Vide Noir | The Umbrella Academy

Thirty Nine

Chapter Thirty Nine:

"Stop staring, old man." Della leaned forward in her chair, playing with the straw from her cup of water. "It's rude."

Older Five shifted uncomfortably in his seat, moving his gaze to his much younger self. Luther sighed loudly, "Well... this is nice, isn't it? The three of us, together again."

"No." Both Five's said, now in the middle of an intense staring contest.

"Somebody explain to me how it is I'm having a pint of Guinness with my younger self?" Older Five questioned.

"Older, actually." The other quipped, "I'm you, just 14 days older."

"How is that possible?"

"I can explain." Young Five leaned forward, balancing his elbows on the table. Della could see the sweat beading over his brows, he was starting to loose it. "You see, one hour from now, on the grassy knoll, before the president is killed, you break your contract with the commission. I already know you're thinking about it. We planned it out. All those years in the apocalypse, we never stopped worrying about our family. Well, today, you are going to do something about it."

"What if I don't?"

"You do."

Older Five pursed his lips, forehead wrinkling in contemplation. "I've been going back and forth."

"I know I did." Young Five nodded, "But that's not important. She showed up."

Della's brows furrowed, "What?"

"Today," Young Five ignored her, "You are going to attempt to time travel forward to 2019. However, you are going to screw up the jump and end up in this twip of a body, trapped forever, small, pubescent--"

"Okay."

Della shook her head, "What about the one part? You weren't going to jump?"

"Even if I were to believe you," Older Five ignored her as well, "What am I supposed to do about it, Not jump?"

"No, no, I need you to jump. If you don't jump, I cease to exist. What I need for you to do is to jump correctly."

The other one leaned forward, interest peaking. "I'm listening."

"The first time through, I got the calculations wrong. That's how I ended up in this body."

"Same over here too." Della nodded, turning to the older one. "Thanks for that."

"But now I have the correct calculation."

"What is it?"

"I'll be glad to tell you... in exchange for that briefcase you're hiding under the table."

Luther sat up, hands on the table. "Yeah, yeah, so you go back to 2019, as planned, but this time with the right math, so you remain a full-grown man. In exchange, we get that briefcase that you no longer need."

"Timeline restored, paradox resolved." Della added.

"Everyone goes on existing happily ever after." Young Five smiled a sarcastic smile, a droplet of sweat running down the side of his face.

The older one took a breath, "That's a lot to take in."

"Can we go back to the part where you said you weren't gonna jump if someone showed up?" Della asked, "I'm still stuck on that part."

"What do you think."

Della rolled her eyes, glaring at young Five. Both of them seemed to enjoy ignoring her.