At the End of All Things
By Ael L. Bolt
Rating: G
Genre: Angst, Tragedy
Spoilers: The Quest part 2, The Shroud
Summary: There is never enough time. AU from The Shroud.
When they awaken, they know immediately that something is terribly wrong.
They step away from the stasis pod, its panels invisible in the dark, and they feel the bitter chill on pale skin. It must be winter, they think, but it is far too cold. They listen, but hear nothing but silence.
They hesitantly reach out, enveloping the underground base in their senses, finding the dark path to the surface but no signs of life catch their attention. The rusted elevator is frozen solid, but they are past needing such things. They fly up the shaft, emerging into the darkest night they have ever seen. Their boots thunk against the glacier as they land, unable to see anything but darkness, and reach out over the frozen oceans. The world is utterly silent. No birds, no fish, no beasts, not even microbes.
No humans.
They look up into the impossibly dark sky, and against the faint light of long-dead stars, they see the burnt-out cinders of the sun, a cold dead lump in the heavens. They feel a chill that has nothing to do with the shocking absence of heat, and wonder how many billions of years they have been asleep.
They reach out to the galaxy, the universe, straining to pick up the faintest echo of life in the massive void. They reach until they can reach no more, and still there is no answer. They fall to their knees in the crusty snow and call out to the Ancients, begging for someone, anyone to respond, but there is no one.
Finally, they gather all their strength and courage, and desperately call out to the Ori themselves.
Silence.
They kneel on the dark glacier, staring up into the void as their skin darkens, their scars fade, and he becomes vulnerable once more. He thinks about writing his last words in the snow, but they will never be read, and his body is already useless. Flesh freezes, blood turns to ice, and Daniel closes his eyes.