"Shay, it's time I told you who I am to you?"
"That would be nice. So, Drake who are you to me?"
"Have a seat please," said Drake softly. "Shay, I am… I am everything you don't remember."
The words hung in the air, unyielding, as they had waited centuries to be spoken.
Shay stood frozen, the weight of the moment pressing against her, yet she couldn't make sense of it. Drake didn't move, didn't rush her to respond. He waited, as if her entire world would rearrange itself once he finished.
"…everything you don't remember."
The silence that followed wasn't just quiet—it was alive… pulling at the edges of her mind, her heart. Something shifted deep within her, a feeling too abstract to name but impossible to ignore.
"What does that even mean?"
Drake's eyes softened, his gaze grounding her as the room seemed to fall away. "It means you've been asleep, Shay. Locked away in the life you thought was yours. But this… us… it's bigger than you've let yourself see."
Her hands tightened into fists, but not out of anger, more like fear and recognition tangled together.
"You're talking in riddles. I don't want riddles. I want the truth."
"The truth isn't something I can just tell you," said Drake. "It's something you have to feel. Something you already know but haven't let yourself believe."
"You're wrong. I don't know anything about this… about you. About why you keep looking at me like I'm supposed to understand."
Drake leaned forward slowly to be closer to her and whispered, "Eternity together for humanity."
The words struck her like lightning, not just in her mind, but her entire body.
"What… what are you doing to me?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
"I'm not doing anything to you, Shay. I'm reminding you of what's already there," said Drake.
Images flashed in her mind—fragments she couldn't explain. A star collapsing. A battle in a place that felt both familiar and impossible. Her own voice speaking words she didn't recognize, yet knew were hers.
"Stop it. Whatever this is, make it stop."
"I can't because it's not something I'm doing. It's you. It's always been you."
Shay stood up, dizzy, and then her legs gave way completely, but before she could hit the floor, Drake was there, catching her, holding her steady. The contact sent another wave of something through her… an overwhelming warmth all at once.
"You're lying," she said, her voice barely audible, but her hands gripped his arms as if letting go would mean falling into something she couldn't escape.
"I'm not, and you know it. You can feel it, even if you don't want to admit it."
Shay looked up at him, her eyes wide and glassy. "What are you?"
Drake's expression didn't falter. "I'm what you are. What we've always been."
The room shifted around her, not physically, but in her mind. Memories that weren't hers but felt like they belonged to her flooded in. Galaxies. Wars. A voice calling her name across time and space.
"No," she whispered, her head shaking even as the truth began to take root. "This can't be real. I'm just… I'm just Shay."
Drake's hand cupped her face gently, forcing her to meet his gaze. "You are Shay. But you're also so much more, and it's time you remembered."
Shay's breaths came in shallow gasps as the images intensified. Her children, faces she didn't recognize but felt as though she had always known, laughed and ran through a lush, alien meadow. Her hands reached out instinctively to touch the memory, feeling the warmth of small fingers clasping hers, even though they weren't really there.
Her voice broke as she whispered, "They're mine, aren't they?"
"Yes. Ours. You've loved them across worlds, across lifetimes. They've been waiting for you to come back to them."
Tears welled in her eyes, spilling over as the image of Alena's bright smile surfaced, her laughter echoing in Shay's mind. "Alena… she's part of this, isn't she? Part of us?"
"Yes. Alena, Marcus, and others you'll come to remember. Some upstairs here are like us, Shay—immortals, protectors of humanity. Others are human, but they're no less important. They're the reason we fight."
Shay's hand flew to her chest, where a deep ache blossomed, both painful and comforting. "It's too much. It feels like… like I'm drowning."
Drake's hand gently gripped hers, pulling her back. "You're not drowning. You're waking up. And you're not alone, Shay. You've never been alone. Not with me."
She looked through Drake's eyes, searching for any hint of deception. But what she found instead was something unshakable—love, steadfast and eternal. It broke through her resistance like sunlight after a storm.
She trembled as she reached for him, her voice barely audible. "Drake, it's you."
His arms opened to hold her as she collapsed into him, and for the first time, the chaos in her mind let go. He held her close, his chin resting lightly on her hair as her tears dampened his shirt.
"It's me," Drake murmured. "It's always been me."
She pulled back just enough to look at him, her hands framing his face. "I'm sorry I didn't see it before."
"You weren't ready then, but you are now."
Their kiss bridged centuries, a union of everything they had been and everything they would become. Time felt meaningless in that moment, as if the universe paused to let them have this one perfect moment.
The slow opening of the underground door broke the spell, pulling them back to reality. They broke the kiss, their faces still close as they chuckled softly.
"Guess we'll have to wait until later," Shay whispered, a wry smile tugging at her lips. "Do you think Grandma will let us sleep together?"
Drake smiled, brushing a stray tear from her cheek. "We can always ask. She does seem to be rooting for us, in her own way."
Before Shay could respond, Grandma Shay's voice cut through the dim light as she descended the stairs. She paused at the sight of them, her gaze flicking from their intertwined hands to the fire in their eyes.
Her expression softened, and with a slight nod, she said simply, "The guest room on the third floor is yours tonight."
Shay and Drake froze, then burst out laughing as Grandma Shay turned on her heel and disappeared back up the stairs, her presence as commanding as ever.
"Guess that's a yes," Shay said through her laughter.
"Not what I expected, but I'll take it," Drake replied, grinning.
They stood for a moment longer, the weight of everything that had just happened settling between them, but it felt lighter now.
"Drake, we need to wake up Alena. She'll know something is wrong,"
"You're right. I will go and ask her to come downstairs. This should be interesting."
"Who brings her back to reality?"
"You do, of course. Be sure to move your right pinky finger so she will know it is definitely you."
"How do you know that?"
'I'm your husband, and we spend a lot of time with Alena and Marcus. They become like us one month after us. We were the first, and they were after us."
"Oh, wait until she remembers who Marcus is. She already told me earlier when she met him that he looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where. She's going to love that he's her husband!"
"I can't wait to see what she what she does when it's revealed to her."
Drake climbed the stairs to the main floor and asked Alena to come down to the office.
Shay paced the room after Drake left, her earlier tears replaced by a mix of excitement and apprehension. Alena. Marcus. Us. The words played in her mind like a symphony she couldn't quite grasp but felt drawn to.
"Of course, I'm the one to bring her back," she muttered, glancing down at her hands. "She's going to flip when she realizes Marcus is her husband. I hope she doesn't throw something at me."
A faint smile tugged at her lips as she practiced the gesture Drake had mentioned, curling her right pinky finger in a subtle wave. "This better work."
Alena appeared from the stairs. "Shay, what's going on? Drake said you needed to see me."
"Alena, come sit. We need to talk." Shay made sure she could see her right pinky finger moving when she sat down in the chair next to her.
"Uh-oh. That sounds serious. Are you pregnant?" teased Alena, dropping onto the nearest chair.
Shay let out a laugh, shaking her head. "No, not that. Just… something big. Huge."
"Okay, I'm listening. What's going on?"
Shay took a breath, then slowly raised her hand, curling her right pinky finger. She held Alena's gaze, watching as confusion turned to recognition and then disbelief.
"No," Alena whispered, shaking her head. "No way." Alena couldn't believe what she was told.
"Yes way," said Shay, her voice steady but soft. "It's me, Alena. It's real."
Alena stood abruptly, backing up a step. "This is insane. You're messing with me, right? This is some elaborate prank?"
Shay stood up and approached slowly and spoke gently but firm. "It's not a prank. Think about it. think. Doesn't something about all of this feel… familiar?"
Alena's memories danced in her mind; moments she couldn't place, but felt undeniably real. Shay laughing with her in a field of violet grass. Marcus's voice calling her name from a starship console.
"No," said Alena again, but this time, it sounded less like denial and more like pleading.
Shay reached out, placing her hands on Alena's shoulders. "It's okay to be scared. I was too. But I promise, it's real. And you're not alone in this."
Tears welled in Alena's eyes as she whispered, "Marcus. He's… he's part of this, isn't he?"
Shay nodded, smiling through her own tears. "He's your husband. And trust me, you're going to love remembering that."
Alena let out a shaky laugh, wiping her eyes. "I can't believe this. I mean, it's crazy, but… I believe you. I don't know why, but I do."
Shay squeezed her shoulders, her own confidence solidifying. "That's because it's true. And now, we have to figure out what comes next. Together."
Alena took a deep breath, her expression shifting from disbelief to determination. "Okay. Let's do this."
"Looks like you handled that well."
Shay turned, grinning. "Told you I would. Alena trusts me."
"Good, now it's time to call Marcus down here," said Drake, looking at Alena.
"Why are you looking at me?" asked Alena, scared of Marcus's reaction.
"You are his wife, so you must make him believe you. You're having memory flashes, correct?" asked Drake.
"Yes, I am starting to get flooded with them. Oh, we have six children!"
"Alena, so do we!" said Shay.
"Wait a minute, do we get married on the same day, February 14, 2025?"
"Yes, we do, and we each have three sets of twins on the same day, July 4, 2026, 2028, and in 2030," said Shay, laughing.
They all laughed, the absurdity of the situation breaking through the tension.
"Good. Because this is just the beginning. After Marcus, Dr. Broke, Det. Ques and Det. Posey to name a few more. I'm going to go get Marcus for you Alena."
"At least I won't have to do his partners," said Alena.
"Crap, I'll probably have to Dr. Broke," said Shay, smiling.
"Are Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ted, and Aunt Martha also like us?"
"At least it explains why our families seem odd."
"Shay, what about our parents and my brother, Edwin? Could they… how many?"
"Well, we have other things to address. Drake told me we need to…"