After a short break for everyone to gather themselves, Croft, Liam, and Merrin met back up in the lab with their failed EM Drive.
"Where do we go from here?" Liam asked, his tone still disheartened, as he ran his hand through his hair.
Croft took a deep breath, "We have to find out why it failed first and then use that information to figure out our next move," he explained, visibly exhausted but calm as always.
Merrin moved a chair next to Malcolm's so she could sit by him as she leaned her head on her hand to listen until she had something she could add.
Liam sighed, "We know what happened," he began his rant, "You told me not to push it and I did it anyway because Darius told me to. And now, he's just vanished probably ready to scrap this entire project."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Liam," Merrin entered herself into the conversation, "We have no way of knowing that," she paused, looking at Malcolm with a weary glance for her next statement. "For all we know, this drive could have been doomed to fail and the problem lies much deeper then pushing it harder."
Malcolm glared at her from behind his glasses just before he turned back to the computer, pulling them off while shaking his head. "She's right. This would have failed no matter what," he looked at Merrin, placing his hand on her knee, "Looks like you are here to balance us along with your skill for science."
She gave him a smile, placing her hand on top of his.
Liam nodded, "So, now we give this thing a full autopsy?"
"We can't rebuild this one," Merrin knew what the next step would entail, "It's fried."
Malcolm nodded, "You two are both right. We'll have an earlier prototype brought up and analyze it for our flaw," he explained.
Liam began stepping back, "Ok, well I've got some things to do for Darius, if he comes back, so I'll be back soon," he shared.
Malcolm waved him away before turning back to his screen to begin looking over what he could while he waited on the prototype to arrive.
Merrin laid her head on Croft's shoulder, "We'll figure this out. We have to. What can I do to help you?" she asked.
He looked her way and placed a kiss on the top of her head, "Just keep me company until we can break down the prototype and see what's really going on," he quieted briefly before he said, "Whatever happens before this is all over, just know that I love you. I always have and that will never change."
"That's very dreary end of the world talk," she replied as she lifted her head, grabbing his face gently so she could look at him, "Who took your hope?"
He shook his head, "Nothing, my love. I just wanted you to know."
Mer leaned in and placed her lips to his before pulling back, a tender expression on her face, "Don't worry babe, I do."
Croft sat back down after testing material after material, gripping the bridge of his nose. "There's nothing," he said with a sigh, "No material on Earth can accomplish what we need."
Merrin stood and looked over the test results, hoping there was something he missed and she could ease his concerns. She saw nothing and sat down on his lap, "What we need doesn't exist," she agreed.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, "If the world is gonna end, I can think of some other things I'd rather be doing then failing my EM Drive," he winked as he finished.
She smiled at Malcolm, "Have I ever said no to that idea?" she stood and reached for his hand which he took as they made their way to their room.
As soon as the door shut, Malcolm grabbed her body and mouth in a kiss, pushing her body back against the wall. Merrin reciprocated his passion, pushing his jacket off of his shoulders, dropping it to the floor.
He moved her toward the bed where he moved on top of her, inching her dress high up her thighs so she could open her legs wider, allowing him to get closer to her. Merrin's hands moved to his belt, undoing it with ease.
Merrin grasped him in her hand and pulled away from the kiss with a grin on her lips. "Did you take a little pill today? You are very ready," she lightly teased.
Malcolm lowered his face back to hers, biting her lower lip in retaliation, "No drugs, Mer, just you."
She smiled back as she released him so he could slide into her, both gasping before they began to move in their rhythm. Merrin yelled, "Professor Croft!" as she came causing him to follow before they fell into a much needed sleep in each other's arms.
Merrin was woken up by the sound of banging on the door of their room. She stood and pulled her dress down, walking to the door to open it. Liam was on the other side, "Liam? What's going on?"
Liam's face was beaming, "I found a way to fix the EM Drive. Is Croft in there?"
Merrin nodded, "He's asleep," she gestured back toward the bed.
"Wake him up and meet me in the lab," he replied before he walked away.
Merrin closed the door and walked back to the bad, sitting on Malcolm's side before she placed her hand on his back, "Babe, wake up."
He stirred more easily then she'd expected, groggily answering, "What is it?" as he grabbed his glasses off the side table.
"Liam found a way to fix the drive," she replied, "We need to go to the lab and see what he has."
"Mer," he said her name softly, as he sat up to put himself back together, "Will we ever be together without an obstacle standing in our way?"
"Do you mean the asteroid or our student teacher relationship?" she teased, standing and offering her hand to him.
He took it, and kept hold of it as they began to walk downstairs, "Both," he sighed.
Their conversation took a back seat as Liam explained that one of Darius' Mars rocks could handle the EM Drive, giving them hope once again.