—𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙔𝙀𝘼𝙍!

❛❛ 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘿𝙊 𝙆𝙉𝙊𝙒 𝙎𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙊𝙏𝙎

𝙊𝙎𝙒𝘼𝙇𝘿, 𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏? ❜❜

~ ☂︎︎ ~

𝙄 𝙎𝙇𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙀𝘿 𝙁𝙄𝙑𝙀.

Maybe it was out of shock. Or anger. Or both. Probably both.

"Hello, (Y/N)," he said while rubbing his cheek. It annoyed me how relaxed he sounded. "Hey, Five."

"What do you want?" Luther asked.

"For you to stop hovering like an ambitious stripper and sit down with me." We both took seats on either side of Five. "How long have you been here?" He asked. "A year, thanks to you." Five looked at me as if he was expecting me to add on, but I remained silent and glared at him. "I'm sorry, guys. I know that couldn't have been easy."

"No shit."

"I thought everyone was dead."

A small commotion interrupted our conversation. "Come on, Jack! Don't make me beg!" The man before continued to bother Mr. Ruby, clearly drunk and out of it. "Just back off." Luther and I exchanged a glance, saying he should probably go over and help. "I gotta go," he said to Five getting up. "Me too," I said, looking over to Maria who was sneaking glances at me.

"(Y/N), Luther, wait," Five said grabbing my hand. "Look I get it, okay? I know what it's like to be stuck in time thinking this is how you're gonna live out the rest of your life. On the run, and not knowing if you're ever gonna see the people you love ever again, and to be in an unfamiliar world. But guys, you're not alone. We have to find the others because the world ends again in ten days. I have no idea how to stop it."

Wait. Another apocalypse? What the fuck did we do this time?

"I don't give a shit."

I turned to Luther. "The hell is wrong with you, Luther?" Five asked. He looked to me for backup. "Yeah, Luther. I think he's telling the truth. And though I'd rather not, we're gonna have to stop this. Again."

"I just told you the world's gonna end in ten days," Five stressed. "Yeah, well, you're always saying that."

"And so far I've been right," he replied. "Look, you want to go save the world?" Luther started. "Knock yourself out. All right? I already got a job. And you too, (Y/N)."

"Well, I don't really have a jo-"

"Wait, you two work in this shithole?" Five asked, appalled. "Yeah. Well, our boss owns the place. I'm his body man," Luther replied. "What's that? Like a masseuse or something?" Five teased. "Okay, you can make fun all you want, but I take good care of Mr. Ruby."

"Wait, Ruby? The Jack Ruby, the gangster?"

"Yeah, the one and only," Luther responded. "Well it's finally happened. That gorilla DNA has taken over your mind," Five sighed. "Hey, it's not just him. I've made friends with his daughter." Five looked at me, dumbstruck. "You 'made friends' with Maria Ruby? You do know she shoots Oswald, right?"

"And you're a trained assassin."

"That's besides the point, we're talking about the Ruby's," Five stated. "Hey, watch it, all right? Jack's a good friend," Luther defended. "And you're Number One. Número Uno, remember?"

"There is no Number One," Luther began, "Not anymore. Not in 1963. Look, we've been stranded here for a year. What did you expect?"

"I get it, all right? You watched Pogo die, the world exploded, and I marooned your big dumb ass," Five paused, "And (Y/N), in time. I'm sorry, okay?" He apologized, sighing. "But, I'm asking for your help, Luther. The Umbrella Academy needs you."

Luther scoffed softly. "It doesn't need me. It never did." Autumn came around and tapped him on the shoulder. "Luther, honey, Jack's about to lose it on some half-wit. A little help?" The drunken man was still harassing Mr. Ruby. "Ah, shit," Luther said, moving over to help. "Luther, wait," Five protested.

"Listen," he interrupted, "You're the genius who said we should jump. Right? You're the one who got us stuck here. And you're the one who brought Vanya. So if there is a doomsday coming, she's probably the cause. And if I was gonna do something about it, it sure as hell is not gonna be with you," he completed, walking away. Five looked to me.

We stood in silence for a few moments until I hit him again. "A year? One whole year I've been stuck in this hell, not knowing whether or not you or anyone I loved was alive. The only person I had was Luther, and that's saying something. God, I know you've been through this, and it was definitely worse. But this is my first time going through this shit, and I hated it. I absolutely hated not having you here. And then you're back. You're suddenly here. And you're looking at a stripper, which is great, just great. I'm doing totally fi-"

My rant was stopped by Five kissing me. It's been awhile since I've experienced something like this. I melted into it, putting my hand on Five's face. It lasted a few more seconds before we both pulled back, gazing at each other. We hugged each other tightly. "Living with Curious George for a year wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Without you however, not as fun."

"Yeah," Five replied, a little breathless. "Where you have been for the past year?" I asked. "Trust me, I would've been looking for you. But, we all got dropped at different times."

"So when did you get here?" I questioned. "This morning." I tilted my head. "Then how do you know when doomsday comes again?"

"It's a bit of a long story," he responded. I sighed and looked around at the club. Maria was still glancing at me every once in awhile. I smiled at her, assuring her I was fine. "Maybe I believe this new apocalypse stuff, but you're gonna have to convince me. I've built a living here, even if it is the 60's. What do you have to offer me?"

"I love you."

I was a bit taken aback by these words. I guess it wasn't much for him to say, as he probably remembers saying them to me less than 24 hours ago. "Ok, that's a little convincing, elaborate," I joked. I gave one last look to this room. "All right, I'll help you."

Five smiled and pulled me in for another hug. "I knew I could count on you. Even if I did leave you stranded, sorry about that," he apologized again. "I'm not forgiving you that easily, but I'll still help. We should get going." We both peered over at Luther, who was leading the drunken man away.

"Dad should've left him on the moon."

"Hey, he isn't that bad. Living with him for a year really changed things for me," I defended. It was true, Luther had really grown on me during our time here. He was all I had (besides Ben) for a year. "He's not as much of a jerk as he was before."

"Yet, he isn't helping us," Five reminded me. "I didn't say he wasn't a jerk at all," I retorted. "Come on, we should get going."

"(Y/N)!"

I turned to see Maria waving at me. "Who's this?" She asked. "Oh! Maria, this is Five. Five this is Maria. She's a friend."

They shook hands, both glaring at each other. "So. How do you guys know each other?" She asked. Think of an excuse, think of an excuse, think think think. "We grew up together," I responded. "Does he know your siblings?"

"Yeah, I do. We're pretty close. Now what do you want?" I put an arm out in front of Five. "Okay, okay, settle down now. Your jealousy is showing, old man," I said, giving Five a look. I couldn't have him murdering the girl who needs to kill someone in the next week. "And, we should get going now, we have some business to attend to."

"Wait!" Maria stopped me, "When are you gonna be back?"

I looked to Five. He shrugged. "Soon, don't worry. You can talk to Luther if you need to. Come on Five, we need to leave."

Maria pulled me in for one last hug. She held me tightly. This felt different than our other hugs. "See ya later?" She whispered in my ear. I smiled. "Yeah, later." I grabbed Five's hand and we made our way out. Five stopped me and pulled something out of his pocket. "What is that?" It was a roll of film in a small box. "Hazel gave it to me."

"You saw Hazel?" Five nodded. "Yeah. He uh, he didn't make it. But he gave me this before he was killed." We flipped it over and on the back were the words:

Date:

Subject:

I know but it

always me so

when say they're early/

to on my

chapter. Like, y'all are

about that?? 🥺🥺🥺

man was a

term of

in the okay?