Well, here's chapter 10. It's a little shorter than the others, simply because I thought the ending was a good segue into the next one. Happy reading!

It was strange, Five thought as he paced a hole in the living room carpet, how life without Gwen was as much of a wasteland as the apocalypse had been. It meant absolutely nothing that his family, both the Silver part and the Hargreeves part, were watching him with worried eyes. It did not matter that they were alive. What mattered was that he did not know if Gwen was alive, or, if she was, when and where they had taken her. Cursing himself for not anticipating that the Commissioner would make a move, he dragged a hand down his face and sighed heavily. It would not do to worry. Clearly, the Commission already had some idea of Gwen's significance and he refused to make her seem even more valuable from a negotiating point of view. They had to have watched him since his arrival in the past. That was what the Commission did, watched and took out any threats to the timeline. But with Gwen's introduction to the Hargreeves family, everything had changed. Klaus was sober, Vanya was powerful but controlled, Allison dumped Luther on account of him being a d- Five stopped himself from going further. If only he could figure out why they made a move after such a long time. Had they taken her sooner, before she could affect the timeline, their goal might have been accomplished. Kidnapping Gwen seven months after her impact on his family, that just pissed him off.

"Five?" In the hours since the discovery that Gwen was missing, everyone had been walking on eggshells around Five. He snarled at anyone who dared to come too close and twice thus far he had thrown the closest fragile object he could get his hands on at the wall because it was better than choking the life out of the nearest living being. Even Grace stopped working in the kitchen for fear of the smallest sound sending him into a murderous rage. Vanya's whisper of her brother's name was the first sound, with the exception of breathing, that had been heard since the announcement. The more he paced, the warier his family grew. He was muttering to himself and Vanya was unsure if she wanted to know exactly what was being said. "Five, we'll find her."

The mocking, maniacal laugh that rose from Five's throat made them all flinch. He did not particularly care. "We can't find her, we can't do anything," he spat maliciously, "I will find her because I'm the only one who has the power to save her." Now, whether that was true or not, he did not know. Again, he did not particularly care. Ignoring the images of fallen buildings and rubble that flashed before his eyes, Five tried to think. He needed coffee or alcohol, whichever was closest. He needed to think, needed to find Gwen before she died and took his sanity with her.

When Gwen woke up, she was propped up against the pillows in her bed. At least, she thought it was her bed. It was the same headboard, if only a little less polished. In its usual corner, the grandfather clock ticked merrily. The heavy oak desk stood where it always had. Allowing herself to admit that, at the very least, she knew where she was, Gwen sat up fully. The sun shone through the window, illuminating the dust in the air. It helped her some in her attempt to pinpoint when she was. Recalling the longwinded speeches about the Silver properties she had been subjected to by her grandfather, Gwen could narrow down that she was somewhere between the Twenties and late Seventies. It was the only time since it was built that the townhouse had stood unoccupied, between her great grandparents' move to the upstate manor and her mother's moving in just after she'd turned eighteen. A fifty-year margin was certainly better than nothing, she thought, looking out through the window. The more accurate she was, the easier it would be for Five to find her.

Having finally given in to the worried suggestions of 'go to bed Five, you're not thinking clearly', Five lay on top of Gwen's covers. It felt strange, the lack of a warm body next to his. Simon, taking pity on him, had cleaned up the room. The broken closet door had been taken down to be brought to someone who could put in a new glass. Shifting, Five frowned as he heard something crinkling, not unlike paper. He sat up, lifting the decorative pillow he had been resting against. Under it lay a folded note. Its contents gave him chills.

'Figure out when she is and meet us then, or else you will never see her pretty little face again.'

Frustration boiled in Gwen's veins. She had been staring out the window all day trying to find someone holding a paper. The room was void of radios or any other means to help her get an exact date. Growling quietly to herself, she once again searched the room for any way out that did not include injuries or taking on the people she had no doubt were stationed outside her room to keep make sure she did not escape. Besides, she had no way of leaving whichever timeline she had been brought to. No, her only hope was finding the date. Eventually, a man holding a paper walked by outside with his wife, muttering about how it was unbelievable that only hours after the Kennedy assassination, the news was spread across the country. Catching sight of the front page, Gwen almost laughed. She had a way to tell Five when she was.

Whatever restless sleep Five had managed was interrupted by a strange scratching noise. At first, he did not hear it, believing it to be a figment of his tormented dreams. Then his consciousness caught up. He bolted upright, immediately seeking the source of the strange sound. He followed it to the desk under the window where the last letter of the most beautiful message he had ever seen was being carved. November 22, 1963, 4:26 p.m.

Though his first instinct was to jump to her, Five paused. He would need weapons and coffee before he attempted to tackle the Commission again. He already had one blonde, beloved weapon waiting. But a gun or three might be helpful too. As well as a knife. He jumped into the Hargreeves home. Everyone else was asleep, Grace was charging. Sneaking silently around the house, he gathered the guns and ammunition he had hidden, just in case. Satisfied with his finds, Five jumped again.

The first thing he noticed once he regained his bearings was the shaking blonde in his arms. He had no recollection of wrapping them around her, but he was not about to complain. Until he realized that she was not crying. She was laughing. Five looked down at Gwen with a bemused frown. "What?"

"You promised to never let anyone take me away from you again," she reminded him with a wicked grin, "And I told you that they would die trying, slowly and painfully." Gwen was way past scared and angry. She had settled on vengeful the moment Five had landed in the Sixties. Nodding slowly, Five regarded her carefully. Gwen stood on her tiptoes, kissing his cheek before she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "What do you say we let them come," she suggested, "Let them come and let them die?"

With the exception of Sir Reginald's murder, Five had not heard a better plan. So he settled down on the bed with the love of his life, the same love he vowed to propose to the moment they got back, to wait for the Commissioner and whoever many lackeys she brought. Take out the Commissioner, end the entire organization. The agreement went unspoken. Take out as many as you can.

It was pathetic how predictable the Commissioner was considering how well executed the sneak attack had been. Five knew she would not be able to resist coming to gloat to Gwen, or maybe even attempt to manipulate or torture information out of her. He hid in a dark corner, the sun had begun its descent below the horizon, and watched as the door opened and the white-haired woman who had ruined his life entered. She was followed by several armed agents.

"It seems your little boyfriend won't come through," she said triumphantly, "In the face of his betrayal, why don't you tell us how to best get to him?"

Gwen looked contemplative, biting the inside of her cheek in thought. Finally, she looked up and grinned. "Well, for one, I would stop underestimating him," she suggested, brushing off her clothes as she stood, "Second, it might help if you turned around."

The fight was quick and bloodless. Gwen used her powers to pin the Commissioner and Five had her neck twisted and spinal cord severed in seconds. The rest continued in a similar fashion. Gwen never lifted a finger, snapping the necks and stopping the hearts Five did not have time to reach. The time-traveling teen stabbed the others, always in such a way that there would not be bloodstains on the floor. No need to add to Simon's workload. They were left with a pile of bodies, easily disposed of with Gwen's telekinesis, and a Five felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. There would be others. But they would stop them before the thought to try something had even been fully processed. Once the bodies were gone, Five wrapped an arm around Gwen's waist and jumped them home.

They found themselves in the first-floor sitting room at the Silver residence. He had taken them to just a few minutes after he left. The only source of light available was the burning fireplace, its orange light reminding them both of the night when Five returned from the future that no longer existed. Gwen frowned when he pushed away from her, taking a step back. "What is it," she asked worriedly, "Are you hurt?"

"I actually need to talk to you about something," he murmured quietly, "Before we go to bed, preferably." He cleared his mind of all thoughts of her, wanting to surprise her. It seemed, however, as though his not thinking about her backfired. Gwen backed farther away from him, prompting Five to catch her hand in his. "You know I don't like talking about how I feel," he said, his voice just above a whisper, "So I'll just get to the point and ask if you want to marry me." His words were met with absolute silence. Looking at Gwen, Five was horrified to see tears in her eyes. Panicking a little, he tried again. "Okay, that wasn't very romantic," he muttered, getting down on one knee, "Gwendolyn Hayley Silver, will you marry me?"

Tears falling silently down her cheeks, Gwen tried to find her voice. She felt stupid for crying. She had known it was coming, and though she had not expected it to happen so soon, there was no reason to cry. Except maybe for the fact that she loved him. And he loved her. Oh, and also there was the fact that they wanted to spend their lives together. All she had to do was say yes. Remembering that she had not actually given him an answer yet, Gwen nodded, smiling so wide her cheeks hurt. It did not matter that they had not yet turned fifteen, or that in accepting his proposal she was breaking several of the rules she had been brought up to respect. Five was her endgame and clearly, judging by the nervous look in his otherwise stony gaze, she was his. When he made no move to get up, Gwen nodded again. "Yes, Five No-Middle-Name Hargreeves, I will marry you."

"I don't have a ring yet."

"I don't care."

"We'll still have to wait until we're eighteen to actually go through with the ceremony."

"I know."

"Klaus is going to kill me."

"What?"

Laughing along with Gwen, Five pressed a soft kiss against her hairline. "I promised Klaus he could help me prepare when the time came," he explained, "Think we can keep this from him until I can set something up for his sake?"

"Well, yes, but I don't think you actually want to." Gwen bit back a shriek as Five suddenly lifted her into his arms and spun her around. It seemed everything fell into place whenever she was near him. His embrace was warm and safe and hers alone. As was his love. Not a thing could touch them or tear them apart, not the decimated Commission, not the prevented apocalypse. Not even Five's frustration with silverware settings at formal dinners. "Keep me safe," she whispered against his collar.

"You know I will."