Date: ??/??/2001
From: SouthernSlider

It seems Kryoptus was deeply affected by Kyra’s death.  As days and weeks passed, he became despondent over the horrible deed he had done.  His human side was more prominent than he thought.

Those in the Kromagg dynasty responsible for his training noticed the change in him and reported it to the proper authorities.  When they saw he was weakening, they stripped him of any Kromagg medals and awards he had earned, then exiled him to a Kromagg breeding colony to do menial labor.  That was where he and Wade met up.

She had been through hell in the last year, and was nothing but a shell of human tissue and bone.  All her emotions -- her entire soul -- had been stripped away. That was what resisting the Kromagg mind-control did to a human.  If she succumbed to their torture, she was a robot to carry out their wishes.  If she resisted, she was nothing but a zombie.  She was damned no matter what she did.

It had gotten so bad, the Kromaggs didn’t even want her anymore.  They used her as mere slave labor.  Her life mattered not one whit to them.  If she lived, they got a day’s work out of her; if she died -- part of her would become a meal and the rest, fertilizer for the ground.  They didn’t care, and frankly, neither did she.  She had beaten them at their mind-control game, but it had only escalated her inevitable death.

That’s when Kryoptus came into the picture.  There was something about her that reminded him of his Kyra.  It certainly wasn’t looks, but the determination that he had once seen in Kyra was also in her eyes.  And also the human quality.  To most, her eyes seemed vacant and devoid of any human emotion, but Kryoptus told her later, the will to live was still flickering.

She resisted him at first, but his human side and his Kromagg stubbornness both worked to save her from herself -- and her enemy.  And they were his enemy now, also. Day by day, little by little, it paid off.  Wade began to respond to his kindness, and eventually took him in as a friend.  It had been so long since she had let anyone into her deserted world.

As the ice began to melt in her veins, she began to tell him about herself, and he, about himself.  It wasn’t long until they discovered it had been her friends Kyra helped to escape.  They were connected even before they met.

As the weeks dragged on, they became closer friends, always looking out for each other, always keeping the Kromaggs at bay while they figured out a way to escape all of this.  Finally, the day came when he came to her with a plan.  He had been working on it all this time without telling her, just in case they tried to read her mind.  He didn’t want her to weaken and let them gain the knowledge.

He studied ‘sliding’, as she called it, made sure he could get his hands on a device to transport them off that horrible world, and collected enough information so they would not travel to other Kromagg-infested worlds.  He kept a device with him at all times to track wormholes, so they could tell if they were being followed.

She had discussed with him on numerous occasions about locating her friends. He had said it was a possibility, maybe, but that he thought it best not to pursue the idea. She may have resisted the Kromaggs better than any human ever had, but they had still done terrible things to her.  He didn’t think she could handle it.

“And now that the dream is a reality, I think he is right, Colin.  I’m not ready to see Quinn and my sister.  I was trying to live a fantasy through Remmy until I found out he was the real thing.  It just won’t work.  Not yet.”

“Wade,”  he whispered.  He took her hand in his, not knowing exactly how to respond to her tale.  He had to proceed with caution.  If he pushed her too much to reunite with everyone, he would only push her farther away.  Dear Lord, help me say the right things.  “I can not begin to imagine what you have been through these last years.  But I do know one thing for sure.”

He sat up, moved slightly closer to her, and held her trembling hand lightly in both of his.  “You have a will in you to survive, a will the Kromaggs could not destroy, a will that showed through to Kryoptus, no matter how badly you were beaten down. And I know that will is more than just for survival.  It is a will to live -- to live life to the fullest, not merely exist.”  He paused to let his words sink in.  Then with a deep breath, he continued.  “It may take time, it may not be this minute, or even tomorrow, but I know you want Quinn and Kelly back in your life.  Please do not dismiss that possibility.”

Wade swallowed hard.  His words were going to open the floodgates to the tears she had dammed up all this time.

“My brother has lived a hell almost equal to yours, I am sure, since your capture. He and Remmy both have vowed to have you back.  I do not want to scare you away with this news, but I would be remiss if I did not tell you that they will fight to have you back in their lives.  They lost you once; they do not intend to do it again.”

“B . . . but I can’t.  Not right now.”  she said weakly.

“I understand. I know the adjustment will be difficult.  But I want you to know they will not give up.  And that is where I come in.  I want to help all of you. Let me help.  Let me be the mediator.  Let me help you adjust; let me help them understand.”

The dam broke and the tears flowed like a swollen, raging river releasing the rains from its banks.  Colin took Wade in his arms and let her release all her pent-up emotions on him.  She had to feel again.  He knew that would be the first step to recovery.  And he would be there to hold her hand.  He would do whatever it took -- for her sake, for Quinn’s sake . . . for Kelly’s.   Love would demand no less.

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Nominated by DieselMickeyDolenz