Nuclear // Number Five

0.06 × Mileage

If I could find the words, if I could shake the world, if I could turn back time, would you still be there?

The van had a particular smell to it that Libby couldn't place. It was musty and strong and made her wrinkle her nose. She sat in the passenger seat next to Five, where they passed another bottle of vodka back and forth in mostly silence. She could tell his mind was running overtime as he watched people move back and forth across the street.

A thin veil of sweat appeared on Five's brow as he looked on out the windshield. Something clicked in his brain as he turned and pulled Delores out of her duffle bag. 

"Hey," he whispered to the mannequin, "Sorry you were in there so long, Delores." 

Libby gave Five a concerned look, but he made no notice of it. He sat the mannequin up in between them, and handed the bottle back to Libby. She grew more worried when he continued the discussion with the inanimate object between them.

"No, I'm not drunk," he muttered to the mannequin, "I'm working."

There was a brief pause before he continued, "Yes, It's about the eye thing. This is the place it was made... or will be made. We just have to wait."

"She really spent a lot of time with you after I was gone, didn't she?" Libby asked. She was trying her best to relate to him, or at least figure out how the gears in his head were turning. She had read enough psychology textbooks to know how talk therapy worked, and what kind of questions to ask. It was important to her, to be able to understand him the way she once did.

"Delores? Yeah, she did. I found her a few days after you passed," He answered, staring idly out the window. "She helped me with the equations, tried to help get me back here to you."

Libby shook her head and took a small sip of the vodka they had brought with them. "Do you feel anything towards her?"

The pause between them was long and awkward. She watched Five try and come up with an answer, and his mouth opened and closed again a couple of times before he finally decided on, "She's my best friend."

Libby felt her heart sink, but she pushed the feeling away and simply nodded. She chewed on her lip as she looked out the window of the van. Having Delores between them suddenly felt weird. She wanted to comfort him, reach over for his hand, but his hand was now occupied by the glass eye whose owner they were searching for and it felt like Delores was doing her job for her now. 

The sudden knock on the window made Libby jump, and when she looked over, she saw Luther staring into the window. Defeated, she slid over the seat and into the back of the van, where she spied Klaus holding Delores in his arms. She rolled her eyes and slid her way behind Five's seat to let Luther in. 

"You okay?" Luther asked, noticing that he had also startled Five out of whatever thought process he was in. He spared a cold glance over his shoulder at Libby. "Shouldn't you be back in your cage?" 

Libby glared at him, but didn't answer. 

"How did you find us?" Five asked, giving Luther a look of disbelief. The bigger of the two gestured to Klaus in the back, cuddling with Delores. 

The two turned to stare at their other brother, who simply retorted, "Hey, uh, a little privacy back here? We're really hitting it off." 

Five threw one of the empty glass bottles in the van at Klaus and Libby chuckled, reaching over to pluck the mannequin out of his arms. She sat her inanimate counterpart to her right.

"Get out! You can't be here," Five exclaimed angrily, "We're in the middle of something."

Klaus wiggled his eyebrows and gave Libby a suggestive look. She turned and kicked him in the shin, causing him to whine. Klaus climbed over the clutter in the back of the van and leaned on the front seats, turning to Five.