by MR
Disclaimer: Not mine, though a girl can hope
Author's Notes: This is what comes of watching Armageddon, Asteroid and The Crack in the World in the space of 48 hours.
Story Notes: Most definitely a death story
This is the Way the World Will End
By MR
Even though it was close to 2 a.m., the sky was bright as day. Course, Ray mused, it'd been that way for a while now, ever since that astronomer in California had discovered "The Doomsday Comets." That's how he thought of them, as "The Doomsday Comets," because that's the phrase the press had latched onto and run with...
That had been two months ago. Since then, the world's governments, suddenly and surprisingly in agreement that they didn't want to go the way of the dinosaur's, had tried every way they could think of to do something about them. Smash them into smaller pieces, knock them into an elliptical orbit. Not too surprisingly, none of it had worked.
So tonight was it. Tonight, the world would end, as the comets impacted with the earth in about a dozen different spots. Already, in the last couple of weeks, several smaller ones had taken out Arizona, someplace in China and a good portion of New Zealand.
"Ray?"
He turned and looked at Fraser, who was sitting on the porch swing of the cabin, wearing nothing but a pair of cut-off jeans. One of the side effects of the whole thing was that the temperature had risen sharply. You'd never know, to look at the brown grass and withered brush around the cabin, that it was the middle of January.
"You remember how much I hated the snow when we first come up here, Frase?" He looked at his lover, partner, life-mate...how do you express the best 10 years of your life? Better even than what he an Stella'd had, because Fraser accepted him just the way he was. Skinny body, crazy hair and all the flaws that came with them.
Fraser smiled. "As I recall, you were quite vocal about it, yes. 'Why's it hafta be snowin' all the time, Frase?'" Over the years, Fraser had learned to do a wicked imitation of his Chicago accent.
"Yeah." Ray smiled back, surprised that it didn't feel forced. He didn't have to force himself to smile at Fraser, even with the world a few hours away from ending.
Things had been really bad the last two weeks. Sort've made you glad you were up here in the middle of nowhere. Widespread panic, rioting and looting...the world was falling apart and it wasn't even dead yet.
But here, where he and Fraser had made the last 10 years of their life together, things were different. Not that they hadn't gone through their own little personal trauma-crisis thingy, when it became obvious that nothing and no one on Earth was going to stop the comets from doing what nature intended. He'd gotten a bit mental, Fraser'd had to smack him once or twice...
But they were good now. Good and solid, and tight, and before Ray realized it, he was crying again, deep shuddering sobs that made him wanna just drop onto the ground and curl into a ball and wait for it all to go black.
And just like always, Fraser was there. Arms around him, hugging him, soothing him. "Ray, Ray." Fraser's comfort voice, and he realized he was saying something over and over, but it took it a minute to actually become clear...
"...fair. Not fair. Not fair! NOT FAIR! NOTGODDAMNFUCKIN'FAIR! THIS SUCKS, FRASE!"
"Yes Ray, it does." Fraser was rubbing his back like he always did when he went off, in slow, gentle circles. "It does, indeed, suck."
Ray looked at him, dragging a hand across his eyes. "But there's nuthin' we can do 'bout it, is there, Frase?"
Fraser looked at him a moment, then leaned forward, kissing him gently. "No, Ray. There's nothing at all we can do about it."
"I knew that." And it was funny that he was embarrassed. The world was about to fuckin' end, and he was embarrassed because he'd lost it.
"Come on, Ray," Fraser said, and he allowed his lover to lead him up onto the porch and sit him down on the swing, sitting down next to him, and even though it was so hot he felt like his blood was about to boil, so fuckin' hot they were both of them sittin' around in next to nothing, it still felt good when Fraser put his arm around him and pulled him close.
He lay his head on Fraser's broad shoulder, staring at the brassy sky. "You think it'll hurt, Frase? When the end comes?"
Fraser was running a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. "I don't think so, Ray. I think it will hit us so fast, we won't feel anything."
"Good." Ray closed his eyes; the color of the sky made them hurt. "Frase? There anythin' 'bout us you regret?"
A moment's silence. "Not a thing, Ray. Except that we won't get the chance to spend another 40 years together."
Ray drew in a deep shuddering breath. "I knew that." He said, and he could hear Fraser smiling. "Don' let go a me, 'kay, Ben?"
"I won't, Ray." Fraser dropped a light kiss on the top of his head. "I promise I'll never let go."
FIN