Word count: 2816

𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 hid behind a stone block, their hands pressed against it as they watched Lila enter a brick building in front of them.

"Why can't I just use my speed and grab her?" Valerie whispered to Five, who then shook his head in response.

"She's up to something," he whispered back, his eyes still fixated on her. "No use if we just take her now."

Staying crouched, they rushed to the door before Five grabbed her hand and teleported both of them inside, and Valerie squinted from the sudden artificial light.

At the sound of their feet padding against the ground, Lila turned around to see them just as Five shoved his hands in his pockets.

"What's your game, crazy lady?" he questioned as he leaned forward and raised his eyebrows.

"Who cares?" Lila shrugged, a wide grin settling on her face. "You said if you saw me again, you'd kill me."

"Oh," he scoffed as he gave her a miffed smile, "I remember."

"Well, come on, big talker." She raised her eyebrows teasingly as she tilted her head and nodded in the other direction. "Let's get this done."

"All right." He teleported behind her, but before he could balance himself, Lila sent a roundhouse kick to his face. He groaned and clutched his nose before Lila ran in the opposite direction.

"She's not all that bad," Valerie pointed out as she folded her arms. "You shouldn't kill her."

"You say that because you're you," Five scoffed before running after Lila.

"I don't know if I should be offended," Valerie muttered to herself before speeding over to the large room that they had entered.

The room was dimly lit, and along the sides were large, metal tubs that seemed to be filled with chemicals. A few long tables were scattered across the room, with three smaller tubs placed through the holes that lined the middle.

Five spun through the air as he kicked towards Lila, who ducked out of the way of his foot. He did it once more, successfully this time, and hit her straight in the face.

As the two fought, Valerie rolled her eyes and climbed on top of one of the metal tubs. She watched as she sat on the edge of it, one leg crossed over the other. She'd intervene if necessary—though she doubted it'd get that bad.

Lila jumped over one of the tables before disappearing. She reappeared, leaning against a column on the other side of the room as she folded her arms. "I'm waiting."

"What the fuck?" Valerie murmured, her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes switched between where Lila had just been and where she currently was.

As Five ran over to Lila, she disappeared once again, and appeared back to the first side of the room, a smirk on her face as she raised her eyebrows.

"Fed up yet, Five?"

Five looked to her in a stupor before shaking his head and grabbing a metal pipe. He teleported over to her and swung, but just ended hitting an electrical box, which sparked in retaliation. He dropped the pipe and turned around to see Lila about to punch him, but dropped to the ground and kicked her feet.

She let out a cry as she fell to her back and he quickly got up and pressed his foot against her throat.

He looked up towards Valerie and raised his eyebrows. "Thanks for the help."

Valerie gave him a sweet smile and blew him a kiss. "No problem, babe."

Lila stared up at Five, her hands gripping the sides of his shoe as she tried to pull it off. Her voice was strained as she choked out, "You're better than I thought."

Five looked down at her, an annoyed smile present on his face. "And you are entirely average." Keeping his eyes on her struggling face, he called out, "You can come out now."

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows as she looked around the room. Who was he talking to?

Then, the clicking of heels echoing through the room answered her question.

Valerie looked up to see a woman, who was wearing a gold dress and smoking a cigar, walking in. She stepped towards Five, a small smile on her face as she lifted her eyebrows. "Well done. You figured it out."

"Well, it wasn't very hard." Five stared down at Lila, his eyes filled with pure hatred as he continued, "She fights like every one of you Commission drones."

"Hmm." The woman gave a small shrug before sighing. "No matter, here we are. Together again. I've gotta ask . . . did you miss me, you little shit?"

Lila laughed, but it soon turned into wheezing as Five pushed down harder on her throat.

"You've got a good nose," the woman remarked.

"You know, planting her in a psych ward, taking advantage of my simpleton brother" —his voice dropped to an irritated whisper— "that was smart."

The woman took the cigar out of her mouth and gazed down at Lila lovingly. "Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Five's head whipped around to face her as his eyes widened. "She's your—"

"Daughter. Yes," she confirmed as she gave a nod. "And she's my only one, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't crush her windpipe."

Reluctantly, Five lifted his foot off of Lila, and she immediately jumped to her feet. She panted as she leaned forward towards him, her eyes murderous.

"I am so going to enjoy killing you someday."

With an amused smile on her face, the woman nodded towards her daughter and asked, "Lila, darling, would you give us a minute, please?"

"Yes, the grown-ups need to talk." Five gave her an irritated smile, his hands now back in his pockets.

"And you." The woman turned to face Valerie as Lila stormed off, a carefully-plucked eyebrow quirked. "Who are you?"

"Valerie," she answered curtly while she folded her arms. She narrowed her eyes as she returned, "Who are you?"

"Oh, Valerie." A twinkle came to the woman's eye as she turned to Five and nodded her head towards the girl. "This is Valerie?"

Valerie's eyes nervously flitted between the two. "Who are you?" she repeated, but the woman continued to ignore the question.

"My, my, Five . . . you have good taste," the woman drawled as she walked up to where Valerie was sitting.

The woman gazed up at her, her eyes searching every inch of Valerie's face. She tucked a strand of dark hair behind Valerie's ear, before resting her index finger underneath her chin and lifting it up slightly.

Five tensed as the woman continued to inspect Valerie. "Don't touch her."

"Oh" —the woman turned her head to face Five with a smirk before looking back to Valerie— "don't worry, I won't hurt her. I just . . . want to see."

"Who are you?" Valerie asked once more, growing impatient.

"The question is, dear, who are you?" the woman laughed lightly as she tapped the tip of Valerie's nose. "Valerie, sure. But you're more than just a grown woman stuck in a little girl's body, aren't you?"

Valerie shifted in her spot. "No."

"Yes, you are. Don't worry, I know," the woman reassured her as she raised her eyebrows before sending her a wink. "Fastest person in the world, hm?"

She blinked. "No."

"Quite persistent, you are. I see why Five likes you." The woman looked over towards Five, who only rolled his eyes in response. "Hmph. Fine. If you aren't a speedster, then I'm sure you wouldn't be able to stop me if I were to . . ."

The woman walked over to the metal tub next to her and lifted the lid. She eyed the concoction and poised her hand in the air before dropping the cigar.

Instantly, Valerie sped towards her, the cigar practically hanging mid-air as she grabbed it. She resumed in normal time as she shoved the cigar back into the woman's hand and the woman smiled triumphantly.

Valerie, very irritatedly, asked again, "Who are you?"

"Oh, has little Five not told you about me?" The woman pouted as she looked towards Five and put her hands on her hips. "After all our good times together? I'm hurt, really."

"Trust me," an annoyed smile grew onto his face as he reassured her, "I've told her all about you."

"All good things, I'm sure," the woman giggled lightly before turning back to Valerie. "The Handler, dear. Pleasure."

The Handler extended a hand towards Valerie, who reluctantly shook it.

Five, unable to wait any longer, walked over to them and impatiently asked, "What is it you want?"

"Do you like jazz, Five?" the Handler questioned as she released her cigar to the ground and stepped on it to extinguish its end.

Five scoffed. "I'd rather lick a cheese grater."

"Aw. Jazz is like a beautiful woman." The Handler turned back to Valerie, tracing the tip of her finger along the side of her face. "Complex, emotional, hard to please. She doesn't just give it to you . . . she makes you work for it."

A scowl on his face, Five pushed her hand off of Valerie's face as he crossly said, "I'm really hoping that you're going somewhere with this."

"Under my leadership, the Commission would sound more like" —the Handler raised her hands dramatically— "jazz." She began to mimic a soft jazz rhythm as she raised her eyebrows.

"And what about the board of directors?" he questioned, his head tilting.

"Well, that's where you come in." The Handler smiled as she tapped Five on the nose.

"Nope." Five immediately shook his head. "No, it isn't."

"In exchange for the assassination of the board" —the Handler walked around them, causing them to turn— "I'm willing to get you and your family out of this timeline and back to 2019 where you belong."

Hope sparked in Valerie's heart. They could go home.

"And what about World War III that's due to kick off in just a few days?" Five asked, leaning forward.

"Once you and your siblings are gone" —the Handler shrugged— "that goes away."

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows as she asked, "And the apocalypse when we get back to 2019?"

She smiled as she assured them, "That too."

Five looked untrusting as he shook his head. "I distinctly remember you telling me that that apocalypse had to happen—that it was supposed to happen."

"Back then I was toeing the company line," the Handler said dismissively as she walked around them again, "but once I'm in charge . . ." She began to mimic the jazz rhythm once more as she spread her arms out. "We can riff . . ."

"Jazz," Five breathed out.

"Exactly." She smiled as she walked in front of them again.

Five sighed, turning around and ruffling his hair as he took a few steps forward. He turned around to face the woman as he continued to question her. "What about the board of directors, hm? I mean, nobody knows who they are."

"Correct," the Handler confirmed with a nod. "But once every fiscal quarter, they get together for a board meeting."

Five tilted his head, his eyes slightly narrowed as he inquired, "Where?"

"The question is when," the Handler corrected as she leaned back. "They meet somewhere in the timeline but never in the same place twice. The exact location and date of these board meetings is the most closely-guarded secret in the Commission."

Five placed his hands on the table as a humourless smile came onto his face. "But you know where it's gonna be, don't you?"

"Would I be any good at what I do if I didn't?" the Handler pointed out with a sweet smile as she took a few steps towards him.

Five stared at her for a few moments, seeming to be thinking the offer over in his head. He then grabbed Valerie's hand and led her towards the opposite direction of where they had come from. "I need some time to think about it."

"Fine. But remember, doomsday's right around the corner, and the way things are going, I'm your only option," the Handler called after them.

Five scoffed softly as he stopped in his tracks. "Not yet you aren't."

He then teleported him and Valerie back into their room, and he fell back onto the bed with a groan. He shook his head as he sat himself up, rubbing his eyes.

"So that lady was the Handler?" Valerie asked as she raised her eyebrows and sat down next to him. "She's pretty."

Five turned to her, an exasperated expression on his face as he incredulously questioned, "Out of everything, that's what you've deducted?"

"No" —she shrugged— "I'm just saying."

"Val, I don't know what to do," he sighed, resting his elbows on his knees as he put his face into his hands.

She quirked an eyebrow while pointing out, "It seemed like you were pretty confident when you said 'Not yet, you aren't.'"

"Because if I'm not confident" —he looked towards her— "she'll know I'm lying."

"So what?" she questioned. "You don't have any plan other than hers?"

"No, I do," Five insisted with a quick nod, "I—I just don't know how we're going to do it."

"Well, maybe, just maybe" —she leaned her elbows onto her knees so that her face was level with his— "if you tell me what it is, I can help you with it."

He scoffed, "Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

"Fine." He sighed, "We need to find a way so that we can—"

Valerie looked ahead at the window in front of her, and something caught her eye. "Wait. Shut up."

"Are you serious?" He stared at her as she got up, obviously offended as his eyebrows furrowed. "You just asked me—"

"Shh! What is . . ." She walked up to the desk in front of the window and picked up a card. It was off-white in colour, and had the familiar logo of an umbrella at the top, along with Reginald's name.

Five noticed what she had picked up, and his eyebrows furrowed further. "Was that there before?"

She shook her head as she murmured, "No."

"What does it say?"

She read it out, "'To my Pursuers: I, Reginald Hargreeves, request the pleasure of your company for a light supper on the 20th of November, 1963, at half-past seven o'clock.' Then there's an address."

"Dad wants to . . ." Five nodded slowly, chewing on his lower lip for a few moments. "Okay, throw away my plan, I guess."

"Twentieth of November." She looked up to him from the card as she walked back over and sat down next to him. "That's tomorrow."

"No shit, dumbass," he scoffed. He then noticed the flash of hurt that had come across her face and his eyes softened as he murmured, "Sorry, I'm just . . ."

"Whatever." She sighed as she used her free hand to rub her eyes before lifting the card up and asking, "Do you think the others got this too?"

Five glanced back at the wall as he asked, "Are they still here?"

She dropped the card onto the bed and got up, brushing off her skirt as she walked across the room. She opened the door and peeked into the living room, seeing that no one was occupying the couches.

"No. No one's—" She caught sight of Elliott, who was making himself a pot of tea in the kitchen. "Wait."

"Where are you going?" Five called after her as she slipped out of the door, but she ignored him.

She walked up to the man, leaning against the wall as she gave him a nod of greeting. "Hey, Elliott."

"Oh, hi, Valerie!" Elliott put his kettle down and turned to her, a bright smile on his face. "Are you hungry? I still have some ambrosia left. You know, you weren't here when I recounted the history of Jell-O . . . It all started when—"

"That's really lovely, Elliott, and I will definitely listen another time," Valerie interrupted with a tight smile, "but do you know where everyone else is?"

"Oh" —he waved a dismissive hand— "they all left."

"Dammit," she groaned. "Okay, thanks."

"Ambrosia?" he questioned as she walked back to the bedroom.

"Next time!"

Valerie entered the room once more, closing the door behind her. Five, who had been staring at the ground, looked up to her with high eyebrows.

"Oh, you're back," he remarked mockingly. "Mind telling me where you went for so long?"

"It's been three minutes," she scoffed as she sat back down. "And I went to find Elliott to ask where the others were—they're gone."

"Shit," he breathed out.

"Well, everyone probably got their own." Valerie shrugged, giving a small sigh as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "The old man has his ways."