A/N: Hello! Here it is... the last chapter – but I do have an epilogue waiting in the wings! First of all, to my wonderful reviewers:

The Libran Iniquity: Well, you'll have to wait and find out... By the way, I think at one point I asked you for your help with beta-ing, I'm sorry for not actually getting back to you! Here it is, anyway.

volley: I love cliff-hangers... though only when I'm the one writing them and I know what happens next! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

firebirdgirl (x 6!): Wow, that's a lotta reviews in a very short time! Glad to see a new reader – happy reading!

Triptacular: What can I say, I'm a psychic! That is creepy... Thanks for the book suggestion, I'll check it out. I've only just realised how similar this is to the film "Ghost", having had my Mum describe the film to me. And there are serious Narnia undertones in this chapter! Thanks for the reviews – love the pen-name!

General Kunama: Well, you know me; I'm just as cruel to my readers as I am to my borrowed characters! Thanks for reviewing!

Kaleidoscope Cat: (Have I spelt the name right!) Well, here you are – the penultimate chapter! (sobs)

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed over the course of this story... now get on reading!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sorry...

Chapter Nine

Malcolm Reed felt himself falling through nothingness as he threw himself into the paths of the bullets, and Trip Tucker stared as his dead friend suddenly reappeared in front of him. And then for Malcolm, everything turned white.

Lieutenant... A voice, both silent and intolerably loud, entered his ears from all around. He looked up, and to the side, for the source of the voice, but could see nothing but white, stretching on and out into infinity.

"Who's there?" He asked, his voice sounding weak and pale in comparison to the strange voice he had just heard. Malcolm bit his lip. So was this it, then? Was he truly dead? Had he been too late to stop the bullets – or had they gone straight through his ghostly form, killing Trip and the Captain anyway? Was he soon to have company?

Hello, Lieutenant. I have been waiting for you. I am the Being. Your Captain has already spoken with one of my kin, after you tried to contact him, placing him closer to the edge of life than was safe. That kinsman is not the one your Captain should ever have come into contact with, Lieutenant... Malcolm.

"I didn't mean to put him into any danger." Malcolm said, suddenly feeling truly regretful in the presence of this voice, and then all at once feeling incredibly honest. "I was afraid."

I know. The voice was gentler now. You have clung steadfastly to life, young man. You have caused no small amount of trouble on the Other Side, especially with Catherine awaiting your return. Malcolm stared – though to what he was staring he did not know.

"How do you know about Cathy? And what do you mean by... return?"

I know all things. The voice said. All that was, all that is, and all that will be. And as for returning: Cathy is waiting for you at the place from which we all come, and to which we all must return in the end, save for those who go to somewhere else entirely. What you mortals call 'life' is just the bit in between. There was a slight edge of wry humour in the Being's voice, and Malcolm found himself smiling despite himself. But then he closed his eyes and saw an image of those bullets speeding towards his friends, and the smile instantly slipped.

"My friends." He said. "What is - "

All in its own time, Malcolm. I was getting there.

"But we don't have time to waste! They may be dying right now!" Malcolm exclaimed angrily, and the light in the place dimmed, ever so slightly. The voice spoke to him, quieter, now, more soothing.

Hush. The voice said, and Malcolm felt like a little child. Time has no meaning here – this place is more powerful by far than your diluted world. The voice paused. You long for a second chance at life, do you not, Malcolm Reed?

"Yes," Malcolm said, after a silence. "I do." He said the words, knowing as he spoke them that he was committing the ultimate betrayal of both Cathy and the voice.

Then you shall have it. The voice said, sounding sadder than Malcolm could imagine anything sounding. I am sorry.

Then, with a rush of sound and colour, Malcolm was thrown back into the real world. He wondered for a moment why the voice had apologised, but then he remembered, just before something hard and painful hit him in the chest, that he had just placed himself in the path of two approaching bullets.

"Bugger." He said.

888

"Jesus Christ!" Trip exclaimed as the man named Malcolm Reed suddenly appeared before him, running, his face a grim mask of concentration. He stepped forward in confusion, and then, horror as two bullets slammed into the moving form of the recently-reincarnated armoury officer. He collapsed, his face suddenly very white and blood blossoming from his chest. Trip fell to his knees, staring into a face he had thought he would never again see in complete amazement. "Malcolm?"

Trip was dimly aware of Archer standing by his shoulder, also staring down in bafflement, and of a whizz of gunfire as the MACO and Lieutenant Chez finally earnt their wages and dealt with the alien threat, but his concentration was fixed on his friend, who was growing paler by the second. He coughed, spluttering blood.

"Trip," he said weakly, smiling at the expression on the poor engineer's face. "Surprised to see me?"

"A – a little." Trip said, averting his gaze from Malcolm's uniform front, which was fast becoming drenched with his precious blood. Trip noticed with a shudder that the uniform was singed, much as it had been when Malcolm had died the last time...

Hang on. Trip paused, shaking his head. This wasn't possible... and anyway, he was not going to let Malcolm slip away again, whatever the science behind his sudden reappearance was. Malcolm gave another shuddering cough, and Trip placed his arms around his shoulders, hoisting him up.

"Hang in there, Malcolm. We'll get you back to Enterprise soon as possible." Trip glanced up, and now both Hoshi and Travis were standing over Malcolm too. Travis silently placed his arm around Hoshi. Trip looked into Archer's face for support, but his expression was grave. Trip tightened his jaw. To hell with their pessimism!

"Hang in there?" Malcolm half-laughed, half-coughed. "I've been 'hanging in there' for the last six bloody months, Trip Tucker! You just... didn't see me..." He started to close his eyes but then, with what seemed like an enormous effort, opened them again. "A sort of... afterlife... purgatory... I was given a second chance..." Then he gazed up, away from Trip, and nodded slowly. "A few more minutes." He murmured to a person unseen. "Give me that, at least."

Whoever he was talking to must have acquiesced to his request, for in the next moment Trip watched his strength suddenly seem to return. Malcolm looked up at him with fresh lucidity. The two held the moment, knowing that it was to be their last together for a very long time.

"I don't understand." Trip said eventually, quietly. Malcolm smiled gently.

"You will." He said simply. "One day." Then he looked away from Trip, and settled his gaze on Travis and Hoshi. He smirked. "Should have seen that one coming." He said jovially, though his breath was now coming in ragged gasps. "I'm glad you're together. Look after her." He added, looking straight at Travis. Then he looked to Archer. "Captain." He said, and that was all he said. In that single word he conveyed all he had ever wanted to say to the man – of his respect, loyalty, and love for his commanding officer. Love is not too strong a word to use in place of 'fondness' at the point of death.

Malcolm lifted his head slightly, and smirked once more as he caught sight of Chez, who was looking blatantly embarrassed at his slip-up.

"Be more careful next time, alright?" Malcolm said. "I won't be here to fix it, next time." Chez nodded, looking very solemn, and a grin cracked across Malcolm's face. "And congratulations on your promotion."

And with that, Malcolm Reed died.

888

Once more he was surrounded by rushing light, and once more he reached the fork in the ways, but he did not fear the darker way, for he could already feel the pull of the brighter, more beautiful tunnel. He felt his soul slowing, and within a moment he was standing in a grassy park he knew well. It had been here – or in a place very much like this – that he had first proposed to Cathy. But it was far more green, far more beautiful, than the original had been. He glanced down at himself and saw his body free of wounds, free of the scars of his life – his time 'in between'. A voice suddenly spoke to him from behind.

"Hey, handsome." Malcolm turned, feeling young again. And, with an exclamation of joy, he embraced his wife.

888

Trip stared at the place where his friend had lain just a moment before. Malcolm had vanished, leaving nothing behind him but the blood that was on Trip's hands and two bullets lying in the grass – two bullets which had been meant for his chest, Trip realised. He felt a sudden welling up of grief in his throat, and he looked away so that the others would not see his tears. But then he stopped, realising that it was a slur on Malcolm's memory and an insult of his sacrifice – his twice-made sacrifice – to hide those tears. He stood up.

"He's gone." He said. It was time to get on with life, without Malcolm.

But perhaps in death...

888

A/N: Now just the epilogue, and we're done! Please tell me what you thought!