You didn’t know how many times you’d died now.

Ten? A hundred? You lost count after the first dozen. All you knew was that every loop ended the same way. Your blood on his hands, vision dimming as his voice cracked, begging you to hold on just a little longer.

The world resets again in a blinding flash of white. When your eyes open - again , you’re right back where you started. The same warehouse. The same cold concrete floor. The same shadows gathering in the corners. The same muffled gunshots echoing in the distance.

Your heart hammers in your chest as you push yourself up on shaking arms. You know what’s coming. You're going to die here. Again. Unless something changes.

Five is already there, pacing across the floor with a desperate fervour. He freezes the instant he sees you moving, as he always does, and rushes to your side.

“There you are.” he breathes, staring at you like he's been searching for you for years. He kneels down in front of you and gently grips your shoulders, his eyes scanning your face as if to make sure you’re really here.

“What happened this time?” you murmur. You don't really want to know the answer.

He doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he presses his forehead to yours, and you suddenly feel how badly he’s shaking. When he finally speaks, his voice breaks.

“I tried to get you out. I tried everything.” “How many times?”

Five lets out a breath, as if the answer physically pains him.

“Eighty three.”

He's watched you die eighty three times. He's failed eighty three times. You feel tears burning in your eyes, but you swallow and wipe them away. You don’t have time for this. Not if you want to get out of here.

Five is still holding you, as if just having his hands on you will keep you safe, and himself grounded. He stares at you for a second, as if trying to imprint your every feature into his mind.

“This time,” he vows quietly with so much determination even you start to believe it for a second, "I refuse to lose you again. I can't.”

You don’t know if you can believe him. Not after eighty three failed attempts. But when he pulls you up and you lean into his side, as you do every time, just for a second, you think that maybe this time will be different.