a grand, brown building that looked to be fifty feet tall and had a few people roaming in and out. The silver letters of the company name were fastened onto the front of the building and glistened in the sunlight. 

She stopped in front of the building, letting go of Five as soon as she did before nodding to it. "This the place?"

He sighed, clutching at his stomach for a moment before he collected himself. He then peered over to the sign in front of the building, and then checked the back of the eyeball that he had just taken out. "Yep. Let's go."

They headed inside and took the elevator up a couple of floors before walking into the foyer, which, luckily, wasn't so busy. 

Valerie clasped her hands behind her back as she looked around, her eyes squinting slightly. 

A secretary sat behind a marbled desk, not paying any attention to them as her eyebrows knit together in concentration while she worked on her computer. There was a male mannequin on either side of the desk, both of them having a green leg, blue arm, and the company's logo on their chest.

"Hey, listen, Five," Valerie started as they remained near the back of the room, glancing around nervously, "you can be rather . . . confrontational with others, so maybe I should do the talking?"

Five gave a small nod. "Yeah."

A few moments later, a slightly pudgy, middle-aged man who wore a white lab coat walked into the room, looking over at the reception desk. His ID was attached to a lanyard that hung around his neck, distinguishing him as a Mr. Biggs.

His eyes then turned to them, his expression immediately becoming puzzled as he took in the two teens in uniform. He took a step toward them with raised eyebrows. 

"Uh, can I help you?"

Valerie was about to speak as they moved towards him before Five cut her off, holding up the eyeball and demanding, "I need to know who this belongs to."

She rolled her eyes as she shook her head and looked down at her shoes which were a little worn. She was going to have to yell at him later.

The man's eyebrows furrowed at the glass eye, and he suspiciously asked, "Where did you get that?"

"What do you care?" Five scoffed. Valerie elbowed him, and he soon corrected himself, "I . . . I found it . . . at a playground, actually. Uh, must have just" —he clicked his tongue— "popped out. I wanna return it to its rightful owner."

"Oh," cooed the secretary as she smiled kindly and she looked at him, "what a thoughtful young man."

"Yeah," Five said mockingly as he gave her a miffed smile. "Look up the name for me, will ya?"

"Oh, God," Valerie muttered to herself as the secretary's expression became perplexed.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but patient records are strictly confidential." Mr. Biggs shrugged lightly, an insincere smile on his face. "That means I can't tell you—"

"Yeah, I know what it means," Five interrupted, his voice becoming more and more irritated with every word.

"But I'll tell you what I can do. I will take the eye off your hands and return it to the owner. I'm sure he or she will be very grateful, so if I can just . . ." Mr. Biggs reached out to take the eye but Five yanked his hand away.

"Yeah," he scoffed, "you're not touching this eye."

Mr. Biggs gave Five a stern look. "Now, you listen here, young man—"

Suddenly, Five reached out and grabbed the man's collar before violently pulling him close. "No! You listen to me, asshole!"

"Oh, Five," Valerie groaned, shaking her head. "Please don't do that."

Five ignored her as he continued in a low but threatening voice, "I've come a long way for this, through some shit your pea brain couldn't even comprehend, so just give me the information I need, and I'll be on my merry way. And if you call me 'young man' one more time, I'm gonna put your head through that damn wall."

Valerie rubbed her temples, shifting her eyes upwards towards the white ceiling as she prayed for God to just strike her down and kill her before she could commit murder herself.

Mr. Biggs looked over to the secretary, who was watching in alarm, and softly instructed, "Call security."

"Yeah." The secretary picked up the receiver and began dialling into the phone, her eyes glancing between the boy and the phone.

"All right," Valerie sighed before she grabbed onto the back of Five's uniform jacket and began to pull him away as he released the man.

She dragged him into the elevator and pressed on the ground level, and as soon as they were out, she sped both of them back to her room.

"What the hell, Val!" Five exclaimed furiously as he folded his arms. "I had that under control!"

"Under control?" she repeated incredulously as she shook her head. "They called security! You were supposed to let me do the talking!"

"Oh, what, you were supposed to charm them by being all sweet and kind and polite?" he questioned mockingly, his eyebrows raising. "And you think that would work?" 

She stared at him for a moment in disbelief before throwing her hands up in the air and exclaiming, "Yes!"

"Okay, fine, maybe that would've worked," he admitted with a small sigh, looking off towards the side. "I still—I'm going to need . . . I have an idea."

About an hour later, Valerie was sitting on Five's bed as he told his plan to Klaus, who seemed to be paying his full attention. Five had promised him money in return for carrying out the plan, (which Klaus was definitely going to use for drugs), so he was obviously accepting of whatever the plan was.

"Okay?" Five questioned once he had finished explaining the plan (for the second time; Klaus didn't understand it the first time around), his eyebrows raised. "You agree?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay." Klaus nodded as he waved a dismissive hand. "But you owe me twenty bucks."

"Sure, whatever." Five rolled his eyes before turning to Valerie, who was spinning one of the wheels of a small toy car that she had found on his dresser. "Val, you understand the plan?"

"What plan?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows as she looked up at him, her fingers paused on the wheel.

"What do you mea—the plan I just spent the last thirty minutes explaining!" he exclaimed incredulously, shoving a hand in his pocket as he heaved a sigh.

"Oh . . . well, I stopped paying attention thirty-one minutes ago." She shrugged before continuing to spin the back wheels of the car. "This toy car is really interesting, you know, it's kinda funny how the door—"

"Now isn't the time to get distracted," Five groaned, shaking his head.

"But this car is so fun," she mumbled as she moved onto the front wheels of the toy car.

Suddenly, Vanya's voice echoed through the halls, calling out Five and Valerie's names.

"Shit," Five sighed. "Klaus, get in the closet."

"Wha—I don't want to—"

"Now!" Five opened the closet doors and shoved a complaining Klaus in there before shutting the doors. He then walked over to the window, staying silent as he stared out and waited for Vanya, who then appeared at the door.

She sighed in relief as soon as she saw the two and walked in. "Oh, thank God. I was worried sick about you two."

Five turned to her, his hands slipped into his pockets. He gave her a sorrowful smile as he gently said, "Sorry we left without saying goodbye."

"No, look . . ." Vanya shook her head as Five stepped towards her. "I'm the one that should be sorry. Yeah, I was dismissive, and . . . I . . . I guess I didn't know how to process what you were saying. And I still can't, to be honest."

"Maybe you were right to be dismissive." He scoffed as he walked over to the desk in the corner, moving around the toy trucks. "Maybe it wasn't real after all. It felt real. Well" —he turned back to face Vanya— "like you said, the old man did say time travel could contaminate the mind."

"Then maybe I'm not the right person for you to be talking to," Vanya said as she put her hands into her back pockets, a small frown on her face. "Look, I used to see someone. A therapist. I could give you her information."

An amused smile came onto the boy's face as he shook his head. "Thanks, but . . . I think I'm just gonna get some rest. It's been a long time since I've had a good sleep."

"Okay," Vanya sighed. She looked over to Valerie, who gave her a small smile, and raised a hand in goodbye as she left the room.

Suddenly, the clatter of random objects sounded as Klaus opened the doors of the closet. "That's so" —he gasped as he almost tripped over a book that had fallen out— "touching, all that stuff about family and Dad and time. Wow!"

"Would you shut up?" Five whispered angrily as he marched towards the other boy, peering out the door to make sure Vanya hadn't heard. "She'll hear you!"

Klaus continued, "I'm moist."

Valerie wrinkled her nose as she saw his crazily coloured, ruffled suit, and she swiftly pointed out, "I thought we told you to put on something professional."

"What?" He turned to her, offended as he looked down at his clothes. "This is my nicest outfit."

Five sighed, gesturing for the two to follow him out of the room. "We'll raid the old man's closet."

"As long as I get paid," Klaus said airily.

"When the job is done," Five replied firmly.

"Okay, but just so we're clear on the finer details," Klaus began as the three of them stopped in the middle of the hallway, "I just gotta go into this place and pretend to be your dear old dad, correct?"

"Yeah." Five nodded, the corners of his lips tugging upwards. "Something like that."

"Okay, but what about her?" Klaus asked with a quirked eyebrow as he pointed to Valerie.

Five furrowed his eyebrows as he followed the finger and gazed at Valerie. "What about her?"

"Yeah, what about me?" Valerie questioned with a wrinkled nose, now feeling slightly offended as she pushed his finger away.

Klaus let out a loud laugh. "No way anyone will believe she's your sister or my daughter. You and I being related, sure, passable. Her? She's a different race than us, my friend. Or, my son, I guess."

"What if I'm adopted?" Valerie suggested with a shrug, eliciting a nod of agreement from Five. "I mean, that is what it's like in real life."

"Mmm . . ." Klaus crinkled his nose before he pointed out, "Do I really look like someone who can handle two kids? That would adopt another trouble kid? Not believable."

Five folded his arms as he glanced over at her. "Then what do you suggest?"

"Hmm . . ." Klaus's fingers danced across his chin as he pondered for a moment before he snapped his fingers. "We could always say she's your girlfriend or something."

"Girlfri—why not just friend?" Valerie questioned, feeling her cheeks begin to redden.

"No. I think it's more believable if you two were a couple, you already act like it." Klaus winked before quickly continuing, "What's our cover story?"

"What?" Five, whose face seemed to be as flushed as Valerie's, squinted his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, was I really young when I had you? Like, sixteen? Like, young and" —Klaus placed his hands over his chest, a grieved look on his face— "terribly misguided?"

Five sighed. "Sure."

"Your mother, that slut. Whoever she was. We met at" —he looked off to the side, thinking for a moment— "the disco," he chuckled. "Okay? Remember that." He suddenly snapped his fingers before groaning, "Oh my God, the sex was amazing."

"Okay, enough," Valerie scoffed as she slapped his arm, receiving a small giggle in response.

"What a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain," Five remarked with disgust before turning towards the stairs and beginning to head down.

Klaus pointed his finger at him as he threatened, "Don't make me put you in time-out."