"Sorry..."
Slowly, Five opened his eyes. He took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds then released. In a disoriented, sleepy state he raised a hand to wipe the tear running down the side of his face.
The same hand returned to lay on his chest. He had dreamt something. His head foggy as to what. There was something he had to do. Lots that he wanted to do. Enough remorse and guilt building up in him to make him tear up. His mouth at a loss for what he could say to guide himself back to where he needed to be.
"Five?" Klaus made his appearance by his side. Then it all came rushing back to him. Five shot up from the bed. Wincing to hold his head. "Woah woah slow down there."
"Ughhh, what happened?"
"W-what do you remember?" He shook his head.
"The world is ending and we found dad and his wife. We're filled with concentrated life known as Marigold that Time and Space hate that. So Cielo- Cielo! What- where-" he paused remembering the air knocked out of him the moment he touched her skin.
"She's okay. You were in a worse state than she is."
"What happened? How long was I out?" Five sat back against the couch that he had been placed on. Klaus handed him a half filled glass of water that he was previously drinking from.
"Just a few hours. We don't know what exactly happened. You touched Cielo, everything started malfunctioning, and you stopped breathing. After dad's wife did some medical shocking and checks on you, we brought you up here to relax. The two aliens are still downstairs trying to figure out what happened but the rest of us... we kinda needed a moment to... process what we saw."
"Was it that bad?"
"We didn't know what to do." He bit his lip remembering the child's body turning slightly blue from suffocation. "You almost looked like a ghost."
Five patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
"You're not her anchor."
"I know." He took a gulp of the water and set the cup down. Doing so nonchalantly that Klaus wondered how he could admit something like that so easily.
Klaus kept replaying the scene of Five suffocating on nothing. The silence that overtook when he passed out. Allison was the first one to run out in horror. Viktor followed not too long after. Once Abigail had said that Five was alive, Luther just took him away from the monitors. Far away from Cielo. Klaus had remained in the room to stare at her but when that did nothing, he went to join Five in the living room. No one came to check up on him. It was too much for any of them to try. Too scary that any touch might do the trick again.
"But I know you're gonna try something again."
Five had to think about his response. It wasn't his intention to almost die in front of his family. He did want to try to awaken Cielo but he didn't want to repeat the... incident. "We can discuss that with more thought. I won't touch her until we figure something out. I suggest the rest of us do the same."
"Do you actually love her?" Five snapped his head so quickly that it brought a small stab of pain.
"What are you trying to imply right now?" Klaus sat on the couch next to him.
"'Five will never choose me over his family.' That's what Cielo told me. If... if Cielo isn't the answer and being near her is that dangerous... you're gonna choose us? Right?"
Klaus didn't hate Cielo. He wanted her to be the answer. She listened to him. She showed him kindness despite her fear of their world. When Five said that he confessed to her, he was more than happy that they could potentially become an official couple. Then she died. And then Five almost died. She couldn't have done it on purpose. The Cielo that they knew would never have hurt him. Any of them. But if she really was all knowing then was this why she didn't accept his advances?
There wasn't one answer that was right here. Five cared a lot for both sides. Neither wanted the other side to die. Even just thinking about it for too long would be wrong. But it was similar to the conversation he had with Allison last night. Cielo usually prompted comfort. Now with everything that kept popping up about her history, her influence over the Marigold children, he kept having to force himself not to waver in one's favour.
"Forget about it. You never have taken me seriously anyways." Klaus quickly got up to leave. That's how Five knew that he messed up. A small spark ignited inside him again.
Five blinked right in front of Klaus. Losing his balance, he felt uncharacteristically heavy that Klaus had to catch him by the arm. "Woah buddy. Boy got his powers back and starts jumping around."
"I choose you guys."
Klaus stopped. "What? No, that's nice Five but I wasn't actually expecting you to answer."
He shook his head. He refused to let Klaus leave. Not again. He never wanted to leave his family. All he wanted was for them to stay by his side. "No, no Klaus. I- My anchor is you guys. It always has been. Even passed all your deaths. You are my anchors."
"Aw thanks Five. I still don't really know what that means. And your hold is a little too tight there." Five flinched back. Cielo's watch staring him in the face.
Klaus waited for Five to plead his case. By choosing his family he was proving her theory right. He wasn't capable of choosing Cielo over them. The two of them just kept getting separated. And there was no one to actually blame.
To be fair, Klaus didn't really expect Five to pick his family. They all had their fair share of fights. Even before Five had disappeared, he was difficult to get along with. They all have spent more time apart than together. When they were together it became another screaming match just like they were kids again.
Compared to that was Cielo. The woman that he loves. The one that got along with nearly all the siblings. She was incredibly powerful and the leader of Commission. He didn't understand why his logical, smart pants, brother would choose them over her. And from that look on his face, he was still coming to terms with it himself.
He wasn't even sure why he had brought that question up in the first place. Either answer would have been hard to hear. He only wanted was reassurance. He wanted to hear that Five wouldn't throw his life away. Instead it was clear that Five was at the bottom of the list of people he cared about. Between sacrificing himself for his family or Cielo, he would pick the third option to get rid of himself.
"Klaus, I... me getting my powers back... it was because of you. Not her."
"But they said that it was because of love?"
Five kept thinking back to when he confronted their dad. The anger that came with realizing that Cielo had stirred something in him, yes. He could have easily turned out like Allison in that moment. Using his powers could have hurt them all. But it was when Klaus had stood up for him that he regained control over himself. Then his siblings joined him. And all the exhaustion, confusion, anger, had melted away when he saw them all together for his sake.
Marigolds bloomed with love. That was such a wide statement. It was easy to assume that it was because of his romantic feelings towards her that he bloomed with her. If that was true, he would have bloomed the moment they came up with their elaborate plan to find her. No, it had been when his family showed their love for him that he actually gained his powers back.
It wasn't enough to just know what love felt like. They had to experience what it meant to be loved. To see that, to feel that pure, raw emotion, called love, is the closest thing anyone would call magic in this desolate world.
"Yeah. So thanks for throwing that receipt at Dad for me. It was pretty brave of you." Klaus knew long ago that Five wasn't the best with mushy words of affection. Not even Cielo got that honour very often. He knew when Five was trying his best. He loved his awkward old man brother through it. And he knew that Five was the same.
He held out his arms for Five who rolled his eyes. Then taking a step forward to accept the hug. Klaus swaying the two of them side to side. Laughing so proudly that he could start crying in happiness. A small bundle of warm building in his chest like it had twice since coming to this world.
Pausing, Klaus stopped their little dance to look at Five. Seeing that Five had actually gotten his powers back, Klaus didn't feel so crazy about what he had experienced this past week. "Can I actually tell you something?"
"Yeah, of course."
Klaus licked his dry lips. The taste of blood tickling his taste buds. Shifting in his spot as he put on a smile to ease the tension. "I think I died this morning."
Besides Five, Lila took Cielo's condition the hardest. If it wasn't for Diego having to drag her away from the basement, she probably would have remained down there. Staring at her best friend's comatose body with no intention of leaving. She would have touched her and suffocated the same as Five. Right now that looks better than trying to rack her brain on what to do next.
Pacing back and forth within this random bedroom Lila was determined to find out who Cielo's anchor was. Diego was trying his best to offer his help to no positive results. He knew why Cielo was important to saving the world and he knew that they were close but he didn't understand why Lila was so pressed right now. If her anchor was so important then wouldn't it be easy to find them? He didn't see the big deal in why they had to find them specifically. If anything, it would have been easier to let Cielo rest while they figured out what to do next.
At the same time that Lila revolted at the state of her friend, Diego had almost lost a brother. Again. Learning all that they did about themselves and what Cielo contained it wouldn't be too bad if she just remained asleep. She was a bet regardless. That's all they were doing. Betting on an unknown anchor, on a killer Cielo, on a perfect world. What they needed more than anything was a sure known fact. And that was that Cielo almost killed Five.
"What about her family? She grew up normal, she could have liked them enough to make them her anchor."
"She didn't talk about them too much. To hold them at such a high standard of being her anchor doesn't sound right."
"What about Herb? Or Dot? Those two probably helped her out when she became Commission head."
"I don't know. Your anchor should be something from the start. Herbie and Dot only became close to her after she became co-chairperson. Even then Herbie and her butted heads because of his somewhat pacifist ways."
"So it's not her lover, her co-chairperson, or the people that raised her. She doesn't talk about them either. They might as well be a stranger for all we know."
"That honestly could be an option. Anchors are just concepts half the time to people. The idea of someone or something worth putting up with all of the stress of the job. Cielo had a lot at stake that even picking the idea of saving the world isn't too crazy." He groaned. Taking out a knife that he habitually kept hidden under his shirt to ease himself. Then putting it away when he remembered. He just continued to watch as Lila kept walking around.
Neither of them mentioned the elephant of the room. They were told not too long ago that their powers were strengthened by love. That was apparently proven true with Five getting his blinking back. Meanwhile Lila and Diego, the only couple, were still powerless.
Lila was so focused on helping Cielo that he couldn't tell if she was avoiding it or genuinely just too busy to think about it. However, since they came to this timeline he hadn't had a real chance to talk to her about their future. If they had any when the universe stopped ending.
"Who is your anchor then?"
Her pacing slightly flattered but she continued. "That's not important right now. We should be-"
He stood up in defence. She had denied that simple question so fast that she might as well have said that she was hiding something. "No, no you don't deflect that kind of question like that. If an anchor is so important then why wouldn't you tell me in case you start going bat shit crazy. Crazier at least."
"It's not like that Diego. Knowing someone's anchor is the most important information you can hold over them. I've never told anyone who mine is. It's just not a thing to do so casually."
"So? Do you think that I'm going to go after them? Maybe for Cielo who was some Commission head it was dangerous for someone to overhear but I'm asking you who your anchor with no one else around. What? Do you not trust me?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then why is it such a big deal for you to tell me?"
"You just wouldn't get it."
"What's not to get?! It may not be as often as you but I'm a time traveller too! I get needing to keep your head in the game. If some rando is keeping you sane, fine. But I don't think I'm being unreasonable to at least hear why you're so protective over it with me. Can't you at least pretend that you're considering telling me something vulnerable? I can never tell what you want!"
"You don't know what I want? I don't know what I want!" And there it was. The truth of what she was thinking about.
Diego went silent. Lila taking the moment to calm herself down. She sat down on the bed with a sigh.
"When Five said that we could get our perfect world, I didn't know what that meant. Is my perfect world with you and some kids? Being a temporal assassin? I'm not fit for a normal, PG motherly figure. I'm not fit to be a heartless assassin. I've been on the move my entire life. Never settling for more than a year in a single place nor time. I never had a will of my own. I don't know what I want."
As much as the Hargreeves tried to welcome her into the family, their experiences were not the same. She had been fed fake love. Isolated to rely on the one person that made her the way she was now. Yet here she was today. How was she supposed to be a lover? A mother?
A copycat, a chameleon, a mirror. Her powers made her imitate everyone. Her job made her change her personality every day. She could turn out exactly like the Handler and never know. She didn't even remember her own real mother's face. She barely even recognized her own face. What did she want? Who was she?
"An anchor is different for everyone. For Cielo she wanted to do everything she could to manage Time peacefully. She needed stabilization, reassurance, and a lot of confidence. She said that her anchor was the deciding factor for her choices because he knew what needed to be done. What I needed was strength. I had to be strong to survive as a kid in Commission. I had to be stronger than my parents brutally murdered in the same house as me. I chose my anchor because I thought that he was the person I hated the most. I could invest my anger and turn that into power."
She had never looked weak in Diego's eyes. Since he had known her, really known her, she was loud, erratic, confident, smart, and most of all strong. Lila could run circles around him anytime she wanted. That boldness was one of the many reasons why he was attracted to her. She never let anything or anyone stop her. He didn't think that strength came from fear of what's to come.
In a way Diego was jealous that she was so self aware. Diego was always so full of pride that admitting this kind of weakness wasn't easy in his eyes. He believed that actions spoke louder than words. Until this moment he tried to make use of his life the only way he was taught. Dedicated to his skills, he became blinded by his own greed for better. That there had to be better than being a former hero.
"Can I not become your anchor then?"
"It doesn't work that way. I can't just change who I am."
"I'm not... you don't have to change."
She scoffed. "And yet he won't let me pick pocket a random drunk on the streets. Because like it or not, that's who I am. A criminal."
"I've been arrested before. Probably, if they didn't lock me in the mental asylum, I would have kidnapped JFK too." She had to hold back her laugh. "And yeah I still think stealing from an innocent person is wrong but Lila, what you did, what was forced on you as a kid, I don't hold that against you. It doesn't make me think any less of you. And... I'm scared too."
"What are you scared of? You, even out of your siblings, have adjusted the best to this world. Getting a job and getting that intel about Cielo's workplace from the police. You did great with Stanley. It all came naturally to you. That's something that my pretend strength can't get me."
"And I can't save people like I want to. The police officer that gave info on Cielo? She was an old ex of mine. Even though we weren't in a relationship at the time she still went looking for Klaus when Hazel and Cha-cha kidnapped him. She died in my timeline. My mom Grace was a robot that I killed in my timeline. She was malfunctioning but I just thought, it must be painful to live trapped like that. I killed her."
It wasn't the same as when Lila killed but it was blood that stained their hands in some form. He sat down next to her. "Our lives will never be normal and I don't know if I want them to be. I could have been normal when I left the academy. I chose to be a vigilante. I could have restarted in 1963 instead I went to save JFK. I could have just ignored the Sparrows but wanted to pick a fight to show who was better. And here I thought that Five was the chaos junkie."
He looked at the bracelet that she wore. How it went through so much. "I don't know what an anchor does really. I always said that if Cielo hurt Five I wouldn't hesitate to fight back. I don't know if I can uphold that. I guess I'm scared that even with all of history packed into one person near us, we'll never know what is going to happen. That we'll always be on some form of a run. From my fucked up dad and now his wife, the universe literally exploding again, and probably the law too."
Diego nodded to her. He knew the same fear as her. With his history, did he think that he would be a good father? Heck no! Did he know if he could be a provider for a whole family? He could barely care for himself in his original timeline. The expectations put on them as kids were vastly different. Even what they experienced together was different. That didn't change that they were here together through it all. They were together right now.
"I'm never going to find someone like you though. And I don't care what life thingy is inside me says, I love you. I love your strength, weakness, stubbornness, reckless, intelligent, beautiful self. Resetting the universe and ending the world isn't going to change that. If you weren't the way you were, down to the mole on your lower back, I would miss you."
"And what if I change? Pregnancy hormones making me go even more loopy? If I actually start acting like a normal person?"
He laughed. "Then you better not start hating me for being the weird one in the relationship."
Being raised by the Handler's form of love fucked with Lila's definition of the word. She believed that it meant doing whatever the other wanted, no questions. That it was filled with favours and requests that pushed them to their limits.
Yet what Diego was talking about was equality. That they could both be lost and comforted at the same time. That it wasn't a one sided give and others take. It was a balance of two individuals together. This was what love was supposed to feel like. It was incredibly light.
"I don't make promises like that." She butted shoulders with him with a smile.
"What about a vow then? When this is over, when we save the world and Cielo is awake, I want to have a kid with you. I want to marry you even without one."
"That sounds nice and all but I'm a very high maintenance woman. Your delivery job isn't paying enough to get me a proper ring." He slid off the edge of the bed and got down on one knee. Her laugh slightly dropping to become gasped at his actions.
"I'm sure that we can find a ring hiding in a place like this. I won't mind you stealing from the rich aliens. So will you marry me?" In that moment, Lila could actually picture a future together. The two of them and a child or two. It didn't matter the house they were in or the jobs they had. She could see herself happy with him. She didn't feel any guilt for wanting more out of her life.
The only thing she wanted was to be with him.
So regardless of whether it was a joke or a spur of the moment, she nodded. Diego sprung up, pulling her into a kiss like they've never had before. While normally the two would have been trying to rip their clothes at this point, this time they only held each other. Softly touching their lover as if this was the first time they ever touched. Confidently enough to let them know they would never let go.
When they finally did pull back from the long kiss, Lila looked around the room in confusion. Diego sharing the confusion as he held his hands together. Their whole bodies becoming warm as if a blanket was just wrapped around them. With each breath, Diego could feel the shifts in the air. Lila slowing her mind down to focus on the small tugs pulling her around the house. Both of them knew this feeling well.
Taking out the knife again, he twirled it a few times in between his fingers. Last time he did this it had fallen straight the gaps. Throwing it forward, the knife flew in a circle around the couple, and landed on the door behind him. The two recognizing what that meant when they regained eye contact.
Their Marigolds had bloomed. Their powers were back.
They shared another passionate kiss in celebration. Giggling like little school kids realizing how crazy this all was. Maybe this fairy tale type of magic was stupid but damn did it feel good.
Separating again, Diego knew that look in her eyes. "You want to try waking up Cielo."
"It could be risky. We don't know if what happened to Five was a freak accident or because of the Marigold."
He nodded but thought of Cielo. How Five reacted to hearing her being trapped here. Lila was the same upon seeing her. At the end of the day, he knew he couldn't stop Lila from wanting to do this. And he didn't want to.
"Then do it properly and bring her back without any problems. I know you would love to hold that big of a brag over Five's head."
"Oh you know me so well." She offered him her hand.
"Enough to learn who your anchor is?"
"Hmmm, if you don't overreact." He linked his hand with her's.
"Deal."
"It's Five."
"Wait- wh-" before he could finish his sentence, she channeled Five's energy to blink into the basement where Cielo was being held.
Diego held back his throw up as Lila immediately went over to Cielo's glass case. "Wait- can we talk about-"
"At another time. Regi, Mrs. Regi, let me try waking her up."
The two aliens looked at the two of them in shock. They had thought that Five awakening his powers was a fluke. That because of his close relationship with Cielo, he had something up his sleeve to unlock his potential. But no. The Marigolds in each of them was alive and well enough to bloom. In a couple of hours since finding out the truth of themselves, their love became stronger. History was repeating itself. Through despair and lost, love remained.
The implications of this were indeterminable. To their knowledge, four of the Marigolds were active. More than half the amount that they needed to reach Oblivion. They had come here to try attempting their own form of a reset. That option wasn't entirely impossible. And if they could wake up Cielo, nothing really could stop them. Besides Reginald and Abigail, themselves that is.
"Let's not waste another moment! Dear, ready the cart." The mention of possibly having to electrocute Lila back to life didn't sit well with either of them. Though the minimum comfort that came with having some high tech medical support on standby was all they could accept.
"Before we do anything crazy, is there any chance that what happened to Five being an accident?"
"It may have been an accident on her part but nonetheless will happen again." Abigail approached Lila with some wires. Gesturing for her to come closer. With this silent consent, she started to connect Lila to multiple health monitors. "We didn't get a chance to examine Number Five before he was whisked away by his Number One so this is the perfect opportunity to get real life results of Time's effect on Marigolds."
"Hey watch what you say. I'm not some test rat."
"Of course not dearie. Test rats can't speak to give their feedback. Please take in everything you can about the experience."
"Wow thanks. I'm in such good care." She sarcastically said. Diego patted her on the shoulder in reassurance.
"You got this. Cielo is... I trust her."
"I do too." With some more sucker ended wires stuck on the sides of her head, she was ready to go.
Lila stood over Cielo's body. After many sleepovers in her office/ bedroom, Lila knew this sight well. Though usually Cielo would be more sprawled out with her blanket almost falling off. This was more like seeing a dead body than a sleeping one.
She crouched down next to her. "If I had a marker I would so draw a moustache on you. You better wake up to stop me."
If that did get a response from her that would have been more shocking. This was her best friend. The one that gave her a shot and protected when she believed she didn't have anyone. They shared many nights laughing and theorizing. Quietness between them wasn't right.
Sucking in a deep breath she plunged forward to grab her hand. Diego equally holding his breath, waiting for her to start suffocating. But it never came. Though her touch had clearly taken its effect by her hazy glazed eyes staring straight at the body. Her body locked in position.
"Lila? Can you hear me?" He noticed how still she stood. Not even moving with a breath.
"Her oxygen levels are stable. Pray tell does Miss Pitts have any ability that relating to this?"
"I don't think so. I've only seen her mimic our powers."
"Then perhaps you need to revise what exactly your powers are. Your brother Klaus only recently discovered that he was immortal after all. Rather than manipulating the trajectory of projectiles, control over air movement would be more suitable of a categorization."
Diego wasn't given time to think about it when her heart rate started spiking alongside with her brain waves. It was happening as fast as it did with Five. She was going into shock.
"Lila!"
"Get her to release Miss Cavallone or she will start to seize!"
"Lila! Lila let go!" When her hold didn't budge at his pull, he immediately knew who could get her to let go. And even through their strain relationship, Diego knew Five didn't hate Lila enough to let her die. He trusted his brother.
He took out another knife throwing it out the door with all his strength. New discovery of powers could be explored latter. All he had to believe in was his normal throw that he put years into feeling. Next was that Five could use his big brain to understand the situation.
Upstairs, Five was still in shock of Klaus's secret. Before he could start the interrogation of how and when Klaus got his powers back, a knife pierced the sofa between them. Seeing how no one was around and with such precision they could only think of one person. And for him to send this kind of message with nothing else let them know the severity of the situation they were in.
Five blinked back into the basement. He immediately spotted Diego by the door still in the same position of his throw. "Di-"
"Grab Lila!" He didn't waste a second to blink closer to Lila. Grabbing both of her shoulders, he threw his whole weight away from Cielo. Lila finally releasing Cielo's hand.
"Lila! Five!"
Five sat up, nodding to show that he was okay. He quickly switched spots with Diego to let him check up on Lila. He kept gently patting her chin as she stared up at the ceiling. "Lila! Lila breathe!"
Dramatically, she inhaled once like Five had. However, unlike Five she appeared to be conscious. The pupils of her eyes shaking before the filled with tears.
"Sorry..." she breathed out quietly. The word bringing Five back to when he woke up. He had said the same thing without knowing it. Though not an uncommon word the coincidence was unlikely.
"No, no its okay. You're okay." He wiped her tears, helping her to sit up.
That's when she grabbed his hands, holding them close to her chest. She squeezed them tightly and smiled. Tears still streaming down her face. "I found him. I found her anchor."