Disclaimer: In this chapter, they meet Adult Five, but since he is thirty-eight in this story, Adult Five won't look like how he looks in the show. He'll just look like a thirty-year-old man, y'know

Word count: 1771

𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑—both of whom had been napping for the past couple of hours—woke up to the sound of rustling in the kitchen. It sounded as though someone had opened the fridge and was now going through it, which immediately let the other two know of Five's presence.

"Five? Shit." Luther threw the blanket off of him before the two of them rushed over to the kitchen. "Five? Five, what . . ." His face scrunched up as he took in the boy, who was chugging water from a white bottle as he stood in front of the open fridge. "You okay?"

Five's eyes glanced over at them from the sudden noise before he gulped and pulled the bottle away from his mouth. "I'm gonna need to be hydrated," he panted as he stored the bottle back into the fridge and shut the door.

"Hydrated?" Valerie repeated, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

Five then grabbed a bottle of what seemed to be baby powder from the table and shook the powder down the sleeves of his shirt, an action that only confused the other two further.

Luther's nose crinkled as he watched Five do so. "What's with the baby powder?"

"It'll help with the itching," Five responded.

"What itching? There's itching?" Luther shook his head, his nose crinkling even more as Five poured the powder down his pants. "What the hell is going on here?" A look of realization then dawned on his face as he breathed out, "You do have a plan."

"Well, it's a desperation move, but" —Five put the bottle back down and grabbed his blazer, walking over to the living room as the other two turned and watched— "since our brain-dead siblings are incapable of meeting a simple deadline, I got no choice."

"No choice about what?" Valerie questioned as she folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe.

"I have to find myself." Five slung his blazer over one shoulder while using his free hand to pull the watch out of his pocket. He checked the time before shoving it back and telling them, "I just arrived in Dallas fifteen minutes ago."

Valerie walked over to the boy, narrowing her eyes as she watched him shrug his blazer on. She put a hand on his shoulder, peering into his face as she asked, "Should I be worried about you?"

"Val, if you recall" —Five raised his eyebrows— "I was sent to 1963 on a job by the Commission to make sure the president was assassinated."

"Oh!" She nodded quickly in understanding as he began to stretch. "So, your older self is out there."

"Precisely," he confirmed.

"What, just walking around Dallas?" Luther questioned, his eyes fixated on Five as the boy stretched his legs.

Five stopped stretching as he corrected Luther, "Walking around Dallas with a briefcase that can get us home."

Luther's eyes widened as he clapped his hands together and took in a sharp breath. "Oh my God. Five, you're a genius."

"However, there are two significant problems with this plan." Five scratched the back of his neck as he began to pace up and down the living room. "Problem number one. I am a trained assassin, arguably the most dangerous assassin in the space-time continuum. If I know me, I'm not going to react kindly to bumping into myself. Problem number two, and this is the real fly in the ointment here: you're not supposed to exist in close proximity to yourself in the same timeline. The side effects can be disastrous."

"Side effects?" Valerie echoed worriedly, sitting down on the couch as she watched him walk slowly. "What sort of side effects?"

"Well, according to Commission Handbook Chapter twenty-seven, subsection three-b, the seven stages in paradox psychosis are" —he stopped and turned around to face Luther, then counting off each one with his fingers— "stage one: denial, two: itching, three: extreme thirst and urination, four: excessive gas, five: acute paranoia, six: uncontrolled perspiration, and seven" —he clasped his hands in front of him, a disgruntled expression settling on his face— "homicidal rage.

"Homicidal rage?!" Valerie and Luther repeated incredulously.

"Yeah." Five nodded as he began to walk down the living room once more.

"Jeez, I don't know." Luther crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the doorframe. "This maybe isn't such a good idea."

"It's a Hail Mary." Five raised his arms before turning back around and walking back towards the man. "But what choice do we got, Luther?"

Luther, however, still didn't seem too convinced. "I don't know, you already seem a bit squirrelly if I'm being honest."

"Look, guys, I'm gonna need you to help me get through this one, all right?" Five dashed up to Luther, putting his hands on the sides of the man's arms as he pleaded, "I . . . I need a spotter."

"A spotter?" Luther echoed.

"Yeah."

"What is that?" Luther questioned as he scrunched his face. "Like, a wingman?"

"In case the paradox psychosis gets too severe" —Five put his hands in his pockets, glancing over at Valerie every other second— "I need you two to help me stay on task, all right? So, whatever happens, whatever I say, we need to get that briefcase. Okay?"

Luther nodded. "Okay."

—♫—

The three of them entered a lively Irish pub, which had posters put up on the walls that announced Kennedy's soon-to-be arrival. Irish jig music played lightly in the background, although it was mainly talked over by all the voices in the room. People sat in the square tables that were scattered across the room, and a familiar man sat at the bar.

Adult Five kept the same features as the Teen Five (obviously; it was the same person), with his neat, dark hair that had been groomed as usual; striking, green eyes that flitted across the book that he was scribbling in; and the not-so-tall stature that allowed him to easily rest his feet on the foot ramp of his chair.

Although, it was quite obvious that he had aged with all the developed features that accentuated his appearance. A few silver strands ran through his otherwise black hair, a few wrinkles creased his forehead and the sides of his eyes, and facial hair decorated the lower half of his face. And just as they say about fine wine, he had aged quite nicely (which Valerie most definitely wasn't complaining about).

"Well, there I am," Five sighed, nodding over to the man.

Valerie and Luther peered over at Adult Five and then noticed the black briefcase that was tucked in front of his feet.

Luther's face scrunched as he turned to Five and questioned, "Why don't we just grab the briefcase and run?"

"Luther, I would never let that happen." Five shook his head before he looked back at his future (past?) self. "We're trained to guard these briefcases with our lives. Plus, it's the inherent paradox where this gets tricky. I'm endangering my existence just being in the room with myself."

"Huh . . ." Luther's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Luther, try to keep up," Five exhaled as he turned to face the large man once more. "If old me doesn't travel back to 2019 like he's supposed to, the whole thing unravels itself. I cease to exist. You got me?"

Luther most definitely did not get him. "I get you."

"So" —Five turned his attention back to the man as he sipped his beer— "our best chance is to talk with him, to reason with him."

"Ah." Luther nodded slowly.

"He'll understand. Trust me. I know myself better than, uh" —Five shrugged before itching the side of his neck— "better than I know myself."

Luther gave a small gasp, his eyes widening as he pointed an accusing finger at the boy. "You just itched your neck!"

Valerie whipped her head to look at the boy, her eyes now as wide as Luther's. "That's stage two of paradox psychosis!"

"No, I didn't," Five instantly refused, shaking his head furiously. "I didn't itch my neck."

"Denial is stage one," she pointed out with raised eyebrows, receiving a point and nod of agreement from the man beside her.

"I am fine, okay? Let's stay on task, shall we?" Five suggested as he gave them a mocking smile. He then began to walk towards the man before Valerie put a hand on his chest and stopped him.

"Wait."

He turned his head towards her, lifting an eyebrow as he inquired, "What?"

"Maybe we should go first," she suggested, gesturing towards herself and Luther, who nodded.

Five's eyebrows scrunched together as his eyes flickered between the two. "Why?"

"Well, you'll freak him out. Bumping into your own tiny doppelganger?" She shrugged. "He'll lose his shit."

Five raised his eyebrows as he pointed out, "Val, he's gonna lose his shit around you too."

"What?" she questioned, taken aback. "Why?"

"Because, well" —he shrugged— "y'know, it's you."

"Mhm." She squinted her eyes before taking a step towards him and resting a hand on his arm.
"Just let us break the ice."

Reluctantly, Five nodded. "Okay."

"Okay." Valerie quickly kissed his cheek before nudging Luther, telling him to follow her.

Slowly, the two of them approached Adult Five's side as Teen Five watched tentatively from the same spot.

Luther took a step in front of Valerie and took a deep breath. He glanced back at the girl behind him before greeting the man, "Five."

Adult Five's gaze slowly shifted from his book and to Luther, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What'd you call me, big man?"

"It's me." Luther leaned forward, a grin tugging on the corner of his lips as he reminded, "Number One?"

A look of realization dawned on his face as he registered the familiar features in front of him. "Luther?" His eyes widened as Valerie took a step forward and gave a small wave of greeting. "Valerie. You . . ." His voice grew shaky as his eyes quickly flicked between their faces. "How did you . . . ?"

"It's okay. Everything is fine," Valerie reassured him quickly, giving him an encouraging nod. "We can explain. But first, we need to introduce you to somebody. Just . . . promise me you won't freak out."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Adult Five questioned as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Five, just promise me." She laid a hand on his resting one, her eyebrows raised as she pleaded, "No freak-outs."

His eyes lingered upon her hand, and his expression relaxed as he muttered, "All right."

Luther nodded towards Five, who was still waiting a few feet away. The boy then revealed himself to, well, himself, his stare intent on the Adult man as he made his greeting.

"Hey there, stranger."