The Fall of Five

25

“What is that?” Sarah cries.

“I don’t know,” I reply, springing to my feet and instinctively putting myself between Sarah and the black blur that’s descending on us. I fire up my Lumen, feeling some comfort in the fresh heat, ready for anything.

The dark form slows down. It’s definitely a person, I realize. The shape lands gracefully on the other side of the roof, its arms raised in a gesture of peace.

“Five.”

“Hey, guys,” Five says. “You’re up late. Did I scare you?”

“What do you think?” Sarah asks, gesturing at the fireballs still held in my hands. On edge, I finally let them dissipate. Five, wearing a black sweatshirt and pants, pulls down his hood so I can see his apologetic face.

“Shoot. Sorry. I didn’t think anyone would notice.”

I legitimately thought we were under attack for a second there, so my words come out harsher than I mean them to. “What the hell were you doing?”

“Just flying around. Sometimes I like to see how high I can go.”

I try to think of a response that won’t make me sound too bossy. I’m all for training, but flying around the city of Chicago seems like a pretty stupid idea. Hiding in plain sight is one thing; hiding while teenagers soar through the air around your base is another.

“Aren’t you worried someone might see you?” Sarah asks, taking the words right out of my mouth.

Five shakes his head. “No offense, Sarah, but you’d be surprised how little your people bother to look up. Anyway, it’s night and I’m in dark clothes. Trust me, guys, I’m cautious.”

“Still, there are cameras to think about, airplanes, who knows what else,” I say, trying not to sound like I’m lecturing.

Five sighs deeply and holds out his hands, like he’s sick of arguing. On the heels of his run-in with Nine earlier, I guess he doesn’t want to make any more trouble. “I’ll stop if you want me to,” he says. “You should know that I’m getting better at it, though. Covering more distance. In fact, I could probably just swoop down to the Everglades and pick up my Chest, be back before breakfast.”

I like this can-do attitude from Five; he suddenly doesn’t seem like the kind of guy we need to worry about passing up training for video games. Still, I shake my head. “We’ll go as a team, Five. We don’t need to do anything alone ever again.”

“Safety in numbers. You’re right.” Five yawns, stretching his arms out. “All right, I’m gonna turn in. The Lecture Hall first thing tomorrow, right?”

“Right.”

Once Five has marched downstairs, I turn to Sarah. She’s gazing up at the night sky, a tiny smile playing at her lips. I take her hand.

“What do you make of that?” I ask her.

She shrugs. “If you could fly like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Only if you could fly with me.”

Sarah rolls her eyes, elbowing me gently in the ribs. “Okay, cornball. Let’s get to bed before anything else crazy happens.”