Michael was walking. He did a lot of that these days. Just...walking around the small town and thinking. He had a lot to think about, and a lot to wonder. He wondered if he'd ever go home and if he'd ever find Fi. He wondered if he'd ever find her normal. He wondered if maybe having Fi there only to change her was another dirty game of West's.
He was getting by on his time in Peaksville, but he wasn't happy about it. He was starting to feel like a caged animal, and that was never a good feeling.
He just continued his walk around town, his head up but not really focusing on anything.
Fiona wasn't one to believe in fate, though sometimes it kicked her in the face... like right now. She was more a woman of action. She could think on her feet and could handle almost any situation thrown at her, but suddenly seeing Michael walk right past her without looking up. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought just her pure need to see something familiar had turned him down that particular street.
"Michael?" she asked, still not quite believing her eyes. It was just a little too strange that he would happen by just as she was thinking about him.
He turned at the sound of her voice. When he saw her elation went through him first, but he paused nonetheless. He wasn't sure if she was her or....not her. He took a step closer to her and eyed her carefully. His eyes scanned her face for any sign of...something to tell him that she was his Fiona and not that strange woman she had been turned into.
Fiona huffed and rolled her eyes at Michael's uncertainty despite knowing full well that it was a completely logical reaction. "In the flesh," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "And what the hell have you been doing while I've been trapped in Leave it to Beaver?" She smacked him lightly, but couldn't keep the smile from twitching at the corner of her lips.
She put on a good face, but really, she was incredibly happy to see him.
He knew right then that it was her. It was really her.
He should have smiled back, but he couldn't. He was too damn relieved to see her being herself again, and he finally felt like she was actually there in Peaksville with him. He did the one thing he had wanted to do the first time he saw her, days before. He reached out and pulled her into his arms tightly, closing his eyes and holding her close.
"Oh!" Fiona exclaimed, startled as she was pulled into a tight embrace. It wasn't often that Michael showed affection, though she knew he cared about her, a lot. Part of why she nagged him about it was because she knew he wanted her too. He was just a bit stunted about it.
After just a moment, she hugged back, burying her face into his chest and taking a deep breath. Never before had she been so relieved to see anyone. "That kid is seriously messed up," she said quietly before pulling away. "And I thought you had mom issues."
"Sure you don't. That's why I'm the one that always ends up letting her know what's going with you," he teased, smirking at him as she pressed her cheek into his hand.
Her face fell slightly after a moment though. "Where have you been? I remember talking to Jim through my journal and him saying you both were looking for me. It's not like you to not take control and try to shake the 50's out of me yourself. Did something happen?"
He stepped back from her, straightening himself out a bit. "We were. We didn't find you, and then...things kept happening, West kept doing things to us. I...I'm sorry, Fi. I should have tried harder. I should have....turned the town upside down."
Fiona gave Michael a strange look. She wasn't used to him acting like this. Whatever was going on in this strange town, it had obviously affected him much more than even getting burned had.
"Michael, are you okay?" she asked, placing gentle hand on his cheek, wanting him to look at her. "What's been going on around here?"
He met her eyes and sighed, his head shaking slowly from side to side.
"I wish I could explain it, but....I can't. This place is strange. I don't know what to think of it. He can do things to us, Fi. He can change us."
His eyes went darker, scared even, as he kept his gaze on her. His voice went quiet in a way it only could for her. "What if this is all true? What if we are just...characters?"
"Well no shit this place is strange. I did just get finished being a fifties, middle America, housewife. If anyone knows strange around here right now, it's me," she said, rolling her eyes and cocking her head to the side.
Fiona sighed and crossed her arms. "I really don't know Michael. It seems unlikely though. I mean, all this stuff is out of the show The Twilight Zone, or at least seems to be. Loved that show as a kid by the way. Anyway, if we're just figments of West's imagination, then who's imagination is he a figment of? Though I have to admit, I'm starting to believe in magic."
Michael sighed as he listened to her argument. The truth was he didn't want to believe he wasn't himself, or that his life hadn't happened, because it had all felt too real. The frustration, the confusion, the pain...it had to be real. But the idea that maybe it wasn't saved him in a way. It gave even more reason to all of the things that he had done that maybe he hadn't wanted to do.
His jaw set and he met her eyes. "If it's not real then there has to be a way out of it." And as complicated as their life was back home in Miami, it was their life, and he wanted it back.
Fiona raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "Of course there's a way out. Was there ever any doubt? Okay, this is very different from anything either of us has ever dealt with, but I can't see how it's possible for there to be no way out of somewhere."
It was a belief that Fiona held to almost desperately, though she remained outwardly calm. Deep down she really just wanted to find West and blow him to bits, IRA style, but of all the things she'd seen in her short time there, she knew it was time to take a page out of Michael's 'wait and plan' style.
"We'll come up with something, we always do. Getting out of crazy situations is kind of what we do."
He just nodded slowly. Of course his head was already running with scenarios and probabilities, but he wanted to think them out a bit more. In a small place like Peaksville, especially after what happened to Fiona, he had to make every action worth it, because getting away was a slimmer chance there. Not that he thought West could take him in a fight if it came to it, but he knew the man could do other things.
He sighed a bit and looked at her. "Let's get out of the public eye," he suggested. "We could go get something to eat, or go back to my room at the boarding house."
Fiona could practically see the gears turning in Michael's head and she smiled to herself. It looked like she didn't need to worry about him as much as she'd initially thought. It was in that moment that she realized exactly how much she'd missed him without even really realizing it. Thinking back, she'd known something was off while she was Anthony's mother, and standing there, watching Michael's brilliant mind working, she knew that this was exactly what had been missing.
"Yeah, let's do that," she said with a quick nod. "I could definitely go for some food anyway."
He was getting by on his time in Peaksville, but he wasn't happy about it. He was starting to feel like a caged animal, and that was never a good feeling.
He just continued his walk around town, his head up but not really focusing on anything.
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"Michael?" she asked, still not quite believing her eyes. It was just a little too strange that he would happen by just as she was thinking about him.
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"Fiona?"
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She put on a good face, but really, she was incredibly happy to see him.
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He should have smiled back, but he couldn't. He was too damn relieved to see her being herself again, and he finally felt like she was actually there in Peaksville with him. He did the one thing he had wanted to do the first time he saw her, days before. He reached out and pulled her into his arms tightly, closing his eyes and holding her close.
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After just a moment, she hugged back, burying her face into his chest and taking a deep breath. Never before had she been so relieved to see anyone. "That kid is seriously messed up," she said quietly before pulling away. "And I thought you had mom issues."
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"I don't have mom issues." He touched her cheek lightly, just to make sure it was really her.
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Her face fell slightly after a moment though. "Where have you been? I remember talking to Jim through my journal and him saying you both were looking for me. It's not like you to not take control and try to shake the 50's out of me yourself. Did something happen?"
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He glanced down, ashamed of himself.
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"Michael, are you okay?" she asked, placing gentle hand on his cheek, wanting him to look at her. "What's been going on around here?"
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"I wish I could explain it, but....I can't. This place is strange. I don't know what to think of it. He can do things to us, Fi. He can change us."
His eyes went darker, scared even, as he kept his gaze on her. His voice went quiet in a way it only could for her. "What if this is all true? What if we are just...characters?"
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Fiona sighed and crossed her arms. "I really don't know Michael. It seems unlikely though. I mean, all this stuff is out of the show The Twilight Zone, or at least seems to be. Loved that show as a kid by the way. Anyway, if we're just figments of West's imagination, then who's imagination is he a figment of? Though I have to admit, I'm starting to believe in magic."
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His jaw set and he met her eyes. "If it's not real then there has to be a way out of it." And as complicated as their life was back home in Miami, it was their life, and he wanted it back.
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It was a belief that Fiona held to almost desperately, though she remained outwardly calm. Deep down she really just wanted to find West and blow him to bits, IRA style, but of all the things she'd seen in her short time there, she knew it was time to take a page out of Michael's 'wait and plan' style.
"We'll come up with something, we always do. Getting out of crazy situations is kind of what we do."
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He sighed a bit and looked at her. "Let's get out of the public eye," he suggested. "We could go get something to eat, or go back to my room at the boarding house."
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"Yeah, let's do that," she said with a quick nod. "I could definitely go for some food anyway."
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