•Lambent• {Five Hargreeves} The Umbrella Academy

Chapter 17- Two Broken Promises

Dolores fiddled with her braid slowly swaying side to side, stuck in her own little world. Five watched her out of the corner of his eye before grabbing her hand. He didn't know if he'd have time to rebraid her hair and he didn't want it falling in her face. Dolores didn't seem to mind but after a couple of seconds, she whipped her head to the side.

"There is a car coming," she stated. Five gave her a look, there was no sign of a car. Finally, he caught the faint melody of Ride Of The Valkyries.

"Is that her?" Luther asked. The car, which wasn't a car but in fact, an ice cream truck, slowly came into view. As it drove by, Dolores could make out the two brothers that rode inside. She looked back up to Five who squeezed her hand and pulled her closer.

"What the Hell is he doing here?" Dolores was about to answer Five's question but then she remembered that some questions were 'purely rhetorical'. She pressed herself into him.

"It's a setup!" Two gunshots rang out. Dolores had no idea what possessed her to do this but she ran in front of Luther. Time slowed as she found herself face to face with a bullet. She reached out to grab it and just as her fingers touched it, time stopped.

•••••

"Neat trick, isn't it?" Five brought his hand back from Dolores's jacket from his attempt to pull her back. He took a step forward and realized she had caught the bullet.

"Hello, Handler," Five said.

"Hello, Five. You look good, all things considered. It's good to see you again. Feels like we met just yesterday. Course, you were a little bit older then. Congratulations on the age regression, by the way. Very clever. Threw us all off the scent," she commented. Five gave her a sarcastic smile.

"Ah, well, I wish I could take credit," Five said. The Hander raised an eyebrow as he continued, "miscalculated the time dilation projections, and well, you know. Here we are. Dolores tried to warn me, but I never was a good listener." This caused the Handler to chuckle.

"You realize your efforts are futile. So why don't you tell me what you really want?" She 'innocently' placed her hands, which carried a commission issued suitcase, behind her back.

"I want you to put a stop to it," Five said.

"You realize what you're asking for is next to impossible, even for me. What's meant to be is meant to be. That's our raison d'etre." Five chuckled and pulled out a gun, aiming it right for The Handler's throat.

"Yeah? Well, how about survival as a raison d'etre?" Handler shrugged innocently.

"I'll just be replaced. I'm but a small cog in a machine. This fantasy you two have been nurturing about summoning up your family to stop the apocalypse is just that. A fantasy. I must say, though, we're all quite impressed with your initiative, stick-to-itiveness, it's really quite, quite something. Which is why we want to offer you a new position back at the Commission, in management."

"Sorry, what's that now?" Five asked.

"Come back to work for us again. You know it's where you both belong," The Handler responded.

"Well," Five said, "it didn't work out too well the last time."

"But you wouldn't be in the correction division any longer. I'm talking about the home office. You'd have the best health and pension, and an end to this ceaseless travel. You're distinguished professionals in schoolboy shorts. We have the technology to reverse the process. I mean you couldn't be happy like this."

"And what if I'm not looking for happiness?"

"We're all looking for happiness. We can make that happen. We can make you into who you were when you first joined."

"And what about Dolores? Why didn't you unfreeze her?" The Handler shrugged in fake innocence.

"She'll be fine. You two are a team after all."

"Then why isn't she coming with us?"

"She's not useful in this scenario. The two of you shall be reunited. Just not now." Five shifted his weight. It didn't settle right with him.

"What about my family?" Five asked, looking back at Luther and then the ice cream truck.

"What about them?"

"I want them to survive." The Handler grimaced slightly at the request. Dolores, she had no problem saving, despite her being a deadweight. 

"All of them?" She confirmed.

"Yes, all of them."

"Well," she smiled, "I'll see what I can do."

"Do we have a deal?" The Handler asked, reaching out a hand.

"One thing." Five gave another look to Dolores. He didn't want to leave her again but he had to. It was his only chance to stop it for good. Get valuable information. He knew he was breaking a promise, something he promised he would never do. In reality, he was breaking two promises. Five studied the bullet in her hand and it was then he remembered how they had met. He remembered her powers. Five pressed a kiss to her temple before moving to the second bullet, frozen in the air.