•Lambent• {Five Hargreeves} The Umbrella Academy

Chapter 5- Pretty

Five stared down at the sleeping girl. It was now morning, Five finally got a good look at her. She looked the same as she had during the bank robbery, absolutely stunning. Five debated on waking her up, she looked so calm, so peaceful. But he needed answers. He needed to know what she could remember and how she even got there in the first place. He kneeled next Dolores and shook her gently, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Dolores?" She stirred before opening her eyes and squinting at Five.

"Are you okay? Can you remember anything?" She shook her head and Five sighed. Her face dropped as she noticed his disappointment as he stood up.

"No, no," he said quickly, "it's okay. You don't have to remember." Dolores nodded and muttered an oh. Five exhaled heavily and extended his arm. Dolores looked at it expectantly.

"Take it," Five urged, softly. Dolores looked back at him.

"Why would I take off your hand?"

•••••

Five and Dolores had a long journey ahead of them. Five tried his best to not be disappointed that she had forgotten everything but he was thankful she was there now. Even if she didn't remember anything. He didn't know how he was going to reteach her things either. Dad always said time travel could mess with your brain.

"Alright Dolores, put these on, okay?" Dolores looked at the goggles in confusion and then back up at Five with wide eyes.

"What are they?" She asked.

"They're called goggles. They protect your eyes from the particles in the air," Five pointed to the one's he was wearing and then around to the ash and dust that lingered in the air.

"What's a particle?"

"The small specks in the air." Dolores nodded and attempted to place the goggles over her eyes. Five watched with furrowed brows as the girl struggled to put them on correctly. Reaching over, he adjusted them to fit her face properly. Dolores brought up her hand and gently poked the plastic over her eyes. Five smiled and went to gather the rest of his stuff and the wagon. He looked at Dolores Two, she had kept him company in the year the real Dolores hadn't been there. But she was a mannequin. Nothing more. He picked her up and set her on the ground, something fell by his foot. The sequence purse. He looked back to Dolores who was struggling to keep her hair out of her face. He smirked and picked up the purse.

"Here," he held it out to her. Dolores looked mesmerized but didn't take it out of his hand. Pushing her hair back again she smiled up at Five. He shook his head at her innocence and returned her smile, taking her hands in his and placing the purse in them. She looked at it excitedly, making Five's heart speed up.

"Here, let me fix your hair," Five said, noticing her struggle. Dolores tilted her head to the side and picked up a strand of hair before letting it fall down again.

Five had made the girl sit in front of him so he could sort out her long hair. He had seen Klaus do these thousands of times to Allison's hair and he was high so it couldn't be that difficult... right? Kinda. The beginning of the process was rough but Five had managed to pull her hair into two braids, tying them off with some string he had found. One she stood up, he finally got to see her from the front.

"Pretty," he blurted out, "you look pretty." His face flushed as he realized what he had said. He was getting ready to change the subject but she cut him off before he could.

"Pretty?" Dolores asked, tilting her head, "what's pretty?" Five opened his mouth to explain but nothing came out. You, he wanted to say but he didn't.

"Um, pretty is something that looks good or nice. It's a good thing. A compliment."

"Compliment," she repeated. Biting her lip she reached into her pocket and pulled out the small coin purse, pointing to it.

"Like this? Pretty?" Five smiled proudly at her and nodded.

"Yeah, like... the bag." She gasped in excitement and held the bag to her chest.

•••••

Now they were ready to start their journey. Five explained that they were going to find a library for research. He had also hoped to find some books to help teach Dolores basic school things. Like writing and reading. Five thought about the year before, he was glad he memorized those small details about her and the things she liked. Now he was able to watch Dolores experience them for the first time. That made him happy. It was the little things that counted when you're trapped in the apocalypse with the girl you quite possibly have a crush on, who also doesn't remember any of your time together. And on top of that trying to get the both of you home and figure out how to put an end to the apocalypse. Five seemed to be managing.