|Doppelgänger| Five Hargreeves

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟑

 First person pov

_"You seem to be the sensible one of the bunch."-Reginald started the conversation with Five, while I only sat in silence once again by his side. I was paying attention to their talking, but also thinking about how that meeting became a mess really fast. And about the apocalypse Five mentioned. Funny how we managed to fuck things up even in another timeline.

_"That's because I'm the oldest. You know, technically I'm older than you right now."-That sounded a bit weird coming from a school boy, but I was used to it now, and was in the same situation, so...

_"...Cognac?"-Reginald asked, acting naturally once again. I don't think anything could impress that man.

_"Just a smidge."-Five answered, and I mentally sighed. Honestly, I wished I could drink it too. Reginald started pouring him a glass.

_"The other night you quoted Homer at me. Why?"

_"You forced us all to learn it as kids. In the original Greek, no less."-Reginald glanced at me for a second. He was actually currently teaching me that as well in his free times. Even though I already knew it.

They took their glasses and took a sip from them. I started fidgeting with my fingers, feeling a bit out of place there.

_"This world ends in five days if we don't get out of the timeline."

_"Worlds end. Paleozoic, Jurassic, and so on."-Reginald really seemed to be unbothered by that.

_"We can do something about this one."

_"Man's greatest flaw: the illusion of control."

_"I need your help. All right? You're my last sane option. Otherwise, I gotta make a deal that I really don't wanna make. What do you know about time travel?"-Saying that asking for that man's help was sane was a bit too much. I wondered what hell of a deal could be worse than what he was already doing.

_"In theory?"

_"In practice."

_"I know it's akin to descending blindly into the depths of freezing waters and reappearing-"

_"As an acorn. Yeah."-I saw Five nodding his head, seeming a bit disappointed.

_"What transpired when you tried traveling before?"

_"I botched it."

_"How?"

_"I jumped too far forward, got stuck in the future for 45 years in an apocalypse. Then I jumped too far backwards...except this time I brought my entire family with me."-Five looked at me for a second when saying that, but he soon looked away again, not trying to blow up my cover.

_"Maybe your appetite is disproportionate to the size of you abilities. Start small. Seconds, not decades."-That did sound like it made sense, but I knew Five wouldn't be satisfied. That boy wasn't the most patient one in the world.

_"Seconds? Look, no offense, but I need a bit more time for what I'm trying to accomplish."-There it was.

_"So much can change in a matter of seconds. One could overthrow an empire. One could fall in love."-I looked at Five in an impulse when I heard that, only to see him staring back. That caught me off guard, making me immediately look away in shame.

_"An acorn doesn't become an oak overnight."-Reginald finished his train of thought.

_"I was really hoping you had more than that."-Five looked at the man with his eyebrows furrowed. I could tell he lost his hope in getting Reginald's help.