Disclaimer – Still own nothing.
AN – And I'm BACK! It's been way too long since I updated this story, I kind of missed it. Thank you to those who reviewed for my last chapter, I know I talked to TahshaL.S.S, but to the Guest who reviewed, thank you so much! I completely agree, the show would have been a lot better if they added more scenes which was why I started this series of one-shots. I hope you all like this chapter, and look at the end of this chapter for a special announcement. This chapter is missing scenes from episode 5x09.
Enjoy!
*Hal sees Anthony and talks with Maggie*
As Hal walked away from his Dad and Lieutenant Wolfe after his shift on sentry duty with the soldier, all he wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep. With everything that happened today, the discovery of Lexi, his argument with Matt, Pope and his gang attacking them, and Anthony now rejoining them, he was exhausted, mentally and physically. While he would love to go to straight to his bedroom and get some much needed rest, there was one stop he had to make first. The infirmary.
Ever since he returned to the 2nd Mass after his escape from Pope with his Dad and Isabella's help a couple of weeks ago, he had gone to see Anne once a day to get his arm checked out. With how deep the cut was, the not-so-clean weapon, lack of proper medical supplies, and the less-than-stellar stitches, the doctor was worried it would get infected. So, after being pressured by both his Dad and stepmom, he agreed to go see Anne so she could clean and redress it. He wouldn't have to be doing it much longer though. She had taken the stitches out a few days ago and the wound was showing signs of closing over. Hopefully, it would be fully healed soon.
Upon entering the infirmary, he looked around for the doctor but stopped when his eyes fell on a different figure lying on a nearby gurney. Anthony. Hal tensed at the sight of the person he once considered his friend, but since the man appeared to be asleep, he calmed slightly. Then the former cop opened his eyes and stared right at him.
"Hey." Anthony said before Hal could make a run for it. Never in a million years did he think being alone with Anthony, someone he had considered a friend, would give him that reaction, but after everything that happened with Pope and how the bald man had sided with the criminal and stood by while Pope tortured and planned to kill him and his father, that had changed.
"Hey." Hal instinctively replied. Not wanting to just walk away and have an even more awkward encounter later, he tried to make conversation by asking, "How's your shoulder?"
"It's fine." Anthony answered.
"Good." Hal said.
For the next several minutes, the two stayed quiet, both clearly feeling very awkward and were unsure of what to say or do until finally Hal asked, "Is Anne around?"
"No, she went to help another patient." Anthony informed him.
"Oh. I'll talk to her later then." Hal responded and unable to handle the situation any longer as his heart was starting to beat uncontrollably out of panic and fear even though he knew he was relatively safe, he turned and walked out without another word.
Without really thinking, Hal made his way to his room. By the time he got there though, he felt like he was about to have a panic attack. He probably should've expected to see Anthony had rejoined the 2nd Mass, but he didn't think it would be so soon. He also thought that he'd be able to handle it. Not anytime soon of course, he knew it would take some time, but clearly it would be a lot more than he thought.
Once he was sure that his heart was beating normally again, could feel that his muscles were relaxing as he calmed down, he ran his hand through his hair and stared at his left arm. Hal knew that if he didn't go see Anne tonight, she would either come see him herself the minute she realized he had gone to be instead of coming to see her, or wait until morning then give him a lecture about the dangers of still wearing dirty bandages. She would also probably tell his Dad about it and then he'd have a worried father to deal with. However, if he went out searching for Anne then he might run into his brothers or Maggie and since they didn't know about his injured arm, he didn't want to worry them.
As he looked around his room, trying to think what he should do, his eyes fell on his bag that he had shoved in the corner. He had somewhat emptied it when they got here but not completely, just in case if they had to make a quick getaway. One of the things he knew that was still in there was a small med-kit filled with rubbing alcohol and bandages. It was one of the things that everyone was supposed to keep in their bags, especially when travelling in case they got injured.
Quickly deciding that he could rebandage the injury himself, he went over, grabbed the kit from the bag and brought it over to the dresser that was in front of the mirror. He knew that when he saw Anne tomorrow, she'd still be upset that he didn't let her check it, but at least she couldn't complain about dirty bandages or anything. After taking the bandages off, he grabbed the new roll to put on the wound when he realized how difficult it would actually be. He would need to keep his injured arm still while he wrapped it, but he would need both hands to actually tie it off.
"Hal?" The dark-haired young man jumped slightly before turning around to see who had entered the room. He felt a little embarrassed when he saw that it was only Maggie.
"Sorry. I knocked, but you didn't answer." Maggie apologized as she took a few steps closer to him, her eyes guarded but filled with concern nonetheless.
"Sorry, I, I didn't hear you." Hal replied, trying to appear calm so that Maggie wouldn't worry about him. However, despite the fact that they weren't together anymore, she saw right through him like always and took another step closer.
"Apparently. Are you okay?" Maggie wondered, staring at him intently, as though he was something she was studying.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Hal asked, still smiling as convincingly as he could. The blonde however, refused to let it slide.
"You look pale. Really pale." Maggie observed, appearing more and more concerned as the seconds passed.
Hal grew a little worried, but shrugged it off and said, "I'm just tired."
Maggie nodded, though it was clear she didn't believe him. She was about to let the matter drop and just leave him be, as it was still fairly awkward between the two with everything that had happened in the last several weeks, but her eyes drifted to the bandages in his right hand and the long, red line on his left arm. It looked like someone had sliced his limb open, which caused a wave of concern to flood her body. Taking another step closer, she asked, "What are you doing? And what happened to your arm?"
"I was just, changing the bandage." Hal replied, lifting his right hand so she could see the bandages clearly. He smiled, trying to assure her that there was nothing to be worried about, though he was pretty sure he was failing at this point.
"Why didn't you get Anne to do it?" Maggie wondered, finally coming closer until she was standing in front of him.
"Anthony's there." Hal answered, trying to keep his voice steady at the man who he had once considered a friend before he sided with Pope. He did however, lower his head when he mentioned the man's name.
Maggie nodded, just now realizing at least somewhat of what was going on. Though she knew next to nothing about what happened to Hal when he was kidnapped by Pope, she knew that Anthony had been with him. Of course the young man would be wary and uncomfortable around him now. Hal and Anthony had been friends before, but his betrayal of the 2nd Mass and his allegiance with the man who had kidnapped Hal would have easily hurt him enough to avoid him. Seeing though that Hal was struggling a bit to wrap his injured arm, she took another step forward and took the bandages from him.
"Sit down." She ordered the dark-haired man with a tone that made it clear any objection he raised would be futile. Luckily, he realized that and sat down on the chair that was by the dresser.
It wasn't until she started to put the bandage on the cut that Hal finally broke the silence by saying, "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Maggie replied, looking up at him for a moment before she grabbed the roll of gauze and started wrapping it around his arm over the bandage. As she did that, she said, "You never did answer my question. What happened?"
Hal stared at her for a moment, then he lowered his head and answered, "Pope, and a knife."
Though he wasn't looking at her, Hal knew that she was looking at him because he felt her hands stop bandaging his arm. Seconds later, she asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"
Hal then turned back to give her a reassuring smile as he said, "I'm fine Maggie, don't worry about me."
Maggie still looked concerned, but she nodded and continued her task. Once she had finished wrapping his arm, she taped it and said, "There, done."
"Thanks." Hal replied, looking back at Maggie, who was now putting the bandages and remaining gauze back in the first aid kit. She nodded, but said nothing else.
Beginning to feel a bit awkward and crowded with how close she was to him, he stood up and walked past her towards the bed. Seconds later, she followed him and asked, "Are you alright?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Hal wondered, turning around to face her, another reassuring smile on his face.
"Seeing Anthony, Pope attacking us, everything that's going on with Lexi right now." Hal tensed a little at the mention of his sister and he looked down at the ground as Maggie continued, "I know it's got to be hard."
"I'm fine." Hal told her with an almost forceful tone, his smile practically gone. He turned his back to her and continued his trek to his bed.
"You know, you never did say anything about what happened, when, when Pope took you." Maggie pointed out, causing Hal to stop in his tracks again. Though he didn't look at her again, he asked, "Why does it matter?"
"You know why." Maggie replied. When he still didn't turn to face her, she walked towards him and put her hand on his shoulder and continued, "Hal, talk to me. I know that things have been, tense, between us, but you can talk to me. You've always been able to talk me."
Hal did then turn his head to look at her when she said that, and after a minute of consideration, he walked over to his bed and sat down on the foot of the mattress. Maggie stared at him, wondering what he was thinking when he started to explain, "Anthony, was the one who helped Pope, take, me. I was going to bed, I was exhausted, then there was a knock on the door. I opened it, and there stood Anthony."
Maggie felt her anger at Pope, and now Anthony, rise up inside her, but she pushed it down and sat down beside Hal as he continued, "He said he wanted to talk, so I let him in. He told me about how Anne and Weaver took his gun and benched him and wanted me to try and get them to give it back and let him back on duty."
"I asked him what all happened that made them do that, and he didn't answer. He just, told me to help him. I said I needed more context, and he looked like I already turned my back on him or something. He then just stood there, and stared. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was actually staring at something behind me. I turned, and there was Pope, standing in the doorway with a shaved head and furious expression. Before I could react, he punched me in the jaw hard enough that I fell to the ground. The last thing I saw was Pope and Anthony standing over me as Pope punched me again, that time, hard enough to knock me out."
The blonde felt a strong desire to either go and punch Anthony for his part in Hal's abduction, or to wrap her arms around the young man and tell him that he was safe. Knowing that punching Anthony wouldn't help Hal and she wasn't sure how Hal would respond to her hug considering the whole situation with the spikes, Ben, and Isabella, she did neither of those things. She simply waited for him to tell her more, and when he didn't, she asked, "What happened after that?"
"Nothing much." Hal told her, not even trying to sound believable.
"So then, how did this happen?" Maggie pushed, placing her hand gently on his now bandaged limb.
"I'm not exactly sure. I think my Dad said something that ticked Pope off, so he," Hal paused, looking down at his arm, remembering how it felt when the knife cut him. Taking a deep breath, he said, "He did this as way to get back at him."
"I'm, sorry you had to go through all that." And sorry that I wasn't there to help you, Maggie added quietly in her head.
"It's not your fault." Hal told her.
"When Anne told me and Ben the truth about what was going on, we were going to leave. Going to go find you, but Anne wouldn't let us. She said we were needed in DC because our spikes made us the strongest fighters. We should've still gone to help." Maggie revealed, her frustration and anger at the situation leaking into her voice.
Hal grabbed her hand to get her attention, and once he saw that he had it, he said, "By the time you guys would've gotten there, my Dad and I would've been gone. You two only would've gotten yourselves in trouble. It's okay. We're all okay and Pope is gone. That's all that matters."
Maggie glanced down at their clasped hands for a second, squeezed his hand tightly in hers, then looked back up at Hal. Though the bruises had mostly faded and the small cut on his face was healing, she could still see them all. Could still remember how he looked when he returned with his Dad and Isabella. Staring into his intense brown eyes, she replied, "No it's not."
For a long time, the two stared at each other, neither really knowing what to do. Maggie wanted to stay with him, and Hal wanted her to, but neither knew what the other was thinking. Their ability to read each other that they had gained over the years of friendship and love had been skewed in the last couple of months due to separation, miscommunication, and the spikes in Maggie's spine. Finally making up her mind about something, Maggie said, "You should get some sleep. You look exhausted."
Hal immediately nodded, feeling a lot more exhausted now than he did before Maggie had come in. And Maggie went to turn off the lights, he bent down to take off his boots. Once they were off, he laid down on the mattress and was about to close his eyes when he saw that Maggie had come back over to the bed instead of leaving like he thought she would. He watched in confused silence as she slipped off her jacket, kicked off her boats and laid down beside him. It wasn't until then that he realized what she was going to do.
"You don't have to stay." Hal told her as she made herself comfortable, pulling the blanket up over both of them.
"I know." Maggie didn't offer any explanation or response other than that, making it clear that she wasn't leaving. If he wasn't so tired, he would've tried to understand what her decision to stay meant, but the only thing that was in his head at the moment was how glad he was that she was here. He had missed this, had missed her beside him.
"Thanks." Hal whispered as his eyes closed, no longer able to keep them open.
"You're welcome." He heard her whisper back. Her voice was soon followed by the sound of her steady breathing which lulled him into a peaceful sleep.
*Hal talks with Matt about Lexi*
Hal woke up the next morning to a bunch of chaos, though neither he nor Maggie knew about it until they went down for breakfast. It was there and then that they learned that not only was pretty much everyone right that the girl in the cell wasn't actually Lexi, but that she had also tried to kill Tom before she was killed. While he was quickly assured that his Dad and everyone else was okay, he immediately went looking for his Dad once he was done eating. He stopped his search though when he saw his youngest brother sitting on the steps of a building all alone at the far edge of their 'camp'.
"Hey buddy. You okay?" Hal asked once he had gotten close enough to Matt so he could talk quietly but Matt could still hear him.
"You were right. About Lexi. You were right." Matt's voice was so quiet and so hurt that Hal suddenly felt guilty for the fight they had in the cafeteria the day before. He had already been feeling bad about it, but not guilty, not until now.
As Hal sat down beside him, he said, "If it makes you feel any better, I was really hoping I would be wrong."
"But you weren't. You were right and I was wrong. I shouldn't have brought her back here." Matt replied, keeping his eyes down, staring at his shoes.
"Hey," Hal said as he gently nudged Matt with his shoulder before he continued, "I brought Karen back to the 2nd Mass when she was still with the Overlords. We've all made mistakes."
"But you were right about her before. And, about Pope." Matt added the last part very quietly, drawing up his legs so he could wraps his arms around them and rest his chin on his knees.
Hal resisted the urge to let out a bit of an exasperated sigh and instead, layed his hand on Matt's shoulder and said, "I told you buddy, that everything that with Pope wasn't your fault. It was all on him. And the Espheni made that, Lexi clone person, with the purpose of attacking us. It wasn't your fault."
"But by bringing her here, I almost got Dad and everyone else killed." Matt protested, turning his head to look at Hal.
"Pretty sure if you look back on this entire war, Ben and I also had almost gotten Dad and the 2nd Mass killed by something we did. We all make mistakes buddy. What's important is that everyone is okay." Hal replied. When Matt didn't say anything else, Hal moved the hand he had on his little brother's shoulder to wrap his arm around Matt and pulled him close.
"I'm still sorry. And I'm sorry about our fight yesterday." Matt apologized.
Hal tightened his hold on the boy and said, "It's okay. I probably would've reacted the same way if I was in your shoes. I'm sorry too."
For the next several minutes, the two siblings sat in silence, taking comfort in each other's presence until Weaver found them and told them that Ben had figured out where the Espheni Queen was. And just like that, it was back to work for Hal and Matt and the rest of the Mason Militia. It was time to rid their planet of the enemy aliens once and for all.
AN – Sorry if this chapter was a bit rushed. I hadn't been working on this story a lot because I had been busy with work and other stories, and I was also sick while I was working on part of it. I hope you all like it though. I have no idea when I'll get the next chapter done, haven't started working on that one at all yet. I might just stop this story here. Haven't decided yet. If you guys want me to continue though, just let me know.
ANNOUNCEMENT – Over the last year or so, I have been working on a new Falling Skies story that I'm really excited to start posting, but since I've been so busy and this story is going to be at least 55 chapters, I have been doing my best to get a lot written ahead of time so I can keep up with updating it on a somewhat regular schedule. I am almost to the point of posting the first chapter so if are you interested in another Falling Skies AU story where Karen wasn't killed at the end of season 3 but the 2nd Mass was still separated like they were at the beginning of season 4, keep your eyes open for a story called Wayward Son. It will be posted on Saturday. See you then!
