Mike Yates regretted nothing.
He did not regret turning on his fr-colleagues, he did not regret losing his status as a captain, he regretted nothing.
Just as he now spent his days doing nothing, sitting on the old armchair and waiting for nothing.
But when she called him for the first time in so long, he found himself wishing he could wipe away every moment of his betrayal from his memory.
She was calm at first; greeting him like she used to.
They talked of the weather and politics, normal things that Mike hadn't noticed since he joined UNIT, until finally she brought up why she even called something that Mike was hoping to avoid. She asked him if what the others were saying was true, that he'd betrayed his friends and nearly ended the world.
Silence fell for a few moments; it was so quiet you could hear the drips from the old, leaky pipes in his apartment.
Unfortunately the silence was all she needed.
"Why?" She asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Why? Mike froze, unable to respond as he tried to understand. She wants to know he did it? Why he risked his job, his friends and most importantly her. Why?
Because all he ever wanted was for her to notice him. But she left, she left him heartbroken and bitter and alone. And now she calls him, berates him with the fake memories that he used to wish they could have together and dares to ask him why?
He tells her, he tells her everything. Right from the moment she met him, the moment she left, the heart break, the bitterness, the time when he saw how weak the world really was and how he could change it, joining the golden age, the betrayal and finally the never ending loneliness that seemed to be trapped inside this dingy, low down, cheap apartment, the loneliness that he knows he will have endure for a long time yet.
He tells her everything and as he does his voice rises higher and higher until he's yelling, at her, at himself, at everything. His voice grows louder to try and block out her protests, tries to block out the truth.
Finally, he stops yelling, his voice growing tired from the effort. He hangs up quickly, not wanting to hear her response and sits in the old nearby armchair that squeaks under his weight.
Regret and shame come back with a vengeance as the phone continues to ring.
He looks away, not making the attempt to answer it. And eventually, it stops.
And so Mike Yates continues with what he did everyday, sit and wait, for nothing. And as he does, he wipes the leaky pipe water off his eyes.
Or at least he decided it was, in case anyone asked.
Okay, done. Hope it wasn't to OOC, please tell me if it was.