CHAPTER THREE: No. ONE

Lotus jumped up, ignoring Luther's previous statement on his opinions about the end of the world. She grabbed him by his jacket sleeve and dragged him down to the bar, she was glad he didn't try to stop her or else she might've flung across the room.

"What the hell is your problem, Luther?" Five exclaimed, "I just told you the world ends in ten days!"

"Yeah, well, you're always saying that."

He went to walk away again but Lotus stepped in front of him, "Might I say, technically, just technically he's been right so far."

"If you want to go save the world, knock yourself out, I already gotta job and I gotta go."

Five made a face of disgust, "Wait, you work in this shit hole too?"

"Yeah, well my boss does. Runs the two places." Luther shrugged, "I'm his body man."

"What is that, like a masseuse or something?" Five's eyes crinkled.

Luther shook his head, "Okay, you can make fun all you want but I take good care of Mr Ruby."

"Wait, Ruby?" Five's face lit up, "The Jack Ruby, the gangster who shot Oswald?"

"Yup, the one and only."

"Well it finally happened, that gorilla DNA has finally taken over your mind."

She snickered, watching the siblings interact.

"Hey, watch it. Jack's a good friend."

"And you're Number One."

Lotus rolled her eyes, "Don't remind him."

"There is no Number One, not anymore. Not in 1963."

"Now you say that." She sighed, "Jesus, you're all over the place."

"Look, I've been stranded here alone for a year." This time he addressed both of them, which was nice considering Diego acted as if she hadn't been right there sitting next to his brother. "What did you expect?"

"I get it, all right? You watched Pogo die, the world exploded, and I marooned your big dumb ass in time." Five sighed, staring up at the big man. "I'm sorry, okay? But I'm asking for your help, Luther. The Umbrella Academy needs you."

He scoffed, though he did look a little touched by Five's speech. "It doesn't need me. It never did."

A woman cleared her throat, they all turned to see the blonde from earlier. "Luther, Jack's about to lose it over some half wit. A little help?"

"Ah, shit." He started moving through the crowd, but Five was persistent and followed him.

"Luther, wait."

Luther spun around, pointing a finger in Five's face. "Listen. You're the genius who said we should jump, right? You're the one who got us stuck here. And you're the one who brought Vanya, so if they're is a doomsday coming she's probably the cause."

Five pursed his lips while Lotus frowned, Luther wasn't done with his own big speech. "And if I was gonna do something about it, it sure as hell is not gonna be with you."

"To hell with not pissing him off. You've already done that." Lotus rushed after Luther as he made another escape attempt, intercepting him just before Jack Ryan's table. "Luther!" She huffed.

"Get out of my way."

"No, you get your head out of your ass!" She spat, "You love your job? Well, in ten days you won't have it anymore because we'll all be dead, you hear me? It sucks that we all got stuck, yes, but you can't pretend you're from here. The others are here and we need to find them so we save our asses and everyone else's. Screw protecting people we know already die, Diego's lost his mind already and you're just about to beat him to the finish line. Besides, if you weren't the one who locked your terrified fucking sister in a cage and maybe tried helping her with her new found abilities we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with!"

"I looked for them."

"No, you looked for Allison. And wallowing in the alleyway we all showed up in for days isn't really looking, dumb ass."

His brows furrowed, Luther had no idea what to say. "You sound like Five."

"Well, wasn't it you who said I couldn't get my opinions across if he wasn't around? It seems you only respond to harsh language and then complain about it later on."

Luther glared, "I'm not Number One anymore."

"I don't give a shit about numbers, Luther. I never did, and you were the only one out of everyone that I met who hung it over everyone's head. The world is over in ten days, you're dead in ten days unless you decide to hike up your big boy pants and come along."

He blinked slowly before turning and making it to the table, Lotus took a deep breath and marched angrily back to Five who was leaning against the bar chair with a yellow box in his hand.

"Your dad should have left his ass on the moon." She huffed, grabbing Five's arm and pulling him along. The bouncer was still out cold, and she was surprised nobody came to help. They stepped over him, back out on the now quiet streets. The sun had fully set but Lotus couldn't believe the day was over already. "Nine days left."

Five sighed, "We have to go back to Elliott."

"Crazy man?"

"He's not crazy, and you know that."

Lotus nodded slowly, "We can trust him?"

"He has photos of all of us, we have too." Five said, "And if he does betray us, I can do quick work with a butter knife."

Lotus grimaced, "Don't ever say that again, please."

They walked under the streetlights, a cool breeze floated by and ruffled their hair. Lotus sighed, "Do you really think we'll find everyone?"

"I hope so."

She frowned, "I hope they're all okay. But for Diego, you kinda screwed him over."

"We'll go back for him, I promise. I'm not leaving him in there."

"I know." She told him, eyes floating to his pocket. There was a square sized lump, and she remembered catching a glimpse of it when they were leaving the Burlesque. "So, what's in your pocket?"

"Huh?"

"The yellow box." She poked his arm, "I saw you with it when we were leaving."

Five's brows furrowed, "I think Hazel shoved it into my pocket before he told us to run. It says the Frankel files on it, written in pen."

"Ooh, the plot thickens."

He snorted as they approached a bench, Five plopped down and ushered her to follow. Lotus joined him, flashing him an odd look. It was bad for them to stay in one place for to long, not when those people were out looking for them.

"I'm sorry we're stuck." He watched her, "And I brought the end of the world with us."

Lotus pursed her lips, meeting his gaze. "You're the reason we're alive."

"And the reason we might die in ten days."

"It's nine now." The corners of her lips twitched up, "And if you didn't come up with that plan we all would have died right then and there."

He shrugged, his leg bouncing up and down. "They all hate me. I want to do this right, I want to be able to go back home and live out the rest of my life."

"Well, first I would stop treating your family like shit. You're awfully sarcastic and rude, and you keep disappearing when they need you most—"

"Okay, jeez." He mumbled.

Lotus blinked, studying the boy next to her. His shoulders dropped as he leaned against the bench, now staring out at the empty, dark road. She wasn't expecting to have one of these conversations with Five this early on in the game, her brows furrowed. He seemed genuinely upset and worried, even if he'd never outright say such things.

"You're a good guy, Five." Lotus finally said, "You're still learning, and being alone for so long hasn't helped. Your actions may be confusing but you always come around. Even if I want to smack you by the end of it."

It was his turn to meet her gaze, "When we were at Vanya's concert, and you fell off the stage and told us you weren't gonna come... were you being serious?"

"Yes." She mumbled, "I just wanted you to survive, to be okay. All of you."

To be honest, in that moment she wasn't thinking. Of course if she knew this outcome, she wouldn't have been born yet if she let them go without her. She just wanted him and his family to have a win, considering the glimpse she got of all of them was chaotic at best. They all deserved better, and she didn't want to get in the way of that.

"You thought I'd be okay if you died?"

Lotus shrugged, "You're not the only one used to being alone. Yes, you were alone alone, but it felt like I was. I was on my own since the day my mom died, and I thought that's how I was gonna die. I was used to it."

"That day, when I found Klaus holding you in the kitchen, bleeding out— I didn't know what to do. For once in my life I didn't have a plan, all I thought to do was to get to you. I-I just needed to know you'd be okay."

"Was I dead?" Lotus questioned, the thought nagging her at the back of her head. She knew the answer, because for a moment everything seemed to stop. "Was I dead before you jumped back?"

"I didn't even mean to jump back, I just did. I needed you alive and with me, not dead in my arms."

Lotus nodded slowly, she inched her hand over to Five's and interlaced their fingers. He wasn't a touchy feely type of guy, but right now she needed it more than him. Five glanced down at their hands, "I just want to be able to fix this whole mess and get everyone back safely. I'm sick of getting people killed."

"You will, and if anyone's gonna do it, it'll be you."

Five sighed, moving to the edge of the bench. "We should get moving."

She agreed, pulling him to his feet as she got up. He didn't let go of her hand as she thought he would, instead he kept it tightly in his as they walked down the street. "Don't get used to my lack of sarcasm."

"Or your lack of pissing people off."

He rolled his eyes, Lotus couldn't help but smile. "And it's back."

They walked half way up the street in complete silence before Five sighed, his game face returning. "We need to find Elliott."