𝐶𝐿𝑂𝐴𝐾 𝐴𝑁𝐷 𝐷𝐴𝐺𝐺𝐸𝑅 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒 [DISCONTINUED]

𝟒𝟏 | 𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄-𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃

"𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠; 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠."
—𝑆ø𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝐾𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑎𝑟𝑑

𝒩.

𝐀 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐀𝐆𝐎, seeing her long-lost friend drinking a lime-green margarita with a deformed mannequin by his side would've left Natalia questioning her sanity. Now, it didn't even make her blink. In fact, the green swirly straw he was using made her giggle a little.

The radio's faint jazz music greeted her as she approached the bar counter. "Hey, you."

"Natalia," Five welcomed as he turned his head, giving her a slight nod. "Care for a drink?"

She scrunched her nose at the rest of the concoction in the blender. "I think I'm good." She sat down beside him, making sure that she wasn't touching the mannequin—she knew how picky Five got with his mannequin—and raised her eyebrows. "What've you been up to for the last hour?"

"Contemplating life," he replied moodily, taking a sip. "The last few decades I've dedicated to saving the world. That's done, so . . . now what?"

She shrugged. "Enjoy the world you just saved. Watch a movie. Listen to music. Read a book. Hang out with your brothers and sisters and awesome, incredible best friend Natalia."

"I suppose." He sighed into his glass. "I'll miss the action."

"Oh, trust me," she laughed, "if you hang out with Diego or Luther for long enough, you'll get enough fighting for a lifetime."

He chuckled as he took another sip. His free hand grazed the one hand of his mannequin, and he suddenly perked up. "Have I introduced you to Delores?"

"Delores?" she repeated in confusion before realizing that he was talking about the mannequin. "Oh, er, not formally."

"Well, here she is." His lips stretched into a smile as he gazed up at her still face. "Beautiful, isn't she?"

Natalia was now questioning his sanity—though it wasn't unlike him to act crazy. "Uh-huh."

"Been together for thirty years." He gently stroked her fingers. "She was the only person I had for a long time when I was in the apocalypse."

"Right." Natalia was wishing that she had taken that cocktail. "That's nice."

"Hope you don't mind if I bring her as my plus-one to your wedding." He grinned. "Assuming I am invited to that—haven't received a card or anything."

She opened her mouth to say that he was very much invited—the mannequin, she wasn't so sure—but was promptly interrupted by the chime of the doorbell.

"I'll get that." Five sighed, sliding off of his stool.

Natalia watched Five as he strode out of the living room, and she then refocused her gaze onto the glittering ring on her finger. She toyed with it for a moment, her lips spreading into a small smile. Now that the world's future was safe, she could look forward to her especially happy ending.

The smile quickly faded as she saw who Five had let in: Hazel.

"Five?" Natalia stayed still in her spot; if Five had let him in—and so calmly—there must be a reason. "Why is he here?"

"Don't worry." Five returned to his spot, somehow completely unfazed by the fact that Hazel was pointing a gun straight toward him. Instead, he nodded towards it and nonchalantly asked, "You're here to kill me?"