Chapter Text
Yuri was falling.
Somehow, that stood out to him much more than the whole being-stabbed-by-Sodia thing. Perhaps he was just used to the burn of sharpened steel by now. That it was Flynn’s Lieutenant was a shock, but not a great one; he knew she hated his guts. He supposed he should’ve seen this coming.
Falling, though — falling was new. It felt like the way your stomach drops when you hear devastating news, except it never really ends, never finds the bottom of your abdomen and settles there. He flailed around for something, anything, to grab, but there was nothing. Just air and Zaude above him, growing smaller. Sodia atop it, growing smaller, too, until she was barely recognizable, and that was when she turned tail and ran.
Fuck. He was going to die, wasn’t he?
That was…frustrating. Yuri almost had the mind to laugh at his choice of wording, but it was true. He still had to teach the Boss so much more about life. Help Estelle through the trauma Alexei wrought. Grab a drink with Judy and the old man. Taste whatever recipe Patty dreamt up next. Tease Rita and laugh at her expression. Play fetch with Repede.
Tell Flynn he always loved him and wanted him and then kiss him until his stupid face fell off.
It was a long fall from the top of Zaude, but not an endless one. Gravity had to pull Yuri back to the earth eventually, and he smacked into the ocean with such force that all the air burst from his lungs.
He hadn’t much time to feel the frigid waters swallow him before his world went dark.