Ashes in Outer Space
It went wrong. The procedure went very very wrong. No one knew how or what, they just knew that it wasn't working.
It had been hours since Doc had done the procedure and a thick fog of tension had formed when neither Melanie or Pet, Wanda's new Host body, started waking up. Jared had one of Melanie's hands in one of his while Ian was stroking Pet's - soon to be Wanda's - blonde hair. Both silently pleading for them to come back. Jeb sat in a chair with Jamie on the floor below him. He seemed to be deep in thought. Every now and then he stroked his beard but he made no sign that he was worried. Doc was probably the most restless of them all, he would sit and then stand and then walk around the room, check on Wanda and Melanie and then sit again and he would repeat the process repeatedly until Jeb had exasperatedly threatened him with his gun.
"... I think they're gone." Jeb said softly, the first one to speak after many hours.
"No, they can't be." Jared spoke, a quiet fury was evident in his voice.
"Listen kid, it's been hours. Don't you think one of them would've woken up by now?"
"Melanie was alive when Wanda was about to give herself up!" Jared hissed in a much louder tone.
"That may be true but something could've happened and Melanie may have faded like Kyle's girl, Jodi."
"But that doesn't explain Wanda." Ian replied, his voice rough after not using it for so long. "She said that Souls couldn't die if they were in cryotank or had a host body."
"Doc, I don't mean to insult or offend ya but was there anything... different when you were taking Wanda out?" Jeb asked.
"Oh none taken, Jeb." Doc croaked out, his throat sore and voice filled with worry. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Well there was a bit of a...lump on a part of Wanda's limbs and it was stuck. Some of it was holding onto Wanda's limbs and the other part was still latched onto the body. I had tried to.. coax it out but it was very firm and tried to bring itself and Wanda back into the body. After a couple moments, the lump eventually grew tired and split into two. Then after, we had put Wanda into the tank and I had already closed Melanie up. Looking back at it now, it was like... it was like another being."
Everyone stared at Doc with a bit of a shocked look in their eyes. This wasn't information they wanted to hear, this wasn't something they understood and it was highly unlikely they wanted to.
"... That still doesn't answer the question about Wanda, Doc." Ian spoke again.
"Well no but I believe that that 'lump' was Melanie and... if I'm correct, Melanie knew of Wanda's plans and was trying to stop her. So I'm assuming that was her fighting back. I also think that she grew tired and she must've just shut down."
"So did she start becoming part-Soul?" Jared asked, his voice hard.
"No... I don't know. It's a very complicated thing and I doubt any of us will ever figure it out. The only thing that's for sure is that they're both gone."
Life went on in the caves without Wanda nor Melanie.
Ian and Jared went on raids, Jamie did his schoolwork, Jeb kept on running the place, and Doc was still working in the hospital.
Everything went on. Life went on.
A funeral was prepared for both of them. Melanie's, of course, was more personal and mainly consisted of those who actually knew her while Wanda's involved the whole population of the caves.
A few days after the funeral, Ian walked outside of the caves, hoping to get some air. Surprisingly, he found Jared there with a bottle of beer in hand.
"Come to drown your sorrows, O'Shea?" Jared asked before taking a swig.
"Not exactly, I was mainly coming out for some air. But I am deeply concerned right now as to whether I should take you back inside."
"Ha, trust me, I'm fine. It just... hit a little harder tonight than usual." Jared replied before taking another drink. "I miss her."
"Melanie?" Ian questioned.
"Both of them." Jared murmured.
Ian was quiet for a minute and then said, "You know what? I think I will take you up on that offer, Jared. Pass me a beer."
Jared let out a devilish grin, "That's the spirit."
As Jared handed him another beer bottle, Ian suddenly said, "Thank you...for trying to save her."
Jared's entire body went stiff and he paused before speaking, "It was nothing, I actually wanted to save her."
"I know but you didn't have to and-"
"Alright, I know I was an asshole to her before but I really did want to save her. I love her too." Ian made a face. "Aw geez, O'Shea, no need to get your panties up in a twist. I do actually care about her. She changed us for the better and I beat myself up every day for not trying harder... She was just a year old, she had so little time to live..." Jared paused. "There are different kinds of love, Ian, just like there are different kinds of pain" He took a long swig after that, "I just wish it wouldn't hurt so much."
"Well you don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope Wanda likes hers. Dammit, I hope you like yours, I hope even Melanie likes hers."
Jared sat stunned beside him, taking smaller swigs now.
"You were always the more insightful one, O'Shea."
And so the two heartbroken men drank together as the night went on.
The truth is after spending so much time sharing one body, Melanie and Wanda started to meld into one being. They were still two different persons, they were just even more of a package deal than before. You couldn't get one without the other and in trying to separate them, Doc had unintentionally killed them.