Words are fragile things now. Brittle. Too easy to break under the weight of everything we’ve survived. So we sit in silence, steeped in it, breathing it like air.
I can feel him watching me though. In the reflection of the cracked console, in the twitch of his jaw, the way his body never quite relaxes. He’s not letting his guard down until we’re light-years from Earth.
And honestly? I don’t blame him.
The ship groans, rattling slightly as we break through the upper atmosphere. The clouds clear. The stars open their arms.
Only then does he finally speak.
“Medbay.”
I nod, my throat tight. My legs barely work, but I push off the seat and follow him down the corridor. The lights flicker. The ship is old, wounded—just like us.
The medbay’s small. Clean, utilitarian. A Reaper’s design. Everything is functional, but nothing soft. Except him.
He turns to face me, and for a heartbeat, I see something like hesitation flicker in his crimson eyes.
“Sit,” he says softly.
I do.
His hands are calloused, warm, careful. He scans me with a med-tool, murmuring low curses when it beeps red in certain spots. Bruised ribs. Fractured wrist. Faded welts across my back.
He doesn’t say a word. Just breathes—heavy, rough, like the air itself scorches his lungs.
Then he sees the bruises along my thigh.
He freezes.
“Kallus?” I whisper, but he doesn’t answer. His hands tighten into fists at his sides.
His voice is low. Deadly. “Who.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter now.”
His jaw flexes. His fangs glint. His whole body shakes.
“It matters to me.”
I swallow hard. Tears prick my eyes. “They kept me from you. Frederick. My father. The IHC. They said you were dead.”
His eyes snap to mine.
“I was.”
I gasp.
“But I clawed my way out,” he growls. “For you.”
The tears spill then, hot and fast, and I cover my face with my hands. “I thought I was going crazy. Every night, I dreamed you were alive. I heard your voice in my sleep. I felt you?—”
“I was there,” he says, softer now. “I heard you.”
My breath catches.
He kneels in front of me, cupping my face with both hands. “When I was dying, floating in the void... I heard your voice. That’s what pulled me back.”
I press my forehead to his. “You saved me.”
