Ending Two, Part 20 (or Part 96)
"Dad, you gotta give him the thing."
"There is one more thing," Philip agreed when his son spoke up, reminding him that there was still more to be done. There was something about the younger man's posture, something in his demeanor that expressed acceptance and he knew it was time. He moved back to the car and went to the trunk, unlocking it and lifting out his briefcase. He was careful as he removed the device the future Michael had given him and he carried it over to the man's younger self.
"What is it?" Michael asked warily.
"It's some sort of alien device you brought back with you from the future. It contains your," he shook his head. "It contains the memories he chose to save and share with you. He said it would help you to understand the truth of everything you've been told."
The teenager accepted the device and looked at it skeptically. "What the hell am I supposed to do with it?"
The lawyer had to smile at the baffled look on the boy's features. "He said you'd know how to use it, but it seemed to me that it somehow responded to him. I don't know, maybe something in the device recognized him or reacted to his DNA or genetic makeup because he seemed to be able to connect to it simply by holding it. He didn't know if the kids might be able to activate it because of who they are so no one else has touched it."
He glanced up from the device, curious but also hesitant. What did he want with the memories of a man he might not become?
"I believe the memories are important. He saved information relating to people he knew, missions he had undertaken, situations he had been in, and I would imagine also things relating to the future and why the three of you need to ensure that Liz Parker and Maria Deluca survive and why the two of them and Alex Whitman are so important to your future."
A frisson of energy danced over his palm and his gaze dropped back to the device as he unconsciously connected with it. Scenes he didn't recognize flew across his line of vision, stopping with a stomach-dropping speed when the image of a young blonde woman with striking green eyes materialized before him. Sensations, feelings and emotions he didn't recognize slammed into him as he stared at someone no one else could see.
Maria. Her name whispered through his mind and he knew who she was. He shoved the intrusion away and the connection ended as abruptly as it had begun. "What the hell?" he growled as he held it out in front of him and glared at it. One chick was NOT in his plans, not ever if he had anything to say about it. And he did. It was his life to live.
He might be responsible for whipping these kids into shape, turning them into soldiers, and saving the entire planet, but he was gonna do it on his own terms. And that meant not getting tied down to some girl. He'd have to explore the memories later when he was alone, figure out where his older self had gone wrong. When exactly it was that he'd gone soft enough to accept that one chick was all he needed. No way was he getting trapped like that. But even as he was busy mentally denying her presence in his life in any kind of permanent manner something in him had grabbed onto that memory and it wasn't letting go.
It was probably just some leftover remnant of the memory device, he decided. It had been a pretty powerful jolt to his senses and given time it would fade. He comforted himself with that thought even as he pocketed the device. "I'll check it out later."
The sensation of simply fading away began to assert itself once again and Michael looked down at his fisted hand as it seemed to shimmer. He flexed it and wasn't surprised this time when a lack of feeling accompanied the movement. Whatever his younger self was thinking it was leading him in the right direction. His mission was almost complete and his time had almost run out. He tried to inhale deeply but drawing even a shallow breath seemed to take an effort and he felt like he was trying to breathe underwater.
It didn't hurt, at least not physically. He was suddenly besieged with an overwhelming sense of loss as the reality that he would never again see Maria, never again hold her or touch her, assaulted him. He recalled that last night with Stone, sitting with her while her life slipped away and she shared something he knew she'd never told another living soul.
"I stopped living the night he died. After that it was just a matter of survival, biding my time until I could be with him again."
She'd demanded two promises from him, holding on until he'd given his word. The first, that he wouldn't let a future with Maria slip through his fingers, and the second, that he'd bury her next to Azrael. He'd kept the second the moment he'd brought Stone home. That first promise, well, he was keeping it now, and in a way neither of them ever could've imagined.
Stone had believed with certainty that she would be reunited with Azrael. He didn't know if she'd really believed that or if it had just been the morphine talking. He had no idea what happened to people after death, hadn't ever really cared one way or the other, but now that he was facing his own end he found himself wishing that maybe there was something else. But he wasn't dying in the literal sense was he? He was being erased, fading away because the choices and circumstances that had made him the man he was were all different now. He had succeeded in his mission to change the past and in doing so, he'd altered the future.
His gaze dropped to his hand and he found himself staring at empty space. His eyes traveled up along the area where his arm should've been and a sense of dull acceptance filled him. This was it. His future was now a clean slate, unwritten, and it all rested on the shoulders of his 15-year-old self and his ability to accept what was coming. Maria Deluca would turn his world upside down and he knew he'd fight it at first. He'd push her away, he'd refuse the power she had over him, and eventually he'd have to accept that she was as stubborn as him and she wasn't going anywhere.
Philip's attention was pulled away from the teenager as he moved around in an attempt to make sense of what he'd seen and felt after touching the device. He looked at his children when Diane touched his arm and nodded at them and after checking on them he turned to see what held their attention. Max and Isabel were transfixed by the sight of the future Michael as he began to disappear, his body fading from sight. Their hands found each other and they took comfort in the small contact as the man they had known so short a time began to phase out. They didn't understand it, couldn't correlate his disappearing with the fact that the future was being changed. To them, witnessing him fading out of their reality was like watching him die.
He rested his hands on their shoulders, silently comforting them as the man they'd known so briefly vanished from sight. Isabel turned, throwing her arms around his waist and holding onto him tightly as she buried her face against his side. She didn't understand why he had to go. The night before she had told him that Michael had seemed so sad and somehow she had felt his loneliness with a depth that Philip doubted he'd ever fully comprehend.
"What's wrong with them?" Michael asked when he noticed the way the kids were acting.
Diane shook her head. "It's been a very emotionally trying day for them." She saw no reason to try to explain that the future version of him had just ceased to exist, essentially dying in front of her children.
Max was more subdued in his response as he leaned against Mom's side, his eyes locked on the last place he'd seen Michael before he'd disappeared. Isabel was right. He wrinkled his nose at that thought. She'd sensed that the man wasn't just a scary person, that there was something very sad about him. He didn't really understand why he was so sad, but maybe it was because he had to go away and he didn't have anyone to be with him. He tipped his head back to look up at his parents and then to the side to look at his sister. He knew he'd be sad if he didn't have his family. His gaze dropped when Isabel took his hand and after a moment he looked at her and nodded.
Because of Michael their parents knew the truth now. They didn't have to hide who they were from them and even though they were different they still loved them. Michael had given them such an important gift and now he was gone. His gaze shifted to the younger Michael and he watched him for several minutes, wondering if he would be as scary as the other Michael when he got older.
The one thing he knew for sure was that their lives were going to be a great adventure. They were going to save Liz and Maria, they were going to make Alex their friend, they were all going to work together, and one day they were going to save the world.