Chapter Text
Henry was almost all the way home. He could see everyone else on the other side, already there, ready to celebrate being home again. He saw his mom, finally on Earth, smiling at Lark and Sparrow. Mercedes, pulling her clothes on and hugging the boys so tightly. Henry didn't know how long it had been since they left, but she looked like it had been too long, and he knew the boys felt that, too. His eyes flicked to Darryl, one arm wrapped around Carol and the other around Grant. He felt a pang of panic at the idea that he was going to have to say goodbye to him. That they were going to sleep in separate homes.
God, he needed therapy.
He got to the edge of the portal, foot almost out of the portal, when he felt a hand on the back of his shirt, starting to pull him back. He tried to rip himself away but the grip was too tight, too strong. There was nothing for him to grab to try to get out and his foot slipped so whoever had a hold on him could yank him back.
"Darryl!" Henry yelled before he was suddenly out of the portal again. He fell back onto the grass, knocking the breath out of him. He didn't have time to understand what he was doing before someone was on top of him, a knife pressed into his neck. He blinked, eyes wide, then frowned. "B- Boreanaz?" He asked, voice weak.
David Boreanaz looked terrible. He had been buried in the Earth only two days ago, so that wasn't surprising, but Henry had no idea how he was here. He was covered in dirt, blood caked all over his face. One of his eyes was bloodshot. His hair was singed. And he smelled...like absolute shit. Henry felt the knife press harder into his neck and he raised his hands.
"I- I- I'm sorry, we shouldn't have left you buried under there, I just- We- We had to get home and now I'm going to go home and you won't have to deal with us anymore, okay? Just let me go. It's fine. It's alright, I-"
"Shut up!" Boreanaz shouted, pulling the knife away so that he could slam his fist into Henry's face. Henry's head snapped to the side and he gasped at the shock of pain. Boreanaz grabbed his hair, pulling his head back so he could look up at Boreanaz again. Henry could feel tears gathering in his eyes, whether involuntary or not he didn't know. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Boreanaz pressed the knife to his neck again, keeping his head pulled back. "You ruined everything. You destroyed my fucking life. You dropped a pyramid on my town and left without a second thought. You don't deserve to have a happy ending. I deserve a happy ending. I do!"
Henry's chest tightened, panic rolling through him. "I- Let's- Let's just talk about this, okay? It's okay, it's going to be okay, I-"
"No! Because for some reason, despite you ruining everything-" He pulled Henry's head back, even more, yanking on his hair. He let out a weak whimper. "-you're still supposed to be a hero. I don't get it." He laughed. "I really don't. But someone told me you were the unsung hero and I have no other options, do I? I don't have anything left. So here we go, Henry Oak. It's time for you to fulfill your destiny."
"Wait, wait, wait," Henry protested. Boreanaz pulled the knife away, raising an eyebrow. "Who- Who told you that? We already found out I'm not, right? We- I've bled a lot and I-"
Boreanaz tapped the knife against Henry's chest, good eye flashing purple for a moment. A cold chill ran down Henry's spine. "Apparently, I was doing it wrong. He told me what I needed to do. And I crawled my fucking way out of that hole you left me in to make sure I would get it right this time."
"No, please, I-"
The other man grinned. "You had your chance," Boreanaz whispered and plunged the knife down into Henry's stomach.
Henry's breath caught in his throat as he was immediately filled with the worst pain he'd ever felt. He had been burned, punched, stabbed, shot, and yet this was...different. Boreanaz pulled the knife out and got up, stumbling back. Henry couldn't breathe, breaths coming in too shallowly. He looked up, vision blurring, and he moved his hands to his stomach, remembering vaguely that he needed to put pressure on it, but he couldn't concentrate enough to do that. He looked down. He didn't know if it was happening or if he was just hallucinating, but he could see a cloud of black smoke seeping out of the wound. It drifted out, slowly at first, then more rapidly. The pain was growing, rocking his entire body. He could see the sky darkening.
Boreanaz was laughing, staring up at the sky, as Henry's body tensed. He shuddered, eyes rolling, as the pain shot through him. His throat tightened.
The smoke slowly, carefully, drifted toward Boreanaz, beginning to surround him like a cloud. Henry saw what happened next like snapshots as he faded in and out of consciousness, his throat closing in on itself.
Boreanaz was surrounded by the black smoke, still laughing. The smoke was entering his lungs. The smoke was gone. His eyes were black, smile wrong. Then, he was over Henry, staring down at him, still smiling. He was saying something, but Henry couldn't hear, too far away.
Then, like a spike going through his head, he heard, "Thank you."
His vision went white as the pain took over, and Boreanaz was gone. He still couldn't breathe.
The last thing he saw before his vision faded out was the sky going completely black.
He was alone. He was dying.
And he had ended the world.