Work Text:
"I… I'm scared," Jett chirped out softly, curling up against me, quivering from weakness and what we both knew was to come. Something neither of us could stop and the thing that came for all of us at the end of days.
"It'll be okay," I comforted, humming gently. "You just get some rest and I'll watch you sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."
"But I won't wake up," they whispered, their notes soft like a gust of wind and twinged with the last of their life force slipping quickly from our grasp now.
"You will," I lied. "I know you will. And then, we can get you better. You'll get better."
"Don't lie for my sake, Rocky," Jett spat out with the last of their strength, collapsing against the ground of the ship with a harsh thump, never to move from this spot again. "Give me the dignity of knowing my fate."
"I…" I paused, unsure of how to even answer their plea - unsure if I was even strong enough to acknowledge it myself.
We were the last Eridians on the ship - engineers without a doctor in sight, they'd all died weeks ago, and didn't have a clue for how to fix this.
I had been the only one spared. I didn't know why, but I had been and I hated every moment of it, watching my crew, my friends fall and die one by one while I stood strong, unable to help or take their pain from them.
"I'm sorry," I whispered out, curling up besides Jett, offering what comfort I could in their final moments - it was all I could do for them now. "I wish I could do more."
"You are the last of us, Rocky. I don't know why, but you were spared. This sickness can't touch you. Finish the mission for Erid and for all of us. Please?"
"I will."
Of course I would. Jett had begged, as had everyone else who had died before them. I would do my best to see this through, to save everyone and to let their sacrifices worth it. It was all I could do now.
"Good," Jett muttered out, their movements slowing as the end closed in on them. We both knew it.
"Good luck, Rocky," was all they could say, a final message before they stopped moving entirely.
I sat with Jett for days, watching them sleep, not knowing if they had passed yet or if they were just in need of extra rest from fighting off the sickness. I would wait until I was certain. Nobody deserved to wake alone. Nobody deserved to sleep alone except for me, the untouchable with a fate I didn't want, one I never asked for.
After passing out myself, my body forcing me to rest, at least 3 or 4 times - I lost count - I had been forced to accept that fact that I was truly alone now. I was the sole survivor, the last of the crew, surrounded by the corpses of my friends and the weight of a whole planet on my carapace.
I know I promised Jett I would do this, but I couldn't. I couldn't do this by myself. I didn't know any science outside of basics taught in school. I was barely an engineer, scraping through school and volunteering to save my planet, save Adrian, but I couldn't even save myself. I had gotten lucky, living only by the grace of some god that found it fit to take everyone I loved from me and to leave me drifting alone. I was no savior and I deserved to sit out here until I found a solution, a way to save my home and everyone I loved there.
The loneliness slipped in quickly, covering me like a blanket I couldn't find my way out of as I held funeral rites for my fallen friends, the true heroes of Erid.
Each one - all 22 of them - I sang for. I sang of their homes, their families, and their bravery, wishing I could have done more for them.
I sang as my notes became warbled, pained and aching. I sang as I nearly fell over, too tired to keep going, but refusing to stop yet. I sang as I moved their bodies into the medical area, hoping to bring them home one day for their families to mourn properly, to decorate properly and give rites to as they deserved. I sang until I passed out, going for weeks on end, only to wake back up and continue my mourning.
For each friend, I sang for a week - too long for a single Eridian, but not long enough for all of the life that had been snatched from them. I sang while I waited for my own fate to find me, for the sickness to take me too, but it never did.
I didn't know what to do once my mourning was done, so I lost myself in my grief, unable to work on fixing the astrophage problem - not smart enough to do it without help.
I sang songs of my childhood - ones of love, ones of pain, ones of grief, ones of happiness - letting my notes echo around the ship, imagining that I was with the thrum again. That I was home again. That I wasn't alone.
Most days, I stayed on the floor, spread out with food nearby - food that made the feelings go away, if only for a little while - alone with no one to watch me sleep except for the xenonite Adrian I had made, not willing to be alone anymore.
It was pitiful, but I felt a little better with them by my side until I remembered that I would never see them again. I kept it anyway, holding out hope that another expedition would come and help me and take me with them, take me back to Adrian. I just wanted to see my mate, my love, and hold them, tell them I loved them, one more time. One more time was all I needed, was all I asked for.
But, nobody ever came. I was alone, left for so, so many years - II+ years to be exact, each one pained with more grief. I felt like I would never see anyone again.
And then they showed up.
I had originally thought it to be an Eridian scout party, one coming to check on my crew, but it wasn't. Erid apparently wasn't the only planet dealing with the astrophage and sending their people to fix it, to save their sun.
I tried to make contact, but the ship ran, moving away from me and making it hard to keep up - I assumed they were afraid, I was too, but my excitement overtook that fear. I wasn't alone, not anymore.
Contact took time with the alien being a little slow, needing extra time to move and interact, which was fine. Not all life could be as fast as Eridians and I was willing to work with that.
And then we met, we connected and I saw them for the first time: a wet, smooth blob in a suit. All the sounds that came from them were overwhelming at first, not used to hearing anything, anyone, other than myself.
It was a welcome change, even if it took some getting used to.
Their processing time was also something I needed to get used to. The blob was very slow to understand, requiring me to repeat myself numerous times for a point to be made, gesturing wildly most of the time, but I didn't care. I wasn't alone. We would go at their pace.
I learned about them with time - an alien from the Sol star system named Grace. They were also the sole survivor of their crew, a small group of three that had traveled so far from home. We were kindred spirits and they were a science alien - we could fix this and save both of our worlds together.
Learning to live with each other was a challenge, but I was willing to do anything to stay near them, even sacrifice myself for them if needed. They were so, so young - a pebble that had barely lived - and so kind. I refused to let any harm come to them if I could help it.
I nearly died saving them, but I didn't regret it. Grace was everything I had and I would rather die than lose it right now - death was better than the loneliness again and they were a science alien, they could fix this on their own far better than an engineer could.
When I woke, we had a cure. Grace had done it, like I knew they would. We could go home, but I wasn't sure I wanted to.
I missed Adrian, I missed my home, but I also loved Grace. They had given me everything and I would never be able to repay them, my best friend in the whole universe, but we both had to go home, separating no matter how much it hurt me to do so, no matter how much I wanted them to come with me, to stay by my side.
I started my journey home, heart heavy, and then it happened - the other shoe dropped and all hell broke loose on my ship. The cure had gotten into my ship, slipping through the xenonite and I was sure to die. My life supporting mechanics wouldn't run forever now that I didn't have power and my final thoughts were focused on Adrian, wishing that I could have made it home to them, and Grace, hoping that they wouldn't have the same issues.
"Rocky!" A familiar voice shouted, startling me from deep inside my ship, curled up and waiting for death to finally come and take me. "Rocky!"
Loud banging sounds emanated from our connection point. Was Grace really here or was I imagining it?
"Rocky!"
"Grace!" I called back, jumping over to them and meeting them, hearing them - sounds I never thought I'd hear again and deeply missed. They were here, I wasn't alone again. "Why here, question?"
"The cure!" They explained, their notes monotone, but I could tell they were excited to see me - their internal sounds made sure I knew that. "It escaped into fuel lines. Managed to stop it, but knew you in danger. Came back for you!"
"Go home together, question? Go to Erid, question?"
"Yes!" They exclaimed. "Go Erid together!"
To say I was excited was an understatement. I hadn't expected to survive this a second time, but I did - fate had spared me again and I thanked it for this, only wishing that all of my friends could have been saved too.
I had waited for someone to come and help me and Grace did. I had waited for someone to come and bring me home and Grace did.
Grace was my crew, my friend now, and I had given everything for them, nearly including my own life. Now, they gave everything for me, their chance to go home back to the Sol system.
I couldn't have been happier and neither could they - we were together, as we always should be, and neither of us would ever be alone again.