"What is it?" Vanya shouted over the crackling energy. The rest of Evangeline's siblings joined her in witnessing this moment of rarity. A burst of energy fired down towards Evangeline, but she managed to get out of the way in time only for Luther to pull her behind him.

"Stay back! Don't touch it!" Luther herded his brothers and sisters further away from the bright blue light that enveloped the courtyard.

"It's an electromagnet disturbance, there seems to be—" Evangeline started

"Don't do this now!" Diego said, squinting his eyes and used his hand to block to the wind to get a better look at the anomaly. Evangeline was offended her brother dismissed her knowledge and scoffed. Diego pushed forward but was disrupted by Klaus charging the light with a fire extinguisher.

"Get out of my way!" Klaus pounded past Luther, hitting Evangeline in the process. Evangeline was bewildered by his choice of object, and was irritated Klaus ran into her- but that changed to amusement when he sprayed the extinguisher then proceeded to throw it after realized his original plan had failed.

"What the hell is that gonna do?" Allison said.

"I don't know? Did you have any better ideas?" Klaus responded then fell back when the disturbance grew brighter. Evangeline would have been annoyed at Klaus's lack of respect for special-temporal anomalies, but before Evangeline could say a word, Luther pulled everyone behind him. It was a kind gesture however unnecessary.

"Stay behind me," Luther said. Evangeline noticed Luther and Allison hold each other's hands tight enough that Allison's knuckles turned white and felt a wave of bitterness. Evangeline shook her head and returned her attention to the disturbance before her praying she was right in her train of thought. The light grew brighter and the winds picked up before ceasing completely and revealing a slightly smoking body laying curled up on the stone ground.

Five. It was Five. Evangeline could feel it in her bones and her mind confirmed when the pleasant feel of his presence flooded her body. He looked exactly the same as his portrait, he seemed to have not aged a day since vanishing. Evangeline felt her heart grow inside of her chest as she sprinted forward and tackled her no longer missing best friend.

"Holy shit," Allison said. Evangeline tugged Five to her and without missing a beat he had his arms wrapped around her as well. He was warm and smelled like fresh-cut grass and some fancy aftershave. Evangeline did not know why a thirteen-year-old boy would need aftershave but didn't look further, she was too distracted by his immediate presence to ask questions.

"Does anyone else see the little Number Five? Just me?" Klaus looked around to confirm his eyes were not deceiving him and Five had returned.

Five turned himself and Evangeline around so he could face the rest of his family. "Anyone care to tell me what year this is?" His voice. Just as she remembered.

"It's 2019," Evangeline said. She still had yet to break away from the hug but Five seemed to be done with the physical contact and held her at arm's length.

"You look just as beautiful as I expected, Evie," Five said while looking into Evangeline's eyes. Upon further inspection, something was off about him but not, in the same way, there was something off about Vanya. In a moment of weakness, Evangeline allowed herself to peer into Five's mind but what was usually a nearly indecipherable stream of consciousness was blocked off completely, his mind was silent. She was blocked. "I wouldn't bother trying that," Five caressed Evangeline's face.

"Why did you leave?" Evangeline said. She stepped back from Five, allowing herself to finally feel the sting of betrayal that had always been left at bay with respect to his vanishing.

"I'll answer your questions inside." Five took Evangeline's hand and led her to the kitchen where the rest of the family had followed them. Five's hesitated by his portrait, perhaps mourning his own lost life but did not dwell for long. Once in the kitchen, Five pulled out a chair for Evangeline to sit then began to ransack the cupboards and fridge.

"What are you doing?" Luther asked. Evangeline didn't take her eyes off of her long-lost best friend. She was afraid if she looked away, even for a moment, that Five would be gone again. Five placed the cutting board on the table next to her a bit too hard, causing Evangeline to glare at him.

"Making a sandwich. Do you know how long it's been since I've eaten solid food?" Five moved to open the fridge again but Luther stopped him. Something was different about Five, the childish rebellion that used to glint in his eye was gone and replaced by something much darker. Five wasn't the same age he was when he left, Evangeline put it together, not one bit. The anomaly was Five breaking through time and there was a reason he was here. Although despite his best efforts, he must have gotten the equation slightly wrong, his body didn't match the age of his mind. Five looked at Luther up and down. "You look ridiculous, by the way,"

"Says the kid in the oversized suit," Evangeline snarked.

"It's been seventeen years, Number Five. Where have you been?" Luther blocked the door of the fridge and Five rolled his eyes.

"It's been a lot longer than that," Five said. Luther moved out of his way and allowed him to dig ingredients out of the fridge. Evangeline's mind was racing with innumerable possibilities. Time was such a fickle and unknown concept, even to the greatest minds of history, so Evangeline was having trouble coming up with an explanation.

"What happened to you?" Vanya said. She stood small and quiet in the back of the group but her voice carried to Five who looked at her with a sneer.

"What do you think happened?" Five slapped bread onto the table before Evangeline and slathered marshmallow fluff. "I decided to test the limits of my time jumping, see how far I could go," Five looked Evangeline with a smidge of pride, "Turns out pretty far." Five opened the jar of peanut butter and proceeded to add that to the mountain of fluff on the bread. "Dad always warned me not to go too far into the future. On account of my jumps only working in one direction," Five completed the sandwich while Diego discretely passed Klaus five dollars. "This time, he was right." Five took a massive bite out of the sandwich then placed it in Evangeline's hands to taste. "Christ I needed that," Five sat down next to Evangeline and took his snack back.

Allison was the next to sit, she chose to be across from Five so she could study him. "Then how did you get back?" She asked.

"By projecting my consciousness backward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists in every possible instance of time. Evangeline didn't already explain this?" Five furrowed his brow and looked to Evangeline.

"I tried, Diego told me to shut up," Evangeline shrugged and Five glanced at Diego with a slight frown.

"Either way that makes no sense," Diego said. He took the seat next to Allison and crossed his arms over his chest. Both Allison and Diego seemed to be in a state of disbelief.

"It would if you were as smart as Evangeline, or me." Five took another bite, "Granted, it did take me a little time to work out all the nuts and bolts of it…" Evangeline looked to Five and realized what she felt was off was his mental age, had he been the same mental age as her Evangeline would not have felt the disturbance.

"How much time?" Allison asked before Evangeline could. It was odd that Evangeline was being so quiet, but she chalked it up to shock. Evangeline was still processing Five's return, he had been gone for so long and it had taken almost everything from Evangeline to move on.

"Forty-five years. Give or take," Five said and the room fell silent. Evangeline did the math, Five is mentally fifty-eight years old. It made sense, although seeing his younger body with his older mind was a bit confusing, jolting almost. It was a cruel relief to hear that Five was no longer a child, but it was unnerving to think of all the time he lived without his family.

"You're fifty-eight?" Diego said while angling his head to the side and scrunching his face.

"His mind is fifty-eight," Evangeline said. Five nodded and continued.

"Yes, but my body is still thirteen. But, the point is, Dad said it couldn't be done and I did it. So." Five looked around the table looking for reassurance. "Where is the old bastard anyway? I want to rub it in his face,"

"He died," Luther said. Five glanced at Evangeline who nodded in confirmation.

"Well, that complicates things. Did I miss the funeral?" Five sighed and rubbed his eyebrows with his fingers.

"No. What kinds of things?" Luster continued to interrogate Five who was leaving more questions than answers for every word spoken. Evangeline could usually find all of the information needed but Five was different, his mind was barricaded.

"All kinds of things. What's today's date? The exact date?" Five rested his arm on the back of Evangeline's chair comfortably.

"The fourteenth I think," Allison supplied.

"Of what?" Five prodded.

"July,"

"Hm, that doesn't leave us much time," Five took the newspaper from the table and stared for a moment. Evangeline knew what he meant. They don't have much time to save the world, that's where Five wound up: post-apocalyptic Earth. Five stood up from the chair and walked away but not before beckoning Evangeline to follow. She smiled at her siblings and followed.

Five led them to his old room. The same room she had been planning to sleep in. It seemed as though should have to use her old room now that Five had returned.

Five shut the door behind them and immediately pulled Evangeline into a deep kiss. For a brief moment, time stopped and all Evangeline could feel was pure comfort and love. Evangeline had met her match far too young. Five and Evangeline not only were companions, but they had the spark that Evangeline was reminded of as Five deepened the kiss even further. Eventually, Evangeline's eyes widened with disgust, and pulled away.

"What was that, Five?" Evangeline was disoriented by the kiss. She had dreamed up every scenario of a possible kiss between her and Five but it never included him looking like a thirteen-year-old. Odd wires were crossing her mind. Five is technically fifty-eight but he's in his minor aged body, Evangeline was unsure where that left her morally but decided that she was fine seeing she was not planning on repeating that anytime soon.

"A kiss. I've been waiting to do that. Unfortunate that I'm in this body," Five said while gesturing to his slight frame. "If it makes you feel better, I'm act—"

"Actually fifty-eight. You're older than me. I get it. No offense, I don't consider your thirteen-year-old body as a sexually viable candidate," Evangeline did not want to hurt Five's feelings but it was necessary.

"I don't blame you. I predicted you would reject a kiss in this body but I had to know." Five walked through the room and sat at his desk chair while Evangeline found a spot on his bed.

"Had to know what?"

"If you would kiss me back. I was gone for a very long time, Angel." Five said which made Evangeline blush. Of course, she would kiss him back. She had waited her entire life to feel Five's lips against hers and it was by pure accident that he was thirteen again, but the rush of adrenaline flooding into her bloodstream and her heightened heartbeat told her that Five had the same effect on her that she clearly had on him. "Did you ever marry?"

"Still just as blunt as I remember," Evangeline laughed, "But no, I did not marry. I was too busy for that," Evangeline rubbed the tattoo on her wrist again but this time with softer fingers.

"You know Vanya thought you were dead, right?" Five clasped his fingers together and let them fall to his lap while Evangeline grimaced.

"Ah so you found Vanya's book,"

"I did. I knew things had gotten bad, how Number Six died," Five moved to sit next to Evangeline on the bed. He leaned up against the pillows so Evangeline turned to face him from the opposite end.

"Ben." Evangeline corrected.

"How we failed," A dangerous look crossed Five's face as he continued to speak, "The is the wrong time. I came too late. Dolores always said my equation was off. Must have forgotten to carry the second two…"

"Dolores." Evangeline curled her lip in slight disgust. Five had the audacity to kiss her, then ask if she was married, but never mention the other woman or women for all she knew. Evangeline felt even more disgusting knowing she had not only kissed who appeared to be a minor but a married one at that.

"There's another option," Five continued, clearly having not heard Evangeline repeat the name. Evangeline was growing frustrated with Five. He popped up out of nowhere, she's cut off from his mind for no known reason, he kisses her, mentions another woman, then ignores her. "Someone, or something, pulled me out of the timestream early. Brought me here to this exact moment," Five mused.

"Shut up Five you sound like a pretentious dick," Evangeline snapped. It was not lost on Five that Evangeline was upset, her face contorted with a pout and her gaze focused on the window. Evangeline was no longer just upset, she was angry with him.

"They know I'm here," Five's focus shifted from Evangeline to some unknown inner thought. In the past, Evangeline knew every corner of Five's mind from his current train of thought to his inner subconscious behaviors but this Five was… new. Five abruptly turned his attention back to Evangeline and took his hands in hers. "Angel, do you trust me?"

"What kind of question is that?" Evangeline held Five's eyes and when he did not relent the intense glare or release her hands Evangeline said "Yes."

"Dolores was my companion for three decades," Those words made Evangeline feel a bit nauseous. Too much was happening at once. Her life is pivoting faster than before and while she could keep up, the irritatingly overwhelming presence of Five was making it difficult for her to concentrate and process all of the incoming data.

"I have to go get ready for the funeral. You have to change out of that ridiculous outfit," Evangeline took her hands from Five's and left without looking back. She crossed the hall to her own bedroom and braced herself for what lay ahead.

The room looked the same. Blue walls covered floor to ceiling in maps and diagrams, old artworks and poetry lined the wall beside her, a massive bookshelf next to the window cluttered with volumes ranging in size and age. A chill ran up Evangeline's spine as she remembered the rotation of books left on her shelf. Each week, every book on the self was replaced with a new one and was expected to me finished and memorized by the next rotation. The bed was too small for her now, but the soft navy blanket was the last small comfort in a room filled to the brim with unwanted knowledge.

"Cette fucking craint. J'aurais dû rester en France. Je marchais sur les champs de lavande à cette heure," Evangeline muttered to herself. She eyed the suitcase she had left in the foyer and sent a 'thank you' to Pogo's mind. She dug through the small black back and procured her outfit for the occasion.

Evangeline felt like her life was thrown up in the air completely. Everything she had built outside of the Academy paled in comparison to what was here now. The looming threat of the end of the world that only Five seemed to know about, Vanya's missing consciousness, and Evangeline's first experience with a blocked mind. She was lucky she had nothing keeping her from returning home. Well, almost nothing. A light knock on her door brought Evangeline out of her thoughts of France.

"Come in," She called out.

"Are you ready?" Vanya asked from the doorway. Evangeline nodded and took the black umbrella next to the door.

"As I'll ever be," Evangeline offered a slight smile to her sister and they both walked to the courtyard.

Single file, the remaining Hargreeves children entered the courtyard and stood in front of the large elm with matching umbrellas erected. Luther stepped forward holding the urn and faced the family as Pogo joined them. "Whenever you're ready, dear boy," Pogo said. Luther opened the urn and after a moment of quiet, unceremoniously dumped the contents on the stones.

"Probably would have been better with some wind. Care to help, Evie?" Klaus said while leaning back onto his heels with a smile. Evangeline shot Klaus an annoyed look, his smile just widened.

"Would anyone care to speak?" Pogo looked at the children, now adults, and when no one stepped forward took it upon himself to share the eulogy. "Very well. In all regards, Reginald Hargreeves made me the creature I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt. He was my friends and my master, and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy—"

"He was a monster. He was bad as a person and worse as a father, and the world's better off without him," Diego muttered.

"Amen," Diego gave Evangeline a look of appreciation for her contribution.

"Diego," Allison scolded.

"My name is Number Two. You know why? Because our Father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names." Diego stepped forward and gestured at his family, "Look, you wanna pay your respects, go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man he actually was,"

"You should stop talking," Luther was on the defensive which made Evangeline want to gag. His unwavering faith in their father was problematic considering Luther's condition as half-ape.

"You know, you of all people should be on my side here, Number One," Diego continued.

"I am warning you,"

"After everything, he did to you." Diego got closer to Luther as a threat and Evangeline had half a mind to leave but would hate to miss the pissing contest that was about to happen. "He had to ship you a million miles away,"

"Diego, stop talking," Luther's muscles tensed as his anger increased. Evangeline could see Luther was holding back from lunging his brother and respected his efforts no matter how futile.

"That's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!" Diego fired back. The rain began to fall harder against Evangeline's umbrella and she sighed as Luther swung the first punch. Diego easily dodged each blow, where Luther had strength Diego had speed. They continued like this for a few minutes despite protests from Vanya and Pogo

"Well, I hope he's proud." Diego pointed at Klaus, Allison, and Vanya. "Drug addict. Fame whore. Traitor." He turned and pointed at Evangeline. "Malfunctioned robot." Next, he regarded Five, "Whatever the hell you are," and finally he pointed to Luther. "And the almighty Spaceboy,"

"At least I didn't turn tail and run," Luther said as his muscles tensed under his large overcoat. Evangeline wasn't offended by Diego's assessment of her, he was not wrong—their father turned her into a robot. That's what ultimately drove her away. Rediscovering her roots helped bring back her empathy.

"No, you sat on the moon like a good little doggie. He had to send you 240,000 miles away. That's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you," Diego was toe to toe with Luther at this point which was the tipping point for Luther though, as he lunged for Diego. Diego scrambled out of the way of Luther's giant fists and used his speed to his advantage. Evangeline loved to observe her siblings spar and was excited to witness Luther's new style against Diego's more refined tactics.

"Stop it!" Vanya shouted.

"Yea, no, stop it…" Klaus tried half-heartedly.

"Klaus, you got any snacks?" Evangeline smiled when Klaus procured a small bag of candy from his pocket and pass it to her. "Thanks, bud," Evangeline snacked while watching the fight. Diego managed to gain the upper hand on his significantly larger brother and landed multiple strikes in succession. Evangeline whistled when Luther lifted Diego by his jacket and threw him across the courtyard. Evangeline was a sucker for the underdog and was pleasantly smiling when Diego succeeded in landing on his feet.

"Boys, stop this at once!" Pogo attempted to deescalate the situation while Luther bull-rushed Diego and slammed him into the large elm tree. Diego is stunned for a moment so Luther took the opportunity to swing his fist straight into Diego's face, who moved just in time allowing the tree to take the brunt of the force. Now far enough away from Luther, Diego took out a knife.

Don't do it, Evangeline pled to Diego's mind. He glanced at Evangeline and shook his head then threw the dagger, slicing Luther's arm and revealing the coarse animal fur covering his arms. Luther, with wide eyes, saw the shock on Allison's face and darted back inside the house.

"I told you so," Evangeline said to Diego before turning back into the house.

long time no see. thanks to who let me know there are problems w my chapter uploads. im trying my best so hopefully, this works. that being said, im not sure if i wanna continue this story, it was pretty impulsive of me to even post but here yall go. lmk if u want more lol thx and enjoy