His Only Hope

Too Late

"I know," he said, spinning you to face him, and your eyes went wide.

"You... you do?"

"Yes," he said confidently, glancing behind you suspiciously. "You remembered, too, didn't you? Reginald's hiding something. That person he made a deal with - there's only a select number of people it could be. Come on - let's retrace our path."

"Wait - what?" you asked, squinting. "Deal? What deal?"

"You don't remember, he said, glancing back at you with a frown. "That's... fine." You noticed his eyes flicking to your ring finger, and you cleared your throat, looking away. Had he proposed? Or had you just found it laying on the floor and, in a drunken stupor, decided to put the scrappy little thing on? "Last night, the old man was talking to someone in the Buffalo Suite. Trying to make a deal. We didn't see who it was, but whatever they were trying to do couldn't have been good."

You hesitated, considering it, before opening your mouth to speak. However, Viktor suddenly turned the corner and bumped into the two of you, raising his eyebrows. You jumped a little bit, the dull yellow lighting and jungle wallpaper making everything seem a bit more ominous.

"Sorry," Viktor said quickly, looking from you to Five with a frown. "I just... something so strange happened to me this morning."

"How do you mean?" Five asked, striding closer to Viktor with his brow furrowed. You tried to focus back in, swallowing back the sick taste in your mouth.

The last time you'd see Five. The last time you'd see Viktor.

"Allison apologized to me." That got your attention. You opened your mouth to say 'me, too', but you choked on air. Fury simmered beneath your skin, and your fingers twitched with electricity as Five spoke.

"Okay. And that's suspicious, how?" Five asked, tucking his hand in his pocket.

"Did you not see them last night?" you asked, relieved that you could at least remember that much. "Allison looked like she wanted to throw the disco ball at his head." You waved a hand at Viktor's head to demonstrate, and he hid a smile, lowering his head before growing serious again.

"Yeah, and this morning it's all family and Dad and love. I don't know - something must have happened last night, but I don't know what."

You turned to say something to Five, but his mouth dropped open, his eyes widening with realization, and he let go of the bowl of cereal.

"Shit," you hissed, attempting to catch it but just getting milk all over your hands. "Okay, gross." The bowl fell with a clatter, making you wince and close your eyes. Everything felt so loud right now.

"Five! Snap out of it," you said, reaching for his shoulder and shaking him gently. He blinked, his hazy eyes refocusing as he turned to look at you. 

"It's Allison," he said urgently, his eyes wide.

"What is?" Viktor was interrupted by a wail - a woman's wail.

That was Sloane.

"What's going on?" you asked, voice shaking with nerves. You'd only heard that kind of cry once before - from Allison when Ben had died. In the simulation, of course, but it was still very real to you.

"Come on," Five said, turning and jogging down the hall. You and Viktor raced after him, all the way to... the Buffalo Suite.

Five went in first. Time seemed to slow down as you walked through the door, your eyes lowering and landing on...

Oh my God. No, no, no.

Luther's bloody body lay across the sheepskin rug, a jagged cut running across his chest. Something had torn through his shirt, red seeping onto his blue button-up and onto the white rug beneath him. His eyes were closed, his expression numb. Not peaceful, not scared, just... dead. Sloane sat over him, crying, her hands hovering uselessly above his chest.