Till the End (Drabble)

Stevie and I have been going through some brain rot because boy are our babies going through it. Also I'm in love with Stevie and I want to flirt with her any way I can. This one however is a wittle bit more angsty. But enjoy! 

The day passed like any other. Time continued, never stopping - it would never wait for you to catch your breath and despite her understanding, Bonnie couldn’t help but curse the inconvenience of it all. Guilt still weighed heavily on her chest after the incident with Laurie, and the ache of loss stung her eyes occasionally as she thought of Faelynn and Kit as it brought a cold emptiness.

Her fiancé had just slipped into her mind once more as Bonnie stepped into the familiar labs, furiously scrubbing her eyes dry as she spotted the doctor dressed in his white jacket and working with his back turned to her. Quickly she calmed her emotions, stifling them and locking them away as her heels clacked against the floor. She hadn’t the patience for them and really - who cared anyway?

“Evenin’, Doctor Jekyll,” she hummed as she set her bag down and pulled out a notepad, “How were yer’ classes?”

Bonnie’s voice had startled the doctor at work, except it wasn’t the doctor she presumed it to be. Harvey straightened up, placing the vials he was examining back in their holding tray and turned round to face his friend.

“Doctor Jekyll? Bit formal, isn’t it, Bonnie?” Harvey asked with a small smirk.

Harvey had been coming to the labs sporadically as of recent. He was brainstorming a lot about what he could do to get Hyde out and gone for good. Other ideas popped into his head as well, things that didn't necessarily...make sense, but Harvey chalked it up to being hit with inspiration and he rolled with the fluidity of his thoughts. He was being careful. He was sure of it. He had Hyde in check, was having his lockdowns with his father and Bonnie to let Hyde out, and was maintaining a grip on himself.

However, Hyde had his own grip on Harvey, one that Harvey could neither feel nor see. It was a new game the parasitic mind demon was working at, one that he had never played with Jekyll, but he was getting desperate. Harvey was a smart man. Too smart. He’d figure out a way, eventually, to free himself of Hyde, and Hyde just couldn't have that. He liked Harvey too much. There were so many intricate things about his life that he could ruin. So Hyde, being the leech that he was, began to devise a way for him and Harvey to be together, forever.

While Harvey had control and pushed Hyde away to the back of his brain, Hyde began to do some tinkering here and there -- taking inspiration from a certain artificer. If he could not control the brain, he’d find something else to control. The blood. Yes, the blood. Attacking and attaching himself to Harvey’s DNA would be the trick and would make things so much more difficult. Hyde could then influence Harvey this way, mixing his blood with Harveys. Sure it wasn't regular blood, but this was better. Hyde’s dark arcane being was charged and filled with so much power, all he had to do was latch on Harvey DNA and then Harvey’s body would do the rest.

It was almost too easy. A few weeks had gone by and Harvey didn’t notice a thing. No one else did either. And they wouldn’t. It was all very subtle. Hyde’s DNA was now mixed in with Harvey’s.

Bonnie made a small noise of surprise, her nose wrinkled as she looked up at Harvey with confusion. “Harvey? No, I- Sorry, thought you were yer’ old man,'' she gestured, her face relaxing as she tilted her head, “Why’re you here instead o’ him?”

“My dad was having one of his bad days. Wasn’t feeling so good. I set him up with some soup for the evening and he asked me to come by and finish up going over some work, including your blood results.” Harvey said, picking up some papers and pushing the hair out of his eyes. “Hope you don’t mind the swap.”

The tiefling gave him a lazy once over as she leaned back against one of the desks, considering her words before shaking her head, “No, it's fine for me.” Gingerly she moved to his side, peering round to catch a glance at the papers. “Is that them? My blood results?”

“It is indeed.” He said, clearing his throat. “Most things seem normal, but in other places things are...inconclusive.”

“Inconclusive how?” Bonnie narrowed her eyes, taking the papers from his hands with the confidence of a medical professional; despite having little to no understanding of what was written there. “Is that bad?”

“It’s not bad, but it’s not good. There’s no clear signs that the little bit of potion that you drank affected you, but there's also no sign that it didn’t. See, here is a comparison to my blood results before and after. Now, I don’t have blood from you before you did your little experiment, but you can see my results here, well they’re not normal. You can see how the potion affected my blood, and how it's changed since Hyde has possessed me, and also there are little variations now that I wear this collar. I have a very fluid and fluctuating chart. Yours is fluid, but in a different way. At first glance your results seem normal, but some of the numbers just don't make sense. It shares similarities with mine in small ways, but I don't think it has anything to do with the potion.” Harvey paused and peered over at Bonnie. “Any of this makin’ sense?”

She frowned. It did to an extent. As a tiefling, and the first in her family, her blood was fused with high arcana; it’s what created the mutation of her genetics. So her blood showing similarities to the arcana infused Harvey wasn’t so surprising. But it meant it was inconclusive - a waste. “Yeah, I guess...I’m sorry, I should have thought to do a comparison of them…”

“Should have waited for someone to help you.” Harvey muttered under his breath and he raised his eyebrows, looking over Bonnie’s blood results, ignoring how Bonnie rolled her eyes and pouted at his comment. “Perhaps you can enlighten me? Anything about your bloodline that could be worth noting?”

She bristled, her lips pressing together tightly and as she pushed the papers back into his hands. “I don’t know,” she murmured, moving away from him and trying to ignore the buzzing in the back of her head. “It’s...not the same as the rest of my family’s, evidently…”

“You always purse your mouth like that when you don’t want to talk about something.” Harvey noted, realizing Bonnie knew something about herself that she hadn’t shared with him yet. “I won't pressure you, but it could help if I know.”

She felt her cheeks warm and crossed her arms across her chest, as if she was forming some kind of barricade, yet Harvey was earnest and she couldn't deny it, “I know you won’t,  it’s just that...it’s…” Bonnie sighed and looked up at her friend, a glint of vulnerability hidden in her eyes, “It’s sensitive for me...”

“ I see.” Harvey nodded and adjusted his glasses, gesturing for her to sit down in his fathers chair. “Have a seat, Bonnie.”

Bonnie nodded in return, sitting at the desk as watched Harvey hurry to his bags that were on the floor next to the bookcase. He pulled out a tin and elegantly sat on the corner of the desk, popping the tin open revealing an assortment of cookies.

“In your own time.” He smiled at her.

Bonnie couldn’t keep the corners of her mouth from curving as she glanced down at the biscuits; he was so good at lightening the mood, it would be almost irritating if he wasn't also incredibly kind. Gently, she took a smaller cookie from the tin and sighed deeply, “My parents ...are pretty much normal, kinda. See, both of them are human but my mum had a whole issue with a vampire and nearly became one herself. Since the incident...she’s never been the same, not that I remember…but dad does…” Bonnie trailed off, unaware she’d been breaking the biscuit into tiny pieces, leaving crumbs all over the desk. “Trauma leaves wounds...not just physical but inside too a-and they think I’m a byproduct of that trauma...to an extent,” Her voice grew softer as she looked up at him once again, “...I don’t know why my blood differs, but it’s to do with Dracula…that much I know…”

“Ah, now that name brings back memories.” Hyde spoke up, whispering in Harvey’s ear.

Harvey’s eyes fluttered at the man's voice, sitting back a bit and shifting uncomfortably. He almost forgot Hyde was there, it had been so peaceful. He was now making himself known just to tease and taunt Harvey with information he, in the end, would not give.

Ignoring Hyde, Harvey reached out and placed a hand on Bonnie’s as they crumbled the cookies on the desk. He looked at her with gentle eyes and spoke softly.

“Whatever this past trauma was, it may be in you Bonnie, but it is not you. It’s not who you truly are, who you’ve made yourself to be.” Harvey said, his gentle gaze glistening as his hands clasped hers. “You said your mother was attacked by this...Dracula, correct? And she was almost turned into a vampire herself. Now whatever arcane has affected her blood, it's passed down to you. So, in a nutshell, you share the same arcana as Dracula?”

Bonnie squeezed his hand, more out of comfort than anything else before shrugging, “Potentially. It’s still a theory...but I...I kind of just don’t focus on it. After all, no one knows enough about him for me to even flesh out the theory,” She sighed, shifting one of her hands away to push the crumbs about the desk.

“Do you think your parents would allow me to run blood tests on them? We could tell them its for a school project.” Harvey asked. “But perhaps asking for their blood after they were attacked by a vampire wouldn’t be the best idea...but I think it would help greatly to understand your own blood.”

“I...I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she sighed, fidgeting with her ring, “Mentally, my mum could never...she’s not really all there sometimes. Maybe my father though...He seems like he might be down for it, but it’s nae something I feel...comfortable asking for…” Bonnie admitted with a frown.

“Would you feel better if I asked them? Or would you prefer not at all? I understand that this is a very sensitive situa-” Harvey was interrupted as Bonnie groaned and leaned into his space.

“What is with you and the blood? Look, I’ve said I’m not comfortable with it, can we move on from the topic of my family and their blood, please,” She frowned as she looked up at him, anxiously wringing her hands.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m only here to help, Bonnie. I’m not here to pry or pressure you. I’ll drop it.” Harvey said, adjusting his glasses as he leaned back from Bonnie. He stood up and dusted off his coat, going over to the chalkboard to write something down that suddenly seemed important before he turned back to Bonnie. “It’s just an option we can leave on the table to discuss later. In conclusion, your blood shows abnormalities. There.”

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, his brisk attitude immediately had her raising her hackles, but she fought down the urge to bite back and instead released a long sigh and stood up. “Okay, well...We can do another test in a few weeks, see if anythin’ has changed,” She shrugged as she moved to step forward to him when she caught a glance of the various vials and liquids on one of the nearby tables. Curiosity diverted her attention as she beelined for the desk, her hands tracing over some of the glassware before landing on a bright green one. Drawn to the familiarity of the colour, she carefully lifted it and swilled the contents. “What’s this?”

Harvey immediately lunged at her and pulled the beaker to himself, almost cradling it to his chest.

“Be careful with that! It’s not finished yet!” Harvey snapped. “I thought you learned your lesson from last time, but you can't help but snoop, can you?”

“Excuse me?” Bonnie snarled, pushing herself away from the desk she had nearly fallen on, “I was just havin’ a look! I was nae snooping! It’s hardly locked outta sight, Harvey, so you can take this-” She pulled her face into a mocking imitation of his and air-quoted, “I’m-better-than-you attitude and shove it!”

“I..ah…” Harvey stuttered, blinking for a moment as he collected himself and realized how he came off. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t implying that, I just...I’ve been working hard on this one. I want it to be perfect. I’m really close, I think. Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.” His eyes softened and gave an embarrassed smile.

Inhaling deeply, Bonnie calmed herself, lowering her hands and relaxing. “It’s okay. I get it,” She murmured, “You’re just...stressed.” Slowly she raised a hand to pat him gently on the shoulder as she moved to walk by him and investigate the chalkboard. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah.” Harvey sighed with his face suddenly reflecting that of fatigue. “Perhaps I’ve been working a little too much at it. Probably should take a break. I’m just scared of missing something, you know?” He said as he walked up to the chalk board as well, squinting and rubbing the back of his head.

“Probably?” Bonnie arched a brow as she flicked her gaze over at him. “Harvey, you definitely need a break; what the fuck is all this?” Her voice raised slightly as she gestured back at the board - the board that made zero sense. It was all broken equations and medical terms scattered about with diagrams of random body parts, all of them aged and vintage in their workings. “I swear some of these methods have nae been used for near a decade.”

“It's just research.” Harvey said as if it was obvious. “Like I told you, I don't want to miss anything. I’m trying to cover as much as I can. Learn from the past.” Harvey's eyes began to drift into thought. “It won't make sense to you, but it does to me.”

“In what way?” Bonnie asked, tilting her head as she glanced between him and the chalkboard, “I don’t get how historic medicinal practices are gonna help. I’ve already gone over old arcane works and they did squat.”

“Maybe for you, but couldn't hurt for another pair of eyes to look over the work. You might have missed something.” Harvey said, giving a small chuckle that seemed to surprise him. He cleared his throat and focused on Bonnie for a moment. “Maybe it's just me and the way I take notes. I’ll...I’ll rewrite it for you, once I get things sorted.”

Yet before he could move, Bonnie had her fingers beneath his chin, pressing his jaw up so she could get a good look at the collar, her bright blue eyes narrowing as she scrutinised it. “Okay, what is going on with you? You’re bein’...weird.” She frowned, taking his jaw and turning it to the side to get a better look.

Harvey scrunched up his face and pushed Bonnie’s hand away.

“I’m not being weird. And don't go grabbing me like that. Do you just grab everything you see? I’m trying to explain myself the best I can!” Harvey said, his eyes fluttering as he seemed to adjust his focus. “I’m just...I’m tired. I think you were right, maybe I do need some rest.” Harvey said, looking suddenly to the right, his eyes looking at the floor, his hand gesturing in the air as he sought for words. “It’s just a lot to process…”

The tiefling shrunk, a little embarrassed by his yell and so stepped away, rubbing her arm. “You’ve been off since last time, y’know,” She admitted, “With how you grabbed me - remember?” Bonnie couldn’t quite keep the concern off her face, not that she wanted to - he was still her friend. “It was just a wee bit of worry.”

Realization seemed to hit Harvey right then and his face fell, and he rushed to Bonnie, not in a frightening or aggressive way. Concern had bent his brow and his eyes pleading with her for forgiveness.

“I’m sorry. Sorry, I...I’m sorry I worried you. I didn’t mean to. You’re right. A-and I should have never grabbed you like that, that was...I’m sorry, Bonnie.” Harvey said, desperation teetering in his voice. He looked as if he was almost going to say something else, but he changed his mind last second and instead said. “It’s a lot...I don't think I understand it all quite yet...what's happening to me. I’m just taking it in day by day. It hits harder now, I think. What Hyde did. I just want to fix it.”

Hesitantly, Bonnie reached for the sleeve of his arm and sighed as she held it tightly, "I know. It's okay...I understand how you feel more than you probably realise but-" She looked up at him with glassy eyes, "I've nae been very good at making friends and recently I've been fucking up a lot…"

Bonnie sniffed, letting go of him to quickly wipe her eyes furiously. "A lot has been happening and I'm trying not to have another melt down, so please just...distract me."

“Another one?” Harvey’s words fell to a whisper as he saw her tears. “What’s been happening? Bonnie, are...are you alright? What's wrong?” Harveys concern tightened around his throat, and he reached for her hand, grabbing it and holding it tightly. “I’m here, you know I’m always here for you.”

She looked down at his hand around hers and sniffed, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. "I-I know...It's just…" She hesitated a moment before raising her eyes to meet his, her grip on his hand tightening, "Promise you won't hate me."

Harvey shook his head with an earnest smile. “I could never.”

Bonnie let out a soft laugh, some small amount of relief bubbling in her chest before she swallowed and brought her other hand up to hold his. "I...killed Laurie. He came back- almost a few minutes later but...I shot him."

Harvey blinked with surprise, but his hand didn’t loosen around hers. He stayed steadfast by her side. “Killed him? And he came back? Alright well, that is indeed not what I was expecting. Mind explaining a bit more?”

And she did. She told him about her fight with Laurie in the parlour and how he had burned. She told him about the spectre and the voices in her head that only she could seemingly hear. About how it felt like something wanted her to shoot him. She spoke briefly about the fight, about how she had been beaten - her injuries seemed of little concern to her now - but then she mentioned Faelynn.

"She didn't even check on me," Bonnie muttered, determined to keep from crying, "She saw me used as a punching bag and didn't even ask if I was okay. All she cared about was Laurie and ordering me to apologise - as if she thought I meant to do it!"

An anger began to rise in Harvey. It was frustrating to hear how Bonnie had been treated, and by Faelynn no less. He knew what Faelynn meant to her, and his heart ached for Bonnie-- the betrayal she must have felt. It caught him so off guard that he suddenly found himself envisioning that dreaded day on the train back home from school, when Hyde terrorized everyone...when he hurt Faelynn. He could see her in front of him, his hand on her leg, all his weight falling down onto her bones until-- Crack!

Harvey gave a gasp as the noise echoed in his brain, startling him, but still he didn’t let go of Bonnie. She anchored him, pulling him back to clarity.

“I’m so sorry she treated you that way, Bonnie. That's...that’s just awful.” Harvey said, looking sick, as if the words leaving his mouth were leaving a bad taste. “It wasn't your fault. Hey, look at me? It wasn’t your fault. How could you have done anything but what you did? You were scared and confused. You were just trying to protect everyone.” He said, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to her. “It wasn’t your fault, Bonnie.”

She inhaled shakily as she took the handkerchief and dabbed carefully at her eyes to avoid smudging her makeup. "Thank you, Harvey...but I'm not blameless. If he hadn't come back-" She shook her head and gripped the piece of fabric tightly, "God, I dunnae ken what I would'a done."

Bonnie sighed before running a hand over her face and offering the handkerchief back to him, "Fucking doesnae matter. What's done is done and I just have to figure out how to fix things or bury it an' move along."

“I would say to bury it. Why fix something that seems intent on breaking itself?” Harvey said flatly. “You know what your intentions were. If Faelynn can’t see that you were only trying to help, then what use is it trying to convince her otherwise? She’s set in her ways. Don’t let her words cause you to falter. And Laurie is alive. I see nothing that needs fixing, except your spirits.” Harvey offered a soft smile at the end of his cutting words.

Bonnie frowned, reaching up to brush some of his hair out of his face, "Am I rubbin' off on you or somethin', Lovelace? Usually you're more... optimistic." The tiefling returned his soft smile, though concern was knitted into the set of her brows.

Harvey’ smiled brightened as she fixed his hair, but his face fell back to a serious gaze as he met her eyes. “This world is cruel and coarse and unkind. I’ve been telling myself that everyone was redeemable when some people just really aren't. I care not to fill myself with gentle optimism and get fatally wounded upon other people's careless words and actions anymore.” He said, his eyes dancing for a moment before he gave a sad sort of smile. “Sometimes it's best not to care so much.”

Her mind wandered back to Kit for a moment as he spoke and she bit her lip, guilt filling her briefly, before inhaling deeply. "Okay well, Mr Dark-n-Gloomy, should we move on from this and get on with some actual work?" She asked teasingly as she carefully dabbed her eyes once more before smiling up at him.

“Right.” He chirped up and grinned. “Well, I’ve done all I can do with your blood results for now.” He walked over to his fathers desk and began gathering some papers, stacking them together. “What work did you have in mind?”

Bonnie followed, allowing the tension in her to slip to the back of her mind as she glanced over the cluttered desk. She hummed thoughtfully, turning to glance around them as she did before rubbing her cheek and pondering out loud, "When was the last time we cleaned this place?"

“It’s been a while. A trait me and my father share is that we both are horrible at keeping our work space organized.” Harvey chuckled.

"I've noticed," She raised a brow at him, thinking back to the study he and his father used at their own home, before stretching and rolling up the sleeves of her blouse. "Aight, well I'll help tidy up so we actually know where everything is before we get started on anything. Lord knows where my arcana research is in all this."

“It’s probably somewhere around here.” Harvey said, collecting more and more papers. “If you find my new glass pen I got, please let me know. I’ve been looking for it for ages."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, scoffing as she started tidying up their collective work from the surrounding surfaces, sorting it into piles of her notes, Jekyll's and Harvey's - they could cross reference later. Steering clear of his experiments, despite how their colour kept drawing her eye, she began tidying the Doctor's desk, moving like clockwork as she shifted through the papers and sketches, barely paying mind to them until she glimpsed a bloodwork sheet. "Oh, Harvey, is this one of-" Her voice trailed off as her eyes ran across the sheet and grew wider by the second. "Harvey? What is this?"

“Hmm? What's what?” Harvey looked up, adjusting his glasses. His eyes widened as he realized what Bonnie was holding. “That’s just...that was just something else. It’s an error.”

"Does nae look like an error…" She murmured, tracing her finger across the paper, "It looks like a blood test. Your blood test." Bonnie turned to him fully, her mouth pressed into a firm line, "You wanna tell me why you lied about your comparison earlier? Because this-" She shook the page, "This is very irregular."

Harvey rushed over, almost tripping over himself as papers began falling from his arms. He smiled nervously as he tried to grasp for the paper Bonnie was looking at. “It’s cause I didn’t do it right! That’s why I said it’s an error sheet and didn’t show you, it all wrong-“

"Oh, please! Harvey, you're a minor genius of your time-" She snapped as she darted away from him, holding the paper behind her back, "You would never make a mistake this big!"

“Oh please, like you ever thought that.” Harvey scoffed as he tried to get behind Bonnie and snag the paper. “I make plenty of mistakes. Now give that back please-”

"I said minor for a reason," She sneered, as she dodged him and ran round the other side of the desk. "And if it's a wee mistake, why do you want it back so bad?"

“Minor is still a strong word for you to use, Bonnie.” He said, running up, his hands clutching the desk. “And because it’s useless! I want to throw it out.  It’s useless and unnecessary, and will only cause confusion!” Harvey lunged his hands for the paper, threatening to fly across the desk if need be.

"Maybe that's because it's the tru-EEP!" She interrupted herself with a squeak, clutching the paper to her chest, barely escaping his hand as he snatched at it and glared at him as she matched his steps around the table. "Harvey! You're causing more confusion than any blood test could, no matter how worrying it is!"

Harvey didn’t listen to a word Bonnie had said. The next thing he was doing was climbing upon the desk, clambering towards Bonnie and sliding to her side in a matter of seconds. With his eyes set and teeth clenched with determination, he grabbed the paper and her hands that still held onto it, his face expressing something Bonnie had never seen before. And as she looked at him, she saw that his scars looked deep and angry, as if they were just freshly given.

For a heartbeat, she didn't move as she stared at his scars, fascinated before his hands on hers drew her back to the present and she growled at him, "Harvey, let go!" She then began pulling away from him and trying to yank her hands and the paper from him. "I don't know what's happening, but something's wrong! Can ye nae feel it?"

Looking up, Harvey met Bonnie’s eyes, her voice breaking through whatever trance he seemed to slip into. He went almost paralyzed as he tried to realize what was happening, desperately focusing on Bonnie’s eyes to keep him grounded. He felt his body come down from some sort of rush, trying to remember how he got to this point, how he came to clutching Bonnie and the paper…he couldn’t.

“No…” Harvey said, smiling oddly as a deep sadness filled his eyes and made them glassy. “I can’t feel it.”

"Harvey…" Bonnie still held the paper fast as she tilted her head to look in his eyes, her hair slipping off her shoulder as she did. "It's Hyde, isn't it? What's he done to you? And your scars?"

“I don’t know. I keep trying to watch him, but I feel like I’m missing things...I’m not seeing what he’s doing and it’s...I’m missing it.” Harvey said, flexing his hands to try and let go of Bonnie’s, pressing his lips together to not show them trembling. “I don’t know what he’s done to me this time. I feel like I’m drifting and I don’t know the difference between what I’m doing and what I’m thinking.”

"Oh, shit..." Everything started to click into place; his quick temper, his irrational responses, his cruel tongue. It made her shudder and thinking of the potions, she tried to move towards them, only falling short as he kept a hold on her hands. For a moment, she glanced between their joined hands and his eyes, and she pursed her lips. "Uhm...Harvey?"

“Sorry…” Harvey let go of Bonnie instantly and pulled his hands to himself, not knowing what to do with them as he looked down, swallowing a sob.

However Bonnie recognised that sound in a heartbeat and quickly closed the distance between them as she pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around him. "Harvey, it's okay. We'll fix it. It's gonna be okay," She whispered, running a hand up to stroke the back of his head gently.

Harvey instantly collapsed into Bonnie’s arms, his head falling against her shoulder as his chest heaved and he let out the sobs he had been keeping in. He held Bonnie tightly, thankful for the comfort she gave.

“I just want to be able to fix myself. I don’t want someone to do it for me. I want to be good enough to do it on my own.” Harvey said. “I just want to be good enough…”

Her heart ached and Bonnie gripped him a little tighter, his paper crumpling in her hand as she did. Aren't I enough? She had asked herself that very same question only a few nights ago and she still had no answer. The pain of holding onto everything on her own was overwhelming, and she thought back to Kit, to how he had comforted her. Holding onto the warmth he always inspired in her, she closed her eyes and pressed closer still.

"You are, Harvey. I was nae lying earlier; you're the smartest guy I know," Bonnie spoke softly against his shoulder. "But...I think...asking for help is the bravest thing any of us can do...and I know you would nae wanna burden me but-" She leaned back in his arms and moved her hand round from the back of his neck to lift his jaw, 'Wouldn't you do the same for me?"

Harvey sniffled and took a breath as Bonnie brought his face to look at him. He was so tired, but Bonnie gave him strength. She always did. He knew he wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for her.

“I would. I’d do anything to help you.” Harvey said softly, taking a breath. “I know I can’t do this alone, and I certainly couldn’t get through this without you. Will you help me Bonnie? Even if in the end I’m not me anymore?”

Bonnie’s mind flashed back to the mesa, to a star-filled sky and the promises made beneath them. Quite the collection of broken toys, she thought almost amused as she closed her eyes a moment. When she opened them, they were shimmering with emotions but piercing in their blue clarity as she nodded firmly and whispered, “I promise, Harvey. I’m with you till the end.”