A oneshot piece I don't know why I wanted to write, but all the same, my thoughts on the very end. Spoilers for everything that aired.
And very calmly and slowly, Malcolm draws his final breath.
There is a room, and when he enters it, he's struck by bright light, and how clear everything is – he's been partially sighted heading towards blind for years. He's already seen his mother, looking exactly as she had when he was a child, but somehow she doesn't fit, not into this room. For a moment they're just shapes, but then he sees them, standing around, dressed in mostly black, talking, drinking, staring…
It's Colin who first steps up to him, silent, smiling. Helen's hovering a few feet behind, she gives him a small nod. Colin hugs him briefly, but it feels real enough. Over his shoulder he can see those he'd almost forgotten – Danny, Tom Quinn, even. He remembers hearing about Tom being shot a few months ago, working somewhere out in the Middle East, still tied to doing backhand things for the Grid. He remembers the Christmas card he got from Zoe and Will in Chile just months ago, and realises there's someone, at least, who's outlived him.
In the corner, by a big, wide window, Harry Pearce is drinking a large measure of Bourbon, Ruth standing close by his side, an empty wineglass sliding through her fingers. They both turn their eyes to him in the same instant, and Harry is the first to smile broadly. He sees their hands nearest the window, gently joined. He smiles a little to himself… Harry'd lost everything when he'd lost Ruth, and never found it again; he'd been working til the end, until a heart attack had taken him, still in the Section D office. It seemed right that he'd found his happiness now.
There's a large white corner sofa by the far wall, and there are suddenly so many familiar faces taking it up, Tariq, Ben, and Ros Myers, an almost smile touching her lips, legs crossed, back straight. Adam and Fiona are only metres away, and they haven't noticed him yet, they're busy watching a screen… and he can just about see what they're watching on there; Wes, his wife and his new baby daughter. Ros' glance passes over them with ease and Malcolm supposes that while some things come to an end with ease, others never really cease.
By another of the windows, further down the room, he sees Dimitri; a young, dark-haired woman in his arms, and though he's never met her, and he doesn't know how he does, Malcolm knows she's the woman that took up the head of Section D position after Lucas' betrayal.
He turns quickly at the sound of his name, and for a second he thinks he sees faces behind the window – Connie, Lucas, Juliet. But before he even has a chance to consider it, Jo flings her arms around him. Zaf is following her, and he doesn't miss, he can't miss how she falls back, close to Zaf's side, as she breaks away from him. There are faces everywhere, endings of stories that never got a chance to end, stopped short in gunshots, explosions, heart attacks, wrong decisions.
The room is fading, but suddenly the silence is full of sound. He can hear the clink of wine glasses, Ros' dry tone, Jo, laughing, the ticking of a clock…
There is a room, somewhere. A place where they have all begun to belong.
Hope you enjoyed! I'd always appreciate any reviews.
