Ocean Deep: An Ass Load of Fish

by AngusEcrivain 

 "Dude that's an ass load of fish!"

"Yeah and they're pissed off to all hell. Something's got them riled, good and proper."

"Well, duh... That's the reason we're down here isn't it?"

"All right, all right. I was just saying. Don't be a dick, it'll drain your oxygen tank more quickly."

When you boys are finished fucking around out there... a female, static-ridden voice came over the comm. You might want to think about getting back to the submersible. I'm picking up a trio of Pleuros a few miles out but they're closing fast. Looks like this super-shoal is plenty enough to call them to dinner but if you two are still hanging around...

"Momma Bear and Papa Bear taking Baby Bear out for a slap-up meal, are they Li?"

On the ocean floor as what must easily have been a million-strong super-shoal whirled and barreled rapidly around them, the two men turned slowly until they were facing each other.

"On me, Ollie," said one as he took several slow steps forwards and left in the direction of the submersible. "It'll take us four minutes to get back to the sub. If we're lucky it'll take the Pleuros five minutes to get here."

"You know as well as I do it's gonna' take us longer than that to make it back, Jake."

Both men knew that was true but unless they wanted to simply wait to be ripped apart, torn to shreds by a family of Liopleurodons, they really did have little choice and so they headed for the submersible.

You're not going to make it. Leanne's voice, as static-ridden as before though with an added element of panic, came over the comm. I'm gonna' bring the sub to you.

"Do that, Li, and you're only gonna' disturb the water more and those Pleuros are just gonna' get all hyped and shit, and get here quicker."

Bollocks, Ollie, she replied. Fucked if I'm leaving you boys out there alone.

There was a slight crackle on the line, subtly different to the more familiar crackle of static, which indicated the line of communication between the submersible and the two men out on the ocean floor had been silenced.

"She'd better know what she's doing," said Jake through gritted teeth. "She'll get us all killed if she's not careful."

"Too late to do anything about it now." Ollie checked his oxygen levels via a device attached to his wrist. "Probably ain't gonna' matter much anyway. This exertion is draining my tank to shit."

"Now that's a choice no one wants... Suffocation or a Pleuros' meal."

"Yeah, well, y'know..."

***

The Precious Stone's motors wailed in protest as Leanne asked far more of them than they had ever been designed for. It had never been considered that the craft would have to travel at such speeds.

It was nothing more than a vessel used for research and observation, after all. There was so little known about the ocean, even less since the melting of the Polar Caps had all but eradicated dry land and freed countless organisms that had been trapped, encased within the ice for millennia.

"Shit!" she cursed as with a glance at the radar she realised the family group of prehistoric predators had altered their course. No longer were they heading for the super-shoal. On the plus side, they were not heading towards Ollie and Jake, either. Instead, they were on an intercept course with the Precious Stone, and that course meant they would be with her in...

"The precious stone set in the silver sea," she muttered the words etched upon the vessel's flanks, a motto of sorts, whilst the craft shuddered under the impact of the larger Liopleurodon swiping its hull with its tail.

"Thanks for the warning shot, gorgeous. It's a warning I can ill afford to heed though, sorry. I've got people out there."

The Precious Stone ploughed on through the deep as the creatures easily kept pace, circling the craft and showing more and more interest with each passing moment, and Leanne opened the lines of communication once again.

"Good news, boys. The Pleuros aren't heading for you, well not directly anyway."

Sounds like you've got a little bad news to go with that, Li.

"Yeah you could say that. They might not be heading directly for you but they are gonna' get there, considering they're..." she paused as this time the largest two of the three creatures, the adults, barrelled simultaneously into both the port and starboard side of the Precious Stone.

Electronics fizzed and sputtered and the engine wound down with a heavy, dissatisfied sigh.

"Scratch that, I'm dead in the water!"

We're gonna' try and get to you, Li. No promises though. Ollie's almost out of air.

"Don't be fucking stupid!" she yelled. "Make for the surface and activate a beacon. We've all got a chance that way!"

She grimaced as she looked out through the reinforced glass. Directly ahead, one of the Liopleurodons was on a collision course and it looked to be travelling incredibly quickly.

Leanne just hoped that glass would hold...

***

She touched the tips of her fingers to her forehead. There was an inordinate amount of blood, far more than she expected.

The Precious Stone was in darkness and somewhere aboard there was a leak. She could hear the rushing of air quite clearly and the only thing that could possibly be was a leak in one of the pipes that supplied oxygen to the vessel.

Leanne remained seated as she attempted to fight through the fog of pain and lessening air but all she wanted to do was sleep. In fact it was just about all she could do to stay...

---

// Ripple

by VintageVulpes //

Nikki sighed and looked out her window, the rain came down heavily against the car as they sped down the highway. The sound of tires swooshing through a thin layer of water filled the silence between them. "I don't understand..." she finally said, looking to the man to her left.

"What's not to understand, he's lost his mind and we have to stop him," Cassian replied without taking his eyes off the road, his hands wrapped tightly around the wheel.

"Yeah, but Cass, he's been messing around with this idea for the last four years, why so worried now," Nikki asked. The headlights from oncoming traffic flashed through the dividers occasionally. Nikki watched Cassian, the shadows only accentuated the consternation etched on his face.

"I just got a text from him," with one hand still on the wheel, he pulled his smartphone from his back pocket and handed it to her, "I don't know what he means... I just have a bad feeling about this."

She quickly looked over the text: hurry to my office, it's an emergency.

"You didn't have to come..." he continued, his eyes barely open as he squinted against the harsh lights of oncoming cars.

"Well, I couldn't let you leave alone, not with that look on your face," Nikki put his phone down to balance on her leg and looked at him, "yeah, that one."

Cassian growled deep in his throat then blurted, "he's such an idiot!"

"He has an I.Q. of one-fourty-four," she said

"That doesn't mean he's not an idiot."

She pulled her gun holster off her belt and tossed it with her pistol inside into the glove compartment "You know," she puffed out her cheeks, "when we get back we have to look at the Wedding Planner's binder, she wants us to pick out the flowers and-"

Cassian's phone buzzed on her lap and she jumped slightly, the caller I.D. read: SAM

"It's him," Nikki informed and held his phone out to him.

He snatched it and answered gruffly, "Sam, what the hell's goin' on man? I'm on my way over and-" he stopped talking and shook his head as he listened to his brother's response. "What are you talking about it? No- I... Sam!" He threw the phone onto the dashboard, "he hung up."

"Wha'd he say?"

"Nothing I understood- we're almost there. We'll find out soon."

They finally arrived at the college. They drove through the maze of college roads, glad for the lack of inconsiderate co-eds who made it impossible to get to Sam's office during the day. Tonight the path was clear and they arrived quickly at the building and parked in front. They both sprinted to the front doors only to find them locked.

Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the black clouds and the tall castle like buildings that made up the campus. "Call him," she shouted as a clap of thunder attempted to drown out her voice, "I'm going to try the side door."

Just as she stepped off the porch to head for the side door, a man with a partially grown beard in a hawaiian shirt of bright blue, yellow and green colors with matching blue pants stepped around the corner, holding an umbrella over his mused dark hair, "Oi, over here!"

Cassian leaned back to get a look at him, his phone still pressed against his ear, "who the hell are you?" When the ringing in his ear stopped and turned to voice messaging system, he hung up and dropped the phone back into his pocket. He brushed at the hair that was now plastered to his forehead and joined beside Nikki as she walked down the stairs to meet the stranger standing at the side entrance. "Do you-"

"You're here to see Sam, yeah?"

Nikki shared a looked with Cassian before they both nodded and said, "yeah."

The man widened his eyes as though in surprise, "well, what are you standing there for, c'mon," he beckoned them with his free hand.

The building was dark, seemingly vacant with only security lights lit the hallways. Nikki was left with the Hawaiian shirt guy as Cassian raced toward his brothers office. The stranger yelled after him, "he's not in his office." The man casually shook and closed his umbrella before turning to Nikki and Cassian, who was fidgeting as he waited to be led to his brother. They descended the stairs on their right, at Francis' pace, their steps echoed in the empty building.

"How do you know Sam," Cassian questioned.

"He's my mentor, mate. Has been for the last three years- I was a Grad student in medical school but his work... is just so. You know? I still take classes but most of my time is spent here. He's never mentioned me?"

Nikki cleared her throat, "not that he hasn't mentioned you- we just don't get to see Sam all that often."

The man stopped leading the way down the corridor and looked between them, "Sam don't stop talkin' 'bout your weddin'. Very exciting for the two of you, no?"

Cassian quirked a brow and pushed out his lower lip slightly, "is Sam here?"

He looked at Nikki who looked at Cassian. "Yeah, this way," the man conceded and continued to walk down the hall, tapping his umbrella on the tiled floor as if he were using it like a cane.

Following the brick hallway, they came to the heavy metal door with only a small port with thick, gridded glass that sat at eye level. Cassian glanced in but was soon given a full view when the brightly clothed man opened the door and revealed the two floored lab. The bookshelves and section for viewing down into the lab made up the raised grated platform that surrounded a small lab. A couple steps down was a lab occupied by rows of lab tables that were covered with flasks and glass bottles. Sam was bobbing to music as he walked around his lab table and read off a clipboard.

"Sam, your brother's here," the student shouted over the music.

"Cassian- and Nikki," he spread his arms wide as though in receiving a hug but clearly was too far away, "I'm so glad you came!"

"You made it sound like an emergency, but you're here with this guy and dancing?"

"It's bogling," Sam corrected and held up a finger, "and it is an emergency. I want you to know why I'm about to do this." He walked up to the stereo sitting on one of the three stainless steel, long tables, and turned the volume down. The lyrics and main bass were still loud but they no longer had to shout.

Nikki stepped forward just as Cassian did and they stood at the guard railing at the edge of the first floor that looked down into the science pit. She looked around and then shrugged her shoulders, "do what?"

"I'm going to get her back."

Cassian made a face as if he'd ate a lemon, "what?!"

"She didn't need to die, I'm going to keep that night from happening."

The sound of a lighter flicking got all of their attention and they looked over to the man in bright blue pants and hawaiian shirt, "what are you doing?"

He held out a pack full of Ecrivain's Specials with one of them hanging between his lips, already lit with smoke billowing out, "sorry, wha- did you want one?"

Nikki and Cassian both said, "no."

"Sam, who the hell is this guy? What is he doing here? What the hell is going on," Cassian demanded of his brother, stepping down into the lab.

"This is Francis, he's my apprentice."

They all looked to Francis and he waved slightly, cigarette still between his lips.

With excitement Sam announced, "and... I've completed it. It's ready."

Cassian looked to Nikki who shrugged one shoulder and offered a supportive smile. He looked back at Sam and shook his head, "The time machine, that's what you're talking about?"

"I know you don't believe me, that's why I brought you here." Sam smiled knowingly, his eyes wide as he adjusted his thick rimmed glasses.

Cassian pushed his fingers through his hair, "Sam, if time travel is possible... where are all the tourists from the future, huh?"

"Sam, we love you. We are here for you, we want you to be happy. So would Dana, so this is-" Nikki tried to help from the sidelines.

Sam whipped around and Nikki jumped but Cassian was steadfast and looked his brother in the eye even as the younger started to shout; "you know nothing of how I feel!" He looked to Cassian, "you're about to marry the woman of your dreams," he gestured at Nikki angrily but not vindictive, "Dana is gone. She was taken from me! How am I supposed to 'be happy'?!"

A new song came on, much slower- ominous.

Sam shook his head and pressed his fingertips to his forehead, "tonight is not a 'family therapy session'- I brought you here to witness history! Francis will record it and then we will announce the invention to the world, share it."

"It's not possible," Cassian rebuked.

A soft voice came over the radio and began to sing;

The pink pills are for our sanity

We are buried in the Earth because we can't beat gravity

"Who's to say it's not," Francis leaned back in his office chair and kicked his feet up on the table as he read a comic book with a giant creature about to eat a person- FRAY titled the top right corner. His cigarette was half smoked and stayed in the same corner of his mouth as if it belonged there.

Cassian shook his head and rubbed his neck, "alright, listen here, Frick and Fuck, you-"

"I'm doing this, there's nothing you can say that will change my mind," Sam continued and walked towards a large object, covered with a large drop cloth in the center of the lab floor. He pulled it away in a grand gesture and the cloth fell around it and landed quietly at his feet.

Nikki stared at it curiously. It was a tall, stainless steel tube with just enough room to fit one person. The sides and back were flat surfaces of metal but the front was a ballooned door with a small port window with thick glass like a cliche submarine port.

"Then why bring us here? To introduce us to your British cartoon character," Cassian continued, his upper lip curling in contempt.

Francis looked up and around as if hearing his actual name instead of the insulting description, "huh?"

Sam threw a dismissive hand in Cassian's direction as he opened the heavy door to the time machine.

"Cassian, maybe we-" Nikki started.

"No, Nikki. He brought us here to show off- trying to get attention," he turned away from his fiance to address Sam again, "we've been over this. It won't work- you're only going to hurt yourself. I can't stand by and let you do this."

Nikki stepped down into the lab and stood beside Cassian, her arms crossed against her chest, "Honey, we're here because we care about you- not because we want to see you go back in time. We want you to be safe," she addressed Sam.

"Have you even tested it out, how do you know it won't kill you? What about the other side, how are you supposed to get back? Have you-" Cassian questioned, one question after the other.

"Whoa, mate, calm down," Francis shouted from his perch as he turned a page on his comic book.

"What do you even do here," Cassian snapped but didn't wait for an answer before directing the question to his brother.

Sam shrugged and started to tighten some tubes at the back of the tank, "he's my runner, opinionator, and my comic relief."

"He's not even funny."

"He dresses funny."

Cassian ranted, "This is insane! You are not 'going back in time', I'm sorry Dana is gone, but it is time to move on."

As if Cass said nothing, Sam turned, shifting his eyes between the three of them. "I really ought to get to work, I have to depart before the storm ends."

"You're not 'departing' anywhere." Cassian stepped toward his brother.

Sam slammed down the tool he was using to tighten the tubes on the table and spun around to face his slightly taller brother, their eyes locked in a fierce battle of fire and ice. Sam's eyes softened in a single blink and the anger that had made his body so rigid subsided- his shoulders slumped, "if it were Nikki that I was going back for... would you stop me then?"

The sea is dead

Falls out of me these sockets in my head

Everyone's a captain baby, ship of fools

The lyrics of the song was all that filled the space as the last argument settled upon the room like a heavy blanket. Nikki looked to Cassian then stared at Sam while her fiance did the same, his dark eyes unblinking as he looked his brother in the eyes.

"Sam, I-"

"Or maybe it's not the idea of going back in time to rescue my wife, maybe it's that you don't believe in me."

Cassian blew out a sudden breath through his nose and turned away from Sam as he ran his hand down the front of his face to his neck where he rubbed the nape irritatedly. After a moment he took a deep breath and faced his scientist sibling, "Sam, it's not that I don't believe in you, it's that I don't believe in this. It's crazy talk!"

"Why because it hasn't been done yet? Because there are no 'tourists'," Sam questioned, putting his hands on his hips.

"What about butterfly effect?" Nikki interjected before Cassian's head could explode.

"What," Cassian asked in confusion.

"Butterfly effect, if you change the past it affects the future- it's part of chaos theory."

Sam shook his head, "you think I didn't think of that? Of course I considered that but I'm not creating a wormhole."

She stuffed her hands in her pocket, shoving her jacket aside as she did which inadvertently revealed her detective badge still on her belt.

"Oh, I see," he crossed his arms, his eyes flicking down to the badge, "you're more concerned with the aftermath of her death- aren't you!? That's your argument? I can't have my wife back because you enjoyed having him arrested!?"

Cassian stepped in and held up a hand, "Sam, hold on!"

"Yes, but not for the reasons you're thinking!" Nikki continued despite Cassian's attempted intervention, "because of her- of what she did- not only were we able to stop him from hurting someone else but also solve dozens... of... other ca-" she stopped mid sentence and flinched.

"My wife was a closer for you," his voice cracked slightly.

"That's not- I... "

"Wait! Listen, forget about butterfly effect, what about you? You're different now- what if you run into the past you," Cassian digressed.

Dream the dream of your attrition

The nameless name of your condition

It will be needing you a little while longer

Sam sighed and frowned, "I already told you, I'm not making a wormhole- Francis, do you mind? I have work to do." as he called for his apprentice to fill them in on the details, Sam picked up his tool and started making adjustments.

"This isn't what scifi shows claim time travel to be. You don't transport yourself to another time and worry about running into your past self while looking like your current self. There's no risk of tearing a hole in the space time continuum," Francis smirked and looked between them, seeing their concern, he took a deep breath and lowered his voice, "listen, I get you're worried about your brother but this is safe. I wouldn't let him do it if I didn't believe in it."

"That doesn't help. You look like you could live in a trailer in the middle of the woods with your own conspiracies about how 'the aliens walk among us'," Cassian went on, his hands on his hips and upper lip stiff. "You're just as mad as he is."

Nikki put a hand on the small of her fiance's back and looked to Francis to continue.

"As I was saying, he won't be transported necessarily- he will go into his mind five years ago as himself today. Same body- different consciousness."

Nikki frowned, "how is that possible?"

"It's not. This is insane," Cassian shouted, "you're both insane!"

Nikki pursed her lips and turned away from the two squabbling men to look at Sam only to find he'd disappeared, as her eyes shifted in search of him, she began to repeatedly tap Cassian's arm, "guys..."

"It's not impossible," Francis shouted after him.

"It's fantasy!"

"Cassian,"

"It's science!"

Cassian waved his hands in the air in a mocking manner, "ooh, yeah, 'time travel is such a magical concept', we can possess our past selves by stepping into a tube and using lightning as a power source!"

"It's not 'magic'- it's science," Francis snubbed out the butt of his Specials and took a few steps closer.

"This is not science, this is... make believe madness."

"Cassian!"

They both turned to face her "what?!"

"He's gone," Nikki managed, still searching for her future brother-in-law. She stepped away and looked down the hall but saw no one.

Cassian turned to look at Francis, who's eyes were fixated on the tank, "where'd he go?"

"Oh, god. Cass," Nikki hiccupped and stared directly at the tank as Francis was.

He followed their gazes and looked to the tank that was now filled with water- Sam's face visible through the bubble port. As though in a trance Cassian stumbled over to it and laid his hands on the cold surface of the steel. He stared into the port and looked at the state of his brother. A breathing mask covered Sam's mouth and nose as he seemingly floated in the tank freely, his curly hair flowed in a swirly mess of dark brown around his head.

Cassian's chin quivered slightly, his eyes wide and pupils dilated, "get him out."

"I can't- after the sequence is started the safety keeps the tank from opening until the water is drained," Francis explained, a slightly panicked look on his face as he looked between Cassian and the tank.

Nikki stepped back down into the lab and stood beside Cassian, "then drain the water!"

"I can't- he has to do it from the inside,"

"You don't have a safety?!" she almost fell forward in shock.

Francis spread his arms, "it's his machine!"

"Why you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder," Nikki shook with anger.

While she continued to argue with Francis about trying to get the tank back open, Cassian went to the tank and tried to open the door. The crack was so tight he could barely get the tips of his fingers into it to pull away.

After this mission it will let you go

Help you to forget everything and everyone you know

In a world of captains baby, ship of fools

Don't you know they're lying when they're telling you it's been all right?

"I'm calling nine-one-one," Nikki announced as Cassian kept trying to open the casket while shouting curses at Francis.

***

Sam was weightless, the water temperature was set so he couldn't feel where he ended and the water began. He didn't dare open his eyes out of fear of seeing Cassian's desperate look. Suddenly it all fell away and he was cold. The sound of voices muffled by steel and water became mute. He opened his eyes and tried not to gasp in shock.

He was surrounded by black tunnel- the rock like texture apparent only because of the blue, star-like lights that covered the floor, walls and ceiling. The light revealed the bend in the tunnel and gave him a sense of space. He took a few steps forward and heard his loafers click against wood flooring though it echoed loudly but as though he was still under water. When he looked down he saw the floor was indeed hardwood, the same flooring from his lab, covered in the blue glitter. Suddenly a flash of lightning appeared and crackled at his heels, he jumped forward and looked back to see a giant clock floating behind him.

The lightning flashed through the clock as the hands rounded the face at a dizzying speed. Unsettled, he stepped further away as the clock seemed to grow larger and the flashes continued to push him back. The hands stopped in an instant, the hands resting on 9:13 and a white flash to his right blinded him. He covered his eyes with his arm and tried to see through the light where he could make out a shadowed figure standing near the end of the tunnel, the white light had him squinting to make out the character; he was wearing a trench coat, a fedora, and carrying a briefcase and bag.

Sam blinked rapidly before taking a step towards him and the figure mirrored him. They walked towards one another until he thought they'd walk into one another but just as he took one step closer, the other man disappeared and suddenly he found himself reflecting the man- he'd become the man.

The closer to the light he got, the warmer he became. Before he realized it, he'd stepped through a threshold- the darkness and blue stars behind him and only blinding light ahead. Time seemed to circle around him like a dial. Then just as soon as he'd realized he was washed only in light he found himself standing in his lab once more. A man stood in front of him that he recognized as Dr. Webster- a former teacher at the college, who had died of cancer two years prior.

"Time is a river. It speeds up, meanders, and slows down," Webster said, his lips pouted and eyes cast downward as his mind wandered. "I don't think time is something to mess with, though I'd love to go back and get checked before it was too late- I wouldn't change a thing. Fate and destiny is not to be messed with."

Sam's brow furrowed and he looked at his watch, seeing the time he blanched. "I'm sorry, Paul. I have to go."

Without waiting for a response he ran out of his lab, which was now void of the tank and extra tables, and to his car. All the way home he sped and couldn't stop playing the scenario in his head. He knew where the bastard would break in- knew where his wife would be and where he needed to be for this to work. He kept trying to remind himself that he needed to write a note so that past him would still make a time machine- otherwise he wouldn't get back.

The rain was unrelenting as it pounded against the car and the wind attempted to blow him off the road but he willed himself to drive faster. As he pulled up his driveway, he felt his heart may come up through his throat. He didn't bother to turn off the car or close the door as he ran inside, "Dana!? Dana! Are you here?"

"Sammy, sweetie, are you alright," her voice called from the back room.

He looked at the dining room table to his left and saw a roast in the center of the table with three settings round it. He tilted his head to the side and kept his eyes on it as he called out, "Dana, are you alright?"

She stepped into view, her red hair curled and bouncing around her shoulders as she walked up to him, "Yeah- oh, Sam, you look like death! What's happened?"

He felt like he could fall over as he met her in the center of their home, he reached out a hand and touched her soft cheek with his fingertips. As she stepped into him, he embraced her and held her close to his chest- enjoying the feeling of her body against his. "Dana, we have to leave- we have to go now."

"Wha- where, why? Sam, what's happened," her angelic voice was strained with concern.

Her brows furrowed and she pushed a curl behind her ear, "Sam, we have a guest, tell me what's happened."

Sam choked on his own air intake, "we have a what?!"

The toilet flushed down the hall and the door opened. Sam tensed and pushed Dana behind him as a figure stepped out of the bathroom, he came down the hall and in the light from the dining room revealed his face.

"Oh, you must be the husband," he said, a wry smirk on his face.

"Yates."

The man - Dana's killer - Yates, stood with a raised brow but the smirk didn't falter, "I'm sorry, do we know one another?"

"You know we do," Sam growled, his upper lip curling.

Yates' eyes narrowed and he looked to the table to the roast with a carving knife and fork stuck out of it. Sam looked in the same direction and put the same idea into motion.

Confused, Dana started to speak up, "Sam, do-"

At once, Sam and Yates ran and dove for the knife. Yates got the knife and Sam got the fork- they both stabbed at one another. Pain ripped through him like lava and he let a moan as did Yates as they fell back from one another. There was a crash as they tipped the table and one of the chairs over.

Dana screamed and Sam came back to his senses and attempted to get to his feet but instead of seeing Yates attacking her, she was by his side trying to hold him in place. He scanned the room but couldn't see Yates.

"Sam, honey, hold still- don't move!"

He fell back into her, his head resting on her shoulder and back against her chest. As she held up all he wanted to ask was if she was okay, if she was hurt but all he could manage was; "where is he? Where did he go??" He tried to stand but he slipped in his own blood as it pooled around them on the hardwood floor but Dana was there to catch and support him as he writhed with pain.

"Just hold on," she hushed then spoke into her cell he hadn't realized she'd pulled out, "yes, my husband has been assaulted... he's been stabbed... oh god, he's bleeding everywhere- yeah, it's still in. His chest. it's 346 Franklin Road. Hurry! Please..."

Blue lightning flashed through his house. He was losing feeling in his legs as the walls and ceiling became black- the warmth of his beloved wife was fading. The blue stars were no longer visible. The white light appeared again and he collapsed on the ground- alone and surrounded by darkness. He waited to wake in the tank with water draining but hours passed on the giant clock that towered above him and he was still trapped in the limbo between minds.

He felt around his chest but couldn't feel anything, it was like being in the tank again- there was no beginning or end but there was no brown noise either. He was alone- trapped. The note. He was trapped forever.

***

Cassian stared at his brothers vacant expression and attempted to see past the ventilation tube that protruded from his brothers mouth, forcing air in and out of his lungs. His eyes were taped shut and there were so many wires and tubes leading from Sam's arms and chest it was hard to see him underneath. Cassian twisted his wedding ring on his finger as he shook his head. Nikki rubbed his back in an effort to comfort her husband.

"It's the right thing to do, Cass, especially now that Dana is gone. The doctor's all say there's been no change in the last 5 years and there will be none."

"Tell me you got something on Yates."

Nikki sighed through her nose, "Cass, it's not easy. Yates isn't in CODIS or AFIS. We have it all collected but until we catch him we can't pin him to the cases. It's, unfortunately, a waiting game."

"Maybe that's better than being in a coma for five years- not even knowing your wife died by suicide." Dana's death had been devastating and was still a raw topic as it had only occurred two weeks ago.

A soft knock at the door announced the doctor's presence, "Good morning, I'm Doctor Francis Rockwell."

"So, how- what happens now," Cassian managed, barely looked away from Sam.

Francis walked around the bed to the machines that kept Sam alive. He explained the process and what he was going to do. Nik and Cassian stared at the man who'd sacrificed his life for the woman he loved who was no longer with them either.

The three of them watched together as the heart monitor slowed it's beeps until there was only a constant, final tone. Cassian swallowed thickly in an attempt to rid himself of the lump that seemed to choke him while Nikki let tears streak down her cheeks freely.

The long beep ended when the doctor switched off the monitor and looked at his wristwatch, "time of death, 9:13 AM." He looked to them and offered an empathetic smile, "I'll give you a moment."

The silence stretched on long past his departure as they paid their respects to the memory of both Sam and Dana.

"I just don't understand why this happened. Why them? I wish I could go back in time and keep this from happening."

Nikki shook her head before resting it on his shoulder, "I don't know... the world, it's beyond our comprehension. We may not be able to change the past but we can learn from it."

"And what did we learn- what could possibly be learnt from this?" Cassian's voice cracked as he pleaded for an answer- a reason to losing his only brother and Dana.

She sniffled and squeezed his hand as she struggled to find her own peace.