His Only Hope

Cliffhanger

"Stop." Allison appeared next to Reginald, holding out her hand. "I've got this." Her eyes landed coldly on you, and you shook your head blearily, knowing what was coming next.

"Allison, no. Not again-"

"I heard a rumor that you forgot this happened."

"Five?" you called sleepily as you walked out of the elevator, leaning heavily on the wall to support yourself. He was leaning against the wall right outside, his eyes watching you sleepily. He shot to his feet when he saw you, reaching out his hand and pulling you to him. Then, he tried to get on one knee but tipped to the side, quickly going on both. And then he pulled out a ring, a scruffy one that looked like it was made from scrap metal.

"I made it in the apocalypse," he slurred, and you watched him with your mouth gaping and your eyes wide. "I missed you so fucking much. It made me think abut... think about you."

"What?" was all you could say, staring down at the ring he held in the palm of his hand.

"I love you," he mumbled, blinking tiredly. "Marry me?" 

You turned to the side and barfed all over the carpet. Five stood up quickly, pulling your hair back and wrapping an arm around your stomach to hold you up. You sobbed when it was finally over, and he dragged you over to the sink in the kitchen with a determined frown, grabbing a paper towel and wetting it under the water before swiping it messily across your face.

"Don't," you wailed, unsure why you were even crying. Probably from the nasty taste in your mouth. "I smell bad."

He took another swig from his bottle of wine, before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to your lips. You yanked your head back with a gasp, screwing your eyes shut. "I just threw up! I'm gross!"

"You're beautiful," he responded, his words slurred, as he dropped the wine bottle and swiped at your face some more. "Don't care if you're disgusting. I love you."

He grabbed your face with one of his hands, pressing a sloppy kiss to your cheek, and you giggled tearfully. "I love you too." 

How sappy.

You grabbed him by the collar and kissed him hard on the lips, pressing him against a metal rack. Your tinted lip gloss that Lila had insisted on you wearing smeared across his face, and then next thing you knew you woke up with your legs tangled in something.

No, not something - someone. Five's legs were interlocked with yours, and you were laying on a metal sort of storing counter, on a high shelf. "What the fuck...?" you mumbled, before promptly rolling off the edge and knocking yourself out.

"(Y/N). (Y/N)!" Your eyes shot open, and you looked up to see a pink lip-gloss smeared Five staring down at you. Your vision blurred for a moment, and then he came into painfully bright focus. You groaned, squeezing your eyes shut.

"No," you groaned, and he dragged you to your feet, grunting as you leaned heavily against him. He seemed hesitant on what to do for a moment before wrapping an arm around your waist and holding you up. You noticed with surprise that his fingernails were messily painted a few different shades of green, and you were wearing his jacket. You had vague memories of painting his nails the night before, both of you laughing, before he put his jacket on you when you said you were cold.

Strange.

"Come on. We're going outside. You need fresh air."

"It's gonna be too bright," you complained, and he sighed.

"It's for your own good. Come on." 

You glanced down at your hand, eyes widening when you saw a scrappy silver ring on your... ring finger. 

What the hell had happened last night?!

Your eyes shot to Five in surprise, but he was staring straight ahead, focused on dragging you outside. After a moment, your shock faded when you realized how pointless this was.

"Why does it matter if I have a headache? I'm going to be dead later today, anyway." You realized your mistake and quickly fixed it. "I mean, we all are."

Five bit the inside of his lip, his eyes darkening for a moment as you stepped outside into the bright outdoors. You squeezed your eyes shut, groaning.

"Maybe not. Maybe there's something beyond the Kugelblitz."

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

"I trust the leader of the Commission." 

Himself. The leader of the Commission was just an aged Five.

He trusted the man who basically told you to kill yourself.

Just as you reached the edge of the world where the sidewalk cut off, you lurched forward and vomited into the abyss below.

"Whoa!" Five shouted, jerking forward and grabbing you by the elbow, pulling you away from the edge. "Careful!" His eyes and hair were wild with worry, and you let out a delirious laugh. 

"We're all going that way in the end anyway, right?" you asked dryly, a hint of a smile on your face, but he didn't return it. His shoulders were tense, the line of his brow serious.

A muscle in his jaw jumped before he spoke in a low tone. "(Y/N). Don't."

"What?" you exclaimed, throwing your hands in the air and forcefully pulling your elbow out of his grasp. Your dress was dirty and torn - you probably should have changed. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. "Don't what?! I'm going to die. You're going to die. And you're just okay with that! My battle was always your battle, Five. But now you're not willing to fight anymore?"

You prepared yourself to fight back tears, but to your surprise, they weren't even there. Your head pounded painfully, the dry feeling in your throat only increasing. Five looked away with a fed-up sigh, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"I trust-"

"The leader of the Commission. Yeah," you said in a cold voice, scoffing and looking over at the edge of the world again.

The worst part about this was knowing you had to lie to Five. He wasn't going to die. Not if you could just suck it up and do what had to be done. But you were being selfish - using up every last second you had with your family. 

God, he was going to hate you.

But. That thought remained - Reginald's promise to fix everything. He was capable of it. You might as well give it a try... right?

"Look, I know who he is," you said after a tense silence. His head spun to face you, his brow furrowed in surprise. You used to love when he got that focused look on his face. "I know it's... you. And I hate that."

"Why?" he asked after a moment, pressed his lips together and standing stock-still. 

Because he - you - want me to die.

"Just because," you mumbled after a moment, training your eyes on the ground.

Five strode forward as you sat on the edge of the world, sighing heavily. He sat beside you, picking up a large bottle of some sort of dark alcohol that had been rolling around in the street. He tipped it back and took a large swallow, the silence achingly loud. Your legs dangled over the edge, the nothingness below making your heart pound.

The stillness was abruptly interrupted by two shoes clipping against the cobblestones in a business-like manner. You turned to see Reginald walking toward you, his back straight and a book clutched in his aged hand. "I take it you know why I'm here."