Everything was secured and Charlie was in the command center, preparing for our departure. I was strapped in, squeezed in between Carlisle and Aro's orphaned son, Demetri. Demetri's hand was in mine as I tried not to cry. To be honest, it was a losing battle with tears welling. I stared, unseeingly at the bulkhead in the surgical bay.
"Swan to Ark Station, thrusters will deploy in T-minus five minutes," Charlie's disembodied voice said through the intercom system. "Make sure everyone is strapped in." There was a pause and he let out a breath. "May we meet again …"
"May we meet again," I whispered back. "We will find each other again, Charlie." My eyes fluttered shut as tears streaked down my cheeks, the battle lost. "I love you …"
Carlisle took my hand, squeezing my fingers. "We'll figure out a way to get Charlie down to the Ground. I promise you," he murmured. "We did not spend hours and all of our blood stores to put him back together for him to die of hypoxia."
"How can we do that? It's not like there's rockets to get up to the outer ring when we get down to the surface," I hissed angrily. "He's going to die up here."
"We have the most brilliant minds on the Ark, we can figure something out," Carlisle soothed.
"T-minus one minute," Charlie announced. "Ren, hug our baby girl for me."
"I will," I replied, even though he couldn't hear me. I closed my eyes, trying to imagine Charlie in the command center, preparing the Ark for its final departure and descent to the Ground. As the engines roared to life, I slipped my arms around Demetri, providing him comfort when all I wanted was my husband's arms around me giving me comfort.
"Ten … nine … eight … seven … six … five … four … three … two … one … launch," Charlie counted.
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