•Lambent• {Five Hargreeves} The Umbrella Academy

Chapter 30- Time?

"Look, I hate to be the one to say this, but everyone needs to prepare," Luther ordered. Dolores huffed and crossed her arms. She wasn't listening to Luther, but she really hated him and anything he said made her want to throw a brick at him. If only she could remember exactly what a brick was.

She took a sip of her water and peered down to where Five was. Because they were at a bowling alley, they were required to wear bowling shoes. This wouldn't normally be a problem but Dolores had no idea how to tie the laces. Which Five did for her, just like always.

"For what?" Five patted her foot once he was finished and took his spot next to her. Dolores swung her foot out, taking a glance at her newly tied shoes.

"Thank you."

"To do whatever it takes to stop Vanya," Luther finished. Allison angrily hit him with her notepad. Dolores stifled a laugh by pushing her head into Five's shoulder. He only shook his head.

"I- we may not have a choice, Allison."

"Bullshit. There's always options," Diego sneered.

"Yeah, like what?" Five said. Dolores fiddled with her braid, noticing how everyone became more and more agitated.

"I don't know."

"Look, whatever we decide, we need to find Vanya. And fast, okay? She could be anywhere."

"Or... here," Klaus says, crinkling the newspaper to get the attention. Once all eyes were on him he continued.

"That's right," he pointed to an ad in the paper, "her concert is tonight."

"Hello," a lady dragged out, "I hate to intrude but my manager says if you're not gonna bowl, you gotta leave." The family looked over to the direction the girl gestured to and the manager slammed a pair of shoes down. The loud noise the shoes made as they hit the counter caused Dolores to flinch into Five. He removed his arm from the chair and draped it over her shoulders allowing her to lean on him.

"Whose turn is it?" Diego grunted.

"Oh, for," Luther angrily grabs a pink bowling ball and launches it across many lanes, getting a strike. None of the children were in the way or got hurt, thankfully. Allison shakes her head and holds up her notepad. 'SHE'S OUR SISTER'.

"We're the only ones capable of stopping this. We have a responsibility to dad," Luther acknowledged.

"To dad? No, I've had enough about-"

"He sacrificed everything to bring us back together," Luther was quick to cut Diego off.

"I'm with Luther on this one. We can't give her a chance to fight back. There are billions of lives at stake. We're past trying to save just one." Dolores hated fighting. She didn't like the way people's voices got louder or the way people made defensive motions with their hands. She continued messing with her braid until Five pulled her hand away and interlocked it with his.

"Hey, you know, guys, uh... maybe I could help."

"Now is not the time," Luther said, putting a hand out to stop him from doing or saying anything stupid.

"No, let him finish," Diego said, "he saved my life today."

"Really? Is that true?"

"Yeah, yeah, I did... take credit for it. In fact, the real hero was Ben," Klaus muttered, sheepishly. The Hargreeves siblings looked on in doubt, Dolores didn't have much of an opinion about it. In all honesty, she had barely a clue what was going on.

"Today, listen. Today, he punched me in the face. And Ben was the one who saved Diego's life, not me." Klaus grabbed a bowling ball and held it up . Five grabbed Dolores and pulled her into his lap before it could hit her. She didn't have much of a reaction, she just let it happen. Using the new position, Five began to fix her braid.

"Is there any way to silence that voice in your head that screams out to be the center of attention?" Luther demanded.

"You know, I liked you a lot better before you got laid." Dolores's eyes widened. She knew damn well what that meant. She nearly snorted in laughter.

"Which was a complete... It wasn't his fault, 'cause he was ridiculously high, right? And-- And the girl, she thought he was a furry..." Dolores tried to turn back but then she remembered Five was fixing her hair.

"What's a furry? Five?" He didn't say anything. Dolores huffed, "fine, I'll ask Klaus."

"Baby, trust me, you don't want to know." Liar. Dolores did want to know. She also wanted to know why Five was keeping it a secret.

"...Klaus?" Five tied off her braid and grabbed her waist, making her gasp in surprise.

"Hey!" She tried to wiggle out of his grasp but he held on tightly. Eventually she gave up and let her body go limp in his arms. He pressed a kiss on her forehead. They hadn't noticed a woman and her son approaching.

"Excuse me," she repeated the phrase again, "it's my son Kenny's birthday today. Wouldn't your daughter and her boyfriend be happier playing with more kids their age?" Dolores looked up, trying to catch a glimpse of Five's face.

"Assuming it's okay with your two dads."

"I would rather chew off my own foot." Dolores looked up at the woman with a weird look before shaking her head. The woman and her son look back at them terrified before she escorts her son away. The familiar sound of a pneumatic tube caused Dolores to sit up straighter. Climbing off of Five's lap, they went in search of the tube. Eventually Five opened a part of a ball returner.

"How the Hell did she find us?" Five asked, flipping the tube in his hand. His eyes widened in realization. He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out one of the candies, unwrapping it. Instead of candy, it was a tracking device, which Dolores took out of his hand and dropped it on the ground, letting Five crush it with his foot.

Dolores takes the tube from Five and opens it. There's a fortune cookie that she hands to Five, watching as he opens it. She squinted at the piece of paper and pointed to a word.

"Time?" She asked, hopefully. Five smiled softly and nodded.

"You got it, ladybug." TIME MARCHES ON... OR DOES IT? It reads, followed by Rain Quail, Rm 1 scribbled in blue ink.