When Allison got off the plane she saw that she had three missed calls from Diego. With a sigh, she called him back.

"Did you find him?" Diego demanded.

"I just got off the plane."

"Then why did you call me?!"

"You called me."

"I knew I should have gone with you," Diego said. "Look, I can still book a flight-"

"Don't you dare," Allison said. "Listen, I know what these people are like. They judge parents on outward appearances-"

"He's our brother," Diego said. "He belongs with us-"

"Diego, we're not blood related," Allison said. "And we'll have a hard enough time confirming his identity because of the whole… you know."

"He'll just escape anyway," Diego said. "You just need to find him and he'll teleport you both outta there."

Allison had a feeling it wouldn't be that simple.

"I'm hanging up," she said. "I'll let you know when I've got him."

It wasn't quite an orphanage. They were calling it a "Shelter for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth."

"It's just a temporary accommodation." A middle aged latino woman was guiding Allison through the building. "A pit stop where the kids who are transitioning through the system can wait for potential relatives to claim them. Or where they wait to be put into the foster system."

The walls were painted in cheerful yellows and light greens, like one of those dentist offices that tried to distract from the discomfort that was inevitably ahead. Each door had a large window installed and Allison peeked through each one they walked past, eager to spot Five.

"I'm really glad you give relatives a chance to be reunited with their kids," Allison said. "I'm sure it means a lot to them."

The woman led Allison out of the hallway of doors and into a more open lobby. This one was filled with cubicles, each manned by harried looking men and women.

"Oh yes," the woman said. "Though we have to be careful. Sometimes these relatives are the very same abusers that kicked their kid out onto the streets in the first place. It becomes this whole cycle of… well, you know."

Allison didn't know, but she nodded sympathetically. The woman finally sat down at a little desk and gestured to the chair on the other side. Allison sat across from her.

"Or sometimes their child ran away from home for a very good reason," the woman continued. "So, normally, we have a careful vetting process before we release any of these kids into someone's custody."

The woman regarded her sternly, hands clasped together on top of her desk.

"Of course!" Allison said. "The safety of the child should come first."

"Of course," the woman agreed. "But I hope you'll understand that we were a bit baffled by this particular case. We won't be able to help you."

The woman produced a folder from her desk and opened it to reveal a mugshot of a disgruntled looking Five. Allison breathed a little easier, seeing that photo.

"I know we don't look related," Allison said. "But we were adopted by Reginald Hargreeves. I don't know if you've heard of us-"

"The Umbrella Academy, yes," the woman said. "But that was in the 90s. Did Mr. Hargreeves continue collecting children after that initial… inaugural class?"

"It's complicated," Allison said. "But I have a birth certificate for Five that I was hoping we could get verified. You see, miss… what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't."

Allison maintained her smile, holding careful eye contact.

The woman sighed. "I'm Mrs. Ordonez."

Allison rewarded the info with what she hoped was a softer, but bittersweet, smile.

"Mrs. Ordonez," Allison said. "My brother has a unique ability."

She dug in her purse for the folder of documents that she and Luther had been able to scrounge up from Dad's study. It held Five's birth certificate, photos of the Academy, newspaper documentation of Five's disappearance in 2002, and photocopies of key pages in one of Dad's journals. The ones that went into his theories about Five's time traveling potential.

Allison placed everything on the desk, but the woman made no move to look at any of it.

"We're very aware of the boy's abilities," Mrs. Ordonez said. "In fact, it's because of those abilities that he is no longer here."

Allison swallowed. "He ran away?"

"Yes, several times."

Allison nodded tersly. "I see."

Mrs. Ordonez leaned forward. "The boy was determined to find you. He claimed you were his sister."

"I am his sister."

"Perhaps that's true," Mrs. Ordonez said. "But we have a system in place for a reason. Three times, that boy vanished from our facility. And three times he was inevitably brought in by a concerned police officer. Well, that third time was the last straw."

Allison stared at the woman. "What are you saying?"

"There's a different organization for kids like him. They took him."

Allison gritted her teeth. "Kids like him?"

"Children with powers, Miss Hargreeves."

The implication was clear, but Allison could only sit there with her mouth hanging open. Children with powers? What children?

After they had discovered Lila, Allison had beat herself up for being so surprised. Of course there were other people like them. There were forty three women who had given birth on October 1, 1989. An extraordinary- and noticeably immaculate- conception.

Why did she keep forgetting that?

"Miss Hargreeves." The woman's gaze had softened. "I'm afraid you'll have to get in contact with the Institute for Exceptional Youth. The boy is no longer in our custody."

"The Institute for Exceptional Youth?"

Mrs. Ordonez gave her a business card where the name was emblazoned in electric blue, the letters bold and stylized.

The back of the card had a list of phone numbers packed in tightly on top of each other. The font for each number was so small Allison had to squint to make it out.

"I wish you had gotten here sooner," Mrs. Ordonez said. "The Institute has a bit of a reputation, you see."

"What kind of reputation?"

"Perhaps they take inspiration from the Umbrella Academy," Mrs. Ordonez said. "They like to think of themselves as a training facility. Molding the youth into heroes, or what have you."

Allison stared at the woman with wide eyes as the implication sank in.

"So they prefer to hold onto their charges," Mrs. Ordonez continued. "Even when a relative gains custody, they'll insist the child remain enrolled in the program. For the safety of the public, they claim."

"That can't be legal," Allison said.

"It's an ongoing battle," Mrs. Ordonez said. "They're taken to court constantly, accused of being inhumane. Child labor laws get invoked, etcetera, etcetera. It was only recently that they lost a lawsuit against one of the parents. That's where it was worked out that some of these children could live with their families, but only on the condition of continued participation in the program."

"But they can't force something like that!"

Mrs. Ordonez shrugged. "Like I said, it's an ongoing battle."

Allison nodded to herself. "Alright then."

She gathered all the documents back into her purse and stood.

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Ordonez."

"Good luck, Miss. Hargreeves."

It had been a long time since she had used so many Rumors in a row, but Allison consoled herself with the knowledge that this was for a good cause. She couldn't let these predatory bureaucrats bury her under red tape.

"Took you long enough," Five snapped, when he spotted her. "Do you have any idea what this place is like?!"

He pointedly shook his wrists at her, displaying a pair of silver and blue cuffs.

"Do those do what I think they do?" Allison said.

"Cancel out my spatial jumps?" Five huffed. "Yes."

"I'm so sorry, Five."

"Whatever. You're here now, so let's go."

She nodded. "The man who led me in thinks I work for the Institute," Allison said. "I told him I'm escorting you to their sister organization in New York."

Five scowled. "I can't go back to New York."

"But-"

"I cannot go back to New York," Five repeated. "My doppleganger is there."

"Then where do you want to go?" Allison said. "Because you can't stay in L.A. They've got your mugshot."

"I'll think of something," Five said. "Just get me out of these damn cuffs."

"We need to be strategic about this," Allison said. "My Rumors have limits."

"Get me out of these cuffs right now," Five growled. "Or so help me-"

"Everything alright in here?" The man she had rumored, a Mr. Ascot, poked his head into the room to frown sternly at Five. "This boy giving you any trouble, m'am?"

Allison sighed. "He's no trouble at all, Mr. Ascot. In fact, I heard a rumor he was so well behaved that we could trust him without restraints."

Mr. Ascot nodded and produced a slick looking device from his uniform pocket. "Of course m'am," he said. "We reward good behavior around here."

The device looked more like a USB than a key, but it fit perfectly into the little slots on Five's cuffs. They popped open.

"And I heard a rumor you had more patience," Allison said to Five. "I need you to cooperate with me, alright?"

She felt a pang of guilt as she watched Five's eyes cloud over, but she shook it off. She'd worded the Rumor ambiguously, at least. That would leave him with some freedom.

"Alright," Five said. "What's your plan?"

"We're going to walk out of here," Allison said. "Calmly, with Mr. Ascot."

Five nodded.

"He really is well behaved," Mr. Ascot said.

"Do you have money?" Five said. "I'm going to need some money. And a phone. Where's your phone? I need to call Luther."

Allison was driving them toward her apartment. She knew Five wouldn't be able to stay there for long, but she didn't like how skinny he was looking. There were bags under his eyes and red welts on his wrists. She wanted to get a decent meal in him, maybe some sleeping pills, and let him rest before he went… wherever he was going.

"What happened to your half of the inheritance?" Allison said.

"I left my wallet at home," Five said. "I left in a bit of a hurry alright? When I saw that doppelganger-"

"Would you stop calling him that?" Allison said. "He's you. He's a part of you."

"He was wandering around like a fool," Five said. "I drove right past him. He was on the sidewalk walking in the wrong fucking direction, as lost and confused as a-"

"Five," Allison said. "What does this all mean for you? We were worried that…"

That you no longer existed. She decided those words were better left unsaid.

"I don't know," Five said. "My past is incompatible with his future."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know, I said!"

"So, what, you're never going back to New York?" Allison said. "You're just going to wander around on your own?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Allison adjusted her grip on the steering wheel, glad that she didn't have to look at him. She could feel her throat tightening, tears threatening to break through her composure. Five was in such a vulnerable position, looking the way he did. Why hadn't she noticed that before?

"I'm going with you," Allison said. "We'll leave together. Maybe we could settle somewhere in Arizona?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"You have Claire to worry about," Five said. "You can't just-"

"Shut up, Five!" Just like that, the damn was broken. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but Allison was determined to handle it with her usual grace. She took a deep breath and glared through the blur in her vision.

"Pull over," Five said.

"I can still drive."

"Please."

She sighed, but did as he asked. He allowed them to sit in silence and she stared out her window and tried to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do with this mess.

When she'd gotten herself back under control, Allison wiped her eyes and turned to Five.

"Sorry."

"I've always admired the way you handle it," Five said.

"Handle what?"

He waved a hand at her face. "Your emotions. You maintain your dignity."

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious," Five said. "Allison, you've never been a hysterical woman. I don't know where you got that."

She winced. He was referring to their last conversation.

"It drove me crazy," Allison said. "When I thought that was the last time I would have seen you. The last thing I got to say to you!"

"Why would you think that?"

"Five, we thought you were dead."

He blinked.

"You disappeared!" Allison said. "The whole time travel thing, we weren't sure if… well, if the younger Five was your replacement or something. Because we stopped the apocalypse."

"Ah," Five nodded. "That would make sense."

"Why didn't you call us?" Allison said. "Why didn't you tell us where you had gone?"

"I don't have a cell phone."

"I know," Allison said. "But you could have borrowed a phone."

"I don't know the numbers," Five said. "A gross oversight, on my part. I got complacent."

She groaned.

"I'm sorry, alright?" Five said. "I'll get a phone."

She dug her own phone out of her pocket and handed it to him. "You need to call Diego."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I was going to start with Luther. I need him to-"

"Start with Diego," she insisted.

"Alright."

She couldn't make out what Diego was saying, but she could hear his angry voice.

"I said I agree with you!" Five snapped into the phone. "Do you want me to scrawl 'stupid' on my forehead with a sharpie? Would that appease you?"

Allison laughed and Five scowled at her.

"Fine, you can buy me a phone," Five said. "But it would be easier to just let me buy one myself. What, are you going to mail it to me?"

Five had tried to end the conversation several times, telling Diego that he needed to call the others, but Diego wouldn't let him go until he'd gotten all the anger out of his system.

"Just stay in New York," Five said. "I'm leaving soon anyway."

The oven beeped and Allison eagerly donned oven mitts to retrieve their frozen pizza, practically salivating. She hadn't realized how hungry she had gotten until she was unwrapping it from the plastic.

"No, I'm not going back," Five said. "I can't go back. Didn't Luther explain the problem? Paradox Psychosis is a serious impairment."

She cut the pizza into four large slices, dividing the pieces between two plates.

Five held the phone away from his ear, wincing. Allison chuckled as she made out the words "asshole" and "heart attack."

They both looked at the phone, waiting for Diego to quiet. Then Five put it back to his ear. "Are you done?"

"Tell him you'll call him back," Allison said. "You need to eat something."

Five nodded and rolled his eyes. Diego was still talking.

Then Five took a good look at the plate she'd put down in front of him. He raised his eyebrows.

She shrugged. "Claire likes pizza."

"Listen, we can have a family meeting or something," Five said, to Diego. "I'll get on that computer thing with Allison. Explain the situation."

Losing patience, Allison held a hand out for her phone. Five gave it to her.

"He'll call you back," Allison said. "We're going to eat."

"If he's not coming back, why is he leaving?" Diego said. "Where the hell is he going?!"

"He's not leaving yet, okay?" Allison said. "Like he said, we'll have a family meeting and work something out."

"Be ready on Zoom in one hour," Diego said. "I'll get everyone."

"Okay," she said. "Bye."

"Wait!" Diego said. "Give the phone back to Five real quick."

"Diego-"

"Just for a second!" Diego said. "I have to tell him something."

Five had already taken a big bite out of his pizza slice. He tilted his head at her when she held the phone back out to him.

"He wants to say goodbye," Allison said.

Five accepted the phone and listened. He swallowed his food and said, "Yeah, I love you too."

Then he laughed. "Don't act so surprised."

Allison smiled. Everything will be fine, she told herself. I'll make sure of it.

"I knew there were more of us," Luther said. "But I thought the others were all born at the same time. That it had started and ended with those forty three women."

She and Five were settled in together on her couch, craning together towards her was a tight squeeze, but they made it work.

"Evidently not," Five said. "In any case, it has nothing to do with us."

"Nothing to do with us?!" Diego said. "Those kids are being held prisoner!"

"Maybe it's a good thing," Klaus said. "Remember that wacko with the fire and ice powers?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Allison turned the laptop so she could get a better view. "I've been gone for all of two days!"

"That was a while ago," Diego said. "And we handled it, Klaus."

"There was this criminal with powers," Klaus said. "Our age, probably. Or we assumed he was our age. Thought he was like Lila."

"Why is this the first I'm hearing of it?" Five said.

"Because we handled it," Diego growled. "Me and Luther. Since we're the only ones in this family who still care about the general public!"

"I still think we should have brought it to the team," Luther said. "I mean, the family."

"Yes, you should have," Allison said. "You told Klaus, but not me?"

"No point dwelling on a decision that's already been made," Five said. "But tell me this: you said he had fire and ice powers? How did they work?"

"Um." Vanya spoke up for the first time and Allison and Five both leaned toward the laptop's speaker to hear her better. "Speaking of decisions that have already been made… are we going to talk about Detective Patch?"

"That's right!" Diego said. "You went on a mission without us too, you little bastard!"

"You said we shouldn't time travel, Five," Luther said. "You said it was too dangerous. That the apocalypse would always come back if we interfered with the past."

Allison glanced at Five. He was frowning at the screen. "Speaking of time travel," Five said. "Where's my doppelganger?"

Allison winced. She hadn't gotten around to explaining the younger Five's temporary disappearance. They knew he'd be back. Or Ben insisted he would. And she'd thought things might get sticky if the older Five went back to the Academy only for his younger counterpart to reappear as soon as he got there.

"Don't change the subject!" Klaus said.

On the screen Luther maintained a poker face. "Before we get into that, I just want to know why you lied about time travel."

"I meant time travel was too dangerous for you morons," Five said. "It's a delicate operation. When I worked for the Commission-"

"Here we go again," Diego said. "Just cause you were this cutthroat assassin for a few years, you think you're the only one who can play in the big leagues?"

"You don't need to take everything so personally," Allison said. "Besides, with the way we bumbled around in the sixties we're lucky we dodged world war three."

"Thanks to me undoing your mess for you, I might add," Five said.

"Five," Vanya said. "I'm only bringing it up because Ben was concerned."

Allison held her breath, wondering how Five would respond. He tended to be more accommodating when it came to Ben.

Well, they all did.

"What was his concern?" Five finally said.

On the screen she watched everyone turn to Klaus. "Uh, Ben's not here right now," Klaus said.

"What?" Five said. "Where is he?"

"In the living room," Klaus said. "Like, normally we'd have these little meetings in there, but he didn't want us to be in the way for… uh."

"Are we seriously doing this again?!" Vanya said. "We need to be honest with each other, you guys!"

Five nodded slowly. "That's alright, Vanya. I think I can put together what must have happened."

"We did it for Ben," Luther said, sadly. "He didn't want us to tell the other Five about… you know."

"But he found out anyway," Five said. "He's gone?"

"It's been nine days," Luther said. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Five said. "It's not your fault."

"So Ben is camped out in the living room," Klaus said. "Because he thinks baby Five will show up in the same spot when he comes back."

"Ben is right," Five said. "But there's no predicting when he'll come back. Hmm."

"Does that mean you'll come home?" Diego said. "The younger you could be gone for years, right?"

"I suppose," Five said. "But I'd want to wait at least six months or so before I chance it."

"If that's the case, maybe you can stay here," Allison said. "As long as you stay out of trouble in the meantime…"

Five shrugged. "The Institute is a relatively young organization. Their infrastructure is sloppy."

"They sound scary though," Vanya said. "Especially with those handcuffs. What if they figure out how to nullify Allison's Rumors?"

"Then you'll rescue us both, Vanya." Five smirked. "They'd have a helluva time stopping you."

"You're our fucking tank, baby!" Klaus whooped. "The nukesto Allison's peace talks."

Vanya laughed. "I guess I am, huh?"

"Regardless of all that, there's something more important at stake here," Five said. "I suppose it's high time I said this."

"You're killing me, Five," Klaus said. "Just spit it out!"

"Alright, I'll be blunt," Five said. "I'm going to save Ben."

Allison nodded. She knew he would as soon as she'd found out about Detective Patch.

"Before I go on," Five said. "Does anyone have a problem with that?"

Diego got so close to the camera Allison could see up his nose. "What's the plan?"

"Back up, Diego," she groaned. "That angle is not flattering."

He did so, glaring at her, then stoically repeated, "What's the plan?"

"I need the briefcases," Five said. "Both of them, preferably. I hate to think what my doppelganger would do if he got his hands on one."

"There were two of them?" Luther said. "I thought-"

"I got an extra one while I was saving the detective," Five said. "The one Klaus originally used to go gallivanting into the Vietnam War."

"Right, uh, so they're both in the wall?" Luther said. "Did you want me to break them out?"

Allison laughed. "You put them in a wall?"

"It's a secure location," Five grumbled. "And yes Luther, just tear the wall down. Or rather, the ceiling."

"The ceiling?" Luther said. "Which part of the ceiling?"

"The lowest section," Five said, he angled his arm at a slant demonstratively. "The slanting part of the ceiling."

"What, in your room?" Klaus said. "I thought you were gonna lock it up in Dad's safe or something."

Five ignored him. "Bring the briefcases here as soon as possible, alright Luther?"

Luther nodded. "I'll book a flight."

"I'm going too," Diego said.

"Fine, but I'm going to 2006 on my own," Five said.

"The hell you are!" Diego jabbed his finger at the laptop and accidentally set the camera back so that she and Five were staring at the ceiling.

"For the love of god," Allison said. "Someone get Diego away from the laptop!"

Klaus adjusted the angle, his lazy smirk coming into focus. "So I'll man the fort then?"

In the background Luther was holding up a struggling Diego, who kicked his legs in the air and shouted, "I'm going too dammit!"

"Listen to me, you meatheaded sorry excuse for a knock off Batman," Five yelled. "I have been planning this rescue for six months and I am not about to let you charge in like a blind bull in heat-"

"Fuck you!" Diego said. "He's my brother too!"

"Calm down," Luther said.

"You calm down," Diego said. "I just… I just want to help!"

"A good officer knows when to stand down," Five said. "And a good hero would prioritize the wellbeing of those around him over his own wounded pride."

Wow, Allison thought. That speech was half decent, for something Five definitely just pulled out of his ass.

Diego stopped struggling and Luther tentatively set him on his feet.

"Fine!" Diego spat. He stomped out of their line of sight.

Allison let out a deep breath.

"I'm going after him," Luther said. "Sorry, just… yeah."

He made eye contact with her and Allison nodded. He nodded back and walked off screen.

Vanya and Klaus shared a look.

"So then I guess I'll just… I'll be on standby," Vanya said. "And if any of you guys mysteriously disappear, I'll ask after you with that institute place?"

Klaus laughed. "Wow, like you'll just politely ring their doorbell and ask if they've seen your missing siblings?"

Vanya chuckled. "Right, hmm. But I wouldn't want to start breaking stuff right away because what if they didn't kidnap my family?"

Allison grinned. "Maybe do some reconnaissance first."

"I'd send Ben in ahead of us," Klaus said. "If he finds you guys in handcuffs we know Vanya is free to explode on their asses."

"Or send in some other ghost," Five said. "Because if all goes well, Ben won't be able to walk through walls anymore."

"Right," Klaus said. "Darn, I'm gonna need a new right hand man."

"I'm sorry guys, but it's getting kind of late," Vanya said. "I have an early lesson scheduled tomorrow morning. Could we wrap the meeting up?"

"That's fine," Five said. "We've covered the important things."

"I just want to say, before we hang up," Allison said. "Can we agree not to keep anymore secrets? Please?"

"I didn't know about the fire and ice guy either," Vanya said, frowning at Klaus.

Klaus threw up his hands. "I only found out about it because Ben loves to gossip!"

Allison glared at him, "You could have passed it on to the rest of us!"

"But Diego said-"

"And you!" Allison waggled a finger at Five. "Why didn't you tell us about your plans for Ben to start with? This whole time I thought it was one of those things we'd just have to live with. You made it seem like-"

"You saw for yourself the way Diego reacted," Five said. "If I'd told any of you it would have created a whole other obstacle."

"Ouch," Klaus said.

"Whether you intended to or not," Five continued. "The fact of the matter is you've already proven yourselves ill equipped for the delicate work of corrections."

"Corrections?"

"That's what we called it at the Commission."

"Wasn't that the term for the assassinations?" Vanya said.

"Technically, yes," Five said. "But I'd always thought there could have been a better way to go about it. For instance, what if, instead of killing key figures we instead saved individuals who had died from unnatural causes? The effect would be similar."

"I'm waiting for the 'but' to come in," Klaus said. "There's always a but."

"But," Five said. "Human beings are too unpredictable. It's harder to quantify how the new person would change things. Easier and safer just to kill people."

"Anyway, you should have told us," Allison said. "That's all."

"Noted."

With that out of the way they said their goodbyes and ended the Zoom call.

Allison cleared her throat. "So I've got a room for Claire," she said. "She visits on the weekends now."

"She won't mind me borrowing her accommodations?"

"Of course not. Well, as long as you don't disturb Splash Unicorn Mountain." Allison chuckled at the inside joke.

Five tilted his head at her. "Right…"

God, she'd forgotten how awkward it was to be alone with Five. Allison leapt up and made a show of stretching. "We should get some sleep."

"Agreed."

"You need pajamas right?" Allison said. "I can lend you something."

"Yeah."

She led the way to Claire's bedroom and Five followed her with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Then she opened the door with a sing songy little tada! and gestured at the unicorns stacked into a little pyramid in the corner.

"Like the Disney store," Claire had said. "But unicorns!"

Five glanced over the plushies and the room in general, taking in the Power Puff Girls wallpaper and galaxy bedspread.

"Thanks," he said. "For everything."

"What are sisters for?" Allison tapped her chin. "We should tell Luther to bring some clothes for you, shouldn't we? I'll text him."

"Good idea," Five said. "Listen, about Claire-"

"When this is all over, I want you to meet her," Allison said. "Before you go anywhere else. New York or Arizona or anywhere."

"Of course," Five said. "But-"

"Get some sleep, Five. You look exhausted."

Five sighed. "Alright."

She gave him an old T-shirt and some plaid pajama pants and wondered if he'd care that they were for women. They were the most gender neutral thing Allison owned, but she knew they were nothing like Vanya's clothes.

Vanya shopped in the men's section, didn't she?

Whatever he thought about it, Five accepted the clothes without another word and they went their separate ways for the night.

Alone in bed, Allison stared at the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling. Initially, she'd bought them for Claire's room, but there had been a bunch of extra stickers in the package. Rather than let them go to waste, Allison had decorated her own ceiling, too.

Claire had been pleased by the end result. "We're sleeping under the same sky, mommy."

Then Claire had insisted Patrick buy the same package of glow in the dark stars to put in her bedroom at their house.

It was all very cute and Allison wished she could peacefully look at the stars and just think of her daughter. Be happy that they were back in each other's lives again.

But she couldn't stop thinking about that old fight with Five. Ever since Five had gone missing, she'd dwelled on it. And even though he was back now, it still nagged at her.

"Your family is my family," Five had said. "As much as you might prefer to keep both sides separated-"

At the time she had cut him off. Felt insulted, even.

But the more she'd thought about it, the more she had to admit that Five was right.

Allison had always liked the distance she'd put between herself and New York. And up until her marriage fell apart, she'd loved the life she had crafted for herself. She'd wanted to keep it safe. Untainted by the Umbrella Academy.

When they got back from the sixties Allison made a promise to herself. Family first.

Both families, but obviously she had to prioritize Claire.

Claire had already talked with Luther and Vanya over video chat numerous times, but Allison had hesitated to introduce her to anyone else. The rest of the family was full of belligerent men, she'd reasoned.

Well, and Klaus. But she didn't trust him to keep his language PG.

"You met her too, Five," Allison whispered into the dark. "You should have seen your face."

The thirteen year old Five had been adorably awkward when faced with a hyperactive eight year old. Claire had been more than impressed by his powers and wanted him to tell her about his favorite missions with the Academy.

But not long after that introductory conversation, little Five had disappeared. When Claire called back and asked to speak to him, Allison had lied to her daughter's face about how and why.

You're a hypocrite, Allison thought. No more secrets? Get real.

It wasn't too late to change things. But secrets were easier. Avoiding hard conversations was easier too.

So Allison tossed and turned in bed for hours, that night, and wished she was a better person.

"Five is back," Allison said. "The younger one, I mean. I just got off the phone with Klaus. He got back last night."

"Good to know." Five didn't even look up from his notebook. "And Luther?"

Five had been obsessively scribbling incomprehensible equations for days now. Allison knew it had something to do with Ben's rescue mission, but Five hadn't bothered to explain further than that.

"His flight leaves in two days," Allison said. "I already told you that."

"You said four days," Five said.

"Yeah," she said. "Two days ago."

"Mhm," Five said. "Good to know."

"Okay, stop," Allison said. "Put the pencil down. You need to eat something."

"In a minute."

"Now, Five."

He glared at her. "I don't think you understand how delicate the timeline is. If I don't do this right the world as we know it could collapse."

Allison put her hands on her hips. "You're a time traveler," she said. "It's not like you have a limited amount of time to get this done."

"Yes I do have a limited amount of time!" Five said. "My doppelganger complicates things. I need to act sooner than I had initially planned."

"How does he complicate things?"

"The anomaly will paint a target on my back," Five said. "A big old bulls eye, bleeding red!"

"And resurrecting people from the dead doesn't already do that?"

"Not as much, no." Five gripped his hair, glaring at the equations. "I knew it was possible, but so much time had passed that I thought the timeline had corrected for his existence. Or, per multiverse theory, I thought maybe the original post- apocalyptic 2019 still existed in a parallel universe. And he'd turn up there and leave us alone."

She'd never seen Five this stressed before. The bags under his eyes were getting worse and as he continued to scribble in his notebook she noticed his hand was shaking.

Allison gently plucked the pencil from his grip and he gasped, looking up at her as if she'd just murdered someone.

"I heard a rumor…"

It was sort of anti-climactic. Once Five got a hold of the briefcase he just adjusted the dials and took a few steps back from them. They watched him open the briefcase and disappear.

She made eye contact with Luther and thought he looked like he wanted to say something, but then Five reappeared.

"Wow!" Allison said. "You're back!"

Five smirked. "It's time travel. I wasn't going to make you wait."

"But where's Ben?" Luther said.

"He's at the Academy," Five said.

"Oh," Allison said. "Because he never died in the first place, right? So he was actually there this whole time, but alive?"

"No," Five said. "The briefcase can be as selective about location as it is about time. I just dropped him off at the Academy before coming back here."

"Oh…"

Luther looked as uncertain as she felt, at least. "So if I call Klaus right now he could give the phone to Ben? But like, a solid Ben?"

"Yes," Five said. "What are you two finding so hard to understand here?"

"It just feels so… unreal," Allison said.

"Well, get over it," Five said. "And get back to New York, both of you."

"But what about you?" Luther said.

"I'll stay here," Five said. "I can't get near my doppelganger, remember?"

"But don't you want to see Ben too?"

"I just saw him."

"I think what Luther means," Allison said. "Is that it would be a little sad to leave you out of the family reunion."

"Tough."

With that said, Five disappeared with a spatial jump. The only difference between it and the jumps he'd made with the briefcase was, well, he hadn't opened the briefcase.

"I really don't feel right about leaving Five alone here," Luther said. "Maybe I should stay to keep him company?"

"That would just pissed him off."

"I know, but-"

"Luther. Ben is alive."

He smiled at her. "I still don't believe it."

"Me neither!" She said. "We have to see it for ourselves."

"Okay, but what about the Institute?" Luther said. "They could capture him again. They could hurt him."

"They're not some evil villains," Allison said. "I think they're more of an inconvenience than anything. Granted, I didn't exactly get a good look at their little boot camp. But I noticed they didn't bother to issue an Amber Alert when I busted Five out."

"Still," Luther said.

Allison leaned up on her tippy toes and grabbed Luther by the chin. "Ben is alive, Luther! Can we just be happy about that for a little while? And save all the other problems for later?"

Luther buckled under her persistence, like he always did. "We can head back to New York for a bit," he said. "But then we have to figure out what to do about this whole situation."

"Agreed," Allison said. "I'll buy the plane tickets."

And stock up the fridge with some pre-made meals, she thought. She didn't think Five knew how to cook.

It was time to leave.

It bothered Five that he hadn't solved all the problems he'd set out for himself. Like fixing Luther's body or integrating Claire into the family at large. But Time was a finite resource. He'd done his best within its limits.

He was pleased with the strides Vanya had made with her powers in the little time they'd had to train her control. She would continue to explore and grow in leaps and bounds without him, he knew, and Five felt assured that she would remain stable now that she had Ben and the others by her side.

Mom had been sorted and had been trusted to keep the fixed healing serum on standby for emergencies. That paired with the fact that Diego had apparently recruited Luther to join him on his vigilante escapades was a load off Five's mind. They could watch out for each other that way.

It was possible (no, it was likely) that Klaus would fall off the wagon again. Perhaps with alcohol, perhaps something stronger. But Five trusted his brother would pick himself back up again. Hopefully the others would make more of an effort to help, if need be.

But more important than any of that: Ben was alive. Granted, adjusting to his new life would be difficult. Five had no illusions on that front, but Ben's displacement would be survivable.

That was what mattered.

It was a shame about Dolores. Standing outside the Academy, it had been tempting to just blink in to fetch her. But the chances of running into his doppelganger were too high and he'd barely survived his last such encounters.

Besides, what kind of life could Five provide for her? That of a vagabond on the run from overzealous good samaritans?

They'd spent years drifting through the ashes with that damn wagon. Too many years. Dolores deserved a roof over her head now. She deserved a proper home.

"I know what you would say if you were here," Five murmured. "You'd say I deserve the same."

Ultimately, it didn't matter what he deserved. It was simple math. One person here was not like the others. He would only disturb the Universe if he stayed.

Five scrutinized his reflection in the full length mirror. He'd done his best to affect an older appearance by wearing a pair of platform boots he'd found in Allison's closet. Paired with dress pants, blazer, and the briefcases in each hand, Five hoped he could pass for a slim twenty something.

But as Five glared at his reflection he realized that, height or no height, there was still the problem of his face.

He sighed and returned to Allison's closet. Didn't she have a whole stack of sunglasses somewhere? He needed large ones.

When his eyes landed on the maroon fedora Five grinned. That might help too.

The damn cellphone was his last concession. Five promised himself that he would answer his siblings when called, no matter the annoyance or triviality. Yet it was with some surprise that he looked down at the screen to see Allison's flashing name not one minute after stepping out of her apartment.

Still, he answered. "What is it?"

"Where are you going?" Allison said.

He blinked. "Nowhere."

"I've got Vivint installed in my apartment. I can see that you opened the door."

Vivint? He thought. Is that some kind of fancy camera?

Five glanced back at the apartment's roof, looking for the tell-tale black orb.

"Five?" Allison said. "Why are you outside?"

He couldn't find the camera, but no matter. She was halfway across the country. He struggled to hold both briefcases while also holding the phone to his ear, but managed to juggle one into a secure position under his armpit and resumed walking.

"I'm taking out the trash," Five said.

"You mean you're taking out the briefcases," Allison said. "Dressed like some kind of hipster door to door salesman."

"Fine. You caught me. I wanted to stash them somewhere secure."

This much was true. Five couldn't bring himself to destroy either briefcase. They were too valuable. But they were also dangerous. He needed to stow them somewhere out of reach, and well separate from each other, so that they could be retrieved only as necessary.

"I thought we agreed you'd stay inside," Allison said. "You know, until we figure out what to do about the Institute?"

"Well, Allison," Five bit out. "As you can clearly see for yourself, I've taken precautions against attracting their attention."

"But we agreed-"

"I'm hanging up," Five announced. "Give Ben my regards."

Of course it would be Klaus to abuse the new phone. From the moment Five had bought the thing Klaus had made a point of calling at all hours to rant; a frivolous stream of grandiose monologues which Five would tolerate for ten minutes at a time before abruptly hanging up. After him it was Vanya who called the most, forever concerned about his "isolation." And that concern was voiced before Allison had gone to New York to see Ben.

Yet it was Allison who proved the most trouble.

"When are you going back to the apartment?" Allison said. "Isn't it getting dark outside?"

It was getting dark, but Five kept the sunglasses on anyway. At this time of evening concerned adults proved more troublesome.

"Don't concern yourself with my business," Five said.

Allison did not respond. Five took the phone off his ear to look at the screen. The call was still going.

"Hello?" Five said. "Allison?"

She still said nothing and Five could feel his heartbeat quickening, the sharp adrenaline spike of fledgling panic.

"Allison?!"

"Did you feel that?" Allison said.

"What?" he snapped.

"Did you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"The worry," Allison said. "I could hear it in your voice. I scared you for a second there, didn't I?"

He scowled. "I'm hanging up."

"Wait, just let me-"

Five swiped the little red button and stowed the phone in his back pocket. He didn't have time for mind games.

He had a bus to catch.

"Hear me out," Allison said. "Let me apologize."

He was sitting at the back of the Greyhound with the one remaining briefcase secure on his lap. After three missed calls and a slew of texts, his conscience had forced him to call her back.

"I'm listening," Five said.

"I was just trying to make a point," Allison said. "I'm sorry if I offended you."

"You did no such thing."

"Well, I'm sorry anyway," Allison said. "It was mean spirited."

"Alright."

"But will you please go back to the apartment?" Allison said. "It's late."

Might as well rip off the bandaid, he thought.

"I'm not going back."

Again, there was that silence. Five waited it out.

"Are you going to Arizona?" she finally said.

"Something like that."

"No."

He rolled his eyes. "Allison-"

"No," she said. "I won't let you do this."

"You don't have a choice in the matter."

"Yes I do," Allison said. "I can make you stay."

Knowing what she meant, Five hung up.

He lasted three weeks. In that time he learned, through various siblings, that Allison had rushed back to California not long after their last phone call. She'd reported him as an abducted child and an Amber Alert with his name and description had been issued throughout the entire Los Angeles county.

It had been too late. Five made a clean getaway and might have maintained it indefinitely if it weren't for one simple mistake: he kept answering his phone.

He never answered when Allison called, of course. He wasn't stupid. But for everyone else, Five answered.

One day, he got a call from Luther.

"I heard a rumor." It was Allison's voice, but he was too slow to react. "That you teleported yourself back to my apartment."

The first time Five had jumped through such a ridiculous distance had been the leap from New York to Dallas Texas. At the time he had blindly thrown them all backwards in time and it had been all he could do to keep a hold of his family. He hadn't given a single thought to the matter of location.

When they landed in Dallas, Five thought it was strange. Normally, when jumping through time, he would automatically arrive in the same location unless he put thought into it.

The theory Five favored to explain it was that his body had instinctively tapped into the portal he'd last opened in the time space continuum. Namely, the one that had finally returned him to a pre- apocalyptic 2019.

It was pure happenstance that the time jump had remained entangled with his last location, that of Dallas, but it opened Five's eyes to the possibilities.

How far could he stretch his spatial jumps?

When he made the trip from New York to California Five finally had opportunity and excuse to experiment with his spatial jumps. In doing so he found that, so long as the attempted location was a place he had visited and could visualize in his mind, it was possible to travel up to a thousand miles per jump.

The costs had outweighed the benefits, however, and he'd decided to reserve such jumps for emergencies.

Now Five traveled by stowing away on buses or freight trains. It was simply a more practical way to move.

And so Five was settled in the cargo hold of one such train when he answered the trap phone call from Luther.

… rumor that you teleported yourself back to my apartment.

A blink later and Five was standing in front of Allison's apartment complex.

He cursed and spun around, breath labored, only for Allison's voice to drift back out of the phone, "I heard a-"

Five flung the phone away and tried to teleport, but he was out of juice. He broke out into a run.

"Five!" Luther's voice called after him. "Wait!"

Five glanced over his shoulder. Luther was charging out of the apartment with the urgency of a man whose wife had just gone into labor.

"Shit!" Five huffed. "F-fuck off!"

Luther would quickly gain on him, so he had to think fast. Five made a beeline for the nearest potential crowd: a nearby Paul Smith store, which generally attracted a lot of foot traffic.

Teenagers enjoyed loitering outside the building to take photos of themselves against the Paul Smith's pink wall, for some reason. Five had been annoyed by this fact when sitting in the passenger seat of Allison's car, driving by on the way to her apartment after his rescue from the Institute for Exceptional Youth. Now he seized on the memory like a drowning man gasping for oxygen.

Five ran and hoped he was going in the right direction.

"Five, please!" Luther called.

Again, Five tried to teleport. Again, he failed. How many miles had he jumped to get back to LA? How far had he gotten before Allison ruined it?

The building's garish pink wall came into view and Five was relieved to see the people milling about, the crowd growing thicker as he approached. Now he could take advantage of his small stature, slipping between pedestrians like a motorcycle through traffic.

Another glance over his shoulder showed Five that Luther's hulking frame had no such freedom of movement. His brother could only stare helplessly over the heads of the strangers that separated them.

Five dug his nails into his palms, determined not to fold under the weight of Luther's visible heartbreak. He had left for the good of the family. Five knew their opinion on the issue, they'd each made their protests heard over these past three weeks, but they didn't know what he knew. There was no way to make them understand.

Protected by the crowd, Five slowed his pace and struggled for air. His side was cramping, sweat was running into his eyes, and he'd dropped his sunglasses at some point. A young woman, who couldn't have been older than eighteen or so, grabbed Five by the elbow and examined him.

"You alright, kid?"

Five nodded and shook her hand off.

"Just wait a second," the woman- no the girl- said. "Are you in trouble?"

He tried to answer her, but he was panting heavily. Why was it so hard to catch his breath?

"Kid?"

He shook his head. "Not-" Five could barely choke the word out. "No."

"Where are your parents?"

He glared at her. Tried to walk away, but she easily followed.

"Take a deep breath," the girl said.

I am! Five thought. That's all I'm doing!

For some reason, the more he tried to breath, the less oxygen he was actually receiving. He was panting in quick little bursts now, but black spots were swimming into his field of vision.

"You're having a panic attack." The girl reached for his arm again and Five flinched, warping away from her.

He collapsed a few feet away and heard someone scream.

Multiple people began shouting at once, their voices getting garbled up in each other. Five couldn't understand what they were trying to say.

Then hands were accosting him, grabbing and squeezing, trying to drag him off. Five lashed out at his attackers by punching, kicking, and biting as necessary.

But he couldn't breath and that impaired his ability to fight. The masses overtook him.

And then, blissfully, he was unconscious.

"I heard a rumor you were calm," someone said. "Calm and awake, but really sleepy. You're too tired to go anywhere. You just want to rest."

There was a cartoon on the wall in front of him. Three bobble headed figures with tiny little bodies dangling under their massive heads.

"You're awake, right Five?"

Blue, red, and green. The cartoon image of three little girls, their sausage arms and legs arranged in a facsimile of some kind of action pose.

"Five!" Allison walked in front of the wall Five had been examining. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes." Five nuzzled his face against the pillow under his cheek. "But 'm tired."

"That's good," Allison said. "But stay awake for a bit, okay?"

"You said he fainted?" A man came into view next to Allison. Five didn't recognize him.

"Yes," Allison said. "I think he just overexerted himself a bit. But I thought you could check-"

"I still think it's unethical to use your hypnotic nonsense on children," the man said. "Who knows how it'll affect his brain development? I hate to think how many times you did this to Claire-"

"This isn't about Claire!" Allison said.

They had just arrived, but Five was already tired of watching them bicker. He turned onto his back and noticed there were cartoon-y stars and planets on the ceiling.

That's right. This was Claire's room.

"I think it is, Allison." The man had an annoying voice. Five covered his ears, but he couldn't block it out. "I can't believe I agreed to unsupervised weekends. You said you wouldn't use that power anymore."

"Please," Allison said. "Please, just examine him. I'm worried he might be concussed or something."

"Then you should take him to a hospital," the man said. "I'm an Orthodontist, Allison."

"For god's sake, Patrick-"

"Shut up," Five muttered. "You're too damn loud. Both of you."

The man- Patrick, Five realized, Claire's father- tutted reproachfully. "How old is this kid? What did you say happened to his parents?"

"I told you, he's family."

"Right," Patrick said. "Like Luther is just family."

"Shut up," Five hissed, struggling to sit up. Why the hell was he so fucking tired? As he moved Five got the impression that there was a weight on his limbs, an unnatural fatigue.

He felt Allison's hand on his shoulder. Instead of helping him up, she pushed him back against the bed. "Hold on, Five. Lie still."

He meant to retort with something cutting, but the pillow under his head welcomed him with its softness.

Why was he trying to get up, anyway? He was sleepy.

"Open your eyes, kid."

Five did so and was met with harsh light. He closed his eyes against it.

"Keep them open," Patrick said. "I just need to take a quick look."

Five opened his eyes and glared into the light.

"That works," Patrick said. "Thanks."

The light was turned off. Five looked around the room, blinking, and realized Luther was sitting on the floor on the other side of the bed. He smiled at Five when they made eye contact.

"He's not concussed," Patrick said. "But you should undo your spell. It could be masking the symptoms to a different problem."

"If he's not concussed, we should let him sleep," Allison said. "I think he just needs some rest."

"Allison-"

"You can go now," Allison said. "I'll walk you out."

She ushered him out of the room and Five frowned.

He felt like he was missing something.

"Luther." Sitting up was a struggle, but Luther scrambled closer to help him get upright. "What's… what happened?"

"It's like Allison said," Luther said. "You overdid it."

"What did I overdo?"

"A spatial jump," Luther said. "Sorry, we didn't know how far you were. We wouldn't have… I'm sorry."

The frazzled pieces of the day's events were slowly returning. Five almost laughed out loud when he realized the mistaken assumption they must have made. They blamed the spatial jump for his… what had the girl called it? A panic attack.

Well alright. Five wouldn't correct them.

"Don't be sorry," Five said.

"Sorry."

Five shrugged. "It's fine."

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired."

"Right, but… aside from that?"

Five frowned. "Nothing else."

"What do you mean?"

Five pushed the fluffy pillow away from him and leaned against the bed's headboard.

"Allison Rumored me, didn't she? What did she say?"

"She was just trying to help."

"What did she say?"

"That you feel kind of sleepy but awake?" Luther said.

"What else?"

"I don't-"

"What else?"

Luther scratched his head. "Something about being calm and tired?"

Five chuckled. "Well, that won't stick for long."

"Sorry," Luther muttered.

"Why are you always so damn sorry?" Five said. "You act like everything's your fault."

"I feel like I let you down," Luther said. "First with your… with the younger you. And now. Well."

Five regarded Luther carefully. "If I ask you to do something for me, will you do it?"

"Not if it has to do with you leaving again."

"It doesn't."

Good old reliable Luther, as eager to please as ever, leaned forward. "What is it?"

"Listen carefully..."

Allison used two types of Rumors. The first kind involved straightforward commands.

When she gave a command the act would be carried out immediately and without hesitation. But as soon as the action had been completed Allison would lose her hold and the victim would need to be enthralled anew with a repetition of the triggering "I heard a rumor" phrase.

She would often be interrupted at that point. Or if she wasn't, she would eventually run out of simple commands. Likewise if she made a command that was too complicated, the listener could shake it off.

Their father had quickly caught onto the liability and had explained to a young Allison the best way to work around it: Take advantage of the victim's suspension of disbelief.

There the second type of Rumor was born. To use it well Allison would need to word her Rumor in a way that made the actions required of the victim sound reasonable, so that they would willfully carry out what was needed of them while maintaining a fraction of their autonomy.

Example: when Allison had tricked the employee at the Institute for Exceptional Youth into escorting her in and out of the building. The man had gone so far as to aid and abet in Five's escape, but he'd been under the false impression that he was following the orders of a superior.

Similarly, the Rumor that had been used on Vanya planted a believable lie in the depths of her subconscious. The idea had remained in place for twenty five years, the illusion only shattering when blatant information to the contrary presented itself.

All this had been detailed in the old man's notes. When he initially read through them Five had marveled at the potential his sister had to reshape a person's mind.

Then he'd been disgusted by his own fascination. It was morbid, in a way.

But now? Now it would be useful. An elegant solution to his paradox problem. Certainly a step up from his vague "get as far away from my family as humanly possible" plan.

He just needed Allison's cooperation.

"Absolutely not," Allison said.

"Then I'll kill myself," Five said. It was a bluff, but he knew the possibility would frighten her.

"Fuck you!"

"Should I kill the doppelganger instead?" Five said. "Does that sound better to you?"

"They both sound horrible and you know it."

"Then save me," Five said. "It's not the same as what Dad made you do to Vanya-"

"I can't believe you'd ask me to do something so… so…"

"Think of it like medicine," Luther said. "It's like Five caught a weird illness and… like, with cancer patients doesn't the radiation make them really sick? But it also saves their lives."

"An imperfect metaphor, Luther," Five said. "It's somewhat like that, sure. Just without the pain and hair loss."

"Fuck you both," Allison said.

Luther reached out to hold her hand. "Allison-"

"It doesn't make sense." Allison withdrew her hand from his grasp. "I thought Paradox Psychosis was a physical thing? Wouldn't it still affect them both even if… even if I do it?"

"From what I've been told the affliction is Time's way of expelling trouble makers," Five said. "It's rooted in the mind because the brain is where we make our decisions, see? And all decisions, big and small, are the catalyst for potential branching paths in an individual's personal timeline. If the mind is touched by an outside source it gets moved, like when a scientist observes an electron, understand?"

They did not understand. That much was clear from their expressions.

But Luther nodded anyway. "Right. Yeah."

Allison furrowed her brow, turning his words over in her mind, and then proved herself intelligent by saying, "But then wouldn't every time traveler catch Paradox Psychosis? Whether or not they talked to a doppelganger?"

Five snapped his fingers and pointed at her proudly, "Good point! The reason they don't is because time is flexible. We aren't, not when we divorce ourselves from Time, but when we remain within Time's current we're as malleable as play-doh."

Luther gave up pretending he understood. "Play-doh?"

"The base material remains the same," Five explained. "But the shape of the play-doh changes depending on the hands that sculpt it. Think of the hands as Time. Or Circumstance, if that makes more sense."

"Circumstance?" Luther said.

Allison sighed. "It doesn't make more sense, Five. None of this makes sense."

He threw his hands up. "This is why I tried to leave!"

"Why can't you just stay here in L.A?" Allison said. "We're so far away from the other Five already."

"It's not just about the fabric of reality," Five said. "Though I like to think that maintaining the fabric of reality would be enough motivation on its own-"

"Five."

Five sighed. "It's also about the Commission."

Luther sighed too.

"What?" Allison said. "What about them? I thought-"

"They're an unknown entity at this point," Five said. "The only thing I do know is that regardless of changes to management or staff their core mission statement should remain the same: protect the timeline."

"I never understood that," Luther said. "What are they protecting the timeline from?"

"That part is open to interpretation," Five said. "But they have software that can detect anomalies like the one my doppelganger surely created the moment he arrived in 2019. It's almost certain that they'll be motivated to act on Time's behalf if we don't take pains to solve the problem ourselves."

"Then what did you think would happen if you'd made it to Canada or wherever you were going?" Allison said. "This new idea feels like a random leap-"

"I thought someone would show up to kill me," Five said.

Luther gaped at him. "Someone from the Commission?"

"Yes," Five said. "Between me and the doppelganger I'm the one that doesn't belong."

"Neither of you naturally belong in 2019," Allison said. "And neither does Ben for that matter! So why would they target you and not either of them?"

"Because my internal continuity has been erased," Five said. "Humans are not as flexible as Time once we've divorced ourselves from it. A time traveler makes themselves vulnerable to paradox. That's why Paradox Psychosis crops up when you encounter a doppelganger. And that's why-"

"I'm not taking your memories, Five!"

"Then let me die!" Five shouted.

Allison's face crumbled and Five knew what was coming next. He didn't want to see it.

He teleported to another room. There were limited options in Allison's apartment, so he ended up in her bedroom.

It took them two minutes to physically follow him, slamming the door open and bursting in as if the hallway behind them were on fire.

Five flinched when Allison flung herself at him, embracing him in a desperate hug.

"I'm sorry I wasn't nicer to you while I had the chance." Allison spoke quickly and Five tried to hold himself still in deference to her palpable urgency. "I'm sorry I didn't spend more time with you, or introduce you to Claire, or-"

"Stop it." Five warped out of her arms, which had squeezed tightly enough to remind him of his earlier suffocation. "Luther, can you explain to her that amnesia is not death? We all saw Vanya when she-"

"Five," Luther said. "You can't logic your way out of everything."

Again Allison approached him, perhaps with the intention of engaging in another hug, but this time she simply hovered over him.

They were both so damn tall.

"Are you okay?" Allison said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

He scoffed incredulously, taking in her smeared mascara and general dishevelment.

"You're about as scary as a runny painting, Allison."

She wiped at her face, chuckling, and said, "You don't have to be ashamed."

Five scowled. "I have nothing to be ashamed of."

Allison looked at him carefully. Then she turned to Luther. "Can you give us a minute alone?"

Luther nodded. "But you won't… do anything yet, right? I think everyone should get a chance to talk to him before you… you know."

Allison glared at him and Luther nodded again. "Of course you won't. Sorry."

She waited for Luther to leave the room. Then she threw herself onto her bed with a dramatic sigh. "I'm exhausted. Are you exhausted?"

Five shrugged.

"I noticed this a while ago," Allison said. "But you always teleport out of hugs."

"Not always."

"Usually, then."

He eyed her wearily. "So?"

She smiled at him. "Do you want to lay down with me?"

"No."

"I'll give you plenty of space." Allison rolled over so that she was lying at the extreme edge of her bed. "I won't touch you."

"I don't understand you," Five said. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know," she said. "I'm trying to calm down. Do I seem calmer?"

He took in her position on the bed, stretched out on her stomach with her chin propped up on her palm, elbow propped up on a pillow.

"I suppose you seem calm," Five said. "But looks can be deceptive."

"True," Allison said. "Like yours."

"Like mine," he agreed.

She sat up, folding her legs into a pretzel, and groaned. "I wish I knew how to talk to you."

"Generally, you'd simply arrange words into sentences," Five quipped. "And voice them aloud."

She laughed. "Not what I meant, asshole."

Five sat down at the edge of her bed. "I have trouble too."

"You do?"

"Vanya says I don't communicate," Five said. "Which is frustrating because I thought I did. I thought I was saying all the things that needed to be said."

"That's really sad."

Five smiled. "Dolores thought so too."

Allison tilted her head. "Who?"

That's right. Allison had never met Dolores.

"A friend of mine," Five said.

"A friend? Okay." Allison leaned toward him. "There's a lot I don't know about you, isn't there?"

Five shrugged.

Slowly, Allison held out her hand, palm up. It hovered in the air between them, as uncertain as his future.

Five raised an eyebrow.

"Just hold my hand," Allison said. "For a little bit?"

Five placed his palm against hers and she entwined their fingers.

"Aaaw," Allison said. "Your hand is so small."

He rolled his eyes and she laughed again.

"It's not too late, you know," Five said. "I can still meet Claire."

"There's time for that?"

"Yes." Five gave her hand a squeeze. "There's some time."

There was a swing set in the backyard. Two swings for two children, Five supposed. He tried to imitate the enthusiasm Claire displayed as she swung her legs, eagerly leveraging their momentum to increase the speed and height of her journey.

Claire was a simple child who enjoyed simple pleasures, but she was also full of curiosity. After her initial burst of energy, Claire slowed down and settled on her swing as if it were a simple chair at the kitchen table instead of a toy made to facilitate constant movement.

Five answered her questions to the best of his ability, but he had a hard enough time breaking things down into simple terms for his adult siblings. When he first spoke to Claire she practically had to stop him at every other word to ask for a definition.

Still, Claire seemed to appreciate the attempt.

"Your twin doesn't act like a kid either," Claire said. "But he is a kid?"

"That's right," Five said. "And he isn't my twin."

"He kind of is though."

"I suppose so."

"And so Mom is going to do the whole Men in Black flashing light thingy?"

Five had no idea what Claire was referencing, but he knew she was talking about the amnesia Rumor he'd requested.

"Yes," Five said. "Because I think that will solve the paradox."

"But you don't know," Claire said. "So what will you do if it doesn't work?"

"If it doesn't work I'll think of something else," Five said. "There's always a solution. It just takes a bit of work to find it."

Claire began shuffling her feet, turning her seat so that the chains that held it up would twist and coil. When she lifted her feet off the ground the swing gently spun her back around.

Five glanced at the house. Allison and Patrick were inside, probably bickering again. Had he cost her the hard won unsupervised weekends? Five knew his presence in L.A had baffled her ex-husband and harmed Allison's already fragile reputation. Mostly because Patrick refused to humor the idea that Five was not the age he looked.

"If it does work," Claire said. "Will you be my brother instead of my uncle? Or, like a cousin?"

"Do you want me to be your brother?"

Claire grinned. "That would be pretty cool."

"It doesn't matter what you call me," Five said. "We're family. That's not going to change, regardless of what might happen in the future."

Claire laughed. "You did it again! What does 'regardless' mean?"

There was a bothersome amount of paperwork involved in the adoption process. The whole headache was an issue Five had purposely avoided up to now, but Allison insisted on getting it done before she Rumored him.

She coordinated with Vanya in New York so that both sisters would each have legal guardianship over Five and his doppelganger respectively.

Allison was able to short cut some of the process with her Rumors, but there was one element that could not be avoided: establishing an identity to account for the presence of "twin" thirteen year olds in the Hargreeves family.

In the end, they decided to employ a Delayed Birth Registration.

"We'll say you were both born in 2006," Allison said. "And that Vanya was the mother."

"Vanya was seventeen in 2006," Five muttered.

"And teen pregnancies are very embarrassing," Allison said. "So her mega rich and ultra conservative father hired midwives for the birth so he could hush the whole thing. It's genius."

"What's your part in the story?" Five said. "Secret lesbian lover?"

Allison laughed. "On paper that would sort of look like incest. Technically it wouldn't be, but… well, anyway I'm the kind hearted aunt who helped share the burden of raising these twins."

"Great," Five said. "I just hope entwining my identity with my doppelganger's doesn't lead the Institute to his door."

"They've been oddly quiet haven't they?" Allison said. "I tried looking at their website again yesterday, but it was deleted or something."

Five smiled, a half formed guess reignited by this new information. "Deleted, you say? Or perhaps it never existed in the first place."

"What?"

"I thought it was odd too," Five said. "They seemed like a zealous lot, but I haven't been bothered by them since my escape. What explanation is there but an absence?"

"You're going to have to elaborate, Five."

"I have a theory," Five said. "Look, I'll show you what I mean. Let's go back to the Institute."

"You want to go back to the Institute for Exceptional Youth?" Allison said. "Those lunatics put you in handcuffs!"

"We'll just take a look at the building," Five said. "To check if it's still there."

"Why wouldn't it be there?"

"Time is flexible," Five said. "Changes are made all the time. Or did you forget about the Commission?"

"Are you saying they assassinated an entire organization?" Allison said. "And what about the kids? Did they kill the kids?"

"That's not what I'm saying," Five said. "They would only need to kill one person. The man or woman who founded the organization, perhaps. So that it was never created."

"But we were there," Allison said. "How-"

"Before we get too worked up," Five said. "Can we go and confirm my theory?"

Allison snatched up her car keys with a huff. "Fine. After we get the Delayed Birth Registration."

"Of course. After that."

The Institute for Exceptional Youth was now called the "Silverlake Recreation Center." The architecture for the building itself was mostly the same, but its purpose had been fundamentally changed.

"Wouldn't people notice changes like this?" Allison said. "I guess their memory gets changed too, but then why do we still remember the Institute?"

"Because we're time travelers," Five said. "We remember our native timeline."

"This is my native timeline!" Allison was glaring at the rec center through her windshield like it was a war tank bulldozing her childhood home. "Why aren't I… why…"

"No, it isn't." Five put a hand on her shoulder and she looked at him in surprise. "I'm sorry, but the moment you traveled into the past you left that timeline behind."

"But you brought us back!"

"I did," Five said. "But it only takes one trip to establish yourself as an outsider to Time."

Allison frowned. "Will this happen again? What else will disappear?"

"It's usually something smaller," Five said. "For instance, you'll remember a celebrity's death and then find out they're actually still alive. You'll look at a famous brand name and think it's been spelled wrong. Things like that."

Allison closed her eyes and leaned her head against the steering wheel. "I think I'm having an existential crisis."

"This doesn't change anything," Five said. "If anything, we should be happy. It's one less problem for us."

Allison didn't respond.

"Sorry," Five said. "I don't know what else to tell you."

Allison sat up. "It's okay." She put her key in the ignition and mechanically went about reversing out of the rec center's parking spot.

"Are you alright?" Five said.

"No."

"What do you need me to say?"

"There's nothing you can say to fix it, Five," Allison said. "It's just something else I'm going to have to learn to live with."

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry!" Allison shouted.

Five nodded. "Alright."

Allison took a deep breath. "I'm just so fucking tired of hearing that."

"Fair enough."

Allison glanced at him.

"You should keep your eyes on the road," Five said.

"Look, I know we're almost out of time," Allison said. "You won't let me procrastinate for much longer."

"We had an agreement."

"I know. I'm not backing out. I just need to say something."

"Go ahead."

"You've done a lot for me," Allison. "You've done a lot for all of us. I want to say thank you."

Five looked out his window. "Your welcome."

"And I love you," Allison said. "You know that, right?"

"Of course," Five said. "I love you too."

When it came down to it, that was all that mattered. Perhaps there was more to be said, Vanya would certainly argue that point, but neither he nor Allison could figure out what that More was.

So they spent the rest of that car ride in silence.

And then they did what they had to.