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Roche had known when he left Junon that it was going to be his last ride. He’d been helping the Turks look for Rufus, who was still missing, but this time he could feel it in his weary bones- he wasn’t going to make it back. He’d lucked out as far as the degradation went, he could have turned into a rage-blind monster, instead his body had simply started to fall apart.
The sun was just starting to set in brilliant shades of orange and purple when he lost the strength in his hands to grip the throttle. His heart skipped a beat and pain lanced through his chest. Roche didn't have much time left.
He pulled off the highway and managed to slide down to the ground despite his legs feeling shaky beneath him. He sat with one knee propped up and the rest of his weight resting against his bike. The metal was still warm, a comforting presence against his sore back.
Roche hadn’t seen much point in telling anyone just how weak he actually was. There wasn’t a cure, he’d known that for years now. Since Reno handed him copies of Hojo’s notes on the topic, oddly reserved and somber. He’d made his peace with it and his last day had been a good one, spent with the wind in his hair, the road beneath him. Free.
He could have spent it with Reno. Roche knew that much but the degradation had become too hard to hide. Roche didn't want to see the sadness in Reno's eyes. He didn't want to have the redhead stuck between choosing between him and his loyalty to Rufus if he was called. He just wanted to remember that cocky grin- the one he always heard on the phone. Call it a dying man's last wish if you wanted.
Roche struggled to get the button on his front pocket snapped open, and it felt like an eternity between the time he pressed the call button and when Reno’s voice crackled to life on the other end.
"Hey, gorgeous, when you coming home?" Reno answered- cocky as ever.
Roche smiled, looking out toward the pastel hued clouds spanning the horizon. "Yeah about that… "
He'd been making up excuses for so long, searching for Rufus while he hid what was happening, what was one more lie if it kept Reno a little safer in the air on his way?
"Think you can come grab my baby girl? Sent you the coordinates already," Roche asked. Reno knew him damned well, well enough that if he was asking for this it meant his bike was too damaged to drive.
"Oh, heck yeah- I'll be there! Gotta clear it with the boss but- yeah. Hang tight," Reno replied with a lilt in his voice- the one that always came when he smiled. The warmth of the sun on his skin was almost like having Reno there. Almost. "See you soon, babe!"
Roche's breath caught when the line went dead a scant few seconds later. His hand holding the phone dropped weakly at his side. His eyes opened, looking out across the dimming sky. "You hear that, baby girl? Reno's coming to get you. He'll look after you, I promise."
He wasn't sure if it was tears making his vision less focused or the degradation. It didn't matter. It was getting too dark to see anything anyway.
It had been a beautiful sunset. He’d heard the smile in Reno’s voice and when his eyelids fell shut he could see it, as brilliant as those last beams of golden sunlight.