Chapter Text
Bertie wasn’t dead, the shot hadn’t killed him, not yet, he couldn’t, he had two emergency beacons, his main one that would always go to the Aurora he was last on no matter where in time she was, and the backup that was just send to an Aurora, somewhere in time and space. He had no idea if it would work, if even if they got to Bertie that they could save him.
And if he did this he had no idea how long Tim would think Bertie was dead.
Still he picked up Bertie, unconscious but still alive, still breathing, heart still beating, and hid him in a place outside the battlefield and grabbed out that backup emergency beacon, he paused and placed a kiss on Bertie’s forehead, “I’m sorry.” He activated the beacon and then turned and ran back to the battle.
He had to come up with a lie for Tim and also for the crew as to where in the hell his backup went.
He was shit liar, he was he knew that, but he couldn’t tell Tim, no Tim wouldn’t understand, not as a mortal at least, so it was kinder to lie, to say his friend, his love was dead.
And then Tim lost his mind about it, and blew up the moon and soon Tim has mechanical eyes, and hated him, and he didn’t know how to tell him now.
So he didn’t, he didn’t tell anyone.
It was a secret he kept to himself, a card he keep close to his chest.
‘First Mate D’Ville the Pilot would like to see you on the bridge’ Aurora’s screen read after she flashed the lights to get their attention.
He raised an eyebrow but handed his cards off to Tim, who’d been previously banned from the game but whatever.
“Brian?” He called, “Whatcha need me for?” They both knew Brian didn’t need his permission to go wherever he wanted.
“Come see this,” Brian said.
He walked over to him looking at the screen, there was an emergency call, from himself, he looked at the date and his heart would have skipped if it could, it was the date Bertie ‘died’ which meant-, he reached forward and put the screen on the largest one in the room, eyes only moving from the beacon call to look at it on the larger screen.
“You know what this is?” Brian asked.
He nodded shallowly, “Aurora, call everyone here.”
“What is this,” Brian asked.
He didn’t say anything just stared, they had a chance.
Everyone, even Nastya came to the Bridge, he only knew based on their footsteps and the conversations that started up behind him.
He heard both TS and Tim get asked if they had any idea about what was going on and both looked at the date and said they weren’t with him at the time, true, and so had no idea, also true.
Then he heard Tim’s footsteps approach and look closer at the date and year.
“Jonny,” Tim started sounding a mixed of confused and angry at the same time.
He gave a barely there questioning hum.
“Jonny D’Ville, what did you do?” Tim asked.
He finally tore his eyes away from the red dot on the screen to meet Tim’s eyes for a moment before turning to the rest of the crew, “I ‘lost’ my backup emergency beacon during the moon war.”
“Yeah, and?” Ashes said, still pissed about him losing it.
“I lied, I didn’t lose it,” He said, “I set it off and left it with someone.”
“Jonny,” Tim said.
“I lied because I didn’t know when it would show up, he wasn’t there when I went back to check so I assumed it worked but I didn’t actually know, and I have no idea if anything we can do will actually work but,” He cut himself off as there was a gun to his temple from where Tim was standing.
“You said he was dead,” Tim said, voice angry but calm, which was the scariest version of Tim’s anger.
“I said he was gone,” He corrected.
The beginning of a gunshot then there was nothing.
When he came to he was on the ground of the Bridge, with a headache that was normal for headshots. He blinked a couple times before pushing himself up.
The beacon call was still on the large screen but most of the crew were gone, just Brian in his pilot seat, Nastya who was given him a very disappointed look, and Tim who still looked angry.
He winced at Tim’s expression, he had somethings to answer for but first, “Brian-?”
“We’re headed there, good you woke up when you did we’re about to hop through time,” Brian answered before he could even finished.
He didn’t say anything looking to the two other people in the room, his sister and Tim.
“You are so very stupid, брат,” Nastya said.
“I know,” He agreed.
“Talk to him,” Nastya said, “No lies, not half truths either.”
He just nodded.
And with that Nastya was gone from the Bridge too.
Brian would be no help, he could see the switch set to MJE from here.
He looked more fully at Tim, not quite meeting his eyes.
“Why did you tell me?” Tim asked, anger lacing his voice.
It reminded him of how Tim was when he was first mechanized but still he answered, “You wouldn’t have understood. When you were mortal, you wouldn’t have understood why I did it.”
“Jonny,” Tim said.
“That’s the true, if I came home from the battle and said, I set off an emergency beacon and Bertie got picked up after he was shot, but I don’t know when he was picked up, what time he was in, you wouldn’t have understood at all,” He said, “Mortals never do.”
“And once I was mechanized?” Tim asked.
“Oh yeah, me telling newly mechanized you that I set off a beacon with Bertie and that we’d maybe pick him up and might be able to save him, newly mechanized you who hated me, who hated what we made you, that would have gone so well,” He said.
“Fine, yeah that wouldn’t have ended well,” Tim agreed, “But after we made up, after I was more settled, after I liked this life, after I would have gotten it?”
“It was too late,” He said, “It was too late, I was starting to think that we’d never actually get it and that I hadn’t checked the one place they’d put him on the moon. But-obviously I was wrong.”
“You gave up?” Tim asked, “That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I didn’t give up,” He snapped.
Tim simply raised an eyebrow at him, still obviously angry.
“I just-I was seeing and feeling what the desperate, seemingly vain hope was doing to me,” He said, “I didn’t want to do that you. It was better…if I just lived with it, alone.”
Tim blinked at that, “You didn’t tell anyone?”
“I don’t think even Aurora knew,” He admitted.
“She didn’t,” Brian said from his seat.
“I’m still mad at you,” Tim said.
He nodded, he got it, he expected it.
“But, if a single one of the others tries to say we shouldn’t save him, I’ll help you make their lives hell,” Tim continued.
He nodded, “And they’ll never forget it.”
Tim turn and walked out of the room.
“Why did you do it?” Brian asked.
“Why do you think?” He asked.
Brian looked back at him, “You always were bad at not getting attached.”
“Hey!” He said.
“You’re the one with now two mortals on board,” Brian said.
“You say that like you wouldn’t have saved Galahad if you could have,” He said.
Brian hummed, “That’s true, but Jonny you used your emergency beacon, the backup one, just for a chance that we could save him.”
“I know,” He said, “I know.”
“You should go talk to Raph about it, you’re the one who knows how he’s injured,” Brian said.
He hesitated but stood up from the floor finally he walked almost to the door before saying, “Call me when we get close.”
“I will,” Brian promised.
And off to Raph’s he went.