week 10 | friday morning

[jackhole]

[ elizabeth is dead.

finally.

rhys sits in the computer room and wonders if he should be relieved. a strange sort of jealousy built in him over the weeks as he watched elizabeth and jack and everything else play out in the game. she grew both closer and distant from him at the same time and he could see it hurting jack, see how he wanted to reach out for her but -- but not rhys. rhys died, rhys had an alien crawling through hims just like elizabeth, and no one mourned him. not fiona. not jack. but they went and saw elizabeth, didn't they? went and gave her their attention, their care, their love. it was sickening to watch and after a while, he barely paid attention to the participants after at all, feeling bile in his throat and a slow systematic shut down of his emotions.

fiona didn't care. jack was stripping him for parts. elizabeth got to live and he didn't.

he's not sure how he feels anymore.

he thinks he hates them.

so maybe this is relief he feels when he sees elizabeth's body go down, sees her corpse shoot out into space and finally end her participation in the game. he thinks to himself, cruel and cold, that at least elizabeth won't be able to go back home either -- just like him. she played jack, made him feel like they still had such a relationship while going to people like jason and luke -- telling them how evil jack was, how he deserves to die. she didn't know anything of jack, not really, the sanctimonious little bitch.

doesn't she realize jack saved them? doesn't she realize jack saved her?

rhys didn't deserve to be saved, he realizes. it doesn't stop him from being bitter.

he misses jack. he misses fiona. he misses being alive and now the woman -- no, the girl who took his place is here with him in death.

he wonders if he should kill her again. it would certainly make him feel better. ]

Comments

[jackhole]

[ he was in the shack because he's... always in the shack, not really knowing where else to be at this point even when he doesn't want to be. his eyebrows furrow when elizabeth enters because her presence is always... not the greatest for him and today doesn't look any different. he's about to argue but then she begs him and begs him and begs him and he finally agrees, following behind her with hesitance.

he hasn't used the machine before because, well, he doesn't really care to. all his happiest memories seem tainted right now and he's not really able to get past it. he thinks of fiona, he thinks of jack's office, he thinks of spending time with vaughn and yvette. he doesn't want to keep thinking about it.

of course, this all sort of goes out the window when the scenery changes around them and rhys jumps, more startled than he should be. he runs a hand through his hair as he looks around at the scene surrounding them, taking an odd step closer to elizabeth because this -- this isn't anything he knows. it's almost unsettling to him, a fakeness weaved in like this was something out of a storybook. where is the... everything, honestly? the stars, the robots, the guns? he doesn't get it.

and when he looks to elizabeth to ask, she looks like she's crying. ]

... Uh, are you okay? Wasn't this supposed to be a good thing for you?

[baptizer]

[ No one knows how much this means to her. She had nothing before. No grand adventure with friends. No fond childhood memories;. The sad little girl had an idea: a dream. When she feels the tears roll over those cute cheeks of hers, she wipes them away quickly, laughing a choked sob as he asks if it's a good. ]

Is there anything you've ever just - ... you've dreamed of and never thought you'd achieve? This is it. Paris was it. Couldn't have placed money on if I'd ever make it here but...

[ Birds chirp in the distance, the conversations of friendly neighbors and workers make her just shut her eyes to listen. ]

My happiest place is a place I've never been to.. but - God, Rhys, it's beautiful.

[jackhole]

[ rhys grimaces a little as he notices that she really is crying and he's not exactly sure what to do. should he... find some tissues? or uh, hug her? or something. oh god, he should probably hug her? she's going to kill him. ]

Well... there's a few things but, they all seem to go rather poorly for me soon after.

[ he's such a cheerful guy! but he really is going to hug her which means while elizabeth's eyes are closed and she savors, she'll feel two arms -- one warm and one metal -- come around her to hug her to him. ]

I bet it's cooler at night, with all the stars...? [ he's still a space boy through and through. ] But this, this is cool too and you should really stop crying right now because it's kind of freaking me out. I get hug-y when people cry in front of me.

[ this is the guy who so strongly believes he was the bad guy. this guy, holding onto liz so very gently despite his awkward phrasing, really thinks he deserves to be dead. he'll still help elizabeth with her death though, he might as well. ]

[baptizer]

[ She's scared to open her eyes and just see the dense, bittersweet graveyard. The suddenness of his arms around her has her flinch. She jerks her shoulders up defensively, especially since the last time he put his hand on her was a little less than pleasant. Her breath is held, awkwardly opening her eyes to look at him and then back to the pastel pink that paints the Paris sky.

Just as he says that, the skies darken. No clouds in the sky, but the darkness overwhelms and there's nothing but millions of brilliantly dancing stars. Twinkling in an over-exaggerated way - just as it would be for her in her dreams. That's what mattered, right?

Elizabeth's hands were limp against her, but awkwardly, they rise. Clutching onto his side, she doesn't apply pressure she just.. stands there. ]

I'm sorry, I'll stop - it's silly... It's nothing.

[ She sniffles a bit, trying to get ahold of herself as she - oh my god. Her eyes light up as she looks over Rhys's shoulder, seeing how amazing the Eiffel Tower looks at night... the strings of gold against the darkened shape... she feels herself close to crying and instead she lets out a breathy exclamation. ]

I'm fine, thank you - truly.