Vinn sat up, bumping his head on the glass of the cloning tank, opening it and stepping out.

“Dude, seriously?” he asked, annoyed and confused. “I got my whole life without dying and then I die twice in a week… unbelieveable.” He muttered while heading to the stairs, expecting to find Jack in the workshop, avoiding him awkwardly. He walked past the shuttle pod and the doors opened. Nicole was sobbing and Jack comforted her as she exited.

“I’m sorry, Nicole!” Gizzy yelled as she pushed her violently out of the way. “I thought the soul sacrifice was me. A soul for a bullet, another for the fall. It said nothing about Vinn, I was ready to die for you all, not give him up!” she objected.

“YOU SAID IT!!” Nicole yelled. “You would give up multiple friends to complete the mission. And you did. You killed Demitri’s ghost and my husband.”

“Jack fired the shot!”

“The shot you told him to take at all cost, and trust you. We trusted you, and he died for you. I don’t have to forgive you for that.” She screamed.

“Guys! It’s chill. I’m back, we’re all dead anyway.” Vinn joked. “Seriously, it sucks but it’s okay, I forgive you both. Shit happens and you get cloned back.” Vinn added, as Nicole walked right past him. He tossed his arms up, weirded out that she didn’t hug him or greet him at all. “Wow, no love for the dead hu? Jack, bro, it was an accident, you got the chaos god, we won, we’re cool, honestly. It could have happened to any one of-” he said as Jack walked directly through him, like fog or nothing at all. Vinn paused and felt his chest for a heartbeat, feeling nothing and looking back at the cloning machine. The glass was still closed and the room was at a normal temperature. No frost, no signs that it had even been on at all. He looked down, fully clothed and leaving no wet hoofmarks, nor any sound as he stepped towards the shuttle. “Gizzy… you can see me, right?” he asked as she silently sat looking like she had regretted her entire life, tears and hollow sadness in her eyes, but no hint of a response. He reached out and passed his hand through her shoulder. “I’m still dead… guys, something fucked up, run the machine, you gotta start the clone and bring me back.” He said nervously as Gizzy strolled up to the machine and stared at it. He looked closer at the selection. Dee, Vicki, Jack, Nicole, and Gizzy. Not even his name. She pressed the screen and swiped, swiping again angrily trying to move the list up or down as nothing happened. She turned and punched the wall beside it as Dee walked through Vinn and to her side.

“There’s no way you could have known. It’s sweet that you’re trying but… I don’t think you can fix it.” she whispered.

“Why does she blame me? I read the fucking text on the screen; it said NOTHING about someone else. I thought I was going to die for the willing sacrifice, it said blood of the unwilling, soul of the willing, and the shadow will fade to dust. I thought it meant Vicki’s blood and my soul. Nobody else even knew, so nobody else could be willing. I SPECIFICALLY KEPT IT SECRET SO NOBODY COULD BE WILLING! FUCK!” she yelled hitting the wall again.

“Stop it!” Dee ordered, hugging her. “Vinn would have given his soul to save us, it must have counted somehow.”

“Jack fired the shot. Why does she even blame me when Jack fired the round that hit him? We all fucked up, but I’m a piece of shit and Jack is comforting her? Pick a fucking lane and be consistent at least. She should be equally mad at us both and know neither of us wanted this. Was my part of the sacrifice of pain to be the blame?” she asked.

“I don’t know, honey. It’s all cryptic nonsense and evil prophesies meant to fuck with your head. Stop letting it win. You didn’t do this. We all took the risks, we all went down there, and we all lost a friend.”

“No, you all trusted me. Nicole trusted me, Jack trusted me, Vinn trusted me. Jack trusted me to take the shot, Vinn trusted me to stand in the damn way, and Nicole trusted me when I gave the order to put a bullet through her husband, and now he’s gone. It should have been me…” she said sadly, switching to just blankly.

“It should have been Vicki.”

“What?” Gizzy sighed.

“It should have been Vicki. She’s the only one who’s turned on us left and right, the only one who refused to trust you and fought your plan. Maybe she fucked it up and poor Vinn who deserved better took the hit. Maybe she was supposed to be standing there. You saw it turn into her when Jack pointed the gun. He was supposed to shoot her. But she fought you, and she might have been standing there if she just trusted you and took her place like everyone else.”

“So Jack kills his wife and is a broken lonely shell instead of Nicole, and instead of me being the villain, he’s his own villain? Dee, there was no mistake, I just fucked up. I misread something, I let us down, I thought I was offering my soul but I was offering myself as the guilty one, and I never knew Vinn would have to die… but I said the words. She’s right. I was willing to give up anything for the mission as long as I thought I could cheat the game and make sure it was me as the martyr. I have to be the martyr that dies gloriously and on my feet. I never thought that, for once, anyone else would feel the same way. Now I’m the monster, and Vinn is the martyr. Nicole is broken, and Jack will never forgive himself. I’ll never forgive myself. We won… we just paid through the nose for it.” She said before trudging off to drink alone.

“But… I forgive you.” Dee said as Vinn hung his head.

“Me too. I forgive you all.” Vinn said to nobody, walking down the hall of silent steps and dry tears. He made his way to his room, trying to open the door and just, rolling his eyes, walking through it. Nicole sat on the bed as Jack held her. He felt uncomfortable, almost angry with the way he was holding her. He almost felt guilty for even thinking it, until Jack kissed her. She pulled away, shaking her head and looking too familiar with it.

“No, it’s… it’s not right.” She sighed.

“Damn right it’s not, Jack. That’s my wife… until death do us part.” He said, realizing the problem.

“Nicole, you’re hurting. You need to heal.” Jack said softly. “You need a friend.”

“BRO!” Vinn yelled. “I’ve been dead like 40 minutes. Give her a damn break.” He barked to nobody.

“Jack, I just can’t do this right now. I know…” she said choking up “I know we’ve been doing this for a while, but I was going to break it to him when the time was right. I didn’t know he was going to die. What if somehow I caused this, like some unknown sacrifice, or something in my heart wanting to leave him? I didn’t want us to be together like this. I wanted to be gentle with him. I wanted the pain to be minimal.”

“Maybe it was… Nicole he loved you more then anything. He would have never been the same, or happy again. Maybe he would have wanted this. To be the hero for us, rather than be alone to make you happy.”

“NO! NO I WOULDN’T PREFER THIS!” Vinn barked. “I’ll kill you.” He said trying to grab a chair, grabbing for anything at all. “You screw around with my wife, you lie to me, you shoot me in the fucking chest and then you steal my wife!” Vinn roared. “JACK YOU BASTARD!” he said swinging for his head and missing everything.

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“What about Vicki?” Nicole said.

“She’ll have to understand. She doesn’t need to know but she’ll find out eventually and she’ll have to either accept it or just… be part of it.” he said, holding her close.

“Oh, you selfish dick, you think she’s gonna be cool with it?” Vinn growled, leaning in close. “I hope she bites your throat out and erases your clone file. You stab her in the back, you shoot me in the heart and then you swoop in on my widow, like a damn… vampire. I hope she kills you slowly, Jack. Knowing Vicki, I’ll get to see that soon. Nicole doesn’t love you, she’s just hurting and broken, you vulture.”

“Jack I love you, and I want this, us… I have for months, Vinn and I fell apart long ago, he just never knew it. But I didn’t want him dead. He was a friend. You’re all friends, family, people I care for. It’s too soon. I just need some time to process this. I just lost a very dear friend, and we can’t bring him back. I’ll need you when that settled in but it’s too surreal right now."

“Friend?” Vinn said stepping back. “Honey, we had a life, we were married, we were going to adopt a dog... I killed to protect you, I’ve fought more then one monster for you and I’m just a friend? Did you ever love me? You just got dragged into this mess and grabbed onto the strongest friend, didn’t you? And now that’s Jack, because you can't see that he’s a predator. He shot me, Nicole. HE killed me. Holy shit…” he gasped. “Did he do that on purpose? Jack, you never miss. You never miss your marks, you’ve split a 3 inch gap between heads at a thousand yards, and you didn’t know I was behind the thing you were shooting with a damn armor piercing cannon? Jack, you murderous piece of shit. Why am I even surprised? You have to be the alpha male, always. You get what you fight for, and you lie and kill for a living when Gizzy gives the orders and she said to shoot. So you lined me up and you followed orders, and you threaded the needle like you always do, and nobody sees it. Jack, I am going to haunt you till Vicki kills you, and then when you end up here with me… I’m going to kill you too. I’m going to enjoy it both times. You just sit there, thinking you won. Gizzy will never believe you planned that shot, but Vicki won’t care. She’ll just want blood. And for once, I agree with her completely. See you in hell soon, Jack. Real soon. Nicole… I’m just… sorry I wasn’t enough. I’m sorry I’m not the better soldier, and I’m sorry I’m not here to protect you now. Just hang in there. Vengeance is coming, and she’s already on the ship. He won’t get away with this."

...

Nicole stood in the lab, staring at the fridge and holding half a bottle of Gizzy’s hundred proof vodka. She scanned for something stronger. Surely some weapon grade cocaine was in a tube somewhere, hidden from sight. She heard footsteps and grabbed 3 random vials, shutting the fridge and locking it. almost running into Gizzy on the way out the door.

“Thirsty little reptile?” Gizzy asked.

“I’m aquatic, I need to hydrate. You gonna stop me?” she asked with a drunken attitude.

“Just don’t drown in that. The goal is to float and feel numb, not sink and feel nothing permanently.”

“Oh fuck you. Your stupid sacrifice lead me to this, and you’ve gone through 3 livers this trip. If I drown…” she said, challenging her. “Clone me back like you do. This time you got permission. But don’t you dare stand in my way, telling a captain she can’t have what’s on her ship when you gave the order that killed my husband.”

“Jack killed your husband. I gave the order to shoot the enemy. The alignment and timing was fate, or a curse, or some damned luck we all have.” She said. “You don’t need to hate me for this… I have enough hate for myself. You’re too precious and innocent to have this much hate. Let the monsters do the hating. We’re better at it.”

“Oh, I’m getting better. Maybe I just need some time for your training to kick in.” she said brushing past with her dinner.

...

Vicki answered the door, expecting Jack and seeing a very drunk Nicole, and missing the dead Vinn following her.

“Someone is grieving with efficiency.” Vicki said nodding her in.

“Vicki, I need advice.”

“Tell her Jack is stalking you. Preying on your grief.” Vinn whispered softly.

“How do you kill and live with yourself? How do you do it?”

“Captain?” Vicki asked.

“How do you just bring death to someone and hand it over with a smile?” she said slumping over the bed and drifting off with the bottle in hand.

“I’m a monster. That’s how. I just work that way I guess. Monsters don’t feel pain.” She said, getting up and storming down the hall as Vinn stayed with Nicole, pretending to pet her hair as she slept.

...

Dee sat in the kitchen, jumping as Vicki barged in and acted like she was ordering a drink.

“We need to talk.” She demanded.

“Yeah, I’m doing okay in my grief too, thanks for asking. Glad to see you’re coping. Have a beer.”

“Dee, we have a problem. You have a problem.”

“Is it you, because it seems like you sometimes.”

“You’re right. Vinn is dead. Vinn was a friend, but he was more than that. He was a source of satiation. You know Delmarian blood is stronger then human blood. It takes less to satisfy. You’re not full of Vinn’s blood anymore are you? You’re full of human blood. You know how much human blood I need per feeding?”

“Don’t you have Gizzy’s fancy implant to curb that problem? Cloned blood bags.”

"It’s not the same. It’s more then just nutrients, it’s a hunt. You know the Captain has this crazy theory about you stealing my husband and me going feral, and nobody remembers it?”

“Some insane theory that makes no sense and a hunger fixation. What’s your point exactly?”

“My point is that I can drain 2 humans of blood before a full feeding is done. Maybe it’s just some crazy theory, but we have history, don’t we?”

“Gizzy would fucking kill you if you hurt me or Jack. If you hurt us both for some stupid theory you overheard or misheard from a confused girl, what wouldn’t she do to you?” Dee snarked back.

“You think your bodyguard scares me? If the theory is true, I’ve killed her before, and nobody stopped me. I don’t care of if you remember or not, if the speculation is true, nobody is going to save you, and I’m getting hungry without Vinn and just thinking about you going after my Jack. If toasters have a god, you should pray that they’re just rumors. Because you’ve experienced me when I’m hungry, and we’ll be back there some time. You don’t wanna see me when I’m hungry and have a reason to be angry too. Accidents happen. I can’t be held responsible for my medical conditions. I’m grieving and I need to survive after all. If they had to clone you back, you wouldn’t remember to tell anyone the details… and then I’d have to remind you… over and over. That’s just frustrating.” She smiled, baring her teeth all the while.

...

Jack felt the aggressive impact of his shoulders into the headboard, grunting and looking up at red glowing eyes.

“You seem tired.” Vicki whispered. “Just relax.”

“I can’t relax. I just shot a friend.”

“Jack, it was an accident in combat. We both know the drill. You had orders, you followed the mission, casualties happen and we lost a friend. I’m your wife, I’m grieving too. You don’t think a distraction is good for both of us?” she asked.

“I just have things on my mind.”

“Things you can talk about with your wife, or things you can’t?” she asked darkly.

“Just things. Guilt, doubt, normal things to feel right now.”

“About Vinn?” she asked cryptically.

“Of course about Vinn.”

“Jack, you may be an assassin but you’re my husband. I know when you’re lying and there was your tell. Honestly, I could understand the temptation but your selection is just… degrading.”

“I don’t know what you even mean.”

“Now that was right on the line. Kind of a lie, but not entirely. Jack, if you needed some variety you could have said so. But her? Jack, you’re better than that, and frankly, I’m insulted that your variety had to be such a downgrade from this. Men really don’t have standards or types, do they? Just consensual and alive? Anything breathing that doesn’t get up and leave? Oh don’t worry. I’m not leaving you. Till death do us part, sweetie."

...

Gizzy sat in the lab, dialing in some test scans as Jack entered unannounced and sat down.

“Jack, we both fucked up, we’re both assholes and killers but it was an accident, and I don’t wanna hear about it at the moment. I miss Vinn too.”

“This is about Vicki. I think she may be dangerous.”

“Oh no shit, Sherlock, what gave you that impression, the body count or the fangs? She get a little rough and pop your shoulder out? Vinn usually sets that, doesn’t he. I guess I’m the doctor anyway on this ship. Sort of."

“I think she might try and kill someone.” He said as tools slammed down and her attention was now very focused.

“Why exactly do you think that?” she asked as Dee entered the lab and noticed Jack there.

“Oh perfect. You’re both here. So why does Vicki have this weird theory that Jack and I were a couple and none of us remember it… why is she threatening me?” Dee asked.

“Well, so much for memory wipes and protective secrets. Close the door. We have a bit to talk about, and it’s not brief or something discussed in public. Have a drink, we’re all gonna need one.”