His Only Hope

Champagne and Success

"I've got this!" you heard Oliver shout, and the sudden brightness in the room faded. Oh, right. He must have been able to just... turn the fire off.

Then you heard the tell-tale whooshing of Five's teleportation, and you knew he must have spatial-jumped Grace out of the room. With a renewed sense of safety, you managed to push the anomaly into a tiny ball. "Christopher, now!" Sloane demanded, and on cue, Christopher broke into a few dozen shards of metal as you watched with wide eyes. 

The shards began moving closer to the tiny anomaly, but it needed to be smaller. You let out exhausted huffs of air, your hands shaking almost violently now as you struggled to keep the balance while shrinking it. You leaned forward, your muscles locking up and your chest beginning to glow (F/C). That had never happened - probably because you had never pushed your power this far before - and it shocked you, but also gave you a renewed sense of purpose. You gave it one final push, and Christopher clicked into place around the minuscule glowing ball.

With a gasp, you released your hold on the anomaly, bending down to place your hands on your knees and stare at Christopher. Suddenly, you felt incredibly drained - not only of energy, but also of the magnetic pull that had seemed to attach you to the anomaly. It really had worked.

You hadn't even noticed Ben coming to stand beside you, but when he looked at you, he didn't appear disgusted. He even gave you a small admiring smile before turning to look at Christopher again, and you felt the corners of your mouth tilt up proudly.

Christopher glowed blue, and then Five flashed into the room, his hair messed up. "Did it work?" he asked, and you all looked expectantly at the glowing cube.

"Next kugelwave in three, two, one..." you braced yourself, and felt Diego place a firm hand on your back, but...

Nothing happened.

You scoffed in surprise, looking up at Diego, and a slow grin spread across his face.

"Hell yeah," he said.

"Whoo!" everyone shouted, and you laughed in relief, burying your face in your hands. Five walked over to you, grabbing your waist and pulling you flush against him as he grinned. You felt your face grow warm, and you giggled, wrapping your arms around his neck and leaning into him. 

Five minutes later, everyone was gathered upstairs, and Diego was using one of his daggers to pop the cork out of a champagne bottle held by Ben. Ben started chugging it before walking over to you and Five, pouring some into Five's wine glass before tipping it over your face. At first, you shook your head, but then you laughed and tilted your head back, letting him pour it into your open mouth. All around you, both academies were drinking and laughing, dancing and partying. 

You laughed harder as the champagne dribbled down your chin and neck, spilling onto your Sparrow Academy uniform.

"Fuck yeah!" Ben shouted, and you both started laughing like psychos. 

"Oh my God, we did it!" you screamed at Fei, and she smiled smoothly, spinning you in a circle and causing you to crash into Diego.

He looked down at you before shoving you lightly, still grinning, and you shoved him back, laughing your head off. "We fucking saved the world, again!" he shouted over the voices of the others.

"What else did you expect?" you replied, giddily smiling.

Because now, you didn't have to die, just like you had suspected. Everything was going to be okay. Five would get to love you for the rest of his life, and you would get to love him. You and your siblings and even the fucking Sparrow Academy would party like this every damn night!

You could see Oliver doing a little lights show with his power for an extremely intoxicated Diego, and you grinned. Maybe they could get along, after all.

Luther picked you up by your waist and literally spun you in the air, both of you very drunk. Lila slung her arm around Five's shoulder as Ben poured more champagne for him, and you crashed to the floor, Luther apologizing through his laughter.

"You did not just drop me," you gasped dramatically, and he only laughed harder, tears leaking from his eyes. Suddenly, the floor seemed like it was floating, and you stood up feeling anti-gravity, like Sloane. You walked over to Five, pulling him into a kiss, pressing your hands against his face. You caught him by surprise, but he quickly returned it, using one hand to hold you by your waist and using the other to grip your hair, pressing your face further into the kiss. You both tasted of champagne and success, and the moment couldn't have been more magical, even with the rest of your family gathered around and cheering. 

Even that couldn't ruin the moment.

What felt like hours passed, and Five grabbed your hand, pulling you close. He seemed, for the most part, sober. "I need to go talk to Viktor," he said, and you nodded, watching him go. Now it was just you, Fei, and Ben. Well, and Christopher. You felt odd, standing there surrounded by Sparrows.

You started to leave, in search of... anybody else, but then Fei called after you.

"Hey, Dud," she called, and you turned around, ready to snap at her. "You did good." She was smiling at you, a real smile, and had her champagne glass lifted in a 'cheers' gesture to you.

And so, you let yourself smile a little bit, and let out a few slurred words. "Now I get to die a little slower." Her and Ben glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, but by then, you were already staggering up the stairs, the world tipping. You were heading for your temporary room when you heard Five's voice from behind a closed door. You didn't mean to listen, but...

"But lie to us again, and Viktor, I'll kill you myself."

You slapped your hand over your mouth, eyes widening. You were drunk... Surely Five wouldn't say that! Right? Your mind was playing tricks on you, it had to be... 

You stumbled back toward the stairs, running into Diego and Lila, who both looked shocked and very, very awkward.

"Eight?" Diego asked, and you opened your mouth to speak before an odd feeling numbed your brain, knocking away your drunk haze like it was nothing.

"What the hell?" you gasped, grabbing the railing to keep yourself standing as an odd, stabbing pain began spreading through your body.

"Eight, what is it?" Lila asked, walking closer and placing a hand on your shoulder.

"Something's wrong," you gasped, knees shaking. "Ah - holy shit, this hurts -"

"You're drunk," Diego said, seemingly still distracted. His eyebrows were pressed together, forming a little wrinkle in the middle of his forehead. "Just relax and drink some water-"

"I don't need any goddamn water!" you snapped, pressing your hand to your forehead and dropping to your knees. "Holy shit!"

"Eight-" Diego started, moving to grab your elbow and pull you up, but then you felt the kugelwave blast through the room. It was just a gentle wind like usual, warning you that the real danger was coming - when the wave returned, sucking people and animals alike back into the anomaly with it.

"No," you whispered, and suddenly the building began to shake. And then the wave returned, blasting you into the wall so hard that, with a crack, the world went dark.