„No!" Kelly cried out and ran over to Neil. She threw her arms around him, holding him close to her. "Don't ... don't leave me. I didn't mean it. Please don't leave me. You have to come back, please, come back. I didn't mean it ..."

Mark stood shocked, not able to move. When he finally looked over to his father, who still stood near the door, he saw that he looked like he would break down any second. All color had drained from his face and he stared horrified at the still body of his son.

"Dad ..." Mark choked out. Then he quickly went over to him. He had wanted to see his father suffer, but now that he did, it was too much. And the price for it was definitely too high. Right now he needed his father as much as he needed him and all the fights from the past were forgotten. When he had reached him, he pulled him into a tight hug. Chuck didn't even realize his oldest son held him. All he could do was stare at his dead son, Kelly's sobs ringing in his ear.

The doctor was just about to declare the time of death, when the heart monitor suddenly started beeping again. The line that was still flat a second ago, now showed a weak, but regular heart beating. Quickly he walked over and gently, but determinedly pushed Kelly away from the bed.

"No ..." She said weakly, but she had no strength left to fight the arms pulling her away. She hadn't even noticed the beeping heart monitor yet.

"I don't believe this." The Doctor mumbled. He quickly put his patient on a respirator as he still wasn't breathing on his own. Then he injected another dosage of medication in the IV. Hopefully this time it would help. And really – Neil's heart kept beating.

When the Doctor had started working on Neil again, Mark and Chuck finally realized that Neil wasn't dead yet.

"Dad ..." Mark looked at his father hopefully.

"I knew he was a fighter." Chuck whispered. Then he noticed Kelly standing stock still near the bed, staring at Neil. Her fists were clenched together and she was trembling all over. He looked back to Mark, who had followed his gaze and nodded, then Chuck walked over to her. He gently pulled an arm around her shoulder. When she slowly turned her head to him, he gave her a small smile.

"Looks like my son is listening to you." He referred to her pleas to Neil to come back. He really had. He had beat death once more and had returned to them. Hopefully he had the strength to keep fighting until they found a cure. "He's still fighting."

Kelly could only nod. She didn't think she was able to form any coherent words right now. When the doctor was done working on Neil, all three looked at him expectantly.

"He's on full life support now, but he's alive. Don't ask me how. I have never seen anything like this before. His condition is still critical but I have my best people working on an antidote." The doctor told them. "Just tell your son to keep up the fight."

With that said, the doctor left them alone. Quietly Kelly, Chuck and Mark took their places around Neil's bed again. He looked even more weak now with the respirator breathing for him, but they had all gained new hope that he might walk out of this hospital alive.

XXXXXXX

Hesitantly Kurt and Angela stood in front of Sheila Norris house. They had been determined to do anything necessary to get a blood sample from her. But now they weren't so sure anymore. What if she wasn't a sentient? They couldn't just walk in there and attack a person out of suspicion. Finally Kurt made a decision.

"She threw Chuck through half the room without much effort. Even if she's not a sentient, the sentients definitely changed her in some way. She's not a normal human anymore. Let's go!"

"Okay." Angela nodded hesitantly. She was still not quite convinced if this was the right thing to do. But she agreed with Kurt on one thing - they couldn't just stand by and let Neil die. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she followed him up the driveway.

Once they were in the house – they had taken Sheila by surprise and had pushed her in the house as soon as she had opened the door – Kurt pinned her on a chair, holding her strongly while Angela tied her up. They had acted fast and with the moment of surprise on their side, Sheila could do nothing to prevent it, despite her strength.

"Who are you? What do you want?" She demanded to know. The lack of fear in her voice convinced both Kurt and Angela that she wasn't a normal human.

"Don't worry. We just need a small blood sample from you." Kurt told her as he got out the things he needed from his bag. Then he bind up her arm and stuck her with the needle. He was actually surprised to see blood coming out of her veins. That meant she was human – he wondered what the sentients did to her. Was it connected to the virus?

"What are you going to do with it?" Sheila asked.

"Developing an antidote." Kurt told her shortly while packing up his things again.

When Sheila paled at hearing his words, he knew she knew about the virus.

"Anything you want to tell us?" He asked coldly.

Sheila stayed quiet. She just looked at him, her eyes full of hatred.

"What do you know about the virus?" Kurt asked again.

"You can't stop it. There will be more of us and you will all die!" She spat at them.

"So will you." Kurt told her coldly. Then he pulled out his gun and shot her in the head.

"Oh god, Kurt! Why did you do that?" Angela looked at him horrified.

"You heard her. She's the carrier of the virus. At least one of them. She would have infected more people with the time." Kurt put back the gun, trying to hide his trembling hands from Angela. He had killed sentients before, but Sheila Norris had at least partly been still human. "Let's go. We got what we came for."

Angela stared at the dead woman in front of her for a few seconds before she followed Kurt out. Neither of them spoke a word until they reached the university.

"I'll go to the hospital to check on Neil." Angela said quietly.

"Okay." Kurt muttered. He couldn't look her in the eyes. Even though he knew it had been the right thing to do, he felt awful about what he did. He didn't think he would ever forget the sight of that dead woman in front of him.

XXXXXXX

Anxiously Angela waited in front of Neil's room. The nurses wouldn't let her in because she was no relative. They hadn't even told her about his condition. Through a window she could see Chuck, Mark and Kelly sitting around Neil's bed. She remembered meeting Kelly on one of the NASA parties, shortly before the Odyssey 5 mission. It had been evident how much she and Neil had been in love at the time. She remembered thinking how lucky they both were. They had found the right one – Angela had been convinced the two would stay together forever ... until they died. Who would have known that death might separate them so early? It broke her heart to see them like this now. Kelly looked like she would break down any second and Neil ... Angela could hardly bear to see him hooked to all these machines, the respirator probably being the only thing keeping him alive.

She pushed away those dark thoughts when she saw Chuck looking up at her. Once he noticed her standing behind the window, he rose from his seat and walked out to meet her.

"Kurt told me. I'm so sorry, Chuck." She said as soon as Chuck had closed the door behind him. Then she gave him a small hug.

"Did he find something?" Chuck asked tired.

Angela didn't have to ask who he meant. "He's working on it. How is Neil doing?"

"He's fighting. His heart stopped a while ago. He's on full life support now." Tired he rubbed over his eyes. "I don't know how long he can keep up the fight."

"He's strong, Chuck."

"Yes, he is. I never knew how strong." Chuck replied quietly, remembering what his son had gone through as a child.

"Kurt will find the antidote." Angela said determinedly. It was the only thing she could think of that would give Chuck at least some comfort.

"Did he tell you about Kelly? About what happened to Neil in her future?"

"Yes, he did." Angela replied quietly. "But this time he won't fail. I think he's close to something. Don't lose hope, Chuck. Neil isn't dead yet. And tell him to keep fighting, okay?"

Angela looked so convinced that Kurt would be successful that Chuck almost believed her.

"I will. Are you going back to Kurt?"

"Yes. There's not much I can do though except get him new coffee ..."

"That is helping too." Chuck smiled at her. It was only a small smile and it never reached his eyes, but Angela was grateful for it nevertheless. She pulled him into a hug again.

"He's going to pull through this."

Chuck nodded slowly before he turned to go back into Neil's room. He had the door already half open, when he turned around again. "Angela." He called out.

Surprised she looked at him.

"Welcome back." He said smiling.

Thankfully Angela returned the smile. She wasn't sure when it had happened, but their little group had become like a family for her. During the three months she had been on ISS, she had missed them more than her real family.

After throwing a last glance through the window, Angela turned to go back to Kurt.

Tbc.

A.N.: I'm really sorry it took me so long to update. Real life stopped me from posting earlier. Thanks for still reading this story and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. IritIlan, thanks again for your review :)