Welcome

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The facility Simon is brought to is different from the last one he had gone to with Grace. This one is smaller for one thing. For another, it feels more like a hanger than any sort of government facility but he supposes that’s sort of the point. He’s led to a smaller room that has an observation window to the left and is only furnished with a single chair and a worn looking table displaying an old model laptop. 

Stratt motions for Simon to sit as she begins explaining what exactly Simon is here for. 

“A little over a year ago we received confirmation of two of the Hail Mary's Beatles on route to earth. We were able to intercept and retrieve it shortly after. Not only did it have the answer to the Astrophage problem, but it also contained data logs from the ship.” 

She clasps her hands in front of her, pausing to allow the reaction from Simon she knows is coming. 

“...So you’ve had information on my husband for the last year, and you’re just now telling me?” 

“Once we start sharing the information on these logs, we would be having to share them with the world. Even if we tried to hide the information, it would get out one way or another. I’ve put it off for as long as I can, but I did want you to be the first outside of this taskforce to watch them.”

That makes him pause, the rising affront from her hiding this from him is gone almost as quickly as it rises. The first to watch them? What does that mean and exactly are on these logs? He settles back in the chair provided and nods for Stratt to continue, resolutely ignoring the anxiety rising in his chest. 

“These videos…” Stratt paused to compose herself for a moment before continuing. “...These are Grace’s video logs. Watching them will be difficult, but I ask that you please watch them all before we continue.”

“Continue? You mean there’s more than these logs?”

She nods, but doesn’t elaborate. Only gesturing to the laptop and giving a soft “I’ll leave you to it” before she leaves him alone. 

With seemingly nothing left to lose, Simon opens the laptop and presses play on the first file. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He woke up alone.

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He woke up alone and with memory loss. 

Grace had woken up alone and confused with only the corpses of his supposed crewmates. 

Simon finds himself having to physically hold back his sobs as he watches Grace try and sort through memories he doesn’t quite understand to make sense of his situation. 

He has to watch Grace give Yao and Ilyukhina their respective funerals, not even bothering to stop the tears now. 

“...I’ll do my best.”

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About a week after Grace wakes up, he sits down to do a proper video diary instead of the jumbled together security footage from the Hail Mary. 

He looks tired and so unlike himself that Simon has a hard time relating this person to who he remembers his husband being. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing here. I mean I do know, I just don’t know how I’m supposed to do it….especially on my own.”

He’s not even wearing his wedding ring, Simon thinks a little hysterically thinking that this couldn’t possibly get worse. 

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“...Soo I met an alien.”

Oh what the fuck. 

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After taking a small break to scream into his hands - an alien!? Really!? For fucks sake, Grace. Only you - Simon continues watching the video logs. He gets to see Grace slowly come back alive as he and Rocky - creative his husband is not - figure out how to communicate and solve the problem plaguing both their home worlds. 

The first time he hears Grace laughing again though, Simon has to pause the video again to take a few deep breaths. 

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Simons’ not even the one having to make the chain and he’s already sick of it too. There's hours of footage of them making that god-forsaken chain and just talking. They’re talking about their fishing plan, about the science and thought process behind it. And about really nothing at all. One video has Grace trying to describe colors to the Eridian. Simon watches every second of it all. 

“Grace have mate? Question?”

“Oh…uh. I’m not sure! I don’t - I mean you know my memory is all kinds of screwed up,” a self deprecating laugh here, “...but I think so? Saying that I do feels right.”

“...Rocky ask questions about mate? Maybe help memory? Question?”

“Yeah sure, buddy. I don’t see why not.”

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Grace almost dies. 

(So does Rocky, but as attached as Simon is becoming to the weird little guy he is infinitely more attached to his husband.)

It’s back to spliced together security footage of the Fishing Incident, and Simon nearly has a heart attack when he sees Grace go face first into the control panels. 

This is it, he thinks. This is how he died, this is how I lost the love of my life.

Except Rocky apparently decides fuck that and breaks out of his containment in order to physically drag Grace to safety. Nevermind that Rocky is apparently on fire for the whole thing - Simon loves the little guy so much at that moment. He actually has to talk himself into relaxing each finger that's in a death-grip around the poor laptop after witnessing the whole ordeal. 

Grace eventually wakes up, and Simon’s heart breaks right along with him as he sees Grace discover what’s happened to Rocky. 

“...I’ll watch you sleep, buddy. But you gotta wake up.”

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“Simon.”

Hearing Grace say his name has him snapping his eyes up to the screen from where they’ve wandered away slightly. He’d zoned out a little while watching Grace perform his experiments on the astrophage predator. 

The screen now shows Grace alone, sitting up at his work station with a haunted look in his eyes that Simon has never seen before. Rocky is nowhere in sight. 

“Simon. Oh my god…how could I have…” Here Grace lets his head fall into his hands as he shoulders begin to shake. Eventually he straightens back up with a deep inhale, blinking back tears as he gathers himself. “What happened? Why did I…? Why did I go? There’s still so much I don’t understand…That I don’t remember…”

Several long minutes of silence has Simon just watching and waiting on Grace. It feels almost like he can pretend that they’re back home again, just the two of them sitting and enjoying the silence together while Grace grades his students papers and Simon reads through his latest library book. The faint crackle of the laptops speakers is the only thing breaking the illusion. 

“...We met in college. And you joined me on a roadtrip back home to the west coast. I- I told you I loved you after you fought a crow in the Grand Canyon for my pack of Twizzlers. God it was so stupid and terrible but you just smiled at me like I meant everything to you -”

“- you did, Angel,” Simon can’t help but cut in with a desperate gasp, clutching at the laptop hard enough to hear the plastic casing creak, “You still do.” 

“ - and you kissed me on the fucking forhead and told me to get back in the car before I got cold.” A deep breath here “…You wouldn’t stop holding my hand after that either. I loved that so much. Just always there, without question.”

A pained whimper cuts through the sudden silence, Simon not realizing at first where it was coming from until he has to gasp for air. 

“But what I can’t figure out - is if we loved each other so much, why am I here? Why am I here and not with you? Why did I leave!?”

“No no no. Angel, no. It wasn’t you - it wasn’t, please don’t -”

The video ends before either of them get an answer. 

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Grace really needs to get better at naming things. 

Fucking Taumeba.  

Simon would really like to have words with him about this. 

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“...he’s looking at a very long, slow…and painful death. I - I can’t leave him behind…

…I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry, Simon.”

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The silence after is deafening. It’s been hours since Simon was first shown into this little room, only really pausing when someone dropped off food and water at some point. He has no idea where he is or what time it is now. He feels adrift in a way that he hasn’t felt like since Grace was first launched all those years ago. 

There must be a camera or something in here alerting her that he’s done with the laptop, because Stratt comes back in after a few minutes. She’s brought her own chair and takes a seat across from him, neither of them speaking for a long while. Simon can see the faint streaks of a sunset from outside the observation window. 

“...so aliens, huh?” he finally settles on. He’s not trying to be funny, but Grace always did say he liked deflecting with jokes. It makes Stratt smile anyway. 

“I…I don’t know what to say. That’s it? Just…confirmation he probably starved to death in space as expected? What do you want from me here, Stratt?”

“...I would like your help.”

“With what? I’m not a scientist like Grace was!”

“I know that. This is the part that comes after.” Simon straightens up at her words. He’s not sure if it’s the tone or the way she avoids his eyes, but it gets his attention. “What I say does not leave this room. I know precisely who knows this information, so I will know who to look into should this information get out.”

“...okay?”

She meets his eyes now, staring him down with a familiar intensity. He realises he hasn’t seen this look in her eyes since the day they launched the Hail Mary. 

“Six months ago we got confirmation of the Hail Mary’s return trajectory towards earth.”

No. 

“The ship was successfully recovered and we have been preserving what we can but -”

Simon can’t breathe.

“No, no fuck you. Don’t you dare - after all this I get - what, exactly? Now I have something to bury!? Is this supposed to be some sort of fucked up consolation prize!?” 

“No Mr. Grace, you misunderstand. I am not saying his body was recovered, I am saying Ryland Grace was recovered alive.” 

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There’s a helicopter ride to a tiny, private airfield, and then a plane ride to somewhere in Texas. At least he thinks it’s Texas, considering they passed what he was pretty sure was the remaining facilities of NASA. 

Simon’s head isn’t really able to focus on much of that right now. 

(“...I’m still not sure why you need my help exactly? I get he’s in medical care, but why am I helping?”

“Because Dr. Grace wasn’t recovered alone.”)

Since he has to, y’know, try and get past the Eridian guard dog so the medics can better help his not-dead-husband recover from the malnutrition, slight radiation poisoning, and scurvy. 

He’s overwhelmed and lost and he can’t tell if this is real or if that fever he had last week actually killed him and this all just some sort of strange afterlife - but right now it doesn’t matter because either way Grace is here and he’s almost within his grasp. 

Stratt leads him through several security checkpoints through what looks like a military hospital, until she finally stops him outside a pair of double doors lined with those plastic ribbons that always remind him of the freezer section at grocery stores. Or a butcher's shop. 

“There are cameras inside. If you need anything, just ask. Try not to break anything.” Simon feels like he should be offended by that last part. Instead he steps forward, only hesitating slightly before he pushes through the plastic and opens the metal door. 

It’s the sound that he registers first. Like a typical hospital room he can hear monitors beeping, a steady hum of the oxygen, with a slight hiss interspersed throughout. 

The angry looking spider perched in an oversized hamsterball shouldn’t be as much of a surprise as it is. 

“What the - ”

“Why no knock!? Who is? Question? Human being rude! Statement!"  

Seeing on a video screen is very different from seeing in person, Simon decides. He tries not to think too hard about how nervous he suddenly feels. “Um…hi? Rocky right?”

He doesn’t know what to expect, but the immediate shift in personality is not it. Rocky goes from a hunched over defensive stance to perking upright like a dog hearing the word “walk” faster than he can blink. A series of excited squeals break out as Rock steps closer. 

“You are Grace Mate! Oh yes yes yes! Happy happy happy. Hello Friend Simon!” Rocky is now doing his little jazz hands as he happily rolls up to where Simon had frozen by the main doors. “Rocky hears many story about Grace Mate Simon. Show Rocky many videos of Mate Simon! Good you are here, Grace miss Mate very much.”

“I …I missed him too.” Simon’s voice is nearly a whisper as he lets Rocky roll around him in spastic little circles. Rocky makes more pleased (they at least sound pleased?) chirps as he wobbles around the room. It gives Simon a chance to actually look around the room he’s in. 

It’s bigger than he thought. There’s still a decent amount of medical equipment taking up the edges of the room, but it’s obvious most of the floor space has been cleared for Rocky’s benefit. 

And finally- front and center is Grace himself. 

He’s prone on the hospital bed, hooked up to what looks like every line and sensor known to mankind. He’s asleep at least. Not able to feel what is undoubtedly an incredibly uncomfortable experience. 

There's a chair next to the bed for Simon to sit in, that he gratefully takes. He’s already threading his fingers into Graces as he slowly lets reality right itself. His hands are cold. But Grace is here. He’s alive and he’s getting better according to what the doctors are saying, but it’s still going to be a long road to recovery. 

“Grace Mate Simon leaking.” 

He can’t help but laugh wetly at the sudden statement. Tears had unknowingly begun slipping down his face as he simply basked in his husband's presence for the first time in almost 12 years. “Just Simon is fine, Rocky. Although I do appreciate being recognised as his mate - husband.”

“Simon not normally recognised? Question?” Rocky’s little taps sound more offended on his behalf than he expects, and it makes him laugh again. 

 “Not exactly. It’s just been a long time since I’ve been recognised as his husband I guess.”

“Hmm. Rocky understand. Rocky also miss being called Adrian Mate.” 

“...I’m sorry. I’m sorry you couldn’t go home.” Rocky makes another few warbling notes as he comes around to Simon’s side of the bed until he can bump gently against his legs. 

“Rocky…miss Adrian. But Eridians have long life! Will make it back to Erid eventually. Will see Adrian again” 

“Still…” Simon finds himself reaching down to pat the hamsterball like he’s seen Grace do a million times. Rocky leans into the touch, his body arching up to meet where Simon’s hand is. “Thank you. Grace is here because of you. He’s alive and home and that’s something I can never repay.” 

“No need repay. Rocky love Grace! Want Grace happy.” 

“He loves you too, Rocky.” he says quietly. 

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Grace may be stable, but he isn’t out of the woods yet. A lot of the current expected recovery time is just waiting to see how his body takes the treatments needed. So both Simon and Rocky are left with a lot of time on their hands while they watch and wait. Simon’s never been very good at keeping idle, so he gets to work. 

Simon asks for the translator Grace created for Rocky and instead gets to work on improving the software. Simon’s always liked puzzles and software engineering had always been a fun passion of his. He starts by taking the original set up and figuring out what exactly Grace has Frankensteined together. The original laptop itself is in a terrible state, the screen broken and glitching occasionally. The copious amounts of duct tape have preserved the other two tablets attached to the side and back in nothing less of a miracle. 

It’s honestly impressive it’s survived this long, Simon thinks as he methodically takes the three machines apart and puts them back together. 

Next he gets to work on his own laptop to make the translation program more streamlined. It takes a few days and several blocks of time where he and Rocky can’t communicate too well because of the constant switching on and off of the system. But they get there! And now it’s all one program he has downloaded to its own dedicated tablet. All that’s left is expanding its vocabulary for Rocky’s sake. 

“No understand word.”

“Which word?”

“Second word. Heard many times but no understand.”

“...Grace didn’t explain any swears to you did he?”

“...”

“...”

“...Simon teach Rocky all the swears please.”

“You know what? Yeah, fuck it. Let’s do that.”

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“Why is Simon here now, question?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why is Simon not at home? What about cats!”

“The cats are fine! I asked Colt to watch them. And, well Stratt -” Rocky makes a sound that Simon can only describe as a displeased harmonica at the mention of Stratt. Which…valid. Simon sympathizes. “Stratt knew there was going to be difficulty with translation and making sure you both were getting the care you needed. Also I think she knew I would genuinely kill her if I found out she was keeping Grace from me. Again.”

“...Rocky fucking hates Stratt.”

“You and me both, buddy.”

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They live together in Grace’s hospital room for the next several months as Grace's condition slowly improves. He’s still far too thin and discolored for Simon's liking, but the bruises are slowly disappearing and his skin is looking better everyday. The scarring on his left arm is improving too, but the nerves will probably never recover. 

A spare bed is moved in for Simon, and Rocky’s enclosure is expanded into the room so he doesn’t have to be confined to the hamsterball as much. Doctors come and go with Simon's blessing, Rocky only making the occasional displeased noise when one seems to be lingering longer than necessary. Stratt only visits occasionally, and she never steps fully into the room, which he thinks he and Rocky both appreciate more than they’d like to admit. 

Grace stays sedated through the majority of it, which is a small comfort to Simon. He never liked seeing Grace in pain or discomfort. As much as he wants to have Grace awake and here with him, he’s willing to set that desire aside for granting him some much needed comfort. 

He also learns a lot more about Eridians than he ever expected. Or really wanted to. 

(“Rocky needs to go eat now.”

“Please do it in the other room - I’m begging you to not do that in front of me ever again.”)

And then the day finally comes when Grace’s doctor begins talking about plans to wake him up. It’s been nearly 6 months since Simon moved in, and a lot of the monitors he had been hooked up to when Simon first arrived have all slowly gone away one by one. Bandages around his left arm were removed, and most bruises are nearly gone. And now they are getting to the point where Grace is no longer in the danger he once was, making his induced coma unnecessary. 

Simon of course readily agrees to waking him up - but he, Rocky and even Stratt all insist on doing it as gently as possible. 

It’s not like the movies where it’s all quick and dramatic with Grace gasping awake - the medical staff simply move efficiently to remove the last of the tubes and slowly bring Grace back to the land of the living. Rocky and Simon are standing out of the way as they watch all this happen, Rocky is shifting back and forth making little clicks to hear better while Simon never looks away from Grace’s face. He sees Grace open his eyes for a few blinks, make eye contact with the nurse talking to him, nod a few times and then he’s out again. 

And just like that, Simon feels like he can breathe a little easier. 

They’re mostly left alone after that. A nurse still comes by every hour to do a quick check, but she never lingers and she always brings a new cup of water for Simon without asking. Simon and Rocky both park themselves on either side of his bed. Rocky is in one of his tunnels, working on something that Simon can’t decipher. Occasionally he pauses and taps along the xenonite closest to Grace, to do a little check on him. 

Simon is able to sit closer and keep a hand on Grace at all times while he works on video editing or reading through a book that someone left behind one day. He never lets go of his hands unless absolutely necessary. I’m never letting you go again. 

This continues for about a day before Rocky suddenly perks up and turns his full body around to face where Grace is laying. 

“Grace heart rate changing.”

It takes a second for the meaning to register in Simon’s sleep deprived brain, only catching up when he notices the slight movement from the bed. Grace looks awake, blinking slowly at the light above him as his brain reboots and tries to make sense of what he’s seeing. 

“Grace…?” Simon asks softly when Grace doesn’t immediately fall back asleep. There had been a few false starts, so to speak. Just brief moments of Grace waking up for only seconds at a time, but not really long enough to get much out of him. This time seems different though. 

Slowly Grace's gaze slides over to where Simon is, his brow creasing in confusion. 

“Hey,” Simon keeps his voice low as he scoots closer, a smile already spreading across his face. “You with me, Angel?”

“...S’mon?” his throat sticks and catches on the attempt at his name, but Simon just nods encouragingly while reaching over to stroke along the sharp plane of his husband's face. 

“Yeah. Yeah, Angel it’s me. It’s alright, just relax okay? I’ll get you some water.” Grace hums appreciatively and lets Simon do all the work, seemingly content to not worry about moving just yet. 

“What happ’nd?” he still sounds tired and out of it, but the water has helped his voice some. Grace is looking over at Simon like he’s not completely sure he’s real yet. “...wait.”

“What’s the last thing you remember, hon?” Simon cuts in before Grace can spiral too much. 

“I was…wait I was on Mary. Where’s -” here he tries to sit up slightly, but Simon is quick to put a stop to that with soft shushing. 

“Everything’s okay, I promise. Taumeba is good and everything. And look! Rocky’s been here with me keeping watch too.”

Grace’s head snaps to the side now, eyes wide as he finally registers Rocky in his little tunnel. Rocky is predictably overjoyed at hearing his friend's voice again. 

“Friend Grace is awake! Is all good! Happy happy happy happy!”

All Grace can seem to do is blink rapidly at the sight of Rocky dancing around excitedly. Simon only becomes worried when he notices tears starting to well up in his eyes. 

“...Angel? What’s wrong?”

Grace looks over at Simon now, tears falling now as he reaches for Simon with a shaking hand. “Ryland, please what’s wrong?”

“You’re real?” comes the quiet confession that shatters Simon’s heart. “This is…real? I’m not - this isn’t a dream?”

“Yeah sweetheart, I’m here. You made it back to earth. With Rocky and the Taumeba. You did it. You made it back - !” Simon finds himself cut off by the unexpected yank that has him tumbling face first into Grace. 

Both are wrapping the other up in their arms as tightly as they can, while Grace openly sobs into Simon's shoulder. He’s doing his best to curl up into Simon, arms and legs tucking in as close to him as Grace can get. Simon is reciprocating immediately, tucking his own arms around Grace and pulling him as gently as he can without pulling on any remaining wires attached to Grace. He’s so relieved to have Grace in his arms, it takes a moment to register the words being sobbed into his shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry. I never - never wanted to leave you. I wanted to stay so badly Simon -!”

All Simon can do is hold him tighter and press kisses to every part of him he can reach while assuaging his frantic ramblings with his own. 

“I know you did, Angel. I know it wasn’t your fault, it’s ok. You’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

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Nothing is fixed immediately. 

Grace still sleeps too much and has too many nightmares for Simon’s liking. He also still doesn’t remember everything from before the mission and there's a strong possibility he never will. 

Rocky refuses to leave the room unless he’s eating, almost attacking Stratt when she asks to speak with Grace alone. 

Simon isn’t sleeping nearly enough, his own nightmares coming out to play on occasion. 

Not to mention the whole ordeal that comes with alerting the rest of Grace’s family of his miraculate survival. 

“Grace has more family, question!?

“Wait, I do?”

“Rocky thought Grace was only family besides Mate Simon!”

“Oh fuck.” Simon has his head in his hands now. How the fuck is he supposed to not only tell his amnesiac husband he has not only a brother - but actually two brothers, a sister-in-law, and three nieces? 

How he now also has to get in contact with all of them and tell them that Grace was alive? Yeah if Colt didn’t kill him, Claire certainly would. Maybe the idea of meeting Rocky would distract them all long enough for Simon to run for safety. 

(“What the fuck do you mean he’s alive!?” 

“Colt, stop yelling.”

“No!”)

It thankfully doesn’t take much to get Colt on board for setting up a new house for him and Grace that’s closer to them. The property next to them is for sale and they’d been contemplating buying it anyway to expand their acreage for the few horses they’ve adopted, so changing that plan into making it a home for Simon and Grace? Done. It takes a lot more convincing from Simon and Jody to keep Colt from driving his stupid ass down to Texas and kidnapping Grace from the medical center. Then it takes some convincing of Simon and Grace for Jody to not drive herself down to Texas when it’s finally mentioned that Rocky was here too. 

And so begins their unofficial lessons on family members. It's for Rocky as much as it is for Grace considering all the bullshit the Grace-Severs family has gone through over the last ten years. 

“You paying attention there, Rocky? Because this is your family now too.”

“...Rocky now Grace?” Simon is pretty sure he isn’t imagining the emotional warbling to the soft notes that come out. Grace is smiling and tapping at the xenonite before Simon can reply. 

“Yeah of course you are, buddy! I don’t know about you, but Rocky Grace-Severs sounds pretty cool.”

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“Wait - nieces? I didn’t…We didn’t have nieces before did we?”

“No, they came after. Sort of. Colt and Jody had twin girls - yes the irony isn’t lost on him. Maya and Lucy, they just turned eight. And then Courtland adopted Claire at some point. Still not actually sure if that’s legal or not actually.” 

Grace is silent for a long time, hands clenching and un-clenching at one the blankets Simon had requested from their apartment. 

“What is it?”

“...I thought Court was dead?”

Ah fuck.

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It takes another week for Grace to be in any condition to get out of bed. And then almost another two for anyone to begin entertaining the idea of Grace leaving the medical bay. 

No matter how much they all want to leave, no one is taking any risks with Grace's health right now. By some weird twist of fate it's Stratt who convinces Grace to stay put. 

“At the very least let us finish preparations for a more secure enclosure for Rocky.”

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that with the help of your brother and husband, we have secured a home for you and are modifying it to also safely house Rocky.”

“...”

“Did you think we would try and keep him here?”

“I mean…a little?”

“I am many things Dr. Grace. But I’d like to think I’m not stupid enough to start earth’s first intergalactic war.” 

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Moving from Texas to Northern California isn’t an easy task even when one of the people isn’t still recovering from several severe medical complications, and another is an alien rock spider who can’t touch oxygen without catching on fire. Simon is lucky Stratt is willing to provide everything they need to do this move. As much as he hates having to rely on her for this, he is grateful. Grace says it’s the least she could do considering. 

It’s a long and drawn-out process that leaves everyone stressed out and overstimulated for nearly a month after they finally reach their destination. Simon misses the apartment, but the house is so much better (and safer) for Grace and Rocky that he can’t really complain too much. Simon and Colt go back to the apartment one weekend with a moving company to pack everything up and for Simon to say goodbye to his neighbors. Grace is able to come up for a day to also see the apartment one last time. 

“I remember some of it…It’s mostly the feelings though. Things I felt with you.”

But the house is done and updated to their preferences. Grace loves it. He’s still mostly in a wheelchair these days and the bigger layout helps immensely with his mobility. It’s now also interspersed with tubes for Rocky to move around freely, including a whole other dome that’s just for him to inhabit outside the house. Simon is begrudgingly impressed. 

Rocky loves the new tunnels. The moment he’s released into the new enclosure he’s sprinting and knocking into every corner in his excitement to explore. Whatever he’s said is screamed at a pitch the translator can’t quite keep up with, so Simon and Grace get to lounge in their new living room and bear witness to this 300lbs alien getting the zoomies for the first time in almost 50 years. 

“...should we stop him?”

“Nah let him have his fun.”

Colt and Jody at least manage to keep away for about a week before they can’t keep their daughters away any longer. Grace is already parked on the couch with what’s probably far too many pillows but is too comfortable to really complain about it when the front door slams open and Colt comes stumbling in after two energetic eight-year olds. Some things never change, Grace thinks as he watches his brother try and fail to wrangle the girls who are gone as soon as they hear Simon in the kitchen. Jody follows at a far more normal pace, closing the door behind her with a grin. 

“Ryland!” She makes her way over to him, stepping over her fallen husband, to pull him into a hug. “Oh I’m so happy to see you! Sorry about the noise.”

“Hi Jody.” He's hugging her back as tightly as he can manage from this angle. “The noise is nice, I don’t mind it.”

“You’ll regret that.” Colt's voice from the floor. He’s managed to pick himself up with a grimace as he plops down next to Grace.They can hear excited chatter in the kitchen, followed by Simon's lower voice as he answers all the questions thrown at him. Grace is more than a little in love with the whole scene. 

The questions are cut off by excited squeals when the familiar modulated voice of Rocky’s translator suddenly appears from the back of the house.

“Ooo! Seaver Children are identical! Just like Grace and Colt! Amaze amaze amaze!” 

“I think that’s the sound of Simon losing his title of favorite uncle.” 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

8 Years after Ryland Grace and Rocky return to earth, Eva Stratt shows up on their doorstep once again. Her hair is almost entirely white now, but there are soft lines to her face Grace hasn’t seen before. 

“Aren’t you retired?” he asks her, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Of course. But I wanted to tell you about this myself.” 

Grace nods and lets her in, as much as he knows Simon won’t like it. He’s got his cane today, joints protesting with the cold weather as he slowly leads her to the kitchen. “Tea? Coffee?”

“Tea please, if it’s not too much trouble.” He shakes his head and waves her off, geting to work on setting up the kettle. Simon is off with Maya and Lucy doing some sort of school shopping before the winter break ends, and Rocky is…elsewhere in the house. He’ll make an appearance soon, Grace is sure. 

Once tea is made and they’re both sitting at the little breakfast nook, Grace finally looks over at Stratt. “Alright then, let’s hear it. What happened this time?” 

A blip has been detected on the edge of their solar system and it’s come from the direction of 40 Eridani. Projected arrival to earth is approximately 3 months. 

“...I should…probably get Rocky down here.”

“I think you should, yes.” 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When they make the decision to come back to earth, Rocky fills the two remaining Beatles with information logs that he knows Erids scientists will be able to understand. He tells them everything - what happened to the crew of Blip A and why, relativity, fishing for the Taumeba, a private message for Adrian and most importantly the weird leaky space blob named after mercy from another solar system who saved his life more than once. 

He also inscribes the airlock of the Blip A with a memorial plaque for the remaining 22 Eridians who started this journey with him. 

Rocky does not expect to see Erid for many decades. He only plans to consider leaving after Grace dies (not that he likes that idea at all). None of them ever expect Erid to come to him. 

The entire Grace-Severs family make the journey to Pasadena in order to act as translators and ambassadors for earth. It’s not the first time Grace and Rocky have left the Bay Area, but it’s the first time it’s going to be for longer than a week so the entire damn-family decided to tag along too. Even Court and Claire meet them at the assigned warehouse that is acting as a meeting room for humans and eridians. 

Rocky is already in the larger enclosure, anxiously moving about. He occasionally moved items around as if checking to ensure they were up to standard. Grace would be doing the same if he weren't on the other side of the xenonite. 

The Eridian delegation had touched down last night and were now expected to arrive through the other airlock in about 10 minutes. 

This is fine, everything is fine, Rocky can do this - 

The airlock opens. 

- Rocky cannot do this. 

The eridian stepping through is not only early, but alone. They are also massive compared to Rocky. It makes Grace and Simon share a look, before they turn their attention back to the as of yet unnamed eridian. They are also a very familiar shade of blue-green that has Grace narrowing his eyes in suspicion. 

The translator Simon completed years ago is mostly tuned to Rocky and his specific pitch, so it takes a second for it to begin translating this new voice in complete sentences. 

“- my harmony, you are -?”

Rocky is making sounds Grace has never heard before as he seemingly collapses to the floor. It has Grace standing up in alarm, worried his friend has fallen asleep suddenly or worse -

But this blue eridian only scuttles closer and easily scoops Rocky up with soft coos, their carapaces bumping against each other hard enough to make the humans watching wince. 

And, yup. Grace grins at the sight as his suspicions are confirmed. Two matching wedding bands are finally slotted back together again after nearly a century of waiting. 

“I don’t get it?” comes Simon’s hushed whisper from next to Grace. Grace can only lean against his husband, letting the tears in his eyes fall at sight before him. 

“Look closer - ” Grace points to where the eridian’s arms are interlocked “ - this is Adrian.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

a/n: 20 PAGES LATER HELLO

i did it, I'm done with this thing that's been plaguing my brain for like a week. Easily the longest one-shot I've ever written.