Word count: 2548

𝐒𝐈𝐗 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐃 passed since Elizabeth had fallen into 1963. 

And despite her and Elliott constantly checking out the window for any new visitors or crackles of electricity, Five and Diego still hadn't been spotted.

She had been on the search for her other siblings as well, but it was proving to be more difficult than she had initially imagined; they could've been anywhere other than Dallas, Texas, and she had no clue how to look for them. The only idea Elliott had come up with was to look through the phone book, but that idea was soon stopped short as none of their names was listed.

Over the six months, she had become quite good friends with Elliott. How could she not have; they've been living together, and spent a lot of time together working on finding everyone, after all. Sure, he was a bit kooky and had the most insane ideas and theories, but he was nice to her. And not racist, which was a big plus in this time.

And, although she wished more than anything to return to the time she was supposed to be in, Elizabeth had gotten quite used to living in 1963. She had lived in that time much longer than she had in 2019; she had only been in 2019 for eight days. So, the slang, the technology, the way people went about their days—she adapted to all of it pretty quickly.

Although the one thing she didn't really adapt to in this time era was the clothing. Her uniform was the one thing she had left of the Umbrella Academy, so she kept wearing it (Although, she had bought pyjamas; her uniform was not ideal to sleep in). And she never usually got too weird of a look from the passing people while wearing it; she did look like a schoolgirl after all.

She was now leaving the supermarket, a paper bag filled with groceries stuffed in her hands. 

The supermarket was only a couple of blocks away from where she lived, and the cool breeze that came with the first day of September was quite refreshing, so the ten-minute walk she was taking was quite enjoyable. In the summer months, when it had been hot as hell—that hadn't been so wonderful.

And while she walked, she always used this as a chance to search for her siblings. Sure, it would be quite the coincidence if they happened to be walking down the same street as her, but she couldn't help but feel hopeful every time she peered at a passerby's face. Although, she never did recognize anyone.

Once she arrived at the door of the apartment, she shifted the bag to her left hand as she used the right to reach into her blazer pocket and pull out her key. She unlocked the door and used her foot to push it open as she tucked the key back into the pocket and walked in.

"Hey, Elliott, I couldn't find that type of—"

"Elizabeth!" He dashed up to her, his eyes wide. He was trembling as he grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her, almost causing the box of Corn Diggers at the top of the paper bag to fall out.

"What? What?" she questioned as she hurriedly put the bag onto the table in the kitchen. "What's wrong?"

"There—" He pointed towards the window that was on the right wall of the living room, his finger shaking. "Someone came! Someone came!"

"What?" She rushed up to the window, quickly pulling the curtain aside to look out the window. She sighed as she saw nothing but the alleyway before she turned back to Elliott frantically. "Who? Did you follow them?"

He shook his head. "I—no, I didn't."

"Elliott!" Elizabeth exclaimed, slapping him lightly on the arm. "I said if I wasn't home and someone came, either go scream at them and tell them to come in or follow them!"

"I did—I did shout at him!" He nodded earnestly, wringing his hands. "But he just gave me the middle finger and ran away!"

Now trying to calm herself down, Elizabeth nodded slowly, squinting her eyes as she folded her arms. "Yeah, I see how that plan is a little flawed. . . . Do you know who it was?"

"Uh . . ." Elliott scrambled to get the paper out of his pocket, it being thoroughly wrinkled from being crumpled up for so long. His eyes swiftly scanned over the descriptions. "Uh, uh—Diego, I think. He kept calling for you and your Klaus and Five friends a bunch of times. And he did have . . . Uh, what was it? Ah, right, hella knives."

"Diego's here?" she breathed out.

"I have photos!" Elliott said brightly, nodding quickly as he pointed up towards the roof. "I just have to develop them first. . . . Aw, man, but I'm running low on some acetic acid, so I need to go buy some more. . . . That'll take up some time. . . ."

"What are you waiting for, man?" She slapped him lightly on the arm once more before pointing towards the door. "Get to it!"

He nodded and ran out of the room to begin working. He had a DIY darkroom (which used to be a hallway closet) that he used to develop the photos, which Elizabeth had to get used to. She hated how complicated it was, and that was something that made her miss 2019 dearly. 

Sure, it really wasn't that complicated, but compared to what technology 2019 held, this stuff felt like it was rocket science.

Elizabeth sighed to herself as she pushed both curtains to their sides, allowing sunlight to stream into the home. She stood there for a minute, letting the sunlight wash over her skin as she shut her eyes. 

A moment later, she turned and walked back over to the kitchen. She pulled the grocery bag towards her, wincing as the box of Corn Diggers fell onto the table, and prayed that the snack was okay as she picked it back up. 

She began to unpack the food, putting them into their designated spots as her mind filled with thoughts.

Diego was here. Oh, how much she had missed Diego. The best friend that she had lost for twelve years, been with for eight days, and then lost again for six months. She could finally see him again.

Assuming she could find him, that is.

Hopefully, the photos Elliott had taken would give her some sort of sign as to where Diego went. Even just which direction he went after leaving the alleyway would be helpful. She would give anything to find him.

She also needed a new plan of what Elliott should do if she wasn't home when Five arrives. If Five arrives.

Him being the last one to arrive worried her. What if time-travelling with six other people and a ghost was too much for him? What if he was. . . ?

No, she told herself firmly as she shut the fridge door. He wasn't. He was fine. She would see him again.

—✩—

Later that evening, Elliott emerged from the darkroom, his forehead beaded with sweat as his fingers gripped a small stack of photos.

Elizabeth set the book that she had been reading (The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk) onto the coffee table and got up from the couch. 

She hurried over to him, gently taking the photos as he handed them to her, and felt excitement flicker inside her.

She shuffled through them, her heart filling with joy as she inspected the grainy photos. There, not too clear but clear enough, was Diego, his face obviously filled with confusion as he looked around. She let out a small chuckle with the frame of him flipping Elliott off and then found the photo of him leaving.

With a sigh, Elizabeth held the photo up in front of her. He had gone right.

"Okay." She handed the photos back to Elliott, who then began to pin them up to the board. "Tomorrow, you and I will go to the right, ask around, look inside places, whatever. I can't imagine that he could've gotten that far, right?"

"Especially if he has no idea where he is." Elliott nodded in agreement as he pinned the last photo to the board.

Elizabeth walked over to the desk and grabbed a sticky note. She took a blue pen and then scribbled down: '5: DIEGO', before ripping it out of the pad and pressing it next to the sticky note for Luther, and above the first photo of Diego.

She folded her arms as she examined the whole board and let out a small sigh. "We've gotta find them, Elliott."

"I know." He nodded. "And then you guys can tell me all of the alien secrets."

She turned to him, her nose wrinkling. "We're . . . Yeah. Okay."

—✩—

The next day, Elizabeth and Elliott headed out of the building and walked down the alleyway. 

The sun had risen not too long before, and the skies were clear of any clouds. A light breeze passed over them as they walked, blowing her hair slightly to the side. It still wasn't that cold out, it was only September after all. And not to mention, they were in Texas.

They reached the end of the alleyway and looked out towards the road and the shops that stood across from them. The streets were already quite busy with shoppers, despite it being only a little past seven in the morning.

She and Elliott turned to the right, and she instructed him to cross the road and search that side of the street while she searched the one they were on now. 

With a nod and thumbs-up, Elliott looked both ways and crossed the road.

Elizabeth then entered the first store, which was a clothing store that she was fairly familiar with. She went in there about once a week, peering around at the pretty dresses and frilly blouses. Of course, she never bought any, she was just fine with her uniform. She just liked to look around, and, besides, it was a nice way to get her mind off of the missing people she spent every waking hour of the day searching for.

"Hello, Elizabeth!" the worker, June, greeted her with a grin. "Come to loiter again?"

June was the one who was usually working whenever Elizabeth popped in. She seemed to be around Elizabeth's age—or at least, her body's age, so seventeen—and was quite the talkative girl. 

She had fair skin, golden-brown hair that was twisted into small waves and was slightly below her shoulders, and warm, brown eyes that would welcome Elizabeth every time. Other than Elliott, she was the one sort-of friend that Elizabeth had in this place.

"No, not this time," Elizabeth chuckled lightly. She walked closer to June, who was standing behind the counter and then leaned over it, her elbows on the wood. "I'm actually looking for someone."

"Oh?" June raised her eyebrows as she asked, "Someone who works here?"

"No, no . . . I think he just might've passed by here." Elizabeth frowned as she glanced back at the window over her shoulder. "He's pretty tall, uh, Hispanic, black hair, has a long scar on the side of his face . . . Has a lot of, um, knives on him."

June looked taken aback by this description. Her eyes wandered the store for a few moments as she tried to think back in her memories but soon shook her head no, causing Elizabeth's heart to sink slightly. 

"Sorry, I don't think so," she answered with a small frown. "If I do happen to see a guy like that, I'll let you know."

"Thanks, June." Elizabeth mustered up a smile before giving a small wave of goodbye and heading out of the door.

The bells above the door chimed as she left and was once again on the sunny street. She sighed, folding her arms as she looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Diego or even any other sibling. She found none.

Elizabeth then moved on to the next store—a bakery. But yet again, no one working there had seen him either. And again, they promised to try and tell her if they saw someone of similar description. But that didn't raise her hopes too high.

Then she went to the next. And the next. And the next. And with every single 'No, I haven't seen him, sorry' and 'I don't think anyone like that came in here' she heard, her heart sank lower and lower. By the time she was at the end of the street, the sun was high in the sky, and her heart was on the ground.

But maybe Elliott had had more luck?

He hadn't. The grim look on his face as he crossed the street and walked back to her was enough to send the message. The slight lead they had was gone. Reminded her a bit of the glass eyeball—though, they had spent much longer following that lead.

"I got nothing," he sighed as soon as he reached her. "What about you?"

She only shook her head in response.

"Let's go back. I can make you some of that tuna mold that you love for lunch?" he offered as they began to head back towards the alleyway.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you that I hate tuna mold," she chuckled lightly, a small smile on her face.

"Hm? You love it?" A grin spread onto Elliott's face as he dramatically nodded. "I know, me too."

Elizabeth shook her head in amusement. At least, even in depressing times like these, Elliott could lift her spirits.

As soon as they arrived back at the home, Elizabeth headed to the living room as Elliott went into the kitchen. She sat on top of the desk, staring at the photos of Diego as she let her mind wander.

Maybe he had gone left? But that didn't make sense, the photos clearly showed him going right. Unless he had gone right and then left. But why would he do that? Was he trying to throw Elliott off of his tail? Was he confused? Lost? All three? Probably all three. But then why—

Elizabeth suddenly stopped thinking and straightened up, feeling pain in her left forearm. She looked down to see that the skin around her tattoo was furiously red, her thumb having rubbed it far too aggressively. She frowned as she gently rubbed it once more, then pulled the sleeve of her blazer over it to eliminate any lasting temptation.

"Lunch!" Elliott walked into the living room, holding two plates.

"I told you, Elliott, I don't want tuna mo—oh?" Her eyebrows raised in surprise as he handed her a plate that held a sandwich rather than the fishy meal.

"We ran out of tuna," Elliott explained with a small frown. "I'll have to pick some up later."

"Or . . . you could not buy any more tuna, and we can eat sandwiches for the rest of our lives?" she offered with a small grin.

"Tuna mold for lunch tomorrow!" he announced before heading back into the kitchen, chuckling as he heard Elizabeth groan in response.

"Him and his goddamn tuna mold . . ." Elizabeth muttered to herself as she picked up her peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich and took a bite of it. She chewed slowly as she stared at Diego, swallowing after a few moments. "I'll find you, Eggo. Don't worry."