The Things They Carried
Summary: The agents of Graceland are masters of keeping secrets. But sometimes, secrets have a way of coming back to haunt you.
Disclaimer: I own nothing; Graceland belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA.
A/n: So… holy crap, that EPISODE! I'm seriously having trouble processing what just happened, and I've watched it twice already (FYI, USA does a repeat airing around 1 AM EST on Friday – and yes, I have stayed up to watch it on multiple occasions!). Anyway, obviously this story is NOT following canon – not sure that I need to say that, but in case anyone is just joining in here I thought I should say that after tonight's episode! Hope you all enjoy the next chapter!
Mike dropped his suitcase next to Hollie's couch, sitting down and closing his eyes. He was thankful she'd left him a key under the mat before going out to run her errands; it meant that he would be able to relax for a little while without having anyone fussing over him.
"Mike?" Mike opened his eyes, smiling over at his little sister as she played with his hair.
"Hey…"
"Bad flight?"
"Just a long day," Mike replied. "How are you?" He sat up as he spoke, turning to face the girl with a smile.
"I'm good… what happened to you arm?"
"Little surfing accident a couple of weeks ago. It's nothing…"
"Surfing? You?" Hollie asked, laughing slightly.
"My roommates love it… they insisted on teaching me. I decided to go out by myself one day, and it didn't end well."
"I'm guessing you learned your lesson, huh?" Mike nodded, sighing and closing his eyes again. "Tired?"
"Exhausted, actually. I kind of think I just want to sleep for a while, if that's okay?"
"I've got some friends coming over for dinner, but you can crash in my bed until it's time to eat if you want… I'll come wake you up in a little while." Mike nodded, standing up slowly. He closed his eyes as everything went fuzzy again, making him nearly lose his balance. "Mike? Are you okay?" Hollie stood up quickly, putting her hand on his back.
"Yeah, it's nothing…" Mike began. He forced a smile, before starting back towards Hollie's bedroom.
"Are you sure? You look sick… maybe I should cancel dinner tonight."
"No… I'm fine, Holls. It's just been a bad day, that's all." Mike wasn't all that surprised when Hollie walked over, pressing a hand to his forehead. "I'm not sick. I just need to get some rest. I'm sure I'll feel better by the time your friends get here, okay?"
Hollie just looked at him for a moment, before finally responding. "Okay. Go lay down. I need to start making dinner, anyway."
Mike did as he was told, curling up under the covers in Hollie's bed and quickly falling asleep. It didn't last very long, however, and Mike woke up to the sound of Hollie talking on the phone with someone.
"I don't know what's going on, but he looks awful… I don't know. I'm afraid to ask him if that's what's going on… Yeah, I can cancel my plans tonight, if you can come. I don't think I can deal with this on my own if he's…" Mike closed his eyes, sighing and pretending to still be asleep as Hollie walked into the room. "I don't think we should call Dad and Alice, not until we know for sure. She's always been so awful to him, I'm afraid it would make things worse."
Mike watched the clock next to the bed after Hollie left the room, waiting to see exactly what was going on. He knew it was about him; Hollie had caught on that something wasn't right, and she was calling in reinforcements. Roughly an hour after the phone call, Mike heard someone knocking on the door.
"Where is he?" Mike closed his eyes, instantly recognizing Christine's voice.
"I let him lay down in my room… he said he was tired, that he'd just had a rough day. But he was really pale and shaky, and I'm not really sure what's going on."
"Did you ask him?"
"I was a kid, Christine. I don't know how to deal with this…" Hollie trailed off. "He said he had a surfing accident a few weeks ago… he's got a pretty nasty scar on his face, and his arm's broken. I don't know if that has anything to do with what's going on, but…"
"I'll talk to him. Were you making dinner?"
"Yeah."
"Go work on that, okay? I'll talk to Mike, find out what's really going on here, and then we'll eat." Mike opened his eyes as he felt Christine sitting down on the bed next to him. "You heard us talking?"
"I heard the phone call an hour ago." Mike closed his eyes as Christine reached up and pushed his hair to the side, looking at the scar on his forehead. "It really was a surfing accident. The waves break to the left, towards the pier. I got too close and got thrown around a little bit, had to be pulled out of the water."
"But you're okay."
"But I'm okay."
"And the arm?"
"I hit the pier."
"That cast is too pristine to be a few weeks old," Christine replied. Mike smiled.
"Maybe you should be the FBI agent, not me."
"Seriously… what happened?"
"We were taking someone down, he got violent and threw me to the ground. I landed wrong." Mike didn't like having to tell Christine even that much of the truth, but it was just vague enough to still protect everyone involved.
"And you couldn't tell Hollie because she's too easily upset."
"Exactly." Mike smiled, reaching out to take his sister's hand. "I know why you're here."
"Are you going to tell me the truth, or do I need to check you out for myself?"
"You and I both know you're going to check no matter what I tell you right now," Mike replied. "I'm not a kid any more… I know you're holding my hand like that because you're checking my pulse right now."
"It's slow."
"I've been struggling. I didn't keep down breakfast today and I skipped lunch. But I'm working on it, and I'm already getting help."
"And yet you're still restricting and purging," Christine replied. Mike watched as she sighed, shaking her head. "Sit up." Mike did as she said, closing his eyes as everything went fuzzy again. "How long have you been having issues with gray outs?"
"Pretty much the whole time. My blood pressure drops…"
"I'm a doctor, Mike. You don't have to explain it to me." Mike nodded slowly, letting his sister slip a hand under his shirt and feel his ribs. "You aren't as thin as I would have expected…"
"I'm getting help, Christine. Really."
"Who knows you're sick again?"
"My roommates. My control agent and an FBI shrink. The girl I was dating…" Mike replied. "You can't tell Dad and Alice what's going on. You know she'll accuse me of trying to ruin Hollie's graduation." Mike watched his sister for a moment, wondering what she would say.
"If you can promise me you're going to eat and take care of yourself properly now, I'll help you keep it a secret from them." Mike nodded, smiling at the older woman.
"Thank you."
"I'm only doing this because I know she messes with your head in a bad way. You don't need her shit on top of everything else you have going on right now," Christine replied. Mike nodded as she reached out to him, pulling him into a hug. "God, I hate this… we all thought you were cured."
Mike sighed. "I know. I did, too."
"Can you really keep working for the Bureau like this?"
"Nikki says we have until the cast comes off in a few weeks to figure things out. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm doing everything I can to keep my job." Mike sighed. "I… I keep thinking that maybe I need to go back to the hospital, but I can't afford it. And I can't ask anyone to help me with this."
"You know that if you need help…"
"I'm not asking you for money. I'm not asking anyone for money, Christine."
"You don't have to ask. I'm offering to help you with this."
"What about Clint? Or Janey?" Mike asked.
"My family will be fine, Mike. We can afford to help you out, if this is what you really need right now," Christine replied. He closed his eyes, sighing. "I know that you hate being indebted to people, Mikey. I really do get that. But you have got to get the help you need before it's too late…"
"I know." Mike sighed, shaking his head. "I need to talk to Hollie. I need to be honest with her."
"You need to be honest with a lot of people. We have five other siblings…" Christine began.
"Six."
"No one's heard from Robert in years, Mikey." Mike shook his head, sighing.
"I have." Mike watched as Christine looked at him in surprise. "It's Robyn now."
"Fully transitioned?"
"Yeah. I kept in touch with her for a while after Dad kicked her out. She stopped responding a couple of years ago, but she got back in contact with me about a month ago." Mike looked down at the bedspread, shaking his head. "She tried to blackmail me into helping her get out of some legal trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"Drug charges. Apparently she's been a drug mule a few times… I don't know all the details, but she's in some pretty deep shit."
"Is there anything we can do for her?" Christine asked. Mike shook his head, sighing.
"She'll turn on you the second she sees a way to make it benefit her, Christine. Just… don't bother, okay? It's not worth getting tangled up in this mess of hers."
"What mess?" Mike looked up, smiling at Hollie as she stood in the doorway. "What's going on?"
"Nothing you need to worry about, Holls," Mike replied, smiling up at the younger woman.
"That's bullshit and we all know it, Mike. I'm twenty-two… whatever's going on, I can handle it." Mike glanced at Christine, who closed her eyes for a moment before turning to look at Hollie.
"Robert became Robyn, then became a drug mule, got caught, and tried to blackmail Mike into getting her out of trouble with the law."
"She's now in jail. And the best thing any of us can do right now is to leave it alone," Mike added. He watched silently as Hollie took a moment to process the information. "I told you, nothing you need to worry about."
"God… that is… absolutely insane." Mike nodded.
"Yeah." Mike shook his head. "Look, I know why you called Christine. You were right. But I'm getting help, and it's going to be under control." Mike wasn't all that surprised when Hollie immediately walked over to the bed, wrapping him in a tight hug.
"Mikey…"
"It's okay, Holls… I'm okay…" Mike began, rubbing the woman's back and closing his eyes. "This is just a little bump in the road, sweetie… I'm going to be fine."
"You're hurting yourself…" Hollie began.
"I know. I really am trying, though. I'm getting help."
"Mike…"
"Hollie… the best thing we can do right now is feed him," Christine began.
"Right. Food. Good thing dinner's ready…" Mike sighed as Hollie finally pulled away from him.
"I really will be okay, Hollie. I promise."