CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
the flaws in the code

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WHEN THE WORLD ENDS, it takes everyone Nadine Vidal ever cared about—and those she hated, too—with it. Of course, Armageddon doesn't care enough about Nadine—who is a mere speck, a clump of dust in the air in comparison to the apocalypse's magnitude—to solely take out people that have somehow wormed their way into her life; it takes out everyone, people across all continents that she'll never get a chance to meet. They all disappear in a haze of fire, old and young, spending their last breaths either staring up in horror at the mass slowly twisting its way towards the Earth's atmosphere, or blissfully unaware.

(Those are the lucky ones. Who didn't spend their last fragments of life in terror.)

When the world ends, it doesn't take out Nadine Vidal, because Nadine Vidal is already dead. Twelve years ago, she succumbed to the call of the void, her life snuffed out of her in an instant, her eyes open and glassy. Her body, face plasticized and arms folded neatly over her chest, is encased in a coffin, and she's therefore buried deep, deep, six feet underground. Her gravestone reads something cliché, a poem in French, and people lay flowers on the freshly dug dirt and then forget about her, leaving her body to be eaten by maggots in peace. Then everyone else dies, and Nadine's grave really goes unnoticed then. Perhaps, as nature begins to take back the planet, flowers begin to grow out of the once-charred grass, lining her broken grave (which is chipped and fading, the words nearly undecipherable now). Perhaps her corpse, which has been stripped down to a skeleton at this point, appreciates this.

(Corpses get lonely, too. Trapped in their boxes for all eternity.)

At least, that was how it was supposed to go. As everyone in the Commission knows, time travel is immensely complicated; one wrong move and the butterfly effect ripples out, twisting and turning fates that were once stagnant, held in place like glue. This is one such case, and it's a peculiar and frustrating one for everyone involved. It goes like this: Nadine Vidal was destined to die just three days after Hazel and Cha-Cha cornered her in that alleyway and attempted to shoot the brains from her skull. A car, crashing across the road would plow right into her, sending her broken body tumbling across it until she'd land flat on the street, her eyes half-closed and gummed together by dried blood.

Hazel and Cha-Cha, and by extent the Commission, didn't know this, otherwise they would've called off the said attempted shooting in the first place, merely letting nature take its course. Unfortunately—well, fortunately for Nadine—all they knew was that Nadine Vidal was an anomaly, and as such, she was supposed to be eliminated. Which was how they came to that alleyway, their guns poised and their masks planted on their heads, concealing their identities. It was how Nadine Vidal found herself faking her own death, consequently passing out from blood loss, and being dragged to the hospital to get her broken shoulder pieced back together. It was how, three days later, on the day Nadine was destined to get her spirit shaken loose of her body, she was instead in the hospital, in recovery. Feeling like pure shit, but alive.

Five Hargreeves knew about Nadine's case, because of course, he did. It was a peculiar one, and he'd always been attracted to peculiar things, especially peculiar things that mentioned the end of the world, which Nadine's case certainly did. Somehow, perhaps, her very existence could help the world from dying. Somehow, Nadine Vidal might be the catalyst that prevented the upcoming Armageddon.

That was the real reason he had tried so hard to keep her alive. Because if Nadine Vidal survived until April 1st, 2019, the day the world turned to ash, then perhaps it wouldn't. Perhaps he'd be able to save his family, who he'd found as corpses forty-five years ago.

He hadn't found Nadine's, back then, because Nadine Vidal was already dead, long sealed away. But now? Now she was alive. Now she'd inserted herself into the lives of the Umbrella Academy. And Five thought that that might have just been what she was supposed to do.

THE GIRLS' NIGHT HAD proven to be an adequate distraction from the multitude of Nadine Vidal's other life issues, but, like all distractions, it was only a temporary barrier from the dilemmas that were constantly attempting to get in. Once the night finished, the barrier dissolved, and everything Nadine had been worried about came flooding back in. Hazel. Cha-Cha. The apocalypse. How she was involved in such a thing. All of those thoughts came dancing around her mind, whispering in her ears, driving her mad, which was how, as a new day rose above her in America, Nadine found herself taking a cab to Diego's place (Luther had given her the address last night), hoping to finally get some real answers.

As she made her way into the shitty place (apparently, she wasn't the only one taking room where she worked) she found Luther and an irritable Five who clearly seemed to be fighting off a hangover, but, surprisingly, no Diego. Nadine would've thought he'd be the first one to inquire after Five about Hazel and Cha-Cha, considering the fact that they'd been the ones to murder Grace. But he was a no-show.

She questioned Luther about his whereabouts. "Where's Diego?"

Luther shrugged. "He got a call last night. Apparently, some detective needed his help with something. He zoomed right off, and I haven't seen him since."

This was a partial relief. Nadine simply couldn't get along with the knife-wielding man. He was too brash; she was too sharp. They didn't work together at all. But as for Luther... she gave him a once-over. Even though he seemed like the leading man in the sport of Buzzkill, he was more tolerable than his brother, especially when he wasn't picking fights with him. It was this fact that made Nadine slightly more comfortable as she sat down beside him, passing out coffee and breakfast sandwiches she'd stopped for on the way. Five took his cup without comment, looking slightly pale but infinitely more Five-like than he'd been last night, and Nadine braced herself. This was it.

"Okay, now that you're all sobered up," said Luther, taking a sip of coffee, "we want to know the truth. What happened when you went to the future, and why were those masked freaks looking for you?"

Five sipped his own coffee and shot a glance at Nadine before beginning. He did a rundown of most things Nadine already knew, including the apocalypse he'd launched himself into. Nadine listened in disinterest, sipping her coffee, waiting for the good stuff to occur. But what was when Luther finally posed the dreaded question.

"When's it supposed to happen? This... apocalypse."

Nadine leaned forward, interested in the response. The imminent threat had always thudded at the back of her mind, but she'd expected she'd at least have a few decades before she really had to worry about it.

Unfortunately, though, she couldn't have been more wrong.

"I can't give you the exact hour," said Five, "but... from what I could gather, we have four days left."

Nadine spat out her coffee, simultaneously managing to get a stain on her fresh clothing (a black top with a pink skirt) and scalding her throat. "Four days?" she repeated.

Luther seemed just as shocked. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"It wouldn't have mattered," muttered Five.

"Of course it would," challenged Luther. "We could've banded together and helped you try to stop this thing."

Five looked up from his mug. "For the record, you already tried."

Luther's eyebrows knitted together. "What do you mean?"

Five didn't respond for a moment, merely taking another sip of coffee, his eyes vacant, awash in memories. Then he spoke, and Nadine was surprised to hear his voice was laced with sadness. She'd thought Five only had two emotions: Anger and Arrogance. But here he was, proving that he had a third.

"I found all of you," he began quietly. "The Umbrella Academy, I mean," he clarified at Nadine's wide eyes. "I found your bodies."

Luther swallowed. "We die?"

"Horribly." Five took another sip of coffee, and Nadine noticed his hands were shaking. Or maybe it was just her own vision blurring, the blood leeching out of her face as Five's words. "You were together, trying to stop whoever it was that ends the world."

"Wait, how do you know that?"

Five pulled something wrapped in cloth out of his pocket. "This was clutched in your dead hand when I found you." He held up a prosthetic eye, then tossed it to Luther, who caught it. "Must've ripped it out of their head right before you went down."

Luther held up the eye, inspecting it. "Whose head?"

"Like I said, I don't know."

"Well, there's a serial number on the back," Luther suggested. "Think maybe you could try—"

"No, that's a dead end." Five cut him off, and Nadine remembered Klaus's ramblings about a fake eye and Meritech. He must've already investigated it, and found no results. Five chuckled. "It's just another hunk of glass."

Luther passed it back to Five, and Nadine inspected the boy closely. Dark circles hung under his eyes like half-moons, and there was such hopelessness etched into his face that made Nadine feel like she'd been crushed.

And the world was ending in four days. She was going to die in four days. And she didn't know what to do.

Still, she had to ask the burning question on the forefront of her mind, now. "Why wasn't I there?" she asked. "I mean, if it really was the future, then I'd be with them, wouldn't I? Or did I go back to France?"

Before Five could respond, however, there was a loud bang as the door to Diego's confines was kicked open. The knife-toting man burst his way through, his body rigid with anger. "Piece of shit," he growled, stomping his way towards Five. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" he lunged at Five, but Luther caught him in his arms before he could touch a hair on the boy's head. "Nope, let me—" Diego started, his voice full of rage. "Get your ape hands off of me!" His feet were actually dangling off the ground at this point.

"I can do this as long as it takes for you to calm down," said Luther. Diego stopped fighting abruptly, a sigh hissing out from between gritted teeth.

"Fine."

Luther let him down. "Now, wanna tell us what you're talkin' about?"

"Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back," said Diego, his voice raw. "He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's, and then at Gimble Brothers, after the guys in masks attacked the Academy, looking for him." he pointed accusingly at Five.

"None of which is any of your concern," said Five calmly, unfazed by Diego's sharp temper.

"It is now," snapped Diego. "They just killed my friend."

"Shit," breathed Nadine. "I'm sorry, Diego."

Luther turned to the boy on the bed. "Who are they, Five?"

Five swallowed. "They work for my former employer. A woman called The Handler. She sent them... to stop me. Then, soon as Diego's friend got in their way... well, fair game."

Nadine furrowed her brow. The Handler. She'd heard that name before. Where had she heard that name?

She was cut off from her train of thought by Diego's snarl. "And now they're my fair game," he spat. "And I'm going to see to it they pay."

He began to stride off, making his way back out of the room. Five called after him, "That would be a mistake, Diego. They've killed people far more dangerous than you."

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Diego slammed the door behind him, leaving Nadine, Luther, and Five in silence. Nadine swallowed and decided to be the first to break it.

"I've been... I haven't been telling you the truth, Luther," she said carefully. "Those guys in masks... I've seen them before. Before they attacked the Academy, I mean."

Luther whirled to her. "What?"

Nadine pulled back the collar of her shirt to relieve the bullet scar still etched into her skin. "They were the ones who did this to me. They tried to kill me. Twelve years ago. I don't know why, I just know that they did."

"I told you, you were a threat to the timeline," said Five. "Meaning that your existence caused an anomaly; it changed something about the future. The timeline is supposed to stay the same; you threatened it. So they had no choice but to send out some goons to eliminate you before you did."

Nadine leaned closer to Five. "What could I possibly change?"

The boy rolled his shoulders back; swallowed again. Hesitated before saying, "Your file says that it's possible that your life might be just the thing that keeps the apocalypse from happening."

"What?"

In that moment, Nadine swore her heart stopped beating. Blood rushed in her ears, and her vision went cloudy, and she sat there for a moment, trying to keep herself from trembling. Five's words echoed in her head, again and again. Your life might be just the thing that keeps the apocalypse from happening.

"You-you can't be serious," Nadine breathed, once her vision had dissolved back into focus. She was so astounded she could barely find the words in English, and had to translate everything in her head before saying it aloud. "How is that—how is that even possible?"

"I don't know," Five admitted. "But I know that the data didn't lie; I saw it myself. There is a possibility that your existence saves the world, Nadine Vidal."

Luther slumped back. "Holy shit."

"No, there must have been a mistake," said Nadine, vehemently shaking her head. "I mean... I would understand if it was someone in the Umbrella Academy... but me? I'm not trained like you all are. I'm no superhero. I'm just..." the word escaped her, and she sat back, shaking her head.

"Wait," said Luther, after a minute. "Those guys in masks, Chazel and Ha-ha—"

"Hazel and Cha-Cha," Five corrected.

"Yeah, them. They failed to take Nadine out. She's still alive. So, doesn't that mean the apocalypse won't happen?"

Five just shook his head. "No, the file said she only had a chance of stopping it. It could full well go on even with her alive. But the Commission doesn't take chances. That's why they sent Hazel and Cha-Cha after her."

"I think they know, now," Nadine admitted. Her heart was still beating like a frantic hummingbird in her chest, and she was finding it hard to draw breath. "That I'm alive. I used—I used the same illusion on Hazel that I used on the two of them twelve years ago. It wouldn't take much detective work to piece it together."

Five let out a sigh. "So they'll be after you now, too. I should've anticipated that you'd cross paths eventually. Just keep your guard up and try to survive for the next few days. If that's not too much to ask."

"Oh, no, should be easy." Sarcasm laced Nadine's tone, and she crossed her arms, staring the boy down. "A real piece of cake, not dying from two murderous assassins."

"Okay, can we get back to the point?" Luther cut in. He seemed over the conversation of Nadine potentially being a world-saviour—probably because he was a little salty it wasn't him, Nadine thought. "'Former employer?' What's this really about, Five? And don't give us any of this 'it's none of your business' crap, all right?"

Five took another sip of coffee, nearly draining his mug. Nadine took a sip of her own just to have something to do with her hands. After Five swallowed, he said, "Well, it's a long story."

Luther sat down, and Nadine opened the bag of breakfast sandwiches, preparing herself. "Who's hungry?"

FIVE HAD TOLD NADINE that he'd been employed by the Commission before, but she hadn't really thought about what that meant. Now, sitting here, listening to the boy weave the tale of his meeting with The Handler and subsequent recruitment into the organization, she finally realized what he'd been talking about. Five, just like Hazel and Cha-Cha, had been an assassin, recruited to take out flaws in the timeline, errors in the code, just like Nadine. She realized then that if it had been him who was assigned to take her out twelve years ago, it was more than likely that she really would've been dead.

Luther had prepared more coffee, but Nadine passed on her cup, so Luther just handed one to Five. He seemed equally as in shock as Nadine was. His voice was quieter, less full of the strength it had been before Five started giving them answers. "So..." he began, "you were a hitman?"

Five took his cup. "Yes."

"Uh... I mean, you had a code, right? You didn't kill just anybody."

Nadine already knew the answer before Five said it, because it was obvious. She'd been just anybody, and she'd still been in the way. She'd still been an error that had to be corrected.

"No code," Five confirmed. "We took out anyone who messed with the timeline."

"What about innocent people?" asked Luther.

Five raised his head. "It was the only way I could get back here."

The thought made Nadine's world swim in front of her, the floor swooping under her feet and Five's deadpan face sway slightly. Her heart pounded even harder and heavy, her palms sweat, and her breathing came erratically, weakly. Her chest was tight like it had been wound up, and she closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths.

Once she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at Five with as much bravery as she could muster, even though she simultaneously wanted to run away and bash the boy's skull in. He'd killed people. Innocent people. Blasted their brains in and left them to writhe.

Nadine may have been a volcano spewing magma, yet she'd never taken a life. Couldn't dream of letting someone's spirit leech out of the vessel that was their body, couldn't imagine the life fading from their eyes. But Five... he hadn't had any qualms about ending innocents if it meant he could escape the apocalypse. He'd been so desperate to see his family again, he'd taken up the gun. Nadine wondered if she could ever be that selfish.

"But that's murder," Luther breathed.

"Jesus, Luther, grow up," snapped Five. "We're not kids anymore. There's no such thing as good guys or bad guys. There's just people, goin' about their lives. But when the world ends, all those people die, including our family." He sighed. "Time changes everything."

"Fuck off," Nadine snapped, her vision clearing, if blurring into red slightly. "You can't seriously think that way. You... you killed people, innocent people, who just fucking wanted to go about their lives. You..." she balled her fists together. She'd never felt like this before. Angry and terrified. "You would've killed me, too. To go back to your family."

"Maybe, maybe not," said Five, leaning in closer to Nadine. "You're... somehow, the Commission thinks that you might help prevent the apocalypse. I wouldn't kill you if it meant you could provide a future for me and my family."

"So that's why you wanted me alive," hissed Nadine, everything slowly coming together. "Not because I'm an innocent human being, but because you think I'm somehow a piece in this fucking apocalypse puzzle."

"Exactly," said Five, his voice calm, oblivious to the way Nadine was trembling in fury. "But do you think it really matters why I want you alive? Against all odds, you haven't died yet, and it's because of my help. But if you go storming back off to France, Hazel and Cha-Cha will find you. And they will kill you. They made a rookie mistake, but they won't do it again."

This seemed like it was supposed to be the end of the conversation, but that was when it happened. Nadine's head began to hum, the blue beginning to spark to life. Instead of using Vanya's advice, and quelling the illusion that was desperately trying to take shape, Nadine let it. With a splay of her hand, she formed a direct replica of her eighteen-year-old self, her hair hanging at her shoulders and her face fresh as a raindrop. Her sun-kissed cheeks were contorted into a smile, and she wore a white dress that hung just above her ankles. She was nearly a perfect duplicate of a princess, except for her knuckles, which were split and newly healing.

Nadine gestured at her eighteen-year-old self. She'd drawn the image from the depths of her mind, recalling pictures that hung in her hotel room and were locked on her old phone. It may have not been exact—Nadine would need an actual picture to do that—but it was close enough, and by the recognition in Five's eyes (and Luther's—she'd made the image available for both of them) she could tell he knew who it was.

"This is who Hazel and Cha-Cha tried to kill!" she spat. "This is who got twelve years of trauma and nightmares, who couldn't stop fucking flinching every time someone put a hand on her shoulder or slammed a door too loud. This is who you think was supposed to be lying in a fucking grave! Vous êtes sans cœur, Five!" You're heartless, Five.

Before the boy could respond, Nadine was already storming out of the room much like Diego had. Bitter tears welled in her eyes, but she was determined not to let them fall. She couldn't. She couldn't show Five that sometimes, she felt just like the weakling she'd used to be.

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HAVEN: welcome to this week's episode of five being an asshole!! this time, we have him saving nadine only for his own selfish purposes!! :))

okay, so this was sort of a complicated chapter, and i want to explain a couple things about the alternate timeline and why five didn't see nadine in the apocalypse:

basically, five travelled to the future forty-five years ago, when he was thirteen. this was before the commission recorded nadine's anomaly, so the commission hadn't sent the agents to find her yet (in terms of the commission timeline-- a couple chapters ago, hazel and cha-cha mentioned that they travelled back to 2007 two years ago). so, she actually ended up dying in the apocalypse timeline, and therefore didn't show up when five came. but, if five travelled there now, he WOULD find her, because hazel and cha-cha had already travelled there, and inadvertently saved her life. also, if you're wondering how they didn't figure out that nadine would die, all i have to say is that the commission doesn't catch everything, which is evidenced by the fact that hazel canonically failed to kill multiple of his targets (and wasn't caught). sorry if that's confusing, but just roll with it, okay?

anyway, we're almost done act one! i'm super excited for act two, since i feel like it's when things get more interesting, and we find out more about nadine's backstory!! she's really messed up, lmfaoo.

thank you for reading <3