Disclaimer: The Tomorrow People is the property of the CW. No copyright infringement is intended.
~ X ~
Companion story to I Mourn the Passing.
~ X ~
I panic as I realize he's going to die. "You have to get as far away from the city as you can!"
He stares at me for a moment, and then shakes his head, hands on hips. "How? It's not like I can teleport. No passport. No car. What am I supposed to do? Hitchhike?"
It hits me then, that I'm not thinking clearly. It hasn't really sunk in what's happened to him. How limited his options are. He turns to me and tries to tell me how he feels. The thing I've always wanted from him . . . to share. And he's trying now, the only way that's left to him.
"It's like the whole world got turned upside down. Now, humans are the endangered species and I'm one of them."
He radiates pain, bewilderment, loss. I ache for him.
"What happened to us, Cara?"
He reaches out to touch me; his face, his voice reflecting his confusion.
"What happened?"
He looks down at the floor as he speaks, as if he's afraid to show me his face. So silly, when his touch on my skin screams his suffering.
"I used to be able to hear your thoughts. Now, it's just silence. It feels empty."
I have to find a way to comfort him. To comfort me. I reach out to cup his cheek, capturing his eyes with mine. He leans into my touch. I try to put all the confidence I can muster into my words.
"We are going to survive this."
And then he breaks my heart.
"Together?" He uses the word he used when we reunited. When he told me how terrified he was of losing me. How he felt like everything we had worked so hard to build was somehow broken. And I had cupped his cheek like I just did and swore to him that we would rebuild. Rebuild together.
And now? Can I really say that we'll be together? What about Astrid? What about Stephen? I can't promise him.
I feel my eyes fill with tears, as I say, "I will find a way to stop the Founder and then I will find you. I promise."
I know that he hears what I didn't say. It hangs in the air between us, that word I didn't say, and though it wounds him, he accepts it. He only asks, "And, if you don't?"
I don't want to answer that. I can't answer that. I know I will live on even if he doesn't, but I will lose something precious, a part of me, if he dies. So, instead I plead with him. "If you won't save yourself, will you at least try to save Astrid?"
He nods and leaves and I can't hold back my sobs now. I try to stifle them and then realize he can't hear my pain. I stand tall. I have fought my entire life and I won't stop now. I will fight for him. And when this is over, I know Stephen will need me, but I will keep my promise.
I will find you, John.
~ FIN ~