Attacca ─ Five Hargreeves

15. Healer Preacher

Genevieve had heard and seen strange things, including her sleeping in a steel casket for over six thousand days, her mother's various underground bunkers, her healing, and Five's time-traveling abilities—as well as his siblings, and she almost thought that was it. Until a woman appeared in the apocalypse with ease, talking about something that sounded rubbish but was real, then took them back to 1955 where the Temps Commission building stood, using only a briefcase. She also learned that the woman was called the Handler. And suddenly she was surrounded by a group of people dressed in very neat attire, compared to her who only relied on makeshift clothes, walking back and forth with fast steps. She recalled how tightly she held Five's hand, her heartbeat sped up erratically, her breathing practically hampered as she faced the abrupt revision of the scene.

It took Genevieve some time to get used to the new atmosphere, even though she used to be a social butterfly, most of her life was spent alone with Five, no one else. That skill was forced to dwindle over time. The environment was terribly rustic and it made her a bit anxious, also the people here seemed completely wary of her presence, yet she noticed how some group regularly glanced at Five while muttering in whispers. From the short time they had been here, Five had indeed made a name for himself. Although he never specifically said what he did outside of the building, these people couldn't stop talking to the point she finally came to her own conclusion. No matter where she was, she always heard new quirks that she never knew and she had to act like she didn't care.

There were no rules in the apocalypse, they only had one sole principle which was to survive, but now, Genevieve needed to adhere to the rules by just doing her part without caring about others. Perhaps those rules were also what kept Five from sharing more about his day, and it really made her dejected. They had worked so hard to untangle the knot of chaos in his head, to encourage him to stop holding on to all the distress, but now he was slowly crawling back to the beginning, closing himself off. Though it wasn't too apparent because Five kept trying to be present for her, there was still an interregnum arising to form, something that seemed like it could only be talked about if they weren't pressed for time. With their respective jobs taking up every second, it was genuinely hard to find some moments alone together, and their schedules rarely aligned.

However, at some point, they found a way to communicate. A way that didn't have to take much time and immediately got to the bottom line was through made-up code numbers, a massive factor that Five always liked. If he couldn't make it before dinner, she would write down a string of numbers with uplifting meanings on a small note and stick it on the fridge door, and he would do the same for herself the next morning.

But eventually, that wasn't enough, she would still prefer to talk to him in person, have him at breakfast and dinner, and spend time together whether it was him reading a book while she tended her Lotus, or just lying in bed facing each other in silence. Genevieve knew he was working hard for their ticket back to their timeline, but sometimes she was just immensely exhausted after dealing with so much blood and wounds and just needed him by her side, yet he wasn't there.

2008.
(I want to meet you.)

One night Genevieve wrote that down after having to come to terms with so many injured agents all day, and came home only to find another empty apartment. She slumped weakly with her back against the fridge door, staring blankly at her hands still covered in dried blood. The room was dark, filled with deafening silence, but her head was wildly clamorous, wondering how long this had to go on. Everything was incredibly exhausting, she was no longer young, it made every part of her body ache. She felt lonely, deep down, she knew she was scared too. At least in the apocalypse, all she could worry about was survival, and most importantly she wasn't alone.

A chain of knocks on the front door made her hopes soar, she wiped the tears away and rushed to open it only to be confronted by one of the employees who was also a colleague of hers. Micaiah Adair. But the thirty-year-old male looked at her a little differently, there was an urgent gleam in those pairs of sapphire. It was indeed quite strange why he came at this hour, and she just knew that there was a reason why she really felt like she needed Five by her side today.