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She stood there, watching the coroner washing the body of Danton Black; her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Joe stepped up beside her.
“There's a rumor that they're going to confiscate his body. For testing,” he said softly.
Carrie's hands clenched in the soft flannel covering her sides, her mind's eye flashing back to the sad, resigned look on Multiplex's face as he peeled her fingers back. Of him falling through the air and his body impacting the pavement right before her.
She remembered falling to her knees beside his body, her head bowed as she sobbed over his death. He had committed murder but in the end he had been a victim too.
“No.” Her voice was hoarse.
“They'll be here as soon as the coroner is done prepping the body for transport.”
“He didn't want to be a guinea pig. That was why he made me drop him, why he wouldn't let me save him.”
“If he gets taken on CCPD grounds its going to raise a lot of alarms.”
“He won't be.”
And he wasn't. She waited until the transport was on the move and using that super-speed, had him in and out of the transport, much to the shock of the crew in the back. She hoped they didn't get in trouble with their bosses but she couldn't risk waiting until they reached their destination.
Dr Wells looked up in surprise when she appeared in the Cortex holding a body-bag in her arms. “Ms Allen...is that who I think it is?”
“Where was Danton Black's wife buried?” she asked softly.
He pulled his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This stunt of yours has not gone unnoticed.”
“I know. But I couldn't just....they were going to use his body for their projects...”
“Projects that could help many people in the long run, Ms Allen.”
“But he didn't want to be used!” She shouted back, her arms trembling at the dead weight in her arms. “And they took samples in the coroner's office that they can replicate. Why...why can't he have peace now?”
Dr Wells stared at her, those blue eyes piercing into her soul. Finally he sighed and put his glasses back on. “Alright. If this will make you feel better, Ms Allen...”
“It will.”
It turned out, Elizabeth Black had been cremated and her ashes scattered in the ocean. In the STAR Labs incinerator, she stood by Dr Wells's chair, watching the fires consume Danton Black's body.
He glanced over at her, noticing her hands and shoulders trembling. Looking up, he could see the silvery streams going down her cheeks as she watched the fire. His breath caught in his throat; this was the gentleness, the kindness that radiated from her...
“...I know it must seem so foolish, Dr Wells. He made me drop him, wouldn't let me save him but...” she licked dry lips. “I just couldn't let them...”
“You want to help him, even when he is past help. Its an admirable trait but one that could get you and other hurt in the process, Ms Allen.”
“...I know. I know I can't save everyone either but if I don't try....will I become apathetic? Will I stop caring?”
He turned his chair to face her, watching her fall to her knees, hugging herself. “Ms Allen...Carrie...”
She choked a bit on a sob. “All he wanted was justice. He did it wrong but...Stagg was able to get away with it! He lost his wife, his best friend...she meant everything to him... I can't imagine that sort of pain...”
She looked at him. “How do you cope, Dr Wells?”
“I cope through remembering her every day. Remembering she'd not want me to stop living, to stop helping people,” he replied and reached out, a soothing hand on her shoulder. “I cope because unlike Dr Black, I actually allowed myself to grieve for the loss of my wife. Perhaps it was because her passing was so sudden, unlike his...but I came to terms with it in time.”
They stayed there in a silence, watching as Black's body was reduced to fine cremains. The cremains were gathered in an urn and Carrie held it to her chest, turning to depart.
She hesitated and turned back, leaning in and giving him an impulsive hug. “Thank you, Dr Wells.”
He patted her shoulder. “You're welcome...Carrie.”
A shiver went down her spine and when she straightened, there was a faint blush on her cheeks.
Dr Wells watched her speed off with the urn containing Danton Black's cremains, heading for the beach where he had spread his wife's ashes the year before.