With Art by: @seanchaidh7
Rating: PG (Language, Mature themes)
Tags: Science Fiction AU; Human AU; Cryogenics; Military; Space War; Earth Politics; Aliens; PTSD; World Building; Mystery; Angst; Happy Ending; Scientist Stiles; Military Officer Derek; Derek POV
As an officer in the United Earth Alliance, Major Derek Hale understands the order of things and his place in the world. Yet, a decade of war and a lifetime of dedicated service have taken its toll on him. The only thing that has kept him sane all these years is the video logs of a scientist heād found years ago, buried in the rubble of a research station on Callisto. He knows that the man in the videos ā Stiles ā is long gone, lost to the vastness of space, but to Derek, heās alive. In fact, he thinks he has fallen half in love with the boundless energy and bright-eyed optimism of the image he sees on his screen. Then, everything changes when a fateful mission strands him on the surface of a desolate moon ā¦ and brings him face-to-face with a man he had only ever dreamed of meeting.
It was rather ironic, he thought, that the silence down here in his own home seemed more overbearing than when he was up there in the vacuum of space.Ā Perhaps that was why he continued to volunteer for these missions, why he hadnāt left the UEA yet.Ā Perhaps that was what he shouldāve told Cora tonight.Ā Of course, that kind of confession mightāve landed him in the armchair of one of her psych colleagues, so ā¦ perhaps not.
He cast a sidelong glance to his right, noting the time again: 23:32. It was half-past two in New York, which was obscenely early ā or late, depending on how he looked at it.Ā His mother probably wouldnāt appreciate a call right now, he reasoned.Ā He knew he was being a coward about this whole thing, but damn it all, he was grateful he didnāt have to tell her the news just yet. Then, lazily, he turned to look at his holo base unit. He wasnāt due to report to the Triskelion until 11:00 tomorrow. And he was mostly packed up for his deployment. He had time.
He sat up and tapped the glass surface of his coffee table.Ā The heads-up display brightened the room instantly with a selection of channels right in front of him.Ā He waved through the list with a few quick gestures of his hand, and found the folder to his personal files.Ā After digging through a backlog of unwatched videos, he found the one he was looking for.Ā With a quick flick of his wrist, he sent the chosen file to his holo screen.
A familiar face with flushed cheeks, unruly hair, and a wide smile appeared in front of him. Even on a still frame, the man looked like he was alive, vibrating almost, brown eyes bright with excitement.Ā The video had been recorded before holo technology had been invented, so unfortunately, Derek could only watch it as a flat image, but it was more than enough to convey the boundless energy of the figure on the screen: one Stiles Stilinski.Ā Derek remembered when heād found the degraded vid chip on one of his very first missions to Callisto, and while the mission had gone south, discovering that the chip still had salvageable data had been the one good thing to come from that nightmare. That heād transferred said data to a more modern and durable quantum chip and had kept a copy for himself was his own little secret. The videos ā and Stiles ā were his, and his alone, and he would prefer to keep it that way. With a practiced wave of his fingers, he set the queued-up video in motion, barely noticing the HUD fade from view.
Coming Soon to the @twsterekbigbang
