A/N: Someone mentioned wanting the death dream. I decided it'd be easier to post it separately rather than working it directly into the main story. Partially because I had it written and I'm too impatient to find the perfect place to insert it. Okay, primarily because I'm impatient.
The shot came from nowhere. One second they were loading into the Lifeboat, congratulating themselves on their successful return of Citizen Kane, and the next second, Lucy let out a pained scream and toppled in between the seats. It took Garcia all of half a second to close the hatch and yell at Rufus to get them out of there before kneeling in the miniscule amount of space left. He applied pressure to the entry wound on her back with one hand and used the other to replace her hands over the exit wound on her stomach. High powered rifle. Probably aiming at Rufus, her mind uselessly supplied even as she realized that she'd just been shot. She glanced down at her stomach and couldn't even manage a gasp at the river of blood making its way to the floor.
"Rufus, get us back! Now!"
Garcia's panicked voice made her look to him. If she hadn't figured from the blood and already fading vision, his expression told her that she was going to die. It wasn't often that she saw terror on his face. Never, really.
Rufus was already setting and double-checking the controls. "Get her buckled in, Flynn." She wasn't sure it mattered if she got bounced around a bit during the jump. She was fairly certain it wouldn't make any difference, actually.
"I- I can't. If I let go, she'll-" Garcia cut out, looking down at her. She sluggishly moved one hand to cover his on her abdomen.
It's okay, she tried to say. With a bit more effort, she was able to actually get the words out. "Garcia, it's okay." Garcia shook his head, already crying, and she managed to move her hand up to his face. If she'd had the energy, she'd have grimaced at the blood she left there. Seeing that in the mirror later definitely wasn't going to make things easier for him. "It's okay."
"No," he almost whimpered. He cleared his throat and asserted with more of a growl, "no!" He pressed harder on her wounds, making her cry out weakly. He bent over her, pressing his forehead to hers. "Please don't leave me. I'm so sorry, Lucy. Don't leave me. I love you, Lucy. Don't leave me. I'll do better. I'll keep you safe this time." And if the pain of hearing that didn't hit her worse than the bullet… There was no way to protect him from this. "Just don't go. Please don't go. Please stay with me. I love you. I can't lose you. I'm not ready. I'm not- God, I love you, Lucy. Please stay. I love you. Don't go. I love you, Stay with me. I love you. I love you." He punctuated his cracking words with kisses all over her face. She managed to catch his lips once near the end.
I love you, she wanted to tell him. But she didn't quite have the strength to talk anymore. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to only say it to him now, would it? Wouldn't it be better if he didn't wonder if she said it just because she was dying? He knew right? He had to know, even if she'd never been able to say it. God, please let him know.
The last she knew as everything blurred out was Garcia kissing her over and over again, holding onto her tightly, telling her he loved her so many times that she wouldn't have been able to keep count even if her head wasn't half-empty. It was probably less than a minute since she was shot, though it felt like a lifetime (maybe because it was the end of hers), when everything finally went dark. She felt her hand fall from her love's face and heard his wracking sobs.
And then there was nothing.