▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘ. ᴘᴀɴ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʟᴇᴀɴ ᴏɴ ᴍᴇ
( ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ sᴛʀᴏɴɢ ) ꒱


❝ THE COMMISSION NEEDED
TO BE PROTECTED ❞

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

"This is just a bunch of bureaucratic bullshit," Five complained as they climbed the stairs. "There's no clear directives about crisis management. You know, Lila, I shouldn't even be here. I was. . . I was out. I was done! And yet, here I am, swept back into the chaos. Why can't I escape this hellhole?" He reached up and itched the back of his neck.

Alexa's gaze caught his action and her eyes narrowed at the familiarity of it. Lila remained oblivious as she replied: "because you love it."

They entered the open space of the atrium. As they crossed to the other side, a sound besides their conversation echoed in the room: the boy's fart made them pause. He held out his hands sarcastically. "My bad."

The British woman remained unperturbed. "Face it, Five. Apocalypse problems are the only things that get your heart pumping. Not even your pretty, blonde girlfriend could distract you enough."

The boy itched his neck again. "I don't know why people keep saying that. I don't actually like chaos. I don't want disorder. I. . . I want retirement. And I'd say that Lexa's pretty damn good at distracting me."

Alexa's face burned hot as Lila let out an amused chuckle. "Yeah, right. What? A normal life with groceries and taxes? You would die of boredom."

"That's not true!" the blonde cut in sharply. "We were just talking about this the other day. Five even said he wanted to cross things off on my list—"

"Ugh, you made a list? How cheesy is that?" Lila mocked her lightly.

She responded defensively: "yeah, well, you're even less cut out for domestic bliss than Five is."

They crossed the open space of the atrium and he opened the far door. The woman stopped  before she crossed over the threshold. "'Course I'm bloody not. Thank God!" Lila followed the pair and when she spoke again, she addressed the other teen: "I mean, maybe it's a tone thing? I don't know but you could really work on, like, the way you speak. It's very. . . irritating."

"I happen to like the sound of his voice," Alexa retorted defensively. The two women continued to argue about how  he could improve himself (or stay the same) as they climbed over the obstacles in the hallway. After his girlfriend's comment threatened to make his ears burn, Five opted to tune them out in favor of looking for the sign that they needed. 

The British woman glanced over at him the moment his expression changed. "Why are you smiling, you little pisspot?"

He pointed further down the hallway. "'Cause of that."

"Well, you could've led with that."

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Five barely managed to slide the door open before Lila pushed her way past him. "Exsqueeze me."

Alexa was more patient as she waited for him to step through first. "You're excused."

"Operations Bunker," the British woman observed. She approached the security guard and put her face near the glass panel. The device glowed blue and let out a beeping noise as it registered her features.

An alarm buzzed. "'Unauthorized access,'" a cool woman's voice reported.

Lila backed away from the door. "We're screwed." She took finally took notice of Five's disheveled appearance. "Jesus, you're sweating like a dodgy shrimp on ice. What's wrong?"

The blonde glanced over him critically. "It's Paradox Psychosis, isn't it?"

Five made an effort to play it off. "What? No. Lexa, I'm fine."

She crossed her arms against her chest and pinned him with a disbelieving look. "Fi, you told me to be honest with you about how wrong this place made me feel. Now you're gonna be a hypocrite and say that your behavior is completely normal when it so obviously isn't?"

She had him there. He should've known better than to assume that she wouldn't recognize the signs— she'd always, always been the first one to pick up on one of them being in danger. Another fart answered her question before he could. Then, he sighed. "No," he mumbled in response, looking reasonably abashed.

Lila made a sound of disgust. "You two sicken me."

In an effort to not start an argument with the British woman, Alexa pushed past her to the glass panel. While it was a far-fetched thought, Five hadn't gone up to the facial recognition to try it out himself, leaving the option open for her. She put her face against the blue, clear plate. This time, the device chimed as successful entrance was permitted. "'Access granted.'"

Five stared at her as if he'd never seen her before. "Well, that makes absolutely no sense."

Large locks turned loudly behind the entryway. Lila sighed. "I don't know how you can be essential personnel when I'm not."

The blonde shrugged as if her discovery was no big deal. "Like I said, this place feels wrong. I figured I was connected to it somehow."

The door rolled away to reveal a room that was untouched by the destruction of the timeline. It was clean and bright with fluorescent lights that glowed along the walls. The floor was a shiny, metallic tile and it had a sitting area with two chairs that stood off to one corner as if guests visited the space regularly.

As soon as they stepped into the room, all of the symptoms of the boy's oncoming Paradox Psychosis melted away. Lila went to the tube in the center of the space but he paused to take in the differences. The door slid back in place.

Alexa stayed beside him with a now-concerned expression on her face. "Are you okay?"

He smiled slightly. "You don't have to ask me that every three minutes, you know. If I feel worse, I'll tell you."

She huffed. "Well, sorry if I'm worried about you. You're even worse than I am when it comes to hiding what you're feeling. I mean, you tried to pretend like you didn't have Paradox Psychosis."

Five held up his hands appeasingly. "Okay, okay, I get the point. I promise, Lexa. I really am fine."

"Oi!" Lila called to the pair. "Are you gonna stand there chit-chatting all day or are you gonna come take a look at this scrawny old guy?"

The couple exchanged exasperated looks before they joined her. Raspy breathing sounded from the chamber to indicate that the person inside was alive. Lila gave the skinny, pale legs that stretched out towards the foot of the containment a disgusted look. The body was covered in nothing but a loincloth which showed off how emaciated the man's form was.

"That's him, huh?" Five asked. He set the manual down on the nearby table. "The founder."

"Looks like tinned beef," the woman commented. "I was expecting more man and less. . ." She lightly hit the metal casing. "Can."

Five's progress towards the vessel slowed as his gaze fell on the man's face. "It can't be."

"What's wrong?"

He took in a sharp breath. "It's. . . me."

As Lila burst out laughing, Alexa studied the wizened face of the man. "Well, of course it's you. You wouldn't have experienced Paradox Psychosis if it wasn't."

The British woman continued to chuckle. "No way. This whole time you've been complaining about the Commission and you're the one who founded it? Classic."

"If I did, I have no memory of it." Five looked over at the blonde. "You're not feeling anything, are you?"

She frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "Not more than what it was outside. It's stayed with me, even in here."

He studied the tube critically. "So what you're feeling is definitely not Paradox Psychosis because I don't have it anymore. I could feel it outside but in here, it's. . . nothing. And if you still feel wrong. . ."

A hoarse voice came interrupted his observations: "we were never able to admit that Lexa was smarter than us, were we?" The old man's eyes shifted as he struggled to look at the blonde. His voice softened when his rheumy gaze met her clear one. "Lexa. . ."

The girl made to step forward to reassure him of her presence but Five— her Five— slid an arm around her waist to pull her flush against his side. She let out a quiet sigh at his over-protectiveness but didn't protest against it. Instead, she gave old-Five a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry," she murmured, feeling her heart tug at his. . . broken state.

If possible, the old man's expression became even more fond— regretful, even. "You always were. . . kinder than I deserved," he said quietly. "I should. . . be the one. . . to apologize."

That made the boy stiffen against her. His eyes sharpened as he stared down at his counterpart. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he demanded heatedly. "What did you do to her?"

He let out a wispy breath. His attention was completely focused on the blonde as if his teen self didn't even exist. "You. . . offered to help. . . in any way you could. You always knew. . . how prioritize. The Commission needed to be protected—"

"From all time and space," the girl finished in a whisper. It was just like she was now: unable to age because of the clash of hers and Five's power from years ago. "It's a building protected from the timeline."

The old man's face creased slightly with pride as she figured it out. "I didn't. . . want to do it, but. . ."

"Lexa, what does he mean?" the boy turned to her with narrowed eyes, irritated at being ignored for so long.

She took a deep breath, knowing that he wouldn't like to hear her conclusion. "Before I tell you, you have to promise that you won't blame yourself." She met his gaze evenly and took his hands in hers to give him a reassuring squeeze. "I don't blame you, especially if my other self agreed."

Five was clearly running out of patience. "Just tell me what it is."

"Promise me first," she insisted.

He gave her a displeased look at her assertion. "Fine, I promise."

While she didn't fully believe him, Alexa continued anyway: "from my understanding, when you started the Commission, your powers could only do so much. I suppose that we were working together and the only way that the Commission could do its job was if it existed as a timeless place. So. . . you drained me of my power to help protect it from aging. That's why it feels wrong." She added softly: "I probably died after that."

Five stared at her with wide eyes and quickly took his hands from hers. He rounded on his counterpart. "Is that true? Is that what happened?" The old man gave the faintest of nods. He felt guilt— just as she'd feared— immediately swamp him. His hands curled into fists at the thought of all the worst-case scenarios. His tone was harsher than he'd ever heard it as he demanded: "if you saw that it was killing her why didn't you stop?"

"She. . . made me keep going. I didn't want to," he repeated weakly. "I knew. . . she'd do it by herself. . . if I stopped."

The boy let out a shaky breath in an effort to control his simmering anger. Lexa— his Lexa— was too self-sacrificing for her own good. It had been ingrained in her to go to extreme measures to fulfill her roll as their family's protector and it was only a matter of time before it came to a head. The fact that he'd encouraged it was unforgivable; he of all people knew how generous and altruistic she was— he'd all but taken advantage of her offer.

"Fi," the blonde breathed out, as if sensing his thoughts. She reached forward to take his hand. "I don't blame you. I'm sure it was something that we had to do to keep our family safe—"

"Don't make this try to sound good, Lexa," Five said sharply— though the resentment as all directed at him, not her.

"You promised you wouldn't blame yourself," she reminded him unhelpfully. "Besides, there's more important things to worry about than what's already happened." Without giving him a chance to protest, she turned back to the old man. "The timeline's been collapsing, things have been disappearing. I think it's a Kugelblitz." Her words earned her a wide-eyed stare from the boy. "What?" She gave her boyfriend an unimpressed look in return for his shock. "You know that I took four years of quantum physics and time theory."

The old man's head shifted in a faint nod. "Kugelblitz."

"Kugelblitz?" Lila repeated, speaking for the first time. "Is that like a cheese blintz?"

Five ignored her joking tone. "It's German for 'Ball of Lighting.' It's an extra kinky kind of black hole."

"The kind that can suck up entire timelines."

"Especially people."

"So, how do we fix it?"

His counterpart let out a raspy laugh that ended in a coughing fit. "You don't."

He spoke through gritted teeth: "if you created all of this then you must have created a solution."

After he finished choking on his humor, the man replied, "all that will be left is. . . oblivion."

"Oblivion?" Lila echoed. She leaned against the metal container. "What do you mean?"

Her action accidentally caused the latch to release. The old man's stretcher rolled out from the tube to expose him to the natural air. His full, frail body was on display and Five's eyes widened at the sight of his missing arm.

"This. . . is what you have coming."

Five finally lost his composure. He leaned towards his other self as he growled out: "listen to me, you ass. I just spent the last twenty days running around saving the world from apocalypses only to keep trying to save the world. Now I am stuck in this pubescent body, my hormones are raging and all I wanna do is go out and buy a 1970s Corvette Stingray and maybe screw my girlfriend so I don't die a virgin."

Alexa blushed a brilliant shade of red and quickly looked down at her shoes. While she was concerned about his outburst, the thought of. . . them going all the way was something she'd wanted to do but knew well enough to not voice it aloud. Now with him exclaiming about it so openly, she wondered— hoped— that he wanted to. . . be together. . . at much as she did.

"Take it easy on him, Five," Lila cut in, though her cautionary words were followed by a grimace of revulsion.

"Lila, this is between me and myself, so stay out of it. Thank you." He turned back to the old man. "Now, this Kugelblitz, it is not just some tiny leak that we can simply fix by patching a couple of pinholes. It is a giant trash compactor which is grinding up the universe and consuming it whole. So tell me how you stop it!"

"Whatever you do. . . don't save the world." The heart monitor flatlined as his counterpart finished speaking.

The boy didn't notice the device power down as he stared intently into his other self's face. "What do you mean 'don't save—' Five! How do I fix this?'"

Lila reached forward and gently checked his pulse. "He's dead, Five."

He inhaled sharply and closed his eyes against the sudden wave of pain. "Can I have the room?"

She hesitated. "Er. . . I don't think I should leave you two alone."

"Lila, I need the room."

As loath as she was to leave him, Alexa made to follow the British woman. Five would always have her unconditional support but she knew that he preferred space after emotional outbursts. Besides, if the look on his face was anything to go by, he definitely didn't want an audience. But then, before she could get too far, cool, slim fingers wrapped around her wrist.

Surprised, she turned to face the boy. "I— um— I don't mind le-leaving," she stammered out, unable to gather an explanation from his reaction.

Instead, he wordlessly tugged on her arm to spin her around and pull her towards him. Lila had left the room by now so he wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her. He bent slightly to bury his face in her blonde hair. Alexa could hear the shaky breath that he let out against her ear and the sound caused her to hold him even more tightly. She pressed her nose into the dark fabric of his blazer and closed her eyes.

Her heart ached for her boy, who was not only her best friend but also the man she loved. He'd had it the worst out of all of them and he never, ever deserved any of it. All she wanted to do was take some of the pressure off his shoulders and help him carry the burden for a little while— or longer, if he let her. Her fingers curled into the silky, black fabric as she tried to send him the message that she was feeling. After a moment, she spoke in a muffled voice: "are you okay?"

Five considered lying to her. He was so used to bottling up his emotions and moving on to the next thing, to the next danger that faced their family. But then again, she'd recognize what he was doing: hiding behind a hard-shelled exterior as a defense mechanism. She'd probably call him out on it, too. So, rather than play their usual game, he murmured a quiet: "no."

"Is there anything that I can do?"

It was hard to get the words out because the request was so uncomfortable for him to ask. (But this was Lexa, he reminded himself. She would understand. She always had.) In a voice barely louder than a whisper, he breathed out: "can. . . can you just hold me? Like this?"

Alexa didn't respond except to nod lightly against his jacket and lean into him. He accepted her invitation and let his weight sag against her smaller frame, as if his own form couldn't hold the pressure any longer. Lean on me, her message said. Take a break until you're strong again. I can hold your weight. 

A/n: ngl, this was probably one of my favorite chapters to write. In other (good) news: double updates from here on out because I've completely finished writing this book!