[10] ride of the valkyrie

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chapter ten: ride of the valkyrie

Nova and Five confidently strutted toward Hazel and Cha-Cha. Luther couldn't help but wonder what his life had come to. Yes, he had a weird childhood but as he watched his brother, who now looked sixteen again but who also claimed to be in his late fifties, and a girl he grew up with, who was in a similar predicament, walk towards two figures in child masks. Who he should add were trained assassins who kidnapped his second brother and murdered the basically girlfriend of his third brother. He couldn't help but judge his life choices.

"Are the masks really necessary?" Nova asked while crossing her arms and standing regally a few feet away from the assassins. She watched as the two took off their masks.

"So, where's the briefcase?" Cha-Cha asked with a glare. Nove glanced at Five who just rolled his eyes.

"That's how it's gonna be?" Five asked in mock surprise as he and Nova shared a look.

"Seems a little rude if you ask me," Nova added in the same tone.

"Yeah, we can always turn back around and get back in our car," Five said and Cha-Cha quickly pulled her gun out.

"You won't even make it halfway there," Cha-Cha growled.

"Maybe, but as you found out in your previous foray, my brother is not your average giant," Five said while nodding his head back at Luther.

"That's right you dropped a chandelier on him and he got right back up," Hazel interjected.

"And let's not forget Nova over here. Even when she was half dead from a bullet wound and blood loss and even when Hazel was crushing her windpipe she still managed to drain most of Hazel's physical energy. Just imagine what she could do now that she's back to full health. I'm sure you heard stories of her powers back at the Commission," Five said in his condescending voice.

"She shouldn't be able to walk right now," Cha-Cha said looking Nova up and down. The girl only smirked sweetly.

"Like I said she's very powerful. Now by the time you take me out my brother will have smashed the briefcase into a million pieces and Nova will have ripped the life out of both of you," Five said in a proud voice.

"So, how do we help each other?" Hazel asked looking at the two kids before him.

"I need you to get in contact with your superior. I want to have a chat with her. Face to face," Five said and Nova pretended to act surprised.

"Five we didn't talk about this," Nova whispered sternly to the boy.

In reality, this was all part of their plan. See they wanted the Commission to think that their bond was splintering. The Handler and everyone else needed to believe that Five really was a dickhead and was willing to betray his family and especially Nova.

"Trouble in paradise?" Hazel asked and the two teens shot him a glare.

"Whatever, just don't tell her about the briefcase," Cha-Cha agrees and Nova pretends to look mad at Five as he puts on a face of indifference.

"Fair enough." Five shrugged. As soon as Cha-Cha made her way over to the payphone Nova and Five began to fake argue as they made their way back to where Luther was waiting.

"What happens now?" Luther asked.

"Now we wait," Five said as he leaned against the hood of the car. Nova sat on the hood and pretended to look ticked off.

"Does anyone else hear Ride of the Valkyrie or is that just me?" Nova asked as she glanced backward. They all turned to see an ice cream truck driving down the road.

"Is that her?" Luther asked confused but the two teens watched just as confused.

The three of them watched as the ice cream truck drove past them and Klaus waved to them. The former Academy members watched in shock as Klaus drove the ice cream truck straight into Hazel and Cha-Cha's car. Nova burst out laughing when she noticed Ben was lying on the dashboard holding a bomb pop giggling, WEEEE.

Five watched as Hazel and Cha-Cha started shooting at the ice cream truck. He heard Nova burst into a fit of giggles and he didn't know why. All he knew was that sound was music to his ears. It was his favorite sound in the world.

Suddenly time seemed to slow down and everything froze around him. Five knew he needed to go back to his charade so he made his face neutral as the Handler showed up in front of him. The boy looked around at the frozen scene before him. Luther stood protectively in front of him and Nova while Hazel and Cha-Cha were frozen in mid-air after being hit by the ice cream truck.

"Neat trick isn't it?" the Handler asked as Five stepped around Luther. "Hello, Five. You look good, all things considered. Genova too, isn't she a pretty little thing?"

"It's good to see you again," Five said in fake politeness. His hatred for this woman ran deep.

"Feels like we met just yesterday. Of course, you were a little bit older then. Congratulations on the age regression by the way. Very clever, through us all off the scent," the Handler said as she gestured to both Five and Nova.

"Well, I wish I could take credit. But Genova kept saying the equations were off. You know she can be such a know-it-all sometimes," Five said with fake malice and the Handler raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I'm sensing some hostility here. Cha-Cha tells me you asked for me personally but Genova didn't know. Why is that?" the Handler asked as Five put his hands in his pockets so she couldn't see him clenching his fists.

"We've had a difference in opinion recently. I wanted to meet with you and she didn't," Five said with an indifferent shrug.

"Drama, I love it. Now what do you really want?" the Handler purrs in a way that makes Five sick but he can't show it.

"I want you to put an end to all of it," Five says bluntly.

"You know that's impossible even for me," the Handler said. "What's meant to be is meant to be. That's our raison d'être."

"Yeah, well what about survival as a raison?" Five asked as he pulled the pistol out of his waistband and pointed it at The Handler.

"I'll just be replaced. I'm but a small clog in a machine. This fantasy that you've been nurturing about summoning up your family to stop the apocalypse is just that. A fantasy. I will say though we're all quite impressed with your initiative. It's really quite something. That's why we want to offer you a new position at the Commission in management," the Handler said and Five scoffed.

"Sorry, what's that now? And what about Genova?" Five asked.

"Come back to work for us again. You know it's where you belong," the Handler said as she stepped closer to the boy.

"That didn't work out too well last time," Five said with a chuckle.

"You wouldn't be in the corrections division any longer. I'm talking about the home office. You've always taken pride in your work and now all that hard work is paying off. You'd have the best health and pension and an end to this ceaseless travel," the Handler laughed.

"What about Genova?" Five asked and the two of them looked at the girl who was frozen mid-laugh down the road.

"We both know she never belonged at the Commission. Her talents are superb and we both know it but she doesn't have the guts to be in our line of work. Let's face it the girl is weak. It's a wonder she lasted this long," the Handler said as she strutted over and patted Nova's cheek.

Five tried to suppress the protectiveness he felt for the young girl. The whole point of the plan was to make the Handler think Five no longer was a bond between the two of them anymore.

"It's a shame really her talents are useful but you're right, she can't let go. She gets too emotionally invested in missions," Five said.

It hurt him to talk badly about Nova. Especially because the things he's making seem bad are actually the qualities he loves most about her. Realization dawned over the boy but he couldn't show it. He had realized in that very unfortunate moment that he was desperately in love with Genova Perez.

"We can make you happy. We can make you, you again," the Handler tells him while gesturing to the young boy in a schoolboy uniform.

"I'm not looking for happiness. What about my family?" Five asked and he watched as the woman glanced at each of his brothers before landing on Nova.

"What about them?" the Handler asked.

"I want them to survive," Five said in a stern voice and the Handler sighed.

"All of them?" She asked and Five tried not to roll his eyes.

"Yes, all of them. Even Genova," Five stresses.

"I'll see what I can do. Do we have a deal?" The Handler asked while holding out her hand. Five looked at her hand before sending a glance at Nova.

"One thing," Five said before walking towards Hazel and Cha-Cha.

He picked up the gun on the ground and through the bullet clip to the right and the pistol to the left. Then he moved the bullet heading for Luther's head out of the way and did the same to the bullet heading for Nova's neck. Five made his way back to the Handler and shook her hand. The next thing he knew they disappeared in a flash of light.

"Five? Oh god. Five!" Luther yelled in confusion as time returned to normal. Nova finally stopped laughing as she wiped her eyes.

"He's gone Luther," Nova said. Even though it seemed like a split-second difference in time she knew it had been longer.

"What?" Luther asked as Nova snatched the case from him.

"I'll explain later," Nova muttered before raising the case and yelling, "Come and get it!"

Nova chucked the case into the field with a strength that surprised Luther. Without waiting for him Nova ran over and helped Klaus with an injured Diego. The girl knows they don't have much time if they want to avoid a fight with Hazel and Cha-Cha.

Luther starts the car as Nova and Klaus crawl into the back seat and Diego gets shoved into the passenger seat. Nova couldn't help but chuckle when Hazel tried to shoot at them but the bullets in his gun were nowhere to be found. She knew that had to have been Five's work.

"Hey, Nova," Ben smiled and Nova grinned at the ghost.

"Drive, Luther! Drive!" Klaus exclaimed before turning to the pair next to him. "Nova, you can see Ben?"

"Yep," Nova said with a nod and Klaus' eyes widened.

"Since when?" Klaus grinned.

"Since Five and I escaped the apocalypse," Nova says with a shrug.

"Speaking of Five where is the little shit?" Diego asked from the passenger seat of the car while Luther drove down the road.

"He had some business to attend to with our former employer," Nova explained vaguely and the others looked to her for a further explanation. "He'll be back."

"When?" Luther asked and Nova shrugged.

"The plan was that he was going to reset the timeline one day after he finds what he's looking for. You four won't realize anything is different but I'll know," Nova explained as she fidgeted with the charm on her necklace.

The necklace will protect her mind from any resets the timeline undergoes. Five made it for her when they were still at the Commission together. Nova just hoped he didn't get himself killed while he was away. If he didn't come back she would kill him herself.

A/N

QOTC: What is your opinion on Klaus?

Klaus is one of my favorite Hargreeves. His outfits are on point always and even when he's selfish he still ends up helping his family. I high key hate how everyone is always writing him off and dismissing him because most of the time he is trying to help. I also love how he is unapologetically himself, I'm here for it.