Once again thank you taivaan_sininen for the inner workings of the mind of Null and Lars! 

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"Null, Null can you hear me?"

She opened her eyes to the sight of two starlit skies. One in the obsidian eyes of the man bent over her, and the other behind him. She blinked a few times, feeling disoriented and confused.

"Lars?"

"Who else, dummy?" he asked with a smirk.

She bolted upright, almost knocking her head against his, and threw her arms around him.

"I was so worried for you!" she whispered.

"You had me worried too, Null..." he replied with a stifled laugh and hugged the breath out of her – a feeling she would never get tired of, in this strange and impossible space.

"You almost trashed this place completely," he remarked.

"Sorry about that..." she said meekly, looking around.

There were fragments of what looked like shattered black glass strewn all around them across the white sand, but otherwise, the space seemed to have returned to normality again. The fog had disappeared, it was nighttime now, and close by, the waves were rustling softly.

"But... where is Angel?"

Lars didn't reply, he just pointed behind his back where she spotted the boy, a few meters away in the sand. She watched him slowly rise to all fours, panting heavily. Parts of his substance were missing, his limbs seemed to flicker in and out of existence once in a while. As he raised his head to look at them, his black eyes seemed like bottomless wells, filled with nothing but hatred.

It wasn't over yet.

"Perhaps we can still-"

"No, Lars," she cut him off, shaking her head and moving to place herself between Lars and Angel. "This is enough. I won't let him do this any longer. He had his chance. He had a choice, and he chose to hurt you. I will not forgive him."

Lars frowned, but they both knew that there was no other option left. She had to destroy him, or he would destroy them. Null got to her feet and stepped forward to face him, but Lars' gripped her hand and held her back for one moment.

"Be careful..." he whispered and squeezed her hand before he let go.

Angel was furious, but he seemed unable to repair the damage she had done to him already. His flickering appearance tumbled a few steps forward to meet her. He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

"You wanted to know what it means to feel and to be alive. This is the last lesson you will learn about it. It is also the most important one: Everything has an end."

She took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she was about to do. At her feet, the shadows began to dance again, flitting across the white sand around her and ascending until they surrounded her like a flock of dark birds, pitch black even in the silver light of the stars above.

The expression on Angel's face turned from anger to a confused frown.

"Wha- what is this? Another memory?"

"Yes, Angel," she said coldly. "I haven't shown you all of my pain before. This... this is the memory of my death."

~ ~ ~

"Hey. Hey! Pirate Queen!"

Nova knelt on the floor, shaking the lifeless body in his arms. Ember and Heisenberg ignored him as they were at the door trying to break through.  Bodies strewed through the hallway as they were met with shots from Heisenberg anytime someone tried to stop their entrance.  The reaper unit earned his moniker handily dispatching the crew. 

"Wake up already!"

She didn't react. Her pulse and breathing were steady again now, but she just didn't wake up. The last thing he had heard was Angel scream, and then, silence. But what Nova had felt in the brief moment before that had filled him with such profound abhorrence and misery that he began to worry now that something had happened to the other two.

"Come on now..."

Suddenly, she shifted in his arms and groaned in pain. He knew that it was Null right away. Seconds later, he could feel that Lars was back too. He sighed in relief and just gave in to his urge to pull them in a tight embrace for a moment. She stiffened in his embrace and he knew it was definitely them.

"Finally! Took you long enough!"

"Let go of me, Nova, for fucks sake," she groaned. That was Null who was back in control, without a doubt.

"Good to have you back with the living," he remarked as he got to his feet and stretched out a hand to help her up. She glanced up at his face, and whatever she saw on it caused her to frown.

"How much... did you feel?" she asked with consternation.

"Enough to tell that you kicked that AI's ass good," he answered with a smirk and patted her shoulder.

"Sorry...about the pain..." she mumbled, averting his gaze.

"Don't worry about it, Pirate Queen," he winked at her. "You can always make up for it later."

"You wish," she replied drily, all concern for him gone from her voice again.

His grin only widened.

"I do," he acknowledged. "I have to say though, if you ever get tired of pirating, you would make for a pretty good antivirus software."

Null turned and focused her eyes on him again. "You're insufferable, Nova." But her lips quirked and he knew she was trying not to smile. 

#################

Red's adrenaline rush, barely slowed as he sensed Ember come into the room, his pulse was pounding in his ears or maybe that was the wound. He couldn't tell, his breathing was heavy and he staggered back away from the body of Darius Dawson. 

A huge weight lifted off of him, only to be replaced by a new one. He'd just killed Ember's father and although he knew it was the right thing, the only thing that was going to keep him from coming after her, fear coursed through him. What if she didn't see it that way? He didn't dare turn around to look at her now. 

"Red." Her voice caught and he turned slightly only to see her staring at her father's body. "He was an augment... He..." She trailed off, and he knew she was shocked. Her hands clenched at her sides and she shook her head taking a step to stand behind him. 

He turned back and stared at Darius, now that he wasn't moving, the augments in his head were visible. Red had really done a number on him, there was a bit of metal exposed in the lower jaw. If Red had hit the jaw instead of between the mandibles, Darius might still be alive.

Red felt Ember's fingers slip around his arm and he leaned on her, enjoying her touch for a second before straightening. Relief flooded through him as she gripped him and pressed back into him. He turned to her then, glancing down at her stained face.

"Are you ok?" It was a stupid question. Of course, she wasn't, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. He reached up and grabbed her face with his hands and leaned down to kiss her, needing to feel her after almost losing her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she returned the kiss just as hard before breaking it off and leaning into his chest, with a sigh. He squeezed her before turning to look at the others who'd come with him.

The Reaper Unit saluted from the doorway. Red could have sworn if it could cry, Heisenberg would have wiped a tear. "I'm glad to see you are still standing, my Queen!"

Red nodded to him, stifling a groan. Heisenberg's programming really needed to be fixed. But that was Amy Larsson's problem. Null and Lars could deal with it.

Behind him, Nova, blood dripping from his nostrils was helping Larsson off the floor. Red couldn't exactly tell who was in charge at the moment. They'd gotten into their own scrape outside of the door. Nova was holding his head and nose looked like he'd taken the brunt of something. It was evident he was still in pain.

Red wasn't exactly in great shape himself. He had taken a serious hit to the side, he knew that. His augments were screaming warnings into his head, warnings that he couldn't do anything about right now. 

He couldn't feel it yet, but he knew he would start to weaken soon. "We need to get on the Blackstar," he muttered, pushing forward. They all looked worn. "Heisenberg, you have an extra gun?"

"Of course, your highness!" Heisenberg sounded almost offended at the notion and pulled a spare gun off of his back tossing it to Red. Red hefted it, testing it, checking the ammo, seeing that it was full he nodded at the droid.

"Perfect."

He was listening simultaneously to the chatter on the ship. There was panic, people didn't know who was in charge. 

"Lars, you picking up on any of that?"

"I'm here too you know," Nulls snapped. She looked at him, and for once his skin wasn't crawling. Red couldn't read the look on her face but for once, he wasn't worried about whether or not she was going to knife him when his back was turned.

"Sorry, old habits," Red apologized wondering if they'd reach some sort of accord somehow.

"And yeah, there are scandroids heading this way, surprise surprise." She looked at him. "You in any condition to fight?"

"I'm fine," he glanced over at Ember who was eyeing him with concern. "Let's get back to the Blackstar if we can. Leave the scandroids to me if you need to." He looked at their ragtag group again, beat to a pulp, and realized there were bodies lining the corridor between them and the Blackstar.

He was tired. Tired did not even begin to cover it. He was weakening, but he dared not say this out loud. He reached out and sensed the scandroids heading towards them.

"I'm a bit insulted," he whispered. "There's only two."

Nova lifted an eyebrow wiping the blood from his nose. "Seriously? Two isn't enough to go around?"

"Hardly." Red stood and advanced forward. "Stay behind me."

"Hey!" Null moved forward. "It's not like we've never dealt with a scandroid before."

Red looked at her, impatience written across his features as he lifted his arm and fired, the shot ricocheted around the corner and he heard the shatter from the scandroid he knew he'd just hit. 

He stepped around the corner, the white metallic body of the first scandroid was lowering to the floor as its scanners died. It was useless now, just a huge hulking piece of white metal. The other was running up against it. 

"Surrender or die," came the metallic voice. "All who surrender will be taken alive." The voice echoed back through space and time, except on that day Dag had wrestled him to the ground and there were six scandroids, not two. 

I got this, this time, Dag, he thought.

"Nova pull the head off and rip out the wiring," he ordered as fired at the second. It moved slightly and the shot glanced off the side, it turned the scanners on him and Red felt the prickling sensation of being scanned. They've upgraded while I've been gone. The blue lights in its head as it sighted on him were all too familiar, probably similar to the technology he himself used to sense them. Now that was irony.

The dull throbbing intensified and he knew it was throwing off his aim. He staggered and went down to his knee, lifted the gun up, and shot at the scandroid but it was Heisenberg who hit it directly in the face, knocking out its ability to sense who was an augment and who wasn't. 

Null was on top of the Scandroid in an instant, a wicked knife in her hand, she jammed into the base of the neck and pried it off with practiced ease. The machine shifted as it tried to dislodge her all the while repeating "Unlawful contact, violators will be prosecuted." Reaching into the hole she pulled out several cables.

Red watched as the lights went out on both of the scandroids. 

"Why would he only send two?" Ember asked, she came up beside Red and pulled him to his feet. Eyeing for a moment she whispered, "You took one too many hits."

"I'm fine."

"The hell you are." Her eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to win here.

"I'll be fine then."

Ember's lips thinned and she shook her head and said nothing, but her arm slid around his torso. She looked at him and dared him to tell her to move it.

Naturally, he didn't dare ask her to.

"Shaft is here," Nova opened the elevator. 

"He only sent two because it's Greer, and he kept the majority to protect himself and the officers, they have protocols to protect the head," Red answered her earlier question. He moved to the elevator and sent it away and then opened the air shaft. 

"Heisenberg, do you mind?"

"Not at all, Mistress." The reaper unit pushed himself in and Red sent him up. After a moment he motioned for the other two.

"We came here for Ember," Nova looked at the woman attached to Red's side. "Shouldn't you go first?"

"No." 

Null only rolled her eyes as Nova followed her in. Red watched in amusement as Nova clasped Larsson to his chest and put his face on the top of her head. It was an intimate gesture. More so than just the two of them staying together. Despite the banter, they cared about each other. Red wondered briefly how Lars handled that, especially after the short conversations they'd had. He slapped the controls and they were gone.

"Red, you are hurt." Ember's voice shook as she examined him. 

"Let's get to the Blackstar," he whispered pulling her into the shaft after him. "Then I'll let you strip everything you want off." He slapped the control as she ignored the jibe and pressed against his chest. He leaned down and breathed her in. 

He would have enjoyed the sudden squeak that erupted out of her as they went shooting up the tunnel but the painful throbbing in his side had increased and his augments weren't dulling the pain as they should have been. His systems were giving him warnings to seek medical care now, immediately. 

He put in a call to the main bridge, not really expecting an answer but surprised when Captain Greer picked it up anyway. Within moments he had his answer. He gripped Ember tighter as they ascended.

They stopped at the floor they'd left the Blackstar on and were greeted by Lars, Nova, and Heisenberg. Lars looked him over, not pleased with what he saw. 

"Don't start," Red snapping, grunting in pain, his fist clenched and he forced it to open and relax. They were almost there.

"I don't understand," Null looked up and down both corridors. "It's like they aren't even trying to stop us."

"They're not," Red answered her. He held onto Ember and walked straight to the opening where they'd latched the Blackstar. It wasn't even guarded. This was easy. "Captain Greer is making it easy for us. I believe we have an ally."

"How do you know?" Null was skeptical.

"I just accepted his unconditional surrender on the way up."

"What?" Ember said at the same time as Lars asked, "Captain Greer? As in Corporal Greer?" Lars sounded surprised. 

"The one and only," Red grinned and turned to Lars but he was addressing Null. "Later we can trade stories. I'll tell you how I stole the Perihelion."

"Just get on the Blackstar, I'm still trying to figure this out." Null opened the door and ushered them through. She followed stiffly behind them, keeping an eye on Nova. The normally chatty man had gone silent and kept a hand pressed to his temple. Blood ooze out of his nose in small droplets.

"You're back!" Adam's voice surrounded them. "I wasn't sure if you'd make it, Captain!" The voice paused. "And I was hoping they'd die honorably in battle."

"Adam," Null warned heading for controls with Nova on her heels. 

"Ember," Red pulled her arm, "Call your ship out, bring it to you...here."

"They won't have it locked down?"

"They shouldn't by now..."

Red watched her as she nodded, turning away listening, the vessel grew very quiet as they all heard a grunt of pain come from Red. He gasped again and staggered knocking several guns off the counter, dropping his own. Everyone froze.

########################

The sound hit Ember's ear suddenly like a tidal wave. The constant drip that she'd been hearing for the past hour, ever since Red had pulled her out of the containment unit... Now as she turned and faced him, the realization hit her painfully, his coloring was pale, he was almost translucent. She didn't know how he could still be standing there... 

And yet he was... 

Drip. 

Drip. 

Drip. 

There was even a line going from his black shirt to the floor, and a thin trail following him. How had no one noticed before? 

He put a hand out to steady himself as he gazed at her, his eyes were slightly glassy. "You're safe?" 

"I... We're safe." She confirmed running to him as he slowly sank to the floor and closed his eyes. "Red, oh god, please, not now." 

He opened them again and looked up at her as she pulled open his shirt. The wound was simple, a dagger thrust up under the ribcage. More than likely had nicked a lung, she wasn't sure. "Heisenberg!" She called. "Get him up on that table!" 

"Ember," he gasped, as the reaper unit grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him bodily.  Null and Nova followed behind. A tear dripped out of Nova's organic eye. Heisenberg laid Red out on the table and Ember ripped his shirt up and away, her scans running over his body as Red continued to try and speak to her.

"You are safe, I'm sorry I killed your father, had to..." 

"Don't you apologize for something I would have done too," she snapped as she pressed down on the wound. "Red, I swear if you die, I'll hate you forever." 

He stared up at her, his mouth working as he struggled. "Sorry about that..." 

"Not to me, idiot!" Ember tried with all her might to pull it together. She had to, her own training in medicine wasn't as good as someone like Dr. Cyril or Leah back on New Elysium. His eyes closed as Heisenberg hefted him up on the medical unit. He didn't open them again. 

######################################

"Stay with me, Red, please. Don't go," her voice surrounded him in the black.

He tried to move his hands to reach out to her, but it seemed like the distance between them was growing as his consciousness began to fade. He wanted to tell her everything she meant to him, wrap her in his arms. His vision was filled with her tear-streaked face, and all he could hear was her voice calling out his name, over and over again, before he slipped away into the darkness.  

*And that's it! The end! Now I get to go back and do some serious editing!* 5/22/2018

Thank you to the following for sticking with me!

draphy

DachetGrival

LemuelMcMillan

Ashabellanar4life

Taivaan_sininen

AuthorJMColes