•Lambent• {Five Hargreeves} The Umbrella Academy

Chapter 12- Hazel and Cha-Cha

Five parked the van on the side of the road so he had a perfect view of Meritech. He could sense Lance was lying or hiding something.

"Shit," he quickly pulled Dolores Two out of the duffle bag, "sorry you were in there for so long. I can't seem to do anything right anymore..." Five didn't like this Dolores. She was a bit of a bitch. Five listened to her rant as he shoved the coin purse into his pocket. He'd just give it to the real Dolores. She'd actually like it.

"No, I'm not drunk. And yes, it's about the eye thing... Look, the sooner I do this the sooner it's over with and I can find the real Dolores and leave you in a landfill somewhere. We just have to wait."

•••••

Today was the day. The day Dolores was going to escape the apartment of Lance. He said he would be late coming home and he wasn't coming back for lunch like he had yesterday. She grabbed the book and bid farewell to Roscoe before opening the door and going out into the world. She had no idea where she was going but she remembered Five telling her about the Umbrella and how it was everywhere. On his wrist, on their uniforms... and the gate in front of the academy.

The sun was low in the sky and Dolores hadn't found it. So many times she had almost given up hope but she couldn't. She wanted nothing more than to go back to Lance's apartment and go to sleep but she didn't. She kept looking. She had to find Five, she had to tell him about Meritech so they could find the owner of the eye. She had to find Five.

Dolores slowed her pace and she walked along the parking lot of Griddy's Doughnuts. There were only two cars in the parking lot. Griddy's. Five told her stories about coming here when he was a kid. Maybe someone could give her directions to the academy with an umbrella gate. With a determined mindset, she pushed open the doors to the doughnut shop only for her expression to drop. She quickly turned to leave, hoping that they wouldn't recognize her.

"Dolores." Her hand hovered over the handle as Cha-Cha called out her name. She weighed the pros and cons. She could leave and die or she could go with them and be tortured. Maybe they knew where Five was. With a nervous sigh, Dolores turned back around. Cha-Cha gritted her teeth and forced a smile.

"She's a friend of the family," Hazel explained to Agnes who simply nodded, "we took her with us to find any places the boy might be." Agnes smiled at the girl. Dolores gave her a weak one in return.

•••••

Hazel sat in the driver's seat with Cha-Cha beside him. Dolores sat in the back with her eyes closed, hoping Five would appear and rescue her. Nothing happened.

"Where's the boy?" Dolores furrowed her brow and pushed her hair out of her face. If they were still searching for him then he must be here.

"He's here?" Hazel could sense the hope in her voice but Cha-Cha wasn't convinced. They shared a look.

"Look we know you know where he is so just tell us."

"I don't. I've been looking for him too." Cha-Cha didn't seem to care. Dolores focused her gaze on the ground. At least she knew for sure that Five didn't leave her. Maybe he was looking for her too. A small smile graced her lips.

Cha-Cha grabbed a crowbar from under her seat, ready to strike the distracted girl but she caught it. She hadn't even looked up. Dolores looked up confused. She didn't know she could do that. It was like she sensed it before it happened. Under normal circumstances, she would have brushed it off but this... this wasn't normal. Then everything went black.

"That's not going to help. She doesn't know anything," Hazel exclaimed. Cha-Cha just shook her head making the man sigh.

"Look, all I'm saying is the Handler said if we could find one, the other shouldn't be far behind. And besides, the girl isn't all there. She's a little slow in the head," he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, looking back at the girl through the rearview mirror. A large gash, pulsing out blood had appeared on her forehead where Cha-Cha struck her.