Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Charlie is not doing well. Not since he got infected, not since that…thing impersonated a child and attacked him when he stopped concerned. He still winces thinking about the feeling of that…whatever that shit was that embedded into his chest, the paralyzing venom that coursed through his veins, those claws that dug into his shoulder. 

The fear. 

The way it just walked away as if nothing happened leaving his shaking body, surprised he even survived. But something was implanted. Dug its talons into his heart and is siphoning his life force.

He knows he is only meant to be a husk. That is the same for the many before him, and hopefully nobody else after this. That his body is only food and transport as the creature inside him grows. It does not care for its host. Just as much as Charlie himself doesn’t care for this parasite. He wants it out. He needs it out. So that is why he is here on this ship.

But it mocks him. It makes him hallucinate things that are not there. Blood staining his hands, eyes watching his back, ones and zeroes replacing his skin.

A shadow of himself staring right back at him in the mirror. Pitch black with green zeros stark against the void. He would imagine a wolfish smile as well if it had a mouth.

It calls itself You as it is part of him. “I am part of you, after all, whether you like it or not.” It hisses at him as Charlie’s hands grip the sink glaring at the monster.

“I never wanted to kill anyone. It was not me.” Charlie snaps, mostly to himself rather than the shadow before him.

“It was your hands.” 

“It was not me.” He repeats. 

“Surely the fellow prey will never see that.” You sneered. That word twisting in his gut. Prey.

“Don’t…don’t call them prey. They are people.” Charlie pleads.

“They are herd for the slaughter, food for your stomach, energy for me.” The shadow almost seems to lean forward, examining Charlie’s expression. “Perhaps a future host for me to lay among them even.” 

“I will never let you do that.” Charlie shakes his head. Distress is heavy in his mind.

“You never have control when I hunt, remember? I take over your feeble mind— you are surprisingly weak in willpower, I’d say. I bend your urges to fit mine, and your hands do my deeds.”

“I’ll fight it. You have already killed one, and that is too many.” Charlie growls.

“You have no say. Anyways, we will chat again when I hunger once more, there is someone outside the door for you.” 

And Charlie is once again left staring at his own reflection.

A knock snaps him out of his trance as he turns around to open the bathroom door to step out. He was expecting to see one of the fellow guys on the ship who really needed to piss, but was surprised to see Jaiden leaning on the doorframe to the restroom area. 

“Uh…Jaiden? Did you need anything?” He questions.

“The federation has sent a message about the incident. We all need to be there.” She informs him. “Was sent to look for you.”

“Oh. Sorry if you were waiting a while.” He apologies as he moves to step around her and head to the main deck.

Jaiden reaches out to grab his arm however with a concerned look, “I wasn’t waiting too long…but how are you doing?”

Charlie flinches at that. He laughs nervously, “what are you talking about? I’m completely fine.”

“Charlie… that was your roommate. You are allowed to feel scared or grief.” Jaiden’s grip doesn’t waver but she steps forward a little, “I’m willing to talk if you need.”

Guilt bubbles in Charlie’s chest, but he just gives a small smile, “I’m fine, genuinely. You don’t need to worry about me. Now we should probably get to the main deck for that message, yeah?” And he pulls his arm from her grip, but instead holds out a hand so they can walk back together.

“…You’re sure?” Jaiden takes his hand in hers, rather a concerned clasp than friendly  hand holding.

“I promise.” He lies.

Jaiden’s tense shoulders seem to relax a little as she nods, and pulls her hands away before leading the way back to the main deck. Charlie, of course, trails behind. 

At the main deck everyone is gathered. 

Etoiles in front of course as ship captain. The Frenchman nods at Charlie in greeting as he steps in with Jaiden.

Bagi, Foolish, Bad, Lenay, Luzu, Spreen, Maximus, Felps, and Pierre all sit around amongst each other in their small groups as Charlie joins them. Charlie ends up joining Jaiden who sat next to Foolish. Foolish turns to chat with Charlie when Etoiles speaks up and starts the meeting.

“Thank you everyone for coming. I’m sure everyone here has been feeling pretty down as of late with Dan’s tragic passing.”

Charlie winces at that.

“We have yet not found much from the autopsy still, and we will give him a proper space burial when we are done and have all left our respects.”

Charlie remembers that part of the sign up. They had to decide either if we would dispose of bodies in space, or disintegrated by the engine. Both sounded pretty morbid, but he understands. It would be an issue to carry around corpses in a spaceship after all…other than the sample. Charlie remembers specifically choosing the engine just in case the alien survives if he dies.

“But beside that, the Federation has sent us a message in response. I will read it to all of you now, but keep in mind when I read it that it will be for the betterment of the mission.” 

Charlie’s eyebrows furrow, did they brush off Dan’s death or something? If so that is fucked. He was the one to kill him, yet even he himself would be pissed if the Federation didn’t care. 

Dear crew of the S.S. Quesadilla, we have heard about the tragic situation on your ship. We understand your grief, and you will be given extra time in order to grieve in peace without work. However, we will be requiring you to stop now at Station Girasol. This already was a planned space station stop for supplies, but we have sent for a replacement for your teammate who will be picked up there as well. Mariana will be there to help move supplies into your ship when you arrive in 5 days. We hope for a smooth journey there, and the support kit you all created for the chance of you passing will be sent to Dan’s family as soon as possible. Safe travels, Federation Co.

They are already fucking replacing Dan. Murmurs bubble from amongst the members of the ship, critical comments on the federation’s handling of such a delicate manner and such, Etoiles clears his throat to catch attention again, “We were planned on arriving at Girasol in three days, but the federation has offered us a grace period to grieve. We will have the engines shut down for the time being as we all do what we need, but we will need to be back to work in two days to arrive at the station on time. Since we will have engines down, the internet will be up as well, as the engines won’t interfere. Communicate with people you need, and utilize the free therapy we have been given. I will see you around, and please feel free to talk with me.” 

And the meeting is dismissed. 

Charlie runs off before anyone can try and talk with him.

————————————————

“Mariana will be rooming with you. As you probably have expected since Dan was your previous roommate.” Etoiles informs Charlie after he was pulled from his shift at the security room to have a meeting.

“Oh.” Charlie responds. He was kinda hoping for the new recruit to be placed in the one spare room they had on the ship. Then he wouldn’t have to hide the clear infection scars on his chest. That’s fine, he can just change in the bathroom like he did with Dan he guesses.

Etoiles frowns a little at the response, “You also will be expected to show the new recruit around the ship as roommate. Feel free to approach if you think your situation won’t work, however we only have limited space, and would have to transfer someone else to your room.”

“It’s…fine. Guess I’ve gotten used to being alone in my room for the short time I have had my own room. I’ll just need to get used to it again.” Charlie responds, trying to brush off the concern the captain is feeling.

Etoiles nods in understanding, “We will be docking tonight. You are not on docking duty so you will not need to worry about that, but will be expected to be up earlier to greet Mariana when he arrives in the morning.”

“I can do that.” Charlie forces a smile, he definitely is not looking forward to this.

When Charlie is dismissed he rushes back to the security room.

He hears a robotic hiss in his ear “perhaps we can be fed again sooner…”

Charlie shakes his head, whispering, “No…..no not yet.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Then….then maybe choose another? Might be suspicious if both my roommates die.” Charlie pleads.

“Hm……fine, I’ll give you time. Choose your next prey,” and the voice goes silent again. Charlie feels a pang in his stomach.

Fear, dread, and a little bit of hunger.

————————————————

Charlie knows he probably has visible bags under his eyes. He did not sleep well that night, tossing and turning from the torment the parasite in him is putting him through. 

He stares at the closed entrance door. The door that will open as soon as all the supplies are set up for the restock team can bring them in, while Charlie has to give the newbie a tour.

He feels someone pat his back as he waits, he just tiredly turns around to see Foolish standing beside him, “Got the new person, yeah? Lucky guy.”

Charlie blinks a little, “Lucky?”

“Yeah, I heard from some rumors that the guy is actually pretty good looking.” Foolish grins, “And you have the first chance.”

Charlie flushes at that, “We are all supposed to just be coworkers here! Why are you telling me this?”

Foolish shrugs, “I dunno just saying what I have been told.”

Charlie sighs, “Don’t you have some boxes to lift?”

“Well not until the-“

And the doors blocking the ship from the station open. 

Charlie raises an eyebrow and motions towards the now open doors.

Foolish groans at that, and intentionally bumps his shoulder into Charlie as he walks away to start his job.

“Ow…” Charlie mumbles as he rubs his now sore shoulder glaring at Foolish’s back as he walks away.

“…Are you okay?” A nervous accented voice snaps Charlie out his now grumpy thoughts, as he looks over to see a tall person standing beside him in their uniform. Dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes behind glasses. “Charlie, no?”

“Uh. Yeah.” He stares a bit dumbstruck. He guesses Foolish wasn’t lying, because what the fuck.

The person standing before him smiles a little, “Mariana. He/she pronouns.”

“Uh. Charlie, he/him pronouns,” he responds, “but guess you already know my name though….we should probably get started on the tour. Assuming you want to stop at the dorms first to drop off your suitcase?”

“That would be nice.” Mariana smiles. (Charlie thanks his communicator for translating her Spanish.)

Charlie leads the way, his boots clunking against the metal flooring as he leads the way, pointing out maps too just in case Mariana can’t just absorb the layout in one day. Once they get to the dorms, Charlie leads her to their room, Charlie handing Mariana his key card as he swipes his own to unlock the door.

It’s a medium sized space. Enough for two desks, two closets, a recliner somehow, and a bunk bed. Charlie points up at the top bunk, “I’ve already claimed the top, so the bottom will be yours.”

“You like the feeling of being tall, huh?” Mariana jokes.

“Shut up, I'm not short even, you are just tall as hell.” Charlie retorts.

Mariana laughs, “I was hoping for bottom bunk anyways if we did have these. I would hit my head on the ceiling. No need to get defensive.”

Charlie huffs, “Whatever…you going to set up first or do so after the tour?”

“Tour first. I can set up and relax after then.” Mariana smiles. 

And with that Charlie leads through the ship pointing out stuff that will be important. He adds in a “And Etoiles should probably give you a more advanced tour when you actually do get assigned to a job. I’m just a beginning tour guide.”

Mariana hums, “Etoiles is the captain?”

Charlie nods, “Yeah. Steers the spacecraft and such. One of the jobs you likely will never get assigned, as well as the engineer which is Pierre’s job. Unless you have the qualifications?”

Mariana shakes his head, “No I’m just an all rounder… like you I assume?”

Charlie shrugs, “Kinda, but I’m mainly a security shift. Watching all the rooms and alerting Etoiles and Pierre to any signs of errors or fights.”

“So…is that likely where I will find you if I need you?” Mariana asks curiously.

”…I guess?” Charlie is confused about the ‘if I need you’. Assumes it’s likely though just for directional purposes. “Anyways I do have a job to go to.” Charlie changes topic.

“Oh. See you later.” Mariana looks…disappointed? Weird.

Charlie runs off to go to the security room once again. 

“That one looks tasty.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Chapter Text

The worst part of it all is the snapping out and realizing what you just did. The horror that dawns when the monster has had its fill and he is standing there with bloodied hands and a metallic taste on his tongue. The body before him opened like a child’s Christmas present, barely recognizable. Viscera and red staining everything around him. 

Hearing footsteps, he books it towards the vents. Crawling through to a point he knows is free from anyone seeing, he darts into a bathroom and shuts the door locking it behind him. When he turns back around he is faced once again by a mirror.

The parasite changes him physically when it hunts. And it takes a while for those changes to vanish after. His mouth hyperextended almost as if ripped; allowing the jaw to pop and swallow larger portions with a sharp almost blade-like tongue and razor sharp teeth. Fingers clawed, his body almost hunched in movement as if it is between a state of bipedal and quadrupedal. Half of his face is overtaken by a black ooze Charlie is almost sure these aliens are made of. And a single horn protruded from the ooze. Face smeared with blood. His eyes cloud over and glow as if overtaken by another consciousness.

He collapses against the door, bringing his hands to his head and just shakes quietly sobbing. 

Soon he finds his sobbing drowned out by the blaring alarm that starts up. A warning that always plays out. They found the body and have alerted everyone. Taking a shaky breath in, he pushes himself to stand, glancing at the blood staining where he used the floor to stand. Luckily, they have cleaning supplies in here he can use to get rid of evidence. 

He gets to work, following his mental instructions. Body on autopilot as he goes through the same shit he has done time and time again. Clean up, take your time. You need the time to let those changes reverse completely. He turns the shower on, usually to give himself an excuse to be all wet from the washing off of blood, and an excuse to where he was when the killing happened. He also tends to keep a hidden hamper in the bathroom with a bath robe (they would see his scars with just a towel) for this exact moment. He just gets the bathrobe on and grabs the hamper when a frantic knocking sounds at the door.

“Just a moment!” He yells as he moves forward to unlock the door. Etoiles stands at the other side, looking a bit disheveled as if he just woke up. 

“Thank god you’re safe…” Etoiles glances around him into the bathroom, “Did you just take a shower?”

“Uh…yeah. I heard the alarm…was there…?” He doesn’t even need to continue; they both know what would come after next.

“Ouais. Lenay.”

Charlie frowns. So that is who the parasite decided is food. “This has been the third one…” 

Etoiles solemnly nods, “We have been doing the best we can. We already know it’s one of those aliens. But we still do not know where it is hiding. Just…hoping it’s not in one of us.”

Charlie has to suppress a grimace as he nods, “Yeah. That would be…uh…terrible.”

“I’m sorry to ask you this but we might need to have you on security shift more…just so we can catch it…after all it cannot stay hidden forever.” Etoiles nervously smiles. 

“I get it.” Charlie fakes a smile, “I’ll gladly do my part.”

Etoiles nods, “We’ll be shutting down the ship for now to do communication and investigation. Maybe try and get some sleep before the body day tomorrow?”

Charlie shoots him a thumbs up, and Etoiles gives him a pat on the back before running off. Probably to do more reconnaissance. 

Back at the room, Charlie sighs in relief seeing the dorm room empty as he quickly changes before sitting on his bed, plugging his communicator in when the hydraulics on the door activate and Mariana rushes in, looking a bit pale in the face. She looks weirdly relieved to see him.

“There was another.” Mariana blurts out.

Charlie glances up, “Uh. Yeah.” He really doesn’t know how else to respond, he might expose himself after all if he knows something they don’t.

Mariana stares at him. Almost a shocked look, “…Have you been desensitized?”

Charlie grimaces, “I uh…it’s just been the third now. I’m still very horrified it’s happening, of course, but…there really isn’t much we can say now. Not until we find out what exactly happened.”

Mariana just nods and sits on his bunk, “Ah. Yeah I get it….still terrifying that people are dying. I’m worried about whoever is next. Could be any of us.”

Charlie just hums to show he is listening as he moves back to finish starting his communicator on the charger.

“I hope we find that alien. Then we can do what we were sent out to do finally and people will stop dying.” Mariana continues. 

Charlie winces, “Uh..Yeah I want the same.” 

Mariana sighs and quickly grabs something to change into and shuts the curtains to the bottom bunk to change quickly. Charlie kinda just lays on his bunk, staring at the ceiling. Mariana usually knocks on the wood to his bunk to let him know and relax.

When the knock sounds Charlie glances down again, seeing Mariana…shirtless oh fuck. He quickly looks back up at the ceiling face red, “I uh..think you forgot something.”

Mariana rolls her eyes, “We are both guys, and it gets hot in here at night. It is just a shirt.”

Charlie grumbles in response. He is suppressing the urge to look down again. He swore he saw some light abs when he saw his chest for a moment. Oh fuck, why did he think that. Charlie proceeds to grab his pillow and put it to his face.

“You’re acting like a middle schooler who just saw their crush.” Mariana points out in a teasing tone.

“I will kill you before the alien ever gets to you.” Charlie hisses out. 

“Honestly I’d prefer that over the mauling.” Mariana grins, “I’m sure those muscles can do wonders.”

Charlie gapes at that, “What.”

“What?” Mariana responds with a confused tone, as if whatever she said was normal.

“Whatever…we need to sleep.” Charlie grumbles. He covers his face with his pillow again. He hopes Mariana pities him and turns the lights off.

He hears a quiet chuckle and the sound of the lights flicking. Charlie sighs in relief and takes the pillow off his face. “Goodnight,” 

“Buenas noches...I hope you don’t become the next victim.” He hears from below him. He can tell it is genuine. 

“You too.” He responds quietly before the drowsiness takes over.

—————————————————

Charlie feels bile in his throat as he watches what has happened in front of him. 

The rage, the contempt, the betrayal as Maximus is backed off into the air lock and it closes behind him. 

He was also infected. They saw his scars. 

He feels sick as the Spaniard bangs at the door to the main part of the ship. Begging to be let back in. 

He screams he is not the one killing. That his parasite is dormant.

That he just wanted a cure. 

Charlie feels empathy bubble in his chest at that. He’s in the same situation Charlie himself is in, in fact probably better. He doesn’t have that bloodthirst. Yet it is Charlie himself who is watching from safety as an innocent gets thrown out. He feels sick, yet can’t find it in himself to stop this. After all, who would the blame get shifted to? He isn’t ready to die yet! 

Maximus gets sucked out into the vacuum of space as he yells out he was not the killer. 

Charlie wants to throw up. 

Charlie feels a hand touch his right shoulder, and violently flinches and pulls away, turning around to see Mariana staring down at him, a look of concern. “Estas bien?”

Charlie’s eyes flicker to the translator, before he forces a smile, “Yeah. I’m fine.” And he makes his leave. He needs some alone time after that. 

—————————————————

Charlie tries to keep his distance the best he can. From everyone. It’s why he never lets his emotions show in person, how he tends to run if he feels any connection starting to form. 

But Mariana is magnetic. She attracts him, even if he tries to fight back. He just finds himself pulled closer even if he tries to claw his fingers into a crack. 

And by the end, he is pulled too close he cannot escape.

Mariana stands before him, his hand gripping Charlie’s, as they stare into each other's eyes. 

Yes that may seem romantic, but to Charlie this is literal hell. He is frozen in his place, as Mariana seems to give him a small smile. “You’re cute when you are flustered.” 

Charlie sputters, “I-what-you just-…fuck you.”

“Nah. I’m demi, remember?”

Charlie glares daggers.

“You always seem to scramble away whenever someone shows you affection in any way. Why?” Mariana questions. 

Charlie looks away. “Don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Charlie.” Mariana’s grip on his hand firms but does not tighten. “You can’t just deny it. You are literally just doing it again if you are doing that.”

“I’m not running.” Charlie grumbles. 

“Okay, but why won’t you let anyone get close-“ 

“Because I’m scared!” Charlie cuts him off. “I’m scared of people seeing the real me.” 

“Nobody will hate you.” Mariana gently responds.

“You don’t know that….i’m…” his voice cracks a little, “I’m a bad person.”

“You are not.” Mariana’s eyes stare down at him, “you are not a bad person.”

“Yet it’s that wall that lets you see me in that light.” Charlie huffs. 

“And I’m sure without the wall I will be even more certain.” Mariana retorts. 

“Let’s see how long it takes then…” Charlie murmurs and steps away. “Anyways I need to go do my security job…last shift before we land after all.” And he steps away in complete silence. 

—————————————————

Everything went to shit so fast. They landed, armed and ready to defend and take one specimen for their research, but as soon as they were spotted it was like wolves hunting prey. 

They were ambushed. Forced to scatter as they ran. Mariana and Etoiles managed to grab one he thinks. Both quickly killing it and dragging away, but the other six just vanish. 

Charlie himself finds himself trapped with the parasite in his mind.

It seems to be excited to be back on the home planet, but also a bit disappointed it won’t find any good humans to eat. 

It seems to already be ready to get back on the ship. 

“We can just kill them before they figure out the cure.” It responds. 

Charlie sighs, and starts his way back to the ship. That was the plan for when they got the specimen after all. 

Surpisingly…or not all that, Charlie is ignored by the aliens as he walks back. 

When once again on the ship, he hears feet running forward, seeing four approaches, Charlie immediately getting hugged when Mariana sees him. 

“I was so worried….” Mariana says as she clutches Charlie close.

Charlie just gives a weak smile.

As it turns out only four others have survived that. Etoiles, Mariana, Bagi, and Jaiden. The rest of the survivors were mauled to death. 

Charlie is at least certain about Foolish’s fate, since he was the last thing the other had seen. Foolish had run with him, seeing Charlie’s path as probably the best route.

But the parasite’s excitement at being home he guesses caused it to get hungry. And well…the rest is history. Weirdly he feels the least guilty about that one, however that might have to do with finding out he dated Mariana in the past. The man was literally talking about what it was like in front of his face as they hid. 

Only guilt came from when Mariana’s expression dropped when Charlie stated he saw Foolish get mauled in front of his eyes. 

There was silence after, the five remaining moved out of the main area. 

Mariana seemed to follow Charlie back to the dorms, “Must have been scary to see one of us die in front of you.” She comments with a frown. “Will you be okay?”

Charlie turns around. His face expressionless. “I’ll be fine. I just need to sleep.” 

Mariana hesitates but nods, “I’ll be helping with the specimen examination if you need me.”

Charlie just nods silently and continues on. This time alone.

“I’m still hungry.”

“You just ate.” Charlie exclaims exasperated as he closes the dorm room door. 

“I’m growing, doesn’t your species need more food when you are growing as well?”

“Well we don’t fucking canibalize.” Charlie bites back.

“But I am not your species. You technically are not anymore either. Sooner or later with my influence you will eat everyone. Even your precious Mariana.”

Charlie stiffens at that.

“Did I strike a nerve? Good. Feed me.”

“No.” Charlie finally asserts. 

“No?” It sounds baffled, “you can’t just say no. Either you do it or I make you.”

“I’m not doing this anymore.” There is a glint in Charlie’s eyes. 

“You can’t just fight it. You would die- wait where are you going.”

Charlie steps outside once again. 

He makes his way towards the kitchen, and stops when he sees what he is looking for. 

A large knife, the metal glinting in the harsh fluorescent lights of the room. He grips it tight in his hands. 

“You can’t just be…no. That would be against your own survival instinct.”

“Sure.” Charlie smiles a little, “But you don’t know one thing about my species. Sometimes when we have it, we snap. And that goes right out the window.”

He stabs himself in the heart.

—————————————————

There is a very haunting familiar screech sound that reverberates throughout the ship.

Mariana freezes at that sound. She shares a glance with Bagi, Jaiden, and Etoiles, before they sprint towards the source- the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen lies Charlie, a knife stabbed directly into his chest, black and green ooze dripping from the wound mixed with red, and a small dribble of red dripping from Charlie’s mouth. 

Mariana’s heart stops at that moment as she rushes over to Charlie, checking for a pulse. 

Jaiden ran off to grab a stretcher while Etoiles and Bagi also ran over to help try and stabilize the dying Charlie. 

“You dumbass.” Mariana hisses as she grips the dying man close. “You must have gotten infected when you were still out there… we were working on a cure, we could have saved you.”

Charlie lets out a wheezing pained chuckle, “No…it was too late for me…I was infected before the ship.”

“You were…why didn’t you tell us?” Etoiles looks appalled. 

“You saw what happened to Maximus…I would have just had the same happen, am I wrong?” Charlie stares at Etoiles.

“He…he said he wasn’t the one killing…that was you wasn’t it?” Bagi stares at Charlie with an unreadable expression.

“Kinda funny you guys applied me to security.” Smiles a little bittersweetly, “I probably would have been caught if you never did that.”

Etoiles curses to himself under his breath, but Charlie turns to look at Mariana once again. “See? I told you I’m a monster.”

Mariana’s expression hardens, “That was not you. That was the parasite in you. One we could have cured.”

Charlie rolls his eyes a little at Mariana still fighting tooth and nail to assert he isn’t the monster he is. “It’s better this way…you can have…two specimens now. One grown and one baby one. Just need to pull the mangled corpse from my body.”

Charlie’s eyes start to droop a little, exhaustion creeping up on him like a blanket. He knew that the knife entered his heart cleanly. He has lost enough blood that there is no way to help.

He knows this is for the better. He is sure the other three understand as well.

But stubborn Mariana refuses to let go of his bloodied hand. Staring him in his eyes. A look of despair. “Please don’t leave me alone…I like you…no, I love you. Te amo.”

Charlie’s struggling heart starts beating faster at that. So she does like him that way.

Charlie weakly chuckles, “Well now that the wall is gone, I can say that I feel the same. But….please don’t keep yourself from others for me. Just…remember me, okay? All I want is to be a memory. Even a bad one.”

Mariana tears up, “you are my best memory.”

“In….my chest pocket….reach in there.” Charlie instructs Mariana. 

Mariana immediately does so. She pulls out two rings. His eyes widen. 

“It is…probably my most prized possession. It’s not wedding rings or anything, but one is a ring that my best friend gave me for a present. And the other is a ring from my childhood home….you can keep that one…but please, can you put the other in the stuff that will be sent out at my death? It’s all I ask.”

Mariana tears up a little and nods. 

At that, Charlie just smiles as the light fades from his eyes as his pulse drops to silence. 

When Jaiden gets back, Charlie is dead. Leaving the four survivors alone, and for once, free from harm's way. 

They don’t speak for a while after. All left to grieve in their own ways. 

—————————————————

Through the two specimens the researchers are able to create a cure. It is not much of a cure to those infected, but it is more like a vaccine against the infection.

Mariana had put the ring on a necklace chain, keeping it always on her. 

Usually it is the family who make sure the grave gets made, but to Mariana’s horror when he returned there was no grave. 

So he himself made one. There wasn’t exactly any remains, but he took a few things from Charlie’s side of the room to have buried there.

As Mariana stares at the grave when it is finished, he turns around to see two approaching. A woman with pink and blonde hair, and a man who looks…eerily like a Charlie.

“Mariana, right?” The blonde asks.

“Uh…Yes. Who are you?” He nervously asks.

“I’m Baghera, Charlie’s friend. I’m the one who gave him that ring he told you to return.” She smiles.

“I’m Mike. Charlie’s my brother.” The other explains. 

Mariana frowns, “Family was supposed to take care of the graves…”

Mike nervously nods, “Sim and I’m sorry, I moved to Brazil a while ago and when I had the funds and time to actually plan and get to the US again it seems you already made the plans. I can pay you back, I assure you.”

Mariana shakes his head, “Federation paid for the graves, it's fine.”

“Anyways,” Baghera changes the topic, “We wanted to thank you personally, and would like to hear about what happened if you are willing to explain?”

Mariana hesitates, but nods. Charlie did not want to be forgotten after all.

“Do..you know any good cafes we can sit and have a drink at? It’ll be a long one.”