His Only Hope

Give or Take

"What do you want?" you asked, not meeting his eyes. The atmosphere seemed heavy with the silence. You finally had Ben back. But it felt like you'd lost him all over again.

"We're working together now, as you guessed. You need to get your siblings here tomorrow. We're having a big, happy family meeting tomorrow, so we need everyone here."

"Does that include Marcus?" you asked, unable to help yourself. You had no idea what had really happened to him, but you needed to see if this version of Ben had any compassion at all. Any love for his brother. You watched his dark eyes for a reaction, any reaction. But he just stared down at you and left, leaving the door open this time. 

A glint of shiny metal caught your eye, and you looked down at the nightstand, surprised to see your locket there. Had Oliver... returned it to you?

You shuddered, imagining how close he had been to you as you slept. How easily he could have killed you. You clipped the locket back around your neck, letting out a heavy breath before following Ben. Time to find your siblings... but first, food.

You walked down the stairs, taking the time to truly look around at the place you'd lived your whole life. But... this house was different. More modern. Cameras whirred as they spun to follow you, and you eyed them suspiciously. You found your way to the kitchen and were surprised to see Sloane standing by the stove, something sizzling in a pan. She clearly recognized you, and for a moment she just blinked at you before smiling hesitantly and waving a hand at the pan.

"I'm making breakfast early," she offered quietly. "If you want some. You must be pretty hungry."

"Breakfast?" you asked, raising your eyebrows. You could smell the eggs - man, you were hungry.

"Oh, yeah. You've been asleep for a while. It's almost..." She checked the clock on the stove. "5:30 AM."

"Oh," you said, surprised. "Wow. I feel disoriented." She laughed softly, pouring the scrambled eggs onto three plates. 

"Here. One for you, one for me, and one for Luther." 

You looked up at her in surprise. "So... you're the one he's falling in love with. I mean, I guess I knew, but I never really thought about it like that-" She blushed furiously, and you cleared your throat and attempted to change the subject. "Cooking at 5 in the morning, huh?"

"It helps me clear my mind," she said with a half shrug.

You smiled, shoulders drooping slightly. "I used to have that. With reading. I haven't picked up a book in... 15 years, give or take?"

Sloane watched you with her mouth open slightly in surprise, and you giggled nervously, not used to having another girl's attention focused so fully on you. Well, other than Allison, but... she didn't so much listen to you as yell at you. It made you miss Lila. Apparently she had returned. Maybe she though about you, too.

"Why is that?" she asked as you both sat at the table. You shoveled the eggs into your mouth hungrily, not caring if you looked like a mess. You were starving.

"Well," you began, tilting your head as you tried to remember the sequence of events, "I was in a coma from the time I was 14 to the time I was 30. Then I was busy trying to save the world. I was kidnapped for a while, and then we went looking for my murderous sist- er, brother - and it turns out he killed his ex." Her eyes widened, and you quickly continued. "But only after his ex tried to manipulate him into killing us. And then I had to save my siblings from being killed by said brother. Then we had to travel back in time so that we didn't die in the apocalypse, and then we all got separated. I found a home with your brother Oliver's mom and uncle, but then I had to leave to save the world again once my siblings found me."

"Wait, what? Oliver's parents?" Sloane asked, leaning across the table. She was clearly very invested now.

"Well, technically just his mom, since none of us have dads, but... you know. Then my friend got killed-" You choked on the memory of Elliott with pliers sticking out of his mouth. "-and we had to save the world. Again. Once again it was our brother who caused the end of the world, and once again it was Five that got us out of the whole mess." You smiled fondly. You'd never really through about it that way, but he had saved you and the whole family countless times. "Anyway, we then managed to time travel back here. To our original timeline. But, turns out, it's not so original, and Reginald picked a different bunch of assholes to manipulate and torture. So, cheers to ending the world again." You lifted your glass of chocolate milk, and she hesitated before clinking her glass with yours, a smile growing on her face. 

"You might just be my favorite out of the Umbrellas."

"What about monkey-man?" you asked, shoveling down some more eggs.

She choked on her drink, laughing. "Well, he's practically a Sparrow now, anyway."

You smiled, but it felt like a grimace. How had it been so easy for him to just move on like that? It made no sense. He'd always been so loyal before. Maybe his love for Sloane had changed him.

After all, your love for Five had clearly changed you.