Juliet gasped.
Just when she thought she'd never see him again, there was Rider.
She was ready to yell at him for leaving her behind again but noticed that Red was there behind him, holding him still with one hand on his shoulder and a gun to his neck. Her sneering face just visible to one side of his head told Juliet that the fight was over... and that they'd lost.
"You thought he'd live forever, didn't you?" Red asked, squeezing his shoulder and ripping the fabric of his jacket with her fingernails.
"No..." The back of Juliet's throat burned, but she refused to cry. Not here and now in front of that monster.
Rider stared at her, his hands curled into loose fists at his sides. There was no tension in his body. Juliet knew he'd given up. She wanted to scream at him, but didn't. Maybe she'd just give up too.
The cigarette he'd put in his mouth before charging into the lab was still there, hanging from the corner of his lip. The smoke curled up and away as Juliet watched it burn lower.
"I guess I don't have to tell you it's over." Red smiled. "You're a smart girl..." Her finger twitched on the trigger.
"Don't give up," Rider said softly, giving Juliet an imperceptible wink.
Juliet's eyes flashed from Rider to Red and back again. "I love you," she told him.
He dipped his head and took one last drag off his cigarette before pinching it between two fingers and tossing it to the floor. He raised his foot and ground it to ash on the tile.
Red's smile widened until it threatened to split the skin grafts on her cheeks. "How can you love something that doesn't exist?"
Her finger bent and the gun went off.
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