So, I lied. There will be an epilogue following this. Which, knowing me, will probably turn into a real chapter. But that should really be the end.

I tried to go about this by capturing moments from their 10 year stay, rather than going into really deep detail. Hopefully that's good enough! The end feels a little rushed to me, but hopefully the end will make up for it. I also plan on briefly recapping what the "real" Paul has been going through in Alpha's head in the next chapter.


Chapter 5

One week passes. Then two. Then three, and four, and finally on the fifth, Paul mans up. He's been sleeping beside her every night, and there has been no mention of the first one. Every night she eases up to his side as if she belongs there, mutters something about warmth, and pulls him close like she wants to be so much closer, but she never says a word. And Paul is too afraid to mention it, because every time he thinks it might be a good idea, he looks at her and finds her emotionless eyes staring back.

She's been steeling herself since the beginning. He knows that now. And it took Alpha turning him into a doll for her to shut herself off from the world completely. All those little smiles tossed his way, all those jokes for Alpha's benefit (the man likes his dark humor), and those sympathetic speeches about mankind that inspire Dominic to perform increasingly-risky acts of espionage, those are all Caroline. Echo is limp and lifeless. Echo is hopeless.

So he waits until Alpha and Dominic are off again on another one of their Buddy Cop Adventures (Alpha's 'mission designation') to approach her, in the safe room basement where it all happened.

"Echo," he says gently, so she'll know that he wants to talk to her, not the cavalry backing her up. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better," she admits with a frankness that is relieving. Her eyes look into his with an honesty and intensity that would be frightening if it wasn't everything that he wanted.

"You're shutting yourself off. I can see it. Don't do that. Don't shut me out. I'm here for you. What Topher did, what he tried to do, you should know by now that it didn't last. I still…"

"It lasted," Echo says suddenly, and the look in her eyes is now one of panic. Of fear at the thought of anyone getting close again, only to be torn away. "You only think that it didn't because you've been conditioned by your memories to think otherwise."

"I know that's not you talking. You believe in love. You believe in the power of your own emotions. Remember that night in the apartment? You told me that it didn't matter that you were more than one person. You told me that there was a you. I might not be me, really, but there is a me."

"And that night you turned me down," Echo says. "Come on. We should get food ready for when they come back."

She leaves, and Paul remains seated at the edge of the mattress, staring down at his hands which are shaking.


The passing of a few more months sees Echo standing at the front gate to Safe Haven, their chosen name for their little village of refugees. Behind her, Paul is supporting Topher, who is followed closely by Adele, her hands fluttering uselessly around his face, telling him that there are only a few more steps to go. Paul thinks that Topher's condition was apparently contagious, because the two of them babble back and forth in a language that is almost incomprehensible to him. He looks helplessly at Tony, but Tony just shrugs. Things have been bad for all of them.

"It's beautiful," Priya breathes, wiping dirt from her face as she takes a few careful steps closer to Paul. They've all been hesitant around Echo since they realized that this isn't the same girl that left them months ago to find a better way. This is a woman evolved into a survivor, and that leaves little room for empathy.

At least, Paul thinks, she still listens to him. She may deny him in almost every way (except for the occasional fuck when she's feeling hopeless enough), but at least she never denies his companionship. He will cling to that for all that it's worth.

They walk into the little farmhouse, trailing after one another with happy, sunburnt faces plastered with dust and sand. There were thirty of them who left Los Angeles. Six didn't make it. But it's still a big enough number that Paul is glad Echo had the refugees from the newly-established Neuropolis (Tuscon renamed by Rossum once their egos got as big as their ideas) building new cabins. Even though he argued against it at the time because it seemed unnecessary. He grins apologetically at her, and she smiles back, understanding.

"There will be food for all of you," she says to the gathered group of hungry survivors. "But I'll say it again: if you want to be lazy and live off of the hard work of others, you can go live in Neuropolis with the rest of the assholes. Here at Safe Haven, if you want our protection from printing, you do it our way."

Vaccines. That's the catch. Something that Boyd apparently thought up, and something that Alpha thought was genius enough to keep it going. Only it wasn't the spinal fluid that Alpha used, but the blood. His and Echo's, combined together and mixed with all sorts of crazy stuff that Paul doesn't know the first thing about. All he knows is that he had his shot, and he's good to go. And soon, all their friends will be safe too.

The refugees scatter to explore like sheep unleashed on a pasture. Echo watches them go with a smile playing on her lips that reminds Paul of easier times. He lowers Topher into a chair, patting the younger man encouragingly on the shoulder.

"He's tired," Adele says, sighing and running a hand through her hair. "But he's going to be all right."

"I'm sure Dom will be happy to see you," Paul prompts, and Adele looks up at him, the veil of frantic concern finally lifting from her eyes now that Topher is safe.

"He's here," she sighs. "Of course. Where is he?"

Echo remains behind with Topher while Paul leads Adele out to the second cabin, the one that Alpha built to house his experiments once they got the equipment they needed and started staying away from Neuropolis for longer periods at a time. Dominic is standing in the doorway, smiling wide, his left foot already firmly planted on the top stair. He's on his way to her already, although he's not yet moving. Adele looks ten years younger as she smiles, looking down at the ground and twisting her mouth into a line of amusement.

"I'm glad to see that for once you have obeyed my orders and kept yourself alive," she says with a wry purse of the lips, raising her eyes to lock intensely with his.

"Of course I have, Miss Dewitt," Dominic replies. "I learned the hard way what happens when your subordinates disobey you."

Paul never thought he'd understand Dominic's unfailing loyalty and devotion (and love? Paul isn't sure, but it's interesting to consider) to Adele DeWitt, especially considering what she's done to him in the past. But when Dominic walks down the stairs and hugs Adele tightly against him, and when he finally pulls away and kisses her, Paul feels like he gets it. There's just something about a woman who knows what she wants and who is willing to treat you like a puppet in order to do it that's unbelievably hard to shake off. Even once she tells you in no uncertain terms that nocturnal cuddling and a few desperate fucks are all you should expect.

Paul leaves them embracing passionately in the yard, and he goes back inside to find Echo petting Topher's hair and telling him sweetly that Adele will be right back.

"She's busy," Paul says with a raise of the eyebrows that's pretty much universal in meaning, even during the Thoughtpocalypse. Echo grins.

"Really? With Dominic, I hope. I think Alpha's always secretly had a thing for her."

"Yeah, right," Paul snorts. "I'd never allow it. She scares the shit out of me."

Echo chuckles outright, the first time in weeks. She stands up and walks over to him, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"We did it. We brought them here. Now, all we have to do is survive."

"I think we can manage that, don't you?"

"I think we're going to have to try, yeah. Priya's pregnant."

"What? How do you know?"

"Saunders told me. Thank God for that one random midwife engagement. I always thought it was so pointless, but hey. What do you know?"

"Can you imagine if you had a kid?" Paul asks, almost stumbling and saying we, like he has any right to call them a unit for anything besides describing their ass-kicking techniques. "Would it be a normal kid, Caroline's kid, or…?"

"Oh, Paul, we're not having kids," Echo says firmly before walking outside and catcalling to the still-going-strong DeWitt and Dominic. Paul smiles at her back and relishes the fact that she clearly didn't even realize she'd said it.


Things never quite go to hell after that, not in the way that Echo and Paul secretly were expecting (they only ever said this to each other when they were in their basement, on their shared mattress, away from the optimistic ears of everyone else). There are a few undeniable hassles, such as when Alpha mentions his plan to abscond with a few of the former actives because he has an idea for utilizing their architecture to be more than just a fact of existence, and more of a helpful tool. He promises that none of them will be harmed, but for a few nights prior to the movement, Priya and Tony fight hysterically, causing Priya to go into an early labor.

Echo freezes as she tries frantically to access the midwife imprint. She's usually so calm and cool under pressure, but something about seeing her friend in so much pain is too much for her to take. Too much for Caroline to take.

"She's overloading," Topher says from where he's perched cross-legged on the kitchen table. "Reboot. Reboot the server."

Paul wants to slap him.

"Echo," he says gently, turning her face to look at him. "Hey. Don't worry. You can do this. Remember the engagement. You told me all about it. You were in the mountains, remember? Isolated, far away from anyone else. You were so relieved when you delivered that baby, because for a while she got turned around and her shoulders couldn't fit through. Remember?"

"If that happens to my baby, I am killing all of you," Priya screams. Tony stands helplessly beside her, the fingers of one hand tangled absently in Priya's matted hair while his other snaps and cracks under the vice-like grip of her fingers.

"This is not the time to prove how right I was about how you're a broken pain in the ass," Dominic insists desperately to Echo, trying to edge closer, but Paul shoves him back.

"Come on. Echo, Caroline, Rebecca, anyone. Roma."

It's the last one that does the trick, and her eyes light up like a robot being reactivated. It would be scary if he wasn't used to it.

"Paul? What are we doing here?"

"Good. Now Roma, you need to go back in there, and you need to find Echo."

Funny that Roma was created back when causing the downfall of a weapons smuggler was something that was world-saving enough for him. And now he needs her to help him deliver a baby, which seems far more important than weapons dealers ever did. And in a way it even seems a little more important than the world saving, at least right now.

Finally, Echo comes back, overwhelmed and embarrassed and furious at herself, but functional. She accesses the midwife, who coos promises to Priya which are met with screams of fury from the mother-to-be herself, shouts of pain from Tony, and muffled laughter from a for-some-reason hysterical DeWitt and Dominic (who, unbelievably, have managed to become twice as smug and fucked up as a true couple than they ever were as a corporate duo with uncomfortable amounts of sexual tension).


After hours of pushing and screaming, the baby is nestled safely in Priya's arms, and Tony is curled around them both like a protective blanket.

Echo and Paul stand in the doorway, and Echo says, "He's still going to go with Alpha."

Paul knew that already, could tell from the moment that Tony held his baby and looked down with the guiltiest expression that Paul had ever seen.

"Yeah."

"It's going to break her heart."

"Of course it will. But she'll survive."

For the first time in forever, Echo looks at him for reassurance.

"You think so?"

"Definitely. She's made of the same stuff you are. Maybe not with the same spinal fluid, but she's got the same heart. She's built for this. We all are, because we've got you."

She smiles at him, and they make love that night. It's the only time it happens when they're not facing imminent death. Paul remembers thinking, more than a year ago, that the first night was the last night that he was going to be truly happy. But this night is like an update, a software update in his brain. The old memory was good, was perfect, but this one is somehow better.

And he knows, now, that she loves him. Even if she's too afraid to say it.


Dominic and Adele stand across from another while Topher and Paul sit awkwardly at the table.

"I don't understand why he's leaving," Topher mutters. He's clear-headed now more than he has been since arriving at Safe Haven. Adele insists it's the fresh air and fresh vegetables. Paul doesn't want to hope that it's permanent.

"He wants to help Alpha," Paul explains like he would to a child. Topher is lucid enough to look offended.

"Of course. Of course, everyone wants to help Alpha. Our savior. What about her? She has nothing except him."

Paul feels like an idiot, but he says, "She's got you," anyway.

Topher smiles, but tries to hide it, and goes back to husking corn.

"I won't allow it," Adele is saying, her chin trembling. "It's a fool's hope. Alpha is brilliant, but short-sighted."

"He's got us this far."

"And he'll get us no farther if we allow him to go through with this."

"You don't know that. Adele, we need all the improvements we can get, at this point. We can hold out here as long as we want, but if we're going to fix what you and Topher did, we're going to need to do more than grow this season's vegetables."

Adele looks at the ground, a flush spreading across her face as it often does when she is reminded of her involvement in this Thoughtpocalypse. It would be enough to render her as lost as Topher if she wasn't built of titanium. Still, it's obvious that it shakes her.

"If you truly…"

"You know I didn't mean it like that. You only did what you thought was right at the time. You were doing the right thing, it just had the wrong results."

"You're just using my emotional vulnerability to get me to stop asking you not to leave," Adele says, raising her chin again. Dominic smiles and kisses her, but says nothing.


A year passes before Alpha returns with Victor and Kilo and Foxtrot and a couple of other former actives who have started using their old designations again. Priya says it best when she calls them, "A bastardization of everything we've been fighting against".

"I didn't want to hurt you," Tony insists (Paul will never call him Victor, not again, no matter how many times Tony tells him to).

"Then you should have listened to me," Priya says, and she leaves him standing there in the yard, taking her son with her.

Paul follows her. Once she gets into the kitchen, she hands the baby off to Topher, who is again perched in his favorite place on the table.

"Shoes off," Paul reminds him so that Adele won't yell at him later. Topher carefully balances the baby in one arm and removes his shoes with the other. Paul waits for Priya to turn from where she's standing at the kitchen sink. Outside, he can hear Echo yelling at Alpha. It's the only sound. Even Topher knows to be quiet.

"We came here to be away from all that," Priya says finally, turning around to face Paul with tearstains on her cheeks which are dirty from the garden outside.

"I know."

"We didn't go near each other for months, didn't even talk to each other except to have normal conversations that strangers have, because we were afraid of this happening, of one of us becoming something that we weren't. But then we finally were free, and we had T, and we had a life. We had a life."

Paul picks up a wet dishrag and steps close enough to clean her face.

"I know, Priya."

"How do you do it? How do you deal with her? She pushes you, and pushes you, and she keeps pushing you away and never realizes that she's killing you. All because she's too afraid to face this world without all the help that Topher gave her."

She sends a look in Topher's direction that's half glare and half tender care. Topher closes and opens Baby T's fists and doesn't hear anything.

Paul plans on answering that he stands it because he loves her, and because he knows that she loves him too. He does it because he'd be willing to go to hell for her, and it doesn't matter that her affection is limited to sleeping in the same bed with him under the guise of using the time to talk strategy and mooch off his body heat. He'd do everything he's doing even if he thought that she hated him.

But he doesn't get the chance to say that, because they hear Adele outside yelling, and they hear Alpha yelling back, and anybody with half a brain (or half a working brain, half a fried one, anyway) can understand what has happened.


"He got printed," Echo whispers later that night. They're in their basement paradise, alone, but still she's whispering. It just seems like the kind of thing that you shouldn't say too loud.

"Is he dead?" Paul asks. He's been dying to ask all afternoon, but no one dared go near Adele. She threw her grieved efforts into taking care of Topher, in making sure that dinner got made on time, and trying to patch up the screaming match between Priya and Tony. On the outside, nothing was different. Paul, though, knew that she was a second away from killing them all.

"No. You wouldn't let Alpha kill him. But he ran off before you guys could cage him. He's out there somewhere, in LA."

"He never should have gone with Alpha. He would have been more useful here."

"What, keeping Adele centered? I think he had greater ambitions than that."

He knows she's not just talking about Dominic now. He glances at her out of her corner of his eye and frowns at her.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing. Nevermind." A pause, and then, "What would you have done if I went with them?"

Paul is surprised into silence. This is the closest she has ever come to addressing the fact that they shared something in the past. That once she had called him her best friend, and had all but begged him to see past the personalities.

"I would have been upset."

"Would you have tried to talk me out of it?"

"Of course. We need you. I need you."

"Is that it?"

"I love you."

And he waits, but she says nothing. Eventually, he hears the regular breathing that indicates she is asleep. He feels his heart begin to sink.


And it keeps sinking for years. Victor, Kilo, Foxtrot, and Alpha maraud across the countryside, raiding Neuropolis and other established outposts formed by Rossum employees. Echo treats him just the same as she always has. They try to rescue Actuals, try to establish some kind of safety, but they're never really safe. Alpha goes missing in Reno, assumed dead. Mike is kidnapped and tortured to death when he refuses to give up the location of their farm. An entire group of Actuals reaches them, only to give them all the flu and knock off fifteen of their original members. Finally, Topher is kidnapped, and that's the beginning of the end. Which is also the beginning again, but of course, Paul's imprint will never know that.

They rescue Topher, as well as a few Actuals from L.A. who are accompanied by a young girl imprinted with Caroline. That's when they decide to head back, to go back to the place they escaped from so that they can fix the world. Only Priya has an objection, but it's a weak one.

And Paul, Paul would have followed Echo to the ends of the earth.

In the end, he risks his life to save one of the Actuals, and he never gets to find out if it was worth it. A Butcher shoots him in the head, and that's it.


But below the very spot where his body is shot down, Alpha stands listening to the sounds of gunshot above, and he and Paul wonder together what kind of hell they're going to be facing now.