Time's on Fire

Quattro

☂︎ THIRD PERSON POV ☂︎

"What's the date? The exact date." Five asked, grabbing a bag of bread.

"The 25th," Vanya answered.

"Of what?"

"March," Serafina replied.

Five stared at her, his eyes quickly looking over her body before returning to the two pieces of bread in his hands. "Good."

"So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?" Luther asked.

Five didn't respond.

The siblings glanced at each other.

"It's been 17 years," Luther told Five, slamming his hand on the table as he stood abruptly from his chair.

"It's been a lot longer than that." Five scoffed, blinking behind him to grab a bag of marshmallows from off a shelf.

"I haven't missed that," Luther muttered.

"Where'd you go?" Diego asked.

"The future." Five answered. "It's shit, by the way." He blinked back over to the table.

"Called it!" Klaus exclaimed.

"I should've listened to the old man. You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice." Five explained, grabbing a jar of peanut butter from the fridge.

He looked at Klaus. "Nice dress."

"Oh, well, danke!"

"Wait, how did you get back?" Vanya asked.

"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." Five explained.

The siblings looked at him, confused. Serafina had a subtle grasp of what he was saying. After all, you don't spend years in the Commission without learning a thing or two. Granted, Five didn't time travel with a briefcase like everyone else.

"That makes no sense."

"Well, it would if you were smarter."

Diego stood to lunge at Five, Luther raising an arm to hold him back. "How long were you there?" He asked.

"Forty-five years. Give or take." Five muttered.

"So what are you saying? That you're 58?" Luther asked as Diego and him both sat back down.

"No, his consciousness is 58. His body is now 15 again." Serafina explained before glancing down at herself. "As is mine."

"Wait, how does that even work?" Vanya asked.

"Delores kept saying the equations were off." Five said, more to himself than to his family. "Bet she's laughing now." He shrugged.

Serafina titled her head. "Delores?"

"Guess I missed the funeral." Five ignored her, picking up a newspaper that showcased Reginald's death as the headline.