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CHAPTER SEVEN the grandfather paradox
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
THE PROSPECT OF SEEING MARCUS again wasn't exactly a pleasant one. Oh, sure, it was necessary—he possessed the briefcase, after all, which was the Umbrella Academy's only way back to a timeline where they hadn't been replaced by a bunch of self-righteous dickheads—but given the fact that he was the leader of said dickheads, it wasn't exactly something Nadine was jumping for joy about. Even if Viktor had assured her that he was as level-headed as a man raised by Reginald Hargreeves could be, Nadine still wanted to punch him in his stupidly symmetrical face. He'd nearly killed Luther. His siblings had nearly killed her. That wasn't exactly something you could just forget.
But, after waiting nearly two and a half hours at The Lakeview Diner, ignoring the occasional buzz from her phone and staring at the clock until her vision blurred, a part of Nadine was singing a different tune.
She idly twisted a French fry between her fingers, tapping her foot on the floor in a silent beat. She'd ordered a basket of fries for her, Allison, and Viktor to share, but she and Viktor ended up eating most of them. Allison just kept nursing her coffee, claiming she wasn't hungry. The vacant look had returned to her eyes.
The door chimed, signalling to the diners that another patron had entered. Nadine snapped her head over so fast she nearly got whiplash, sure, for the briefest moment, that it would finally be Marcus who made his way inside. Instead, her eyes inadvertently met with an old white man's crinkled ones. Repulsed, she looked away.
Allison, who'd been fiddling with a napkin, let out a deep sigh. "He's not gonna show."
Viktor swallowed a bite of French fry and glanced at the door. "Something must be wrong."
"Or he's blowing you off."
"He's not the type."
"And you know that after spending fifteen minutes together?"
"She's got a point, Viktor," Nadine said. "He might have just said he'd meet up to get you off his back. Or to tell the Sparrows, who'll then launch a surprise attack on us the moment we leave. Either one."
"That's ridiculous," Viktor said.
"Is it? They attacked us before. They can certainly do it again."
He bit his lip. "I just—I don't know. Despite, you know, leading Team Dickheads, Marcus doesn't seem like someone to totally screw us over. And I don't think he wants a war any more than we do."
"Well, even if he doesn't, his siblings certainly do." Nadine finally popped her fry into her mouth. "Maybe we should just call it. I mean, shit, I want to get out of this timeline as much as the two of you do, but I don't think this is working. Maybe we can... I don't know, regroup with the others and make a new plan?"
