His Only Hope

All I Ever Wanted

You dragged Five to his feet, pulling him outside onto the balcony, the darkened sky made less all-consuming by the glowing fairy lights draped overhead and the lanterns resting on the short wall of rocks you decided to lean against. Five grabbed your hand, twining your fingers together and lifting your hands to inspect the back of yours as though it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"You have... interesting hands," he slurred, and you snorted, leaning your head on his shoulder and reaching up to brush his hair out of his face. 

"I think I like drunk Five."

He tipped back his wine bottle, the liquid sloshing as he chugged it.

"Hey, relax. I don't like him that much."

"Hey guys," Luther said with a smile, Sloane clutched under his arm. They sat on the rock wall together, next to Viktor and above Diego and Lila, who were on the ground as well.

Everyone began groaning as Klaus and Ben emerged next, Klaus' arm around your sort-of adopted brother. Both of their shirts had become more unbuttoned as the night progressed, Klaus's completely open.

"No!"

"Ugh!"

"Hey, what?" Klaus cried, still advancing.

"Klaus, why are you bringing Ben out here?" Five questioned in a high-pitched voice. You elbowed him.

"Give him a chance, old man!"

"Hear me out before-"

"Hear him out," Ben interrupted.

"The brother that you all knew as Ben is gone," he continued. "And not - I, I don't mean our Ben, the nice Ben. I mean this Ben."

He pointed to the Ben in question, who was tipping back a bottle of vodka. "The asshole, he's gone now!"

"Gone," Ben mouthed from behind him decisively.

"Klaus, what're you talking about?" Luther asked, clearly fed up.

"And the man that stand in front of you is the new new Ben, and he's one of us, and he's a member of the team." You glanced at Five, who was watching with a furrowed brow and a slightly amused expression that said what idiots.

"And he's... part of the family!" They both shouted the last part together, Ben smiling and bringing back way too many memories for comfort. They burst out laughing as a smile twitched onto your face.

"And as a welcome gift, I suggest we throw him off the roof," Five shouted, raising his wine bottle.

"Watch it, or I'll throw you off," you said, poking him in his chest.

"Yeah, I'll help. With both," Diego clarified, grinning at you.

"You know what? You know what?" Luther asked cheerfully. "He can stay. He can stay!"

"Why?" Diego asked in a curt tone, looking up at him with a frown.

"I - Cause it's my wedding day, man." He turned back to Klaus. "Come on. He can stay."

"Yes!" the two best friends hissed to each other, and you pumped a fist in the air.

"Whoo! The whole fam's back together," you said to Five, and he sighed, shaking his head.

"Oh, whoo! Holy smokes!" Klaus exclaimed, looking up at the sky, which mainly consisted of dark clouds tinted orange by the anomaly. Everyone turned to gaze at it in a thoughtful silence. You stared up at it, biting your lip. It was beautiful, in a torturous, dangerous, screwed-up way.

If you thought about it hard enough, it was kind of like a metaphor for your family.

"Five," you chastised, elbowing him when he took another swig from his bottle and pointedly ignored the sky. "It's pretty. Just look."

"I don't need to," he replied, setting his drink down and grabbing your jaw gently so he could turn your face to his. He didn't say anything else, but he didn't have to. You smiled, feeling tears build in your eyes, and buried your face in the crook of his neck to hide them, wrapping your arms around him sideways. His hand held the back of your head, and you sighed, leaning as close to him as you possibly could, inhaling the scent of cologne and whiskey.

"Hey, you wanna know something?" Luther asked after a while. "Tonight is all I ever really wanted." Everyone turned to look at him, and you smiled sadly. 

"To get hitched?" Diego asked, and you grinned wider.

"Just... everybody coming together when it really matters." The balcony was silent save for Luther's gravelly tone, the atmosphere quiet and reminiscent, like a bittersweet memory. "One big... real family." He paused for a moment, before leaning down and pressing a loving kiss to Sloane's hand. As you watched, you felt hot tears build up in your eyes, your throat closing up.

Don't cry now.

Lucky for you, Five sat up with a grunt, staggering to his feet before he began coughing and retching. "Whoa, whoa!" Everyone shouted, and you darted to your feet, catching him under the arms to help balance him.

"Oh, I think I'm gonna hurl," he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and leaning forward. You dragged him back to a standing position as everyone chuckled, keeping your arms wrapped lightly around his stomach.

"Not around me, you're not," you mumbled, struggling to support both of your weights.

"Actually, uh," he slurred, pointing to the door and raising his head, "I think I'm hungry. See ya guys, I'm gonna hit the buffet."

He stumbled off, clinging tightly to your wrist with one of his hands, and you groaned. "You're just gonna throw it all back up!"

"Is he gonna be okay?" Viktor asked from behind you as you walked off.

"Eight's got him. He'll be fine," Diego replied.

20 minutes later, the walls and ceiling were spinning dangerously. Five was scooping cereal out of a large bowl of vodka as you stumbled through the hallways of the Obsidian. 

"We're gonna stay up all night, right?" you asked Five in a halting tone, unable to form complete sentences without pauses. 

"Hell yeah, we are," he said through his mouthful of soggy cereal. He clutched his stomach and dropped the bowl on the floor, promptly vomiting into a potted plant.

"Nooo," you exclaimed in a devastated tone, pulling him back up so that he was laying against your chest instead of hunched over the plant. You took the bottom of your dress and wiped away the throw-up on the corner of his mouth as his head lolled back into your chest, his eyes looking up at you with pure adoration from upside down.

"I love you so much, you know?" 

You smiled, placing your hands on his cheeks and pressing and upside-down kiss to his forehead. "I'll always take care of you," you promised. "Always."

"With everything we've discussed, it'd be folly to wait." Your head spun to determine the source of the voice, revealing Reginald through a crack in one of the doors. You and Five both quickly crawled over to the doorway to watch. "There is no time. I can't do this without you."

Five was standing now, leaning against the doorway with his hand. His hair was in his face as he breathed heavily, his eyes hooded from heavy intoxication.

"Do we have a deal?" He stuck out his hand for someone to shake.

Five staggered backward, thudding into the elevator and passing out. You gasped, stumbling toward him, but the door closed with a ding before you could do anything. You thudded against the now closed door, eyes widening in drunk surprise at the loud sound. The noises from inside the room ceased, and you only had time to think 'shit' before Reginald was standing above you, his eyes murderous.