Prompt:
As Desmond stood before the apple, he took comfort in the fact that he wasn’t alone. At least - with the three bleeds of his ancestors racing around him, free-running as if their lives depended on it - he tried to make himself believe he wasn’t alone.
These three men. In some ways he’d never met them, not really, and yet they were the most important people to him in his life.
At least he had them in the end.
He lifted his hand, hovering it momentarily over the apple, ignoring Juno and Minerva and just focusing on the ghosts of his past, silently thanking them, silently saying goodbye.
The three slowed as if they reached their destinations, looking about themselves until they found Desmond. His breath hitched as they each met his eyes and moved closer, noticing and acknowledging one another as they drew near.
Juno shouted somewhere in the chamber, but Desmond only had ears for these men.
“We’re here.”
“We’ll help you.”
“Together.”
They each lifted their own hands, which all intersected in his over the apple.
“Thank you,” Desmond whispered.
As one, they lay their hands on the apple, sharing the burden, saving the world.
And saving Desmond.
Rather than letting the excess energy tear through Desmond, burning him, they pushed it in a new direction, pulling three of them through time until they all stood together as men, and not as ghosts.