He thought about it many different ways. An eternity in hell, hundreds of lifetimes and universes, gives a man plenty of time to think about his mistakes. If he saw you again, if you managed to somehow find this spot in space and time, he would kill you and take the crystal and save everything. Everyone.
He hated you.
He knew it was your fault. (That’s not fair. What if it wasn’t?) He knew he was the only one who could change it. (That’s not true. What if he can’t?) He knew you wouldn’t listen to reason. (That’s not right. What if there’s another way?)
He wanted to kill you. Release the lifetimes of anger and hatred, stemming from the universes you killed. The version of him you killed. If he could just hit you in the head, just right. Or strangle you. Or pierce your chest with one of his sharp tools.
With a flash of blue light, the crackle of electricity that felt so familiar (he hated how familiar it felt now), there you were. You seemed frozen for a moment, seeing something he couldn’t see. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and raised it high, a coldness in his eyes.
He knew he couldn’t kill you.
“Hi Captain.”
The clang of the metal against your skull resounded around the room and you collapsed to the ground. He crouched next to you as your eyes fluttered shut with pain. Why? Why can’t he kill you? After everything you’ve done, why can’t he end it?
(After everything you’ve done,together. After all you’ve been through, together. You are still his Captain, and he still loves you for it.)
Furious at himself, at you, at the dying universe, he ripped the warp crystal off your hand. He grabbed your other wrist when you reached for it, a cold anger never seen from him before shining in his eyes.
“Don’t.”
He stood, explaining why he had to stop you. (He has to. He knows it.) He explained how the warp core connected everything. All the while, there’s a distant anger in his movements and his words. You bring yourself to your feet and throw sand in his eyes, and everything moves so fast.
Buttons are pressed. A new wormhole opens up. You grab his hand. (You’ve done this before, when the vacuum of space threatened to swallow your precious Head Engineer) You ground your feet and you reach for the crystal, and you hold on.
The crystal is thrown into the wormhole, and everything closes up. He falls, stands, and yells at you. “If I’m not there to fix it!” A cold realization hits him as he looks behind himself at the silent and dark warp core.
He hates you. (He doesn’t.)He hates you for being right. (He can’t.) More importantly, he hates himself.
He slumps to the ground, a sob growing in his throat. “Captain. I’m. I’m tired. I don’t know when I last slept.” His voice cracks. He looks at you with the sorrow of a thousand lifetimes, an ache you both understand and will never fully grasp. You grab his hands, and he holds them tightly as the world collapses around you two.
And you wake. On a fully functional ship, with crew that is alive and working on landing. All the colonists are alive and waking up. Everything seems normal. He hands you a cup of coffee, a knowing look in his eyes.
Ever wanted to trap @markiplier on your desktop? WELL NOW YOU CAN ! Watch him endlessly run around in purgatory as he slowly rebuilds the warp core. Just make sure to duck once he's finished or it'll start all over again...
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