The sound of joyful giggling sounded throughout the barren wasteland of a world. Ris was curled in a blanket. But she was not using it for the cold, she was using it to protect her from the hot strong sun that would beat down on her and Five. Smiling at the book in her hands, still giggling she shook her head. Before she could continue to read she was interrupted by a certain dark haired boy…

"What's all the giggling for? Oh, let me guess, did you finally figure out that I'm a genius?" he joked sitting down next to, dumping his dirty backpack on the clear grasses patch. Ris rolled her eyes at the 16 year old. "You know I used to believe in human evolution and then, then I met you."

"Cold Ris."

"Nah, that's a solid burn." she shot back a smile on her lips. Five sighed, shaking his head. "You know what? I think I've finally rubbed off on you." he replied. "You? On me? Keep dreaming Goofball." Ris said, picking up her book.

"Anyway, I have something to show you." Five instantly straitened up. "What?" Ris smiled mysteriously, getting up from the warm grassy ground, walking towards their home.

"You'll see…"

"Ris, Ris. Wake up."

Ris groaned, before murmuring "Go away, Five…I'm sleeping"

"Ris! Wake Up!"

Her eyes snapped open- "Five, why-" her words died in her throat. Five wasn't waking her up. It was Diego. "Oh! Hey…um…Diego, I…um" she looked down her cheeks heating up in as she fidgeted with the blanket that she had been draped under. It was aquamarine. Oh, the irony. "Come downstairs, when you're finished changing. We're having at meeting." he said shortly, before walking out of Five's bedroom and down the hall.

Ris sighed to herself, tucking back the loose strands of her hair behind her ear. She turned to the chair across from her, staring into a pair of fake blue eyes. "This is gonna be a long day, Delores." She sighed to herself, before painstakingly lifting herself of the warm bed.


Location: Commission Headquarters Year: 1955

"I must admit, Number Five, in all the time that I've been here, I've never met anyone quite like you. Hazel and Cha-Cha, for example, are talented, certainly, but they can't see the big picture. Your spunk, your enterprising spirit, well, it reminds me a great deal of myself, if I may be so vainglorious. If things work out for you here, you could potentially make a fine successor, Five." explained, the Handler as she marched to the Commission's main building with Five in tow.

It was taking every ounce of his willpower to not yawn or make a snide comment to Rissa. The second she walked a bit more forward, Five turned towards her instinctively. But he was met with an empty place beside him. For a spit-second he wondered where she had gone, before remembering…Ris wasn't here.

"I'd like to discuss the logistics of my family's safety at your earliest convenience. As well as body replacement." he inquired in a toneless, removed voice as the Handler through off her usual black coat.

"Such hutzpah. It's refreshing, I'll admit." she said as she walked up the stairs, her heels clicking with every step.

'Imagine if her heel broke? Hah! That would be hilarious! Then again it would be good for her, I'm positive her shoes are so tight that they cut of the flow of oxygen to her brain' Ris's voice chimed in his head, he turned around. She wasn't there.

"Slow down, Five. All in good time. In fact, now that you've finally agreed to work with us, we've got all the time in the world." The Handler said placing a 'comforting' hand on his shoulder. Before launching into a long speech.

"The Commission works in support of a delicate balance between the time line of events and mankind's free will." she started, giving him the full tour of the main building, passing the briefcase storage room.

"The briefcase is no longer part of your kit, Five. Free your mind. You're management now. One of us. All the people on this floor are case managers, each one responsible for one major event at a time."

"So many of them." he breathed out, staring at the number of people in one room. 'Wow'

"Impressive, isn't it? Being part of something so grand. Come along. Whenever someone chooses the wrong path and the time line is changed, the Commission gets a report from field agents on the ground. These field reports are sorted and assigned to a case manager."

"They determine if anyone needs to be removed from the equation to assure that their event happens as it should. Based on that determination, the case manager sends instructions via pneumatic tube to temporal assassins like you formerly were, Number Five. Any queries so far?"

"Yeah." he asked, glancing at her. "Who was the case manager handling Ris and I?"

"Ah. You mean the apocalypse." The Handler answered happily, before leading him to another room.

"Five, meet Dot." she introduced, as a young woman waved at him, smiling widely. Five glared. He was not impressed by his and Ris's case manager. Pretty pissed off in fact.

"Oh, hi." she said shyly. "Dot is responsible for all apocalypse matters. In fact, it was Dot here who first flagged your appearance in 2019."

"No hard feelings." Dot whispered anxiously. Five bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from replying. "Well, you certainly put us through the ringer. Outsmarting two of our current so-called best temporal assassins."

'Does this woman EVER shut up?'

"If that doesn't spell leadership material. I just don't know. I suspect you like a challenge, Five. Which is why I've given you particularly complex first case. It's too bad Joseph Späh decided against sabotaging the fuel tank. It would've been so much easier. Anyhoo…if you have any questions. I'll be right behind you." came her sickly sweet high voice, walking off.

'Great, the nutjob of a boss is breathing down your neck. Wonderful plan, Five. I applaud you. You really shouldn't have brought me along' came Ris's voice again.

Five kicked himself under his desk. This was going to be a long, long day.


Ris marched down the stairs in a pair of blue pyjamas. The conversation, sorry argument already reaching her ears. She didn't even make it down the stairs.

"-Our little psycho.-" – "He was pretty convincing."—"we all fought together against whoever was responsible."-"What actually happened the first time around?"

"You died. All of you died, horrible. If I may add." came a voice from the couch, Ris strolled into the living room calmly and sat on the back of the couch across from Allison and Luther.

"The planet, the people, plants animals. You name it. It was a barren wasteland that held death at every corner." Ris stated darkly. "And I refuse to let that happen again." Ris scrunched up her naturally thin eyebrows. "Where's Vanya?"

"Wait, who are you?" asked Allison, turning her attention towards her, probably wondering why a 13 year old (she looked 12 apparently) was telling them this. "Oh! Right, Ris. Allison. Allison. Ris. Five's…er…"Klaus started.

"Five's partner, nice to meet you-" Ris answered, before a quiet "Hey." caused her to look around to see Vanya and some random dude with her. Ris smiled at Vanya.

"Hello Vanya," she said cheerfully, Vanya smiled weakly. "Hey Ris, What's going on?" she asked the group. "It's a family matter," answered Allison, Ris face-palmed. 'Bad choice of words'.

"A family matter." Vanya repeated. So you couldn't bother to include me." she said angrily, but Ris knew; Vanya wasn't angry, not entirely. She was sad. Disappointed.

Allison seemed to realize her bad word choice. "No, it's not like that. We were-" Luther said trying to fix Allison poor wording mistake.

"Don't let me interrupt." Vanya snapped quietly, turning to walk away, with her guy friend. Ris wrinkled her noise as she looked at Vanya's 'buddy', she was picking up some seriously bad thoughts and emotions from him.

"Wait. I'll fill you in later when we're alone. I promise" Allison cried out reaching for Vanya's hand. "Please, please, don't bother. And I won't either." Vanya snapped back, yanking her hand back.

Ris directed her attention to the man Vanya brought. Her gut was screaming at her to gut the man like a fish and make a run for it. He was not normal, she could tell from here.

He was strange, wrong, manipulative. Ris knew the type, heck she was the type. Kinda of. 'A wolf in sheep's clothing…'

"Dad's fault, but he's dead. So it turns out you're the assholes." Vanya cried out to her sibling, before turning towards Ris. "Bye Ris" she muttered, before storming off.

"Ouch." Klaus voiced out, what everyone was thinking. "Ouch, indeed." Ris answered, looking down Vanya's new friend was worrying her. "I'm gonna go find Vanya and explain." Allison said, jumping up from her seat.

No, wait, there isn't time. We need to figure out what causes the apocalypse." Luther replied steering her back to her seat. "He's right." Ris said to Allison tonelessly. 'This is gonna be harder than I thought...'

"Now, there are loads of possibilities. Nuclear war, asteroids. But I'm thinking this is about the Moon. Right? Dad must have sent me-"

Ris rolled her eyes. "No offence Luther, but I highly doubt that the, Moon is gonna help us, in this situation. I think-"

"Hold on. Hold the phone, Sorry Ris. We all died fighting this thing the first time around. Remember?" Klaus pointed out. "Klaus, shockingly, has a point. What gives us a win this time?" Diego asked from the counter.

"Me and Five. Last time you didn't have him. You weren't all together. This time, you'll have the full force of the Umbrella Academy. That's what we need, right?" Ris answered, but the last bit came out as a question. "So, where's Five now?" Allison asked Ris (it was clear they had all forgotten about Luther.)

"Well, he had a plan to change…um…he had a plan….He'll be back soon." Ris replied with a little too much cheerfulness. "I'm going after Hazel and Cha-Cha." declared Diego. "Excuse me?" Ris asked doubtfulness in her voice. "Hell, yeah! Three days. I'm losing light by the minute." he replied walking away from the counter and to the door.

"Wait, Diego. Look, I know you wanna avenge your friend, but we got a bigger problem here." Luther said desperately trying to talk some sense into his brother.

"She wasn't just some friend. If I'm gonna die, I need to know. I killed those bastards first." Diego snapped, refusing to meet Ris's eyes. The argument broke out between the brothers, but Ris could only gap at them.

"Klaus? Klaus? Klaus!" Luther called out, Klaus seemed to be in his own little world. "Yeah! Sorry." he murmured, stumbling as he walked. "So, what? You're giving up on the world, too?" Luther asked angrily. "Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. Mm-hmm."

Ris shut her eyes. 'This can't be happening'

"Klaus." she called out. Klaus looked down, patting her back as he walked past. "Sorry, Rissie."

"So that's it. You're cool with us all dying in three days?" Luther yelled out after him. "I can't believe it. It's just us. Oh, please, not you, too."

'This can't be happening'

Allison stuffed her hands into her pockets, she to refusing to look at the distraught child and Luther.

"I have to book a flight back to LA. If this happens I have to be with my daughter, custody be damned. And you said it yourself we need the full force of the Academy to even stand a chance. I'm sorry, Luther, Ris." Allison whispered, squeezing Ris's shoulder as she walked away.

Luther looked at Ris in despair, she hadn't said anything since Klaus left. "What do we do now?" he asked.

She bit her lip. "What do we do now?" she repeated slowly. "What do we do, Luther. I believe that's quite simple" she said calmly, tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"We are all going to die."


"Hiya, Five. How's it going?" asked an overexcited Dot from the desk just behind Five. He bit his lip keeping his cool.

'Is it just me or is everyone here totally coo-coo?' came Ris's voice from inside his head. He kicked himself again. Before responding to Dot who was still waiting patiently. "I must have utter silence in order to complete this task." he said in a monotone voice.

"Oh, okay. Hey, a few of us are having lunch, and I was wondering if you… you're doing something." she said as he stalked out of the room faintly hearing her shout of goodbye as he walked towards the tube operating room. 'Behind you…BEHIND YOU!'

"I'm afraid that's not procedure." Came the voice of the Handler as she pulled the tube from him. 'Told you…'

The Handler smiled, Five puked in his mouth. "Five, meet Gloria. Gloria is perhaps the single most vital cog in our machine." She introduced gesturing to an aging woman in a pale blue blazer and glasses. "Gloria, this is Number Five."

Gloria smiled kindly at him. "Look at you. Deadly little thing. So happy we decided to close the contract on your life." she said as the Handler pulled out the piece of paper and read it.

'Creepy…'

"I'm afraid your reputation precedes you. And it looks like you're building on it here. Oh. Karl Weber. Now tell me, why unfortunate Karl?" she asked smiling with pleasure.

"Karl Weber is the butcher at the shop where Captain Ernst A. Lehmann acquires his weekly roast. So, if Karl dies, his butcher shop is passed on to his son Otto, who never washes his hands, which is disgusting." he said vaguely remembering a conversation he and Ris had about the subject. 'Yuck!'

"So he's the one who gives the captain his roast." The Handler said in realization. 'Pff obviously…'

"And that gives him food poisoning." "Which makes him late for delays the takeoff."

"And to make up for lost time, the Hindenburg flies through a weather front of high electrical charge and humidity." Five continued 'Why on earth does she interrupt so much?' "And the static electricity inside the aircraft makes it a virtual tinderbox. Tiny engine sparks-" the Handler finished.

"And just like that, we have…poof" Five finished off making an exploding noise with his voice. 'KAABOOM!'

"I'm sure you've all heard that Mr. Five has proven to be as adept with a pen as he was with a sword." The Handler announced. 'It's a gun…You idiot.'

"Let his effort serve as inspiration to you all." 'Inspiration of What? Crazy?!'

"Herb! How long have you been on the Lusitania?" she called out. "Oh, ah Well, let's see, I, uh I-" "Sorry?" "When I first started-" "Sorry? I can't hear you. Still can't hear you." The Handler called out again as the buzzer for lunch went off.

'Poor Herb…'

Five's eyes flew over to Dot's desk. Swiftly as he could he grabbed one of the files labelled 'Apocalypse (Section B5). With the file in hand (technically under his sweater) and Ris's voice in his head. He spend of towards the bathroom to read the file. Closing the door of the stall, he sat on the toilet seat, ripping open the file. When the familiar clicking of heels reached his ears.

"Shit." he whispered. 'Yep…How are we gonna get out of this?'

"So, how's your first day going?" the Handler asked cheerfully as she went to the a smile on his face. "Couldn't be better." He called back. "Glad to hear it."

There was silence well expect for the sound of the Handlers…um… urination.

"Ah. I burned my rugae. Ever burn your rugae? Rugae." she started, Five bit his lip awkwardly. "The ridges on the hard palate that help pass food to the esophagus. Anyway, I'm on a liquid diet for two days, hence the marathon of urination." she explained.

'Gosh….This is weird….'

"One faulty cog, and nothing works as it should. You know, we value integrity at the office above all else. Trust is essential, and that trust is built over time. But in the event of a breach, the Commission will act swiftly and without mercy. An efficiency I'm sure you above all people can appreciate, Number Five."

'How is she so….relaxed?'

"I'm feeling peckish. Have you had your lunch?" she asked as she walked out of the stall. "Not yet." he answered in the same forced voice as before. 'No, no, no ,no'

"Great. How would you like to lunch with me in my office? You can eat solid foods, and I can live vicariously through you." The Handler said peering into Five's bathroom stall. 'Bad Idea. Bad Idea. BAD IDEA!'

Five flashed her a smile. "Sounds great."


The sharp knocking of a door broke Ris out of her trance-like state. Opening her dark brown eyes, she stared at the door intensely as if it were about to sprout wings and fly out the window. Another sharp knock. Taking a deep breath, hoping she looked slightly put together in her blue pyjamas, ruffled hair and dark rings under her eyes.

"Come in," she called out, rubbing her tired heavy eyelids. A manicured hand and a few strands of curly hair came into Ris's view. 'Allison.'

"Hello Allison." Ris greeted, though even she knew something was different in her voice. She sounded…cold. Dead, almost. "If you don't mind me asking, shouldn't you be packing?"

Allison paused still in the staring at Ris through the crack of Five's bedroom door. Allison gave a tired sigh. "I should." She said walking into the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her. "But, I want to talk to you. About something."

Looking at Allison, Ris could see a clear difference between her and Vanya. Vanya is more introverted while Allison was not. Vanya tried to sugar-coat things, Allison is a bit blunter. Allison is more expressive, Vanya is not. And so on. But Ris could see, one similar thing. They both cared deeply for family, even though they never showed it all the time.

Giving Allison a kind (though tired) smile. "Shoot," she said calming (thanking her lucky stars that she had emotion in her voice again. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"The future. Our deaths. The end of the world. Is it really going to happen?"

Ris sighed, she had been staring intensely at Delores fake bright blue eyes. But now as she faced Allison she could see the bundle of emotions in her gentle kind brown eyes. Fear, Worry, Sadness, Insecurity, Disappointment, Anger, Pain. 'All so familiar…' Ris thought, remembering the familiar emotions that she felt not so long ago.

She almost didn't want to tell Allison the truth. At that moment she wanted to shove the truth down a box, lock it and throw the key down the well. But it wouldn't do her or Allison much good. And secretly Ris thought it was a good thing that Allison was asking this.

A wake up call of sorts. She wanted to deny the inevitable. To deny the thought that Five had actual left her to die, to deny that the apocalypse won't happen, to deny the underground lab that haunted her for her entire life, to deny her dark past, deny the betrayals, to deny the death sentence that hung over her head constantly. To deny who she really was. To deny-

"Ris?"

"Hmm" she answered, snapping out of her train of thought. She hadn't realized that Allison was still waiting for an answer. Staring at Delores blue eyes, refusing to meet Allison's she gave the dreaded answer that the woman was patiently waiting for.

"Yes."


On the top of the roof facing the Hargreaves Mansion, a boy with dark blonde hair and glistening green eyes, stared at the 2 girls in Number Fives room through the scope of his sniper rifle. Quickly checking a piece of paper in his hand, he adjusted his aim. Peering through the scope his eyes landed on the not-as-young-as-she-looks- 13 year old. A wryly smile fitted on his face as he stared at the familiar face.

Clarissa Hope Alpin more commonly known as Ris. He smiled once more at the familiar face noticing that her dark shiny hair was a lot longer now. He couldn't help, but wonder if she still had her no-nonsense-hot-headed attitude.

Part of him wanted to pull the trigger and get it all over with. Another wanted nothing more than to warn her about the upcoming attack. After about a full five minutes of watching her in Five's blue pjs, he couldn't bring himself to do it. She was still talking to the woman. Allison Hargreabeeze. Or was it Hargeens. He furrowed his eyebrows, those names didn't seem right. Whatever.

Suddenly Clarissa and Allison Whatever-her-name-is got up and walked out the room. Making a hissing noise of irritation, he stuffed the sniper into his large duffle bag, he pulled out a packet of chips. He would wait for her it leave. Then…well…he hoped she and Five had said their goodbyes….


Manhattan, 10 May 2004

"Alright, target in sight. I repeat, target in sight. Permission to shoot, Agent 13?" asked the blonde-haired sniper on the roof.

On the busy Manhattan road below, 39 year old Clarissa better known as Agent 13 of the Commission. Sipping her coffee calmly, as she watched the busy street in front of her. More specifically the blue Volvo that had just pulled up. Rubbing her cold nose, internally cursing the cold weather as she watched the 2 men that had pulled up.

"Permission not granted. Have patience, Will. You can't just go shooting like a maniac from the roof. We can't afford a fire fight in a packed street.-"

"Fire fight? There not even armed!"

13 sighed to herself, slowly massaging the bridge of her nose. "As usual, William you see. But do not observe. Now, let me give you a run through." She took a sip of coffee. "These are high profiled men, have an incredibly incriminating conversation. And even though they have not shown up with guards. I assure you. The place in stocked to the brim with undercover security. One small bullet from you, they'd probably light the roof up like a Christmas tree."

William removed his eye from the scope. "Then why am I up here?" he snapped. She giggled. "Oh William, you do realize I need an eye in the sky, right. Well that, and you. Out of my way." she replied silkily as she strutted over to the targets. A smile and a lollipop on her lips.


New Jersey, 26 July 2003

"What do you say, William?"

William, green eyes still groggily from sleep turned over from the bed to look at his 'new' partner. Agent 13. Who was unsurprisingly dressed, had finished breakfast and who seemed to be talking to him about their latest mission. He hadn't heard a word. Her sharp brown-eyes and eyebrows seemed to scream her disappointment at him, but all she did was huff, rub her eyebrows and throw the golden cylinder at him. Hard.

"Find me when YOUR finished." She snapped before stalking out the room. Sighing to himself William opened the cylinder. Why did he get such a rude and irritating partner?


Commission Headquarters, 5 December 1955

"William! Hey, WILL! I know you can hear ME! WILL!"

William sighed moving his shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes. As he stared at Clarissa. "Hey Lissa."

She looked slightly out of breath and all the hair seemed to have flown out of her usually neat plait. She also had a nice pair of dark circles under her eyes to match. "Will. Listen, I had NO IDEA that the Handler changed our partners again. And I swear I didn't request it. I-"

"But you and I both know. You would much prefer him." he said quietly, she didn't answer. He stared into her dark eyes. "Liss, I…I get it. You…and Five were in the apocalypse. The apocalypse, Liss. You guys faced the…the possibility of death everyday. It makes sense why the Handler decided what she decided. You and I… were never really a good team. I get that." he swallowed looking down, refusing to meet her dark whirlpool like eyes. Like a cup of swirling coffee. "And I think its time for us to say….Goodbye….So Goodbye, Clarissa.

"William…"she whispered. "Come on, Will. Don't be so dramatic. We…we are going to see each other again." She laughed shakily.

William turned to look back at her drinking in her appearance hopping he would never forget it. Dark shiny hair, beige skin, dark coffee/chocolate brown eye and her lightly rose coloured lips. She was wearing a Commission issued uniform black pants, white shirt, black tie with a black blazer and her own signature pair of black sneakers.

He bit his lip at the sneakers the Handler would flip if she saw them. He remembered how much he hated his new partner, how rude and irritating she was. Then he started to see all the pain that she hide, the fears, the good things.

Things she only revealed to her closes companion Number Five. He had always quietly wished that she could be open with him. Tell him her worries and pains of her past. But he also knew she never would. HE knew he would never be the same kind of person Five is. It killed him.

Which is why he knew it was time to say goodbye. Walking towards her taking her hands in his, he gave her cold hands a tight squeeze. "You won't. You will never see me again, Clarissa. And that's okay…"

He gently moved at few strands of hair from her face. "Goodbye, my dear Clarissa." He whispered before turning on his heel and walking towards the building. Knowing this was his finally goodbye.

"Clearly. And that's how Will determined that the archduke just had to go." The Handler laughed out. "Care for dessert?" she asked gesturing to a bowl of sweets. 'Will….Haven't heard that name in a while…'

Five shook his head whether at the thought of Will or dessert, it was kind of unclear. "I had a bad Twinkie in the apocalypse once. It kind of put me off desserts."

"Please, indulge me." She said pushing the bowl closer to Five. Despite his better judgement he took the sweet. "What's that taste like to you?"

He wrinkled his eyebrows. "The 1950s?"

"Precisely right. Our clever metaphysics division concocted a way to perfectly distil an entire decade into a single candy. This one's modelled after the Fudge Mutt, America's favorite in 1955."

"Remarkable." Five murmured, the apocalypse would happen in a few day. And she made candy.

"You'll be happy to know it's the very division that's building your new body. Oh, that reminds me. I have something for you." She said, before pressing a intercom. "Carla?"
"Yes?" "Would you bring the box in, please?" "Certainly." The woman, Carla walked into the office holding a large brown box.

"Go ahead. Open it." she encouraged, Five opened the box to reveal a suit. "Clothes make the man, Five. Won't it be nice when you can actually wear it? Very soon, I assure you. They're perfecting your body as we speak." she said, but Five barely caught a word, his eyes still locked onto the suit.

He remembered the first time he ever wore one. Instantly the watch around his wrist felt heavy with guilt. "Thank you. It's a very kind gift." he whispered quietly trying to show that the suit did not bother him. "Is that a Chinese flamethrower?" he blurted, desperately trying to change the subject as he started to walk towards it.

"Good eye. War. Such a fascinating concept. A temporary salve for a permanent human flaw. Course, it's a bit easier to see from 30,000 feet. These are just some of the things I've collected in my travels. M26 grenades from the Vietnam War. And this, the most noteworthy, perhaps. My Walther pistol. The very one Hitler used to kill himself. We're not supposed to take these kind of things, but he wasn't gonna use it anymore. Feel how perfectly balanced that is." The Handler said proudly, showing him her tokens.

"I had some thoughts I wanted to run by you. Some suggestions to improve Commission protocol." he started, glancing at the token. "Mm! Shaking things up already. I admire that." she said caress in cheek lightly. Five felt instantly disgusted.

"Go on. Do tell!" she said excitedly, not noticing his visible cringe. "Gloria. The tube operator. Wouldn't it be simpler if case managers were to send their own messages?" he pitched, the Handler bit her cigar that she had just light.

"I appreciate the thought. I really do. But everyone loves Gloria. I…I would never hear the end of it. I would never hear the end of it. She's been with the Commission family for years, and she's this close to making pension." The Handler paused at the sound of knocking.

"Sorry to interrupt. May I have a moment alone?" came the familiar voice of Dot. "Of course. Duty calls. We'll continue this discussion later, Five." The Handler said with a puff. "Sure. May I?" he asked gesturing to the sweets. She smiled. "Please."

Just as Five walked out of the room, Dot hurried forward. "It's her ma'am." She whispered holding out a file. "She's a bigger problem without him. I believe…She…she finds out. She might have already…."

The Handler leaned back into her chair. This girl. Had caused her so much grief and paperwork. She was so…Loyal. It was irritating. Glaring at the photo she turned to Dot.

"You know what to do."


Ris pulled up the hood of her jacket, securing it tightly around her neck as she felt the cold wind hit the back of her neck. After explaining the apocalyptic future, Allison having a breakdown and then helping the older woman pack; had drained her both emotionally and physically. The only 'pro' was that Allison had allowed Ris to borrow some of her and Vanya's old clothing. She had never been so happy to not be wearing a shirt.

She sighed to herself. The alone time…is greatly…. appreciated. Ris barely had time to breath, since she got to the past. Well the past for her, the future for others. She brushed a few stray hairs from her face and tucked it behind her right ear. Ris stared intently at the watch on her wrist, smiling to herself as she stood in line at quaint coffee shop. The sound of giggling snapped Ris out of her thoughts.

In one of the booth's by the window sat two people. A boy and a girl. The two were laughing and talking about something over the two steaming cups of coffee. Ris smiled at the sight, though her smile had flow of her face instantly.

'It can't be….'

Ris turned on her heel, running out of the coffee shop as quickly as she could. The wind whipped through her hair, but she barely paid any attention to it.

'He left…he can't be here….he's dead….'

But there was no mistaking the smile. Or that hair. He knew that she found him out. Flashing his pearl white teeth at her from further up the road. He took off at a sprint. Without any hesitation Ris ran after him.

'Faster! Faster!' she urged herself.

Her watch seemed to burn into her skin. The street was crowded, the roads bustling with taxies and cars. Ris froze her eyes, scanning people a mile a minute.

'Where is he? Where is he?'

Her mind screamed at her in anger. 'How could you let him get away…again!'

Rubbing her eyes, the crowd seemed to thicken. "You're chasing dead people. The apocalypse! You NEED to focus." She snapped to herself.

Sighing to herself, she turned to walk back to the Academy. Only to have someone grab her by the shoulder and shove her into a dark alley way. Swinging her fist (she felt it hit something) she turned to run.

When her vision went black…