“Has there been any news?” Niran was looking up from the book he was reading expectantly. 

Gideon felt for the man. To be so far away from his husband, unable to do anything and forced to rely on an old enemy for help must have been excruciating. The lack of communication from Starfleet would only have made things worse. If Gideon were in his shoes, he’d have been crawling out of his skin by now.

“Not yet,” Gideon replied. 

Syral threw the book down beside him and let out an exasperated sigh. “What’s taking so long?”

“I know it’s frustrating,” Gideon tried to soothe him. “But we have no idea how long it’ll take Starfleet to locate your husband. As soon as they have something to report, they’ll let us know.”

Syral picked the book back up and continued to leaf through it while Gideon reached for a nearby PADD and started scrolling through the local news feeds for any stories about Bianchi Enterprises or the Bianchi family. 

Not for the first time, he found himself looking through the holo images from Nicco’s recent engagement party. Each image was the same: forced smiles, leaning away from his fiancée. It was clear he didn’t want to be there, that it was far from a happy occasion. Thinking of Nicco living the rest of his life like that made Gideon’s heart ache. 

He lost track of how long he spent looking at the images. It was only when Tolas and Mitchell arrived that he set the PADD aside. They looked at Tolas expectantly.

“We have him,” Tolas announced. “Your husband is secure onboard the USS Midway.”

“Thank goodness,” Syral visibly deflated in his chair as relief flooded his body. He looked up at Tolas. “Now what?”

“We’ve done our part,” Mitchell replied. “Time for you to do yours.”

Tolas bobbed his head in agreement. “Once we have the trilithium, the three of you will leave Pergamon on a civilian transport. We’ll arrange for a Federation starship to rendezvous with you along the way for the journey to Bastion Station. You’ll be reunited with your husband there.”

“Thank you,” Syral said earnestly.

“I’ll come with you to retrieve the trilithium,” Tolas told him.

Syral nodded and followed Tolas to the door. On the threshold, he stopped and turned to Mitchell and Gideon. “I owe you both a debt that I can never repay.”

After they left, Gideon quickly sent a message to Nicco asking him to come by the apartment. He knew his time on Pergamon was coming to an end even sooner than either of them thought. The response came back only a few minutes later: Be there soon. 

Mitchell remained unusually quiet. Gideon watched him sitting on the couch, reading the book that Syral had discarded. He looked like he was engrossed in the book, but Gideon had gotten to know the man in their month and a half on Pergamon. The constant bouncing of his right leg indicated he was anxious.

“You okay?”

Mitchell looked up from the book. “What?”

Gideon moved in front of Mitchell and lowered himself onto the coffee table, perching on its edge. He slowly removed the book from Mitchell’s hands and set it aside.

“What’s wrong?” Gideon asked softly.

Mitchell’s leg continued to bounce. “We haven’t heard anything from the Endurance.”

“It would take them a few days to reach Korthex at high warp,” Gideon pointed out. “We won’t hear anything from them for another day or two at least.”

A frustrated sigh escaped from Mitchell’s lips. “This is the closest we’ve come to finding Tom in almost a year. I just…”

“We’re going to get him back,” Gideon assured him. He spoke with confidence, but he shared Mitchell’s concerns. It would be for other people to follow their intelligence and locate Forrester. They could only wait for news.

Mitchell forced a smile and nodded. “I hope you’re right.”

Nicco’s arrival interrupted their conversation. Mitchell quickly excused himself, mentioning something about going for a walk, leaving Gideon and Nicco alone. He could see it in Nicco’s eyes; he knew why Gideon had asked him to come over.

“You’re leaving,” Nicco said.

It was a statement, not a question, to which Gideon nodded. “Our operation here’s been successful. We’ll be leaving soon. Probably tomorrow.”

“Shit,” Nicco sighed. “I thought we’d have more time than this.”

“So did I,” Gideon swallowed hard, trying to clear the lump in his throat with no success. “I wish you’d reconsider coming with me.”

Nicco reached out and ran his fingers through Gideon’s auburn hair. He closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against Gideon’s. The kiss was gentle, but it conveyed so much. Gideon didn’t want it to end. He wanted to stay in Nicco’s arms for the rest of his life.

When they broke their kiss, Nicco stepped back. “We still have tonight, right?”

“Yeah,” Gideon replied breathlessly.

Nicco smiled and took Gideon by the hand, leading him into the bedroom.

Morning came around much too soon. Gideon drew lazy circles on the flesh of Nicco’s shoulders. This would be the last time he would hold him in his arms like this. He tried hard to see the positives in their situation. They’d been given a second chance, and Gideon would cherish these memories for the rest of his life.

“D’you remember the time my parents let us go to Risa for my nineteenth birthday?” Nicco asked, his hands playing idly with Gideon’s chest hair.

Gideon smiled at the memory. “How could I forget? It was the first time I’d ever travelled off-world.”

“We went hiking in the mountains,” Nicco recalled. “Slept under the stars at night.”

“I still can’t believe you burned the sausages.”

“I didn’t burn anything,” Nicco protested. “Those sausages were fine.”

Gideon chuckled. “Baby, the sausages were desiccated. You could’ve sold them on the Ferengi Futures Exchange. And you almost set my backpack on fire.”

“That was your fault,” Nicco protested.

Gideon laughed. “Oh yeah.”

They’d returned to Risa several times after that before Nicco’s father caught them in bed together, but that first time was special to Gideon. He held one memory of that first trip closest to his heart.

“Remember the rain on the last night? When the weather control net malfunctioned?” Gideon asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen rain that heavy.”

Nicco smiled. “We were soaked within seconds and had to take shelter in that cave.”

“I made a fire to dry our clothes, and we cuddled together for warmth,” Gideon remembered fondly.

The quiver in Nicco’s voice when he spoke tugged at Gideon’s heart. “I felt so safe in your arms. I always have.”

“That’s where we had our first kiss,” Gideon said, placing a gentle kiss against Nicco’s head.

Nicco remained silent, continuing to toy with Gideon’s chest hair. “Do you regret it?”

“Regret what?” Gideon asked.

“Kissing me.”

Gideon placed a finger under Nicco’s chin and lifted his head so they could look each other in the eye. “Best decision I ever made.”

“But given how things worked out-”

His life would have been easier if he’d never fallen in love with Nicco. “I’d do it all over again. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Nicco leaned in and kissed Gideon. It was gentle at first, but grew in intensity. A knock at the door was like a bucket of cold water over them, extinguishing their moment of passion. Mitchell poked his head around the door.

“Sorry for interrupting,” Mitchell cleared his throat. “We…uh…we’re due to be at the transporter station in forty minutes.”

Gideon sighed. “I’ll be out soon.”

Once they heard the click of the door closing, Gideon kissed Nicco again.

“I guess this is it,” Nicco said, his voice barely audible.

Gideon nodded slowly. “Unless I can talk you into coming with me?”

“I wish I could,” Nicco told him honestly. “But he’d never stop chasing me, and when he found me, he’d find you. Besides, I couldn’t leave Mom on her own with him.”

It was difficult to swallow, and having never been close to either of his parents, Gideon wasn’t sure he could sympathise with Nicco’s reasoning. He had no choice but to accept it.

Nicco pushed himself off the bed and began rooting around for his clothes. Gideon did the same. He had a few final bits to pack, but that didn’t take long. Not wanting to make a scene in front of Mitchell and Syral, Gideon reached for Nicco’s hand.

“You know there’ll never be anyone else,” Gideon told him. “Not like you.”

He could see the unshed tears in Nicco’s eyes. “I know. I feel the same.”

If his heart wasn’t breaking already, Nicco’s words caused it to split clean in two. He wanted more than anything to give Nicco the happiness he deserved, but Nicco had made his decision, and they would both have to live with it.

Nicco travelled down in the elevator with them. Once they were outside in the cold Pergamon morning, Gideon leaned in and kissed Nicco for the last time, pouring every ounce of emotion he was feeling into it.

“Goodbye, Li,” Nicco said once they pulled back from their kiss. His voice was thick was emotion, and the tears in his eyes finally rolled down his cheeks.

“Goodbye, Nicco.”

With one last sad smile, Nicco was gone. Gideon’s chest ached. He briefly considered running after Nicco, but he batted the idea away as quickly as it popped up.

Gideon took a few minutes to compose himself before walking over to Mitchell, Tolas and Syral.

“I guess this is it,” Mitchell said, extending his hand.

Accepting the offered hand, Tolas shook it. “This operation didn’t go exactly how I thought it would, but you got the job done.”

“It was good working with you, Tolas,” Mitchell told him.

“You too,” Tolas replied. “Safe journey home.”

He was only half aware of the stilted conversation between Mitchell and Syral on their walk to the same transporter station that they’d arrived at a month and a half earlier. Gideon could hear the rise and fall of their voices, but paid no attention to what they were saying. He was too preoccupied with the man who’d just walked away from them.

“Are you okay?” Mitchell asked when they reached the transporter station. 

Syral entered the transporter station ahead of them. In a moment of unguarded honesty, Gideon replied, “No.”

“Doesn’t seem fair,” Mitchell said.

Gideon’s brow furrowed. “What d’you mean?”

“After everything Syral’s done,” Mitchell began. “He’ll be given a new identity and be allowed to start a new life with the man he loves. You, a good man, are forced to leave Nicco behind again.”

The thought had occurred to Gideon, but he’d tried to ignore it. “The universe doesn’t care for fairness. I just have to take whatever positives I can from the situation.”

“There are positives?”

It took some searching, but Gideon had managed to find a few. “I got to spend a few more weeks with him,” He looked at the ground. “And at least we got to say goodbye this time.”

“Hang onto that optimism,” Mitchell told him.. “You never know what the universe has in store for us. This may not be the end of your story with Nicco. Just the end of a chapter.”

Gideon eyed Mitchell warily. “You keep finding new ways to surprise me.”

“Gotta keep you on your toes,” Mitchell said with a smirk. He clapped a hand on Gideon’s shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s go home.”

Looking around the street one last time, he found what he was looking for. Those eyes he loved looking into, watching him from the shadows. With half a smile, he entered the transporter station, holding onto the hope Mitchell had given him.