•Lambent• {Five Hargreeves} The Umbrella Academy

Chapter 21- Photo Album

Five grasped Dolores's hand tightly, not intending to leave her again. She noticed something off about his walk and stopped her stride. 

"Are you okay?" Five nodded and pulled her along.

"It's fine." Dolores scrunched her face.

"Liar," she retorted. Five opened his mouth to say something but Allison cut him off.

"Be careful, okay? We don't know what Peabody's capable of," Allison looked over to Five and Dolores. It was mostly to Dolores, she knew Five could handle himself.

"Yeah," Diego added, " he didn't seem dangerous when I first saw him. Looked kinda scrawny." Dolores pulled herself closer to Five, bumping him in the arm.

"Oops."

"Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and mass murderers. I mean look at him," Allison said motioning to Five. Dolores looked over at Five.

"Thanks," Five remarked. Using Dolores for support, he hobbled his way up the steps.

"Good point. So what's this guy want with Vanya?" Diego asked.

"I don't know. How about we ask him after we kill him?" Five sarcastically quipped.

"Woah, Woah. Hey, look, I'm gonna bust through," Five looked around before squeezing Dolores's hand, "you know what? It would be nice for people just to stick to," before he could finish his thought the couple was gone. Diego sighed, loudly and crashed into the glass door, making Dolores flinch into Five.

"Subtle," Allison exclaimed. Five reached over and tried the handle.

"You know the door was unlocked, right?" He asked. Dolores looked at the man on the ground.

"Yeah, well, my way works just fine," Diego states, standing up. The glass crunched as it fell back to the ground.

"Spread out. Yell if you, uh... you know, you're in trouble," Diego said with a sigh as he limped to another room.

"Such inspiring leadership," Five nodded with raised brows.

"One of the greats," Allison let out a laugh and dispersed herself from the pair.

"Are you okay?" Dolores asked once they were alone. Five nodded.

"I told you, I'm fine." Dolores exhaled sharply through her nose but left it alone. Then Allison called them over to the attic. Five pulled Dolores into them and spatial jumped.

Dolores looked around the room. The faces were scratched off of posters and small figurines but that wasn't what caught her eye. It was a photo album in a box. It looked familiar. Dolores removed herself from Five and went to pick it up.

"All of our faces are burnt off," Allison said. There was a lot of memorabilia surrounding the Umbrella Academy. Dolores gasped as she opened the book. It dropped the floor and Dolores backed away from it.

"What?" Five asked. He looked over at the album and saw dozens of photos... of Dolores. Even though she wasn't looking at the camera, it was obvious that she knew some of the photos were being taken. The last one in the album looked like it was taken before she left. She was gazing up at the clouds with a soft smile. Written next to it was a small paragraph.

The last time I ever saw my dear friend. A car crash may have taken her from me but she will forever live on in my heart. Today is the day I take charge of my own life.

Dolores buried her face in Five's chest as he read it over. What the actual fuck was going on. Then it occurred to Five that Dolores must have known Harold before she got sent to the apocalypse. And a car crash would make sense, a TBI (traumatic brain injury) is a reason someone could lose their memory and develop a learning disability. But that still didn't explain how she was able to transport herself into the apocalypse. Five looked down at his wife and then back to the photo album.

"Well, that's not creepy. This guy's got some serious issues," Diego muttered, looking back to the academy memorabilia.

"This was never about Vanya. This was about us," Allison concluded. Dolores pulled away from Five when she felt him begin to sway. She grabbed his arms to help steady him. His face was pale and looking down she could see the blood trickling down his leg. Then he fell to the floor.

"Five!" Allison jumped to her brother, followed by Diego. She lifted up his shirt to reveal a bullet wound still pulsing out blood. Dolores looked at the wound confused. There was something lodged inside and it was pulsing out blood.

She crouched down and cradled his face in her hand, brushing some of his hair out of the way, just as he'd done to her. Five brought his hand up and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"You have to keep going. So... close," he muttered, "I love you," then his eyes closed. Dolores shook him gently but he didn't wake up. Anxiety flooded her chest.