Lila once believed Five was about to propose. It happened in the greenhouse, where she handed him instant coffee as an anniversary gift.
Despite their agreement to forgo gifts, Lila didn't care; she concocted new offerings daily—small kisses, clever traps for dinner.
When he uttered, "I have something for you," she anticipated a ring. Her excitement barely contained, she sat down, wringing her hands, waiting for it. Instead, a tattered notebook emerged. Confusion battled disappointment, and a surge of rage consumed her.
She lashed out, saying things she knew would wound him—urging separation, an end to it all. All she truly craved was safety for her kids. Survival, she insisted. Not love. But deep down, she wondered: What's life without love?
My God, Five's face crumbled, as if she'd yanked the rug from under him and hurled knives at his heart. Her hands clutching the back and the map home, her heart pounded at the thought of going home. Lila understood he'd sacrifice anything for her happiness. Cruelty became necessity; she severed their connection swiftly, minimizing pain. She claimed her need for her children, not Diego. She yearned for home but couldn't admit she didn't want him. Even her assassin's training couldn't stifle her tears.
Throughout survival, the seven years, and loneliness, Lila noticed Five's sadness—visible only by her peripheral when she was busy. His smiles and conversations always pleasant when she needed him. Once, when he thought her gaze was elsewhere, she saw the true Five. His face broken, eyebrows pulled and eyes hopeless. When she called for Five, she saw him slip his mask on. Five did this only once every few weeks, only for seconds, as he would put it down and look at her like he already lost the battle but couldn't help continuing the fight. She allowed him those stolen moments, letting him breathe, free from the mask's suffocating grip.
But on that cliff, in year five, something clicked. His hand rose, inching toward her face. She waited, heart pounding, but felt nothing on it. Instead, she sensed the shift in his breath—the mask slipping back into place. Yet this time, it was different. Transparent, like glass. She saw right through him.
And then, impulsively, and destructively, she kissed him. The miserable cycle of the train shattered. She wanted to rip that mask off, let him love her without constraints. His shock was palpable—the dilation of his eyes, the held breath. As she pulled away, her mind raced to Diego's face—the inevitable betrayal when she'd confess that she liked it, that she wanted more. That she loved Five now.
Before she closed the door to the greenhouse for the last time, she saw him, half-lit as dark shadows stretched over his face. She had been with him for so long, that she knew what he was thinking. She swore she heard Five's mind, 'she doesn't want me.'
She did what she did best. She cut the rope with Five still dangling on it.
On the way back, Lila ignored him. The two transfers were uneventful, aggravating her that it was this simple to go home. Seven years spent alongside him. Five occupied a seat five rows behind, the sound of his notebook twisting and rustling reaching her ears. Just ten minutes ago, she'd dared to hope for a ring; now, she sliced through his heart like softened butter. It bothered her how easily she could wound him, where to strike to crack him open. Yet he wasn't cruel. He wouldn't manipulate or plead for her to stay; he simply wanted to keep loving her. If she desired an exit, he'd grant it.
She fought to keep her eyes straight and not turn to gauge his pain. Through the darkening window, she caught a fuzzy reflection of him. He appeared busy, distracted—deliberately avoiding the ache in his chest. As they stepped off the train through separate doors, their eyes met. A pause, a shared understanding that he understood and then the subway surged forward. His hair ruffled, concealing furrowed brows, but he straightened, the mask snapping back into place. Only she could notice the small grimace.
Her house loomed in the distance, and she quickened her pace. Five jogged slightly to keep up, right behind her. Before she knocked on the door, she glanced at him. Was this right? Should entering her own home feel so dreadful? Five looked up at her, still a step below, his sharp jaw and melting eyebrows catching her gaze. He reached up, kissed the corner of her mouth, and it shattered something within him.
Clutching Grace's tiny frame, she cried in relief. Everything was still the same, just a few hours later. She ran to her mum, kissing her cheeks and gripping her tight. She heard her laugh and cried back. As the rest of the family chattered about the Jennifer incident and the apocalypse, Lila's habit kicked in. She wanted to reach for Five, to snake her arm around his and trace stars on his palm. But she restrained herself, focusing on his face. It was dazed, out of focus—like he'd left his soul back at the greenhouse.
Like he sold it, just for her.
She remembered exactly where she stood when she heard it: "Lila. Why do you keep looking at Five?" Diego's words snapped Five's attention upward. Lila found herself explaining, simplifying some details while leaving others in the shadows. But when Diego pressed for more, demanding specifics. Five stepped in, his gaze on Lila's trembling hands. She flinched as Diego's interrogation intensified.
"Diego, stop. She's not doing this to hurt you." Five's voice cut through the tension, creating a barrier between her and Diego. Before Diego's anger erupted, before everything unraveled, Lila had held nothing back. She hated that she knew precisely what to say to wound him just right, enough for him to retreat. To save himself from her.
"Five, it's OVER. YOU DON'T NEED TO PROTECT ME ANYMORE. DON'T LOVE ME ANYMORE." She drew a breath, leaning close to add, "I don't need you anymore."
When he blipped away, Lila's breath caught a sharp intake of realization. Her own words, once hurled with purpose, now ricocheted back at her. She had dared to do what shouldn't be done, to cross the forbidden boundary. And in that moment, she felt it—the final fracture on his mask, the delicate armor he wore to shield himself.
"Lila. Lila." She realized Five was calling her name.
He placed his hand under her jaw to turn her face and waited until she met his eyes. Sleep deprived, traumatized, and coming back to reality, she saw him wide awake and searching her eyes. "You… want to get… married?" His words hung in the air, hesitant, as if he half-expected her to declare it all a joke.
"Five. Of course I do. Bloody hell, how many apocalypses do we have to win, for you to understand." Lila reached up, her fingers brushing his face. She chuckled, the tension easing. "I'm just not sure if that's what you want. I said so many things I shouldn't have, but I love you. I want to build a life with you."
He kissed her, deeply and excitedly, as if sealing a pact. "I can't believe you want to marry me." His lips found hers between words. "You're so crazy," he murmured, kissing her harder. Urgency fueled their connection, and he pushed her until she laid on the bed, his body stretched over hers.
But Lila pulled away, pushing him flat on the mattress. "No straining," she warned. Climbing on top of him, she kissed her way across his face, along his jaw. Her lips lingered on his neck, feeling the vibration of his Adam's apple. Desire surged, but she remembered why he'd almost died in the first place. A mob—after her, after him—threatened to end the world.
She sighed, sitting up but remaining on his lap, legs curled on either side. His hunger mirrored hers; desperation etched in every breath he took. She wiped her shiny chapstick on his jaw, her voice low. "We need you healed up to save the world." Leaning back down, she whispered in his ear, "But after. After, we can do whatever you want. I don't want you pulling another stitch now."
They talked until they fell asleep. Five asked about wedding locations, flowers. He watched her face light up with new ideas. When she inquired about his preferences, he said, "I want a backyard wedding in our house. Somewhere with a lake, and ducks. Under a Willow Tree."
And as they drifted off, foreheads barely touching, hands stacked together, it was a dreamless night—a respite from horrors and confusion.
At 7AM, Abigail came back to change another set of IV bags that were emptying as it hung on the pole. Five and Lila feeling the hovering presence, split open their eyes to only find each other's. They sat up together and saw Abigail creating a shadow over their faces.
"Good morning. May I look at your wound, Five?" Abigail's voice was gentle, respectful of the fragile morning. Five sat up, eyes half-closed, not ready to relinquish sleep. He nodded, his head bobbing slightly as he fought off drowsiness.
"Oh! Five. It seems like you have a new power." She glanced up to see him tilt his head in confusion. "Your healing, fast. There's already a scar starting to form, here. No need for antibiotics as well. Enhanced cellular regeneration is a powerful and useful gift." She thought there may be a negative side effect to the time exposed to the Durango but was glad it served him well. She placed a gauze with tape on each side instead of wrapping the bandage around him.
"Is it from the Durango? Did I mutate from the bullet? In 12 hours? How's that possible?" Five's questions tumbled out, rapid-fire.
"I believe it's from the vaccine as well. The mutation adapted to its new environment and the vaccine made it a symbiotic relationship it seems. The mutation wants to survive as much as you do. Keeping its host alive ensures they live as well." Abigail looked proud of him.
Lila kissed his cheek, like he did this on purpose. He touched his wound and it still stung but it faded away fast. He blinked trying to comprehend.
"You should join our lab soon. World is still ending on August 8th. Today is D-day. Just not the same way you thought it was. After lunch. You should feel much better then. We're almost done with our final product."
When Abigail left, the weight of her words settled on Five. The world remained doomed, still in need of saving. But Lila was beside him, and suddenly, breathing felt easier. She reached for him in reassurance and offered a walk to pass the time. They wandered through the house and the gardens, hand in hand, discussing what would come next.
Lila suddenly realized, "Today's it." Lila said as they were passing the roses. "Today's the day that we left."
"It is. I'm such a different person now." Five looked at his side and tried to smile at her, trying to decide if that was a good thing or not. He kissed her head. "We're changed. We've grown."
"Let's go home, Five." Lila linked arms and pulled him to the inside of the house and met their family talking in the living room.
Lunches here were as grand as the dinners. It was warm and comforting, and Abigail and Reginald did not join them. Five wanted to eat fast so he could go to talk to Abigail in the lab, but Lila said, "Five. Slow down. You need your energy to solve this." He nodded and took the next bite to chew it. He was almost done with the plate when Abigail walked in with furrowed brows in a hurry.
"Five. I believe it's time you join us." As she waved over and Five stood up. He looked at Lila and reached for her hand, and they ran to catch up to her. She opened the basement doors and Lila noticed more lab coats than before, all murmuring and rapidly clicking through their computers.
Five let go of her hand to look around in awe. He saw several people huddled as they debated over designs, and the whole room lined in metal surfaces and machines, while the room continued to the open doors as Abigial slipped in. He saw the pool of blood on the floor and followed the stains up to a lab table. Abigail turned back to see him staring at the place he mutated.
"Sorry. Didn't have a chance to clean it." She motioned them to the open door that led to a bigger room. There was a mechanic, diligently welding a giant capsule taking up only a third of the open space.
"This is what we've got so far. It's to pool your energy, concentrate it back to your bodies. We've programmed the capsule to contain your multiple timelines and make this one yours. Your old world won't bleed into ours and your new ones won't bleed into the other ones. We are not sure how this effect the other timelines and you will never get a chance to find out. This will be it. You will be from here, singularly existing, in this plane of existence." Abigail finished and sighed, "but one problem."
"Your power is unpredictable. It could place you on another timeline." The mechanic spoke through the mask, placing down his welder and lifting his mask. It was Reginald in a rubber suit and he struggled to get up. "You could be lost again, locked out of this time forever. Separated. All of you." He placed his glasses back on. "Unfortunately, you are the most experienced in this area."
"Thanks for your confidence, Reginald." He shoved his hand in his pocket and puffed his bangs away. "Show me what you have so far."
As Abigail motioned them out of the room, only Five followed. He started showing off and boasting of his understanding behind the subway systems and the multidimensional plane of the timelines. Lila stood to watch the capsule. It was shiny and made with recycled metals. One looked like it was part of a car while the other clearly from a vending machine as its logo displayed on its side. The Capsule was big enough for all of them, even Ben and Jennifer.
The Capsule meant that all of the scraps that fell through the gaps will disappear, replacing it with this world's timeline of events. It would mean that Gene and Jean's goons will have no logic to back up their claims. It would mean that, in this world and according to the passage of time, Ben and Jennifer would have never mutated. It would mean that they never left. As far as this world is concerned, the Gene and Jeans army was a fraud and held no power.
She still heard him rambling on and on about his experience. From the Commission to the briefcase, their lost time in the subways, Max, Doc. Everything came up. Five had taken over an intern's lab station as he shooed them away. He madly typed on the computer to finalize the equation he'd been thinking of, to make sure their energy didn't create an apocalypse in it of itself. The bar between the capsule working and evaporation was so thin, he rubbed his eyebrows in stress. He kept glancing at the clock to see it inching closer to their actual D-day.
It was August 8th, 2024, and the end of the world was rapidly approaching again. He had asked Lila to help him read out numbers from various readings and had to request various scientists for specific data. She didn't know what she was reading or getting, but she happily complied.
"I'm running this to see if it's within the limits." Five said as he clicked the green button and reached for her. He hugged her waist as she stood next to him and leaned over to see the computer. It simulated the capsule and glowed a white light, "Okay, steady for now." He nodded, but soon it turned red, and it flashed 'error' as he sighed. He asked Lila to grab a paper and pen as he wrote down his adjustments. He fixed it again and again, modifying small things, and pressed on as it continued to flash the red. He was madly tapping his pen now, trying to figure out what was the problem. She was still concerned for his would and caressed his shoulders, trying to loosen it.
"Breathe, my darling." She kissed his temple, and he smiled up at her.
"We're going home. Soon." He ran the simulation again and she read 'Version 93' on the corner of the screen. He was beginning to bite his lips as the numbers rose again, but it dropped and finished. The computer flashed, "COMPLETE" and it blinked green.
"ABIGAIL!" Five shouted across the lab and into the open doors. It scared everyone around them, but he continued to say, "IT WORKED."
She ran in to see it for herself and checked on the numbers. "Run it again." It strained against the limit but stabilized before it flashed the successful model again.
"Good. Good. This is promising. Let's see if it works against the real thing. We're running out of time." She ran back into the room to adjust the computers attached to the Capsule. She was madly typing, and Lila saw Reginald get a phone call.
"Reginal Hargreeves." He curtly answered the phone.
"How many?" He looked up to stretch his neck, side to side, and stressed at the news he was receiving.
"Stop them as long as you can. I'm on my way." He shut the flip phone and looked at Abigail with a knowing look.
"What's going on?" Lila was the only one that noticed the look.
"They're here. It appears they have found your location and currently breaching through our security." Reginal stated, like he knew it was coming.
"How?" Five finally caught up to the tension.
"We disposed of the rings when we found out it was a tracker. The ones you took from their bodies?" Abigail met his eyes. "We destroyed it, but we knew it was too late. We believe that's how they found you at the house and attacked you."
Five grunted at the realization that he'd allowed them to track their precise location during the last two days. He pulled at his hair but his wound ached against him. He focused on what he could control and looked at the monitor. "Jesus. Okay, okay. It's almost done loading the schematics. We're going to get the family and fight this off as long as we can. We'll blip back when your done finalizing it."
"I'll give you a signal. You will know when I'm ready for you." Abigail said as she rushed towards the lab again.
They all agreed rapidly and split off to do their own duty. Five held Lila's hand and slipped through the blue into the living room. They saw their family already panicking at the approaching mob. Five rapidly explained the situation, the plan as the security gathered outside the windows.
"That's gotta be at least 50 people." Ben muttered at the growing size of the mass.
"We need to hold them back. If they realize what we're doing, this won't end in our favor. We'll know when they're done." Five said and stretched out his neck. His whole body was just getting used to being animated and working under his own will. He heard a few cracks and jumped a few times to see if his ribs could handle it.
"You ready?" Five said it to the whole group but landed at the soft Lila. She was still concerned about his injury and the fight that he kissed her forehead to smooth out the frown.
Luther opened the front doors with both the handles and let it swing out. The approaching mass was running towards them now, in full speed, holding axes, knives, and a variety of guns that America seemed too unregulated in their gun control. But in return, the Umbrella Academy stood linearly, in front of the small group of Hargreeve's security team and started to glow. Viktor felt his power well and rise up until it spilled out of him, expelling yellow energy. Diego felt the metal in the air, in their hands, and in their pockets as the bullets jingled. Allison's eyes started to turn bright yellow and white as she set her intentions clear and straight. Klaus, finally glad to step up to a fight, pulled a memory of Dave dancing and softly smiled. He pulled a memory of his old army buddies drinking around the campfire and sharing stories. Luther shed his extra layers and towered behind his family.
Five decided on what weapon he wanted to take, making brief eye contact with a hooded figure holding a double-sided axe. He smirked and glanced at Lila to see her holding on to Viktor's shoulder to share their energy. She let go and glowed next to him.
"This feels like the old days." Five shouted through the crowd as they broke through the tall iron fences. "Let's do this clean and fast."
Five blipped toward the crowd first. He startled the front line, causing them to stumble back, just in time for him to snatch an axe. "I'll take this. I'm sure you won't need it," he said, disappearing again before another axe could swing at him. He moved swiftly, hitting all the right spots, slamming the axe down on a foot, slicing through as he ricocheted around, thinning the herd for the family.
Klaus unleashed his army, who met the enemy with savage force, tackling, biting, and clawing at eyes. The screams filled the air, but the army persisted, tearing down anyone in their way. Nearby enemies, firing at ghosts, only succeeded in killing their own. Klaus focused, pushing more spirits into the fray, one by one, until a small squad of 15 hurled themselves into the chaos, forcing the enemies closer together. His aim: to stop anyone from slipping past or circling behind.
Allison moved like she was born for it. All those action movies and months of training were finally paying off. A flick of her finger sent an oncoming weapon flying off, embedding itself into a man's shoulder. He cried out, eyes wide with panic. She smiled, almost pitying him. "You okay?" she asked, sending a pulse of energy that flung him back into three others. A bullet whizzed past, grazing her cheek. She turned sharply, spotting the shooter. With a tug, his gun flew from his grip and into her hands. As he tried to crawl away, screaming, she shot him in both thighs and continued walking.
Diego felt the bullet before it came, shattering the air. He threw up a small shield around Five, deflecting the bullets as they ricocheted harmlessly to the ground. With his other hand, he fiddled with the alien metal, molding it into sharp shapes. He threw a knife that obeyed his command, liquefying mid-flight before solidifying again into an arrow, slicing through a man near Allison. The blade changed direction, piercing through another's ribs and exiting his chest. As he manipulated the metal, another bullet bounced off Five's shield and hit the shooter instead.
Viktor was pure energy, the line between his power and his body gone. He radiated heat like the Sun, gripping a gun and melting the barrel shut. The man holding it looked confused, pulling the trigger in vain before the gun backfired, knocking him out cold. Viktor tossed the melting weapon aside, hitting another man in the head. His focus shifted, deflecting bullets coming at him from all directions, but before long, Five blipped behind an attacker and sliced the arm holding the gun clean off. "I think you dropped that," Five said with a grin before vanishing again. They fought side by side, as sharp weapon easily bounced off Viktor's energy, and Five disarming and striking with precision.
Luther faced down the AR rifles without flinching, bullets bouncing off his body. He smirked at their panic, grabbing one man and flinging him across the courtyard, crushing three others in the process. He noticed a particularly large man charging at him, but Luther used his momentum to slam him into the ground. He blocked another stream of bullets, grabbed the gun, and swung it like a bat, knocking out the attacker's legs. He shielded Allison, lifting a man for her to throw into a tree.
Lila felt alive. The adrenaline surged through her veins, reminding her of what she was trained to do: kill. She knew every vulnerable point, every painful way to subdue someone. Grabbing a knife, she hurled it, pinning a man's hand to a tree. With the butt of a gun, she struck her next target in the most vulnerable spots. She tapped into Viktor's powers to throw punches and used Allison's powers when she tackled someone. She slapped a man across the face, then the other side, grinning as he staggered. "Sorry. Did that hurt?" she asked before finishing him with a kick to the groin. She was relentless, blipping behind enemies, striking their livers, gathering knives with Diego's powers. The crowd of 50 had thinned to less than 30, but exhaustion was creeping in.
Five blipped next to her, his face grim when he noticed the wound on her back. Without a word, he blipped away again, resuming the fight. Viktor was drenched in sweat, doing his best not to mangle too many people, while Diego snatched a flying knife out of the air and flung it into someone's arm. Luther tossed bodies around, barely missing Lila. "Sorry!" he shouted. Nearby, Allison was murmuring to a group of hooded men, "I heard a rumor you danced like chickens," and they clucked uncontrollably. She turned to another group. "I heard a rumor you punched each other in the face," and soon they swung at each other in a perfect triangle, collapsing in a heap.
Lila blinked in confusion as Five hurled a knife toward Diego's head, but it sailed past, straight into the eye of an attacker pouncing on him. Diego nodded in thanks, and they split off again, ready to finish what was left of the crowd.
Klaus backed up, finally forced to release his powers after holding them longer than ever before. A sharp stitch formed in his side as he caught his breath. He saw the enemy pooling in the middle, stumbling over bloodied bodies and scattered weapons. He was trapped in the thick of it, with no way to escape and rest. Abandoning the idea of summoning his powers again, Klaus reached for a gun, raising it and aiming for extremities, careful not to add too much to the kill count. Diego was behind him, deflecting bullets with a flick of his hand. His knife solidified as it re-entered its sheath, but soon he was fighting hand-to-hand with a nearby man.
Klaus could feel their exhaustion building, their energy draining with each passing second. His gaze flickered over the shrinking crowd. Lila grabbed Allison's hand, and they said together, "I heard a rumor you tied each other up." Instantly, ten people's eyes glazed over, and they blindly pulled out zip ties, binding each other's arms behind their backs.
"Where's Abigail, Five? We can't hold this much longer!" Allison called out, her powers starting to wane as the tied-up enemies began seizing in confusion.
"I don't know! She said she'd give us a signal," Five shouted, his irritation mirroring hers as they fought the relentless horde.
"We need to figure something out—buy more time or something!" Lila blipped between them, her voice urgent.
"We need to go." Five's voice dropped to a normal tone, his gaze shifting upward, distant. The family exchanged confused looks as they followed his eyes. Lila saw it too—a pristine beam of light shot into the sky, piercing the clouds.
"That's one hell of a signal," Luther muttered, joining the others as they stared.
Five and Lila reached for each other's hands, then blipped to their family one by one, pulling them out. They all knew where they were headed, straight to the basement labs.
"Oh, good. You got my signal," Abigail said, hurrying into the room. "I saw you fighting through the monitors—quite impressive. It's time. Get in the capsule."
"Did my calculations work? Is the machine stable?" Five asked, rushing to the laptop. He clicked through the readings, seeing everything at normal levels, and sighed with relief.
"We're sealing your bodies into this timeline. The enemy will keep advancing. There's no time, Five. You have to trust me. I broke the world. Let me fix it," Abigail said with a determined nod. Five hesitated but then pushed away from the monitor and walked backwards toward the capsule.
"I'll see you on the other side, then," he said. Inside the small chamber, Ben and Jennifer were already waiting. Lila followed Five in, then the rest of the family. Luther squeezed through the door, lifting his head once he was fully inside. As the door shut, they watched Reginald stagger back, eyes fixed on them, especially Five. Abigail tugged on his arm, pulling him out of the room.
Like the subway train, the machine rumbled as it powered up. Five cupped his hands around the mirror, watching the monitor hit 100%, blinking green. The metal groaned under the heat as the Marigold within them surged into the machine. It felt unnatural to let their powers go instead of controlling them. The room filled with a brilliant light as the beam shot into the sky, energy swirling around them. Their bodies began to glow, and then—white.
The ground shook violently, like a level 9 earthquake. Five felt lightning shoot through his body, the most intense surge of energy he'd ever known. Every nerve ignited as he felt his connection to all timelines sever. Doc's world became inaccessible. His power shifted, sealing off the possibility of time travel forever. His abilities mutated once more, and his scream tore through his system as the pain split him in two.
He experienced time and felt like he understood it. Time happened all at once and he was time. He felt every version of time flash through him—every timeline, every version of himself. He remembered marrying her, dancing to their song, presenting a dissertation, fighting through endless apocalypses, endless kisses. Every version of him had loved Lila deeply, even through hatred. He lived every loss of Lila, and every fight for survival. For one brief moment, he was one with every iteration of time and himself. And then, it was cut off, like God had sliced through his past lives. It was ripped from his mind and body. When he dropped to his knees, gasping in agony, there was only silence.
The machine powered down with a hiss, streams of steam filling the room. The backup generators kicked in, flashing emergency lights overhead. Five forgot how to breathe for a moment, but then his lungs caught up, his brain snapping back into consciousness. He felt Lila's hand on his back, reaching for his face, but when he looked up, all he saw was white.