𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐌𝐂𝐅𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves²

I│INTERLUDE I: TIME TRAVEL II

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀʀᴛʏ ᴍᴄғʟʏ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐈 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴛʀᴀᴠᴇʟ ɪɪ ꒱　


❝ UM, I'M SELLING GIRL
SCOUT COOKIES— ❞

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

May 14th, 1960

Luckily, the door facing the alley way was unlocked and Alexa was able to slip inside the building. She quietly crept up the stairs to the second floor where she'd seen the flash. The door off to her right advertised a dentist's office and seemed to be the only plausible location of the bright light so she made her way to the half-glass and half-wood door. The resounding knock was loud in the mostly-empty building and shuffling came from inside the room. Then, the door opened a crack.

A scrawny, wiry-haired man appeared in the opening and he peered out suspiciously. "How can I help you?"

The blonde cleared her throat, painstakingly aware of how homeless she looked in baggy jeans that had once fit an adult woman's body, a loose, pale blue cardigan sweater and similarly-fitting long-sleeved white t-shirt. "Um, I'm selling Girl Scout cookies—"

He made an effort to slam the door in her face but her hands flashed out and brilliant blue light filled in the space to prevent the door from being closed. She heard him shriek and the door swung open again. Now, he was staring at her with wide, unblinking eyes as he stammered his disbelief: "wh-wh-what are you? How-how did you do that? Are-are you from the CIA? KGB? Pentagon?"

Alexa rolled her eyes. Great, stuck with a nutcase. "No, no and no." Due to his shock, he'd backed up into the safety of his house which allowed her to encroach on his space. Her eyes flicked to the articles he had pinned up on the walls and the homemade detectors. "Ever heard of Area 51? Roswell?"

His mouth dropped open. "Hot damn!" He turned in an excited circle and ran his hands through his hair. "I knew we weren't the only ones! What are you, an alien?"

The blonde smirked slightly and tut-tutted. "Don't you know it's rude to ask something like that? But no, I'm actually a robot."

His energy made his movements erratic as he paced about his living space. "See, Eleanor— my wife— she-she thought I had a few screws loose. Who's the crazy one now, huh?!" he shouted, apparently to no one.

Alexa gave him a very unimpressed look. If he had nothing on her family, she'd ditch him. Speaking of. . . "That camera flash. Did you take it of my arrival?"

He froze. "Oh— uh—"

"It's alright, I'm not mad." She made her voice carefully even. "But I need to know if you have evidence of me. You see, my family— the Hargreeves— we escaped from the government but got split up. There's six of us in total, not including me."

"Oh, well— yes, that was for your arrival. I've been tracking the anomalies."

"What anomalies?"

"Well, it all started back when I was selling the Silvertone Omega—"

Alexa sighed impatiently, causing him to jump. His speech sped up as he hurriedly explained his first encounter with the flash that brought her here. "Do you have any pictures?" she demanded.

"I— well— not of the first time— I was still working then. He came back, though, and I caught him."

"Him? Who's him?" Hope rose in her chest. Five! It had to be. She could find him and then they could figure it out together. She fired out questions: "how old was he? Did he wear a uniform? Does he disappear with blue light?"