Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was chaos. Absolute chaos.

Druig had been napping in his room on the Domo after a long shift navigating the spaceship through the depths of space in search of the remainder of their family to rescue from the clutches of Arishem, when a loud crash startled him awake from his deep slumber. Groggily, he wiped the sleep from his eyes with his ear cocked, listening for further suspicious sounds that meant he would have to leave the warm comfort of his bed. If this was Pip drunkenly stumbling around the Domo like he had been for the past week, then Druig was going to permanently put that annoying pipsqueak to sleep.

But alas, another crash and a distressed masculine shout confirmed it wasn’t. It was something much worse. In fact, it was something Druig had quietly feared from the moment their new mission was decided. Thena was losing herself to Mahd Wy’ry again, and this time there was no Gilgamesh here to stop it.

Druig sprinted to the source of the commotion, Phastos’ old lab, just in time to find Makkari, Eros, and Pip struggling to keep Thena and her glowing death sticks at bay. He quickly saw the cause of at least one of the crashes as Makkari lay in the debris of what once was the display case that held Excalibur. Druig watched her with bated breath until he saw her move slowly and attempt to shake off the impact. With Makkari’s relative safety accounted for, Druig turned his attention to the two newcomers to see how they were fairing against the goddess of war in all her maddened glory. Not very well as it turned out. Pip was cowering under Phastos’ overturned desk, and Eros was cornered, Thena poised above him and ready to strike a killing blow, as he tried unsuccessfully to reason with her. There was no time. The confines of the Domo made it impossible for any of them to fight her off or avoid her attacks. He had no other choice.

Druig’s eyes lit up into a brilliant gold, followed by Thena who was halted mid-way through what would have undoubtably been a devastating blow, the blade mere millimeters from Eros’ neck. He barely had time to register Eros’ gasp of relief when he could feel his control over the warrior eternal begin to waver. Controlling the mind of an eternal was much more of a challenge than the average human, and Druig had limited experience in doing so out of respect for his family. The only time he had ever tried was at Gilgamesh and Thena’s request for a week while Gilgamesh took a well-deserved holiday, and even then, he refused to put her to sleep unless it became entirely necessary which only happened once during the entirety of his stay. He would prefer to avoid having to do so again, especially to one of the few family members he was on good terms with.

He continued to struggle against her warring mind. Thena’s sword was shaking with the tremors that ran through her arm as she tried to fight Druig’s control, the blade still precariously close to Eros’ neck, who was frozen in place, seemingly afraid any sudden movement on his part would disturb the battle for control silently playing out before him. Seeing no other viable option given the life-or-death situation they found themselves in, Druig gave up his original plan of controlling Thena while he tried to talk her down from the episode, and instead forced her into a deep sleep where she could no longer fight him and her mind could, with any luck, reset itself. They were statistically less likely to suffer casualties this way, too. If the Emergence taught him anything, it’s that with Ajak out of the picture, there were no second chances. Not in this life. He still felt like absolute shit having to do that to his sister all the same.

Thena’s cosmic weapons dematerialized as she fell into her slumber. Druig watched as Makkari raced to catch Thena and lay her gently onto the floor away from the broken glass, smashed machinery, and displaced artifacts that littered most of the room. Druig moved from his spot in the doorway to join Makkari at Thena’s side.

“Will she be okay?” Makkari signed hurriedly, wanting to return her hands to the task of tending to Thena, carefully removing the stray hair from her face and lightly stroking her cheek in an effort to soothe herself as much as Thena.

“She’ll be fine,” he reassures her, signing along to make sure he is understood. “Once she sleeps it off, she should wake up feeling much better. I’m much more concerned about you. Are you okay? She didn’t get you, did she?”

Makkari shook her head. “No, I’m good. I can’t say the same for Phastos’ lab or my treasures though,” she signed, not looking at Druig as she surveyed the damage around her, her mouth pulled tight in resignation, before returning her attention back to him with a sorrowful look in her eyes.

“Well, just as long as my treasure is in one piece, that’s the most important thing,” he smiled cheekily and winked at her, earning him an exaggerated eyeroll from the speedster and a playful slap on the arm.

“I’m fine, too, over here, thanks for asking,” Eros called loudly as he pulled himself up off the floor and dusted off his uniform, bringing all the attention back to him. God forbid anyone should ignore self-proclaimed ‘God of Love’ for more than five seconds.

“Yeah, that’s good to hear,” Druig responded, his eyes never leaving Makkari’s as he stood from where Thena lay, hand outstretched to Makkari to help her up.

Eros narrowed his eyes, but decidedly chose to ignore the sarcasm-laced comment and edged cautiously closer to the sleeping eternal, as if she would wake any second and pick up from where she left off.

“Is it safe to come out?” came a meek voice from under the desk.

“Yes, Pip, all clear,” Eros sighed in frustration into his hand as he rubbed at his face, no doubt annoyed at the lack of help provided by his drunken sidekick. “So, what now?” he asked, looking between Druig and Makkari, and ignoring Pip grumbling under his breath about crazy earth eternals and spilt beer as he made his way over to the group.

“I’ll take care of Thena,” Makkari volunteered, “I’ll get her settled back in her room and take first watch over her.”

Druig didn’t really like the thought of leaving Makkari alone with Thena, but he knew she could hold her own better than any of the rest of them against her, so he nodded in agreement and signed her a thank you.

“What did she say?” Eros asked Druig impatiently, not liking to be out of the loop. He was only into day three of lessons with Makkari, and had yet to learn anything beyond basic greetings, but that didn’t stop him from attempting to flirt with her.

“She said we’re on cleaning duty, so grab a brush and get to cleaning up this mess, Romeo,” Druig retorted dismissively, signing along for Makkari’s benefit as his face was angled towards Eros. If he was going to mistranslate for her, he always made sure she knew it.

Sure enough, he received another playful slap on the arm. “Play nice while I’m gone,” she warned him, laughing as she crouched to hoist Thena from the unforgiving hard floor.

“I always do,” he signed with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, before he set about checking Makkari’s collection to see what precious artifacts managed to survive the fight. Eros began sweeping all the broken glass into a pile while pouting about Druig, yet again, refusing to get his name right. Pip disappeared not long after emerging from his hiding place, preferring to do anything other than be helpful in any way.

They worked in silence. A comfortable silence for Druig, but he could tell Eros was itching to start talking or flirting or whatever it was he did that annoyed Druig to no end. He kept his head down and tried to avoid inviting conversation. Of course, it didn’t work.

“So, I guess I should thank you,” Eros piped up, his chin resting atop the broom, “you know, for saving my neck back there. Quite literally.”

Druig grunted, not lifting his eyes from the task in front of him, and hoping it was enough of a signal to the Titan eternal that he did not want to make small talk with him. He was starting to feel tired again now that the adrenaline in his system had subsided, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and resume his nap. Listening to Eros harping on and on about himself and his heroic adventures across the universe was grating on Druig’s last nerve.

“I know! I’ll buy you a drink sometime,” Eros propositioned smoothly for what felt like the hundredth time since he darkened the door of the Domo, “I know this really great place just beyond the Zanthar star system on Gwanjaari. Have you ever been there? They have the most breath-taking view of the −”

“Here, lad, listen up −,” Druig stated firmly, spinning to face Eros and tell him exactly where he could put his drinks and his smarmy attitude.

“Finally, he acknowledges my existence!” Eros exclaimed in mock celebration at finally having Druig’s attention on him. “Look, I just want you to give me five minutes of your time and explain to me what exactly just happened here, okay?” he asked sincerely, dropping the act. “Then you can go back to your brooding, mysterious ways, alright?”

“It’s family stuff. Nothing that concerns you so no need to worry yourself about it,” he replied in an off-handed manner.

“Nothing that concerns me?! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, mate, but I almost just lost my head back there. I think I deserve some kind of explanation,” he implored.

Druig closed his eyes and pulled his head back, letting out a long sigh of reluctance. He was over reacting, he knew that very well, but going from living independently of Eternals for 500 years in the tranquil rainforest to being trapped to the confines of the Domo with his sister, two random strangers, and his…Makkari, he was finding it difficult to adapt to his change in circumstance. Especially because of the newcomers. He was definitely being too hard on them, even if he didn’t really trust them or their motives in assisting them in rescuing the others. He should cut them some slack.

“Come on. I need to know what’s going on here? How can we help, if you don’t?”

Druig huffed out a sigh of exasperation. “Help? From you and your alcoholic elf? I don’t think so, bud.”

“Well, we won’t know until we try, now, will we?” Eros countered, his tone rather condescending and a bit cocky, like he was talking to some insolent child, “You know, I’ve seen a lot on my travels around the universe, so I’m almost certain I’ll be able to shed some light on whatever is going on here, if you’d just tell me.”

“Fine. Okay. I suppose we owe you that much,” Druig yielded, hoping to avoid any more talk of Eros’ space escapades. “There’s no helping it though,” he added, a hint of resignation leaking into his voice. He would do anything to help his sister with her illness, but in 500 years neither Ajak or Phastos or anyone could come up with a cure for Thena’s affliction short of wiping all her memories. At least as far as Druig knew. He pissed off to the middle of the jungle and wasn’t there for her or Gilgamesh throughout the ordeal. One of only two regrets he had about that night in Tenochtitlan.

“Thena, she’s…not well, and hasn’t been for a while. Ajak said it was Mahd Wy’ry.”

“Mahd Wy’ry? But I thought…are you sure?” Eros enquired, concern dripping from his voice.

Druig wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure about anything anymore. And the fact that they were relying on Ajak’s word; the same Ajak who had lied to them for so long? He had his doubts it was the truth, but he didn’t want to disclose anymore of their family’s history to the outsider than he felt he had to, and so he simply nodded once in reply.

“We found out 500 years later what that truly meant; that her memory wasn’t completely wiped after our last mission on Centuri-Six, and that Mahd Wy’ry was a malfunction of our synthetic brains, fracturing under the weight of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of years’ worth of memories.”

Eros nodded, brows furrowed in quiet reflection, urging Druig to continue. He did so with some reluctance, dropping whatever trinket of Makkari’s he had in his hand onto a nearby table unaffected by the ruckus and leaning against it, arms folded.

“Ajak said the only cure was to completely wipe her memory, and have her start over fresh, but in doing so she would lose everything that made her, her. Most of us agreed that we didn’t want that. Gilgamesh stepped up to take care of her and they moved to an isolated area of the planet where Thena’s episodes wouldn’t result in any accidents. He was the only one capable of calming her when she was like that, and now that he’s gone-”

Druig’s glaze fell from Eros to an unremarkable spot on the floor before him, and he swallowed hard. Gilgamesh. The one of very few in his family that he actually considered his brother is dead, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk about that. Not yet.

He was terrified to acknowledge it aloud and have his fears confirmed, but it seemed to him that ever since Gilgamesh’s death, Thena’s bouts of Mahd Wy’ry had become more frequent. She appeared fine for a time back at Ajak’s old farm house, but since boarding the Domo four weeks ago, he had caught her secretly fighting off episodes on a number of occasions before today’s blow-up, quietly repeating a mantra under her breath that Druig couldn’t quite catch for his vantage point. Thena needed Gilgamesh now more than ever as they prepared to challenge Arishem, a literal God and their creator, but instead she was stuck with him and Makkari who can only look on helplessly, at a loss of what to do. He grew frustrated with the hopelessness of the situation, causing him yet again to direct it at the undeserving Eros.

“So, tell me, Casanova, what can you do to help the situation?” Druig sneered, snapping his eyes back to the pensive eternal in front of him.

Eros gradually smiled knowingly, choosing to ignore the dig. “The answer is obvious, is it not?” he drawled. “I can’t do anything. You on the other hand? There is so much that you can do.”

Druig’s brow lowered and his lips pulled into a thin line in annoyance. What was it with eternals asking the impossible of him? First, Sersi asking him to mind control a celestial to sleep, and now this?! He could barely keep a hold of Thena back there. It just shows how little they understood him and his powers. Though he’s not surprised given the tight leash Ajak had on him. Some of his family had probably never even seen him use his powers.

“Listen, I do not have that kind of power,” Druig said, echoing his response to Sersi’s request all those weeks ago.

“Oh, my dear Druig. You don’t know, do you? The power an eternal holds. The power that you hold.” A playful grin broke out across Eros’ face, “you Earth eternals never fail to amuse me.”

Chapter Text

Druig slowly made his way toward Thena’s room to check in with her and Makkari, his conversation with Eros weighing heavy on his mind. It was a lot to take in, and Druig wasn’t entirely sure whether to believe the silver-tongued eternal or not.

“Oh, my dear Druig. You don’t know, do you? The power an eternal holds. The power that you hold.” A playful grin broke out across Eros’ face, “you earth eternals never fail to amuse me.”  

Druig considered Eros’ with a critical eye. It was clear he knew something Druig didn’t, and he really didn’t like where this conversation was going. He’d had enough bombshells thrown at him as of late. Ajak and Gilgamesh’s deaths, Ikaris’ betrayal, and the battle to prevent Tiamut from hatching from the earth, destroying everything they had helped protect for thousands of years; it was a lot to take in.  

A feeling of uneasiness befell him.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve met, is it?”

Eros’ smile grew wider.

“No,” Eros chuckled, shaking his head, “I can assure you, we haven’t met before. Not in my current life time anyway.”

Druig would be annoyed if he wasn’t so confused. If they had never met, then how could Eros know anything about him and his family. If only he would just get to the point and save Druig the headache he could feel coming on. His confusion must have been apparent as Eros continued.

“You and the rest of your team amassed quite the reputation from your time on Centuri Six. You in particular achieved an impressive degree of notoriety, Druig of Nightmares.”

“…nightmares?” Druig muttered, slightly bemused.

If he wasn’t confused before, he most definitely was now. He was hesitant to ask Eros to elaborate because he was inclined to be sceptical of anything that came out of the charmer’s mouth. He thought better of straight up dismissing him though just in case, and instead nodded for him to continue.

“Let me ask you this,” Eros quizzed with an eyebrow raised expectantly, “what do you think your powers are exactly?”

“Mind-control,” Druig stated dryly, not missing a beat.

To Druig’s pleasure, he swore he saw a vein in Eros’ forehead twitch. However, his face maintained its air of calm and playfulness.  

“Explain it to me like I don’t know what mind control is.”

“I take over a person’s nervous system and make them do whatever it is I want them to do, like puppets.”

“Anything else?”

“No. I just put people to sleep, or make them run out of harm’s way when a deviant attacks, or slap themselves in the face for my own amusement.”

Eros looked a little put off at his admittance to gross misuse of his power, but quickly recovered.

“Trust me, from what I’ve heard, you can do a lot more than that. They didn’t call you Druig of Nightmares for nothing, you know. Mind control is just one of several areas of expertise for you. You got that nickname from your propensity to make those who crossed you relive their past trauma or worst fears.”

Druig was perturbed. He would never. Or would he? He had to admit that his past actions on earth were morally grey at best. If he knew he had such a power, would he have used it in such a way? He could picture himself using it on Ikaris for sure after the stunt he pulled, but where would he draw the line? If he is to believe what Eros is saying, then it’s obvious didn’t have a line, and that scared him a little.

He tried to put the moral dilemma to the side and focus on what was most important. This was supposed to be about helping Thena.

“What has any of that got to do with our current situation? What can I do? I don’t see how nightmares are supposed to help.”  

“It means you have access to a person’s memories. If you can do that, maybe you can erase memories, too,” Eros supplied, “You said Mahd Wy’ry is the result of a failed memory wipe between missions, right?”

“No.”

“No what? No, you didn’t say that?”

“No, I won’t do it.”

“Her memory has been wiped thousands of times before. What’s one more?” Eros retorted rather dismissively, “Our lives, the mission…not to mention your friend’s lives are all at stake here. I know it’s not ideal, but we’re out of options. She’s becoming more unstable by the day, even I can see that and I’ve been here all of five minutes.”

“I said no! Thena has made it perfectly clear she wants to hold on to what she has left, and I intend to honour that.”

Eros laughed good-humouredly at that which Druig found odd given the heaviness of the conversation.

“You’re not at all how I imagined. The stories would have me believe you cold-hearted, but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth,” Eros’ demeanour grew serious again, “but that means you’ll have your work cut out for you.”

“So, there is another way?”

“Possibly. We don’t really have the time, and I’m not sure it’s something that can be done, but if in the past you could locate a memory or someone’s greatest fear and use it against them, then it stands to reason that you could filter through her mind and erase only the memories from the previous mission.”  

Druig agreed that it made sense. He didn’t want to, but he felt a tiny flame of hope creeping its way into his heart.

“The problem is…,” Eros continued, “who knows how long it could take. There could be thousands of years’ worth of memories to go through. And neither of the two of us knows what we’re doing.”

Druig found himself at Thena’s door, snapping him out of his thoughts, and back to the present. He wasn’t sure how long he’d stood there, his hand poised to knock, but it must have been a touch longer than normal, as the door swung open before he could to reveal a concerned looking Makkari.

“Is everything okay? I felt you coming but you didn’t come in,” she enquired, her brow furrowed.

“It’s nothing,” Druig assured her, choosing only to sign so as not to disturb Thena, “just Eros winding me up. You know, the usual.”

She didn’t look like she bought it, so Druig gave her what he thought was a convincing smile, but he knew it didn’t make it to his eyes when he saw Makkari’s brow further crease.

He decided a quick change of subject was in order.

“How’s the patient doing?”

“She’s still out for the count, but she looks peaceful enough,” Makkari replied after a beat, seeming to decide to drop the subject for now. He could see how exhausted she was. He was sure she hadn’t been sleeping well, if the dark circles were anything to go by. She spent all her time worrying about them and not enough about herself. Very Makkari. It brought a tender smile to his lips.

She turned to make her way back to the little nook she had made from some blankets Druig recognised as hers at the foot of Thena’s bed, no doubt to return to pick up where she had left off in the ancient worn and torn manuscript resting among the plethora of pillows and cushions.

Druig grabbed her hand to stop her and get her attention.

“How about you go get some rest?” he signed with one hand, pulling her closer with the other to plant a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll stay with Thena for bit.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think I could, knowing what she’s going through right now. I want to be there for her. We’ve all been apart for so long.”

Druig felt a twang of guilt at that. He felt it was his fault they all went their separate ways in the first place. He had thought that after he had left, they would continue on as a group together.

“I know you’re worried, but you need to rest. We’ll all be here when you wake up. I promise,” he signed, squeezing her hand. “You can even take my room,” he added, winking flirtatiously.

Makkari studied him for a moment, looking deep into his eyes, searching for what exactly, Druig didn’t know. Finally, a mischievous grin appeared on her face.

“Or, I could stay here with you and Thena where you can make sure I rest. My blankets are here anyway,” she countered, tilting her chin up in challenge.

The nest she’d made on the floor didn’t look all that comfortable to Druig, but he knew this was as good as it was going to get. As long as she slept, he would agree to it.

“Deal,” he murmured, mimicking her head tilt.

Her face lit up at that, masking the signs of exhaustion briefly.

Makkari made herself comfortable in the blanket pile, while Druig dragged an old wooden chair from the corner of the room to the foot of Thena’s bedside so he could keep an eye on them both. They conversed for a little while longer, but it wasn’t long before Makkari succumbed to sleep, and Druig was left once again with his thoughts.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been staring blankly at a frayed hem on Thena’s blanket while mulling over his earlier conversation with Eros, but judging from the pain in his lower back caused by the unforgiving hardness of the aged wood of the chair, it must have been at least an hour. Movement from the bed had been what pulled him back to the present. He looked up to see Thena begin to stir. It was the first time she’d moved since he’d arrived in the room. He didn’t mean to put her under for so long, but the episode must have really done a number on her.

He waited quietly in case she was just turning over. Not ten seconds later, she cracked open an eye and quickly surveyed the room, her eyes finally resting on Druig with a questioning raise of her eyebrow. Of course, she’d be disorientated.

“Mornin’ sunshine,” he joked, trying to lighten his mood. “You gave Eros and Pip a bit of a scare back there.”

“Please, tell me no one is injured,” she responded with an almost undetectable grimace, bracing herself for the worst. After suffering through Mahd Wy’ry for five hundred years, she knew the drill. He wonders when she stopped asking what happened or how she got to be in her bed suddenly. He felt for her. He really did.

“All good, so don’t worry. How’re you feeling?”

All he got was a short, noncommittal grunt of affirmation that she’d heard him, as she sat up and tried to get her bearings. She absentmindedly ran a hand through her hair, not looking at him. She kept her eyes to the bare, black marble-like wall over his shoulder on the other side of the room when she spoke again.

“And what are you doing here?” she asked flatly.

It wasn’t said in hostility. If anything, she sounded mildly confused to find him here with her. He can’t blame her for that really. He kind of had a reputation of being absent, even before the incident in Tenochtitlan.

“Well, you would’ve had Makkari’s beautiful face to wake up to if I hadn’t convinced her to catch up on some sleep while she could,” he quipped, inclining his head towards the tangle of blankets and limbs sprawled at the foot of the bed. Thena leaned forward to get a better view of the mess on the floor.

“She refused to leave you, and this was the comprise,” he explained, and a gentle smile crept across his sister’s usually impassive face.

He figured now was as good of a time as any to broach the issue at hand, he just had to figure out the right words. However, surprisingly, he didn’t have to. Thena beat him to it.

“This can’t keep happening,” she stated, her voice cracking into a whisper. She returned her gaze to him. “It’s…it’s been getting worse. Ever since Gil-.”

Her voice caught in her throat, and Druig could see the tell-tale signs of unshed tears glistening in the dim light next to the bed.

Druig nodded in understanding.

“I know. It’ll be okay. We’ll figure something out.”

“Figure something out?” she responded harshly, while somehow maintaining an air of coolness, “Spare me. We’ve spent five hundred years trying to figure something out. There is simply nothing that can be done.”

“Eros reckons I can do something,” Druig mentions tentatively, “’Says I can slip into your mind and erase whatever memories are triggering your Mahd Wy’ry.” Druig lets out a short, humourless laugh. “Stupid, right?”

Thena stilled. An expression of something like fear flickered onto her face, and she shook her head in defiance.

“No. No, you absolutely cannot do that.”

He should have known. No one liked the prospect of him poking about in their heads, and taking control. Of all his family’s power sets, his was feared the most. They tried to play it off to spare him the upset, but they weren’t as good at acting as they thought, not even Kingo the movie star. He had to admit it still hurt.

“I know you don’t trust me, and I haven’t really given you reason to-,” he started, before being interrupted.

“No, it is not that. Of course, I trust you,” she quickly rectified, her voice softening. “I suppose I never did thank you for standing up for me back in Tenochtitlan or for staying with me when Gilgamesh went to Fiji.”

Druig shook his head. There wasn’t any need to thank him for merely doing the right thing, and though initially reluctant, he had quite enjoyed the trip away from the Amazon. He smiled fondly at the memory.

“Then, what’s the problem?” he asked, shrugging off her gratitude. He wanting to move on from the awkwardness it made him feel.

Her gaze shifted away from him again, deep in thought. It was a moment before she spoke.

“It is something we have considered before,” she admitted, and Druig raised a brow in mild surprise.

“Gilgamesh and I went to South Dakota to visit Ajak about a hundred or so years ago to consult her about my condition. I felt like I was becoming too much of a burden on Gilgamesh. Living in isolation from the world was difficult for him. He is- was” she quickly corrected, “a social creature. Not at all like us,” she said, catching Druig’s eyes and fighting an amused grin.

Druig huffed good naturedly in response. Isolation suited them, but Gil loved nothing more than social gatherings. He was the life and soul of the party without being an intolerable attention seeker like Kingo, and he was the main reason Druig agreed to participate in any such event. More than once, he was co-erst into a drinking competition by Gil that he knew he would inevitably lose, but he would do it anyway because Gil was someone Druig enjoyed being around. No one cooked a feast like Gil, and Druig suspected he did it not for the love of cooking, but rather as an excuse for everyone to come together as a family and for the banter that came with it. Druig often claimed he was only there for the food, but he hoped Gil knew he enjoyed his company just as much as he did his food.

“Anyway, long story short,” Thena continued, “Gilgamesh had the idea that because Mahd Wy’ry was a sickness of the mind, maybe you could somehow help. But when he brought it up to Ajak, she would not hear of it and she forbade us from getting you involved.”

Druig’s face darkened. So, Eros was right after all. There was something he could do. Why else would Ajak forbid his involvement.

“Ajak,” he sneered. She was always in the way. Keeping him from helping random humans was one thing, but his own family? He voiced as much to Thena and added, “She’s gone now, so there’s nothing holding us back. It’s worth a try at least, isn’t it? What harm could it do?”

“No,” came her firm reply, a slight hint of desperation in her voice.

This was very out of character for her. It was rare that she was ever phased by anything. This was only the third time he’d seen her lose her composure in seven thousand years. She was the very definition of cool, calm, and collected. He wondered what could possibly have her so on edge. Maybe losing Gil had a larger effect on her than Druig had imagined.

She was hesitant to continue when Druig gestured for her to explain herself. It was almost as if she was holding something back or choosing her next words carefully. He’d had enough of being useless and his patience was running thinner by the minute.

“I really don’t see what the problem is,” he insisted. “I’ll just take a look at first. I promise, I won’t mess with anything. Let’s just see what we’re up against.”

“NO!” Thena practically yelled, echoing around the sparsely decorated room.

He noticed her hands were shaking slightly, before she grabbed at the sheets around her to mask it. Druig looked away from her intense gaze over his shoulder to check on Makkari and allow Thena the time to right herself. Makkari’s breathing remained even. Thankfully the vibrations of Thena’s booming voice weren’t enough to disturb the sleeping eternal. Good. He was getting that feeling yet again that this conversation was going to be unpleasant at best, and he wanted to spare her from that if he could.

He turned his attention back to his sister. She seemed to have recovered from her outburst.

“We cannot do this,” she pleaded, “I’m begging you.”

“Just tell me why,” he coaxed softly. He thought briefly of reaching out to hold her hand and comfort her, but thought better of it. They didn’t really have that kind of relationship.

“Ajak said…,” Thena started, voice trailing. She cleared her throat and tried again, holding his gaze with forlorn eyes.

“Ajak told us that if you tried to cure me of Mahd Wy’ry by using your powers, there would be a high risk of you contracting it yourself. And no sentient being on earth would survive that.”

Chapter Text

“Ajak lies.”

That’s all he could think of to say, but it wasn’t said with any confidence. It was more like a force of habit, a knee-jerk reaction. He was always suspicious of Ajak’s reasoning. A mouth-piece for Arishem, she would say anything to keep them in line and keep them complaisant. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think she wouldn’t have wanted Druig in Thena’s head where he could potentially uncover the truth and jeopardize Arishem’s plan, and so she concocted the story to prevent Thena and Gil from pursuing his help. Yet, at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel a prickle of doubt. What if this time she wasn’t lying, and Druig’s hard-headedness landed him in such hot water that it costed him his family’s lives? He couldn’t bear the thought.

From the conflicted look on Thena’s face, similar thoughts were warring in her mind too. All the while though, the fear of the latter outcome never left her eyes.

“That maybe so,” Thena finally responded, “but is that really a risk we can afford to take?”

“Look, we don’t have a lot of options here, Thena,” Druig sighed, “I hate to say it, but your condition is getting worse. There are no threats here, and yet, your Mahd Wy’ry was triggered somehow. The way I see it, we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t, so we might as well try.”

Thena looked down at her hands and nodded.

“I know. Gil noticed it, too. When the others came to get us after Ajak’s death, just them being there was enough to trigger it.”

Whether it was his intuition or Thena’s metal state causing her to project her emotions he didn’t know, but he had a strong feeling that she would rather take herself out of the equation for the remainder of the mission than to take a chance.

“We need you with us, Thena. We can’t do this without you,” he pleaded softly, deciding to ignore their unspoken agreement about personal space by gently squeezing her hand in what he hoped was a comforting manner, “You’re my sister and I want to help you, not just for the sake of the mission and our family, but for you. I know I can’t promise anything, but we have to try. Please, let me try.”

No one would describe Druig as having puppy-dog eyes, but he must have possessed something close to them when it came to Thena because when he asked something of her like this, she usually folded. He didn’t expect it to be as easy this time around though.

They sat in silence for a while as he let her mull it over, the only noise to disturb it coming from a shift in Makkari’s breathing as she settled with her back to them in her nest of blankets. He didn’t want to push her too hard because in the end it was her body and her decision. Not that Thena was the type to be forced into anything, but still, she seemed more fragile as of late and less like the goddess of war he knew she was.

“And what about Makkari?” she finally spoke up, her eyes lifting to take in the tangle of blankets sleeping peacefully below. “Shouldn’t she get a say in all this?”

Druig’s face grew solemn at thought of how all this would affect Makkari. They had only just reunited after five centuries apart, and now he had made another potentially life-altering decision without consulting her that would no doubt result in her getting hurt yet again. Even so, Thena was their sister. It was like Tenochtitlan all over again, except this time, he would be turning his back on his family if he didn’t do something to help her. If what Ajak told Thena came to pass, he knew what he would be asking from Makkari would be unthinkable, but it had to be done for the family.

“I think we need to gather everyone together and come up with a plan. I’ll talk to Makkari about it later,” he answered, dodging the question. “For now, let’s just get some rest, okay?” he said as he patted the back of her hand, and rose from the ancient, creaking wood chair to take his leave.

“Fine. We’ll talk about it in the morning,” Thena agreed firmly, “but know that I don’t like this. Not one bit. We should make sure that there truly are no other options before resorting to this.” Druig simply smiled and nodded, and went to wake Makkari to move her back to his room and off the cold, hard floor of Thena’s bedroom.

“Let her stay,” Thena suddenly said softly. Druig thought it strange for Thena, a woman who valued her alone time, to make such a request, but caved when she followed it up with, “I could use the company.”

Thena had had a rough time of it recently compared to the rest of them, so he chalked it up to that and let it go. He took a final glance back at Makkari before he left, curled into a ball, blanket wrapped tightly around her with only the crown of her head peeking above it. His heart ached knowing the potential outcome of this situation. He loved her so much more than he could ever adequately verbalize, and he feared that if Ajak was indeed right, then their time together would be fleeting; again, because of him. She didn’t deserve this, and he didn’t deserve her.

“G’night,” he said lowly, turning away from them both to make his way to the door.

“Goodnight, Druig,” Thena called after him. He could have sworn he’d heard a faint, “and I’m sorry,” just as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

The next morning, Druig was on his hands and knees, his head buried deep into the kitchen cabinets, searching high and low for the coveted jar of instant coffee he’d hidden to keep him functioning that had now miraculously gone missing. They were running low, and it had been a long, sleepless night for him. His conversations with Eros and Thena the previous day left him with a lot of thinking to do and they plagued his mind all night. Not to mention the whole Makkari situation. How was he supposed to break that kind of news to her? He was reminded of their reunion on the beach after the failed emergence. The pain and grief that poured from her very soul when Ikaris blasted him into the volcano, and the pure relief that engulfed her at the sight of his return; he just couldn’t imagine putting her through anything like that again. And yet here he was-

Suddenly, Druig felt a sharp kick to his rear, jarring him from any further thought on the matter and causing him to wallop his head off the underside of the shelf his head was crammed under.

“Bollocks!” he yelled at the sharp pain as he gripped the bashed area of his cranium where a pretty nasty bruise was sure to form. Behind him he could hear Pip howling with laughter. He straightened and turned in the direction of the laughter to see that the little pipsqueak was doubled over, slapping his knee with one hand and holding his open tankard ever so carefully in the other so as not to spill a drop of his precious brew.

“Oh, you little shite!” Druig fumed as he ominously stepped forward and pulled his face into the most threatening glare he could muster, “You’re going to pay for that. Big time!”

Pip started backing up, arms up in defense and gasping for air through his fit of laughter.

“Wait…wait…,” he wheezed, trying to get the words out. Druig stopped his advance on Pip, but the death glare continued at an increased intensity, sobering Pip a little in his hysteria.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shove you in the nearest airlock and eject you in the vacuum of space.”

“I can do you one better, and give you two,” he said, smugly when he’d sufficiently recovered his composure. “First, because I can just teleport back in.” At that, Druig resumed his advance on the troll much faster than before. Slight panic set in on Pip as he hit the far wall of the kitchen. He quickly teleported to a safe distance behind Druig to buy more time, but Druig had anticipated this and had already turned to face him before he could reappear.

“The second reason,” he added quickly, remaining jovial in tone, but on guard in case Druig tried to get the jump on him again, “is because I know where the coffee is. That’s what you’re looking for, right?”

Druig froze and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the troll in front of him.

“It wasn’t me; I swear! It was Eros,” he clarified hastily. Druig rolled his eyes at how quick he was to give up his so-called friend. “If you agree to forget what just happened, I’ll tell you where it is,” the troll bargained, raising an eyebrow. “Eh? What do you say?”

Druig would much rather go with his initial plan of dumping his annoying troll-ass in space, but if he wanted to get through the upcoming meeting, he needed to get his hands on that coffee. Reluctantly, he agreed to the troll’s terms.

“Fine, but pull that shit again and you’re done for, leprechaun,” he warned, threateningly.

“Fridge, bottom shelf, behind the tub of green goop of unknown origin,” Pip’s mischievous grin widened like the Cheshire Cat, pleased to have managed to kick Druig and get away with it.

Sure enough, there it was. Druig chose to ignore Pip’s commentary while he prepared his beloved coffee, black with five sugars. Why the troublesome troll felt the need to voice every thought that went through his head, Druig didn’t know, but what he did know was that Eros must have the patience of a saint.

“What does a guy have to do around here to get some decent grub? Is this any way to treat an honored guest aboard your ship? …When was the last time someone cleaned out this fridge? I could have sworn I saw that green goop move earlier. …Five sugars!? How do you still have teeth in your head, kid?”

On and on he went, until finally Druig had had enough.

“Why don’t you go make yourself useful and gather the others to meet in the lab in ten,” Druig said sharply, “before I make you accidentally drop that beer of yours, yeah?”

Pip looked scandalized and wrapped a protective arm around his precious tankard. Without another word to Druig, he made his way out of the kitchen grumbling lowly under his breath, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to glare daggers at Druig. In return, Druig smirked around the lip of his coffee mug as he took a sip and winked at the disgruntled troll.

Exactly ten minutes later, Druig found everyone assembled in the lab, including Pip who was still giving Druig major side-eye, clearly not forgiving him for threatening the life of his prized brew. Thena and Makkari were sat by the counter, waiting. He thought Thena looked a little better than she did last night, but Makkari somehow looked more tired and withdrawn than he’d ever seen her. He knew sleeping on the floor was a bad idea. He briefly made eye-contact with her, only for her to immediately look away. He tried not to feel too disheartened by it, she was probably just exhausted. Eros and Pip were sat opposite them, deep in quiet discussion that Druig couldn’t really hear, but it all stopped soon after he entered as all eyes turned to him expectantly.

“So, let me guess,” Eros piped up when Druig didn’t say anything, “does this impromptu meeting have anything to do with what happened yesterday?”

“As you know,” Druig replied addressing everyone, ignoring Eros’ question and signing along to make sure Makkari knew exactly what was going on, “Thena’s Mahd Wy’ry episodes are escalading. They are being triggered here, where there are no usual triggers; no gunshots, no war, no violence. I think we can all agree that our current main priority is Thena’s well-being and finding a suitable solution.”

He paused to evaluate their response. Everyone nodded in agreement, he noted some were more hesitant than others. Makkari in particular seemed on edge. Her mouth was pulled in a tight line and her arms were crossed. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was pissed about something, but figured it was more to do with her recent restless sleep. He made a metal note to talk with her about it later. He took their silence as a sign to continue and catch everyone up to speed on the previous night’s revelations.

“Eros has brought it to my attention that there may be something I can do to help. He has heard that in the past I’ve had the ability to access and manipulate the memories of others. If that’s true, then maybe I can identify the memories that are causing Thena’s Mahd Wy’ry and erase them, leaving the memories of her current life intact.”

“Great! We get to keep our heads at least long enough to get to the World Forge. What are we waiting for?” Pip announced, raising his drink in salute and taking a slug, earning him a harsh nudge from Eros. “What? I was kidding!”

“Well,” Druig continued, “it may not be so simple. For one, I’ve never tried anything like this before. It may not even work. There are so many variables to consider. We need to be ready, for anything.”

He accidentally met Thena’s expectant gaze as he took in the room, but before he could dwell on it, Eros cut in.

“I’m not sure there’s much I can do, but I can try take some of the load off you by using my powers to keep Thena comfortable during the process. It may offset the chances of inducing another episode,” Eros offered. “If that’s alright with you, of course,” he asked Thena directly, turning up the charm with a dazzling smile.

Thena looked at each of them fleetingly before giving her consent in the form of a curt thank you. Eros’ senseless flirting was clearly wearing on her last nerve.

Druig nodded his thanks to Eros and continued, “We need a game plan, and everyone will have a role to play-”

He never got to finish as Makkari suddenly bolted from her seat next to Thena to the center of the room in front of him, her face dark and eyes clouded in anger; anger that was apparently meant for Druig as she turned to face him, singing sharply in frustration. Eros and Pip seemed taken back by the out-burst, but Thena, curiously, looked as though she’d expected it.

“What’s going on? What did she say?” Pip demanded, sitting forward in his seat, fully invested in the meeting now that it took an entertaining turn at Druig’s expense. Eros also seemed lost and looked to Thena for translation.

“Druig has so far failed to mention a major complication in your plan, Eros. To both you and Makkari,” Thena supplied matter-of-factly, “According to Ajak, there’s a high risk of him developing Mahd Wy’ry if he pokes around in here,” she elaborated, tapping her temple.

“You told her?” Druig directed at Thena. He wasn’t angry, it was as much her right to tell her as his, but he couldn’t help but feel slightly betrayed.

“She didn’t have to. I was there. I woke soon after Thena did, you just didn’t notice.”

From where he sat that night, facing away from where Makkari slept, he wouldn’t have been aware of her state, but Thena, on the other hand, most definitely would have. He was sure she’d known Makkari had been eavesdropping. That would explain her sudden insistence that Makkari spend the night in her room, something she’d never asked of anyone before. It dawned on him then that it wasn’t for her own sake, it was for Makkari’s.

“Makkari, I’m sorry, I was going to tell you…,” was all Druig managed to get out, trailing off at the look of hurt behind the anger now evident on her beautiful face. There was nothing he could say now to make things better. This wasn’t how he’d wanted it to go. He’d anticipated it to be a difficult conversation and felt he needed to break it to her gently. He thought he’d have more time to do so after they had some kind of plan in place. He didn’t mean to withhold the information. He was loathe to admit it but he was scared, and needed time to build up to it.

“When? When were you going to tell me?”

“The timing just wasn’t right…”

“Bullshit! Did you think I’d try and stop you? Is that why? I thought you knew me better than that.”

“Um, I hate to break up the lovers spat, I really do, but don’t we have bigger things to worry about right now?” Pip interjected loudly, gaining their attention. “I don’t like the idea of him being out of control. He’s already threatened me multiple times today!”

“We’ll talk about this later,” Makkari signed so only Druig could see, then she returned to her spot next to Thena, who looked awfully guilty even though Druig felt she had no reason to be.

“Okay, so, back to the plan. What you’re saying is, there’s a chance that Druig might somehow get Mahd Wy’ry just from trying to erase Thena’s old memories?” Eros asked slowly, brows furrowed deep in thought processing the new development in the situation.

“You don’t think it’s true?” Druig enquired, taking Eros’ manner of questioning as disbelief. He’d never admit it to Eros for fear of giving him an unwanted ego boost, but he felt some relief at having someone validate his suspicions.

“I mean, I can’t say for sure because I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before,” he started, “but if we take your theory on what Mahd Wy’ry is as fact, then it doesn’t make a lot of sense. It shouldn’t trigger anything unless Druig’s memory wasn’t wiped properly either.”

“So, Ajak did lie?”

“That, or incomplete memory wipes aren’t as uncommon as we think and Ajak knew that,” Thena postulated, still not convinced. “It’s not outside the realm of possibility. Arishem proved himself imperfect when he created the Deviants, this could be another oversight on his part. A flaw in his grand design, one that only Ajak of all of us would know of, having never had her memory wiped.”

“I wonder, in our million years of service, how many times has one of us had Mahd Wy’ry?” Makkari wondered, struggling to wrap her mind around everything.

The room grew silent for a time as they ruminated on that thought.

“It doesn’t matter,” Druig interjected. “Whether I can get Mahd Wy’ry or not, it doesn’t change anything. It just means we have to be on guard and watch for signs in case I do somehow get it.”

“Druig, it’s not as simple as that, and you know it,” Thena admonished. “It’s one thing for me to have Mahd Wy’ry and somehow manage to live with it, but if you get it…”

She didn’t have to finish the thought out loud, Druig knew what she was implying from their earlier conversation on the matter, and realization dawned on the newcomers almost instantly. Makkari’s expression remained pained, but was absent of shock. So, she’d already came to the same conclusion.

“You’re going to have to kill me, I know,” he stated, his voice low and void of any noticeable emotion.

He knew that was a likely outcome the minute Thena told him what Ajak said. Having Mahd Wy’ry with his powers meant no being in an 8,000-mile radius was safe from instant death. The last thing he wanted was to hurt his family, so killing him at the first sign of him contracting Mahd Wy’ry was a necessary precaution. Such a bleak outcome didn’t change anything about his decision in the end. It’s not that he didn’t value his life; he did. He quite enjoyed his time on earth for the most part, and he was eternally grateful to have been able to spend the majority of that time with someone as wonderful and breathtakingly beautiful as Makkari, accompanying her on mad adventures and the occasional heist. He was also confident that Makkari and most of his family valued him too. He was tethered in life and had formed strong emotional bonds with earth, its people, and his fellow eternals. He was happy; happier than he had been in a long time now that he had reunited with his family.

However, that didn’t change the fact that Druig had always been a man of logic. And though he would admit emotion occasionally won out, as a thinker, his first response to any problem set in front of him was to consider the bigger picture and analyse all probable outcomes to ensure the best chance at success. He had come to the conclusion that in order to even stand a chance at infiltrating the World Forge and retrieving the remainder of his family from Arishem’s clutches, Thena was indispensable. They were going to have a massive fight on their hands, and would need her strength and power to see them through. On the other hand, Eros’ powers were similar enough to Druig’s to not need his participation; they could make do without him if it came down to it.

The silence lay thick in the air. No one spoke a word. Druig reluctantly tore his eyes from the floor at his feet to take in Makkari. He wasn’t mentally prepared for what he saw. She looked as close to being sick as he’d ever seen an eternal. Her usually radiant brown skin had paled, and tears began to glisten in her panicked eyes. She appeared much smaller and more broken than he had ever seen her, and wondered if this was how she was the moment she saw Ikaris blast him into the ground, before she tore into him with all the power she possessed. He wished she didn’t have to experience anything like that again. He’d promised her, like a fool, and now here they were mere weeks later.

“The likelihood of things coming to something as drastic as that are slim,” he said confidently, catching Makkari’s eye and trying to instill that same confidence in her. “I’m with Eros in thinking what Ajak said doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

“So, what does everyone think? Should we risk it?” Eros asked, looking for some kind of consensus among the confounded faces before him.

Makkari still looked more than a little shellshocked, eyes distant, and Thena’s mouth remained firmly pressed into a thin line, still deep in thought about how best to proceed. Even Pip looked unsure what to say, a first for the mouthy troll. Although Druig was willing to bet that his hesitancy was more to do with him weighing up his odds of survival in either situation rather than any real concern for Druig’s well-being.

“We don’t have to make a decision on the matter right now,” Thena eventually decided. “There’s much to consider now that everyone has all the information.”

“No, but I’d like to have a decision and a plan in place by tomorrow if possible. The navigation system estimates we’re only a week out from the World Forge, so we need to act fast.”

Everyone, bar Makkari, seemed to visibly agree to Druig’s request.

“Are we done here?” Makkari cut in, signing sharply, the first thing she’d said since they’d mentioned his upcoming death at their hands. The look of despair had disappeared from her face and was now replaced with one of…anger? It was hard for Druig to place her exact emotion. He’d never seen her like this; her demeanour so far removed from her usual warmth. She had closed herself off to him for the first time in seven thousand years.

She didn’t wait for an answer to her question, and up and left out the lab door without even a glance Druig’s way, not even bothering to use her super speed.

Pip let out a long, exaggerated whistle. “Someone’s in the dog house,” he said gleefully, delighting in Druig’s misery.

* * *

With Makkari no longer present, the meeting had been adjourned for the rest of the day to allow everyone the time to sort through their feelings on the matter and decide upon the best course of action.

Druig busied himself with his regular duties around the Domo, choosing to give Makkari some time to herself to cool off and come to terms with everything. He did so while actively trying to avoid everyone else on board like the plague. His mind was filled with thoughts of Makkari and the hurt he’d cause her, not for the first time. Occasionally throughout the day, he had to pass by Makkari’s room and it took everything in his power not to barge in and embrace her tightly and try to fix everything. There was no fixing it though because, truly, it was a catch-22. Something had to be done for Thena, and it was either take a chance with Druig’s plan or do nothing at all, and that just wasn’t an option.

Eventually, dinner time rolled round. It was a grim affair and Makkari’s absence hung heavy in the air as Eros and Thena pushed food around on their plate in mournful silence. Even Pip looked as though he’d lost his monstrous appetite and the need to fill any silence with his unwelcome snark. It seemed as though the gravity of the situation had sunk in and they realised the only option if they want to help Thena and save their family’s lives was to risk his. It had finally sunk in for Druig himself, too, that this might just be it for him and he was wasting time sat at the dinner table with two random strangers they’ve known for less than a week when he could be with Makkari. He decided to stay for Thena and tried to maintain some semblance of normalcy for her. He could tell it was just as hard for her as it was for Makkari. More so, even. She no doubt felt at fault and Druig was going to make sure that was rectified before they did anything because this was just as much out of her control as anyone’s.

He waited a respectful amount of time before excusing himself to bring Makkari something to eat. She hadn’t left her room for ten plus hours and needed to keep up her strength. Although, Druig found himself wondering recently if ‘fancy robots’, as Kingo called them, needed such nutrients. Either way, it gave him an excuse to finally approach Makkari.

He knocked hard on her door, knowing the vibrations would alert her, and cracked open the door. The room was dim, lit only by a small antique lamp that emitted a soft, orange glow from the far corner of the room. Makkari was curled on her side, facing away from the door Druig entered though. She didn’t turn to face him, or show any sign that she was aware of his presence. Druig stepped further into the room and placed the leftover plate of dinner he’d brought carefully atop a large, wooden chest by the door that was miraculously not covered in trinkets like every other surface in the room, and slowly approached her bedside. He was surprised to find she wasn’t asleep. Her hollow eyes were focused intently at the wall in front of her, and he could see dried tear tracks on her cheek. Still, she didn’t react. Druig found he didn’t know what to say. There wasn’t much he could say without causing more hurt, so instead he kicked off his boots and shirt, and slipped in behind Makkari on the bed, pausing briefly in case she wanted to kick him out. When she gave no such indication, he took it as a sign that it was what she wanted, and he wrapped an arm firmly around her waist and held her tight.

They stayed like that for a while; not speaking and not moving. Just Druig holding Makkari like he wished he could do forever. After what felt like an eternity, she finally turned to face him.

“Makkari, I- ,” Druig started apologizing, but Makkari cut him off with a hand over his mouth.

“Stop. I don’t want to hear it,” she signed with the other hand. “Just tell me why you didn’t come to me and tell me everything upfront? We’re a couple, a team. You should have spoken to me about this from the beginning. It’s not your life your risking, it’s ours.”

Druig hesitated. She was absolutely right and he’d spent the best part of the day kicking himself over how he handled breaking the news to her. He only came to one conclusion.

“I was a coward. I’ve hurt you so much over the centuries and we’d only just found each other again,” Druig signed, finding it easier to say what needed to be said that way. He also didn’t trust his voice right now with the growing lump of emotion caught in his throat at Makkari’s words. “I know I’m asking too much of you this time, but you’re the only one fast enough to act if something goes wrong. I’m so sorry, a ghrá mo chroí,” he spoke the last part to use his hand to wipe the stray tears that flowed down her cheeks. “I guess, I wanted things to stay as they have been since the emergence a little longer.”

Makkari smiled sadly and nodded.

“There isn’t anything I can say to change your mind, is there?” she asked forlornly, knowing his answer already.

“Thena is our sister, and we need her. With Gil gone, I don’t think she can manage her Mahd Wy’ry like she used to. I want to do this for her and I won’t change my mind.”

“I know. If our roles were reversed, I would do the same. But, it doesn’t make it any easier. I just got you back,” she signed, then lightly traced the faint scar across his chest. After a moment she paused her gentle caress to sign again. “If you feel the need to run, tell me where, I’ll meet you there.”

It was a line he’d heard from her a thousand times over the millennia. He was always flighty when things became too much for him to bare any longer. Makkari, bless her heart, knew and understood this from the beginning, and loved him anyway, but she always feared that one day she’d wake up and he’d just be gone. It was the only thing she’d ever asked of him, to never leave her behind. And he never did. Even in Tenochtitlan, he made sure she’d know where to find him when she was ready. This time, however, the line took on a whole new meaning. One that Druig didn’t like one bit. The thought of Makkari following him if things went wrong made his stomach churn in despair and tears threaten to spill. Druig blinked back the emotion as best he could and lay back on the bed pulling Makkari with him, her head resting on his shoulder, and held her like he’d never let her go.

He couldn’t respond to her statement. He didn’t need to. Instead, once he could trust his voice, he began stroking her back and humming an old Irish folk song, a favorite of his from their time spent there. It was a hauntingly beautiful, but sorrowful melody, very fitting given their current predicament. Her hand moved to his throat to better feel the vibrations and she gave him a watery smile, recognising the song immediately. He’d hummed it to her on many occasions when they would just lay together after a particularly long and arduous day, neither one in the mood for talking. It worked a charm at getting Makkari’s mind to slow enough for her to fall into a fitful sleep. He hoped it would do the same tonight.

Once Makkari finally succumbed to sleep, and now that his earlier cockiness has dissipated in absence of an audience, Druig did something he’d never done in his long life as a god amongst humans. He prayed; to whom he wasn’t sure, but he prayed with all his heart that he was right about Ajak being a liar so that he could spare Makkari the pain and burden of being the only one of them fast enough to kill him should Mahd Wy’ry take hold of him.

Chapter Text

Makkari awoke with a gasp from a restless sleep the next morning to a feeling of utter dread. Her stomach was doing what could only be described as backflips and a cold sweat erupted on her skin. The remnants of the nightmare were hazy, slowly fading from her mind. She didn’t need or want to recall the dream; it was always the same. Druig, there one second with a cheeky smile on his lips, teasing her playfully and signing discreetly sweet-nothings that were only for her eyes, and then gone the next. The cause of his disappearance varied, but the feeling of raw fear and despair that lingered long after waking never changed. She’s not quite sure when she first started experiencing these vivid nightmares, it’s been so long, but she noticed they had become more frequent and intense since the emergence. The image of Ikaris’ bruising grip around Druig’s throat as he flew him far above the point of emergence and out of her reach flashed suddenly behind her closed eyelids forcing her to open them to shake off the unwanted memory. She couldn’t protect him then, and she can’t protect him now. Her hand automatically reached for him to confirm he was still with her. He wasn’t.

His side of the bed was cold to the touch, causing her anxiety to further spike. Her nerves were fried. Her logical mind knew he’d gone to talk to Thena like he said he would last night. She couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer. It was time to get Phastos’ lab ready for Druig and Thena, and go over the details once more in the hopes that if they were prepared for anything, all will go well. Makkari rubbed harshly at the sleep in her eyes, and pulled her heavy limbs from the warmth and safety of her bed.

The vibrations coming from the kitchen as she got close alerted her to the fact that Eros and Pip were up and active if the frantic bustling and banging of cupboard doors were anything to go by. Their voices were so low and rushed that she could hardly feel them talking at all. Though nauseated, her stomach grumbled, reminding her of her forgotten dinner last night. As much as she wanted to grab something small to get her through what was to come, she really couldn’t bring herself to enter the kitchen and engage in pleasantries with Eros and Pip. She didn’t want to get dragged into whatever strange goings on were happening in the kitchen or have to deal with either of the two’s eccentricities. She sped past the door so as to avoid detection, and made her way directly to the lab. She came to a halt before Druig who stood waiting with two steaming cups in hand, one of which was an obnoxiously large novelty mug with Kingo’s winking face and cheesy smile plastered on the side. For a moment, she felt the fleeting ghost of a smile as Druig took a sip from the ridiculous Kingo cup. She never could stay mad at him very long and he knew it. She’d already forgave him for his decision last night – but she knew the gnawing fear in her stomach wouldn’t subside until this was all over and her family were safe and well.

“’Morning. I know you don’t usually drink coffee, but I thought today of all days you could use it,” he smiled easily, as if it was just an ordinary day and not potentially the end of everything they had before it had even really begun. She lamented all the time they had wasted. He offered her the reasonably sized cup coffee in his outstretched hand.

She accepted it gratefully with a thank you and returned the smile as best she could through her worry.

“Enjoy it. It’s the last cup of coffee on the ship,” he stage-whispered behind his hand, his smile turning roguish and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Ah. So that explained the commotion in the kitchen and Druig’s ridiculously large coffee. Makkari couldn’t help but laugh, momentarily forgetting the weight in her heart at Druig’s continued antics. As annoying as Eros and Pip were to Druig, they were good for him. She hadn’t seen him happily get into this much mischief since before the Tenochtitlan incident. Still, she was glad she chose to forgo breakfast after all. It wasn’t worth dealing with the war-zone the kitchen likely was right now. A caffeine-deprived Eros ransacking the place for the very drink in her hand was probably a force to be reckoned with.

Makkari’s laughter died on her lips when she finally took in the room around her. The reality of the situation was like a gut punch. Everything was already laid out and ready to go. They didn’t need much, just some clear space and a comfortable set-up in case they were in it for the long-haul - Phastos’ gurney padded with blankets and cushions for Thena, and Makkari’s favorite reading chair, a soft and well-worn armchair, at the head of the gurney for Druig. If the gravity of things didn’t sink in before, they certainly did now. She felt her stomach do that strange flip again, and suddenly the coffee wasn’t such a good idea anymore. Even so, she took a mouthful of the warm beverage as her eyes flitted around the room.

“I see you’ve been busy,” she signed with an eyebrow raised, returning her gaze to the man before her, eyeing him carefully, and trying to commit to memory everything little thing about him in case of the worst. He looked bone-tired despite his good humor. The shadows on his face, stark against the paleness of his skin, made his distinctive features more severe than usual. But to Makkari, no one could compare to him.

“Yeah, I was up early and decided to go ahead and get everything set up. Best to keep busy, you know yourself…,” he answered off-handed, but Makkari could tell he was nervous, borderline scared now that the time had come. Understandable. She felt it too, rolling in waves under a fragile mask of togetherness. Because no matter what Eros and the others said, she believed Ajak wouldn’t have forbidden Druig from helping Thena without reason.

“We’re almost ready. Just one more thing…,” Druig said quietly, brow furrowed in regret and sadness, not quite meeting her eye. Makkari immediately knew why when Druig pulled a long, silver, intricately decorated dagger from his back pocket, flipping it so he was holding it by its pointed tip and offering it to Makkari. She recognized it as one of a twin set of knives Druig had custom-made by a renowned, but long forgotten Norse sword-smith many centuries ago that he always carried concealed on his person.

The blood ran cold in her veins. Synthetic or not, there was no other way to describe the fear, the sadness, the anger, the well of other heart wrenching emotions that came crashing over her in quick succession and ripped the pit in her stomach into a hollow, empty, echoing chasm of dread within her. Was this really happening?

Her shaking hand reached out to take the offered blade, before hesitating over it. She couldn’t bring herself to touch it. It would be too much. Too real.

“I’m sorry, Makkari,” Druig signed with his free hand, forcing Makkari to look up at the him and away from the offending weapon. “But it’s the only way if things go badly. You’re the only one fast enough to get to me in time.”

Hot tears streamed silently down her cheeks as she resolved to finally grasp it with a shaking hand on the hilt of the dagger. The weight of the small knife was heavy in her hand and on her heart, knowing that he was right – there was no other way.

***

Not an hour later, after a final run through of the plan, the five aboard the Domo found their positions. A nervous energy like electricity was buzzing between everyone in anticipation. Makkari spent most of the hour trying to remind herself that the burdenous dagger weighing her down was only for the worst-case scenario – a scenario that both Druig and Eros believed to be unlikely. Unfortunately for her, her mind unhelpfully supplied that it was still likely enough that it was necessary for her to remain in the room with the dagger at the ready at the first sign of trouble.

Her mind wondered to the day of the emergence unwittingly. She had no choice then but to watch on as Ikaris blasted Druig into the scorching earth to his death. It was agonizing believing he was truly gone. She let out all that pain and anger on Ikaris for daring to take away what was hers. She had never felt despair and loss like it before. She had felt so hopeless and powerless then – much like she did now. But it wasn’t quite the same this time. No, this time she was expected to kill her love by her own hand. Inconceivable! If what happened at the emergence has taught her anything, it’s that she would go to any lengths to keep him. If it meant the end of herself and the universe, then so be it. Call her selfish, but she refused to strike a dagger through his heart and break hers. She simply felt hopeless and powerless. She had to keep reminding herself that this was for Thena. It was the only thing keeping her from losing it completely.

She resigned herself to watching everything unfold and hoping for the best possible outcome as Druig and Thena got comfortable at their respective stations. Makkari and Eros took their positions by the lab door a respectable distance from the other two, but close enough for either of them to jump into action should the need arise.

“Thena, are you ready?” Druig asked.

Thena took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she sighed.

Druig looked to Eros who nodded, then he finally turned to Makkari. A range of emotions flooded her in that moment; the knowledge that whatever she did or said now could possibly be the last she would ever have with Druig. She had to make it count; make it so Druig understood. They had never said those three words to each other before. They never felt they had to, preferring to express their feelings through actions. So, it made it all the more impactful when she lifted her hands to speak what could be her final words to him. She deeply regretted not telling him before he fell at the hands of Ikaris. She wasn’t about to make the same mistake again.

“I love you. You’ve got this,” she signed, determined to maintain a strong façade for Druig. That’s what he needed; he needed her to be strong. Her misty eyes gave her away.

Druig’s smile was wistful. “I love you too. More than life itself.”

And with that, it began.

***

The time seemed to drag on, at least to Makkari, but it couldn’t have been too long because Pip hadn’t started whining yet. Eros cosied himself up close to her looking unbothered by the situation. But Makkari was observant. She could see that Eros was discreetly poised, ready to make a move at the first sign of trouble – his eyes never left the table where Thena lay peaceful. The look of focus adorning his usual dorky face told her that he was using his powers to assist in keeping her that way.

She had anticipated having to thwart some mindless flirting, but it didn’t come. Makkari welcomed the respite. Eros constantly vying for her and Thena’s attention had been draining at times. She was concerned on the lead up to the plan that Eros wouldn’t be able to take things seriously without being distracted. But Makkari had to admit she’d been wrong about him – he was surprisingly selfless. When it came down to it, he was reliable, even though he had no horse in the race. He’d been a great help so far, and seemed to empathize with Thena’s plight. In the end she was glad for the company. But, as nice as the moment was, it could not last forever.

The peace and serenity were crudely interrupted by a mighty crash she could feel pulsate through her limbs. Both she and Eros immediately leaped into action, adopting a defensive stance, hearts racing. It took only a second for her to realize that the noise came from the opposite side of the lab from Druig and Thena. Relief extinguished the roaring of blood in her ears like a balm, but her heart continued pumping erratically in her chest.

“Pip!! What the hell are you doing?!” Eros yelled, exasperated.

There Pip lay mangled in a pile of priceless artifacts that they had collected over the years. Coincidentally, a hat belonging to court jester, Don Diego de Acedo, had fallen haphazardly on his head. Fitting. Though he wasn’t half as witty as ‘el Primo’.

“Whoopsie! My bad. I was jussss looking at all thissss ssstuff. Didju know they have a glowing sword?! A glowing sword, Eros! Theress sso much cool shit in here. How come we don’t have any cool shit? We’re way cooler than some Earth eternals.”

“Pip! Of all the times for you to get plastered, this is the absolute worst!! It’s life or death and we need to be on our guard. No distractions.”

“’Coffeessss gone so beer’s all I got. Wha’ you wan’ me ta do?”

“I can’t believe you. Did you learn nothing from the incident on K’kranta? I swear, you get worse by the day. You know what I’m going to do? I am going to dump every milliliter of alcohol into the vacuum of space and make you go cold-turkey because you can’t get your shit together.”

As Eros continued to rant at him, Makkari noticed Pip’s bleary eyes wonder unfocused, hovering over Eros’ shoulder, and furrowed. Not a good sign when the alcoholic troll doesn’t even flinch at the threat of someone dumping all his beer.

“Ugh, I don’t know why I even bother with you, Pip,” Eros scolded.

“Um…Hey, guysss-”

“I’m not finished with you!” Eros cut in. “I swear I could strangle you sometimes, you know that? I’m sick and tired of dealing with your non-sense.”

The troll’s focus was pulled to something behind her, past where she was standing, back to Druig and Thena. The hairs on the back of her neck began to rise. Something wasn’t right. She could sense it. The air in the room almost felt electric.

“Guys!”

“What?!” Eros snapped in frustration.

“I..uh.. don’t mean to alarm anyone but thisss weird sword ain’t the only thing thasss glowin’,” Pip supplied through hiccups, glassy eyes wide and hands trembling as he pointed towards where Thena lay.

Both Makkari and Eros’ heads whipped around to the scene unfolding behind them.

Time seemed to slow for Makkari. With a mind as quick as her feet, it was an entirely new experience for her. Her thoughts became muddled and her limbs felt heavy like lead. If she really were a robot, she thought this might have been how it would feel were she to be decommissioned.

Through the molasses of her mind, she could make out the flashes of bright gold electricity that snaked up and down Thena’s prone form with increasing intensity – rapidly pulsing in a way she’d never seen it do before. Her body spasmed with each pulse. That alone was a frightening sight, but even more concerning was how the vines of golden light began to snake up Druig’s arms where he held Thena’s temples, confirming their worst fears.

Her stomach dropped as panic erupted through her veins. A flash of red to her left. Eros, at a speed she didn’t think possible for the laid-back eternal, charged at Druig with the matching twin knife clutched in his hand, ready to deal a killing blow.

Druig had a back-up plan. Curse him. But she cursed her a thousand times over because it was too late to react.

The knife was already at Druig’s throat.

***

Thena’s mind was like nothing he could have ever imagined. So different to the average human, and so much more complex given their longevity. As Druig walked the corridors of Thena’s mind, he noticed that many of her memories were tangled in what looked like golden vines. Like an invasive species, the vines had infiltrated both new and old memories to varying degrees, strangling them and pulling them out of order.

Druig dared to venture deeper and deeper into her mind, careful to avoid the vines for now so as not to upset them. He still wasn’t too sure what he was up against. One small misstep could spell disaster. It was dawning on him just how delicate of a situation they were in.

He stopped occasionally to assess certain memories. Those heavily infected by the golden vines, memories that he and the others had long since lost were being dragged to the forefront of Thena’s consciousness. The memories were disjointed, incomplete, and flashing rapidly out of sequence, making it almost impossible for him to grasp the context of what he was seeing. Scenes of war, destruction, and death, among other atrocities composed the majority of these ancient memories.

Occasionally, he caught glimpses of other eternals with Thena – some familiar faces, some he’d swear he’d never met but evidently had. He watched one distorted by a golden haze and could scarcely believe what he was seeing. It was him to be sure, but he was someone else entirely – unrecognizable to who he was now. His face was stony, that hadn’t changed. It was the cold, distant look in his eyes as his killed indiscriminately that sent shivers down his spine and a coiling feeling of dread deep inside. He watched an ‘emergence’ play out on a faraway planet, not much different from Earth, and was given a grim reminder of what was narrowly avoided. He watched on in horror. Just as the celestial cracked the surface of the outer crust, he murdered every single soul on that planet – snuffed them out with merely a thought. It was a power he never knew he possessed and he was glad he didn’t. Because now he was struck with the fear and guilt that he was capable of such heinous actions. The worst part – above all else – Makkari was there to bear witness to it all.

He had seen enough.

This was about Thena. He needed to stay focused on the task at hand.

He spent some more time looking around and investigating the strange vines and doing his best to avoid looking at the memories too closely. Touching the vines caused them to glow more. After testing it a few times, holding on longer each time, he found they had little effect on him beyond a faint pulse of golden energy through his arms. He tried removing a vine here and there. It worked. He tried deleting a memory. It worked. But there was a huge problem.

It was a mess. An impossible mess. Every old memory was jumbled with or connected to one from her current life. It could take years of ‘weeding’ and deleting old memories to clean everything up and allow Thena to function as the rest of them. There just wasn’t time. Even the process of completely wiping millennia worth of memories entirely would be a herculean task. It was hopeless.

There had to be another way, even if it was a band aid just to get them through the fight ahead.

Druig pondered as he poked and prodded around. Maybe he was missing something. He needed to take a step back – literally. Rather than view the individual memories up close, he needed to see everything as a whole to better survey the damage.

He stared helplessly at the disorder and chaos below until his sight blurred. And that’s when he noticed it. Their silver lining. It wouldn’t fix anything, but it might just pull her back from an impending episode of Mahd Wy’ry if they were in a jam. The feeling of hopelessness subsided, replaced by a tentative excitement. He’d seen enough to report back with something positive for the team.

He opened his eyes to a knife at his throat.

***

Eros’ knife was kissing the soft, vulnerable flesh of Druig’s throat. He was milliseconds away from acting on Druig’s instructions when Druig’s eyes suddenly opened. The touch of the cool metal at his throat must have startled him as he jerked slightly, nicking himself in the process. Crisis averted. Makkari could finally breathe again.

“Ow- fuck! What the fuck?! I told you to kill me if I was a threat.”

“Well, you were doing the whole sparky veiny thingy that people with Mahd Wy’ry do, so I think it was a fair assumption to make. It was you who told me not to take any chances if I’m not mistaken.” Eros reversed the blade in his hand, and handed it over to Druig with a wink.

“You could have hesitated a little,” Druig grumbled, rubbing his neck. “Now you have me thinking you want me dead.”

“I want you dead,” quipped Pip from his place still buried among the knick-knacks.

“No one asked yo- oof.”

Makkari flitted to him and pulled him into a crushing hug. She didn’t realize she was crying until she buried herself into Druig’s neck and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Her body shook with each stuttering sob. She couldn’t believe that for a second time in a few short weeks, she’d be as so thoroughly scared as she had been watching Ikaris take Druig away from her. She managed to calm her sobs a little more with each stroke of his hand on her back. She could feel eyes on her. Let Eros and Pip be uncomfortable for all she cared. Druig was fine, and he wasn’t going anywhere – not without her – and that’s all that mattered.

She pulled back to look at him when she felt ready to do so, just to look him over, to make sure he was okay. His eyes were sparkling and his cheeky grin was crooked as he tried to stifle it.

“Sorry I worried you. I promise I’m fine. Thena’s fine. Everything will be fine,” he signed.

He grinned down at her again and wiped at her tears. She could only imagine how her face looked – all salt and snot at the very least. But Druig didn’t seem to care. He cupped her red, tear-soaked cheek and pulled her into a soft, loving kiss. The kiss was fleeting – not nearly enough. No kiss with him would ever be long enough. She chased his lips, stilling him with a hand behind his head, and deepened the kiss beyond what was acceptable in front of company. He grabbed her, bringing their bodies flush together. His hands were everywhere, the heat of his touch burning through the skin-tight fabric of her suit. All their pent-up emotions built up over years and years of tip-toeing around each other, being apart, and cheating death exploded forth into the hottest kiss of her life. She was never going to let him leave go. He was stuck with her now, no matter what.

She could feel movement over by the gurney, but her eyes never left him.

“Well, that was the worst sleep of my li-. Oh, for heaven’s sake. Druig, spare me, please.”

They finally broke apart only for Druig to quip back. “There’s a pair of us in it. Why do I always get the blame?”

Makkari didn’t catch Thena’s response. She was too busy taking in everything she could about him, down to the last laugh line. She only ever wanted to look at him, and never look away. He finally turned his attention to her again, smiling at her like she was his everything too.

“They’re finally gone. Now we can pick back up where we left off,” Druig signed, “Had I of known the possibility of my death would have garnered this kind of response, I would have put myself in the line of fire far more often.”

“Don’t you dare. If you go down, I go down with you. There is no place you could go that I wouldn’t follow. So, it’s in your best interest to stay out of harm’s way. But either way, you’re stuck with me.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, my love,” he whispered, pulling her to him again.

It’s just as well that the others left when they did. She would be too engrossed in the taste of his lips and the hungry caress of his wondering hands to care if they had an audience.