[✓] 𝐼𝑁𝑇𝐸𝑅𝐿𝑈𝐷𝐸 | 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫. 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔

Word count: 2781

"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋—can you believe him?" Five muttered as he turned to Valerie, a light scoff escaping his lips.

She shrugged lightly. "You deserve it."

He rubbed his eyes in frustration, a small groan coming from him before he tentatively questioned, "You're still mad?"

She stayed silent, her eyes flickering down to the hands she had folded in her lap.

He groaned once more, "Oh, come on, babe, don't be like that."

"Oh," she scoffed, "so now you're calling me 'babe' for the first time ever? How convenient."

"You're my girlfriend!" Five defended, trying to keep his voice low as he glanced at the others around him.

"Didn't seem that way five minutes ago."

"Wha—I barely even said anything to her," Five tried to reason, his face scrunching up.

Valerie raised her eyebrows as she pointed out, "You said you wanted to fuck her."

His eyes widened as he shook his head and exclaimed, "I did not say that!"

"You implied it! 'What time are you getting off work?' What else would you have done with her? Blow bubbles and frolic in the grass?"

"Valerie, we don't have time for this!" he groaned, running a hand through his hair as he got to his feet.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she sighed as she stood up. "Let's go talk sense into that idiot."

Five rushed up to Luther before he could confront the two men, Valerie following close behind. He grabbed Luther's arm, dragging him next to the bar.

"The hell is wrong with you, Luther? I just told you the world's gonna end in ten days."

"Yeah, well, you're always saying that," Luther said dismissively before he tried to leave again, but Five pushed him back.

"And so far, I've been right!"

Luther scoffed, "Look, you want to go save the world? Knock yourself out. All right? I already got a job."

Five's eyes widened as he processed his words, and he looked around in disgust before inquiring, "Wait, you work in this shithole?"

"Yeah. Well, my boss owns the place." Luther shrugged, glancing over to a group of men behind them. "I'm his body man."

Five wrinkled his nose. "What's that? Like a masseuse or something?"

"Okay, you can make fun all you want," Luther said irritatedly, "but I take good care of Mr. Ruby."

"Wait, Ruby." Valerie furrowed her eyebrows, instantly making the connection as she groaned. "The Jack Ruby, the gangster who shot Oswald?"

Luther nodded. "Yeah, the one and only."

"Well, it finally happened," Five chuckled unhumorously, glancing over to where Valerie was standing and shooting her an exasperated expression. "That gorilla DNA has taken over your mind."

Luther raised a hand, an eyebrow raised as he cautioned, "Hey, watch it, all right? Jack's a good friend."

"And you're Number One," Five reminded. "Número Uno. Remember?"

"There is no Number One. Not anymore." Luther shook his head, his expression growing bitter as he continued, "Not in 1963. Look, I've been stranded here alone for a year. What did you expect?"