His Only Hope

Our Weirdo Family

"Wow," Diego said, raising an eyebrow. "You really put up a struggle there, Eight. Real impressive."

You let out a heavy breath of relief.

"Shut up, Diego. What do you want?"

"Well, you're running off somewhere, so-"

"How'd you know?" you demanded before he could finish, hoping to distract him.

"I was checking the perimeter," he said confidently, tossing his dagger in the air and catching it with a satisfying sound. "Clearly I needed to."

Suddenly the others wandered over, including Viktor, and you cringed inwardly.

"Good God, did he get you too?" Luther asked Diego when he saw a red mark on the back of his neck. You frowned, concerned.

"Hey, what happened?" you asked as Viktor and Allison talked briefly. "You... all right?"

He grinned, tilting his head to show off the bruise to you.

"Beat up some shitheads in an alleyway. You disappointed?"

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head.

"Whatever. As long as they didn't manage to bruise your ego, you're good." Diego raised his eyebrows at you, and you frowned. "Hey, by the way, have any of you seen Five?" you asked the group. "It's been a while, and... I'm starting to worry about him."

"Five's a big boy," Allison said. "He can take care of himself."

"Well... maybe, but-"

Suddenly, a bright blue flash interrupted you, and you were dragged back by Diego. Grunting, Five and Lila tumbled through the void before it disappeared with a snap.

They fumbled around for a bit, grunting and shoving planks of wood that had come through the void with them out of the way. 

"Shit," Five mumbled, and you hurried over, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet before embracing him.

"What happened? Are you okay? Why were you-"

"Hey, relax," he said, pulling back to rest his hand against your cheek.

"Where have you been?" Viktor demanded.

"Facing my mortality, Viktor," Five said, stepping back and rubbing his forehead. "I don't recommend it."

"You have the briefcase?!" Allison burst at the same time you made the connection. "We've been looking for this!" She picked it up, cradling it in her arms like a child.

Wrong thing to think, considering the circumstances.

"Well, look no further. That's the last one on Earth." Allison's eyes widened as she picked it up, the briefcase sputtering and spewing smoke. "Or, was the last one," Five added, squinting at it. "Yeah, that's toast." Allison stormed off to sit on the steps.

Seeing Lila embrace Diego, you bit your lip and glanced at Five. You had been about to run off without even knowing where he was.

"Are you all right?" you asked him as he stood up from where he'd been crouching by the briefcase. "I was... you were gone for a while."

"Yeah, we figured a lot out," he said carefully, coming over and taking your hand. You tried to disguise your grimace, but he frowned, raising your hand in the air to look closer at it even as you snatched it away. "What the... who did that?" He looked away from your hand and into your eyes, his brow furrowed. "Tell me right now."

You sighed, staring at the ground. You just wanted to hug him and tell him everything was fine, that everything was going to be okay. But you couldn't tell him what you were planning.