Season 4 – Episode 3: TBD
Dinner was uneventful for the most part. Liz tried to start light conversation but only Maria and Max really made an effort to chat back. Michael didn't even come inside. Maria had finally had it and went out to find him. He was just sitting there in the dark backyard. She was fully prepared to yell at him but seeing him there, she knew how sorry he was for what he did. He should be sorry. If his aim had been a little higher he could have done a whole lot more damage than what he did. Hell, he could have killed Kyle. Still, she hated seeing him like that. "You know, I heard it was going to rain tonight. If you were planning to sleep out here, you may want to consider an umbrella or something."
Michael didn't say anything. Hesitantly, she moved closer. She had a hard time knowing how to approach him when he was like this. She knew if she were the one feeling so bad, she'd want Michael close but he was harder to read. Sometimes he let her but most of the time he just seemed to want to be alone. She seriously thought about going back in the house but then decided he'd been out there long enough and if he didn't want her around he would have to tell her because she wasn't leaving. Maria softly dropped a hand on his shoulder and felt him slightly tense under her touch. "I saved you some spaghetti. You must be getting pretty hungry. If you are worried about Kyle, don't be. He's got other things on his mind. I don't even think he's mad." She crouched down next to him and without a word he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap. She let out a little gasp of surprise but quickly recovered and wrapped her arms around him for a hug. "M..Michael? Babe, are you okay?"
He breathed into her hair deeply and shrugged. "I didn't mean to hit him." She nodded and pulled back enough so she could look at him. "I know. We all know it was an accident but you should still talk to him. Apologize or something." He looked at her for a moment, leaning into her hand that was pushing his hair out of his face. "Yeah." He replied simply then leaned in for a tender kiss before he was lifting her out of his lap so he could get up. She was almost sorry the moment was over but she was glad he was going to talk to Kyle.
Following him into the house, she busied herself by heating up a plate of spaghetti though her ears were perked as she tried to hear what was going on. At first there was nothing. Michael just plopped down on the couch next to Kyle and they watched a baseball game on the television. She started to think that maybe her boyfriend wasn't going to go through with it especially when they started talking about the game when Michael finally mumbled "Sorry" during a lull in the conversation. Kyle just smirked and glanced at him. "You know who should be sorry? That coach. The pitcher should have been pulled out 2 innings ago. The guy's got no heat left."
Maria didn't think she would ever understand men. By the end of the game they were back to joking around like nothing had happened. If she'd been Kyle she would have at least been a little wary of the guy that nearly killed him with a single blow but they seemed fine.
Max was glad to see the other guys good again but he wasn't so easily reassured. He sighed as he looked down at the stack of applications in front of him and had to wonder what they were going to do. Working crap jobs and hiding from the UNIT was a temporary solution but they couldn't do it forever. He wouldn't want to. Nothing about the months they'd spent running felt real. Was this going to be his whole life now? It couldn't be. Liz deserved more. He would give anything to be with her and had but what if it wasn't enough?
Larek had said that he would do whatever it took to help them get off of everyone's hit list in exchange for their help with Khivar but he had no idea how they would deal with either problem. In the meantime, it was hard on all of them to have no clear plan. He and Liz talked about the future sometimes. A real house, kids, all of it but it was almost depressing when they couldn't even talk to their parents to let them know they were okay. By now, they had probably read every bit of Liz's diary so they knew the whole story but there was no way to know what sort of reception they would receive even if they could make contact. Liz's dad probably hated him. All the danger he'd put Liz through over the years only to marry her and take her from her family. It wasn't exactly going to earn any points with the man. Still, he didn't think there was a single thing he would have done different. Every mistake and misstep led him to his wife and there was nothing alien or domestic that could tear them apart.
Somehow he knew that he would have to figure this all out. Max wasn't the king anymore. He knew that but he still felt responsible for the others. It was hard not to when he knew it was his decisions, more than anyone else's, that brought them down this path. He just felt so lost. Where did one start when they were being hunted by a covert government agency hell bent on throwing him into a cell, experimenting and probably killing them? There had to be a way to fix all of this without killing anyone. Max feared that maybe there wasn't. Even if they could somehow wipe out every record, there would still be the agents and the information they had in their heads. They didn't even know how many agents they had in the Special UNIT. It couldn't be too big without drawing attention but it had to go pretty far up. Maybe even president knew though it didn't seem likely.
The idea of taking an offensive stance made the former king feel a little uneasy but maybe Michael and Larek were right. If it was time to stop running that meant they had to fight. The best way to do that was to get as much information about the Special UNIT that they could. In the morning he would have to talk to Larek about somehow locating a headquarters and possibly a name of the man in charge. Maybe there were cameras on the street when the agents attacked them in the alley. If there was a picture maybe Isabel could dreamwalk them and get information that way. There had to be something they could do.
With Michael in the backyard all night, Isabel had gone to the front yard after dinner to just be alone. Ironically, alone was the last thing she wanted but the person she needed wasn't there. She couldn't stop thinking about Michael's words. Had she made Jesse go without her in some attempt to not deal with her failing marriage? She loved Jesse. She'd never felt anything like when she was with him but she knew that a big part of that was due to the fact that he didn't know what she was and she could pretend that they were just a normal couple. After she was shot and Jesse knew that she wasn't human everything was different. He looked at her different and nothing hurt more than to watch her own husband's eyes go from loving adoration to fear and mistrust.
Isabel knew she screwed up with Jesse. She knew she should have fought Max and Michael harder about letting her tell him the truth but she didn't want him to know either. Not really. After everything that happened with Tess and Alex, Isabel wanted more than ever to distance herself from that alien part and just be a normal girl. It had been a pipedream. She knew that now but she'd never wanted anything so bad in her entire life. It was part of the reason that she fought so hard for their wedding. It was like if she could just be married the rest would work itself out. More than once over the summer Isabel wondered if maybe her mother had been right. She really hadn't waited long after Alex's death to start up with Jesse. Her whole life just felt like it was spinning out of control. The day Jesse asked her out that first time was like things finally slowed down again. It was like he kept her anchored. Yes, he was older and he worked with her father but when he looked at her he had this way of just making her feel like it would be okay. Whatever came along, as long as he was holding her, she could handle it. So that didn't exactly translate to love but that didn't mean she didn't love him. She did. In the end, she knew she loved him too much to let him throw away his life for her. He deserved so much better than she could offer then.
"You're hiding too, huh?" a voice said from the side of the house tearing Isabel from her thoughts. She didn't need to turn to know it was Michael. "Just needed air." She replied and took a deep breath. "It's going to rain soon. I can smell it." She wasn't in a hurry to talk about what they said earlier but she knew Michael wouldn't bring it up. She finally glanced over her shoulder to look at him when she could hear him moving toward her. "I'm sorry for earlier." She started looking back up at the few stars twinkling between the clouds. "I shouldn't have said that about Mar…" Michael shrugged and cut her off. "Don't. I didn't mean what I said. You didn't mean what you said. It's over. Let's just drop it."
Isabel looked at her lifelong friend and pressed her lips together. "I shouldn't have said it Michael but that doesn't mean I didn't mean it. I think the same goes for you. Worst part is that I'm not sure if you were wrong. I love Jesse. I miss him every single day. But…" She paused to take a deep breath. "…I can't deny that my marriage was been rocky almost from the start. I wouldn't let him come because I felt like I ruined his life enough without dragging him into the middle of some government conspiracy. But I have no way of knowing if that's how he took it. God, what if he was relieved? What if he was only making a show about wanting to go with us because he knew as a husband that's what he was supposed to do? Protect his wife. Maybe he was counting on me not letting him go so he could get out of it."
Michael came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders pulling her against him in silent support. "It wasn't like that, okay? All the crap the guy put up with from me and Max, there's no doubt in my mind that he loves you back. You're just freaking out because you haven't talked to him in so long. You were going to be able to call him or something once we were out of the country but now Canada's a bust. But he still loves you, alright?"
She closed her eyes and leaned back against her friend letting his embrace calm her a bit. "How do you know?" she whispered and she felt his shoulders slump. She almost felt bad for him. Isabel knew he was hoping she would be instantly better by his little pep talk but she had too many doubts to even pretend for his sake. "I just know. But hey, look, we can prove it. You can dreamwalk him." Isabel sighed and shook her head slightly. "Even if I could from this distance, I'm just not sure it's a good idea. After everything with Khivar, I felt so powerless and violated. If that's how other people felt every time I entered their dreams… I just don't think I could do that again."
"Isabel, it's your power. It's what you do. Who you are. You can't just turn your back on it like that. I mean if you don't want to go into Jesse's head, whatever, but you going into Larek's head saved my life. If you hadn't shown up when you did… It just wouldn't have been pretty. Besides, I know you can make your presence known in the dream. If Jesse decides he doesn't want you in there, you can just break the connection. Chances are, though, he's in Boston somewhere begging for you to do this." Michael argued back and squeezed her a little closer. Isabel brought a hand up and rubbed his forearm. "That all sounds well and good Michael but I'm just not strong enough to contact him all the way in Boston."
He didn't say anything for a second then dropped his arms and started for the back of the pick up truck Larek had gotten for them. "Come here." He climbed up first then helped her into the bed of the truck when she finally decided to follow. Michael made himself comfortable then patted next to him for her to sit down. "I'm busting with power today. You can use mine." Isabel was halfway between sitting and standing when he said that and she paused in disbelief. "You know you will be taken into the dream too." She said finally when her brain caught up. He just shrugged. "Whatever. I don't have to watch or anything. Let's just not make this like an all night thing, okay?"
With a grin, Isabel thanked him and gave him a big hug then snuggled up next to him. Slipping her left hand into his right one, she squeezed so they both could feel her wedding ring and have something to focus on. It only took a few seconds before ripples of sleep washed over the both of them. Isabel heard voices before she actually saw anything. It was dark. Her hand, still in Michael's in the dream, squeezed his then let go. There were shadows but she could make out movement. The closer she got the more she realized she was in some sort of a bedroom. It only had a large 4 post bed in the center and if the moaning was anything to go by, Isabel knew exactly what kind of dream this was. Heat burned on her cheeks and she could feel Michael's embarrassment behind her. Embarrassment and interest. It was a morbid curiosity that she wouldn't call him out on. Years and years of going into people's heads she'd learned all sorts of things about human nature. Still, through the gauzy sheer curtains of the bed she could see her dream form riding atop her husband. Thank god Michael could only see the back of her.
Slowly, she started moving toward the bed when she heard "Fuck, you feel good" in a very unfamiliar voice. As Isabel drew closer she was able to see that the body she thought was hers was in fact not. Whoever she was, was tall but thinner and with much smaller breasts. The dark hair was similar to what Isabel used to have but choppier and less refined. And her face, even when not in an almost pained expression but the pleasure her husband was giving her, was completely different. It was long and thin though not unattractive. Just more striking opposed to Isabel's more classic beauty.
She watched in almost amusement at her husband's little sex dream though she was a certain amount of jealous as well. Then the mystery woman leaned forward and whispered something to Jesse. He laughed breathlessly and rolled them so he was now on top. Without so much as messing up his rhythm, he started thrusts as he said "I love it when you talk dirty." The woman made an almost purring sound and moved underneath him. "Did your wife ever talk dirty for you?" Jesse laughed again only this time there was less humor in it. "Isabel dirty? Yeah, no. She freaked out if I even suggested anything other than standard missionary. I don't even remember her ever cursing." The woman laughed again before he thrust harder and the laughing turned to moans. She didn't want to be there when they reached completion. Isabel was humiliated. And the worse than that, Michael had heard every word. In her heart she knew that it was just a dream and that guys had all sorts of fantasies with other women but to hear him talk about how unsatisfied he had been with their sex life in front of Michael was a little more than she could take.
Isabel broke the connection and her eyes fluttered open. She was back in the truck bed curled up next to her friend. Her eyes stung with tears that wanted to be shed. And as comfortable as she was, she needed to get away. Isabel started to get up when Michael hulled her back next to him. "Hey. Stop." He said softly even as Isabel struggled against his grip. "It was just a dream. It didn't mean anything." She had to squeeze her eyes shut to keep from crying. "It did mean something, Michael. I thought… I mean I knew I wasn't as experienced as some of the women he'd been with but I thought… And he used to dream about me. Before, we were married I was all he could think about."
Michael pulled her closer, unsure what to say. "I, uh, look, guys dream about this stuff all the time. I mean I love Maria but that doesn't mean that every now and again I'm not shacking it up with some imaginary girl. It's just a dream." Isabel shook her head slowly. "It wasn't some fantasy girl. She was at our wedding. I think her name was Bethany or something. She went to school with Jesse. She was the one who helped him get his job in Boston." The tears that threatened to fall were finally having their way and Isabel quickly got up. Michael made a move to grab her again but she was faster this time. She was already entering the house when he was just getting out of the truck.