Darling || Five

02

"Do you remember that little mansion just outside the city limits?" Five asked. Peter was slouched in a foldable chair by the cement pillar that formed part of their current home. It was the circular layout of what had once been a library but was now nothing but rubble and overgrown plants. Nature retaking the planet. Their place was temporary as all their homes had been. Summer letting them sleep under the stars. Books and random things they had salvaged littered the corners. Five had found a blackboard and it stood to one side. Calculations drawn in chalk and charcoal littering it and the walls around it. A few drawings filling the gaps in between, which was Peter's contribute towards the decor.

He watched as Five took the chair by the second pillar. The man grinned at him through his white beard. Both of them in their fifties now. Hair long but brushed and relatively clean. Peter's curls were pulled back by an old bandana and his beard shorter than Five's. He still had some streaks of blonde in the grey but the other man's hair had turned completely white a few years ago. "The one with a skeleton in the pool?" He smiled at the memory. They had spent the night in the cellar together and read each other stories from books they had found.

Five chuckled. "Yeah, well it turns out that the wine cellar was untouched. Picked up a few cases of your favourite".

Peter gasped at his husband. "And you didn't give me any? Pass that!" He reached out to snatch the flask from the other's hand. Five held it out of reach. Peter leapt to his feet and grabbed it from his hands. "Ha!" He took a long swig. Then rubble clattered outside. Five jumped to his feet, grabbing at the gun. They both turned to see a woman in a black dress and red heels standing in the stones. The golden sun tinging the clouds above her. Peter jumped, a noise escaping his throat as he lifted slightly into the air.

Five was watching her through the scope of his rifle. Something they had picked up in their twenties and that he had meticulously kept maintained since. "Scaredy-cat", he muttered at Peter's yelp.

"How the fuck did she get here?" Peter hissed back as the woman came closer. She waved at the gun. All blonde curls, lipstick smile and fifties black dress. She was carrying a briefcase. "Time travel?"

"Well, that's one theory". Five grunted, his voice having grown rough with age and their survivalist life style. Honestly it was a miracle they they had survived as long as they did, even with their powers. As they watched, the woman tottered through the rubble towards them, heels teetering on the terrain. Peter narrowed his eyes at her.

"Who the hell are you?" He shouted at her.

"I'm here to help". She replied in a calm voice despite the gun pointed at her.

"Am I hallucinating again?" Five muttered.

"No I see her too", Peter whispered back. Five gave him a look. The blonde could read the expression on his face. Five was wondering why he had just asked his hallucination about another hallucination. Peter sighed. It was one of those days.

"Tell me why I shouldn't put a bullet through your head right now?" Five cocked his gun. The blonde woman stepped towards them, entering their home.

"If you did, you wouldn't hear the offer I'm about to make you. Which would be rather tragic given you two's current circumstances". She seated herself on a concrete slabs near their blackboard.

"Wait. Us two?" Five asked. He gestured towards Peter. "You can see him too?"

"Yes I can", the woman smiled. It was unfeeling. Peter didn't take his eyes off of her even when he felt Five lower the gun and reach for his hand. Their fingers interlocking. "I work for an organisation called the commission. We are tasked with the preservation of the time continuum through manipulation and removals", the woman was saying.