ZERO! the umbrella academy

trente

FOREVER JUST WASN'T IN THE CARDS

FIVE WAS STANDING IN the middle of the sidewalk in front of a children's clothing store (how ironic that, out of all of the places Hazel could have teleported them to, they ended up there). He looked around in bewilderment and found that he was in the same place he had watched be destroyed just seconds ago. People passed by him on the sidewalk, blissfully unaware of what was coming. If anyone had noticed them miraculously appearing out of nowhere, they didn't show it.

"Okay," Five focused back on Hazel, "what the hell was that?"

"The end of the world, November twenty-fifth, 1963." His voice was gruff and gravelly from old age.

"Sixty-three..." he murmured in astonishment. He forced out a chuckle. "You know, Hazel, I'm no history buff, but I don't recall there being a nuclear holocaust."

"No shit." Hazel rolled his eyes.

He looked up at the taller man. "What about my family?"

"Dead, like everyone else," he informed him.

Five slowly nodded, taking it all in. It seemed like no matter where they went, death seemed to follow. "And where am I now?"

"Dallas. Same street. Ten days earlier." Hazel moved to sit down on a nearby bench. "Plenty of time to restore the timeline and save them."

"Okay," Five softly whispered to himself, already getting back into gear. It was looking like he would never catch a break from saving the world.

He took a seat next to Hazel. "So where do we start?"

Hazel quirked a gray, bushy brow. "We? You're on your own, pal. I'm just here to keep a promise to Agnes."

Five blinked at him. "Is she..." he trailed off, unable to say the word.

"Dead?" Hazel finished for him.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Cancer. Took her quick," he elaborated. He got this far off look in his eyes, like he was reliving the time they had spent together. "But we had twenty good years together. I guess forever just wasn't in the cards."

"I'm sorry, Hazel." Five lowered his gaze to the stupid bowling shoes he still had on. For a brief second, he imagined what would lie in store for him and Lee when he (hopefully) put a stop to the end of the world. How much time would they have together, and what would he do if Lee passed on decades before him?

Five snapped himself out of his train of thought. "What about the Commission?" He shoved a hand in the pocket of his shorts.

"I quit those assholes, remember?" Hazel rested one arm on top of his briefcase. "I don't owe them the fuzz off my peaches."

Five made eye contact with three strange-looking men who seemed to be heading straight towards them. The trio all had platinum blonde hair and wore grave expressions on their faces. The way they were dressed made them stick out amongst everyone else, and they had a look in their eyes like they were ready to kill.