Word count: 2981

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆, Elizabeth woke up slowly, her eyelids begging her to close once more after opening.

The small rays of sunlight that attempted to make their way into the bedroom through the closed blinds illuminated the walls and only gleamed more after Elizabeth wiggled out of Five's arms and opened the blinds.

She glanced over at the clock to see that it was nearing eight in the morning, meaning that the two of them had gotten more than enough sleep.

Quietly, she climbed back onto the bed and kneeled down next to Five. She shook his shoulders gently, gradually bringing him to consciousness.

"Already?" he mumbled as he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes with one hand.

"Mhm." Elizabeth kissed his cheek before getting off of the bed. "C'mon, sleepyhead, we have to get that footage developed."

Five gave a drowsy hum of agreement as he slipped his shoes back on. After grabbing the orange box from the nightstand, he followed Elizabeth out into the living room.

She peered into the kitchen as Five walked over to the board and inspected Allison's photo.

Elizabeth frowned as she noticed the bedroom door that was still shut; Elliott wasn't awake yet.

She then walked over to Five and took the box from him. She turned it over in her hands, examining it, before grabbing a black pen and scribbling out the date so that it was unreadable.

She looked up at Five as she put the pen back onto the desk. "We can ask Elliott to develop these once he wakes up."

Five furrowed his eyebrows as he looked around the room. "I didn't see a darkroom."

"Yeah, he converted the hallway closet." She shrugged, nodding her head back in the direction of the room that she had visited only a couple of times.

Just then, they heard the creak of a door and a few footsteps. Elizabeth viewed into the kitchen to see Elliott, dressed in a suit that consisted of a red-and-green plaid blazer and an emerald green button-up, making himself a bowl of cereal.

He spooned his cereal into his mouth as he strode over to them. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"'Morning, Elliott. Can you develop this?" Elizabeth asked brightly as she held out the box towards him.

"Huh." Elliott placed his spoon into his bowl, holding it tightly with one hand as he used the other to take the footage from her. He turned it to its back and scanned over it, reading the label out loud, "Frankel Footage. Friends of yours?"

"Cousins on my robot mother's side." Five gave him a miffed smile as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Can you do it or not?"

"Sure I can," He reassured them as he gave a quick nod.

Five sighed, "How long?"

"Well, I mean" —Elliott frowned— "I'm running low on acetic acid."

"Elliott, why are you always low on acetic acid?" Elizabeth complained, folding her arms. "This happened with Diego's photos!"

"I know, I know." He gave her a small smile before turning around and beginning to ponder. "But . . . Beeker's Cameras is open today, but it's two miles away. I mean, I'd have to take the bus. On the other hand, Gibson's is only ten blocks away, but I gotta cut through the park, and there's pigeons—"

"Elliott," she sighed.

He turned back around towards them and concluded, "It's, like, five, maybe six hours."

Suddenly, there was a high-pitched beep, and a man's voice came over one of the many radios, "Attention all units, we have a code three-fifteen at the Holbrook Sanitarium."

Five furrowed his eyebrows before turning to Elliott, who was in the middle of chewing his cereal. "The hell is a code three-fifteen?"

"Mmm" —he quickly swallowed— "fugitives on the run."

The three of them walked over to the table, which was only a few feet away from the board. Five leaned over it, his hands gripping the edge of the table as they listened.

"Twenty-five patients still at large. Many are considered armed and dangerous."

"Oh, Diego," Elizabeth breathed out, straightening up and rubbing her eyes.

"You get started on that film, Elliott," Five sighed before slipping his hand into Elizabeth's and pulling her towards the door. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Gotcha!"

"Where would Diego go?" breathed Five, his eyes shifting quickly over their surroundings as they left the home.

"Oh" —Elizabeth rolled her eyes— "I know exactly where Diego's gone."

After looking around and making sure that no one was watching them, Elizabeth pushed her hand out and made a portal before grabbing Five's hand and pulling him through.

They arrived at the opposite side of a tall, brown building, that had nearly fifty windows on each side. The bright yellow and orange advertisements at the top of the building stood out against the clear blue sky, and the street signs that rested next to the glowing red traffic lights told Elizabeth that they had arrived at the right place.

The Texas School Book Depository.

Five squinted his eyes at the metal letters at the entrance of the building. "Texas School Bo—this is where Oswald works, isn't it?"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as they slowly walked along the sidewalk. "I'm glad you remember."

"How could I forget?" he scoffed. "That test traumatized me. I still hate you for that, by the way."

"Love you too. Anyway, I figured Diego would come here first, looking for Oswald." 

Her eyes then caught notice of a car that was parked right outside of the building. She looked further through the windshield to see that Diego occupied the passenger seat, while an unfamiliar woman, whose face Elizabeth couldn't make out, sat in the driver's seat. 

"And I was right. Come on."

Elizabeth gestured for Five to follow her, and together they passed through the small row of trees, trying to stay out of Diego's line of sight. They knew that he might try to bolt as soon as he found out that they had discovered him.

Quietly, they snuck behind the black car. Five glimpsed through the rear window before giving a small nod and grasping Elizabeth's hand. He teleported both of them into the back seat just as the woman in the driver's seat questioned Diego.

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Because he is an idiot," Five replied, causing the woman to turn around, startled.

Finally close enough, Elizabeth got a good look at Diego's newly-made friend. 

She had brown skin, dark hair that reached her shoulders, and choppy bangs that looked like she had cut them herself. She wore a white turtleneck with a beige plaid dress overtop and judging by the fact that Diego was also wearing clothes that weren't belonging to the mental hospital, those clothes were stolen.

The woman then spoke, revealing her British accent, "Who the hell are you?"

"Hi." Five gave her a wide smile and wave. "I'm his loving brother."

The woman's eyes shifted to Elizabeth. "And you?"

"She's the idiot who left me to rot in the nuthouse," Diego, who hadn't seemed surprised in the least when the two of them had appeared, muttered bitterly to his friend.

"To protect you from yourself," Elizabeth insisted as she folded her arms.

The woman's eyebrows furrowed slightly as her eyes changed between her and Diego. "That's quite sweet."

"And," Elizabeth added, "because you're a dumbass who apparently has no brain."

The woman gave a giggle to this, and Diego immediately turned towards them and demanded, "Okay, all three of you, out."

Five leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he told the other man, "Lose the crazy lady and come with us. We have important business."

Diego turned back to face the front, shaking his head slowly as he responded, "I am not going anywhere with you guys."

Five gave a small sigh before glancing out of the open window next to him. A grin spread on his face as he caught sight of a passing policeman. 

"Okay, fine." He shifted over in his spot so that he was right next to the window and loudly called, "Officer!"

"Hey!" Diego whipped around and grabbed Five's arm, pulling him close. He stared into his brother's eyes, his voice rough as he inquired, "What are you doing?"

"I hear there's a reward out for you two," Five responded, his grin only growing wider as he stared straight back.

"He's bluffing," the woman said dismissively as she watched closely.

A few moments of silence passed as the two brothers intensely kept their eyes on each other.

"He's not," Diego muttered. He swallowed before breathing out, "Fine. I'll go with you guys."

"What about me?" the woman questioned, drawing their attention to the smile she had put on her face in an attempt to convince them.

Diego gave a small nod. "And I'm bringing the crazy lady."

—✩—

Elizabeth, Five, Diego, and Lila—the woman who had befriended Diego at the mental hospital—climbed up the steps to the living room of Elliott's home.

Suddenly, Elliott came marching out of the living room, a hunting gun clutched tightly in his hands. He pointed it towards them as he stopped in the middle of the room, and his voice cracked slightly as he shouted, "Where did you get the film? The Frankel Footage. The truth this time."

"You know this lunatic?" Diego muttered over to them, his eyes on the gun.

"Elliott," Elizabeth answered. "He's harmless."

"Are you sure about that?" Lila chuckled nervously.

"Are you or are you not an enemy of the people?" Elliott squeezed his eyes shut as he yelled at them.

Diego and Five turned to each other, giving small shrugs as they mused.

"Such an open-ended question."

"Really depends on the people."

"You move one more muscle," Elliott directed the end of the gun towards Five, who clenched his jaw, "I will blow your brains out."

"Come on, Elliott," Elizabeth sighed in exasperation. "Calm down."

"No!"

She groaned and was about to step towards him when Diego grabbed onto her wrist. His eyes were still on Elliott, but his grip tightened firmly.

"It's fine," Elizabeth whispered before shaking his hand off of her.

Slowly, she stepped towards Elliott, her hands raised in defence. His eyes widened, and his clutch on his gun stiffened, but he made no other move.

"Listen, Elliott," she began, feeling everyone watching her nervously, "it's all right. You know me. It's okay."

"How do I know you're not lying?" he accused as he narrowed his eyes. "You're an alien!"

"Elliott, come on." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "If I wanted to kill you or something, I would've done it after the first tuna mold. I'll be honest, I had the urge to do it, but I didn't. Right?"

"Uh-huh." Elizabeth could see that Elliott's guard was starting to lower, and she breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Everything's fine. Put the gun down, and we'll explain everything, I promise."

"No, we won't," Five interjected from behind.

She turned her head back towards him and threw him a glare.

"Yes, we will."

She plastered a smile on her face as she looked back towards Elliott. "So . . . gun?"

"Yeah, I . . . sorry . . ." Elliott began to mutter, his fingers shifting on the gun as he began to put it down.

Suddenly, Elizabeth found herself on the floor just as a loud bang echoed around the room. Lila let out a shrill shriek at the raucous noise and Five shouted, "What the hell, Elliott?!"

Diego was laying on top of her, having been the person to push her out of the way. His eyes worriedly searched Elizabeth's face as the two of them began to get up. "You okay, Goldie?"

"I'm fine." She gave him a reassuring smile as Elliott began to splutter.

"I—I didn't mean to—I'm sorry—I—it was an—an accident, I just pulled—I didn't think—"

Muttering something under his breath, Five roughly grabbed onto Elliott's shoulder, and the two of them disappeared.

Only a minute later did Five return, and he immediately rushed over to Elizabeth. He shoved Diego, who had been checking over her in caution, to the side, and placed a warm hand on her cheek.

"Are you okay?" he murmured. "Did you get—"

"I'm fine," she repeated herself, leaning forward and planting a kiss on the tip of his nose. "Where's . . . What did you do to Elliott? He's . . . still alive, right?"

"I just tied him up in the kitchen" —Five nodded towards the next room, where the faint sounds of muffled wails could be heard— "he's fine. I can kill him if you—"

"No, I don't want you to—" she sighed, shaking her head. "I assume the footage is ready, then. We should watch it."

"What footage?" asked Diego and Lila in unison, their eyebrows furrowed.

"You'll see," Five said grimly as he brushed past them and towards the kitchen.

After about ten minutes, everything was set up and ready to go.

They all sat around the kitchen, the lights turned off as the projector that Five had set up displayed the footage onto the projection screen that was pulled down from the top of the doorframe.

Diego rested on top of the counter, tossing a knife in the air with one hand, while Elizabeth stood between him and the projector, with Five on the other side. 

Elliott sat on the very right of the room, his hands and feet bound, and his mouth gagged, while Lila painted his toenails with a metallic green nail polish that she had found.

Five pressed the play button. Immediately, an older woman, who was standing on a sidewalk, was displayed. She was wearing a beige headscarf, and blonde hair poked out. Her large, black-rimmed glasses sat in front of her furrowed brows as she spoke to the camera.

"Is it on?"

"I don't know," the man behind the camera replied, stuttering slightly.

"What do you mean?" the woman questioned. "There's an 'on' button. Just . . . There's something over"—the camera faced upwards towards the sky as they tried to figure it out— "that jigga-ma-thing, whatever."

"I hit the jigga-ma-thing," the man insisted as the camera focused in on the bright yellow and orange signs on top of the building behind, ones that Elizabeth recognized almost instantaneously.

"Okay, well, just . . ." the woman sighed. "Give it to me, honey—give it to me. I know how to do this."

"All right, here. Here. Hurry up."

"Okay, all right, let's see . . ."

The camera panned to the green grass before going back up to show the man who they had heard speaking. He was wearing a green cardigan over a light blue button-up and had similar glasses as his wife.

"They're so cute," Lila sighed as she continued to paint Elliott's toenails. "I love old couples. I'm always so proud of them for not murdering each other."

"Why are we watching this?" Diego groaned, his head turned towards Elizabeth, who was watching the footage intently.

"Shush."

"Yeah, I . . . I'm Dan Frankel," the elderly man introduced himself. "And . . ."

"I'm Edna Frankel," the woman said from behind the camera.

"Edna Frankel," Dan repeated with a nod. "We are in Dallas, Texas, to see the president. Today's date is November 22, 1963."

Elliott began to struggle even more as these words were spoken, shifting in his seat and his legs wiggling as he tried to get out of his chair.

Lila looked up towards the footage, her eyebrows furrowed. "Well, that's six days from now."

"Holy shit." Diego stopped playing with his knife and leaned forward, his eyes now concentrated on the video. "This is it. The grassy knoll. Kennedy's about to get shot. How do you have this?"

"Hazel died to get me this footage," Five answered, staring at the video as he kept his hands in his pockets. "It must be the key to stopping doomsday."

"Hazel?" Diego questioned.

Five exhaled, "Long story."

Lila crinkled her nose as she looked up at him, her hands paused on Elliott's feet. "What's doomsday?"

"Longer story."

Diego took his eyes off of the screen and looked towards Five. "What exactly did he say to you?"

"Well, he was killed before he could explain," Five gave a small sigh. "But whatever he wanted us to see, it's on this film."

"This is very exciting."

Then, gunshots sounded, and screams erupted. The camera became lopsided and soon dropped to the ground as a clatter of footsteps filled the air.

"Oh my God!"

Diego straightened, his eyes wide. "Oswald."

"The president!"

Then, the camera was picked up, and they all got a clear view of the street and who stood upon it.

"Oh, no," Five breathed out. His eyes fixed on the screen, he pressed a couple of buttons on the projector, and the footage began to rewind. He paused it and moved the cart backwards in order to enlarge the image. "This can't be."

Diego slid off of the counter, his expression just as horrified as Elizabeth and Five's as they all stared at the screen.

"Okay, you gonna fill me in now?" Lila questioned as the three of them stepped up in front of the screen. "What the hell is this shit we're watching?"

"No, that's impossible," Diego said softly.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Clearly, it's not."

"What . . ." Elliott's voice was muffled from the rag in his mouth as he leaned forward. "What is it?"

They stared at the man dressed in a smart suit and hat, who was holding a black umbrella high over his head. The glint of the gold monocle and the long, brown goatee were unmistakable.

Five and Diego answered simultaneously, "Dad."