(Special thanks to OHH for the edit. One more to go after this!)

Tarsus Compound, Avalon

“So, with a straight face, the President of the United States of America takes one look at his secret service guards, then steps towards her, looks up, way up, and sure as I’m standing here he says; “Ya know, you look a hell of a lot like my next girlfriend.” Darren howled, in his best Bill Clinton impersonation.

The red headed titan Doctor’s smile grew just a little bit. “I can’t imagine how she would have responded.”

“Now, ya gotta understand, Twat had seen her fair share’a presidents in her day, she got real good at handling them see, now Ol’ number Forty-Two Bill, he’s not exactly what you’d call a hard ass. So, Eyrn gets really low, kneels down, real quiet and gets this real sweet flower of the south look on her face, crouches down, one hand on each side of him, the commander in chief, leader of the free world, and says, in the sweetest voice you ever heard. ‘That’s sweet of you to say Mr. President. But now that you mention it, you look an awful lot like the president I turned down thirty-two years ago!”

“He never tells these stories right you know.” Eyrn rang in, leaning against the doorway of Dr. Brinn Pria’s office. “He always makes me sound like some sort of lippy little brat.” Eyrn winked for good measure, uncrossed as she strode into the room.

“Oh, I don’t know, I thought that was actually a clever thing to say upon meeting a world leader for the first time!” Dr. Pria grinned, as she stepped away from the examination table, data pad in hand.

“I tell’em like I remember ’em Twat!” Darren defended, sending Eyrn back a defiant scowl.

“I understand Sarge, just saying you remember them wrong is all.” Eyrn shrugged, setting one hand on either side of Darren, and leaning in menacingly, a smug look pasted across her thin lips.

Darren raised a hand, as if to threaten to back hand Eyrn, and shook his head with a chuckle.

“I’ll be back in a few moments with your test results Sergeant Avery.” Brinn said with a roll of her eyes, shuffling out of the room, leaving the two alone.

“No problem Dr. Quinn.” Darren shouted to the lovely redhead as she vacated the premises.

“You can put your shirt back on now; nobody wants to see your hairy chest!” Eyrn said, though with just enough sarcasm to remind Darren that she was only trying to keep him on his toes.

“You’d a thought you’d of seen enough bare chests growing up on an army base and all.” Darren shrugged, and pulled his shirt over his shoulders.

Eyrn rolled her eyes, and flopped down on a wheeled office chair a short distance away from Darren, casually spinning around as she waited.

“You see this place? It’s huge!” Eyrn said, closing the awkward silence between them. She was avoiding something.

“Eh, everywhere is huge, kind of loses its wonder after a while.” Darren shrugged.

“You been down the mountain yet?” Eyrn asked next, this wasn’t going to exactly be easy to bring up. To anyone else, sure, but Darren…for some reason he was the hardest one to tell.

“Naw, they gotta make sure I don’t carry no parasites or alien bacteria to the surface, also gotta give me a few vaccinations so’s I don’t catch my death soon as I get there.” Darren eyed Eyrn carefully, he could always see through her, on a scale of one to ten, she was a minus fifteen when it came to subtlety.

“That makes sense.” Eyrn propelled herself off Dr. Pria’s desk, rolling across the room to the examination table, then collided against the hard surface with a thud, only to propel herself back, allowing the wheeled chair to carry her back across the room.

Darren finished tying his shoes and stood up, walking to the end of the lengthy surface, until he was standing there, watching Eyrn study her shoes.

“So, Atlantis eh? What sort of things are they going to start you on?” Eyrn asked, though they had been over this a dozen times or more, she was stalling.

“Gonna take me a while to learn the land, the people, get a feel for the place. I’m gonna start off by just living there a while. Ya know? Can’t go flying in to save the day if I don’t know jack shit about the people I’m trying to help.” Darren shrugged. Avalon though had potential to be so much more than just a job, a mission. Though Darren wasn’t quite sure yet, there was a chance, he could even call it home.

“Ah.” Eyrn nodded.

“You’re terrible at this Eyrn Fitzgerald.” Darren laughed, though it was a bittersweet one, this was going to be no easier for him than it was going to be for her.

Eyrn looked up, reminiscent of a child with their hand caught in the cookie jar. Though that look of shock soon turned into an amused grin. “All the others were so easy to fool. I used to be able to get away with murder, then you came along and ruined all my fun.” Eyrn wheeled herself over, her head nearly poked up from the edge of the examination table from her seated position.

“Bout time somebody put an end to yer games.” Darren said with no shortage of pride. “So, who you hitching a ride outta here with?” Darren said, abruptly, the tone of his voice losing most of its joy. “Valhalla Station’s close by, I’m sure Flyboy could give you a ride on his next Gopher mission?” Darren said, trying to hide the fact that this too was tearing him up.

Eyrn wasn’t going to stay with him on Avalon, there was very little for her to do here, very little about it that excited her. Eyrn’s aspirations lay elsewhere, she wanted to travel!

The petite titan was quiet in response. “Figured it out eh?”

Darren shrugged. “Yea, its like I said, yer lousy at this.”

“You’re not mad, are you?” Eyrn said, cringing.

“Eyrn,” Darren said, in a voice Eyrn had come to name his papa bear voice, which didn’t come up all too often.

Eyrn avoided eye contact, as if he were the bubonic plague, and looking at him would doom her!

“Look at me Eyrn.” Darren said, in a commanding, yet gentle voice.

Eyrn looked to Darren, eventually.

Darren began to walk towards her, taking for granted that she would likely extend a hand for him before he stepped off the edge of the building sized table to his death below. She of course did, and held him close as she leaned back in the chair.

“I get it, ok?” Was all Darren said, then looked down at her palm.

“Really?” Eyrn whispered.

“Yup.”

“You…sure you’re gonna be ok?” Eyrn asked, wistfully.

“A’course I am.” Darren said, with a bit more life to him. “Goddamn Eyrn you’ve been living yer whole life on everyone else’s agenda! Going where you’re told, doing what’s commanded of you, taking on everyone else’s problems but your own!” Darren shook his head. “You don’t belong here, there’s a whole gat’dang universe out there waiting for you to explore it! Go live your life already, I’ll be fine.”

Eyrn looked at Darren for a long, solid moment, then she looked away. Eyrn Fitzgerald could count on one hand the number of times she could remember crying in the entirety of her life. They were few and far between, but at this, she was helpless to hold it back.

“Aww damn, now look’et what you’ve gone and done.” Darren grumbled, running his sleeve over his eyes to dry them off. He didn’t cry very often either. But this, it felt like he was losing a sister, more than that, a best friend.

“I’m sorry.” Eyrn squeaked. “I could stay for a while, if you want…I mean…I don’t have to go just yet….”

“Don’t go saying that.” Darren commanded, and looked up to her, though his eyes were red, he was doing better than she was. “You ain’t letting nobody down! Got that?” Darren took a moment to breathe. “You ain’t doing nothing but living your life. Eyrn, you get outta here and don’t look back! Go where you want, do what you want. Have fun, meet new people!” Darren grinned softly. “Run as fast as you can damnit, don’t let nothing hold you back this time!”

Eyrn laughed, letting the bittersweet tears flow freely down her cheek, though she had a bright smile on her face. Without giving Darren much warning, she quickly pulled him in against her cheek for a tight hug, and held him there as long as she could without hurting him.

“I’m going to miss you Darren.” Eyrn whispered, keeping him close.

“Yea.” Darren said, choking back tears. “You’ll be fine though. Always had a good head on your shoulders.” Darren hugged her back. He was no stranger to the passage of time, a year for her was half a decade for him. It was going to seem like half a lifetime likely until they met again. “Besides, its not like there ain’t no gat-dang communicators in this galaxy! Yer gonna call, and send pictures too! I wanna see that yer out there relaxing and enjoying yourself!”

“No way you’re getting rid of me that easily Sarge! I’ll be back, you can bet on it!” Eyrn said, slowly regaining control of herself.

They sat in silence for a while. Until eventually Eyrn released Darren from her grip. He was a little damp from her tears, and a little warm from being handled so tightly, and you’d of asked him he’d swear he wasn’t crying!

“Go on…get outta here!” Darren grinned.

“Is that an order?” Eyrn stood, drying her eyes.

“You damn well bet it is!” Darren commanded.

Eyrn stood at attention, and saluted Master Sargent Darren Avery.

Darren waved his hand at her dismissively. “Don’t you know, I’m a working man Twat!” Now go on, before I change my mind!”

Eyrn laughed, looked down at the ground, then left the office, leaving Darren, standing alone.

Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 2015

Private Reese Jones took one look at the paper he had hastily scribbled the address given to him, through no small feat of persuasion on his own behalf, by the reluctant barkeep at the small pub down the road.

“Forty eight Alliance Close…”Reese repeated to himself as he eyed the humble dwelling. Like the rest of its sort, it was humble, aged, but quaint. Belfast was an old city, sprung up around the shipbuilding industry in the eighteenth century, and it showed in many of its homes and businesses.

Reese had come a long way, half way across the world, telling not a soul what he held, hidden deep in his simple back pack. He dodged every question, skillfully kept it from the interrogators the United States Military had rung him through. He held it close, cherished it, he would guard it with his life. He owed them that much, Izzy, Darren, and the man he had never met, Dr. Niall Freeman.

Reese stood at the old wooden door and held his hand back before knocking. He needed to take a moment to think about what he was about to do. “Good Evening ma’am, I’m some random American here to tell you about your son’s fate.” Reese shook his head. “Hello Ms. Freeman, your son has been abducted by aliens, giant aliens…he’s in love with one of them and….” Reese shook his head. That would get him thrown in a paddy wagon!

Private Jones cleared his throat, he had skillfully earned this bit of information from the over protective townsfolk, who swore they would be ‘keeping an eye on him’, they were protective of the Freeman woman, who had lost her son so short a time ago, the pain was likely still fresh and deep.

Reese assured himself, this bit of knowledge would at least bring her absolution.

He swallowed nervously.

Or, it would give her a heart attack.

“I hope you’re as tuff as they say you are Ms. Freeman.” Reese grimaced, and knocked on the door.

“Houl yer horses!” An old voice said from the other side of the door, off in the distance.

Reese adjusted himself, gathered his bravado and waited.

“Just a minute.” The old woman said from the other side. “I swear, if yer here to sell me triple glazing I’ll kneecap ya!”

Sorcha Freeman opened the door just a crack and peaked through at the stranger on the other end.

“Well, I don’t suppose you’re here to sell me anything hmm?” The fiftyish woman with dark, slightly greying hair and sharp eyes crooned, eyeing the stranger with suspicion.

“Um, n…no ma’am.” Reese said. “I assume you’re Ms. Sorcha Freeman?”

“Yea, I’m her!” Sorcha said with a grumpy huff. “American? You’re not another one of them conspiracy theory shitehawk folks are ya?” She said next, showing no signs of opening the door any further.

“No. I’m not…but I have come to talk to you about your son, ma’am. About Niall Freeman. I know what happened to him.” Reese said, with soft eyes.

Sorcha Freeman paused then closed the door on Private Jones. Reese however could hear her fidgeting on the other end with a chain lock, sure enough the door soon swung open. Her keen eyes narrowed and her face twisted with emotion from suspicion, to one of hope, laced with fear. She approached the stranger, a tall slightly tan Caucasian man with a gentle face, short cut hair, and a scruffy twelve-o’clock shadow all over his face. She said not a word, but wrung her hands together, her deep green eyes never leaving him.

Reese held his hat in his hand and twisted it into a knot, his stomach felt uneasy, this was something no soldier ever looked forward to doing, even when there was a tiny bit of light after the terrible news he was about to break to her.

“Well?” Sorcha said, her eyes searching the man in front of her, the look on his face, the tone of his voice, in her heart of hearts she knew he was not here to deliver her any good news.

Reese thought of a few ways he could handle this, he could lie, tell her that Niall had perished in some sort of accident, it would likely be easier on her than the truth. He would look a lot less crazy for it too! Though that would have been the easy way out, Reese knew the only way Sorcha would take this news, was if she heard it from Niall himself.

“Well, maybe it’s best if you hear it from Niall.” Reese said, and pulled a fist sized marble cube out of a small hidden pouch in his backpack. He examined it for a moment, carefully. This small piece of alien technology, the only thing he himself had to remember what he had been through.

He thought of Eyrn, the Miracle Girl, the alien in the desert. Up there in the stars, with her own people. Hopefully she had good things to say on their behalf, hopefully they had treated her well in her one hundred and fifty two years on the Earth. Were they a peaceful race? Were they conquers? If they were anything like Eyrn, then Reece knew humanity had nothing to worry about, but if they were not, if Eyrn was an anomaly, then he would rest well knowing they had Eyrn up there fighting for humanity.

He thought of Isabelle Ibanez, out of place in the Nevada desert, the last place on Earth she could go. The delinquent, trouble maker out there, somewhere. Would she find Darren and Eyrn? Knowing Izzy, she would forge adventures of her own even if she never did see the two of them again, adventures that would fill tomes.

And of course he thought of the Sarge. Ruff, tuff, mean Master Sargent Darren Avery. If there was anyone out there Eyrn could use on her side, it was Darren. The Sarge had been grieved deeply, he had been given full military honors, even the President himself was in attendance. Earth’s loss was the galaxy’s gain, and what ever happened up there, Reese knew, as always, the Sarge likely had a handle on it, he always did.

Reese smiled gently to the anxious woman who stood waiting for the next words to come out of his mouth. He gently handed her the alien technology, and turned it around as he had been instructed. “There’s a password, Niall said you’d know what it was.” Reese stepped back, and waited.

“Bushmills…” The nervous woman spoke, unsure what to expect.

The top of the cube opened up and unfolded. A light appeared from within and slowly formed into a slightly transparent image of her son. Her eyes lit up and her hand shook so much she could barely focus on the image.

“Hi Mum…”

“It was him!” her mind screamed.

“…I’m sorry I can’t be there in person to deliver this message. And I’m sorry for what has probably been a hellish few years for you. If I could have gotten a message to you sooner I would have.”

He paused and looked down and shuffled a bit. He looked unsure what to say next.

“I know I always talked about the probabilities of there being life out there in the universe. How there was a good chance we weren’t alone. Well we’re not. The universe is full of life. Life a lot like us. I was picked up on the top of that mountain and woke up far away from home. About six hundred light years away on a world called Archavia. I want you to know that I’m well and I’m happy.”

Niall stopped again and smiled. His mother knew that smile. She saw it less and less as he grew up and got more and more serious. It was the smile that told her what he was saying was true.

“I met someone. An alien girl. I know she doesn’t look like what you’d call an alien but she is. Life out here is quite a lot like life on Earth. Come on Nas…get in here!” Niall waved to someone unseen.

“Are you sure…I’m sure your mother just wants to see her son!” the female voice replied nervously.

Niall disappeared from view for a second and returned pulling a rather nervous, petite looking woman. He had a look of tenderness on his face as he eased her to the centre of the projection. It made Sorcha’s heart swell.

“Mum…this is Naskia, my fiancée.”

Sorcha gasped.

“Hi Ms Freeman.” She waved nervously.

“You always said I needed to stop being a scoundrel and find myself a nice girl. Well here she is. I can’t remember ever being this happy Mum. I love her with all my heart. She’s as smart as I am, a physicist too and pushes me to be a better person. Like you did.”

“You’re still a scoundrel though.” Naskia poked him in the side and grinned.

Sorcha smiled and her eyes welled up.

“I work on a planet a lot like Earth. At a university, teaching advanced physics to students here. The things I’ve learned Mum! It’s amazing! The physics is beyond anything we ever considered back on Earth but it makes so much sense to me! And that I get to share it with Naskia is the greatest gift I could ever have gotten…”

Niall stopped. He squeezed his partner tight against him and breathed in deeply.

“I only regret…” he choked. Naskia stroked his cheek and then ran her hand through his hair. “I only regret that I left you behind. I chose to leave you and go to France. I didn’t choose to leave Earth. I didn’t realise the last time I hugged you goodbye and rushed out the door without looking back would be the last time I saw you. I can’t come back Mum. Earth is protected, for its own good. There is no way for me to call you or come back or to get you here…”

Niall sobbed a little and Naskia hugged him and rubbed his back.

“If I could I’d come get you. To live with me. To see your grandchildren born and to keep them in line. If they’re anything like me I don’t know what I’ll do…”

Sorcha trembled, not sure how to process what she was hearing. Reese held her hand and steadied the image.

“I don’t have much time left…I just want you to know I love you. I want you to know that if I can find a way back then I will. But don’t wait for me. Don’t be sad and don’t cry. Go out there and be happy. And I’ll do my best to be happy too.” Niall sniffed.

“I promise I’ll make sure he’s ok.” Naskia smiled. “And I’m sorry we never got to meet. Thank you for Niall. He is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Bye Mum…I love you…”

Sorcha Freeman stood there, as the recording ended, and the image of her son vanished, she turned the cube over, examining it for a way to make it play again. There was real pain in her eyes, but also just a tiny bit of joy. Her Niall was alive, and well! He was out there, living his life, in the stars! Niall had always aspired for greatness, now he had a chance for it.

“All you have to do is hold it, and say the password, it will repeat that message as many times as you like.” Reese said, taking another step back.

Sorcha looked to the stranger at last, there were no words she could say that would ever express to him how she felt, how much it meant that he came so far to deliver this message to her. She had no idea what he may have given up, who he had lost, to get this message to her.

“Thank you.” She whispered, pulling the strange alien device close to her heart.

Reece nodded, and turned to leave.

“Wait a moment!” Sorcha said, abruptly.

Reece turned, shocked at the sudden change of tone.

“What are ya? A buck eejit!? Coming here with this load and not so much as leaving me your name!” Sorcha had a fire to her Reese could only imagine, like a fine wine only got better with time. Or a whiskey.

“Well, I figured I’d…I mean…I just thought you’d want to be alone…that is…after seeing that, there isn’t much more I can…”

Sorcha stood with her arms crossed over her chest, leveling the stranger with her solid gaze. “Well, quit flapping yer gob and tell me who I’m speaking to!”

Reese blinked a few times and shook his head. “Jones, Private…first….”

Sorcha waved her hand dismissively. “Easy lad I’m no army lass! I just asked your name, not what to put on yer tomb stone.” Sorcha chuckled.

“Reese Jones, Ma’am.” Reese replied, in good humor.

“No sense in sending you away tonight Mr. Jones, it’s absolutely baltic out there and lord knows there’s nowhere decent to stay in this part of town.” Sorcha stepped to the side and motioned for Private Jones to come in. “Come, might as well sit down to some dinner.” She said, demanding more so then requesting.

And Private Reese Jones did just that.

“Thank you kindly, I appreciate it Ma’am.”

Sorcha dismissed Reese with a hand wave and a scoff. “Don’t be calling me that, sure way to make a lady feel old!” Sorcha huffed, and closed the door behind Private Jones. “I’m sure there is a long story behind you getting this to me Reese, and I plan to hear every bit of it.”

Reese smile, he had a story to tell indeed! Even if he would very likely never find out how it ended, he knew it was in good hands.