Author's Note: Thanks so much to the people who reviewed. I thought I didn't have any fans other than Di Va, but htfrjolenz reviewed and now three new people are reviewing! This makes me incredibly happy. Thank you so much and please keep letting me know you like it! It makes my day. Sorry it took me a bit to get this out. I had to take a few days to nurse a concussion.
Chapter 24: Choices and Clues
Mike's vision began to blur as Micky squeezed his windpipe. His instinct was to fight back; go for a kill blow. One perfect hit to Micky's throat with enough force could fracture his windpipe and make him suffocate. But this was Micky. And Micky didn't know what he was doing. Mike couldn't hurt him. Wouldn't.
"I won't let you hurt them again!" Micky said in a low, dangerous voice. Reaffirming that Micky wasn't aware of what he was doing. Micky was hallucinating. He thought Mike was Robert and that Mike was hurting Rose and Ginny. Mike tried gasping for breath, but nothing was working. He barely saw Ginny rush over and try to pull Micky off him. She just wasn't strong enough.
"Please forgive me," Rose said coming up behind Micky and wrapping him in a chokehold. Mike instantly felt the pressure release from around his neck as Micky let go. But he couldn't fight Rose off. Within seconds, Rose had Micky on the ground, unconscious.
"What did you do!?" Ginny asked.
"I didn't have a choice!" Rose answered. "Mike, are you ok?"
"Yeah," Mike answered hoarsely, sucking beautiful oxygen into his lungs. The room spun for a bit, but he quickly regained control. "It won't keep him out for long. He'll be ok, Ginny. You did what you had to, Rose. He thought I was Robert. He thought he was saving the two of you."
"I couldn't let him kill Mike," Rose said. "He's not himself."
"We can't just keep doing that to him, though," Mike said as Rose knelt next to him and began inspecting his throat. "We're gonna have to figure something out."
"I have an idea," Rose said softly. "I don't think any of us are gonna like it though. But we may not have a choice."
"We have to restrain him," Mike said. He figured that's what Rose was getting at since her eyes had fallen on the ropes in the corner that had restrained her and Mike.
"No," Ginny said, a small tear falling down her cheek. "I can't do that to him."
"Ginny, none of us like this plan," Rose said. "It's a bad plan. It's horrible. But it's all we've got. Either we restrain him, or we keep knocking him out which could cause permanent damage down the road. Or we let him attack us again. And if he severely hurts one of us or even kills one of us, he'll have to live with that. And you know as well as I do that Micky will never be able to live with himself if he does."
"You know if he were coherent, he'd ask us to do this for him," Mike said. "Given the choice between hurting one of us or being restrained…"
"It's not fair," Ginny said.
"No, it's not," Rose said walking over to her. Mike noticed she was limping a little and holding her stomach. "But we really don't have a choice."
"Are you ok?" Mike asked.
"Fine," Rose answered. "I'll be bruised for a bit, but I'll be ok." Mike thought about pushing the issue, but Micky started to groan again. Mike immediately got up and went for the ropes, hoping to restrain Micky before he could attack again. Rose was right; Micky would never be able to live with himself if he hurt any of them. But instead of waking up and attacking them, Micky inhaled sharply and his entire body went completely rigid. He muscles contracted and his body arched, his legs and arms contorted and his head stretched back. The choking sounds he made had Mike frozen on the spot.
"What's happening?" Mike asked.
"Seizure," Ginny said. Rose backed away a little in fright.
"What do we do?" Mike asked.
"Nothing," Ginny said. "Grab a pillow. We need to at least protect his head. There's nothing else we can do but to wait it out."
"I didn't do that to him, did I?" Rose asked.
"No," Mike said looking squarely at her. "You said yourself he was likely going to have a seizure with this stuff."
"Mike's right," Ginny said. "I was expecting this." Rose still looked scared, but Mike knew it was more because she was scared for her brother. Mike would talk to her more later; now Micky needed him. Mike knelt down next to Micky and put the pillow under his head. A moment later, Mike noticed Micky's pants start to get wet.
"Is that normal?" Mike asked. "Should we worry about that?"
"Yes," Ginny said. "He's losing control of all muscular function. Most of the muscles in his body are contracting and that includes the bladder."
"He's gonna be ok?" Mike asked. A second later, Micky let out a long breath and his whole body relaxed. Like his entire body was expelling that one breath held in for too long.
"Yes," Ginny said. "Hopefully. I think it's over now. For now."
"We should get him cleaned up," Mike said.
"I'll get some soap and water," Rose said darting off to the bathroom. Ginny nodded and they both slowly and carefully began removing his soiled clothing. Ginny's face started to turn a shade of green, however, and she quickly looked away.
"You ok?" Mike asked.
"I think so," Ginny answered unbelievable.
"Ginny?" Mike pushed.
"I think it's the smell," Ginny said. "I don't know why. It's just really strong. It's making me want to throw up."
"So go in the bathroom," Mike said. "I can take care of Micky."
"No, I should be-" She trailed off and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Ginny, it's fine," Mike said. "I can take care of him. He's my best friend and he needs my help. You need to take care of yourself before we have to wash your vomit from him, too."
"You sure?" Ginny said. Mike nodded and she darted off toward the bathroom as Rose walked out.
"What?" Rose asked confused.
"Smell's bothering her," Mike said.
"Yeah, that can happen," Rose said sympathetically setting down a bowl of soapy water, a bowl of regular water and some cloths. Rose helped Mike lift Micky into the nearby bed so he could be a little more comfortable. Rose then gathered up his soiled garments. "We don't have detergent, but I can try and get these cleaned with regular soap."
"Thanks," Mike said. He reached over to the cloths and dipped them into the soapy water as Rose walked into the bathroom with his clothes. Micky's eyes were open a little now and Mike briefly worried Micky would flip out again. Yet now Micky looked far too weak to do anything. "Hey, Micky. I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I'm sorry about all this. I wish there was a way out of this. I wish I knew how to make you better. I wish…" Mike sighed not really knowing what else to say. They all wanted to be out of there. Mike looked at his friend sympathetically. Looking at Micky now, Mike wasn't sure how he was still keeping things together. He could tell Rose and Ginny were starting to crack and fall apart, but he couldn't. One of them had to stay strong for the rest of them. One of them had to take care of the rest. And Mike would be that one. He'd let the girls grieve and cry and he'd be there to pick up the pieces.
"Mike," Micky said softly.
"Just take it easy," Mike said. "You've been poisoned. You've hallucinated and your brain is really messing up. I'm gonna clean you up a bit. I don't want you to think I'm hurting you. I would never hurt you. I'm just making sure you're clean and comfortable." Micky opened his eyes a little. Long enough to look into Mike's eyes and give a soft nod. He closed them again, but Mike could tell he was still conscious. His breathing was labored and he grabbed Mike's arm to squeeze as if telling Mike he was ok. Mike carefully began to clean Micky's legs first, taking care to be gentle. With Micky hallucinating the way he was, he didn't want Micky to suddenly think Mike was doing something else to him. Micky was vulnerable lying there completely naked and Mike wanted to make sure Micky felt safe despite that.
Mike finished up without incident and covered his friend with the sheet. He glanced at the ropes sitting in the corner, then back at his friend. He knew restraining Micky would be the best option to prevent him from attacking them again, but now he was worried if Micky had another seizure while, it would hurt Micky more. And looking at his friend now, Micky was weak. The seizure had taken a lot out of his friend. And when Mike had looked into his eyes, just for that moment, he could see his friend looking back at him. Not anything else. Micky would be ok for now. Mike would just let him rest.
Peter sat in the car next to Piper waiting outside the motel Daryl had told them William's body had been found. They hadn't been sitting there very long - just long enough to come up with a plan. Piper wanted to get into the hotel room and search it for herself in case there was something the cops missed. In order to do that, they needed the key to get in. Piper had come up with a way to do so without hurting anyone.
"Will she be ok?" Peter asked suddenly. They'd dropped Willow and Davy off at the hotel they were staying at so she could have the time she needed to grieve.
"She's strong," Piper said. "She'll get through this. I'll make sure she's not alone in this. I'll do what I can to make sure she can handle this."
"What about you?" Peter asked. "You gonna be ok?"
"Yeah," Piper answered. "I didn't know him that well, but he was a great guy. A strong, powerful assassin and a wonderful father and friend. He was everything I dreamed a father and assassin should be. It breaks my heart that he's gone. I'll be ok once we find the son of a bitch that killed him. Bring justice to Willow."
"Yeah," Peter said not really knowing what else to say. They sat in silence for a moment before Piper handed him something: a small round ball.
"You ready?" Piper asked. Peter nodded and took the ball hesitantly. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." Piper leaned over and kissed him. The feeling sent a renewed sense of hope through him. He smiled and they got out of the car. Piper hung back while Peter made his way towards a trash can near the front office. He looked around quickly to make sure no one was around and pulled a small wire from the ball Piper had given him before dropping it in the can. Within seconds, smoke began billowing out of the trash can. Peter turned and ran over to the office.
"FIRE!" Peter yelled ripping open the door. The manager was the only person inside the office. When Peter entered and yelled at him, the manager jumped up and fell out of his seat.
"What? Where?" the manager nearly yelped.
"Here!" Peter said waving toward the trash can. The manager ran out and followed Peter. Peter glanced over his shoulder to make sure Piper had made her way into the office without problem. The manager saw the smoke and turned down a hallway to grab a fire extinguisher. He then ran over to the trash can and sprayed the fire extinguisher over it. He sprayed for at least two full minutes before the smoke finally stopped. Piper had told Peter in the car that the smoke bomb she'd given him should last about 3 minutes, giving her enough time to sneak into the office, steal the key to William's room and get out.
"Are you alright?" the manager asked breathing heavily and turning to Peter.
"I'm fine," Peter said. "I just saw smoke come out and thought I should tell you. But now that it's out, I should get going."
"Thank you," the manager said. "Glad no one was hurt." The manager turned and walked back to the office without noticing Piper emerge from it. She casually walked away and the manager was too lost in his own thoughts to really notice her. When she walked up to Peter and smiled.
"You did great," she said.
"Did you get it?" Peter asked.
"Yep," she smiled holding up the key. They both turned and made their way to the room William had been in. "You might want to wait outside. I'm not sure if they'll be done cleaning the room up and looking at the blood might be too much for you."
"I'll be fine," Peter lied as they arrived. He admitted, he was nervous about the kind of carnage he might be about to witness. "Besides, if I hang out outside the room a man was just killed in, it'll look suspicious and draw attention to you."
"Very good point," Piper said. She put the key in the door and opened it slowly. She poked her head in as if trying to assess the situation before letting Peter see. When she opened the door she smiled at him. "Looks like they've already removed the carpet and started painting the walls. So you should be fine."
"What exactly are we looking for then?" Peter asked following her into the room and closing the door behind them. The floor was bare concrete and the furniture was stacked oddly off to one side. It looked as though they were in the process of re-carpeting the room, but didn't actually remove any furniture. They were doing patch jobs. Quick and cheap. "If they've started cleaning, I doubt there will be anything of his left."
"We are really good at hiding things in case of attack," Piper said. "We don't want certain things to fall into the wrong hands. He may have hidden something where a hotel maid typically wouldn't touch, like taped to the bottom side of a drawer or behind a painting. Since they've already started cleaning, we won't have to worry about fingerprints."
"Oh," Peter said as Piper began looking behind a picture frame. Peter took her lead and pulled out all the drawers in the room and looked under them. They'd looked for nearly half an hour in the small room before Piper gave up.
"Maybe there is nothing here," Piper said sitting on the bed. "We should try something else."
"Ok, before we go, I need to use the bathroom," Peter said. Piper nodded and sighed, clearly lost in thought. Peter closed the door to the bathroom and found the toilet. When he went to wash his hands, he noticed something odd about the mirror. It appeared to be glued to the wall, but this was also done very cheaply. A corner wasn't snug against the wall and something was sticking out. It was so obscure and matched the wall so well, Peter almost didn't notice it. When he plucked at it, an envelope fell out from behind the mirror.
"You ready?" Piper asked when he came out.
"I found this," Peter said handing her the envelope. "Tucked behind the mirror. It wasn't glued to the wall all the way."
"Nice catch," Piper said taking the envelope from him. She pulled out the papers inside and began to read, but her face filled with confusion instantly.
"What does it say?" Peter asked.
"I don't know," Piper said turning it over. "It's not in English."
"Oh," Peter said peering at the words. He couldn't tell what language they were. "Maybe Willow knows?"
"Maybe," Piper said. "But I don't want to bother her with this just yet. She needs some time. I'll give her tonight. We can follow up on some other leads and ask her in the morning if she's feeling up to it."
