Dysfunctional ~ F.Hargreeves

32} Massacre Of The Board

Five and Jenna followed behind Sir Reginald to the Tiki Bar.
"You two seem to be the sensible ones of the bunch," Reg commented.
"That's because I'm the oldest," Five shrugged, "You know, technically, I'm older than you right now."
"So am I," Jenna smiled.
"Cognac?" Reggie asked as the bottle was placed on the table.
"Just a smidge," Five nodded.
"I'll have a shot," Jenna told the bartender, "Make it your finest vodka please."
"The other night you quoted Homer at me," Reggie told Five as he poured them their drinks and Jenna threw back her shot, discreetly landing it in a flower pot, "Why?"
"You forced us all to learn it as kids," Five explained, "In the original Greek, no less."

Reggie passed out the drinks, even making one for Jenna who didn't ask for it. They all raised their glasses and took swigs, except for Jenna.
"This world ends in five days if we don't get out of the timeline," Five swirled the whiskey around in his glass.
"Worlds end. Paleozoic, Jurassic, and so on."
"We can do something about this one."
"Man's greatest flaw: the illusion of control."
"I need your help. All right? You're our last sane option."
"Otherwise," Jenna cleared her throat, "We'll have to make a deal we really don't wanna make."

"What do you know about time travel?" Five asked his father.
"In theory?" Reg adjusted his monocle.
"In practice."
"I know it's akin to descending blindly into the depths of freezing waters and reappearing-"
"As an acorn. Yeah."
"What transpired when you tried traveling before?"
"I botched it."
"How?"
"I jumped too far forward, got stuck in the future for forty-five years in an apocalypse. When I tried again I just got Jenna stuck. Then I jumped too far backwards... except this time I brought my entire family with me."
"Maybe your appetite is disproportionate to the size of your abilities. Start small. Seconds, not decades."
"Seconds?"
"Mmm hmm."

"Look, no offense, but I need a bit more time for what I'm trying to accomplish."
"So much can change in a matter of seconds. One can overthrow an empire. One could fall in love. An acorn doesn't become an oak overnight."
"I was really hoping you had more than that."
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help."
"I'm sorry, too. I gave you such a hard time as a kid. I didn't know any better."
"Hmm. No skin off my teeth, old man."
"Before you go," Jenna interjected, "I wanted to let you know that you should stop your funding to Project MKUltra."
"What?" Reggie gulped, "How do you know about that? That's supposed to be confidential."

"I know because I'm one of those experiments and I know for a fact that you were a top donor to my personal experimentation," She took a deep breath in, "I also happen to know that at this point you've donated everything that has gone into one account for one child, which will be me," She rolled up her sleeve to reveal the 001 tattoo on her wrist, "I don't want more kids to suffer. I'm fine with myself, but damn did I have to go through so much shit because of you. You wouldn't even be able to imagine the horrors I've witnessed. The trauma I've suffered. I don't want more children to go through what I had to."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that, but I cannot repeal my funding. I have a deal with the military and I'm, to put it blatantly, screwed if I back out. I see the experiments went well, though. You seem like such a strong woman."
"Just know that almost every single one of the children experiments dies in a lab incident in the 80's. Expect that to come. And a bit of other-worldly encounters at the-"
"Hawkins facility, yes. I know where my money goes, darling. Again, I'm sorry, but I can't back out now."

Jenna flipped him off and stormed out of the room to find a phone. She knew Elliott would be home from grocery shopping around then, so she called home. She just needed to calm down and talk to him.
"Hello, Elliott speaking," He picked up on the other end.
"Hey, it's Jenna."
"Jenna! When are you going to be home? I got the good chicken to have for dinner. You know, the rosemary garlic one?"
"I should be home soon, that sounds delicious so I shouldn't be too long. I'm hungry."
"Oh- there's a cat here, Jen. Maybe we'll have a new pet. I'm gonna go get it some... food."
"Elliott? Is everything alright?"
"Broccoli."
Fuck... that means intruder.