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❛ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅs ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ɴᴏ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ꒱


❝ WHO THE HELL ARE
THESE ASSHOLES? ❞

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄
Dolores [ duh-lawr-is, -lohr- ], noun
Known nicknames: Lola, Dolly, Dol, Sequins

1. a female given name: from a Latin word meaning "sorrows."

Five felt the weight of his wife slump against him before he realized what was happening. He turned quickly as the sound of bullets rang in his ears, half-stunned that none of them had reached him. He caught the brunette as she tilted forward and he sank to the ground with her before he rolled the girl gently onto her back so he could study her face.

There was nothing immediately wrong with her except that her skin looked slightly paler than normal and her eyes were closed. A warm substance seeped into the fabric of his pants and the boy lifted her slightly as he looked down curiously at the smeared liquid. He gingerly used two fingers to touch one of the dark spots only for them to come away red.

His breath caught in his throat.

(𝐓𝐇𝐄) 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄('𝐒) 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐅

1. Discovery
2. Denial
3. Compromise
4. Action
5. Relief

Dolores' eyes were closed and her face was too still. It wasn't sleep— he knew this expression all too well; he had seen it first on his siblings' faces that day he'd discovered them outside the broken ruins of the place he'd once called home— but he'd never seen the look on Dolores' face.

She couldn't— there was no way.

Still, he had to prevent his world from spinning off its axis and in a last, desperate attempt, he childishly grabbed her by her shirt and gave her just the slightest disbelieving shake. "Wake up, Dolly." He was deaf to The Handler's and Lila's conversation happening in the middle of the barn. "Dolly, please."

She couldn't— it was impossible.

"Dolly, please, wake up. Goddamn it, wake up. I love you. Come on, Dolly, come on, don't you know I love you? Wake up, wake up, wake up. . . come on, open your eyes—"

Five didn't know what he'd do without her. For years and years, she'd been a part of his world, the center of his existence, the focal point that he revolved around. She was rooted in his soul as much a part of him as his powers were.

For all his efforts, though, there was no change to her expression. Her eyes remained shut and her body was still in his arms. It was in that moment that he promised— no, he swore— that he'd do anything, strike any bargain, come to any agreement just to have her open her eyes and have this whole thing be one of her ridiculous jokes.

In a last-ditch attempt, instinct kicked in and the boy leaned down to look at her lifeless face before he kissed her soft and true on her lips. She tasted dusty and sweet. She tasted like regret and a life too long-lived. He kissed her long and soft and when he pulled himself away, he touched her mouth with his fingers. He caught sight of his hands and was surprised with how they trembled in front of him.

𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅
𝐀𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒

When Dolores sacrificed herself for her beloved assassin, she made a selfless decision based on her unconditional love for him, thus fulfilling the complete definition of the word [agape.] It is the same decision this Dolores will make countless times, though not all will end in her demise; just one, when she intercepts the bullets meant for her husband. Then, Number Five will take her place as Liesel and Dolores will become Rudy.

"Oh, good! You're still alive!" The Handler's cheery voice sounded jarringly out of place from the haze of emotion that had fallen upon him. "Pity about her, though." There was nothing in her tone that suggested she held any sympathy for the fallen girl.

Five wasted no time in pulling the brunette closer to him. He cradled her cooling body closer to his as he glared furiously up at her, his voice raspy as he growled out: "don't touch her."

The Handler gave a condescending little chuckle. "There's no need to worry. I have no time for deadweight such as her." Oblivious to the boy's murderous look, she raised her gun level with his chest. "I'm glad you got to see how this all played out. Now you get to join them."

Her finger hovered over the trigger as she met the teen's dark eyes. His was expression pained and grief-stricken though without a trace of fear. . . almost as if he welcomed the end. An idea sparked in her mind and she gave him a catlike smile as she tucked the gun under her arm. "Change of plans: you get to live!" the woman told him brightly. "I'm going to make sure you live for a long, long time. You get to suffer more this way instead of nice, clean death. And if you think—"

The sound of a second gun echoed in the cavern of the barn, though not from The Handler's weapon. Instead, the woman collapsed to the ground as the surviving Swede ended her life. Noticing that the boy was still alert, the blond man slowly strolled over to him with his gun still raised.

Five's grip on his wife tightened as he stared up soundlessly as a seemingly long-forgotten memory resurfaced: "you could probably even rewind time by less than a minute and save the course of a person's life. Time is a very potent thing, Five. You don't need much to affect an outcome."

Dolores' voice echoed in his ears and his heart ached from the bittersweet recollection. The Swede cocked the gun. "This doesn't have to be the end. We can use my ability to time travel."

"You're the genius who said we should jump, right? You're the one who got us stuck here."

Reluctantly, he released the brunette's body and lowered her gently to the ground before he balled his red-stained hands into fists.

"Maybe your appetite is disproportionate to the size of your abilities. Start small. Seconds, not decades."

Summoning his power, Five became enveloped in blue as he allowed the flow of time to pull himself up off the ground despite the events being disinclined to undo themselves. Still, he forced his feet across the barn floor, entirely focused on his goal.

"I know you can be your family if you let us."

Diego's voice made him stare in disbelief at his— alive— siblings and his gaze immediately sought out the one person— there. He swallowed back a sob of relief at seeing Dolores alive, standing exactly where she had been moments before.

Movement next to him caused the boy to react and he swiftly unarmed The Handler as she entered the barn. He quickly aimed it at her, causing the woman to step back as Lila addressed her mother: "it's true, isn't it? What Five said?" The Handler raised her hands and glared at the boy. Lila stomped her foot. "Answer me! Is it true?"

"Well—"

Her sentence was cut off as the Swede still made his shot and the woman fell to the floor. Lila raced towards the time-travelling device as Luther shouted: "the case!"

Diego intercepted him and they fell to the ground. Five rushed in front of them and aimed his weapon at the Swede. They all froze, wondering who would shoot first but Five was done. He dropped the weapon and raised his arms as he did so. "Enough."

The Swede followed suit as he let go of his own gun and acknowledged "enough" in his own language before he turned around and strolled out of the barn.

"I almost had her! Why'd you stop me?" Luther complained, still on top of his brother.

"Because I love her."

Sissy's cries from the floor below prompted them into action and the siblings raced downstairs to help her. Dolores remained in her spot as she watched him curiously. Five began to follow his siblings and he made a concentrated effort to avert his gaze from hers. The girl's eyes caught his suspicious avoidance. "What happened?"

Trying to appear unaffected, the boy let out a strained, impatient huff. "C'mon, Dolly. We need to help them."

"They're fine," she countered. "Besides, Vanya's the only one who can do anything." She placed her hands on her hips as her eyes narrowed. "What happened?"

"Noth—"

She pressed her lips together before making an educated guess: "I died, didn't I?"

The boy reacted as if she'd slapped him and jerked back violently as he gave her a wide-eyed look. "How—"

"Intuition," the brunette explained with a shrug. "I had a sort of feeling it would happen all day." Her expression softened suddenly as a small smile curled on her lips. "You reversed it."

"Yeah, I did," Five said though he didn't sound particularly thrilled.

"I knew you could do it," Dolores told him proudly as she moved forward to hold his hands. He tried to avoid the contact by keeping them out of reach but she grasped them anyway. She flattened her hands so his could rest on top of hers.

He gave a short nod and his tone was brittle as he explained, "you sacrificed yourself for me. You shouldn't have."

"You were going to die, Five," she argued. "I would never let that happen if I could help it."

His hands gripped hers as he rasped out: "I held your body, Dolores. I would rather die than live through that again."

She sighed and squeezed his hands in response. "I'm sorry I couldn't have done more—"

"Don't apologize," the boy interrupted her sternly. "You did more than I could've ever asked of you. You don't have anything to be sorry for."

Dolores rushed forward then and wrapped her arms around the boy to pull him close as she closed her eyes. While she had no memory of her death, she couldn't even begin to imagine what Five must have felt during that time. She felt him return the gesture and he hugged her tightly to him. She pulled away a bit only to lean down slightly and close the distance between their lips. The kiss was gentle and careful, as both were aware— too aware— of how fragile their lives truly were.

He marveled at how whole she felt against him, how warm and full of life she was, how responsive she was to his touch. How alive she was. He could feel her melt against him and despite the fact that he'd kissed her hundreds of times, it still felt like the first one, even more so now after-after her death.

A throat-clearing cough caused them to pull apart as the boy's siblings returned from helping Sissy. They all gathered together as they watched the pair with varying degrees of discomfort.

"Alright, show's over," Dolores told them dryly. "Next time the entrance fee is ten dollars per person."

✧✧✧

"Everyone ready?"

The sun had set and the Hargreeves had gathered in Sissy's backyard, circled around a briefcase. After Herb and Dot's visit, feelings had been. . . aired out (both emotionally and physically) and had eventually settled so that the siblings were prepared to finally go home.

"Let's do it, yeah," Luther nodded.

"Wait!" Klaus exclaimed, causing everyone to give him questioning looks.

He didn't explain. Instead, he jogged over to the porch where a hat sat on the railing. He quickly placed it on his head and gave his siblings a boyish grin. Diego sighed and leaned towards Five. "Fifty bucks if we leave him here."

Klaus returned to the group as he adjusted the brim of his hat to his liking. They closed the circle again and Dolores' hand tightened on Five's shoulder as he opened the briefcase. Familiar blue energy crackled around them, engulfing the group within seconds.

The ground suddenly rushed up to meet them and they landed with various grunts and sounds of pain. Luther was the first to speak as he held his head. "Oh, good god! What-what day is it?"

Five grabbed the nearby newspaper that sat on the table. "April 2nd, 2019. It's the day after the apocalypse."

"Wait, so we stopped it?" Allison asked in a voice filled with disbelief.

"My god, it's over?" Vanya added. She wore an expression similar to her sister's tone.

"Did we. . . did we actually succeed at something?" Klaus whimpered before his face broke out into a beaming grin. "That's incredible!"

As the siblings laughed with relief, Dolores looked around the lobby of the Academy with some suspicion as the place felt. . . eerie in a way that she couldn't quite describe.

"I don't know about you guys but I need a drink," Klaus continued as he hugged Vanya.

"Yes!" Luther agreed enthusiastically.

"In fact I need several!" the man corrected himself.

As they made their way into the sitting room, Klaus headed straight for the bar while his siblings looked around the familiar space. Dolores' gaze moved over the furniture towards the fireplace where her eyes flicked up to above the mantle where a painted portrait sat over them. She swallowed as her throat suddenly became dry. She nudged Diego (who was closest) and pointed upwards. "Look."

"Guys," the man said slowly. "Why is there a painting of Ben and. . . and some random woman over the mantle?"

Before anyone could respond, a new voice sounded further away: "I knew you'd show up eventually."

Reginald Hargreeves stood from his chair to face them and Diego stared at him in surprise. "Dad."

"You're alive," Luther said, shocked.

"Why shouldn't I be?" he questioned them. His eyes moved over each other the siblings before they finally landed on Dolores.

"Y-yeah, you're right. I'm. . . I'm just happy that we're home and. . . together again," Luther tried to explain.

"'Home?'" Reginald repeated. "This isn't your home."

"What are you talking about?" Allison demanded. "This is The Umbrella Academy."

"Wrong again," the man snapped. "This is The Sparrow Academy."

Footsteps sounded above them, causing the group to turn and look up to the balcony. A formation of six figures— including a literal floating box— appeared in front of the window.

"Dad." A man suddenly appeared before them with a hostile expression on his face. "Who the hell are these assholes?"

Behind him, a young woman with dark brown hair watched them with her arms folded across her chest and an unfriendly look in her eyes. Together, the group let out a collective "shit."

𝐀 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓

The woman in the portrait wasn't a stranger.

Note: Some paragraphs in this chapter were borrowed from The Book Thief in pdf format at: https://westernhs.bcps.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_4204286/Image/Grade9GT--TheBookThiefMarkusZusak.pdf