Chapter Text
Five sighed, walking up and out of yet another subway staircase. Lila followed and glanced around. They had been travelling on the subway and looking at different timelines for about a year at that point, and they were tired but determined.
“Do you think this is the right one?” Lila placed her hands on her hips.
Five shrugged. “Who knows… I’m not feeling any itching or thirst yet.” He led Lila away from the subway entrance/exit and over closer to the library where he remembered he had stayed, to check if a version of Five was there.
The closer they got, the more aware Five became that he wasn’t experiencing any symptoms of paradox psychosis. Yet, from the looks of the library, the surrounding area had been cleaned up, so there had to be a Five there. So where was he? This version of Five never remembered travelling anywhere.
Then a girl popped up from behind the wall, pointing a rifle at them. She didn’t immediately shoot, unlike other versions of Five. This Five and Lila both put their hands up just in case she would. He charged up his power, ready to spacial jump him and Lila back to the subway.
“What are you doing here?!” She walked around the wall and got closer. Five was surprised and a bit spooked, how did this girl survive the apocalypse? Was she a version of him?
The girl stumbled and fell back, dropping the rifle. Five and Lila exchanged a look. While the girl dusted herself off and prepared to stand, Lila lowered her hands and gestured to the girl, seeing she wasn’t a threat. Five dropped his hands and scowled.
He stepped over and held his hand out to her. “Here, let me help.” He muttered.
He watched the girl look up at him, her eyes narrowed against the light behind him. Then she looked completely shocked. Her expression reminded Five of how he and his siblings looked when Klaus summoned Ben into the physical realm for the first time. Seeing a ghost.
Five didn’t know what to think just yet. He was still wondering who this girl was. When she grabbed his hand, her grip was tight. He pulled her up and she stared, wide-eyed. Then she hurried away from him.
“What the hell just happened?” Five looked back at Lila, who was rubbing her head.
“That girl seems… uh-” Lila was interrupted by the girl running back towards them.
Five turned his head and his jaw almost dropped as she carried Delores.
“A-am I going crazy, Delores? It’s… him. I touched his hand.” She mumbled under her breath, but Five heard it. It brought a little bit of clarity to why the girl was acting like that, but not fully.
Now less happy and more scared, she held Delores like a shield and approached Five. He glanced at Lila to see if she was ready to blink away with him but she was stifling a laugh.
Five felt a hand on his face and he stiffened, moving his eyes to the girl. She had put Delores down and was inspecting him… her hand was warm on his face. Or was that his own cheek, flushing from this weird situation?
The girl flicked her eyes to Lila and raised her eyebrows, recognition filling her once more. She looked back towards Five and dropped her hand from his face.
“Who are you?” He took a step back.
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “You tell me. Who are you?”
“I asked you first.” He hissed, and then he felt Lila’s hand on his shoulder.
Once she had Five’s attention, Lila pulled her hand back. “We’re the intruders here. Maybe we should answer her first.”
The girl nodded. “Yes, tell me first. And I know about powers. Don’t leave anything out.”
He rolled his eyes at Lila, then turned towards the girl, intrigued. She knew about powers? “Alright. My name is Five. This is Lila.” He started.