[u][b]Steve Miller - Vertibird Crash Site
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[i]Steve opened his mouth, releasing his foe and staggering back crying out from the pain from the two fiery wounds that had coursed through his body with the shouts from his foe and the loud noises. He crumpled to the ground and rolled up into a ball, hoping the pain would go away, but it only lessened, leaving behind a dull throbbing that made it hard to breathe. He felt something wet on both his back and his chest...he knew that something was very wrong. In front of him he heard a strange click click, just like the two he had felt before the pain began..so he opened his eyes to see what it was. A few feet away, he saw a human he knew, though for some reason he could not remember their name, sitting and leaning on one arm, blood welling out of his forearm, and with the other pointing an object at him that he recognized but could not name for some reason. His face was a mixture of great pain, and a feral look of vengeful glee. It was clear now that the end had come. Emotions flooded through Steve, pain, anger, loss, sadness because he had failed an a obligation that was important to him....as well as a question, a simple question, but one he could not put into words. 

All he could do was wait for the final blow to come. 

But it didn't. 

After a pause that seemed to go on forever, his foe's expression changed. While the pain remained, the glee ebbed away, replaced by sadness and regret. His arm lowered, and the device fell into his lap, and he looked at him and sighed.

"I'm sorry, little guy", he said. He then struggled to get up. But as he began to do so, something moving too fast for him to see hit the arm the man was leaning on with a gout of blood and he fell back down. "For fuck's sake!", he exclaimed, then collapsed, no longer moving except for his breathing. 

His foe was helpless, but Steve didn't want to fight any more. His desire to seek revenge for what had been taken from him unjustly had ebbed out of him just like his life was, leaving only the terrible sense of loss and need to grieve....and a unaskable question he knew now would never be answered. He knew the end was near, and that he wanted that end to be by Her side. A new determination filled him, and he forced himself onto his hands and knees and began to crawl. Slowly and painfully, Steve advanced hand over hand towards his goal, ignoring the noise and yelling as the other humans fought, focused on Her crumpled form, the one person who had meant everything to him. Another human, a female, was sitting by Her. He recognized her as well, though like the other, he could not remember her name. She was grieving for Her, just like he was. That also made Steve glad, and reassured him as well....if others grieved for Her, then his love for Her couldn't have been misplaced. Finally, he reached Her side, the other human moving aside slightly without even noticing it as he snuggled up to Her body, which was still warm. As he felt her warmth, the pain finally ebbed away, and peace settled over him, and scattered memories of happier times flitted through his head as he drifted off to sleep. 

As the darkness of sleep enveloped him, one final thought occurred to him....now, at the end, merely idle curiosity...the question that had been on the tip of his tongue ever since She had been taken away from him right before his eyes. 
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[u][b]* After a long period of darkness *
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"Shit," a voice said, distant as if from the bottom of a well, "He needs bandages. Bring me my bag!"

In the background was some distant movement, then something hit the ground nearby and the voice spoke again. 

 "I can't have ya die, too", she said, "Please."

A sharp pain shot up his left arm as something was pressed hard against it, enough pain to wake him up.

"Why?", Steve shouted in anguish, "Why did we have to die? What did we do wrong?"

He then opened his eyes to see Corrine hunched above him, deep concern written on her face. He began to cry. 

He had finally understood what the question was.