Late Night P1 | Rough Draft | fin

Last Kill

"Hey, you sure you're good there?" Jake steps over and rubs his hand along your belly.

While it's cute and all, you wish he'd stop cause the further along you are - the less you enjoy being touched there.

"I'm fine." You insist. "-We're just laying together."

Niikeym is only a few weeks along, but already so large compared to what his brother will be.

He takes up almost your entire torso length as he stretches out — holding on to the bottle he has as you keep it by his mouth for him.

Jake pats along at your head when he walks by, checking that the straps on your mask are adjusted correctly.

"I wonder if he's going to enjoy being a big brother to so many." You say, reaching out to delicately pinch as his cheek.

"He's so social already with having Lia and Spider to get used to, I don't see why not." Jake leans in and kisses his sons forehead, brushing away a few loose strands.

You'd never get over those cute little pointed ears of his, the big eyes, or those chubby cheeks.

You're just grateful that the first kid looks like you, now if only the rest would do you the honor and follow. All these months for you and your avatar to be in labor, and for what? To look like their dad? Pfft.

Niikeym is kicking now, starting to get restless as he finishes his eating and gets tired of being left to lay across the pillow you use to help hold him up.

Jake's never more than a step away at this point, basically hovering you like a helicopter waiting for disaster to happen.

You don't even need to ask if he wants a turn, he's already there.

"Come here, you." Jake leans in and happily takes Niikeym, followed with his happily little squeaks as his father lifts him into the air.

Jake simply watches as you kneel over your first born, screaming out with what voice was even left.

There's nothing more he can do, sacrifice, or give at this point.

This couldn't be undone.

Even as Jake listens to the children's sobs around him, it feels like he's no longer here.
His own soul and consciousness floating away as what he sees looks like a smaller screen far off in the distance now.

His eyes are half closed, his entire body falling numb.

If he could even register the feeling, he might be able to tell that he was barely breathing enough to be considered alive anymore.

Every sense of his being is giving out on him, one by one as the silence of his family around grows louder... and his heart beat is the only thing left to listen to.

Or what's left of it, anyway.

"Can you hear me, Corporal?"

His ears twitch a small bit, and he barely reacts to the sound back in the real world.

It's a hallucination, he insists — there's no way it's him.

"Yeah, I think you can. Her comm sure works well enough."

A feminine scream is all he hears next, and Kiri sounds so much like Grace in that moment that hes snapped back to seventeen years ago.

Seeing her leaning over the aircraft seat, with blood dripping down her hands.

'This is going to ruin my whole day.' She even tried to joke.