What if... (a BBC Class fic)

But, what about...

The last soul floated in front of Charlie. He knew it was for him. He knew that he had to pay for what he'd done. He killed April. He murdered an entire species. And yet, he didn't want the last soul to hit him. But he knew that it had to. He stepped back from it. He couldn't outrun it, but he could stop it from killing him for just that little bit longer.

"No..." whispered Matteusz. He couldn't bear to see him die. He loved him. He didn't want him to go. He didn't want the one thing that made him happy, the one thing that made him feel like anything was possible, to leave. And Charlie didn't want to leave him.

Ram was bent over the body of April, silently crying. He'd lost her. He'd lost the person he loved for the second time. He watched her die. He watched one of his friends kill her. He watched as Charlie pulled the trigger. He caught her as she fell. And she was gone. And there was nothing he could do about it.

Tanya glanced about the room. She stared at Quill, unconscious from the blast. She looked at Matteusz, whose heart was breaking. He was staring at Charlie, who was about to die. And Tanya thought he looked like he was going to break in two. And then she looked at Ram, who was already so broken that it didn't seem fair to her, for him to lose someone else. She couldn't look at April; just the thought of one of her best friends being dead was enough to start her crying all over again. She looked at Charlie, who was looking at the final soul with such instensity and sadness that her heart broke just that little bit more.

"Why else were we safe?" Charlie asked the soul, flickering in front of him. He breathed in and closed his eyes. This was it. The end of the Rhodian race. The end of Charlie. He couldn't bear to look at anyone else. He'd become a monster, just like Tanya and Matteusz said he would be. Matteusz. He didn't want to think of him. He didn't want to think how the one person he found solace in since the death of his parents, the death of his planet, hated him. He didn't want to think of him, walking away from him and never, ever returning if he somehow survived this. He opened his eyes again. The soul still floated there, stretching the time for as long as it could. He looked at the empty Cabinet. They were gone. All of them. He thought that he'd bring them back. But of course he couldn't. How could he? He wasn't a hero, certainly by Earth's standards. He was stupid to even think it.

The soul zipped forwards, striking Charlie in the heart. It finished what it was asked to do. It eliminated the Shadow. And Charlie with it. His body fell to the floor, and Matteusz scrambled towards it. He had to be alive, he wouldn't let him be dead, he wouldn't allow it. But he couldn't find a pulse, no matter where he checked. He cradled his head in his lap and wept.

"I still love you, Charlie. You didn't lose me, I'm right here..." he whispered, gripping his hand and kissing his forehead. "Charlie, please, wake up..."

The Cabinet slammed shut. It's work was done. Tanya stood up, tears streaming down her face. She'd lost three people in one day. It would've been five, if Quill hadn't stepped in. She took shaky steps over to the Cabinet, now terrified of it. She didn't comprehend what it meant to Charlie, she didn't comprehend what it could do. And yet, she practically forced Charlie to use it. And now he was dead, and his boyfriend was violently crying over his body. She felt awful. Maybe, if she wouldn't have said anything, if she wouldn't have been so ignorant, maybe, just maybe, he would still be alive. Maybe April would still be alive. The Cabinet doors opened when she touched them. It must've known that the Rhodians are now extinct. She couldn't help but feel responsible for that.

But, in the Cabinet, a single soul danced around. She knew immmediately who it was.

It was Charlie.