Ending 1 – Part 14 (or Part 76)
Kyle grunted as he landed face-first in the sand for what had to be the tenth or twelfth time. He braced his hands against the ground and pushed himself up, getting to his feet and wiping the sand from his face. "Okay, I think I need a break, Rambo," he muttered.
"Hey, we're not done here," Michael yelled after him.
Kyle turned, but continued to walk backwards. "You may not be done, but I'm done for now. You've been kickin' my ass for the last couple of hours and as much as I'm enjoyin' it, I think it's time to eat and meditate."
"No discipline." Michael shook his head in disgust. "Pansy-assed little bastard. I swear to God, this planet's gonna be invaded and you know where you're gonna be? Sittin' on your ass, meditating! Maybe you can use that little fat gold statue as a weapon because you're sure as fuck not gonna be able to hold your own in a fight!"
Kyle waved without bothering to respond.
Max hid a grin, knowing he was next. Michael and Kyle seemed to disagree over just about everything, something that delighted Isabel to no end. They argued about sports, women, cars, electronics, and anything else that struck their fancy. Isabel was still maintaining her hostility towards him although he could feel it easing in some areas.
"Why don't you get off his ass?" Isabel snapped, annoyed with his constant stream of derogatory remarks to Kyle. It was one thing for her to insult Kyle; they were friends and he allowed her to get away with it, but no one else was allowed to talk to him that way.
Michael turned to her, attempting to silence her with a look. "I haven't seen you excel at anything I've been tryin' to teach you and until you do you can shut the fuck up."
Isabel glared at him but before she could get a word in edgewise he turned his attention to Max.
"Let's go, Maxwell," Michael said, motioning for Max to face him in the sand.
He got to his feet and brushed the sand from the seat of his pants as he moved to face Michael. He straightened back up when he noticed the confused expression on the other man's face as he turned to stare after Kyle. "What's up?"
"Who the fuck is Rambo?"
Max laughed and shook his head. "He's a character in a movie."
"Never heard of him," Michael said dismissively. "Alright, let's go. Get into the position I showed you earlier. I want you to come at me, use the move I showed you, and throw me on the ground."
Max nodded and assumed the position, careful to balance his weight the way Michael had showed him.
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Liz winced at the audible grunt when Michael threw her husband on the ground yet again. "This's seriously painful to watch," she groaned.
"You think it's more painful to watch than havin' him pounding on your ass?" Kyle mumbled around the sandwich he was eating.
"I've had my share of it over the past few weeks, but watching him throw Max around like a ragdoll…" she shook her head. They were all going through the training sessions Michael had set up and his schedule was rigorous and demanding.
"Well, Max seems to be getting along just fine with that jackass." Kyle unwrapped another sandwich and held half of it out to her. "Hungry?"
"No, thank you." Liz watched as Michael offered his hand to Max to help him up out of the sand so they could go again. Since Maria had returned with Michael she had watched her husband slowly come out of the shell he had been in since that fateful day when they had lost one of their own.
This Michael was similar to their Michael in some ways and so very different in others. He could be rude and crass when it suited him, he could be overbearing and pushy, but in rare moments she had seen him gentle and almost kind where Maria was concerned. It wasn't something he advertised and he kept it well hidden, but she had caught glimpses of the man Maria had fallen in love with.
He was serious about the training he was putting all of them through and he pushed them hard to learn moves that might one day save their lives. He had met resistance when he had insisted that they should learn to use any weapon he could get his hands on, but in the end he had won that argument too. They didn't know what exactly they would be facing when Khivar's invasion began, but he wanted them ready to fight and ready to protect themselves and each other no matter what situation they were faced with.
"Where's Maria?" he asked as he reached for the potato chips.
"Good grief, Kyle, didn't you eat breakfast this morning?"
"Did you see the beating I was takin' out there? I've worked up an appetite." He nudged her with his elbow. "Maria?"
"Oh," she nodded to the left.
Kyle turned to look further down the beach and he shook his head when he located her sitting alone. "You think she's ever gonna be at peace with this?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know." She had watched the couple together and separately, observing their interactions and she knew that even with the difficulties they faced there was love between them. She hoped that was enough to help her best friend deal with her ghosts and find a way to find peace with her situation.
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Maria sat on a large flat boulder, bare feet braced against the warm rock and arms wrapped around her raised knees as she watched the action further up the beach. They had been in Washington, living outside of Seattle for a little over two months now and she and Michael had settled into a comfortable one-bedroom house. The others had settled nearby in other small towns and it was the first time in a long time that they were separated by only an hour.
The weather was pleasant in the high sixties with a light breeze that lifted her hair slightly as she looked out over the ocean. They had found work at a factory that manufactured electronics; she worked on the assembly line while he operated a forklift in the warehouse. The pay was decent and it allowed them to live in a little more comfort than had been available in Clayton.
As often as possible the six of them got together and Michael put them through punishing training sessions. He was a demanding teacher, insisting on perfection and accepting nothing less. She understood his reasons for pushing them so hard, but in the beginning she'd had to talk to him, make him see that they weren't soldiers, but young adults who were new to what he was trying to teach them.
"Michael, you can't just start off pushing them like that!" she insisted as she watched him pace back and forth across the living room.
He smacked the palm of his hand down on the back of the couch. "I don't have time to fuck around with a bunch of kids who aren't interested in learnin' what I – "
"Stop right there. They want to learn, but you can't just expect them to be ready for your style of training right from the jump." She stood in front of him, stopping his erratic pacing and placing her hands on his arms. "They're not used to this kind of – "
"They'd better get used to it."
She sighed as she looked up at him, sensing the frustration simmering below the surface and keeping his quicksilver temper on an even shorter fuse than normal. "Give them time to adjust, Michael. It's not just the training… it's you too." She reached up to touch his face, applying just enough pressure to make him look at her. "They're still getting used to you and trying to reconcile the man they knew with the man you are."
"What about you?"
Her hand lowered to rest flat against his chest and her gaze had followed it. "What about me?" She could feel his heart pounding beneath her palm.
"Don't fuckin' play games with me, Maria."
She swallowed hard as she stared at her thumb, watching it press against his dog tags as she thought about his question. "I know who you are, Michael." She shook her head. "I know you want to hear that the guilt's gone, but like I've told you before it might always be there in some way. I don't know." She finally raised her eyes to meet his. "What I do know is that I love you."
She saw the way his eyes darkened at her admission even though he remained silent. His breathing was slightly ragged as he fought to stay in control of himself. They had been sharing the same bed because he refused to sleep on the couch or on the floor but he hadn't touched her. She knew what she had done to him after they had made love the last time and while he wanted her he wouldn't risk that pain again by making the first move.
Being in the house she had shared with her Michael had amplified the feelings of guilt and even though they had been in their own place for a while now she had been unsure of how to move on with him. She knew she loved him, was certain of it, but she also knew that she couldn't put him through that again. He deserved more than that from her. She had known that they would make love again, but she wanted to be in a place where she wouldn't feel the overwhelming guilt afterwards.
Her fingers curled around his dog tags, tugging on them gently as she looked up at him. "Michael."
His gaze shot to hers as she whispered his name. His name.
Maria felt his intense gaze like a physical touch and she released his dog tags to slide her fingers over his chest. His body was rigid, held tightly in check as if he was afraid to let himself go with her. The guilt might always be there, she might never know the truth about his beliefs where her Michael was concerned, but she also couldn't live in limbo either. Neither of them could continue living that way.
"Make love with me, Michael."
His mouth crashed onto hers as he pulled her into his arms, his hands everywhere at once. He wasted no time getting her out of her clothes and into bed but he had slowed down to explore her body, taking his time as he drew her pleasure out before taking his own.
He had eased off just a little bit, enough to give them time to adjust to his grueling schedule. He didn't take it easy on any of them, he didn't make exceptions for any of the women, and he wasn't interested in excuses when they were tired. He had agreed to let Max and Isabel help him learn how to use his powers and she had watched him as they worked with him, smiling to herself when he would get frustrated with them and his powers that still weren't fully under his control.
He got along best with Max and the two men spent quite a bit of time talking when they got together. His relationship with Isabel was still tinged with hostility on both sides because neither of them was willing to give an inch. He and Liz only had Max and Maria in common, but there was an unspoken agreement between them and it allowed them to remain neutral with each other. He and Kyle had developed a rather antagonistic relationship and she didn't know if that was because of Kyle's friendship with Isabel or if it was simply a matter of the two men not liking each other. Sometimes she thought she caught a glimpse of amusement in Kyle's eyes when he was aggravating Michael, but it was always so fleeting that she wasn't certain she had seen it.
Michael and Isabel were facing off against each other and she looped her arms around her raised knees as she watched them. The two of them locked horns constantly but things had come to a head a couple of weeks before when he had gotten fed up with her refusal to put everything into her training. They had gotten into an argument that had started in front of everyone and he had dropped it when she had walked away. Later, after dinner she had gone for a walk to get some fresh air and he had gone after her. She had no idea what had happened between them but since that night Isabel had been a little more cooperative. For the most part, she thought when Isabel turned the tables on Michael, using her powers while he was demonstrating a new move and dropping him on his back in the sand.
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Michael jumped to his feet, his features expressing annoyance and irritation at her for taking advantage of her abilities and getting the drop on him. Isabel smiled as she watched him and waited for him to make his next move. She studied her nails for a moment before meeting his gaze over them. "You did say to hit you with all I had."
He nodded and motioned for her to move closer. "Let's go again. Try it without usin' your powers this time." It hadn't been that long ago that he had been ready to wash his hands of her, certain that she wasn't going to learn anything he was trying to teach her. He had known she was holding back but he hadn't been able to pin down a reason for it until the night he had followed her out of the house, pushing her until she had finally snapped. It had all started with the training session that afternoon…
Michael shook his head in disgust as he took several steps in Isabel's direction. "That's the best you've got? You think you're gonna hold off an invasion with this kinda – "
"I didn't ask for your opinion," Isabel snapped.
"You might as well just go wait for Khivar an' hold the door open for him when he gets here. Because if you're not gonna give it everything you've got you're just wastin' my time."
"I've been giving it – "
He snorted and cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Don't give me that bullshit. At this rate you couldn't defend yourself much less take an enemy out."
"You might not have to think twice about killing, but I do."
"I'm done with you."
"Fine." Isabel turned and stalked off, hating him and everything he represented.
He had been pissed off and he had taken it out by pushing the others harder for the rest of the day. She had avoided him as long as possible and had insisted that she and Kyle weren't staying overnight as had previously been planned. After the brutal training session Kyle had been through he only wanted to eat and go to bed but before he could agree or disagree, Michael had spoken up and ruined any illusions she had about leaving early.
"You don't leave until Sunday. You wanna sit on your ass an' take up space, that's fine, but they're gonna learn to defend themselves and protect each other."
Isabel had pushed her chair back. "I don't need you to teach me how to kill."
"Anyone can kill. It's about bein' able to protect yourself and the others. It's about bein' able to handle yourself when this shit goes down. Knowin' how to kill efficiently may not be somethin' you wanna learn how to do but you're gonna have to if you wanna survive this thing."
"I don't need your help."
"Then save us both of us some time an' get lost. All the self-defense in the world will only get you so far. You have the ability to kill and you've done it before but you're holdin' back on me an' that'll get you killed one day." He slapped his fork down against the table. "Worse than that, you'll get one of them killed one day."
"I need some air."
His temper had spiked and he had gotten up to follow her.
"Maybe you should just give her some time," Kyle spoke up.
"Stay the fuck outta this. If I want your input I'll let you know."
"Michael…"
He looked at Maria when she called his name and he shook his head. He had made it clear that he called the shots when it came to their training and she had respected the boundaries he had set, crossing that line only once when she had felt that his tactics weren't getting the desired results. He had listened to her, taken her advice, and she had been right. This time though, he knew he was right.
He had stepped outside, fingertips brushing against the gun tucked into his waistband at the small of his back. The house they had rented was isolated and close to the beach, affordable only because it had needed massive amounts of work. He found Isabel on the beach, arms crossed over her chest defensively as she stared out at the water.
"You think you know everything because you've got ice in your veins and you kill without a second thought – "
His expression was hard as he stared at her. "Second guessing yourself is not a luxury you can afford."
"I don't want to kill anyone else." She shook her head. "Maybe you can live with the consequences but I can't. I've taken that path once before and where it led…"
He shook his head as the pieces suddenly fell into place. "You killed Whitaker." He stalked over to her and grabbed her arm, jerking her around to look at him. "She needed to be taken out."
"And if I hadn't 'taken her out' she would've killed Tess. She wouldn't have been there to…" she choked on the words.
"Letting your emotions run your decisions will get you killed. You could be right but you'll never know if her death at that time would've prevented his death later on. There're casualties in every war, you lose people you care about to the enemy… maybe you could've done somethin' different. All that matters is that at that moment you acted on what you knew to be true. You had no way of knowin' that lettin' Tess die at that moment might potentially mean savin' his life."
"I can't do it again."
Michael moved into her space and shoved her. Hard. "You still have people relyin' on you to carry your weight here."
"I can't – "
"Don't start whinin' to me about 'I can't'. You've been buryin' all that anger, the fear, and that hatred since his death. Let it out now… turn it loose." He shoved her again, nodding when he saw the shift in her eyes. "Redirect those emotions… build on them." He crowded her, forcing her back several steps and feeling satisfaction when she caught herself and stopped. "Use it to your advantage… don't ever let yourself be used by anyone else." He got in her face again, dark eyes challenging as he pushed her harder. "Knowin' what you know now… if you could go back and change it… given that chance, would you let Whittaker kill Tess? Would you kill her yourself?"
"If I could change what happened to Alex?"
"You're gonna be facin' the same thing when the invasion happens. The four of them don't want to kill anymore than you do but eventually that choice will be taken out of their hands… and out of yours."
"There's always a choice," she denied.
"You wanna be a pacifist and die? Stand back and watch them die? Do you wanna be standin' here after they're dead and wish that you could go back and change things?" He shook his head at her. "Regrets are a bitch and they're not worth your time. You make mistakes but you go on. Once someone's gone you can't bring 'em back."
"You're here." She pushed him but he didn't move.
"That's right. I'm here… I'm not the guy that died last year and I'm never gonna be him."
"Why? Why are you here and Michael isn't?"
He watched her without moving or saying a word, knowing it was only pissing her off.
She hated him for being there when the Michael she knew and loved couldn't be, hated him for trying to turn them into soldiers, and hated him simply for existing. She didn't want to deal with losing Michael, especially not with him, but he was pushing and there was no one else around to step in and distract him. Her hands balled up into fists at her sides and without thinking twice she let loose with the right one. She screamed in anger and frustration when he caught her fist before it impacted with his face.
"Is that all you've got? Some weak-ass little girl punch?" His grip on her fist tightened and he shoved her back.
Isabel felt the anger and hatred well up and burst free as she charged him, using every tactic he had been drilling into her for the past couple of weeks. It wasn't enough to really do any damage, but it was enough to get in several satisfying hits and knock him off his feet a couple of times.
When she had broken away from him the last time with his gun in her hand and an angry, yet satisfied smirk on her face he had known there was something there he could work with. Only one other woman had ever managed to get his weapon from him and she had become one of his strongest allies in the field. And one of the few people he had ever been able to call friend.
Khivar's invasion was coming. They didn't know when but he would make sure they were trained to the best of his ability so they were ready when it happened. If they had a chance of successfully standing against Khivar and his army it was going to hinge on how prepared they were.
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Michael finally called a halt to their training session after several more hours and he pulled his tank top off, using it to wipe the sweat from his face and chest as he turned to look at Maria. She was still sitting on her usual rock further down the beach, watching them the way she did every time they got together. He knew the moment she caught his gaze, saw the way she shifted just slightly and tipped her head in acknowledgement.
He had put her through the paces first thing that morning at her request and he knew that meant it was one of those days. There were days when she distanced herself from everyone, retreating to the part of the beach that had become her refuge when her thoughts wouldn't leave her alone. He hadn't yet determined the pattern or figured out what it was that triggered these days but they happened from time to time. Sometimes days would pass between them and others they were more frequent.
He knew that no matter how much he believed that some part of the Michael from this universe was inside of him he couldn't make her believe it. He had no hard evidence, no scientific equivalent of proof to make her see it; it was a matter of faith. He had that. He had lived the dreamplane experience, but she had no such reason to believe what he said was true. To a certain extent he couldn't blame her for not believing. Had their roles been reversed he doubted that he would believe such a thing either.
He had no doubt that she loved him but she doubted his conviction that the other man she loved was a part of him. He had never before felt the need to prove something he himself believed to anyone else. As a rule he couldn't care less if anyone shared his convictions or beliefs, but in this situation it mattered to him.
"What's on your mind?" Max asked as he looked up at Michael from his spot where he had collapsed on the sand.
Michael shot one more glance at Maria before he turned his gaze to the ocean. "How do you prove somethin' to someone when you don't have any proof?"
Isabel looked between Michael and Maria, knowing without him going into any details that her lack of belief bothered him. "Give her the flashes," she said as she shrugged one shoulder. She smirked to herself. That would put him off, she thought. The last thing he was going to want to do was open himself up in such an emotional manner.
"Flashes," he muttered, uncomfortable at the mere word.
"Isabel's right," Max agreed after chugging half a bottle of water. "You wanna show her what you experienced on the dreamplane that's really the only way to do it."
Michael grabbed the bottle of water he had dropped in the sand earlier, unscrewing the cap and taking a long drink as he stared out at the ocean. He was more than willing to practice working on his powers with them as long as the powers were physical manifestations. He wasn't comfortable with what he felt were the softer powers.
"Why's it so important that she believe you?" Isabel asked.
Max glanced at his sister and nodded before turning his attention to Michael. "Yeah, I'd think you'd rather be free of that and not trying to make her believe it's true."
His gaze returned to Maria once more and he watched her watching him for several long minutes. His mind moved back to the night they had finally made love, shortly after settling down in their house here. He had pretended to be asleep afterward, waiting to see if she would be driven from their bed by guilt. She had remained beside him but she had lain awake for hours, staring at the wall and fighting those guilty feelings. He didn't know if proving to her what he knew to be true would change that, but it might ease those feelings. He took a deep breath before he spoke. "It's a doubt that's gonna eat her alive and I love her too much to watch her suffer… always wonderin' whether it's true or not." He shook his head. "It's not somethin' she should have to deal with, not if there's a way for me to stop it."
Max smiled slightly at Michael's answer. "You know, that's very similar to what Michael said to Maria after he killed Pierce." He glanced between the couple. "That following summer she confided in me about it. She told me even though Michael used those words to break up with her she cherished them."
He took another drink of his water as he considered what they were saying. As things stood she didn't belong to just him and maybe she never would. Learning how to use that ability would take time and it would take work, but someday he would show her his dreamplane experience with his counterpart.
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Maria watched them after the training session ended and she wondered what they were talking about. His gaze strayed to her time after time and somehow she knew whatever it was, it had to do with her. She and Michael had settled into a routine and they were slowly becoming more at ease and comfortable with their situation. It wasn't easy by any means and some days it was nearly impossible, but neither of them were the type to throw in the towel and walk away because something was hard. Sometimes it was hard to believe all that had happened in less than a year, but she stared that reality in the face every day.
She had traveled to another universe, intent on preventing the accident that had claimed her Michael's life. There were days when everything she had been through in that other universe seemed like something that had happened to someone else. All it took was a look or a touch from Michael to remind her that it was all true and that she had lived every moment of it.
Her mind returned to that night more than a month ago when they had made love for the first time since coming to her universe. Afterwards she had lain in his arms and memories from their first time in his universe had assaulted her, bringing with them the feelings of betrayal and guilt from that night. She hadn't left him this time, instead she had held onto him tightly until those feelings had begun to subside. Her thoughts had drifted to the conversation she'd had with the Granolith before she had undertaken her journey to his universe.
"You would go anywhere to be with him?" It had paused before continuing. "There could be changes, possibly differences…"
She had never expected her decision to take her down this path. She had waited until he had fallen asleep, her heart heavy and her mind too restless to allow her to sleep. She had acknowledged that she loved him, but the problem was that she had the same feelings for both men. She couldn't imagine living without this Michael, but at the same time she still loved the Michael she had lost the year before. She was in love with the same man, but at the same time, he wasn't the same man.
Sometimes she watched him when he was unaware of it, her mind going back to the night he had told her that her Michael was somehow inside of him. She hadn't believed him then and she wasn't certain she could believe it now. There were moments when he would say or do something that made her wonder if it was true, but there wasn't enough proof to settle it in her mind. It was an uncertainty she knew she was going to have to live with because there was no way to accurately determine if his belief was true or not.
In some ways she was happy, but there was still that little part of her that felt guilty for finding love and happiness. She loved him just as much as she loved the boy she had fallen in love with first and maybe in time she might even love him more. Was that possible? Michael had been everything to her and now she had found love with another version of him. She had a feeling that as time passed she would love him more because he was with her and he would be with her as long as they lived.
There were no easy answers and she had known from the moment she had realized she was in love with him that things were never going to be the same. He was a difficult man and she knew that wasn't likely to ever change. She knew he would protect her and the others with his life if it ever came to that, and she knew one day they could be looking at that possibility. They would just take life as it came, prepare for the future, and love each other with everything they had.
The End – Ending One