000 Disclaimer, I own nothing 000 Thanks for all the reviews and for being so patient with waiting for this update. There's not much to say about this chapter but if you have any questions afterwards drop me a line…oh and the chapter might change at a later date (might change!) 000

It was one of those cheesy moments in films. The ones where time slows as the hero/heroine dies saving the day, sad music would play and all other diagetic noise from the scene would fade away.

Unfortunately, the hero/heroine was missing from this scene. There was no sad music and no diagetic noise fading eerily into the background. Time in its essence seemed to slow. But the shot from Matthew's phase pistol merely faded away. Archer and Trip had both disappeared without a trace.

Malcolm let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. Matthew smirked, the phase pistol hanging loosely in his hand. He was taunting him, mocking him, standing just beyond his feeble reach. He was trying to push him to the edge; he was trying to break him…

"There's nothing left to break," Malcolm whispered to himself.

'What? There are plenty of things left to break,' said Matthew laughing. 'Bones for one, they always make such a satisfying sound when they break.'

"Me," said Malcolm rising to his feet. He hurt-everything hurt-but he could stand. He could stand and face Matthew. "You can't break me."

'I could if I wanted to,' said Matthew idly. 'Mind, spirit and body. It's not even challenging anymore.'

"You can't break me," Malcolm repeated his voice finding strength.

Silence followed but Malcolm could barely even hear himself breathing. Thoughts that had been thundering round his head, emotions battering every decision, they had all silenced. He looked at his brother and felt nothing.

There was nothing left to feel.

Matthew's expression changed to that of concern.

'Mally?' he asked in an almost brotherly tone. 'Malcolm? Say something!'

"You can't break what's already broken," said Malcolm shrugging sadly. "There's nothing left to break. There's nothing left. I used to look at you and feel fear. I used to visit your grave and feel guilt. I used to stare into your room and feel anger. But I look at you now and feel nothing. Nothing is the only feeling I have left."

Matthew suddenly disappeared leaving a ball of red light in his wake.

'You really are fascinating creatures,' it said. 'You suffer through so many feelings and yet you can reach the point where you feel nothing at all. It's absolutely fascinating. I've seen many species in my time but none quite like yours!'

Malcolm said nothing, this new turn of events had thrown him and his mind was once again in complete chaos as if his emotions had suddenly rebooted.

'Of course I didn't just study you,' it said. 'Not at first. But when I discovered your brother I knew I had to make you revisit those memories so I could learn more! Fear is so incredible! I just wanted to see how far you'd go. I wanted to see if you had a limit.'

Malcolm sank down to his knees, hot, angry tears threatening to spill.

"It was all a test," he choked out. "It was nothing but a game to you."

'It was fun while it latest though,' it said. It made an odd sound. 'I've achieved my purpose now, I'll move onto someone else. I want to see about this 'love' next.'

"What!" Malcolm bellowed. "You can't just leave! I'm not emotionless! You can't just put me through all this bullshit; expect me to just stand up afterwards and wish you well! It doesn't happen like that! You impersonated my brother. My dead brother! You tried to kill me from the inside out! You systematically set out to destroy me!"

'No, I set out to learn,' it said. 'Now I've learnt I'll leave you alone. Go do whatever the hell you want.'

He stared up in disbelief and something inside him clicked. This was too much, too much to handle in one go. It was just too much.

Malcolm felt the odd sensation of being thrown backwards and then…

He opened his eyes.

"Malcolm!" Trip exclaimed.

"Get us out of here now!" Archer yelled into the comm.

"Lieutenant," said Phlox soothingly. "Lieutenant look at me."

But Malcolm didn't respond. He just kept staring. His mind had shut down. He had no fight left in him, no logic left to explain why this had happened and no reason for why he couldn't process it all. So, he just shut down. Thinking was overrated anyway.

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