"I've been dancing on top of cars and stumbling out of bars, I follow you through the dark, can't get enough."

-

CHAPTER EIGHT — SUCKER PUNCH

YEAR 2034

I frowned, "no."

"What do you mean 'no'? It has to be you, the time loop fits you perfectly, I'll send you back to 2005, and you'll try to warn the others," Five jabbed his notebook.

"How much time do I spend there, huh? It'll have to be until you figure out the perfect equation to break the time loop and find me!" I scowled.

"Which I will! I can find you! I just need a little more time!" Five replied frantically as he scribbled on his notebook again.

"I'll have no idea how long I will be living there! And without you, I can't time travel!" I fought back the urge to shout at him.

"Zero, it has to be you, I can't go or else you'll be stuck here on your own and I can't come back to find you, random time travel is a jump into the rabbit hole," he said. "But this! This is calculated! I can open up a portal in the time loop at a certain time!"

"You want me to stay in 2005 for fuck knows how long without knowing when I can leave? Hell no," I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"Zero, please," he pulled me towards him, his voice pleading as he tugged on my shirt.

"No, I'm not leaving you!" I shouted, pulling away and sitting down on a bench.

"I can't go, it has to be you, even if we have the slightest chance to go it has to be you, I've got it all calculated and it will work, please," Five pleaded, his face scrunched up in hope of persuading me.

"I-I can't," I replied, my voice trembling.

"Love, I believe in you, you can and will do this, okay?" Five grabbed my hands tightly.

I breathed shakily. "Fine, but you hurry up, alright?"

Five grinned, standing up. "That's a promise."

-

-

YEAR 2019

Some things never worked the way they want to.

I panted, slamming my fist into a heavy leather boxing bag.

It swung to and forth, dangling from the ceiling.

"Zero?" A man asked.

"Hey, Perry," I grinned at the manager of the gym as I pulled the gauze that was wrapped around my hands.

"You're back! You know, I just saw this huge dude asking for Diego and I was thinking if you could maybe persuade him to join the team?" Perry grinned as he leaned against the ropes that surround the boxing ring.

"Looking for Diego?" I asked, looking up at him as I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Yeah, huge tall guy, had a jacket all and everything," he nodded, tilting his head to the backrooms.

"Do you mind if I go check him out?" I said, picking up my gym back and shoving my things into it in a hurry.

"Go ahead, our team could really use some of that muscle," he beamed as I clapped his hand.

"I'll see you around!" I waved as I hurried over to the locker room and thrust my bag into my locker.

I walked cautiously towards the back, noticing the slightest gap of Diego's door and sucked in a sharp breath.

I narrowed my eyes as I melted into the shadows, walking through the door soundlessly.

I conjured up two sharp blades of shadows as I went through the stairs and landed on the floor with a soft thud, my legs bent as I landed on the balls of my feet.

I spotted the figure in front of a column.

"Is someone there?" The person asked, his eyes raking around the room as he spun.

I stared at Luther, dumbfounded as I appeared from the shadows quickly. "Luther? What are you doing here?"

He jumped at the sight of me. 'Zero! Um-I was just-just looking for something."

"At Diego's place?" I frowned, crossing my arms.

"No, I was just-wait, what are you doing here?" Luther interrogated as he towered before me.

"I go to the gym here," I shot back lamely, my voice flat.

"How convenient," he muttered, glancing at me suspiciously.

"So, what exactly are you doing here? This is obviously not a brotherly visit," I smirked, sitting down on a chair as he shrunk back.

"I was just-"

"-don't tell me you think Diego killed Father," I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Look, I-"

"-so you are! What kind of brother are you? Doubting your family," I scowled, dragging the shadows over me and travelling in a millisecond to the top of the stairs. "You're unbelievable."

"Zero, wait!" Luther shouted after me as I walked out through the door.

Perry was sitting outside at the reception when I stormed out from the locker room. He grinned, "Did you ask him?"

"No, and he's not the right person you're looking for," I scowled, tossing him a pile of cash. "That's for my membership by the way."

"Well, that sucks, but thanks!" He waved as I pushed open the door of the gym and breathed shakily, knowing very well that I played a part in Father's death.

-

I sat with Five in the car he stole.

"So, we're just going to sit here and wait?" I asked, staring out the window as I people-watched.

"Until something comes up, yes," Five replied, his eyes darting around on high alert.

I looked at the rear-view mirror, spotting the mannequin in the back and scowled at Five, "What is that thing doing here?"

"Shh!" He whispered, staring intently at the building doors.

"And what about the bruises and is that blood? Again?"

"Yup," His lip quirked up. "Lemme just say Hazel and Cha-Cha have caught up."

"Ugh, those two," I growled under my breath before looking out the window.

Five sighed.

The rain thumped against the car in heavy drops as a group of kids ran in front of our car.

Suddenly, Five tensed up against me, his eyes wide and his jaw clenched.

"Five? Five!" I shook him gently, moving to face him worriedly.

He jerked slightly before whipping his head to look at me.

A sharp knock came from behind and I jumped.

"Zero! Hey, Five!" Luther shouted.

"What are you-" Luther muttered as he yanked open the door and I shifted to the middle of the front seats.

Luther struggled to squeeze himself into the passenger seat. "Oh my god," he grunted.

I shot him a glare. "What are you doing here?"

He ignored me and asked, "you okay?"

"You shouldn't be-" Five paused. "How did you find us?"

"Um-" Luther tilted his head towards the back.

"Hey baby," Klaus hugged the mannequin.

"Oh my god," I groaned, turning to go to the back.

"Hey, a little privacy, guys. We're really hitting it off back here," Klaus looked at the three of us while holding Delores.

Five grabbed an empty can of coffee and I ducked before he flung it at Klaus, who screamed as he dodged the can swiftly.

"Get out! You can't be here!" Five shouted. "I'm in the middle of something."

"You mean, you two are in the middle of something?" Klaus blinked at us innocently.

"Shut up," I growled.

"Any luck finding your one-eyed man?" Klaus asked, leaning against the wall, still clutching Delores tightly.

Five whispered back a reply, "No."

"What's he talkin' about?" Luther questioned, his body folded up under the hood of the car.

"Does it matter? It's Klaus," Five shot back.

"What do you want, Luther?" I asked, folding my arms.

"Um... So, Grace may have something to do with Dad's death," Luther said.

I tensed up, shrinking back slightly as Five stared at Luther. "What?"

"So, I need you two to come back to the Academy, all right? It's important," Luther added.

Five scoffed. "'It's important.' You have no concept of what's important."

"Hey! Did I ever tell you guys about the time I waxed my ass with chocolate pudding?" Klaus laughed, poking his head between the two front seats. "It was so painful."

"What are you still doing here?" Luther asked, looking at Klaus.

"Ay, ay, ay-"

"What?" Luther frowned.

"I-What? I need an excuse to hang out with my family?" Klaus grinned.

"We're trying to have a serious conversation," Luther stated.

"What, and I'm incapable of being serious? Is that what you're saying?" Klaus pouted.

"Luther's got a point, you should get out," Five interrupted.

"What?"

"Klaus, we'll see you back at the Academy," I said as I yanked open the door and gestured him out.

He pouted as he stepped out the van.

"Fine!" He shouted before slamming the door shut.

I sighed. "What was it about Grace having something to do with Dad's death?"

"Allision and I saw the tapes-"

"The tapes?" I sat up straight at the mention of Dad's tapes. "The tapes?"

"Yeah, Pogo had them all out for us to look at," Luther said, his brows furrowed in suspicion. "Is something wrong?"

"I-I'll see you back at the house," I breathed shakily and yanked open the door, grabbing my duffle bag before running towards the place where I never thought I'd ever had to return to again.

-

-

Okay, so I can see that some people are confused with the timing and here's an idea of what's happening with the timeline.

2002: Five and Zero jumped to the future.

2019 April: Five and Zero landed in the future. They find out about the end of the world

2034: Five sent Zero back to the past to warn the others.

2005: Zero landed in the past to warn the Academy about the apocalypse.

2043: Zero jumped back to the future. Five and Zero got married at the mansion just outside the city limits.

2052: The Handler recruits the two to the Temps Commission.

2056: Five and Zero broke the Commission's contract during a 1963 mission on JFK by opening a time-travel portal.

2019 March: Five and Zero landed at the Academy.