Skipping Through Time 》Number Five x Reader 》 The Umbrella Academy

Chapter 6 - Reunited

     For just over 16 years I've been trapped, stuck like this. Most of the time, my mind would be blank, peaceful, like I was simply just asleep. However, there would be times where I would see visions. Visions of horrible things to come.
     Destruction.
     Fire.
     Death ... so much death.
     Clear visions would be burned into my brain then disappear within a heartbeat, forgotten and discarded.
     Sometimes, I would see an old man. Pulling a red cart through all the rubble, half a mannequin - along with other various items - sat inside it. I would have a strange feeling of longing to reach out to this man, though I had no idea who he was. At least, I didn't think I did.
     I have no idea how long I'll be here for. I'm beginning to doubt wether I will actually wake up.

22nd November, 1963

Five's P.O.V

     I stood behind a white picket fence, my gun in hand, aiming down the sights at JFK. The man I was tasked to assassinate.
     The radio that I was listening to was hung on the fence, the voice coming from it describing the scene infront of me. It was there more so as background noise than anything else.
     I don't quite know why, but I hesitated. Putting the gun down I suddenly became very aware of the lump in my pocket. Flipping open the copy of Vanya's book I still possessed, I flicked through the pages. Searching for an answer to the question I had been asking for these forty-five years: How do I get back?
     I finally found it, the calculation that would send me back to my present day, whenever that would be now.
     D = 11, 9
     Amidst all the chaos of frantic notes and scribbles, there it was.
     I held the book under my arm and clenched my fists as hard as I could, a blue tinge forming around them as the space became contorted.
     Static electricity filled the air around me as I saw a hazy portal open. The other side was blurred and distorted. It didn't look like it led to anywhere.
     That's when a fire extinguisher was thrown from the other side.
     As I took a proper look through, I saw Five people stood, staring up at me. They all looked worried and confused, though their twisted faces could have possessed any emotion.
     I forced myself through and felt a strange feeling throughout my entire body. I felt myself get smaller, my clothes become baggy and loose and felt my face ridding itself of all wrinkles.
     I finally fell through and saw the ground coming towards me as landed with a thud. The sound of the electricity crackling in the air still sounding outrageous before it faded away.
     I lift my head up, seeing five pairs of legs slowly making their way towards me. By the time I'm stood up, still feeling dizzy from what just happened, they were right infront of me.
     I immediately recognised this place as the Academy. Just a lot shabbier.
     'Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?' Asked the man at the back, I'm guessing that they were everyone from the Academy and that that was Klaus.
     Realising what he said, I looked down at my clothes. What I hoped was wrong was right, I was back in what seemed to be my thirteen year old body.
     'Shit.' Is all I said in response. No word best described the situation.

Present Day

     'Five, is that really you?' The woman on the left, who I'm guessing was Allison, asked. 'How can this be?'
     'Yes, it's me. I'll explain everything inside.' I replied before walking off inside, all of them following me like sheep.
     Once inside, I searched around the kitchen whilst they sat themselves down at one end of the wooden table. I grabbed a butter knife and a chopping board and placed them down at the opposite end of the table.
     'What's the date? The exact date.' I sighed as I grabbed the half eaten loaf of bread by the fridge and brought it back to the table.
     'The twenty-fourth.' Vanya answered.
     'Of what?'
     'March.'
     'Good.' I replied, knowing I still had time.
     'So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?' Luther asked. I didn't reply, I was too busy placing two slices of bread onto the chopping board to answer his questions.
     'It's been seventeen years.' He pushed on when he received no response. I just scoffed.
     'It's been a lot longer than that.' I spatial jumped behind him and grabbed some marshmallows from the top shelf.
     'I haven't missed that.' Luther murmured to himself, thinking I couldn't hear him.
     'Where'd you go?' Diego asked. Why do they have so many questions?
     'The future. It's shit by the way.' I answered as I spatial jumped back to where I was before.
     'Called it.' Klaus said in a slightly cheerful tone.
     'I should've listened to the old man.' I walked over to the fridge and grabbed the peanut butter from it, 'You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice.' I continued whilst walking back over to my sandwich that was screaming to be made.
     I glanced over the table and saw what Klaus was wearing, it was quite amusing. 'Nice dress.'
     'Oh, well, danke!' He replied as he played with the tassels.
     'Wait, how did you get back?' Asked Vanya, again with all the questions.
     'In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time.' I said, knowing none of them would understand anyway as I spread peanut butter across the bread.
     'That makes no sense.' Diego replied.
     'Well, it would if you were smarter.' I retorted, noticing Diego get up as if he were about to come and hit me. Luther held him back, of course.
     'How long were you there?' Luther said, asking yet another damn question.
     'Forty-five years. Give or take.' My response caused Luther and Diego to sit down. The feeling in the room automatically changed to one of complete attention and focus towards me.
     'So what are you saying? That you're fifty-eight?' Luther stated, shocked.
     'No, my consciousness is fifty-eight.' I replied matter-of-factly, getting annoyed by the amount of questions that require only simple answers. 'Apparently, my body is now thirteen again.'
     I placed the two pieces of bread together, making the first peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich I've had in forty-five years.
     'Wait, how does that even work?' Vanya inquired.
     'Delores kept saying the equations were off. Eh. Bet she's laughing now.' I took a bite of my sandwich and started to pace the room. Random thoughts entering my head.
     'Delores?' Vanya continued, earning no answer from me.
     I just caught glimpse of the paper sat on the table, 'Hmm. Guess I missed the funeral.'
     'How'd you know about that?' Luther asked as if it was some mind altering revelation that I knew.
     'What part of the future do you not understand?' I said in a condescending tone, 'Heart failure, huh?'
     'Yeah --' Replied Diego calmly.
     'No.' Luther insisted.
     A sudden thought pushed it's way to the front of my mind: Y/N. I hadn't seen her in forty-five years. Will I still recognize her? Will she still be the same? I wonder what she looks like now.
     'Where's Y/N?' I asked. They looked at each other in turn, as if none of them wanted to answer.
     'She's ... in her room. But -' Allison started but I cut her off.
     'Nice to see nothing's changed.' I chuckled before leaving the kitchen and walking up the stairs, feeling almost nervous.
     As I got up to her room I knocked on the door. When I received no response I thought it was weird but just entered anyway, I know she wouldn't care.
     It took me a while to realise where she was, after looking around the room there I saw her. Lying on her bed, so still she could have been a statue. She still looked the same as when I left, same hair, same face, same clothes.
     I walked over and sat on a stool by her bed. I heard footsteps of the others following me.
 

   'What happened to her?' I asked, feeling confused for what felt like the first time.
     'When you disappeared, she took it a lot harder than the rest of us. The day after you disappeared, Grace found her like this.' Vanya answered, a tone of sadness in her quiet voice.
     'We don't really know what she's done, or if it's even reversible. She seems to have frozen herself in time. Y/N's been stuck like this for the past sixteen years.' Diego continued as I stared at her face. It looked so peaceful but cold.
     Maybe I could wake her up. It couldn't be that hard, could it? I was obviously smart enough to work it out.
     I placed my hand on her fist, the energy around started to bend and wobble, creating an illusion of heat waves with a slight hue of blue and purple. There was a low buzz which soon became louder and higher pitched. Then, a bright flash of white and ... nothing.

Your P.O.V

     I was having another vision of the world in ruins. This poor old man seemed to be the only person left on the planet. I followed him round, watching as he struggled with what the world had become.

     There was a sudden noise in my ears as I watched the man, it didn't seem to affect him at all. My vision became a bright white and I could feel my breathing start to speed up.
     What was happening?
     Before I had the chance to think anything through I sat bolt upright. The memory of whatever I was seeing left my mind completely as my eyesight adjusted to the harshness of the light around me.
 

   When everything came into focus, I instantly recognised it. My vanity, my chair, my mirror, my bed. My room.
     My breathing slowed but remained heavy as I lifted my hand up to my head and pressed it firm against my forehead. It was hot. The heartbeat I could hear in my ears died down as it returned to a normal pace.
     I looked to my left to see five figures by the door slowly coming into focus. They each stared at me, jaws dropped.
     'What ... what happened to you guys? Why are you so ... old?' I questioned, not being able to remember anything after the day that Five disappeared.
     'Thanks.' Klaus said.
     I turned my stiff neck to see Five sat by my bed, still holding my hand. Be was wearing a very baggy suit.
     'Why are you so young? Why ... what...' I tried to pause to collect my thoughts but so many questions were racing around my head at the minute, 'You went missing. Where did you go? What happened?'
     'I went to the future and got stuck. I'll explain it all to you when you're not so dazed.' Five clarified.

     After a while of more questions than answers, the others left, leaving just me and Five alone.
     'Five, how far did you get into the future?' I asked. I had such a strange feeling throughout my whole body that something bad was going to happen soon, it's almost like the day Five disappeared, 'I have a feeling ... a bad feeling ... like -'
     'The word is going to end.' He said in sync with me.
     'You're not wrong. In eight days, the world is going to end. I saw it. It seemed like I was the only person left alive on the planet.' Five explained, he immediately looked worried, 'You're the only person I'm trusting this with at the moment.'
     'Oh god.' I covered my mouth with my hand for a few seconds in shock. 'What are we going to do?'
     'We, aren't going to do anything. I am. I have a clue to who did it, only problem is finding out who it belongs to ...' Five replied, I wasn't going to let him do this alone. Deep down, he knew that.
     'No, Five, I'm going to help you. What clue do you have?' I questioned, wanting him to accept the fact that I was helping him.
     He sighed before he reached into his pocket, pulling out an old, camo green rag. He unravelled it to reveal an ... eye?
     Five must have noticed my puzzled look as he spoke once more, 'It's a prosthetic eye. I pulled it out of Luther's cold, dead fingers. Whoever it belonged to must cause the end of everything.'
     The sudden realisation of how he must have felt, all alone in the world flooded my mind. I didn't say anything more as I pulled him into the tightest hug I've ever given.
     'I'm not letting you do this alone. You've been alone for however long you were gone, it's about time you had someone by your side.' I smiled at him and pulled away, 'We can be the dream team again! We'll save the world together.'