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They were finally out of the infinite loop. They had stopped the wormhole. They were safe. That's what Mark had said to them after they had asured each other that they were both forgiven for whatever trouble they had caused. And I mean, they were.
There was no wormhole.
No aliens.
No talking doors.
Nothing.
They were on their new planet. 'New Beginning' the crew had called it. But the Captain couldn't help but feel like it wasn't safe. After Mark and the Captain had talked about what had happened, they started to move on. Or, Mark did. The Captain, however, just couldn't let go.
The crew couldn't help but notice a change in their trusted captain. For starters, they didn't talk anymore. Sure, the captain was never much of a talker to begin with but this was definitely different. Bare words were spoken, even during meetings. Instead, the Captain used their body language to communicate what they meant. Which, surprisingly, worked. Though, some colonists who hadn't met the captain didn't even know what their voice sounded like. It definitely didn't go unnoticed, especially to Mark. He was deeply concerned for his friend and had asked multiple times if anything was bothering them, as had the crew leads. But they always got the same, empty response. "I'm fine". It seemed like the only words the captain knew at this point. The only words that were clearly spoken. But don't think the Captain not speaking was the only change, oh no. Members of the crew swore that each morning the circles under the captains eyes had gotten darker. Eyes bloodshot. From the few, bare words that were said you could clearly tell that their voice was hoarse and worn out. Sometimes they could barely even get out a whisper.
Word got around that the captain barely slept, or even slept at all. If you'd ask any of the night crew, they'd tell you that they thought they occasionally heard mumbled screaming from the captains courters. But no one had walked in to see if anything was wrong. Its their Captains privacy, after all. Those unspoken rules, however, didn't concern Mark. The rules, were in fact, the last thing that he cared about. He was constantly, desperately, trying to get the captain to tell him, anyone, what was going on. But the captain always dismissed his claims with their lies. No matter what he did, the captain always found a way out of the situation.
This pattern continued on for a couple weeks and they were not getting any better.
Mark was on his way to a meeting. He, the Captain and the crew leads gather once every month to talk about the colony and future plans to make it grow. On his way he saw the Captain also hurry their way over to the meeting room, but he couldn't help but to notice a small limp in the captains stride. He was gonna ask them about it when he suddenly almost walked into the door as he reached the meeting room. He quickly shook off the surprise and walked into the meeting. He made his way over to his seat as the captain did the same. He quickly excused himself for being late and the captain only nodded in agreement. With everyone gathered the meeting begun. Though Mark couldn't shake the thought of his Captain being hurt. He was gonna ask them about it later. Well, that was his plans until the captain suddenly blacked out mid-sentence. Celci, the head of cryo, quickly rushed to the captains side, as did the ADS lead, Gunther, and Mark. While the three crew leads were trying to wake their unconscious captain, Burt sent a signal down to the medteam. It didn't take long until a few nurses and a doctor rushed into the room with a stretcher. They pushed the crew leads aside as they carefully lifted the captain onto the stretcher. When they were settled they hurried their way back to the medbay.
No one in the medteam would say much about the captains condition except; "They'll be okay". Thankfully so. With Mark and Smiles, the captains next in command(besides Mark), in control, things went surprisingly smooth. Even though everyone agreed it would be easier the captain in charge, they knew that they were currently getting a much needed rest. They slept for a solid two days and a half before slowly coming back into consciousness.
Mark was the first to be informed of their awakening. He immediately dropped what he was doing as soon as he got the message from the doctor.
He pushed open the door with wide eyes as he quickly scanned the room for his captain. His eyes moved over to the hospital bed, where they were laying. He rushed to their side with worry written all over his face. The captain gave him a weak smile, it was strained, but a smile. He bombarded them with questions about how they were feeling. The captain was about to say those dreaded words before Mark cut them off.
"Don't!" His voice was sharp even though it sounded like he was about to cry.
"Look, I don't know what you've been doing or not doing but I do know for a fact that you are NOT okay" he continued pleading. The Captain stared at him with big eyes.
"You're my best friend. So please don't hide your feelings from me. Especially if it causes you to pass out!" He felt his heart break as he looked into their handsome and/or beautiful eyes while they started to tear up. They started to mumble tired apologies to him. As soon as they felt a warm tear escape down their cheek they hid their face in the palms of their hands. Mark hushed their cries as he cupped their cheek to make them look at him again. He gives them a soft smile. He thought it was gonna reassure them that everything was okay but the outcome was the exact opposite of what he was hoping for. With just one look the captain started sobbing. Mark was quick to act and pulled them into his embrace. He felt his shirt slowly get wet from their heavy sobs. He carefully sat down on the side of the bed as he quietly whispered sweet nothings in his captains ear while rubbing their back. No one knows how long they sat there for but after a while he noticed the once loud cries in his shoulder turn into quiet sniffles. As he felt their breathing calm down he pulled away slightly, still holding onto their shoulders, to look at them.
"You'll be okay" he whispered with a smile. The Captain nodded slowly. A comfortable silence settles in until Mark starts to move more into the bed.
"Scoot over" he says as he waves at the captain to move.
"What are y-"
"No. No questions. Now scoot!" He continues to crawl into the bed. They do as they're told and move over to the other side of the bed. Mark lies down on the bed while trying to get into a comfortable position. When he gets comfy he gesture for the captain. They look wide-eyed at him before hesitantly moving to lie on Marks chest. Mark wraps his arms around his captains waist as they get comfortable. They're tense for a moment before finally relaxing to the sound of the man's heartbeat. Mark starts to play with their hair as he feels them relax more into him. After a while of just laying there together the captain whispers something barely audible.
"Thank you, Mark"