In their cabin, Nick sat on the bed and slumped a bit. "I know I'm doing the right thing, but man...every ti I realize that I'm a mass-murderer, it really makes doubt it. A lot of people have good reasons to hate and what I've done and what I'm doing."
Maggie sat net to him and put an arm around him. "You're being hard on yourself, and I think you're describing things badly."
Nick frowned and turned to her. "How so?"
"Well, calling yourself a 'mass-murderer', for one thing."
"I've ordered the deaths of hundreds, maybe thousands of people, Maggie. I think the term applies."
"In history class, did they refer to every general and admiral as a mass-murderer?" Nick furrowed his brow, trying to grasp what she was driving at as she continued. "This isn't you being a criminal, Nick. It isn't even you being a vigilante, though that is closer. This is war."
"War? I'd think vigilante fits better. I'm just trying to weed out so of the worst of the worst."
Maggie shook her head. "It doesn't feel like war because you're not fighting over a piece of geography. You're not attacking an entire country, and that's what we think of when we think of war. But this is a form of class warfare, Nick."
"I don't have it in for all billionaires, Maggie!"
"I know! There are really good billionaires out there, and you're not attacking them. People who help the poor or the disadvantaged, who found scholarships for exceptional students, who help them graduate high school, or hell, even just leave other people alone and not hurt them!"
"Wouldn't class warfare an I was trying to kill everybody rich, though?"
"No. Because 'class' is more than the size of your bank account. You're targeting a specific group of truly monstrous people, many of whom got to do monstrous things because they were so rich."
"Or maybe got rich because they're the type of person to do monstrous things."
"Exactly! You're not going after people with a lot of money, you're going after people with a lot of power—if they are using that power to hurt people who can't fight back. Be honest, Nick, knowing what you know about so of these sons of bitches, if you were in a room with them and you had a gun, you wouldn't have a problem pulling the trigger personally."
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He grimaced. "Maybe that's a warning sign."
"And maybe that just ans you have a moral compass! I've looked at so of the evidence—I stopped because it was going to give nightmares. These people do things that would make a demon blush! Nick, so people just aren't fit to live, and we generally have to live with that, because there's so many of them. But when one of those SOBs climbs to the top where they can do huge amounts of damage, and nobody else can stop them...If I were in your position, and I thought of it, I'd be doing this myself. If anything, I'm a little embarrassed that it might not have occurred to to use this power. You're being brave for doing this."
What Maggie was saying felt good, but Nick didn't know whether or not to trust it. He took a deep breath. "Well, I don't know whether I can accept that, but I do know that I'm not changing my mind about what I'm doing. It feels a bit cowardly to leave the dirty work to Captain Telnik, though."
"It isn't cowardly, Nick. Captain Telnik is the one who can aim. He is the reason that you'll be able to sleep at night. Because you know he doesn't have a dog in this race. He doesn't care what human beings do to each other. You gave him a clear, moral mission, and he's fulfilling it in a brutal, effective manner. He's not going to kill soone who doesn't deserve it. Captain Telnik is the right tool for the job."
Nick sighed and fell back on the bed. "God, this is exhausting. I keep going through the sa argunts over and over, trying to find a way out."
"That's called being a good person." Maggie leaned over and poked his chest repeatedly. "You. Are. A Good. Person. If you weren't, I wouldn't have abandoned my whole planet to marry you!" She got a little smile. "And speaking of marrying you, I want so more kissing practice."
Nick found it a little hard to shift ntal gears, but did his best. "Oh?"
"Yes. I refuse to get my teeth bashed in with your teeth when they say, 'you may kiss the bride.' We're going to be good at kissing by the day of the wedding. I insist."
"Oh, you insist?"
"Yes, I do."
"I like the sound of that."
"I do," Maggie repeated, and leaned over him for a kiss.
Nick suspected that she was doing this to distract him, but decided to let her. Going in circles wasn't doing him or anyone any good. He kissed her back, feeling grateful that Maggie was watching the most horrible thing he had ever done and wasn't wavering in the slightest.
"How did I get so lucky?" he wondered in a whisper, staring into her brown eyes.
"You made your luck, Nick." She smiled. "This whole adventure started when you stepped out into the middle of a fubar jamd street and started directing traffic! A lot of people wouldn't have cared, and a lot more wouldn't have had the guts." She ran a finger along his chest.
"It's been a wild ride," he mused.
"You know that speech before whatshisna regenerated into a woman?"
"Mm."
"'Always try to be nice, but never fail to be kind.'" Maggie kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him, her eyes wet. "You're the kindest man I've ever known."
Nick smiled. "Thank you." He rolled over so that he was on top of her. "Now, I've been told I need to practice, and I wouldn't want to slack off." He lowered his head and kissed her again.
And if he clung to her a bit more tightly than normal, Maggie didn't complain.
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