Seated atop the bar countertop in the sparkliest red halter top (likely taken from his sister's wardrobe) her husband had managed to find, Delores nursed her lime green margarita with gentle hands as Five plopped himself on the barstool next to her. His father's memorial photo still lay off to the side, scattered amongst the various ingredients lining the marble bench and the unsealed blender remained within arms reach—she'd barely managed to convince him not stick a straw in and drink straight from it.

Returning from the mysterious errand he had run that morning with his brothers and nephew, Five had searched the large house for Vanya, his little sister, and upon coming up short had smashed his beloved glass eye against the wall in a fit of rage. Of course, it may have also been the result of the blunt words shared between her husband and his brother that led to said broken eye. Either way, Delores had greeted him with a gentle smile and a shoulder to cry on—which in turn, had led to margaritas.

"Well" He sighed, gazing at her with the same brown eyes she'd fallen in love with all those years ago. "Do you think we really did it? Think we actually stopped the Apocalypse?"

"…" Delores didn't reply—not that she could either way—instead, she just sat there listening as Five filled the empty space with mindless chatter.

"Now what?" He slurped. "I dunno…I'm open to suggestions"

KNOCK KNOCK!

"I'll get it" He grunted slipping from the barstool and meandering over to the front door. Delores didn't have to wait long before Five returned with an old co-worker, Hazel, in tow. If she were normal, Delores would likely be rather upset that Hazel had a gun trained on her husband; but as it was this had become their new normal. Guns, death & threats—what joy! "…Are you here to kill me?"

"Oh shit! Sorry! Old habits!" Hazel apologised as he tucked the firearm away in his waistband and Five returned to his seat. Delores just sat back and watched, twirling the little cocktail umbrella swimming in her margarita as she did so, content to watch how things would play out. "Though I can understand why you might feel that way, y'know…"

"Well, you attacked our house, tried to kill my family & kidnapped my brother"

"Look there's not much I can do about the past, I'm not the only killer in this room—you got your own bloody history, pal!" Delores bristled at the accusations thrown at her husband—no matter how true they were, he didn't need to rub it in his face. "Speaking of which, the job you did in Calhoun—that shit's legendary! Can't believe I'm sittin' here talkin' to you, after all—" Hazel gushed, still standing in the middle of the room.

"—Why're you here Hazel?" Five interrupted. Apparently he too had grown tired of the man's mood swings and fangirling.

"Well, I'm, y'know—"

Hazel wasn't able to get the rest of his sentence out as Diego launched forth from the shadows and drop-kicked the assassin to the floor despite her husband's weak protests. Flipping over the fallen man with as much flair as Five had always described him to flaunt, Diego began to beat the shit out of Hazel. Who, in turn, held back slightly in fear of Five's wrath should he take things the wrong way. Or at least that's what Delores thought was happening—to be honest she didn't really care much for the rough-housing of men.

"Y'know before you kill him, you might want to hear what he has to—" Five protested weakly as Diego engaged Hazel in a petty fight. "—Say"

"I'm gonna kill you for what you did to Patch!" Diego decreed, palming a dagger as he ignored Five's comments.

"Hey—!" Hazel briefly turned to Five for assistance before jumping out of the way of the oncoming blade as it slashed at his torso.

"Or don't" Five snarked as he leant back against the bar and slurped at his margarita. "See how that goes"

"Are you gonna—?" Hazel gasped as he backed away from the enraged man.

"Come on!" Diego snarled, slamming the dagger into Hazel's thigh where it became buried up to the hilt in his flesh.

"Ooh!" Five hissed in sympathy. "That's gotta hurt"

This seemed to be the breaking point for Hazel as he easily pushed Diego off of him and yanked the dagger from his thigh before he soon began giving back the punches that were thrown. Five seemed content to just sit back and watch the two lug it out; at least until Diego wrapped himself around Hazel's torso and dug his teeth into his ear, biting down hard as the large man swung around, trying to dislodge him.

CRASH!

"I draw the line at biting" Five explained as he limped back over to the bar after blinking above the pair and smashing a crystalline vase over his brother's head, knocking him out cold. "Hazel, whatever you came here to say, I suggest you make it quick before he comes 'round"

"I left my partner, quit the Commission & came to volunteer!" Hazel rushed out.

"Volunteer? For what?" Five asked as he reclaimed his seat & margarita.

"To help stop the Apocalypse"

"Hm" Five chuckled as Hazel brushed the last of the glass of his shoulders.

"What on earth could be son funny to you right now?"

"Before I answer that, why do you wanna help us?"

"…Let's just say I have a vested interest in a donut shop"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, pal, but you're a day late & a dollar short. The fact that you're here means that without a shadow of a doubt that the Apocalypse is over"

"Really? How do you know?"

"The mark is dead—found him this morning. You were the last unknown left in the equation"

"Shit…really?"

"Mmhm…" Five hummed, gesturing for Hazel to sit next to him & join him for a drink. "And if you're out, then Hellrider ain't riding"

"Oh!" Hazel breathed a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. "All right"

Delores watched on disdainfully as Hazel joined them at the bar and then proceeded to drink straight from the blender, just as she had dissuaded Five from doing only moments before. "So…now what?" Hazel sighed.

"Well to be honest, I don't know" Five admitted, finding with his straw. "Been chasing this thing for so long, I never really thought about the day after…I dunno, what about you?"

"I'm done with all this madness, time to start over. Yous should do the same"

"That's easier said than done"

"It doesn't have to be hard—I mean, think about like this, if you never time travelled, you never got caught up with the Handler what would've happened?"

"…I guess I would've grown up to be an emotionally stunted man-child just like everyone else around here" Five replied, sparing a glance over his shoulder at his brother still knocked-out on the floor.

"Well" Hazel blinked dumbly, "There you go—now you can grow up"

Just as Hazel was about to depart, her nephew arrived. Shuffling into the room dressed in plaid-patterned pants that were inside out with sewing pins decorating the seams and a silver dress shirt that was pinned together with a purple and navy striped bow tie. Stopping at Diego's feet, Theodore's brows furrowed in confusion as he spared a question glance towards the two men at the bar. "Did you kill uncle?" He pointed towards the unmoving body on the floor framed by shards of glass.

"No, he was being an ass" Hazel replied as the two old colleagues spun to face the teen.

"Oh" Theodore replied dumbly. "Okay" He then turned to Hazel with nostrils flared as the look of confusion was soon replaced with recognition as his blue eyes roved over the time-travelling assassin.

"What is it?" Hazel asked, shifting under the gaze of the brown-haired teen.

"Just…weren't you laughing at a poster the other day?"

"What?"

"Well, you were high as a kite—"

"Er…"

"—Course it still wasn't as weird as the guy on the subway the other day—"

"What?" Five asked, his brows pinching in confusion as he perked up at his nephew's offhanded comments.

"—Weird branding by the way, who wears animal masks with suits?" Theodore continued on as if he hadn't heard his uncle. "Well, I s'pose there's masquerade balls…"

"Back up, back up—what are you talking about?" Hazel waved.

"Oh yeah, there was a guy on the subway a couple days back—same suit and everything—'cept he was wearing this pig mask—"

"—Dennis!"

"Whatever you say—Spongebob was certainly giving it to him, though" Theodore shrugged before turning back to the uncle at his feet, effectively dismissing any further inquiries as he did so.

Delores watched on amusedly as Theodore then bent down and grabbing a hold of his uncle's ankles and dragged him off of the thin Egyptian rug that lay there. Once clear of the rug, said item was then rolled back and the hidden trapdoor beneath, was hauled open. "What are you doing?" Five questioned as Theodore jumped into the dark hole, and subsequently inhaled one of the many dust clouds lingering beneath.

"Nana needs the rest of her pins from her other sewing kit—" Theodore coughed, his voice floating out of the dark hole. "—so she can take in one of Grandfather's suits for me"

"Why do you need one of Dad's suits?"

" 'Cause Mama's got her concert tonight and 'pparently it's not a jeans and t-shirt kinda deal"

"Vanya's concert?" Five strode over to the hole and tried to peer inside, doing his best not to spill his margarita.

"Yeah, she made first chair"

"Hm"

"How can you even see in there?" Hazel asked, joining Five by the trapdoor.

"What do you mean?" Theodore replied, tilting his head back to look at the two. Two eerily blue eyes glowed from the dark depths like torches in the night.

"Je—Jesus!" Hazel cursed, jolting in fright at the alien eyes staring back at him. Five just huffed a laugh and blinked away, likely to fetch more limes or ice for their cocktails.

"Heh, kend!" Theodore laughed, before disappearing back into the depths of the small room beneath the floor. The sound of boxes being shifted and plastic/paper bags being rustled as they were moved out of the way, floated upwards. "Dauöe ovinr en raedumr ór barne!"

"I—I am not a wuss!" Hazel spluttered indignantly, somehow able to understand the foreign words spoken by her nephew.

"You—you know Loric?" Theodore puzzled as he jumped out of the shadows, carrying an old sewing kit under one arm. Delores snorted at the multiple cobwebs decorating his fluffy curls as he replaced the door & rug.

"Not much" Hazel admitted, flinching back only slightly when the teen easily alighted back on the main floor. "I had a colleague who was Loric"

"Huh" Her nephew hummed, looking at the tubby man in a new light. "Well, if that's the case, I should probably let you know that there was a hunting party in town not too long ago & I wouldn't put it passed them to send another"

"Shit—" Hazel paled slightly as he all but collapsed onto the barstool behind him, apparently aware of their shared enemy's MO. "You sure? How long ago?"

"Uh, 'bout two days, give or take"

"And what about yourself?"

"Uh, I'm gonna hang 'round for another day & then disappear—just spend my birthday with my folks, y'know"

"Mm, well, thanks—thanks for letting me know" Hazel farewelled.

"Your welcome" Theodore shrugged before disappearing back up the stairs with sewing kit in hand as Five chose that moment to slip back in from the shadows with a bag of limes in one hand and a look of contemplation written across his features.

"Hazel—!" Five called, catching his colleague before he could disappear. "One more thing before you go"

"Shoot" Hazel replied, brow quirked.

"Which one of you is the triggerman for Detective Patch?"

"Triggerwoman"

"Mm—that's too bad, her gun could've cleared my brother's name"

"Well" Hazel sighed, pulling out two pairs of firearms from his waistband and placed them on the bar. "Today's your lucky day, Amigo. Take 'em both, I'm done with this life"

Three margaritas later, Diego finally roused from his slumber with a groan and a curse. "Good" Five hummed, nonchalantly slipping at his cocktail as his brother jumped to his feet. "You're up, ready for a drink now?"

"Where is he?!" Diego demanded, looking around for Hazel who had left long ago.

"I let him go"

"You what?!"

"Now that the Apocalypse is over, it's time for the fighting to stop" This didn't seem to be the answer that Diego was looking for however as he bent to retrieve the knife embedded in the floor. "Hey! He didn't kill Patch! His partner Cha-Cha did!"

"So what? They were both there that night!"

"Well this half of the partnership gave me both of their guns. Which'll clear you because the ballistics will match Patch's crime scene" Five explained as Diego seemed to deflate at his words. "Hazel came here looking for a way out—he wanted a fresh start and he happened to have in his possession the one thing that could do our family a little good. So it's time to move on"

"Not a chance!" Diego growled, staring at the firearms on the counter.

"Suit yourself" Five sighed as he turned to pick up Delores, cradling her close. "But I am curious, your girlfriend Patch, what'd you like about her?"

"…A lot of things" Diego turned to watch them leave. "…Cute butt, nice legs"

"Anything a little more profound than that?" Five asked, almost offended on Patch's behalf. It made Delores' chest puff with pride at her husband's rebuttal.

"…She believed in people, no matter how much shit and filth she saw on the streets—she always saw the good inside"

"Well, I'm sure she'll be proud to know your killing Hazel & Cha-Cha is a way to honour her memory"

The return to Gimble Brothers' Thrift Store was bittersweet, riding around in the stolen duffle bag amongst the clutter of empty vodka bottles and rumpled scraps of paper—bit of a downgrade from the little wagon or van she was used to. As it was, Delores was just glad to spend the last few moments with her husband; well aware that the new and solemn expression he wore the entire way there had less to do with her, and more to do with something that Hazel had said.

"Hey there" Five greeted softly as he placed the duffle bag down on the display and pulled her out of the bag with loving fingers. Delores continued to smile softly as Five placed her back on the bare pedestal amongst her friends and family, beneath the glittering lights of the thrift store. Few eyes glanced their way, but quickly moved on as Five silently caressed her cheek in a rare show of affection.

"Bet it feels good to be back, amongst your friends" Five started, shoving his fisted hands into his school boy shorts as he stumbled through the goodbye. "It's okay, you don't have to say it—we always were an unlikely pair" Despite everything that they had gone through, Delores couldn't help but wonder what kind of relationship they would have had if there hadn't been an Apocalypse to begin with—would they have even met in the first place? Would he even have loved her? Would she still be his wife?

"This isn't—this isn't easy for me Delores and I—" He choked on his words, turning away as he tried to hide his misty eyes. "—I want you to know that I cherish every single minute I ever shared with you…all 23 and a half million of them…a lifetime" Her heartstrings were pulled tights as Five turned to discreetly wipe away the tears dripping down his cheeks and she desired nothing more than to wrap him in her arms. "And now look at us, we're lucky enough to get a second one…y'know Hazel's right, I do have a lot of growing up to do"

Laughing wetly, Five locked his longing gaze with Delores, those big brown eyes glazed with tears and she felt her heart swell with love. "I'll never—never forget you Delores" Seated atop the pedestal in the sparkliest red halter top (taken from his sister's wardrobe) her husband had managed to find, Delores nursed her longing heart with gentle hands as Five disappeared down the thrift store aisle with slightly trembling shoulders, leaving her behind without sparing a single glance back.