5:18pm, April 19th, 2009

It was over, fini. Put the pen down, close the book. Apocalypse successfully diverted (probably). Of course nothing in the universe came with a gold-star guarantee but given the way the Commission threw everything they had at them, Five thought they might have actually pulled off a win.

But goddamn, the cost had been high.

He pressed his bloodied lips together, the familiar ache in his chest like a bad habit he refused to give into. There was no time. There was never time. The profound irony of that fact was not lost on him, but it's contemplation was another thing he didn't have time for. They had to get moving. The Commission would be back.

"We have to go," he told them, exhaustion pulling at every vein in his body (the Commission death squads hadn't gone down easy). Vanya looked up at him from where she cradled Ben's head in her lap, face tear-streaked and messy but he didn't have time for anyone's sorrow right now. He had to get them away. "They'll be back. We have to leave, now."

Once more into the breech.

"So let them," she said simply, vengeance shaping the words into sharp-edged knives and he knew what she wanted because he wanted it too, but not here and not now. There was too much at risk.

"Vanya," he said, kneeling next to her, voice filled with quiet urgency, "We can't stay here. You're still- you almost lost control. If they come back and you fight them, you'll win...you could also end up destroying the world again. We have to run." The next words were harsh but also true. "You're too emotional right now."

A gasp went up from his siblings, wide-eyed shock at his callousness but there was no time for mourning; he knew what was coming. Why should they be surprised anyway? He was an old man. An old soldier with old wounds; he didn't waste tears on the dead.

"How can you-" Luther began but Five's glare stuck the words in his throat like a garrote around the neck.

"We don't. Have. Time," he ground out, feeling like a broken record skipping over the same tired words as he took Vanya's arm. "They are going to come back. Vanya needs more training to work on her control and we can give her that but not here, not now. If we jump, it'll take them awhile to find us. If you've got a problem with that we can hug it out on the other side."

"Why would they come after us if we've changed things?" Allison asks. "If there's no apocalypse for you to get stuck in then how would the Commission even know about you or us? Why would they care?"

Five's face folded in annoyance. "The Commission exists outside of time; it's how they monitor things. They know what happened, what's happening and what's supposed to happen. They aren't a part of the timeline; they're above it. The changes won't effect them, but it will piss them off. So I need to get us out of here."

"Yeah but you're barely on your feet," Diego said, which was true enough. Five had nearly ran himself into the ground in the ensuing firefight, and even then he hadn't been able to save everyone. That thought made the stitch in his heart throb but he ignored it with the practiced ease of forty years experience. (It didn't hurt any less, but it was a familiar pain; a chronic ache in his soul he'd long grown used to.)

"I'll get you home safe," he said, looking around at the sorrow-drowned faces of his remaining siblings. "I'll get you all home safe, I promise. But we need to go. Now."

"All except Ben," Vanya said and Five just looked at her because he didn't have a witty retort for that. He hadn't - couldn't - correct everything wrong with the old timeline. He wished he could. He'd tried but he's out of chances. Going back a second time meant reopening it to the possibility of another apocalypse. That Five would not do. Not for love or money or all the stars in the sky.

Not even for Ben.

Well, he could dwell on his failings later. Right now there were more important things. "We need to go," he said again.

Surprisingly it was Luther who seemed to come to his senses first. "All right," he said, bending down and pulling Ben's body into his arms. "All right. Everyone in a circle like last time."

Five stared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not leaving his body here to rot. He deserves a proper burial."

How did it always happen that just when Five thought he'd gotten his siblings heading in something akin to the right direction they did shit like this? "There- there's probably not going to be much left of him when we get back to the future," he pointed out. It was as delicate a way he could say he didn't want to drag a corpse through ten plus years of decay in the time stream. But if he expected Luther to be reasonable, he was in for some serious disappointment.

"We're taking him back," Luther said again, and Five didn't have any more time to argue about it.

"Fine." Leave Luther to his gruesome coping mechanisms. Five had to get his family away from this moment in time, throw the Commission off the scent while he figured out how to keep them safe.

He nearly stumbled as he made his way into the circle and took a spot between Vanya and Klaus, but there was no time to waste on such corporal considerations like weakness or fatigue. Story of his life, that. (Possibly it's ending, too.)

He took a deep breath and reminded himself that going forward was infinitely easier than going back; it shouldn't be nearly as hard this time (self deception was an invaluable tool). His tired gaze settled on Luther, his face a mask of grief as he held their brother's body in his arms and the ache in Five's heart matched the bullet hole over Ben's, blood on his shirt like a silent condemnation.

He told himself it was an acceptable loss; Five siblings for the price of one (maybe two). Basic math. It was what it was. He closed his eyes, gathered the last of his strength and pulled his family into an uncertain future.