Amelia and Cooper hold each other's gaze for a handful of moments. To both it seems an eternity that would have been their lives had they not found one another again. Always wondering what could have been had the circumstances been different. Coopers mind is racing, struggling with what to say.
How do I tell her that I've seen the guts of our reality. That what I do know of science and physics has been turned on its ear. That when I left the tesseract and was going back through the wormhole, that seeing you Amelia one last time was enough to see me through to what I thought was my end.
Several moments pass as Cooper realizes he has been holding his breath the whole time.
Say something you fucking idiot!
Exhaling a soft greeting. "Heeey."
Just a moment ago, Amelia's bewildered face had reminded him of the stricken Endurance over Mann's world. Now, without knowing it, Cooper starts to retrace the steps he took to save the Endurance from Mann's madness.
Match the spin rate.
With a furrowed brow and slight smile, thus giving a genuine sympathetic face, Cooper continues. "Looks like things got a little crazy for you after I left. My guess that thinking you we're the last living human adult charged with rebooting the species was a pretty heavy burden to bear. I mean you wer-"
With a voice filled with tension, Amelia interjects. "How is it possible you are here?"
Cooper realizes that he needs to focus on telling her what happened to him. OK, dumbass, its time for something you hate doing: Talking about yourself. He realizes he has to strike a balance here between just giving her an explanation vs the level of details. Christ, I don't fully understand the how, what and why I fell into the tesseract. Buuuut, I cannot go into those details with her right now! Stay vague and just get through it.
Amelia continues with her disbelief. "I mean you detached and checked yourself into the celestial graveyard. Cooper, when I lost radio contact, you..." Amelia's voice drops to a whisper. "…died."
Cooper takes in a deep breathe. "When I detached Amelia, I fell for what seemed like an eternity, but I landed inside of…something. Something that I believe was built by the ones who opened the wormhole for us." Cooper's eyes drop a bit and become unfocused. "From what I saw and could comprehend at the time, I thought I was going to be lost in madness before I ran out of air."
Amelia's sees Cooper haunted look and her fuzziness starts to dissipate. What was down there at the bottom of your grave? What did you see down there that could drive you to the edge of madness? Her focus starts to shift from what was her own descent to what haunted Cooper. "What was down there? What did you do?"
"Honestly, I went nuts."
Close the distance.
"Let's just say that I was inside a structure where I could see every moment in time for a fixed location for the duration of my daughter's life."
This statement causes Amelia's head to spin. While starting to digest the content of Cooper's statement, Amelia tries to see a structure that would fit Cooper's description. To her the idea is like a block of marble and in her hands she holds the tools necessary to bring forth the statue. To use her tools, she must ask a couple of questions. "Wait a minute. How were you-"
"Hold on! Just go along with me with on this one. Imagine how you view a photo library on a tablet. View one, swipe finger to the left, there's the next one. Swipe finger to the right, there's the one you saw first. Wash, rinse, repeat."
"OK."
"So given that idea, I was able to get to the most appropriate places in time for that physical location and attempt to relay information. Sometimes I was successful and other times I was not."
"How were you able to relay information?"
"Remember when Doyle asked me how I found you guys at the base?"
"Yeeesss." Eyes widen in comprehension. "Gravity!"
"Bingo!" Sporting a pearly white grin. "The lady wins a prize."
"So...within this construct, you were able to manipulate gravity?"
"Correct. And in doing so, I was able to send information to this physical location at various points in time to be received by Murph and/or myself. These pieces of information were things like coordinates to the NASA base and quantum data that TARS acquired." Cooper decides to leave something out. No need to tell her about STAY.
"So what happened then?"
"Well after key pieces of information had been delivered to influence the past in the direction of this future now, the construct closed."
"Sooo, this construct closed leaving you in a black hole. What happened to you then?"
"I was catapulted back to our solar system." Coopers meets Amelia's gaze with a soft smile. "While going back, I saw the face of an angel."
A quizzical look forms on Amelia's face while something barely caresses Amelia's comprehension. What does he mean by that? Then Amelia's puzzlement grows a bit more when for an instant Cooper's eyes involuntarily widen a bit and then he looks down.
Christ! Where did that come from? Loose lips sink ships, pal. Regaining from his slight lapse in composure. "Yeah, I only had a minute or so worth of air when some Rangers from Cooper's Station found me floating near Saturn. Guess I was starting to hallucinate a bit."
Amelia's mouth opens as part of an incredulous look. "They named a space station after you!?"
"No, no, no. That's what I thought at first, but I found out that they named it after Murph. She solved the gravity equation with the quantum data that I relayed to her. With the solution to gravity, humanity was able to put a multitude of enormous stations into space." A moment passes to let this sink in. "My daughter saved the flame of humanity from being extinguished back in our solar system."
"Is she still alive?"
"Yep, I made it back in time to see her again." A hurt look crosses Cooper's face as he swallows the lump forming in his throat. "She didn't have much time left though. She had been in cryo sleep for the last two years just hanging on to see her Dad again. When I left her, her family was there to say goodbye."
"Wait a minute. Your main objective was to get back to your kids when you came out here with us. So you're telling me that once you got there and saw Murph, you just picked up and left to come back here?" A look of sheer disbelief now covers Amelia's face as she shakes her head slightly asking, "Why?"
Cooper swallows hard, meets Amelia's gaze and delivers a one word response that revitalizes her on many different levels.
Lock.
"You."
Decelerate.
For a woman who has lost everyone near and dear to her, a woman who had been marooned in a strange/alien place, a woman who thought she would never know the love of a good man again, one who thought herself irrevocably lost now knows in her heart that she has been found.
Now I know what Murph felt when her Dad finally returned to her. With moist eyes and her chin starting to tremble, words fail her.
Cooper sees the impact of telling her what brought him to this place. He closes the distance between them, pulls her into his arms and eases them both to the floor. It's a reassuring hug that he gives her. It's a hug meant for one that has been plucked from the sea after being adrift for many days with no hope of rescue. Ameila just let's go and starts to purge herself of the desolation. Cooper just sits there quietly and thanks his lucky stars for being able to return to her.
With Cooper cradling Amelia, sometime later she quiets down. Cooper angles his head to one side and pulls his chin in an attempt to see her face. He sees that she is looking at some spot on the floor several feet away.
Not yet! Sensing that Cooper was about to break the silence of this moment, this Nirvana they had both somehow reached, she sucks in a loud breathe and exhales. That should buy me a couple more minutes.
Another minute passes. Sorry Cooper, but this is the safest I've felt in years and I don't want this to end just yet.
Ameila sits there and just listens to Cooper inhale and exhale. To her, it is like listening to the coming in and going out of ocean waves. Ameila feels completely at peace.
Main engines ON.
Sensing her calm, Cooper decides to build upon his one word statement that opened the flood gates. "Yeah, it was the thought of you here alone that brought me out here. The thought of you having to set up this colony all by yourself. The thought of you not knowing the fate of your race. It was too much for me to handle thinking about what you were having to deal with out here all by yourself."
Filtering out information is a big part of Amelia's job as a scientist. Right now, without thinking, she applies a filter to what Cooper was saying: "-the thought of you-. The thought of you-. The thought of you-. -too much for me to handle-you-by yourself."
Then it hits Amelia. Does he have feelings for…me?
Unknowingly, Amelia's look goes from one of listening to the recognition of a basic fact. This does not escape Cooper.
Shit Cowboy! She's seen your cards. She knows.
Several awkward moments pass and then finally Cooper makes a decision.
Fuck it! What's that old saying? 'The truth shall set you free.'
Cooper shuts his eyes for a second and shakes his head. "Hold on, let me reword that." Eyes open. "Listen, I'm not going to hide it, when we first met I was attracted to you. Then I found out about Wolf and you, so I backed off. Then it was all about getting back to my kids and I finally got back to one of them in time. When I got back, I was surrounded by all these people. A few were kin to me, but most were not. It was great to be 'home', but I soon realized that like you I was alone. I was a man who no longer fit in amongst his own people. Then when Murph arrived at the station, we talked. As I can see the wisdom in it, she pushed me away…back towards you. Too the only living human, that in the short time we've been together and apart, knows anything about who I truly am."
Amelia listens while Cooper bares his soul. God, he made it back home to find out he was as alone as I was on this rock.
"Now here I am: to help you to get this colony going, to help you build this new world and to help you make this your home."
Amelia is unbalanced by the honesty in Cooper's tranquil oration. She needs to respond to Coopers statement, so she lays out several cards of her own. Honesty setting: 100%.
In a quiet voice, "When we were spinning out of control above Mann's world and I passed out, it was one of the most terrifying things I ever experienced. When I came to, there you were lifting the Endurance out of orbit. Amongst all the chaos, there you were playing the part of bedrock. You did this not once but twice. When I landed here and saw my lot in life, then it was me spinning out of control. Again, I pass out and when I come to its you that lifts me out of it. Playing that part again…bedrock. "
Did she just compliment me? Christ that must be the nicest thing she has ever said to me.
A soft sound causes both of them to look over to see TARS and CASE both silently watching. If TARS had been human, Cooper swears that TARS just made a movement that resembled him looking at his feet in embarrassment. As if he had just been busted eavesdropping in on a private moment.
Dammit guys! I was just starting to get some interesting conversation out of her too.
Cooper stands up and then offers a hand to Amelia. She looks at Cooper, gives him a soft smile as she takes it and he pulls her up.
Not using the same exact words, both simultaneously have the same thought. Conversation over, for now.
With her dry, reddened eyes, that couldn't cry anymore tears if her life depended on it, Amelia looks down to slap the dust off her pant legs. Amelia looks up, gives a weary smile and points to the pod that she sleeps in. "I think I'm going to go cleanup now."
Cooper sees a mixture of exhaustion and relief on her. Overall, he senses that she is going to be alright. Cooper decides to tease a bit, "OK Miss Brand, I guess I'll catch you later then."
Calmly smiling. "Yeah." She trudges a couple of steps, stops, turns and points to tiredly, yet playfully chide: "That's Doctor Brand to you cowboy."
Cooper instantly replies in an exaggerated cowboy accent, "Sorry Ma'am, forgot my manners." Meanwhile, taking his thumb and index finger to pull down the front edge of an imaginary cowboy hat to indicate respect.
We're out of orbit.
Without knowing it, she bestows upon Cooper for something he has sought. A slight shake of the head and beautiful, pearly smile indicating that he's being a meathead right now.
Ohhh, there it is. Without showing it, Cooper's breathe catches in his lungs as he tightens up a bit. God, that's like the sun coming out after it has rained for a year straight.
Cooper watches as Amelia turns and walks towards the pod. She pushes a button and the door opens, but she lingers for a moment. Amelia turns her head and casts a look towards Cooper. For several moments they hold each others gaze and several unspoken words are exchanged.
Thank You for coming back for me.
Cooper gives a slight perceptible nod. You're Welcome.
Amelia looks down for a split second and then her gaze swivels to the open door. As the door shuts behind her, Cooper turns to start unloading the Ranger.
TARS senses that its OK to bust Cooper's chops now, "What's a matter sailor? You strike out?"
A chuckle escapes Cooper, "Shut up asshole."
Amelia is leaning against the wall just inside the doorway with her hands behind her. A silent prayer goes to God for not being the only one left of her species.
He could of left me out here to carry on until the other's came. He could of stayed with Murphy until her end. He could of stayed behind with all the creature comforts back in our solar system. But in the end, he came back...for me.
Amelia ponders this thought for several moments and then a slight smile forms. For now, Amelia's heart is singing.