𝙖𝙚𝙞𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙮 // 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙭 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨

𝘼𝘿𝙍𝙀𝙉𝘼𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙀

/əˈdren(ə)lən/
a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, especially in conditions of stress, increasing rates of blood circulation, breathing, and carbohydrate metabolism and preparing muscles for exertion.

— — —

"Shit," Five says, peering around one of the mannequins. Hazel and Cha-Cha are wearing their bear and rabbit masks, respectively, but he knows them. He's never worked with them, but he knows the stories. Cha-Cha has more, because she's arguably the more ruthless of the two, but he knows that Hazel has his fair share of stories from his heyday. They both have impressively high body counts, but they've got nothing on Five. No one does. He's the best thing the Commission's ever turned out, which is probably why Dolores sent them to kill him. He wonders, vaguely, what she said he'd done, but he shoves the thought away. She probably said he defected, but he can worry about that later.

"What?" Dolores asks. She's got her chin on his shoulder, trying to see past the mannequin.

"Hazel and Cha-Cha," Five says. She opens her mouth to say something, and gunfire rips through the air. It lights up the store in short bursts, just enough for Five to see the pair split up. Hazel goes left and Cha-Cha right. They're trying to flush him out. He bites his lip. He could run, but there's a higher chance they'll hit him if he runs. He'll have to blink. He doesn't want to; no one at the Commission knows of his past with the Academy, not even Dolores. She knows he has siblings and that he can time travel, but she doesn't know about his spatial jumping. He'll have to risk it. He glances around as gunfire cuts through the air again. Cha-Cha is closing in. Left it is. He'll just have to hope he lands somewhere behind Hazel.

He grabs Dolores' hand. "Hold on," he says.

"What are you—?"

He gathers the fabric of space in his hands and pulls. They're gone in a flash of blue light.

They land somewhere in the back of the store. Dolores is staring at him. She looks queasy. "What the hell was that?" she asks. "Oh, god, I'm gonna puke."

"No time," Five hisses, looking around for Hazel. He's standing with his back to them and Five grabs a spade, blinks over to Hazel and knocks him over the head with it. The big man falls to the ground. Good. One less thing to worry about. He blinks back over to Dolores. She's still staring at him.

"Five, what—?"

"I can explain later. Right now we either run or take out Cha-Cha."

Dolores' eyes narrow. "I say we rip that stick out of her ass and beat her over the head with it."

Five can't help but laugh. He loops an arm around her waist and tugs her closer. "I love the way you think."

Dolores grins up at him from under her lashes. "I know you do." She leans up and kisses him slowly, pulling him closer by his lapels. "Now," she says when she pulls away, "let's go do what we do best, hm?"

Five grins down at her, holding out his hand. She takes it, lacing their fingers together with a grin like a knife's edge—sharp and dangerous.

He readjusts his grip on the spade and pulls at space again. They land on the opposite side of the store, a few feet from Cha-Cha.

"I know you're there, you traitor," she calls into the dark.

Five just grins. He blinks behind her, pinning her arms behind her back as Dolores knocks her gun from her hands.

She frowns. "Boss?"

Dolores smiles. It's a sugary, syrupy, innocent thing. "Hello, Cha-Cha."

"What the hell are you doing here? You don't do missions."

"No," Dolores agrees, tilting her head to the side. "Not typically."

"Then why—?"

"That's a story for another day, I'm afraid. Sweet dreams, Cha-Cha." She swings the gun up and knocks Cha-Cha out with the barrel.

Five watches her fall. "That's gonna leave a mark."

"Good," Dolores says, tossing the gun aside. "Now," she continues, walking over to Five and wrapping her arms around his neck, "where were we?"

Five kisses her, pulling at space and tightening his grip on her waist at the same time.

They're gone in a flash of blue.