•Lambent• {Five Hargreeves} The Umbrella Academy

Chapter 31- The Handler

Dolores and Five make their way through the cramped hallway to a door with the number 12 etched into a metallic bird, the door cracked and soft music played.

"I've been waiting for you." They make their way into the room, pushing the door open all the way. Dolores gave a look to Agnes who was tied in a chair. She was going to walk over to help her, but Five pulled her away, keeping a tight grip on her hand.

"You must really like doughnuts," Five commented. Agnes' muffled scream caused Dolores to step closer to Five so their arms were pressed against each other.

"It's been a while," The Handler said, smiling creepily at the pair.

"Three days."

"For you maybe, but for me, it's been a lot longer since I've seen those adorable school clothes."

"You've had time to heal," Five gestured to the Handler's face, a long scar covered the right side. The Handler gives them a sarcastic smile before walking to them.

"Lucky for all of us, except maybe her, time is the one thing my organization has an abundance of."

"Got your message, by the way. Nice packaging but not so much for Commission protocol." The Handler chuckles at Five's comment.

"There have been... a lot of changes since you two dears left the Commission," her eyes met Dolores's, "your Husband did quite the bit of damage during your. departure. The briefcases were all but destroyed to say nothing of the... highly trained personnel you killed. After all, what is an institution if not for-" the Handler moved closer to Dolores but Five was quick to pull her behind him.

"What do you want?" Five snapped. The Handler simply smiled with a small shrug.

"To be happy. To have a simple, unfettered life, to... do the work my superiors require. But... you're being here, well it complicated all of that." The tall woman drifted around the room before sitting on the couch.

"Billions of people are about to die tonight," Five stated, "you can change that." They all ignored the cries of poor Agnes.

"Tonight, tomorrow. So little difference in the scheme of things," The Handler waved her hand around and then popped more food into her mouth. Noticing the unimpressed stares she continued.

"Don't you all remember the Commission's raison d'etre? What's meant to be is meant to be, or, as I like to say," she gave another expecting look at Dolores, "que será, será." She stepped behind Five even further, holding on tightly.

"It's bullshit in any language," Five barked out, "why did you call us here?"

"I wanna offer you a choice. Everyone's going to die tonight, but... unlike the rest of the world, you both have a way out. You can abandon your family and skip ahead to the apocalypse, take a walkabout for a few more decades, wondering if I'll ever come back and offer you jobs again. Or, you can stay here with your family, and... die horrible deaths." The Handler opens a bottle of champagne and grabs a glass.

"While you weigh your options, just know your siblings, your in-laws, are fighting for their lives without you."

"You brought us here to pull us away."

"It's been nice knowing you, darlings," The Handler called after them. Five grabs Dolores roughly by the arm and jumps them away.