▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅
❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘ. ᴘᴀʀᴋᴇʀ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚  ▎❛ 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴡʜʏ ᴅᴏ ᴡᴇ ᴋᴇᴇᴘ
ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪs ᴛᴏ ᴏᴜʀsᴇʟᴠᴇs? ꒱


❝ WELL, I FIGURED OUR
SIBLINGS BETTER GET USED
TO IT IF WE'RE GOING TO
MAKE THINGS PERMANENT
SOMETIME SOON ❞

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Now that Ben no longer felt like he had been run over by a truck (multiple times), he could recall his strange dreams from the night before. The small town that had been featured in them was picturesque, the kind one might find in a Hallmark movie. Snow had blanketed the landscape and the citizens were running a Christmas market. He hadn't seen much more than that, but there was something that tugged on his mind; a need to see this town in person unlike anything he'd ever felt before. However, he wasn't one to openly share his feelings— especially with people he barely tolerated— so he stayed silent as Five lifted the creepy kid's mask from the top of the box.

"Ah, our good friends Hazel and Cha-Cha," Klaus commented, staying as far away from the 'germy' stuff as possible. "I wonder how they're doing. Do you think they ever got out of the apocalypse and lived full, happy, non-murderousy lives?"

Five glanced over at his brother, his expression flat. "I can't speak for Cha-Cha, but Hazel died for us, remember? The Swedes put about twenty bullets in his stomach while I blinked away."

Klaus' thoughtful look turned into a grimace. "Right."

Underneath the mask were a collection of interesting items in addition to the Marigold they'd seen last night. Diego nudged Five out of the way as payback for the hand slap from earlier— earning a glare from the brunet— and sifted haphazardly through the box to find the most intriguing piece. He tugged out a wrinkled, yellowed newspaper article that had a picture of him and Viktor on it (though it was from before Viktor transitioned.) Both of them were on a stage holding guitars with amps on the floor nearby. A banner hung above them that showed off the name Prime-8s. The story title read: 'THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY' SUPERHEROES PERFORM IN CONCERT.

Diego looked at the paper uncomprehendingly. "When the hell did we have a band? And why am I blond? But, most importantly, why would our genre be punk rock?"

Wanting to get in on the discoveries, Alexa went to Five's other side and looked through the box herself, earning a groan of annoyance from her boyfriend. "This is no way to conduct an investigation! How the hell are we supposed to figure out anything if you're trampling all over the evidence?"

"Relax, old man; it's been a few years since you've been on the team. Without your nagging, this is just how we work," the blonde chided him lightly, grabbing one of the more artful objects. It turned out to be a comic book. The Umbrella Academy were no strangers to having comic books about themselves, but this one seemed. . . different. She recognized it as her art; the cover was styled in red and black with the Eiffel Tower depicted on the front, in addition to her siblings and Reginald. The noticeable difference, though, was that she was missing. The title read: The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1.

Five raised a brow, leaning closer to examine the comic book in Alexa's hands. He scoffed at the title. "Of course they'd capitalize on our disasters."

Alexa's brow furrowed. "Yeah, but look— I'm not in this. That's my art, but they just cut me out." She flipped through the pages, scanning for any sign of herself but found none. "I guess I wasn't important enough in this timeline."

"Or maybe you were too important," he suggested, his eyes narrowing as he considered the implications. "It wouldn't be the first time Reginald rewrote history."

"I'm not sure I want to know what other versions of us are out there," Viktor commented. He'd reluctantly joined in the search, driven by a desire to know if anything related to Sissy was in the box. He placed down a photograph that showed a version of himself in a sleek suit, standing next to Allison and Luther in what looked like a family reunion— except there was no sign of the tension that usually accompanied those events. Everyone looked. . . happy. "It's almost unsettling, knowing we had better lives."

Allison glanced at the picture, then rolled her eyes and scoffed. "This whole thing's ridiculous. You two never had a band and a whole comic book series based on our lives? Who writes this crap?"

Lila smirked, her eyes scanning the assortment of items that were in the process of being strewn across the floor. "Someone with a lot of time on their hands," she teased, pulling out a crumpled map from beneath a rusted monocle. She unfolded the map, smoothing out its creases. "Look at this," she said, holding it up for the others to see. Her finger pointed to a town circled in red ink: New Grumpson, Maine. Next to it, in the same handwriting, was the name Jennifer. "This place ring a bell for anyone? And who is this Jennifer chick?"

The room fell silent as everyone stared at the map, waiting for recognition to spark. Ben stiffened slightly, his strange dreams from the night before creeping back into his mind— the picturesque town, the snow-covered streets, the Christmas market.

"New Grumpson?" Diego repeated dubiously. "What the hell is that? Sounds made up."

"I've never heard of it," Ben spoke up, his unnecessarily defensive tone causing a few of the siblings to raise their eyebrows at him. "Or the girl's name. I don't even know any Jennifers."

"No one was cross-examining you, buddy," Luther reassured him with a smile. He joined his siblings at the coffee table to study the map with them. "Why is it circled so many times? Does it feel. . . important to anyone?"

Alexa tilted her head, as if seeing the town name from a different angle would change its meaning. "Do you think that's where the lady is from? Or could that be her real name? Maybe she found the Marigold there?"

"Those are a lot of ifs," Allison retorted. "Why would the Marigold be from some out-of-the-way, no-name town? How could it have made its way here? How did that lady— who we know nothing about, might I add— know that we're the people she was looking for?"

"These are lots of good questions, sisters-mine," Lila said, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. Her eyes were bright with excitement at the prospect of a new mission. "We won't know unless we go; let's get our asses in the car and this show on the road!"

Viktor shared a look with Five. "What do you think?"

He looked at the various items thoughtfully, his gaze lingering on the circled town and the name Jennifer. Unease settled over him like a heavy blanket. There was something about this map— something that felt like more than just coincidence. He frowned deeply, his mind turning over the possibilities.

"I think it's too specific to ignore," Five finally said, his voice low and measured. "I've seen plenty of weird things in my time. A town being circled this many times with a name attached to it— there's something there."

"Great," Allison grunted with sarcastic cheer, "nothing says 'family bonding' like a thirteen-hour road trip in a glorified piece of scrap metal."

Diego whirled on her, pointing a finger in her face. "Hey. Don't talk about Wanda like that! She's an old dame; you have to treat her with respect."

The brunette made a rather childish face at him. "Whatever. Just don't use the word dame again."

Alexa couldn't help but feel a little excited herself; it had been a long time since they'd all banded together for anything. If there was one thing that these past few years— decades? Time was hard to tell when you were moving back and forth through it— had taught her, it was to treasure these moments because it could all change in an instant. She caught Five's gaze with her blue eyes sparking with eagerness. "Really? Are we really doing this?"

He looked around at their siblings, who seemed mostly on board if not reluctantly so. "It looks like it."

Diego pulled his keys from his pocket and flipped them around his fingers. "Hell yeah, we're doing this."

As the siblings gathered what items they'd brought with them, Lila pulled her husband aside. "As willing to do this as I am, you do realize that we have three small children, right?"

Before he could reply, Luther, who'd overheard her, called out to them: "hey— don't worry about that! Sarah will be happy to take them in! Claire can come over, too, and help her out. We've got you covered."

--

It took some time before they were finally ready to go, but Diego's enthusiasm was no less present as they made their way out to Wanda. "First mission back, baby!" he exclaimed as he fumbled a bit to open the doors. "We're back!"

Lila shoved her way to the front of the Hargreeves. "I'm in the front!"

Five mercilessly pushed her out of the way and claimed shotgun himself. The brunette quickly brushed off the annoyance and hopped in the back next to Klaus and Allison. As Alexa made to find her own seat, he leaned out of the car and grasped her wrist, tugging her to a stop. "I don't think so, missy."

She turned back to him, confused. "Huh?"

"Remember '63?" he asked. When she shook her head, he gave her arm another insistent pull. "You made me sit in your lap. Consider this payback."

Recognition finally downed on her and her cheeks flushed a light pink. "Oh! That was so long ago; you still remember that?" When his expression didn't change, she willingly climbed into the front and settled herself on his legs, leaning back against his chest. "But this is a much longer drive. Are you sure—?"

"Hush," he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist (next to them, Diego rolled his eyes very obviously.) "Of course I'm sure."

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

[ hour one ]

Baby Shark.

On repeat.

Viktor groaned, resting his head on the back of his seat. "God! Will you please turn that song off?"

"I can't. It's stuck," Diego replied tersely.

The only one who seemed to be remotely enjoying the song was Klaus, who absentmindedly nodded along to the beat as he stared out the window. Occasionally, he would give into the urge of the catchy tune and mumble along, "daddy shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo. . ."

Five retracted his arms from around Alexa's waist and rubbed at his temples irately, muttering, "I've survived apocalypses with less psychological damage than this."

The blonde glanced up from the comic she'd brought along (she was almost done with it and there was still nothing in there about her) to give him a half-amused, half-reproachful look. "As happy as I am that you're at a place to joke about that sort of thing, I'm not sure if that's helping."

Allison sighed, shifting in her seat as she crossed her arms, her jaw tightly set. "We're all going to lose our minds before we hit the first rest stop, aren't we?"

"That does seem to be the general consensus," Luther agreed, his tone the most cheerful of the group, which earned him a few glares— especially when he added, "look at the bright side, at least it's not Wheels on the Bus."

"Don't. You. Dare," Viktor warned him, twisting around to pin his brother with a glare.

--

[ hour three ]

Let's go hunt, doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo
Let's go—

The siblings breathed a sigh of relief as Diego finally turned the car off at the gas station. This time, he was the one to turn around and give his siblings a stern look. "Okay dimwit brigade, this is how it's gonna work: we're getting gas and that's it. No snacks, no bathroom breaks, no—"

He broke off as Allison opened the door. "What-what are you doing? What did I just say? You get back in this car right now—"

Then Lila smirked at him and piled out after her sister-in law, followed by Viktor, who climbed over the seat. Diego glared at his remaining siblings. "If you're not back in your seats in fifteen minutes, I'm leaving you here. Got it?"

"Sure, sure, Go-Go," Alexa said, patting his arm with a more condescending tone than he would've liked. She opened the passenger's door and climbed off Five's lap so he could get up, too. "Come on, I'm sure they've got coffee inside."

He let out a heavy sigh. "And I'm sure that wet cement would be more palatable than whatever a gas station has to offer."

Of course, none of them managed to meet the preset time limit. The closest pair (who were, naturally, the oldest) returned an extra ten minutes later, having gotten caught up in an impromptu make-out session since this was the first time away from the prying eyes of their siblings for hours. When they returned, Diego noticed Alexa's brighter eyes and pink cheeks and Five's mussed hair, to which he scoffed disapprovingly. But, even if he disagreed with why they were late, at least they had been more on time than Lila, who delayed their departure by a whole thirty minutes (with the claim that she couldn't decide what candy to. . . ahem, 'buy.')

Unfortunately, the moment the car started back up again, they were met with the same Baby Shark song. Also, they probably should have put restrictions on what kinds of snacks were allowed; Klaus had gone with a nasty-smelling green drink that stank up the whole car as soon as he opened it. Lila wrinkled her nose, having the unfortunate luck of sitting right next to him. "Oh my God, that smells rancid."

Klaus remained unaffected by it and took a sip. "What? You don't like my kale-kiwi-carrot-cabbage kombucha? It's good for the soul and great for the bowels."

His words were met with groans of disgust as Lila grumbled, "I'm throwing that bottle out the window."

--

[ hour eight ]

Night had fallen now and most of the Hargreeves were resting in various uncomfortable positions, drained from their natural state of chaos. Alexa had finally convinced Five to let her sit in a normal seat, so she'd slid into the middle of the bench between him and Diego. While her new healing powers provided her with a so far inexplicable source of extra energy, she was still getting used to it and had crashed shortly after. Her head rested on Five's shoulder while the man himself was still awake, used to long days and short nights. He held her hand in his and subtly played with her fingers as his powers had also made him lean towards the more fidgety side.

Diego was also awake due to his role as driver, though not by much; he slapped himself occasionally to stay alert. Although the two brothers didn't always see eye-to-eye— the blonde between them being their main point of contention— Five would rather not find their family driven into a ditch come morning. So, he offered in a low voice, "you want a break? I can drive."

That seemed to perk the other man right up. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. "I'm not letting you near Wanda. You're barely old enough to have a driver's license!"

The brunet shot him a baleful look. "I'm old enough to tell you that you should listen to your elders. And by elders, I mean me. You're practically falling asleep at the wheel!"

"I am not," he grumbled. "This damn song won't let me."

"That's reassuring," Five remarked sarcastically, "knowing that the only thing keeping us between staying on the road and certain death is a nursery school sing-along."

His brother huffed. "Besides, if you did take over for me, you'd have to lose your weighted blanket."

Five and glanced at Alexa, who was entirely unaware of their not-so-quiet conversation as she continued to sleep peacefully. "I suppose that's a fair point."

There were a few minutes of silence between them until Diego decided to ask the question that he— and several of their siblings— had been wondering. "So. . . when are you going to propose?"

He started at the change of subject. "I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. Like I was saying earlier, it's not cool to keep stringing her along if you don't intend to marry her. Now that we don't have prying ears, I thought you'd be more open to talking about it," Diego explained.

Five shifted the hand that wasn't holding onto Alexa's to slip it into his jacket pocket. His fingers ran over the velvety material of the ring box that he refused to part with— after all, he never knew when the best time to 'pop the question' was going to happen, and he liked to be prepared for anything. Knowing Diego's feelings about their relationship, he asked cautiously (with a hint of dryness in his tone), "if I said yes, would you give us your blessing?"

"Not likely," the older man replied sardonically. "But it's not like you care about my opinion. I just want to make sure you do right by her after all the shit you put her through."

"I don't need your blessing," Five agreed evenly, "but I do intend to do right by her."

"You'd better," he retorted. Then, his tone softened a little as his gaze fell briefly on his sister before it returned to the road. "You're not the only one who loves her, you know. I don't want her getting hurt again."

"I won't hurt her," Five said, his voice full of conviction. "Not again."

Diego gave him a single, slightly jerky nod. "Just making sure. Because if you do, you'll have more than just her to answer to." There was another pause, then he offered in a tone so quiet it could be easily missed: "just. . . whenever it does happen, make sure you tell us, okay? Even if I— or we— don't always agree with your choices, we're still your family."

"Noted," Five responded, but the word was lost easily under the constant loop of Baby Shark and whether Diego actually heard him or not was left unsaid.

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

They finally arrived on the outskirts of New Grumpson later the next morning. Everyone was sore and rather grumpy from the long car ride, though it felt good to get out and stretch their legs. Noticing the telephone booth on a nearby street corner, Five went over to it and checked the directory. Unfortunately, his search yielded no results.

"Not a single person named Jennifer in the entire town," he told them as he returned to the group. "How is that possible? It's, what, in the top one thousand names for women? Someone has to be named Jennifer."

"Gee, only a thousand?" Lila remarked. "You couldn't have gotten any more specific, could you?"

Five glared at her but before he could reply, Alexa pointed out, "well, it's a small town. Maybe there's not even a thousand people in residence. That would change the odds, wouldn't it?"

Allison brushed off the discovery. "Well, we'll have a look around. If she's here and there's that few people, we'll find her."

Ben scoffed at their blasé attitude. "This is why you do recon, assholes."

"Recon? Why are you saying 'recon?' We're not the A-Team," Viktor snarked.

"Oh, really?" Ben retorted. "Shit. You fooled me."

Diego didn't like his tone and rounded on him quickly. "At least we still have a team."

Ben bristled at the implication and squared off with him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Oblivious to the building tension, Luther called out cheerfully, "okay, everybody. Look over here and smile!" Somehow, he'd located a camera— it might've been in the trunk, which had been his seat for their road trip.

"What?"

He ignored their protests as they begrudgingly got into position. Diego paused their fight for a moment to wrap his arm around Ben with forced companionability. Lila realized what was happening with a gasp and covered her eyes. Alexa grinned brightly and wrapped her arm around Five, though it was a bit of a reach due to their height difference. Her boyfriend shot the camera a disgruntled look in response. Viktor reached up to rub at the headache that was forming while Allison squinted at her brother in confusion. Klaus didn't change position and kept his expression neutral.

The flash went off.

Ben freed himself from Diego's arm as soon as possible. "You know what? Screw this. One or two of you are fine. But all of you together? You're a bunch of drooling, stunted toddlers. I'm going back to my penthouse downtown."

Luther didn't hesitate to call after him, "uh, Ben? That penthouse belongs to the federal government now."

"Shut the hell up, Luther."

They snickered as their sort-of brother walked away, revealing a lone tentacle that had slipped out from where it was hiding underneath his jacket.

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

They decided that splitting up would make the search for 'Jennifer' go faster. Leaving Klaus in charge of the car— which admittedly wasn't the best option, but the only one they had at this point— they broke into two teams: Luther, Viktor and Allison on one, while Alexa went with Five, Diego and Lila. The latter pair drifted off to find their own way for a bit while the blonde gasped happily at the sight of the small fair that had been set up. "Ooh, a Christmas market! Let's go look, let's go look!"

She grabbed his wrist and tugged impatiently on his arm. Five stayed put and gave her a stern look. "We're here on a mission, Lexa. You have to stay focused."

Alexa sighed and turned to face him. "I really didn't want to have to do this."

"Do. . . what?"

She let her expression fall into a pout— the kind that always let her get her way— and rounded her eyes into a kicked-puppy look. "It wouldn't hurt to check it out, would it?"

He groaned in response, his gaze moving around shiftily as he tried to look everywhere but at her. Eventually, her pleading eyes were too much for even him to bear and he, expectedly, caved. "Fine," he grumbled, "but while we're here, we will ask around about Jennifer."

As soon as Five relented, Alexa's face brightened with victory, her pout vanishing in an instant. "Thank you!" she chirped, already pulling him toward the market's festive stalls before he could change his mind. The air was crisp, filled with the mingling scents of pine, spiced cider, and roasting chestnuts. Holiday lights twinkled around them and the sound of carolers singing Christmas songs filled the air.

They strolled past rows of vendors, some selling handmade ornaments, others offering scarves and mittens. Alexa's eyes darted between stalls, her excitement bubbling over as they moved through the market. Five walked beside her, scanning their surroundings with his usual sharpness, though he couldn't help but notice how Alexa practically. . . glowed under the holiday lights.

"You want anything to drink?" he asked suddenly, his tone casual but the shift in his behavior causing Alexa to narrow her eyes in suspicion.

"Wait. . . you're actually getting into this whole Christmas thing?" she teased, raising an eyebrow.

Five shrugged nonchalantly. "You dragged me here. Might as well make the best of it."

"Hmm," she mused, clearly unconvinced but willing to let it slide. "Okay then. Peppermint hot chocolate, please!"

He nodded and disappeared for a moment, returning with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. Alexa took hers, smiling as the warmth seeped into her fingers. Her new powers actually helped against the chill and she found that she was running warmer than she used to, so she'd left her coat in the car, but she still enjoyed the feeling of the heat of the drink. She blew on its surface before she took a careful sip, her eyes lighting up as the minty sweetness hit her tongue.

"This is really good," she said, taking another sip. Five merely watched her, an almost imperceptible smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

After a few more sips, she noticed his gaze lingering on her, that knowing glint in his eye making her curious. "What?" she asked, brow furrowing.

He didn't respond at first, but then, in one quick, confident motion, he stepped closer, placing his hands on her waist and leaning in to kiss her. The minty warmth of her drink transferred onto his lips as they shared a brief, soft kiss. Alexa blinked in surprise, caught off guard by how spontaneous and public the gesture was— something Five rarely did.

As he pulled away, he smirked at the pleased, flushed look of her face and smiled in a self-satisfied way. After staring at him in shock for a second, she mumbled shyly, "someone's getting bold."

He shrugged and stuck his hands into his pockets— unbeknownst to her, running his fingers over the velvet box in what was quickly becoming a habit— his cocky expression never wavering. "Well, I figured our siblings better get used to it if we're going to make things permanent sometime soon," Five said casually, though his words carried a heavier implication that Alexa didn't miss.

She froze, her eyes widening as she stared at him in disbelief. "Permanent?" she echoed, her voice soft and laced with awe.

He glanced at her, a twinkle in his eyes that only appeared when he was planning something especially brilliant. "What? You thought I'd let you get away?"

Alexa blinked, trying to wrap her head around his meaning. "Are you. . .?"

Five smirked again, clearly enjoying her reaction. "You'll find out soon enough."

☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

Across town, Ben was having a much less enjoyable time. As innocent as New Grumpson looked, the small town had an eerie feel, almost like he'd been here before. In a way, he had been— in his dreams. He'd recognized it as soon as he'd walked past the Christmas market. That had made the desire to leave even stronger, so he looked for the nearest bus stop. That was how he'd stumbled across the diner that he was currently entering.

It was the typical hometown-style restaurant with a retro aesthetic. There weren't many patrons sitting at the tables, which he was grateful for; talking to someone was the last thing he wanted. Dealing with the Umbrellas never made for a good day, but on top of a thirteen hour road trip with them? His head was throbbing with an ache that not even Alexa's newfound healing abilities could fix. (He should know— he'd had it while he'd been sick, and it had persisted until now.) All he wanted was peace and quiet away from the babbling of morons. Unfortunately, he didn't quite get his wish as one of the town's do-gooders noticed him take a seat. The older man leaned towards him with interest. "First time to New Grumpson?"

Ben sighed and massaged his temples. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't have the bandwidth for whimsical small-town bullshit."

"Don't mind him, he likes to talk," a new voice spoke up and a menu was placed in front of him. The brunet lifted his head reluctantly to take in the woman who stood before him.

Ben had always been an extremely practical person. He had never believed in things like love at first sight or fate; those were sentiments reserved for fairytales only. He didn't even consider the woman beautiful or drop-dead gorgeous. She was pretty, certainly, but she didn't make the world around him screech to a halt. She didn't stun him with striking eyes or a charming smile. To put it bluntly, he honestly considered her just above average. (In his previous, true timeline, he'd scored dates with supermodels due to his Sparrow Academy status, so she would be hard-pressed to beat that competition.)

But, there was something undeniable about her that he couldn't ignore. He didn't know what it was; perhaps it was from a dream of a dream or some long-ago inkling he'd had a faint impression of. There was a sort of recognition that passed between them, a meeting of two souls saying 'oh, I know you. We have been here before.'

The air around them did change, but not in the romantic sense; more in the way there was a calm before a storm. The older man who had previously been so cordial shifted next to him, his gray eyes becoming steely as he watched the interaction. Ben— with his Sparrow Academy training— picked up on the subtle signs of danger that were beginning to appear in the once innocuous diner. Since no one presented an immediate threat, he acted like he didn't notice the difference. Instead, he pressed his fingertips more firmly against his forehead as his headache flared with new intensity.

The waitress— whose nametag read Rosie— stood there, seemingly oblivious to both the serious sense of déjà vu Ben was experiencing and the man's shift in attitude. She tilted her head slightly, offering the brunet a small, polite smile. "What can I get you?"

He forced himself to relax, easing the tension in his shoulders. "Just coffee," he muttered, hoping that the caffeine would take his mind off things.

She nodded and turned toward the counter, leaving the Asian man alone with his thoughts. The older man continued to stare at him with a hostility that was veiled as curiosity. But the scrutiny wasn't what concerned Ben. It was the waitress, or rather, the sense that something larger was happening. It wasn't destiny, though— there was no such thing as gods or higher beings when he, himself, had godlike abilities. But there was something there that was keeping him from pulling away easily.

She returned with the coffee, setting the cup down. "You staying long?" she asked.

Ben stared at her for a moment, gauging her question. He decided to play it safe. "Depends. What's there to do in this town?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. He didn't care about New Grumpson or even the Hargreeves' mission of finding whoever this Jennifer person was. He was here for the bus stop and nothing more. But her presence tugged something out of him— a curiosity he couldn't explain, one that felt strangely out of character.

"Not much," she replied with a shrug. "It's a quiet place. People usually pass through on their way to something else."

"So, what made you stay?" he asked, taking a sip of the coffee she'd handed him without putting cream or sugar in it.

Rosie's gaze flicked towards the gray-haired man next to them. She let out a little self-deprecating scoff, her lips quirking in a way that made Ben notice she had dimples. "I haven't always wanted to. There was a time I did, see what's out there. But. . . that ship has sailed. I bought this place. Rent is cheap." She gestured to the man. "The people here are friendly; Gary's almost like a weird uncle to me."

The older man huffed out a laugh, his expression becoming marginally fonder as he met the woman's gaze. "Didja really have to put the weird in there, Ro?"

"You're the one who goes to those creepy cult meetings on the weekends," the brunette retorted. "I'm glad you have a hobby but literally anything else would've been better."

He shrugged. "I'm the sheriff; I gotta make sure I'm keeping my town safe from. . . interlopers." At the last word, his eyes hardened as his attention turned back to Ben.

". . . Right," Ben agreed warily. He set his coffee down and glanced out the window, the unease of the man's unwavering stare crawling up his spine. "What time does that bus get here again? Not that I'm in a hurry or anything."

"That bus hasn't stopped here in years," she told him unapologetically.

"What?"

"I keep the sign up for tourists. You know, they sit, they wait, they get hungry. They come in," the brunette explained.

"Of course," he muttered, cursing his luck (or lack thereof.)

A/n: there are two things I'd like to note about this chapter. 1) I know Diego's van only had two front seats, but some old cars like that do have bench seats and no center console. Since it made it more logical with an eighth member and literally changed nothing, that's why it's different in this version.

2) For those of you who read both Wastelands of Time and this book, you'll recognize the Ben/Jennifer plotline. I know using it twice is kind of lazy, but I don't have the time/motivation/creativeness to make two completely different arcs. They won't be completely the same, especially where the ending is concerned, but I will be sharing a majority of the dialogue between the stories. Just think of it this way: with part of the chapter already written, it will help me update faster!