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Returning to earth had been an experience for Grace. He had thought a lot about what the earth would be like when he returned. It had been 27 years since he had left and even then the changes had been noticeable. It could have been possible that they didn't have any resources to get him down to earth, so this was a big worry.
While the situation was dire, luckily they had been able to get him out of orbit. And even after the couple of days that had passed between him planting the taumoeba at Venus and his arrival on earth had been enough to make a slight but still visible change to the sun's luminosity.
Being back on earth certainly was something he had to get used to. It was really cold, there were a lot of food restrictions in place and a lot of people had died. He had only been back a couple of days now and hadn't really had the chance to ask about people he had known. He had been put into quarantine almost right away, just to make sure and only now was being let out. At least he was provided housing. There was always someone hovering around him, probably from the FBI, he wasn't sure if they were meant to protect him or to make sure, he didn't do anything.
A couple of days after he had moved in, a man approached him as he took a walk, Grace was sure he knew him, but he wasn't sure immediately. So much time had passed for everyone on earth. The man must have been in his 60s, so they probably were born around the same time.
"Hello Dr. Grace," he said and Grace recognized the voice immediately.
"Carl!" he said. There were a lot of conflicting feelings. He was glad, Carl was still alive, but he also remembered the last time they saw each other, as Grace had been tackled to the ground and Carl had stood next to him, didn't help him.
"I don't know, if you want to see me," he said. He looked like a man who had carried something he'd done for a long time.
"Me neither," Grace replied. Did he want to talk to Carl? He felt like hitting him into the face.
"Can I walk with you for a moment?" Carl asked.
"What happens, if I say no?" Grace asked. "Will I be tackled to the ground and be sedated again?" Grace knew that this wasn't fair, but he still felt bitter about this and he thought that this was warranted.
"If you say no, I will leave and you never have to see me again," Carl replied.
"Walk with me," Grace said and turned to continue his walk. Carl fell into step next to him.
"I know, an apology isn't enough for what happened. But I'm still sorry, it had to come to this. I'm sorry, we couldn't send anyone else. But there really wasn't anyone else we could have sent. You know that."
Grace heard the pain in Carls voice and he did know it. He knew that Andrea Cáceres, who would have been the next in line hasn't been qualified, he couldn't have taught her what she needed to know in the time they had. He had known it back then as well but he didn't want it to be true. He was still mad at Carl, because he had trusted him and it felt like Carl had betrayed him.
"I thought we were friends," Grace finally decided to say. It was what it had felt like. They hadn't seen each other as much anymore after Grace had been moved to the aircraft carrier, but whenever they were in the same place they tried to spend some time together.
"Me too," Carl replied. "And it was the worst thing, I ever had to do. But I still believe, that it was the only thing we could do. Not necessarily the right thing, but the only option we had. I thought about you every day, wished every day there would have been a different way." Grace sighed and turned to Carl. For the first time since they met today, Grace looked at Carl. He had aged a lot, of course he had, 27 years had passed since Grace had left. For Grace it had only been about nine years.
"I thought about you a lot as well, at least after I remembered you, how you stood there, as they pressed me to the ground, I don't know how often I saw your face when I closed my eyes. Hearing you telling me, that I will do great. You were right, in the end you were right." Grace felt tears welling up in his eyes again. There was a time where he would have tried to hide his tears from Carl but not anymore, he didn't care about this anymore. He was the savior of humanity, if anyone had a problem with him showing his emotions, they could suck it.
Carl put a hand on Grace's shoulder. "I always liked you," he said. Grace looked at him through his tears, smiled.
"I didn't always like you, there was a time, when I hated you, but now… I don't know, but I'm glad you came to me," he said. He really was glad, it was good to talk to him again, it felt good to get an apology, to hear what it had been like for Carl. He felt like he could forgive Carl. "And you had been right, I did it, I saved the world. I wouldn't have been able to do it without Rocky, but I did it. I do forgive you." It felt good, to say it, like he could let go of something that had been gnawing away at him. He grabbed Carls hand, pressed it for a moment before he let go again. "And I'd like it if we could do something sometime," he added.
Carl smiled. "I would like this too," he said.