The couple slowly made their way to Room 12 of the Rain Quail and Amber was already on edge. She knew what The Handler was getting at by wanting to see them and yet she still went along with Five. Amber could feel her fire coursing through her body again but she needed to stay calm for Five's sake.
"Five, Amber, I've been waiting for you." Handler called from her room.
"Yeah, no shit Handler." Amber spat as she and Five walked in.
When they looked over at the room, they saw Agnes tied up which only pissed off Amber more. The nerve of Handler to involve an innocent woman into their mad schemes and to get Hazel back to working for them annoyed her. Hazel and Agnes did not deserve this and if the world was truly going to end, she should just let them be if they couldn't escape.
"Really? What do you have against romance? Let Agnes and Hazel go off together. Isn't he close to retirement anyway so just let him and her have their time together in another time."? Amber asked.
Handler simply scoffed at her as she smoked her cigarette.
"How would you know or care about Hazel? It's clear all you live and care for is Five. Take him away and even though you're an old woman, you would be reduced to a broken-hearted teen without him. Then again, you've always been a hopeless romantic, situation notwithstanding." Handler told her.
Amber hissed at her and Handler looked to Five. He looked unamused as well but he was better at keeping his temper in check with Handler. Amber and her never got along even when Amber looked her age and now Handler was less trying to be her friend and more so looked down on her like a child.
"It's been a while since I've seen the two of you."
"Three flipping days and we haven't missed you." Amber retorted.
"It's been longer for me and a lot longer since I've seen you in those shorts Five. " Handler spoke.
Amber shot a small blue fire ball at the Handler's cigarette and was able to knock it out of her hands. The nerve of her to flirt with him while Five looks like a teen and in front of his wife no less. Five took her hand and stroked it. The touch alone calmed Amber but she could still kill the Handler if she really wanted too, moral code aside. Handler looked amused that Amber had picked up a new trick although she did feel the intensity that nearly missed her hand. Amber wasn't in a mood Handler thought with a smirk.
"I got your message by the way. Nice packaging but so much for protocol, right?" Five asked.
Amber rolled her eyes since this banter was pointless and Handler knew where they stood at this point. Handler got up from her bed and swiftly put the fire on the table so Amber wouldn't use it against her. Amber again rolled her eyes since she could make a new flame appear in moments.
"Well, there have been a lot of changes. Many people taken out, briefcases destroyed, you really did a number on us..."
"What do you want?" Five snapped.
"To be happy, to have an undisturbed peaceful life. To do the work my superiors require. But you two being here causes a problem."
"Yeah, well people are going to die, something we don't want to happen. That was always going to be a problem when we know the consequences of the world ending. We want to prevent the end and the deaths of innocent people." Amber told her.
"Yes, billions of people are going to die and they shouldn't. You can change that." Five reasoned.
"She can but won't and this is a waste of time. This is utter bullshit. We should be at the concert hall and not wasting our time with Cruella le Bitch."
Handler smirked and looked over Amber. She found it amusing that in all her appearances in this time, she was wearing an academy uniform like her husband. Whether Amber enjoyed the uniform or simply wanted to match Five, The Handler got a kick of seeing a grown woman like her in a mini skirt.
"Time is something my organization has an abundance of. You should know that those who work for it have all the time they need. Though I know time will progress for you both again which means I will slowly see you outgrow that adorable mini skirt." Handler mused.
Amber scoffed and shook her head.
"Enough with your creepy fetishes Handler and if your organization has the time, spare this world for the time being."
Handler shook her head disapprovingly as she went to the table to munch on appetizers she ordered. Grown adults yet they didn't know the way she and her organization did things. She couldn't blame them that she had to remind them since they were getting up there in ages.
"You both have forgotten our raison d'etre. What is meant to be is meant to be, or as I like to call it que sera sera." Handler informed them.
"It's bullshit in any language!" Five spat.
"Oui, l'amour est la seule chose censée être." Amber spoke firmly.
Five softly smiled to her as he understood Amber saying 'Love is the only thing that is meant to be'. Handler was not moved at all and she rolled her eyes at Amber.
"And look where that has gotten you Amber. You follow him around like a puppy, a helpless injured puppy. Have you ever made decisions without consulting him first or has he ever listened to you when you had ideas? Probably not if the end is still happening, is it?" Handler asked.
Amber's face somewhat fell since Five wasn't always the dutiful husband he had been and it did seem like what Five thought was better than her own suggestions. Heck she had been right to think Vanya was anything but ordinary and it took Five seeing the academy in ruins to piece it together. Five noticed his wife growing quiet and Handler smirked at Amber's pensive moods.
"Must be nice having Five do most of the work Amber, although your work was impressive in figuring out Five's sister's true potential. You get to be a damsel in distress and have your shining knight to save you from the end. Have your thought that maybe how you cling ruins your chance to reach your true potential. Maybe you both hinder each other and thus are weak together." Handler asked. Amber was silent, and Five interjected with gritted teeth.
" You don't get to judge our relationship and make remarks like that. Amber is the best thing that ever happened to me. She keeps me human and takes care of me even when I an asshole and that's probably plenty. Besides, I'll admit I've been more of an asshole and maybe should listen to her more, but to hell you saying we are weak together."
Amber smiled at her husband and found her voice to tell off Handler herself.
"I'm stronger with him and you're just trying your sad mind tricks to tear us apart. Five is always going to be a part of me and we will always be a team."
"Yet your instincts are much sharper than his. It makes me wonder if I had made you an assassin too, how much more of an asset you would be. Perhaps I would be shaking in my heels if I was facing two of the deadliest assassins from The Temps Commission." Handler humored.
"Why are we here?" Five asked.
"I'm offering you two a choice. Everyone's going to die tonight but unlike the rest of the world, you two have a way out. You can time travel to the apocalypse and wander about for a few decades. Maybe I will show up and offer you two a job, maybe I won't. Or you can stay and die horribly along with everyone else." Handler said chuckling in the last part.
"Why am I not surprised. you only care about yourself and won't do anything unless you get something out of it. The only thing that is being gained here is that we are wasting our time." Amber said.
Five knew this from the get go and The Handler only laughed.
"As we speak, your family is fighting without you..."
Five took his wife's hand and blipped them to the Icarus Theater without Handler finishing her thought. As he and Amber arrived, he asked his family,
"What's with all the lollygagging?"
Amber noticed the temps shooting and she set up a fire shield to defend them both as they got behind chairs to hide.
"I'll take Luther being a dumbass for $500." Amber mocked as Luther made eye contact with her. He rolled his eyes and the Temps kept firing at them.
"This is why I hate guns!" Amber exclaimed as she made her flame shield disappear.
"Where the hell were you two? You better not have been having end of the world sex!" Diego called as he threw a knife at one of the gunmen.
"Nope, fool's errand to stall us for time. We're screwed unless we can eliminate these guys." Amber stated.
She then noticed Vanya playing on the stage with such intense energy and calm. Her body was slowly becoming white and Amber knew that when she finishes her concert, the end will come as well. Amber created hawks out of fire and sic them on the gunman on the balconies. Their fiery exteriors were a sight to behold as they flew to the gunmen and used their talons to burn and blind the gunmen.
Amber looked around and asked,
"Where's Klaus?"
"He was supposed to be our look out, our mistake." Luther told her.
As soon as he finished his sentence, they heard Klaus running in screaming,
"Cha Cha's coming! It's Cha Cha!"
The temps fired at him and Five blipped on top of him to have him miss Klaus and shoot the others that were coming from the sides. Klaus decided to channel his powers to see if he could help for once in his life and to everyone's surprise, Ben emerged. He used his tentacle powers to seek out and destroy the remaining Temps with Klaus acting as the medium to do so. Amber looked to Klaus and smiled proudly at him, since he was helping them in their time of need.
"I don't believe it, it's Ben." Diego said in a stunned tone.
"Like he was telling you all before. I'm serious with you all needing family therapy. I knew Klaus would pull through for us." Amber expressed with a sigh.
Luther and Allison were stunned as Ben was helping them along with Klaus. Once the gunmen were dealt with, Klaus cockily asked,
"Who's the lookout now?"
Amber noticed in the chaos Diego had slipped away, probably to take down Cha Cha if she'd were to guess. She didn't have to wait long as Diego met with the rest of them to figure out a plan to stop Vanya.
"I have a plan to stop Vanya. We are going to come at her with all sides and see if we can all overpower her." Five planned.
Amber shook her head.
"That would be a suicide mission. I don't approve." Amber stated firmly.
"We don't have many options Amber. Who's with me?"
The guys agreed with Five's plans and Amber sighed, looking to Allison as the guys snuck into positions. Allison tapped Amber and she used her pad to tell her that the guys and her need to distract her while she goes behind Vanya to knock her out with a gunshot sound to disorient her and make her stop. Amber liked that version of the plan but wished the guys weren't putting themselves on the line for it to work.
"I will use my fire hawks. They won't last, I know, but it's better than me going up like a raging inferno. I don't want to hurt her either Allison." Amber expressed.
Allison smiled a bit and nodded as she slowly made her way to backstage to set up her plan. Amber conjured several fire hawks to distract Vanya while the guys came from all sides to stop her. Vanya used her bow to make the sound into an energy wave to knock out all the guys. She used her powers to channel the energy she created to lift the guys up with energy tentacles. The sound waves were shooting down Amber's hawks and making them explode whenever they got too close to her. Allison was able to get behind Vanya to shoot the gun and caused Vanya to lose focus and to pass out from her strain. Before she fell to the ground and released her brothers, a white energy blast shot up to the sky and hit the moon.
Amber ran to her husband to make sure he was okay and the couple looked to see the moon was breaking apart into fiery pieces. What they had feared was coming true but this couldn't be the end.
"So much for stopping the end." Klaus said with a sigh.
Five looked to Amber and he embraced her.
"We have one last shot to escape, its risky." he whispered.
It didn't take Amber long to figure out his plan.
"Instead of going to the future, you're taking us all to the past."
Five nodded and he held her tighter.
"It's going to be hard on us and we never did something this scale. It will be messy but it's our only shot to live another day." Five told her.
Amber felt a nagging pain in her heart as if he was telling her goodbye at that very moment.
"You think we're going to be separated?"
"I'm not sure Amber, but we have no other choice in the matter." Five expressed softly.
"Promise me...we'll find our way back to each other. No matter what happens, I love you."
Amber kissed her husband on his lips swiftly before he and Amber went on the stage to where their family was.
"This doesn't have to be the end. I have a way out but you got to trust me." Five told them.
"Nah I don't think so." the guys expressed.
Amber shot a mini fire orb at the guys and they yelped out in pain.
"We can all die or we can all live. I don't know about you lot, but I know I am still too young to die and so are all of you!" Amber exclaimed.
"So, what's the plan?" Diego questioned.
"We use my ability to time travel. Amber's temporal flames will give my powers a boost so I can bring all of us. We will take you with us." Five told his family.
"Can you do that?" Diego questioned.
"He's done it with me with little effort but we haven't done it with so many people before but it should be possible." Amber answered.
"What's the worst that can happen?" Klaus asked.
"You're looking at it, 58-year-old people in teenager bodies." Five motioned.
Everyone agreed to the plan and Allison grabbed hold of Vanya, causing Luther to be wary.
"Is it wise to be bringing her with us?" Luther asked.
"We know she's the bomb but we can train her so that she won't cause the end again. She doesn't have to be a monster, she's your sister and family." Amber spoke softly, stroking Vanya's head before interlocking her hands with Diego and Five.
Five and Amber used their temporal powers to summon electricity and fire powers to bring everyone with them. Everyone looked concerned as Amber and Five were pushing their powers to the max as the moon's pieces quickly descended upon them.
"This can get messy! Hold on!" Five yelled.
It was sinking into Amber that this could in fact separate them in different parts of time and she hoped that no matter what, they would all find each other, especially her loving husband.
"No matter what happens Five...I love you!" Amber exclaimed as fire and electricity enveloped them all.
"I love you too Amber!"
In a flash, Five was able to transport his family and wife out of the theater just as the world was engulfed in flames and crushed by the moon. This was far from the end, but with time travel being fickle; no one knew where they would be and if they would even be together. Amber held out hope that no matter what happened, love always finds a way and Five and her will find their way back to each other, one way or another and against all odds.
Okay so behind the curtain time. -First off, thank you for getting this far into the story since a lot of creative time does go into it. Secondly, this story will continue into season 2 as the chapter of this one says, it's not the end. I have chapters in reserve so hence why I have been able to do weekly updates. This might change when season 2 gets rolling since dynamics will both grow and change. You will see in time. Jumping slightly ahead, the story will even go into a season 3; now whether this story goes on hiatus until season 3 releases or I make up my own/have it be the final act and put a disclaimer 'written before official release' I haven't yet decided. Just thought I take the time to share my thoughts and thank everyone who made it this far. All the best, Miranda.