North hadn't deserved that fate. He'd been too kind, always looking out for them, even the AIs, treating Theta like his kid, not a piece of military tech. Wash misses him. He misses all of them. He hates that this conversation is making him think about this.

Wash turns away, reaching for his rifle, slowly enough that York could stop him if he wanted. He's not planning to shoot again. Not today.

"Carolina..." He remembers that, remembers her, too vividly sometimes. A little girl trying to make her dad proud after her mother had- He reaches up, rubs the front of his helmet like that will dispel the images or at least ease the headache he gets from thinking about this for too long.

"It wasn't even Maine at the end. The Meta. I don't think there was anything left. Sometimes I think that might have been a better outcome."