Genre: Gen
Characters: Pallid Man
Rating: PG-13
Words: 280
Spoilers: Through season 1
Summary: It was only a question of shared DNA.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: I appear to have written 12 Monkeys fic. Speculation fic of the "out there" kind.

PALE SOLDIER

"It won't be a problem, will it?"

He'd thought about it for a long time before he'd answered, dissected every syllable of the question, every nuance in her cold, calm, calculating voice.

It was only a question of shared DNA and a label. An abstract concept of relation.

One child to save history and the future.

Was his life worth any more than any other child?

And yet The Traveler had sacrificed everything for one child.

His future; his life; his liberty.

And the only real family he had.

Why was that child's life worth more than this one?

One man had broken the past to save his child.

The other would be sacrificed because The Witness decreed it should be so.

And what of Doctor Railly? Would removing this seemingly insignificant puzzle piece irrevocably change her role in all this, as The Witness predicted? And wouldn't The Witness's very existence, as a consequence, be in jeopardy?

These arguments had all died in his throat before they made it to his tongue.

He was a soldier, after all; loyal to the Cause. Silent, when he needed to be.

He had killed many in his time.

He had killed many children.

He would kill more.

Removing his fedora for a moment, he had run a large hand across his pale forehead. Toyed with the silver medallion at his throat. Taken a breath. Smelled lavender and jasmine.

"No," he'd told her. "It won't be a problem."

Shared DNA.

And a label.

When he'd picked up the phone, his hand had been shaking.

"Marian?" he'd said. "You need to bring James to me now."

He would never see his daughter again.

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