An old favorite disclaimer: If I owned Zeta, it would have lasted FAR longer than two seasons. Think eight. Or twelve. With more shipping. And... I should quit while I'm ahead.
AN: This takes place after The Hologram Man, so beware if you haven't gotten that far. It shouldn't make much sense otherwise. And I'm playing with the style a bit.
There was a secret that Zee kept from everyone. Even Ro.
Especially Ro.
He tried not to think about it, but sometimes he couldn't help himself, and he couldn't quite bring himself to erase the memory. It had a right to stay there. Even if he didn't want it to.
A single moment, but longer than a moment should be. An explosion. A burst of flame and smoke and debris. A life pod crashing into an unforgiving sea.
He had an option then: he could leap out after it, tear through the water, force his way through the brine and the waves to the man who created him. He could reach Doctor Selig, pull him to the open air, carry him to people who could save him. It wasn't impossible. It wouldn't even be hard.
In fact, he almost did it. And for an instant he was determined to try. But then he heard a voice, whispering his name in an attempt to comfort him, oblivious to the plan forming in his head.
Ro.
There would be no time to come back for her. And while he was gone, she would be alone, accused of terrorism and sabotage and murder. Lost on a ship that would quickly be reduced to fire and rubble. She didn't know the layout of Knossos. She would be trapped.
She would die.
And in that split second, he made a made decision. Ro's life was worth more than his freedom. He'd weighed two lives, perhaps three, and found hers to be most important. And somehow, he couldn't quite admit that fact. Not to himself. Not to anyone.
Not to Ro.