They had to be quick. This was their last chance. Poison reached for his gun, firing two shots at the scarecrows. They hit the floor and Poison aimed his weapon at the woman, who had grabbed Sky, using her body as a shield, backing away from him. For her size, she was unusually strong, disarming her immediately, pressing the gun against the back of her neck. Sky felt sick with fear.

'Rebels.' the woman laughed, shaking her head in disgust. 'You have some guts coming here. Clever, I must admit but your weakness is too obvious.'

'Shut up and let her go!' Poison snarled, making the woman laugh again.

'Your pathetic, human emotions. I can see right through you. You think you love her, don't you? You think you're brave and strong because of her, for her, when the truth is it makes you vulnerable and stupid. Worthless.' she said, almost seductively.

'SHOOT HER POISON!' Sky yelled, trying to wriggle out of the woman's grasp but he hesitated. 'DO IT! You can bring me back!'

She could tell he was having doubts. Doubts about whether or not he would really be able to bring her back, just like she had brought him back. If they could actually rely on that power. Even if they died, it didn't matter anymore, she thought. Poison tore off the draculoid mask and Sky could feel the woman's grasp on her weakening for a brief moment.

'So Korse was right.' she said, resignation in her voice. 'The Fallen Children do exist. Party Poison. And this must be Sky.' she pulled Sky's head back by her hair, making her hiss in pain.

'Let her go.' Poison said and she could hear a new found confidence in his voice. 'You know we're gonna kill you no matter what.'

If you could somehow reach me, Sky added in her mind. They needed to touch each other, they needed to make contact.

'Not without killing yourselves too.' the woman smiled and to her surprise, she let go of Sky, pushing her towards him, dropping the gun in defeat. 'You will never succeed. Your emotional attachments will be your downfall once again. Maybe BLI has failed this time but someone else will take our place. Hopefully by then you will have learned that there's no room for love in this world. And you will pay the ultimate price.'

Sky was aware of the price they had to pay. And she was okay with it. She knew that no matter what would happen, her and Poison would be together. Somehow, somewhere, they would always be. She wasn't afraid anymore. So she closed her eyes and they connected. They wished for the same thing and the explosion that followed threw them both to the ground, everything around them went dark.

*

Poison woke up, the heat and smoke tickling his throat, making him cough violently. He could barely open his eyes but when he finally managed to, he saw that the room was on fire, flames coming from everywhere he looked. Next to him, he found Sky, still passed out and a familiar fear took hold of him.

'SKY!' he screamed, slapping her across the face at which she moaned and opened her eyes. Relief washed over him. 'Sorry. We need to get out of here!'

She sat up, coughing, and he grabbed her arm, helping her up.

'System failure. System failure. System failure.' a robot voice repeated, the walls starting to shake.

'The building's collapsing. Come on!' Poison yelled and they hurried out of the room and down the stairs, gasping for air. They had almost reached the ground floor when Poison passed out again.

Next thing he knew, he was in the van, cold water being splashed in his face and a voice yelling 'GO!' as he felt the vehicle moving. Again, a coughing fit ripped through his chest and someone handed him a bottle of water.

'Fucking hell. That was close.' Ghoul looked at him as he emptied the water.

'What happened?' he looked around and saw Sky lying in the back of the car, her eyes open, trying to calm down her breathing. He scooted over to her, taking her hand. 'What happened?' he asked again looking at his friends.

'We did it. Poison. We did it. The whole building, it came down.' Sky said, her voice weak and raspy.

'What do you mean?' he asked, confused.

'You blew up the whole thing. Fuck, I don't know how you did it because a whole lot of explosives would have been necessary for that but whatever. BLI. They're destroyed.' Jet explained and he saw Sky's eyes welling up with tears. 'And we've gotten word that the border is open. The Stargazer and the rebels are already on the other side, with a lot more people on the way. It's over.'

'Are you sure?' he gasped. It sounded too good to be true.

'I am. The few dracs and agents that were able to escape the building all ripped off their masks. Seems like the device in them stopped working as soon as you did whatever it was that you did in there. They're on their way out. I saw some who even helped other citizens flee. Same happened at the border. The rebels didn't even have to attack! We're all free!'

He looked down at Sky, a huge smile spreading across her beautiful face which was blackened from the smoke and all he could do was pull her into his arms.

Free.

The word seemed so foreign to him and he didn't know how to feel about it. There was no emotion connected to it yet. But for the first time in years, his dreams had the possibility of coming true. Poison closed his eyes, feeling Sky's heartbeat, in perfect sync with his and she wrapped her arms around him. There was a future now. Not only for them but for everyone. Behind them, another explosion hit the city.

*

Although all the energy had been drained from her body, Sky felt hyper. She couldn't sit still, moving from one side of the van to the other to look out the windows. As the sun was rising over Battery City, the smoke clouding the horizon, they returned to the zones, encountering countless refugees. They were tempted to stop the van and even pick up some of the people but now that it was clear that the citizens of Battery City had hated the corporation as much as the rebels, a BLI van wasn't exactly a welcoming sight.

As much as she had anticipated the liberation, she was anxious about the fact that it had finally happened. That now, after so many years, decades of war, Poison and her had been able to end it all within a few hours. The prophecy had been right all along, the legend of the tribe, the Phoenix Witch, the Stargazer, the Fallen Children, all of it, real. She reached for Poison's hand and he moved closer to her as they passed the checkpoint to Zone 2.

'What's gonna happen now?' she asked, knowing that the same question was also occupying his mind.

No one knew the answer. Would everything go back to normal? They didn't even know 'normal'. The future was uncertain and even Chip seemed confused and unsure about what would happen next. Sky couldn't lie to herself, she had found comfort in living as a rebel and Poison probably felt even stronger about it. They were good at it. They had their routines and their ways of getting by. Now, all of that would change. She didn't know what it was like to stand still, not having the need to run or hide. Being a rebel was all she knew.

'I have no idea.' he finally replied and she pressed her face against his shoulder. 'We start over, I guess. As long as we stay together, we'll be fine. Promise me we'll stay together.'

'I promise. Always.' Sky answered without hesitation.

*

They arrived at the diner a day later but only stopped for one night, to get a good night's sleep and gather their things. The Stargazer had once again updated them with news from the border.

'Some people ran off as soon as it opened. But most of them stayed. They're all waiting for you.' he had told them. 'Help from the countries beyond the border is on its way. I've heard that they're providing food and shelter for the refugees, they're also not averse to letting us settle wherever it's possible. Get your asses here as soon as you can, guys. We're throwing a massive party in your honor.'

The Killjoys didn't need to be told twice. Along with Chip, they set off, saying a final goodbye to the diner. Poison had learned to love the place ever since he had arrived years ago. But it was time to leave it behind, too. Find a real home. Not a hiding place.
The journey to the border was difficult for all of them. It all became clear that sneaking into Battery City and destroying BLI hadn't been the real challenge. The real challenge was ahead of them. The real challenge was living their lives as free people in a free country. As Poison looked at his friends, he knew that they all shared the same fears. At least he had Sky. But what would become of the Killjoys now, that the purpose they shared had been fulfilled?

The Stargazer waited for them at the gas station, escorting them to the border. The anxiety made Poison's stomach turn and not even Sky could comfort him, her own face pale with unease. They didn't dare to look out the window as they got closer to the line that divided them from freedom.

'I got a surprise for you.' the Stargazer said as they got out of the van and Poison looked up at the huge wall in front of him before a man in a drac uniform caught his eyes. He couldn't believe it.

'Cola? Cherri Cola?' Jet muttered next to him and the blond man walked closer, smiling. It was undoubtedly him.

'Fuck me!' Ghoul cursed and now they were all staring at him, including Sky who he had told so much about the fellow Killjoy he thought he had lost forever.

'I can't believe you replaced me with a girl.' Cola smiled at her and she snorted, drawing her gun to show it off. 'Nice. Poison has always been a good artist.'

Poison felt like he owed him an explanation, an apology for what had happened. Even though everyone had done a good job at making him feel a bit better about it, the guilt was still there, even now. But just when he was about to start talking, Cherri Cola threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly.

'Don't you dare.' he muttered before letting go and shot him a look that made Poison reconsider. 'And you must be Sky.' Cola said as he smiled at her. She looked at Poison and then back at Cola and nodded. 'Cute.'

He was still the old Cherri Cola. A bit of a douchebag but a nice, funny douchebag. They had a lot to catch up on but the Stargazer cleared his throat, motioning Poison to the door in the wall.

'Why don't we leave this place first.' he said. 'I think you two should go first.'

Sky grabbed Poison's hand and he took a deep breath. This was it. He looked at her, a weak smile on her lips and he kissed her forehead. It seemed like it was only yesterday when he found her in the shack, bruised and beaten. So much had happened since then. Most importantly, he could remember. Every single moment they had spent together, since they were little kids, it was there, back again in his memory. The feeling of having someone, belonging to someone, knowing that nothing could ever tear them apart because they were part of something bigger than them and this something wanted them to be together.

'Let's find our beach.' she whispered and they took the first step across the border.

Notes

This is it folks. This was the last chapter of 'Falling Skies' :(
There might be a sequel...not sure yet but there will DEFINITELY be an epilogue because I want you to know what the future holds for Poison and Sky. I've already written one but I still want to wait a few days to see whether or not I'll have more ideas for a sequel. Because I don't want to start writing one and then I run out of ideas wishing I would have simply posted an epilogue. You know what I mean, right? So please, to all my readers, let me know what you think and what you'd prefer :)

Thank you so much for all the support.