Chapter Fourteen: Michael

Chapter Fourteen: Michael

            Rath breathed heavily.  He no longer felt the hands of his fiancée and his lover; he couldn't hear their breaths or the wind that flowed through from his window.  It was as though he was in a trance, memories flash before his eyes in currents.

Maria trips, dropping her books.  She sees the aliens and dusts herself off, faking nervous laugher.  "She's kind of weird," Michael mutters.

Michael sat across from Liz, studying her, not enjoying the slightly frightened look on her face.  "Thank you for giving me one more reason to envy Max Evans," he says.  She smiles.

A book sat open between them, along with a pile of food from a nearby vending machine.  "So," Maria asks, "do you get hungry just like the rest of us?"  He looks at her as if she's just asked the stupidest question in the world.  "Yeah.  Of course I get hungry."  But she's not finished.  "What, uh, other human urges do you feel?"  "Not if you were the last woman on earth," he tells her.  She purses her lips.  "Ditto."

He wishes she would just go away.  She talks too much.  "Underneath that weird, poorly bathed exterior, there's, like, this whole ... deeply wounded, vulnerable guy."  "Listen, all right, in terms of what happened yesterday between us, that was just – we were on the road.  All right, we talked.  That's all over."

They're waiting.  Max and Liz are late and their tensions are high.  She pours sugar from one container to another and then back again and it's driving him crazy.  They argue.  Then suddenly, he whirls her around and kisses her.  Her lips are soft, her fingers lightly touch his cheek.  When he pulls back, he's shocked by what he's done, what he felt.  "That was to calm you down," he sputters.  She nods.  "Thank you."  And they turn in opposite directions.

He's in the desert and they're all there with him, holding these little stones.  He sees Maria, who pulls him down for a kiss.  Alex walks up to him, shaking his hand, and offering a smile.  Max comes to him, but stops, looking behind him to Liz, who's just now come into their circle.  Then it's Isabel.  She kisses his cheek, hugging him tightly.  And then he's a boy again, reaching for Max's hand, wanting him to pull him from the dark hole.  He holds their hands – his family, and he feels better.

"Mud."  She pulls back, her kiss still felt on his lips.  "What?" she asked, clearly confused.  He swallows, the tight spandex of the wrestler's uniform bunching up in all the wrong places.  "I'm thinking of mud."

He has to get out of here, he'll do something he'll regret if he stays.  "Told you to do the wash," the filthy, drunken man snarls at him from his seat in front of the television.  "I'll do it later," Michael answers.  "Today," comes another snarl, this one sterner than the last.  "I'm not your maid."  "That's right," the man staggers, "you're good for nothing.  Do the wash now."  Michael walks past him.  "Go to hell, Hank."  "No wonder your parents left you in the desert!" Hank yells, "who'd want 'ya?!" 

For some reason, he's outside her window in the rain.  "No, no.  You can't come in," she tells him firmly from the window.  But she lets him in anyway.  She towels his hair, and helps him into her bed.  "Shhh," she soothes, rubbing his arms and kissing his cheek.  And he does something he's never done in front of anyone before.  He cries.

Everyone else has left and it's just the two of them.  She apologizes, and for a minute, he's confused.  "For what?" "For that whole 'being the perfect boyfriend' thing.  After what happened to Alex last night, that's just, like, not what's important to me at all.  So, if that's why you're acting strange, you can just stop.  It's over.  I mean ... just go back to being your usual self."  He softens at her words, feeling terrible for the way he's treated her recently, for buying her generic shampoo.  "Come here," he says, and she moves into his arms.  "If anything happens, I mean to me, I just want you to know that …"  She's shaking her head, rubbing her hands across his shoulders.  "I know.  Nothing's gonna happen to you," she promises.  He believes her.

He wakes up from his dream and goes to her.  She's standing at the window and can barely make eye contact.  "You've seen them too, haven't you?" she asks.  Michael nods.  "The dreams?"  "The rock formation, the symbol …"  "… the two of us," he finishes.  She glances down.  "The baby."

He's frustrated and angry and panicked all at once.  Max needs him and he can't even scan a damn fingerprint into his brain.  It doesn't help that Nasedo is standing over him, disciplining him for being too human.  "Hey, I didn't get the manual!" he explodes, "all this time I've been alone.  Where have you been?  Where the hell have you been?  Huh?  Why'd you let this happen to us?  To me?!"  Nasedo's expression doesn't change.  "Emotions are a weakness, Michael.  Focus."

Oh, god.  He killed him.  He lifted his hand and killed him.  Max appears over his shoulder.  "You were just trying to stop him," he reasons, "I know you didn't mean to kill him."  Michael shook his head, his eyes still wide with shock.  "But that's just it. I wanted to kill him. I mean, that's all that I could think about. I wanted him dead. Knowing that, I just did it. It just happened. What kind of person does that make me?"  And then there she is.  He can't take it and walks away from her.  "Why?" she pleads.  He shakes his head slowly.  "Maybe because I love you too much." 

"I miss you."  "I know, but don't."

"The only time I ever stuck my neck out to save anyone and it all went to hell."  "You saved me."

"I'll tell you what, Mikey G.  The slut wants in your pants."  "That might work." 

"Well, I know one way to make the time go faster."  "Oh, funny."

"I know you hate it when things get all goopy, so …"  "So, I'll see you soon."  "Yeah."  "No, I will."

He tapped lightly at her window, not wanting to wake her mother.  Maria looked at him and sighed, debating whether or not to let him in.  But there was something in his eyes.  "What?" she asked irritably, after he hopped inside.  He stuffed his hands into his pockets.  "Look, I just wanted to apologize.  For the way I treated you the other day."  She raised an eyebrow.  "And to tell you that we're leaving.  Tomorrow, just after dawn."  Maria sank onto her bed.  "Oh."  Michael sat next to her, their thighs touching.  "I, uh, just want to tell you … that I'll miss you."  Maria looked up at him and smiled softly.  "Me too."  He relaxed and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her head down to lean against his chest.

It was still dark when he crawled from her window.  She was sleeping.  He had covered her nude body with a blanket and kissed her forehead lightly.  "I love you," he whispered, taking a final glance, and leaving her behind.

Michael's eyes shot open.  He saw Max standing across from him, a smile on his face.  Isabel and Tess were still deep in concentration.  "Don't let go," Max warned, "they have to come back too."