I've longed to write a follow-up fic to my first ever Rimmer/Lister pre-slash - 'Breaking the Habit'. So now I've finally written a quick one-shot that continues on from the AU setting of that fic (you're probably best off reading that first if you haven't seen it already) in the song fic style that inspired its predecessor.
Mika's song Happy Ending is an incredibly bittersweet song. You can watch the video on YouTube as well, which again, I'd recommend you do before reading this fic. It will all then make a lot more sense I hope!
Anyway, please enjoy and review. Thank you.
********
This is the way you left me,
I'm not pretending.
No hope, no love, no glory,
No Happy Ending.
This is the way that we love,
Like it's forever.
Then live the rest of our life,
But not together.
- Mika, Happy Ending
**********
Lister couldn't sleep.
He'd woken with a start in the early hours, his skin slick with a sheen of sweat. But it hadn't been Starbug's faulty heating system that had been the culprit. It had been a rather shocking, yet rather enjoyable tentpole-inducing dream.
He'd come back. He'd given up his destiny, given up everything, just to come back to him. And not only had he returned, Lister's love had been returned too, with a gentle yet passionate kiss that re-ignited a flame deep inside he'd thought had died long ago.
But then it had all just been a dream.
Lister sat in his usual co-pilot seat, but now alone in the empty cockpit. Still in his black boxers and a thin white cotton t-shirt, he re-crossed his bare feet that rested on the beeping console before him and gazed out at the twinkling stars. They returned his gaze silently. The smoke from his cigarette in his loose fingers curled up teasingly in his peripheral vision as if hoping to snatch his attention from the infinite darkness before him, and Lister took a long, thoughtful drag, hardly blinking, before letting it fall to his side once more. He drank in the silence of the cockpit, letting the calm of the early hours of the morning flow over his bare skin. It was a rare moment where he could simply sit and think.
He missed him. A physical ache inside longed to see him again, that now knotted so tight it almost made him feel physically sick. His final, snatched image of him had been captured in the incessent flickering of the lights in that dark, dank corridor. He'd been almost smiling. Almost. After all, he'd been leaving for something better. Lister choked back a sigh. Something more important than them. Him.
Lister's eyes flitted slowly across each of the stars before him. He wondered where he was. What he'd discovered. What he'd achieved. If he was happy.
He flicked off the loose ash of his cigarette a little more forcefully than he'd intended. Of course he was happy. He'd be off overthrowing evil, rescuing damsels, being adored. Why wouldn't he be happy?
**********
Rimmer couldn't sleep.
The tinkled beeping of the console accompanied the deep, throbbing hum of the engines on autopilot. No alarms. No gunfire. No cries. No cheers. Even the computer was silent. An involuntary sigh heaved from deep within.
Alone again.
His itching fingers danced over the keyboard bringing Wildfire to an all-system stop. Lights flickered across the surface of the console.
"Ace, what are you doing?"
Rimmer flicked a series of switches. A pressurised hiss sounded from the seal of the cockpit and the hood slowly slid open.
The computer sighed to herself. "If you're going outside then please make sure you concentrate on your projection," she scolded gently. "I don't want you floating off."
The hologram pulled himself out of his seat and climbed across the glass of the hood and onto the roof of Wildfire. "Mmm," he mumbled distantly in the affirmative.
He watched as the glass screen slid shut once more and exhaled forcefully. The silence of space was an empty, yet charged nothingness that no human had ever aurally experienced before. He let it wash over him as he sank back to lie down against the freezing metal roof of the ship and crossed his legs, arms cradled behind his head just as he'd used to back when...
The stars twinkled at him and he returned their gaze sadly. He wondered where they were. If he'd found Earth. Found his girl. Found happiness.
His brow furrowed in a pained frown. No matter how many millions of light years he'd put between them, how many realities they were apart, he still haunted his dreams.
**********
Lister blew out a curl of smoke and watched it lazily float and disperse into nothingness. His eyes closed, re-capturing the delicious moment. He could almost feel the softness of his lips, his tongue gently but firmly exploring his. For a fleeting moment, he'd wanted, no, needed him.
Just for a moment.
**********
Rimmer closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander back to the one stark image that stood out amongst the dim haziness of long lost memories. Just before he'd left, the flickering of the ceiling lights in that horrible, freezing corridor had allowed him to take a snap-shot tableau of his final memory of him; standing expectantly, wearing nothing but dark green, oil-stained khaki trousers, his bare toes curling inwards against the cold. Two of his five rasta plaits snaked down his bare, golden brown chest as he'd stared at him with eyes dark as coal yet sparkling like diamonds.
His subconcious continued, regardless of the constraints of reality. They were pulled together by something even stronger and more powerful than gravity. He felt his hands caressing his arms as their lips finally met, becoming closer than the laws of physics could comprehend.
Just for a moment.
**********
Spent, Lister's eyes opened to the infinite darkness once more. His chest fluttered as the sparkling purple arms of a distant, swirling galaxy inched its way along Starbug's viewscreen.
He wondered if he ever thought about him.
**********
A rare, contented smile surfaced onto Rimmer's face as a warm glow spread through every inch of his body. The memory overwhelmed him with an intensity and ecstacy so free he felt as if he were floating.
Rimmer's eyes fluttered open. He was floating.
He blinked lazily as a beautiful, shimmering purple light of a distant galaxy sparkled far away.
He wondered if he ever thought about him.
**********
Lister sank down into the sticky leather of the chair. He probably had everything he ever wanted. Success, respect, women. He felt a stab of sadness. He wished he'd featured on that list. Instead here he was, stuck in deep space with no hope, devoid of the one person he truly needed.
He stubbed out the spent cigarette. At least one of them would have a happy ending.
**********
Rimmer sank back down to the cold metal of the ship's roof. He'd probably moved on without him by now. He'd probably even have that stupid hotdog stand on Fiji, and be blissfully happy with her. He frowned, blinking quickly against a lens of unshed tears. In his grand scheme, his name hadn't even been mentioned even once.
The legend of Ace was hollow glory. Despite everything he'd been through, all the rescues, the adventures, the experiences, where was he?
Here. Alone.
He closed his eyes. At least one of them would have a happy ending.