A few hours later found Five stood atop his bed as he wallpapered his childhood bedroom (and some of the hallway) with intense mathematical equations all in an effort to work out some sort of probability map that would allow him to figure out who to kill. Because even one death—the right one, of course—would snowball into something much bigger. In this case, that 'something' being the end of the world. Brows furrowed in confusion as he tried to decipher even one of his brother's mad scrawls (it all looked like Greek to him), Luther followed the cramped writing up the hall and back towards Five's room where he found him muttering madly to the mannequin who was sat on the dresser, beside him.
(Ben, having left Klaus with Theodore down in the scullery to drown in their owns thoughts and try to wrap their heads around what had happened in the last few hectic days, wandered the halls of the academy until he found himself watching Five flit about with a stalk of chalk in hand. Perched atop his dresser, next to the mannequin, Ben liked to pretend that his brother was talking to him even though he clearly wasn't and particularly, as most of mathematical mutterings just went straight over his head).
"…Oh! Okay, okay, okay" Five muttered under his breath, "I think I've got something, Dolores! It's tenuous, but promising"
"Who're you talking to?" Luther puzzled, stepping further into the room as he spared a questioning glance at the writing on the walls (Dad would've been so mad. He didn't even use sticky notes!).
"Hm?" Five hummed, not even bothering to glance up from the memoir-turned-notebook in his hands, as he double and triple checked his equations.
"What is all this?" Luther pestered, spinning on his heel to try and take in the whole room. Not even a single equation seemed to make sense.
("Snrt!" Ben snorted a laugh at his brother's look of utter confusion. He knew that if he didn't understand any word of Five's rambles, then there was no way that Luther was going to be able to. It wasn't that he had anything against Number One [for the most part], it was just a fact. He was all brawn and no brain).
"It's a probability map" The 'duh' went unsaid.
"Probability of what?" He pursued. Now that he had a mission in mind (the one to stop the end of the world, as stated by his hungover brother only mere hours before), Luther was business. A hero back in action; a leader without a team but still ready and willing to fight.
"Of whose death could save the world" Five explained slowly, as if his brother were stupid. Some days, it certainly seemed like it. "I've narrowed it down to four"
"Milton Greene, Alexis Cameron, KC Chavez and Robert Polko" Luther contorted at an odd angle to read the four circled names, before he turned back to his brother. "Are you saying that one of those four people causes the apocalypse?"
"No" Five rolled his eyes in exasperation, "I'm saying their death might prevent it"
"Oh…" Luther blinked dumbly, still not getting it. "I'm not following"
(Ben chortled quietly atop the dresser as he watched Five flitter about the room like a gnat in summer and Luther stood nearby like an inflatable training dummy rocking awkwardly on his heels. Despite his laughter, Ben too, could admit to being curious about what his brother was planning. That devious smirk never spelt anything good).
"Time is fickle, Luther" Five heaved a sigh as he hopped off of the bed and went to fiddle with an elongated case he pulled out from under the bed, "The slightest alteration in events can lead to massively different outcomes in the time continuum. Y'know, the Butterfly Effect. So, all I have to do is find the right person with the greatest probability of the timeline, wherever they may be, and kill them"
("Kill them?" Ben swallowed, mouth suddenly dry as he realised where his brother was going with this).
"Wait—!" Luther jerked upright when Five pulled out a hunting rifle from the case, "Where'd you get that?!"
"In Dad's room. I think he used it to shoot a rhinoceros once" Five replied as he lifted the firearm up and tested it for the feel of it. "It's similar to the model I used to use at work. Nice shoulder fir and highly reliable"
"So what? You're just gonna use it to shoot this Milton guy?" Luther asked, creeping closer to the bed, steel-covered toes banging against the bed frame as he studied the four names like they held the answers to the universe. "Who's he? Is he like a terrorist or something?"
"I believe" Five hummed as he continued to fiddle with the scope, "He is a gardener—"
"—You're gonna kill Grandpa Greene?" Theodore piped up from the doorway, catching all of them off-guard.
("Jesus!" Ben cursed, hand over his unbeating heart as he jumped at the boy's sudden appearance).
"Why?" Theodore implored of his uncles, looking for all the world like he had just been told that Christmas was cancelled for the foreseeable future and like he had been told they had gotten rid of the month of July. Pale-faced shock and furrowed brows of confusion met the eyes of the two living uncles who snapped around at his call; with one jumping out of his skin and the other training a weapon on the boy. How could a child—a tween boy—be so quiet?
Theodore, for his part, had just been wandering about the academy in search of something to do after Klaus had meandered off halfway through their conversation, muttering something about "…Dad's hard liqueur" and someone called "Davey-Dave" when he had followed the sound of voices to the bedroom at the end of the hall. There he had found both of the elder Hargreeves in question, where they had been talking about killing Grandpa Greene (and a few others). What Theodore couldn't understand was why Don Fën wanted to kill the nice old man. The boy knew him as Milton's kind old A'Doro who was sweet on Mrs K and could swear like a sailor. He was the one who let them carve halloween pumpkins with steak knives and set off fireworks from the roof during celebrations. Who would want to kill him? (And to be honest, if you waited long enough, he'd probably just end up dying of old age anyway).
"It's basic math" Five reasoned cooly as he lowered the gun trained on Theodore, much to Luther's relief. "His death could potentially save billions of lives. If I did nothing, he'd be dead in four days anyway. The apocalypse won't spare anyone"
"Apocalypse?" Theodore mouthed, brows furrowed in further confusion.
"We don't do this kind of thing!" Luther snapped.
"We aren't doing anything!" Five retorted, spinning to face his taller brother. "I am"
"What—what if you're wrong?" Theodore interjected as he fiddled with the ends of his sleeve in nervousness and his eyes danced across the numerous equations plastered to the walls.
"What?" Five deadpanned bluntly as if he couldn't believe someone had had the audacity to say he was wrong.
"You—you said that there's only a one in four chance that you could be right about Grandpa Greene being the one to kill, right? So what if you're wrong and it's one of the others? Or someone else entirely? What then? Are you just gonna kill everybody?"
"Don't be ridiculous—!" Five scoffed, rolling his eyes as the childish plea.
"—Besides" Luther supported the boy, "I can't let you go around killing innocent people. No matter how many lives it's gonna save"
"Well, good luck stopping me!" Five sneered as he made to leave the room, rifle in hand.
"You're not going anywhere!" Luther sneered as his hand suddenly snapped out and snatched Dolores up by the neck. His meaty hand then flung her out the cracked window, threatening Five in much the same way Diego & Ben used to do with Allison and her Teddy Ruxpin.
"Put. Her. Down" Five reacted quickly. Spinning on his heel, the rifle immediately trained on Luther with deadly accuracy and from the tenseness in those small shoulders, Theodore knew that Don Fën would shoot to kill if any harm came to the doll.
(Ben heaved a heavy sigh as he hopped off of the dresser, moving closer to the door, and consequently, Theodore. Though he knew that he likely couldn't do anything should the fight get out of hand, he felt better lingering in the doorway between the two parties).
"Put the gun down, then" Luther retorted, trying his best to fight the grin that threatened to explode across his lips at the absurdity of the situation. "You're not killing anyone. I know she's important to you, so don't make me do this"
"Ch!" Five scoffed in blatant disbelief because he couldn't believe that Luther would have the balls to follow through.
"It's either her or the gun" Luther stuck the doll further out of the window. "You decide"
Five warred with himself with what to do; on the one hand only one would have to die to save billions. But on the other, that billions might die to save his one. Slowly, after what seemed like an age, he lowered the rifle to the floor. His grip fell slack as he tried & failed to called Luther's bluff (there was a first time for everything). In the blink of an eye, Luther let Dolores fall from his grasp, Five Blinked across the room to reach her and the rifle from his own grasp, clattering to the floor without miraculously misfiring. Cradling Dolores close, Five sunk onto the edge of his bed as inspected her for any injuries; his hand tracing the finger-shaped indents on her plasticine neck where Luther had held her and a quiet rage bubbled in his chest at the sight of them. Back in the doorway, Theodore (and Ben) stood tense and ready. The twelve year old had shuffled back a few paces, hiding himself behind the pane of the doorway as a clear look of fear flitted behind his eye.
(Ben stood still and firm between the two parties, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop because it would drop. Because they were Hargreeves and there was always another shoe about to drop).
"I know you're still a good person, Five" Luther murmured, the gun now propped up in his hands (safety on), "Otherwise you wouldn't have risked everything coming back here to save us all. But you're not on your own anymore"
"…There is one way" Five muttered as he lovingly stroke Dolores' cheek. "But it's just about impossible"
"More impossible than what brought you back here?"
The Rolls Royce trundled down the desolate road as the solemn occupants made their way to the agreed meeting place; a fake time travelling device placed between them and the gentle crackle of the radio playing through the silence. Luther wasn't quite sure how he had been roped into yet another one of Five's schemes, but yet here he was; sitting in the driver's seat (there had been no way he was letting Five drive if he had to spend the whole ride with his legs scrunched up to his chest) of the car whilst Five sat next to him in the passenger's seat.
Pulling to a stop on the side of the road, the pair waited in somewhat amicable silence to see if their ransom message had been received by Hazel & Cha-Cha and believed. "…Y'know, I never enjoyed it" Five sighed out of the blue as his eyes remained glued on the horizon line, trying to both keep an eye out for their contacts and avoid the gaze of his expectant brother.
"What?" Luther muttered, brows furrowed in confusion. He could never understand how his brother's mind worked.
"The killing, I mean" Five explained, "I was…I was good at my work and I—I took pride in it. But it never gave me pleasure. I think it was all those years alone; solitude can do funny things to the mind"
"Yeah, well, you were gone for such a long time" Luther hummed authoritatively. "I only spent four years on the moon, but that was more than enough. It's the being alone that breaks you"
"Hm?" Five finally turned a quirked an inquisitive brow towards his brother.
"Do you think they'll buy it?" Luther mused as his eyes turned towards the old briefcase tucked between them.
"Well, what I do know is that they're desperate" Five explained, "It's like a cop losing his gun; if the Commission finds out, they'll be in deep shit. Oh, not to mention the fact that they'll be stuck here until they get it all back"
"Well, then I should probably hold onto it" Luther stated, trying in vain to take charge of the mission just like he used to do. Inwardly however, he was floundering like a fish in the sun. There was no way this stupid plan was going to work, right?
"Hm?"
"In case they make a move on you, I mean"
"…Okay, Luther, but be careful" Five nodded in acquiescence after a moment of eyeing up his brother. If this was to be the last time he saw him like this, then he waned it to be a good memory and not the one of burning rubble already imprinted in his brain. "I've—I've lived a long life, but you…you're still a young man. You got your whole life ahead of you; don't waste it"
Luther couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips even despite the situation. It was kinda humorous to see a thirteen year old school boy tell a thirty year old man not to waste his life; although, probably needed advice, considering their family. Soon enough, however, both men were pulled from their thoughts as the sound of another engine rumbled down the road and pulled to a stop only a stone's throw away.
"Here we go" Five sighed as the two emerged from the car. The two masked gunmen—Hazel and Cha-Cha—emerged from their own car. "If this all goes sideways, do me a favour and tell Dolores that I'm sorry"
"Uh…sure?" Luther replied a little hesitatingly as he leant up against the Royce with briefcase in hand. It was about the softest his brother had ever been. Five gave his brother a small smile before he turned to greet his former colleagues with hands casually shoved into his pockets."The masks really necessary?"
"Fine" Cha-Cha heaved a put-upon sigh as she & Hazel removed their carnival masks and tossed them aside. "So where is it, kid?"
"Wow, that's how you're gonna start?" Five smirked tartly in reply, rocking slightly on his heels as he enjoyed the way her face screwed itself up in discomfort. "Y'know, we can just get right back in our car and call it a day"
"You won't even make it halfway there" Cha-Cha retorted, swiftly plucking her pistol from her waistband and levelled it at Five.
"Maybe" Five hummed noncommittally, "But as I'm sure you've already found out in your previous foray, my brother is not your average giant"
"He's right" Hazel interjected, "You dropped a chandelier on him and he got right back up"
Did they really? Five blinked, Interesting. "By the time you took me out, he'd already have smashed your precious little briefcase to a pulp"
"Probably us too, right?" Cha-Cha summarised, easily connecting the dots lain out before her. "So, how do we help each other?"
"I need you to get in contact with your superior so that I can have a chat with her" Five replied, hands still in his pockets; although now they were clenching and unclenching around the glass eye hidden there. This was it, their last chance. "Face-to-face"
"About what?" Cha-Cha just couldn't let it go as her pistol retrained itself on the relaxed boy before her.
"Well now, I don't believe that it's any of your concern" Five sneered as he narrowed a patronising glare at the two.
"…Just don't tell her about the briefcase" Cha-Cha eventually acquiesced, pleading with Five to keep them out of trouble.
"Fair enough" Five conceded with a nod as the two parties split and made their way back to their respective vehicles; eyes never leaving the other least they make an unjust move when backs were turned.
"Now what?" Luther greeted his brother, fingers flexing around the handle of the briefcase.
"Now?" Five came to lean against the hood of the car with arms crossed across his chest. "Now, we wait"