ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴅɪᴠᴏʀᴄᴇ
'ɴᴇᴡ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ'

Inanna had insisted she wasn't driving and instead sat in the back to let Klaus drive, incase Five and Klaus decided to wrestle over the steering wheel again — which Inanna wanted no part in.

"Son of a bitch! Klaus is Amish" Five said shutting the passenger door as he looked around the farm land Klaus had parked the car next to once they finally ended up at the address Klaus had found in his father's office.

"This explains everything" Klaus said walking around the front of the car.

"How?" Inanna asked itching her neck.

"How does this explain anything?" Five asked his brother.

"Because look! Look at this place?" Klaus said walking ahead of Five and Inanna. "This is everything my childhood is missing" Klaus said.

Inanna glanced over her shoulder, feeling as if she was being watched as she scratched at her skin and Five chased after Klaus, leaving Inanna by the car.

"Hey, Klaus. Wait up a minute" Klaus stopped and Five stepped in front of him "Doppelgänger check. You feel anything strange? Uh, itching, sweats, gas, anything like that?".

"No. No, I feel great. Apart from the old rash on the tackle, but what can you do?" Klaus mumbled walking passed Five, expecting him to follow.

"All right, good luck" Five said.

Klaus stopped in his tracks, only then realising that Inanna was still by the car. "What? Wait, you're not coming?".

Five shook his head "This one you gotta do alone" Five said.

"Alone?" Klaus repeated, his shoulders slumping. "Yeah, okay. Yeah, I can do that, sure" Klaus nodded.

Klaus slowly walked away from Five and Five walked back over to Inanna. "You wanna drive? We can wait by those cows we passed" Five suggested.

"You can drive, take it in turns" Inanna said. Five nodded and he opened the passenger door, holding it open for Inanna.

Five drove the car down the road and parked it next to the large field filled with cows. Five turned the radio up and got out of the car to sit in the back to rest his feet up as he continued looking at things on the map. Inanna got out of the car, walking towards the field of cows, needing a minute to herself before she brought up Viktor's plan, preparing to be shut down by Five.

Inanna walked slowly to one of the cows in the middle of the field — feeling a sweat build up across the bridge of her nose, which she put down to the weather — Inanna raised her hand hesitantly as the cow stared at her.

"I'm not gonna hurt you" Inanna spoke softly, "I just wanted to say hi" Inanna placed her hand on the cows nose, waiting a moment before she spoke again. "Sorry that we scared you and your friends with our car" Inanna placed her other hand on the cows face, stroking the cow as she looked over her shoulder at Five who was circling on his map, paying no attention to her.

"You know when I was little, I really wanted a cow, I put it on my christmas list and every year for five years I waited for Santa to bring me one" Inanna smiled at the thought as she spoke to the cow. "I wanted to call it Nellie, or Nells... Do you have a name?" Inanna asked the cow, pausing as if the cow was going to respond. "How about Winnie? You kind of look like a Winnie... but then again anytime I hear the name Winnie, I think of Winnie the Pooh, so maybe not" Inanna shrugged.

"How about Minnie... or will you just think of Mickey's lover?" Inanna startled at the sound of Anna's voice.

Anna stood up from where she had been hiding behind a cow which was sat down resting on the grass. Anna waved at Inanna and Inanna took a few steps back from her, looking over her shoulder at Five.

"Don't" Anna shook her head. "That spoils the fun" Anna smirked as she walked towards Inanna. "I was hoping you'd come down here, because if I would have had to see you two going at it in the car-" Anna fake gagged "I would have gouged my eyes out with my own fingers... how is he by the way? He looks happy" Anna's bottom lip jutted out as she looked at Five who was singing along to whatever song was playing over the radio.

Anna chuckled, noticing how Inanna's shoulders tensed up. Anna tucked her hands into the pockets of her red leather jacket. "I'm not here to threaten your lover, calm down, tiny one" Anna shrugged.

"Do you really expect me to believe that when the last time I saw you, you were stood over him with a knife" Inanna reminded Anna.

"And the last I saw of you, you almost choked me to death, remember?" Anna asked with a shrug. "Let bygones be bygones? Yeah?".

Inanna sighed, her shoulders dropping. She wasn't going to forget, but Inanna didn't want to fight, especially if Anna claimed she wasn't there to start one. "What do you want?" Inanna asked.

"Can I not just stalk you across the country? See what my tiny self gets up to?" Anna asked taking another step towards Inanna.

"No because that's fucking weird. What do you want?" Inanna repeated.

Anna sighed dramatically. "I thought you were supposed to be fun?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, well, I can't help that when I'm around you I just get this urge to murder you with my bare hands" Inanna tilted her head.

"Must be a soulmate thing" Anna smiled as Inanna glared at her.

"You know, if Five spots you, it will take him less than a second to get here" Inanna said.

"Oh, I know" Anna nodded. "We've been watching security footage, he's a little fast one. What's his power? Teleportation?". Inanna nodded crossing her arms over her chest.

"Interesting" Anna mumbled looking from Five to Inanna. "You're burning to find out why I'm here, aren't you?" Anna held back a laugh as Inanna took a step towards her.

"Growing impatient".

Anna walked towards Inanna, stopping when there was an arms length distance between the two of them. "Just wanted to return this" Anna held out Diego's knife to Inanna which she had hidden in her pocket.

Inanna took the knife hesitantly, "You risked being killed for this?" Inanna asked as she shone the knife in the sunlight checking for any scratches.

"You can't kill me without a weapon, right?" Anna asked. Inanna raised her brow, her expression alone saying 'Really?'.

"You just handed me a weapon" Inanna responded.

Anna shrugged as she turned on her heel. "You need to start paying to your surroundings a little more, Inanna, you never know when someone is going to sneak up on you".

Anna didn't turn to Inanna as she walked away, leaving Inanna alone in the middle of the field, shocked by their sudden interaction.

Inanna tucked the knife into the back pocket of her jeans and waited until she saw Anna disappear into the trees with a curly haired woman who didn't look at all pleased before she walked back up the field to Five, managing to wipe the look of confusion off her face before Five noticed her.

"Made some new friends?" Five asked Inanna, glancing up from the map as Inanna approached the car, referring to the cows in the field. "Maybe we should move to a farm" Five suggested.

Inanna didn't want to move to a farm, even if Five was joking, it reminded Inanna of the reason she had gone on the road trip to begin with.

Five dropped his pen into his lap as Inanna shook her head at his suggestion and Five kicked his feet off the back of the passenger seat. "You don't like that idea?" Five asked.

Inanna bit her lip, casting her eyes down as Five's brows furrowed. It was the perfect time to talk, but Inanna knew Five would be against it — the conversation with Viktor that morning told her that.

"Hey" Five spoke softly and placed the map next to him on the back seat. Five turned in his seat, placing his feet on the road while he let his eyes flicker over Inanna's face, trying to understand what had happened in the last five minutes that had caused her mood to completely change. "Come here" Five took Inanna's hands and gently tugged her over to him. "Talk to me. What's wrong?".

Inanna's eyes locked with Five's as she glanced back to his face. "I don't want to stay here" Inanna said.

Five shook his head. "It doesn't smell that bad but we can move-".

Inanna tore her hands from his, placing them on his shoulders to push him back down as he went to stand up. He didn't understand what she meant.

"I don't mean from this spot" Inanna kept her hands on his shoulders as he looked up at her. "I mean, I don't want to stay here, in this timeline".

Five glanced away from Inanna, "I don't want to keep messing with time, Inanna" Five responded. "This is the first time something hasn't gone wrong, if we-".

"Hasn't gone wrong?" Inanna repeated his words and her hands dropped from his shoulders when she took a step back from him. "I have no family, Five".

"I know" Five mumbled.

"You know?" Inanna scoffed. "Really?".

"What do you want me to do, Inanna?" Five asked turning to look at Inanna again.

"I want you to listen to me" Inanna said, raising and dropping her hands by her sides.

Five didn't respond and after a moment of deafening silence that swallowed both of them, Five relaxed his shoulders with a slight nod.

"Nothing about this timeline is right. Allison's daughter doesn't exist, my family gave me up and another version of me is technically your sister. If Viktor has a deal with Marcus, shouldn't we take it and try to get home?".

"If we travel again, then what?" Five asked.

"I get to see my family a-".

Five shook his head and stepped out of the car. Inanna turned, facing Five as he stood at her side. "It's not that easy, Inan, you know that just as well as I do".

"So that's it?" Inanna asked. "Because it isn't easy I have to stay here?".

"I didn't say that".

"No but you are saying just that" Inanna argued. "You risked everything to get your family back and-".

"I risked everything to save my family from the apocalypse" Five interrupted.

"And my family isn't worth it? They aren't worth risking everything for?" Inanna asked.

"Inanna" Five shook his head, his eyes casting away from hers momentarily as Inanna's stare scorched his skin, waiting for him to continue.

"I have no one, Five" Inanna muttered, her voice dropping in volume as she willed herself not to cry.

"You have me and my fam-".

"It's not enough" Inanna interrupted, turning away from Five noticing the saddened look in his eyes as he stilled. "I'm sorry, I didn't-" Inanna lowered her head, regretting her words. "I just want my family back".

"I watched you die, Inanna" Five nodded his head with glossed over eyes as Inanna looked back at him. "I'm not going to watch you die again".

Inanna chewed on her bottom lip, Five wasn't going to help her, he didn't need to spell it out for her and so without a word, Inanna turned on her heel and walked back towards the field.

Inanna pulled the knife out of her pocket, flipping the blade in her hand with her teary eyes set ahead of her, even if Five wasn't going to help Inanna wasn't going to just give up.

Five sunk back into his seat, turning his gaze away from Inanna as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and tore his hat off his head. Five wanted Inanna to be with her family, he wasn't trying to keep her away but after watching her die in the barn and after years of believing she was dead, Five wasn't ready to loose her again if something went wrong.

Inanna crouched down, stabbing the knife into the grass and as she closed her eyes, Inanna took a deep breath in and balled her hands up, digging her nails into her palms. Inanna's heart beat rapidly in her chest and over the sound of the rushing blood in her ears, Inanna didn't notice the shockwave of energy that ran across the field of cows.

The car shook as the wave passed over a second time, and Five jolted up. "What is...?" Five looked up, spotting Inanna almost instantly as she stood up slowly — feeling as if her organ had just been jumbled up inside her body.

Inanna was just as confused as Five, both of them staring at the now empty field which had been filled with cows less than ten seconds ago.

"What the fuck just happened?" Inanna mumbled, ripping the knife out of the grass.

Five blinked over to Inanna, placing his hand on her back when she straightened up — afraid that something would happen to her.

Inanna turned to Five, startled by his sudden appearance and pushed the blade of the knife against his throat as her pulse quickened out of fear.

Five's eyes found Inanna's and he dropped his hand from her back, watching Inanna's expression soften almost instantly as she recognised her husband in front of her.

"Shit" Inanna pulled the knife away from him, dropping her arm to her side. "I'm-".

Five shook his head, he didn't need her to apologise, or want her to, not when he had been the one to scare her. "Are you okay?" Five tucked Inanna's hair behind her ear, holding her face gently as her heart rate slowed down.

"Where the hell did the cows go?" Inanna asked, tearing her gaze from the faint red line of Five's throat to look over her shoulder at the field.

Five brushed his thumb over the healing cut on Inanna's cheek as he glanced around the field they stood in. "I have no idea" Five mumbled.

━━━━━

Inanna sat in the passenger seat, looking over Five's map as he hurried around the car, writing on every inch of glass he could with a marker. Five had tried to explain it to Inanna, but after she reminded him that she had no idea what he was talking about, Inanna decided it was best if she locked herself away from Five while his mind worked in ways she never understood.

Five had circled a range of different sites on the map but one that caught Inanna's eye was a museum which wasn't along the route and had been outlined with a heart instead of a circle.

Inanna traced the heart with her finger, recalling the months she and Five had spent in a museum during the apocalypse. It had been one of the few places Inanna had liked during their time at the end of the world and even though the museum was destroyed like everything else, everyday they found something to keep them both occupied until the sun set off in the distance.

Five ran around the front of the car and Inanna kicked her feet off the seat, her smile fading as she folded the map up and she watched Klaus run towards the car, waving his hands in the air, with a large crowd of men chasing after him.

"Why can't you just get along with people?" Five asked.

"I tried. Really, I did. I tried!" Klaus shouted.

Five opened the drivers door as a woman ran in front of the car, holding a brown book in her hands, shouting for Klaus to wait.

Klaus ran to the woman and she handed him the book. "Come on! Get in the car, Klaus!" Five shouted, watching as the men got closer to them. "Klaus, it's now or never!".

"What the hell did he do?" Inanna mumbled, making sure that the passenger door was locked.

Five shouted his brother one last time before getting into the car and slamming the door behind him.

"Maybe it's just a misunderstanding" Inanna said as Five started the car and Klaus hurried back to it, getting in behind Inanna.

"I didn't do anything, I swear" Klaus said.

Five didn't believe him and drove away from the angry crowd while Klaus opened the book the woman had handed him.

Klaus skimmed over each page, stopping on a page which had a newspaper article of a woman's death, he flipped over onto the next page, not recognising the woman while he searched for his mother who happened to be further in the book with her own newspaper article about her death.

"This whole timeline's chock-full of riddles" Klaus said after reading over the information "Get this. My mom died here before I was even born!" Klaus said poking his finger onto the page.

Five slammed his foot on the brakes, sending both Inanna and Klaus flying forwards as the car stopped suddenly. Five turned to Klaus in the backseat. "What did you just say?" Five asked.

i'm out today (technically
tomorrow because i
haven't slept yet) so i
thought i'd publish this
chapter earlier than i
said.

it's aidan's birthday —
usually i remember
birthdays the day after
but i didn't forget his...
i only remembered
because i knew i wouldn't
be home and i hate leaving
my house.