Authors Note:
Well this is my first attempt at writing fiction, so I would appreciate any and all feedback - good and bad.
A big thank you to a certain individual who shall remain nameless for now, for their encouragement (deviousness) in getting me to write this story.
Updates will be slow so I'll apologise in advance.
I've probably been overly cautious with the ratings, but better to be safe than sorry (may change in the future).
I hope you enjoy.
Sacrem
Epilogue
March 25, 2012
Yellowstone National Park
The ground trembled as the trident struck for a second time, the look of pure determination on H.G's face causing Artie to acknowledge to himself that there was nothing he could do at this point to stop her from striking for a third and devastatingly final time. However he knew he had to try and reason with the former agent, "Agent Wells, you need to stop this madness before it's too late" Artie yelled at H.G, hoping to somehow break through to her but knowing deep down that his attempt would be pointless.
"There is nothing in this world that is worth saving Arthur" H.G snarled at him, a hint of a smirk on her lips "The only chance this world has is for everything to be reset and that is exactly what is going to happen." As she raised the trident for the last time, her mind suddenly turned from the single-minded thought of what she was about to do, of what had to be done, to seeing an image of an infant, only a few months old, looking up at someone who was holding them in their arms.
Artie watched in fascination as H.G's arms remained poise in the air, the trident waiting to be thrust downwards for a final time. It appeared as though she was frozen in time, however he could see she was still breathing, that there was a slight tremor in her arms and her eyes moving as though seeing an image that only she was witness to.
H.G couldn't understand what was happening, while she could see and feel the child as if they were in her arms she knew that was not the case. H.G felt the person's affection for the child as they held them, singing quietly to the infant as if trying to will them to sleep. As the child's eyes slowly drifted closed, there was a moment where their eyes met and H.G felt as though the child was looking directly in to her soul, begging for a chance to live. She was torn at that moment, between what she knew she had to do and what she was starting to feel in her heart; that perhaps there were some things in this world that could redeem the horrors she had witnessed and had been made to suffer through. She felt the love the person who's eyes she was seeing through felt toward the infant and then she heard the voice of a woman say "There is so much I want to show you, my sweet Matthew. This world is an amazing place with such wonders to behold and while there will be things out there that may hurt you, I will do everything in my power to make sure you are safe."While Artie watched this silent battle of wills, he realised this would be his only chance at stopping Helena from what she was about to do. Moving silently to stand next to her with his tesla poised to shoot, Artie saw something he never thought he would witness which made him stop. A single tear was slowly falling down H.G's cheek and her upper lip trembled slightly as though she was fighting to hold back some unknown emotion. Lowering his weapon, Artie grasped the trident from H.G's outstretched arms and he felt no resistance from her as he gently removed it and moved to place it away from them. The ease on this action surprised him as he had imagined she would have put up a fight to stop him and he knew that he would have never stood a chance of surviving such an encounter with her.
Placing his hand on her arm Artie watched as H.G snapped out her trance and turned to look at him in confusion, as though she couldn't understand what had just transpired and how she was now standing next to the man who had been determined to stop her. For a single moment Artie was able to see in her dark eyes what H.G had managed to hide from them for so long; a woman torn up by such grief that, when left to fester in the dark for over a century, had turned her from a capable agent to a woman dancing on the edge of insanity. However as quickly as he had seen this moment of vulnerability, her walls snapped back in place and hanging her head in defeat, H.G simply turned around and placed her hands behind her back. In a voice that held nothing but sorrow, she whispered "Forgive me Christina" as Artie snapped the handcuffs around her wrists with no resistance. He knew that those three simple words were not meant to be heard by him and in that moment he began to feel something for H.G that he never imagined possible after everything that had transpired in the last year - compassion.