Suspicious of her own actions, Cielo managed to return to the hotel without any struggle. Finding a doppelganger was risky enough. Going to meet her own doppelganger was way worse. Not to mention that this version of her shouldn't have any knowledge of anything time travel related. And though that was what she essentially wanted, it would be harder to explain and control. She needed help. Luckily she had one of Commission's best agents by her side. If she could find her that was.

Spotting Stanley by himself, she rushed to approach him. Him almost scared of how anxious she appeared. "Hey- um morning spawn- sorry I already forgot your name. That's just something I do, don't mind me but um where are your fake parents? More specifically your mom?"

"Probably upstairs in that weird buffalo head room. Last I saw they were having a really fun reunion. Really fun." She shook her head at the suggestive tone he gave.

"Please never use that kind of innuendo around me again." Though she wanted to talk to Lila about her new findings, she also wanted to give the couple some alone time. Knowing the stress that was on both their minds, everyone needed the break from all the apocalypses. Five probably wasn't back from the bar yet from the looks of it either.

"Whatever you say." He turned around in a casual manner.

"Wait." He stopped at her serious tone. Her having to walk to his side. "Why do you have all those keys on you?"

"What keys?" She took the collar of his jacket, giving it a good shake. Sure enough the sound of many keys rattled inside. He jumped back holding his pockets quiet.

"Oh those? Um just doing some hotel work. 'Cuz you know the economy nowadays, gotta start somewhere. Right?"

"Wow you may not have Copycat's genes but you definitely inherited her criminal mindset. Don't tell me you were planning on ransacking people's rooms."

"Okay. I won't." He went silent, making her sigh.

"How about you join me today? I need a little helper and you'll do just fine."

"Ughhh do I have to?"

"I'll pay you." This perked his interest. The only person here who acted their age. "What could a kid of your era and age want here?"

He shrugged. "A slushy? Some food?"

"Deal. Hand over the keys." Couldn't have him doing any stealing when she was done with him. Stanley groaned once more before handing it to her. The ring of keys stuffed into her pockets for a later issue to deal with.

"How did you even know I had them?" She slung her arm around his shoulders, slightly pulling him out the hotel doors. Being outside the hotel already putting her in a better mood.

"I may not look it but I have a good sense of my surroundings at all times. If you're going to commit crimes, then try harder to make yourself look less suspicious. It's how I also knew that you and your fake dad were trying to get rid of a body the first time we met."

"Hey he's alive and that's all that matters!"

"I am very interested in meeting your birth parents. Though considering you are from the time of the Berlin wall falling, it's not hard to understand why you're so willing to revolt against authority. You know we hardly ever interact with people in the timeline that we can't particularly study their personalities. That's why we avoid and blend in as best as we can predict. Copycat taking you was a huge risk."

"Huge risk for what?" They both stopped at a red cross walk light. She removed her arm, turning to the young boy.

"How much did Copycat tell you about time travel?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Like at all? You came to a different country, in a different era without questioning anything?"

"I mean I had questions but this is way better than staying at home alone." They started walking at the change of lights.

"You're such a weird kid. Give you a few years to mature and I would have loved to have scouted you to join the Temps Commission. Though the training is a strict and draining process to raise the best operatives. Not just anyone can wield a briefcase. I really should have taken Copycat's briefcase before. Though her being here does help. Ah I guess I still haven't explained the risk of you being here."

It was somewhat nice for Cielo to explain how Commission works to Stanley. For so long she had been surrounded by people who knew equal or more than her about everything Time related. Even just being in the academy made her feel inferior. Meanwhile she was able to stand on a rather equal standing with Stanley. His random questions made her laugh or genuinely confused on how his kid brain was so creative. And vulgar too.

This was what she missed at Commission. Human connection. The chance to speak to someone face to face and hear their thoughts without having to tell them what to do in the next sentence. Even other Cielo was silent in her mind because interactions like this probably meant nothing to her in the long run. This was how she was meant to live. A walk in the city with some small conversation. Though the situation itself was weird, this Cielo valued the bare minimum normalcy she could get.

"Honestly the biggest contributing factor towards those deaths were the agents going to clean up the remains and then adding to said remains. So while we don't really go that far back in history, there are a small, very miniscule, amount of people that have been eaten by dinosaurs. And no I will not let you try to tame one." He groaned loudly, kicking a stone on the ground.

"So I can't ride a dinosaur, I can't take over a country, I can't stab Caesar, what can I do?"

"Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I shouldn't recruit another reckless person. I need another person like Grass to keep everything in line. Ah but I guess on field agents need to have some edge. People that listened yet had self worth like Chestnut would have been so nice to work with. Chestnut and Grass really were such ideal workers. What I would do to have them with me now."

"And what am I? Chopped liver?"

She affectionately rubbed his head. "A grumpy little kid. Though I appreciate you coming with me today because we have arrived at our destination. Spawn welcome to Meritech Prosthetics."

It was almost surreal to be here again. Even though less than 3 years had past, she never thought she could return. Meritech Prosthetics. The version not burned to the ground. "I'm assuming we're not going in there for a prosthetic?"

"No we're not. Though I would love to examine- nope we need to focus. Here's your task for today. I want you to go in there and ask if the prosthetist Cielo is in. Simple."

"Isn't that your name?"

"Yes, now go. Make up some lie if they question you. See if she lives nearby or has places she likes to visit. Stuff like that. Don't be too creepy though. Be cool. Also, don't try to meet her face to face. Just learn what you can. Do you understand? We can't exactly be scaring her off or making her learn your face. Oh I don't know. Maybe Copycat should be doing this. She's more used to undercover stuff. Are you sure you can handle this?"

"Yeah yeah chill a little. I got this. Just watch me work." He threw his arms behind his hand, nonchalantly striding his way into the building.

Inspecting herself, she was relieved that this distance was enough to not garner any Paranoia Psychosis symptoms. Then again, denial was the first step. She didn't feel anything else. It was hard to determine based on her thoughts alone without any physical evidence. Not a good sign. Being outside her workplace where anyone can recognize her was dangerous enough. Not that she expected this version of her to be drastically different, she couldn't help wondering how this Cielo was. The one that hadn't met Five or any of the Umbrellas for that matter. The person that she was supposed to act like without the implanted memories she had.

"Hey!" Cielo turned back to the door Stanley propped open with his foot. "The entire place is empty!"

"Oh… I didn't consider that."

Stepping into the building beside him, she didn't know what to feel. A mix of nostalgia and daunt washing over her scanning the lobby. So many times in the past she had walked through the same doors to be greeted by her coworkers.

She remembered walking in with a coffee in one hand and her appointment files in the other. She would walk in multiple times. Hungover, excited, tired, happy, hungry, all of the above and more. Now it was blank. The last time she saw this place it was burned to smithereens. Today it was standing with no one to stand inside.

"Um you can look around for a bit, I want to check something out." She went straight to the elevator. Turning back to him when she stepped in. "Don't break anything. And just so you know there's no physical cash on the premise! There's cameras too! I'll know if you took anything!"

Once the elevator doors closed she leaned back against the wall. The same awful music playing at a low volume as always. Better than Commission's weird mantras at least. Her watch told her that it was exactly 25 seconds for her to reach her floor. She knew that without having to check her watch. It just felt the same when the doors reopened.

As she expected, the entire floor was empty of any humans. She let her feet lead the way. Her eyes never leaving the floor. She couldn't bear looking around any more. Taking a deep breath, she raised her head to look into her office. Former office.

She didn't know whose name was on her door but it wasn't her's. Opening her former office door felt like trespassing. A flash of her old office came to mind. Though the layout was the same, everything else differed. Her couch, bookshelf, photos, down to the paper weight, nothing here was her's.

A prosthetic hand was on the floor. Whoever owned this office must have been working on it before the Kugelblitz got to them. Sitting next to it she found it to be an amazing piece of work. The dexterity needed for fingers always made hands hard to work with. Not to mention that it was highly durable with this material. All it needed was some skin covering which already had been taken into account given the small grooves she found on them.

Call her a bit jealous that she wasn't the one that made this. Her skills in making limbs had grown obsolete in favour of working with ugly, bulky, lifeless briefcases. It was a shame that the patient will never get to try this out either. The entire building stood in this timeline yet had no one to serve.

"It's reassuring that someone skilled took over me. Or I guess fill my spot is better wording. Thank you for putting up with Big Boss' attitude and I hope you greeted Receptionist every morning. Thank you for taking care of my patients for me. I'm sorry you couldn't get a death as notable as your work." Setting down the hand on the desk she turned her head to the full length mirror.

Since Commission fell she hadn't gotten the chance to clean herself up. Add on the blow that the Kugelblitz knocked her with, she wasn't looking too hot. Dust clung to her clothes, her face and hair went unwashed for days, her eye bags were enough to show the effect everything had on her. Long before this whole mess, she had barely taken care of herself. She hadn't had the chance to fully look herself over until now.

The only thing that was in perfect state was her watch. Of course it was the thing related to Time that was left untouched. She hated it. Her appearance, everything, it all felt like a lie. Cielo was nothing more than a living, ignorant, puppet.

"Why aren't I a prothestist here? Am I even in this profession? Was that something that you pulled me to do? So that I can meet Five? How much of my life was dedicated to getting what you wanted?"

There was no answer. There wouldn't be. The other Cielo was a coward. Throwing her life onto her's. If she never implemented the memories into herself, this Cielo would have nothing to do with this mess. They were essentially the same person yet their views were so different. Maybe because this Cielo never got a chance to make her own choice.

Stanley loudly knocked on the glass walls. She took a quick breath, wiping her cheeks. "Hey, can we leave now?"

"Yeah- um yeah let's go. I finished my business. You wanted a slushy right? There's a convenient store nearby. Let's lock up before we leave though."

"Why? There's nothing even valuable here."

"This is still a place of business. End of the world or not, this place had purpose for many. It means a lot to many as well." She lightly grazed his arm to direct him away from stepping into the office. Going into someone else's office without their permission was rude. Neither of them had room here.

There was one last glance back at the building after locking the doors with the spare key. Of course she knew where that was. Lance's office, bottom desk cabinet on the right, in a tiny manila envelope, unlabelled. His office was still the same. Down to his corny snow globe. Never would she think she would miss her annoying boss.

"Thanks for helping me today."

"I didn't even do anything."

"You did more than you realize. You were there in the hotel when I needed someone. It may be a simple substitution that I made at the moment but it still turned out to be you. Isn't that amazing?"

She briefly wondered if this was fate too. That he had to be the one walking away from the building first. But this was human will. The will to go out of his way to come to a completely different timeline and want a slushy. If she learned anything at Commission it was that Time had no control over kids and those reckless of consequences. Maybe that's why the October 1st kids were so all over place.

"Is that some sort of time reference thingy? Well you're the lucky one here. Without me, you would have probably just stayed in that office all day."

"I would have, wouldn't I?" She smiled, thinking about how it would have been worse if Five or Lila were here. Opening the door for the kid to let him loose in the small store. "I'm lucky to have you such a bright youngster with me. If I can, may I ask a question? A perspective from someone completely different than me?"

"Uh sure, why not? Can I get anything that I want?" He started combing through the aisles with a basket in hand.

"For helping me today, it's the least I can do. Pick whatever you like." She leaned back by the unoccupied cash register. "So I know that Copycat didn't tell you much while being here but don't you kind of want to head back to your timeline? Especially because you know that the world is in shambles, don't you miss Germany, your home, friends, family, things like that?"

Stanley shrugged. "It's only been a couple of days. And yeah, I guess I miss everyone and the place a bit but my mom is a bit more loose than normal parents. I don't need to worry about her and she doesn't need to worry about me. But... I do miss her. Just a bit."

"Just a bit can be enough to show you care. I'm sorry that I can't get you back to her right now. If there's a chance, I'll do my everything to return your life back into your hands."

His movement paused from pulling things off the shelf. He blinked a few times at how fondly she looked at him. The way she cared for him without trapping him, speaking like a know it all, treating him out to food, scolding him, acting all high and mighty when he saw how empty she was in that office. From a pretty lax household to being under Lila/Diego's care, he almost forgot what an adult should be like towards a kid.

Slowly, his arms dropped as he remembered his mom. Stanley's mom was weird in his eyes. He loved her. He knew that and so did his mom. Though stealing was okay in her books, it was rude to take advantage of someone else's kindness. Bashfully he set the basket down and walked over to her. "I'll just get a slushy like I said I would."

"Why the change of heart? It's not like there's anyone here to actually charge us."

"I just am, okay? Don't take my kindness for granted."

She giggled at his shy behaviour. "Alright kid. Thanks. Hey come over here. There's some warm corn dogs and pretzels. A growing kid like you needs to eat even if just the bare minimum. Have some before I unplug the machine so it doesn't catch fire."

"Well you're offering. Who am I to refuse?" He rushed over to her side with the 'futuristic' rotating machine. The two forcing each other to try obscure, extremely processed foods that may or may not have expired. Not like they were going to pay or look for nutritional value anyways.


Being a fake godmother/ guardian to Stanley was way more fun than possibly being a real mother. No responsibilities over his general health or trying to maintain any serious relationship between them, she was only a temporary guardian for him to not get into any big issues. But given that he was already planning to steal from the hotel, she was doing a great job in keeping him under control. Any aftermath is all up to his real parents and technically Lila and Diego. It was probably the freest time that she's had since joining Commission. Or even meeting Five.

Entering back into the hotel made her shoulders heavy. As Stanley was talking, he could slowly see the slump that was overcoming her. The way her eyes grew tired or how her rambling became short. He didn't really understand why but assumed that it had just been a long day for her. He didn't even get to ask why they went to Meritech in the first place choosing to live in arrogance of the entire mess she briefly spoke upon.

It wasn't like Cielo wasn't still engaged with the conversation. She very much wanted to talk with him and enjoy what time they had left. But being surrounded by the strange presence of Hotel Obsidian made her feel pressured. Like the other Cielo was trying to tell her where to go and what to do again. It was taking everything in her power just to stay seated.

Eventually it was Stanley that wanted to head up. He thought that being around Lila and the others would brighten her mood again. But as they were heading to the elevators, she heard a jingle in her pocket. Stopping before she walked in to let him go in first.

"Oh I almost forgot! I should give back the keys that I had to take from you earlier. You head up first. I'll find you guys later." She fished out the keys and waved to him with them in hand. But for a split second, as the doors were closing, seeing him stand there alone made her step forward. The doors closed in front of her face before he could see her attempt.

She spun around to face the empty lobby. For the majority of the day she had been with Stanley that she barely noticed how empty the world had gotten. It was so quiet. The jingle of the keys kept her company as she walked alone towards the front desk. Cielo was always aware of her surroundings. Small details caught her attention with no effort. Now that nothing was to distract her, she took in everything about the hotel.

As she stood in the center of the lobby, she stared down at the carpet. Nothing particularly made her stare down. It was mainly in her trying to ignore details around her that she focused on the static image of the floor that clearly hadn't been cleaned in months. Her feet kicked her heel into the ground. "I hate this place."

She threw the keys onto the front desk and forced herself to walk away. This time her attention went to the pay phones attached to the wall. Originally she wanted to meet this timeline's Cielo at Meritech but there was a chance to contact her through distance. Though she doubted that this Cielo lived in the same building as her original timeline. Especially given that Viktor didn't live there this time.

However, there was another place she could call to get information on this timeline's Cielo. Her fingers almost trembling when putting in the coins and phone number. She nervously twirled the phone cord. With each phone tone bringing more anticipation. Two rings. Three. Four. Then, "Hello."

"Si mamma, papa? Um- sono Cielo-"

"You have reached the Cavallone residence." Her shoulders sank realizing that it was an answering machine. "We are unable to pick up at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep."

The line didn't give her a second to process before playing the short tone dial. She leaned her back against the wall. A slam that she was sure that the phone would have recorded. Closing her eyes, she could picture the empty house that the other side phone was in.

"Hi…" She wasn't sure what to say. These technically weren't her parents. They probably couldn't even listen to this message later on. But they were the last thing she could think to anchor to. All the work she did at Commission wasn't solely for the Umbrella Academy. It was for people like her family and the other innocent humans who had no control of what was happening. Her work was for nothing.

"Sorry I don't- it just feels like I haven't spoken to you guys in... years. How are you doing? Did you ever remodel the second floor bathroom? Last I remember you guys were arguing over the tile colours... that seemed so serious when it was happening. Who knew my problems could get so serious? I guess you can say I've changed a lot since the last called. For the past little bit I've been doing a lot... self discovery you can say. But I'm good! I'm healthy- and alive, that's good."

She bit her lip. Her parents always would lead the calls. Asking a thousand questions about how she was doing or explaining the most mediocre things in their lives. Having this silence in a dead city only made her shaking voice stand out that much more.

"I made some really good friends too. There's Copycat, we got off on the wrong foot but I think we really get along now. She's pretty nervous about her pregnancy but I know she'll be an amazing mother. There was Grass who supported me in a position I never thought I could be in. And I think you guys would have really loved to meet Five. Talk about an old soul in a young body... I love them all and so many more. I really do. But it does get complicated at times."

She forced herself to take a deep breath. "I wanted to thank you guys for raising me the way you did. It wasn't perfect. We fought, we yelled, gave each other the silent treatment and we didn't always see eye to eye. Often I couldn't understand what it was like to be an adult and I thought that you guys forgot what it was like to be young. Even when I was an adult you treated me like a kid. But I know how hard you guys tried to raise me to be a good person. You never hit me or shamed me for following my dreams. You guys wanted me to study for my own sake but never let me get overwhelmed. Remember when I was accepted into my dream university? The extravagant dinner we got at that fancy restaurant that we were too afraid of ordering from because it was so expensive?"

She could no longer stop the tears from flowing. There was nothing more that she wanted than for them to tell her that everything was going to be okay. "Thank you. Just thank you for raising me the way you did. And that no matter where we end up, I'm grateful that I-"

Her message was cut off by another tone dial. That was it. Cielo fell to the ground, refusing to loosen her grip on the phone still ringing that annoying tone. That was all she could say. No final parting with the inspiration message. No weight lifted off her shoulders. No goodbyes. All she was right in this moment was an empty shell, crying on the floor in a hotel lobby.