Interstellar: Revivisco
Chapter 2 - Coniungentur

"Well, I'll be damned. Doesn't look half bad here, does it TARS?" It looked like it was possibly cold, but Cooper could care less, excited to put his feet on rock again. "And that must be her camp." There sure were a lot of tents for her to be the only one there. Maybe he is alive. He knew he'd have to learn to live and deal with it.

"Cooper, the air quality here is quite hospitable. The oxygen levels are ideal and the temperature is reasonable, so you could take your helmet off if you would like." This was real, live oxygen – not something bottled up like what they had on the ship or at Cooper Station. He immediately reached for the latches, taking the helmet off quickly. Cooper took a deep breath.

"Let's go find Dr. Brand, whatya say?"

"What?" Had she heard that right? Cooper? "Are you sure?" CASE seemed to be scanning again.

"Yes, Dr. Brand. He's approaching the shelter right now." Amelia acted quick, jumping up from her spot and trying to turn the wheel that opened the thick metal safe door.

"Come on, CASE, help me here!" With CASE, it shouldn't take long, she thought.

How was this even possible? She'd seen him go into Gargantua – there was no coming back from a black hole. Was CASE finally hallucinating like she was sure she was about to do? The door was finally open enough that she could slither out into the open to make sure that CASE wasn't playing some sick joke.

"Brand!" she heard, turning toward the voice. There he was, running toward her.

"Cooper," she whispered in disbelief.

"Brand!" he yelled as soon as he saw her. He could barely make her out, but he could tell from the dark, short hair that it was her. "Brand!" he yelled again when she hadn't responded. He was now close enough to see her face, and she didn't look happy, or sad.

She looked right through him, it seemed. "I'm here." He pulled her in for a hug. He didn't think Brand was the hugging type, but he sure was.

"You're here," she whispered. She slid her arms around his neck and he heard her sniffle. "You're here." She began to sob.

Cooper should have expected this to happen, but he didn't prepare for it.

"Yeah, I am. I'm here Brand." He held her tighter and wished he didn't have this space suit on so he could feel her without the gloves.

She pulled back, hands on his shoulders, looking at him. "How?" She stopped to wipe away her tears. "You fell through Gargantua. How-" She began to sob again, and Cooper embraced her tighter.

"Shhhh. We're alright." Should he say everything would be okay? He couldn't guarantee that to her, and right now Dr. Brand could only handle absolute truths, he was sure.

"You're here," she whispered again.

Does she think I'm a ghost, he thought. Everything, he realized, added up for him to be dead and she no doubt had probably thought him to be dead since he let her go.

"You're here." she repeated, gripping the back of his shoulders. She continued to sob, beyond thankful that she was no longer alone. She felt his hold on her tighten too, as if to assure her that this wasn't some sick game her mind was playing on her.

"I'm here," he whispered. She felt his breath on her ear, a sensation that she didn't even realize she had missed until she experienced it again. He held her like that until she quit sobbing.

She tried to gather herself and continued to wipe the tears away. "Why?" she asked. He smiled, that goofy look coming to his face; it seemed to happen often.

"I couldn't leave you out here alone, now could I?" She mouthed 'no' and looked at him just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

"Thank you," she said, her voice gaining stability. "I didn't know how I was going to make it here by myself. I've been telling myself in the mirror, out loud, that I'd make it, eventually having someone to talk to; you know, those fertilized eggs in there aren't for nothing. Plan B was actually Plan A... I should have known."

Coop put a hand on her shoulder. "I just," she began to tear up again. "I'm sorry for not being more composed."

"No need to apologize. It's natural." She led him into her living unit, a glorified camping tent if he'd ever seen one. There appeared to be a few rooms, obviously not fancy in the slightest – everything based on utility, much like the shuttles.

"Where were you? I mean, how are you even alive?" She sat down, motioning for him to sit across from her. "You should be dead... no offense."

He smirked, leaning back into the chair as he watched her smile, her full lips on display in the most flattering way.

"I don't even have the words to describe the experience." I watched my elderly child die. My house was turned into a museum, glorifying my brilliant daughter. I had tons of grandkids and great-grandkids that I never really even got the chance to meet. They celebrate your life and my life there, acknowledging us as pioneers. Kids write papers about the Endurance in school.

"Well, when you get the words, enlighten me." She realized that his journey had to be rough, probably emotional. If he had a NASA shuttle he had to have seen someone. "How did you know I made it here, Cooper?"

Now he felt like crying. He wasn't going to start crying because then she'd cry again, and they'd never stop.

"Um," he took a deep breath, "Murph told me." Brand's eyes got huge. She smiled again.

"Oh, wow, Cooper! You saw Murphy! That's amazing!" He nodded, his face expressionless. "I'll quit prying, I swear."

"You're not prying, Brand, but Murph is dead now. I saw her right before she died." Amelia couldn't imagine how that had to have felt.

"I'm 125 years old now," he stated, trying to take the focus off of Murph. "You're 119, according to TARS." She looked like she was on the verge of tears again.

"Cooper..." She looked at him in awe. "I'm so sorry." He saw a single tear roll down her cheek. "We had no idea, did we? No idea of what we were getting ourselves into. We lost so much and for what? For you not to see your children during practically their entire lifespans? I didn't even get to be with my father, the man who raised me, when he died. Was it worth it, Cooper?" She looked at him with pleading eyes.

He wanted to believe that it was, and that for some unexplainable reason everything that could have happened did happen, and it happened to save humanity. "I hope so." She had stopped crying again, desperately trying to control herself.

"You should have stayed," she said, her voice stern and solid. "You undoubtedly had some family left there. You could be helping a team there find their way here." He was shocked at what he was hearing. She had gone from crying tears of joy, to tears of sadness, and then she told him that it would have been better if he had stayed.

"What? I couldn't leave you here to fend for yourself. That wouldn't be right." His eyes pleaded with hers to reason.

"You already left me once and I made it here, didn't I?" He would never figure out how to read this woman, and while technically he'd known her for decades, they'd spent what felt like a few months together. "You abandoned me and I survived."

"You survived? Amelia, it's been 30-something days here for you! I came back because once I found out Edmunds was dead, I knew that you had to be in misery, and I couldn't fathom leaving you out here in this unknown world to die!" he nearly yelled, watching her every small movement. "And I feel guilty, even now, for letting you go but I was trying to give you your best chance."

She stood up, and walked over to him, causing him to stand up, as well. "Your decision was irresponsible beyond belief, even for you!" He stared down at her, her eyes swollen from all the crying that had occurred within the past hour. "You obviously had to do something tremendous to get through a black hole and live to tell the tale, and then instead of helping NASA with your knowledge, you just hop in one of their shuttles, 'Oh, hey, I think I'll take this for a little spin,' and leave!"

He closed his eyes, bringing a hand to his forehead.

"I couldn't bear the thought of you out here alone," he said, his voice almost a whisper. "I left Murph and Tom alone, and I couldn't do it over. I couldn't leave you out here." He looked at her again, before feeling her hand blow across his face. "Amelia," he whispered, holding his cheek. She began to cry again and ran toward what he assumed was her sleeping quarters.

He heard the door click, indicating that she had locked the door. "Sweet Jesus." Cooper broke down, too.