One More Hour
~ Tame Impala

"Just a moment
Right before all the song and dance
Wasn't brave enough to tell you
But there aint gonna be another chance

Its not long until
And everything's still
The minutes are racin'

Whatever I've done
I did it for love
I did it for fun
Couldn't get enough
I did it for fame
But never for money
Not for houses
Not for her
Not for my future children
Until now...

How could I love again?
How could I ever ask for more?
And to the road ahead
Into a life I can't ignore"

CHAPTER 14: WHERE THE FUCK AM I

"Five, how did who find you?" She watched from around his arm as he took out a piece of candy and unwrapped it. He pulled a blinking device out and stared at it. "She's good." He muttered.

He dropped it and smashed it under his shoe. "The woman I used to work for. The Handler." The boy sighed and stared at the canister. "Jesus." He opened it and flipped it upside down, something falling into his hand. "A fortune cookie?" Nadine asked as the boy cracked it open and read the paper inside.

"Time marches on... or does it? Rain Quail, Rm 12." The girl read out loud to them, tilting her head. Nadine turned to Five whose eyebrows were furrowed. "I have to go." He commented, crumbling up the paper and stuffing it in his pocket.

"Um, not without me." She responded, shaking her head.

"I need you to be safe." He shook his head as he looked around her, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I'm the safest I can be with you. Every time I've gotten really hurt, it's been away from you." Nadine grabbed onto the boys arm to try to convince him.

Five thought for a second, looking up and meeting eyes with her. He sighed as he watched her eyes beg him to say yes. "Okay, but don't say anything. And don't do anything. Just stand there and look pretty."

Nadine cracked her knuckles with a smile. "I think that's doable." Five smirked at her with squinted eyes before grabbing onto her and blinking them to the hotel. When they walked out, she stumbled slightly. He grabbed her upper arm to help her stand.

The boy pushed her behind him as he walked towards the room. "Five, I've been waiting for you." A woman called from inside it. He took one more glance at Nadine before walking inside. The girl followed him closely behind, tucking her hands behind her back. Her hair tickled her arms, reminding her that she definitely needed to get a hair cut soon.

Five shut the door behind them before going back to being in front. "You must really like doughnuts." He spoke, spotting a woman tied up to a chair. Nadine stared into the woman's eyes, who pleaded back with her. She clicked her tongue as she recognized the woman. She worked at the diner Nadine had first met Five in front of.

"Help me!" She spoke against the tape. Nadine jumped forward to aid her but Five grabbed onto the girls upper arm, pulling her back behind him. "It's been a while." A woman spoke from the bed in the room. Nadine squinted at her, holding onto the back of Five's blazer tightly.

"Three days." He spoke with a shrug. "For you, maybe. But for me, it's been a lot longer since I've seen those adorable little shorts." The woman spoke in a strange voice. Nadine gritted her teeth, glaring at the woman. "Should've kept the streak going." She whispered to Five.

The Handler looked over at her finally, glancing at her up and down. "Isn't she a pretty thing." She muttered. Nadine continued to glare at her. "Well, you've had time to heal." Five commented, making the girl raise an eyebrow.

The woman took her eyes off her and stood up, starting to walk. "Luckily, for both of us, time is the one thing my organization has an abundance of." She smirked at the two before returning her attention to Nadine. "Where did you find her?" She asked him, not taking her eyes off her.

Five stood guarded with a straight face. He felt her grip on the back of his outfit tighten. "Got your message, by the way." He turned the attention away from her again. "Nice packaging, but so much for Commission protocol." He spoke with a sarcastic smile.

"There have been a lot of changes since you left the Commission. You really did some damage." The woman walked up to them and stood directly in front of Five, who pushed Nadine behind him a little further. "The briefcases were all but destroyed. To say nothing of the highly trained personnel you killed. After all, what is an institution if not for-"

Five's fake smile dropped as he interrupted her. "What do you want?" She shook her head with a smile. "To be happy. To have a simple, unfettered life. To do the work my superiors require. But, your being here, well, it complicates all that."

Nadine stood up a little and got closer to Five's ear. "Don't listen to her. You're meant to be here. Remember, destiny." He gave her a little nod before going back to the woman.

"Billions of people are about to die tonight. You can change that." He tried to convince her. "Tonight, tomorrow. So little difference in the scheme of things. Don't you remember the Commission's raison d'être?" Nadine raised an eyebrow at the familiar language.

"What's meant to be is meant to be, or, as I like to say, que será, será." Five walked forward out of Nadine's grasp as he listened to the woman speak. "It's bullshit in any language." He hissed. "Why did you call me here?"

"I wanna offer you a choice. Everyone's going to die tonight, but... unlike the rest of the world, you have a way out. You can abandon your family, your girlfriend, and skip ahead to the apocalypse, take a walkabout for a few decades, wondering if I'll come back and offer you a job again, or you can stay here, with your family, and die a horrible death."

Nadine glanced over at the woman who was tied up as she started groaning behind the duct tape. She returned her attention to Five's back, who stuffed his hands in his pockets. He also looked at the restrained woman for a second before going back to watching the Handler.

"While you weigh your options, just know your siblings are fighting for their lives without you." Nadine glared at the Handler. "You brought me here to pull me away." The girl walked up to him, tugging on his sleeve. "Five, we have to go."

"It's been nice knowing you, Five. And nice to finally meet you, Nadine Etoile." The boy grabbed onto Nadine, pulling her into his chest and spinning them into one of his portals.

~~~~~

They found themselves in the middle of an aisle as they jumped out of his blink. They were in a theater. She has no idea how Five knew to go here, and she didn't have the time to ask before chaos caught her ears. "What's with all the lollygagging?" Five yelled at his siblings, gripping onto Nadine's hand. "Five, get down!" Luther screamed.

Shots rang out as Five dove to the ground, pulling Nadine down with him. He covered their heads with his hands, pushing her in between some seats. "Why are people always shooting at us!?" She whispered to him.

"Five, Nadine, what the? I thought you guys bailed on us." Five's eyes went wide as him and Nadine shared a glance. "We had an errand to run." He exhaled briefly, glancing around at the shooters. "This is not good."

Diego looked at Five with his eyebrows together. "You know these guys?" A shot rang past Nadine's head making her duck more and grab the back of Five's blazer again. "Yeah, I do."

The man smiled sarcastically. "And?" Five sighed. "Well... we're screwed." He answered as he looked down the aisle, more gunmen showing themselves. Diego reached a hand out and flung knives at some men who came in through a side door. "Guys, it's Cha-Cha! It's Cha-Cha, she-" Klaus came running in to the theater, waving his arms around.

"Klaus! Get down!" Luther screamed at his brother, who followed his instructions as shots came towards him. Nadine felt Five squeeze her hand before he blinked, landing on the back of one of the gunmen and making him shoot two others.

The girls breathing got heavier as she looked for somehow she could help. A bright blue light caught her attention. She stood up a little, peaking her head out from behind the chairs. "Ben?" She whispered to herself.

Ben grabbed onto the men shooting from the balconies, throwing them. Nadine smiled before smacking the ground and standing up. She faced the men on the other side of the balconies and put her hand towards them. "Salut." She opened her palm towards them and cocked her wrist to the side, watching as all three of the men threw themselves down into the floor below head first, breaking their necks.

A man ran down the aisle towards her and before he could do anything, a blue tentacle reached out and wrapped around him, throwing him away from her. "Thanks Ben!" She yelled before jumping behind a set of chairs.

She crawled across the floor and looked down the aisle, seeing Five not too far away. Nadine stood quickly, using her hands to push her up faster. She sprinted towards the boy, yelping when a shot rang past her.

Five turned at the sound and opened his arms, letting her run into them before taking them to the ground and rolling in between more rows of seats. He stared at her as she caught her breath, his eyes flickering across her face.

     "Are you okay?" He breathed out quickly from under her, pushing some hair out of her face. "Dandy." She whispered with a sarcastic smile before standing and grabbing his hand, pulling him up as well.

The two stood and watched as Ben took out the remaining men, ripping their bodies apart. The bright light coming from the stage caught Nadine's attention, making her squeeze Five's hand. The boy looked down before glancing up at her and following her line of sight. The light around Vanya continued to get brighter, making them squint.

A cracking sound forced her attention away from the woman. She looked back and watched breaks develop across the pillars standing near them. Nadine pulled him across the room to stand with his siblings, a little further from the cracks.

The girl let out a sigh of relief as Diego walked towards them. All the siblings were safe, for now. "Oh, welcome back. Where were you?" Luther questioned the man. "Honoring a memory." He responded. "So, how do you wanna end this thing?"

"We surround her. All right? We come at her from all angles." Luther instructed the group. Nadine blew out some air through her lips, blinking a few times. "So it's a suicide mission." Klaus commented as he bent down.

"Yeah, but one of us could get through. It's the only chance we've got." Five agreed with the other man, nodding slightly. "Are we all in?" Luther asked the group. Five glanced at Nadine and squeezed her hand, nodding a little. "Yeah."

"All right." Luther looked at each of the people in the group before staring at the woman across from him. "Allison?" She shook her head at him.

"Stage left." He told Diego. "Stage right. You guys take the front." He pointed towards himself and then them. The siblings all split, running in opposite directions.

Five looked at Nadine and smiled, finally letting go of her hand before taking off as well. "Be safe." She whispered as his figure got smaller with distance.

Nadine ran towards the light, sticking a hand up to protect her eyes. She dashed in between some rows and stuck her head around the chairs, watching for a signal. The ceiling and walls began to crumble around them.

"Now!" She heard Luther scream, giving her the green light. She raced out from behind her chair and ran up the stairs in front of the stage, letting her foot boost her into the air slightly on the last step. Vanya waved her arm, forcing everyone close to her into the air. She surrounded each of them in beams of light as they struggled to get out.

When Nadine's feet landed on the stage, a high pitched noise immediately sounded in her ears. It pierced through her skull and made her crumble to the ground, holding her head. She screamed in pain, rolling onto her side as the sound vibrated through her skull. It was the worst pain she had ever felt. It made her feel like her brain was going to explode in a matter of seconds.

Nadine felt liquid on the skin around one of her ears. She pulled back and saw red. Blood. Suddenly, it all stopped.

The siblings fell from the air and the light went away, as did the sound. A distant ringing played in her head, one she feared would never go away.

Nadine groaned as she rolled onto her stomach. She used her arms to try and hoist herself up but her strength had greatly diminished. Hands grabbed at her body and pulled her up. Her feet tried to carry her but eventually just dragged against the ground.

When she finally caught herself, she held onto the persons shoulder for support. She looked up into the eyes of her destiny. His lips moved but she couldn't hear anything except for the ringing. She shook her head as he tapped her ear. Five wrapped his arms around her torso and pulled her into his chest, letting them fall to the ground beside the siblings.

"What's wrong with her?" Diego asked the boy. Five looked up at him, holding her head to his neck. "She ruptured an eardrum, I think." The boy pulled back and looked into her eyes. He motioned to her and then to him and gave a thumbs up with a smile. Nadine smiled back and leaned her head backwards into his hand, letting out a long breath.

Five brushed some hair out of her face and wiped the blood off her jaw with his sleeve. Suddenly, he looked up. She looked around and watched as some others got up, staring through the large hole in the ceiling. When she finally looked through it, she noticed the large rock hurdling straight toward them from the moon.

Her breathing got quicker as she grabbed onto the collar of Five's shirt, pulling him towards her slightly. His wide eyes shot to her and noticed her panicked expression. She tried to get out of his grasp but he held her tighter, taking her face into his hands.

"It's okay." His voice.

Her eyes grew wider before nodding. "This doesn't have to be the end." He spoke towards the entire group. The girl sucked in a breath as she stared up at him. She only heard it slightly, it was very far away, but it was there. She definitely heard it.

Five stood up as he continued to talk to the group. He stepped in front of her and grabbed her hands, pulling her up as well.

She stumbled, falling into his chest slightly as he helped her stand straight. Luther picked Vanya up and held her.

Five stepped in front of Nadine, grabbing her face again. "It's going to be okay. If anything happens, I'll find you." The girl's eyes widened as she heard his voice again, nodding at him slightly. He walked to her side and grabbed onto her hand, holding it tightly.

The boy looked up and squinted his eyes as a portal formed above them. She felt the power course around them, making her head feel lighter.

"Five!" Nadine screamed, getting the boys attention. "I have to tell you something!" The ringing in her ears drowned out her own voice, so she just hoped she sounded okay.

The green eyed boy looked at her with wide eyes, his breathing heavy. "What?" He yelled back. "Stopping the apocalypse was never my destiny!" He squinted at her, shaking his head. "Yes it was!"

Nadine smiled sadly at him as he screamed in pain, forcing his power to work for all of them. "No!" He looked back at her with wide eyes. "You're my destiny!" He held his breath as he watched the girl, trying to see if she was joking. His eyes flickered across her face, taking a second to actually look at her.

The freckles that littered her nose and cheeks. The slight peak at the corner of her mouth as she gave him a smile. Her hair flying around her shoulders.

"What?" He whispered. She smiled again, tilting her head with a small laugh.

"You are my destiny."

~~~~~

Nadine fell, scraping her knees across the cement ground. She rolled over onto her back and closed her eyes tightly. Her chest rose and fell as she caught her breath.

After a second she opened her eyes. She put her hands under her and lifted herself up off the ground. Once she was on her feet, she stumbled over to a wall and leaned her body against it, squinting at the street in front of her. She opened her mouth in pain as the sound of ringing still vibrated through her ears.

Nadine raised an eyebrow, her mouth opening slightly in shock. Where the fuck am I? She shook her head, noticing the vintage clothing and cars. She exhaled and put her hand to her forehead.

"What the fuck?"

.

AND THATS A WRAP! Thank you guys so much for reading "One More Hour" it was so much fun to write! The second one is in the works right now and the first chapter should be posted soon :) it will be titled "Season of the Witch"
Yes. All the titles of my stories are named after different songs. I have so much planned for the next two books and I'm just waiting at this point for season 4 to come out 🤚 season 3 was amazing, I don't care what anyone says.
Anyway, again, thank you so much! I love you guys <3

- Poppy