ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ ꜱɪx ᴏꜰ ᴅɪᴠᴏʀᴄᴇ
'ɴᴏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛꜱ'

"For someone so concerned with how much little time they have left until the world collapses in on itself" Inanna glanced to Five as she buttoned up her— his — white shirt again, watching Five as he straightened up his tie "You somehow found enough time to take my clothes off".

Five scoffed with a shake of his head, unable to hide his smirk. "Don't switch it onto me. You're just as much to blame for what just happened".

"Oh, really?" Inanna raised her brow.

Five nodded. "If you don't believe me, I'm sure the hotel has security footage in the elevator" Five said, raising his brow to copy Inanna.

A smirk which mirrored Five's appeared on Inanna's lips as she turned away from Five and walked towards the door, ready to ask for the security footage so she could play it to Five to prove him wrong.

Five blinked in front of Inanna acting as a barrier to the door and Inanna crossed her arms over her chest.

"Please move" Inanna tilted her head.

Five pressed his back against the door, insisting that he wasn't going to move. "As much as I would love for you to prove me wrong-" Five brushed Inanna's hair out of her face. "I didn't bring you up here to just have a moment alone with you".

"Well I'd hope not" Inanna tucked Five's tie underneath his shirt collar. "But-" Five dropped his hand, placing it on Inanna's waist once she was done brushing up his suit and blinked the both of them into the middle of their hotel room.

Inanna stepped back from Five as Five caught her hand and she sat on the edge of her bed while Five brushed his thumb over her knuckles "I hate that you can do that" Inanna muttered.

Five let go of Inanna's hand, tucking his hands into his pockets. "We need to talk". Inanna's brows furrowed as Five continued. "I know i've been avoiding things, and if it was the other way around, I know you would have told me. I don't know where to start but-".

Inanna knew exactly where to start. Inanna stood up, not wanting to be looking up at Five while they spoke. "Why didn't you tell me when you figured it out?" Inanna asked Five, wanting to know why Five hadn't told her that he was the reason she had ended up in the apocalypse all those years before.

Five turned to Inanna as she stepped next to him, knowing what she was asking. "I didn't figure it out straight away. I had never travelled with anyone before, I didn't even know it was possible. I thought you had somehow survived the end of the world but I had a nightmare that night when you left the home that we had stayed in and-".

"And I was in your nightmare?" Five nodded.

"I think it was my subconscious trying to tell me that the only way you could have survived was if I had jumped with you, and then when we got to the Commission, I-" Five closed his eyes for a brief second, knowing that Inanna wouldn't like the next words that left his mouth "I watched the footage that they had saved of us and-".

Inanna felt her stomach sink and her brows lowered as she took a step back from Five.

"You swore to me that you would never watch that" Inanna shook her head. "You swore to me, Five" Inanna poked her finger into her chest "You know how much I hate that they showed footage of us to the Commission agents as a way of scaring them out of time travelling for their own personal gain. You know that" Inanna took another step back from Five, unable to tear her gaze from his.

Inanna didn't just hate that the Commission showed the years of footage as a way of scaring the new agents. Inanna hated the footage because it was an invasion of privacy and neither she or Five had a say in who had seen or would see a 'movie' of their life together in the apocalypse.

"I had to be sure, Inanna. I had to be. I didn't watch anything else. I swear".

Inanna nodded as Five brushed his hand against her arm. "How did it happen?" Inanna balled her fists up at her sides. "You watched the footage, how did it happen?" Inanna mumbled.

"You- I just bumped into you when you came out of a store" Five mumbled.

"That's it? We bumped into each other?" Inanna turned and sat on the edge of the bed in disbelief at the words she had heard and repeated.

Five hadn't believed it when he had watched it the first time and had to rewatch the clip three times until it finally sunk in. It was an accident. Inanna had tripped when leaving a store and caught ahold of Five's arm to stop herself from face planting the ground, but before Five had noticed — filled with excitement and anticipation from the second successful jump — he had already jumped forwards in time with Inanna still holding his arm.

Five turned to Inanna and crouched down in front of her, taking her hands in his hesitantly. Inanna brought her gaze up from Five's shirt to his eyes.

"It was an accident" Five repeated the words he had said at the farm when the Handler had exposed his secret and Five rubbed his thumbs over the back of Inanna's hands.

The room fell silent and Five turned his head, looking over his shoulder to the window, knowing that now was the only time he could tell Inanna the truth behind the briefcase incident. He didn't want any more secrets between them.

Five looked back at Inanna and moved his hand up to Inanna's wrist, pressing his thumb over the faint scar while the Handler's words ran through his mind.

"What's wrong?" Inanna asked, looking down at his hand over her wrist.

"The Handler, she-" Inanna's shoulders tensed at the mention of the Handler. "-told me something after you died in the barn".

Inanna looked back up at Five's face but he never averted his gaze from her scar. "She's the reason the briefcase exploded" Five stated.

"What?" Inanna's voice sounded like an echo in her own ears as she looked back down at her wrist and she repeated the words that Five had just spoke under her breath.

"She said one of us had to go and so she tampered with the briefcase" Five continued.

"It wasn't an accident?" Inanna whispered.

It made sense. It all made so much sense to Inanna. The Handler had always been stand off ish with her. Inanna had always pinned it down to the Handler having a thing for her husband, but instead she was planning Inanna's murder — waiting for the right moment to execute.

"She said that you didn't have a tracker and afterwards I couldn't find you" Five looked up at Inanna as he slid his hand back to her hers. "You were supposed to just disappear and you did".

Inanna turned her arm, letting the last rays of sunlight that came in through the window shine against the scar while she wondered if Five would have told her about what the Handler had done — or attempted to do — if the universe hadn't given him a count down.

"Did you only want to talk because the world is ending?" Inanna asked. "Be honest with me, Five" Inanna's voice was quiet but Five heard her in the almost silent room.

Five shook his head. "No. No. Of course not. I was going to tell you, I swear" Five tucked Inanna's hair behind her ear as she dropped her gaze "But we found out about the mothers and your parents and then things got suddenly worse from then on and I never had the right moment to pull you aside".

Inanna shook her head and pulled her hand from Five's. "We had the right moment, plenty of times and you decided to avoid the conversation every time" Inanna stood up and Five followed, allowing the room for Inanna to step around him. "What am I supposed to do with that?" Inanna raised and dropped her arms by her side.

"Inan" Five shook his head, dropping his gaze from hers when she glared at him.

Inanna willed herself not to shed a tear. She wasn't upset, she was annoyed and angry that he had turned her down countless of times and then had given her everything in a matter of minutes after disappearing for days and telling her that the world was going to end the moment he returned.

She knew he had his reasons for keeping secrets, but Inanna didn't want secrets between them.

"Is there anything else?" Five looked back up at Inanna, wishing that he had took the time to tell her everything the day they arrived at the hotel.

Five sighed. There was one more thing he was yet to tell her and he knew that Inanna wouldn't take it well. "Apparently I'm the Founder of the Commission" Five said, wanting the room to collapse in on him the second the words left his mouth and as he watched Inanna's shake her head in disbelief.

"And I'm a fucking unicorn" Inanna responded, rolling her eyes as she turned on her heel. "Fuck me, Five" Inanna rubbed her forehead, irritated.

Five sighed, following after Inanna as she left the hotel room and headed towards the stairs instead of the elevator — not wanting to be stuck alone in a confined space with Five. "Ask Lila, she was there with me. You think i'd lie about that? I know how crazy it sounds".

"Crazy?" Inanna turned to Five in the hallway, making him stumble over his own feet. "What do you think I am? A fool?" Five shook his head, unable to find his words as Inanna shouted at him. "You expect me to believe that you created the Commission? The same organisation that we wanted to get away from the same day we joined? The one that had me almost assassinated?" Inanna's voice only got louder with every word, and if the hotel guests hadn't already been Kugelblitz, they would have been complaining about the noise to Chet.

Inanna waited for Five to speak, but he said nothing, only glancing to the floor when Inanna's harsh stare burned into his skin. He didn't know how to respond — he wanted to but he was just as lost as Inanna.

Inanna scoffed, nodding her head slowly. "Good talk, hunny" Inanna wiped away a tear that had fallen down her cheek without her permission. "Great talk" Inanna mumbled.

Five followed after Inanna as she started walking down the stairs. "Let me explain" Five said, keeping a distance between himself and Inanna.

"You had your chance to explain" Inanna argued looking over her shoulder at Five.

Five reached out to Inanna, afraid that she'd loose her footing and fall down the stairs."And you didn't let me speak. I couldn't explain myself" Five argued as Inanna looked at her feet, watching herself walk down each step.

"If you had wanted to speak, you would have been able to get a word in" Inanna said.

"I don't want to have a screaming match with you" Five extended his arms out to his sides.

"You married the woman who tried to murder you more than once, you didn't exactly sign up for civilised conversations over coffee".

Five didn't respond as they walked down the stairs, the last thing he wanted was for Inanna to turn around to look or shout at him and then for her to fall. But Five knew exactly what he signed up for when he asked Inanna to marry him, it was just much easier in the apocalypse.

"How are we supposed to settle anything if you won't hear me out?" Five asked Inanna as she walked off the stairs and into the lobby.

"I don't know" Inanna sighed. "You figure that out, you're the brains of this marriage" Inanna finished buttoning up her shirt, realising that earlier she had been too excited to prove Five wrong that she had left a few too many buttons open.

"I don't think you're a fool and I wouldn't believe me either, but-".

Luther walked over to Five and Inanna, somehow missing the irritated expressions they both wore. "Have either of you seen Viktor?" Luther asked. "It's time to take Harlan to the Sparrows" Luther pointed towards the door with his thumb.

"No" Inanna and Five spoke at the same time, passing by Luther as they walked over to the bar.

"Okay" Luther mumbled.

"Inan-".

Inanna shook her head, ignoring Klaus who waved at her from where he sat on top of the bar with his legs crossed. Klaus hadn't done anything wrong, but Inanna needed a moment to herself before she spoke to the others and she didn't want to argue with Five in front of Luther and Klaus.

"Leave it, Five" Inanna didn't look at Five as she spoke and she pulled a chair out at the bar and sunk into the chair.

Five wanted to put an end to the argument but the confused look on Luther's face as he tried to work out what had happened in the time Five and Inanna had been gone and Inanna asking him to leave it now that they were with the others, Five listened to his wife and sat at one of the tables, giving Inanna her space.

It was quiet round the bar for a few minutes, with even Klaus refusing to make a silly remark, all of them feeling the tension that hung around Five and Inanna and it was only when Five spotted Viktor walking towards the hotel doors that the awkward silence was broken.

Five stood up from the table and walked over to his brother. "Hey" Five called, making Viktor stop and turn to him. "It's time" Five said tucking his hands into his pockets as Luther joined him by his side. "Where's Harlan?" Five asked.

"He's gone" Viktor responded.

"You let him go, didn't you?" Luther said.

Viktor sighed. "Harlan's death is not gonna stop the Kugelblitz. It's just gonna be another tragedy on a tragedy, and we can find another.. I will find another way" Viktor said as Five turned away from him.

Inanna wasn't surprised, not in the slightest.

"Well, congratulations, Viktor. You managed to destroy everything" Luther laughed dryly. "Again" Luther scoffed and turned to leave.

Five looked back at Viktor. "I really thought you were smarter than that".

Klaus slid off the bar holding his shoes in his hands as Viktor left the hotel. Klaus smacked the soles of his shoes together "Well, that went great!" Klaus said.

Klaus dropped his shoes onto the floor and turned to Inanna. "What's wrong with you little miss grumpy pants?" Klaus asked as he sat on one of the bar chairs and reached across to grab a bottle of alcohol.

Inanna got off the chair, ignoring his question and Klaus's smile faded. "Hey, no. Inanna, what did I do?" Klaus asked turning his head to watch her walk away from him and passed Five, without a word to either of them. "Come back".

Five untucked his hands from his pockets and walked over to Klaus at the bar, sitting down next to him while Inanna left the hotel, following Luther and Viktor into the cool air.

Inanna didn't know where she was going, and with the breezy weather, caused by the Kugelblitz, Inanna thought that it would have been best to stay in the hotel or at least to grab a coat of some sorts, but Inanna didn't want to spend another second in the hotel while she was slowly suffocated by Five's words.

Inanna wasn't mad about how she had ended up in the apocalypse. She believed Five the day at the barn that it was an accident and she had no reason to doubt him. Inanna was upset — and more irritated than anything — that Five hadn't told her about the briefcase incident at the barn or the day they arrived back in 2019, when he knew how much that day had changed her life. The cherry on top of the burnt cake was Five telling her that he was the supposed Founder of the Commission.

Inanna stepped back from a car as it forcefully came to a stop to avoid hitting her. Inanna crossed her arms, realising that while she had been walking she hadn't paid a single attention to her surroundings and if it wasn't for Viktor stopping in time, Inanna would have been hit by the car he was driving.

Viktor rolled down the window. "If Five has sent you to-".

"Five hasn't sent me to do anything" Inanna shook her head. "You just almost ran me over" Inanna pointed at the car which was the same one that Inanna had gone on the road trip with Klaus and Five in.

"I know" Viktor lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry. I've got a lot of things on my mind right now" Inanna nodded, uncrossing her arms. "Are you okay?" Viktor asked.

"Yeah" Inanna nodded again, averting her gaze from Viktor. "Yeah, I'm fine".

"Where are-".

Viktor began asking where Inanna was going but Inanna interrupted him. Inanna didn't have a set opinion on whether Harlan lived or died. She just didn't want to be mixed up with the Sparrows again — especially since finding out that Anna was definitely going easy on her at the academy.

If Harlan died, Inanna wouldn't feel any remorse for letting the Sparrows kill him, but Inanna knew that if Harlan hadn't killed Jayme and Alphonso and almost killed the other Sparrows, she would have been dead, and so would have the others.

"Can I come with you?" Inanna asked.

"Inanna" Viktor shook his head. He was rather unsure, not knowing if he could completely trust Inanna with Harlan.

"I just want to get away from the hotel" Inanna shrugged. "I won't get involved in whatever shit you're doing".

"Five hasn't sent you to spy?" Viktor asked.

Inanna rolled her eyes at Viktor's question. "I'm his wife. Not some puppet that he controls, okay? No spying. Just your sister-in-law needing to get a way while she thinks shit over. Is that alright with you?".

Viktor gave Inanna a small nod, remembering that when Viktor needed his family back in 1963, Inanna was the one who got them all to the farm to help save Harlan. "That's alright with me".

i hate this chapter so much
because i just want finanna
to be happy.

also, i have a new tua fic
it's called 'A Knife To The Heart'.
i think if you love finanna you
might just love that fic as well...