Ten Minutes Ago

08. A Snow Globe, a Glass Eye, and a Mannequin

Guinevere was sitting next to the hospital bed, watching as the twins counted the ceiling tiles, as they sometimes liked to do, when she noticed Five and Klaus walk in.

She glanced at the nurse. "I'll be right back. Can you watch them?"

The nurse nodded. "Sure."

Guinevere smiled at her twins. "I'll be back, you two. Stay here with the nice nurse."

She made her way to an office to see Five staring down Dr. Lance.

Guinevere opened the door and frowned. "What's-"

"Oh!" Klaus exclaimed. "Here's the Mrs."

"Kla-"

He covered her mouth and whispered, "Play along."

Klaus glared at Dr. Lance. "Who gave you permission to lay your hands... on our son?" He pretended to tear up.

"What?" Dr. Lance asked, confused.

Guinevere looked between her brothers-in-law, wondering what they were planning.

Klaus pointed at Five and glared. "Oh, you heard me."

"I didn't touch your son. Ma'am, please. You could see."

Guinevere crossed her arms, playing along. "Yes, well, I beg to differ. How could you hurt my darling boy?"

"I didn't touch your son," Dr. Lance repeated.

Klaus scoffed. "Oh, really? Then how did he get that swollen lip, then?"

Before Guinevere could react, Klaus punched Five's face.

Five brought a hand to his lip and found it bloody. He glared at his brother.

Klaus turned back to the doctor. "I want it. Name, please. Now."

Dr. Lance's eyes widened. "You're crazy."

Klaus laughed. "You got no idea." He picked up the snow globe from the desk and stared at it. "'Peace on Earth.' That's so sweet." He smashed the snow globe over his head and shards flew everywhere as blood dripped down his face.

"Klaus!" Guinevere yelled as he slammed her head on the desk.

"God, that hurt! Sorry, Guinevere. Don't tell Diego." He picked up the phone. "There's been an assault in Mr. Big's office and we need security now. Schnell!"

Dr. Grant reached for the phone and was stopped by a furious Guinevere.

"I wouldn't, Grant," Klaus warned.

"I-it's Lance," he said.

Guinevere pursed her lips. "Lance, in about 60 seconds, two security guards will burst through that door, and they're gonna see a lot of blood and wonder what happened."

Klaus pretended to sob. "And we're gonna tell them that you... Beat the shit out of us." He stood straighter and smiled. "You're gonna do great in prison, Grant. Trust me. I've been there."

Dr. Lance looked at Klaus, afraid.

Klaus continued. "Little piece of chicken like you. Oh, my God, you're gonna get passed around like a... Little bitch. Yeah, yeah. You're just -- you're gonna do great. That's all I'm saying."

Five smiled smugly in the back and Dr. Lance narrowed his eyes. "Jesus; you are a real sick bastard."

"Thank you," Klaus replied.

Dr. Lance searched through his files and frowned. "Huh. That's strange."

"What?" Five asked.

"Well, the eye. It's just, it hasn't been purchased by a client yet. This can't be right. It says that it hasn't even been manufactured yet." He eyed the trio suspiciously. "Where did you get that eye?"

Guinevere smiled tightly. "Good day, Lance."

She ushered the brothers out. "You two. Go find a doctor. Now. I have two children to get back to."

Klaus shook his head. "We're okay."

"Klaus, you smashed a snow globe over your head! You really should get checked out. Five's busted lip should be looked at. As should my head. Thank you so much for that, by the way."

They walked back to the twins and Liam frowned. "Mommy, what happened to you and Uncle Klaus and Uncle Five?"

Guinevere smiled at him. "Nothing you two need to worry about. Mommy's going to get something for her head and then we can get some lunch and go to the park okay?"

The twins nodded. "Okay."

"Can we get ice cream?" Layla asked.

Guinevere ruffled her daughter's hair. "If you and your brother are good, sure."

The brunette got something for her head and the mother and twins left.

The twins changed their mind and decided they wanted to go to the house and run around the backyard.

Liam and Layla chased each other and played hide and seek with their mother throughout the afternoon.

The twins fell asleep on the couch. Normally they didn't have a nap time, as they usually didn't need it, but if they did fall asleep, Diego and Guinevere let them nap.

Guinevere chose to leave them be and remain at the house as she didn't have the heart to wake them.

As the brunette passed Five's room, she saw blood on his arm and he was holding a duffel bag.

"Five? What happened? Are you all right?"

He turned to face her. "I'm okay."

"Your arm is bleeding. Let me clean that up for you."

He nodded and sat down.

Guinevere glanced to her left. "Who's the mannequin?"

"Oh. That's Dolores. She's the one who kept me sane most of the years I was stuck."

"She's quite a pretty mannequin. I don't understand it, but I'm glad you had someone to talk to. Being alone for a long period of time is never easy."

After a moment of focusing on stitching him up, she asked, "How do we stop the apocalypse?"

"We can't. We tried. All of us did. In the future, I walked around the ruins of the academy, trying to figure out what happened, and saw a hand clutching an eye. I eventually realized it was Luther's."

"So that glass eye is important."

"Yes. But I still don't know why Luther was holding it so tightly. I'm guessing it was important to its owner."

"What happened to everyone here?"

"We all died. You and the twins as well. I'm sorry."

Guinevere's face fell. "Oh. Diego as well?"

"Yes."

---

Five noticed something glinting in the sun and realized it was an eye. He opened the meaty, bloody, dirty hand. He grabbed the eye, figuring it important.

His breath caught when he realized it was Luther.

He frantically searched through the rubble to see Allison's curly hair. Diego was lying on his stomach next to her, both arms covered in bricks, covering the small body of a little girl; Layla.

He started searching for Klaus. He turned to see a lanky man with his face squished between a pile of bricks, his arm exposed. Five saw the umbrella tattoo on his arm; the same Five had.

He noticed a floral shirt and realized it was Guinevere. Embraced in her arms was a little boy; Liam.

---

"Five, tell me we'll stop this. I can't lose my family. I can't lose my husband or my children."

"You won't, Guinevere. I'm going do everything I can to prevent that. Okay?"

"Okay," Guinevere whispered.

"I promise, Guinevere. I promise."