I am a SLUT for both time travel fix-it for PHM and bloodymary, SO I BRING UP AN IDEA
Time travel fix-it fic where Grace dies after 20 or 30 years on Erid out of non-natural causes, idk what but it's not sickness or old age, and wakes back up a few months before he's recruited onto the Petrova Task Force with fuzzy dream like memories of the previous timeline.
EXCEPT he's not the only one who remembers. DuBois, Shapiro, Yao, and Ilyukhina all remember too, and their memories are much more vivid. Ilyukhina makes a group chat so they can all talk about it and what's going on, and they manage to get Grace's info and invite him in too, to which Grace also starts remembering things in more detail.
How they time traveled? SIMON!
For reasons that I don't care much to think about too hard, after watching Grace die, he denied his husband's death SO HARD he turns back time to before the Hail Mary launched using weird Eldritch powers he got from the blochen (blood ocean), and also starts following and haunting Grace on Earth because YOU WILL NOT TEAR HIS AMAZING LOVABLE HUSBAND AWAY FROM HIM!
Problem is, he kinda keeps accidentally leaving bloody hand and foot prints sometimes and since he kinda around Grace 24/7, everyone starts think Grace is haunted (cause he kinda is), his coworkers start to avoid him, so Simon does his best to keep the scary stuffs to a minimum.
Simon's is also very sad because his husband doesn't remember him, but he remembers his dead crew mates and is actively trying to prevent that.
Meanwhile, Grace is trying to remember details of his mission so they can better prepare, but he's also agonizing over why the FUCK he's been so emotional over the name Simon since he woke up with these memories.
Grace doesn't remember until like, a MONTH before the Hail Mary launches. He's talking to the Time Travel crew about what details he remembers about his "fishing trip" when he's suddenly hit with ALL of his memories of Simon coming back like a fucking tsunami and he just stops talking as a look of grief, horror, and realozation crosses his face. His friends are confused and concerned, cause this has never happened before, and then Grace is suddenly SOBBING and breaking down and choking on his own breath. Ilyukhina immediately hugs him and he just latches on like he'll die if he lets go, and everyone else quickly joins in, trying to whisper reassurances.
They've obviously made a scene, so Stratt is called and she forces Grace to take the rest of the day off once he's calmed down enough to be coherent. To which he refuses.
"Dr. Grace, you have under a lot of stress, a breakdown like this was bound to happen. Take the rest of the day off, it's thanks to you and your crew that we have the time to spare."
He relents and goes to his room, asking to be alone. That evening, he barges into Stratt's office, making her give him her full attention.
"Dr. Grace, why have you barged into my office like--"
"Send me on the Hail Mary. I'm the leading expert on astrophage, I'm the most qualified scientist for the mission, so send me up!"
"Dr. Grace, what are you--"
"SEND ME ON THE FUCKING MISSION, STRATT!"
Stratt, stunned by his desperate demeanor and use of swears, allows Grace to beg his case. He doesn't actually explain his real intentions, Stratt doesn't know that they're time travelers, but how else is he going to save his best friend and love of his life?
Stratt eventually relents, but she knows there's an ulterior motive to his request, so she has someone keep an ear open to anything he might say behind closed doors.
Grace starts dreaming of the blochen, but of the massive tree that grew from the sub and Simon. He sees the fleshy red bark, the pale leaves, and the string up corpse of the eel that Simon described to him so many years ago.
Eventually, the bloodied prints that haunt him start to form into letters, specifically when he's alone. The blood itself doesn't move, it's more like someone is using it to write, like a messed up type of finger painting.
One night, as he lies awake, he hears something rubbing on metal and looks to the wall.
'ANGEL' it says. Only one person called him that.
"Y-You're here...? T-The blood stuff, that's been you?"
Grace can't help but cry, emotions overwhelming him.
"How...? Where are you? How are you here?"
'BLOOD IS NOT ALWAYS HELPFUL'
