chapter thirty-one: back to the future

Nova knew that Five had succeeded when she woke up and realized that she was standing and unharmed instead of laying dead on the barn floor. The girl patted her abdomen and chest making sure that it was no longer riddled with bullet holes. She looked around concerned trying to find the boy when she realized he was no longer next to her.

"I know that we can be your family if you just let us," Nova heard Diego say when her eyes landed on Five who was now by the barn door. She watched as the Hander came in and she curled into herself preparing for the shots before she realized Five had disarmed the woman.

"Is it true what Five and Nova said? Answer me! Is it true?" Lila yelled and Nova started forward remembering that the Swede was coming.

"Well..." the Handler started before the Swede opened fire on her. Nova came to a screeching halt as Five swung around and pointed his machine gun at the Swede.

"The case!" Luther yelled as he saw Lila go for it.

"No!" Diego exclaimed as he used his own body to stop Luther's. Slowly Nova limped forward so that she was standing relatively close to Five.

"Drop the gun, Five," Nova whispered to the boy as he stared down the Swede. He nodded before dropping the gun to the ground.

"Enough," Five said as he was tired both physically and mentally from all the violence.

"Enough," the Swede said before dropping his gun and leaving the barn.

"I almost had her. Why the hell did you stop me?" Luther asked still on top of Diego.

"Because... I love her," Diego smiled when he came upon that realization.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Klaus asked confused but everyone ignored him. Five only had one thing on his mind and that was Nova.

"Are you ok?" He asked spinning around and his eyes scanned her for any injuries.

"I am now, thanks to you," Nova smiled as she hugged the boy close to her chest in relief.

"You remember?" He asked and the girl nodded as she held up the familiar necklace that she had worn all these years. The one that protects her mind from new timelines.

"Five, you almost died. I could feel your soul slipping," Nova said with tears in her eyes and the boy kissed her dirt-covered forehead.

"But you saved me so I could save everyone else. And we're ok now, darling," Five said as he wiped the girl's tears off of her cheeks.

"I love you, I can't lose you," She whispered and he kissed her lips softly.

"You're stuck with me and it's going to take a lot more than that to get rid of me," He said quietly and she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. She couldn't believe how much she loved this boy.

"Vanya! Help!" Sissy yelled from somewhere below them.

"Sissy!" Vanya gasped before she hurried to the barn's basement.

The others followed her quickly. All of their eyes widened when they saw that Harlan was huddled in the corner and once again was surrounded by a swirling vortex of energy.

"Oh wow," Nova gasped softly as Five held the tired girl closer to her side.

"Harlan? Harlan! Whatever it is that I gave you I can take it back, ok? We just need to stop this," Vanya pleaded after she dove straight into the vortex.

They watched as dots of energy seemed to flow between Vanya and the boy. There was a blast of energy as the vortex dissipated and knocked them all backward slightly.

"Oh, baby! Oh, baby! Oh!" Sissy gasped as she ran over and held her son close. The others thought this was a private moment so they left the barn.

"Hold on a minute is that Herb?" Nova asked when her Five and Diego walked back outside.

"Yeah, I think it is. I wonder what they want," Diego squinted.

"Let's go find out. Nove, can you walk that far?" The boy asked and she shook her head. Wordlessly he crouched down and Nova knew he wanted her to climb on his back.

"Five, you don't have to carry me," She said and he shook his head.

"Stop complaining, darling," He said and she rolled her eyes as she climbed on the boy's back. Once she was situated he straightened up and the three of them began to walk through the field of dead bodies towards the two Commission members.

"Herb, Dot, good to see you both again," Nova smiled when they met them halfway.

"Sup, Herbie!" Diego chuckled before he and Herb did some sort of secret handshake.

"Oh my! Genova, are you ok?" Dot asked the girl worriedly.

"Yeah, a giant Monkey-Man fell on my ankle then a chimney fell on me but that's just a normal Monday," The girl shrugged from Five's back.

"I can't believe it. Is she...?" Herb asked referring to the Handler.

"Really dead this time?" Five asked and Herb nodded.

"Oh yeah," Diego said and the two Commission workers smiled.

"Now that the Handler's gone, what happens at the Commission?" Nova asked concerned that they would come after her for killing the former board.

"Just tell them," Dot nudged Herb who blushed slightly.

"Well, we need to elect a new board of directors. But until then, I um I've been voted in as acting chairperson," Herb said proudly.

"Good job Herbie, congrats!" Diego smiled.

"You'll do amazing," Nova said to the small man who blushed even more.

"I'm so goddamn nervous!" The man chuckled.

"Herb, we need a favor," Five said and Herb nodded.

"Sure anything," The man offered.

"A briefcase. We just want to get back to 2019 where we belong," Nova explained and Herb nodded.

"Take your pick," He said as he gestured to the field.

The three former Academy members thanked Herb and Dot before bidding them goodbye. As Five carried Nova back to the house Diego randomly selected a briefcase. When they got back to the house Five set the girl onto the swinging bench that was still intact on the front porch.

"Let me go find some ice and something to make a splint for your ankle," Five told her gently and the girl nodded before placing a kiss on his cheek.

A few minutes later he came back outside with a bag of ice, a thin dish towel, two planks of wood from the broken house, a scarf, and some safety pins. The two sat in comfortable silence as Five gently took off Nova's shoe before placing the bag of ice against her swollen ankle. He then secured it with the two planks of wood and pinned it all together tightly with the scarf.

"It's not much but it will do until we can find you a proper ankle brace back in 2019," Five said disappointed that he couldn't do more for her.

"It's perfect. Mi media naranja, you treat me too well," The girl smiled softly at the boy who was resting his arms in her lap. His chin rested on his arms and he looked up at her with bright green eyes.

"You deserve to be treated like the queen you are, my darling," He said softly and the girl blushed even though her cheeks and nose were already flushed from the cold and snow from being outside. "I like making you blush, you're so pretty."

"Are you ok?" She asked as she felt his forehead to see if he had a fever or something. The girl wasn't used to him being this flirty.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" He asked as he smiled up at her.

"You're just being really flirty," She shrugged as she began to run her fingers through his soft hair.

"I just love you and I'm so relieved that all this craziness is finally over. We finally get to go on that vacation we always talked about," Five said happily and she smiled softly at the boy she loved.

"Where do you want to go? Amsterdam? Fiji? Bora Bora?" The girl asked and the boy closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her slender fingers in his hair.

"I don't care, I'm fine with anywhere as long as I'm with you and as long as there is no impending doomsday," He sighed and the girl's heart fluttered. "Although I'm not too thrilled to be going through puberty for the second time."

"At least this time we get to grow up together. We get to actually have a life together this time. We get a second chance that nobody else gets," She said and he nodded.

"Together like always," The boy said with a nod.

The two sat in silence together and watched the sunset. It was an oddly peaceful feeling that was vastly different from the chaos they had been experiencing the past few weeks. They watched as Sissy and Harlan bid goodbye to Vanya before leaving.

"Yo, wake up it's time to get the hell out of dodge," Diego said as he woke up the two sleeping teenagers who were cuddled together on the bench.

"Shove off Diego," Five said as he rubbed his tired eyes.

"They're just so adorable don't you think?" Klaus asked Allison as Nova looked around confused because she was still tired.

"Is it time?" Nova asked as Five helped her up.

"Yeah, we're getting out of here," Vanya said as they all walked to the lawn in front of the house.

"Finally, I'm sick of the 60s," Nova said as she leaned on Five while tuning the briefcase to the right setting.

"Wait!" Klaus said and everyone looked at him confused as he ran towards the house.

"$50 bucks if we leave him here," Diego whispered to the teens. Before they could say anything Klaus ran back over now wearing a cowboy hat.

"Everyone ready?" Nova asked as they all grabbed onto each other.

"Let's do this thing," Allison nodded and Nova opened the case.

The girl felt the familiar pull of time travel as they were whisked away in a whirlwind of blue energy. When the world stopped spinning around them Five held tighter to Nova's waist to make sure she didn't fall over. The others looked around and were pleasantly surprised to see that they were all standing around the table in the foyer of their childhood home.

"Oh good god, what day is it?" Luther groaned.

"April 2, 2019," Five sighed in relief as he looked at the newspaper sitting on the table. "Day after the apocalypse."

"Wait so we stopped it?" Allison asked.

"My god, it's over?" Vanya asked.

"Did we actually succeed at something?" Klaus asked as he hugged himself tightly. Nova was so relieved as she melted against her boyfriend who hugged her closely. "That's incredible!"

"Is this actually over?" Nova asked as she looked up at Five. She felt hope bubble in her chest as he leaned down and kissed her passionately.

"I think I need a drink!" Klaus said clapping both the teen's shoulders causing them to pull apart with a laugh.

"Yes!" Luther exclaimed.

"In fact I need several!" Klaus exclaimed as he pulled Nova into a hug and spun her around. The girl shrieked and giggled as she held onto the man in happiness.

"Careful! Careful! Watch her ankle!" Five exclaimed worriedly as he watched Klaus spin around with Nova.

"I should go find, Claire," Allison said as Klau set Nova back down and Vanya sprinted towards the bar. Five wrapped his arm back around the girl's waist and helped her follow his siblings to get a drink.

"Come on, one drink won't hurt," Luther said as he dragged Allison to the bar with the others.

"Hold on, why is there a painting of Ben in a red blazer over the mantle piece?" Nova asked as she tugged on Five's blazer sleeve. Before they had come back to 2019 she returned his ripped blue blazer to him.

"I knew you'd show up eventually," A familiar voice said causing them all to turn in surprise. They watched dumbfounded as Sir Reginald Hargreeves stood up.

"Dad?" Diego asked, confused.

"You're alive," Luther gasped.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Hargreeves snapped.

"Y-yeah you're right. I'm-I'm just happy that we're home and..." Luther stuttered.

"Home? This isn't your home." Hargreeves snapped and the Umbrella Academy members all glanced at each other.

"What are you talking about this is the Umbrella Academy?" Allison asked and Nova could feel her hope draining. Her dreams of going on a vacation disappeared.

"Wrong again. This is the Sparrow Academy," Hargreeves said. Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps and the group turned to see five shadowy figures appear on the balcony above them.

"Ben," Nova gasped in surprise as the man stepped in front of them.

Except it wasn't their Ben. Their Ben wore hoodies and a leather jacket. Their Ben's hair was always styled to the side neatly and was always clean-shaven.

This Ben had shaggy emo hair and a small thin mustache. He also wore the red blazer and uniform from the portrait.

"Dad who the hell are these assholes?" Ben asked as the siblings all stared at him.

A/N

This is the last chapter of season two. That means we all have to wait until season three comes out for new content :( But I was thinking of maybe writing a few one-shots for Five and Nova just so I don't lose touch with the characters. And so you guys can get more content while we wait for season three.

QOTC: Should I work on some Five and Nova one-shots while we wait for season three?

Nova's Spotify Playlist: Nova Perez's Epic Time Travel Jams

First Published: 01/09/2021

Edited: 07/25/2023

Aesthetic Change: 07/01/2024

Chapter Word Count: 2,222

Book Word Count: 74,672