A few hours had passed since the world started to literally explode around them. Between their time learning everything in the basement and until now, the side of which things were apocalyptic had flipped. While that meant this place was safe for the moment, it also gave Ben a clear view of the academy from this home office. That place was still standing in the wasteland. Not sure if that's a good thing or not.

Ben had been the last to leave Cielo. It wasn't like with Diego dragging Lila out or Klaus following after Luther. He had stayed the longest with no one caring to take him out nor a real desire to check up on the others. Staying with Cielo wasn't a conscious decision. He was just there and didn't bother moving until he realized that he was the only one left.

Just like with the Sparrows he couldn't do anything to stop Five's, almost, death. He was calm at the scene. Walking up to Cielo, she wasn't effected that she almost killed someone. That's how he viewed her. A dangerous mystery that would be the end of them. She wasn't a Marigold child. Relying on her was a mistake from the start. Though in the back, back, back, of his mind he truly did wonder if how she acted towards him was on purpose.

A knock came at the door. Before he could respond that he wanted to be left alone, Luther opened the door. Sticking in his head to check that Ben was really in here. "Hey. Mind if I join you?"

"You're going to annoy me even if I say no."

"That's the spirit Ben." He fully opened the door to walk in. The office didn't have a lot in it. A single desk in the middle of the room surrounded by bookshelves and file cabinets. Ben chose to stand by the window so Luther took the chair.

"What do you want?"

"I was just checking up on you. Have you been here since Five passed out?"

"Since Five almost got killed by his girlfriend?"

"Yeah. That. Um you know I don't think they ever really established a title for their relationship. And you know he's fine now. Sort of. I haven't really checked up on him since- yeah."

"Did you just come here for an awkward conversation? I'm fine. You look more shaken up than I do."

"Me? No, no I'm fine. Pshh I came to check up on. My brother... in law." He said, the last part sounding more like a question than statement.

"I don't think a wedding from another timeline and with a nonexistent wife really counts at this point."

"It counts to me." He refused to look at Luther. "I know you didn't approve of the wedding so close to the end of the world. Half of them didn't. Just, I hope you understand that I do still love Sloane and I want to be a real brother to you."

"Sloane is dead Luther. Your sister didn't bring her back to life. Your love? I don't see you having your powers back like Five. And I have no intention of being in your stupid family. I have mine. Had mine."

Luther had no idea how to counter that. After a reset it was possible to get the Sparrows back. He could say that. It didn't feel right. He didn't know what Ben needed. Just that Luther wasn't it right now.

"Luther! Luther let's go! We gotta go kidnap someone! Let's go!" Diego yelled loud enough for everyone in the house to hear.

"Kidnap someone?" He rushed onto his feet, stopping at the door to look back at Ben. "Hey um do you want to come along?"

"No."

"Okay… Well then stay put. We'll be back in a jiffy and we can continue this later." He took the fast reaction as best as he could. Given the urgency in Diego's voice he didn't have time to reason with Ben. He just had to leave him be.

Shortly after Ben could see Diego, Five, and Luther run out of the building. Though it was clear that they were doing something to save the world, he didn't bother to go check out what. If they ever thought of him then they would have come to get him. Ben was only here because he knew about the end of the world. And this whole idea of love? There was no shot that he was getting powers back to be of any use.

Still rather than leaving, he chose to stay. Waiting in this room for someone to come find use in him.

Rather than the feeling of suffocation, Lila felt like she was drowning. Everything around her gone mute. The silence crawling under her heavy skin. She was moving. She could feel it. She couldn't control it but her body was moving along with a flow she couldn't see.

Falling was probably the better word. She was falling. Deep. And she didn't know if it would ever stop. She wanted it to stop. Fear sank into her. And the moment fear seeped in through the cracks is when it gets dangerous.

The volume starting to rise. There were voices squeezing their ways into her head. Small murmurs she could have ignored. As if they weren't there at first now became apparent. The voices overlapping with one another. There was laughter, screams, water gushing, explosions, archaic tongues, singing, engines running, she could hear everything yet nothing.

Her voice couldn't be heard through the world's. No matter how much she wanted it all to scream, she was helpless. She was nothing compared to all of history being thrown at her.

Then there was pull. Lila saw a way out. That small gap in the overwhelming pressure that was Cielo's mind let her think clearly. She heard a single clear, male voice. Through the thickness, there was a bubble with a stranger inside. He was completely calm in the chaos. As she got pulled out she took in everything that she could about his appearance. The main thing was that he wore a lab coat for some reason.

"Sorry..."

As she and Klaus waited for the others to come back with Cielo's anchor, she wondered why those were the first words she spoke after waking up. She wasn't entirely sure what she had experienced. She was in Cielo's mind for only a few seconds. There was too much to actually take in. If it wasn't Five that pulled her back to reality, she would have been crushed mentally and seized without realizing it.

"You okay Lila?"

She stood over Cielo's body. It was obvious that either Five or Lila would stay with her. She opted to stay because of her almost seizure. That and he knew her anchor the moment she described him. Though the anxiety that came with waiting for them to return was only getting worse the longer it took.

"Is it bad that I'm scared if Cielo wakes up?"

"She did almost kill you and Five."

"I almost killed her before too. Guess that makes us even."

He walked up next to her. "What was she thinking about?"

"It wasn't really thinking. More like I was just in the middle of her tornado of information."

"That sounds about right. Cielo was pretty weird looking back."

She smiled. "She was, wasn't she? You think it in the moment how she could be so happy when shit was thrown at her but only after you really get to know does she start being a complete weirdo."

"Right? She took one look at my junkie self and instead of calling the police, she offered to pay for my snacks. She climbed the academy walls to get to the Kugelblitz. Don't get me started on her befriending Five. I never thought he could get along with someone as nice as her. Let alone fall in love."

"I 100% agree! She's way too good for him. I've told her so many times that she was better than him. That she could easily bag a normal man and escape all this mess."

"Yeah." He could picture her smiling right now. Every time that he talked with her, she was trying to put on a brave face. She joked around and offered any help that she could. As a terrible liar it was easy to see that there was always something more to her kindness. He didn't think it was as big as this. "I miss her."

"Yeah."

Lila feared for when she woke up but at the end of the day, she missed her too. The two leaned their heads against each other. That was the only thing they could right now. Just wait.

Viktor roamed the halls in search of Allison. His search coming to a small pause seeing a built in library as one of the rooms. It didn't surprise him that this was an addition to their home. What did surprise was the single thin, metal music stand in the middle of it.

He let his eyes roam around the bookshelves as he approached the stand. Most of the books had titles that he recognized from the academy. Mainly textbooks about how the world works mixed with a few classic stories. Of course his book wasn't among them. He never did figure out if his original dad had read it.

However, hidden in the corner of the room was a violin. He hadn't even seen one since that time in Icarus. But here one was. Just sitting on the stand.

He sat down in the armchair and picked it off the stand. It was beautifully taken care for. There wasn't a doubt that it could produce a beautiful sound. But as his fingers followed the strings he couldn't find himself plucking any of them. This well crafted instrument would have been wasted on him.

It was strange. After years of finding comfort only in his music, he was now afraid of touching it. He knew that he was powerless. That what happened that night was in the spur of a moment. He had control over his powers now. He used them to fight and protect his family before.

That feeling of losing control again was terrifying to think about. He could only remember the damage he did. The end of the world.

With a deep breath, he set the violin back in it's spot and continued his search for Allison.

In the silence of the house, a single stranger's shouting brought everyone back to their senses. Cielo's anchor thrashed around in Luther's and Diego's arms. After what Ben put them through, they've gotten pretty good at double carrying people that didn't want to go with them.

"Are we completely sure that this is her anchor?"

"If Lila's description is right then yes. Though Cielo probably knows better than we do how annoying he is." They let Five walk in first to lead the way into the basement.

"Annoying?! I don't want to hear that from the people that kidnapped me in broad daylight!"

"Can we get Allison to rumour him at least?"

"We should have just done that from the start."

"We are not having us waste her power on him out of all people."

Seeing that they were starting to head into darker area of the house freaked their hostage out even more. "Why don't we talk this out? Is it money that you guys need? Because let me tell you, you are looking at the wrong guy. I barely make enough to cover the bills. I know with my good looks and high position of power you might think differently but I am but a humble guy. But we can still cut a deal? What do you say fellas?"

"Why is this man bumbling so much?" Reginald commented the moment they entered their little lab.

"Sir Reginald Hargreeves? You kidnapped me? I don't know if I should be scared or consider this an honour."

Abigail roughly grabbed at his face, holding him still. In one swift motion she injected a needle and an unknown substance into him. His eyes rolling back before he fell limp in their arms. "There. Nice and quiet."

They all shivered at how coldly she had drugged him.

Lila came up to him. Slapping him in the face to see if he had any reaction. He didn't. "He definitely looks like the anchor I saw but who is he?"

Luther slumped the body into the chair. The body immediately trying to fold over if not for Five pulling him back up for them all to see. "So that confirms it. Everyone meet Lance Biggs. Cielo's anchor and her former boss at Meritech Prosthetics. "

They looked at him with doubt. "Okay so I know what I saw but is he supposed to be this big of a coward? From the way Cielo described him I thought he would be more, reliable."

"We can ask her why at a later time but he is our only lead right now."

"So what do we do with him?" They looked between Lance and Cielo.

"I guess we hook him up to some machines and see if Cielo has a reaction." Five stepped away from the body, letting it fall to the ground. None of them particularly caring if he got injured.

After picking him back up and strapped him down the chair, he began the same procedure Lila went through earlier. Luckily whatever Abigail drugged him with didn't seem to effect his readings too much that they were relatively normal. But now came the real test.

They pushed him on the rolling chair towards Cielo. So far, no change. Five truly had no idea why she had picked him to be her anchor. From what he had witnessed of the man, he was nothing but a swindler and a scaredy cat. Everything that Cielo wasn't. But if he was truly her anchor, then it didn't matter a reason.

He lifted the limp arm and kept a close eye on both of their vitals. Then as if it was his own arm, he let the two touch.

The static that was Cielo's mind turning off. A completely silent mind. He took a look at Lance's body rising and falling with each breath. He wasn't suffocating. Lance really was her anchor.

Lila hugged Diego, both of them jumping in their spots. Luther and Klaus shouting in celebration. Five sighing with relief. The sound of both their vitals beeping steady as a reminder that they were both okay. But the longer that it went on, the more their cheers started to get quieter. The more it creeped up on them that nothing else was happening.

Cielo's mind was stable but she wasn't waking up.

Diego, taking Lance's arm, shook Cielo. They didn't know if they could touch her considering that she was still in the same state. All they were doing was letting her mind breath for a moment.

"Five, what does this mean?"

They jumped when Klaus suddenly clapped his hands. Turning to him, his hands were cupped together in front of him. He smiled with forced innocence. "Oh whoops. Saw a mosquito."

"Great timing Klaus."

"Sorry not really understanding what's happening but I can see where I'm not needed. If you need me, or find a way to get my powers back I'll be raiding the fridge." He quickly excused himself out of the room. While Reginald and Abigail were absorbed in analyzing the changes in Cielo's now calm mind, Five signalled for them to follow Klaus. Though they didn't understand, they figured that Klaus had a clue. Something that they shouldn't tell the aliens.

"It's been a while since I've eaten too. Lila you're probably exhausted after Cielo's attack on you too. Let's take a break."

"Agreed." The two leaving as casually as they could.

Five had sent them all away to figure out more but now that he was alone with the aliens, he was really taking in what was happening. They had found her anchor but nothing more. Klaus had something up his sleeve but it may not be enough again. He had to buy some Time for the rest of them to talk to Klaus privately yet all he could really think about is that this whole plan had failed again.

And what happens when the drug eventually wears off and Lance wakes up? They couldn't keep him here forever. Cielo would never approve of such abuse of anyone. He was a headache to keep around anyways. Why did she have to make things so difficult?

"How is she looking?"

"She's quiet. It's the first time that she hasn't shown any activity."

"Her vitals?"

"Unchanging. Stable." Five's hand stayed on the rim of the case as it was the only way he could be near her. Abigail recognized that look. Her husband had worn it many times before.

Number Five was different than his siblings. Even with consideration of the Sparrows' many achievements, Number Five had the highest potential to achieve something with his life. Being the eldest by a long shot he was the most mature. He was also the one that technically brought Cielo to the family. The first to awaken his powers. His only downside was his confidence was too big for his skill set. He hadn't even bloomed the first time he time travelled. Maybe if he did, he would have succeeded.

"Makes you wish to reset the world doesn't it?" Reginald only slightly turned his head at Abigail speaking. Then continued to work on the new results.

"Makes me want to punch you in the face."

"I get that too."

Five looked back on Reginald absorbed in his work. "How did you die?"

"You children aren't the only ones that Time and Space hates. The moment we tried to defy our fates, we were punished. The chance we took to gain more, stripped us of any remaining time we could have had together."

"You don't regret it? The world is burning and you don't seem to care about it."

"Sometimes all you want is one more time. You reached for her hand too." She said clearly talking about Cielo. Even after finding out her touch could induce death Five wanted to be near her. To see her smile again and hold her in his arms. This desperation could reset the world no matter the cost. That's what they both thought all those years ago.

"You were okay with your husband doing all of this for you then?"

"At first, it's hard to reason with going against cosmic forces. None of you are aware of all the struggles that he went through. I never wished to put him in that position for so long. It has made me feel guilty at times. But even with the world ending, he is still trying. For my sake." It was weird to hear someone talking kindly about his dad.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves was known throughout the world for his questionable and harsh actions. No one ever really stood up against him. Even when Viktor's book came out, it didn't surprise anyone that he had performed horrendous experiments on literal children. He was powerful enough that even if someone wanted to speak out on the treatment, it wouldn't have helped any of them. In this timeline even potentially being a kidnapper didn't get the police running.

In Abigail's eyes, her husband was no different than anyone else that was in love. Through his years of effort, he didn't bare any resentment towards her. He didn't expect her to remain with him because he brought her back to life. She wasn't an experiment. She was his wife. He loved her past death that was supposed to make them part.

When Abigail opened her eyes after the reset, the first thing she saw was her husband. He didn't say anything. He nodded to tell her that it was all okay. A gentle kiss placed on her forehead. A hand that committed so many sins moved a strand of her hair to the side. She chuckled at the action and she swears that his eyes light up with amusement. If it was because of her coming back to life that could get that kind of reaction out of her, then it didn't matter what happened to the world.

He became the bad guy for her sake. Sounded a lot like someone that Five knew well. Though he never liked to compare the two.

"You're a lot different than I thought a wife of someone like him would be like."

"There's a lot that you don't know about us."

"Yeah? And are you more open than your husband is?"

Her smile faded away. A darkness looming over as she leaned down to. If it wasn't for his grip on Cielo's case, he would have stepped back in defense. "I can be. If you play your cards right."

"And what game are we playing then?"

"I think you're very interesting Number Five. Your siblings are showing results but, perhaps due to your age, you are the easiest to get along with. And the easiest to read."

She patted him on the shoulder to which he brushed off. Standing back at her normal height, she looked once at Lance's hand still on Cielo's arm. "So I'll tell you this as a piece advice as your dad's wife. Miss Cavallone is in safe hands here. We won't let her die. That doesn't mean she will return into your hands. If she ever wakes up, she will belong to Hargreeves enterprises."

"I told your husband that she is not a tool for use."

"She can be more than a tool. She can advance military, advance medical, technology, agriculture, anything that can be dreamt exists in another timeline that she can access. Your father and I can actually make us of her and give her a life that is suitable. If you loved her, you would let her do as she needs. You would leave her alone."

He couldn't resist laughing at the thought. "Sorry for you lady but I'm a selfish, frozen acorn that does whatever I want. If Cielo wants to leave me then let that be her choice. Not yours or mine."

Reginald placed a hand between the two to break the tension. "I think you should be getting to your siblings now."

Her put on his usual Five tight lipped smile. "Thanks for the advice dad."

The two of them shared forced smile before Five left to go join his siblings. This interaction reinforcing the idea that neither of them could be trusted. Yet for the time being he wouldn't have to worry about Cielo's safety. They needed her alive. Finding Lance gave them new information to buy them some time to do more as well.

"Rare to see you so fired up my dear." Reginald said as he took her hand into his. The two turning to their property.

"The boy's relationship is quite burdensome."

"At the same time,"

"Very admirable." She said to finish his sentence. He nodded as they were on the same page.

For years the two had tried everything to get a reaction out of her. Now, not only had they seen the relationship between her and Marigolds, they had found a means to stabilize her mind. With Lance around, they were a step closer to waking her up. When that moment comes, they didn't really need them around. Only their Marigolds.

Just as Klaus had told them, he had run straight to the kitchen. His hands still cupped the same as when he ran out of the basement. He could hear some of them following behind him which was good. He didn't want to reveal anything in front of the aliens but he had no idea what to do next.

"Klaus? Klaus? What's going on?" Klaus looked around them frantically. Luther, Diego and Lila stood around him that it was almost like a protective bubble. When he determined that they were alone he slowly opened his hands. A small blue light swimming inside.

They pulled his hands to cover it back up in a hurry. Diego looking around to see if their was any changes in the air of anyone that could have seen that. "Klaus, is that what I think it is?"

He nodded. "It's a ghost. It appeared the moment her boss touched her."

"You got your powers back? When?"

"I still haven't figured that part out just yet. I think after I talked with Quinn? Still an asshole in every timeline by the way. Or maybe when Luther and I first came back to the academy? I really liked those doughnuts we got from Griddy's too. Reminded me of our timeline." They shook their heads at the idea of his powers coming back because of some doughnuts. He got his powers back and it was helping them. That's all that really mattered.

Lila grabbed Klaus's hands to open them again. The blue light covered ghost fish swimming out his grasp to circle her. She laughed and cupped it back down in front of her. "A Shubunkin gold fish? No way."

"A sushi gold fish what now? What's happening right now?"

"Cielo had a pet fish at Commission that looked exactly like this guy." It swam up to her eye level, going side to side.

"Her pet fish. How is he even here?"

"Ghosts tend to stick around without you even knowing. They like to show themselves only when its safe or interesting for them. With Cielo calming down, it probably thought it was a good time to come out. It must have been hovering around her all this time."

"And you're just now seeing him?"

"Hey if the ghosites don't want to come out and play, I'm not going to argue with that. You have no idea how many times Ben gave me the silent treatment only to reappear with no explanation."

"Okay, whatever you two. What do we do with him now?" He swam up to Luther. Making crazed zig-zags and loops around him.

"What's it doing?" It kept going around and around. Up, loop down, diagonal downwards, up, down, curve up, too many movements to keep up.

Lila watched carefully. She thought of all the times she had seen Mister fish head 2.0. Never before did she see him moving so much. The way he moved almost felt intentional. Like he was speaking. Which is something he never did. "Wait. Are you not Mister fish head 2.0?"

"That's what she named him?"

"Trust me I made fun of her a lot for it. But Mister fish head 2.0 was completely normal. No matter how much she tried to stimulate some intelligence in him, none of it worked. Are you... are you AJ Carmichael?" It swam up and down to agree.

"So is this not her pet fish?"

"No it's even better, this is the former chairfish before Cielo and Herb took over Commission. He's the one that recruited her in the first place. Carmichael, do you know how to wake up Cielo?" He repeated his motion to say yes.

This fish had witnessed hours, days, worth of Cielo talking to herself about Time both in life and death. Watching the same things she experienced right over her shoulder. She would speak to Mister fish head 2.0 rhetorically about anything and everything that came to mind. Not knowing that AJ was listening in. And unlike a normal human conversation, neither could give input to make her second guess herself. She had been the most open with those fishes than any other living being could ever possibly be. Paired with his own knowledge of Time's ways, he was closest equivalent to Cielo.

It stopped to scan the room before darting off. They all followed after he disappeared through a door. Turns out that it had been the office that Ben had holed himself into that he had jumped when they all barged in. For a moment he thought that they had come for him when he saw the ghost swimming around the desk.

They ignored him to focus entirely on AJ's movements. Going over to a desk with some papers and pencils. Circling around the pencil for them to use. Luther picked up the pencil and spread out the papers as much as he could.

It was the same as before pattern that he did earlier. He was trying to convey a word. The sudden stop to show that he was done. A few letters being made out.

R. I. J. I. V. I. O. I. J. R.

AJ then poked at an eraser to take out any unnecessary lines. And though it took a bit more of charades to understand what the wordless fish meant in his movements, they were starting to make sense of the jumble of lines. Keeping his pencil against the paper, he slowly dragged the utensil on the paper without once lifting it. Rewriting the same letters in one bunch.

His hand stopped when he could make out what the mashed letters looked like. The others crowded around him to recognize the same result. Rumour. Cielo needed to be rumoured.