When the old man finally came back into the room, Thea almost shot up from her seat. Wide blue eyes regarded his tense form, wondering if he had come to his senses and would agree with their plan.
This is Five. Of course he's going to agree! We're his family!
She looked towards Luther and frowned at the obvious nervousness he was displaying. Cocking her head to the side, she glanced at the younger Five, too, and realised that she just might be the only one here not hiding something.
For once in my life...am I actually the one missing out on something?
She scrunched her nose as she continued watching the way that both Five's stared the other down and how Luther shifted from foot to foot, as though stuck in the tension like quicksand.
I hate not knowing things! This is definitely not okay with me! I hate being left out! She sighed. Now I know how Klaus always feels...
"We good?"
"Scored the deal," Luther said with an entirely too-shifty smile.
"Better hurry up – only an hour left until showtime," commented the older Five, wearing a carefully blank expression.
The younger Five shot up from his seat and regarded his older self with a shrewd gaze. "Why are you so anxious to get going all of a sudden?"
"Relax," the old man drawled, a smarmy smile on his face. He was taunting his younger-self. "You're getting paranoid."
"Um," Thea finally spoke out, her eyes flickering between both of them like she was watching two rabid dogs gear up to fight; sizing the other up. "I think you're both beginning to suffer from paranoia..."
They were both exhibiting symptoms of paradox psychosis, sweating and itching; their twitching bodies causing a scene that approached disturbing rather than comedic. Thea worried for both of them; after all, they were her brother.
Or was it brothers? Emphasis on the plural? Or is that weird, because they're both exponentially older than me? Bah! I'm too scatter-brained for this kind of rational thought...
Neither Five responded to her worry. Rude.
Only Luther, looking anxious and awkward, spoke up. "Let's go, then. Time's running out."
The older Five immediately followed her biggest brother and while Thea found that a little odd – after all, just how much had the two bonded during the couple of minutes in the bathroom? And why wasn't the old man looking her way? Had she done something to offend him, perhaps? – she shook of those concerns and followed after them, tugging Five alongside her by his jacket sleeve.
They walked and walked until they came upon a bridge above the train tracks. While Thea had remained back with her smallest brother, watching in mounting worry as his signs of psychosis seemed to get progressively worse, Luther was a couple of metres in front of them both, walking alongside the older Five.
Despite being close enough to not seem rude, both men were too far away for their conversation to be heard and Thea pursed her lips, tempted to force her way into Luther's mind and listen to their words without consent.
"He's going to pull a trick on us..." Five muttered, snapping her from thoughts.
The invasion of Luther's privacy would have to wait – right now, she had a slightly more...delirious brother to care for.
The woes of being the caring sister...I deserve a raise, honestly.
"What do you mean?" she ventured, speaking lowly as to not arise suspicion.
She saw the older Five briefly turn back to look at them both and hurried to skip ahead as though nothing was wrong, but in fact she was hiding Five's smaller form from his elder counterpart's shrewd gaze.
Why am I having to protect one from the other? Aren't they the same person? How can you not trust yourself?
The more she thought about it, she was sure that, if it were to happen to her she would trust herself. Besides, who else knows every nook and cranny – every selfish desire and embarrassing thought you have, but yourself?
Even Klaus, who she divulged almost every little thing, didn't know everything there was to know about her. Even Ben, the love of her life, didn't know everything. After all, was a girl not allowed a few well-kept secrets?
A few little treasures hidden within her heart and mind?
She looked once again to Five, focused on his tousled hair and the frustrated dip of his brow. His normally tan skin had turned pale, his blue eyes a little red.
"Five," she tried again, softer this time. The boy finally looked her way and she could see how stressed the situation was making him. "Speak to me – what's going on with you?"
"Nothing," Five dismissed before his attention was inexplicitly caught by a random man walking on the sidewalk below the bridge.
Thea, flabbergasted by the abrupt shift in his attention, could only watch as Five shouted down at the man, who had, up until that point, been minding his own business; completely unaware of their persons upon the bridge.
"Mind your own damn business! Or do you see something funny, punk?"
"Worst case of paradox psychosis I've ever seen," said the older Five with a shake of the head as he looked back from the antics his 'younger' self was displaying.
"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing Luther's saddened expression.
"Well...it's just– you know. I feel bad for him."
"Look, Luther – I don't have time for you to suddenly gain the familial urge to protect right now. I need to be able to rely on you. To keep him under control." His eyes briefly darted back to both of their siblings walking behind them. "Keep them both in control."
"Both of them?" Luther asked, surprised. "Why Thea, too?"
The old man pursed his lips, eyes tightening a little as he explained his thoughts. "Z...she's too soft. She won't agree with our plan. Why do you think I purposely left her out of it?"
Luther's mouth opened into a little 'o' shape, now realising just why the man had sworn him to keep shut about their plan in front of Thea.
"She does baby Five a little bit..." he trailed off, uncomfortable at keeping such a secret from not only Five, but Thea too.
He suspected his sister already knew he was hiding something, and only hoped she didn't ask him outright, or worse, decide she'd had enough of being polite and took the information straight from his head.
The old man scoffed, though Luther saw not a face of annoyance, but of fond amusement.
"She practically coddles the little twirp. No wonder he's so easily succumbing to the psychosis," he muttered, rolling his eyes in a manner far too reminiscent of teenage angst to fit on the face of an old man.
Luther had a brief moment where he pictured the smaller Five doing the exact same thing. He supposed Five really didn't change that much, huh?
"So? Can I rely on you?"
Luther nodded with a resigned air. "Sure- yeah, I'll keep them in order. But if Thea decides to fight back, I'm pretty sure I'll be useless against her. Just a heads up."
His mind flashed back to the time he'd forcefully knocked her out when she'd tried freeing Vanya from her prison and he winced. Yeah, he certainly didn't fancy resorting to that again.
Five huffed in amusement. "Leave Z to me. I may not be a match for her at full power, but I'm still Five. Her precious brother," he muttered the last part, with what Luther detected as bitterness.
He wisely didn't point it out, already having guessed just what the man's – well, both Five's – problem truly was. He'd leave that entire mess to Five and Thea to figure out. He was done with the complicated relationships his family seemed to inevitably tangle themselves in.
"All right," the old man said, settling his mind finally and walking ahead with purpose and determination.
Luther was left standing there, until both the smaller Five and Thea caught up to him.
"Why do you look like you've just signed a death warrant?" was the first words out of Thea's mouth and Luther froze, eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. Shit.
Thea could instantly tell that her question had hit Luther right where it mattered – his sheepish expression screamed guilt and she narrowed her eyes, upping the intensity of her stare.
"Hm? Well?" she promoted. "Or did you waste away all your words?"
"He's in cahoots with him," Five muttered bitterly, glare focused directly on the old, suited man walking at a brisk pace ahead of them.
"Cahoots?" she repeated dumbly.
Five nodded emphatically, moving his stare slowly so that it now pinned Luther beneath its weight. Such a thing was a heavy burden, indeed, as when Five was serious, those eyes belied the mask of his youthful face. Those eyes belonged to an assassin.
"He's planned to kill me, hasn't he?"
It took Thea a second, two, before those words sunk in. When they did, she almost choked on her own saliva at the shock. "Kill you!?"
Five nodded like the prospect wasn't utterly absurd – and perhaps, to him, it wasn't – but Thea, who was rational and reacted like a normal bloody human being, was understandably alarmed.
"What do you mean he's planning on killing you?" she asked in a rush, turning to face them both so that she was now walking backwards. "Wait a minute! Luther!" she admonished. "Did you know about this?"
"Who said anything about murder?" he tried weakly and Five scoffed.
"Please. Don't you think I know my own thought process? It's the first thing I'd do if I were to meet my future self."
"Why on earth is that your first logical conclusion? What happened to nonviolent relations? 'We come in peace' and all that?" she tried, frazzled at the sudden turn of events.
Luther's naïve sheepishness wasn't helping matters, either.
Making you spotter was a mistake! No, scratch that, making either of us spotter was a shitty idea – who knew Five could actually make those? Gah!
The entire thing had truly gone tits-up and Thea felt like she was scrambling to regain her balance.
"Kill you? Him? Don't be ridiculous, Five," Luther said between short, awkward laughs and Thea felt like facepalming at his awful attempt at a cover-up.
"You're doing the awkward laugh-thing you always do when lying," she pointed out blandly and watched as Luther tried setting his face into a more neutral expression, before it reverted back to that goofy - I'm totally lying please don't ask me any more questions - smile.
"You're a terrible liar, Luther, face it," Five drawled, getting up in their brothers face and scowling. "You're as bad at lying as you are at spotting!"
"Well whose fault is that!?" Luther snapped back. "What goods a spotter if you won't even listen to him! Plus, look at Thea!" he tried shifting the blame onto her. "She's been agreeing and going along with everything in her bias for you both!"
"Hey!" she said, affronted.
"Well, it's true," Luther muttered petulantly.
"So you admit that you're conspiring against me?" Five spit out, completely ignoring their arguing.
"Conspiring?" Thea repeated, incredulous. "Don't tell me you actually agreed with his plans?" she asked Luther. "I thought he just bullied you into it! Five is very good at that..."
Ignoring her accusation, Luther focused on Five. "Will you admit you're suffering from paradox psychosis?"
Five scoffed at the question and avoided it with the talent of someone used to doing so. "All I'm suffering from is the blinding clarity of your murderous intentions," he snapped. "And just how easily you're willing to sell out your family."
"It's not like he was going to 'kill you', kill you..." Luther attempted to justify his 'betrayal' by explaining how the older Five had explained the situation. "It would just be killing a, um...version of you?"
He sounded utterly lost even at his own explanation, which Thea sardonically thought was an absolutely, bloody-brilliant place to start when trying to convince others that murder was a valid route to take.
And murdering your own brother, no less.
"But I am that version of me!" Five snapped in frustration.
"Look! I don't love it either but he had a pretty good plan!" Luther said, raising his hands in a defensive position.
"Let me guess," Thea drawled, her quick mind easily following along with the hints given and coming to an understanding that sounded exactly like something her brilliantly-clever brother would do. "He suggested you kill our Five and then proceed to jump back to 2019, saving the world?"
Luther's brows rose high. "How did you guess that?"
"Because she's smart and not a complete moron like you," Five sniped. "Anybody who knows me even remotely could guess that's the exact kind of plan I'd come up with."
Thea grabbed a hold of Five's hands to stop his movements; having watched him mess up his hair and scratch at any exposed skin, leaving behind red marks from his nails. "Stop it," she said softly. "You're going to hurt yourself."
See? I can be a good spotter! If it's keeping someone safe, I'll be the goddamn best spotter there is.
"Okay, then what can we do? We have one Five too many and he's the one acting like a maniac!" Luther said, pointing to Five. The boy breathed heavily, nostrils flaring as he glared up at Luther.
"So that means we murder him?" Thea asked hysterically.
"You wanna see a maniac, Luther? Cause I'll show you a damn maniac, if that's what you're asking for," Five threatened, getting up in the man's face.
Or at least, he attempted to, but due to their height difference Five's face barely reached Luther's chest and it only left a comedic height-difference.
Thea briefly entertained the thought of helping by lifting him up from the waist, evening their height, but quickly shot that idea down – hiding it in the deepest part of her mind for good measure – for fear that Five would actually kill her if he caught wind of it.
"As your spotter, I think the best thing I could do for you right now, honestly, is put you out of your misery."
Thea blinked frantically at Luther's matter-of-fact tone and watched as Five grabbed a hold of him by the arms – she supposed he was too tiny to grab his shoulders – and looked him in the eye.
"Okay, listen up you giant oaf. I know your feeble mind only responds to age and authority, so how about this; I am older than you." Luther looked taken-aback by Five's aggressive manner.
"You are experiencing daddy issues, though this time it's with your own brother – which honestly, makes me a little crazy," he muttered the last part, "and uncomfortable."
Luther shifted in place, patting down his shirt when Five let go, smoothing down the wrinkles from the boy's strong grip.
"Also, I am fourteen-days older than him," the boy pointed an accusatory finger towards his older-counterpart, who had not turned around during their entire conversation, steadfastly ignoring what was probably a loud barrage of voices all trying to talk over each other.
"I have seniority here, so it's me you should be listening to, Luther." Five spread his arms wide, shouting loud enough that even those passing on the opposite sidewalk turned to look at them in confusion and concern.
"I'm the daddy here!"
Thea burst out laughing despite the tense atmosphere and the disturbing revelations, she couldn't help but let her laughter free at the sight of Five's tiny form declaring he was dominant in this situation; the top dog.
"I wish I had my phone to record that!" Thea cackled, clutching her stomach as it was racked with laughter.
Luther laughed in a forced manner, looking around them worriedly at all the stares they were getting. Thea was too busy trying to get her giggles under control, though every time she replayed the scene she couldn't help her glee.
If this is what Five is like as a drunk, then I need to experiment with this in the future...
"Five, please – look at yourself. You're clearly mad."
"Fine," Five seethed. "I admit, I may not be in my best mindset right now..." the admittance looked painful as he muttered it between tightly pressed lips. "But whatever I've got, he's got it too."
Both Luther and Thea turned as one to look towards his counterpart, who, as though sensing their attention on his person, called out to them in impatience.
"You two quit grab-assing! We're here."
What am I, chopped liver? Thea thought with an irritated twitch of the brow. He hasn't looked my way since he disappeared back at the bar...though, I suppose if he had been conspiring behind our backs, he may feel guilty...
Pursing her lips, she pondered that over as the three of them met up with the older Five. He had brought them to a corner of a parking lot, a part that was free of any cars and was bordered by a white-picket-fence.
When she walked closer, standing on her tip-toes to peek over the fence's edge, she could barely see through the thicket of trees, briefly seeing an empty road and lush green grass. She thought she could spy quite a few people standing around and realised that they were all here to watch the President's arrival.
I wonder if that couple is here, yet? The ones that filmed the entire event and caught that crucial frame of Dad, stood upon the grassy knoll...
Behind her, Five and Luther talked while the older Five began opening up his personal briefcase beside her.
The girl was mostly ignoring his actions, still feeling a little awkward and out of balance that Five – her Five, because he would always be hers no matter his age or appearance – had planned something behind her back.
The man hung a small brown wireless radio onto the top of the pointed picket-fence and switched it on. Immediately, they were greeted with the static voice narrating the events going on not-too-far away from their hidden nook.
"...the Dallas-Fort Worth area broadcast here to bring you a special description of the arrival of President John F. Kennedy."
"This is my favourite part," the man commented idly as he pulled out a gun from his briefcase, assembling it with ease, hands moving of their own accord and without much effort.
"What is?" she asked, causing the man to blink and look over at her, as though surprised at her voice.
"...the calm before the storm."
His words seemed ominous; as though speaking of more than just the current political affairs occurring around them. They resonated deeper in Thea's soul; like a warning that she was missing out on something important.
She was in the calm, and the storm would come later; it would refuse to be ignored and wash her away, drowning her.
Swallowing felt difficult all of a sudden and her normally composed nature felt lost. Her first thought was of her brother, her twin. She suddenly wanted Klaus beside her, Ben too.
Feeling a little off-balance and blinking to get rid of the black spots edging her vision, Thea tried to regain her composure. Regain some semblance of calm.
The calm before the storm. I need to be calm. Calm...
She turned her head ever so slightly to look back at Five and Luther, who were stood beside one another. They were watching the older man intently, who now was in a ready position, gun aimed through the trees; face relaxed in concentration.
Then, in that short-lived moment of inattention – so quick she could barely blink – Five disappeared in a whirl of blue while his older-self did the exact same; the two effectively swapping positions instantaneously. It left Thea and Luther blinking in shock.
Taken aback by the shift in position, the younger Five turned back with a frown only to be greeted by the end of a gun. The older man pointed it straight towards his younger self, no sense of hesitation visible in his steely glint.
"What the hell- Thea!" Luther muttered before shouting in alarm when the girl positioned herself directly in between both Five's.
"I'm sorry, I can't let you do that," she said lowly, her mind still adrift at the thoughts of that endless storm – her anxieties mounting with the feeling that she was missing something crucial, something she'd later regret – but right now, at this very moment, she'd push past it.
Someone she loved was being threatened and while Thea was utterly useless as a spotter, she was goddamn brilliant at putting her family ahead of her own safety.
It might not be much to brag about but threaten them and you deal with me.
She met the older Five's stare head-on. Even if I am only protecting you from yourself.
Both Five's were startled at her interference, which she thought silly and would have laughed about if the situation weren't so tense. Honestly, shouldn't they know me better by now? Did he really think he could point a gun at his younger self and I wouldn't intervene?
The old man seemed the most shocked by her blatant display of idiocy; staring down the gun without fear. His hands, as though in automatic response to her placement and the danger involved, had lowered so that the weapon was no longer aimed her way.
Does he think I wouldn't have done the exact same thing if a gun was pointed at him, too?
Luther inserted himself back into the scene and with a grunt of frustration and heavy footsteps, he yanked the gun straight from the old man's hands.
"Stop it! Alright? Both of you!" he admonished the two before looking at Thea. "And stop doing such stupid things! You're going to get yourself killed."
The girl scowled. "What was I supposed to do? Stand there whilst our brother shot himself?" her livid stare turned onto the old man, taking satisfaction in the way he seemed to shrink under her glare.
"And you, what the hell was that? I know you're both paranoid but can't you trust us? Do you honestly believe I'd let anything happen to you?"
The man had the decency to look quelled at that line of questioning, but if she knew anything about Five, it was his stubbornness.
"Thea's right," Luther agreed. "We're all family here, okay? So how about we try and get along for the sake of us all getting back home?"
As he'd been speaking, the two Five's had become progressively more agitated, their twitching and itching reaching high degrees of severity; until they were sweating and looked half-mad with what Thea soon realised was the final stage of paradox psychosis...
Homicidal rage. Oh joy.
"You want it?" Five asked his older self, who regarded him and then Luther, shrewdly.
"You go ahead."
Confused at their secret speech, Thea could only watch blankly as the smaller boy moved from behind her, raising his foot and with as much power as possible, kicked Luther right between his legs; the tough leather of his shoes making easy work of sending the large man to the ground, clutching his crotch in agony.
Thea winced, automatically wanting to cross her own legs in sympathy, despite being a bloody woman. Her brother's pain was something she was so focused on that she momentarily forgot about the two homicidal assassins that now had free-range to one another.
What came next could only be described as a light show; a firework display as both Five's spatial jumped around the free area of the parking lot, taking advantage of their abilities to travel to gain the upper hand.
Thea could hardly keep up and what didn't help was the pained moans Luther was making as he kneeled on the cold ground.
Looking between the sight of both Five's alternating between chokeholds and fistfights, and back down at Luther – whose eyes were suspiciously wet and looked close to tears – she wasn't sure who to help first.
Reasoning that she couldn't exactly catch Five – either Five – as they jumped sporadically, she concentrated on Luther, crouching down and cupping his face between her hands. She quickly recalled those moments when she'd numbed the pain, both on herself and her family and willed it to happen here, in this moment.
Luck was on her side, evidently, as Luther breathed easier; his eyes clearing as he looked at her with gratitude.
"Thank...you..." he wheezed out pathetically, still short of breath despite the crushing pain slowly numbing.
"You're welcome. Now, how are we supposed to stop these two before they kill each other?"
"They might listen to you," Luther ventured and Thea scoffed.
"Oh yeah? You mean like they did a minute ago when I tried using reason and logic? Things I'm pretty sure they've lost now they're trying to kill themselves."
"Good point," he muttered. "Guys! This has to stop!" he tried shouting, only getting a dual response telling him to shut up in return.
"Okay, I give up. They're lost causes," he said pathetically and Thea would have laughed at how easily he gave up if she wasn't actually concerned.
They watched as both Five's charged toward one another, sweaty and panting from their intense fight but were repelled back when their spatial jumps seemed to connect; causing a large swirl of electric blue energy that threw them both back and onto the ground.
Thea had had enough. She walked in between them both and splayed her hands out in the direction of them each; her brow furrowed.
"Listen up!" she yelled, demanding to be heard. "The next one who moves will have fried egg for a brain, you hear me?" She ensured her voice was lacking any of its usual joviality. She needed them to take her seriously.
"You wouldn't do it," the younger Five scoffed, though she took note of the way he eyed her, warily.
The older five – who had spent much less time with her and knew less of her quirks – seemed to take the warning a little more seriously. Though, he wouldn't be Five if he didn't have a smart-ass remark at the ready.
"You're quick to take back your words, Z."
"Despite looking like an old man, you still act like the Five I remember as a kid," she mused. "I know we haven't seen each other in decades, but you should know that my temper hasn't improved any since I was thirteen. Don't test me."
Her words couldn't be further from the truth, but right now, all Thea needed was order.
Of course Five was right; she would never hurt either of them, but she needed them to take a moment and breath, to let reason return to their minds and to deal with this situation like rational adults.
"Now, Five-" here, she looked at the younger boy. "You're going to open up the portal, okay? Do that, now."
The boy nodded and slowly getting up from his position on the floor, he shook out his limbs in preparation. Clenching his fists, they soon became enveloped in a blue glow.
Whilst he was doing that, Thea looked back down at the old man. "We're going to send you back home, okay? Trust me, things will work out. You're going to meet us all again."
"What if I want to stay here?" he asked lowly.
"Why would you? Your family is back through there," she pointed at the now open and visible portal. The one that would take him straight back to 2019. Back to his family.
Through the portal, their former selves were all visible; with Diego and Luther at the front, Allison and Vanya not far behind them. Thea could even see herself with Klaus, all staring at the mysterious portal in fear and anticipation.
The reminder of that day gave the girl a sudden bout of nostalgia; it felt so long since she'd been there, she'd grown and experienced so much since that day and it had only made her stronger.
The day Five returned really did change the course of all our lives, huh?
"At least tell me the math," the old Five bargained in resignation.
He'd gotten to his feet and now looked towards the portal with anticipation. Whether positive, or negative; she couldn't tell. "So I don't end up looking like Tiger Beat over there."
Luther nodded at Five, Thea too. "It's only fair," she reasoned with him.
Five looked like he stubbornly wanted to make the old man experience the same annoyance he'd felt at being trapped in such a young body but at their insistence, he sighed. "Fine. Stand closer to the portal, then I'll give it to you."
When the old man turned to look her way, likely knowing she was the only one on his side, Thea smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he follows through on it."
Slowly, he moved closer, barely shuffling. Once he was standing pretty close to the vortex – just enough not to be sucked in – he demanded the correct equation from his younger self.
Five, youthful face tugged into a smug smirk, enjoyed pointing out the minute mistake in their calculations, seeming to forget for just a moment that it was a mistake he too made. Rather, he was revelling in his counterpart's frustrations.
"It was a typo. You put the decimal in the wrong spot in our proof of the existence of a bound for the number of limit cycles of planar polynomial vector fields of fixed degree."
While the jargon flew directly over their heads, Thea and Luther watched on, blankly. Honestly, they both felt a little stupid right now.
"We wrote down five-point-seven, when it should be-"
"-zero-point-five-seven..." the man finished, eyes wide in realisation. "Son of a bitch!"
Thea's attention was caught by the sight of Klaus moving closer to the centre of the vortex and as she frowned, wondering what he was doing, she spotted the bright red object in his hands and her eyes widened, the memory rushing back to her.
With fast reflexes, she ducked at the perfect moment; the fire-extinguisher soaring over her head.
Unfortunately for Luther, it crashed straight into him; the metallic thud ringing against his skull as it sent him toppling to the ground, unconscious.
Taking their brief moment of shock as an opportunity, the older Five jumped towards the forgotten black briefcase and caught it between deft hands. However, he was shocked when another pair of hands grabbed a hold of it too and he rose his eyes to meet startling blue.
"Z..." he muttered and Thea grinned wide; showing off those perfectly white teeth of hers.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" she mused.
While her face showed the expression of humour; wide grin and sparkling eyes, her tone was like that of a mother who had just caught her child sneaking a cookie from the jar.
Warning. Proceed with caution.
"I just- It's not..." he tried explaining himself but Thea's grip tightened on the case handle, unwilling to let go.
They were pretty much at a standstill; for while a man, he was old and not as strong as he would have been in his youth. Thea could boast almost no mighty strength, but by sheer willpower alone she was willing to wrestle the goddamn briefcase from his hands if she must.
"Don't make me force you, Five," she whispered, softening her voice the slightest. When at a loss, try reasoning with them. "We need this to go home."
"Come with me, then," the man attempted. "You can go home, too."
She shook her head sadly. "I'm already there, Five. I can't come without threatening my own existence. You have to go on your own this time, but I promise we're all there; waiting for you to arrive."
The mention of going alone was the point that hit hardest; Thea noticing the way the man's eyes had gone distant at the thought.
"It's closing," the younger Five interrupted them, becoming impatient and tired from straining his ability in order to keep the vortex open. "Hurry up and leave."
"Can I say something before I go?" the man asked Thea with a quietness unlike him. He ignored his younger self's irritated hiss, only looking at her.
"Of course," she smiled beautifully.
"I'm not sure if it'll ruin the future – and honestly, I couldn't care at this point – I just have to say this, before I become like him and lose the nerve."
The younger boy seemed to realise what the old man was going to say because he frantically tried speaking over him, telling him to shut up and leave, now.
"You know you can tell me anything, Five," Thea encouraged, wanting to give her brother any comfort as he journeyed back home, alone.
The man took a deep breath and opened his mouth; "I lo-"
He never got to finish his sentence for with wide, startled eyes, he fell back into the blue vortex; which swallowed him up before sizzling, crackling and then disappearing altogether.
Thea stared at the empty space, disarmed and dazed.
Slowly, her eyes trailed sideways and saw Five lower his leg from where he'd used it to kick his older-counterpart through the vortex, forcefully. The momentum from the kick had caused the girl to let go of the briefcase, too.
"Why did you do that?" she asked, barely a whisper. She felt little strength left in her voice.
The boy looked furious and dishevelled; his face half-mad with a desperation she hadn't ever seen before. He looked like he'd barely survived a catastrophe and Thea couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why he'd had such a visceral reaction to whatever was going to be said.
"Five?" she repeated, a little louder this time. "Five!"
He was panting, looking out of breath as he turned to her. "What?"
Are you okay? She wanted to ask but despite trying to get his attention so badly, now her words failed her. What was that all about? What was he going to say? Why were you so against me hearing it?
"Guys...did we do it?" Luther's voice was weak and groggy as he blinked up at them wearily. Thea's attention shifted over to him, the confusion momentarily forgotten.
"Yeah-" Thea went to say but was cut off by Five.
"No. The briefcase."
His tone was bland, almost monotone. He sounded defeated and Thea followed his gaze down to the sight of the black briefcase half-submerged into the asphalt, smoking and charred.
Utterly ruined. Useless.
With no words, the radio – that was still working – instead, spoke for them.
"And here they come! The Presidential car is moving out..."
All three of them scrambled over to the fence to watch the proceedings, with Five and Thea using the forgotten brown suitcase to stand on so that they could see more clearly.
"Look, there's Dad!" Luther pointed out and Thea squinted in order to see a non-descript figure wearing all black and hiding their face with an umbrella, despite the sunny day.
"Ah shit, Diego..." Five muttered and they followed his line of vision to see a blur of black running across the grassy plains with desperation, heading straight towards the man in black.
Diego...what are you doing!?
Whilst everybody was stationary; eager and excited to watch as the President went by in his car, Diego was all-too-obvious, speeding past them all. He soon reached the man in black and without hesitation, tackled him to the ground.
Just as he did, gunshots rang out and Thea looked around in confusion, wondering where they'd come from.
Screams of terror and the alarms of police sirens intermingled in the chaos and the three of them, Five, Thea and Luther, watched on from behind the white-picket-fence; the radio's static voice narrating the memorable day occurring right in front of them.
For today, would truly be a day none of them – nor the world – would forget.
A lot of people probably won't like where I went with this chapter - or some of the choices I included, but if so, feel free to stop reading. I write this for my own pleasure and am allowed to change my mind on things in the couple years it's been since I began writing it.
Thanks for being patient with uploads x