Promise [Number 5 X Reader]

- Batter Up -

Sliding onto a stool, I glanced over to the elevator just in time to see (Y/n)'s long coat swish behind her as the doors closed, leaving me completely alone with the old man.

"Out of the lot of you, I assumed you had the most common sense," he remarked.

"Well, despite my appearance, I am the oldest," I replied.

"Was it a situation similar to the angry one with the crystals?"

"No, actually. My situation was a . . . a miscalculation of sorts," I explained.

Before I could delve deeper into the details, and before Hargreeves could ask me to, the bartender set a bottle of brandy in front of us. "Care for a drink?" Reginald inquired.

I shrugged, "Only a small one." Nodding, the monocled man poured him and myself a small glass of the warmly-colored liquor, and we each took a sip. A beat passed before I explained, "If my comrades and I don't get out of this timeline, we'll have an apocalypse on our hands in about five days."

"What comes up must come down," Reginald tutted. "The same goes for civilizations."

"Even so, this one doesn't have to," I urged him. "We can stop this one!"

"The biggest flaw in all of mankind is that they think they can control every aspect of their lives, no matter how large."

Giving a short sigh, I tried to reason with him again, "I really need your advice. If you can't help me, then I have to do some things that I'd really rather not do." His head cocked to the side, intrigued. "I need you to tell me everything you know about time travelling."

"Hypothetically?"

"In actuality."

He regarded me thoughtfully for a moment, "It's not unlike submerging your self below ice and - "

I boredly finished the quote I'd heard just before I'd gotten myself stuck the first time.

"What exactly happened the first go 'round?" he inquired.

"I completely flubbed it, getting stuck too far forward for nearly half a century. The second time, I came back and got stuck in the body of a recently-turned teenager. The third time, I went to far back, and I dragged everyone else with me."

He leaned back a smidge before suggesting, "Perhaps you're trying to do too much with too little experience?" His eyes were cool and analytical. "You should start with smaller jumps. Seconds, perhaps even minutes, but not years."

"What the hell am I supposed to do with seconds?" I asked incredulously.

"You've no idea how much can be altered in just a few seconds," Reginald chided me. "You could bring about the downfall of an entire country, you could fall hopelessly in love. Seeds do not become trees overnight."

I tried not to pout, but I imagined it was a bit hard with my young face. "I was sincerely hoping you had more for me than a pep talk about seconds."

For a moment he actually seemed a bit despondent, "I apologize for not being of more assistance."

" . . . Me too."

XxX

True to her word, as always, (Y/n) was sitting on a cushioned bench down in the lobby, her hand over one of her oversized pockets, as if she were looking for something.

"I've gotta say, I'm a bit surprised you actually waited," I commented as I came to a stop in front of her.

"As I said before: 'Where else am I gonna go?'" she asked, a note of disappointment in her voice as her hand fell back to her lap.