Hello, everyone. I am sorry for the delay. I have been busy applying to grad school and other programs and whatnot. I swear I'm working on this, too!

Also, I'm going to take a break in between Part II and Part III. I have an idea for another story that I have to get out and I think it will give me time to really process the storyline for Part III.

Hope this chapter finds you all in good spirits!

Interstellar: Revivisco, Part II
Chapter 18 - Parare

"The cord wrapped around her neck and it never seemed to trip our monitors until is was too late."

Amelia never seemed to figuratively sew up a wound, letting the blood flow out instead of letting it turn into a scar to see in the mirror.

Cooper felt her body jolt as another sob hit her body. Without saying a word, he was down next to her, holding her to him, letting her cry there. This wasn't a time to say that it would be okay, because for her it would never be okay. How had this happened? It had happened to them twice. "Why?" she asked in a sob. She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck, lying there on top of the papers.

He knew that this was going to be a massive wound. "I don't know."

She clung to him tighter, her tears slowing. "I... I don't know what I did."

"You did nothing," he tried to reassure her. She put her forehead to the shoulder of his sweat-soaked shirt. He stayed there with her like that for an hour; he wanted her to be certain that she wasn't alone in this.

She hadn't left their bedroom in a day, staring out the window. Hopefully she could find the willpower sometime that day to walk down the stairs.

"You can't keep yourself locked up in here," she heard from behind her. Amelia didn't turn around. "You can't do this to yourself."

"Do you ever wonder how we are so fucking unlucky? I don't even believe in luck, but here we are." Amelia sat up and stared blankly at the wall. "And look at me. If my body could actually, you know... function, we wouldn't be here."

"Why do you blame yourself for everything?" Coop walked over and stood in front of her. "I don't know why this happened, but it did. You had nothing to do with that."

She looked him in the eyes, her stare still blank. "I'm getting punished for the things I've done. Doyle, causing you to lose a potential 23 years... I'm being punished for that."

"If you're getting punished for those things, then I'm getting punished for picking Mann's planet, and I don't think that's what's going on." Cooper pulled back the covers. "Come on, you're leaving this room. You have to eat. All you've done is shower and stay in the bed, and that's not going to make you feel better."

"Nothing can make me feel better," she whispered not seeming to notice that he'd pulled her blankets away.

"Amelia, I-" he stopped, sitting down next to her.

"How are you so strong?" Amelia asked, grabbing his hand. "I'd love to know your method, because I need it."

"We've seen a lot, lived a lot." He watched her hand move over his. "I guess I've learned that I've got a lot to be thankful for here and now."

"I'm thankful, I just," she paused as she pulled her hand away from his suddenly, "I was ready for her. I wanted her so bad. I still do." She started to cry.

"I know you were ready, I was, too." Amelia laid down, turning away from him.

"When is it going to stop hurting?" she asked in a whisper.

"When you wake up one morning and that's not the first thing on your mind." Amelia wanted the pain to be gone now, but there were only so many miracles that could happen in one person's lifetime, she supposed. She successfully stopped her tears.

"I'm not doing this again." Cooper nodded to himself. He knew it was coming, and he couldn't blame her for making that decision. He understood.

"Okay," he whispered as she turned over. He smiled gently at her to try and reassure her that he was fine with that decision.

"I'm sorry Cooper," Amelia said softly, looking up at him with swollen eyes.

"It's not your fault." She knew that.

"I think I'm going to try and eat. It'll probably make my body feel a little better." She stood up and stretched.

"Good idea," replied Cooper, watching her. "I'm going to go write a little bit, okay?" Amelia looked at him softly, a silent 'thank you'. "I love you," he whispered loud enough for her to hear.

"I love you."

Amelia, age 12.

John Brand looked at his daughter, just about to be a teenager. His wife had died only a month ago, and he knew it was time for them to move. A lot for a 12 year old to handle, but she wasn't just any 12 year old. "How many people get what mom had?"

"A number of different factors, Amelia. Your mother was around a lot of chemicals, which took a turn on her lungs." She knew that, she just needed to hear it every so often. "She took every precaution, but sometimes it just isn't enough."

"Good thing math can't give you cancer," she said seriously. She couldn't lose her dad, too. "I'm not going to be a chemist."

"You can do whatever you want to do. That's part of the human mind and free will." He watched as she seemed to be pondering something. "What's on your mind?"

"Do you think you'll ever figure out your problem?" They walked into his office; it was Amelia's favorite place in all of headquarters.

"I believe I will." She walked along the chalk boards, analyzing them even though she didn't understand anything written there.

"What about your classes? Are you still going to go up and teach those?" Amelia was concerned about her father's safety. If her mother could die from lung cancer caused by chemicals, she was sure the dust couldn't be that great for you, either. "I don't want you to get sick."

"Amelia, we're going to be okay, I swear." She began to cry and ran over to her father, hugging him.

They should be arriving with the body any time now, Amelia thought. She didn't want to see her, but she did want to give her a proper burial. She couldn't ask him to dig a plot, but CASE and TARS could take care of that for them easily.

After, as they sat on the porch steps, Cooper held her to him as she cried. He couldn't help but tear up at what they had just witnessed, but he knew he had to be strong for her.

Cooper watched as Amelia gradually started to recover. There were still tears every day, but not a complete breakdown. He'd finally cried in front of her, to which she'd held him and told him they'd work through it together.

Her weight had dropped again, he'd noticed; too distracted and shaken up to eat. She had finally gotten back to her lab, spending more and more time in there analyzing whatever she could.

"Hey, Amelia?" Cooper asked over the radio. "How about you leave that lab of yours and watch a movie with me in a few minutes?"

She picked up her radio, holding it to her mouth. "What were you thinking?"

"Anything if it involves you doing something besides sitting at a microscope." She smiled and shook her head, laughing a little. "Take your mind off of things."

"Okay. If you insist," she replied. A few minutes later, she got up and took her lab jacket off. Hanging it in its usual spot, she walked down the hall and up the stairs. "Coop; you here?"

"Getting out of the shower." Amelia walked toward their room and sat on the bed. "Hey there."

"Hey," she whispered, looking him over. He'd thrown on basketball shorts and was taking a t-shirt off of a hanger. "You don't have to wear a shirt if you don't want to." He smirked and straightened up.

"You don't have to, either, you know." Amelia waved a hand in the air, as if to stop him.

"Pass. And besides, it's too cold in this house." Cooper chuckled and went ahead and put on a shirt.

"Your loss," he joked as he straightened out the shirt. "Get a lot done down there?"

"Not too much. Dinner made me a little sleepy," she said as Cooper sat down next to her.

"Too tired to watch a movie?" he asked, watching her shake her head 'no'. "Good. So we can have a little alone time."

"Alone time?" Amelia smiled, confused. "Every moment we have together is alone time if you think about it, save for CASE and TARS."

Cooper laid back on the bed, watching as Amelia turned around. "Yeah, but we're acknowledging that this is alone time, though. That makes it different."

"Oh it does?" she asked sarcastically as she propped herself up next to him. "Well, that changes everything, then."

They smiled gently at each other, like their own language. "You're right, it does."

"I'm going to change out of my clothes into PJs and brush my teeth." She got up from the bed, leaving him there.

"Are you actually going to stay awake during this movie? You fall asleep 75% of the time we do this!" Cooper exclaimed, laughing. Amelia swatted him away and put her head down on the pillow.

"What are you going to do if I fall asleep?" She laid back on the couch.

"I haven't decided yet," he said, "I'm still thinking on it."

"You haven't decided? You've got to have a better game plan than that." Cooper watched as she stretched, sighing as she did. Her eyes had looked hollow for the past week, no life behind them, but now that life was back.

"You can sleep if you want, but you're not sleeping on the couch," he said, Amelia smiling.

"I'll stay awake as long as I can, just pick out a movie. One I can tolerate." Coop chuckled and turned on the set.

Amelia woke up and felt herself being carried somewhere. "Cooper?"

"I knew you'd fall asleep on me," he whispered back. She thought she could make out a smile on him. "You're tired."

"I am," she said as he pulled back the covers and put her down. "A little rested, though, I guess I had a decent nap?"

"Forty five minutes, maybe." He covered her up.

"You're staying here with me, right?" Cooper nodded and Amelia closed her eyes. "Or are you going back to finish up the movie?"

"I'll stay here with ya." He waited on her reply, a soft smile appearing on her face.

"I don't want to be alone. Not right now." She opened her eyes again as Cooper got into the bed next to her. "I... I used to think about her a lot at night, how before we knew it, we'd be waking up to little cries over the monitor." Cooper was silent, watching as tears slid slowly down the side of her face. "She never even got to cry." Her voice didn't falter as she spoke. "Time was passing so fast, and I knew that before we knew it, she'd be here."

"I know," Cooper replied as Amelia turned onto her side to face him. "I'm sorry I got you into this."

"Hey, I agreed, remember? I didn't know I'd end up falling in love with her the way I did." She wiped a tear away.

"Kids'll do that to you, Amelia. Don't even know how bad you wanted them until they're here." She pursed her lips and stretched her arms.

"Or gone." Amelia suddenly realized the weight of her words. "Oh, Cooper. I'm sorry..."

"No, you're right. You don't know until it's too late sometimes." He felt her grab his hand from across the bed, her thumb gently moving across his knuckles. "I don't think I could ever love you any more than I do right now." He saw her blush for the first time in a week, which was welcomed. "You really have no idea."

"Dr. Brand, Cooper, something is approaching the atmosphere and appears to be headed this way. About fourteen hours out, perhaps," CASE said, walking into the kitchen.

"Probably a test drone, nothing to worry about," Cooper replied, brushing it off. "I suspect they're trying to get an aerial view to see what's on the other side of the ocean, or whatever it is. Surveying purposes, most likely."

"And here I was getting ready for the sacrifice ritual," TARS exclaimed; the light in the top left corner of his screens blinked. "Just in time."

"Who are you planning on sacrificing, TARS?" Amelia asked him. Cooper smirked, already knowing the answer.

"I don't think there's a question to that, Dr. Brand." She looked up at Cooper, who waved gently as if to say 'bingo'. She smiled, looking back at TARS.

"I'll let you know if he starts getting on my nerves, okay?" She heard Cooper make a noise of faked shock.

"You and two robots. That'll be a fun life." Cooper watched as Amelia put her head down on the table, on her stack of papers, laughing. She hadn't laughed like that in a while.

"Don't you have farm things to do?" He chuckled back as she lifted her head up from the table.

"Farm things? You really need to learn the lingo." Amelia rolled her eyes and propped her head up on her hand, her elbow on the table. "But yes, I do have 'farm things' to attend to." Cooper stood up and walked toward the door. "How long until you think you'l be finished up with your microbiology thing?"

He had said that just to irritate her, she was sure. She got it now. "Well, I'm finishing up the research on the chlorophyl, and then I'm onto moss. We'll have to go back into the woods, but I think I can manage, just not by myself, obviously." Amelia lifted up her tablet, looking through messages. "You know there's that event at headquarters tonight, right? Some kind of celebration for being mostly settled in. I think it might be fun, believe it or not."

"I don't know. We could run into all sorts of people, like relatives - you know how I feel about that - or Hart. Tolbert could also try and steal you." He had added a punch of humor to that last sentence. It was a joke between them that he hadn't used in a while. Amelia got up from her chair and walked over to where he stood near the door.

"I'll check and see if Pates and Hodge will be there, which I'm sure that they will be, and if we run into anyone we don't want to, we can easily leave. This also gives us the opportunity to use the plane that you've refused to try out. You are a pilot, remember?" He shook his head, smiling. It was going to be hard to turn down this one. "I'll go by myself if you aren't going to go."

There was no way he was letting her go by herself. Hart would likely pull her aside and tell her what had happened, but would lie about it, and he wouldn't be there to defend her or himself. He would go with her and at the first sight of Hart trying to start a conversation, they'd get out of there. "Okay."

"I'm going to message Pates. I'll radio you once I find out if they're going or not." Coop nodded and walked outside, TARS following.

"Nervous about what to wear?" TARS asked. Cooper huffed in disgruntlement.

"Oh, yeah, TARS. Should I wear the blue bow tie or the red one?" TARS chuckled back. "No, I just-" He suddenly realized that TARS had no idea about what happened at headquarters between him and Dr. Hart.

"You just what, Cooper?" TARS kept walking with him, for once, not suspecting a thing.

"I don't want to run into anybody that I don't want to run into." That wasn't a lie.

"Understandable."