makingthisupasigo | And the stars look very different today...

It was a way out. But it wasn't home.

Truthfully, after Norfinbury, anything would be better than that place, but the cold truth was--there was no way to find his own universe out of the endless multiverse, even if Norfinbury's busted technology had worked properly. He was stuck, here, with a megalomaniac Flynn--granted, a Flynn that managed to open up a portal out of there. Maybe that's what it took to get out of Norfinbury.

Or, Peter thought sometimes on bad days, Norfinbury only released you once you became the twisted version of yourself it wanted you to be. A specially-designed virus inflicted on countless worlds.

Besides, he ought to know something about that.

He didn't stay long on earth, he couldn't. Maybe it had something to do with the mystery of how they were revived in Norfinbury, their bodies recreated or cloned or healed, or maybe it was something that was gonna happen to him anyway, but he could feel the Light burning inside him, inside his head almost as soon as he landed. A desperate need to take to the stars. He'd managed to create a ship and took off.

Time passes, and scientists notice something odd about several exoplanets they're monitoring, especially ones marked as 'earth-like' or other planets in zones that could make them potentially habitable. Bright bursts of light and changes in the composition of the atmosphere or surface, it was inexplicable. Possible evidence of intelligent life? If they didn't know any better, especially with the rocky planets that now somehow boasted extreme changes, it was like something was terraforming them.

There was cause for alarm when Mars suddenly turned blue and green a few months later.

Meanwhile, a small blue-and-orange ship that looked suspiciously like a slightly more organic-looking Milano was racing towards the earth.

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[Flynn drops with a gasp, rushing back into himself, the brightness, the emotions, the connection suddenly gone.

But then there's Peter, the real Peter, the one he's been search for so long, that face that suddenly showed up on his tablet in the Retirement Home and gave him so much hope but that never reached him and for a moment Flynn can't even speak, mute as the tears spring to his eyes and he hugs Peter back, clinging to him like a drowning man.]

Hi. There you are.

[He's back, Flynn. He's actually here and he can't believe it himself, can't believe that this has even happened, that what he'd become had even been defeated, but it was--he was, and--]

You did it.

[He clings to him too, still silently crying, but not only out of sadness but happiness too--they're both back. Flynn's back.]

You saved me.

[You saved me.

At that, Flynn starts crying for real, because it's been so long and it's been so much (too much, it was all too much) and the joy is so overwhelming it's almost physically crushing him. He laughs, sobs, sniffles all at the same time, holding on tight and he can't believe this is really happening.]

And I d-did it all... without lifting weights.

[Look he may have just come back from an unimaginably horrific place but seriously bro, you should look into lifting weights?]

I...well, hey. Look at that.

[He can't help but laugh through the stupid tears, he tries to practically shake Flynn in the midst of the hug--]

You're really here--you're actually here!

[He too has his old memories, as much as he is a different person, untouched by that corruption, he's also not and it is a part of him, and he can feel the fading despair of more than a millennia of pain, slowly but surely beginning to heal with the laughter.]

[He's so happy, holding him close and patting his back. Really, the only thing left is for them to start jumping up and down.

... It is not to be ruled out yet.]

We're here. We're both here! I-- I missed you so much.

[He really might, bro.]

You have no idea how much I missed you.

[He's probably not going to let go until you let go first, bro.]

I...I didn't think this was possible? I mean...wow. Y'know? [What are words even.]

I'm just...really glad you're here.

Yeah, I know. Wow.

[You let go, he's not letting go. He's letting his head drop on Peter's shoulder, his voice growing quieter.]

... I'm sorry. I'm sorry it took so long, it-- I should have... done so many things differently, should have figured this out sooner, could have fixed this...

No, don't blame yourself, not even one little bit.

[He's not letting go either, so this is just life now he guesses.]

It was my fault. [His fault. No, he needs to take responsibility.] My fault. You tried so hard and I...I messed up. So bad.

I-...

[It's so weird to hear Peter say it's his fault and for a moment Flynn doesn't know what to do with it. He just knows that hearing it is so good, like literal balm for his soul and instead of letting go his grip tightens.]

It wasn't you. It was Norfinbury. You're not like that.

No, it was me. [It hurts so bad to say it, because he's hurt Flynn so bad, and he won't ever forgive himself.] I didn't have to turn out like that. I didn't have to do...do any of that. I was just...just so scared? And tired.

[It's a weird mix of memories, something that he hasn't lived, and actually has? Confusing.]

My dad was like that. I mean...it's not really surprising. [His voice is smaller.]

For what it's worth, it was very surprising to me.

[He closes his eyes when exhaustion suddenly crashes down on him.]

And you were trying to save me. When you were back, the real you. You tried to get me out.

[...that does help, a little. Right now he's convinced that he's inherently evil, it's nice to hear Flynn say that.]

...I tried, yeah. I tried really hard.

[He remembers that, especially. And how disappointed he was that he didn't even get close.]

...I'm so sorry I didn't make it to you.

I know. I know that. You tried so hard.

[Peter, in the snow, bleeding. Peter, trapped on the couch under him, the life going out of his eyes but he's still pleading with Flynn to fight it, to fight his evil self...]

I'm so sorry I... I'm sorry that I...

[His fingers dig into the fabric of Peter's clothes and he can't bring himself to say it.]

I'm sorry.

[Peter doesn't dare let go, either now. He shakes his head, furiously, knowing exactly what he's talking about.]

No. Don't you say sorry for that cause that wasn't you, that was never you. That was my own fault, I'm the one who did...who made...

[His voice breaks.]

Who made you like that.

Edited 2018-05-15 06:46 (UTC)

[Flynn sobs, once, burying his face against his shoulder. He needed to hear this for so long, needed for Peter to say this for so long.]

It's... it's okay. It's over now. We're okay.

[It's almost too good to believe it.]

It's over.

[This only makes Peter embrace him more, he's holding onto him so tightly. It really is almost too good to believe it, that it's actually over. That they found their way out of that place, that they found their way out of their own worst versions of themselves, that they reached the impossible. Peter's trying to hold on, trying to be stronger but it doesn't work, it's been so long since he's had any hope at all and now there's nothing but hope, the actual future has returned and it's not filled with horror anymore. Peter's shoulders shake with silent sobs.]

It's over, man. We made it.

Edited 2018-05-23 08:46 (UTC)

Yeah. We... we did.

[His fingers dig into Peter's hair, holding on for another long moment.]

We... we should go. This planet might not... we have to make sure that... Stone and Jones, they need us, we need to... we need to make this right.

Yeah. [What is letting go even. He's certainly not letting go first. Back to stupid reality, but...logistical things first. He frowns, a vacant look crossing his face as he tries to sense where other people are at.]

I think I can find them. I was...before, I was chasing them with my...with the light.

...and Ezekiel made a ray gun? Dude. That's awesome! But it hurt? Disrupted the light, that's for sure.

[His grin fades slightly.]

...are you guys gonna go back to earth?

Edited 2018-05-26 04:21 (UTC)

A ray gun? That sounds like him. At least that sounds like what I remember about him and... man, this is complicated.

[But Flynn nods, trying to pull himself together again. They'll surely have some more time for breakdowns later but for now, first things first.]

Yeah.

And you're coming, too. We're gonna make sure that these two stay... stay where they are. I'm sure the Library can help us with that.

And the stars look very different today...

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