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Earth. The shuttle had been knocked from the sky by a Harvester. Vega was just glad he’d been inside, guarding Esteban. Now they stood, practically back to back. Best feeling in the world, Vega thought, being here. Smelling the air of his home planet, and spilling Her enemies’ blood on the ground, his lover by his side. It was tense, but they were almost out of it. Retrieval was coming. Just a few more minutes. Vega shot down one more cannibal. There was a lull. He popped the thermal clip from his assault rifle.
Cortez had been tense since the shuttle came to an abrupt stop. But he had James with him. There were enough clips to last out until the evac. The situation was well in hand. He looked over at Vega, his eyes shining with pride that the marine was his. Vega started to smile back, no doubt about to say something cocky. Steve’s smile faded in an instant. That cannibal wasn’t dead!
Steve was small, lithe. He’d been a swimmer and he maintained himself, although not to Vega’s degree. With all strength and agility he could muster, acting on pure adrenaline, he threw himself in front of Vega and fired his gun. It took off the cannibal’s head. But not before it fired a shot of its own. Steve fell back in James’ arms with an almost surprised grunt.
“Esteban, no!” James said in a voice that sounded like it was coming from somewhere a hundred clicks away. He held his lover upright, like they were dancing. He could feel his body going limp, trying to breath out of a chest that almost wasn’t there. “Esteban?” His throat felt like it was in a vice.
Steve couldn’t feel anything but sadness that he was leaving Vega. “Jaime,” he choked out, voice barely above a whisper. “Te amo.”
“No, no, no, Esteban?” James screamed as his lover’s eyes went both glassy and dull, his body stilling. James fell to his knees, cradling the body to his chest rocking back and forth. He didn’t hear the approaching husks. He didn’t care to hear them either.
What he did hear, loud and clear, was the electronic roar of one of the smaller Reapers. Felt the red glow as it got a bead on his location. One of his hands cradled Steve’s head. He tipped it back so he could give Cortez one final kiss. Everything James knew about himself, he learned in Steve’s arms. Tears came to his eyes. James planted a soft kiss on Steve’s forehead, then rested his chin on top of his head. The Reaper roared again, firing.
“Okay, Esteban,” He said, closing his eyes. “Let’s go home.”