They were able to get out of the department store through a back door just as a whole horde of police officers were flooding in through the main entrance. No one had seen them. Five wanted to try blinking them again, but Elizabeth resolutely refused.

The boy was exhausted and she could clearly see it. Any more tries to use his powers and he would probably keel over. And she herself was in no state to get him back home on her own then. She was beyond tired and the only thing that kept her going was the adrenaline still pumping through her veins. They needed to get back to Fives house and finally get some rest.

They walked the whole way and when they finally got back close to midnight they stumbled into Allison and Luther.

"Five? Lizzie?" Allison asked in disbelief as she looked them up and down.

"What the hell happened to you?" The teens looked exhausted and disturbed, their appearance more than a little disheveled. Luther looked at his brother with clear concern in his eyes. "Are you okay? Can we help?" He lifted his arm, wanting to put it on Fives shoulder, but he roughly grabbed his brothers wrist, stopping him. "There's nothing you can do." The boy growled. "There's nothing any of you can do."

"Five." Elizabeth warned and took hold of his arm. "Let him go." Her husband continued to darkly glare at his siblings for a few moments, then he let go of Luthers wrist. Without so much as a goodbye he turned on his heels and walked in the direction of his room. "Okay, what was this about?" Allison inquired and the girl sighed. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "It's just... we're tired, okay? Long day and everything."

She looked up at them, pleading with her eyes to just let it be and don't demand any explanations. They seemed to understand. "We're going to sleep. Good night." She left them and they both watched her go after their brother, dumbfounded. What had happened to them?

Elizabeth reached Fives room and saw him standing at the window, looking out. Without a word she closed the door and went over to the bed, pulling back the blanket. "The bed is a bit small, but I think we can manage to fit in both." She commented while doing so. But he didn't react.

"Unless you want me to sleep in one of the other, unoccupied bedrooms?" She then asked and that brought out a reaction from him. He turned around and glowered at her. For 45 years they had always slept together in at least the same room. He would certainly not change that. For anything.

She sighed and averted her eyes. "Look, I know you want to continue our search, but you're exhausted. You NEED rest. And I, too, honestly." She looked at him. "Another sleepless night and we will be good for nothing tomorrow." He said nothing, only stalked up to her.

The next moment his lips were crushing against hers and he kissed her with a passion she had seldom seen in him. They continued until they were both breathing heavily and had to stop. "Liz." Five then pleaded. "Let me have you."

He was shaken from what had happened before. They could have died today. Or worse: he could have lost Elizabeth and been forced to live on without her. This thought was tearing him apart and he needed a way to make himself calm down and realize that she was still okay and with him and his. And the only way he could think of was by making love to her.

Elizabeth looked up at him with uncertainty. She would do it in a heartbeat, but there still was the problem with protection. She hadn't lied when she had said that she didn't want to become pregnant in her teens. But when Five pulled out a box of condoms he had swiped in the department store from his pocket she nodded with determination.

Her husband was not overly gentle that night. And the first time he had thrust into her it had hurt. But she wouldn't have changed anything as they lost themselves into each other; making sure, in their own way, that their loved one was okay and still with them.

.

.

Elizabeth awoke the next morning from caresses on her head and shoulders. Someone was playing with her hair and stroking figures on her skin. She felt warm, content and loved as she laid on Fives chest, listening to his heartbeat, and sighed happily. "I could spent the whole day like this." She mumbled sleepily and he chuckled. "Me, too."

They continued to lie like this for some time and Elizabeth could feel herself drifting off to sleep again when her husband spoke up. "Are you sore?" He asked concerned. She wiggled around a bit. There was a dull sting between her legs and her limbs were aching from an activity still unknown to this body. But it was bearable. "A bit." She then admitted and he sighed. "I'm sorry. I even told myself I would be more gentle this time, but this thought went out the window the moment you were naked." He admitted and made a movement with his hand as if he was throwing something away.

She finally opened her eyes and looked up at him, placing her chin on his chest. "You don't have to apologize." She reassured. "Because all in all it was better this time." Five looked at her curiously. "Oh? Do elaborate." She grinned mischievously. "Well, for starters, it lasted more than a minute this time." She watched him blush, a sight she rarely had the pleasure to see and he groaned. Then he shoved his giggling wife off his chest, on her back, and got above her. "Hm. Then I'm glad I was able to rectify that, at least." He growled hoarsely. They kissed again and dove right into round two.

.

.

After another tumble between the sheets they eventually got up to get showered and Elizabeth finally got to take care of Fives wound on his shoulder he had received from their run in with Hazel and Cha Cha the day before. She had only hastily covered it up on their way home and then Five had made her totally forget about it, until she had seen him naked in the bathroom.

She needed a dozen stitches to close up the wound and wrinkled her nose. That would turn into another scar. Then she covered it with a band aid with car motives printed on it she had found in the bathroom and had to smile when she saw her husband look at it in annoyance. Well, this had to do.

She put on a skinny jeans and a thick, red turtleneck pullover, then she put her hair into a messy bun. Five, of course, put on his uniform. "You know, maybe we should have gotten something for you, too." She grinned while working on her hair. The boy just calmly continued to tie his necktie. "Nah. There was no time and I also don't care as much about my appearance as you." He finished and then put on his jacket. The blonde shook her head and smiled.

Five went over to the window, opened it and looked at her expectantly. "Ready to go?" The girl looked at him questioningly. "Uh, why are we going out the window? This house has a perfectly working main door." He sighed. "I don't want to see the others. After yesterday there will be questions I really don't want to answer... yet." Elizabeth rolled her eyes over her husband's stubbornness, but obediently climbed out the window and came to stand on the fire escape.

She heard stuff being thrown around under her and then a voice. "Damn it, where's Dad's stuff?" Curiously, she leaned over the handrail and looked down. "Uhm, what is Klaus doing, standing in a dustbin and throwing garbage around?" She asked as Five himself climbed through the window and closed it behind him. "Who knows." He shrugged, uninterested. "It's Klaus."

They climbed down the stairs, when Klaus suddenly exclaimed "Shut up! I'm trying to find whatever... priceless crap was in that priceless box so that Pogo will get off my ASS!" Elizabeth halted for a moment, looking down again. "What... did you say his superpower was again?" She asked her husband and Five turned to her. "Talking to the dead." She nodded. "Right, right..." she mumbled, as if that fact was totally normal. "And who is he talking to?"

Five sighed and took her hand, pulling her to the ladder at the end of the fire escape. "I don't know, okay? He is the one who can see the dead, not me." They climbed down, Five going first.

"I'd ask what you're up to, Klaus, but then it occurred to me..." He greeted his brother, stopping for a second and looking at the man standing in the dustbin. "...I don't care."

He continued to climb down, Elizabeth following with a sigh. "Good morning, Klaus." That her husband couldn't just say a simple 'hello' sometimes did get on her nerves. "Hey!" Klaus greeted back. "You know there are easier ways out of the house, buddy?" Five finished his climb and then laid his hands on the blondes waist, who was still on the ladder, lifting her up and gently putting her down next to him. "This one involved the least amount of talking." He said while doing so. "Or so I thought."

He casually put his hands into his trouser pockets and walked a few steps up to his brother. "Hey, hey, hey, so..." Klaus excitedly exclaimed, pulling out a flask and casually leaning on the edge of the dustbin. "You need any more company today? I could, uh... clear my schedule." He offered and took a sip from the flask.

Five looked at him in slight disgust. "Looks like you've got your hands full." He turned him down. "Oh, this?" He stretched out both of his arms. "No, no. I can do this whenever. I'm just-" he suddenly vanished into the dustbin. "Klaus!?" Elizabeth shrieked. "I just misplaced something." Came his voice from between the trash. "That's all."

"Oh!" He exclaimed and got up again. "Found it! Thank God!" He sighed and held up half of a bagel. Then he bit into it. "Delicious." He forced out, gagging slightly and obviously forcing himself not to spit it out again. "Oh, Klaus, honey-" The girl called out in disgust. She wanted to get over to him, but Five held her back. "Don't eat that." She pleaded instead. "That's literally garbage."

"We're done funding your drug habit." Five declared, pulling his wife away from his brother. "Come on! You don't-" Klaus pleaded. "Maybe I just wanna hang out with my brother (not you) and lovely sister in law." In between he had talked to Ben, who was now sitting next to him and neither Five nor Elizabeth could see. "Mi hermano y mi cuñada!"

Five just pulled the blonde further down the back alley, in the direction of a plumbers car. He pointed at it and they split up, getting in from both sides. "I love you!" Klaus tried again. "Even if you can't love yourself!" The two teens just sneaked into the car and drove away with squealing tires.

Klaus spit out the bite of bagel he had in his mouth. "Unbelievable." He muttered. "That boy got laid yesterday and this morning, but he is still this grumpy and unhelpful." Ben wrinkled his nose. "You're disgusting." Klaus just shrugged. "What? It's true! And if they didn't want anyone to know they should have been quieter." Ben shook his head at his brother. He sometimes wondered if there really still was a way to rescue Klaus from this one-way street towards self-destruction.

.

.

The couple arrived before the MeriTech building and started their observation. Five perked up when he saw a guy in a lab coat enter the building, two coffees in hand and looking behind him several times. "Is this the guy you talked to yesterday?" Elizabeth asked and the boy hummed. Then he sighed. "Now we just have to wait."

And wait they did. For hours they sat in the car. Sometimes talking about random stuff, sometimes listening to music coming softly out of the speakers. Or they just remained silent. Always focused on the entrance of the building. Waiting for that guy to re-emerge. Around midday though Elizabeth could feel her tummy rumbling. She was hungry.

"Hey, Five. Let's get something to eat." She suggested. He sighed. "Liz... we can't. That guy could come out any moment." She looked out. "Five, it's 1 pm. I'm pretty sure he has to work until at least 5." The boy sighed again and pulled out some banknotes from his pocket he had gotten from who knows where. "Okay. Go and get something for us, will you?" He held the notes out to her and she took them, annoyance clear on her face. "Fine. But we'll eat what I want." He grinned, amused by her 'hangry' mood. "Sure."

The blonde gave her husband a quick kiss and got out of the car. Then she hesitated. She knew that she probably shouldn't... but she made her way to Griddy's anyways.

.

.

Agnes hummed while she cleaned the counter after the last customer had left. It was a slow day and she was thankful for not having to hurry between dozens of customers. Though she was still a little anxious about the shooting two days ago. But the police had reassured her that, whoever these people had been, they were all dead and that she didn't have to fear retaliation or something like that. Cleaning up after that had been a pain and there still were some traces if you looked carefully, but all in all it was almost as if this nightmare had never happened in the first place.

The door opened and she looked up. She stopped humming. It was the girl again. The blonde girl who had been here with her (what she assumed) dad and brother. She walked over to the counter and sat down, smiling at the waitress. "Hello." The girl greeted friendly and again Agnes was hit with a familiar feeling. But no, it couldn't be. Even if that girl from back then was still alive, she would be almost 30 by now. An adult, not a teenager.

"H-Hello." She greeted back, although a little hesitant. Then she pulled out her writing pad and a pen. "Do you already know what you want or do you still need time?" The blonde shook her head. "I know it already. I want a vanilla milkshake and a coffee, black. To go, please. Oh, and four doughnuts. One raspberry-powder and a fluffernutter. The other two can be a surprise."

Five seemed to have enjoyed the sandwich they had eaten on their first day back, even though he normally hated sweets. Raspberry-powder had always been one of her favorites. And asking for surprises had been a standard of hers, when she had gotten some doughnuts for her brother and herself.

Agnes nodded, again feeling a rush of familiarity, and got to work assembling the order. "Say..." the girl started after a few moments. "When I was here two days ago... you asked me if you knew me." The waitress looked at the girl. "Do I look like someone you know?" She continued. Agnes averted her gaze and slowly nodded. "Yeah... you do, actually. A lot" Elizabeth pretended to think about that. "What is she like... this person?" She then asked.

The woman thought about it and slowly placed a powdered doughnut into a box, wiped her hands on her apron and returned to the counter. Should she really talk about her? She hadn't done that in a long time. It just hurt too much.

"She was a sweet girl." She started hesitantly. "Elizabeth was her name. Elizabeth Roberts. She was around your age the last time I saw her." The older women smiled slowly. "She was so energetic. Always running around. She played volleyball, you know, and it was her favorite sport ever. She always came into here after training, often with a friend or two. Sometimes with her whole team. And she always got something for her little brother, who she loved dearly."

Agnes felt how tears formed in her eyes and hoped she wouldn't burst into tears. "She always made it a point to chat with me when she was here. That's not something just anyone would do. Most costumers only talk to me to order and then ignore me. But not Lizzy. She truly was a good girl, even at her young age. And to everyone she knew." She sniffed. "She rarely fought with friends or even her family, as far as I know. And no one ever talked bad about her."

Elizabeth averted her eyes. The way Agnes talked about her made her seem like a saint. But she knew that this wasn't true. Not anymore. The Elizabeth Roberts Agnes talked about was an innocent child that knew nothing about the world and how cruel it could be. That had no worries other than homework and volleyball training. She didn't exist anymore and had been replaced by Elizabeth Hargreeves; a post-apocalypse survivor and contract killer.

"That sounds like a great girl." She smiled. "But you talk about her like she isn't here anymore. What happened to her?" Agnes sighed and dabbed the corners of her eyes with a towel. "She vanished." The waitress answered then. "On an autumn morning almost 17 years ago. She went out from her parents house to get something and... was never seen again. Just like that. The whole city searched for her for weeks. I myself had flyers hung up in here for years, but... well, she has never been found. Alive or dead."

The girl gritted her teeth and balled her hands laying on her thighs into fists. So many people had suffered because of her. "And her family?" She then asked. She knew she was just torturing herself at that point, but she needed to know. There had to be a reason she had never found them.

Agnes rubbed her hands together. "Well, the last I heard about them was that the parents had gotten divorced... 10 years ago, I think?" Elizabeths eyes widened in shock. Her parents, divorced? But... they had always been so in love...

"Why?" She croaked out. Agnes sighed. "They just didn't see eye to eye anymore, I guess. Her mom wanted to move on and accept that she would never see her daughter again. I mean, they did have another child to think about. They couldn't let their lives revolve around a tragedy forever, as much as it hurts to admit that. She took their son with her and they moved back to her family. They live somewhere in Montana now, I think."

Elizabeth gulped. It hurt to hear that, but she couldn't fault her mother. She would have probably reacted the same way. What good would it do to dwell on something that she couldn't change anyway? No amount of mourning would have been able to do something. And she did have her little brother to think about. Her mom, who had always been the realist in her parents relationship, had acted how she would have expected; moving back to her parents, Elizabeths grandparents, and trying to somehow continue her life. God, her grandparents. She had only seen them once or twice a year back then. Were they even still alive?

"And her dad?" The girl asked further. Agnes chuckled bitterly. "He had never given up. He had been convinced the girl had been kidnapped into human trafficking and that he could safe her somehow. I don't know if it's true, but the last I heard about him he was on his way to Florida. Said he knew someone there with connections that could maybe help him find his daughter."

The girl looked down at her lap. It only got worse, it seemed. Her dad was still searching for her. "W-what a heartbreaking story." She forced out. Agnes hummed. "I hope he isn't right, you know." The waitress said after a while of silence. "Because if it's true... then finally finding her remains and know that she has been dead this whole time would be a more merciful fate. I don't even want to think about her being kidnapped and then forced to work in a brothel or something. That sweet girl..."

"And it destroyed a whole family." The blonde muttered. Agnes lightly shook her head, her eyes sad. "Well, loosing a child is every parents nightmare. A lot of people never get over it." Elizabeths hand moved to her belly, though the woman couldn't see it. "I-I can't imagine." The woman huffed good naturally. "Of course not. You're still too young. And I hope you never have to experience something like this." Elizabeth forced a smile. "Hm."

Agnes put down the towel on the counter. "Now, enough about sad things. Let me get your order and you can be on your way. You have talked long enough with this old woman." The blonde nodded, but she didn't remember much after this. She had to wait a couple minutes and then she paid, though she didn't remember how much it was or if she gave Agnes a tip. She said goodbye mechanically and then walked out, trying to remember her way back to the car Five was waiting for her. When she couldn't she just walked in a random direction.

She made it down the street before she broke down crying.

———

AN: I wanted to write on this story SO bad on Saturday, but my parents were hogging Netflix and I had to go over some scenes. But they were binge watching 'Vikings' and because they basically only get to watch on weekends I was reluctant to stop them, even though they watched with my account. It was frustrating, but oh well. Guess that's what I'm going to miss in the end, when I finally move out in a couple weeks. And I can't fault my mom for thirsting over Ragnar, haha.

So this chapter has a bit more background info about Elizabeth. I hope I portrayed the drama behind her disappearance and what it did to her family realistically. And I hope you enjoyed the little scenes of intimacy between Elizabeth and Five. They finally did *it*... for the second time, haha. Uh, and I hope cuñada really means sister in law in Spanish. I don't speak it, so correct me if I'm wrong. Google translate did the job

eriszun:

Thank you for saying so. And I do hope my story is helping you a little to get through these difficult times we are all facing. I really enjoy writing this FF and hope to give this joy to all the people reading it.

Guest:

No worries, I will continue!