you were everything

I 27 I

☂ time is fickle ☂ 

Five mutters under his breath, leaving the room. I follow him down the hallway towards his bedroom. 

'What did you mean, back there?' I ask. 'When you said you needed to 'start over'.' 

He turns around, a crease appearing between his eyebrows. 

'I meant that it would be easier if I just had more time,' Five says hurriedly, snapping his fingers. 'But I think I've got something.' 

'Oh?' I enter his room, sitting down on the bed. 

Five grabs a piece of chalk, scribbling down some sentences on his blackboard. He taps the chalk lightly on a different section, whispering to himself. 

'Okay.' He turns back to me. 'I've got it.' 

'Got what?' Footsteps sound outside the door and Luther's bulky form appears in the doorway. 'What is all this?' 

Five glances at Luther. 'It's a probability map.' He explains. 

'Probability of what?' I ask. 

'Of whose death could save the world.' Five continues, still tapping the chalk. 'I've narrowed it down to four.'

'Are you saying one of these four people causes the apocalypse?' Luther's eyes widen. 

'No, I'm saying that their death might prevent it.' Five nods to himself. 

'Oh.' Luther says. After a brief amount of hesitation-'I'm not following.'

'Time is fickle, Luther.' Five takes a deep breath. 'The slightest alteration in events can lead to massively different outcomes in the time continuum.'

'The butterfly effect.' I summarize. 

'So all I have to do is find the people with the greatest probability of impacting the time line,
wherever they may be, and kill them.' Five says simply. 'Then maybe, the world will be fine.' 

'Oh, yeah...' Luther points at a name. 'Milton Greene. So who's he, a terrorist or something?'

Five looks back at the board. 'I believe he is a gardener.'

'You can't be serious.' Luther gasps. 'Wait, this is madness, Five. You...' He stares at the gun that Five has pulled out from underneath his bed. 'Wh... Where'd you get that?'

'In Dad's room.' Five says casually. 'I think he used it to shoot a rhinoceros. It's similar to the model I used at work.' He holds it up. 'Nice shoulder fit and highly reliable.'

'But you can't...' Luther trails off. 'This guy Milton is just an innocent man.'

'It's basic math.' Five shrugs. 'His death could potentially save the lives of billions. If I did nothing, he'd be dead in four days anyway. The apocalypse won't spare anyone.'

'We don't do this kind of thing.' Luther's voice lowers. 

'We are not doing anything.' Five argues. 'I am.'

'I can't let you go and kill innocent people.' Luther says. 'No matter how many lives you'll save.'

'Well, good luck stopping me.' Five mutters, gripping the gun and turning to leave. 

Luther sighs, staring at me. 'I'm sorry about this.' 

'About what?' 

Without warning, Luther pins my arms to my sides and pushes me halfway out the window. Honestly, I'm not particularly bothered; maybe a little perturbed that he didn't consult me beforehand. At any time I wanted to, I could just force him to bring me back in. But Five seems to take great offense to this new adaptation in events. 

'Put... her... down.' He growls, pointing the gun at Luther's head. 

'Put the gun down.' Luther says evenly. 

'How about you let me go Luther,' I roll my eyes. 'I never gave you my consent!' 

'You're not killing anyone.' Luther says, ignoring me. 'I know she's important to you, so don't make me do this.' 

Five scoffs. 'You can't just kill her Luther.' 

'It's either her or the gun.' Luther says. 'You decide.' 

'Actually, I'm quite comfortable here,' I point out. 'Go do what you need to do, Five.' 

'Fine,' Luther gives me an apologetic smile, dropping me head first out the window. 

The wind whooshes in my face, and I'm just about to use my powers to control the air, when Five drops in beside me, catching me before I can do anything. 

'You idiot,' Five gasps for breath. 'You could've been killed!' He spacial jumps us back in the bedroom. 

'I was totally fine,' I give him my most genuine smile, to which he glowers. 

Luther holds the gun behind his back. 

'I know you're still a good person, Five.' He says. 'And..sorry Y/n.' 

'All good,' I smirk. 'But I'm still going to get you back. 

'It is NOT all good,' Five advances on Luther. I use my powers to bring him back, tugging at his uniform. 'Let me go, Y/n,' he glares at me. 

'Just listen,' Luther says. 'You wouldn't have risked everything coming back here to save us all if you weren't good. But you're not on your own anymore.'

Five sighs, admitting defeat. 'There is one way. But it's just about impossible.'

'More impossible than what brought you back here?'