The Space Between

Chapter Twenty-Seven: "Whatever It Takes"

Sean felt like his lungs were collapsing as Logan grabbed his arm and pulled him through the hatch doorway. He could barely move. He vision was blurring. He could smell Logan's heavy musk as he was pressed to his chest and pinned to the cold wall. He couldn't tell what was going on. The wall shook a little and before long metal clanked everywhere. A hiss of air filled the compartment just as Sean was about to pass out. Logan hopped down from the wall with him in his arms, laying him gently across the floor as he asked him a little worried. "Sean? Are you ok?" Sean gasped air into his lungs for a minute. He couldn't think or answer. His body only wanted air. From around the corner a woman and an Asian looking man in a suit similar to Mark's walked up from farther down the stairway. They were panting but seemed better off than himself. He blamed the fact that his throat felt like it was melting from the hot sauce. Breathing was painful, causing him to roll over and cough loudly. He wanted to throw up, but he was sure that wouldn't help.

His eyes were leaking so much that he feared that he was becoming dehydrated. After a violent cough, Sean jerked his head up. Where was Mark? Forcing himself up onto his knees, he strained out. "Where is Mark?!" Logan bowed his head a little, answering a bit grimly. "Rip-fang was coming... So, he saved you and closed the hatch." Sean staggered to his feet, ignoring how his head hurt from the hot sauce to yelled out. "Open the hatch!" Logan shook his head, saying curtly. "We'll lose the air if we do and if Rip-fang is out there-" Sean whirled around, snapping out stubbornly. "I'm not leaving him to die! Open the fucking hatch, Logan!" Logan shook his head with a grim look. Glancing at the others, he saw their grim expressions too. They believed he was dead. Sean shook his head, rushing to the hatch door to try and open the hatch himself. Logan rushed up to grab him, saying firmly. "Sean, stop! He wouldn't want you to do that!" Sean thrashed, yelling out. "You don't know shite! Put me down! I'm not leaving without him!"

The woman glanced nervously at the hatch door but told them seriously. "Guys, we need to go now. Rip-fang can tear down these hatch doors... If he gets in. We won't have time to launch the pod." Sean elbowed Logan in the ribs, getting him to drop him, before he snapped out to them. "Then leave me! But until I see him dead... I am NOT leaving him here! I didn't come all this way for nothing!" The Asian man shuffled his feet anxiously, then told Sean in a slightly rational tone. "Wait... The suction will have drawn him out to space, right? If we launch the pod. We can get him and steer him to the Ceres." Sean calmed down. That seemed logical if he could trust them enough to do that. The woman nodded, saying calmly. "That could work." The woman and the Asian man rushed back to the pod. Leaving Sean with Logan. Logan put a hand on his shoulder, telling him nicely. "Mark is stronger than you think. I'm not going to leave him behind either... but I'm not going to let your emotions make you reckless. He closed the hatch to save you. He wouldn't want you to through yourself into danger."

Sean smirked a little, coughing and spitting a bit from his burning throat as he retorted coolly. "Oh, Logan... That's just it. It doesn't matter if he did it to save me... I love him. And I'd rather die trying to keep us both alive... than losing him because I didn't try to save him." Logan lowered his eyes to the floor, asking him curiously. "But what if he wanted you to live..." Sean smirked, answering honestly. "I want him to live too. It's not always his choice. It's my life... In the end, I decide how I go out. I'd take a bullet for him and I know he'd do the same for me." The large green lizard staggered over to them, using the wall for support. He looked sweaty and sleepy. Logan quickly rushed to him, saying in a panic. "Dad! What are you doing?! Go back to the pod! Lay down!" Logan's dad pointed a claw up toward the vent, telling Logan in a weak voice. "You can't dock on the Ceres... You have to close the door. If Rip-fang sees us launch the pod, he'll go to the docking bay. If he breaks the hatch door..." Logan finished for him. "The suction of space with destroy the Ceres... Crush it like a soda can as it tries to drain the oxygen tanks on the ship..."