Hello! This chapter is an idea I've been meaning to do for a while now, detailing the move to Los Santos. It's mostly dialogue and time skips so apologies if it gets a little boring. (The title of this chapter comes from the song "Wonderland" which reminds me a lot of Michael and Amanda after they moved to Los Santos).

They collapsed onto the couch, exhausted. Ever since they had the kids, it had seemed like years since they'd gotten any rest, but tonight was worse. Michael rubbed his forehead with a sigh. "Jesus Christ…you'd think the closer they're getting to being teenagers, this would get easier," he muttered.

Amanda rested her head on his chest, yawning. "Sometimes I wonder if they're the first human beings who don't need sleep…"

He just bit his lip. "Yeah…" he said distractedly, fingers absentmindedly running through her hair.

She looked up at him with a frown. "Babe, are you okay?" He'd been quiet all night and she suspected that it wasn't from exhaustion.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. His eyes shifted down to his leg, giving him a cruel reminder of his last heist. He still thought of the almost fatal fall he'd had from the roof of the bank, how close he'd been to never getting out of there alive.

"I know your last job didn't go so well-" she started, voice almost pitying.

Michael quickly interrupted her. "Hon, it's nothing. Really."

If looks could kill, he would've been dead on the spot. "Michael, I've been married long enough to you to know that it's never really 'nothing'," Amanda said with a glare.

Knowing that she'd never lose this fight, he just held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, fuck, fine. So, you know how I went out to the bar a few days ago?" he asked, earning a nod from her. "Well, I met this guy there and then I find out he's with the FIB. Couple drinks later and he makes me this deal...that I play dead for him and get him some promotions while we…" he grabbed her hand reassuringly. "We finally get outta this shithole town."

Amanda, who had been silent through his whole story, just stared at him in open-mouthed shock. "Michael, I...I don't know about this," she stuttered.

"C'mon, babe, isn't this just what we wanted? Just a few weeks ago, we were talking about how we couldn't do this anymore!" he pleaded before letting out a deep sigh. "Listen, Amanda, we're going to move to Los Santos. Start over. I made a deal. The slate will be totally wiped clean."

Tears started to silently run down her face and she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes.

Michael delicately brushed the tears away from her face. "Trust me, darling, look at me, Amanda," he tried to tilt her face back up to his desperately. "It was the only thing I could do. Either everyone dies, or one guy gets out. I'm that guy!"

"Isn't there another way? I mean, this can't be the only way…" she said, voice almost pleading.

"What else are we supposed to do? Wait around until we all get killed?" he asked her harshly. "Do you wanna die here where it's always snowing? Or do you wanna go and live where it's always sunny?"

She didn't respond to that, just swallowed hard and finally looked at him. "Okay...tell me about this guy. This FIB agent you met. I just wanna be sure that he's not gonna end up betraying you."

"His name is Dave Norton, nice guy, realist. He gets the glory, I get out. It's not even a decision. Amanda, I don't have a choice…" he said in a shaky voice.

"And where is this 'job'? Is it another big bank that will probably get you killed like last time?" she asked bitterly.

"Some depot outta town, you don't need to know," he said dismissively. "Trust me, nothing is gonna go wrong. Nothing."

"Oh, I've heard that before…" Amanda laughed under her breath, having dealt with this same conversation too many times already. "Michael, it…it just seems shady. Like it's too good to be true. How am I supposed to know that he's not just gonna kill you instead?!"

"I have a good feeling about this. If something goes wrong, I can handle it," he said reassuringly. "I did the deal, Amanda. It's over. Baby, we get out. Be happy. Be normal!"

She relaxed slightly. He knew that this is what she'd always secretly wanted, just a normal life with him and the kids. No more worrying about money, or if he was going to come home. Just being finally care-free and happy. "I do want that, Michael...I do…" she admitted.

Michael let out a deep breath, one that he'd been holding ever since they'd started this conversation. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his nose into the top of her head, inhaling the sweet and familiar scent of her hair. "Just this one job and everything is done…"

He leaned against the doorway with a crooked smile. "You look like you've seen a ghost," Michael said when he saw her relieved and slightly shocked face.

"God, I knew you were gonna say something like that…" Amanda said under her breath. It was then that she noticed the blood covering his face from the parallel cuts on his cheeks and the way he grimaced when he moved. "What happened to 'nothing is gonna go wrong'?" she asked bitterly, mocking his words from before.

"It was going fine…" he insisted as he sat down, inhaling sharply from pain. "...till the car got into a fight with a train."

She just grabbed the first aid kit. "Besides that, how did it go?"

"Well, Michael Townley is officially a dead man," he said with a grin. Michael took off his jacket, revealing the bulletproof vest beneath it and the bullet lodged in the vest near where his heart would be. "Gonna bruise like hell though…"

"I'm just glad that you were wearing this," Amanda said as she lightly patted his chest. Now that she was up close, she noticed a deep gash that disappeared into his hairline and sighed sadly. "I hope that this is the last time I'll have to do this…"

"Yeah, I hope so, too," he muttered.

"So, what do we donow?" she asked as she gently started to wipe the blood away from his cheeks.

"Now we wait until the heat dies down and the funeral is over with. And then…" he grabbed her free hand and smiled up at her. "Then we get out of here."

When she finished cleaning his wounds, she smiled weakly at him. "You look like a cat." She made whisker motions on her face, indicating where his own cuts were, earning a frown from him. Amanda just laughed and threaded her fingers through his newly short hair.

Michael pressed his head against her palm and sighed in contentment and relief. "'Manda…" he murmured.

"Yeah?" she asked softly.

"I'm so glad that this is over," he confessed. In that moment, he sounded so tired, more tired than she'd ever heard. Tired of risking his life every day, tired of constantly being on the run, just tired of this life.

"Me too, darling," she said soothingly. "Me too."

"Babe, no need to freak the fuck out. It's not like it's my actual funeral," he rested his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. She was crying quietly and he could feel her shaking beneath his hands

"Yeah, I know," Amanda said quietly. "I just can't stop thinking about how easily it could have been. Like it's what could have happened to you so many times…"

"Exactly why we're doing this, right? And don't worry, I'll be watching the whole thing and taking care of the kids," Michael said reassuringly.

"They still don't know what's going on, do they?" she asked.

He shook his head. "They know that we need to move and change our name, but they don't know why."

She sighed sadly. "They're still so young, Michael, I wish they didn't have to go through this…"

He pulled her into a hug, his strong arms making her feel safe. "Me too, but at least now we can give them the life that that we never got, the one that they deserve."

"They do deserve better…" she nodded before wiping away her tears and laughing slightly. "At least now I won't have to act."

Later, it turned out, she didn't even need to act. The thought of how this could have been a reality even if he hadn't made the deal did that all on its own.

"Welcome to Los Santos, baby," Michael whispered in her ear.

Amanda couldn't speak. Los Santos was even more beautiful than she'd ever imagined, all towering skyscrapers and bright lights. Sure, she'd seen pictures of it before, but that was all they were. Just pictures. Their tiny town back in North Yankton was nothing compared to the city of fame and fortune. "Wow…" she managed to breathe out.

"It's something, huh?" he asked in awe, staring out of the plane window. "I know you've never really been outside out of North Yankton..."

"It's amazing," she said. A wave of excitement rushed through her as the realization that this was actually happening hit her. Before this, it had seemed like a dream that was too good to be true. Now that it was, she couldn't wait to begin their new life. "I love you," she murmured as she pressed a light kiss to his cheek.

Michael smiled at her, looking the happiest he'd been in a long time. "Love you, too."

"Are we nearly there yet?" came a whimper from the backseat of the car.

Michael looked at the rearview mirror with a glare. "Not yet, Tracey."

"Are we nearly nearly there yet?" she asked anxiously.

"You keep this up, we're not gonna get there at all," he sighed, having dealt with this same conversation at least ten times during the hour that they'd been stuck in Los Santos traffic. His wife just laughed next to him in the passenger seat. "You know, why couldn't you have fallen asleep like your brother?"

"Pfft, I'm not even tired," Tracey pouted.

"Remember when she said she wasn't tired?" Amanda smirked, staring fondly at their children fast asleep in the back of the car.

"Yeah, well, she's stubborn. Takes after her mother," Michael chuckled as he went to go wake them up.

"Babe, you sure you didn't take us to the wrong place?" she asked, staring awestruck at the huge mansion sprawled in front of them. It was easily the biggest house on the block, and surely the most expensive too.

He stood back up and shook his head. "Nope. This place is all ours. Three bedrooms, a pool, and room for expansion in the back." With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he glanced over at the kids, who were groggily getting out of the car. "Now, you two can go kill each other for the best room."

With that, they shot awake instantly and raced into the house. Michael and Amanda just watched in amusement. "I haven't seen them that happy in a while," she noted with a smile.

"Well, I have a feeling that we're gonna be seeing them like that a lot. Now..." he trailed off before he picked her up bridal style and carried her through the front door. "Now is our time to relax."

She laughed as he set her back down. "You know we did the whole 'groom carries the bride through the front door' thing years ago, right?"

"As far as I know, Michael and Amanda De Santa never have," he said teasingly.

"Or maybe you just wanted an excuse to pick me up?"

"Ah, maybe," he admitted. "So, what's first on the agenda? We have the bed, the pool, the hot tub…"

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Well, the kids are gonna be busy for a while...so let's break in the new bed."

"I like your way of thinking," he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing her hand and leading her upstairs.

"I could get used to this," Michael said breathlessly as he rolled over onto his side of the bed.

"Me too…" Amanda agreed. She gently ran her fingers through his hair, earning a content smile from him.

"Y'know, it's amazing what the government can do if all you do is play dead."

"Yeah, if only we could have done this years ago," she said sarcastically, gently kissing him on the lips before he could protest. "I'm so glad we're here now, though."

"Good, that's good…" he murmured. "You know, the only reason I did this was so that you and the kids would be safe…"

"I do, Michael. That's why I love you," she whispered.

"Thanks, sweetheart. I love you, too…" he sighed in relief against her. "Now what do we?"

"Hm…" she said thoughtfully. "Now I might take you up on your offer of the pool."