[08] employees of the temps commission

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chapter eight: employees of the temps commission

For the first time since she arrived in 2019, Nova didn't wake up alone. This time when she woke up she was lying on her side curled up next to a sleeping Five. The boy's arms were wrapped protectively around the small girl.

Nova couldn't help but notice the content smile on the sleeping boy's face. He looked so at peace. The young girl couldn't help but chuckle at the thin line of drool that had run down the side of his face.

"Why are you laughing?" Five groaned as he held the girl closer to his chest. Nova just smiled up at him and slowly wiped the drool away with her thumb.

"You drool in your sleep," She whispered her thumb still resting at the side of his mouth. Five blushed in embarrassment and he couldn't ignore how rapidly his heart was beating.

"Good, you guys are awake," Luther's voice says when he enters the room. The two teens quickly spring apart; both of them have blushes forming on their faces. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nope!" Five said quickly at the same time Nova asked,

"Is that coffee?"

Luther awkwardly handed each of them a fresh cup of coffee which they both took grateful to have something to distract them from their racing hearts.

"So, when's it supposed to happen? This... apocalypse?" Luther asked and the two teens glanced at each other.

"Well, we can't give you an exact hour. Neither of us actually lived through it. We kind of skipped it," Nova said as she sipped her coffee.

"From what we gather we have four days left," Five finished and Luther's eyes widened.

"Why didn't either of you say anything?" Luther asked appalled.

"It wouldn't have mattered," Nova shrugged.

"Of course, it would! We could have banded together to help you guys stop this thing," Luther said in an annoyed tone. Nova glances over at Five and sees the distraught look on his face.

"If it's any consolation you already tried," Nova said while still looking at Five.

When they were at the Commission Five had told her about finding his family's bodies. The boy had explained, in his old age, that when he found them he had hope that she and Ben had survived. That was until he found Vanya's book. Five had explained to her that was when he truly lost all hope. Knowing he was doomed to be alone in the apocalypse forever. Well until the wretched Handler showed up.

"What does that mean?" Luther asked.

"I found all of you. Your bodies," Five said quietly. Both Luther and Nova were surprised by the pain in his voice. They both knew that Five hid his emotions very well. Especially from his family.

"We die?" Luther asked and Five nodded.

Nova could see the bob in Five's adam's apple. She quickly reached out and gave his hand a comforting squeeze. The boy looked down at their entwined hands his hand looked pale in contrast to the dark gloves that Nova was wearing. They were the gloves she always wore because she was always afraid she would lose control. He wished he could take that fear away from her.

"Horribly, but you were together. You were trying to stop whoever it was who ended the world," Five said quietly as he continued to look at his and Nova's hands.

"Wait how do you know that?" Luther questioned and Five sighed as he reached into his pocket.

"This was clutched in your dead hand when I found you," Five said as he handed the eyeball over to Luther. "Must've ripped it out of their head before you went down."

"Whose head?" Luther asked as he examined the eye.

"Like we said we don't know," Nova said while holding her hand out. Luther placed the eye in her gloved hand and she put it back into Five's pocket.

"Well there's a serial number on it..." Luther starts but Five just scoffs.

"It's a dead end," Five said quietly. Before anyone can say anything else Diego comes bursting through the door in a fit.

"Piece of shit! Do you have any idea what you just did?" Diego exclaimed as he ran down the stairs.

Luther quickly puts his arms around Diego picking him up off the ground. Diego struggled against his brother as Nova quickly stood up. Putting herself protectively between Five and Diego. "Nope, let me... get your ape hands off of me!"

"I can do this as long as it takes for you to calm down," Luther said and Diego finally calmed down. Once Luther thinks it's safe he sets his brother back on the floor.

"Diego, where are Klaus and Patch?" Nova asked as calmly as she could.

"You know what, Genova? You don't get to talk anymore," Diego growled pointing his finger accusingly at her.

"Are you going to tell us what you're talking about?" Luther asked and Diego just glared at the two teenagers before him.

"Those two have been pretty busy since they got here. The shoot out at Griddys and the one at Gimbel Brothers. Sound familiar? Yeah, they were in the middle of both of them. Then the guys in masks attacked The Academy looking for them!" Diego growled.

"None of which is any of your concern," Five said sternly.

"It is now. They just killed my friend," Diego seethed and Nova's eyes widened.

"Patch is dead?" She asked quietly and Diego nodded. Nova's heart sank, innocent people were getting killed because of her and Five being here. "Where's Klaus?"

"I don't know he wasn't there when I got to the motel," Diego said, his voice softening slightly at the distraught look on the young girl's face.

"Who are these people?" Luther asked as Nova took a shaky seat back on the bed. Five watched her put her head in her hands in concern.

"They work for our former employer. A woman called the Handler. She sent them to stop us. Then as soon as Diego's friend got in their way, well fair game." Five says with a small shrug.

"Yeah, and now they're my fair game," Diego growled.

"That would be a mistake," Nova said looking up as Diego went to exit the room. "They've killed people far more dangerous than you."

"Yeah, we'll see about that!" Diego called as he left the room.

After Diego left the room the three of them sat in silence. Five noticed Nova fidgeting with her necklace. He knew she hated everything about the Commission but that necklace was the only thing from that place she kept.

"Former employer? What the hell is this about? And neither of you better give me that it's none of your business crap," Luther said in annoyance.

The two teens glanced at each other and they both knew it was time to rip off this band-aid. No matter how much Nova hates talking about it she knows she can't avoid talking about it any longer.

"I first met the Handler the day after Ben died. Back then I made the mistake of not going to Ben's funeral. Instead, I went to the bench in the park that my mom used to take me to. The Handler found me there. One could say she kidnapped me. But it was more like the guy who promised a kid candy if they got into his van. The Handler pretended to care about me and promised me if I came to work for her no one I loved would ever leave me again. She took advantage of my vulnerability and I made the mistake of working for her," Nova began to explain quietly.

"Meanwhile I had spent more than forty years alone in the apocalypse when the Handler first approached me. She offered me a five-year contract and after that, I could come back to my family. Of course, I didn't trust her," Five began his part.

"That is until I came into the picture. The Handler pulled me out of my usual missions to take me to the apocalypse. I didn't know what for even once we got there. I'll be honest I didn't even recognize Five when I saw him," Nova adds.

"But immediately I recognized her. Nova still looked the same even though she was in her mid-fifties," Five explained.

"Five on the other hand looked like those old guys with scraggly hair and long beards who hang out of the pier and scream THE END IS NEAR!" Nova chuckled and Five glared at her.

"We were the perfect instruments for rehabilitation of the time continuum. Or corrections as the rest of the Commission called us," Five continued the story.

"We weren't the only ones. There are others, like Hazel and Cha-Cha. But no pair was as good as us. Before Five came along I worked alone, but together we were unstoppable. Five was skilled with a rifle and could blink us in and out of any scene as quick as lightning. And with my powers, I could drain the life out of anyone and leave no forensic evidence behind," Nova explained.

"The Commission didn't realize it but we were biding our time, trying to figure out the right equations so we could jump back," Five said while looking over at Nova who looked lost in her memories.

"That place was a prison. I was tortured for years and I had lost all hope that I could escape their clutches. That is until Five marched in with his head full of equations. Five broke his contract and I was an escaped prisoner," Nova finished and Luther looked deep in thought.

"So, you guys were hitmen," Luther asked and the two teens nodded their heads. "But you guys had a code right?"

"Nope, no code. We took out anyone who messed with the timeline," Five said as he worriedly watched Nova. All the memories that were brought up made her anxious so of course she was sketching again.

"What about innocent people?" Luther asked and Nova tensed.

"It was the only way I could get back here," Five said.

"But that's murder!" Luther exclaimed and Nova snapped her book shut in anger.

"For fucks sake grow up Luther! It was self-preservation. It was us or them. You don't get to weigh in on things you don't understand," Nova growled.

"I understand that you had a choice whether or not to take people's lives and you chose murder," Luther said.

Nova could feel her anger boiling. She hated the things she did in the past but she couldn't stand the memories of how The Handler used to torture her. The girl still had scars both mental and physical from those awful nights.

"You think I had a choice? You don't know about the times I talked back or the times I refused to do their dirty work. You don't know about the punishments I endured. Let me put this into perspective for you. The things Reginald Hargreeves did look like child's play in comparison to the things I endured at the hands of the Handler. So, don't you dare look me in the eye and tell me that I had a choice?" Nova growled.

"Nove," Five said and Nova snapped out of her anger momentarily to look at Five. "Eyes."

She glanced at her reflection in the glass of a picture frame and saw that her eyes had turned completely black. When she glanced beneath her gloves a menacing black aura surrounded her caramel skin. Quickly she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. She needed to calm herself down.

"You good now?" Five asked Nova as he stood up hesitant to touch her.

She knows he wants to make sure she has her powers in control before he goes to comfort her. The girl feels her heartbreak at the hesitant look on the boy's face and the terrified one on Luther's. Without saying anything she quickly left the building.

Nova felt like a monster and she knew monsters were meant to be alone.

A/N

QOTC: What is your opinion on Diego?

To me, Diego is one of the underrated siblings because everyone stans Five, Klaus, and Ben but Diego deserves love too. He can be a dick sometimes but really deep down he's a mama's boy with a stutter. Plus his and Klaus' relationship is iconic. Even though Klaus annoys the crap out of him Diego stands up for Klaus and would really do anything for him.