Chapter Text
Some dream of loved ones, some of nothing at all. In his last gasps, he discovers the truth. That your life really does flash before your eyes. The moments he’s forgotten creep back in and resonate louder than they did when the memory was first created.
His first trip to Kings Canyon, where he ran amongst green giants, to Lake Tahoe at age ten, the struggle to find where his family were camped and the bite of cold alone in the wilderness. The exhilaration of freedom and exploration of the unknown that made him run into the dark woods whilst his parents shouted his name into the cool, early spring sky.
His first kiss at thirteen, soft, inviting pink lips and the nervous laugh he let loose, the beat of his heart reverberates through his whole body and the thump in his chest so thunderous he thinks it might burst open. The same feeling repeats as the team waits to cross into the stream of the Charon Relay—ten, nine, eight— this kiss, the beginning of a new relationship with the strange, and the unknown.
As the oxygen in his brain diminishes, he hears Ellen’s whispered voice in his ear. The satisfied coo and quiet laugh wash over him after they first make love and the countless times since they met, kisses on bruises from training and action ease with each sultry pass of her lips over tired and aching muscles.
The moment when both Sabine and Gabriel reach and grab on to his pinkies with small stubby hands and the sensation of his heart leaping into his throat when they laugh in unison. The first time SAM’s voice travels through his synapses, the intimacy created through neural pathways not even experts knew existed, a chill and a sense of peace descend.
Ellen again, her voice rasps and strains against the fight that no mortal can ever win. Soundlessly he repeats the promise to her and calls her name. Sabine’s quiet and labored pleading fades with his vision. He grabs and squeezes her hand for as long as he can.
Every great moment in our history began with a dream.