Against all odds (Reg Slivko - Thomas Mann Fic)

After credits

It was night when Megan went on deck. She needed to speak with Reg and had been told that she would find him there. Indeed, Reg was with Reles and Mills, standing side by side, staring into the blackness of the night, right in the direction of the island they had managed to escape a few hours ago. Megan approached quickly, but then slowed down when she realized that the soldiers were not talking. They were standing there looking at the night in complete silence. There was solemnity in all of that and Meg thought maybe she should turn around and talk to Reg at another time. But before she could retrace her steps, Mills had turned around.

"Slivko's girl" he said with his peculiar smile putting her in evidence.

Meg smiled, but then remembered that this was what Cole called her and a knot formed in the pit of her stomach.

Slivko turned around when he heard Mills greeting. Meg was a few meters away. She had taken a shower and changed her clothes. Slivko smiled at her. She looked pretty, almost resplendent, but her eyes were shadowed. His heart contracted. He assumed responsibility for everything that had happened to Meg; his actions had pushed her to commit all those crazy things, from embarking on the expedition to pointing a gun at Cole. The memory of his friend finished erasing the smile on his face.

When she reached the soldiers, first Mills and then Reles, they hugged Meg silently and encouraged her with a smile. Meg returned the smile without saying anything, it was not necessary. The soldiers left and then Reg opened his arms and she hugged him around the waist.

When she hugged him, he could smell the scent of soap and shampoo. It was light and fresh and contrasted with the density of the night and his emotions. He felt he had to say something, but he could not find the words, and he did not want to talk and ruin the moment. So he kissed her on the head and squeezed her shoulder. They stood next to each other, hugging each other, looking at the ocean, saying their last goodbye in silence.

They had spent several minutes in that position, when a gust of wind made Meg shiver. Reg stroked her arm to warm her and she looked up. When their eyes met, they both smiled and then he kissed her lips. She thought it was time to start talking.

"So Key West..." said Meg. That was not the subject she had in mind but her tongue betrayed her.

It seemed to Reg that he had not heard Meg's voice for a long time and he was grateful that she started talking.

"Mills insists," Reg said.

"It will do you good," she buried her head in his chest and hugged him a little more.

He squeezed her shoulder again, thanking her for those words.

"You could come. Boys won't care"

Meg move impatient, took a deep breath and then said trying to sound normal.

"I have work to do"

Slivko supposed that she was referring to LANDSAT and the mapping mission of the island. She was an intern and probably did not have the freedom to take vacations when she wanted to. Although considering the circumstances, the company could make an exception. He felt annoyed but did not say anything about the matter. The idea of ​​being separated from her terrified him.

"What's wrong?" Meg asked in Reg's prolonged silence.

Slivko shook his head.

Meg let go and stepped back so she could see him in the face.

Her gesture disturbed him; he did not want her to move away. He was going to draw her to him again but he stopped.

"What's wrong?" Meg asked again, more frightened than Reg. He had never been deprived of embracing her or drawing her to him. Except for the day he had confessed that he would go to Vietnam, when he also had declared that she would be better forgetting him. Meg's heart quickened. She approached him and took his face with both hands. She ran her eyes over every inch of his skin trying to find an answer, to figure out what was going through his mind or his heart; but he avoided her gaze.

"Please, Reg"

He closed his eyes. Then he took both her hands and kissed them.

"I'm sorry," he said, still not looking at her. His voice sounded drowned.

Meg was trying to decipher what he was referring to while searching in her mind for something to tell him.

"I'm sorry," he said again and looked at her.

"None of this is your fault" she said trying to calm him down.

Hearing that last word out of his head was too much. He let go of her, walked the half meter that was between them and the railing of the ship, and grabbed it with both hands. He pressed so hard that his knuckles turned pale.

Meg froze, she knew that the anger was not toward her but she still felt hurt.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong with you," she said, sounding more annoyed than she really was.

"It is my fault," he said turning around and hitting himself hard in the chest. "All of this" added pointing around them "has corrupted you"

Meg looked around. There were some soldiers walking around the deck and some helicopters parked behind them. She did not know what to say, did not understand exactly what he was referring to.

"You pointed a gun at his head" said Reg clarifying all the doubts. "You pointed him with a gun" he repeated, still not believing that had been real. Reg pulled his hair with both hands as he always did when something escaped her hands.

Meg approached and took his hands to stop him from torturing himself. He tried to pull away but she held him hard and forced him to look at her.

"It wasn't loaded," she said and, before Reg could protest, she continued. "Conrad insisted that I use it. I didn't want to. So I took the bullets away."

Reg's body tensed and then he seemed to relax. He looked at her between confused and frightened. He knew that what Meg was telling him was true. It was so typical of her.

"It was very stupid, I know," she said, guessing his thoughts. "But I couldn't do it. I think about it and my stomach churns"

Meg went pale. She released him, put a hand to her chest and took a deep breath. She looked sick.

"But you were going to shoot that lizard thing" Slivko recalled

"Yes. And that would've been very embarrassing. But you reacted on time. "She smiled. "Sorry, I should told you before."

Reg shook his head but said nothing. That did not change a thing. Maybe she had not been corrupted but she had suffered, a lot, that was for sure.

"I couldn't do it," she continued. "My area is other. But you ..." Meg remembered the dexterity she had seen in Reg and the pleasant sensation ran through her body again.

Slivko looked at her.

"I dont know. Maybe that's your call," she said, sounding weird, as if she were using someone else's words.

"What are you talking about?" He wanted to know.

Meg took a deep breath. Finally, it was time to have that conversation. She took a few pictures from her pocket and handed them to Reg.

"Kong it's not the only King." Meg said.

Slivko took the pictures, intrigued, and went through them one by one in silence. The images showed paintings that looked prehistoric. They were photographs of the walls of a cave. There was no way to know if they were from the same cave or if they were from different ones, or even where they were. Each picture showed the painting of a group of men with spears facing different animals that, judging by the contrast of proportions, were giant. There was something that looked like a butterfly, something that reminded him of a dragon with three heads, and something like a dinosaur, like a T-Rex.

"What is this?" Slivko asked, showing her the last picture.

"The next mission"